9
Xu Qi picked up a wet wipe to wipe his face, a pang of pain shooting through her heart. She had never seen him cry before, because he had always been so strong. What kind of dream could have made this child weep like this in his sleep?
That year, Xu Qi hurried through a dark alley, his gaze unusually drawn to a corner. A boy, covered in blood and lying weakly in a pile of garbage, strangely touched a soft spot in Xu Qi's heart. After coming to the Xu family, the boy adopted "Rose" as his name and never spoke of his past.
“Mom…” Rose suddenly called out in a low, hoarse voice, grabbing Xu Qi’s hand that was holding the towel, “You will… get better…”
"..." Xu Qi instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but he was softened by the man's intermittent sleep talking. He sighed, sat down on the edge of the bed, and smoothed the man's sweaty hair.
I remember when I was little, I took care of my younger brother who was often tormented by nightmares in the same way. Back then, I would hold him in my arms, letting him feel the warmth of my body, and gently soothe him in his ear. A bittersweet feeling welled up inside me. My brother had my love and care, but this child had nothing.
Xu Qi sat quietly for a while until Qiangwei finally calmed down before returning to the inner room.
The next day, Antonio arrived at the Xu family home early in the morning. As soon as he saw Qiangwei enter the living room, he rushed forward, grabbed her hand, and asked worriedly, "Calvin! Are you alright?"
Rose immediately withdrew her hand: "It's nothing." He sighed inwardly, recalling the woman's vicious methods from yesterday. Ultimately, it was because this guy had provoked that woman, yet she wouldn't let him go. He really was a classic example of someone who "got shot while lying down."
Seeing this scene, Xu Qi felt a surge of intense anger, and his face darkened. What was wrong with this Italian? He borrowed Rose yesterday, only to have her suffer such a fate, and now he had the nerve to show his face?
If Rose hadn't immediately shaken off Antonio's hand, he probably would have pulled that obstructive hand away without hesitation. He had always harbored a strong possessive desire for Rose, but he had never realized it.
"Mr. Antonio, thank you for your trouble." Xu Qi approached the two and said to Antonio in a lukewarm tone.
Antonio turned his head awkwardly: "Mr. Adam, I am extremely sorry about this..."
Seeing the atmosphere getting a bit awkward, Rose immediately tried to smooth things over: "Mr. Antonio, you don't need to feel sorry, it's not your fault." Although it really was.
Over the next few days, Antonio called several times a day, which annoyed Rose to no end. Finally, she agreed to meet him at the same bar as before.
“Calvin, I’m going back soon. But we’ve reached an agreement with ‘Dragon Darkness.’ After I get back, I’ll ask my father for permission to be stationed in New York permanently. I’ll be back soon!” Antonio leaned closer to him, his tone firm.
Rose had a headache: "I've already told you, I'm not interested in you, and you're not right for me."
"You're completely isolating me now, how do you know I'm definitely not right for you?"
"..." Rose was speechless, then he frowned, "What if I said I have someone I like?"
Antonio was shocked: "What? You've already..."
But soon after, he pursed his lips and said, "You don't need to lie to me, I won't give up." It was clear he didn't believe him.
Rose finally stood up impatiently: "Whatever. But I won't accept it."
Antonio looked up at him, a dazzling smile on his face, took his left hand, and gently kissed the back of his fair hand: "TiAmo (I love you)."
Three months later, at the Xu family.
"Brother, there's something I want to tell you." Shao Yang said solemnly.
"Speak. Is it about your little lover again?" Xu Qi looked up at him, a smile playing on his lips.
Shao Yang blushed: "Brother! He still doesn't know how much I feel about him..."
Xu Qi frowned: "Seeing you so infatuated with him all day long, I'd like to see what kind of extraordinary person he is."
Shao Yang's eyes lit up: "So you agree?"
"As long as I've checked and there's nothing seriously wrong, I won't be the bad guy. As for your uncle, you can try to win him over yourself." Xu Qi said helplessly. His younger brothers were all falling for men; if their father found out, he didn't know what kind of trouble they would cause.
Ah Yi hasn't been doing well lately either. He's been having nightmares again these past couple of days. He and Qiangwei have been taking turns watching over him, and thankfully nothing bad has happened. But this can't go on forever; they'll probably have to go find that person again.
"Brother? Did you hear what I said?" Shao Yang waved his hand in front of his eyes.
"Hmm?" Xu Qi snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I was thinking about something."
