BF Chapter 12

At night, Zhan Shili drove to the Xu Family estate; before entering the gates, he subconsciously glanced outside the window.

The two times he had brought Xu Shen back, he had parked his car right here. The first time Xu Shen had smiled, he had brushed his own lips and told him “see you next time.” The second time, after uttering that “nope,” they had returned in complete silence the entire way, and after getting out of the car Xu Shen had walked away without looking back once.

Tonight, however, that person wasn’t here.

After parking the car, Zhan Shili sat quietly in the vehicle for a moment longer, regained his composure, picked up the document bag, and pushed the door open to get out.

Having delivered the documents Xu Shiji wanted, he didn’t leave immediately; returning to his car, he retrieved that birthday gift from the armrest compartment and sent Xu Zikang a message.

Xu Zikang was waiting for him in the back garden. Zhan Shili got out of the car and walked over, directly presenting the item: “Happy birthday.”

Xu Zikang silently accepted it and opened the watch box, revealing a wrist watch of considerable value—a birthday gift Zhan Shili had specifically bought for him.

Seeing him lower his head without speaking, Zhan Shili asked, “Not happy?”

Xu Zikang closed the watch box, looked at him, and asked hesitantly, “Nic, have you been very busy with work lately? Is there a lot going on at the company?”

Today was his birthday, and he had originally wanted to invite Zhan Shili out to have dinner together, but Zhan Shili had said he needed to work overtime, and coming over tonight to deliver the gift was only in passing.

Zhan Shili explained in a quiet tone: “Something happened to the eldest young master and the boss is in poor health, so my workload has increased a lot compared to before.”

Hearing him say this, Xu Zikang felt a pang of guilt rise in his heart again: “Sorry, I didn’t know…”

Zhan Shili bent down, pressing his hands onto the wheelchair armrests, and looked straight into his eyes: “What are you worried about?”

Xu Zikang’s fingers curled tightly. In front of Zhan Shili, he was always subconsciously nervous, not even daring to look him straight in the eyes: “So many things have happened at home recently, I’m really a bit anxious, and you’re always so busy I don’t even have a chance to talk to you—”

“When things happen in your family, you need to stand strong all the more,” Zhan Shili interrupted him, saying in a deep voice, “You are the Xu Family’s Third Young Master; what others can do, you can do too, don’t let people look down on you.”

Xu Zikang asked uncertainly, “What can I do? With my condition, my father gave up on me long ago, and ever since grandfather passed away I’ve been invisible in this house, nobody takes me seriously.”

“You still have me,” Zhan Shili said, “I will help you; don’t you trust me?”

Under his intense gaze, Xu Zikang felt his mind grow even more chaotic: “No, of course I trust you…”

“That’s good then,” Zhan Shili said in a warm voice, “You only need to know that I am helping you; it doesn’t matter if your dad doesn’t care about you or if nobody in the family cares about you. As long as I’m standing on your side, that’s enough.”

“But—”

“No buts,” Zhan Shili said, seemingly gentle but actually relentlessly pressing him step by step. “You need to think clearly about who is the person truly considering things for your sake; in your dad’s eyes there have only ever been your two older brothers, and now that he has acknowledged an illegitimate son, he cannot be relied upon, so you have to begin thinking for yourself.”

Instinctively, Xu Zikang felt that something seemed off, but Zhan Shili’s gaze staring fixedly at him in the moment was far too forceful, leaving him with no choice but to comply.

“Nic, will you really always stand by my side?”

Zhan Shili’s voice grew even softer and gentler, “Of course.”

Xu Zikang let out a quiet sigh of relief, raising his hands to slowly wrap them around Zhan Shili’s neck, leaning over.

Zhan Shili let him.

Face to face, Xu Zikang still felt uneasy; in truth, he and Zhan Shili had never had overly intimate contact before—Zhan Shili didn’t take the initiative, and he didn’t know how to take the initiative either.

Xu Zikang tilted his head slightly to draw close to Zhan Shili’s lips, attempting to kiss him.

However, in the very next second, Zhan Shili turned his face away, subtly stepping back.

Before Xu Zikang could express his disappointment, Zhan Shili raised his hand to rub his hair, a gesture carrying a comforting touch that gradually called Xu Zikang down.

