HOYSE CHAPTER 39

Chapter 39 — Covet

Inside the car, Wu Hanqi sat with his eyes closed, listening to the rain drumming on the roof. His fingers tapped along in a steady rhythm to the patter.

Not long ago, Paisen’s general manager had called to report on progress, and ended by mentioning a project he was especially bullish on that had been snatched at the last minute by the Xie family’s young master.

Right around then, the weather changed before your very eyes. One moment the sky was a clear expanse, the next heavy clouds rolled in, the shift taking only a few seconds. From a meteorologist’s standpoint it made no sense at all. It felt more like the “omens” in old operas, like snow in June.

Of course, the GM’s word “snatched” was not exactly professional. Paisen had always behaved like a hungry wolf muscling in on other people’s turf. If they wanted something, then regardless of who got there first, it was considered Paisen’s by right. This time the tables were turned. Someone else beat them to it. To have failed to pick up a promising project at a low entry price stung. The GM grumbled that Qiu the project owner was a blockhead of a programmer who did not understand the meaning of maximizing profit. Most galling of all, they had lost to some rich wastrel who did not even do real business, just dabbled for fun.

“Chairman Wu, this app’s videos look ordinary, but with the right push and a bit of refactoring, it could hit the market hard,” the GM said, only growing more convinced they had let a golden egg slip away. In his view, Chairman Wu, as board chair, focused on overall strategy and direction, and would not care about a small fry like this. But as someone who had been deployed in this track for years, he could see Fun’s different kind of potential.

“Since they chose to take Rong Jing’s personal money, it means your offer was not compelling enough,” Wu Hanqi replied. His cultured tone carried a cold sharpness to the bone. “Ask yourself why you could not close it, instead of coming to complain to me about your own… incompetence.”

“Ch- Chairman Wu.” Only then did the GM remember who he was talking to.

“Go back and reflect. I do not want to see this happen again,” Wu said, glancing at the sky that had turned so suddenly.

That was the call just now.

On the way to the airport they had to pass through the city center. The Xie Group’s tower stood right in the liveliest stretch of the Central Business District. A simple turn would take him past it, and in fact he had already intended to pay the Xies a visit. Wu Hanqi kept old-school manners. It was part of why the Wu family’s reputation drew praise wherever they went.

And of course, he could take a look at that boy he had once written off as dull and timid, now so surprisingly transformed. From what he had heard about this acquisition, Rong Jing had made people sit up and take notice.

Through the raindrops running down the glass, a familiar silhouette appeared. Wu pulled up a tracker on his phone. The little red dot on the map was indeed nearby.

So it was him in person, and his heat was over.

Not long after, Rong Jing showed up as well. The two of them were talking and laughing. There was nothing flirtatious in it, but their body language spoke of easy rapport. He would never have expected those two, whose worlds were poles apart, to know each other.

“Drive up,” Wu told the chauffeur.

Just as the tension between Rong Jing and Gu Xi was tightening, a voice cut cleanly through it and scattered the hazy mood between them. They both turned at the same time toward the sound. Inside the car, Wu Hanqi sat, at ease, watching the two standing in the rain, face to face.

When Gu Xi saw Wu’s face, his pupils shrank and he took half a step back. Wu had once helped him a great deal and had never crossed a line with him. Maybe he had maligned a good person, but after what had happened before, the lesson was too harsh. His caution toward Wu was animal-deep.

Hearing Wu call warmly and calmly, “Xiao Jing,” clearly an intimate term, made Gu Xi’s eyelid twitch hard. For a fleeting instant he glanced at Rong Jing with a flicker of doubt. After trouble had struck again and again, he did not dare risk anything. Those powerful men still left his heart pounding with fear. But this was Rong Jing. After that moment of daze, Gu Xi did not move.

Rong Jing did not notice Gu Xi’s small retreat. He only stepped forward, as if to approach Wu, yet in truth to put himself in front of Gu Xi and keep Wu’s line of sight from reaching him.

“Uncle Qi, you are not here because Uncle Xie sent you to keep an eye on me, are you?” Rong Jing joked. “Uncle Xie” was what he called Xie Zhanhong, following the original’s habit of addressing his stepfather.

Wu acted as if he had not seen Rong Jing’s small maneuver. “Do you think I have nothing better to do? I was passing on my way to the airport and happened to catch a little liar. You, at your age, lying to your elders, who taught you that bad habit?”

Rong Jing feigned innocence. “Lie, where?”

