Chapter 81 False Brotherhood
Chu Yi had rarely seen Qi Yuan in the past two months. During their last health tea investment, Qi Yuan had said they were short on cash, and Chu Yi had simply transferred an extra 500,000 yuan. After that, the guy had seemingly vanished from the face of the earth, slow to respond to messages and often ignoring calls.
Chu Yi got off work early today. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the lights in the living room were on. Qi Yuan was slumped on the sofa in his house, holding a coat in his hand that was obviously not Chu Yi's style.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Qi Yuan immediately jumped up from the sofa, put on a heartbroken expression, as if he had caught his ex-wife in bed with an adulterer, held up the coat, and "questioned" in an exaggerated voice:
"Chu Yiyi! Tell the truth! When did you start raising another dog at home without telling me?!"
He shook the coat, his eyes filled with amusement and accusations of betraying the organization. "Whose coat is this? Huh? It's so flashy, it definitely isn't yours! Tell me! Is something going on?"
Chu Yi didn't even change his shoes. He leaned against the wall in the entrance hall and watched Qi Yuan acting like a drama queen. He just raised his eyebrows slightly and said nothing.
He walked over, reached out and naturally pulled the leather jacket back from Qi Yuan's hand, carefully smoothed out the wrinkles caused by Qi Yuan's grabbing, and hung it back on the coat rack beside him.
Then he slowly turned around, his eyes fell calmly on Qi Yuan's face, who was a little guilty for a moment, and his tone was flat.
"Don't think I don't know about you and Cheng Yingzhi."
This sentence is light but powerful.
The exaggerated expression on Qi Yuan's face froze instantly, as if it had been paused. Then, starting from the base of his ears, a visible red quickly spread, covering his entire face and even his neck.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something in rebuttal, but no word came out. His eyes were evasive, and the arrogance he had just shown was instantly punctured. Like a deflated ball, he sat back on the sofa dejectedly and behaved himself.
Chu Yi found his expression amusing, but he kept it a secret. He walked to the other end of the sofa, sat down, and poured a glass of water for himself and Qi Yuan before slowly getting to the point.
"Okay, stop acting. Now tell me, how's your investment in that 'stay-up-late-and-stay-alive' health tea going? It's been almost a year, right? You promised me a three-month payback, and now I haven't even seen you send me a decent business plan."
When talking about business, the blush on Qi Yuan's face had not completely faded, but his expression became a little embarrassed and evasive.
He scratched his hair, his eyes drifted away, and his voice lowered: "That... the plan... I'm working on it, working on it..."
"Are you working on it?" Chu Yi put down his water cup. "Brother Qi, it's been almost a year. Last time you said you were short on funds, I gave you another 500,000 yuan. Where's the money? What's the progress of the project? Have you finalized the formula? Have you talked to the OEM? What about the marketing plan?"
A series of questions made Qi Yuan's head lower and lower.
He hesitated for a long time, and finally leaned back on the sofa in despair, sighing, "Brother Yi... I... I might have been tricked again."
Chu Yi looked at him without saying anything, but just used his eyes to signal him to continue.
Qi Yuan scratched the tip of his nose, his eyes flickering. "That so-called 'expert' team we hired before, took the money, spent a lot of time working on the formula, and what they came up with was like a Chinese herbal soup, totally undrinkable. Then they said they wanted to change the plan, and the money went back... Besides, there are so many similar health tea concepts on the market now, and the competition is too fierce. I feel... I feel like the timing might not be right..."
His voice became weaker and weaker, until it was almost inaudible.
Chu Yi listened to him quietly, with no expression of surprise on his face.
He knew Qi Yuan too well. He had wild ideas, but his execution was often not up to par. He was easily fooled and tended to give up when faced with difficulties.
There was silence in the room for a moment.
Chu Yicai spoke slowly, his voice still calm, no emotion in his voice. "So, the 1.5 million is basically wasted, right?"
