The familiar voice and the fury carried within it made Han Tang’s entire body freeze.
The person who had arrived was none other than the older brother in this body, who was also the devoted second male lead of the original novel: Han Gui.
Han Tang genuinely had no idea how to deal with this older brother of his.
Han Gui was genuinely good to the original owner. In the original book, out of gratitude to his adoptive parents, even though the original owner’s dissolute behavior after returning home completely contradicted his own principles of conduct, Han Gui had always tolerated this half-brother he had never met before.
The original owner had been abducted at a very young age and had suffered a great deal before finally being found, by which time his biological parents were already gone. How could someone who had received no systematic training and possessed no foundational network possibly suppress those veteran corporate foxes to take over the family business? The original owner had self-awareness, but deep down, he always believed that Han Gui had stolen what rightfully belonged to him.
The original owner had originally intended to lay low first, putting on a front of being addicted to wine and women while playing the pig to eat the tiger. However, his willpower was far too weak, and coupled with Han Gui’s pampering where he was given whatever he asked for, he truly ended up degenerating like this. Every single well-intentioned act of Han Gui cleaning up his messes felt to the original owner like a form of flaunting, like sharp thorns piercing straight into his heart.
Just like that, he alternated between jealousy, resentment, and degeneration. It was much like a fully inflated balloon; perhaps the balloon would not pop when the very first needle pierced it, but as time passed, a second needle, then a third needle, would eventually lead to an explosion.
The catalyst for that explosion was the protagonist shou.
In the process of cleaning up the original owner’s messes, Han Gui met Shen Kui, who was the protagonist shou of this book. He felt deeply apologetic for the harm his younger brother had caused Shen Kui, but affection had its degrees of closeness. Knowing that he had monopolized the love of his brother’s parents for more than a decade, he could only compensate Shen Kui within the limits of his own abilities.
The original owner, who already held a twelve-fold vigilance toward Han Gui, quickly discovered the interaction between his adoptive brother and Shen Kui. Stubbornly, he believed that Han Gui was trying to poach his romantic interest, just as he had secretly taken over the Han family and stolen his parents while he was away. Finally, unable to endure it any longer, he intended to strike back. However, Han Gui was simply too powerful. Lacking the ability to deal with Han Gui, who controlled the Han Corporation, he set his sights on Shen Kui instead.
He decided to drug Shen Kui.
Wasn’t Han Gui so impressive? Didn’t he like Shen Kui? He wanted Han Gui to experience what it felt like when something belonging to oneself was snatched away by others. It was this drugging incident by the original owner that finally allowed Han Gui to remove his rose-tinted glasses, truly recognize what kind of person the original owner was, and at the same time, understand his own heart.
Unfortunately, Han Gui’s sense of responsibility destined him and the protagonist shou to have a relationship without a fateful destiny. An older brother acts like a father; Han Gui attributed the original owner’s extremism to his own poor upbringing, so between the person he secretly loved and his younger brother, Han Gui chose his younger brother. Because of Han Gui’s compensatory help, the protagonist shou still held a very high favorable impression of Han Gui, so when Han Gui begged him not to pursue the matter further, the protagonist shou agreed, though his favorable impression of Han Gui came to an end.
However, all of that was future plot. The most important thing right now was figuring out why Han Gui appeared at this exact point in time.
Han Tang was caught completely off guard by Han Gui’s sudden online appearance.
Question: How on earth is he supposed to forcefully sugar-daddy his older brother’s future secret crush right in front of his older brother? Waiting online, very urgent!
Han Tang hurriedly sought help from the system, only to discover that the system—which had constantly reminded him not to forget his mission—had long since gone as quiet as a dead chicken. No matter how he called out to it, there was zero response, as if it had never existed in the first place.
Han Tang felt a sudden loss of confidence, but with matters pressing down on him, he could only bite the bullet and push forward. Relying on others is worse than relying on oneself.
Pinching the palms of his hands, Han Tang took a deep breath and forced himself to puff out his chest as he told himself: This is merely a world inside a book, and right now Han Gui should not have met the protagonist shou yet. He is still his older brother’s pampered younger brother, and in the original novel, even after the original owner did so many things, Han Gui never actually did anything to him. There is nothing to fear! The worst-case scenario is just getting a beating! Given the upbringing of the original owner’s parents, Han Gui could never genuinely harm him.
After a round of self-encouragement, Han Tang felt a lot better inside. Yet, the moment he actually saw the tall and imposing Han Gui walking toward him with a furious expression, Han Tang still grew so nervous that his heart nearly leaped out of his chest, and his legs felt as weak as if he had just finished running a three-kilometer long-distance race.
Guilty conscience.
Although he was a halfway-adopted younger brother, Han Gui always possessed an aura that irresistibly reminded him of the neighbor’s older brother from his real world. Calling him a neighbor’s older brother was generous, as he was practically no different from his own biological older brother. Having been disciplined by that person since childhood, he had long since developed an instinctive reflex where the moment the other person sank their face into a frown, he felt as though he had been struck by an immobilization spell. The aura Han Gui gave off when his face darkened was identical to his own brother’s, making it impossible for Han Tang to act self-righteous.
