Feng Xingyun barely managed to suppress the turmoil in his heart, his gaze dark and complicated as he leaned back against the seat and looked at him sideways, making no effort to hide his mixed feelings.
His phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it.
Then, completely out of left field, he said, “You’re not quite what I expected you to be.”
Liu Duanhe didn’t rush him to answer the previous question, calmly keeping his eyes on the road ahead. “The heart is hidden behind the ribs, how much can you really see from a distance?”
Feng Xingyun let out an inexplicable chuckle. “You’re right. I apologize for my earlier prejudice.”
“What you think doesn’t really matter that much, what you do is what counts.”
Feng Xingyun waved his phone. “Zhao Yi and the others asked me to thank you. They’re all back at school safe and sound.”
“A lot of people used to say we didn’t get along. That probably had some impact on you too, caused you some trouble.”
Up ahead was a traffic light. Liu Duanhe stopped the car to wait, a little surprised by how proactively Feng Xingyun was opening up. When he’d woken up in the hospital, Liu Duanhe could already tell that Feng Xingyun had a problem with him, though it had clearly faded over the past few days. He’d assumed they would tacitly agree to ignore the matter and never bring it up.
Liu Duanhe smiled gently. “After all, I’m not money, it’s only natural that some people won’t like me. I don’t mind. But I’ll accept your apology. What I said earlier was also out of line, so I’ll apologize to you too. I hope you can accept it.”
Feng Xingyun said calmly, “It’s fine, I don’t mind. My rotten temper, even my own family can’t stand me. You were right to chew me out, since that was your friend’s little brother after all.”
Liu Duanhe glanced at him and said softly, “It’s not that they can’t stand your temper, it’s just that things hadn’t reached the point where you needed to step in. Getting angry harms the liver. Maybe you should see a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.”
“I know you have a good heart, but you still need to rein in your emotions in your daily behavior. After all, you can’t always expect others to accommodate you. Reducing the highs and lows of your emotions is also better for your health.”
The black Bentley pulled forward. Feng Xingyun was still capable of putting himself in others’ shoes. “Go to the apartment.”
Then he added, “So I try to avoid situations that require constant socializing. I don’t want to accommodate others, and I don’t want others to accommodate me.”
Liu Duanhe smiled without a care. “That’s one way to do it. Keeping a lifestyle that’s comfortable for you is what matters most. I’m just offering advice, the decision is ultimately yours.”
He turned the steering wheel to round a corner onto the next road. Fortunately, there were few cars on the road right now, otherwise, Liu Duanhe wouldn’t have chosen to chat while driving.
Feng Xingyun turned his head to watch Liu Duanhe’s profile as he focused on the road. “If we’d known each other in high school, maybe we could have been friends back then.”
Liu Duanhe smiled. “It’s not too late now.”
Feng Xingyun turned back, his lashes lowering, and gave a noncommittal “Mm.”
Liu Duanhe mulled it over, unconsciously starting to wonder, with that tone, could something bad have happened to him in high school?
His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he drove the car into the garage.
It was too late at night, so they didn’t run into anyone on the elevator ride up. Liu Duanhe scrolled through his contacts, found the detective he worked with most frequently, and sent a request: investigate Feng Xingyun’s life from childhood to the present. At the end of the day, Liu Duanhe’s moral compass wasn’t all that rigid, since Feng Xingyun was his partner, he needed to know everything about him.
These people who operated in the gray areas were the most commonly used blades of wealthy families. In a society governed by law, most of what they did was help rich wives find mistresses or track down lost dogs for their kids. But sometimes, there were bigger jobs, like this one.
They rubbed shoulders with all sorts of people, so their information channels were naturally extensive.
Liang Qi was still online and replied with a “Got it” in seconds.
Just as they stepped out of the elevator and Liu Duanhe unlocked the door with his fingerprint, the door across the hall suddenly burst open with a bang.
The moment he saw who it was, his expression froze.
Chen Xingdong was still wearing his going-out clothes, dressed like he was about to leave, but his clumsy acting gave away that he’d been lying in wait.
He said with exaggerated surprise, “Xiao He, you actually live right across from me, what a coincidence!”
Feng Xingyun let out a cold laugh first. “Coincidence? More like premeditated, if you ask me.”
Liu Duanhe was also nearing his limit with Chen Xingdong. Previously, he’d turned a blind eye to all sorts of things the man did, out of respect for the fact that the Chen family and his own had been close for generations, his grandfather and Chen Xingdong’s late grandfather had been good friends, and they’d grown up together.
Chen Xingdong was handsome, with a pair of eyes as dark and glossy as soaked black beans. He looked at Liu Duanhe with a hint of feigned surprise and grievance. “Xiao He, is he your new friend?”
He’d never seen this man around Liu Duanhe before. He wasn’t bad-looking either, and he was even coming back to Liu Duanhe’s place with him at night. Chen Xingdong immediately grew wary. He put on an intimate air to show how different his relationship with Liu Duanhe was, then cast a slightly smug, provocative glance at Feng Xingyun.
Liu Duanhe cut off Chen Xingdong mid-sentence. “Xiao Dong, don’t lie. It’s too obvious. Who told you I live here?”
An unresolved suitor showing up in front of his current partner, this was absolutely terrible. Liu Duanhe’s good mood was nearly ruined by Chen Xingdong’s sudden appearance.
