Four people sat in the living room while Aunt Wu finished setting out the tea and retreated to the side. The atmosphere felt even harder to grasp than the scalding hot tea.
Ji Chen looked as though there were thorns on his chair, shifting this way and that, completely unable to sit still.
Breaking the silence was Lan Ying, whose facial expression carried an indescribable flavor, though a clear sense of regret was evident.
“Xiaochen, earlier when Aunt Wu called me to say you had brought a girl home, Mom was so happy, thinking you had finally gotten a girlfriend. Later on, we figured out it was just a misunderstanding.”
“That girl Zhou Qing is not bad, but considering your sister’s relationship with her, you two don’t have much of a chance. In my heart, Mom was just wondering when you would finally have a girlfriend, get married, and have children so your dad and I could retire at home and bounce our grandchildren on our knees.”
“Yet Mom never imagined that something so simple could go completely off the rails. Mom just wants to know, are you serious about this?”
Of course not! Ji Chen shouted loudly in his mind.
In that single moment of silence, Ji Heng’s gaze suddenly sharpened as he turned his attention toward Fu Chi.
Naturally, one’s own child is always fine in every way; if they make a mistake, it must be because someone else led them astray. This was Ji Heng’s habitual mode of understanding.
Even though he had long known that Ji Chen wasn’t entirely willing to be with him, a heavy fog of gloom still lingered in Fu Chi’s heart at that moment.
Just as he was about to speak, Ji Chen beat him to it: “Dad, Mom, I don’t know what being serious means, and I can’t predict the future, but please don’t make a move against Fu Chi. This is our business.”
“Whether I’m being bullied or I’m bullying him, I hope you won’t intervene. I know what I’m doing, and Fu Chi is far more capable than you think. I’m moving upward, not downward.”
“I don’t want to use the Ji family’s overwhelming power to force him into anything; it would make me uncomfortable. Whatever the ending turns out to be, let us write it ourselves. I’ve been an adult for a long time, I can make my own decisions, right?”
Lan Ying furrowed her brows: “Xiaochen, Mom isn’t trying to force you into anything, but how can you walk blindly forward through life’s biggest milestones? Your relationship has been made public, and you might not think much of it now, but what will you do if you two break up in the future and you have to face a future wife?”
Ji Chen chuckled: “Mom, you’re thinking way too far ahead. Leaving aside the fact that with the Ji family’s standing, countless women would throw themselves at me, even if I genuinely met my true love one day, would someone who couldn’t accept all of my past really be true love?”
Lan Ying was left speechless: “This…” It actually sounded somewhat reasonable.
With one person silenced, Ji Heng stepped up. Having navigated the business world for so many years, he was clearly not someone who could be dismissed with just a few words.
Instead of targeting his son, he looked straight at Fu Chi: “You have nothing to say? From the videos, it looked like you were being quite forceful with my son.”
Ji Chen’s eyelids twitched violently. What kind of phrasing was that? Was he some helpless young maiden being forced against her will?
Fu Chi didn’t show any levity, speaking with utmost earnestness: “Just as you think, this relationship started because I forced Ji Chen from the very beginning. Even now, he’s still not entirely willing; I suppose I practically bent him myself.”
Ji Heng’s expression grew steadily stern: “You are indeed exceptional. I didn’t pay attention to the Fu Corporation’s affairs at first, but looking into it closely recently, even if Xiaochen hadn’t stepped in, the Fu Corporation would have eventually belonged to you anyway.”
“Disliked by your parents and at odds with your brothers, yet able to plant your own nails deep inside the Fu Corporation under those conditions—calling you exceptional is an understatement. Because of your relationship with Xiaochen, the Fu Corporation’s standing has risen sharply lately.”
“You’ve been striving for cooperation with every single company Xiaochen has taken over, even expanding into sectors the Fu Corporation doesn’t normally touch. If this keeps up, the Fu Corporation’s infiltration into Qingsheng will only grow deeper, making it difficult to sever ties even if Xiaochen ever wanted to in the future.”
“Do you actually like Xiaochen, or do you like the heir of the Ji family?”
