CH 3

Xia Xingchi finally realized that something was wrong and stiffly turned his head to look at Li Chengyuan. Then there was a loud “Boom!” in his brain.

The sound of his entire being cracking.

What had he just said?

He said he loved his fiance to the point of death, thinking about him day and night — the person himself was standing right in front of him, but he didn’t recognize him!

Handsome, pale, and weak, with an odd moody temper……he was truly blind. Wasn’t this the terrifying crazy villain right in front of him?!

If Xia Xingchi had a tail, his fur would definitely be puffed up in alarm. Right then, his only thought was to find a hole to hide in at the speed of light.

But before he could escape, a deep, threatening voice as cold as an air-conditioner sounded next to his ear: “Do you think that if you leave now, you will step on your fiance’s ‘minefield?’”

The last two words were slightly accentuated, clearly imitating what he had said.

Xia Xingchi realized that in hindsight, social death was a small matter, but treading on lightning was a fatal one.

In front of the ruthless and merciless villain, he had used his life to perform a personal disco dance on top of his minefield.

Li Chengyuan had probably concealed his fierce aura before, but now that the truth was revealed, even movements like sitting down with a blank face and holding a cup of tea were full of a strong sense of oppression.

His slender fingers tapped lightly on the table a few times, and Xia Xingchi’s heart suddenly jumped.

He racked his brains to remember when he might have offended God. He was so unlucky —

After just being struck by lighting, once he was reborn, he still wasn’t far from death: first, he fell into the villain’s bathtub, then he forced him into the bathroom to stuff him with food, and finally he had a glib tongue and talked nonsense in front of him.

The guests gathered together, whether on purpose or by chance. The reason there had been almost no one on the first floor during the chase just now was because Li Chengyuan entered the venue and went up to the second floor, and everyone followed.

Some came to seek cooperation with Li Chengyuan, some came to pretend to be familiar with him, and others simply came to watch Young Master Xia, who “made a lucky marriage by chance.”

There were different opinions in these circles regarding the matter of this marriage. The most common one was “Mr. Li is here to withdraw the engagement today.”

After all, there was no one who didn’t know that he was indifferent and ruthless, and that he took the initiative to propose marriage was less reliable than the sun rising from the north.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and silently told himself that as long as he wasn’t awkward, others wouldn’t be awkward.

The epic social death and the onlooking crowd did not keep him from quickly jumping into the play to perform.

They saw the piety and sincerity on his face: “Mr. Li, do you feel that this is our fate?”

— The evil fate of being struck by lightning.

Li Chengyuan sipped his tea. The corners of his lips seemed to twitch slightly, and he said with indifference: “Since it is ‘to the point of death and having no appetite,’ there will always be some response.”

Xia Xingchi: ……

Sir, can you speak well and cease repeatedly whipping the corpse?

Although it could be clearly seen from this angle, in fact, Li Chengyan hadn’t smiled at all. Instead, his eyes were full of coldness, and it was just a mechanical movement of the corners of his mouth.

Everyone seemed to have discovered some big news. Faced with his obvious and clumsy flattery, Mr. Li actually acknowledged it with a smile?

Xia Pingjian on the side was especially happy. He thought the cheap son who came to him halfway was a waste, and didn’t expect Mr. Li to like him so much.

He immediately began to think about how to use his son to make more money.

After all, Xia Xingchi had a weak character and was easy to control, just a coward who didn’t dare say anything when he was slapped around casually.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion from behind the crowd.

The atmosphere that had finally eased a little was then brutally broken —

A dark, burly, iron tower of a man could be seen rampaging like a cannonball through the crowd!

This person was wearing an inappropriate vest and shorts, his exaggerated muscles bursting out as his eyes wandered among the crowd, as if he was searching for something.

On his face was a sad little daughter-in-law expression that didn’t match his rough appearance.

Xi Xingchi was taken aback for a moment. How could there be random people breaking into this kind of place?

Then he couldn’t wait to give him a thumbs up. No matter what was going on, he thanked this buddy for saving him from an embarrassing death.

He stretched out his head to take a curious look, but Li Chengyuan calmly raised a finger. The bodyguards understood immediately and stood in front of Xia Xingchi to block him.

At the same time, it also blocked his probing eyes, and he could only hear the wailing accusations of the big muscled dude: “Are you engaged now? How could you do this to me, ah! I can’t live a day without you!”

Xia Xingchi’s melon-eating[1] antenna instantly sprung up. According to his experience reading countless dog blood stories, this person’s goal was probably — Li Chengyuan!

