Xi Yixiu’s arrival did not wake Ming Qi in the lounge room. But less than two minutes later, Ming Qi sat up groggily with his head spinning, clutching the blanket. Pulling the vibrating phone out from beneath the pillow, he saw a message from Meng She.
Māng Mā (Meng Ma): You didn’t pick up Wen Yulan’s calls? He said he couldn’t reach you and asked me to tell you to call him back.
The moment Ming Qi saw the three characters “Wen Yulan,” the fog in his head was instantly swept away. He thought of the two phone calls Yu Qinzhou had just ignored earlier, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly. But soon, his curiosity about why Wen Yulan was looking for him replaced that bit of embarrassment. He pressed his lips together and asked Meng She.
77.: He didn’t say what it was about?
Māng Mā: No, he just said he needed to find you.
Ming Qi tugged at the corner of his mouth and told Meng She he understood. Leaving the chat with Meng She, he immediately saw a message from Wen Yulan. It was only a few simple words:
“Qiqi, do you mind talking for a bit?”
Ming Qi lowered his eyes.
You say it.
Those two simple exchanges were enough for both sides to understand something.
Wen Yulan: Let’s meet and talk. You choose the place.
Ming Qi frowned slightly and was about to reply when Yu Qinzhou pushed the door open from outside. Seeing that he was already sitting up in bed, his brows lifted with a faint smile.
“I thought you were still asleep.”
He walked over to the bedside, and Ming Qi naturally leaned into his arms. Breathing in the lingering pine-scent of the bath they had taken together, Ming Qi’s irritated mood gradually settled. He didn’t hide Wen Yulan’s message and handed his phone to Yu Qinzhou.
Yu Qinzhou glanced down and asked, “Want to go?”
Ming Qi hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “We’ve known each other for many years, after all.”
As friends, there were some things that needed to be made clear.
Yu Qinzhou wasn’t surprised by his choice at all. In fact, it was exactly what he had expected. So he only said indifferently, “Then go ahead.”
Ming Qi blinked, looking slightly surprised.
Yu Qinzhou hooked a finger under his chin and smiled. “Why do you look so surprised?”
Ming Qi, like a little cat being held by the chin, didn’t resist. Instead, he stayed in that position and looked at him slowly. “I thought you would really dislike him and not want me to go.”
The man’s slightly raised brows and the disdain he never bothered to hide when Wen Yulan was mentioned were impossible to miss.
Yu Qinzhou curled his lips but didn’t respond.
Just as Ming Qi had said, he truly did hate Wen Yulan—very much.
And he also very much enjoyed watching Wen Yulan’s self-righteousness be pushed from the peak of his arrogance straight into the abyss of ruin.
It would certainly be interesting.
Fingering the young man’s slender hand, he smiled and suggested, “Although Old Master Yu can’t stir up any trouble anymore, for safety’s sake, let’s set the meeting at the café downstairs of the Yu Corporation building. How about that? Besides, Wen Yulan is your friend—some things are different when they come from my mouth versus his.”
Since Yu Qinzhou had said so, Ming Qi naturally had no reason to refuse.
On the other side, when Wen Yulan saw the café address Ming Qi sent—right next to the Yu Corporation building—his eyes flickered slightly. After a long moment, he let out a self-mocking smile.
…
By the time Ming Qi arrived at the agreed café, Wen Yulan was already there.
He stood at the entrance for a moment, his gaze landing on the young man seated in the corner. It had been quite a while since they last met, and after everything that had happened with the Wen family, Wen Yulan didn’t seem to have changed much on the surface. He wore his usual casual shirt, sitting quietly at the table, long fingers holding a coffee cup—looking like the university “male god” students at Jing University always admired.
Until Ming Qi walked over.
Seeing him, Wen Yulan handed him a glass of lemon water he had prepared earlier and smiled lightly. “I thought Yu Qinzhou wouldn’t let you come see me.”
Ming Qi sat down across from him but didn’t take the lemon water. Instead, he looked straight at him. “Was it the airport news last time that made you realize my relationship with him, and then you contacted Old Master Yu?”
The smile on Wen Yulan’s face faded slightly. He knew Yu Qinzhou had already told Ming Qi everything, and there was no point in lying anymore.
His fingers slowly traced the rim of his cup as his gaze fell on the young man’s clothes—an oversized, casual shirt. Through the open collar, a vine-shaped ring could be faintly seen swaying.
“That ring looks nice,” he suddenly said, then added, “Actually, I only realized you two already knew each other when I noticed the ring on Yu Qinzhou’s hand in the airport photo matched the one in your ‘milk tea with caramelized pudding’ post on Moments.”
After that, he had someone investigate further and saw Yu Qinzhou’s Moments.
Yu Qinzhou’s Moments were nothing like Ming Qi’s clean feed. They were full of traces of his partner. Even though Ming Qi never showed his face, Wen Yulan could still pick out his presence from every subtle detail.
A hand. A camera angle. A scenery shot from the film set.