“Very busy, cannot get away,” Wu quoted, then paused and glanced at the umbrella Rong Jing was holding. “And you forgot your umbrella. Xiao Jing, you were trying to get rid of me.”

That had been Rong Jing’s excuse for turning down the send-off.

“You wrong me. I just finished, and was about to call you,” Rong Jing lied without blinking.

In front of Wu, Rong Jing preferred to play a little dull. Showing too much smarts was unwise. Why invite special scrutiny early. Like today. Wu was on guard against him. How else could he have landed Fun?

In the original plot, Wu was the big winner, both in matters of the heart and in business. No fear because he had a very good father. Rong Jing had reason to suspect that although the tag was no pairing, if there was a male lead in the end it would be either 6X (Wu Hanqi) or Five Blessings Fish (Wu Fuyu), and the halo of the world encircled them. The fortunes of that father and son were too strong. The other future unicorns he poached had come with minor friction. Only when he met the Wu family did everything turn hard mode.

He was a cannon-fodder.

Fine, then bring it on. Otherwise was he supposed to march along the original road with Xie Ling and the entire Xie Group.

Impossible. Not in this lifetime.

“If the Wu family wants to work on a deal, I am not seeing the sincerity right now. So young and already saying one thing and doing another. Is it you, or is it the entire Xie family like this?” The gentle smile on Wu’s face faded by degrees.

Rong Jing’s heart did a thump. Was it that serious? He just did not want to play with this old fox and had told a small lie, and it turned into a catastrophe. Was Wu joking or was he dead serious? Maybe what irked him was not the lie itself, but that it had been exposed to his face, which was a slap to Wu’s pride.

Gu Xi looked at the person standing in front of him like a shield against wind and rain. Tall, lean lines, a wide back. He was not particularly brawny, yet in this weather he gave him an incomparable sense of safety. Even for a split second, he should not have doubted Rong Jing.

“Uncle Qi, I did not mean it. I really was busy, my brother can vouch. If I drive you now, is there still time for me to make it up to you?” Rong Jing grinned shamelessly, meeting Wu’s cold face without fear. “Give me a chance to fix my mistake.”

Keep your head down. Level up quietly. No need to show off.

He seemed to be yielding, but if you listened carefully, he was guiding the rhythm of the exchange.

Wu looked at him, did not answer, simply opened the door and settled into the seat. The meaning could not have been clearer. He might consider giving the boy a chance.

Rong Jing turned to the one who had been quiet as a mouse. “You go home first and wait for me.”

Home.

Gu Xi’s eyes trembled, and he suddenly caught hold of the hem of Rong Jing’s jacket.

If it were just him, he could not avoid Wu fast enough. But the thought of leaving Rong Jing to be alone with him made Gu Xi uneasy. If they were going, they would go together.

Especially if you ignored the entanglements of years past and really looked, Wu did not look his age at all. He was, frankly, devastatingly handsome, with a bookish elegance that no brat could match. Letting someone like that be alone with Rong Jing? A nameless tightness and alertness rose in Gu Xi, tinged with a faint hostility. He could not sort out his own thoughts. He only knew he would rather go together than be left behind.

Then came that feather-light tug again, soft as ever, like a pebble dropped into the lake of his heart. Rong Jing would have preferred that Wu not notice Gu Xi, but that tug gave him away. “A friend of yours?” Wu asked, already looking.

“Mm. He is shy with strangers. I told him to head back,” Rong Jing said.

Gu Xi held on stubbornly like a mute child. Rong Jing was helpless with this danger-blind little mute. Did he know what kind of wolf sat in this car? Gu Xi’s clear eyes seemed to say he did.

Wu eyed Gu Xi as if watching a play, and whether he recognized him or not, the smile stayed in place. “Your friend seems clingy. Both of you get in.”

Gu Xi leaned close to Rong Jing and whispered, “Let us go back together.”

Rong Jing brushed a hand over his ear that had gone warm from the breath. Heat pricked at him, and he had no idea where it sprang from.

The interior of Wu’s car was very spacious. Even with three in the back it did not feel cramped. Rong Jing took in the simple, restrained finishes, then looked at the glass. Outsiders would never guess it was all ballistic. The Wus owned cutting-edge tech talent and collaborated with the military. In old terms, that made them court merchants, scholar-merchants. A special car was normal.

The rain outside intensified, as if sealing the world away. Rong Jing sat between the original book’s stealth CP. Wu chatted about the companies Rong Jing had bought or invested in recently. As if he had forgotten the earlier friction, he even offered guidance on Rong Jing’s current work and pointed out weaknesses in some of the firms he would be dealing with, as well as a few weaknesses among their executives.

