Fu Chen’s matches usually didn’t take long to finish, lasting only ten-odd minutes from start to finish.
In fact, he could have ended the match within the first few minutes, but the boss had spoken with him. Although people came here to gamble, if the stage performance ended too quickly, it would lose its excitement and wouldn’t be appropriate.
Therefore, Fu Chen adjusted his strategy afterward, intentionally drawing out the matches.
Fu Chen had two matches tonight, with a break of over half an hour in the middle.
During this time, Fu Chen used his phone to text Lin Xi. Lin Xi was still at the coffee shop. Recently, he had become an internet sensation, and business had improved quite a bit. Some customers stayed after finishing their coffee to order refills, lingering until late at night before leaving, and they couldn’t just chase the customers away.
Lin Xi knew Fu Chen was boxing. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to persuade him otherwise, but Fu Chen had refused. He said he knew his own limits and wouldn’t let anything happen to him; he wanted a home to share with Lin Xi, and always living like this in rented apartments never felt secure.
Lin Xi had no choice. Since he couldn’t persuade Fu Chen, he could only support him. Lin Xi also worked extremely hard at the coffee shop. Because of him, the shop’s revenue had increased, and the boss was quite decent, recently increasing Lin Xi’s commission quite a bit. By the end of the month, Lin Xi’s salary reached tens of thousands of yuan.
After chatting with his lover for a bit, Fu Chen replied: “There is one more round, it will be over soon. I will come pick you up in a bit.”
“Okay.”
Clutching his phone tightly, Fu Chen let out a deep breath.
He had taken some punches on his body, and it was not that it did not hurt, but chatting even a little with his lover made this bit of pain seem negligible.
The half-hour passed in a flash, and Fu Chen returned to the ring.
Tonight’s opponent came from another boxing gym, having heard that there was someone here who was undefeated in a hundred matches. Provoked by a competitive spirit, he directly contacted the boss to come and spar with Fu Chen.
As soon as this person appeared, someone in the crowd immediately recognized him.
Qin Yuan upstairs also found the opponent familiar. Narrowing his eyes slightly to stare closely at the man, he quickly recognized him.
It was this very person. In a subsequent match, Fu Chen would lose to him.
However, that match was one Fu Chen intentionally threw. Fu Chen was in urgent need of money to find Lin Xi, who had been taken away to another city by Qin Yuan at the time. Fu Chen took out all his money hoping to get some news, but it was not enough, so he threw the match.
Although he got the money in the end, he also offended many people who had bet on him to lose and consequently incurred debts.
Among them was someone who bore a deep grudge against Fu Chen. Later, finding out that Fu Chen liked Lin Xi, the person planned to kill Lin Xi out of revenge. In the end, Lin Xi did not die, but instead, this cannon-fodder second male lead died.
The reason Qin Yuan knew about this was that at the moment of his death, the person who stabbed him had been talking madly. Although incoherent, Qin Yuan still managed to piece together the situation.
It turned out that the root of everything actually lay right here.
Because Fu Chen had defeated this opponent, the other party refused to accept it and simply offered money privately to make Fu Chen lose to him.
Through twists and turns, this led to other people harboring deep grudges.
Qin Yuan stood up and walked over to the glass railing. Just as he was about to look closely, he sensed something unusual, then raised his eyes to look diagonally across.
Fixing his gaze, he saw a resolute face.
How many times now?
Including this one, it seemed like three times.
They really had a fateful connection.
Qin Yuan smiled at the man opposite him.
Seeing him smile, the other person furrowed his brows instead.
This was the first time anyone had looked displeased upon seeing him smile, and Qin Yuan instantly became a bit interested.
Since they were so fated, saying hello would at least make these three meetings today worthwhile.
Walking out of the room, Qin Yuan turned and headed straight for the exterior of the room where Xie Fengbei was staying.
Knock, knock, knock, the sound of knocking rang out. Before the people inside could go open the door, Qin Yuan grasped the doorknob outside and swung the door open.
