“Yo, Jiaxin, you’re finally here. What took you so long? We’ve been waiting just for you.”
Qi Xuan greeted him with an easy smile, completely skipping over Song Shiyi as though he didn’t even exist.
Since there was some entertainment to look forward to tonight, he wasn’t as drunk as he had been yesterday. Instead, he lounged lazily on the couch, posture relaxed, and waved for Song Jiaxin to come sit beside him.
Song Jiaxin smiled back and, with the same unspoken understanding, ignored Song Shiyi entirely as he walked over. After all, the whole point of coming tonight was to make trouble for him.
Teenagers had thin skin and pride that bruised easily. Thrown into a completely unfamiliar environment and treated like air, left standing there while everyone else laughed and chatted, anyone’s defenses would crumble fast.
Qi Xuan knew this perfectly well. He wrapped an arm around Song Jiaxin’s shoulder, chatting idly about this and that, deliberately pretending not to notice the silent figure still standing by the door.
His delicate, sharp-featured face and narrow eyes gave him the sly look of a fox, one that never meant anything good.
Poor thing.
Bai Xu, who wasn’t curled up in his usual corner by the window tonight, had chosen a better spot: half-sitting on the armrest of Qi Xuan’s sofa.
The half-genuine sympathy that rose to his tongue quickly faded; he swallowed it down with another sip of liquor.
Everyone in this crowd was the same kind of rotten, each one full of cunning and malice.
He wasn’t interested in such low-level tactics as ignoring someone to make them squirm. What he wanted was something more exciting.
“Jiaxin, what happened to that bandage on your head?” Bai Xu asked suddenly, feigning ignorance as he went straight for the point.
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that myself since you walked in,” Qi Xuan chimed in smoothly, following Bai Xu’s lead. His expression turned theatrically shocked and angry. “Don’t tell me someone hit you?”
Terrible acting.
Bai Xu rolled his eyes in disgust when Qi Xuan glanced his way. But the words did their job, the conversation shifted exactly where they wanted it.
Song Jiaxin covered the wound on his forehead. There were no outsiders here; everyone knew what kind of people they were.
So he didn’t bother pretending to be pitiful. Instead, his teeth clenched and his voice dripped venom as he glared at Song Shiyi, who still stood quietly by the door.
“Who else? That half-brother of mine who suddenly popped up out of nowhere.”
“Oh? Jiaxin’s brother is here too? My apologies, didn’t see you there earlier,” Qi Xuan said with exaggerated surprise, as if only just noticing Song Shiyi’s presence.
He waved him over, not with courtesy, but with a lazy crook of his finger, like someone calling a dog.
Song Shiyi’s eyes were cold as he started forward, but before he could take another step, a heavy weight dropped onto his shoulder from behind.
Shao Zhuoran, tall and broad, leaned half his body against him, easily using his size to pin him down. He wore a sleeveless shirt, showing off smooth, powerful muscles that exuded strength. His casual posture made him look like a beast lying in wait.
“Looks like I’m a bit late,” he said cheerfully, though there was no warmth in it. His breath brushed over Song Shiyi’s ear, hot enough to make him frown slightly.
“Actually,” Shao added with a faint grin, “I’d say you came just in time.”
He looked down at the boy in his arms, eyes narrowing as he examined him openly. “So you’re Song Shiyi?”
Perfect. Everyone was here. Not one missing.
Good.
Song Shiyi tilted his head slightly and gave Shao Zhuoran a smile, his first since entering the room. It was mild and pure, yet laced with a quiet, dangerous charm that made Shao Zhuoran pause for a heartbeat.
What’s that supposed to mean?
Before he could figure it out, Song Shiyi pressed a finger against Shao’s arm, lightly pushing it aside. Then, ducking out from under his arm, he stepped toward Bai Xu and the others.
“What do you want with me?” he asked, still wearing that exact same calm smile.
It was a smile Song Jiaxin knew too well. His scalp tingled instantly, a bad feeling creeping up his spine.
But Bai Xu didn’t notice anything wrong. He merely lifted his chin toward the ice bucket in front of him and swirled the empty glass in his hand. “Pour me a drink.”
The words came out light and dismissive, as if he were speaking to a waiter.
Song Shiyi nodded politely, reached into the ice bucket for a bottle of wine, uncorked it neatly, and tilted it toward Bai Xu’s glass.
So, just another spineless pushover. Bai Xu lost interest immediately.
But in the next moment
Cold liquid splashed down his head in a steady stream.
It took Bai Xu several seconds to process what was happening. He just froze there, drenched from head to toe, until Song Shiyi emptied the entire bottle.
