“At least he’s not crazy.” Liu Duanhe blinked and smiled.
Feng Xingyun nodded, his tall frame leaning against a pillar in the parking lot, long legs bent at an angle. “You’re right.”
Liu Duanhe held back, then couldn’t resist grabbing his arm and pulling him up. “Don’t lean on the pillar. It’s dirty.”
Feng Xingyun straightened up and, unusually, rubbed his nose with a hint of embarrassment. “I forgot.”
Even after getting into the car, he didn’t lean against the seatback the entire ride, keeping his back ramrod straight like a well-behaved schoolboy.
For safety reasons, Liu Duanhe always drove with full focus. It wasn’t until they reached the racetrack that he noticed Feng Xingyun’s posture.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “You kept that position the whole way?”
“Actually, after I drive the car once, it goes into the garage and then gets sent for cleaning.”
Feng Xingyun was silent for a moment after hearing that, pressing his lips together without a word, his ears turning red in the darkness. He let out a scoff. “That’s a quirk.”
Liu Duanhe wasn’t offended. “My psychiatrist also says it’s a psychological condition. Maybe once my stress levels drop, I’ll be cured.”
Feng Xingyun frowned. “Isn’t it just you in your family? Why is your stress so high?”
Liu Duanhe said calmly, “There’s a lot to bear, high expectations for myself, of course the pressure builds.” It was clear he didn’t want to elaborate further.
This time, Feng Xingyun’s attitude was much more composed. At least it wasn’t dismissive this time, and every family has its own troubles, he could understand if Liu Duanhe didn’t want to talk about it.
Liu Duanhe pulled out the keys and got out first. Seeing this, Feng Xingyun unbuckled his seatbelt and caught up, walking alongside him.
He had contacted the racetrack manager in advance before leaving. As soon as they entered the track, they were met with screams from men and women alike, a boiling, jubilant uproar.
The racetrack was lively late at night, filled with all kinds of second-generation heirs, young masters and misses, along with their hangers-on and a large number of staff serving them.
Tires scraped sparks against the ground as they chased each other wildly, and the audience erupted in another wave of excited screams, squeezing out everyone’s raw, primal adrenaline.
The drivers who had once raced on F3 circuits now faced a dilemma: go all out, or go easy on those young heirs and heiresses to keep the spectacle from turning ugly.
After all, having a bunch of amateur rich kids compete against professional racers who made their living on the track, winning a place was practically a fantasy.
Liu Duanhe, overwhelmed by the noise, sat directly in the last row.
Feng Xingyun followed and sat beside him. Since the place was essentially booked out and not open to the public, almost everyone was in the front rows, leaving the back completely empty.
He turned his head and said, “You can sit in the front. No need to worry about me.”
The seats in the stands were cramped, and Liu Duanhe’s presence was very tangible at this distance. Feng Xingyun felt a bit uneasy, his dark eyes flicking back to the front in less than a second.
“Too many people, crowded up front. Annoying.”
Liu Duanhe nodded in deep agreement.
The two sat quietly in the back, watching the race. By the time they’d entered, the event was already halfway through, but neither of them minded.
After watching for a while, Liu Duanhe, who had originally known nothing about it, began to find it interesting, the strategy team’s decisions, the drivers’ choices on tire hardness, and so on. It was genuinely entertaining and thrilling.
But this peaceful, tranquil atmosphere was soon shattered by an unexpected interruption.
Someone in the front row turned their head casually and noticed the two figures in the back.
And Liu Duanhe’s face was undeniably recognizable.
Even if some of the second-generation heirs present had never crossed paths with Liu Duanhe, they’d surely run into him at banquets, there was no way they wouldn’t recognize him.
The red-haired guy put down the streamer in his hand and walked eagerly to the back row.
It turned out to be someone Liu Duanhe knew. Recently, their families’ companies had been collaborating on a project. The red-haired guy’s older brother, the heir to Changfeng Group and currently serving as executive president, was close with Liu Duanhe.
Chang Wennuo, acting familiar, greeted him from a distance, practically shouting because the noise on the track was so loud.
“Brother Liu, why are you here watching the races?”
Liu Duanhe put on his business-style warm smile. “I came with a friend.”
He hesitated for a moment, then decided not to specify their relationship. Even though same-sex marriage laws had passed a few years ago, public opinion hadn’t shifted that quickly overall.
He’d previously scrolled through his Moments and other private social feeds, there were no public announcements. It was likely they were keeping their relationship under wraps, so without consulting Feng Xingyun first, he’d stick to keeping it confidential.
Chang Wennuo wasn’t surprised by the answer at all. Young Master Liu was famously good-tempered, charismatic, and had plenty of friends.
Even his cold, sharp-tongued, utterly heartless eldest brother couldn’t find a bad word to say about Liu Duanhe. Whenever he chatted with their father, the moment Liu Duanhe came up, the two would launch into a contest of praise for him, heaping on compliments without end, especially about his work ethic. Even “smiling tiger” had become a term of praise in his case.
He’d been brought along to meet Liu Duanhe a few times, and all he could say was that the reputation was well deserved. No wonder he was universally acknowledged as the top-tier figure of their generation in their circle.
Taking another look at Feng Xingyun, Chang Wennuo finally remembered who he was. “Ah, I know you. Your family’s main business is medical, and you later pivoted to semiconductors, right?”
