Having woken up from another nightmare, Ye Nanqi rubbed his eyes. His mind went blank for a while before he finally remembered what he had been doing before falling asleep. After washing up a little, he pulled up the list he had uncovered the previous night and entered the names one by one into the search engine.
It was an extremely tedious undertaking. After all, they were all celebrities. Even if most of them had already been forgotten by people today, back then there had still been all sorts of messy rumors and scandalous revelations about them. He had to go through them one by one to find what he needed, which was extremely time-consuming.
The celebrities on the list all had experiences that were more or less similar to Ye Mei’s.
It was just that none of them had made such a decisive move as Ye Mei, who had jumped from a high-rise building and caused a brief sensation. These people had all disappeared without a sound, with hardly anyone even noticing.
Time slowly passed. Ye Nanqi focused all his attention on the computer and didn’t even notice the sky outside changing from bright to dark. There were faint red veins in his eyes. By the time he finished checking the information on the last person on the list, night had already fallen.
Ye Nanqi rolled his shoulders. They were terribly sore. He had been sitting for nearly the entire day, and his legs had gone numb as well. He barely paid attention to it and let out a slight breath.
Sure enough, most of the celebrities on this list were rumored to have had a mysterious wealthy patron backing them.
Just as he was deep in thought, the bedroom door was suddenly flung open with a bang. Startled, Ye Nanqi instinctively snapped his laptop shut.
When he turned and saw the person standing by the door, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed. “What are you doing?!”
As soon as Shen Du had returned home, he had seen the breakfast on the table, completely untouched. Remembering what Ye Nanqi’s mother had said, he had been startled. Without thinking, he took out the spare key, unlocked the door, and rushed inside.
He hadn’t expected to find Ye Nanqi sitting perfectly fine in the room. He froze for a moment, then heard Ye Nanqi grit his teeth and say, “We’re living under the same roof, at least. Didn’t your aunt ever teach you to knock before entering someone’s room?”
Shen Du readily complied and knocked on the door. “I’m coming in.”
Ye Nanqi: “…”
Shen Du didn’t go any further. Leaning against the door, he tilted his head and glanced at the laptop behind Ye Nanqi, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you acting so flustered? What are you doing?”
Ye Nanqi smiled. “Watching porn.”
Shen Du wasn’t so easily brushed off. Instead of retreating, he walked over to Ye Nanqi and calmly said, “Want to watch together?”
“…”
How could those words come out of his mouth so smoothly?
Ye Nanqi looked at Shen Du with a complicated expression. He thought to himself that it was probably because he had eaten the snacks Shen Du had intended to give Jiang Yuanyu a few days ago. Shen Du might not have shown it on the surface, but he was clearly still holding a grudge.
The two stared at each other for a moment. Shen Du blinked, then raised his hand and flicked Ye Nanqi on the forehead. Surprisingly, he was the first to back down.
“Have you gone the entire day without eating?”
Ye Nanqi’s back, which had been tense with wariness, relaxed slightly. His delayed hunger immediately came rushing out. His stomach, which had been neglected all day, obligingly let out a loud growl.
Ye Nanqi: “…”
Shen Du suppressed a smile. “I’ll go see if there’s anything left in the refrigerator.”
Ye Nanqi watched Shen Du leave without a word. He rubbed his ear and discovered that the tips of his ears were growing warm.
Only after saving all the information he had found did he belatedly realize something rather extraordinary.
…Why had Shen Du gone straight to his room as soon as he got home?
Full of suspicion, he went downstairs. Shen Du was already busily cooking.
The young master Shen, after finishing work, didn’t look anything like the domineering CEO people imagined. He was wearing casual home clothes and an apron, his sleeves rolled up to reveal strong, attractive forearms. His tall, slender figure looked relaxed from behind, making quite a pleasing sight.
Having spent the entire day reading gossip, Ye Nanqi couldn’t help wondering to himself whether Shen Du had also kept some young lover on the side. He leaned against the kitchen doorway, staring blankly at Shen Du’s back.
Shen Du turned around, saw him, and beckoned him over. Ye Nanqi walked closer. Shen Du picked up an onion ring with his chopsticks and held it out to him.
“I just happened to see some onions in the kitchen… Want to try one?”
Ye Nanqi felt as though he had seen a ghost. “…Shen Du, what exactly are you up to?”
Wasn’t one of the most terrifying things in the world when a former rival suddenly started showing concern for you?
“What do you mean, what am I up to?”
Ye Nanqi pointed at him, then at himself. “Have you forgotten what our relationship is?”
Shen Du calmly replied, “I haven’t forgotten.”
Ye Nanqi breathed a sigh of relief. “Then please act normal. When you behave like this, I keep worrying that one day you’ll secretly put poison in my food.”
Shen Du stuffed the onion ring into his mouth and patted his head. “We’re legally married. Go out and eat this first to tide yourself over. Your aunt said your stomach isn’t in good shape and asked me to supervise your three meals a day.”
Ye Nanqi was dumbfounded.
Compared with Shen Du, who used to mock him sarcastically and constantly clash with him, this slightly abnormal version of Shen Du was clearly much harder to deal with.
Where had Shen Du come up with this new approach? Was he planning to use a soft-hearted strategy, waiting for Ye Nanqi to let his guard down before delivering a fatal blow?
Ye Nanqi walked out in a daze, carrying the porcelain plate of onion rings, and sat down at the dining table. He discovered that the more he ate, the hungrier he became. He sensed a strong undercurrent of malice and became even more convinced that Shen Du was putting on an act—a different way of picking a fight.
Just like how he himself had been going into Shen Du’s room every day for a while, deliberately making a nuisance of himself.
