Bai Huan's heart gave a violent jolt. His lips parted slightly as he looked toward the audience stands in delighted surprise.
Spectators were still streaming into the venue, and the crowd was bustling with movement. It took him quite a while to finally spot Bai Mingzhen in the VIP section.
As usual, his older brother was dressed casually and understatedly for a nonformal occasion. Even so, he stood out far more than the people around him.
My brother really is ridiculously handsome and well-proportioned, Bai Huan thought.
If Bai Mingzhen had been ugly and sleazy-looking, then at a time like this, all he would have needed to do was provide the money. There would have been no need for him to show up in person.
Soon, Lu Hu'an's five million yuan was also deposited into the prize pool.
One by one, the lights above the audience stands went out, while the lights illuminating the central competition area flared brilliantly.
The referee, dressed formally and wearing white gloves, entered the arena.
After announcing the rules of the match, he took out two balls and placed them at the starting positions along the two shooting lines of the table.
Bai Huan and Lu Hu'an would each strike a ball simultaneously. After the balls hit the far cushion and rolled back, whoever's ball stopped closer to the starting line would win the right to break.
Those unfamiliar with the two wouldn't know that, in a match between them, whoever won the break would also win the match.
Both were capable of clearing the entire table in a single turn.
A billiards table separated Bai Huan and Lu Hu'an.
Lu Hu'an's attention was entirely focused on the ball in front of him.
Bai Huan, however, wasn't looking at the ball.
Instead, he quietly stared at Lu Hu'an.
At this moment, his fury had already surpassed his sorrow.
The only reason he hadn't chosen a more brutal form of revenge was that his own life and future were worth far more than Lu Hu'an's.
Lu Hu'an used two clips to pin back the long strands of hair that would otherwise fall forward.
Watching him, Bai Huan suddenly remembered something from their first year of high school.
Back then, Lu Hu'an had draped an arm around his shoulders and told him that the girl he liked had fallen for Bai Huan instead.
Bai Huan hadn't thought much of it at the time.
It was only natural.
He was simply used to such things, while Lu Hu'an probably still hadn't grown accustomed to them.
Spending years as nothing more than a supporting presence beside a dazzling pearl could gradually twist a person, even someone whose family background was no worse than his own.
These people had allowed jealousy to blind them.
They believed they had finally been given an opportunity to trample him underfoot.
But what they had failed to consider was that Bai Huan hadn't become outstanding because of the Bai family.
Rather, it was Bai Huan who had brought glory to the Bai family.
Bai Huan felt he had a duty to awaken these ignorant people.
He showed no mercy.
The ball he struck traveled to the far cushion and returned precisely to the starting line.
A thunderous wave of astonished cries erupted from the audience, nearly blowing the roof off the building!
Lu Hu'an knew immediately that he had lost.
He wilted like an eggplant struck by frost, standing off to the side with despair written all over his face.
Bai Huan looked at him.
He guessed that Lu Hu'an must be thinking he would rather see his family go bankrupt than lose to Bai Huan.
Unfortunately, Lu Hu'an had to lose today.
And Bai Huan had to win.
Bai Huan bent over the table.
In an arena like this, there was no avoiding the fact that his handsome, graceful figure was on display from every angle.
He himself neither noticed nor had the slightest interest in such matters.
With his first shot, he sent the number one ball into a pocket.
Lu Hu'an's face grew another shade paler.
When grudges and disputes between youngsters escalated, they could become quite a serious affair.
The club operated under a real-name membership system.
Bai Mingzhen's arrival naturally attracted attention, even without anyone announcing his identity.
The people around them realized that this was no ordinary matter.
Two immature brats were having a fight, and now even the adults were getting involved.
Lu Hu'an's eldest brother arrived shortly afterward.
Lu Ruiyun was twenty-three years old, an illegitimate son who wasn't considered respectable enough to represent the family, and a notorious pretty face with little substance in Nancheng.
He hurried over, sweating profusely, and shook Bai Mingzhen's hand before sitting down beside him.
Within two minutes, red wine and a plate of pasta had been brought over.
Lu Ruiyun began wolfing down his food, panting between mouthfuls.
"He knows he can't win, but he insists on playing anyway. And I'm the one who has to come here and deal with the embarrassment."
He wanted to strike up a conversation with Bai Mingzhen, someone who was truly favored by heaven.
But Bai Mingzhen paid him no attention.
His eyes remained fixed on Bai Huan's legs and backside.
Lu Ruiyun assumed he was concentrating seriously on the match and tactfully stopped making any noise.
Bai Mingzhen thought back to his youth.
It had been like living inside a Buddhist hall constructed entirely of pure gold.
Everything was grand and upright. Every unequal rule could be traced back to some supposedly righteous origin.
