BF Chapter 4

“Scared of the dark?” Zhan Shili repeated the two words in a questioning tone full of disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m scared of the dark,” Xu Shen moved closer, as he looked straight into his eyes. “Could you comfort me too?”

Their breaths intertwined, and Xu Shen rested a hand on Zhan Shili’s shoulder, his palm settling there as it gently stroked suggestively.

Zhan Shili also raised his hand, caught hold of his wrist, tightened his grip, and held it firmly. Then, before Xu Shen could react, Zhan Shili wrapped an arm around his waist, lifted him up, and sat him on the kitchen island behind them.

Xu Shen’s body tipped backwards, only to be pulled back around the waist by Zhan Shili. The man, his hands bracing both hands on either side of Xu Shen, bent down and leaned closer, looking him in the eye: “Having fun?”

Zhan Shili’s voice was devoid of emotion, but Xu Shen could feel the heat in their gazes. After a brief silence, he spoke, “You think I’m playing with you?”

“Aren’t you?” Zhan Shili replied. “You know what kind of relationship I have with him and you’re still acting like this?”

“Can’t I?” Xu Shen muttered under his breath. “You’re so gentle with my third brother, I really envy him. I’m also very curious… what exactly do you see in him?”

Zhan Shili’s breath hitched, and he quietly answered, “No comment.”

Xu Shen lowered his eyes and asked no more. Turning his head, he leaned close to Zhan Shili’s neck and took a quiet breath.

From the very first time they met, he had noticed that Zhan Shili carried a very distinctive scent, special and rather pleasant. Perhaps it was cologne, perhaps body wash or shampoo, or perhaps simply the scent of laundry detergent. Beneath the faint fragrance of herbs and woods lingered the warmth of sunshine, unconsciously alluring.

But now, at this moment, that scent was tainted by someone else’s, unpleasant and utterly repulsive.

Xu Shen closed his eyes briefly and pushed him away.

Zhan Shili swayed back a step before barely regaining his balance before meeting Xu Shen’s cold gaze, his own eyes still fixed on him.

Xu Shen had already stepped down from the island and put some distance between them, his attitude and tone returning to normal: “It’s late; Mr. Zhan, you should go back now.”

Zhan Shili looked at him for two seconds, said nothing more, leaving behind only a soft “Good night,” before walking away.

Xu Shen watched him leave, then remained standing there alone for a while longer, gradually being swallowed by the darkness before suddenly, he reached over and switched on a small lamp beside the counter.

His tightly curled fingers slowly relaxed; resting his palm against the cool countertop, he let the faint chill stimulate his nerves. After standing there in a daze for a while, he slipped both hands back into his pockets and turned to head upstairs.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Early the next morning, Xu Shen woke up to a message from Cai Lihao saying that the police had gone to his hotel first thing that morning to investigate. They had not handed over the surveillance footage, and if there were any further developments, he would let him know.

Xu Shen casually replied and headed downstairs for breakfast. Everyone in the family was there, and although it was a Saturday, no one was in the mood to go out.

A large crowd of reporters had gathered outside the villa. Xu Zijie’s death had become the hottest story in the city, and every gossip outlet wanted to be the first to uncover the inside story.

At eleven, Xu Ziren, who was in charge of handling Xu Zijie’s funeral arrangements, hurried back and brought everyone unexpected news: the police had taken their uncle, Zhong Zhihua, back to the police station to assist in the investigation with the reason that he was a major suspect and would be detained for 48 hours.

Zhong Zhihua was the younger brother of Xu Shiji’s first wife and the maternal uncle of Xu Zijie and Xu Ziren. The nephew was dead, and the uncle was the prime suspect? It sounded utterly absurd. The Xu Family exchanged bewildered glances. Xu Shiji’s face was ashen as he asked, “What did he say himself?”

Xu Ziren frowned, “Of course Uncle denied it. He kept insisting he was innocent, saying he had only gone to the hotel to see Eldest Brother last night and had already left before anything happened. But he was the last person to see Eldest Brother alive. The police found signs of a struggle in the room where Eldest Brother fell, and there were bruises on his body. They must have gotten into a fight before the incident.”