Qi Yuan didn't dare look at him, only nodded slightly, his entire body shrouded in frustration and guilt. He waited for Chu Yi to do as usual, perhaps sighing helplessly, or perhaps saying something to him.
However, Chu Yi just stood up, walked to him and patted his shoulder.
"The money is gone, it's gone." Chu Yi's tone was very calm, as if the loss was just a string of numbers. "As long as the person is fine, it's fine."
Qi Yuan suddenly raised his head and looked at Chu Yi in disbelief.
Chu Yi looked at his red ears and face full of guilt, and curled his lips slightly, saying with a hint of sarcasm: "Next time you have a brilliant idea, remember to write down the plan clearly first, at least let me know how the money was lost."
He paused, as if remembering something, and added, his tone carrying a subtle hint of meaning:
"Also, if you really feel embarrassed...why not talk to me properly? How did you and Cheng Yingzhi get along so well?"
Zhou Ai finished his announcement today a few hours earlier than expected, and he was so eager to get home that he even hurriedly removed his makeup and hair before rushing back. He quietly opened the door and entered the house, immediately catching sight of Chu Yi standing in the middle of the living room with his back to him, seemingly having just put down his glass of water.
The longing he'd felt for days suddenly flooded back into his heart. Zhou Ai's eyes lit up like a large dog that had only seen its master. He practically pounced on her, tightly hugging her from behind. He wrapped his arms tightly around Chu Yi's slender waist, burying his face in her warm, fair neck. He took two deep, satisfying breaths as if drawing energy. His voice, thick with fatigue from a long journey and a strong sense of longing, rang out in a sticky voice:
"Good boy! I missed you so much!"
He habitually waited for Chu Yi to relax his body and lean into his arms, or at least raise his hand to pat him and respond to him with that cold yet indulgent voice.
However, the expected response did not come. Instead, he clearly felt the person in his arms stiffen instantly, even with a subtle hint of resistance.
Zhou Ai's heart skipped a beat, thinking Chu Yi was angry (perhaps blaming him for not telling him he was coming back). He was just about to resort to his tried-and-true "acting like a spoiled child" trick, apologizing in an even softer voice and nuzzling his neck...
But just as he moved his head, a slightly cool hand accurately pressed against the side of his face, pushing his head away from his neck with unquestionable strength.
"?" Zhou Ai was a little confused. He looked up with grievance to see Chu Yi's expression, but he saw that Chu Yi's gaze was not on him, but over his shoulder, looking to the other side of the living room.
Zhou Ai followed his gaze and turned her head doubtfully——
At the entrance to the hallway leading from the living room to the guest bedroom, Qi Yuan, with his short, dripping hair and a spare bathrobe loosely wrapped around him, was looking at them with a towel in his hand, bewildered. His expression was as if he had just seen some prehistoric beast dancing a ballet.
Three pairs of eyes, six eyes facing each other.
The air seemed to freeze for three seconds.
Then, Qi Yuan came back to his senses as if he had been scalded, his face instantly flushed (I don't know if it was from the heat or the smell). He hurriedly put the towel over his head, covering his eyes, and muttered something, his voice muffled because of the towel:
"Don't look at anything indecent! Don't look at anything indecent! I didn't see anything! Keep going! Keep going!"
As he spoke, he stretched out his hands and groped around in the air like a blind man, staggered back to the guest bedroom, and slammed the door shut, as if there was some ferocious beast outside.
Zhou Ai: “…”
Chu Yi: “…”
Zhou Ai turned his head stiffly and looked at Chu Yi, who was rubbing his brow with a helpless look on his face. He blinked belatedly and lowered his voice, his tone filled with a hint of disbelief and a hint of guilt at being caught. "He... why is he here? And... he took a shower?"
Looking at the tightly closed guest bedroom door, Zhou Ai's brows knitted into a knot, his tone filled with undisguised disdain: "This is still a place you live in?"
