PTBLSI chapter 35

 

The table was blocking Qi Xi’s back. It was fit together with the chair, making the space especially cramped. He loosened his grip on Fu Yanchuan, sat down fully, and supported his weight entirely on Fu Yanchuan’s legs.

He couldn’t answer Fu Yanchuan’s question. Aside from being a stand-in, he had no other identity that would allow him to stay by Fu Yanchuan’s side. However, Fu Yanchuan was too good. This stand-in identity made him feel that all of Fu Yanchuan’s kindness wasn’t really meant for him.

Clearly, before, he had never thought there was anything wrong with being a stand-in. Why did he suddenly not want to say he was a stand-in anymore?

“I, I… I am—”

Facing Fu Yanchuan, Qi Xi opened his mouth several times but couldn’t say it. Seeing that he looked like he was about to cry from anxiety, Fu Yanchuan pinched his jaw, where he was clenching his teeth tightly. “If you can’t say it, then don’t.”

“No!”

Instead, Qi Xi became unwilling, as if not saying it would make him lose something. After a long time, a sudden flash of inspiration hit him. “Let me be your friend for a lifetime—your best friend.”

Fu Yanchuan laughed softly. Qi Xi continued, speaking seriously. “You lost your only friend. From now on, I’ll be your best friend for life. Is that okay?”

When Fu Yanchuan didn’t answer, Qi Xi grew anxious, grabbed his collar, and pressed him. “You don’t want that?”

“I don’t.”

“Then what do you want?”

Qi Xi’s brain, which was already not too bright, completely stalled. Anxiously, he said to Fu Yanchuan, “I know I’m useless. I can’t help you. I always trouble you. But I—I—”

“Qi Xi, stop.”

Fu Yanchuan cut him off. He pressed down the stiff line of his neck, leaned in, and kissed the corner of his lips. “Whatever you think it is, that’s what it is. I have plenty of time. You can think it through slowly. Tell me when you’ve thought it through.”

“Mm.” Qi Xi responded in a heavy nasal tone and nodded again. He asked Fu Yanchuan, “Will you hate me?”

Fu Yanchuan bit his lip lightly and told him in an extremely attractive voice, “I like you.”

His face instantly flushed. He straightened his neck, pulling some distance between them, while his gaze darted around. He said, “Don’t say you like me. It feels like a confession! I’m—I’m going to keep—keep—keep memorizing. Bye!”

But the person who said goodbye only moved to sit beside him. Fu Yanchuan glanced over and saw Qi Xi staring very seriously at the paper. After watching him for a while, Fu Yanchuan reminded him, “The paper’s upside down.”

“Ah! Oh.”

Qi Xi hurriedly turned it the right way up, then shot him a sideways look and ordered, “Don’t look at me. You’re distracting me from memorizing.”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t disturb him. Within two minutes, Qi Xi already playing with his pen and doodling on scratch paper. After doodling for a while, he suddenly ran out again.

Fu Yanchuan looked over at the drawing. It was another comic: a cute figure studying when a monster suddenly crawled out of the exam paper. The little figure transformed and started a wildly imaginative battle with the monster.

After looking at it, Fu Yanchuan couldn’t help but write three words at the bottom.

Qi Xi came back in carrying a basket of washed fruit. He sat down and started eating, pushing the fruit basket toward Fu Yanchuan with his other hand. Then, he saw the extra words on his draft paper.

[Be serious.]

He shot a sideways glance at Fu Yanchuan. Seeing that he was working seriously, Qi Xi immediately picked up the pen and continued drawing.

Next to the little figure fighting the monster, there was now a deskmate. The deskmate leaned over and said to the little figure, “Be friends with me!”

The little figure ignored him. The deskmate was knocked flying by the monster.

But even though he was injured, the deskmate came back and said, “I want to be your best friend.”

The little figure still ignored him. His deskmate cried and begged, “Don’t you want to be my best friend?”

