Chapter 33 – Crush you

Editor: Xinghe

Proofreader: UM3

Translator: Churen/YuQiChen

Li Youbai’s gaze turned dark and fierce as he stared at the meaningful four words “Good luck, Li Youbai” on his phone. The feeling of blood rushing to his head made him unusually agitated. He took a deep breath to suppress the uneasiness welling up deep inside him and threw the phone aside.

In just a few short days, the situation had already spiralled out of control, leaving people feeling overwhelmed and unable to grasp.

These past couple of days, Li Youbai hadn’t been doing so well, not because of the entanglement between Xie Ling and Xie Qing. It’s not like he was bothered by it. He had casually discarded the little star who had been by his side for quite some time, as if he had lost his mind and turned his attention to Xie Ling. It is enough to prove that his heart does not stay with one person for long.

He had a fundamental difference from Yu Kaize. Yu Kaize was crazy about Xie Ling, but at least he still has some rationality left. He probably always knew that he was just a pursuing admirer with some influence to Xie Ling. So, between Xie Ling and himself, he didn’t hesitate to choose the latter.

That day, when Xie Ling called him in the parking lot, Li Youbai didn’t answer. The reason was that his uncle, Li Sui, who had been expelled from the Li family years ago, suddenly returned from abroad. This uncle of his had been ambitious from a young age, but he had lost completely in the power struggle with his father. As a result, he was driven away from the country by his¹LYB father.

After all these years of absence, his sudden return at this moment aroused a sense of immense crisis in Li Youbai.

He didn’t even know what he was afraid of, but just the thought of the other person’s identity made it impossible for Li Youbai to calm down completely.

And now, he even found himself unintentionally standing on the opposite side of someone like Qi Huaiyu.

No wonder Yu Jun always warned him not to be so reckless for Xie Ling.

So it turns out that Yu Jun’s backing was Qi Huaiyu.

Li Youbai clenched his fists and took a deep breath before walking towards the study. His father was in the study at the moment. The man, who was nearing sixty, was dressed in a neat suit. He glanced at his only son and asked without much emotion, “Do you need something?”

Li Youbai licked his lips.

He wanted to tell his father about the grievances between him and Qi Huaiyu, but seeing his father in this state made him extremely flustered. Even the fingers hanging by his sides were trembling involuntarily.

After waiting for about three minutes without receiving a response from Li Youbai, Father Li glanced at his trembling fingers. It was unclear whether disappointment or helplessness dominated his eyes. He lowered his head and continued to look at the documents, his voice cold and indifferent as it reached Li Youbai’s ears: “Li Sui has returned, and you’re already getting anxious. For the past two years, all I’ve seen is you drinking and boasting with that little star, without putting any effort into this matter. Report to the company on time tomorrow. It’s yours if you work hard. As long as you do well, it will always be yours.”

Li Youbai paused for a moment, then nodded silently.

“Is there anything else you want to say?” Father Li asked.

Li Youbai shook his head repeatedly, “No, I’ll go now.”

As Father Li watched his son’s figure disappear from sight and heard the study door click shut, he put down the pen in his hand, his brow furrowing. Although Li Sui was his younger brother, the age difference between them was nearly thirty years. Li Sui and Li Youbai were close in age, so they had always been in competition with each other. Before the old patriarch passed away, he hadn’t shown much favoritism towards Li Youbai, his own grandson, but he doted on Li Sui, his youngest son, to a great extent.

At that moment, Father Li became aware that something was amiss.

Sure enough, even though Li Sui was just in his early teens, at the age of attending school, he had already started getting involved in the company’s business under the guidance of the old patriarch. Not only did the old patriarch see potential in him, but Li Sui himself was very ambitious, with his eyes filled with desire.

Father Li knew that if he didn’t deal with Li Sui quickly, his future would be uncertain. So, as soon as the old patriarch passed away, he took action.

Li Sui was indeed young, and compared to someone as experienced as Father Li, he was far behind.

Father Li thought that this would be the end of the story, but he never expected that several years later, Li Sui would return.

And he actually returned in such a high profile–

On his first day back, he successfully infiltrated the high society circles in the capital city. It is rumored that he even has a good relationship with Xie Cheng from the Xie family.

This person had impure intentions.

Father Li rubbed his temples, his expression turning somewhat grim under the light.

…

The next day, Xie Qing, rarely one to linger in bed, leaned against the headboard and caressed the small head of the cat that had come over. He stared at his phone. Berry was brought over by Qi Huaiyu last night. Qi Huaiyu mentioned that he had something to attend to and left the cat with Xie Qing for the time being.

Berry was well-behaved, comfortably purring in Xie Qing’s palm, not bothering him at all.

And Xie Qing’s attention was focused on the news that had just been released that morning.