“Had enough to drink?” Song Shiyi asked mildly, lowering the bottle. “Good. Now, can you answer me? What did you want with me?”
Bai Xu’s fingers twitched around the stem of his glass. The light-colored sweater he wore was soaked through, ruined but that was the least of his concerns.
No one, not once in his life, had ever dared humiliate him like this.
Qi Xuan couldn’t help himself, he burst out laughing. He hadn’t expected things to take such a delightful turn.
“Try laughing again,” Bai Xu hissed through gritted teeth.
Qi Xuan raised both hands in mock surrender, pretending to zip his lips shut.
Only then did Bai Xu look properly at Song Shiyi, his eyes narrowing as he scanned him from head to toe.
“So you’re that son the Song family just brought back?” he said coldly. His fury had burned into an icy calm, and he spoke with the same aristocratic arrogance he always wore like armor. “What was your name again?”
“Song Shiyi,” Shao Zhuoran called from behind with a mocking grin. “Didn’t we just say that? Man, your memory sucks.”
Bai Xu’s eyelid twitched violently. Without a word, he hurled his wineglass backward at Shao Zhuoran.
Idiot. Was it really that hard to catch on when someone was trying to humiliate another person?
“I overestimated you,” Bai Xu spat, turning back to Song Shiyi. His eyes gleamed with cold malice. “You hit Jiaxin, fine, that’s family business. If he can’t deal with you, that’s his problem.”
Song Jiaxin’s face tightened uncomfortably, but he stayed quiet, eager to see Song Shiyi finally get what was coming.
“But stepping out of your house and daring to act arrogant in front of me?” Bai Xu’s voice dropped lower, sharp and cruel. “What the hell do you think you are? Looking to die?”
The last words were barely out of his mouth before he snatched up the ice pick from the table and lunged straight at Song Shiyi.
He didn’t hold back, if that landed, there would be blood.
But Song Shiyi moved fast. He twisted aside, seized Bai Xu’s wrist, and forced it back with a sharp motion that made the weapon clatter to the floor.
The shift was so sudden even Qi Xuan froze. “Holy shit! you actually fought back?”
He had thought he was wild, but this kid was something else entirely.
Song Shiyi didn’t stop there. He yanked Bai Xu forward and slammed his head down into the ice bucket.
The man thrashed violently, bubbles and splashes flying as his face hit the crushed ice.
The icy water burned his lungs; he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even scream properly. His fists pounded the table, knocking over bottles and glasses in a chaotic crash.
Song Shiyi’s expression wavered, his mind slipping somewhere far away. He had known what Bai Xu was about to do, not by instinct, but because he’d seen it before, in another life, another world, when Bai Xu had stabbed someone just like that.
He could still remember the casual way he had pulled the bloody ice pick out afterward, tapping its sharp tip rhythmically against his victim’s exposed neck.
“Don’t move,” he had said then, voice soft and dangerous. “Otherwise, I might do something you’ll regret.”
The phantom memory made Song Shiyi tremble, and he pressed Bai Xu’s head down even harder.
Qi Xuan saw the look in his eyes and realized things were going too far. He rushed forward and grabbed Song Shiyi’s arm. “Are you trying to kill him?!”
The touch of skin made Song Shiyi’s stomach twist. Qi Xuan’s hand was cold, snakelike. The sensation dragged darker memories from the depths of his mind, fragments of pain and helplessness flashing before his eyes.
He wanted to vomit. He wanted to tear away. He wanted to be clean.
“Let go,” he said, voice calm only by force.
Qi Xuan didn’t listen. He leaned closer, murmuring something teasing and low by his ear.
Song Shiyi couldn’t make out the words, only the mocking tone. The pulse in his temple pounded violently. His teeth clenched until his jaw ached.
He barely remembered why he’d come here in the first place.
But he remembered them.
The laughter. The humiliation. The countless times he could’ve fought back but couldn’t. His body had refused to move, frozen in terror, forced to kneel, drenched in liquor and shame.
Not this time.
Not anymore.
Because the soul inside was no longer the same.
Qi Xuan was still talking when Song Shiyi’s hand closed around another wine bottle. Without hesitation, he smashed it over Qi Xuan’s head.
Glass shattered with a sharp crack.
Now both “brothers” had matching treatment.
Who the hell did these weaklings think they were to ever stand over him?
Qi Xuan’s scream tore through the room as he crumpled backward. Song Jiaxin caught him instinctively, staring at Song Shiyi in horror.
“Are you insane?!”
Shao Zhuoran, who’d been watching with mild amusement, finally lost his composure. He stepped forward, pressing a hand hard onto Song Shiyi’s narrow shoulder, intending to restrain him.