The little figure flipped the exam paper. A speech bubble took up half the page above his head, facing the deskmate. Inside were three big words:

[Be serious!]

After finishing, Qi Xi was very satisfied and placed the paper in front of Fu Yanchuan.

Fu Yanchuan looked at the comic that covering his keyboard and smiled. He turned to look at Qi Xi. “Come here.”

Qi Xi obediently moved his chair over to sit beside him and draped one leg over Fu Yanchuan’s. He said very seriously, “President Fu, work should be taken seriously.”

Fu Yanchuan’s gaze darkened. He grabbed Qi Xi’s leg, pulled him over, and pinned him between himself and the table. “So who exactly isn’t being serious?”

Qi Xi refused to admit it. He casually picked up a freshly washed winter jujube and held it to Fu Yanchuan’s mouth. “Brother Yan, want some? It’s very sweet.”

Fu Yanchuan took a bite from Qi Xi’s hand, then criticized him “No manners.”

Qi Xi put the bitten jujube in his own mouth and chewed noisily. Then he asked, “Is it sweet?”

“I’ll taste it again.”

Qi Xi offered it to him again, but Fu Yanchuan moved his hand aside and took a bite from Qi Xi’s mouth instead.

Over the next few days, Qi Xi still came to Fu Yanchuan’s desk to ask questions, but he didn’t remember any of them. He always found reasons to disturb Fu Yanchuan and convince him to slack off together.

Zhou Zhiwei, who often received work assignments from Fu Yanchuan at night, suddenly received none. She couldn’t help but wonder if Fu Yanchuan was sick. But when she saw him during the day, he looked radiant—more lively than before. He was no longer rigid and icy. Even his eyes had become richer in expression.

As expected, Qi Xi failed his exams. But, for the first time, he wasn’t sad. He didn’t care about being scolded by the teacher, either.

Fu Yanchuan was right. Graduation wasn’t his only option. He decided to thank Fu Yanchuan for helping him see everything clearly.

However, thanking Fu Yanchuan was difficult. He didn’t know what Fu Yanchuan wanted, so he sent him a direct message.

[Brother Yan, I failed my exams. I want to thank you for your help. What do you want?]

Fu Yanchuan was looking over the plans for the group’s annual meeting. When he saw Qi Xi’s message, he couldn’t understand Qi Xi’s logic, but he went along with it.

[On holiday? Want to go out with me in a few days?]

When Qi Xi received Fu Yanchuan’s reply, he jumped up in delight and hurriedly responded.

[That’s right, I’m already on winter break. Are you jealous?]

[When are we going? Is it because you’ll be lonely sleeping alone on your business trip and need me to keep you company?]

[Don’t worry; I’ll go with you anywhere. You can do whatever you want!]

[Does this count as my thanks?]

[It does.]

[Then what should we bring? I’ve never seen snow. Is there snow there? I also like the sea. Is there a place with both the sea and snow?]

After reading Qi Xi’s messages, Fu Yanchuan set down his phone and told Zhou Zhiwei, “Let’s change the location to somewhere with both the sea and snow.”

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment. “The geographical difference shouldn’t be too big. It can’t cause acclimatization issues.”

Zhou Zhiwei stared in shock. This requirement was way too detailed—acclimatization issues?

In the past, Fu Yanchuan had always taken an extremely perfunctory attitude toward the group’s annual meeting, as if it were just a fixed process he had to go through. This was the first time he had seriously offered opinions.

Usually, Fu Yanchuan only used his phone as a tool and rarely chatted with it. As she walked out, she couldn’t help but turn back to sneak a look.

Fu Yanchuan was holding his phone and typing with a smile still hanging at the corner of his mouth. She was shocked again!

When Qi Xi received Fu Yanchuan’s message saying there would be snow and the sea, he immediately started thinking about what to bring. First, he searched online, but then he decided that, since he was rich, he would go buy things at brand counters in the mall.

