Chapter 71
Ling Yin lowered his eyes, his deep pupils partially obscured by his eyelashes, and he stared at Qu Xing quietly.
Qu Xing's eyes slid down to the corner of his mouth and saw it curl up slightly, not in joy, but with a hidden evil aggression.
Ling Yin said softly, "An apology must be sincere."
Qu Xing smiled at him, stepped back, and said, "It's your turn to tell me, Brother Ling, when was the last time you cried?"
Everyone paused and looked towards Ling Yin.
They had never seen Ling Yin cry before. Given Ling Yin's personality, she probably wouldn't want to talk about her tearful experiences and would definitely choose to drink instead.
Ling Yin grabbed the wine glass, then withdrew his hand after a few seconds, thinking carefully: "When I was in third grade, someone threw ink on me. I went back and found that it couldn't be washed off."
The whole audience was silent.
I'll go.
Their domineering captain actually had such a pitiful experience???
Qu Xing's eyes suddenly widened, and he stared at Ling Yin: "Why?! Why did he splash you?! How could he be so cruel!"
So angry that it seemed as if she had just thrown it in front of him.
Ling Yin was amused by his reaction. "Wake up, it's been a long time."
Le Anyi also noticed that Ling Yin wasn't crying because someone splashed ink on him, but because he realized he couldn't wash it off. A third-grade student like this is such a germaphobe—amazing!
Qu Xing: "I'm so pissed! When a time machine is invented, I'll be the first one to go through and beat him up."
Ling Yin laughed: "You use such a great invention to do this kind of thing."
Qu Xing said confidently: "Yes."
Le Anyi asked, "Why did I splash you? Did your arrogant personality offend her pride?"
Ling Yin: "I forgot, he seems to have always disliked me."
Qu Xing looked at him with bright eyes: "Is he jealous of you because you are so beautiful?"
Ling Yin curled his lips and looked at him.
"And then?" Qu Xing asked, "Did you teach him a lesson?"
"Not originally." Ling Yin laughed. "When the little boy was deliberately bullying others, he was so aggressive and threatening. It was really ugly, so I just ignored him. But after he threw the ink, my parents found out."
Le Anyi: “…” He actually only cared about whether others looked ugly or not when they bullied him.
Qu Xing: "And then?"
Ling Yin laughed and said, "My dad went to the school gate to stop that kid, saying he was my big brother in the underworld. If he knew anyone bullied me again, he would blame it on him. He would get dozens of people to arrest him, lock him in a dark room, tickle his feet, and not give him any food."
Qu Xing: “…”
Le Anyi: “Fuck HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”
"Pfft." Qu Xing's expression softened: "Your dad is really interesting."
Ling Yin: "Then he was so scared that he started to be my bodyguard."
Le Anyi felt that Ling Yin's personality made him look ugly: "Are you particularly unhappy?"
Ling Yin laughed: "A little bit."
He Weichen was surprised: "You actually talk about this kind of past."
Ling Yin: "What do you mean by unexpectedly?"
Le Anyi: "That's you... like this..."
Le Anyi looked at him for a long time, and finally managed to come up with an inappropriate word: "Dignified."
Ling Yin shrugged off his inexplicable judgment: "Heh."
Qi Rui: "Next round, next round."
Le Anyi: "I'll have a couple of bites later!"
Qu Chen watched the group of people quietly, his eyes fixed on his brother. However, his brother was too close to the man, so he couldn't help but see him as well, which was a bit annoying.
Le Anyi: "Eh?! Xingxing is the smallest! Punish him for me!"
Qu Chen's phone vibrated slightly.
Dad—Have you gone to find your brother?
Qu Chen glanced at it silently before turning off the screen. He turned to look at Qu Xing.
Qu Xing moved the back of his head and looked at the wine glass on the table.
The wine tastes too bad, forget it.
He reached out and drew a penalty card.
——Toast everyone present with a respectful attitude
"Hey." Qu Xing immediately stood up with a glass of wine.
Ling Yin saw his curved eyes looking at her and suppressed her smile.
Qu Xing called out respectfully, "Captain."
Ling Yin's lips trembled as he raised his glass in response.
Qu Xing carefully lowered the rim of his cup until it touched the surface. With a ding, he said, "I'll drink it first. Please help yourself."
Ling Yin took a sip and realized that Qu Xing hadn't even opened his mouth. The wine only touched his lips lightly. He looked at Qu Xing's lips, which were wet with wine, and said, "You're toasting me and you don't drink it yourself?"
Qu Xing smiled at him, pretended not to hear, and turned to Qu Chenjing.
Qu Chen didn't expect him to bring him along, so he hurriedly picked up a cup. After clinking the two cups together, he drank it all in one gulp.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch." Qu Xing hurriedly smoothed his back: "Drink less, little one."
Qu Chen blushed: "...Oh."
He put down his empty glass and watched his brother run off to toast someone else, completely absorbed in the performance. When he came back, his glass was still full.
Seeing him sit down, Qu Chen raised his hand as if possessed by a ghost and tugged at Qu Xing's sleeve.
"Hmm?" Qu Xing turned her bright eyes, full of smiles, to look at him. "What's wrong, brother?"
Qu Chen shook his head.
Qu Xing looked at him for a second, then simply leaned back in his chair with him: "Does your dad know you're here?"
"I don't know." Qu Chen blurted out. Then he thought of the message his father had just sent and lowered his eyes.