The others immediately began talking among themselves, their words inevitably filled with complaints and speculation.

Xu Shen’s gaze settled on Zhan Shili, who had accompanied Xu Ziren back. He watched as Zhan Shili went into the sitting room to answer a phone call. When he came back, he leaned down and whispered a few words into Xu Shiji’s ear, causing Xu Shiji’s expression to darken even further.

Afterward, the two of them went upstairs to the study together, and the others, seeing that there were no more updates, dispersed as well.

Half an hour later, Zhan Shili came back out, preparing to leave. Xu Shen was sitting alone beneath the porch, basking in the sunlight, when he called out, “Mr. Zhan.”

Zhan Shili stopped and corrected, “Nic.”

Resting his chin on one hand, Xu Shen looked at him: “Leaving so soon? Aren’t you going to stay for lunch?”

Zhan Shili said, “I don’t think anyone in your family has much of an appetite.”

“That’s true,” Xu Shen said. “They were all terrified.”

Zhan Shili reminded him, “Young Master Shen, they’re your family after all. It’s not good to keep watching everything like a spectator.”

Xu Shen held his gaze: “I told you, you called me by my name too.”

Zhan Shili nodded, “Seren.”

Xu Shen smiled; even when this person called his name, it sounded better than when anyone else did.

“Are you heading back now?”

“I need to go to the office. There are some things that need to be dealt with,” Zhan Shili explained. “The lawyer called this morning. Your great-uncle refused to follow his advice. Afraid of being charged with murder, he confessed everything under the police’s questioning. He went to see Eldest Young Master last night because the two of them were implicated in an international commercial fraud case. The Commercial Crime Bureau would probably trace it back to them very soon, so he went to discuss how to deal with it. They argued, but he wasn’t the one who killed him. He only punched Eldest Young Master twice. When he left, he was still perfectly fine.”

Xu Shen found this quite intriguing: “Why are you telling me all this?”

“I thought you would be interested.”

“So? You’re going back to the company now because my father instructed you to destroy evidence that might damage the company’s reputation before the police come knocking?”

Zhan Shili replied evenly, “No, it’s just cooperating with the police investigation and making preparations in advance. Zhaoqi is a legitimate business and we’re not afraid of being investigated.”

Xu Shen curved his lips into a smile, “Oh.”

Zhan Shili said nothing more. He walked over to the carport and started the car. Suddenly, the passenger door was pulled open, and Xu Shen stepped in, shutting the door behind him.

Zhan Shili turned his head to look at him, questioning him with his eyes.

“You still need to eat before getting anything done,” Xu Shen said. “I don’t have an appetite here. Let’s go out to eat together.”

Zhan Shili disagreed, saying, “There are a lot of reporters outside. If you go out now, someone may follow you.”

Xu Shen said indifferently, “Whatever. I’m just a nobody illegitimate child who just came home. Following me would only be a waste of their time.”

Zhan Shili nodded and pressed down on the accelerator, backing the car out.

It was Xu Shen’s first time here. As he got out of the car, he casually pulled on a baseball cap, not wanting to attract attention.

It was Saturday, and there were few people in the building to begin with.

Zhan Shili was Xu Shiji’s second assistant, and his office was on the same floor as Xu Shiji’s. As they rode the elevator up, Xu Shen asked, “How come I didn’t see Assistant Liu today? Shouldn’t he be the one handling all this?”

Xu Shen didn’t like that man very much. Relying on the fact that he was Xu Shiji’s favourite, he was overly arrogant, never bothering to hide his disdain for Xu Shen, the illegitimate son. Even before Xu Shen had returned, he had laid down a whole list of rules for him. Of course, Xu Shen hadn’t abided by any of them.

Zhan Shili said calmly, “When it comes to getting tangled up in legal trouble, why would he be willing to handle it personally?”