“Go back and rest.”

Zhan Shili didn’t linger here for long, heading back to the parking shed to retrieve his car, where he ran into Liu Bingzhong.

This Assistant Liu had just finished attending a business engagement outside with Xu Ziren, specifically driving Xu Ziren back and paying a visit to Xu Shiji, and was planning to leave at this moment as well.

Seeing Zhan Shili, he walked over unceremoniously and slapped Zhan Shili on the shoulder: “Perfect timing! Since you’re here kid, I can save the trouble of bothering a driver; I drank while out on business engagements with Second Young Master tonight, drive me back.”

Without waiting for Zhan Shili to agree, Liu Bingzhong had already staggered over to the passenger seat, pulled open the car door, and sat inside.

Zhan Shili lowered his eyes to conceal the coldness at the bottom of his gaze, then got into the car.

As the car drove out of the Xu Family mansion, Liu Bingzhong tugged his tie loose, leaned back into the seat, and let out a comfortable sigh: “You’re still the one living comfortably, kid; following that Young Master Shen, you only need to go to work and get off work on time every day. Far less things to worry about.”

Zhan Shili drove in silence, ignoring him.

Sputtering alcohol-laden breath, Liu Bingzhong continued: “Though you certainly can’t bear to be sidelined. You come here to see the boss every few days, as if you’re afraid the boss will forget you exist.”

“Kid, you really don’t know the rules—do you know what it means not to do things that aren’t yours to do? To not steal the spotlight when it’s not yours to steal? You think you’re so capable huh, don’t you know what others say behind your back?”

“Every time the boss went to see his old friends in the past he always brought me along, what are you competing with me for? You think you’re the only one who knows how to play golf? On the surface people say you’re good, but turning around they all curse you for taking yourself too seriously, laughing at you for not knowing your place.”

“Ultimately, you’re still too young; I know, you young people are all like this. You love to strive for the top, but you also need to know how to gauge your own worth. Be careful, the higher you climb, the harder you fall.”

“…”

The car drove all the way to Central, with Liu Bingzhong rambling endlessly the entire way there, picking apart Zhan Shili’s faults, venting his dissatisfaction with him under the guise of being drunk.

As fellow assistants to Xu Shiji, Liu Bingzhong prided himself on having followed Xu Shiji for over ten years, being Xu Shiji’s number one confidant; why should Zhan Shili, a latecomer, not only gain more and more of Xu Shiji’s high regard, but even have that entire family of wives, young masters, and young ladies like him?

Zhan Shili didn’t say a single word nor retaliate, letting him spew nonsensical filth to his heart’s content.

The more he acted like this, the more displeased Liu Bingzhong felt, muttering curses and swearing foully.

“Who do you think you are? You think I don’t know what you’re thinking? Flattering, bootlicking, currying favour—those were all the tricks left over from me, back when I used to play; who would really respect you? After all, nobody likes a dog that shows-off too much—”

Before Liu Bingzhong could finish speaking, Zhan Shili suddenly slammed his foot hard onto the brakes, bringing the car to a stop.

Inertia had Liu Bingzhong’s body plunging forward, only to be jerked back violently by the seatbelt; panting heavily, he demanded sharply, “What the hell are you doing?!”

Expressionless, Zhan Shili shifted into park, pushed the door open, and stepped out of the car.

Having drunk too much, Liu Bingzhong’s reaction speed was slow by more than just a beat; by the time he snapped back to reality, Zhan Shili had already walked over to the passenger seat side, pulled open the car door, bent down to reach his hand inside the car, grabbed his collar, unfastened the seatbelt, and dragged him out of the car forcefully.

“What do you want to do! Let go of me!”

Liu Bingzhong struggled in a violent rage, but be it height, build, or physical strength, he was all a tier below Zhan Shili; coupled with being drunk and limp all over, he was completely no match for Zhan Shili.

Zhan Shili dragged him directly into the adjacent alley, pinned him back-first against the wall, grabbed his hair, and slammed his head violently against the wall twice.

Liu Bingzhong let out a pained wail, blood immediately seeping from his forehead.