They’d crossed paths a few times since they both loved sports cars. Though Feng Xingyun rarely showed up at the various family banquets, partly because his family had only moved to the capital city in recent years, and partly because he’d been busy with high school and disliked the ostentatious, fake atmosphere of those events, where anyone could strike up a conversation with anyone else.
Given his rebellious temperament back then, ignoring people could easily offend them and lead to fights.
Fortunately, thanks to his parents’ hard work and drive, his family had seen explosive growth in recent years, already on the verge of breaking from the second tier into the top three. This had earned the long-absent Feng Xingyun a bit of a reputation as well.
Feng Xingyun gave a cold, curt nod, showing no desire to talk at all, a hint of irritation at being disturbed flickering in his eyes.
Liu Duanhe glanced at him and smoothed things over. “Why don’t you sit down too? I heard from your brother that you’re preparing to go abroad for a master’s degree?”
“How come you haven’t left yet?”
Chang Wennuo had a temper of his own. Sensing Feng Xingyun’s impatience, his face immediately went blank and darkened.
Hearing Liu Duanhe’s words, he hesitated for a moment before taking the out and sitting down with Liu Duanhe. “There are still some paperwork matters to wrap up.”
Liu Duanhe smiled, his left hand gently pressing down on Feng Xingyun’s arm to hold him in place. “Your big brother is always praising you to me, says you’re sensible and love to study.”
Chang Wennuo’s mouth twitched. “He actually says nice things about me out there?”
“He’s a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. There’s a lot he’s too embarrassed to say to you directly, but actually, he’s very proud of you.”
Chang Wennuo couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from curling up. “Then what else has he told you about me, Brother Liu?”
Seeing that Chang Wennuo’s attitude had clearly softened and he’d forgotten the earlier unpleasantness, Liu Duanhe smiled and continued, “When we were having dinner, he mentioned that you were very brave as a child. When the girl at your desk was bullied by the kid behind her pulling her ponytail and started crying, you stepped in to stop him and even called the teacher over to educate him together.”
Chang Wennuo’s face slowly turned red. “Ah, really, why does my brother have to tell you everything.”
The two chatted easily while watching the race, but Liu Duanhe didn’t forget about Feng Xingyun either, occasionally drawing him into the conversation.
Since they all loved watching car circuit races, they did find some common ground to talk about.
By the time the race ended, Chang Wennuo felt that Liu Duanhe was practically his own brother from another mother, good-looking, with a heart of gold, and skilled at smoothing over his relationships with his father and brother. The “smiling tiger” label they’d given him was pure slander!
It was all envy and jealousy!
After they parted reluctantly at the door, mainly because Chang Wennuo was clinging to Liu Duanhe like a lovesick puppy, with endless things to say, Feng Xingyun’s face had darkened to the color of a pot bottom.
If Liu Duanhe hadn’t said he’d drive Feng Xingyun home, Chang Wennuo would have dragged him back to his own house.
After opening the car door and sitting down, Feng Xingyun let out a snort and said coldly, “Has that Chang Wennuo never spoken a word in his life? He hasn’t shut up all night.”
Liu Duanhe turned his head expressionlessly to stare at him, then pinched his arm hard. “If I hadn’t been there just now, were you planning to throw hands directly?”
He wasn’t really a patient person, trouble-making behavior was always what he hated most.
Feng Xingyun winced at the pain but didn’t get angry. Being scolded and snapped at by Liu Duanhe without any restraint felt strangely novel to him.
He didn’t push back against Liu Duanhe, only said, “He had a problem too, he was provoking me with his eyes.”
Liu Duanhe shifted sideways, leaning in close. Feng Xingyun’s pupils contracted sharply as the face before him grew larger.
The cold, pale skin was still dazzling even in the dim car, black hair and red lips, devastatingly handsome.
He lightly patted Feng Xingyun’s cheek and said calmly, “So are you a dog? You get triggered by a single look?”
It was clearly an insult, but Feng Xingyun found himself shamefully unbothered, in fact, his heart was starting to race, his throat going dry, as if excited.
His open collar revealed his neck and chest muscles. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared fixedly at Liu Duanhe’s moving lips, the vivid red mouth, the snow-white teeth. He was expressionless, yet impossibly sexy.
Feng Xingyun awkwardly pushed Liu Duanhe away, shifted uncomfortably to cross his legs, nodded a few times in a daze, and began questioning his life.
Liu Duanhe didn’t think anything of it and didn’t press the matter further. After a few brief remarks, he brought up where Feng Xingyun would be staying tonight.
Before getting into the car, he glanced at his watch, it was already 10:30. If he drove back to school, he definitely wouldn’t make it in time. Fortunately, his two roommates had tipped him off that there was no dorm check tonight.
After a moment’s thought, Liu Duanhe said, “So tonight, do you want to stay at a hotel, or come with me to my apartment near campus?”
It was already this late, and Liu Duanhe couldn’t be bothered to make the trip back to the family estate. Staying at the apartment by the school meant he could sleep in a bit more tomorrow anyway.
His two hands rested casually on the steering wheel, looking even paler and more slender against it, like a work of art carved from white jade. Only the knuckles and fingertips carried a faint misty pink, with no prominent joints visible, as delicate as scallion roots.