Inside the room, besides Xie Fengbei, there were a few other underground boxing gym bosses present.
The boss had just arrived and was staying with Xie Fengbei for a bit, originally planning to go over to Qin Yuan’s place shortly. Qin Yuan had gifted them two million today, which was generous by any measure, and the boss had wanted to go over and express his gratitude.
He had not expected Qin Yuan to come over himself.
“Young Master Qin.”
The boss greeted him with a smiling face.
Qin Yuan walked in unceremoniously, as if this place were his own territory.
Seeing an empty sofa, he sat down.
“My tea is still next door, please go bring it over.”
“Go get it quickly.”
The boss immediately ordered a waiter to go.
“Young Master Qin has been spending lavishly today.”
“Whether I am spending lavishly or not is a minor matter. Being able to watch an exciting show makes that bit of money worth nothing.”
“President Xie also comes to play in a place like this? I have not seen you around much before.”
Qin Yuan’s topic abruptly shifted to Xie Fengbei.
Including this time, they had met three times today.
Was it really a coincidence?
How could Xie Fengbei believe that there were so many coincidences in this world?
Faced with Qin Yuan’s inquiry, Xie Fengbei did not give him a reply.
Standing to the side, the boss could already feel the atmosphere in the room slowly growing oppressive. He wanted to speak up to ease the tension, mainly because he did not want Qin Yuan to have an unhappy gaming experience.
Before he could speak, however, Qin Yuan smiled and interrupted him.
“President Xie just coming here without placing any bets does not seem very interesting.”
“Pick one of these two. You bet first, and the other one goes to me.”
“I will match any amount.”
Xie Fengbei suddenly stared intently at Qin Yuan. Qin Yuan’s peach-blossom eyes were brimming with smiles, looking radiant and charming as if intentionally seducing someone.
A trace finally appeared in Xie Fengbei’s cold and gloomy expression.
“Then you are going to have to spend even more.”
“It is fine. Money, after all, only has meaning when it is spent; otherwise, kept in your pocket, it is just a number. Am I right, Boss?”
The boss hurriedly nodded: “Yes, yes, yes.”
He had no right to interject between these two figures. If he displeased either of them, his underground boxing gym could just close its doors and go out of business.
“Twenty million, bet on him.”
At a glance, Xie Fengbei could tell that the taller boxer had not used his full strength yet, and the opponent was similar. Both seemed to be in a testing phase. But Xie Fengbei trusted his own judgment. Although he had just arrived and was not clear on the boxers’ situations, the person he favored would definitely win.
“Alright, I will buy the other side.”
“Thirty million.”
Qin Yuan unexpectedly added another ten million.
“Boss Chen, you are going to make a fortune today.”
Xie Fengbei turned his head to glance at the boss, whose back was actually feeling slightly chilled.
Qin Yuan had just gifted two million earlier, and now he was putting down thirty million. Why did he feel like there was something fishy going on here?
He hoped Qin Yuan and Xie Fengbei did not have some sort of conflict or friction and brought it to his place. The boss could not help his heart beating nervously.
Qin Yuan’s tea was brought over. It had cooled down a bit, but he did not mind and continued sipping his tea.
Downstairs in the ring, Fu Chen and the new boxer had started fighting. At first, they were indeed testing each other out, unfamiliar with the other’s methods and routines. Once they grew somewhat familiar, they could practically let loose.
This time, Fu Chen also realized that this opponent might not finish in half an hour. It was his first time encountering such a strong opponent since coming here.
The opponent also felt that Fu Chen truly lived up to his reputation. Both of their faces had taken punches from each other, and the looks they exchanged ignited flames of battle.
Xie Fengbei watched the boxing match closely, while Qin Yuan beside him took out his phone after watching for a bit to send a message.
He was messaging the nanny at home to check on the situation of the two girls. The nanny replied that both had fallen asleep, she had changed their clothes, and they were now sleeping very soundly.
