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Qi Xing was seething with anger as he made his way home.
It was already past midnight when he arrived and he was trying to enter the house as quietly as possible. However, to his dismay, his father was waiting for him in the living room while watching TV.
As expected, he received a lecture from his father but Qi Xing simply let the words go in one ear and out the other.
When his father said, "When will you start being successful? Learn from someone like Ye Xingzhou," it only fueled his frustration.
How could his father speak highly of Ye Xingzhou, the person who had taken advantage of his own son?
Muttering under his breath, Qi Xing retorted, "If you think so highly of Ye Xingzhou, why don't you make him your son?"
Ignoring whatever else his father had to say, Qi Xing headed straight to his room and locked the door behind him.
He collapsed onto the bed then buried his head in the pillow. After a while, he let out a sigh and groaned in pain as he shifted his body. The movement reminded him of the recent encounter, both physically and emotionally.
That beast Ye Xingzhou.
As much as he cursed and complained, Qi Xing knew he had to get up. He rummaged through his belongings and found the ointment he had taken from Ye Xingzhou. Applying it haphazardly, he knelt on the bed and massaged the affected area and finally found some relief as the cool ointment took effect.
Qi Xing didn't feel embarrassed about the situation. He reassured himself that he wasn't some delicate flower.
He will just thought that he had been bitten by a dog.
That's how he comforted himself and finally found solace in the situation.
As he continued massaging his backside, his mind began to wander.
In all honesty, it wasn't as terrible as he thought. Maybe it was the effect of the drugs but he did experience some pleasure during the process. However, the fact that it was Ye Xingzhou and that it happened forcibly, made him resentful.
No matter how pleasurable it was, he couldn't overlook that fact.
Just as he was lost in thought, his phone received a new message from an unknown number.
It was the same number as before.
"I'll keep the photo for now and won't send it. Let's see how you behave next time."
Qi Xing's response was a flood of messages saying "Go to hell."
When Ye Xingzhou saw the message as he got out of the car, he sneered and turned off his phone screen.
For the next week, Qi Xing was constantly by Qi Ronghua's side, accompanying him to the company early in the morning and leaving with Qi Ronghua in the afternoon. He wasn't allowed to go out in the evenings either.
Qi Xing didn't resist because after such a big setback, he felt a bit defeated and thought it was a good time to reflect on himself.
The only downside was that his father had been persuaded by Ye Xingzhou and planned to invest in Xingneng Technology with the Ye family. He even asked Qi Xing to be in charge of the project and Qi Xing couldn't refuse.
"The Ye family called and invited me for tea in the afternoon. They also invited other investors who are interested in Xingneng but I have other things to do in the afternoon, so I won't be able to go. Can you represent me?"
During lunch, Qi Ronghua suddenly mentioned this.
Qi Xing was in the middle of eating ribs and choked on them. After finally managing to cough them out, he coughed for a while longer.
Qi Ronghua frowned and quickly handed him water. "What's wrong with you? You can even choke on a piece of rib?"
Qi Xing regained his composure as his face flushed. "...I don't want to go. They won't take me seriously anyway and they'll probably just try to fool me."
"It's okay, I will let Chen accompany you." Qi Ronghua referred to his own assistant, who was capable enough to handle the project. He needed someone to keep an eye on Qi Xing so that he wouldn't be taken advantage of.
Qi Xing asked, "Will Ye Xingzhou be there?"
"He will," Qi Ronghua casually replied. "He has been personally overseeing this project. After all, it's a major project for the Ye family and since he recently took over, he needs to achieve some real results to gain the trust of his elders."
Qi Xing fell silent.
He couldn't escape the jinx no matter where he went. If he didn't go, it would seem like he was afraid of Ye Xingzhou.
In broad daylight, in front of everyone, Ye Xingzhou couldn't do anything to him.
————
The location that Ye's family arranged for the meeting was a secluded tea house in the city, nestled by the mountains and water.
It appeared elegant but in reality, it was mostly used for conducting shady business deals.
Qi Xing had never been interested in such places before.
As soon as they got out of the car, someone came to greet them.
It was Ye Xingzhou's secretary.
"This way please, Young Master Qi." the secretary said politely.
Qi Xing glanced at him and didn't bother to say much.
