Chapter 33: A Precious Treasure

Chapter 33: The Golden Boy

Rainy Night Café.

"Hey, have you heard? The rich kids from the Chen, Zhou, and Wu families screwed up big time and landed in jail."

"What exactly did they do? I was at a banquet with them last month!"

"I don’t know the details, but apparently they pissed off someone."

"I’ve got more intel than you guys—I know who they pissed off."

"Who was it? Give it up already! Don’t keep us waiting!"

"Who else could pull something like that? Obviously the Yi family."

"The Yi family? Speaking of which, Third Young Master Yi got married recently, and the Chen, Zhou, and Wu families were all invited. I’ll bet they offended the Yis that day."

"Holy shit! They dared to mess with Third Young Master Yi? Aren’t they afraid of getting their heads bashed in? Hahaha!"

"Careful with that joke. If Third Young Master Yi hears about it, you might end up just like those three, hahaha!"

A group of rich kids gathered together, trading juicy gossip about high society scandals with great enthusiasm.

If Xie Fei hadn’t stopped by the café today, he wouldn’t have known how wild the rumors about his childhood friend had gotten.

With nothing better to do, he gave Yi Siyu a call. The other man picked up after a few seconds.

"Hello." A deep voice came through the receiver.

"Siyu, your badass moment from four years ago is still going around. Those guys are making you out to be some kind of 'tyrant' who could snap at any moment. Can you believe it? None of them even saw what happened, yet they’re talking like they were there."

"Is that all you called to say?" Yi Siyu replied calmly.

"Yeah, can’t I just chat with you for fun? All you did four years ago was protect A’Yao from a fucking creep. Why’s everyone making a federal case out of it? If someone harassed your friend, wouldn’t you step in too?"

"..."

"Besides, you didn’t even hit him—the guy tripped over a bottle, cracked his own head open, and then tried to pin it on you!"

"You’ve gone over this so much—what exactly are you trying to say?" The man on the other end sounded exasperated.

Xie Fei smirked roguishly. "I’m saying, back then, you were furious but didn’t throw a punch. Yet on your wedding day, you went ballistic for that kid from the Jian family. Brother, you’ve got it bad, huh? You really fell for that Jian kid?"

Yi Siyu fired back with Xie Fei’s own words: "You weren’t there to see it. How do you know I ‘went ballistic’?"

"Sure, I was your best man and blackout drunk that day, but your big scene made waves. Sure, no one knows the exact details, but our crowd has been buzzing with guesses."

"..."

"Of course, I don’t buy into random rumors like those losers. But I did ask your second brother—it’s not every day something this huge happens. How could you keep this from me? Siyu, are we even brothers? If you’d called me that day, you wouldn’t have had to lift a finger! I’d have handled it!"

Xie Fei spoke, pumped up and full of righteous indignation, while Yi Siyu on the other end simply didn’t bite.

He even shot back, "Call a drunk like you to fight? Might as well reserve a spot next to those three scumbags."

Xie Fei: "..."

Damn, he was dying to know what Yi Siyu looked like in a fight. Rumor had it he went berserk that day. What a shame he missed such an epic showdown.

Yi Siyu, you sure know how to play the hero rescuing the damsel.

Xie Fei: "Siyu, did you really have those three locked up? For how long?"

Yi Siyu: "I originally planned to keep them behind bars for three to five years, but their fathers were camping outside Yi Group’s headquarters every day, so I took the chance to lay down some conditions."

"What terms? You didn’t actually give in, did you?" Xie Fei asked, shifting his weight in curiosity.

"If they wanted me to let their sons off the hook, first, they had to send them abroad—never set foot in Yunjing again."

"That’s barely even a punishment. Those families would pack those brats off abroad without hesitation just to stay on your good side." Xie Fei scoffed.

"Second, Yi Group will cut all business ties with their companies."

Xie Fei slapped his thigh. "Now that’s brutal! That’ll settle things nicely! Without your support, those three families are done for in Yunjing. Everyone else will give them the cold shoulder too, just to avoid crossing you."

"Third, they must pull out of the Yunjing Chamber of Commerce. Their families won’t be allowed back into the circle."

"Damn, Siyu, you didn’t hold back! That’s like kicking them out of the elite circle entirely! Did they actually agree to all this?" Xie Fei asked.

"I didn’t force them. I threw those terms out offhand, thinking if they refused, I’d just release the evidence and charge their sons with intimidation, harassment, assault, and disorderly conduct."

Xie Fei burst into laughter. "Hahaha! That’s just like you! So their dads, desperate to protect their darling sons, actually caved to your ruthless demands?"

Yi Siyu replied casually. "Yeah."

Such a huge deal, yet he said it like he was talking about the weather.

Xie Fei wasn’t just impressed by Yi Siyu anymore—he was starting to respect Jian Ye.

The same guy he used to call a "worthless playboy" was now officially married to his best friend.

He couldn’t get away with calling him that anymore.

Besides, after seeing him at the wedding, Xie Fei’s opinion of the young master from the Jian family had changed.

Whether or not Jian Ye was faking it, Xie Fei couldn’t tell, but he definitely wasn’t the green-haired slacker from before. He carried himself differently, looked more mature, and from a distance, he and Yi Siyu made a perfect match looks-wise.

Once Yi Siyu decided something, nothing could change his mind.

As a close friend, all Xie Fei could do was wish them well.

That Yi Siyu would go to such lengths for Jian Ye against three powerful families completely blew Xie Fei’s mind.

Was he really that possessive? Clinging so tightly? Was Jian Ye really such a treasure?

...

Meanwhile, said "treasure" was currently staring in disbelief at the official performance costume laid out before him.

In three days, the cultural gala would begin.

