Chapter 10: Love Rival?

Wei Tingxia had just woken up the next morning when he heard System 0188 report: [That three hundred thousand has been deposited into your old bank card.]

“Hm?” Wei Tingxia’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, and his sleepiness vanished in an instant. “That card is still around.”

Before leaving the world, in order to make everything seem more realistic, Wei Tingxia had deliberately withdrawn every cent from every card. Therefore, all his bank cards should have been empty during those five years and automatically canceled long ago.

[Yes, the card is still there,] System 0188 said. [And besides that three hundred thousand, there’s also fifty thousand, which was deposited into your account in installments over time in the past.]

“Are there any in the other cards?”

[Yes.]

This meant that someone had been depositing money into his cards throughout those five years, just to prevent the banks from canceling them. And if Wei Tingxia were blinded by greed and withdrew any of it, his location would be locked.

“Who sent the money?”

System 0188 replied promptly: [I think you know.]

Yan Xinfeng.

This answer did not make Wei Tingxia feel a chill down his spine. Instead, he chuckled and slowly climbed out of bed.

System 0188 could not help asking: [What are you so happy about?]

“It’s obvious,” Wei Tingxia said as he took off his bathrobe and opened Yan Xinfeng’s wardrobe, finding the few sets of clothes he had stuffed in there a few days ago. “He hasn’t let go of me.”

[The meaning of ‘let go’ might be that he’s biding his time to silence you permanently.]

“But I’m still alive right now.”

System 0188 fell silent. Yes, Wei Tingxia was still alive, and he was about to ascend to the throne as emperor on this cruise ship. That said enough.

“Anyway, take that three hundred thousand and invest it for me. I need some money.”

Whether it was that inexplicable brother abroad or Yan Xinfeng, if Wei Tingxia planned to get involved, he needed to have assets of his own.

System investments were a new venture Wei Tingxia had developed during his task career—stable with high returns. System 0188 never failed.

[Understood. Instructions received.]

The mechanical voice sounded, and Wei Tingxia picked out a light green knit sweater. Morning light passed through the porthole into the bedroom, casting fragmented golden glows on his collarbone.

…

“President Yan.” The assistant lightly knocked on the door, his voice perfectly timed to penetrate the soothing jazz music inside.

Yan Xinfeng’s gaze remained fixed on the document in his hand, but he merely lifted a finger slightly. The assistant understood and quickly stepped to his side, maintaining an appropriate distance.

Lu Zhao, sitting across from him, swirled his wine glass. “Should I step out?”

“No need,” Yan Xinfeng said as he closed the folder. The metal cufflinks scraped lightly against the desk as he turned to the assistant, his gaze still calm. “Speak.”

The assistant handed him a tablet computer. The screen displayed a list of tourist check-ins on the passenger ferry, with one entry highlighted in red.

“I checked the passenger check-in lists for the lower three decks from a few days ago and found this person,” the assistant said.

“Wait,” Lu Zhao set down his wine glass. “Why are you investigating this?”

The cruise ship had reached this point in its voyage, and all passengers except them had already disembarked. Even if there were corporate spies, they should have left by now.

Yan Xinfeng countered without looking up: “Didn’t it occur to you how he got to the top deck?”

Before the two men met, Wei Tingxia had been an ordinary new employee on the cruise ship with no access to the top deck. His supervisor had no reason to grant him permission either, so a guest must have brought him up.

Lu Zhao let out an exclamation of surprise, his curiosity piqued beyond endurance. He simply moved to sit beside Yan Xinfeng and peered at the screen together.

“Wang Yufei?”

He read out the highlighted name.

Yan Xinfeng looked at him. “Recognize the name?”

Lu Zhao shook his head.

Having a room on this cruise ship already indicated that Wang Yufei had some assets, but there were plenty of rich people, divided by tiers. Lu Zhao never socialized downward.

“This person’s room on the ship is 1207, right in Mr. Wei’s work area. And according to one of the supervisors on the third deck, Wang Yufei asked his housekeeper about Mr. Wei.”

The word “asked around” was used perfectly.

Lu Zhao glanced sideways and saw no reaction from Yan Xinfeng, who was just staring at the screen, so he asked himself: “What did he find out?”

“Nothing. Neither the housekeeper nor the supervisor told him. Later, I specifically checked the surveillance footage and found that he probably spotted Mr. Wei in the rest area the next morning. They chatted for a bit, and that evening, they went up to the top deck together.”

Oh ho.

Lu Zhao felt like he had heard something he shouldn’t have, but he still could not resist asking: “Could Wei Tingxia put up with that foul temper of his?”

He had not even seen what Wang Yufei looked like yet, but just from hearing about his actions, he knew the guy was an utterly sleazy idiot.

It would be a record if Wei Tingxia tolerated him for two minutes.

The assistant said: “Well, actually, there’s another layer to their connection.”

Lu Zhao raised an eyebrow and saw Yan Xinfeng shift his gaze as well. “What connection?”

“They were classmates in middle school for a year.”

Well now, an old acquaintance.

Lu Zhao truly had not expected things to develop this way.