Shao Yang sighed and said, "I mean, could you come with me to see Simon tomorrow? You'll definitely be satisfied once you see him in person."
Xu Qi nodded: "Sure. I happen to be free tomorrow."
Rose, who was about to enter from outside, froze: Simon? Isn't this...?
He shook his head. It couldn't be such a coincidence. There were at least eight or ten thousand men with that name in all of New York; how could it possibly be that one of them?
But he was still a little worried, so he dialed Feng Chuyi's number.
"Hello? Rose? It's rare for you to call me." Feng Chuyi said with some surprise.
"I have something I want to ask you. You know Shao Yang has a friend named Simon, right?"
Feng Chu was even more surprised: "How did you know? Did he tell you?"
"Never mind that for now. I want to know, is Simon his real name?" Rose asked nervously.
Upon hearing this, Feng Chuyi didn't waste any words: "It seems you already know some things. But I can't just reveal personal information like that. I can only tell you that he is of Chinese descent, just like us."
"Of Chinese descent?" Rose's heart sank. "I understand. Thank you."
Somewhat heavily, Rose hung up the phone, beginning to worry that tomorrow might not be peaceful.
Sure enough, the next day, Qiangwei received a call from Xu Qi, asking him to monitor Xu Yi. Although Xu Qi didn't say why, Qiangwei had a vague sense of unease. When he passed the coded message to Xueying and received no response, he knew things had truly gone wrong.
That evening, he decided to go find Xu Yi. He knew that even if he didn't, Xu Yi would come looking for him about Xueying.
As Qiangwei approached Xu Yi's room, she saw Shao Yang emerge, pale-faced. He merely nodded in greeting before quickly leaving. Qiangwei took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
Xu Yi's face was ashen. Upon seeing him, he immediately said, "You've done a good job."
"Ah Yi? I don't understand what you mean." Rose knew things were going badly, so she could only pretend to be clueless.
“I know you’ve always been my brother’s man. But…” Xu Yi’s voice turned cold, “I have to say, you’ve all disappointed me.”
Rose gritted her teeth: "If it's about today's events, I have nothing to say. But I still have to say, the young master would never..."
Xu Yi interrupted him: "Don't mention him anymore. I'm only asking you, regarding my 'treatment,' were you involved, and how much do you know?"
"..." Rose lowered her head and remained silent for a while before finally making up her mind, "I didn't participate. And I know that this treatment was conducted by a hypnotist. But... I don't know who he is."
He never approved of what Xu Qi did to Xu Yi, but he couldn't betray Xu Qi. However, Xu Yi's recent condition had made him waver several times, and today's events had solidified his resolve. But this meant he could no longer stay by that person's side.
Xu Yi sneered: "Hypnotist? I guessed right. I know Wei Lan has close ties with a hypnotist named Shawn. Now it seems that this Shawn is probably the person I'm looking for. Wei Lan is my brother's confidant, and I can't get much out of him, so I have to think of another way."
Rose remained silent. She was unaware of this information, because Xu Qi knew of her close relationship with A Yi and wouldn't let him know. Feng Chuyi also had no way of finding out; Xu Yi must have learned it from other sources. Now it seemed Xu Yi had investigated so thoroughly that this matter was unlikely to end well.
"There's one more thing. I'm asking you, do you know this man named 'Su Xibai'?" Xu Yi stared intently at him and slowly began to speak.
Rose's heart skipped a beat: Sure enough! Just now, seeing Shao Yang and connecting it with Xu Qi's unusual behavior during the day, he had already roughly guessed that Simon might really be Su Xibai!
“Ah Yi, I won’t lie to you, I do know him. But you’ll naturally find out more after you regain your memories. It’s not appropriate for me to say these things.” Rose looked directly at Xu Yi and said slowly.
He knew in his heart that Xu Yi would eventually regain his memories, and when that happened, the two brothers turning against each other would almost be inevitable. However, if things continued like this, Xu Yi's condition might worsen, causing that person even more pain. He loved that person and couldn't bear to watch him make one mistake after another.
Even if he could never receive a shred of warmth from that person again because of these things, he would not regret it.
"Hmph, I knew you'd say that. I won't force you. Go back. Tomorrow I'll go see Su Xibai with Ayang. You can go and inform my brother." Xu Yi turned away, no longer looking at him.
Rose smiled bitterly; it seemed he was destined to be cannon fodder caught between the two brothers.
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