Unexpectedly, the crazy villain had such strong tastes? His love life was glossed over in the original text, and it only said that he was ruthless and lonely until his death.

As a big boss who surpassed the protagonist in popularity, if this was written, it would really break the hearts of his countless fans.

Xia Xingchi didn’t think it would be a big deal to fan the flames a little as he watched the excitement, and began to think, as the “fiance” who wanted to rob someone of what they cherished, what kind of script should he use?

He was very excited to participate in the relationship battlefield for the first time in his life.

Against expectations, the strong man took out a small handkerchief at this time and wiped the snot and tears with a dainty gesture: 

“How many years have we been together, you scumbag!”

“How can you get engaged to someone else for the sake of money?!”

The picture was so eye-catching, exaggerated, and strange, that the surrounding audience couldn’t bear to look directly at it, and some inadvertently laughed out loud.

Xia Xingchi wanted to laugh too, but after a second of pause, he suddenly realized something was wrong — wait? Who are you saying wants money?

He was dumb as a wooden chicken for a moment and just listened to the other party continue to express deep feelings. Then the person shouted on the spot: “Xiao Chi! I know you must have been forced, I’ll take you away!”

Xia Xingchi: ?

A small head was immediately filled with big question marks. He was happily watching the show, but who would have thought that the clown was actually himself?

The reason why he excluded himself in the first place was because the original owner was not only cannon fodder with no love life, but he was also a straight man. No matter what, he never would have had an ex-boyfriend.

“Hey, buddy? Have you got the wrong person? ‘I’ don’t —”

Don’t like men……?

Before he finished speaking, Xia Xingchi abruptly shut up. This was a trap!

Whoever hired this voluptuous, flamboyant hunk didn’t intend to frame him in a bad light, but to anger the straight male original owner who was being forced to marry.

Let the already unstable “Xia Xingchi” be homophobic and angrily yell in public, “I don’t like men at all,” or “gays are disgusting.”

“I don’t know you!” Xia Xingchi quickly changed his words.

He cleared his throat and said aloud: “It’s useless even if you have a crush on me! Because I only have Mr. Li in my heart, and I love him! Just give up!”

After that voice sounded, the surroundings went silent.

Xia Xingchi glanced in fear from the corner of his eye and saw that amidst the sudden farce, Li Chengyuan was the only one sitting to the side calmly.

He continued to drink his tea sedately and looked over with a cool expression after hearing Xia Xingchi’s speech.

Xia Xingchi felt terrified after seeing it. For a moment, he couldn’t discern the big boss’s thoughts or mood, but a subtle intuition flashed through his mind —

Li Chengyuan was eating this up.

So he bit the bullet and pretended to be calm, continuing in a sonorous voice: “I’m not going, and I don’t agree to call off the engagement. Because for the rest of my life, it must be Mr. Li!”

“It was love at first sight! Whether rich or poor, in sickness or in health, nothing can stop me from being with Mr. Li except death!”

“I’m willing!”

As a master of many trades, Xia Xingchi took the classic lines of a wedding master of ceremonies and slightly modified them. Not only did he recite them with deep feeling, but he also played multiple roles himself.

He automatically substituted the word “Money” for “Mr. Li” when speaking, and the feelings immediately came from the heart, more sincere than actual gold, comparable to an Oscar-winning actor.

Thanks to Xia Yu, rumors had begun to spread long before the engagement. Everyone thought they were about to watch an escape-the-marriage drama, but were instead dumbstruck by Xia Xingchi’s staunch and heartfelt attitude.

The brawny man was even more confused. He even forgot to keep making dainty gestures, stumbling in his act and unable to find the rest of his words.

He had never seen such a thick-skinned person who did not act in accordance with the routine.

It was said that this Xia Xingchi was cowardly, fragile, and had low self-esteem. But if this was low self-esteem, then what was self-confidence?

Xia Xingchi had guessed correctly, the crazy man’s preferences were truly strange, and he was very pleased by this comedy performance.

Li Chengyuan smiled as if he was finally satisfied, and raised his hand to signal the bodyguards to take the man down and end this farce.

The “wall of nuts”[2] bodyguards in front of him finally moved, and Xia Xingchi breathed a sigh of relief at last.

Although he had thick skin, he had no less of a sense of shame than others. His face was red when he said these words, but fortunately others only thought he was shy after confessing his affection.

The things that originally should have ensured victory today, whether the covert incitement, the blatant chasing, or even having to stage this farce, all of them failed without exception?!

