Chapter 63

Pfft! Zhu Bocheng was glad that he wasn’t drinking water at that moment; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to control himself and would have spat it out on the spot when he heard Sister Shuyan’s words. Was this the first time Zhenbai was being scorned by a woman, and so clearly?

Zhu Bocheng wiped his face and went red from trying not to laugh. At the same time, he was glad that she was indeed the woman he fancied and wasn’t charmed by Zhenbai’s appearance. Usually, when he was with Zhenbai, Zhenbai would always be the one whom women fawned on. Since meeting them, Sister Shuyan had never acted like that. The more Zhu Bocheng thought about it, the happier he was. As long as his friend didn’t fight with him, he was still very confident that he could woo Sister Shuyan. He was immediately all smiles and said, “Great minds think alike, great minds think alike. Forget his good looks, he has plenty of shortcomings. Come, let’s go and chat, Sister Shuyan!”

Qi Zhenbai’s face turned frosty when the woman beside him took advantage of him making small talk to turn around to talk to another man and leave with him. Even if the man was Zhu Bocheng, Qi Zhenbai’s unsightly expression didn’t change.

“First of all, he’s a workaholic and a tyrant. He’ll work all the way into the night, and he pursues perfection at all costs. His tormented subordinates complain endlessly. I reckon his future wife will become jealous of his work.” Zhu Bocheng didn’t notice his friend’s face. Since his friend wasn’t interested in Sister Shuyan, Qi Zhenbai could just be the bridge between him and his wife. He continued to stick close to Shuyan’s side and roast his friend. “Also, he’s a germaphobe and doesn’t like to touch people. He will definitely scorn his wife in the future. With that cold face, his wife will consciously stay 20 feet away from him, haha.”

Father and Mother Zhu watched their son and the little girl gossip together and smiled knowingly at each other. They felt that they should leave the two young ones alone to cultivate their feelings, and planned to leave the scene quietly together so that they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

“Young Master Qi, I remember that you’ve always been quite knowledgeable about antique jewelry. It’s a coincidence that I recently acquired a few new antiques from the Tang and Song Annual Reviews and have been looking for someone to appraise them. Why don’t you come with me to take a look, Young Master Qi?” Father Zhu inquired respectfully.

Qi Zhenbai seemed to be listening to Father Zhu’s tone as if he was speaking with his peers, but in fact, his eyes were fixed on the two people sitting very close to each other on the sofa. A sinister and ruthless glint flashed in his phoenix eyes underneath his sharp eyebrows. The lines of his jaw tightened and his face grew more and more irritated.

In a normal situation, the observant Father Zhu would definitely have overthought it, but now that he was focused on Zhu Bocheng and Chi Shuyan, he didn’t really notice Qi Zhenbai’s mood. And at that moment, Qi Zhenbai’s exposed emotions were immediately restrained, and he looked light-hearted.

“Alright.” Before leaving with Father Zhu, Qi Zhenbai didn’t forget to turn around and give Zhu Bocheng a cold, blade-like, bone-piercing gaze.

Zhu Bocheng shivered at the sight and his neck turned cold. He had spoken so softly; did Zhenbai hear him? What a blunder! Because of Qi Zhenbai’s warning, he didn’t dare gossip about him anymore.

At the dining table.

At night, everyone drooled over the table full of fragrant and tasty dishes, and Chi Shuyan was starving.

Father and Mother Zhu warmly welcomed everyone to sit down. Originally, the two wanted Qi Zhenbai to sit in the main seat, but Qi Zhenbai turned it down. As for Chi Shuyan, this guest, she was too young. If they let her sit there, it would only make her uncomfortable. The couple didn’t say much and sat down.

Chi Shuyan surveyed the group. Father and Mother Zhu naturally sat together, so she chose a seat to the lower right of Mother Zhu. Seeing that Sister Shuyan had chosen her seat, Zhu Bocheng subconsciously wanted to sit next to her.