He must have brought a few people with him when he came here, and it might be one of those people who told Dad. Dad didn't know why, but he was particularly obsessed with keeping my brother at his home. Ever since he let my brother run away last time, he had lost his temper with everyone.
The phone screen lit up again with a vibration. Perhaps it was his father again, so Qu Chen hurriedly turned off the screen. Turning around, he saw his brother's eyes also turn away from his phone.
Qu Chen's heart tightened.
He probably didn't see it.
Qu Xingqian looked at him with a raised lip: "I've always been curious."
Qu Chen opened his lips and asked, "What?"
Qu Xing was puzzled. "What era is this? Qu Hongfei has lived abroad for most of his life, so why is his hereditary mentality still so strong that he has to find a blood relative to take over his crappy business?"
Qu Chen shook his head: "I don't know."
Paused.
Qu Chen said calmly: "Maybe he loves you."
Qu Xing: “…”
The corner of Qu Xing's mouth twitched slightly: "Can you please stop saying things like that to scare me?"
"Oh." Qu Chen returned his gaze.
"Alas." Qu Xing sat closer, cupping Qu Chen's bewildered face in his hands. The music, which never stopped, drowned out his voice, so that only the two of them could hear. "I can't possibly see Qu Hongfei again. To me, he's just a kidnapper. If he's released back home, I'll report him to the police and have him jailed."
Qu Chen didn't know whether he had heard it or not. He let Qu Xing hold him, looking at Qu Xing intently, his indifferent eyes glowing with an incongruous light.
"So, no matter what Qu Hongfei says to you," Qu Xing said, "please protect me, okay?"
Qu Chen's eyes almost lit up as he nodded slightly.
Qu Xing put down his hand and rubbed his head: "Thank you, brother."
Qu Chen hesitated: "Then... I think I should leave, otherwise Dad might send someone to follow me."
Qu Xing paused: "..."
"He always finds ways to find out where I'm going." Qu Chen realized at this point that he shouldn't have let his feelings get to him. He almost panicked: "...especially when it comes to you."
"..." Qu Xing leaned towards Ling Yin and suddenly grabbed Ling Yin's hand: "What are you doing here? Are you going to tie me up?"
Ling Yin didn't know what the two brothers were whispering about when they were so close. He only heard this sentence and suddenly looked at Qu Chen with a slightly frown.
"No!" Qu Chen said hurriedly. He stood up and said, "I just don't want to disturb you. I'm leaving first."
Qu Xing saw the unconcealable sadness in Qu Chen's eyes: "..."
He didn't know when Qu Chen started to like him as his brother, but when he came to his senses, he realized it had already developed to this extent. He sighed softly, pulled his arm down, and tried to make him sit down: "It's okay."
Qu Chen pulled his arm away and took a step back: "You've already told me that you don't want to have any contact with him anymore... I forgot, I'm sorry..."
His movements were so hurried that everyone at the table looked at him in confusion.
Zhou Si: "What's wrong?"
At this moment, someone knocked on the door twice.
Before he could respond, the door was pushed open from the outside. Two of the men were tall, and Ling Yin felt the hands holding his suddenly tighten.
Qu Xing knew who these two people were from the moment he saw the familiar style. The month he had been trapped in that house by Qu Hongfei came to his mind: anxiety, boredom, loneliness, fear...
"Hello, young master. The boss said he has something to tell you." The thinner man in the lead said, holding a mobile phone.
Except for Ling Yin, the rest of the team knew nothing about Qu Xing's situation. Looking at the display of these three people, one might have actually thought Qu Xing was some wealthy young master from nowhere. Le Anyi's eyes lit up, and as he looked at Qu Xing, he was suddenly taken aback.
Qu Xing looked up at them, his eyes full of vigilance. He said nothing and held Ling Yin's hand tightly, as if he was afraid that he would be kidnapped by these people if he was not careful.
Le Anyi was dumbfounded.
What's going on?
After a while, Qu Xing frowned and said slowly: "I don't want to talk to him."
Father-son relationship discord?
A wealthy young man ran away from home just to pursue his e-sports dream?
The man remained unmoved: "The call is connected, the boss has been listening, you still have to say a few words."
Qu Xing frowned: "What does he want me to say?"
"Qu Xing."
Qu Hongfei's voice came from the receiver. Before Qu Xing could react, Qu Chen froze.
Qu Hongfei: "You don't need to say anything to me. Just remember, I'm your father. Never doubt this. From the time you were in your mother's womb until you were born, I've always been by your side."
His voice, Qu Xing didn't know if it was an illusion, seemed gentler than when they met. For a moment, he even felt that the person holding the phone was not the meticulous man in front of him, whose inner soul could not be seen, but his smiling grandmother. He had just been coaxed by his grandmother for half an hour, and finally agreed to play along with the "dad" in the phone, treating him as a friend far away in a corner of the world and chatting about anything.
Qu Hongfei said: "Then something happened and I separated from your mother. But I..."
After a pause, Qu Hongfei's seemingly illusory softness disappeared, and he returned to his cold and domineering tone. "But you will always be my son. I will keep your student status. There are still three months until the time we agreed on. Come back on your own. If the time comes, you still insist on playing esports."
Qu Hongfei paused. Everyone in the room seemed to pause as he spoke.
Qu Hongfei finished speaking in a flat tone:
"Don't blame me for being rude."
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