— Unacceptable, he must not let them take away his opportunity to marry Mr. Li. It should be him!

Xia Yu gritted his teeth and made gestures imperceptibly amidst the crowd that meant “price increase” and “must be completed.”

As a result, the previous situation was reversed. The strongman had thought that the mission was over and was ready to be subdued without a fight, but when he received the signal, for money’s sake, he promptly turned around and began to wrestle with the bodyguards!

The scene became chaotic in an instant, and even Xia Xingchi was taken aback, thinking that rich people really knew how to play. Had this engagement banquet changed from a bitter drama to a martial arts action movie?

Xia Yu immediately seized the opportunity and went straight into battle.

He rushed forward to hold Xia Xingchi’s hand, still innocent, sincere, and anxious: “Xingchi-ge, we need to work this out, don’t let them fight over you anymore! Even if our family doesn’t want to lose face, you can’t compromise Mr. Li’s face either, ah!”

He was reasonable and considerate of Mr. Li and the overall situation, unlike himself, who only provoked rotten love battles and didn’t step forward to stop them.

Xia Xingchi thought to himself that although these words were beautiful, they were all deceptive and empty. The person was like a teapot letting out steam.

Tilting his head to estimate the thickness of the teapot spirit’s skin, he hard Xia Yu speak again: “Xingchi-ge, even if you think Mr. Li is not in good health, he has care workers and nurses taking care of him after all, so you definitely don’t need to look after him! Stop making trouble, be sensible and get married.”

The volume of this sentence was so low that others may not hear it, but it just so happened that Li Chengyuan could “accidentally” overhear it from such a distance.

The acting was so realistic that those who didn’t know otherwise would really think that the original owner was disgusted with his fiance’s poor health at home day after day.

This statement was consistent with Xia Yu’s previously released rumors: It was said that not only did Xia Xingchi not want to get engaged, but he also prattled on self-importantly, saying that he would not for a moment be a nanny and would never take care of a troublesome, sickly, short-lived seedling.

As soon as those words were spoken, Xia Xingchi’s expression abruptly changed, and his hair stood on end.

— Where is the teapot in front of me? This is essentially a high explosive suicide-style attack!

Xia Yu had clearly already revealed his intentions in the end, and dared to say anything just to cheat him.

He couldn’t accurately estimate the lethality of these words at all, since he didn’t know enough about Li Chengyuan.

“I dislike that he is unhealthy.” This was the crazy villain’s inverse scale, and whoever touched it would be finished.

Xia Xingchi immediately shuddered, and the bloody and terrifying plot in the later part of the novel surfaced involuntarily in his mind.

Just as he was thinking, a cold gaze fell upon him. Li Chengyuan turned his head slowly and looked over with a blank expression on his face, the whole scene like the terrifying moment in a horror movie when a ghost twists its head around backwards.

Xia Xingchi: ! ?

Boss, ah, we have to be reasonable, I didn’t say this, so why are you staring at me!

As a man of action, Xia Xingchi had always responded very quickly. He didn’t have much time to think, so he had no choice but to quickly choose the best plan to belatedly salvage the situation.

Behold, he performed a beautiful and skillful standard side kick on the spot. Caught off guard, Xia Yu, the criminal ringleader, was kicked hard to the ground!

In the wake of Xia Yu’s screams, the martial arts scene over there ended with the bodyguards pinning the strongman to the ground.

Yet more twists and turns were added to the story, and everyone was shocked to see the new sensation of the real and fake young masters fighting in public, thinking to themselves, what sort of lively day is this where hundreds of melons are blooming?[3]

The most shocking person was Xia Xingchi himself. No matter what, they never thought that someone of Xia Xingchi’s weak and cowardly character would dare to do something so straightforwardly and without hesitation.

This waste was obviously brighter when light shone upon him and seemed like a good person, moving people to tears with his compassionate and willful courtship……had he lost his mind?

Surprisingly, this was not enough, and Xia Xingchi took two steps forward under everyone’s watchful eyes, then boldly and confidently sat on Li Chengyuan’s lap!

[1] Eating melons means to watch the drama from the sidelines. Picture him sitting there casually munching on popcorn and enjoying the show. ⮐

[2] The “wall of nuts” is a defensive plant in the game “Plants vs Zombies,” and can block the zombies so that the plants have more time to attack. ⮐

[3] This likely is a pun on the idiom “a hundred flowers bloom,” which refers to free expression of the arts. In this case, a hundred melons blooming would mean lots of good entertainment to watch from the sidelines. ⮐