However, just as he was about to go over and sit down, Qi Zhenbai was a step quicker and intercepted him. He pulled out the chair and sat down slowly, all in one smooth motion. His frosty phoenix eyes glanced indifferently at Zhu Bocheng, and he put his left hand on the back of a chair like an order. “You sit here.”

Zhu Bocheng: “…” Why did he get the feeling that his best friend had long coveted this seat? It had to be his illusion.

Even Chi Shuyan, who was on the side, was surprised. She didn’t expect Qi Zhenbai to be next to her, so she shifted her body to face Mother Zhu more. It wasn’t that she was prejudiced, but clearly because of how she had been repeatedly attracted to Zhenbai previously, she didn’t dare get close at all. She was afraid that she would accidentally embarrass herself with this tonic pill next to her. That would be hard to explain. In addition, the two of them were going to have a ‘ill-fated relationship’ in the future. In order to prevent this evil fate from happening, she would stay as far away from him as possible and have less contact with him.

Mother Zhu was pulling at her to talk to her, but what Chi Shuyan didn’t notice was that when she leaned over, the tall man next to her had a cold, hard face. His thin lips were pursed tightly into a thin line and hidden fury rose in his eyes. His fury went from 30 to 100 percent, and his fingers subconsciously tightened until they were white.

Zhu Bocheng distinctly sensed that his friend was on the verge of losing control of his emotions. Other people didn’t know, but he knew that the angrier Zhenbai was in his heart, the calmer his face became. At that moment, his friend’s face was frightfully calm, but he just couldn’t figure out why he was angry.

It wasn’t good for Zhu Bocheng to ask in front of everyone, so he changed the subject. “Zhenbai, what’s especially fun in the capital? Give me some recs, and I’ll take Sister Shuyan there tomorrow.” After speaking, Zhu Bocheng quickly whispered in his friend’s ear, “Help me out, Zhenbai. You know that Sister Shuyan is nice and beautiful. As the saying goes, we shouldn’t let our own fertile water flow into someone else’s field. I plan to keep this in the family. You’re busy with work, so I definitely won’t bother you this time.” After pausing, Zhu Bocheng quickly continued, “Zhenbai, this is a matter of great importance in my life, so you must help me out!”

With a crack, the chopsticks in Qi Zhenbai’s hand snapped. His face was even more terrifyingly unsightly, his face ashen, and the veins on his forehead bulged tautly as he teetered on the verge of losing control.

Zhu Bocheng was first startled, then almost jumped up in fright when he saw the emotional loss of control and expression on his best friend’s face. All the hairs on his body stood on end. A chill ran up through the soles of his feet. Wait a minute, what did he say wrong? Why did it feel like this friend of his didn’t want to give him advice, but wanted to tear him apart?

Everyone else was also startled by the noise, especially Mother Zhu. She hurriedly got up and wondered, “Why did the chopsticks break? I’ll get another pair for Zhenbai.”

Father Zhu hurriedly echoed, “Right, right, hurry and get Young Master Qi another pair of chopsticks.”

Chi Shuyan was very sensitive to emotions and also sensed that the man next to her was in a very bad mood, but it wasn’t good to probe into other people’s privacy, so she could only look at Zhu Bocheng.

Qi Zhenbai’s deep, cold voice suddenly rang out. “It wasn’t easy for her to come here. As hosts, we should always have manners. It just so happens that I’m free these few days!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Bocheng gaped in astonishment, wide enough to swallow a duck egg. A faintly absurd idea flashed through his mind, but he also felt that it was highly unlikely.

He knew his best friend too well. Love at first sight was completely impossible, and love might not happen for him even after a long time. Zhenbai had always been cold, aloof and heartless. It was impossible for him to fall in love with a woman whom he had only met a few times.

Besides, if Zhenbai really liked Sister Shuyan, he definitely wouldn’t act like this. It was probably something in his best friend’s heart, or perhaps it had something to do with Grandpa Qi. Zhu Bocheng took a moment to compose himself, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that was the case. He heaved a sigh of relief. He was about to speak, when Chi Shuyan said to Zhu Bocheng at that moment, “Anywhere is fine with me!”