Su Yanxi felt as if her heart were beating so fast it was about to leap out of her throat. She pushed against Young Master Fu’s chest.
“I’m fine now. You don’t have to hold me up.”
Young Master Fu said, “You use me and then toss me aside. Do you think I’m a condom?”
“I didn’t think of you as… a condom,” she murmured.
In her ear, Su Yanxi seemed to hear the sound of him tearing open the foil wrapper that night—a soft little rip, so quiet, yet enough to make her heart race.
Why had he suddenly brought up condoms?
It was so embarrassing.
Just then, Old Master Gu’s voice carried over from a distance. “Yanyan, what’s wrong?”
Old Master Fu spread his arms and blocked Old Master Gu. “The young people are chatting. Why are you butting in? If you have something to say, tell me, an old man.”
Fu Jingting tugged and dragged Gu Nanchu inside. “It’s been ages, old comrade. You have to play a game of Chinese chess with me. There’s no fun in playing with those soldiers—they always let me win. What’s the point of that? It’s only fun when we play for real.”
Fu Jingting went on to lose twenty games in a row, until his face turned green.
Forget it. Playing with the soldiers was more fun after all.
Gu Nanchu, still eager for another game, held up the black pieces. “Come on, let’s keep playing.”
“I’m done,” said Fu Jingting. “The banquet’s about to start. We should head to the ballroom.”
Gu Nanchu stood and peered in the direction Su Yanxi and Young Master Fu had gone, worry plain on his face.
“I’m going to find our Yanyan.”
“Don’t go,” Fu Jingting said. “Young people are much quicker on their feet than you. They’ll be at the banquet by now. There’s no need for you to be a third wheel.”
Fu Jingting dragged Gu Nanchu away again.
When the two men arrived at the banquet, Gu Yanze came over. “Grandpa, where’s Yanxi?”
“She went for a walk outside,” said Fu Jingting.
“She went with Young Master Fu,” Gu Nanchu added.
Gu Yanze lowered his long lashes, his eyes darkening. “I’ll go find them.”
He headed outside. Shen Hebai and Liang Jihei followed. “We’ll come take a look too.”
Meanwhile,
Su Yanxi and Young Master Fu were standing in a garden full of Weeping Jasmine and Camellias.
The Weeping Jasmine’s slender branches drooped softly, each tiny blossom like a little butterfly, ethereal as they swayed in the breeze.
The Fu family tended their Weeping Jasmine with exceptional care. Some plants had grown to two meters tall, covering an entire wall like a breathtaking waterfall of flowers.
Pink, yellow, and red Camellias dotted the sea of white Weeping Jasmine. The arrangement was exquisite, the flowers complementing one another and filling the garden with a romantic, gentle air.
Standing amid the garden, Su Yanxi felt as if she’d stepped into a fairyland.
Besides, Weeping Jasmine and Camellias were her favorite flowers.
Earlier, when Young Master Fu said he was taking her somewhere fun, she’d thought he meant somewhere improper—perhaps a swimming pool, where he’d make her wear a bikini for him to see. Now she realized she’d misunderstood him.
Su Yanxi looked up at Young Master Fu. “Thank you for bringing me somewhere so beautiful.”
Young Master Fu’s arm passed behind her waist and came to rest on the flower trellis. From behind, it looked as though he had her in his arms.
“It was no trouble. No need to offer yourself to me in return.”
Su Yanxi’s lips curled up as she muttered, “As if anyone was going to offer herself to you. Conceited jerk.”
Young Master Fu bent toward her, his broad chest close to her slender back. His sharply defined profile nearly brushed her left cheek, and his breath warmed her face as he spoke.
“Who’s conceited?”
Su Yanxi immediately caved. “I—I am.”
Young Master Fu smiled lazily and patted her head. “Little Sister, if you’re this timid, you shouldn’t keep talking about me behind my back.”
Keep talking about him, behind his back…
Su Yanxi wanted to say she hadn’t, but he’d already caught her twice.
(Her aggrieved eyes were about to pee.)
Young Master Fu’s hand passed over her head. The white jade hairpin brushed across his palm, leaving behind a cool sensation.
He was so close that Su Yanxi could hear him breathing. It was as if a little cat were scratching at her heart; she couldn’t settle down.
She ducked beneath his arm and slipped away.
