15

With her gaze fixed on the elegantly smiling man in front of her, Xu Qi clenched her teeth, her fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

Two days ago, he received an invitation from the Fuqing Gang to attend an inheritance ceremony. When he saw the name of the heir, he immediately sensed something was wrong, because it wasn't Yao Jinghan, but "Si Qiang." This meant that Yao Jinghan's status within the Fuqing Gang would plummet, and he could then legitimately reject the marriage proposal. For him, this was certainly good news, but for the Yao family, it was a major disaster. He immediately suspected there was more to this than met the eye. Because before this, he had never heard of anyone named "Si Qiang" in the Fuqing Gang.

But today, when he walked into the Yao family's living room and saw the familiar figure behind Yao Yinxiang, he began to doubt his own eyes.

As soon as Yao Yinxiang saw him, he immediately walked over. The man behind Yao Yinxiang acted as if he had never seen him before, extending his right hand to him: "I am Si Qiang. I have long admired Mr. Xu's name. Meeting you today, I am ashamed of my inferiority."

Yao Yinxiang laughed heartily: "Aqi, I'd like to introduce you to my son, Siqiang. He's a greenhorn who doesn't know anything yet, so I'll have to trouble you to take good care of him from now on."

Xu Qi was stunned. The young man in front of him was clearly the same Qiangwei who should still be in N City. When did she become Yao Yinxiang's son? He couldn't believe that there could be someone in the world who looked exactly like another person, and even had such a similar name! He stared intently at Si Qiang, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

A few seconds later, he quickly adjusted his facial expression and reached out to grasp the right hand that Si Qiang offered: "Mr. Si is too modest. I am unworthy of such a title."

Then he turned to Yao Yinxiang and bowed: "How could I dare disobey Senior Yao's words? Therefore, although I know I am dull-witted, I will do my utmost to help you whenever you need me!"

His words were perfectly worded, and Yao Yinxiang nodded in satisfaction: "In that case, this old man won't bother you any longer. You young people should chat more." With that, he turned and left.

As soon as Yao Yinxiang left, Xu Qi's expression immediately turned cold. He stared at Si Qiang without saying a word.

Si Qiang's smile remained unchanged: "Mr. Xu, it seems you don't like me very much. I'm not that tactless, so how about we go to the courtyard first and then part ways? That way, my father won't suspect anything."

Xu Qi snorted coldly and walked straight to the back door. Si Qiang smiled and followed him.

Upon reaching the backyard, Xu Qi stopped and turned to face Si Qiang.

Si Qiang was taken aback. He tilted his head and thought for a moment, then slightly suppressed his smile: "It seems you have something to say to me? Then, please come with me."

Xu Qi followed him to a secluded corner, where he finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked in a deep voice, "What are you doing?"

"Wow, you finally couldn't hold back anymore. How would you like me to answer?" Si Qiang feigned surprise, then slyly threw the question back at him.

“Yao Yinxiang isn’t stupid, so there’s no doubt about your identity. I’m just asking you, why won’t you tell me anything?” Xu Qi tried to keep his tone calm, but his tense body betrayed his inner anxiety.

Si Qiang finally dropped his elegant yet insincere smile and calmly replied, "I invited you here today to tell you this matter, and now you should understand. My father recognized me and wants me to stay; I can no longer return to 'Longming.' And as you should have noticed, my father is unaware of my time at 'Longming.' You have been kind to me, and I have never forgotten that. Therefore, I swear to you that if any conflict arises between our two sides in the future, I will unconditionally back down three times."

Xu Qi felt he had been insulted like never before. He used all his strength to control himself from hitting that handsome face, and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "You... are very good. I'll remember that."

Then he turned around and left without looking back.

Watching Xu Qi's departing figure, Si Qiang almost rushed forward without hesitation to stop him. But he couldn't. What reason could he possibly have to keep him here? His words just now had completely severed his connection with that person.

He knew that doing so would only make that person hate him more, and that he would ultimately be the one suffering, but he couldn't help it. He had loved that person for too long, yet he had been hurt beyond repair by that person's repeated indifference, and finally, he began to resent it.

He knew that Xu Qi's actions were perfectly reasonable from any perspective. Xu Qi had only nominally adopted him and had no obligation to care about his feelings. Moreover, the other party was completely unaware of his own thoughts.

