BF Chapter 8

After the seventh day of Xu Zijie’s memorial passed, his incident was gradually forgotten in the Xu Family home.

Afterwards, the family even hosted a birthday banquet for Xu Shiji’s youngest son, Xu Zijian, to celebrate his sixth birthday.

Laughter and conversation echoed through the courtyard from time to time, with young children giggling and playing while adults chatted and laughed happily, the gloom and bad luck that had previously shrouded this home swept away completely.

Xu Shen leaned beneath the porch of the sitting room, nonchalantly sipping his coffee with no inclination to join in such lively festivities, the hand shoved in his pants pocket fidgeting and toying with his gold coin as he watched the various manifestations of human life unfold before him as if watching a shadow puppet play.

That is, until Zhan Shili appeared.

Xu Shen’s gaze shifted over, locking onto the approaching man, making no attempt to hide the blatant interest in his eyes.

“Nic, you’re here.”

Zhan Shili stepped forward: “Drinking coffee here all by yourself? Not going to hang out with the others?”

“It’s not like I’m the main character of this banquet, why bother joining in on the boring drama?” Xu Shen tilted his head. “And you? What are you here for?”

Zhan Shili said, “I have a bit of official business to report to the boss.”

Xu Shen nodded, “Working overtime even on the weekend, pretty harsh.”

Zhan Shili’s gaze lingered on his smiling eyes, inexplicably recalling that selfie he had sent him that night: cunning when he smiled, cold and aloof when he didn’t—it was two extremes, leaving one wondering which side was the true him.

“It’s just making a trip over, it doesn’t take up much time.”

Xu Shen teased, “So, Mr. Zhan doesn’t have a weekend life.”

Zhan Shili offered a casual “hmm,” not minding it.

Seeing that Zhan Shili didn’t seem in a rush to go inside, Xu Shen took a sip of his coffee and chatted with him idly: “Though, this birthday banquet is put together really well. Just look at this stepmother of mine, she really is living it up, she’s the most radiant one on her son’s birthday.”

Zhan Shili glanced over and saw Qin Su was moving about the venue like a social butterfly, busying about greeting and entertaining guests, truly on top of the world and adept in socializing.

“She’s always been like this.”

“Is that so?” Xu Shen asked out of curiosity, “You know her this well too? I heard this stepmother of mine isn’t even thirty-five yet, just how on earth did she hook up with my dad and even manage to get him to marry her into the family?”

Zhan Shili said, “She entered the company right after graduation and used to be the boss’s secretary, taking advantage of that proximity to get an advantage first, marrying in after she got pregnant.”

Xu Shen laughed: “So that’s how it was. What a pity then, Nic, that you aren’t a woman.”

Zhan Shili’s eyes darkened slightly.

Xu Shen continued to sigh with emotion: “Though it doesn’t matter much; it’s the same even if you’re a man. After all, the Third Young Master loves you, and I, Young Master Shen, love you too.”

Zhan Shili asked him, “Is your ‘love’ a word that you just say so casually?”

Xu Shen retorted, “What, you don’t believe it?”

Zhan Shili had no interest in continuing to talk nonsense with him and stepped inside first.

Xu Shen sighed; he really couldn’t take a joke.

As the cup of coffee in his hand was nearing its bottom, Qin Su was frantically looking everywhere for the housekeeper to fetch two more bottles of red wine: “Where did he run off to?”

The housekeeper wasn’t around, and the other servants were all busy too. Xu Zikang, who was originally playing with the children, saw this and said to her: “Old Qi seemed to have been called by Dad to be briefed on some matters and hasn’t come out yet. What kind of wine do you need? I’ll go get it.”

Qin Su voiced a couple of complaints, a little uneasy, “Are you sure you can manage?”

Xu Zikang said, “It’s fine, it’s just two bottles of wine. I can get them.”

Qin Su quickly finished giving instructions, and seeing that another distinguished guest had arrived, she turned around to go about her own business.

