“I’m trying my best not to hit you,” Li Jin Yu leaned back in his chair, looking down at the lemon water in front of him, lazily tracing the glass as he spoke.

Few people knew about his history in America because he never bothered to mention it. Everyone just assumed he was a good boy. So Gou Kai expressed his doubt, snorting disdainfully: “You’ve never been in a fight your whole life, have you? Do you even know how to hit someone?”

Li Jin Yu looked up at him without speaking. A server happened to come by with coffee. The two men silently stared at each other, and Gou Kai inexplicably felt a chill. For some reason, he felt that Li Jin Yu had been different lately. Before, his gaze was never so direct. Whether looking at women or men, there was always an air of lingering boyishness about him—pure yet restrained. Now, the restraint was gone, and so was the purity. He was straightforward in a way that didn’t seem like a younger brother. Gou Kai suddenly recalled what Tai Ming Xiao had said a few days ago—that Li Jin Yu might have been bedded by Ye Meng. Why phrase it that way? Because they felt Li Jin Yu was the one who got the short end of the stick.

After the server left, the scattered conversations around them hardly affected them. Because of Li Jin Yu, the girls at the nearby tables kept staring in their direction, occasionally lowering their heads shyly to whisper to each other, their faces flushed with infatuation—a bunch of fangirls. Gou Kai found it extremely annoying. He’d always known how much this kid attracted women. Back then, he didn’t have the masculine aura he had now. After sleeping with a woman, he was even more damn attractive.

Just as Gou Kai was thinking about this, his phone dinged.

It was a WeChat message from Tai Ming Xiao, accompanied by a super-mega-giant crying laughing emoji— [Old Tai: Doggy, listen, don’t ask why, just now, immediately, get on your knees and apologize to Li Jin Yu first.]

Gou Kai cursed him as a psycho, locked his phone, and ignored it. But Tai Ming Xiao kept sending messages. [Old Tai: Doggy, listen to me, this sounds mystical, but I swear on my two titanium alloy dog eyes, it’s one million percent true.]

Psycho! He locked his phone again and continued to ignore it. Looking at Li Jin Yu, he was about to speak when more dings brought in more messages. He impatiently looked down. [Old Tai: I just heard from Li Chen about Li Jin Yu fighting with Black people in America, and I was so shocked my glasses nearly fell off—] [Gou Kai: Keep exaggerating, go on.]

Almost simultaneously, another message came through. [Old Tai: Do you know where the pretty boy has been all these years?]

This question reminded Gou Kai, so he seized the opportunity to curiously ask the “pretty boy” sitting across from him, “By the way, where have you been these past few years? How come you never mentioned it?”

Li Jin Yu was looking out the window and abruptly replied, “Ning Sui.”

“Oh, Ning Sui.”

Gou Kai maintained a blank expression, bringing his phone to his mouth to send a voice message to Tai Ming Xiao, absent-mindedly saying: “He says he’s been in Ning—”

His voice cut off suddenly. The entire e-sports hall seemed to go silent for a moment. He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion caused by his blank mind, but a moment later, the wind continued to blow outside, and inside the hall, the girls resumed their casual chatting, still occasionally glancing in their direction. Like five hundred sparrows on spring branches, they chirped away. However, Gou Kai felt as if he were inside a large drum, with all the noise and clamor transformed into a buzzing sound that he couldn’t quite make out clearly.

He was stunned, his gaze fixed blankly on Li Jin Yu, yet still clinging to a desperate hope as he asked: “The one I know?”

At that moment, Li Jin Yu slouched in his chair, his eyes profound, like a reef submerged in the deep sea. He didn’t rush to speak, perhaps taking the time to smoke half a cigarette. Finally, he tapped off some ash, not looking at Gou Kai, and said while looking down: “Mm, I saw you at the town’s coffee shop. I was dating Ye Meng then before we got our marriage certificate.”

