Xu Mingfu had never faced a situation like this. Staying together with an Omega in estrus was a fundamental test of his principles, and the other party was bold enough to invite an Alpha to stay by his side. Even if nothing happened, if word got out, the public’s spit could drown them both.
Fortunately, he hadn’t told anyone about coming here today, not even his mother.
Shao Yiqing was no ordinary Omega; he was neither proper nor restrained. The young and inexperienced could hardly hold their ground against him. Staying with someone like this, it wouldn’t be long before one took the bait and hooked themselves.
Xu Mingfu pinched the bridge of his nose, reached over, and buckled the collar ring. This action met with no obstruction from Shao Yiqing.
“What are your plans for the future?”
After a long silence, Shao Yiqing turned his gaze back to ask the question, tossing his cigar onto the coffee table.
Xu Mingfu watched the cigar still glowing with a spark. As it hit the table, sparks scattered in all directions, landing right on Shao Yiqing’s arched instep. Yet Shao Yiqing acted as if he couldn’t feel it at all, showing no reaction.
“The house has been sealed. Sheng Tingzhou is deliberately targeting us, and Xiangjiang is no longer a place we can stay.” Xu Mingfu said with bitter reluctance, “Still, we have connections in Shenzhen. Let’s head over there first and figure out a backup plan.”
“Do you think your mother will willingly leave?” Shao Yiqing had met Xu Wenhui and had a deep understanding of her ambition.
She was no simple woman; she had seen the big leagues. Going from frugality to luxury is easy, but going from luxury to frugality is hard. Could Xu Wenhui simply reconcile herself to this? She had spent half her life admiring the view from the peak.
“What else can we do if we don’t leave? Xiangjiang has been renamed and rebranded now. All those fence-sitters my dad paid off now answer to Sheng.” Xu Mingfu gave a bitter laugh, “Things have already come to this.”
For someone of his age to utter those words was both tragic and pathetic.
Shao Yiqing’s sympathy wasn’t so overflowing. Dynastic changes never stopped; let high towers rise and fall as they might. Calmly, he advised, “Your mother won’t stay put and behave. You’d better keep a close eye on her and persuade her otherwise. My understanding of the Sheng family isn’t deep, but based solely on the enmity your father brought upon them and the grudges forged, it’s impossible for the two of you to completely wash your hands of this. To pull any stunts under these circumstances is like throwing eggs at a rock. That man surnamed Sheng isn’t soft-hearted; he was already inclined to exterminate you all completely. Don’t go sticking your neck out over there.”
Thinking of his mother’s unwillingness to accept defeat and her attitude on the day of the signing, Xu Mingfu felt a wave of anxiety. “I will persuade her.”
Shao Yiqing sized the young man up. He lowered his feet, cleared away the ash from the corner of the coffee table, and said, “You are no match for Sheng Tingzhou. The grievances between the two families are best ended with your generation. Barring accidents, the next twenty years in Xiangjiang will belong to the Sheng family.”
“End it? My father’s entire life has been destroyed, and you want me to do nothing?”
“What can you possibly do?” Shao Yiqing’s tone turned sharp and utterly unsparing. “With your current methods and capabilities, Xu Mingfu, even if Sheng Tingzhou didn’t have the Sheng family backing him, what could you do?”
Xu Mingfu fell silent. He understood Sheng Tingzhou better than Shao Yiqing did. Although the two families had bad blood, whenever his father mentioned this man, it was always with a look of worry. His father had said Sheng Hang lived a life worth living to be able to father such a capable son. His mother always claimed Sheng Tingzhou was no good man, someone whose very facial bone structure betrayed roaring ambition. Spoken from the perspective of rivals, the undertone of these words sounded much more like a form of recognition.
Xu Mingfu had lived a simple life. From the moment he was born, his parents’ sole expectation for him was to study hard. He had been well-protected because his parents were confident that Ruirui would never fall.
Sheng Tingzhou was different. He was practically groomed to be a major player from the start. There was a fundamental difference in upbringing between him and Xu Mingfu.
“Besides, what does your father landing in prison have to do with them?” Shao Yiqing asked. “Did someone hold a knife to your father’s throat and force him to break the law?”
Xu Mingfu protested, unconvinced. “If not for them, the sentence wouldn’t have been this heavy.”
“Wouldn’t it?” Shao Yiqing sneered. Remembering that financial document, he questioned, “Do you even know what your father has done? Given his crimes, not executing him immediately is already an act of extraordinary mercy from the law.”
Displeasure clouded Xu Mingfu’s expression.
Seeing his stubborn demeanor, Shao Yiqing said no more. The slaughter between these two families had nothing to do with him, whoever died. He simply stopped while he was ahead. “Go back and have a good talk with your mother. Figure out your father’s ten major crimes, and talk about the rest of your lives as mother and son. Don’t muddy the waters here in Xiangjiang anymore; your Xu family has already been counted out.”
