Yu Qinzhou returned to Xijing Bay just in time for dinner.
Rarely, neither Meng She nor Min Zhengyue was there—only Ming Qi sat cross-legged on the soft sofa, looking at Meng She’s social media account on his phone.
Sensing Yu Qinzhou’s approach, he looked up instinctively and met the man’s smiling eyes.
Ming Qi smiled too, setting his phone aside and reaching out. Yu Qinzhou leaned down and picked him up, asking, “Meng She and Ah Yue didn’t stay with you today?”
“They left early.”
Earlier in the afternoon, while the four of them were filming Little Eight’s videos, Min Zhengyue mentioned changes within Yu Corporation and said, “Once my brother returns from Wanghezhou, all this mess will be over.”
So after filming, Meng She very tactfully urged Min Zhengyue to leave.
Yu Qinzhou sat down on the sofa with Ming Qi in his arms, holding his slender fingers and casually teasing him.
“Looks like Ming Qi won’t get the chance to see the old master come knocking anymore.”
He still remembered how eager Ming Qi looked whenever the old master was mentioned.
After thinking for a moment, he added, “Anyway, now that all his claws have been pulled out, he can’t cause any trouble. If you’re still disappointed about not getting to show off your acting skills in front of him, I can take you to Wanghezhou sometime—to annoy him a bit.”
Ming Qi’s eyelid twitched.
Even though he had never asked what had happened between Yu Qinzhou and the elders of the Yu family, he could already tell from his tone that Yu Qinzhou was the definition of an extremely dutiful grandson. Even in this state, he still wasn’t planning to let the old master off.
He reached out and poked Yu Qinzhou’s face.
“We don’t need to act anymore.”
Yu Qinzhou laughed. “Right. Now our Ming Qi loves me to death.”
Ming Qi noticed out of the corner of his eye that Qin Jing was walking over and probably heard everything clearly. His ears turned red. He shot Yu Qinzhou a glare and muttered, “Who loves you to death,” then quickly slipped off his lap and ran away.
After dinner, Yu Qinzhou used actions to let Ming Qi know that some things really shouldn’t be said carelessly.
Only a dim bedside lamp was lit in the master bedroom. Ming Qi’s gaze could hardly focus; he only felt that the figure reflected in his eyes was swaying fiercely. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but his chin was firmly turned aside, his tongue sucked until it went numb. Sweat on Yu Qinzhou’s forehead traced the sharp contours of his face, hanging precariously from his chin before, in the extreme silence, falling with a soft drip onto Ming Qi’s shoulder.
Like water rippling across pristine white paper.
In the shifting lamplight, Ming Qi’s fingers slowly tightened as he grabbed the bedsheet unbearably, muffled whimpers and breaths spilling out without end.
Seeing he truly couldn’t take it anymore, Yu Qinzhou slowed down. His thin lips brushed against Ming Qi’s ear as he asked in a low voice, “Qiqi, do you love me?”
Ming Qi vaguely murmured that he did, and another kiss and soft chuckle landed on his shoulder. “Good boy. I love Qiqi too.”
The next morning, Ming Qi was dazzled awake by the blazing sunlight outside the window. Still somewhat muddleheaded, he buried his face deeper into Yu Qinzhou’s arms, his soft cheek pressing against the man’s chest. The gentle breath he exhaled instantly stirred up morning desire.
Yu Qinzhou held his hand and coaxed softly, “Baby, help me out?”
Ming Qi jolted awake and suddenly looked up at him.
But it was already too late.
After being pinned onto the bed and made to do it two more times, Ming Qi soaked in the bathtub with nothing left to live for, blowing bubbles glumly.
Both of them were men, yet Yu Qinzhou’s stamina was genuinely terrifying.
Maybe… he should start using the gym on the third floor too.
Thinking this, Ming Qi got up without hesitation. He didn’t like exercising, and he didn’t own workout clothes, so he grabbed a new set from Yu Qinzhou. Yu Qinzhou’s clothes were a bit too big on him, and the athletic shorts felt strangely loose. But Ming Qi didn’t care much and hurried to the third floor, pushing open the gym door.
A few minutes later, lying on the mat, he thought: maybe forget it. Anyway, he wasn’t the one using strength.
As he was thinking, a shadow appeared before him. Squinting, he looked over to see Yu Qinzhou standing beside him, looking down at him from above. Not missing the fact that Ming Qi was wearing what should have been his workout clothes, Yu Qinzhou suppressed a laugh and said, “Working out?”
Ming Qi immediately caught the teasing in his eyes. Rolling over on the mat naturally, he replied gloomily, “Sleeping.”
But he didn’t get to sleep either. In the end, Ming Qi was carried back to the dining room by Yu Qinzhou.
“Eat breakfast first. After that, you can sleep wherever you want.”
Ming Qi held his chopsticks and looked at him. “Are you going to sleep?”
“That depends on Qiqi.”
Ming Qi: “Then I think you should go to the office.”
…
At two in the afternoon, Ming Qi woke up from a nap feeling refreshed.
He asked Cen Jing for a red envelope, but Cen Jing only pushed up his glasses and asked, “Mr. Ming, are you planning to give a wedding gift to that friend from the Wen family?”
