Chapter 29: Qin Mo

Chapter 29 Qin Mo

When it came to his younger brother, Qin Mo, as a devoted brother, naturally investigated everything thoroughly, including everyone around him and every social connection.

He also had to have control over every single thing his brother owned.

Qin Yan, with his prior knowledge and omniscient perspective, simply couldn't bring himself to like this older brother of his. Even when the man treated him well, sitting across from him always felt awkward and uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the original owner had always acted this way around him, and he wasn't superstitious either.

Otherwise, keeping up the act would've been tough.

Qin Yan furrowed his brows and let out a deliberately disgusted snort: "What right does he have to eat with me? Of course he eats after I'm done."

Very much like the original owner.

Qin Mo smiled, not the least bit surprised, picking up his knife and fork again. A faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth, his whole demeanor radiating the mature authority of a man in power.

"A Yan."

He let out a resigned chuckle, sending a piece of sandwich into his mouth. Only after he finished did he speak, unhurriedly: "A Yan is a grown-up now. You shouldn't pick on him like that. After all, he's your classmate and friend."

Qin Yan: "Who's friends with him? He's got no tact whatsoever."

"Alright, A Yan, don't be angry. There's a company event tonight at headquarters. You should go hang out there."

Qin Yan was about to refuse when Qin Mo added another line: "Bring Zhi Yu with you. Don't keep moping around the house all day. You're a Qin; you should show your face at the company more often."

"I..."

"If there's anything you want to learn, I'll teach you. That's settled. I'll have someone pick you both up tonight."

Qin Yan met Qin Mo's dark, weighty gaze and suddenly realized that this man didn't just indulge the original owner without limits. In certain matters, he was the elder with final say.

Clearly, he had already made this decision, leaving Qin Yan no room to refuse.

After breakfast, the two left the dining room and chatted a bit more.

The butler brought fruit and set it in front of them: "Mr. Qin, Young Master."

Qin Mo glanced up toward the second floor, a faint, knowing smile on his lips: "Save some for Zhi Yu. Call him down to have some."

The butler didn't dare disobey Qin Mo. He glanced at Qin Yan, then turned and headed upstairs to get him.

Qin Yan didn't stop him. He also wanted to see how Su Zhiyu would act toward Qin Mo right now, and what Qin Mo was trying to do.

He needed to see it with his own eyes to figure out his next move.

It wasn't long before Su Zhiyu came downstairs. He still had that cold, distant look, but the fear that had faded from his eyes over the past few days had crept back in.

"President Qin." He stood at attention in front of Qin Mo, then turned to Qin Yan and addressed him too, "Young Master Qin."

Hmm?

This was the first time Qin Yan had heard him use that title. Before, he'd always called him by his full name—even when he first transmigrated, in his most desperate, dangerous moments, he still used his full name.

Since when had he ever been this meek and careful?

Qin Yan's chest tightened, his annoyance with Qin Mo growing. He was about to say something when Qin Mo spoke first: "No need to be so stiff. Sit down."

He patted the seat next to him.

Su Zhiyu pressed his lips together, walked over, and sat down next to him, staring straight ahead, not daring to look around, his back stiff as a board.

Just like the first time they'd ridden together, when Su Zhiyu had been tense and anxious—that version of him was back.

Qin Mo smiled, picked up a plump, glossy cherry, and held it to Su Zhiyu's lips. "Try it?" he chuckled.

"Thank you, President Qin."

Su Zhiyu reached out to take it, but Qin Mo smoothly pulled it away. Qin Mo smiled without a word and kept offering the cherry to his lips, the message obvious—he had to take it with his mouth.

His other hand, hanging at his side, crept an inch closer, lightly tapping the sofa—his signature move.

Su Zhiyu's face went pale, his hand frozen mid-air, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If he dared accept what Qin Mo offered, the moment the man left, he'd face Qin Yan's beatings and humiliation.

If he refused Qin Mo's offering and angered him, the consequences waiting for him might be even harder to bear than what Qin Yan would do.

After all... Qin Yan was straightforward—he'd scold him, hit him, starve him, make him kneel and act like a dog... though now he probably wouldn't try to mark him anymore.

But Qin Mo...

Su Zhiyu shrank back slightly. Meeting the man's dark, cold eyes, it felt like goosebumps were rising all over his back.

Whatever.

The standoff lasted only a brief two or three seconds. Qin Yan had been quietly watching the pair the whole time—though he was eating one cherry after another, his peripheral vision never left them.

Until he saw Qin Mo insistently force-feeding him, a disgusting smirk curling at the corners of his mouth.

Damn.

That motherfucking bastard. For all his talk of being a devoted brother, he was actually coveting his brother's man.

In the comic, it only said Su Zhiyu was terrified of Qin Mo—even more than he was of Qin Yan. But Qin Mo appeared so rarely, and the details were never explained. Qin Yan had skimmed through the comic and didn't know the deeper truth.

He never expected it to be like this.

Was Su Zhiyu afraid of Qin Mo because Qin Mo was actually even more beastly than the original owner? Even worse to him?

Qin Yan's heart sank. He suddenly regretted allowing Qin Mo to call Su Zhiyu down.

He should have stopped it.

Su Zhiyu's damp lashes trembled. Fine, he'd just eat it.

The young man was about to part his lips to accept the cherry when it was slapped away by a hand, tumbling onto the coffee table with a clatter, bouncing across the surface before rolling into a corner.

Su Zhiyu looked up in shock at Qin Yan, who had suddenly risen to his feet.

Qin Mo frowned in displeasure.

"Eat, eat, eat—are your hands broken?" Qin Yan glared at Su Zhiyu with fury, grinding his teeth. "You need my brother to feed you a cherry? Who do you think you are? How pretentious can you get!"

Su Zhiyu was stunned speechless by the outburst.

Qin Yan continued: "Who gave you the right to sit here? This is something you get to eat? Get upstairs and mop my room clean. If I come up to rest later and find a single speck of dust, you're dead!"

His fierce, harsh expression seemed to revert to the Qin Yan of old.

Su Zhiyu stood there, stunned. This was, after all, how Qin Yan usually was—overbearing and mean, something he had long grown used to.

But why... after such a brief stretch of comfortable living, he couldn't face the Qin Yan from before anymore.

He even felt hurt.

Just last night, they had slept together, and Qin Yan had held him close, nibbling his ear in a way that was intensely intimate, like a lover's tender devotion.

The stark contrast made Su Zhiyu's heart ache with a dull, throbbing pain.

It seemed he really couldn't accept this Qin Yan anymore.

The gloom and pain flashing in Su Zhiyu's eyes were caught by Qin Yan, who curled his fingers a little, keeping up his spoiled act as he barked impatiently:

"Are you deaf? Get moving, or I'll kick you to death—young master style."

Su Zhiyu paled, lowered his head, and stood up, bowing slightly as he said, "Yes. I'll go now."

"Wait—"

Qin Mo had barely uttered a word when Qin Yan sat down, popped a cherry in his mouth, and flashed a bright, dazzling grin. "Brother, have some more."

Qin Mo glanced at the departing Su Zhiyu, then let it go, patting Qin Yan's hair with satisfaction. "You're finally learning to care for your brother. A Yan has grown up. Here, I'll give you another card—don't shortchange yourself."

Another five million?

Qin Yan wore a suitably indifferent expression. "I don't need that much money. Sleeping's more comfortable."

With that, he yawned.

Seeing how genuinely tired he seemed, and with company matters pressing, Qin Mo let him go rest.