He had no choice but to obey those rules and offer incense in worship.
He knew perfectly well that one day, he too would become a Buddha statue upon that altar, and the descendants of the Bai family would worship him in exactly the same way.
Yet no matter how many rules and restrictions a family established in advance, people were ultimately still human.
And as long as they were human, they possessed the seven emotions and six desires.
In the end, it was those emotions and desires that truly distinguished one person from another.
When he was fifteen, he entered university and shared a dormitory with several boys from different parts of the country.
They invited him to watch pornography together.
His first reaction was nausea.
Later, he hid in the bathroom and watched it alone.
There was no reaction.
Even after several attempts, it remained completely lifeless.
That same year, after discovering this about himself, he became acquainted with Mei Sifan, who would later become his law firm partner.
Mei Sifan had more experience.
He told him, "If women don't work for you, maybe men will."
Only then did Bai Mingzhen realize that not only was Mei Sifan gay, but he himself was gay as well.
The Bai family had never taught him about such things.
None of the educational materials or academic literature he had studied had covered them, either.
His professors hadn't taught him about them.
And among the vast sea of people, homosexuals were particularly difficult to identify.
Fortunately, Bai Mingzhen was clearheaded about it.
Once he understood that he was gay, he had no intention of doing anything else.
He valued his health and took good care of his body.
His younger brother was someone who always had to be first.
It was difficult.
For now, Bai Mingzhen didn't want him to be gay as well.
Sometimes, people could be stripped of every honor they possessed simply because of their sexual orientation.
Bai Mingzhen didn't believe Bai Huan could endure that.
After all, Bai Huan valued honor above everything else.
By this point, Bai Huan had only one ball left before clearing the table.
Lu Hu'an hadn't even been given a single opportunity to pick up his cue.
His defeat was already obvious.
Lu Ruiyun held a fruit platter, looking as carefree and frivolous as ever, his long hair flowing around his shoulders.
"See? See? This is just humiliating. Young Master Bai, it's just a childish squabble. Don't take it to heart. We'll see each other around, see you around."
He speared the last piece of melon with his fork and popped it into his mouth.
Then Lu Ruiyun clapped his hands, stood up, and left.
The last ball was the black number eight.
Under the lights, it gleamed with a cold, sinister shine, like a single eye scrutinizing the crowd around it.
The young man's cue rested against the white ball a short distance away.
The number eight ball was reflected in his pupil, seemingly merging with one of his eyes.
The instant the white ball shot forward, the two balls exchanged positions.
The black ball rolled straight into the pocket.
Bai Huan took two steps back and exhaled.
He turned his head and found Lu Hu'an, whose face was deathly pale.
Bai Huan raised his eyebrows slightly at him.
Then he looked toward Bai Mingzhen in the audience stands and revealed a sweet, obedient smile.
The referee declared the winner.
Those in the audience who wanted to cheer did so.
Some of them had privately placed bets on the match, so naturally, there were winners celebrating and losers lamenting their misfortune.
Bai Huan walked over to Lu Hu'an and held out the cue in his hand.
Lu Hu'an looked at him in confusion.
"Take it. The champion's cue."
Lu Hu'an was so furious he nearly spat blood.
But he recovered quickly.
With a cold sneer, he looked at Bai Huan.
There wasn't the slightest trace of their former friendship on his face.
All that remained was bitter resentment, anger, and arrogance.
"Keep it yourself. After all, something like that must be pretty hard to come by in your biological parents' home."
He was using Bai Huan's background to humiliate him.
It was like taking a hammer and striking the thorn buried deep in Bai Huan's heart.
Bai Huan's eyes reddened, and his entire face flushed crimson.
"That's enough. It ends here."
Bai Mingzhen's voice came from beside them.
He took the cue from Bai Huan's hand and passed it to a nearby staff member.
Then he took Bai Huan's cold, stiff hand in his own.
He had originally intended to turn around and leave.
But after thinking about it, he still felt that children of this generation needed to be taught a lesson.
So he spoke again.
"Your grandfather has eight or nine children, and you have twenty or thirty paternal cousins alone. If you hadn't used the excuse of humiliating the Bai family, with what little you've accomplished, you might not even have been able to get your hands on five million yuan."
Lu Hu'an was practically beside himself with fury.
Like a newborn calf that didn't know to fear a tiger, he retorted recklessly.
"And Bai Huan can? Didn't you give him that five million yourself? Add the five million he won from me, and that's ten million in total! Are you seriously not going to take it back?"
Bai Huan's eyes instantly lit up.
Lu Hu'an, oh, Lu Hu'an. You've already got one foot in the gates of the underworld, and you're still going out of your way to pave the road for me.