This kind of inside information could not be obtained unless Wu had personally dealt with them. Rong Jing could sense the other man’s regard for him, a regard that mixed appreciation and grooming.

Gu Xi could not wedge himself into the topic. From start to finish he did not understand business at all, and he could feel his own smallness. Wu seemed not to notice the transparent person in his car. Only Rong Jing stayed mindful of the dampness clinging to Gu Xi and, at a red light, asked the driver for a towel and handed it to him.

Only then did Wu seem to notice the outsider. “Your friend is wrapped up tight.”

Even inside the car, Gu Xi did not shed his disguise. He kept his head bowed and his face unreadable.

Wu’s gaze swept over him like something tangible. The corners of his lips quirked. “Whose young master are you?”

“No one’s. He is a senior from my school,” Rong Jing said, choosing a sliver of the truth.

“Does your brother know?” Wu asked.

“Why would I report my friends to my big brother?”

“Xiao Jing, you are the Xie family’s little prince. To most people, that identity is the most delicious piece of cake, and everyone wants a bite. Human hearts are the hardest thing to see through. Understand?” As he spoke, he smoothed a hand over Rong Jing’s hair, mussed by the rain, and lectured in that mild tone.

Nothing in the words was excessive. He was not even speaking to Gu Xi. Yet Gu Xi went cold to the core, the chill rising from the soles of his feet straight into his crown.

The car was not cold. Rong Jing was right beside him. Still, he shivered and closed his eyes.

He knew the implication. He was not worthy. There was also a veiled reproach that his intentions toward Rong Jing were not pure. Those refined eyes seemed to see through everything.

Gu Xi wanted to refute it, but had no footing. He was not pure. During his heat, he had used a bit of calculation to keep Rong Jing. To be blunter, the second persona had been right. Some things were the secret wishes he lacked the courage to carry out.

Gu Xi slowly clenched his fist and said nothing. Suddenly a pair of warm, dry hands covered his own, wordlessly comforting, passing their heat to him.

[Old bastard. What nonsense are you spouting. I have eyes, I can judge for myself.]

Gu Xi’s eyes flew open. The grass in his heart seemed ready to break through the ice.

Rong Jing gripped that ice-cold hand and did not let go. After a heat and a soaking rain, an Omega’s constitution was truly delicate. Right now he wanted nothing more than to get Gu Xi home, feed him like a little piglet, keep him warm, and not deal with this mess. Smiling, he said to Wu, “You have no idea, Uncle. At first my senior refused to even look at me. It took shameless persistence before he would acknowledge me. It is hard work getting close to him, so please do not scare him off.”

Gu Xi: “…” You say it like it is true. I almost believed you.

Wu was a little surprised. “Oh?”

Rong Jing stayed serious. “My senior is very capable. He works hard, never complains, and I admire him a lot. If he wanted to take a bite out of me, I would be happy to oblige.”

Gu Xi: “…” Cut it out. I am poisonous.

Rong Jing was joking, yet his tone was firm. Wu glanced at their linked hands and let the topic drop.

“Your uncle never said your senior was bad. I told you to keep your eyes open,” he said with a smile. “I cannot manage the affairs of young people. Your father asked me to say a few words to you. See? You are already annoyed.”

Xie Zhanhong had indeed mentioned that Wu should rein in his rebellious stepson a little. Wu presented it as nothing more than tender care for the younger generation.

After that there was nothing especially pointed. Wu spoke with Rong Jing about his schedule in Beijing. In the middle he took a call, and when he heard the voice on the other end, his brow lifted.

Xie Jisheng was still at the detention center. He had finally bribed an officer to be allowed a phone call to Wu. “Uncle Wu, get me out of here. The Xies will not help me. I cannot reach the Jis. I do not know if Xie Ling cut my lines, that bastard. He is not my big brother. He never acknowledged me. I do not want to stay in this place.”

“Only a couple of days left. Endure,” Wu said.

Rong Jing had not realized he was still holding Gu Xi’s hand, but at that moment he caught the difference in Wu’s tone and wanted to listen more closely. But the Wus were a leader in electronics manufacturing. The handset of a board chair would never leak sound that easily.

Gu Xi did not look at Wu. He listened to thoughts, which was one reason he had gotten in the car. He wanted to confirm his earlier doubt. He skimmed the minds of people in nearby cars, skimmed Rong Jing, skimmed the driver, and found only one gap. Wu had no inner voice at all.

