CH 86

November 1, 2022kaychandra

Chapter 86: Think Outside the Box

After a while, Xi Qing came out of the kitchen with a tray containing the tea set Gongxi Xiong had found.

Gongxi Xiong looked at his wife, who was walking next to Xi Qing with empty hands. The strange feeling in his heart was even stronger. His wife has always been warm to guests, how could she let a guest carry something?

However, this was his own wife, so he couldn’t say anything. He started to get up to pick up the tray in Xi Qing’s hand, only to be pulled back by his son.

“Dad, Da Xi is very good at making tea.” Gongxi Qiao waited for Xi Qing to put the tray on the table before releasing his hand that was holding Gongxi Xiong’s. “You’ll know when you taste it.”

Gongxi Xiong silently glanced at his son. This wasn’t right ah, how come even his son’s attitude was so strange?

Then Daddy Gongxi, who didn’t know anything about tea ceremonies, watched as Xi Qing elegantly made tea and then brought it to Gongxi Xiong. “Uncle, please have some tea.”

“How kind this is, thank you so much.” Gongxi Xiong took the cup of tea with both hands and took a sip into his mouth. He thought to himself, this doesn’t seem to be anything special ah, but he still complimented him a few times on the surface.

The four of them sat down on the sofa, turned on the TV, and drank tea. After the tea was half gone, Gongxi Xiong saw that Xi Qing still had no intention of leaving, so he said, “It’s getting late today. Mr. Xi, please stay at my house.”

Xi Qing smiled. “No, I just stopped by to see Xiao Qiao.”

Qiao Lanfen glanced at the gift placed in the corner. He was quite polite for just stopping by.

Gongxi Qiao smiled and said, “In that case, I’ll go with you. I heard that Bai Qi’s second appeal was upheld. The Bai clan’s business was also prosecuted by the tax department as well as the quality inspection department. I’m worried that they’ll find trouble with me.”

When it came to the Bai family, Gongxi Xiong and Qiao Lanfen both frowned, but didn’t object to their son’s behavior. In Gongxi Xiong’s opinion, there were things men should do and not do[1]. Gongxi Qiao didn’t do anything wrong. They were just worried that their son would be implicated because of this matter. The incidents that happened some time ago worried them badly, and if Xiao Qiao hadn’t called them every day and explained what had happened, they would have been unable to sit still.

The security conditions of the Xi family manor were better than their neighborhood, so Gongxi Xiong immediately nodded and said, “That’s good, but it’s a lot of trouble for Mr. Xi.”

“It’s no trouble, I’m very happy to have Xiao Qiao living in my place.” When Xi Qing saw that Gongxi Qiao was willing to go back with him, his expression eased a few degrees, and even his tone of voice lowered a few degrees.

Qiao Lanfen looked at Gongxi Qiao and Xi Qing and didn’t say anything. Gongxi Xiong saw that Xi Qing was indeed not lying, so he didn’t have a problem with it. In his opinion, two friends who had a good relationship could occasionally stay at each other’s homes for a few nights. It was a very normal thing.

The four people chatted for a while. Qiao Lanfen glanced at the time. She saw that the two young people hadn’t seen each other for half a month, and from time to time they glanced back and forth at each other, and it hurt her eyes. She simply said, “Okay, it’s late. You two go home early and rest.”

“Oh,” Gongxi Qiao put down his cup of tea, took the jacket handed to him by the housekeeper, and said to his parents with a smile, “I’ll go first then.”

Seeing this, Xi Qing also got up and politely bid farewell to the two elders.

“All right, go.” Qiao Lanfen waved her hand, like, out of sight, out of mind. “Be careful on the way. Tell the driver to drive a little slower.”

Despite her outward dismissal, in a mother’s heart, her son, no matter how old he was, was still just a child in need of parental care.

“I know.” Gongxi Qiao hugged Mama Qiao. “If any media comes to bother you, call me.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that easy for reporters to get close to us.” Mama Qiao raised her hand and tousled her son’s hair a few times. “Take good care of yourself and don’t make me and your dad worry.”

