Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The two nights since he'd returned, Yan Shiqi had been in the study handling a backlog of work.

Behind a stack of documents, Yan Shixin sat nearby, twisting his octagonal Rubik's Cube.

It was rare for the kid to come to the study looking for Yan Shiqi.

Probably because Third Uncle and his wife were busy running for Chamber of Commerce President, so he ended up here.

Just then, the cube fell off the table, and Yan Shixin's gaze followed it.

The cube rolled to a pair of leather shoes. The cube, which he needed both hands to hold steady, was effortlessly scooped up by a large hand.

Yan Shixin looked up and saw the other person's index finger and thumb give it a twist—the octagonal cube turned into a ball, spinning on a single blunt corner in his palm.

Xie Yunshen bent down and held out the spinning cube like he was offering a prize: "Cool, right?"

When he'd been a bodyguard for a young crown prince, he used this trick to amuse him.

The eight- or nine-year-old child looked at him, showing a maturity beyond his years: "Your hands are very steady."

Xie Yunshen's smile froze.

What an odd thing to focus on—wouldn't most kids think it was fun?

Yan Shixin walked over, took the ball, and went back over to the desk.

That's when Xie Yunshen noticed Yan Shiqi behind the desk, staring right at him.

"?" Xie Yunshen gave his trademark confused look.

Yan Shiqi took the 6.5-billion-yuan gold card out from the drawer.

"Technically, you should get half of this."

Hearing this, Xie Yunshen jerked forward from across the desk, blunting out in surprise, "You're giving me half...?"

"Want it?" Yan Shiqi's finger lightly tapped the card.

"Why?"

"Who wouldn't want money? But, since we agreed I was acting as your banker, any winnings are yours. Just like if I had lost, you'd have covered my losses, right?"

Maybe because of the unease from "taking over someone else's life," this money meant nothing to Xie Yunshen; it was just a string of numbers.

Like the card Third Uncle gave him—he still hadn't checked the balance.

Yan Shiqi gave a slight smile, his gaze holding an undisguised scrutiny that left no part of his soul unexamined.

Xie Yunshen got goosebumps.

"If... you weren't Xie Yunshen, it would be better," he said meaningfully.

Xie Yunshen sat in the chair opposite the desk and tapped the eagle figurine, watching it sway in the air: "Shouldn't we have dropped this topic by now?"

Recently, both Mr. Yan and Old Fifth had been acting strange.

Yan Shiqi opened a work document: "Because after seeing what you're like now, it's hard to believe your past was real."

After signing and closing the file, he was caught off guard by a pair of jet-black, gleaming eyes staring at him.

He always leaned in suddenly and quietly, looking at you with incredibly bright eyes, like some big dog.

"What was I like back then? Really different?" Xie Yunshen rested his head on the desk, looking at Yan Shiqi.

"It's not about personality; it's a completely different core." He looked directly into his eyes.

Core... A light flashed in Xie Yunshen's mind. Core—isn't that like the soul?

Feeling confused and uneasy, Xie Yunshen asked, "Then, do you want me to go back to how I was, or is it fine as I am now?"

Yan Shiqi paused for a moment, telling him bluntly: "No one compares to who you are now."

It was like a soft arrow striking his heart, making all of Xie Yunshen's insecurity vanish. He smiled, his eyes clearly reflecting Yan Shiqi's face, and said earnestly:

"In my heart, you are also better than anyone else."

Before this, he had protected many people—from foreign princes to police witnesses, from celebrities to the wealthy, from the elderly to children, from bisexuals to homosexuals. Only Yan Shiqi felt completely different.

Perhaps it was the filter brought by the book's characters.

Yan Shiqi's lower eyelid seemed to twitch slightly. Apart from his habitually furrowed brow, his calm features rarely showed obvious emotion.

But Xie Yunshen could still detect the change in his emotions from his gaze.

He couldn't quite describe what kind of emotion it was.

After a long while, Yan Shiqi said, "Is that so?"

Not a question, more like an unconscious polite response while thinking.

"Yes," Xie Yunshen replied immediately, afraid his words would fall flat.

Yan Shiqi visibly froze for a moment, then broke into an unprecedented smile, as if relieved.

Xie Yunshen didn't understand the meaning of that smile.

—

That evening, after work, Xie Yunshen went to change clothes, planning to head to the training room for a good workout.

During those days on the ship, he hadn't been able to properly stretch his muscles and bones.

Of course, he couldn't forget Old Fifth—he had to go find Old Fifth!

Old Fifth was the legendary perfect work partner—someone to chat with at work, exercise with after hours, who never dampened the mood for mischief, and a professional powerhouse. It couldn't be more satisfying.

"Sorry, A Xie, I have something on tonight."

So, one can imagine how devastating this sentence was for Xie Yunshen.

Especially when he saw the Third Young Master behind Yi Wuyi, wearing a white shirt, sitting on Old Fifth's bed with his long, glossy legs crossed, a cigarette in his mouth, giving him a bored glance and provocatively blowing a wisp of smoke his way!

Xie Yunshen nearly cracked.

Yi Wuyi, however, remained expressionless, showing no signs of surprise, embarrassment, pain, or shyness.

His faint gaze seemed to say: "That's right, just as you see."

Then the door shut.