“You crazy kid! I’m going to call the police!”

Zhan Shili remained unmoved, pinning him and continuously slamming him against the wall until Liu Bingzhong’s cursing gradually weakened and he began to beg for mercy.

“Let me go…”

Zhan Shili’s face was icy cold; he had always disliked such violent methods of resolution, but what was done was done.

Xu Shen’s words from that day—”simple and direct”—still rang fresh in his ears. Indeed, there was nothing bad about it.

Zhan Shili finally released his hold, and Liu Bingzhong slid down onto the ground in a wretched state; Zhan Shili looked down at him coldly for a moment, then quickly took out his phone and sent a photo.

Liu Bingzhong picked up his phone that had fallen to the ground, and upon seeing clearly the photo he had just received, the look of resentment in his eyes shifted to panic.

It was a candid photo of him embracing a wealthy socialite wife as they entered a hotel together. This woman’s husband was a figure he wouldn’t dare mess with even if he had nine lives.

“What… what do you mean by this…” Liu Bingzhong’s momentum completely collapsed, face still covered in blood.

“Mind your own business and I’ll mind mine,” Zhan Shili said in a chilly voice, “In the future, as long as you don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you. Get lost.”

Liu Bingzhong wanted him to delete the photo, but meeting Zhan Shili’s inky, dark eyes, he no longer dared to speak the words at the tip of his tongue. Swallowing his saliva, he scrambled up and walked briskly away out the other side of the alley.

Zhan Shili turned around and saw Xu Shen standing at the entrance of the alley in the lit area, looking at him with a complex expression in his eyes. He didn’t know how long he had been watching him from there.

He walked over step by step, stopping in front of Xu Shen.

Xu Shen lowered his eyes to look at the back of his hand, where there were scrapes in addition to bloodstains, a result from grazing the wall earlier when Liu Bingzhong had struggled.

“Your hand is injured.”

“Why are you here?”

Both spoke at the same time and both stopped at the same time.

After a moment of silence, Xu Shen spoke first, “Drinking with friends, heard the commotion over here when coming out, and came to check it out.”

Zhan Shili glanced around and realized that this was behind the hotel where Xu Zijie had fallen to his death; that time, Xu Shen had also said that he was drinking with friends at a bar here.

“What friends? That godbrother you mentioned that day?”

“I’m not telling you.” Xu Shen shook his head slightly.

Zhan Shili raised his hand and pinched his face, his fingers tightening: “Tell the truth.”

“You’re so fierce,” Xu Shen laughed as he complained, “You’re like this when you’re teaching others a lesson, and you’re like this to me too.”

After a moment of awkward silence, Zhan Shili released his grip, and Xu Shen leaned close to sniff him: “You have someone else’s scent on you again, did you just go see my Third Brother? Oh, I remember now. Today is his birthday, you must have coaxed him happy again, haven’t you?”

Zhan Shili turned his head slightly, meeting his eyes: “Do you care about this very much?”

“Yeah, I care very much,” Xu Shen said in a low voice, “Nic, can you coax me a bit too?”

Zhan Shili stared at him: Xu Shen was always like this, clearly capable enough of murdering someone, yet repeatedly acting weak in front of him on purpose, pretending to be aggrieved and pitiful, enjoying his reactions.

“I need to think about it, you aren’t as easy to coax as he is,” Zhan Shili raised his hand and lightly tapped Xu Shen’s face again, “Lest you say again that I’m using the same set of tricks I use on him to deliberately disgust you.”

Having finished speaking, he stepped toward the car, gesturing to Xu Shen with a glance back: “Get in, I’ll send you back.”

Xu Shen casually called a taxi: “No need, wait until you’ve thought of how to coax me before we talk.”

Zhan Shili watched helplessly as he got into the cab right in front of him and drove off without a care.

Inside the car, Xu Shen stared at that receding figure in the rearview mirror until it vanished.

He fished out that piece of candy he had gotten the night before last but hadn’t eaten, unwrapped it, popped it into his mouth, and slowly licked—

Take it slow… A toy he’d gotten addicted to, how could he possibly give it up so easily?

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t/n: he’ll be more than just a toy to you later Ah Shen!!!

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