Chu Yi had already turned and walked into the open kitchen, using a slotted spoon to scoop dumplings from the bubbling pot. White steam enshrouded his calm profile. Without even looking up, he stated the facts in a flat tone, as if to say it was a nice day:
"His investment failed, and his family cut off his credit card. He has nowhere to go for the time being, so he plans to stay with me and wait for death for a while."
"That won't do!" Zhou Ai immediately raised her voice, like a little leopard whose territory had been invaded. She followed him to the kitchen island and protested in a low voice, "How can this be possible? He's a grown man, can't he rent a house if he has nowhere to go? How can he disturb our world of two!"
He even deliberately emphasized the four words "two-person world".
Chu Yi placed the cooked, plump, white dumplings onto three plates. Hearing Zhou Ai's complaints, he raised his eyes and slowly teased, "Brother Zhou, be reasonable. It seems... you're the one who came from behind and got ahead, right?"
He tilted his head slightly, his tone carrying a rare hint of cunning, "When Qi Yuan and I met, you didn't even know where to shine on the stage."
Zhou Ai was choked by these words. He opened his mouth but could not refute. He could only glare at Chu Yi angrily, his eyes full of grievance as if to say, "You actually side with him!"
The atmosphere at dinner was strange and eerie.
The three of them sat around the dining table, with Chu Yi the only one eating dumplings seriously and quietly. The other two, on the other hand, were engaging in a silent battle of glares.
Zhou Ai looked at Qi Yuan's carefree manner, eating dumplings one by one, and thought he was rude.
Seeing him habitually wanting to put the coriander he didn't like on his plate into Chu Yi's plate (although he stopped him with his eyes), I felt that he didn't know how to behave.
When he thought about how he always stuck to Chu Yi, with his arm around her, he felt that this person had "ulterior motives" and he couldn't stand him no matter how he looked at him.
Qi Yuanze secretly looked at Zhou Ai while chewing dumplings.
Looking at Zhou Ai's overly beautiful face that seemed to be glowing under the light, and then looking at the artificial posture he maintained while eating, as if he was taking a pictorial (from Qi Yuan's perspective), I complained in my heart: How can such a flamboyant person with such a heavy idol burden be with his son Chu Yi, who was as cold and serious as a banished immortal?
The painting styles are seriously mismatched!
Zhou Ai, this persistent butterfly!
The two of them had ulterior motives and could not enjoy the food.
Zhou Ai took the chopsticks and unconsciously poked a dumpling on the plate again and again, almost turning it into a dumpling pie.
Qi Yuanze had several dumpling fillings in his mouth, and his hands were not idle either. He used chopsticks to dig around in the plate, picking out the ones with more meat filling and pushing the dumpling skins aside in disgust.
Chu Yi quietly finished the last dumpling on his plate and wiped the corners of his mouth with a tissue. His eyes calmly swept across the two adults opposite him who were "not eating well".
"You two," he paused, his gaze lingering for a second on Zhou Ai's punctured dumplings and Qi Yuan's messy plate, "eat your food properly."
He leaned back slightly, crossed his arms, and looked slightly cold:
"If I see anyone poke the dumplings or pick at them again—"
Chu Yi smiled slightly, and that smile was obviously very nice, but it made Zhou Ai and Qi Yuan feel a chill on their backs at the same time.
"Just get out of here."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Ai immediately sat up straight, quickly stuffed the "unfortunately killed" dumpling into his mouth, swallowed it without chewing, and then buried his head to eat the rest obediently.
Qi Yuan immediately became obedient and didn't dare to be picky anymore. He picked up whatever he wanted and ate it very quickly, fearing that he would be kicked out if he was a step slower.
The world is finally quiet.
Chu Yi withdrew his gaze with satisfaction, stood up and poured himself some water.
Only two men, who disliked each other but dared not act rashly, were left, engaging in a silent, speed competition at the dinner table.
____
After dinner, Chu Yi went back to his study to deal with a few urgent work emails, which took no more than half an hour.
