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Early in the morning, Qi Xing rarely woke up early and went with his father to attend the wedding of the Ye family.
When the car stopped at the venue, before getting off, Qi Ronghua reminded his son once again anxiously, "We're here to attend the wedding. When we meet people, I'll let you greet them politely. Don't wander around aimlessly."
"I know," Qi Xing responded perfunctorily, his gaze falling outside the car window.
The wedding of the third son of the Ye family was held at a holiday resort developed by the Ye family outside the city. It was Qi Xing's first time here, and he couldn't deny that the place had a good environment and scenery.
A perfect destination for leisure.
With the Ye family hosting the wedding, there was a grand banquet with guests coming from wealthy and influential backgrounds. Qi Ronghua wanted to keep a low profile but upon arriving, they were unexpectedly greeted by Ye Xingzhou himself.
Qi Xing stood with his hands in his pockets, watching as his father exchanged pleasantries with Ye Xingzhou. He couldn't help but roll his eyes.
When Ye Xingzhou's gaze fell on him, he caught Qi Xing's expression. Qi Xing didn't feel embarrassed at all and raised his chin nonchalantly, "Young Master Ye, where's Teacher Lin? Why haven't I seen him?"
His tone was typically brash, showing no courtesy. Ye Xingzhou, however, maintained an indifferent attitude towards him, saying, "Zhinian is inside." and then said to Qi Ronghua, "Uncle Qi, please come in.”
Qi Xing retorted, "Young Master Ye, you're quite good at getting close. You address my grandfather as 'uncle' and my father as 'uncle,' should I call you 'uncle' or 'brother' too?"
Ye Xingzhou glanced at him, saying, "As you wish."
Qi Xing muttered, "..."
Shameless.
Qi Ronghua coughed, interrupting them, "Let's go inside first. There are many guests. Young Master Ye, you can attend to your duties. There's no need to specially greet us."
Ye Xingzhou replied, "It's alright. I'll escort Uncle Qi inside."
Qi Xing silently rolled his eyes again. Ye Xingzhou was overly attentive to his father; there was no need for that.
Ye Xingzhou gestured, "Uncle Qi, this way, please."
Inside the resort, there was a large artificial lake and the wedding venue was on the lawn beside it. Before the scheduled time, guests gathered in groups, chatting and socializing.
Ye Xingzhou personally led Qi Ronghua over and many people approached them to exchange greetings warmly. After chatting with them for a while, Ye Xingzhou reminded Qi Ronghua that there was a resting area in the villa area behind and they could relax there. Then he went to greet other guests.
Despite the crowd, Qi Ronghua, although ridiculed behind his back as a nouveau riche, had many flattering voices around him, and Qi Xing took the opportunity to slip away and find some fun on his own.
Yang Kaiming spotted him from afar and approached, "I knew Young Master Qi would come today."
Qi Xing waved him off, "Go away, I'm busy. I'm going to find Teacher Lin."
Yang Kaiming chuckled, accustomed to Qi Xing's temperament. "Coming to someone else's territory to attend a wedding and trying to steal someone's thunder, only you, Qi, can do such a thing. But do you know where he is? Come on, I just saw him heading towards the villa with someone. Let me take you there."
They walked towards the villa area together, and Qi Xing's gaze swept over Ye Xingzhou, who was surrounded by admirers in the distance. "With this grandeur, one might think Ye Xingzhou is the main character of this wedding," he remarked.
Yang Kaiming replied, "That's normal. Ye's second son, who was once highly regarded, was exiled to the overseas branch by him and the third son turned against his own brother. Now, he's just trying to make a living under Ye Xingzhou's command. Let alone organizing a wedding, he could hold a funeral to satisfy Young Master Ye . As for the fourth son, he's even worse off. He's a total failure.”
Qi Xing chuckled, "You have quite a sharp tongue."
When they reached the door of the lounge, Yang Kaiming was about to push the door open when Qi Xing suddenly grabbed his hand, signaling him to keep quiet with his eyes.
From inside came voices speaking.
"You and Ye Xingzhou, what's the situation now?"
"Uncle, I'm just friends with him. Please stop asking about this."
"Just friends? But he's always with you, like a couple. Weren't you close when you were studying together? Can't you be more proactive and please him?"
"It's not like that between us..."
Yang Kaiming raised an eyebrow at Qi Xing, indicating that the people inside were obviously Lin Zhinian and his uncle. One sounded aggressive, while the other seemed awkwardly restrained. This Uncle Lin is a respectable figure in public but unexpectedly, in private, he was pressuring his own nephew to please another man.
Qi Xing had heard enough and pushed the door open without hesitation.
The two inside were surprised to see them. There was a flash of embarrassment on Lin Zhinian's face, and Qi Xing pretended to be startled. "Oh, sorry, we didn't know there was someone inside. Oh, Teacher Lin, you're here. What a coincidence, I was just looking for you."
He walked towards Lin Zhinian, while Lin Zhinian’s Uncle scrutinized him suspiciously and then glanced at Lin Zhinian. Lin Zhinian awkwardly introduced them, "This is Young MasterQi from Ronghua Corporation. Young Master Qi, this is my uncle."
The uncle's eyes lit up, and he immediately became enthusiastic, extending his hand with a bright smile. "So you're Young Master Qi, nice to meet you."
Qi Xing, however, didn't move. "Sorry, Uncle Lin, I'm a bit of a germaphobe [1]. I don't really like shaking hands with people."
[1] is a person who has an extreme or irrational fear of germs or contamination.
The smile on Lin Zhinian’s Uncle's face froze halfway and Yang Kaiming couldn't help but chuckle. Ignoring the awkwardness, Qi Xing turned to Lin Zhinian. "The wedding over there is about to start in a while. Are you going now, Teacher Lin? Shall we go together?"