When the two, mother and son, had finished saying goodbye, Gongxi Xiong saw Gongxi Qiao pull open the door and was about to leave. He asked, “Son, who is the person you were talking about before ah?”

Gongxi Qiao reached out and wrapped his arms around Xi Qing’s neck and said with a smile, “You just saw ah.”

“What do you mean I just saw?” Gongxi Xiong inexplicably watched his son walk out the door with his arm around his best friend’s shoulder and get into a car before the strange feeling in his heart became more and more obvious. He was horrified and immediately looked at his wife. “Wife, what does our son mean by that?”

Qiao Lanfen closed the door behind him, then sat down on the sofa and said, “What do you think?”

“H-h-he ……” Gongxi Xiong stammered, “How can the two of them be like that?”

“You’re asking me? Who am I going to ask?” said Qiao Lanfen. “The two kids are already like this, so I can’t do anything to break up the lovebirds.”

Gongxi Xiong thought about what happened between him and his wife back then, and looked at the tea set on the table. Inexplicably, his mouth felt bitter. It must be because the tea was too bitter just now.

“I’m just me, why is he so attentive?” Gongxi Xiong sat down beside his wife in bewilderment. After thinking about it for a long time, he wiped his face and said, “What did the boy say to you?” Seeing his wife’s attitude, he knew she must have known about it.

“Let’s let nature take its course. It’s not our business to force them to separate. Even if we barely manage to separate them, if Xiao Qiao’s heart is pining for someone else and marries a girl, it’s not fair to someone else’s daughter. Who would want the child they hold in the palm of their hand to be so badly treated? Even if someone is willing, I can’t live with it,” Qiao Lanfen sighed. “Our family can’t do such a heartless thing.” With Xiao Qiao’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t be willing to do such a thing either. Should they let Xiao Qiao be alone for the rest of his life?

She saw that her husband still looked a bit dazed. She thought he couldn’t think straight, so she could only persuade him gently. “We can’t ruin our son’s happiness for the rest of his life just so he can have a child, don’t you think so? Are you willing to force our son to that point?”

“Children aside, I’m worried about the identity of the two of them. If word gets out, I don’t know how much of a stir it will cause.” Gongxi Xiong took a deep breath. Having lived for decades, he could see that Xi Qing was resilient, and while his son seemed easy-going, he wouldn’t easily change something that he had decided. If he and his wife forced him to separate from Xi Qing in their capacity as parents, the boy might endure the pain and give up, but his wife was right. How could he be willing to force his child into that desperate situation?

But nowadays, in this world, the harmony between yin and yang, between men and women, was the way to go. A same-sex romance was always vulnerable to criticism. Even if the two weren’t afraid of criticism, would they be able to live a good life together?

“It’s not a matter of public opinion, but I am worried that the two of them won’t make it to the end and will be sad and hurt.” Gongxi Xiong sighed again. “This child has been obedient since childhood and has never been naughty. This time, for once he’s naughty, it’s such a big matter.”

Forget it, men and women got married and divorced. They shouldn’t think so much about it. The head of the Xi family was powerful, but their family’s Xiao Qiao was also very good. He wasn’t worried about the unequal status of the two.

“The young men can worry about their own affairs,” Gongxi Xiong said reluctantly. “Life is long. If the Xi family head dares to mess around, we’re not afraid. Anyway, our family’s Xiao Qiao has no shortage of people who like him.”

Qiao Lanfen laughed and didn’t refute her husband’s remark.

In their eyes, Xiao Qiao and Xi Qing’s status was equal. There was no need for Xi Qing to beg on his knees for them to allow the two to be together. It was the same as the Xi family side, they also didn’t want their family’s Xiao Qiao to have to speak with a humble and submissive attitude.

If they really didn’t want the two kids to be together, they would have to clean up after their own child, and they wouldn’t have a say in other people’s families.[2]

Inside the car, Xi Qing was a little worried. “Will Uncle and Auntie be angry with me?”