Inside the tea house, there were six or seven people already present. Ye Xingzhou was sitting in a seat on the side and looked up when Qi Xing entered.
Qi Xing didn't want to acknowledge him and headed towards an empty seat on the other side. However, Ye Xingzhou's secretary gestured to him and said, "Young Master Qi, please sit here."
He was referring to the seat next to Ye Xingzhou.
Qi Xing was about to refuse but Ye Xingzhou spoke up, "Come sit here."
Qi Xing was pushed subtly by Assistant Chen, who had come along and since Ye Xingzhou himself had spoken, they had to give in to the request.
Reluctantly, Qi Xing sat next to Ye Xingzhou. Ye Xingzhou introduced him to the other people present, who were all influential investors. There were some from Huaicheng City and others from different places. They all had smiles on their faces, complimenting Qi Xing for his youth and potential.
Qi Xing forced a smile and responded perfunctorily and left Assistant Chen to engage with these people.
Despite the gathering being called a tea session, it truly was just about drinking tea. Even though everyone present were business-minded individuals, they insisted on sitting together and pretending to be cultured. They either discussed tea ceremonies or talked about past and present events while showing off their limited knowledge.
They didn't discuss business matters at all.
Qi Xing had no interest in listening to them, so he simply lowered his head and played with his phone.
As he was engrossed in a game, a hand pressed on his knee, causing Qi Xing to furrow his eyebrows and look up.
Ye Xingzhou was still engaged in conversation with others, appearing refined and composed. The touch from earlier seemed like Qi Xing's imagination.
But the truth couldn't be denied. Ye Xingzhou was skilled at putting on a facade of righteousness while being despicable behind the scenes.
Qi Xing kicked out with his foot, knowing that it was under the table where no one could see.
He left a footprint on the leg of Ye Xingzhou's trousers but Ye Xingzhou remained calm and composed and even was leaning comfortably in his seat, seeming to be enjoying the conversation.
Qi Xing glared at him and turned his body away then continuing to focus on his own activities.
By the time the tea session ended at five o'clock, Qi Xing was ready to leave.
In his opinion, these tea sessions were nothing but a waste of time and a meaningless charade.
As they were about to get into the car in the parking lot, Ye Xingzhou's secretary approached them and stopped them. "Young Master Qi, Young Master Ye would like to invite you for dinner tonight."
"I'm not hungry," Qi Xing refused, not giving an inch.
The secretary smiled and said, "Young Master Qi, your car has been repaired. Young Master Ye said he would take you to pick it up."
Qi Xing didn't fall for it.
"You can just send the car to me. I'll cover the cost of the fuel."
"It's nearby. Once you have it, you can leave."
Ye Xingzhou's voice came from behind his secretary. He had personally come to extend the invitation.
Qi Xing glanced at him and felt annoyed by his confident appearance. He wondered if Yang Kaiming had been deceiving him.
It had been a week and there had been no progress on the task Qi Xing had assigned him.
Ye Xingzhou remained composed and just waited for Qi Xing to make a decision.
Qi Xing hesitated.
He was worried that his favorite car, the one that had been hit, would be damaged by Ye Xingzhou. Since it had been repaired, it made sense to pick it up sooner rather than later.
With his chin held high, Qi Xing said, "Lead the way."
Ye Xingzhou observed Qi Xing's proud demeanor and recalled that night when the young man had gasped and moaned beneath him.
Qi Xing sometimes acted tough, sometimes demanding to be gentler and sometimes feeling that it was too slow.
He didn't like being left hanging but in the end, he had obediently surrendered.
In the most unbearable moments, Qi Xing's kicking his foot even unintentionally landed on Ye Xingzhou's thigh as his toes curl and the sole of his foot rubbing against the muscles of Ye Xingzhou's thigh.
It was like an unspoken urging, leaving a lingering memory.
"Let's go," Ye Xingzhou said.
Assistant Chen had already left, so Qi Xing got into Ye Xingzhou's car.
Not interested in interacting with Ye Xingzhou, Qi Xing continued to play the game on his phone with his head lowered.
"You were sent by your father, yet you've been playing with your phone the whole time. Aren't you afraid that your father's people will report you?" Ye Xingzhou asked casually.
Qi Xing didn't take his eyes off the phone screen. "Let them report. As for these boring and meaningless tea sessions, don't call me to attend next time."