“…”

“…..”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A server knocked over several glasses of lemon water. Those “bang bang bang” sounds had a sequential sniper-like feel as if someone had unhesitatingly fired three shots directly at his heart!

Blood and flesh were in disarray, his blood frozen, and his internal organs ceased to function. He was more statue-like than a terracotta warrior.

People came and went in the e-sports hall, the wind blew through the willows on the bank, and the tall buildings felt chilly. After who knows how long—the girls at the next table had even switched to a second flavor of milk tea and were enthusiastically playing Truth or Dare—Gou Kai finally came back to his senses. His eyes looked somewhat defeated, with a trembling quality to them. He turned to look out the window, initially wanting to ask how Li Jin Yu had pursued Ye Meng since she typically rejected all advances, hard or soft. But he feared Li Jin Yu might say “she pursued me,” which might cause him to reflexively throw that glass of lemon water in his face.

Li Jin Yu moved the ashtray aside, sat up straight, and folded his arms across his chest. Gou Kai felt that Li Jin Yu’s leg under the table might kick him without warning at any moment. He heard Li Jin Yu lean back in his chair and ask bluntly: “My wife is pretty hard to get, isn’t she?”

“…”

Gou Kai didn’t know what to say. Was this the beginning of a reckoning? He began to seriously consider Tai Ming Xiao’s earlier suggestion. Li Jin Yu’s tone indicated that this matter wouldn’t be resolved so easily.

Gou Kai, trying to save his hide, said: “Actually, she’s not that hard to get. I think all women are the same, haha, haha.” These two forced laughs sounded extremely strained.

Li Jin Yu looked at him coldly, as if engaging in self-mockery: “Is that so? But I cried for her several times.”

“…” Gou Kai stopped laughing.

“Cried during arguments, cried during sex.”

“…Is that something to be proud of?”

Li Jin Yu: “I’m telling you that you nearly broke up a beautiful love story.”

“…”

Gou Kai felt that if he didn’t leave this e-sports hall today, he would probably die of embarrassment.

Downstairs in the e-sports hall, people were competing, occasionally erupting in thunderous cheers. They were all young people, full of passion. The blood of youth is always boiling, like an endlessly flowing river, majestic yet crystal clear, flowing toward the farthest distance.

By the time Gou Kai returned home, Tai Ming Xiao was already anxiously waiting at his door. He searched Gou Kai’s face for a while, looking for injuries, and seemed disappointed to find him unharmed: “Huh? That lord didn’t hit you?”

“Two men over fifty fighting in an e-sports hall full of kids—do you think that would be glorious or thrilling?” Gou Kai opened the door and went in.

Tai Ming Xiao followed him in. True, they were no longer at that impulsive age of sixteen or seventeen.

Gou Kai grabbed a bottle of beer, sat down on the sofa, and silently opened it.

Tai Ming Xiao, familiar with the place, also took a can and leaned against the TV cabinet across from him, saying, “What’s wrong? Since there was no physical confrontation, why do you look like you’re at death’s door?”

Gou Kai took off his suit jacket, revealing a gray three-piece vest underneath. His glasses sat elegantly on the bridge of his nose. He took a swig of beer and said: “He wants me to sell the company to him.”

“Just don’t sell it then.”

“Mm, he said in that case, he’d have to go through the trouble of convincing the old man in England to acquire it directly.”

Damn, if Li Chang Jin steps in, Gou Kai would be swallowed without even bones left.

Gou Kai didn’t have many vulnerabilities—he was just a workaholic, and this antique company was his only weakness. Plus, Gou Kai himself had passion and sentiment for cultural relics; no woman was more important than his company. As expected of his closest friend, he knew exactly where to stab to cause the most pain. With a “pop,” Tai Ming Xiao opened his beer can and took a leisurely sip, leaning against the TV cabinet. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Where would he get the money to buy it? The old man’s shares can’t be liquidated.”