The rain on the roof drowned out the pleading on the other end of the line. Wu said nothing more and hung up, ignoring it completely. He and Rong Jing resumed talking in fits and starts. The stiffness and chill from earlier dissipated and the air eased again.

The car pulled up to the terminal. At exit 12 on the second level, a tall young man in a trench coat and sunglasses spotted Wu’s car at a glance and hurried over. He signaled the driver to pop the trunk and began to lift the luggage himself.

As he got out, Wu turned to look at Gu Xi. There was no time to hide the alertness in Gu Xi’s gaze, the thin, defensive hostility. Wu was a little surprised. It was like glimpsing a small leopard whose territory had been trespassed, warning him not to come near the prey he coveted. Did Xiao Rong Jing know that the “senior” he was so intent on protecting was, in fact, set on him?

“Uncle,” the young man said, opening the door and standing outside with an umbrella.

Wu pulled his gaze back and looked at him. “What are you doing here?”

“You are leaving. How could I not come to see you off?” The young man smiled. The whole of him was business-elite clean and crisp, with a touch of European polish. He stepped forward to Wu. Wu hugged his tall nephew lightly. “More filial than Little Fish. That brat has been who knows how busy.”

“Speaking of Little Fish, he asked me the other day what I thought about homosexuality, and how to pursue someone. Little Uncle, do you think he might…” the young man began.

Wu’s brows drew together in distaste. Among the younger ones in their circle, there were indeed a few spoiled boys who wanted to try everything once. He worried they would lead his own son astray. He had high hopes for the boy. He might let him run, but that did not mean anything goes. “Keep an eye on him. Do not let it turn into a mess. If he really insists, send him a few As. The novelty will pass.”

“Got it. Do not worry.” He paused. “There is someone I want you to meet. Look out for each other.” Wu glanced back into the car where the two had not yet emerged and called, “Xiao Jing.”

Rong Jing and Gu Xi were about to get out when Rong Jing suddenly realized he had been holding Gu Xi’s hand the whole time. “Sorry. Next time you must remind me.” He had been too focused on guarding against Wu and had simply forgotten.

Gu Xi shook his head, his cheeks warming. Rong Jing told him, “You cannot be too kind, you know. Some pushy As will take advantage. For example me. You should have smacked my hand away and warned me not to touch you.”

Even with the tension outside, Gu Xi nearly laughed out loud. He really liked Rong Jing’s deadpan. He held the smile down and said, “Mm.” You are not other people.

He still felt that Wu had looked at him oddly when he got out. Following his own impulse, Gu Xi straightened Rong Jing’s skewed collar, then touched lightly the place on his hair where Wu had patted him, as if to cover something.

Rong Jing did not notice the small gesture. As they were stepping out, Gu Xi’s gaze slid past and snagged on the rose-patterned pen clipped to the tall young man’s trench pocket. He had once received the exact same pen and thrown it in the trash. The terrifying part was that the next day it had reappeared on the makeup table in the studio. He had tossed it again, and on the third day it was back, like a shadow.

Found you.

Fear flashed through Gu Xi’s eyes, along with a hate so sharp he could barely hold it down. That collapse backstage, he would never forget. He had long guessed that whoever pursued like that would be from an eminent house. He had been right.

When Rong Jing looked his way, Gu Xi smothered the blaze in his eyes. The faint flush on his face drained away. Rong Jing was watching him and saw him lock up and asked with a look what was wrong.

Gu Xi leaned close without noticing how near he had come. His white, soft arm brushed Rong Jing, and Rong Jing knew Gu Xi did not even realize it. He simply trusted him that much.

Sometimes Rong Jing felt Gu Xi did not think of him as an Alpha at all, which left him a little stifled and unsure what to do with that. He would have to make a formal announcement when they got home. Do not trust his self-control. It would snap. Really.

Then Gu Xi said something that sent all those thoughts away at once.

Gu Xi: “It is him.”

Rong Jing: “?”

Gu Xi: “Rose.”

A veiled code. A glance traded. They both knew.

Rose.

Rong Jing’s mind went straight to that image, roses shocking red in the sun. It was burned in.

He lifted his head and looked at the young man chatting amiably with Wu.

The mystery freak with the 9,999 roses?

Figures. Like father, like son.

As a seasoned creep, he is a very confident man. He probably did not realize he had already been exposed.

The enemy is in the clear. We are in the dark.

Good. This might just work.

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