“What do you think?” Gongxi Qiao played with Xi Qing’s fingers, smiling. “If they were really very disgusted with you, my mother wouldn’t have let me go at this time.”

Xi Qing was stunned. “Auntie already knew?”

“Yes, now both my parents know.” Gongxi Qiao held his hand tightly and smiled lightly. “My decision to be with you is my business. My parents happen to have the same temperament. If my dad didn’t agree, he would have slammed the door and beat me up.” Although he had never once been beaten up since he was a child.

Xi Qing hugged Gongxi Qiao. “Thank you.” He was prepared to be given a hard time by Uncle and Auntie, but he didn’t know that they were so reasonable, and they were so nice to him from the beginning to the end.

Gongxi Qiao smiled and hugged him back. “I abducted such a good young man back. It’s a good thing they didn’t beat me up.”

As Xi Qing’s man, how can he let him suffer that kind of grievance. He was a good man full of boyfriend power.

The bodyguard driving in the front silently watched the road ahead and sighed in his heart. It turned out that the boss was the one who was taken by the wolf?

It really seemed …… like there was nothing incongruous about this ah.

The two of them have not seen each other for half a month, so after spending a night of enthusiasm and beauty together, Xi Qing accompanied Gongxi Qiao to stay at home for a day before going back to work. In Special Assistant Gou’s opinion, it had the taste of the king not going to morning court from now on, except that this county king met another king.

Xi Qing and Gongxi Qiao getting together was already an untold secret within the Xi family, as well as Special Assistant Gou and Secretary Tang. The Xi family elders, who should be jumping up and down, were as quiet as chickens, as if they wouldn’t object even if Xi Qing was with an animal.

It was probably because Xi Qing’s previous methods of cleaning up people were too sharp. The sovereignty of the Xi clan was already in his hands. The so-called elders and uncles couldn’t shake Xi Qing’s position even if they protested.

From that, it could be seen how big the gap between the head of the Xi family and the head of the Bai family was in this generation.

It was said that the younger generation of the Bai family had caused a lot of scandals. There were drug arrests, pornography arrests, and even drunk driving arrests, which simply made people see a lot of jokes.

Outsiders watched the spectacle, and insiders watched the process. The Bai family became such a mess because of internal instability. The younger generation competed for power and profit and set each other up as a result.

The real decline of many prestigious families began with internal struggles.

Gongxi Qiao recently ensconced himself in the Xi family estate. When he talked to Xu Chao on the phone, he heard a lot of gossip about the Bai family from him.

“The Bai family is in this state because they brought about their own death.” Gongxi Qiao sneered. “The sovereignty of the family head is unstable. When something happens, they just change the head of the family. Doesn’t it make other people of the same generation think that the head of the family can be pulled down at random anyway, so why don’t they give it a try?”

From his point of view, if the head of the family was useless and there was no heir of the same generation who could really suppress everyone, it would be better to remove the head of the family and find a few sensible and discerning co-directors. The Bai family made a bad move when they withdrew Bai Zhong’s status as head of the family and easily let Bai Qi come to power.

It was a pity that the older generation didn’t know people well, and the younger generation didn’t have any outstanding people. Each of them fought like blinded roosters. No matter how prominent the family was, it couldn’t afford being tossed about so much.

“You do understand,” laughed Xu Chao on the other end of the phone. “It’s a pity that those in the Bai family are still smothering themselves to death.”

Gongxi Qiao laughed. After hanging up with Xu Chao, he received another call from Chen Ke, to the effect that a few foreign brands were interested in endorsing him and wanted him to take a look.

He said, “First, help me research the sincerity of the companies, there’s no need to rush.”

Chen Ke thought, at this time, other artists would rather have a technique to split their body into multiple copies[3], unlike this young master who was so lazy that he didn’t look like a popular young star.

When he was eating alone at noon, Gongxi Qiao suddenly received a call from the Lin family’s parents, saying that Lin Kang wanted to see him.

After hanging up the phone, Gongxi Qiao was stunned for a moment. With a sigh, he got up and grabbed his coat and left the house.

T/N