Chapter 40: Wildly Growing Possessiveness

Chapter 40: The Wildly Growing Possessiveness

A plain-looking male detective wearing glasses sat in the corner.

He propped up his phone, the camera aimed in the direction of Chi Xingcun, pretending to be on a video call with someone else.

On the other side, Qin Liyi sat on the sofa, his eyes fixed intently on the screen, watching Chi Xingcun eating and chatting happily with Xue Tianye.

He'd almost started to believe the young master only had him as a friend.

Hadn't the young master said he'd be his only friend?

So why was he chatting so happily with someone else now?

If he hadn't pressed for details, would he have even mentioned having a meal with someone else?

Why?!

Qin Liyi nearly ground his molars to dust, veins bulging on his neck, and the hand gripping his phone turned red.

He stared daggers at the screen, at the young master's pretty face, brows curved and eyes smiling, his eyes seemed to hold stars, looking at everyone with deep affection.

The young master's eyes were way too captivating—people would want to give him the whole world!

He knew that! So of course anyone who locked eyes with him would fall for him!

Like that class monitor sitting across from him—looked all refined and polite, but who knows what dirty thoughts were running through his head?! Otherwise, why would he be staring at the young master without blinking?!

Qin Liyi felt like he was losing it! Why lie to him?! Why eat with someone else?!

His neck flushed red with rage, body trembling, he grabbed the car keys off the table and stormed out.

He was going to catch them red-handed!

Damn it!

No, not catch them red-handed! Whatever—he didn't care. He wouldn't let Chi Xingcun betray him!

Meanwhile, the detective saw Qin Liyi's reaction on the camera feed and was startled. Wasn't he supposed to be protecting his friend? Everything was fine, so why was he reacting like this?

Judging by his mood, if he came over now, a fight might break out.

He quickly spoke up: "Young Master Qin, if you go over now, he'll definitely know you've been following him. Better to stage a chance encounter later, if you ask me."

Qin Liyi stopped in his tracks. He was furious, but he still had his wits about him.

The detective was right.

His face went cold and grim, and he said flatly: "Keep an eye on them. They're only allowed to eat—nothing else."

"Mission accomplished."

Qin Liyi kept staring at the screen for a while longer, then finally reached out and hung up the video call. He was afraid that if he kept watching, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going over there.

Chi Xingcun ate for a bit, then pulled out his phone, snapped a photo of the table, and sent it to both Qin Liyi and Xie Yean.

He'd been texting with Xie Yean these past few days.

He didn't know what Xie Yean was up to—maybe working as a waiter or something—because Xie Yean only replied after 8 PM and never once responded during the day.

Meanwhile, the sulking Qin Liyi suddenly heard the notification sound for his special contact. He shot up from the sofa and grabbed his phone.

"It's pretty good."

Chi Xingcun had sent him a photo of the crab pot, along with a message.

He suddenly felt a pang of jealousy, but most of his anger faded—at least he was proactively reporting to him, so it didn't seem like he was hiding anything.

"You like it? Next time I'll take you somewhere else to eat."

Chi Xingcun saw the message and thought, Qin Liyi would definitely take him to some fancy restaurant.

But he couldn't accept that.

"No."

He typed out those two words and the punctuation, then didn't know what else to say, so he set his phone aside.

When he looked up, Xue Tianye was smiling at him: "Who are you sharing with? That distant cousin from before? Or that guy who stood up for you at the school gate last time?"

"..." Both guesses were right on the money.

Chi Xingcun said, "Just a friend."

Just then, his phone buzzed. He figured it was Qin Liyi replying.

But he didn't pick up his phone to check. He waited until they finished eating and left the restaurant before looking.

Qin Liyi had replied:

"So it's fine when someone else takes you, but when I do, you say no?"

Chi Xingcun was taken aback. Why was he angry again?

He noticed Qin Liyi had been getting angry a lot lately.

In his past life, Qin Liyi had never once gotten angry in front of him.

But he didn't find it particularly annoying—he just felt a bit lost, not very good at comforting a friend who was upset.

"No, Qin Liyi, you're not allowed to overthink." That's what he replied.

After leaving the mall, the two took a cab to a commercial street near the school.

They walked from one end of the street to the other, asking at every shop if they were hiring part-time.

In total, six places were hiring, but every single one only needed one person.

That didn't matter—it wasn't like they had to work at the same place.

The pay was around 20 yuan an hour.

If they worked a full month, that'd be roughly 5,000 yuan.

After asking up and down the whole street, the two sat down at a bookstore.

Chi Xingcun suddenly asked, "Why don't you become a tutor?"

He hadn't thought about it before, but it just hit him now.

As top students at a prestigious university with excellent grades, they could charge 500 yuan an hour for middle schoolers and 800 for high schoolers.

Chi Xingcun knew this well since he'd had private tutors growing up.

It paid way better than waiting tables.

Moreover, he remembered that the class monitor was really good with computers—last semester, he'd even teamed up with a student from another school on a software project and made a good chunk of money.

The class monitor probably had plenty of ways to make money using his brain.

"Not many parents have reached out to me yet, and besides, I want to challenge myself with different kinds of work."

"Oh..." That had to be it.

After resting a bit, the two planned to check out another street. The street they'd just asked about was the main one; this street was mostly clothing stores, arcades, and internet cafes.

As they waited at the crosswalk for the light to change, a voice suddenly spoke up right next to him:

"Young master."

He froze, looked up, and spotted Qin Liyi leaning out of a red sports car nearby.

Qin Liyi's wolf-like gaze locked onto him. He smirked and said lazily, "Wait for me, young master."

Five minutes later, Qin Liyi jogged over from across the street and pulled Chi Xingcun into a tight hug, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"What a coincidence, young master."

He didn't even look at Xue Tianye.

Chi Xingcun pushed him off, startled. "What are you doing here?"

Qin Liyi said, "I was bored at home alone, thinking about checking out that new commercial street. Didn't expect to run into you... two."

He glanced at Xue Tianye and smiled. "Hello, class monitor. Why didn't you two invite me out?"

A dangerous glint flickered in his eyes as he gazed down at Chi Xingcun. "So, do you want me to leave?"

"I..." Chi Xingcun hesitated. "We have something to do. Why don't you go have fun on your own first, and we'll find you tonight?"

"..." Qin Liyi's smile dropped. His face went blank as he let go of Chi Xingcun's shoulder. "Fine, go ahead."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to walk away.

His figure looked dejected.

Chi Xingcun was torn, but Xue Tianye said to him, "It's fine. We're not going to play anyway. He'd just be bored following us. Let him have fun on his own, and once we find a part-time job, we'll go hang out with him."

That made sense.

So when the light turned green, Chi Xingcun and Xue Tianye walked off in the opposite direction from Qin Liyi.

Qin Liyi stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, only to see Chi Xingcun and Xue Tianye already far away!

He was seething with anger, but even more than that, he felt hurt. Was he really less important to the young master than everyone else?!