But when the boy turned his head, Shao Zhuoran froze.
Those eyes, black, hollow, unfocused, were nothing human.
Meanwhile, outside the room, the floor’s head waiter came running, panic written all over his face. He almost forgot to knock before bursting into the manager’s office next door.
The manager, who’d been smiling politely at another guest, immediately dropped his expression. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Have you forgotten every rule of service? Barging in like this, what if you offended a guest?”
“Sir, the guests in Yi Ya Hall! They’re fighting! We can hear people screaming!”
The manager’s face was drained of color. The people who came to the top floor were all wealthy and powerful. If something serious happened here, he’d be finished.
And tonight, of all nights…
He darted a nervous glance at the man sitting beside him. The guest, Qin Huai, calmly set down his glass.
“My apologies, Qin Ye,” the manager said quickly. “Please excuse me for a moment, I’ll handle this right away.”
Qin Huai stood. “I’ll come too. The club’s under my name, after all. If something’s happening, I should see it myself.”
“Do you know who booked Yi Ya Hall tonight?”
“The usual crowd, Young Masters Song and Bai, the same group as always. Not sure what’s gotten into them tonight…”
Qin Huai’s expression flickered slightly, and he quickened his pace.
When they pushed open the door, the scene that greeted them made his brow lift in mild surprise.
The young man he’d met only a few days ago, the newly acknowledged son of the Song family was straddling another boy, fists swinging hard, every blow landing with brutal precision.
Each punch echoed through the room, the sound of rage long suppressed, finally breaking free.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · He’s in the BookChapter 2 · You Like playing Stand-in, Right?Chapter 3 · This Kind of person is just asking for troubleChapter 4 · Is it so Bloody?Chapter 5 · Let’s Rot togetherChapter 7 · Illegitimate SonChapter 8 · Unfaithful husbandChapter 9 · MemoriesChapter 10 · Silence before stormChapter 11 · Hunt beginsChapter 12 · Nightmare I rememberChapter 13 · Why do they ride on their own heads?Chapter 14 · I forgive myselfChapter 15 · Can you take me in tonight since I’m homeless?Chapter 16 · Mr. Qin, do you like me?Chapter 17 · If you like it, you can have itChapter 18 · Gu Ye, it’s obvious that you also pursue these thingsChapter 19 · If you still can’t let go of Gu Ye, why not give it a try with me?Chapter 20 · He actually made him bow down to that bastard.Chapter 21 · Ruining someone’s future is simply unforgivableChapter 22 · God can’t possibly favor someone like youChapter 23 · UrnChapter 24 · May they die a horrible deathChapter 25 · If you’re broke, stop showing off.Chapter 26 · Kneel before me, begging for mercy.Chapter 27 · The plan succeededChapter 28 Part 1 · This time, the victim is Gu Ye Part 1Chapter 28 Part 2 · This time, the victim is Gu YeChapter 29 · This time, I’ll make full use of youChapter 30 · Educating about the existence of lawsChapter 31 · So who is he now?Chapter 32 · I want to destroy this fake spacetime.Chapter 33 · So, I was himChapter 34 · They’re all crazy, just let me have my wayChapter 35 · I will punish them in the right way.Chapter 36 · I’m already a lunaticChapter 37 · Can you stay by Qin Huai’s side for my sake?Chapter 38 · I’ll grant your requestChapter 39 · Not a pitiful littleChapter 40 · They Both should dieChapter 41 · I want to destroy the empire that Song Gucheng builtChapter 42 · Do you hate me too?Chapter 43 · No one should feel goodChapter 44 · He’ll definitely be the winner in the end!Chapter 45 · Acting is really tiringChapter 46 · I wanted that bastard to disappearChapter 47 · Ready made scapegoatChapter 48 · He’s willing to save themChapter 49 · I’ve come to catch up with youChapter 50 · You stole someone else’s placeChapter 51 · Shiyi, why won’t you save me…Chapter 52 · To make a good life is more importantChapter 53 · Even if you really cheated on me, it doesn’t matterChapter 54 · Finally, I can say goodbye to you completelyChapter 55 · Angel sent by heaven to save himChapter 56 · CEO Gu is a very affectionate personChapter 57 · If you love him, go to jail for himChapter 58 · His most beloved son wanted to kill himChapter 59 · Take good care of our dear fatherChapter 60 · Take back everything that truly belongs to meChapter 61 · He knew that Gu Ye would not let him downChapter 62 · The Song family’s shares must absolutely not be transferred to Song ShiyiChapter 63 · I am no one’s thingChapter 64 · He always knew what kind of person Song Qingwen was.Chapter 65 · FinalChapter 66 · Extra