Thinking of the relationship between Shen Kui and Han Gui in the original novel—Shen Kui had almost become his sister-in-law! If it weren’t for the original owner being this stirring stick of a troublemaker… No wait, right now he was that stirring stick of a troublemaker. Even though things hadn’t reached that stage yet, Han Tang still harbored a sense of shame and guilt over potentially snatching his own brother’s boyfriend. These two mixed emotions intersected, colliding like two sharp swords whose sparks nearly set him ablaze.
“Let go!”
“Release him!”
Han Tang had mentally prepared himself to take a beating, but the anticipated pain never arrived. Instead, a pulling force came from his left wrist, which should have been empty. Voices filled with anger pierced Han Tang’s ears from both left and right, shocking him so badly that he gave a start.
Lifting his gaze, he saw that Shen Kui had actually been pushed back a step by his older brother.
Looking at Han Gui’s eyes blazing with fire as he stared straight at the other person, Han Tang had every reason to believe that if his brother hadn’t been half-embracing him at the same time, he would have started throwing punches directly!
“Who are you! Let go of my younger brother’s hand right now!”
If glares could materialize into physical form, Han Tang was certain that Shen Kui’s hand grasping his would have already been chopped into minced meat by his older brother’s gaze.
His brother had obviously misunderstood!
A catastrophic mistake!
He never expected that even after acting so outrageously lately, his brother could still assume the other person harbored malicious intentions the moment he saw him being intimate with someone else. This filter was simply unbelievable!
He truly lived up to being a brother-con in the original novel who was willing to give up love for his younger brother!
Forget it, now was not the time to dwell on these things. The most important task was to resolve the misunderstanding right in front of him. How crucial was a first impression? He absolutely could not let the plot collapse right here!
Absolutely!
Han Tang licked his dry lips, puffed out his chest, and stepped in front of Shen Kui. “B-Big Brother, you’ve misunderstood… Also, Big Brother, why, why did you come here?”
Han Gui automatically tuned out the first half of the sentence, registering only that his precious younger brother had stepped forward without a second thought to shield that wild man and question him. His heart instantly felt as though a massive hole had been blown open, with cold wind howling wildly inside.
Could he blame his precious younger brother? Absolutely not!
Therefore, everything was the fault of this wild man right before his eyes!
No matter how pampered the people his younger brother had kept as sugar babies in the past were, none of them had ever turned hostile against him on account of those outsiders!
But now! Tangtang was actually interrogating him for the sake of this wild man right in front of him! Han Gui’s expression grew even colder.
Shen Kui confirmed the newcomer’s identity from the teenager’s nervous and guilty attitude, and he released his grip on the teenager’s hand—not because of the other man’s anger and gaze that practically wanted to swallow him alive, but because of the nervousness and worry revealed in the teenager’s eyes.
Sure enough, the moment he let go, he saw the teenager happily take a few steps forward, wrap his palms around that man’s left arm, and offer a cautious explanation.
Han Gui still trusted his younger brother’s words. Coupled with the fact that the other person’s gaze was clear and resolute, not resembling someone harboring malicious intentions, Han Gui temporarily suppressed the suspicions in his heart. While his attitude toward Shen Kui didn’t undergo a 180-degree reversal, it softened considerably. Although anger still lingered in Han Gui’s eyes, it was no longer directed at Shen Kui.
Heaven knows how terrified and regretful he had felt when he rushed over at top speed only to see his intoxicated younger brother being nearly molested in the arms of a stranger!
Fortunately, he had arrived in time, and fortunately, his younger brother was lucky enough to encounter a good person.
Repayment! He had to repay this properly!
Han Gui looked over the young man standing before him, finding him somewhat familiar, though for a moment he couldn’t recall where he had seen him. With a strong aroma of alcohol lingering around the tip of his nose, he didn’t have time to ponder such minor details as when he might have seen the other person before. Pulling his younger brother to lean against his shoulder, he offered a deeply sincere apology and expression of gratitude, finishing by handing over a business card:
“Many thanks. This is my contact information. If you ever have any needs in the future, feel free to reach out to me.”
He wrote his personal contact information onto the card and handed it over. It happened that when he left his meeting, he had brought a pen along, which he had absentmindedly slipped into his suit trouser pocket.
Shen Kui naturally understood the man’s intent. He originally intended to refuse, but upon seeing the teenager nearby with his head lowered, looking as guilty as a little kitten that had broken its owner’s cherished possession, he acted on pure impulse. The refusal that had already reached his lips was swallowed back down.
Reaching out, he accepted the black business card with gold edges.
“Alright.”
Shen Kui heard his own voice.
Having temporarily resolved the external issue, Han Gui’s mind settled. Seeing that his younger brother’s cheeks were flushed, his gaze hazy as if he were thoroughly drunk, and he could barely even stand steadily, he bent down and swept him horizontally into his arms to avoid any risk of him falling.
Han Gui’s embrace seemed to possess a magical power. Once the explanation was finished and he saw that the atmosphere between the protagonist shou and his older brother had softened, Han Tang’s taut nerves finally relaxed. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he quickly drifted off to sleep.
After carrying his younger brother into the car, Han Gui finally noticed the message sent by his secretary. With a single phone call, he arranged for the secretary to cancel all of today’s social engagements and meetings while simultaneously initiating an investigation into the person behind the scenes who had targeted his younger brother.