Xu Shen laughed. “Didn’t you just say that Zhaoqi runs a legitimate business?”

The elevator doors had already opened. Leaving behind only, “Zhaoqi does, but some people don’t,” Zhan Shili stepped out first.

Xu Shen’s brows twitched slightly, and finding this increasingly intriguing, he followed after him.

Zhan Shili had called several people back, and they were all waiting in his office.

As soon as he entered, he quickly delegated the tasks. Every business file, document, and account that Xu Zijie and Zhong Zhihua had handled needed to be sorted out so they could first identify any potential issues before the police came.

Only after sending everyone out to work did Zhan Shili call and order two sandwiches for delivery.

He himself also seized the time to begin going through the files related to several key projects.

Xu Shen sat across from his desk. After lying on the desk and watching Zhan Shili work seriously for a while, he asked, “Is it really possible that my eldest brother was killed by my uncle?”

“I don’t know.” Without looking up, Zhan Shili kept all his attention on the documents in his hands. “Some time ago, under your great-uncle’s encouragement, Eldest Young Master speculated in futures. He lost two billion and couldn’t repay it. Later, your great-uncle introduced him to an international speculator he claimed was a friend, who lent him another billion, taking only several practically worthless properties as collateral. The money was transferred into his personal account. That person was actually a fraudster, involved in multiple commercial fraud cases. He was simply using Eldest Young Master’s account to launder money.”

Xu Shen asked curiously, “Did my father know about this before?”

“He found out some time ago,” Zhan Shili explained simply. “The boss repaid the money on Eldest Young Master’s behalf and removed him from his position in the company, but the police still uncovered the trail. Your great-uncle probably got wind of it and went to discuss it with Eldest Young Master, and then the incident happened.”

Xu Shen nodded in understanding: “No wonder my eldest brother became depressed, failed to accomplish anything, and drank himself senseless every day. So in the end, was he deceived by Uncle, or did the two of them actually know everything from the beginning and willingly help launder the money?”

Only then did Zhan Shili finally look up. “Seren, according to the boss, Eldest Young Master was deceived.”

Xu Shen scoffed, “He’s dead now anyway. Whether he was deceived or did it willingly doesn’t make much difference anymore.”

Zhan Shili reminded him, “Some things are better left not pursued to the very end.”

Xu Shen’s eyes gleamed with amusement: “Nic, now I finally understand why my dad was willing to give you such an important position.”

He handled the things others didn’t want to touch. Whatever the boss said became the truth, and he knowingly played dumb. Who wouldn’t like someone like that?

Zhan Shili remained calm and offered no comment.

Xu Shen suddenly asked, “But what about your ambition? Are you planning to stay by my father’s side as an assistant forever?”

Zhan Shili asked in return, “What are you trying to say?”

“No matter how good an assistant is, in the end he’s still just someone who runs errands and works himself to death for another person,” Xu Shen said unhurriedly. “Nic, what is it that you really want?”

Zhan Shili looked at him without answering.

Xu Shen smiled.

“Last night I asked you what it was about my third brother that caught your eye. You said ‘no comment.’ But actually… I know.”

Something flickered in Zhan Shili’s gaze, though his expression remained composed.

“Each of my three older brothers holds eight percent of Zhaoqi’s shares, but my late grandfather doted especially on my third brother. Probably because he pitied how sickly he was, he gave him an extra three percent.”

Xu Shen climbed onto the desk, leaning forward, his fingers hooking around Zhan Shili’s tie, drawing close to his face and staring intently into his eyes. Lowering his voice, he drawled—

“Nic, a sickly man who’s devoted to you heart and soul, and at the same time one of the company’s major shareholders… keeping someone like that in the palm of your hand as a pawn must be an incredible feeling of accomplishment, wouldn’t you say?”

⋆⋆⋆⋆

t/n: ahh, I kinda feel bad for XZK but hey this is a novel where both leads are villains so we ball…

⋆⋆⋆⋆

♡♡♡ if you like my translations, please consider buying me a kofi~! ♡♡♡