CH 11

As the car drove back to the city, Ye Xingzhou’s phone rang halfway. He casually tapped the Bluetooth button in the car and answered the call.

“Xingzhou, are you free right now?” It was Lin Zhinian’s voice. “Can you come to my studio? A group of people showed up claiming that I occupied their house and they want me to move out. I’m blocking the door to prevent them from coming in, but they’ve been banging on the door outside.”

Lin Zhinian’s voice was hurried and panicked as he sought help from Ye Xingzhou.

Ye Xingzhou asked, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Zhinian anxiously replied. There were vague sounds of things being smashed on the other end of the phone. “They look like a group of thugs. They said the contract I signed with the agent for this house is invalid and that the house belongs to them. They want me to either pay or give them the house, otherwise, they’ll destroy my studio. My assistants have all gone home, and now I’m the only one here.”

Ye Xingzhou calmly advised him, “Call the police first.”

“Sir  Lin, are you okay ,where are you?” Qi Xing’s voice chimed in. “Don’t worry, report to the police quickly. We’ll come over right away.”

Lin Zhinian seemed taken aback by Qi Xing’s presence on the call, then replied, “I’m at the studio. Xingzhou knows the address.”

Ye Xingzhou threw a remark to Lin Zhinian, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up the phone, calmly drove to the next intersection, and turned the car around.

Qi Xing sneered at him, “do you not care at all about sir Lin? He’s in trouble, and you’re not the least bit concerned.you were just planning to let him report to the police and leave it at that?”

Ye Xingzhou kept his gaze forward without deliberately accelerating the car. “I’m not a police officer, and neither are you.”

“What does he even see in you?”,  Qi Xing said and couldn’t be bothered to say more.

Ye Xingzhou ignored him, and the car turned into a small path at the next intersection. Ten minutes later, it stopped in front of a secluded single-story Western-style building at the end of a quiet tree-lined road. It was Lin Zhinian’s personal studio.

There were three or four cars parked in front of the building, with the gate wide open. As soon as Qi Xing got out of the car, he heard banging sounds and curses coming from inside. He strode in and indeed found a group of people smashing things and splattering paint everywhere. Lin Zhinian was trying to stop them, but to no avail. When Qi Xing entered, Lin Zhinian was being pushed and bumped against the edge of a sharp iron desk. His palm grazed the sharp edge, instantly leaving a deep gash that oozed blood.

With a cold expression, Qi Xing grabbed a chair and forcefully smashed it towards the thugs behind Lin Zhinian.

Ye Xingzhou arrived a step late, and as he entered, he saw Qi Xing wielding a stick and randomly attacking people, while Lin Zhinian desperately protected his destroyed artworks, retreating further and further, looking particularly disheveled.

Ye Xingzhou frowned, took a step forward, and raised his hand to block the iron rod that was coming at him from behind Qi Xing.

Seizing the opportunity, Qi Xing delivered a ruthless kick to one of the thugs who was confronting him, but Ye Xingzhou pulled him back. At that moment, timely police sirens could be heard from outside.

A few minutes later, all the thugs were taken away by the police. Lin Zhinian sat down in a disheveled manner, his palm still dripping blood.

Qi Xing approached him and reminded, “Go to the hospital. Your hand needs stitches.”

Lin Zhinian shook his head and hoarsely said, “I want to tidy up here first.”

“It’s the same if you tidy up later. Treating the wound is more important,” Qi Xing said, looking around the chaotic studio. “Do you have any bandages or something similar? First, bind the wound to stop the bleeding. We’ll go to the hospital now.”

Lin Zhinian shook his head again.

Qi Xing thought for a moment, then turned around and looked at Ye Xingzhou. His gaze paused for a moment, and he walked over.

“Let me borrow your tie for a moment,” he said not waiting for Ye Xingzhou’s consent as he reached out to loosen his tie.

Ye Xingzhou’s expression turned slightly cold, but Qi Xing pretended not to see it. “I’ll help sir Lin stop the bleeding… What’s this? How did you tie your tie like this?”he said as he struggled to undo the tie.

Qi Xing complained while his hands continued to work. He wasn’t a patient person to begin with, so if he couldn’t undo it, he resorted to violent tugging.

Ye Xingzhou was pulled forward by the force, and Qi Xing looked up, meeting his eyes filled with mockery. Finally realizing how strange their current posture was, Qi Xing curled his lips and let go. “You do it yourself, hurry up.”

When Lin Zhinian looked up, he happened to witness that scene. He saw Ye Xingzhou staring at Qi Xing with interest for a few seconds and then calmly undoing his own tie before handing it over.

Lin Zhinian was slightly stunned. It was the first time he had seen Ye Xingzhou looking at someone with such eyes, and earlier, he indeed saw Ye Xingzhou block the sneak attack from behind Qi Xing.

An indescribable sense of strangeness surged within him. Without further thought, Qi Xing had already come back, squatting down with Ye Xingzhou’s tie in hand, and began bandaging the wound on Lin Zhinian’s palm.

Qi Xing’s actions weren’t gentle, but they were sincere. Lin Zhinian softly thanked him.

“No need to thank me, sir Lin. Just  have a meal with me next time,” Qi Xing said casually.

Lin Zhinian forced a smile and replied, “Sure.”

Curious, Qi Xing asked him, “Where did those people come from? What’s the deal with them?”

