The sound of songs flowing from the vinyl records on the second floor floated ambiguously in the night to the window of the study on the third floor, and floated in through the window that had never been closed.
The glass windows fell, the singing and the night wind disappeared, leaving only the silent confrontation in the room.
It was Ye Kai who got up and closed the window.
After doing this, his eyes fell back on the messy stack of papers. The moment he stretched out his hand to pick it up, the paper was pressed down by another hand.
Ye Kai raised his eyes: "What do you mean?"
Ye Jin sat down on the table, crossed her legs barefoot. Because of her posture, the front of her nightgown slipped down, revealing her long, white legs. She gathered her hair and picked up a cigarette box from the desk. It was a white box, Davidoff.
"Mind?"
Without waiting for Ye Kai to answer, she automatically picked up the lighter on the table and lowered her head to light a cigarette. Her face without makeup looked pale under the light, and only her lips, which were holding the cigarette, had a faint blood color.
Ye Kai pulled out a chair and sat down again, with one hand on the back of the chair and the other hand tapping casually on the table, waiting for Ye Jin to say the first sentence.
"You are such a loser." Ye Jin took the first puff of cigarette, his eyes fell on the white cigarette tube between his fingers, and he smiled: "What's so good about Davidoff? You have been loyal to me for so many years."
Ye Kai didn't say anything.
Ye Jin didn't care. She brushed off the ash skillfully and continued, "But I can understand that. The first time in life is always unforgettable. The first bottle of wine you drink, the first bite of lychee you eat, the first person you like, the first object of sexual fantasy, the first love—" She lowered her eyes and glanced at Ye Kai, and saw Ye Kai curled his lips at her: "Well said."
"Did Chen Youhan come to you first?"
“The opposite.”
"I don't believe it." Ye Jin leaned back, her slender hands resting on the table, her long hair falling from her shoulders as she tilted her head back. She looked at the ceiling, her tone light with a hint of nostalgia: "With your personality, you can't still have fantasies about Chen Youhan after what he said to you. Isn't Lucas your backup? After two years of assessment, I thought you were ready to start over."
"Lucas, you don't object." Ye Kai said sarcastically.
"If you don't come out, everything will be fine." Ye Jin looked down at him, her eyes softening. "Do you feel that you have grown up? In fact, it is still easy to guess. I can really see through your state of a relationship, how much you have invested, and what expectations you have. I have always made it very clear that grandpa can't stand you coming out - maybe he can stand it, but I can't gamble with his life."
The room was filled with white mist, and soon the smell of tobacco filled the air. Ye Kai felt his throat dry and itchy, and he grabbed the lighter.
"Ask yourself, if you and Lucas are dating successfully, are you going to come out to Grandpa?" Ye Jin stared at Ye Kai's face lazily but sharply, "Or, how long do you plan to wait before coming out to Grandpa? Or do you keep it a secret until the day when the truth comes out?"
Ye Kai lowered his head and took a sip of his cigarette, then put his hands on the table. From Ye Jin's perspective, his posture was closed and resistant.
"You can't answer. But if it's your brother Youhan, the answer is obvious, right?" The burnt-out cigarette was extinguished in a clean ashtray. "You can do anything for Chen Youhan. He's above everything in your heart. You can bet everything on him, whether it's Mommy or Grandpa. You don't consider whether they can accept your unconventional love. You just want to force them to admit and bless you. Then you can walk hand in hand with Chen Youhan in the sun with peace of mind and no more burden. What about Grandpa? Mommy and Daddy? What about the Ye family? You've been very well behaved since you were a child. We all underestimated you. It turns out that once you become willful, you'll destroy the whole family."
Ye Jin smiled and said, "I am just your sister. I am the last one in your life. There is nothing much to say. You know the importance of grandpa in your heart without me asking. Today I ask you two questions. The first one is, are you willing to hide with Chen Youhan until grandpa dies? Are you willing? Can you? The second one is, if you and Chen Youhan come out publicly, and grandpa has a stroke and falls down because of you, can you and Chen Youhan bear this result? Can you bear this sin and guilt and love him for the rest of your life until death? Can you-can you?"
Ye Kai closed his eyes, and his eyeballs trembled slightly under his thin and pale eyelids.
Ye Jin hesitated for a moment, then reached out and played with his soft black hair.