There was a very large shopping mall not far from where he lived. He went downstairs and walked over. Just as he reached the plaza in front of the mall, someone suddenly grabbed him.

This was the only place in the plaza where cars could pass through. Startled, he turned around and saw Qi Zhounan. Before he could ask why Qi Zhounan was there, someone got out of the car beside them and slapped him across the face.

He was stunned by the hit. Qi Feng moved in front of him and cursed, “Zhounan told me, but I didn’t believe it. I didn’t expect you to really be this shameless, letting a man keep you! You’ve completely embarrassed me, Qi Xi! I never asked you to be successful, but I also never asked you to do something this shameless!”

Qi Xi rubbed his aching face. It took a while before he could think clearly again. He stared at Qi Feng in confusion and asked, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand!”

“You’re still pretending to be stupid!”

Qi Feng raised his hand again, but Qi Zhounan hurriedly pulled Qi Xi over. He said to Qi Feng, “Dad, calm down! We’re here to take Brother home. This is still the street.”

When he heard “go back,” Qi Xi pushed Qi Zhounan away. “I’m not going back! I have a place to live now. You kicked me out; that’s not my home!”

Qi Feng’s anger instantly surged again. He glared at Qi Xi and scolded, “You have a place to live? Who gave you a place to live? It’s one thing that you’ve always been ill-mannered, but how can you be this shameless? You have hands and feet! Even if your grandfather’s house was sold, didn’t you know to come back? Did I ever say you couldn’t come back? Yet you sold yourself—”

Seeing people looking over, he didn’t finish. He took a deep breath, grabbed Qi Xi’s wrist, and dragged him toward the car.

“Come home with me, and we’ll talk!”

“I won’t!”

Qi Xi shook off Qi Feng’s hand, but Qi Feng was taller and stronger. Before he could run, Qi Feng grabbed him again.

This time, Qi Feng threw him directly into the car. He turned back and cursed at the onlookers. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen someone disciplining his son?”

Qi Xi tried to get out of the car, but Qi Feng pushed him back in. Then, Qi Feng got into the car and shut the door.

Qi Zhounan sat in the passenger seat, and the car drove off.

Qi Xi didn’t understand what was happening, but he knew Qi Feng was taking him back to the house where he didn’t belong. He didn’t want to go back after being kicked out, and now he wanted to go back even less.

He took out his phone and started to call Fu Yanchuan. Before he could dial, however, Qi Feng snatched the phone away and scolded him: “Do you still want to call that man? You’re not allowed to contact him anymore.”

Qi Feng flipped through Qi Xi’s phone. The number that Qi Xi had just been about to call was saved as “Good Person Handsome Guy.” He shot Qi Xi a deeply disgusted look and deleted the number.

Then, he opened Qi Xi’s WeChat. Besides Xie Hui, the person with whom Qi Xi chatted the most was someone saved as “Brother Yan.”

After looking through their chat records, he smashed Qi Xi’s phone onto the back of the front seat. He turned to look at Qi Xi. He was so angry he could barely catch his breath and couldn’t even curse.

Qi Xi was scared. In his memory, Qi Feng had always been an absent father. When Qi Xi was little, Qi Feng was often away from home. Even when Qi Xi was sick, Qi Feng would only glance at him without saying a word of concern.

After his mother passed away, Qi Feng’s presence in his life dwindled even more. Sometimes several days would pass without them saying a word to each other.

Qi Xi didn’t understand why Qi Feng, who had never cared about him for so many years, was now so angry.

But he had never seen Qi Feng this angry before. Frightened, he retreated to the other side of the car, too afraid to speak.

The driver took the car back to the villa Qi Xi thought he would never return to. As soon as the car door opened, he tried to run, but was caught and dragged into the house.

Qi Xi was thrown onto the sofa in the living room. Cui Tingting crossed her arms and looked at him coldly. Qi Feng and Qi Zhounan walked to the opposite side as if they were about to interrogate him.