All silently confirmed Ming Qi’s relationship with Yu Qinzhou.
Wen Yulan couldn’t quite describe what he felt at that moment, but anxiety and disorientation were certain.
He had known Ming Qi for many years. Although Ming Qi never talked about his family, over time you could still sense things—especially after once seeing Ming Qi come out of the school counseling office. So he investigated quietly.
He thought Ming Qi was someone who appeared gentle, but kept his heart tightly locked away.
Yet even so, over the years, many so-called “friends” who approached Ming Qi were quietly kept away by Wen Yulan’s interference. Ming Qi only ever felt that people came and went, never realizing his hand was among them.
But he never intended to confess. Because he never once saw himself reflected in Ming Qi’s eyes.
Ming Qi had no such feelings for him.
Reason told Wen Yulan he should let go. But emotionally, he knew clearly he couldn’t. He once asked Ming Qi when he planned to start dating. Ming Qi said he would focus on work first, so Wen Yulan thought maybe that would be his chance.
But before Ming Qi’s career could even take off, Wen Hejun struck at his mother and him.
Wen Yulan had no choice. He could only find a reliable partner for his mother Zhou Jing, so he approached Song Yin. However, he never dared to let Ming Qi know any of these things.
Until he discovered that Ming Qi, who always said he would focus on work, now had Yu Qinzhou by his side.
Only then did he realize that some things were no longer under his control.
But he still refused to give up.
So he took the initiative to approach Old Master Yu. He thought that if Yu Qinzhou could be restrained by Old Master Yu, then he and Ming Qi would never be able to end up together.
Yet, the one being manipulated turned out to be Old Master Yu.
“My original intention was never to hurt you.” Wen Yulan lifted his eyes—but Ming Qi cut him off, “From the moment you went to cooperate with Old Master Yu, you were already hurting me.”
Suddenly hearing this, Wen Yulan’s expression stiffened instantly.
But Ming Qi clearly had no intention of letting him off. He continued, “You even, when you couldn’t find a way in with me, went to find Jiang Jianian. You knew very well what Jiang Jianian meant to me. He might not be my biological younger brother, but even just because of the kindness Jiang’s father once showed me, I would never abandon him.”
It was only because Jiang Jianian and his mother had been sent abroad by Yu Qinzhou.
“Wen Yulan,” Ming Qi called his name softly, looking at the young man across from him, and finished the rest of his words, “Our friendship ends here. We will not meet again.”
He did not stay in the café any longer and turned to leave.
The young man’s slightly thin figure quickly disappeared beyond the edge of sight. Wen Yulan opened his mouth, but all his words were stuck in his throat. He had wanted to tell Ming Qi that everything he did was because he liked him—but after seeing what he had done with his own eyes, Ming Qi would probably only feel disgust.
In the silence, another shadow fell across the table.
Wen Yulan refocused his gaze. The moment he saw the person in front of him clearly, his pupils trembled slightly.
Yu Qinzhou sat casually with his legs crossed. The glass of lemon water Ming Qi had not touched was taken by him; he took a light sip and clicked his tongue.
“Too sour. He wouldn’t like it.”
Wen Yulan’s fingers curled slightly against his leg. “Why are you here?”
“You privately invited my legal partner. I was worried about his safety, so of course I had to follow him.” Yu Qinzhou rested his chin on one hand, smiling faintly as he looked at him. His words were like salt rubbed directly into the wound. “Of course, the main reason is to see the defeated loser’s sorry state.”
His gaze slowly swept over Wen Yulan’s ugly expression, and he sighed lightly. “How interesting.”
Wen Yulan’s fingers tightened.
Yu Qinzhou smiled even more. “Why aren’t you speaking? Don’t you think it’s interesting? I originally thought you also liked Ming Qi, just that your vision and ability were limited to the Wen family’s little assets. Only later did I realize how hypocritical you are.”
“Before going to Old Master Yu, didn’t you even bother to find out what kind of person he is? That shouldn’t be the case—you clearly investigated me and him so thoroughly. Logically, you should know his nature too. Yet you still dared to use Ming Qi as bait. Are you bold, or just selfish?”
The smile on Yu Qinzhou’s brows turned utterly mocking.
“I’ve paid for the coffee. Mr. Wen, save some money and rebuild your life.”
…
Ming Qi had no idea someone followed him downstairs and even humiliated his “love rival.” He pulled down his cap, adjusted his mask, and stood silently in front of the express elevator—no access card, couldn’t go up.
After hesitating between the emergency stairs and the regular elevator, Ming Qi decisively chose the latter.
It wasn’t peak hours, so the elevator shouldn’t be crowded.
Or so he thought.
He stepped in and pressed the top floor button—but what he never expected was that it stopped on the 11th floor, where a group of employees carrying laptops and notebooks entered.
Ming Qi quietly retreated into a corner.
At first, the employees didn’t pay attention to him. Until they saw that the only lit button was the top floor.
They exchanged glances, and their eyes instantly landed on the young man in the corner.
Holy—?!