Thinking about it this way, all of Shen Du’s strange behavior over the past few days suddenly made sense. Ye Nanqi’s uneasy heart finally settled down. He even considered whether he should retaliate. Unfortunately, he really didn’t have the energy. After eating the last onion ring, he decided to hold his ground. Once Shen Du could no longer keep up the act, his true colors would surely show on their own.
Heaven help him. Shen Du, who had suddenly become the target of Ye Nanqi’s conspiracy theories, was busy cooking while also thinking about recipes suitable for people with stomach problems.
Shen Du’s attitude toward dealing with people was quite straightforward. Either he treated someone well, treated them badly, or simply didn’t care about them.
Previously, he had misunderstood Ye Nanqi and treated him terribly. After realizing the truth, he felt guilty. After carefully reading through Ye Nanqi’s experiences, that guilt became mixed with a touch of tenderness and pity that even he himself couldn’t quite explain.
Perhaps it was because the contrast between Ye Nanqi’s past and present was simply too great.
The thorn in his side, whom he remembered as arrogant, vain, and full of empty pleasantries, had suddenly become a pitiful little thing. Shen Du had always been the sort who was tough-mouthed but soft-hearted. Since Ye Nanqi’s mother had asked him to look after Ye Nanqi, and most of his ill feelings toward him had already faded, taking care of him a little wasn’t much trouble.
This complicated state of mind was not something he could explain to outsiders.
Shen Du soon finished preparing two dishes and a soup. They were all delicious in both appearance and aroma, thanks entirely to Mr. Shen’s upbringing and excellent instruction.
Ye Nanqi was so hungry that his stomach felt as though it were burning. After seeing through Shen Du’s “scheme,” he stopped muttering and quietly lowered his head to eat.
Shen Du had originally been standing. When Ye Nanqi lowered his head, his soft black hair covered his eyes, revealing a section of his fair, attractive nape. Shen Du found the sight strangely dazzling and hurriedly sat down.
The two of them rarely enjoyed a moment of peace together. Yet Shen Du couldn’t help glancing at Ye Nanqi from time to time. A little oil had stained Ye Nanqi’s red lips, making them glisten. Shen Du suddenly remembered that advertisement and really wanted to ask him what chocolate tasted like.
This pointless question had been circling around in Shen Du’s mind all day.
He’d probably be laughed at if he asked.
Shen Du rubbed his chin, feeling that he really was being ridiculously idle. Having prepared himself to be mocked, he was just about to ask when his phone suddenly rang.
Seeing the caller’s name, he frowned, stood up, left the dining table, and walked back into the kitchen.
After reaching about fifty percent fullness, Ye Nanqi’s eating speed slowed down. He glanced toward the kitchen but didn’t pay much attention. By the time he had chewed and swallowed his last mouthful of rice, Shen Du finally came out, his expression dark.
Ye Nanqi instinctively felt that his expression had something to do with him. Sitting steadily in his chair, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s wrong?”
After thinking for a moment, Shen Du decided that he should explain things clearly to Ye Nanqi.
After investigating for so long, they had finally found the bastard who had drugged him. The fact that it had been so difficult to investigate meant that the person behind it must have had a considerable background. Even so, Shen Du was still somewhat taken aback when he learned who had given the order.
“Ye Nanqi.” After finishing his thoughts, Shen Du slowly said, “Actually, on the night Yuanyu got married, someone drugged me.”
“The person who did it was from the Xue family.”
Ye Nanqi’s previously unconcerned expression stiffened. A chill crept up his back. “…Someone from the Xue family?”
“I’ve never had any conflict with them.” Shen Du was somewhat puzzled. “The person who did it was only taking money to carry out the job. He doesn’t know which member of the Xue family was behind it.”
After that awkward incident, Ye Nanqi had deliberately avoided thinking about what happened on the night Jiang Yuanyu got married. Now that Shen Du had brought it up, he vaguely remembered that a waiter had handed him a drink at the time.
Because the waiter looked somewhat like Wen Chen, Ye Nanqi had remembered him quite clearly. Later, it seemed… he hadn’t drunk that glass of wine. Instead, Shen Du, who hadn’t been paying attention, had picked it up and drunk it.
Ye Nanqi shuddered and abruptly stood up. “Do you have a photo of that person?”
Shen Du found a photo and handed it to Ye Nanqi.
Ye Nanqi only needed one glance before his mind exploded.
It really was that waiter!
In other words, the Xue family had originally intended to drug him, but by a twist of fate, Shen Du had drunk the wine instead.
So… had he dragged Shen Du into this?
Ye Nanqi’s lips moved slightly. His thoughts were in a mess, and he didn’t tell Shen Du about this. When another possibility occurred to him, he felt his hands and feet turn icy cold.
Had someone from the Xue family been watching him for a long time already?
Thinking back now, it seemed that Xue Xiangyu had said something last night: “No wonder those idiots thought you weren’t a threat.”
In an instant, Ye Nanqi felt as though someone had stripped him naked and thrown him into an endless snowy wasteland, leaving him completely exposed and freezing to the bone. He had thought he had concealed himself rather well. Who would have imagined that someone had been watching him all along without his even knowing?
The two had different thoughts of their own. After a long silence, they suddenly spoke in unison.
“I’m sorry.”
Ye Nanqi: “…What are you apologizing for?”
Shen Du: “…What are you apologizing to me for?”
Both of them were in an unusually complicated state of mind, but neither had the inclination to explain or ask further questions. Ye Nanqi shook his head, returned to his room, and sent his doubts to Xue Xiangyu.
He received no reply for a while. After remaining tense for an entire day, he eventually drifted into a heavy, hazy sleep. In the middle of the night, he was startled awake by the notification sound from his phone.
But the person who had sent him a message wasn’t Xue Xiangyu.
It was Fang Xingyuan, whose attitude toward him had always been neither warm nor cold.
[Come meet me tomorrow.]