GBT Chapter 8
by VolareJiao Bai gritted his teeth and ate a piece of bean curd. These old men were all sick, and he had to stay away from them as soon as possible.
The next moment, Jiao Bai deflated. He couldn’t leave. He needed to increase his activity points. Only when he reached 50 could he view his friend’s information. Who knew what bizarre things were waiting for him then?
Jiao Bai finished his vegetarian meal with a constipated expression, and when he thought that the original owner’s ID card was still with the Old Lady, he turned into a pufferfish with anger. And he was seen by Qi Yi Liao in this state.
Jiao Bai: “…”
Qi Yi Liao approached with calm and steady steps, holding a lollipop that he didn’t know which child had given him.
He wasn’t as cold and aloof as Shen Ji, keeping strangers away. There was hardly any intense or aggressive sharpness in his aura. When he smiled, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were filled with gentle, mature charm, appealing to men, women, young, and old.
Jiao Bai turned around and left. He understood that the Qi fellow didn’t have Alzheimer’s; he just treated him like a stray cat or dog and naturally couldn’t remember his name.
The youth’s figure was like an autumn wind, faint and swift. The smile on Qi Yi Liao’s face didn’t diminish in the slightest. He turned around and gave the lollipop to the little girl who had been following him.
“For me, for me?” The little girl blushed with embarrassment. She held the lollipop to her chest and walked away in a daze.
Qi Yi Liao shook his head, “Still at the age of dreaming.”
Shen Ji, who had come over, didn’t echo his sentiment, but simply said, “Want to have a few more drinks tonight?”
“No, too much to do.” Qi Yi Liao took the cigarette that Shen Ji offered. “Next time you go to West City, we’ll get together again.”
Shen Ji didn’t press him to stay. He casually asked, “Where’s Xiao Zhang? Didn’t he come with you?”
Qi Yi Liao twirled the cigarette butt. “He went to take care of some things.”
“Looks like I won’t be able to spar with that kid this time.” A touch of gentleness appeared between Shen Ji’s cold eyebrows. When a CEO greeted him from afar, he returned to his usual aloofness.
After Qi Yi Liao waited for Shen Ji to see off a few guests, he said, “Old Shen, I heard from the Old Lady that the wedding date is on the Lesser New Year this year.”
Shen Ji’s expression immediately turned ugly. “Are you acting as a lobbyist?”
Qi Yi Liao chuckled. “It’s been so long, why are you still so reactive? Just register the marriage, you don’t have to hold a wedding.”
Shen Ji was annoyed by this matter and didn’t want to talk about it. “It’s not that simple.”
“I think it’s not as complicated as you think.” Qi Yi Liao said, “The outside world doesn’t know that the Old Lady is choosing a daughter-in-law based on astrological calculations. This news won’t leak out. Your life will continue as usual after you get married. Home and outside are two different things, unrelated.”
Shen Ji’s thoughts softened slightly.
“Besides, you agreeing to marry doesn’t mean you’re giving in to so-called astrology. You’re doing it out of filial piety. Of all virtues, filial piety comes first.” Qi Yi Liao held the unlit cigarette in his mouth, put his hands in his pockets, and, as if opening a roundtable conference, slowly drew his sword, delivering a fatal blow.
The corner of Shen Ji’s lips twitched slightly. “What conditions did the Old Lady offer you?”
Qi Yi Liao smiled elegantly. “A handwritten copy.”
Shen Ji: “What?”
“A Buddhist scripture.”
Shen Ji: “…”
“A Buddhist scripture, and I was sold.” Shen Ji loosened his tie, unbuttoned his cuffs, and patted his friend’s shoulder a few times. He wasn’t angry; his tone was teasing.
With his experience and status, there were only a handful of people who dared to joke with him so casually.
Qi Yi Liao didn’t continue the topic. He wasn’t interested in who Old Shen chose or how he chose them. He was just looking at the slender figure near the gingko tree in the distance and abruptly said, “The cold is gone, the throat is better, the voice sounds not bad.”