Xu Zikang wheeled himself through the entrance from the far end of the main hall, heading straight toward the elevator.

Xu Shen’s eyelids drooped, he set down his empty coffee cup, shoved both hands into his pockets, and strolled over to the stairwell.

The wine cellar was on the second basement level. Xu Zikang was already inside, and the door was left half-open.

Xu Shen stopped in front of the door as he listened to the faint sound of a wheelchair turning inside, reached out his hand, and pulled the door shut expressionlessly.

With a dull thud, the door to the underground wine cellar was completely closed.

Xu Shen stood outside the door without leaving immediately. A moment later, Xu Zikang seemed to have realized what happened, wheeling over to the door and pounding on it forcefully: “Is anyone outside? Open the door!”

Xu Shen listened icily to his anxious and panicked shouts without uttering a word, turning around to leave.

He went upstairs and returned to the sitting room to refill his coffee.

After Qin Su had finished greeting the guests, she asked about the wine again. A servant went to the kitchen and brought over the wine that had already been prepared there that afternoon, so nobody remembered Xu Zikang, who had volunteered to fetch some wine.

The dusk fell like a blanket, and the lights lit up one by one in the courtyard.

Xu Shen squinted, his mood extraordinarily pleasant.

Zhan Shili stayed in the study for over half an hour, coming out together with Xu Shiji.

Xu Shiji merely exchanged a few pleasantries with several distinguished guests before going upstairs back to his room to rest.

Qin Su invited Zhan Shili with a smile to stay and participate in the birthday banquet.

The woman’s eyes sparkled with affection, gaze like a flowing wave, tone exceptionally warm particularly when speaking with Zhan Shili.

Xu Shen’s gaze went back-and-forth between them, lost in thought.

When Qin Su went back to socializing with the others, he raised an eyebrow slightly and asked Zhan Shili: “Are you involved with my stepmother too?”

“You’re overthinking it,” Zhan Shili shook his head slightly, “I’m not close with her.”

Xu Shen let out a soft laugh: “And here I thought you were that bold.”

Zhan Shili asked him, “Stop drinking coffee non-stop, do you want something to eat? I’ll go get it.”

Xu Shen accepted graciously, “Then I thank you for the trouble.”

Zhan Shili went over to the food station to fetch some food, and they sat down at the outdoor table and chairs by the porch to eat, finding a bit of peace and quiet.

While dining, they idly chatted about whatever came to mind to pass the time.

It wasn’t until the birthday banquet was nearly over and Xu Zijian insisted on making a fuss about showing his friends the painting Xu Zikang had promised to paint him did Qin Su finally remember that Xu Zikang had not been seen once after having had promised to get her the wine.

“What’s wrong with this Third Young Master? Saying he went to get wine and actually disappearing into thin air, really unreliable.”

Hearing this, Zhan Shili subconsciously glanced at Xu Shen, who was leisurely eating dessert. Unable to unearth even a slightest trace of abnormality on his face, he asked: “Do you know where the Third Young Master went?”

Xu Shen turned his head and looked at him inquiringly: “How would I know where Third Brother went?”

Zhan Shili stared into his eyes: “You truly don’t know?”

Not a trace of a guilty conscience could be seen in Xu Shen’s eyes, half-smiling, “Nic, are you trying to interrogate me? You’re blaming me for Third Brother’s disappearance?”

He was always like this, partly-real and partly-fake, easily making it impossible for people to see through him.

Zhan Shili didn’t ask further and stood up to go inside.

Xu Shen couldn’t care less, continuing to enjoy his dessert unhurriedly.

Ten minutes later, Zhan Shili pushed Xu Zikang up; Xu Zikang was draped in Zhan Shili’s suit jacket, sitting in the wheelchair shivering uncontrollably from the cold, looking frail and pitiable.

Qin Su came up to meet them, asking in astonishment: “What happened? How did you end up like this?”

