BF Chapter 20

After lingering in the lounge for a few minutes, a waiter knocked on the door, and they went back to the banquet hall in front of the room together.

As the birthday banquet commenced, Xu Shiji was the centre of attention, like a moon surrounded by stars. In a vanity fair like this, the many faces of human nature were revealed.

Xu Shiji was actually very exhausted already; his health had always been poor, and throughout the entire banquet he was merely forcing himself to keep his spirits up. But the Xu family needed this birthday banquet today to tell everyone that although he, Xu Shiji, had lost a son, the family was large and the business was great, that they were still a harmonious family where everything was prospering.

It was already past ten in the evening when the party dispersed. Zhan Shili accompanied Xu Shiji to the estate on the mountaintop, not staying for long. Once Xu Shiji had his body checked and went to sleep, he left.

Walking out of the villa, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning around to look up: in a room on the second floor by the corner, Xu Shen was standing by the window drinking coffee.

The moment their eyes met, Xu Shen smiled and raised the coffee cup in his hand toward him.

From the start of the birthday feast until sending Xu Shiji back, they had no time to talk alone again. At this moment, Zhan Shili suddenly missed the boldness he and Xu Shen had shown that night.

Unfortunately, there aren’t such opportunities all the time.

The phone held in his palm vibrated slightly. Zhan Shili lowered his eyes and saw a message from Xu Shen: [Can’t bear to part with me?]

Zhan Shili replied: [You’re still drinking coffee so late? Drink less if you can’t sleep.]

Xu Shen: [Nic, what am I going to do? I can’t bear to part with you.]

Zhan Shili turned off his phone, suppressing the urge to go in and drag the person down. He took one last look at the person still smiling by the window before leaving without further hesitation.

Xu Shen actually slept quite well that night.

The next day was Saturday, a rare occasion where he didn’t have to work overtime. He only got up after nine, and just as he went downstairs, he heard the sound of arguing coming from the lobby below. The whole family present, and the people engaging in the dispute were Qin Su and Second Sister-in-law Lin Meina, arguing over that pigeon blood ruby necklace.

“This necklace was a gift Ziren gave me for our anniversary last year; even the shape was specially commissioned by him to be designed as the ‘Tears of a Mermaid,’ so it’s one of a kind! I originally wanted to wear it yesterday, but searched everywhere without finding it and was already planning to report it to the police. Ha! Who knew it was actually stolen by you! You even dared to wear it so brazenly to father-in-law’s birthday banquet, do you really not fear me calling the police and making the whole family lose face?!”

Lin Meina was both shrewd and aggressive to begin with; now with the culprit caught red-handed with the goods, she was all the more relentless in pressing her advantage. She did not even place Qin Su, this stepmother younger than herself, in her eyes at the slightest, demanding that Qin Su explain.

Qin Su’s face was also very unsightly, striving on grounds of reason: “What nonsense are you talking about?! This is a necklace I won at a jewelry auction last month. What do I have to steal your things?! Explain yourself!”

“Well, who knows if people from small-time households like yours are just like this, unable to stand seeing others have good things…”

“Stop slandering people!”

Both sides stuck to their own versions of events, and neither was willing to back down.

Xu Shen listened offhandedly to a few lines, not expecting a farce like this to be staged at home first thing in the morning. He was too lazy to participate, heading first over to the wet bar to pour himself a cup of coffee.

After receiving that message from Zhan Shili last night, he had only drunk one sip of that cup of coffee before dumping it all. Now, his coffee craving was acting up again.

The sun was shining rather brightly this morning. Xu Shen, holding his coffee cup, walked out of the sitting room veranda and basked in the sun by the door.

Intermittent sounds of argument still sounded from inside. One claimed the necklace was her own wedding anniversary gift while the other insisted it was an item won at a jewelry auction, both hurling indirect insults and making quite the scene.

Just then, Zhan Shili called. Xu Shen put on his headphones and answered.

“Up yet?” the voice on the phone asked him.

“Just look at the time,” Xu Shen said lazily as he sipped his coffee, “Even if I didn’t get up, there’s no way I could continue to sleep. It’s too noisy at home.”

Zhan Shili asked, “How so?”

Xu Shen smiled, joking: “That necklace you helped my stepmother put on last night is very likely stolen from my Second sister-in-law. If that was really the case, Nic, wouldn’t you have become an accomplice?”

Zhan Shili was driving, his fingers lightly tapping on the steering wheel: “You sound very happy?”

“I’m very happy,” Xu Shen said cheerfully, “How could I not be happy when someone put on a show for me first thing in the morning?”

Inside the lobby, Lin Meina pulled her own husband along to demand an explanation from Qin Su. Xu Ziren maintained his composure, his tone fairly polite: “The necklace was indeed something I specially commissioned someone to design and give to Meina previously; it’s impossible to have two identical ones. Could there be some misunderstanding in this?”

Being interrogated by this husband and wife’s coordinated questions, Qin Su felt embarrassed and pulled along the other woman in the house, eldest Sister-in-law Huang Minli to help her: “You tell them, it was you who accompanied me to the auction back then, isn’t that right?”

After Xu Zijie died, Huang Minli became increasingly lowkey in this home, almost as if she were invisible. Somewhat submissively, she stuttered, “Y-Yes, we went together. Second Brother, Meina, there might indeed be a misunderstanding in this matter, it’s not what you think…”

“Then what is it?!” Lin Meina demanded sharply. “All I know is that my necklace disappeared from the safe and then appeared around her neck. If she didn’t steal it, who did?!”