Lin Zhinian hesitated and said, “…I’m not entirely sure either. After I returned to the country, I rented this house as a studio through an agency. The contract was signed with the agency. They came twice before, claiming that this house belonged to them and that my contract with the agency was invalid. I ignored them, but tonight they came to smash and rob.”

“You were deceived by the agency,” Qi Xing immediately saw through the situation. “sir Lin, you’ve been abroad for over ten years. It’s normal not to understand these complicated matters. Either the agency deceived you, or the agency colluded with the landlord to cheat you out of your rent. Didn’t you seek assistance before renting the house?”

Seeing Lin Zhinian feeling embarrassed, Qi Xing thought of Ye Xingzhou. He shifted his gaze and teasingly said, “and Mr Ye over here can’t even help sir Lin with such a small matter. He could only watch as your studio gets destroyed.”

Ye Xingzhou didn’t answer. His thoughts were still on the scene where Qi Xing helped Lin Zhinian bandage his wound. Although his actions were rough, his concern didn’t seem fake. Someone like Qi Xing, who was usually arrogant and domineering, wouldn’t bother helping others with such things, making it quite rare.

Qi Xing raised an eyebrow and asked, “Am I wrong?”

Ye Xingzhou looked at him with a somewhat ambiguous expression.

“I just didn’t want to trouble Xingzhou,” Lin Zhinian quickly intervened, changing the subject. “Xingzhou, Qi Xing, why did you both come here together?”

He seemed to have finally realized that Ye Xingzhou was different from usual. Ye Xingzhou wasn’t wearing his glasses , and there was a noticeable red mark above his left cheekbone. Apart from blocking the attack on Qi Xing earlier, Ye Xingzhou hadn’t made a move. That mark was already there before he came in.

Moreover, from earlier until now, Ye Xingzhou’s gaze had been fixed on Qi Xing.

This time, Ye Xingzhou spoke first, calmly saying, “i was out for a drive. We happened to run into each other. Let’s go, we should get you to the hospital first.”

Qi Xing, who rarely agreed with him, said, “Yes, we need to quickly go to the hospital to get stitches done.”

Lin Zhinian could only listen to them. When he got up, he looked back at the mess in the room, feeling somewhat defeated. Qi Xing comforted him, “Don’t think about it now. We’ll clean up later.”

Lin Zhinian forced a smile and replied, “Fortunately, the exhibition just ended. Most of the paintings are still at the art gallery.”

Ye Xingzhou had already stepped out ahead.

Inside the emergency room, Lin Zhinian received stitches and a tetanus shot. Ye Xingzhou waited outside while Qi Xing couldn’t stand the smell of the antiseptic and also went outside.

Hearing footsteps, Ye Xingzhou looked up from his phone screen. Qi Xing tossed his bloodstained tie to him, saying, “Here, take it back.”

Ye Xingzhou took it and threw it directly into the nearby trash bin.

Qi Xing clicked his tongue and said, “I’ve realized you really don’t care about sir Lin. Look at your attitude. First, you didn’t want to come. When you did come, you acted like it had nothing to do with you, without even a word of concern. With that attitude, why do you keep Lin Zhinian by your side then? I’ve said it before, you might as well give him to me.”

Ye Xingzhou put away his phone and said casually, “Are we going or not?”

“Are you that busy? If you are, then hurry up and leave. I’ll stay here with Lin Zhinian,” Qi Xing eagerly wanted him to leave. “you must have important matters to attend to, so I won’t delay you.”

Ye Xingzhou asked, “How long do you plan to stay?”

“I know your parents require you to be home before twelve o’clock at night? It’s almost eleven,” Ye Xingzhou reminded him.

“?”

How the fuck do you know?

Ye Xingzhou remained calm and said, “Uncle Qi mentioned it before.”

Qi Ronghua was the type of person who loved to show off his son to others. Regardless of who he was with, he would always talk about Qi Xing, whether there was a reason or not. That’s why everyone outside knew about his famous doting on his son.

Qi Xing felt embarrassed for once, “I’m not leaving. At least wait until Lin Zhinian is discharged.”

“Do you want to pursue him?” Ye Xingzhou suddenly asked.

“You’re only realizing now that I want to pursue him? Are you suffering from senile dementia? I’ve already told you about it countless times, haven’t I?” 

Ye Xingzhou smirked lightly, “You’re not his type.”

Qi Xing frowned, feeling that Ye Xingzhou’s gaze was somewhat malicious, and his tone was particularly unserious.

“What do you mean i’m not his type?”

“You can give it a try,” Ye Xingzhou said, “Just don’t cry if you get rejected.”

Qi Xing choked up, and he suddenly seemed to realize Ye Xingzhou was actually a terrible person who couldn’t care less about Lin Zhinian, unfortunately disguised as a decent person ,completely fooling everyone.

Thinking back to the situation on the mountain earlier, where he was pinned down and unable to move by Ye Xingzhou, Qi Xing’s nerves began to thump again, and he felt the urge to punch him.

But he couldn’t win.

Ye Xingzhou saw through him with a glance. “Don’t waste your efforts.”

Qi Xing suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth, ” stay away from Lin Zhinian and i’ll definitely continue to pursue him.”

Ye Xingzhou’s tone was contemptuous, “Then I’ll wait and see. Oh, by the way, you owe me a tie.”

Qi Xing asked, “…why?”

“You were the one playing a hero and ruined my tie in the process. Shouldn’t you compensate for it?” Ye Xingzhou’s voice was calm, but the act of fussing over a tie was childish in itself.

Qi Xing was speechless.

“What kind of person are you?”