Before Xu Zikang could open his mouth, Zhan Shili spoke: “He went to the wine cellar to get wine, the door swung shut, and locked him inside. It was likely that the wind blew the door shut, as the windows on the floor above the wine cellar weren’t closed, letting in the wind.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Su immediately turned around to scold the careless servants. The housekeeper also hurried to call the family doctor.

Xu Zikang pulled Zhan Shili’s suit jacket tight around himself, still shaking—he had stayed in the underground wine cellar at less than ten degrees for nearly two hours. Being poor in health to begin with, he had almost passed out just now and couldn’t squeeze a single word out at this moment.

Zhan Shili lowered his head and said: “I’ll take you upstairs back to your room.”

Xu Zikang gave a slight nod.

Xu Shen watched the silhouettes of their backs entering the elevator, put down his cutlery, pulled out a napkin, and slowly wiped his mouth.

Having entered the room, Zhan Shili helped Xu Zikang onto the bed, letting him sit leaning against the headboard.

“Rest for a while, the doctor will be here soon.”

Xu Zikang tugged at his hand, having recovered some energy and saying with some hesitation: “When I went down, the windows on the floor above seemed to be closed. There couldn’t possibly be wind. Someone must have closed the door from the outside.”

“You’re mistaken,” Zhan Shili said firmly, “The windows were indeed open; you saw it when you came out as well. No one else went down, so don’t overthink it.”

“But—”

“You don’t believe me?” Zhan Shili looked straight into his eyes, in a tone that allowed no room for doubt, “I wouldn’t lie to you. Being overly paranoid isn’t good for your health. Don’t think about these things anymore, be good.”

Xu Zikang yielded to the look in Zhan Shili’s eyes. In front of Zhan Shili, he had always been the one easily tamed. Being stared at by Zhan Shili like this, he also began to doubt if he had remembered it wrong—that should be the case, no?

In the end, he gave up agonizing over the matter, “Thank you, Nic. Luckily, you were there.”

Zhan Shili tucked him into the blanket, “Mhm.”

After, when the doctor arrived and performed an examination on Xu Zikang and confirmed that he had no major issues, Zhan Shili finally left.

The night had grown deep, the birthday banquet had long since ended, and the lights in the downstairs main hall were off.

Zhan Shili walked down the stairs, when at the corner a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him, shoving him against the wall.

Xu Shen’s breath drew close, “Done comforting my Third Brother? How is he?”

“Nothing serious,” Zhan Shili said, “Just a bit frightened.”

Xu Shen let out a light “tch”: “So delicate.”

“You’re gloating?” Zhan Shili clearly saw the malice in his eyes in the darkness. “What exactly did you do?”

“Haven’t you guessed it already,” Xu Shen finally admitted. “Yep, I was the one who locked him inside. It’s truly a pity you found him so quickly.”

Zhan Shili didn’t miss the spite laced in his words: “Why do that?”

“It’s fun,” Xu Shen said, “I think I told you before that I had a grudge against him, and this is nothing. I haven’t had enough fun yet.”

Zhan Shili looked at him quietly without finding out how exactly Xu Zikang had offended him nor questioned anything else.

“Were you satisfied?”

“Kind of,” Xu Shen said, “I was originally very satisfied, but you just had to go bring him up yourself, but whatever. Nic, you opened the window outside the wine cellar, right? Why lie?”

Zhan Shili asked him, “You really want people to know what you’ve done?”

Delight surged in Xu Shen’s eyes: “So you were helping me? Then thank you.”

“There’s no need for thanks,” Zhan Shili said, raising his hand to gently pat his face twice, “Playing around is fine, just don’t overdo it.”

Xu Shen smiled even more merrily, “That’ll depend on my mood.”

Zhan Shili left after leaving behind a final warning: “Behave yourself.”

Xu Shen stood in place and watched his back recede into the distance, closed his eyes and lightly breathed in the remaining scent lingering in the air before slowly turning around to head upstairs.

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