Ming Qi nodded.
After Wen Yulan learned that he wouldn’t be able to attend the wedding, he had even sent him an electronic invitation. Ming Qi had seen that the ceremony was scheduled for 6:18 PM the night before. But at that time, Yu Qinzhou had just returned. After dinner, they had fooled around again, and only now did he finally have spare time.
Originally, he had thought of sending the gift money directly through WeChat, but somehow it felt inappropriate, like it ought to be handed over in person.
What Ming Qi didn’t expect, however, was for Cen Jing to smile and say, “The wedding between the Wen family and the Song family has been canceled.”
Ming Qi froze. “Canceled?”
Cen Jing only said, “For the details, you can ask Mr. Yu.”
Ming Qi: “…I thought you’d tell me to ask Wen Yulan.”
Cen Jing smiled without speaking, but Ming Qi sharply sensed that the smile seemed to carry a hint of meaning and a trace of disdain toward Wen Yulan. Seeing this, Ming Qi didn’t say anything else and simply held his somewhat empty stomach, preparing to eat a lunch that was two hours late.
After lunch, Ming Qi carried Xiao Ba to the balcony to bask in the sun. Xiao Ba exposed its soft little belly and slept soundly, while Ming Qi searched online for news about the Wen and Song families’ wedding but found nothing. Thinking back to Yu Qinzhou’s earlier words—“Who knows whether an accident might happen?”—he pressed his lips together and simply picked up the script for Winter Has Arrived.
He would probably join the production next month. By then, he and Yu Qinzhou would have to be apart for quite some time again—unless he recruited an assistant with the surname Yu.
Time passed quickly as he immersed himself in the script. By the time Ming Qi snapped back to reality, Yu Qinzhou was already sitting silently on the lounge chair behind him, teasing Xiao Ba. Noticing Ming Qi looking over, he raised a brow. “Teacher Ming finally noticed the two of us father and son?”
Ming Qi ignored the verbal teasing entirely and pounced over to replace Xiao Ba. “When did you get back? I didn’t hear you.”
“Half an hour ago. You were so focused on the script that I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Yu Qinzhou was still waiting for Ming Qi to completely rise to the top through Winter Has Arrived before making their relationship public, so naturally, he wouldn’t bother him while he was working.
Before Ming Qi could speak, Yu Qinzhou already understood what he wanted to ask. “Want to ask about the Wen family?”
Ming Qi nodded. “I wanted to ask Alan, but Mr. Cen’s expression was kind of strange, so I got curious.”
So he obediently waited for Yu Qinzhou to come home, wanting an answer from him.
Yu Qinzhou didn’t hide anything either. His voice carried a trace of lazy ease as he said unhurriedly, “There’s actually nothing special about it. Wen Yulan’s wolfish ambitions were discovered by that young master from the Song family.”
Song Yin was simple to the point of absurdity. Before the wedding, when he heard others say Wen Yulan was only with him for the Song family, he didn’t believe it. After all, during the time they had spent together, he knew perfectly well how Wen Yulan had treated him. But the problem started when an issue arose with one of Zhou Jing’s projects and she was invited in for questioning. Worried that Wen Yulan might be in a bad mood, Song Yin specially went to comfort him. But before he could comfort him, he first overheard the conversation between Wen Yulan and Zhou Jing.
The meaning behind their words was nothing more than calling the Song family stupid and incompetent, saying Wen Hejun had found a weak point, causing problems in their joint project. At the same time, he felt that all the time he had spent coaxing Song Yin had not been worth it.
After finishing, Yu Qinzhou hooked a long finger under Ming Qi’s chin, not missing the stunned expression on his face. His gaze darkened slightly as he asked, “Did you never imagine Wen Yulan was this kind of person?”
For a moment, Ming Qi was speechless.
He really hadn’t imagined it. He even felt that the Wen Yulan Yu Qinzhou described and the Wen Yulan he knew were completely different people.
But Yu Qinzhou only said, “That woman Zhou Jing is good at pretending. It’s not surprising that Wen Yulan, as her son, inherited her ‘good qualities.’”
He had no intention of letting Wen Yulan off. Every sentence he spoke made Ming Qi’s eyes widen slightly.
“Qiqi, Wen Yulan went to Wanghezhou.”
At the confusion and puzzlement on Ming Qi’s face, he slowly explained, “To see the old master.”
The first thought that came to Ming Qi’s mind was: what had Wen Yulan gone to see Old Master Yu for? But very quickly, he understood.
Yu Qinzhou had warned him not to leave Xijing Bay during this period of time, yet Wen Yulan’s wedding had happened at exactly this moment. Had he been counting on Ming Qi not missing his good friend’s wedding?
And following that line of logic, he seemed to understand why Wen Yulan had given Jiang Jianian a wedding invitation after meeting him only once.
Because if Ming Qi refused to attend the wedding, Wen Yulan had intended to use Jiang Jianian to manipulate him.
Ming Qi’s face turned pale.
Yu Qinzhou felt heartache at the helplessness revealed in Ming Qi’s lowered eyes, yet he did not regret telling him these things.
He wanted nothing more than to rip open Wen Yulan’s filthy, rotten heart and let Ming Qi see exactly what kind of person he had once liked.