Young Master Fu smiled, then turned and walked out of the garden.
Su Yanxi had no idea what he was going to do, but she didn’t ask. Content to amuse herself, she admired the Weeping Jasmine and Camellias.
Young Master Fu soon returned, holding a red rose.
Every thorn had been trimmed from its stem.
Su Yanxi was bent over, fiddling with the plants, when she suddenly felt a slight weight on her left ear.
She looked up at the reflection in the glass window. A bright red rose was tucked behind her left ear.
She had dressed in a fresh, understated style that day. The vivid red was like the boldest brushstroke in an oil painting, adding a touch of alluring charm and making her look especially lively and captivating.
Su Yanxi touched the rose petals. “Brother Linchen, did you give me a rose?”
Young Master Fu stood casually with both hands in his pockets. “We had too many roses at home and nowhere to put them, so I stuck one behind your ear.”
“Oh…”
Young Master Fu: “Want another?”
“No. I don’t want you to treat both my ears like vases.”
What if he stuck a red rose up her nostril? The worst part was, he really might do that.
“Stick what where?” Shen Hebai’s voice rang through the garden. “What are you sticking, and where? What are you two doing?”
Gu Yanze walked into the garden and saw Young Master Fu and Su Yanxi standing close together.
Su Yanxi looked at Gu Yanze. “Nothing. We’re admiring the flowers.”
Gu Yanze immediately noticed the red rose tucked behind her ear.
He knew it wasn’t Su Yanxi’s style.
He glanced around at the Weeping Jasmine and Camellias filling the garden. “Do you like these flowers?”
“I do,” Su Yanxi said.
“Once we get back, I’ll plant you an even bigger garden myself.”
“Wow!” Shen Hebai couldn’t help exclaiming. “Our Young Master Gu really knows how to spoil his little sister.”
Little sister…
Su Yanxi had once loved that term. Now, hearing it stung.
Fu Linchen’s gaze passed over Su Yanxi’s lowered lashes. He strode away, his voice turning a little colder. “The banquet’s about to start.”
Su Yanxi returned to the ballroom with the four men.
The moment Fu Linchen, the guest of honor, appeared in the ballroom, the city’s elite closed in around him, quickly surrounding him at the center.
The prominent business and political figures, people rarely seen in ordinary life, buzzed around Fu Linchen like bees, showering him with congratulations and flattery in hopes of currying favor with the eldest son of the Fu family.
Fu Linchen stood at the center of the banquet, so dazzling he was almost blinding. Beside him, the other young masters from wealthy families seemed to pale into insignificance.
“Different people get different fates, and not all umbrellas have the same handle,” Shen Hebai mused. “Think about when we were kids. We all used to bathe naked with Fu Linchen in the same tub.”
“We used to line up naked to pee, too, competing to see who could spray the farthest.”
“Now Fu Linchen has the highest military honor, the First-Class Merit Medal. He wiped out a major drug-trafficking gang and saved countless families. He’s a real man, standing tall and proud. What man wouldn’t envy him?”
Shen Hebai tipped back a glass of champagne. “Holy shit! Fu Linchen is so damn handsome!”
Then he added, “He’s way better than us useless rich kids.”
“Who’s useless?” Gu Yanze shot Shen Hebai a cold look. “You’re the useless one. Don’t start spraying innocent bystanders the moment you open your mouth. If you were a judge, how many people would you wrongfully convict?”
Shen Hebai had only been making an offhand remark. He’d said similar things before, and Gu Yanze had never taken offense. Why was he reacting so strongly today?
Though Shen Hebai didn’t understand Gu Yanze’s sudden change in mood, he knew one thing for certain: he’d said the wrong thing.
Gu Yanze was hardly useless. He was one of the nation’s Ten Outstanding Young People, and rich enough to rival a country.
Shen Hebai slapped himself hard across the face. “Just look at this filthy mouth of mine!”
A group of blond foreigners came over with champagne to strike up a conversation with Gu Yanze. Su Yanxi watched him chat and laugh with them in fluent French.
He didn’t look at her once.
Su Yanxi turned and went out onto the balcony.
The cool night breeze washed over her, and the sensation of something stuffed in her chest eased considerably.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind her. “Su Yanxi, it’s been five years. Do you still remember me?”