The old estate was ablaze, filled with the crackle and pop of burning wood.
Bo Chengyan had waited a good while in the sanatorium’s lounge before his phone finally rang with the name “Little Jing” on the screen.
“Hello.”
The voice on the other end was soft, still rather delicate.
They said it was like a lark’s song, though it wasn’t quite that exaggerated.
Bo Chengyan simply felt that Qi Jing’s voice change had come and gone quickly. When he’d first arrived at Brocade River Villas, the boy had still sounded like a child, with a crisp tone.
It wasn’t until high school that his voice gradually brightened into something clear, losing that coquettish lilt at the end.
“You gonna say something?”
The boy on the other end held his phone as he asked the question, accepting a fruit platter from a servant with a polite “thank you.”
“Have you eaten lunch?”
“Not yet.”
Bo Chengyan rose and walked to the window, his expression steady as he gazed at the fountain in the courtyard. He chatted casually with the person on the line.
“Hmm… I slept in pretty late this morning, so I’m not that hungry. This house is so huge.”
“I don’t think I need all these servants taking care of me… When are you coming back?”
Sharing such thoughts came naturally.
More often than not, people reached a certain point in life where they suddenly yearned to retreat to the mountains, brew some tea now and then, tend a little garden, and watch the rain from under the eaves.
It was an aesthetic woven into their cultural bloodline.
Bo Chengyan had never believed in fate before. But then he’d met that certain someone, and he’d realized perhaps it was real after all.
Great wealth held no appeal.
After death, it all vanished like smoke.
“When do you want me to come back?”
Qi Jing paused at the question, lifting his phone to check the screen. It was definitely him.
This felt weird.
Was this the kind of sweet talk people posted online?
“Hmm… three in the afternoon?”
Bo Chengyan’s brow furrowed slightly. He wasn’t displeased, exactly. He just sometimes felt Qi Jing had been raised a bit too obediently.
“Alright.”
He set aside any plans to head back immediately.
He wasn’t that irrational yet. After hanging up, there came a light knock at the door.
It was the attending physician.
Bo Chengyan got a brief update, his face remaining utterly calm. There was no trace of grief over his own father’s impending death.
He merely asked politely, “Is it cleaned up?”
The young doctor blinked in surprise before replying, “Ah… yes, everything’s been handled over there.”
There was a distinct odor to entering old age. From a medical standpoint, it came from declining metabolism causing the skin to secrete 2-nonenal.
It was hard to stomach.
But it didn’t affect everyone. As the saying went, a person’s true nature only showed in their later years. Cleanliness was the bare minimum of dignity.
Bo Zhonglin had been promiscuous in his youth, and that hadn’t changed in middle age—growing even worse with time.
The smell was pungent.
And as the years wore on, his temper had turned erratic and spoiled. If he could still mask it somewhat in his younger days, now he was rotten through and through.
“Thanks for the trouble,” Bo Chengyan said evenly.
The machines beeped intermittently, clinging to what little life remained.
Bo Zhonglin’s voice rasped like a broken bellows, his throat sounding clogged. His trembling hand twitched.
As if he wanted to grasp his eldest son’s.
“Ah… Ah Yan…”
It was strange how everyone seemed to turn like this in old age.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be that saying about how those nearing death often grew benevolent.
Bo Chengyan’s features took after his mother, which was why he was so strikingly handsome. If there was any resemblance to the man before him, it was in those indifferent eyes.
“Father.”
Life and death were wondrous things. People came and went in cycles, and a lifetime passed in the blink of an eye.
Tears suddenly welled in Bo Zhonglin’s eyes, as if he were deeply moved.
It was the picture of fatherly affection and filial piety.
Bo Chengyan never bent down. He watched his father’s state calmly. That finger still trembled.
But it couldn’t reach his son’s hand.
He tried three times.
Failing each one.
“And your mistresses… why haven’t they come to see you?”
Bo Chengyan asked in his usual refined manner, glancing at his wristwatch. He figured they had a few more minutes to talk.
At those words, the man in bed seemed utterly provoked. The monitors beeped wildly, his face flushing red.
His lips moved soundlessly, clearly cursing.
“Hm.”
In the end, there wasn’t much left to say.
Bo Chengyan had only come to watch him die. His expression gradually cooled as he eyed the monitor readings.
They flattened, bit by bit.
He was gone.
The whole thing hadn’t taken fifteen minutes.
The man had become a corpse.
~~~
Qi Jing stuffed himself with delicious food in the first-floor dining room. The chef here even made roast goose with a savory sauce—absolutely delectable.
996 sniffed around for quite a while.
But just as the boy prepared to head upstairs, the doorbell chimed.
A servant hurried to check.
Qi Jing instinctively thought it was Bo Chengyan, but then he remembered it wasn’t three yet.
Had he come back early?
Still in his pajamas, the boy walked forward.
The door opened to reveal a somewhat unfamiliar face.
The servant subtly blocked the visitor, murmuring something under her breath before glancing back at Qi Jing.
A signal to head upstairs.
Qi Jing turned on his heel right away. He didn’t know the guy—no need to get involved.