“Everything is fine, go to sleep early too,” Qin Yuan said.
The nanny replied with an okay, then went to check on the girls’ rooms one last time before leaving to sleep in a guest bedroom.
There was a room for her here, but she usually did not stay over. Qin Yuan liked his private space, and the nanny generally just came over to clean or cook.
Having finished contacting the nanny, Qin Yuan started playing mahjong on his phone. The boss, standing nearby, noticed that Qin Yuan had dropped thirty million yet did not care about the boxing match at all, still having the leisure to play mahjong. The boss’s gaze shifted slightly toward Xie Fengbei. Xie Fengbei also seemed to notice Qin Yuan’s distraction, shifted his gaze sideways, and stared at Qin Yuan’s phone screen.
Qin Yuan was focused on playing mahjong, his peach-blossom eyes fixed on the phone screen, yet giving off the impression that he was gazing at a deeply beloved lover.
Xie Fengbei had heard quite a few rumors about Qin Yuan. This person played with both men and women, and those lovers could be said to be blindly devoted to him. Even after breaking up, they only had Qin Yuan in their hearts.
Moreover, no one ever came to make a scene in front of Qin Yuan, which reminded Xie Fengbei of the scene in the hotel corridor earlier that day when he ran into Qin Yuan.
His recently dumped lover had turned around and been taken in by Qin Yuan. Qin Yuan certainly had an abundance of charity, caring for and shielding just about anyone.
Yet precisely because he had witnessed this side of Qin Yuan, Xie Fengbei believed even more that Qin Yuan was far more ruthless than he was. He himself would never casually give people hope, whereas Qin Yuan left affection everywhere and gave everyone hope.
Xie Fengbei stared at Qin Yuan’s handsome profile for a while. It was solely because Qin Yuan was good-looking. If he were even slightly uglier, he probably would have provoked countless troubles long ago.
Downstairs, the boxing match was still fierce. Blood spilled from Fu Chen’s mouth, and when a towel was handed to him, Fu Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his lips.
It was getting late, and since he had said he was going to pick up Lin Xi, he had to end the match quickly.
In the final round, the opposing boxer had no idea what was happening. He was already close to exhaustion, but Fu Chen suddenly seemed to burst forth with explosive energy.
The boxer collapsed to the ground, his whole body aching and numb. He tried to crawl up, only to be knocked down again. This repeated five times until he finally failed to get back up.
The match ended, and Fu Chen won.
Fu Chen’s cheeks were bruised and purple, but as everyone cheered for him, he quickly jumped down from the ring, grabbed his clothes, and sprinted off.
That appearance looked as though something far more important was waiting for him.
The crowd was still buzzing with excitement. Many people had bet on Fu Chen to win, and now that everyone had made a pretty penny, they were naturally thrilled.
The boxer struggled to his feet, his expression extremely unsightly. He did not know that Qin Yuan had bet thirty million on him, and the boss had not let the staff broadcast it. After all, with Xie Fengbei present, letting people know if they had some sort of conflict was not a good thing.
Seeing the result come out and losing thirty million, Qin Yuan did not even blink an eye.
“Alright, I should go back to sleep too.”
“See you another day.”
As Qin Yuan walked to the door, seemingly remembering something, he paused and fixed his gaze on Xie Fengbei.
“President Xie’s entertainment company has been developing quite well lately. I actually have some interest in it myself. Wondering if there might be room for some cooperation?”
Xie Fengbei merely tilted his face slightly, the corner of his mouth seeming to curl up: “Your way of playing is different from mine.”
Qin Yuan was startled for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“Got it, then goodbye.”
Qin Yuan waved his hand and strode off quickly.
Xie Fengbei stared at Qin Yuan’s departing, carefree figure. Even though he had won money, his mood felt somewhat strange, not quite describable as good.
Especially thinking of the romantic smile that constantly hung on Qin Yuan’s face, this person seemed as though he would never experience sorrow or grief. He wondered what it would look like if Qin Yuan were to cry.