According to tradition, the dancers would rehearse in full costume beforehand.

Jian Ye knew their dance had an exotic theme. The other male dancers wore normal outfits—cool, stylish, and all tough and masculine.

So why was his outfit sheer veils over the face, red silk wrapped around his chest, bells around the waist, flowing gauze draped around his hips?

"Are you sure this isn’t women’s clothing?" Jian Ye asked for the hundredth time.

He admitted there were some softer movements in this dance, but he had asked Teacher Tang—he was portraying a youth from a foreign land.

"Ahem, this... how could it be women's clothing? Xiao Ye, don’t read too much into it. Since you’re the center and have a solo, your costume naturally has to stand out from the others."

Jian Ye scratched his head. "Is that so..."

He hadn’t known much about dancing before either. It was only after coming to this world that he was gradually pushed into it, learning on the fly like a duck to water.

Most of his classmates had started dancing since childhood—serious dance majors who had worked hard to get into Yun Chuan Dance Academy.

So, in many cases, Jian Ye tended to defer to their opinions.

Considering that performances sometimes involved cross-dressing for artistic effect, Jian Ye, after the initial shock, didn’t put up a fight and gladly accepted the dance costume prepared for him.

"Psst! Psst! Is it really okay for you guys to trick A Ye like this?" Li Xiangchi whispered to the person beside him. "Though my buddy here is pretty as a picture, I doubt any guy would willingly let others dress him up as a girl."

"Ah, it’s not that we didn’t want to give him a male costume. When we placed the order earlier, the boss got the count wrong, so we were short one male set, and there wasn’t enough time to make another."

"Then, the girls in the class suggested using a female one. This set has been tweaked by them—it’s not that feminine anymore. Otherwise, Jian Ye wouldn’t be seeing pants today but a skirt."

Li Xiangchi clasped his hands together. "You’re just taking advantage of A Ye being easy to fool. If this gets exposed later, you’ll have to kowtow in apology. I know nothing about it—no wonder you hid it from me in advance. Afraid I’d snitch, huh?"

A female classmate said, "Brother Chi, don’t! Please don’t tell on us. The highlight of this performance is Xiao Ye. He’s so good-looking—wearing those stiff, masculine costumes really wouldn’t do justice to his graceful figure. His dance moves are different from the backup dancers too—he has multiple aerial cartwheels to perform! Sheer fabric is the perfect choice for him!"

Another male classmate chimed in, "Hey now, why the friendly fire? The show hasn’t even started, and we’re already labeled as backup dancers."

Li Xiangchi had to concede. "Bro, we *are* the backup dancers. If you were as pretty as A Ye, you’d be up there wearing this and shaking your stuff too. Want me to give you this opportunity?"

The boy quickly waved his hands. "No, no, the opportunity should go to the 'class belle.' I’m happy being the lowly leaf that sets off the blossom."

Someone nearby misheard and shouted, "Who called Xiao Ye stinky? He smells wonderful!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

...

Jian Ye didn’t hear any of these teasing remarks. After collecting his costume, he took the Yi family car home.

There were no classes in the afternoon, so he decided to do something he’d planned for a while.

He had promised to repay Yi Siyu somehow. Since he couldn’t match the other’s financial power, the only thing he could offer was his cooking skills.

After dining at the Yi family once, he’d noticed how particular wealthy families were about ingredient preparation.

It was delicious and high-class, but it lacked the warmth of home-cooked flavors.

Yi Siyu probably had never even eaten at a roadside food stall.

Luckily, Jian Ye’s specialty was home-cooked meals. Time to put his skills to work!

The newly hired housekeeper stared in shock as the young master she was supposed to serve stood in front of the stove, handling the wok like a pro.

Aunt Wen, in her fifties and having worked for the Yi family for years, had never seen any of the young masters cook so skillfully.

"Young Master Jian, let me handle this. Be careful not to burn your hands—oh my! Don’t carry that, let this old woman do it!"

"Aunt Wen, don’t worry. I have cooking experience—I just never mentioned it before. I’m going to deliver lunch to Brother Siyu at his company later, so please let me do this myself."

The boy clasped his hands together pleadingly, his pleading puppy-dog eyes instantly melting Aunt Wen’s resistance.

"I get it, I get it. Young Master Jian and the third young master are so in love—you want to make him a loving dinner, don’t you? I won’t get in the way; I’ll just keep an eye on the stove. If you get hurt cooking, the third young master would be heartbroken."

Aunt Wen was one of the elders who had watched Yi Siyu grow up. Initially, when she was assigned to take care of the new young master, she worried about potential difficulties or mistreatment.

Who knew he’d turn out to be such a gentle and kind-hearted child? She instantly adored him, thinking the third young master had truly found a wonderful partner.

Now, discovering he could even cook, her admiration for him grew even stronger.

She’d heard that Jian Ye was also a young master from the Jian family—since when did spoiled young masters from elite families know how to cook?

Having spent years in a wealthy household, Aunt Wen was sharp. She immediately surmised this child must have been mistreated at home and resolved to treat this young master even more kindly.

*Ding!*—Green Tea Points detected! Green Tea Points +100.

Jian Ye: "..."

Who knew wok-flipping could score points?

Aunt Wen, you're spoiling me...

Author’s Note:

Later.

Xiao Ye, swaying on stage in women’s attire: "How’s my performance?"

Yi Siyu, completely possessive: "Who dressed you like this? It doesn’t suit you. Don’t wear it again." *(secretly stashes the outfit away jpg.)*

Rivals in love: "Holy shit! Who is he? Mom, I’m in love."

—

P.S.: Setting up a future love rivalry...

———

Guys, I tested positive today. No update today. If I feel better tomorrow, I'll try my best. T_T