He suspected that his loose tongue may have jinxed it. Just yesterday, he had wished Li Youbai good luck, and today, there was trouble at the Li family’s Jin Hong Group. It all started with someone exposing that Jin Hong Group had covered up a wrongdoing. Jin Hong Group was a real estate company that had acquired a piece of land in a certain area of the capital city a few years ago. During the construction of a high-rise building, an altercation broke out on the construction site, and one of the higher-ups, who had come to inspect the site, actually pushed a worker off the building.

The person fell from the several-story building and was completely splattered upon impact.

This incident was kept extremely well hidden at the time, but somehow it resurfaced today. Along with this scandal, there were also various photos of Li Youbai, the young master of the Li family, engaging in reckless behavior over the years. These photos included him drinking at bars, street racing and even instances of assaulting innocent people.

This incident of assaulting an innocent person happened while Li Youbai was in college. It was said that he was heavily intoxicated and forcibly took the person to his room. The victim, understandably furious with Li Youbai, had a girlfriend at the time. But after being mistreated by Li Youbai, they had no choice but to break up. It seems that the victim had no intention of moving on and decided to approach the media to expose their experience.

One thing led to another, and with several incidents combined, the stocks of the Li family plummeted.

In summary, it was extremely disastrous.

Xie Qing wanted Li Youbai to get together with Xie Ling.

These two people were truly destined to be together.

Financial news may not be able to capture the interest of netizens, but gossip surely could. Xie Qing could even imagine that Li Youbai’s treatment in the coming days would be similar to that of Xie Ling and Yu Kaize. He didn’t really mind, slowly getting up from the bed to have a meal.

In the afternoon, Qi Huaiyu returned, struggling to open the door with two large bags in his hands. As he looked up, he saw Xie Qing standing in front of him with a strange expression, asking, “How do you have a key?”

“Wasn’t it you who gave it to me yesterday, ge?” Qi Huaiyu blinked innocently, as they had made the exchange last night with money and goods exchanged simultaneously.

Using the excuse of staying overnight at Xie Qing’s place due to the concern for his son, he shamelessly insisted on getting Xie Qing’s key. Xie Qing was extremely exhausted at the time, yawning with tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes. The teardrops mingled with the red birthmark on his eye, causing Qi Huaiyu’s heart to skip a beat, but he managed to restrain himself in the end.

Later on, Xie Qing was probably annoyed by the noise and directly handed the key to him, going back to sleep.

After listening to Qi Huaiyu’s account, Xie Qing remained silent for two seconds and finally dryly responded with a simple “Oh.”

Seeing that he was about to leave, Qi Huaiyu quickly approached him and said, “Ge, you’ve wronged me. This isn’t right. You should be comforting me right now.”

Qi Huaiyu quickly put down the things in his hands and eagerly held onto Xie Qing’s clothes, refusing to let go. Xie Qing was completely at a loss with him, sighing deeply and asking, “So how do you want me to comfort you? Should I comfort you the same way I comfort Berry? By rubbing your head?”

“What about reducing the probation period?”

“You’re thinking too beautifully.”

Xie Qing chuckled and didn’t say yes or no. Qi Huaiyu laughed along with him, rambling on incessantly, “Yesterday, my grandpa called me to head home, saying he had something to discuss with me, so I went back to see him.”

Xie Qing responded with a noncommittal sound, and Qi Huaiyu continued, “He heard that I found a boyfriend and asked me to bring you home for a meal when we have time. Oh, by the way, he heard that you’re not feeling well, so he gave me a long-preserved prescription for nourishing food, asking me to follow it and make sure to fatten you up.”

Qi Huaiyu’s grandpa was the patriarch of the Qi family. Since the tragic incident four years ago when Madam Qi couldn’t be saved, the members of the Qi family had dwindled in numbers, leaving only the patriarch and Qi Huaiyu.

Perhaps because there was only one descendant left in the family, the patriarch indulged Qi Huaiyu excessively. He never interfered with whatever his grandson did. Even when his grandson mentioned having a boyfriend, he simply inquired about the boyfriend’s information, and upon learning about his poor health, tried every means to have Qi Huaiyu bring back supplements.

The two large bags that Qi Huaiyu had brought back were filled with his grandpa’s care and affection.

Although Xie Qing couldn’t imagine himself being chubby, the way Qi Huaiyu’s eyes sparkled when he spoke and his wide smile were infectious.

Xie Qing casually pinched Qi Huaiyu’s face with his slender fingers and said, “I’ll head over to your place someday in the future for dinner.”

Qi Huaiyu naturally agreed.

As it was getting late, Xie Qing didn’t feel like cooking, so Qi Huaiyu pulled him out of the room, intending to find a restaurant for lunch. However, as soon as they stepped out of the apartment door, they saw Li Youbai standing by the elevator, his eyes fixed on them.