Shen Ji also looked over. That figure was very inconspicuous, like a trash bag by the side of the road. “I’ll have him sent over to you later.”
Qi Yi Liao smiled. “The Old Lady told you to send the person back to Qin Lin Garden, not to my bed.”
Shen Ji let out a playful and disdainful chuckle.
“A Liao, that someone… the kid who served me last night,” Shen Ji raised an eyebrow, “Do you still want to use him?” The implication was, I was quite satisfied last night, shouldn’t the person be given to me?
Qi Yi Liao lowered his head, half of his hand shielding the wind, the other hand striking a dark gray lighter. He slightly tilted his head, casually took a puff of smoke, and slowly exhaled it: “In a while.”
Shen Ji didn’t ask why. “Alright.”
The two men, who had known each other for many years and were a few years apart in age, and whose every move could change the business situation, talked and laughed side by side. Their friendship represented the relationship between the two families.
The Southern Shen and Western Qi would never become opposing forces.
Around four o’clock in the afternoon, a car drove out of the Old Home, heading in the direction of Qin Lin Garden.
In the back seat, Jiao Bai wrapped his long coat tighter. He leaned against the car window, struggling to open his tired and wrinkled eyelids, breathing in the fresh air.
The Old Home was located halfway up the mountain, and the scenery along this road appeared in the comics. Every time, it was from Li Jue’s perspective. Only when Jiao Bai came to see it for himself did he realize that the scenery along the way was even more beautiful than in the painting. He was immediately no longer sleepy.
But there was someone who made him uncomfortable.
“Close the window.”
As Shen Ji’s voice fell, all the windows in the car went up.
Then Shen Ji said again, “Stop for a moment.”
Jiao Bai instantly had a bad premonition. Before he could say anything, the old man kicked him and said two cold words: “Get out of the car.”
“…” Jiao Bai felt like there was hair stuck in his throat, something he wanted to dig out but couldn’t. He was going crazy. He couldn’t get out of the car, no matter what, otherwise the first step of his plan would fail.
In the cramped space, the atmospheric pressure was at its lowest. The driver tactfully raised the partition.
In the dim light, Jiao Bai leaned back against the seat and tilted his head to look at Shen Ji’s stern profile. The Shen family didn’t dare to be presumptuous in front of him, acting cautiously, and even their speaking volume was suppressed.
Jiang Yan was afraid of him, Qi Shuang was afraid of him, and the original owner was also afraid.
Everyone who had been with Shen Ji was afraid of him.
He always had a cold face, always maintaining an arrogant attitude.
“Sir, there’s still a long stretch of winding mountain road before we reach the bottom of the mountain.” Jiao Bai pulled down his mask and said seriously.
Shen Ji was cold and ruthless. “Don’t you have legs?”
Jiao Bai raised his thin, pointed chin and grinned. “My old injury relapsed, I can’t walk.”
He even omitted the honorifics.
Shen Ji noticed something and pinched Jiao Bai’s cheeks, forcing him closer.
Usually, when he spoke, he kept his head down, and the range of movement of his mouth was small. He was very wooden. It turned out he had two canine teeth, so sharp.
Just as Jiao Bai was about to erupt, he inadvertently caught sight of a scratch mark on Shen Ji’s neck. Judging by the color, it was new, so it could only have been done by Jiang Yan. No wonder he went to the hospital this morning. He must have danced on the edge of the death line last night.
After all, Shen Dog wouldn’t allow his little lover to touch him when he was relieving himself. He had absolute control over both public and private matters. It was impossible for him to pretend that nothing had happened after Jiang Yan left a mark on him.
Shen Ji’s fingertip pressed against the youth’s shiny canine tooth.
Jiao Bai’s mouth was forced open, and he secreted more and more saliva, which was about to drip down. His face was pinched very painfully, and the finger pressing against his canine tooth had already begun to rub.
This old thing wouldn’t want to pull out his canine tooth, would he? Jiao Bai endured the pain in his cheeks and forcibly closed his jaws.