Being overprotected was also a crime.
The foolish crime of failing to read the situation.
The seed of doubt had been planted in Xu Mingfu’s heart by Shao Yiqing. He wondered what else his mother might be hiding from him. Things had come to this; he could accept anything now.
“What about you?” At that moment, Xu Mingfu suddenly asked.
Shao Yiqing looked up, unexpectedly reading a hint of worry in the other’s eyes, though whether it was genuine or feigned remained unclear. “You’re even worried about me?”
Xu Mingfu thought to himself: Right, what on earth am I doing? Does Shao Yiqing even need to be worried about? He certainly doesn’t lack men.
Sweeping his gaze up and down over Shao Yiqing, Xu Mingfu stood up.
“I’m heading back.” Xu Mingfu turned and left, letting that inexplicable sentence dissipate into the wind. He hurriedly pulled open the door and strode out without looking back.
Shao Yiqing watched Xu Mingfu walk a long way off, finding that kind of retreating figure and helplessness quite amusing.
After he left, Shao Yiqing picked up his phone and dialed a number, summoning someone to clean the room.
He didn’t stay idle either, heading to the bathroom. What needed cleaning wasn’t just the soiled furniture, but also his wretched self.
Once his estrus period passed, Shao Yiqing returned to the company.
The Bali project was progressing smoothly. The client came over today for negotiations, praising Jiachuang for being reliable and mentioning that they had long admired Shao Yiqing’s great reputation, traveling all the way inland just to meet him in person.
Coming from thousands of miles away, their sincerity spanned oceans and was far more meaningful than the heavy gifts they brought.
Yi Tao, the behind-the-scenes boss of the Haiyue Hotel, was no longer young, nearing forty-five. His last three generations had been real estate developers, making him a true mega-landlord by this generation. Generous with his wealth, the mega-landlord brought not only sincerity, but also a special, lavish gift.
“Do you like it?” Yi Tao presented the opened gift box to Shao Yiqing and said, “I had it custom-made, a limited edition. I heard Mr. Shao is graceful and renowned far and wide. Not being sure of your preferences, I could only make an educated guess.”
Inside the exquisitely packaged box lay a grayish-brown tie; its fine texture made the price tag behind it self-evident.
Clothing had its rules, and a tie served the purpose of adding the finishing touch and showcasing aesthetic taste. No matter how exquisite an outfit was, a mismatched tie would severely detract from its charm. Taste, much like a person’s face, determined the first impression in business cooperation.
Yi Tao might have been older, but his aesthetic sense was spot-on. The tie avoided flashy colors, opting for a low-key, cautious palette that wouldn’t look out of place with most outfits.
“Such a precious gift for me, President Yi? This junior feels rather uneasy in his heart.” On the surface, Shao Yiqing played along with polite words. The tie fit his aesthetic, but having seen everything, to him, it was no priceless treasure.
“Mr. Shao has fair skin and stunning looks, truly magnificent. My gift is too light to match Mr. Shao; I hope you’re magnanimous enough not to mind.” Yi Tao said with a beaming smile.
“You overestimate my status. Doubts about me in Xiangjiang are already numerous; if I add the crime of slighting you, how is Shao Yiqing supposed to survive here?”
Yi Tao laughed heartily.
“Since Mr. Shao doesn’t disdain it, I wonder if I have the honor of helping Mr. Shao put it on?” A dark, mysterious look crossed Yi Tao’s eyes, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth, a clever face with the complexity of someone deeply weathered by the world.
Shao Yiqing met his gaze. Half-sitting on the edge of his office desk, sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling window illuminated his exceptional physique. In a brief clash of glances, Shao Yiqing retrieved the tie from the box and handed it to Yi Tao. “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
Yi Tao grasped the tie, his gaze constantly drifting over Shao Yiqing’s face.
Tying a tie took only a minute, but the two men dragged this brief moment out for a long while. Shao Yiqing tilted his neck up slightly, cooperating with the other man. As Yi Tao tied it, his fingertips brushed against Shao Yiqing’s skin repeatedly and seemingly by accident, a slender, alluring, jade-like section of the neck, flawless and warm, smooth and delicate. That bright white neck and fragile pulse beating beneath the smooth skin were full of carnal allure and vitality.
Shao Yiqing’s gaze remained fixed on Yi Tao’s eyes, those sin-laden eyes he had probed in countless Alpha gazes.
Yi Tao lifted his eyes from time to time to meet Shao Yiqing’s gaze; that expression resembled a proud phoenix.
Shao Yiqing wore a white shirt today without a tie, the collar wide open, exposing his collarbones and skin entirely, hinting at even wilder scenery below. Yi Tao’s movements were slow, lingering over the tie for ages as he looped and flipped it.
