“Oh, so what?” Xie Junyi asked back with calm indifference.
Bai Jin also hated Xie Junyi’s aloof, self-important demeanor. Now that he had caught someone else’s weak spot, he said maliciously, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell him you have improper intentions toward him?”
Xie Junyi lifted his eyelids and looked at him as if he were some ridiculous clown. With the corner of his lips curled in mockery, he said, “A son born to a mistress like you? He hates you enough as it is. How could he possibly believe anything you say?”
The words “mistress” stabbed deep into Bai Jin. He glared angrily. “What nonsense are you talking about? My mother isn’t a mistress!”
Xie Junyi smiled. The smile never reached his eyes, but what he said was enough to shatter anyone’s composure. He let out a soft sneer. “If you say she isn’t, then she isn’t.”
Hitting where it hurts.
Bai Jin was almost driven mad with anger. He couldn’t beat Xie Junyi, and he couldn’t outtalk him either.
Xie Junyi let out another mocking smile and turned to go downstairs. His first instinct was to head to the dining room. He glanced at the dining table and immediately knew it was what Chi Anyu had left behind.
The egg had only the white eaten, leaving the yolk. The milk had only been drunk halfway.
He lazily braced his left hand on the table, picked up a fork with his right, and ate the remaining yolk. Then he drank the milk in one gulp from the same spot Chi Anyu had used.
Bai Jin’s mind twisted as he watched. He saw it all and felt indignant.
“What exactly do you like about him? If he hadn’t been born into the Chi Family, he’d be worthless.”
Xie Junyi was still holding the milk glass. His narrow, deep eyes lifted slightly, showing the arrogance of someone in power. He narrowed his eyes. He actually didn’t want to make a move against this eyesore while he was in the Chi Family, but this person always liked to challenge his bottom line.
In his eyes, his treasure was naturally perfect in every way.
“What, jealous?” Xie Junyi’s tone suddenly turned icy. His brow lowered, and his eyes were filled with a danger as intense as a frozen winter night.
In the next second, Bai Jin didn’t even catch Xie Junyi’s movement before a sharp fruit knife flew toward him through the air.
His pupils contracted. The blade seemed to expand in slow motion before his eyes.
Then, in a sudden flash, it gleamed coldly and scraped past his cheek, leaving a streak of blood behind.
Xie Junyi’s expression changed completely, exposing the ruthless side hidden beneath. He said grimly, “You should be grateful this is the Chi Family. If you left here, I can’t promise I wouldn’t kill you. And the name Chi Anyu is not something trash like you have the right to say.”
Bai Jin swallowed hard. He had forgotten that Xie Junyi’s apparently easygoing temper only showed itself when Chi Anyu was around. The person who had choked his neck that day was the real Xie Junyi.
At just that tense moment—
Xie Junyi’s phone chimed with a WeChat notification.
He quickly pulled his phone from his pocket. When he saw that it was a message from Chi Anyu, his expression eased somewhat. But after he read the message clearly, his face darkened again.
Chi Anyu replied: I’m at the Qi Family. I won’t be coming back for lunch.
The Qi Family again!
Xie Junyi closed his eyes.
On the other side, the Qi Residence.
Chi Anyu walked in openly under the watchful eyes of the servants. Qi You had changed back into men’s clothes at home and hurriedly waved him over. “Anyu, over here!”
Chi Anyu quickly went upstairs, and the two of them stayed in the room all morning without coming out.
“My dad, that old bastard, watches me like a thief. I can’t relax at home at all. Your dad is better.” Kneeling on the floor, goblet in hand, Qi You clinked glasses with Chi Anyu.
Thinking of Father Chi also reminded Chi Anyu of that unlucky Bai Jin. “Better? He even brought home the son of his white moonlight.”
With that, he drained the red wine in one gulp.
Qi You widened his eyes, as if he had caught the scent of gossip. “Really?”
Chi Anyu refilled his glass, his eyelids half-lowered. “Of course it’s true. But after my mom divorced him, he took me into consideration and never remarried.”
“Then we’re really in the same boat. Good brother, another toast.”
Chi Anyu had drunk quite a bit as well and was already slightly tipsy. Just as he was about to pour another drink, there was a knock at the door.
A servant stood at the doorway and said, “Young master, someone from the Chi Family is here. They say it’s getting late and time for lunch, and they’ve come to take Young Master Chi back.”
Chi Anyu: ???
His father didn’t care at all where he went during the day, as long as he came home on time at night. Who had come looking for him?
System 07 seemed to have predicted something and said quietly, 『Are you forgetting Butler Ling?』
After all, even he had come to admire that formidable butler. He was simply far too attentive to his host.
Chi Anyu, still puzzled, went downstairs and out the door. When he saw the familiar figure at the front gate, he still couldn’t help asking, “Uncle Ling? Why are you here?”
Butler Ling turned around with a bright smile. “Young master, I’m here to take you home for lunch.”
“Didn’t I already tell Xie Junyi? I’m not going back for lunch.”
Butler Ling’s smile grew even brighter as he opened the car’s back door. “Is that so? He didn’t tell me. The big ditch we dug in the backyard still hasn’t been filled in, and the flowers you mentioned last time have already been airlifted from abroad. We’re about to plant them. Don’t you want to go back and take a look, young master?”
System 07’s mouth twitched slightly. That smile was so bright that no one could refuse it.
One minute later…
Chi Anyu still climbed into the back seat looking like life had lost all meaning and said goodbye to Qi You.
Butler Ling sent a top-priority WeChat message: Done, young master. I brought the young master back.
Xie Junyi replied calmly, “Mm.”
“Uncle Ling, what flowers did you have airlifted?” Chi Anyu asked, resting his elbow on the car window.
Butler Ling put away his phone and replied warmly, “Roses of all kinds, as well as some rare flowers. You’ll know when you get back, young master. You’ll definitely like them.”
Chi Anyu wasn’t especially interested in flowers, but when he saw the entire backyard full of them, he was stunned.
So many. Is there even enough space? Can they really all be planted? Did his father really have someone buy this many flowers?
System 07 was stunned as well. 『Whoa! These butterfly orchids and Juliet roses look expensive. They must have cost a lot!』
Butler Ling directed the gardener to fill every plantable space in the backyard.
“We even specially left a small patch of land for you, young master. Why don’t you personally sow some seeds and plant a few flowers? When they bloom next year, it’ll give you a real sense of accomplishment.”
Chi Anyu had never planted anything before, but he still took the seeds from Butler Ling and buried them in the soil, then watered them a little.
Xie Junyi appeared silently behind Chi Anyu, resting his chin on his shoulder. His tone carried a bit of grievance. “Why did you go to the Qi Family in the morning without taking me along?”
Chi Anyu pushed Xie Junyi’s head away and asked in return, “Why would I take you with me when I go out? Don’t lean so close. It’s hot.”
Butler Ling looked at the flowers and thought to himself that it was lucky he had been clever enough to have people dig up a few rare flowers from the old Xie Family estate. The young master didn’t live there anyway; leaving them there would just be wasteful. It was better to dig them up and plant them in the Chi Family’s backyard.
On the other side, the gardener at the Xie Family estate stared at the flowers that had vanished into thin air and was completely thrown into disarray.