Chapter 81: Longing to See You

Chapter 81: Longing to See You

#Wen Qi's bite mark# [Explosive]

#Bai Siyan net worth# [Explosive]

#123 Meet You suspended over safety concerns# [Explosive]

Two explosive trending topics in a row, and both were about his show.

What's more, all three were events he knew absolutely nothing about. Even the last one—he, the director himself, hadn't gotten any word about a suspension, yet the whole country already knew about it?!

Director Jiang felt like the sky was caving in. Even while brushing his teeth or sitting on the toilet, he was scrolling through Weibo to get up to speed.

The first topic came from the photos he'd posted late last night, which sparked netizens' speculation. Pure entertainment news—no big deal.

The second one was about Bai Siyan's company. This paragliding incident hadn't hurt Bai Siyan's company one bit; in fact, thanks to all the national attention, it had given his new smart locator device a huge boost.

Bai Siyan's company specialized in intelligent electromechanics, with a focus on both software development and hardware manufacturing.

This time, the paragliding landing spot went off course, and Bai Siyan and Wen Qi went missing.

Bai Siyan's company immediately used the device to start a livestream, searching for their CEO. Then that night, before Director Jiang even posted the safety confirmation photos, footage of Bai Siyan rolling down his car window and looking up at the locator flying alongside the vehicle at a steady speed had already aired on the search livestream.

In this kind of trending moment, speed was the name of the game.

All at once, Bai Siyan's profile and the locator's recommendation were all over the internet.

The new product was gaining serious momentum—Bai Siyan had turned a stroke of bad luck into a win, becoming his own spokesperson. As a result, his stock skyrocketed overnight, and his net worth doubled.

So a bunch of major influencers were waiting for the stock market to open early that morning, crunching the numbers based on Bai Siyan's publicly disclosed net worth and the overnight percentage increase in market value to estimate how many billions he'd made in a single night.

This shot the topic straight to the top of the trending list.

In no time, Bai Siyan became the hottest name among Kyoto's new business elites, completely overshadowing his two older brothers in the Bai family.

But of course, with popularity came controversy.

Just as some people started suspecting Bai Siyan had staged the whole thing for self-promotion, the trending topic about the safety suspension followed right on its heels, shutting those critics up and confirming the incident was sudden and real.

With this whole chain of events, Bai Siyan walked away with both fame and fortune, while Director Jiang's "123 Meet You" got stuck holding the bag.

Too bad Director Jiang couldn't say a word about it.

After all, he'd known in advance about the crowd situation at the venue; he just hadn't expected the surge to come earlier than planned, which ended up dragging Bai Siyan into it.

This was trouble the Bai family had stirred up, with Bai Weijing backing it, and since there were no casualties, it wouldn't blow up into anything bigger.

As long as he kept his mouth shut, the show would get through its routine inspection without a problem.

Director Jiang knew when to speak and when to keep his mouth shut.

In the end, the day after Bai Siyan got back to the villa, the show was ordered to go on a one-week hiatus.

And that week just so happened to be the week Bai Weijing and Jiang Nanchu became roommates.

When the show came back, the next week's roommate period was also cut in half.

"That sneaky bastard Bai the Third—I was wondering why he vanished mid-flight. Turns out he was hiding out, pulling strings behind the scenes. And here you were, so worried you couldn't even choke down a bite." Bai Qianyu was furious, his teeth grinding. "Big Brother, he's doing this on purpose to keep you and me from getting close to Jiang Nanchu, so he can win in the end."

"Mm, I know."

Compared to Bai Qianyu, Bai Weijing reacted like a damn robot.

With the show on hiatus, the planned month-long group cohabitation without any electronic devices fell through. Each guest went back to their normal life, waiting for the show to start up again.

So Bai Weijing was packing his stuff, getting ready to head back to the estate. While Bai Qianyu angrily badmouthed Bai Siyan, he didn't stop packing.

"That's it? Nothing else you've got to say?"

"No."

"Obviously, you've got the best shot at winning this variety show. Anyone with eyes can see Jiang Nanchu's got feelings for you. Isn't that exactly why Bai the Third felt threatened and got the show suspended?"

Only then did Bai Weijing stop what he was doing and actually look at Bai Qianyu. "But I'm not into that Omega."

"It's just a marriage alliance—feelings don't matter. Anyway, people like us all end up in arranged marriages sooner or later. What difference does it make who you end up with? Jiang Nanchu at least has a good temper, good looks, and a solid secondary gender. Your future kids won't turn out half bad. If you'd actually fight Bai Siyan for him, he'd be yours, no question."