Gou Kai said: “Dividends. Do you think the several hundred million in annual dividends from the Hanhai Group are fake? I heard he invested a large sum with some former WCM school team members in a memory training institution. It’s probably lost quite a bit so far, but over time, it will make money. Besides, he recently invested in Li Chen’s garage and had Li Chen buy him an extremely expensive racing team abroad. So I estimate he doesn’t have much cash on hand right now—he even split the bill with me at the e-sports hall.”

“That’s what you get for trying to seduce his wife.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know? If you knew, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Gou Kai put down his beer.

Tai Ming Xiao felt wrong too. Holding his beer can, he shrugged: “They threatened me, okay? I only just heard from Li Chen this afternoon while playing basketball about Li Jin Yu’s past troublemaking in America. I was afraid you’d get beaten to death, so I risked getting my head blown off by Li Chen to secretly send you those messages, hoping you’d quickly apologize and put this matter behind you.”

The relationship between the four of them was quite complex. Li Chen and Li Jin Yu were close, while Gou Kai and Tai Ming Xiao were close. Since the former two were both young masters with more hardcore family backgrounds, their personalities were more casual and laid-back, whereas Gou Kai was more calculating and Tai Ming Xiao was more adaptable. But actually, all four had good relationships and truly regarded each other as brothers. It’s just that Tai Ming Xiao and Gou Kai would prioritize personal interests—the most realistic approach to friendship. Li Chen naturally sided with Li Jin Yu in everything, so when Gou Kai was away on business, Tai Ming Xiao was firmly under the control of the other two.

“So what’s his intention now? Why does he want to buy your company? Isn’t Hanhai Lankan enough for him? But selling to him might give you some backing. After all, even though Hanhai Lankan has been struggling these past two years, and with Li Ling Bai’s situation deteriorating rapidly, at least there’s still the Hanhai Group behind it for support.” Tai Ming Xiao thought about it, and it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Gou Kai gave him a cold glance: “You’re overthinking it.”

Tai Ming Xiao continued drinking his beer and listened as Gou Kai said, “Li Jin Yu said that Ye Meng wants to open a PR company in Beijing recently, and he thinks our company would be suitable for her to practice with since she worked there before and is familiar with it. The flowers and plants wouldn’t need to be rearranged, and the old man from the botanical garden would still deliver cacti regularly. It’s quite suitable.”

Li Jin Yu had been tight on money lately. When buying cigarettes at the convenience store, he didn’t hesitate and only asked for an eight-yuan pack of Red Double Happiness. Li Chen said he looked pitiful, spending two million on a ring but being so stingy on a pack of cigarettes.

As Li Jin Yu leaned against the car door opening his cigarettes, he suddenly realized that his shirt sleeves were rolled up, exposing the ECG tattoo on his wrist, with the sports car behind him. While he was attractive, he also somehow looked like a jerk. He took out a cigarette, tossed the pack into the car window, lit it, took a drag, and turned to ask Li Chen beside him, “Has the ring arrived?”

“No, not that fast. The French don’t work overtime for you. Even if you wanted to rush it, they said the earliest would be next month.”

Li Jin Yu smoked silently. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it, and the next second, he coldly cursed “Fuck,” then immediately stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette. He turned and casually took a jacket from the back door of the car, hooked it in his hand, and slammed the door shut with a “bang”—the entire sequence of movements fluid and seamless.

“What happened?” Li Chen asked.

Li Jin Yu hung the jacket over his hand and rested it on the car roof, with his other hand in his pocket, saying languidly, “It’s a long story. I’ve been too busy lately and just stood up to my sister. Now I have to go home and kneel on the washboard.”

Li Chen impatiently brushed him off: “That can’t be right. Ye Meng dotes on you so much. If I hadn’t seen her in action, I’d almost believe you. Even if she were to punish you, I feel like she’d be the one kneeling on the washboard, not making you kneel.”