When he pushed open the study door and walked out, he noticed that the living room was too quiet and there was an unusual atmosphere.
His eyes swept across the empty living room, finally stopping on the glass door leading to the balcony.
I saw an opened box of beer on the originally tidy balcony table, and the two men who were glaring at each other at the table just now were now sitting shoulder to shoulder on the lazy sofa and low stool on the balcony, with several empty bottles lying around their feet.
Chu Yi looked at the beer bottles scattered across the floor and helplessly rubbed his brow. His temples were already aching slightly. He could almost foresee the chaotic scene that would follow.
As expected, Qi Yuan, the guy who gets drunk after three bottles of beer, has completely entered the mode of "telling the truth after drinking" and "calling each other brothers".
He casually hooked one arm around Zhou Ai's neck, his face flushed with alcohol, his eyes were blurry, and his voice was eight octaves higher than usual.
"Brother Zhou! I'm telling you! Hiccup..."
He burped, his breath reeking of alcohol. "Our Chu Yi! That's... from childhood to adulthood! So many people pursued her! And all those love letters! Wow, they lined up from the classroom to the school gate!"
Although Zhou Ai could hold his liquor better than Qi Yuan, he was clearly a bit tipsy too. His cheeks flushed slightly, and his usually captivating peach blossom eyes were now moist, a bit confused and focused. He actually nodded earnestly and asked cooperatively, "And then?"
"Then?"
Qi Yuan seemed to have opened up and patted Zhou Ai's shoulder excitedly, "I remember one time most clearly! It was a sports student! He was very big! He was blocking the way home from school, holding a big bouquet of roses! Guess what happened?" He deliberately kept it a secret.
Zhou Ai held her breath nervously: "What's going on?"
"We're Chu Yi!" Qi Yuan slapped his thigh, laughing so hard he fell backward. "He... he expressionlessly pulled out a Color Atlas of Human Anatomy from his schoolbag, flipped to the page on the muscular system, pointed at the biceps and pectoralis major, and said seriously, 'Student, your muscles are well-developed, but they seem a little asymmetrical. I suggest you adjust your training plan.' Hahahaha! The gym student's face turned green! He ran off with the flowers in his arms! Hahahaha!"
Zhou Ai was stunned for a moment, then burst into earth-shaking laughter, and fell on Qi Yuan while laughing: "Hahaha! Like! Like something he can do! Hahaha! My dear, how can he be so cute!"
The two drunks laughed so hard that they almost fell off their chairs.
After laughing enough, Qi Yuan suddenly hugged Zhou Ai's neck tightly, put his face close to her, and his expression became unusually "serious". He asked incoherently:
"Brother Zhou! You! Now! Tell me honestly! Do you love our Chu Yi?"
Although Zhou Ai was drunk, he reacted extremely quickly and domineeringly when he heard this.
He struggled to break free from Qi Yuan's arm, sat up shakily, stretched out his index finger, and shook it solemnly in front of Qi Yuan. His expression was more serious than ever before, and he corrected him word by word:
"Watch... your words!"
He took a deep breath, as if declaring some sacred ownership. His voice was not loud, but it carried the stubbornness and clarity of drunkenness:
"It's my intention!"
He pointed at himself and emphasized, "Not 'us'! It's mine! Got it?"
Qi Yuan was stunned by his sudden seriousness and blinked his drunken eyes, as if trying to digest these words.
After a few seconds, he seemed to have figured it out, and slapped Zhou Ai's back again with such force that he almost knocked Zhou Ai down.
"Yes! Yours! Yours! It must be yours! Brother Zhou! Good job! I...I approve!"
Chu Yi stood at the balcony door, listening to the two people go from disliking each other to being arm in arm, and then to this extremely childish "ownership" declaration and "approval" drama, he was almost at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
He looked at the empty bottles rolling all over the floor and the two drunkards who were still arguing over the question of "whose intention was it?" and sighed deeply and helplessly.
It seems that there is still a long way to go to clean up the mess tonight.
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