He bit the soft flesh inside his mouth and also bit the old thing’s index finger.
Jiao Bai cried out in pain and spat out Shen Ji’s finger, covering his mouth and crying. A large piece of soft flesh had been bitten off, and he was going to die of pain.
His phone rang. Shen Ji wiped the dirty saliva from his hand on Jiao Bai’s clothes, not thinking about his unreasonable behavior just now. He answered the phone and said coldly, “Who is this?”
“Hello, are you the parent of Shen Er’an? I’m his class advisor…”
Jiao Bai only heard the words “parent,” so he knew it was a call from the school, which surprised him. According to the relationship between the Shen father and son, shouldn’t the contact information for the parent be the housekeeper or the Old Lady? Why was it Shen Ji? Did he even know what grade his son was in?
When the worst of the pain in his mouth subsided, Jiao Bai pricked up his ears to eavesdrop on the phone call. Shen Er’an was one of the standard gong archetypes in campus stories: tall, good-looking, good grades, introverted, aloof, and quiet.
That was him in his youth.
His temperament changed drastically after he grew up.
Jiao Bai was attacked by a gust of cold air, and half of his body was about to freeze.
“Okay,” Shen Ji said calmly on the phone, “Very good.” He even gave a faint smile. “Teacher, you do whatever you think is best.”
The call ended, and the car was silent.
A few seconds later, the phone was thrown out with great force, hitting the car window and making a thunderous noise.
In fact, the sky didn’t collapse, the earth didn’t crack, the car window didn’t shatter into a spider web, and the phone was still lying quietly in the corner, intact.
Jiao Bai was dumbfounded. The quality of this car’s glass was really good, and the phone wasn’t bad either.
“Go to Three Middle School.” Shen Ji took off his suit jacket and threw it aside.
The car started again.
Only then did Jiao Bai realize that the driver had been in the car all along. He couldn’t help but admire him immensely. That was a true capable person, someone who had clearly experienced great storms and remained calm in the face of adversity.
The driver changed the navigation, and the car smoothly turned on the mountain road. Jiao Bai stayed away from the gloomy-faced Shen Ji, not knowing what Shen Er’an had done, but fearing he was about to be skinned alive.
That wasn’t important.
Jiao Bai perked up. Now that the route was changing, he had to quickly notify Qi Shuang.
Just as Jiao Bai reached for the phone in his pocket, Shen Ji’s voice sounded in his ear: “Go back to Qin Lin Garden.”
“…” The old man changed his mind every minute.
Jiao Bai took his hand out.
Shen Ji noticed that the person beside him had suddenly relaxed a lot, like a dog that had its collar removed by its owner, looking so relaxed that he was almost wagging his tail and running wild. He tapped his finger on the cigarette case. “Come here.”
Jiao Bai glanced sideways.
Shen Ji: “Light my cigarette.”
Jiao Bai didn’t move an inch. I want to set you on fire and send you to heaven.
Shen Ji’s eyes were pitch black and bottomless. “You’ve been pretending for two years, why did you suddenly stop?”
Jiao Bai rolled his eyes and gave a hypocritical smile. “Hehe.”
Shen Ji’s anger had just surged up, but it was suppressed by his rationality. He didn’t think it aligned with his outlook on life and style of doing things. Being emotionally affected by a plaything was ridiculous. It would make him a laughingstock.
Seeing that Shen Ji was no longer ordering him around, Jiao Bai closed his eyes. He was best at waiting, which he had trained in his confrontations with his aunt.
The first element of success was patience.
Smoke filled the car. Shen Ji rubbed his temples and smoked cigarette after cigarette. After a while, he became busy, with the phone ringing constantly.
When the car was hit and the accident occurred, Shen Ji ignored the driver’s shouts. The first thing he noticed was the glance that the little dog that the Old Lady had circled for him gave him, pure and peaceful.
In that instant, Shen Ji seemed to feel the first handful of small snow of winter falling on his heart, not very cold, just sudden and unprepared.
After that, Shen Ji fell into darkness.