Qi Huaiyu’s fingers tightened around Xie Qing’s thin wrist, and although Xie Qing’s expression appeared nonchalant, the indulgence hidden in his eyes was easily discernible to Li Youbai at that moment. Li Youbai didn’t know why he ended up here. It was just that when various scandals hit him, he felt dizzy and his car stopped at the parking lot of this old residential area.

He looked at the two people before him, furrowing his brows and asking, “Did you two spread the scandals of my family?”

“Is the answer important?” Xie Qing reached out and grabbed Qi Huaiyu’s wrist, leading him past Li Youbai and into the elevator. Just before the elevator doors closed, completely blocking Li Youbai’s view, Xie Qing mouthed something to him.

It was the same phrase: Good luck.

Frustrated, Li Youbai kicked the elevator door hard.

He must be crazy to come here and seek trouble for himself.

But he urgently wanted a definite answer—

Who was the one responsible?

Was it Xie Qing or Li Sui?

Taking a deep breath, Li Youbai turned and walked towards the emergency exit. Inside the narrow elevator, Xie Qing lazily leaned against the cold wall, feeling the chill seep through his thin skin, causing him to squint slightly. He turned his head to look at Qi Huaiyu and asked, “Did you hear about the scandal in the Li family this morning?”

“I know about it.” Qi Huaiyu shrugged. “I also know who did it. Li Youbai has a younger uncle who was forced to go abroad. He just returned a few days ago. By the way, Xie Cheng went to the hospital to see him.”

No wonder.

Xie Qing touched his chin, weighing the possibility of cooperating with Li Sui.

However, Li Sui was friends with Xie Cheng.

Two days had passed in the blink of an eye. There were no further scandals about the Li family on the internet, but the latest news was that a high-ranking executive of the Jin Hong Group had been taken away for investigation.

These past two days, Xie Qing’s life had been quite idle. Occasionally, he would browse the internet for news or simply lie in bed and sleep. Seeing him yawning and heading towards the bedroom, Qi Huaiyu’s eyes twitched, and his actions were faster than his thoughts. He grabbed Xie Qing’s arm and pulled him into his embrace.

As Xie Qing sat on Qi Huaiyu’s lap, he hadn’t finished yawning yet, and his expression seemed a bit dazed.

“What’s wrong?”

“You haven’t been paying much attention to me these past two days,” Qi Huaiyu said with a pout, holding onto Xie Qing’s hand tightly with one hand while flexing his other hand’s fingers. “There’s only so little time given to me.”

Xie Qing looked at him speechlessly. “But all my time, except for resting, belongs to you.”

Seeing the slightly aggrieved look on the young man’s face, Xie Qing raised an eyebrow and asked with a teasing smile, “Then, why don’t we sleep together?”

Qi Huaiyu’s eyes instantly lit up. “Can we?”

Xie Qing smiled faintly. “What do you think?”

Qi Huaiyu: “…”

Pouting, he sighed inwardly, but his hands refused to let go of the person in his embrace. He rested his face against Xie Qing’s slender back, which was all bones and a bit uncomfortable to lean against. Qi Huaiyu loved this feeling. He gently rubbed his face against the soft fabric of Xie Qing’s shirt and asked softly, “Can’t we take a nap together? I promise I won’t squeeze you out.”

Pausing for a moment, he added, “I won’t crush or break you.”

Xie Qing: “…”

Was it just his imagination? He felt that Qi Huaiyu’s words had a deeper meaning.

He stared at the other person for a while, then immediately gave his reply:

No.

Qi Huaiyu looked aggrieved and wanted to cry. Why was it that Berry could sleep together with Xie Qing, but he couldn’t? He wanted to say something, but Xie Qing quickly stuffed a sweet candy into his mouth. The taste of the candy was delightful, and its rich fragrance quickly filled the air. However, Qi Huaiyu’s attention was focused on the fingertip he was holding in his mouth.

He raised his gaze.

Xie Qing sat on his lap, making him appear a bit taller. With one hand supporting his waist, Xie Qing placed his hand on his shoulder, his eyes slightly closed, clear and relaxed. He said, “Let go.”

His tongue gently swept across his fingertip, and Qi Huaiyu clearly felt Xie Qing’s body tremble slightly. He immediately narrowed his eyes, pulled the person down, and supported Xie Qing’s head with his hand, pressing him towards himself.

The sweet and breathless kiss made both of them lose control.

Qi Huaiyu pressed the person onto the couch, his fingers interlacing with Xie Qing’s, his kisses moving from lips to eyebrows, and from eyebrows to the nape of the neck. The moist and soft touch made Xie Qing slowly open his eyes.

He hoarsely called out Qi Huaiyu’s name, but the young man only responded vaguely. Then, in a warm and gentle whisper, he asked, “Gege, how about taking a nap together?”

His lips pressed against Xie Qing’s earlobe, he threatened in the gentlest tone, “If you don’t agree, I’ll squash you.”

“Qi Huaiyu.”

“Mm.”

Xie Qing hoarsely said, “Don’t press against me.”

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