"Him?" Even though it was a totally ordinary sentence, Bai Weijing zeroed in on that pronoun.

"Yeah, him—Jiang Nanchu. Then you'd have both the Bai family and the man."

Both the Bai family and the man.

Bai Qianyu's offhand words reignited the desire Bai Weijing had been trying to suppress.

If—if he were the one to take control of the Bai family in the end, he could keep Bai Siyan by his side.

Whether as a younger brother, or as something else.

But the position of Patriarch of the Bai Family was something Bai Siyan had long coveted. If he fought for it, Bai Siyan would be unhappy.

Bai Weijing's raised brows furrowed again. He finished packing his bag and headed downstairs.

Unable to convince Bai Weijing, Bai Qianyu stormed off to Bai Siyan's single room to confront him. But the other had already returned to the Bai estate ahead of him—not only rejecting his video call request but also sending him a provocative GIF.

"Damn it!" Bai Qianyu was so angry he smashed the phone he'd just picked up.

The driver standing by the car door shrank back slightly and asked, "Then Second Young Master, are we still returning to the estate now?"

"No-brainer. Bai the Third is in there—don't I need to go back and beat him up?!"

"But Madam instructed that you should temper your temper and not clash with the Third Young Master in front of the Old Master."

Bai Qianyu's biological mother had died in childbirth giving birth to Bai Siyan. The "Madam" the driver referred to was Qi Rou.

Bai Qianyu wasn't nearly as respectful to Qi Rou as Bai Siyan was.

He responded impatiently, "Yeah, yeah, got it. You talk too much. What, are you going to report every fart I make to Mother?"

"How could I? Madam only has your best interests at heart."

"Tsk—" Bai Qianyu dismissed it.

The car pulled up at the estate's main hall entrance.

Bai Qianyu got out and headed straight inside. "Where's Bai the Third? Where is he? Come out and face your death!"

Before his shouting even faded, as he rounded the corner, the first person to enter his view wasn't Bai Siyan—but Qi Rou seated in the main seat.

And beside her sat Bai Weijing, sitting prim and proper.

A single sideways glance from her, and Bai Qianyu shut right up. "Mother, what a coincidence. You've returned from Qiyuan?"

"Not a coincidence. I came back after hearing what happened with Siyan. I was planning a family dinner and messaged everyone. Did you not get it?"

"I..."

Bai Qianyu pressed his lips together, too embarrassed to admit that after being mocked by Bai Siyan earlier, he had smashed his phone the moment he left the villa from the show.

"I didn't see it. Where's Siyan?"

"He's in the study, talking with your father," Qi Rou said, gesturing for Bai Qianyu to come over. "Come, sit down here, Qianyu. Let me take a good look at you. You seem to have lost weight."

Lost weight, his eye—he'd actually gained three pounds during the show.

Bai Qianyu gave a barely-there twitch of the lips, did as Qi Rou said and sat down, and let her look him over while making small talk.

After about ten minutes, Bai Siyan finally pushed Bai Shuchen's wheelchair out from inside.

---

After the meal, Bai Siyan's car pulled up at the front gate.

"It's getting late. I'll be heading back now, Father, Mother." Bai Siyan stood up and bowed in farewell.

Bai Shuchen merely nodded, and Qi Rou also lowered her head to sip her tea, with no sign of asking him to stay.

Bai Siyan straightened up, stepped out the door, and got into the car.

But he didn't immediately tell the driver to leave. Instead, he parked at the entrance, under a tree where the streetlight didn't reach, killed the headlights, and waited.

He didn't know what he was waiting for—maybe he was waiting to get hurt.

Because sure enough, not long after, when Bai Qianyu and Bai Weijing were leaving, Qi Rou and Bai Shuchen both came out.

Qi Rou held a bright red scarf in her hands and stretched up on her toes to wrap it around Bai Weijing's neck. "It's cold out. Don't catch cold."

Bai Weijing frowned and said, "Mom, bright red is so tacky. Do I have to wear it?"

Qi Rou responded by playfully punching him twice. "I knitted it myself!"

Bai Qianyu, standing beside them, laughed. "That scarf doesn't look like much. Not as warm as Father's fox-fur coat."

Bai Shuchen chimed in, "Keep showing off. All the good things go to you, and your brother doesn't even fight you for them."

"It's not even that special. Are you planning to pass your old clothes down as heirlooms for three generations? I'm just wearing it for now—who knew it would snow again in this damn weather? I'll toss it the moment I get home."

