The scene inside the room was shocking. Beneath the luxurious and magnificent atmosphere was a true battlefield of money, where everyone quietly sought profit.
There weren’t many people upstairs, but every single one of them was a powerful figure in the capital.
Several men who could shake the business world were all gathered here.
At this moment, business talks were finished, beautiful companions at their sides, and what they were playing with now was luck.
But their way of testing luck was very different—every move of their hands was filled with strategy, setting traps and breaking them.
Here, winning or losing was never about money.
Xia Xunqian looked over and immediately saw Feng Lin leaning back on a red sofa.
The black suit matched perfectly with the dark red velvet sofa, his natural ease and control filling the space to the extreme.
He was noble, high above everyone else, like a lion ruling from the throne, looking down on all.
No one was sitting beside Feng Lin. The woman in the cheongsam from earlier now had one foot pressed between Feng Lin’s legs, her hand braced on the sofa behind her as she slowly leaned closer to him.
From Xia Xunqian’s angle, the distance between them looked indecently close.
Feng Lin looked at the bold woman in front of him. She had been brought by someone else and came straight to him the moment she arrived—her intention was obvious.
The heavy perfume she wore was deliberately chosen—it was the award-winning fragrance from Wanhe Group on the international stage.
A wild fox paired with a wild scent—just right.
Feng Lin didn’t move. He watched her actions and slightly curled his lips.
“You’re quite thoughtful.”
“Third Master, does it smell good?” The woman’s eyes shifted slightly, her seductive posture full of temptation.
She moved even closer to Feng Lin.
“Get off me,” Feng Lin said coldly, his expression changing.
He didn’t like people getting too close to him.
Even the lightest perfume could become irritating and make him uncomfortable.
“Third Master doesn’t like it?” Seeing that Feng Lin wasn’t angry yet, the woman boldly asked again.
Feng Lin’s eyes narrowed with disdain.
As he lifted his gaze indifferently, his eyes happened to meet Xia Xunqian’s at the doorway.
Feng Lin didn’t move. He hated the faint sense of unease rising in his heart.
This was not something a strong man should feel.
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
Feng Lin’s dark eyes fixed on Xia Xunqian.
They looked at each other for two seconds before Xia Xunqian lowered his eyes and left.
He even closed the door, pretending he had never been there.
After the door closed, one of the bosses who had seen Xia Xunqian couldn’t help but ask,
“Who brought that person just now?”
“What a lovely one,” someone else chimed in.
“Mr. Fu’s? I remember you like them young.”
“I’m not interested in men,” the mentioned Mr. Fu said, glancing at the man playing cards beside him, testing the waters. “Yours?”
Feng Lin’s expression darkened to its extreme. Seeing this, the woman in front of him immediately propped herself up and stood properly to the side.
Feng Lin picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip. The bitter fragrance and sharp burn wrapped around his lips and tongue, adding even more distance to his presence.
He swirled the wine in his hand and set it down with a sharp sound.
“Bang!” The glass hit the crystal table, making a clear noise.
Feng Lin pushed the glass forward with a warning look.
“Mine.”
The room instantly fell silent.
Feng Lin had drunk a bit too much today. Irritated, he tugged at his tie, leaned back against the sofa, and closed his eyes to rest.
……
After going downstairs, Xia Xunqian never thought about going back up. He stood by a window downstairs for a long time.
Even after the banquet ended and people downstairs began leaving one by one, with fewer and fewer remaining, the people upstairs still hadn’t come down.
Xia Xunqian returned to the corridor where he had been earlier, looking out at the scenery. In the brightly lit city center, Xia Xunqian had never been the one who benefited.
When he stepped outside the banquet hall and stood on the stairs, he clearly felt how out of place he was with everything here.
Xia Xunqian walked forward without a destination.
His thin figure looked even more fragile.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, when the surroundings began to feel familiar, Xia Xunqian got onto an elderly woman’s small tricycle and told her his destination.
He went alone to his mother’s grave.
As he neared the cemetery, a light rain began to fall, and even the gentle wind shifted direction.
The cemetery in the old district was small, and many graves had already been relocated, leaving the place especially desolate.
Xia Xunqian pulled the weeds beside his mother’s grave and stayed there for a long time.
Madam Cao had once cursed Xia Xunqian, saying that in every lifetime, no one would ever treat him sincerely.
He thought that such a curse wasn’t even necessary—his life was already like that.
Lifetime after lifetime, fear without love.
Xia Xunqian had promised his mother that he would live well.
He had also promised Old Master Xia.
Of course, he would live.
Even if he had to crawl through mud and filth, he would live.
Xia Xunqian took three lychees from his pocket and placed them in front of his mother’s tombstone.
The bright red lychees looked like blood. October was not the season for lychees—he had taken these few from the banquet, making them something rare.
They were his mother’s favorite.
Xia Xunqian glanced at the slightly smaller grave beside it, bitterness deepening on his face.
When Xia Xunqian left the cemetery, the rain had grown heavier.
At the outermost entrance, a tall man stood there, leaving a clean patch of ground.
Feng Lin held a black umbrella, his expression dark and oppressive.
No cat living under someone else’s roof should need its owner to come looking for it.
He looked at Xia Xunqian, whose hair was slightly wet. His restrained, cold aura matched perfectly with his formal suit.
The invisible pressure never eased.
“Come here.”