Beside him, Yan Xinfeng closed the computer, his expression darkening.

He had never seen Wei Tingxia at fifteen or sixteen, but he could imagine it: features not yet fully matured, with an added touch of youthful tenderness, like a plump fruit hanging on a branch bathed in sunlight—immature yet still mouthwatering.

No wonder Wang Yufei had been possessed upon seeing him, asking around everywhere and even bringing him to the top deck just to please him, nearly driving Yan Xinfeng sick with anger.

“What happened after?” Yan Xinfeng asked.

“He got off the ship and left in the early hours of the next morning.”

Yan Xinfeng furrowed his brows. So soon?

The assistant continued: “His original port of call wasn’t there. Something urgent came up, and after negotiating with the ship staff, he left.”

“What urgent matter?”

“His fiancée found out he was frequently hooking up outside,” the assistant reported in a low voice. “The two families have business ties, so Wang Yufei had to deal with it quickly. As for whether he contacted Mr. Wei afterward…”

The assistant trailed off. The answer might be in Wei Tingxia’s phone.

But if Yan Xinfeng actually checked Wei Tingxia’s phone over something like this, he would probably get a resounding slap.

“No need to check.” Yan Xinfeng did not want to invite trouble. He tapped the computer lightly with his fingertip twice. “Dig up every rotten thing he’s ever done. Expose it all.”

Rather than constantly guarding against him harassing Wei Tingxia, better to keep him too busy with his own messes.

“Understood. I’ll handle it right away.”

The assistant left with the notebook. Lu Zhao returned to his seat and downed his wine in one gulp.

“You’re not angry,” he observed.

Yan Xinfeng lifted his eyelids, his tone indifferent: “Why should I be angry?”

He was confident Wei Tingxia would never fall for Wang Yufei.

“Never mind,” Lu Zhao shook his head. “I admire your composure—no rush, no panic.”

“Thanks,” Yan Xinfeng said as he turned his attention back to the documents. “All practiced.”

If Lu Zhao were drunk, he might ask how Yan Xinfeng had practiced it, but he was still sober now, so he would not ask for heartache.

One of the cruise directors entered the room at that moment and informed Lu Zhao that the ship would dock in three hours.

The other protagonist of this pre-wedding party was about to arrive.

At this, Yan Xinfeng stood up without another word. “If you need us gone, we can stay out of sight for the next week.”

“Get lost,” Lu Zhao stood as well, having the server clear the wine glasses from the table. “She’ll probably bring a bunch of friends anyway. We’ll just hang out together.”

Following his lead, Yan Xinfeng thought of the one still sleeping in the suite and let out a soft sigh.

“Lu Zhao,” he said seriously, “sorry for the trouble this time.”

What should have been a joyous pre-wedding party had been stirred up with so much drama because of his tangled mess with Wei Tingxia. Yan Xinfeng felt bad about it.

“No problem. If you’re really torn up, just give me a bigger red envelope.”

Lu Zhao did not take it to heart and waved it off. “Besides, you two together are pretty exciting.”

He watched like it was a show, totally immersed.

Yan Xinfeng chuckled and pondered adding more to the gift list before leaving.

Wei Tingxia was in the suite admiring his spoils of war.

Various luxury watches were lined up on the table, densely packed. When Yan Xinfeng entered, he happened to see Wei Tingxia sorting and placing the watches into categories according to their original owner’s status.

“Are you making yourself a…”

Yan Xinfeng did not know how to describe it. “Trophy catalog?”

Wei Tingxia shook his head. “Just taking a casual look.”

He pushed Lu Zhao’s share toward Yan Xinfeng and looked up, his eyes sparkling with a pleading expression. “Can you return this to him for me?”

“You won them fair and square. Why return them to their owners?”

Lu Zhao had brought four watches on this trip, and now three were in Wei Tingxia’s possession. The remaining Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was locked in the safe, lest he could not resist gambling another round.

Wei Tingxia smiled helplessly. “Who would’ve thought your skills were so poor.”

In just three short days, everyone in the groomsmen group except Yan Xinfeng had taken turns challenging him, refusing to believe it, and all met their downfall at the billiards table. The luxury watches on the table were their tuition fees.

“I never knew you played billiards before.” And played so well.

Wei Tingxia’s fingertip paused, and the corner of his lips curved faintly. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

They had indeed spent time in billiard halls before, but in those dim, private spaces, the green felt table often became mere background for flirting. The cues had barely warmed in their hands before they tumbled into a tangle.

So strictly speaking, this was Yan Xinfeng’s first time realizing Wei Tingxia knew how to play billiards—and played exceptionally well.

A chasm cracked open between memory and reality, like an icy waterfall cascading from a snowy mountaintop. Yan Xinfeng leaned against the arm of the sofa, gazing at the shadow cast by Wei Tingxia’s lowered eyelashes beneath his eyes.

This was not the first time he had realized how little he knew about Wei Tingxia. And the most terrifying part was that each time he became aware of it, the frustration surging in his chest felt exactly the same.

He suddenly let out a low chuckle.

“Yeah,” he nodded with self-mockery, “there’s way too much I don’t know.”