"Try throwing it away and see what happens—cough, cough—"

The cozy, lively scene over there continued, but Bai Siyan stopped watching.

He raised the rear window, leaned back into the leather seat, rubbed his hands together, fidgeted with his fingers, and suddenly asked the driver.

"Do you know where I could buy a red scarf?"

---

By the time Bai Siyan finished wandering through the market and returned to his apartment, it was already evening.

The car came to a stop downstairs, and the driver came around to open the door for him. "Mr. Bai, we're here."

Bai Siyan didn't get out. He stared at the red scarf and gloves he'd impulsively bought earlier and suddenly realized how childish he'd been.

He was twenty-five, not some kid trying to compete for attention.

And yet, because he'd envied the scene he saw at the gate, he'd gone and bought himself these cheap trinkets.

He gave a wry twist of his lips and stepped out of the car.

"Mr. Bai, you left your stuff."

The driver hurried after him, holding up the gift-boxed scarf, offering it to Bai Siyan.

"I don't want it. If you like it, it's yours. If you don't, just find a place to toss it."

The driver was taken aback for a moment, then, when it sank in, pulled his hand back and hugged the box to his chest. "Thank you, Mr. Bai. I'll... I'll take it home for my daughter."

"Mm. Tomorrow's the weekend—no need to pick me up. Spend time with your family. You'll still get paid."

"Thank you, Mr. Bai."

Bai Siyan ignored the driver and pressed the elevator button. The doors opened at the top floor.

Just as he was about to open his door, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He fished it out and glanced at the screen—a video call from Wen Qi.

Bai Siyan hesitated for a couple of seconds, declined the call, and went inside.

As soon as he walked in, all the lights came on automatically, the starry ceiling rising into view.

But the heat would take a while to warm up, and the room was still cold.

Bai Siyan changed into slippers, sat down on the sofa, and, as usual, tilted his head back to gaze at the starry sky with snow falling beyond the glass.

"Buzz, buzz—"

When the call was declined, Wen Qi sent a video message instead.

In the frame, Wen Qi stood at the front gate of his villa, holding two roasted sweet potatoes wrapped in brown paper. He stomped his feet as he asked Bai Siyan if he could come out for a moment, or if he could come in, to hand them over.

Wen Qi wasn't holding an umbrella, and the falling snow kept piling up on his head and shoulders. But he didn't seem to care at all—one hand holding up his phone, the other pressing the sweet potatoes against his chest to keep them warm.

This fool.

Growing up in a wealthy family like the Bai household, Bai Siyan had eaten every delicacy imaginable—why would he crave a roasted sweet potato?

And where on earth had Wen Qi bought such a cheap thing, braving the snow just to bring it over?

How ridiculous.

Bai Siyan called him back. "I'm not at the villa."

"Oh, then where are you?"

"Why do you want to see me?" Bai Siyan asked instead of answering.

"I just... I don't know. I just felt like it, so my feet brought me here." Wen Qi grinned, the crescent dimples in his cheeks pure and beautiful. He held the sweet potatoes up to the screen like they were treasure. "They're still warm. I had a bite—it's really sweet."

Wen Qi was showing the one he had already torn open. Bai Siyan noticed that the sweet potato inside the screen was a deep red, steaming in the cold night air.

It really should be quite sweet.

But Bai Siyan didn't say anything.

Since he stayed quiet, Wen Qi started chatting about this and that on his own, before suddenly leaning closer to the screen.

Beneath those long, narrow eyes, his dark pupils caught the streetlight, glittering.

Those eyes looked at him, and then his voice came through the video call, "Siyan, are you... upset?"

"No."

"Then why do you keep frowning?" Wen Qi leaned back, then reached a finger toward the screen, as if to smooth away the furrow in his brow.

When his finger dropped, their eyes met.

Wen Qi looked at him, his smile fading, his voice going low and husky, "I want to see you."

After that, he added another line, "Can I see you?"

The two sentences meant the same thing, but the feelings behind them were different.

The first was all about what Wen Qi wanted, while the second put the focus on him.

After those two lines, Bai Siyan didn't know if he was bewitched or possessed, but his hand moved on its own and sent his apartment's location to him.

This address—he never brought any random people here.

Last time, when Bai Weijing showed up uninvited and merely came upstairs to stand at the door, Bai Siyan had thrown a huge fit.

But now, not only did he voluntarily send the address to Wen Qi, but even after the other laughed and said he'd be there soon, Bai Siyan worried he might be stopped by the security guard, so he immediately got up, changed his shoes, went downstairs, and waited by himself.

It was as if he, too, couldn't wait to see Wen Qi.