"Meaningless?" Ye Xingzhou questioned.
Qi Xing scoffed, "They all pretend to be cultured even though they reek of money and have no shame.”
"Today was just to test their intentions. We haven't reached the stage of discussing investment details yet. If we do, we'll have separate discussions," Ye Xingzhou reminded him. "Don't you understand even these basics, Qi Xing?"
"I don't understand," Qi Xing replied without hesitation. "Since you're not giving my father any bad ideas, I don't need to understand."
Before he could say anything else, Qi Xing felt a sudden massage on his lower back. He glared at the person next to him but his phone had already been taken from his hand.
Before he could snatch his phone back, within just half a minute, Ye Xingzhou had finished the game that had always frustrated Qi Xing and even won.
Qi Xing "..."
This was simply unacceptable.
Ye Xingzhou nonchalantly handed the phone back to him. "It seems that you're so fond of playing games but your skill level doesn't seem to be that great."
In short, Qi Xing was addicted to games but was not particularly skilled.
Feeling insulted, Qi Xing was about to retort but Ye Xingzhou spoke up, "We've arrived."
Qi Xing shifted his gaze to the window and realized they had arrived in a villa area. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Where is this?"
"It's my home," Ye Xingzhou replied.
Not Ye's family but his own residence.
Qi Xing hadn't expected that the place Ye Xingzhou had mentioned was actually his own home.
A sense of unease crept into his heart. "Why did you bring me here?"
"To get the car," Ye Xingzhou turned around to look at him. "What are you afraid of, Qi Xing?"
Qi Xing simply pushed open the car door.
His car was in Ye Xingzhou's underground garage.
Qi Xing had been cautious but when he saw dozens of luxury cars and sports cars of various models, he forgot about everything else and was left dumbfounded.
"These are all your cars?" Qi Xing asked.
Ye Xingzhou tossed his car keys to him and Qi Xing caught them. However, he had no interest in looking at his own car. Instead, he reached out and touched one of the sports cars next to him.
It was even rarer to find than the one Ye Wanqi had driven. Qi Xing couldn't believe that Ye Xingzhou had such a car.
No wonder he didn't care at all and just set fire to cars so easily.
"You let Ye Wanqi drive these cars? I didn't realize you guys were so close," Qi Xing said sarcastically and unable to help feeling jealous.
Even if his family had money, his father wouldn't let him be so extravagant. He thought the four or five sports cars he collected were already impressive but they were nothing compared to what Ye Xingzhou had.
"I forgot to take that car back from Ye's house, so he took it without permission," Ye Xingzhou wasn't interested in discussing these things.
He casually lit a cigarette and glanced at Qi Xing's face, lingering for a moment. "Do you want this car?"
Qi Xing retracted his hand and sneered, "Didn't Young Master Ye say that his things are off-limits? If I touch your car, who knows if you'll set it on fire along with me next time."
Ye Xingzhou responded, "Sleep with me once and you can choose any of these cars."
Qi Xing's expression changed, and almost thinking he misheard, "Are you treating me like a prostitute?!"
Ye Xingzhou flicked the cigarette ash and mocked, "Who can earn millions in just one night of selling? Are you worth that price?"
Qi Xing was furious, "Stop talking nonsense! Or else, I'll fight you!"
Ye Xingzhou quickly reacted and grabbed the desperate Qi Xing who was pouncing on him and pressed him against the car door.
At that moment, his phone rang.
It was Ye Xingzhou's phone.
He glanced at the caller ID and answered it on speakerphone while still holding onto Qi Xing.
On the other end of the phone was Lin Zhinian's voice. After a pause, he hesitated and asked, "Xingzhou, are you free tonight? It's my birthday, so can I invite you to have dinner together? Just the two of us..."
"I have plans tonight."
Ye Xingzhou interrupted the other person while pressing his hand against Qi Xing's waist and heard Qi Xing gritting his teeth and gasping.
He smirked in the face of Qi Xing's angry gaze and said, "I made plans with Young Master Qi to go to bed."
Ye Xingzhou hung up the phone and immediately turned it off.
Before Qi Xing could curse at him, he loosened his tie, took off his glasses and threw away the cigarette then opened the car door and pushed Qi Xing inside.