Chen Xingdong played dumb, pressing the joystick on his wheelchair to move closer to Liu Duanhe. “Xiao He, you don’t care about me anymore. My leg hurts so much.”
Liu Duanhe sighed. “Chen Xingdong, don’t make me ask a second time. Who told you my address?”
Chen Xingdong knew he couldn’t keep pretending. Having grown up with Liu Duanhe, he understood him well enough to know that Liu Duanhe would never ask a question a third time.
Reluctantly, he said, “Secretary Zhang told me. I gave him a Rolex Daytona.”
Having ratted the man out, Chen Xingdong didn’t bother pleading for Secretary Zhang’s leniency, because it would be completely useless. Once Liu Duanhe made a decision, he never wavered because of others.
Although his chief secretary was Secretary Wei, and all other secretaries on the team reported to Wei, Liu Duanhe had some impression of everyone he’d met.
A secretary who would sell his privacy for a watch worth around three hundred thousand yuan could just as easily steal commercial secrets for more money in the future, and might have already done so. Secretary Wei was asleep now, but tomorrow Liu Duanhe would definitely conduct a thorough investigation and then have Secretary Zhang leave with a lawsuit on his back.
Pushing Secretary Wei’s WeChat contact to Chen Xingdong, Liu Duanhe didn’t want to say more. “Send the transaction records for the watch and the evidence of bribery to Secretary Wei tomorrow. We’ll pursue legal action.”
Feng Xingyun was still surprised by Liu Duanhe’s attitude, he’d never been this bluntly forceful before.
Hearing this, Chen Xingdong spoke up worriedly, “If you sue him, what if he holds a grudge and retaliates against you, Xiao He?”
Feng Xingyun couldn’t help but glance at him in astonishment. He’d seen bad-hearted people before, but never someone this cold-blooded. The man was going to be fired, and possibly face a lawsuit, precisely because he’d leaked information in exchange for something from Chen Xingdong, and Chen Xingdong could immediately switch perspectives and start offering strategic advice.
A textbook case of crossing the bridge and burning it, killing the donkey after the mill work is done.
Liu Duanhe, however, remained expressionless. “If he hasn’t crossed the legal red line, then naturally there won’t be punishment beyond the limit. He brought it on himself. As for whether he’ll retaliate against me, my bodyguards aren’t paid to sit around.”
Public security was much better now than it used to be. When he was five or six, surveillance cameras weren’t as widespread, making it hard to catch criminals, he’d nearly been kidnapped back then.
His grandfather and father had faced even more danger. Decades ago, on a business trip to Hong Kong, they’d had a gun pressed to their heads. As long as you lived in this world, you were bound to make enemies, even if you didn’t provoke anyone, conflicts of interest would offend people, or attract those with ill intentions.
College did present many inconveniences, such as having no place to put bodyguards. Bringing a group of bodyguards to class would not only draw attention but also leave a bad impression.
Chen Xingdong opened his mouth. “Fine, I know Xiao He has it all figured out.”
His address was intimate, and after hearing it, Liu Duanhe glanced sidelong at Feng Xingyun from the corner of his eye. Feng Xingyun’s lips were pressed into a flat line, arms crossed, silent.
This Chen Xingdong, every sentence was designed to show that he and Liu Duanhe had known each other for years and shared an extraordinary bond.
Feng Xingyun was annoyed. From the very first time he’d watched Chen Xingdong confess to Liu Duanhe in the crowd, he’d disliked him. A well-put-together fake person, and because he shared the same major and class as Liu Duanhe, Feng Xingyun had spent over a year frequently witnessing the scene of Chen Xingdong making advances while the crowd egged him on.
Liu Duanhe refused every time, but always said it gently and politely, they could even still chat like nothing had happened when they met.
Feng Xingyun knew he could never do that. A rejection should sever all hope, not even friends, not a single thread of contact. That was the most thorough way.
His mouth turned down, arms crossed, a clearly aggressive, contemptuous expression.
Liu Duanhe withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and made a decision in an instant. “Chen Xingdong, don’t call me so intimately. I think you should still remember what I said when I rejected you before, so I won’t repeat it.”
He grabbed Feng Xingyun’s crossed arm. “Since we’re already together, and you’re jealous right now, it’s better that we make our relationship known to him.”
Suppressing his reluctance and mentally telling himself he’d wash his hands as soon as he got back, Liu Duanhe intertwined his hand with Feng Xingyun’s, raised it, and said to Chen Xingdong, “This is my boyfriend. Please stop doing things that trouble me from now on.”
Feng Xingyun was completely frozen. Liu Duanhe was holding his hand.
Apart from the time he’d taken Liu Duanhe to the hospital, this was the first intimate, skin-to-skin contact they’d ever had, no barrier between them.
The world suddenly went quiet. The words Liu Duanhe spoke entered his brain but couldn’t be processed.
All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
Fortunately, his expression was always expressionless, no dramatic change, no crumbling of the scene.
Chen Xingdong’s expression was the exact opposite, it could only be described as extremely unpleasant.
He forced a smile and said, “How is that possible? Xiao He, you must be joking with me. I’ve never heard of such a person before, how could a boyfriend suddenly appear out of nowhere?”
At that point, a flash of inspiration struck Chen Xingdong, and he seized on the loophole. “There hasn’t been even the slightest rumor or trace of anything. Xiao He, you’re not just using some guy as a shield to fool me, are you?”