"You don't have to answer me. I don't want to hear you shatter your innocent and pure love with your own words. You think I have no regrets so far, and you think my regrets are worthless. I accept both. Xiaokai, the adult world is so complicated. Sometimes, even without bad people, things may not have a good result. People are always teased by situations, human feelings, timing, and coincidences. Even if you sit on a mountain of gold and silver, hold power, and step on gems, you are just an ordinary person, a monkey, or an animal who is powerless. What will happen to you and Chen Youhan, what may happen, there is no point in arguing now. Since I have chosen this way of dealing with it, no matter how much you hate and despise me, it is the consequence I should bear. You may think that I am still bragging at this point - I haven't said these words to you properly in the past year or two. In fact, it is my cowardice."
She took a deep breath, raised her head, and lightly wiped her eyes with her fingertips. "Why would you go back to him? You are the proudest person. With what Chen Youhan said, you should have given up long ago."
Ye Kai remained silent for a long time, and only responded now, but he just said lightly: "I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"Are you back together again?"
Ye Kai raised his eyes but didn't respond. Ye Jin nodded: "I understand."
She picked up the stack of contracts from the table, lowered her head and looked at their edges aligned in her palms, and said softly, "What happened two years ago? Because you signed the contract, I think Chen Youhan should not have clearly confessed to you. I used 20 billion to cut off his escape route. At that time, you were preparing for the college entrance examination, and he had no chance to discuss it with you. He said a lot of things to hurt you, but you don't have to take it seriously. It was all acting. The last night you went to see him, outside the door, I saw him pressing the cigarette butt into his palm."
Seeing that Ye Kai didn't look surprised, she was slightly startled, then smiled self-deprecatingly: "You know everything."
"Chen Youhan doesn't want me to wait."
Ye Jin said "hmm" and nodded: "He has no choice. You can't wait, and he doesn't want to let you wait. There is a reason why he said such harsh words. Seeing that you are so seriously ill, I really want to tell you everything."
All the "I had known this earlier" were not worth being moved by. Ye Kai looked indifferent and said coldly and mockingly: "You didn't."
"Yes, I didn't." The contract was slowly twisted in her hand like a deck of cards: "I don't trust Chen Youhan. Let's be honest, I took Ningtong's 20 billion credit line and did this without telling my grandfather. If there were no promises, it would be too naive - this contract is the evidence. In the Ningtong VIP room back then, apart from the two lawyers, only him and I knew about the existence of this contract." She glanced at Ye Kai: "Now add you."
She finally handed it over again.
The room was silent for two seconds. Ye Kai put out the cigarette and reached out to take it.
It was not long, and the rights and obligations of both parties were clear. But the breach of contract clause was long, and the numbers were huge, which almost made Chen Youhan lose everything she could lose. The complex, strict, and precise language wrapped the love between the two people into a cold legal document.
Ye Kai quickly scanned the ten lines at a glance and recited in his mind, "... Without Party A's permission, Party B shall not meet, contact, or contact Mr. Ye Kai without authorization; without Party A's permission, Party B shall not mention relevant matters to Mr. Ye Kai, including but not limited to the truth, details, and persons involved; ... Without Party A's permission, Party B shall not give Mr. Ye Kai any emotional hints, expectations, or agreements, and shall not interfere in any of Mr. Ye Kai's private affairs; ... This contract is made in duplicate, and the rights and obligations of both parties shall be reserved until -" Ye Kai's pupils shrank for a moment, and the hand holding the paper unconsciously exerted force -
"Mr. Ye Tong passed away."
Ye Jin lit another cigarette, took a sip, and said in a cold voice without any emotion, "He broke the contract."
To her surprise, Ye Kai actually lowered his head and chuckled expressionlessly, and then really started to laugh. Because he kept his head down, in the shadows, Ye Jin could not see his expression, and could only see from his trembling shoulders that he was trying hard to hold back his smile. But Ye Kai soon couldn't help it anymore, he tightly grasped the paper and laughed wildly, as if he had seen something absurd and funny. Ye Jin took the cigarette from his mouth in a daze and frowned: "Are you crazy?"
Ye Kai stood up, and under the bright light, Ye Jin finally saw the crazy and wanton smile on her brother's face. His lips couldn't help but rise, and he grabbed the phone with a slight tremor and opened the balcony door.
The thick glass blocks out all sound.
