WSIDIILMBOCIR Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Isn’t He Also at Fault?

Jiang Muyuan replied quickly, almost instantly sending a restaurant location.

Following closely was her “concern.”

“Business trip?”

Qin Yuanging stole a glance at the still-busy Li Chongge and quickly replied, “Yeah, someone introduced a resource, I’m going to talk about it.”

He deliberately omitted Li Chongge’s name, mainly because he was afraid Jiang Muyuan would overthink and then urge him to confess or something.

That would be troublesome.

Because sometimes he himself wavered.

But reason had been firmly stopping him.

Li Chongge wasn’t just anyone.

In fact, in Qin Yuanging’s opinion, liking a man wasn’t a big deal. In their circle, having a same-sex partner wasn’t unusual. Even in Canada, same-sex marriage was legally recognized.

And Qin Yuanging believed that with his parents’ open-mindedness, if he ever brought a man home, they would only be shocked and then support each other to slowly accept the fact.

But the problem was that the person was Li Chongge.

Qin Yuanging was now 27 years old. In his not-so-long life, Li Chongge had been present for 15 years, which meant that Li Chongge had been involved in half of his life.

Li Chongge was an indispensable and extremely important existence to him.

Because he cared, he was cautious.

Between scaring away Li Chongge and being friends with Li Chongge for a lifetime, Qin Yuanging chose the latter without any hesitation.

Because he really couldn’t accept a life without Li Chongge.

The Li family was a traditional large family. Even if Li Chongge was so confused that he liked men, the resistance he would face would be a thousand times greater than that of ordinary families.

Qin Yuanging was fine messing around himself, but he didn’t plan to burden others.

Qin Yuanging had always had a smooth life since the moment he was born, except for those two years in Canada. He suffered day and night, and only by constantly using work to numb himself could he briefly put away his inappropriate thoughts and temporarily forget the person he missed day and night.

It was also these two years of torment that made Qin Yuanging realize more deeply that he couldn’t live without Li Chongge.

Therefore, he would protect his secret no matter what.

Losing was more terrible than regretting.

“Is it Li Chongge? Yuan Yuan, you’re not telling the truth.”

Jiang Muyuan seemed carefree and hot-tempered, but she had many twists and turns in her heart. Fortunately, she didn’t have any bad intentions, otherwise Qin Yuanging really wouldn’t dare to associate with her deeply.

Qin Yuanging, who was exposed on the spot, was a little embarrassed, but he didn’t continue to deny it. He only explained, “He just happens to have such a resource. It’s the same whether he does it for someone else or for me, don’t overthink it.”

“I’m not overthinking it, you’re just feeling guilty. But can you really control yourself?”

Qin Yuanging spoke righteously, tapping his phone so hard it rattled.

“I’m not that kind of person!”

Jiang Muyuan sent a “rolling eyes” emoticon and then ignored him.

The abruptly ended conversation made Qin Yuanging’s defense seem pale.

Li Chongge’s pen made a heavy ink stain on the document. It was a long time before he picked it up again.

“Qin Yuanging, go to Secretary Liu and get my car keys.”

Qin Yuanging put away his phone, feeling a little confused.

“You’re going to drive yourself?”

“Yes.”

Qin Yuanging didn’t know why Li Chongge wanted to drive himself when going out to discuss business, but he didn’t ask much. He found Secretary Liu and got the car keys.

“Who’s going with Li Chongge later?”

“According to the schedule we finalized this morning, President Li should be going alone. He doesn’t plan to have any of us follow.”

Qin Yuanging nodded, took the keys, went to the smoking area to light a cigarette, and was about to return to Li Chongge’s office when he received a call from him.

“Where did you go?”

“I came out for a smoke, I’ll be right back. Are we leaving?”

“Yes.”

Qin Yuanging looked at his watch. The departure time was half an hour earlier than scheduled.

The journey to Jiang City wasn’t too far. It took two and a half hours to drive through the city and on the highway.

But Qin Yuanging still considerately said, “If you’re tired, stop at the service area and I’ll take over.”

“It’s okay, you rest for a while, we’ll be there soon.”

After getting in the car, there was still a paper bag in the back seat. Li Chongge handed it to Qin Yuanging. Inside were some snacks, both sweet and savory.

“Eat some if you’re hungry. I’ll take you to dinner when we arrive.”

It was 10:30 AM, and it would be almost 1:00 PM when they arrived in Jiang City, past Qin Yuanging’s meal time, so he had prepared this bag of snacks.

Qin Yuanging used to be a bit fussy, but in the two years of chaotic schedules in Canada, he had long become easygoing. Eating early, late, or not at all was fine.

Regarding Li Chongge’s thoughtfulness, the emotions Qin Yuanging had nowhere to vent finally found some breakthrough.

Wasn’t Li Chongge himself at least partially responsible for Qin Yuanging falling in love with him?

Qin Yuanging believed that no one could resist the gentleness and charm that Li Chongge released, right?

In the end, he was the victim who had been seduced!

Unreasonably pushing some of the blame onto Li Chongge made Qin Yuanging feel a little better, and the guilt of falling in love with his brother was slightly relieved.

“Thank you, Secretary Liu is good at choosing, they’re all my favorites.”

Qin Yuanging sat in the passenger seat and saw a notification on his phone that Jiang Muyuan had sent him another message.

“The restaurant I recommended to you earlier, their Basque cake is great, bring me back a slice, I’m really craving it.”

Qin Yuanging hesitated for a moment, then asked Li Chongge, “I’ve chosen the restaurant, can I treat you to dinner later?”

Li Chongge’s slender and powerful fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel and asked him, “A friend recommended it?”

“Yes, she said the taste and environment are good.”

“Jiang Muyuan?”

“Yes…”

There was always traffic in the city, and an imperceptible hint of irritability appeared between Li Chongge’s eyebrows.

“Next time, Secretary Liu has already booked one in advance.”

Qin Yuanging nodded and, realizing that Li Chongge wasn’t looking at him, quickly added, “Okay.”

The syllable of this “okay” was short and light, and seemed to carry a hint of disappointment in Li Chongge’s ears.

Qin Yuanging lowered his head to reply to Jiang Muyuan, explaining the reason, then put away his phone and opened a bottle of water for Li Chongge.

“Give it to me.”

Qin Yuanging took off the cap, held the bottom of the bottle, and left as much of the bottle exposed as possible for Li Chongge to grab.

After a long time, Li Chongge suddenly said, “Let’s go to the one Jiang Muyuan recommended.”