Just as the atmosphere grew ambiguous, Deng Su suddenly barged in, accidentally walking right into this scene. He saw his superior with his chin tilted up and an arrogant expression, resembling a beautiful, tongue-flicking poisonous snake. A man stood right in front of him, the two of them nearly pressed completely together. Deng Su froze, but his knock had already fallen, too late to retract.
Two sharp knocks sounded.
Utterly ruining the mood.
“President Shao…” Deng Su said awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a guest.”
Because of the third person’s intrusion, the atmosphere between the two couldn’t continue. Yi Tao had no choice but to pull his hands back, looking at the finished product he had somehow completed and remarking, “It fits very well.”
Shao Yiqing lowered his gaze for a brief second, his fingertips brushing against the neatly knotted tie as he smiled and said, “You aren’t just pulling my leg?”
“Not pulling your leg. It truly fits very well, suits you wonderfully.” Yi Tao made no effort to hide his praise.
Shao Yiqing smiled again, shifting the topic. “Is this President Yi’s first time in Xiangjiang?”
Yi Tao replied, “Indeed it is. Xiangjiang has wonderful scenery; I should have come sooner.”
“Then I shall play the gracious host and treat President Yi to a proper tour of Xiangjiang.” Shao Yiqing instructed Deng Su, “Go ready the car, contact the people at Dongzhuang, and I’ll bring my friend over in thirty minutes.”
Deng Su nodded hurriedly. “Oh, right away.”
A few minutes later, Shao Yiqing and Yi Tao walked downstairs side by side.
Deng Su had arranged two cars. Shao Yiqing saw Yi Tao into the first car before slowly walking over to Deng Su’s vehicle. They could easily have traveled together, but Deng Su had prepared two cars anyway. This showed just how clever he was.
Yi Tao’s car pulled away first. Deng Su watched it go, already aware of the client’s identity. At that moment, Shao Yiqing also climbed into the car and reached up to unknot the tie, leaving Deng Su to his own internal musings: Was that a gift from Boss Yi?
Shao Yiqing tossed the removed tie onto the adjacent seat. “Knowing is half the battle.”
Gripping the steering wheel, Deng Su found it hard to comprehend. Giving a tie on a first meeting…
Wasn’t that a bit too ambiguous?
Giving personal items on a first encounter, was the other party clueless, or doing it on purpose? The answer was obvious.
Shao Yiqing was hardly ignorant of social unspoken rules, and he bluntly exposed it. “Coming thousands of miles with ulterior motives.”
Deng Su had witnessed that scene too and knew what it implied, evaluating it helplessly with a sigh, “How troublesome.”
As he drove toward the Dongzhuang Golf Course.
Along the way, Deng Su kept trying to gauge Shao Yiqing’s mood. Although his boss played fast and loose, he wasn’t someone who accepted all comers. Someone of Yi Tao’s status and standing was certainly sufficient, but his appearance wasn’t the type his boss usually went for, and the dynamic between the two was extremely delicate. Business partnerships could not withstand such tests.
Even someone of Shao Yiqing’s stature encountered such sticky situations, let alone others. Pondering this endlessly, Deng Su had no idea how to crack this dilemma. Yet Shao Yiqing acted completely unfazed, his face devoid of any heavy color, looking just like he was heading out for routine relaxation and entertainment without being affected in the slightest.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the Dongzhuang Golf Course.
Still feeling uncertain, Deng Su offered a reminder before stepping out of the car. “President Shao, no matter what, the other party has business cooperation with the company, and he’s a major client.”
“What are you trying to say?” Shao Yiqing lifted his eyelids.
Deng Su hesitated, gave the steering wheel a pat, and sighed. “Situations like this are tough to handle. You can’t fall out with President Yi, but you can’t just yield to him either. This… this I really don’t know what to say.”
Such troublesome baggage was easy for a top-tier looker to attract. Yet Shao Yiqing was already at the upper echelon and still ran into similar trouble; Deng Su didn’t even know how to evaluate it.
At that moment, a voice came from the back seat. “Don’t know how to handle it?”
“How can one handle it? It’s just… neither option works, hard to manage.” Deng Su turned around to look, gazing worriedly at Shao Yiqing. If his boss wasn’t in a good mood, the subordinates would suffer right along with him. Although Shao Yiqing wasn’t an unreasonable person, Deng Su didn’t just view him as a boss.
It had been too many years, and other emotions were mixed in as well.
If Shao Yiqing refused to acknowledge it, let it be dismissed as his own overestimation and wishful thinking.
“Get out of the car.” Shao Yiqing pushed the door open and stepped out. Just as Deng Su was left at his wit’s end, Shao Yiqing’s voice rang out briskly, “Class is in session.”