“But marriage is a tomb. Maybe I’ll end up living alone forever. In the end, it’s all the same anyway… my parents still ended up divorcing in the end.” Chi Anyu curled his lips.
Qi You nodded quite approvingly. His top priority now was to protect the family fortune and absolutely not let those illegitimate children out there get what they wanted.
“Who are you chatting with?” Seeing Chi Anyu staring at the screen, Qi You leaned over to take a look.
Chi Anyu looked away from his phone screen. “It’s that Gu Ming I told you about last time. He asked me to go swimming. Do you want to come too? You can get to know him as well.”
Qi You nodded. He simply lifted his skirt and tied it around his waist, exposing the shorts underneath, then lay flat on the sofa. “Sure. Maybe we’ll get along well.”
Chi Anyu and Qi You were about to start a game when Xie Junyi suddenly appeared again. His gaze on Qi You was icy, his brows sharp and stern, and his whole body radiated a cold, murderous aura that kept strangers at a distance.
He sat right between them, separating the two.
“What do you want for lunch?”
Chi Anyu replied casually, “Anything. Just make whatever.”
Xie Junyi, his face still cold, said, “Miss Qi has been staying at the Chi family for quite a while now. Isn’t it about time you headed back?”
Qi You blinked innocently. “But Anyu wants me to stay for lunch.”
Chi Anyu added smoothly, “I’ll send him back after lunch.”
Xie Junyi’s arm at his side tightened into a fist. The back of his hand went taut, veins bulging. He pressed close to Chi Anyu’s ear and said, “I’m only making food for you. Have Aunt Liu make his portion.”
Qi You found it rather amusing. This Xie Junyi really had impressive self-control. He even suspected that if Chi Anyu were not here, he would have been killed by Xie Junyi’s gaze already.
“I treat him like a friend. That Bai guy is the one I hate. What’s wrong with you today? Why are you so hostile toward him?”
Xie Junyi said nothing. Without giving him a chance to object, he lifted Chi Anyu with his right arm under his knees and his left hand under his shoulder blades, carried him effortlessly to the balcony, and closed the glass door behind them.
Chi Anyu, still in the middle of a game: ???
Qi You: “…” Do you really need to guard against him like this?
His gossip-loving instincts kicked in, and he stopped playing. He stared through the glass door. But the soundproofing was excellent, so he could not hear a word of what the two on the balcony were saying.
Within view, Xie Junyi set the person down so he was sitting on his lap and leaned close to Chi Anyu’s ear, whispering something in an intimate voice. Chi Anyu turned his head away, looking somewhat unhappy.
Qi You quickly figured it out: Xie Junyi must have said something Chi Anyu did not like, upset him, and was now softly coaxing him.
Soon, the two came back from the balcony, and Qi You hurriedly reined in his gaze.
Xie Junyi cast a cold, indifferent glance at Qi You before leaving the room and going downstairs.
“Anyu, what were you two talking about on the balcony just now?” His curiosity overflowing, Qi You quickly moved closer.
Chi Anyu stretched lazily and said flatly, “Nothing much. I just told him not to target you for no reason. He was acting really strange today. He wasn’t like this before when I hung out with Gu Ming.”
He paused for a moment. “He was getting annoying, whispering in my ear and constantly stressing that men and women are different. I couldn’t hold it in, so I told him you were cross-dressing, and then he shut up.”
At that moment, Qi You suddenly understood.
Gu Ming was a boy, so Xie Junyi did not care much about him. But if it were a girl, it would be different. Chi Anyu had not even opened up to that kind of thing yet. If he really ended up liking girls later on, Xie Junyi would not have a chance in this lifetime.
That would be a disaster right from the start.
No wonder Xie Junyi was so tense.
Thinking of that, Qi You really could not hold back and laughed out loud.
“What are you laughing at?” Chi Anyu asked, confused.
Qi You waved his hand, trying to hold in his laughter. “Nothing. I just thought of something funny and suddenly wanted to laugh.”
Lunch was still personally cooked by Xie Junyi.
Qi You looked at the table full of brightly colored dishes, and it was hard to imagine that someone as aloof and cold as Xie Junyi could make food like this. He was only benefiting from Chi Anyu’s presence.
“Anyu, his cooking is so good. Why don’t you just spend the rest of your life with him?” Qi You tested the waters, joking half-seriously.
But those words made Xie Junyi’s heartbeat quicken. His gaze instantly landed on Chi Anyu’s face, not daring to miss even the slightest change in expression.
“Don’t joke around. Xie Junyi can’t possibly stay at my house forever.”
After all, Chi Anyu had known the plot’s destined direction from the very beginning. The villain boss would eventually return to the Xie family. Whether he, this cannon-fodder supporting character, could survive safely until the end was still uncertain.
Besides, he couldn’t even get on the villain’s good side. Other than using people arrogantly and overbearingly to keep his character setting from collapsing, there was not much else he could do.
The light in Xie Junyi’s eyes dimmed, and he looked a little disappointed.
Chi Anyu felt thirsty and was just about to get up to get a drink when he rose too quickly and suddenly hit the corner of the table. He let out a muffled groan, feeling for a moment as if he were about to go underground and meet the King of Hell.
Xie Junyi’s expression changed dramatically. He rushed over immediately, tension in his eyes. “Did you hit something? Let me see.”
Chi Anyu drew in a sharp breath. He bent over and clutched his groin, his expression twisted. “It hurts like hell.”
“Go into the bathroom. Let me see whether you’re injured.”
Chi Anyu did not have time to care about anything else. Once he got into the bathroom, he hurriedly stripped off his clothes.
Xie Junyi crouched in front of Chi Anyu, examining him closely. “Looks fine. Just to be safe, you should still go to the hospital for an examination later.”
Even with how thick-skinned Chi Anyu was, his face still turned a little red. “Keep your face from getting so close to mine. I’m not going to the hospital for an examination.”
Xie Junyi straightened up, wrapped his arms around Chi Anyu from behind, and helped guide him toward the toilet. “I’ll help ease the pain.”
Chi Anyu immediately felt that Xie Junyi looked like he was coaxing a child. The flush on his face still had not faded as he awkwardly said, “I’ve already recovered a bit. I don’t need to use the bathroom. Let’s go out.”
In Xie Junyi’s mind, it became absolutely necessary to replace that dining table. It was all his fault for zoning out at the table today. He had not been paying attention and had let Yubao bump into it.
Qi You, sitting at the dining table, watched the two of them linger in the bathroom for a long time before coming out. His eyes immediately turned curious and meaningful.