Xu Shen stayed on the call with Zhan Shili, conducting a live broadcast on the spot: “This eldest sister-in-law of mine really knows how to act! Daring to instigate her cousin to kill her own husband, yet also pretending to be a fragile flower easily bullied at home so that no one puts her in their eyes. She’s a bit scary.”

“Scared as you are, you didn’t choose to expose her,” Zhan Shili said. “Isn’t it just because you want to keep someone like her in the house?”

Xu Shen sighed: “Why are you so smart? You’ve guessed everything I’m thinking. I’m going to find you very scary too and stay far, far away from you.”

Zhan Shili asked, “Would you?”

Xu Shen gave a low chuckle.

Okay, he wouldn’t.

Everything about Zhan Shili only made him more and more excited, unable to stop at all.

“The eldest daughter-in-law and her daughter currently hold the shares that originally belonged to the eldest young master,” Zhan Shili said. “As long as she remains in this house, she will always be a member of the Xu family. Just because others ignore them doesn’t mean they’re useless. She certainly won’t leave for her and her daughter’s future. As for how to use them… you can figure it out yourself, Young Master Shen.”

Xu Shen asked him, “Are you reminding me? Have you yourself never targeted them?”

Of course he had; the disappearance of Huang Minli’s cousin was inextricably linked to Zhan Shili.

Zhan Shili was too lazy to answer this kind of question.

Xu Shen said, “My father has come downstairs too.”

Xu Shiji was so bothered by the noise that he had no choice but to come down. For such a farce to occur in the family was truly humiliating for him.

Qin Su felt deeply wronged: “Shiji, you must stand up for me! You know that I didn’t marry you for these things. You would buy me anything I wanted. How could I possibly steal your things from your daughter-in-law?”

“Everyone, stop speaking so much,” Xu Shiji commanded unhappily as he was helped down to the sofa. “Arguing like this over a necklace, aren’t you afraid of making fools of yourselves once this gets out?”

Xu Ziren felt somewhat embarrassed: “Meina also cares about this necklace; after all, it was a 20th anniversary gift I gave her…”

Lin Meina also felt aggrieved: “Father-in-law, if it were anything else she wanted, I could just forget it, but the significance of this necklace is different. That’s why I was so anxious.”

Xu Shiji said coldly, “If you really want to clear things up, one inquiry at the auction house will tell you, as long as you’re not afraid of losing face.”

Xu Tianlang, who had been cowering to the side without making a sound, suddenly jumped up, not daring to look anyone straight in the eye: “Well, um, I made plans with friends to hang out. I’m leaving first.”

He wanted to slip away, but Xu Ziren instantly blocked him: “Where are you going, running off to play again first thing in the morning? All day you only know how to play, not studying properly. Just look at what you’ve become!”

Xu Ziren was frustrated as well; he didn’t dare speak loudly in front of Xu Shiji, so he vented all his anger onto his own son.

Hearing this, Lin Meina became even more upset, shielding her son and turning her fire towards Xu Ziren: “Why are you scolding our son for no reason? He didn’t provoke you!”

“Of course he provoked you; he’s guilty!” The one speaking this time was Xu ’s fraternal twin sister. She had been leaning on the sofa playing on her phone all this time. “Grandfather said he was going to ask the auction house. He’s afraid that the truth that he stole Mom’s necklace to auction it off would be exposed, so he wants to run away”

A single sentence successfully made everyone’s expressions shift.

“Wow, how fantastic,” Xu Shen let out a light laugh, offering a fair assessment. “This play truly has climax after climax and twists at every turn. Pity you weren’t on set, Nic. You didn’t see it.”

Zhan Shili said, “It’s not surprising if it’s Young Master Tianlang’s doing.”

“True,” Xu Shen expressed agreement. “This wastrel eats, drinks, gambles, sleeps around, and even dares to snort drugs. Stealing is nothing to him.”

The hall was even more chaotic than before. Xu Tianlang nervously confessed that he owed gambling debts and was slapped across the face by Xu Ziren; Lin Meina shielded her son while scolding her daughter and husband; Qin Su gloated and fanned the flames; even Xu Zikang joined in to mediate. As for Huang Minli, she tidied her hair and remained silent, seemingly unperturbed by the incident.

Xu Shen stared at her for a few seconds, affirming once more that this woman was indeed somewhat interesting.

“My father is furious,” Xu Shen observed, looking at Xu Shiji whose face was ashen. “If they keep arguing, I’m genuinely worried he’ll faint again.”

Even so, the smile in his voice didn’t diminish in the slightest.

“Seren,” Zhan Shili asked him, “are you gloating too?”

Xu Shen said: “I already said that I’m just here to watch the show.”

“Is it that fun to watch?”

“It actually is pretty fu—”

Xu Shen stopped mid-sentence. The voice in his headphones was right beside him. He twisted his head to see Zhan Shili hanging up the call, walking toward him: “Is it not over yet?”

Snapping out of his daze, Xu Shen asked with a smile, “Are you here to mediate the fight too?”

Zhan Shili didn’t enter immediately. He stopped under the veranda, blocking out the sunlight in front of Xu Shen. Leaning over, he did the thing he had wanted to do last night; a kiss fell upon Xu Shen’s lips.

Xu Shen froze, stunned. The scorching sunlight above his head blurred the face of Zhan Shili before him. He squinted, vaguely noticing strands of hair floating in the air, dancing in the light, just like his heartbeat—rising and falling, intensifying with each fluctuation.

The sounds of argument inside the door turned into a hazy background noise; their warm lips touched, but only for two or three seconds before separating.

Zhan Shili’s face became clear in his eyes once more: “I came to see you.”

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