But at that moment, the man at the door bellowed, “Hey, you in there? You really think you’re the lady of the house?”
“No mom or dad, huh? Gotta crash at the Bo Family and mooch off us?”
“Too chickenshit to even show your face.”
Qi Jing glanced back, his face cold. Nearly all the villa’s servants had gathered.
They crowded around the entrance.
Several burly ones stood out.
Bodyguards.
996 hovered in midair, scanning the data before stating flatly:
【This is the son from the Bo Family’s Second House, Bo Shangyu.】
【He doesn’t look too bright.】
Qi Jing stepped forward to the foyer, watching the scene calmly from behind the line.
“Let me go! This is my house—I’m a Bo! He’s the outsider, got it?”
But none of the servants responded.
They held him fast.
One servant hesitated, glancing back and whispering to Qi Jing, “Little Jing, should we chase him off, or say something?”
After all, someone from the main family had shown up.
No one knew what he wanted.
Bo Shangyu’s eyes bulged wide. Had the world flipped upside down? He tried yanking his arm free, but it wouldn’t budge.
He couldn’t get in, and he couldn’t leave.
“Thank you,” Qi Jing said. He met their eyes calmly. “I’m not anyone’s wife. If you can’t tell my gender, that’s a problem with your eyesight.”
“Get it treated.”
“Besides, whether I have parents or not is none of your business. Though from the look of you, I’d say you weren’t raised by any.”
“You—”
Bo Shangyu sputtered in fury, then seemed to realize it sounded like some cannon fodder’s line. He shot Qi Jing a vicious glare.
So childish.
He started to pull away, only for the sound of a car engine to rumble from behind.
The boy’s face changed in an instant, panic flashing across it. He struggled harder, but the “servant” gripping him didn’t let go.
“Fuck, bodyguards in your own house? That necessary?”
Bo Chengyan stepped out of the car, frowning over at them. Dressed in a sharp suit, his expression was icily stern.
The accompanying butler saw trouble and hurried to explain. “Probably slipped through from the backyard. He’s just a high school kid—might’ve lost his head a bit.”
Bo Chengyan approached without a flicker of emotion, staring down at the boy. “Which house?”
His tone was utterly flat.
As if addressing some stray urchin.
The boy didn’t dare look up, cold sweat beading on his skin. Truth be told, he knew next to nothing about this “older brother.”
The man rarely returned to Macau.
Rumor had it the whole family kept their “pets” locked up tight…
“Second House,” the butler supplied.
“Name.”
“His mother’s Chen Xiuwen. This kid… let me see.” The butler bent slightly, gesturing for the boy to raise his head. His own face stayed cool.
After a moment.
“Shangyu.”
The air grew heavier by the second.
It felt like being under scrutiny, but after a pause, Bo Chengyan merely said, “Is his mother still in the backyard?”
“…Yes. The old estate’s big, and there are empty villas.”
The man seemed to consider it.
“Get him out.”
Things moved quickly after that. The servants released their hold, and Bo Shangyu stood there stunned for a moment, instinctively glancing toward that “older brother.”
But the man had already strode inside, the butler bowing slightly to block the view.
No one paid him any mind anymore.
~~~
Qi Jing fell silent after that. When Bo Chengyan entered, he didn’t offer a friendly look—just backed up a few steps.
Putting some distance between them.
One step forward from the man, one step back from the boy.
He looked thoroughly unapproachable.
Bo Chengyan handed his coat to a servant and murmured a few questions. When he looked up again, Qi Jing had reached the stairs.
Their eyes met briefly.
Qi Jing turned and walked away.
“It was just now. No one bothered him this morning.”
“He had some lunch…”
“But he hasn’t napped yet.”
The servant dutifully recounted the events of the morning, including those unreasonable words. Then, as if remembering something, he earnestly repeated the response from the person back home.
Bo Chengyan’s brows lifted slightly, a trace of relief crossing his features.
“You’ve worked hard.”
The servant bowed his head a little and took the wristwatch and coat from his master.
~~~
Qi Jing hadn’t expected to run into such a melodramatic cliché. What the hell was this?
996 perched on the young man’s shoulder, its beady eyes blinking away. 【This kind of plot is super common. Some rando shows up out of nowhere, runs their mouth with sarcasm, then bails just as quick.】
【Classic tool character.】
The young man tilted his head. 【So what comes after this kind of trope?】
【It’s usually a misunderstanding. The couple’s all lovey-dovey, then this mess shows up and tanks their vibe all over again.】
Qi Jing listened, utterly stunned.
【Perfect for padding the word count.】
996 delivered its analysis with the savvy of a seasoned veteran, but right then, the door swung open.
The Blue Slime beat a hasty retreat.
Thanks to the Soul-Soothing Jewelry Set, Qi Jing had actually headed to his original room rather than the master bedroom. The desk from his last study session was still there.
“Little Jing.”
Bo Chengyan’s voice was a deep rumble, laced with unmistakable pressure.
But the young man stayed right where he was in the chair, propping himself up on one arm to look over.
His eyes were clear and innocent.
He demanded:
“You changed your clothes.”
“Why?”