This is how it is, it's just too painful. Xu Qi is his everything, but to Xu Qi he's just an ordinary subordinate. When it comes to Xu Yi, he's even more worthless. So he chose to leave. However, Antonio's appearance made him unable to suppress the dark emotions he had been holding back. The thought of that man coldly and indifferently informing Antonio of his whereabouts filled him with resentment.

Love taken to the extreme can turn into hate. He finally understood the meaning of this sentence. Before, he only looked up to Xu Qi with all his heart, loving him to the point of almost giving up everything, but he got nothing in return.

After waiting for so long, he finally understood: that person would never turn back. His experience growing up in poverty taught him that if you can't get something by begging, then steal it! Since that was the case, then he shouldn't look up to him anymore. He would use the power he gained to make that person see only him. He knew he was crazy. But he didn't care. As long as that person could see him, even if it meant selling his soul to the devil, he would agree without hesitation.

He clenched his fist tightly, facing the direction the person had disappeared, and whispered, "I will definitely... catch up with you, and then I will have you!"

Xu Qi found Yao Jinghan and said bluntly, "Come with me to see your father now and tell him that we don't need to get married."

Yao Jinghan was startled: "Why are you saying this all of a sudden? Father..."

Xu Qi frowned: "I'll take care of that. You just need to tell your father that you don't like me."

“…Okay, I believe you.” Yao Jinghan nodded.

The two went to see Yao Yinxiang together. Upon seeing them, he promptly led them to a side hall. After they were seated, Yao Yinxiang raised an eyebrow: "Looks like you've already made your decision?"

Xu Qi said, "Yes, after much thought, I still feel that Miss Yao and I are not a good match."

Yao Yinxiang remained calm and waited for him to continue.

“To be honest, I have no plans to get married for at least five years, so I absolutely cannot hold Miss Yao back. Besides, I can tell that Miss Yao already has someone she loves, but she doesn’t dare to say it out of respect for you. In that case, I humbly request that you grant us your blessing.” Xu Qi’s tone was extremely sincere.

Yao Yinxiang's gaze swept over Yao Jinghan: "Is that really so?"

Yao Jinghan nodded, but felt a little uneasy.

"So, how are you going to explain this to your father?" Yao Yinxiang turned to Xu Qi and asked slowly.

"Regarding this, senior, you can rest assured. I discussed it with my father before coming, and he expressed his understanding." Xu Qi looked up and stared directly at Yao Yinxiang, knowing in his heart that they had succeeded.

Sure enough, Yao Yinxiang sighed: "In the end, it's up to you young people to handle your own affairs. I, this old man, don't want to be the bad guy. Fine, do as you please."

Yao Jinghan breathed a sigh of relief. But she felt a little strange. Her father had been very firm in his stance that she must marry Xu Qi, so why was he backing down so easily after Xu Qi had said just a few words? Even if she was no longer the heir, a marriage alliance with the Xu family was still an extremely advantageous option.

Little did she know, Yao Yinxiang was secretly relieved. He had previously agreed to Si Qiang's request to cancel Yao Jinghan and Xu Qi's engagement, but he had been struggling to bring it up first and was quite worried. Now, Xu Qi's words were exactly what he wanted to hear. So, he asked a few perfunctory questions and then didn't pursue the matter further. He would have been embarrassed if Xu Qi couldn't come up with any more reasons.

Xu Qi, on the other hand, felt a sense of relief at having resolved this thorny issue. Before coming, he had a long talk with his father. In the end, his father told him, "As long as Yao Yinxiang doesn't harbor resentment towards the Xu family because of this, I won't worry about it anymore." Now that he had finally persuaded Yao Yinxiang, he could finally give his father a satisfactory explanation.

Each of the three had their own thoughts. Xu Qi quickly took his leave, preparing to leave the Yao family. However, when he saw the Italian man named Antonio appear beside Qiangwei again, intimately hooking his arm around her shoulder, his suppressed anger finally erupted. Moreover, his body reacted even faster than his brain—he strode over to the two of them, grabbed Qiangwei, and dragged her directly into the side bathroom.

Antonio was dumbfounded. Didn't Shawn say Xu Qi was always so calm he was almost inhuman? And Xu Qi hadn't even realized his feelings for Qiangwei, so why would he suddenly act so erratically? Was Shawn's intelligence wrong? He was practically going crazy, but the dense crowd around him forced him to stand there resentfully, enduring wave after wave of "socialites and ladies." When he finally saw Yao Jinghan walking towards him, he couldn't take it anymore and fled in panic.