Lin Zhinian relaxed slightly. "Sure."
As they walked out of the villa, Lin Zhinian awkwardly thanked Qi Xing, "Thanks for helping me out just now. Sorry you had to witness that."
Qi Xing shrugged indifferently. "No problem, just lending a hand. But your uncle, Teacher Lin, is he always like this?"
Lin Zhinian sighed. "... He means well but he tends to meddle."
"Is that so?" Qi Xing smiled. "Well then, Teacher Lin, you and Young Master Ye, are you really not in that kind of relationship? Since that's the case, can I pursue you?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Kaiming quickly made up an excuse and left. Lin Zhinian felt uneasy. "Young Master Qi, please don't make jokes like that."
"I'm not joking," Qi Xing said innocently. "Do I look like I'm joking? I'm serious about pursuing you."
Seeing Lin Zhinian hesitate with his response, Qi Xing waved his hand with a smile. "Forget it, take your time to think about it, Teacher Lin. I'm sure I'm more suitable for you than that Ye guy. He doesn't have my understanding and interest in you. Just give it some thought."
Returning to the lakeside, the wedding scene was even more crowded than before. Despite the crowd, Ye Xingzhou remained the center of attention, leisurely holding a glass of champagne, casually listening to others' conversations, and exuding an air of elegance and grace.
As Qi Xing followed Lin Zhinian over, he glanced at Ye Xingzhou from afar, inwardly criticizing his pretentious demeanor, feeling a twinge of annoyance.
As Lin Zhinian approached, someone made room for him. He walked over to Ye Xingzhou and asked in a low voice, "Is the wedding about to start?"
Ye Xingzhou took a sip of his drink and casually reminded him, "It'll be a while longer. Why don't you grab something to eat first and fill your stomach?"
"It's nice to see how caring Ye Xingzhou is towards you," a smiling middle-aged voice suddenly chimed in as the speaker adopted a somewhat patronizing tone as they looked at Ye Xingzhou and Lin Zhinian.
Ye Xingzhou raised an eyebrow, calmly meeting the speaker's gaze without responding. Undeterred, the person continued, "I remember when you two were in high school, you were always together. It's been so many years, and it's rare to see your relationship still so good. Now that even Wanqing has gotten married, Ye Xingzhou, as the elder brother, shouldn't you settle down soon too? Our family isn't that conservative. There's nothing wrong with liking men..."
Ye Xingzhou continued to drink his wine, seemingly unperturbed by the person's chatter. Lin Zhinian subconsciously looked at him, his eyes flickering.
Surrounded by onlookers, the topic of Ye Xingzhou's romantic escapades within the Ye family was discussed. Some of it was true, some embellished but only he knew the full truth.
"Enough, stop talking nonsense," someone finally interjected, a senior member of the Ye family. Their tone displeased as they tapped their cane on the ground, "Today is Wanqing's wedding. Don't drink too much and talk nonsense here."
"But big brother, how am I talking nonsense? We all know about Ye Xingzhou and Zhinian's situation," the person retorted.
"I told you to shut up!"
"What's the point of me shutting up? We can't control Ye Xingzhou's affairs anyway. Big brother, you even wanted to introduce a girlfriend to Ye Xingzhou before, making him unhappy. Why bother? If he likes men, forcing a girl on him will only make enemies, won't it?"
"Ye Xingzhou is not the person you described. Stop talking nonsense here!"
Ye Xingzhou remained unperturbed, allowing them to argue while he continued to sip his wine.
Qi Xing stood aside, arms crossed while observing the scene. Yang Kaiming leaned over and whispered to him, "The troublemaker is Ye Xingzhou's cousin. He used to be quite influential in their company, but now Ye Xingzhou has kicked him out. He's deliberately causing trouble for Ye Xingzhou today. And the other one is Ye Xingzhou's uncle. He was the one who tried to arrange a girlfriend for Ye Xingzhou before but Ye Xingzhou rejected the idea. The Ye family values their reputation, especially him."
Qi Xing glanced at Ye Xingzhou, who remained unfazed, and summarized, "Looks like they're both putting on a show but Ye Xingzhou doesn't want to engage with either of them."
Ye Xingzhou finished his drink and placed the cup on the snack table before speaking, "My affairs are out of concern to uncle and cousin."
Ye Xingzhou's cousin wanted to continue, but Ye Xingzhou didn't give him a chance, "This is a private matter between me and Zhinian. It seems unnecessary to discuss it publicly."
Qi Xing clapped his hands twice and intervened, "Exactly, stop gossiping. Let's respect Teacher Lin's opinion. What do you mean he's not that kind of person? What kind of person is he? Honestly, Teacher Lin might not even like Young Master Ye. What do you say, Teacher Lin?"
Under the gaze of everyone, Lin Zhinian felt extremely embarrassed. Ye Xingzhou's eyes turned to Qi Xing, pausing for a moment before he suddenly said, "What kind of person I am doesn't matter. But do you know what kind of person you are, Qi Xing?"
Qi Xing responded, "Is it related to you?"
"It's irrelevant," Ye Xingzhou replied. "Consider it my curiosity. Aren't you interested in yourself and your own affairs, Qi Xing?"
Although his tone was casual, his words carried a subtle and inexplicable sense of ambiguity, causing those around them to look surprised and intrigued for a moment.
Qi Xing was taken aback for a moment, then blurted out, "I'm not interested in you!"
"I know," Ye Xingzhou nodded, calmly shifting his gaze away and gesturing to the others, "The wedding is about to start. Please take your seats, everyone."