Qi Feng stared at him for a long time, then lit a cigarette. Qi Zhounan sat down next to him, pulled on his arm, and said, “Brother, were you bullied? Is that man—”

After all, Qi Zhounan was only fourteen and only partially understood the rules of the adult world. He thought that Qi Xi was too naive and must have been tricked.

The day after Qi Xi moved out, Qi Zhounan went to his grandpa’s house to look for him. He had planned to live with him, but when he arrived, he found someone else living there.

He guessed that Qi Xi didn’t want to come back and didn’t want them to know about the house. Instead, he went to Qi Xi’s school, where he unexpectedly saw him being picked up and dropped off by a luxury car.

Although he was only fourteen, he had long known since before he could remember that he was the child of a mistress. He didn’t completely fail to understand those filthy transactions.

He felt that Qi Xi was just like his mother, so he didn’t tell anyone. After that, he continued going to Qi Xi’s school, spending a long time following him until he finally tracked down where Qi Xi lived.

Qi Xi didn’t have much money and couldn’t afford to live in such an expensive area. He kept following Qi Xi until he personally saw him holding a large bouquet of red roses and meeting a man.

He then went to find Qi Xi and tried to persuade him to go home. When Qi Xi refused and said he was staying with that man, he told Qi Feng.

Qi Feng put out his half-smoked cigarette. “Zhounan, go back to your room.”

Qi Zhounan refused. Qi Feng shouted, “Go back to your room!”

Qi Xi thought that sending Qi Zhounan away meant that Qi Feng was preparing to beat him. He scanned the room, thinking about how to escape.

Finally, Qi Zhounan left. Qi Feng’s gaze turned to Qi Xi, and he spoke again, anger surging up inside him.

“What’s going on between you and that man? Did he trick you? Or did he threaten you?”

Hugging a cushion defensively in front of him, Qi Xi asked Qi Feng in confusion, “Are you talking about Brother Yan?”

“Brother Yan?”

Qi Feng snorted coldly. “How much money did he give you? What did he tell you? Already married, but loves you, wants you to be his lover? Do you even believe that kind of man’s words?”

“No.” Qi Xi corrected him seriously. “It’s a stand-in.”

Qi Feng suddenly kicked the coffee table. “A stand-in? So he didn’t trick you—you were willing?”

Qi Xi nodded. Qi Feng exploded like a stick of lit dynamite. He cursed. “Qi Xi, you’re a man! It’s one thing that you cry all the time, but how can you be so shameless, selling your body to be kept by a man?”

The more he cursed, the angrier he became. He stood up and pointed at Qi Xi, continuing to scold him. “You’re useless, incompetent, and brainless. This is the best you could do? I never expected you to accomplish anything great, but at least live with some dignity! Look at you now. What are you? What’s the difference between you and women who sell their bodies?”

“Dad!”

Qi Xi called out instinctively. He was used to not thinking deeply about words of disdain and not taking other people’s ridicule to heart. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand humiliation.

Now, the person saying this about him was his biological father.

Tears welled up in uncontrollably his eye , but he remembered what Fu Yanchuan had said to him:

“Qi Xi, you’re very outstanding.”

“So-called intelligence is just other people’s standards. You don’t need to force yourself to study a subject you’re not good at.”

“Your paintings are the most shocking I’ve ever seen. They’re special, one of a kind.”

“Don’t care about those who say bad things about you. Instead, believe the people who understand you.”

Qi Xi pushed back his tears, stood up, and faced Qi Feng directly. Gritting his teeth for courage, he finally spoke.

“I’m not! Brother Yan is my friend. He encourages and helps me. He told me that everyone has different talents. I’m not smart, but I’m good at other things. I can earn money on my own. Even if I don’t graduate college, I can still find a job.”

“In your eyes, I only bring you shame, but Brother Yan says I’m outstanding. I’m with him because he treats me better than any of you do! I just like him!”

 

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