Chen Youhan was still at a reception for investors, with only champagne in his glass. Just by looking down at his phone, he silenced several guests who were chatting with him. The phone was not hung up. Several people watched Chen Youhan put the champagne glass on the waiter's tray and saluted with a half-curled lip in a very graceful manner: "Sorry, I have an important call."
I pressed the answer button before leaving the venue.
"Baby."
"Chen Youhan——"
Although the other party couldn't see his expression, his eyebrows and eyes softened unconsciously, "What's wrong?"
"I love you," Ye Kai lowered his head and turned around on the balcony without any sense of direction, saying with all his strength, "Do you hear me? I love you."
He looked up, the night was dark blue and there was a crescent moon. The smile on his face never faded. He raised his hand and wiped his face, leaving it wet and slippery.
Chen Youhan was stunned by the sudden confession, then sat down on the sofa, rejected the female star next to him with her eyes, and spoke into the receiver in a low and pleasant voice: "I heard you, I love you too."
A phone call with no beginning or end forced him to loosen his tie. His boyfriend would be away from him for the next few years, so what should he do?
The night wind blurred the tears in his eyes. Ye Kai blinked hard, and the last tear slid down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away with his palm again, pushed open the door and went into the house. The in and out were very short, and the flowing moisture brought in the damp heat outside. Ye Jin raised his head and saw that Ye Kai was still smiling.
"You lost, you know that—" He didn't know why he was so happy. The smile on his face was innocent and pure, as if he had regained his carefree look. Even the corners of his lips that were raised provocatively made people feel cute. He looked at Ye Jin and repeated, "You really lost."
With a contract in hand, Ye Jin will not lose no matter what.
She could even make Chen Youhan lose everything.
However, she still maintained her posture of sitting on the desk, looked at Ye Kai and smiled, her eyes softened, and said: "Yes, I lost."
Then, under Ye Kai's shocked gaze, she held the contract in one hand and pressed the lighter with the other, and lit the five pages of paper lazily as if lighting a cigarette.
The flames were brighter than the lamplight, and Ye Jin's half-turned face was illuminated by the flames. The flames shot up high, but the paper quickly burned to the end. Ye Jin let go, and the flames gradually died down, carrying the remaining white paper and falling to the floor, where they finished burning.
The white paper turned to black ash, leaving dark marks on the expensive herringbone floor.
"I've said before, only Chen Youhan and I know about this contract. Mommy doesn't know, Daddy doesn't know, and Grandpa doesn't know either." Ye Jin shrugged, supported himself on the table and jumped down barefoot. "Tell Chen Youhan later that as a business partner, I'm deeply saddened by his breach of contract and dishonesty. It won't be so easy to work together next time."
Ye Kai had a complicated expression, mixed with deep surprise. In the end, he could only say in an ambiguous way: "Ye Jin, I really don't understand you."
Ye Jin walked through the scattered ashes and walked towards him: "I am sorry for the two years you and Chen Youhan lost, but I don't regret it. I solemnly apologize to you today, but it doesn't mean that I think I did something wrong. I'm sorry."
"You could have handled it better."
Ye Jin brushed her long hair behind her neck, was silent for two seconds, and said gently: "Maybe, who knows. Gambling, weighing and choosing, you have the power to make decisions for yourself, so you must accept the pain of choice. This matter has nothing to do with me anymore. You can decide how to deal with Mommy. I won't obstruct you anymore. If there is anything I can help with -" She smiled self-deprecatingly, "and you guys think highly of me, you can tell me. As for Grandpa -" She paused for a moment, "You have grown up, and this painful trade-off, your right to choose love and life, from now on, I will give it all back to you."
She was very close to Ye Kai. She watched him grow taller, from 1.6 meters to 1.78 meters. She kept complaining about why he was still not 1.8 meters tall. Now he is 1.8283 meters tall. She also used to bend over to listen to him talk, but now she has to look up.
Seeing her raised arm, Ye Kai unexpectedly did not dodge.
Ye Jin held him loosely and patted him on the back gently: "The only thing I really regret is that I underestimated the love between you and Chen Youhan. If I had more confidence in your love, you are right, maybe I would help you. But Xiaokai, are there really better ways to deal with the two questions I asked you? If you find one, I will be very happy."
It was only when she turned to leave that she heard Ye Kai's voice.
He said, “I have found it.”
As expected, the figure froze when he reached the door. Ye Jin did not turn around, "Really?"
"I said you lost - Grandpa - he already knew about the relationship between me and Brother Youhan."
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