"Damn it!" Xie Yunshen threw a three-second fit right there in the hallway.

He rushed to Yan Shiqi's study, pushed the door open abruptly, and stormed up to the desk.

"Mr. Yan! Did you know Old Wu is gay?"

"..."

Yan Shiqi, who was working with his head down, slowly raised a hand and massaged his forehead.

He was already annoyed from working overtime, and lately, the word "gay" had been assaulting his mind.

It was one thing for Yan Shizhou and Yan Shiying to constantly sling that word at each other.

But now even Xie Yunshen was starting.

"You saw it." Yan Shiqi didn't need to guess.

Some things, Xie Yunshen only realized after seeing them with his own eyes.

He was exceptionally dense about these things.

Xie Yunshen felt hurt: "Huh? You all knew?"

He was the only one left in the dark.

Yan Shiqi looked at the documents without responding.

Suddenly, Xie Yunshen said, dead serious, "Mr. Yan, do you think Old Wu might have been forced?"

It made sense for him to think that; Yi Wuyi had always come off as completely straight in front of him.

Besides, Yan Shizhou had previously been so devoted to Yi Wuyi, practically willing to give him his heart. Doing something like this could very well be a way to deliberately torment him.

Yi Wuyi was too loyal to the Yan family; it was entirely possible he would suck it up and take one for the team!

Yan Shiqi said, "They are adults. Who could force them into something like this?"

"..." Xie Yunshen fell silent.

Yan Shiqi put down the documents, leaned back fully in his chair, and seeing Xie Yunshen lost in thought, a rare occurrence, he also stopped his work.

"Regardless of whether Old Wu likes men or not, would you think any less of him because of this?"

Xie Yunshen answered without hesitation, "Of course not. He's still Old Wu."

Then he fell silent again.

After a long while, Xie Yunshen stood up and left without looking back. "I'm leaving, Mr. Yan."

Yan Shiqi watched his back as he left until he disappeared through the doorway.

Xie Yunshen returned to the training room and exercised for two hours. Drenched in sweat, he showered, then picked up the milk his grandfather had sent to his room.

He frowned at the glass of milk!

"Old Wu is... you know, and here I am still drinking milk sent by Grandpa!"

Then he downed the milk in one gulp and lay down on the bed.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, his eyes snapped open: "I forgot to ask Old Wu!"

The next day.

Xie Yunshen went to the dining room as usual and saw Yi Wuyi standing guard.

Both men paused for a moment. Xie Yunshen stood beside him but didn't speak first, creating a tense atmosphere.

Yi Wuyi kept his eyes downcast, expressionless, lost in thought.

Yan Shizhou held a coffee cup, shooting glances at the two out of the corner of his eye.

Besides the Yan family members, there was someone else who could make Yi Wuyi care this much.

That grated on him.

However, Xie Yunshen leaned close to Yi Wuyi and whispered, "Old Wu, between you and Yan Shizhou, who's the top and who's the bottom?"

This question had bugged him for five minutes last night before he could fall asleep.

Yi Wuyi was taken aback, not expecting such a question.

"He likes being on top," Yi Wuyi said.

Xie Yunshen's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he had bet on the wrong horse.

"But I'm the 1," Yi Wuyi added.

Xie Yunshen relaxed, then suddenly reacted with a meaningful realization. So the Third Young Master, that yandere, liked the cowgirl position.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"About what went down last night," Yi Wuyi said helplessly.

"As long as you weren't forced, the rest isn't really my business," Xie Yunshen said with dead eyes.

"Mm."

"..." Yan Shizhou stared at them, at a loss for words.

Although he couldn't hear the conversation clearly, judging by the relaxation in Yi Wuyi's expression, the two had patched things up in less than a minute.

Were they really that close?!

————

On the day of the election for the chairman, the five major families were pretty much all there.

The three Yan brothers, the Third Madam, and Yan Shixin all attended.

The venue for this election was specially set at the main auditorium of A City University, and the student body would also be voting on-site.

By the time they arrived at the auditorium, the back rows were mostly filled with students.

At first, Xie Yunshen planned to find a prime spot in the side aisle to observe the surroundings and do his job as a bodyguard.

But Yan Shiqi suddenly turned back to look at him. Having been by his side for so long, Xie Yunshen could instinctively read the meaning behind each of his pauses.

This meant he wanted him to follow, so Xie Yunshen had to keep following him.

A bit further on were the audience seats.

Each of the five family heads had a reserved seat, marked with a nameplate.

Yan Shiqi's seat was in the first row on the left, with an assistant's seat set behind and to the side.

But Yan Shiqi didn't bring an assistant today.

"Sit here."

Xie Yunshen had just sat down.

Wait a minute—both Yan Shiying and Yan Shizhou were here. He had thought Yan Shiqi didn't bring an assistant because he intended to leave this seat for Yan Shiying.

Yan Shiqi offered no further explanation.

Everyone else had to sit in the rows behind them.

Xie Yunshen suddenly felt eyes boring into his back. Turning around, he saw Yan Shiying, that obsessive brother-fanatic, indeed sitting behind him, glaring right at him.

"..." Xie Yunshen decided to ignore him.

Yan Shiying looked at Yan Shizhou beside him: "What the hell happened while I was gone?"

"..." Yan Shiying was too stunned to speak.