Ji Chen was momentarily stunned, turning his head to glare angrily: “Have we really collaborated on that many things? How come I didn’t notice?”
Fu Chi reached out to ruffle Ji Chen’s hair: “Before this, you really were just eating, drinking, and having fun; your commercial sensitivity is way too far behind. During this period, every time I came and went through the companies under your management, did you really think I was just taking a stroll?”
Ji Chen’s face darkened: “Fu Chi! Do you have any shame left?”
“Having shame is useless. If I want you, I need to have enough backing. I’ve never felt I was inferior to anyone else. Perhaps my accumulation in this lifetime will still struggle to surpass Qingsheng, but as you said, we have to move upward.”
“You were born standing above most people, pampered as you grew up. That’s both a blessing and a misfortune; your parents can’t protect you for a lifetime. Once you take the helm of the Qingsheng Group, you’ll have to face a lot more.”
“I don’t want to just stand around watching when that time comes. If I have the opportunity to develop the Fu Corporation, I’ll use any means necessary. Ji Chen, you might feel uncertain about the future of this relationship, but my goal has always been clear. I’m serious.”
With that, Fu Chi turned his gaze back to Ji Heng: “Your question is easy to answer. My answer is that I like Ji Chen, and everything about him, including his status as the heir.”
Lan Ying’s expression shifted with emotion; it was clear she could tell the young man meant every word he said.
She had already held a special fondness for Fu Chi to begin with, and now that notion was beginning to waver.
Ji Heng, however, was not so easily handled, and delivered a cold, indifferent statement: “I believe your words right now come from the heart, but it’s just a momentary surge of emotion. Young people are always far too easily swayed by feelings.”
“Once the passion fades, or your perspective shifts years down the line—just as you said, I can’t protect Ji Chen forever. Once you weave a web across Qingsheng, my son will become a trapped beast.”
“No matter how nicely you phrase it, it cannot mask a man’s ambition and desire for control. In this relationship, you are clearly the overwhelmingly dominant one, lacking neither worldly experience nor strategic depth. If Xiaochen matches up against you, he’s the one who stands to lose more. As a father, I don’t look favorably on your relationship.”
“There’s no point in saying anything more right now, and I don’t plan to use brute force either. Xiaochen, your old man has just one thing to say: before I completely step down from Qingsheng, I still have the capability to crush everything the Fu Corporation holds. You can keep him around to play with, but do not give him any authority.”
Having said his piece, Ji Heng pulled a bewildered-looking Lan Ying away with him. Was that comment meant the way she thought it was?
After they left, Ji Chen proudly raised his chin: “Fu Chi, scared yet? If you’re scared, you’d better run far away while you still can, otherwise I’m just going to keep you around as a toy, and my dad said he’s going to wipe out everything you own, you know.”
Fu Chi yanked the arrogant fellow into his arms, pinched that upturned chin, and lowered his voice deliberately: “Little young master, are you really going to destroy everything I own?”
Ji Chen shivered at the husky, muted tone echoing like temple wind chimes. Meanwhile, Fu Chi’s other hand slipped under his shirt, tapping rhythmically against his slender waist as his gaze locked firmly onto those puppy eyes that instantly rippled with emotion.
Ji Chen’s face turned a shade of sickly green, and using the very last bit of strength left in his mouth, he clamped down hard on Fu Chi’s shoulder in a vicious bite!
You bastard, you really know all his sensitive spots, don’t you.
Fu Chi let out a low chuckle, returning the favor in kind as he buried his face in the crook of Ji Chen’s neck, though without exerting any real force.
The posture between the two of them was truly ambiguous. Aunt Wu, returning after seeing the master and madam off to the door, caught sight of the scene. Her face turned white then red, red then cyan, until she finally covered her eyes and backed away in defeat.
Unable to hold himself back any longer from teasing the little young master in his arms, Fu Chi prepared to carry him upstairs. It had been so long, yet they still hadn’t crossed that final threshold.
Instead, Ji Chen grabbed him by the shirt: “Fu Chi, if I really took away everything you own, how would you treat me?”