PBMM CH24

The two people sitting in the living room heard the commotion and came out to check. What they saw was He Qing, looking as if he had lost his soul, staring blankly at the person in front of him. Feng Xinyang’s heart tightened, and almost as a conditioned reflex, he pulled the person into his embrace.

The moment he held him in his arms, the man sensed something was wrong. The body in his embrace was stiff, like a cold, hard stone. Looking at his gaze again, it was still rigidly fixed on the gloomy-faced Zhao He.

At this moment, Yan Xizhi also noticed something was amiss. He looked hesitantly at the ice-cold eyes of Zhao He. “You guys know each other?”

It was far more than just knowing each other…

His gaze similarly placed on the youth in front of him, Zhao He hooked up a cruel smile. “He is the one you mentioned, Xinyang’s boyfriend?”

Hearing the man’s low words, which sounded like the hissing of a venomous snake, the youth’s entire body trembled. As if evading some terrifying flood or ferocious beast, he broke free from Feng Xinyang’s embrace.

He slightly shrunk his shoulders, as if wanting to hide himself away. He Qing lowered his head, making the expression on his face unreadable. His usually gentle and soft voice was frighteningly hoarse. “Xinyang, I feel a little unwell, I’ll head back first.”

He stubbornly kept his head down, trying hard not to let his tear-streaked face be seen, entirely unaware that his choking sobs had already completely betrayed him.

An intense unease rose in Feng Xinyang’s heart. He reached out, attempting to hold He Qing back, but the youth flinched and dodged. “I… I’ll get going first.”

After speaking, he kept his head down and was about to walk outside. Yet, when he passed Zhao He, who had been standing outside the door the whole time, he was grabbed by him. The instant he was grabbed, the gloomy man clearly felt the person under his hand give a violent shudder, the muscles in his entire body seeming to stiffen up.

He said, “Since you are Xinyang’s boyfriend, then stay and let’s have a good drink.”

Xinyang’s boyfriend—these words seemed to be some sort of taboo. The moment they were spoken, He Qing could no longer suppress his tears. With his head lowered, slightly scalding teardrops fell onto the hand the man was using to grip him. Zhao He’s hand stiffened, and he unconsciously let go. By the time he reacted, the youth had already fled far away in a miserable state.

“A-Qing!” Feng Xinyang couldn’t help but call out, but He Qing didn’t even glance back once.

Ever since they met, when had the youth ever treated him like this? Feng Xinyang felt as if massive waves were surging in his heart. He looked at Zhao He, whose expression was no better, and couldn’t help but misdirect his anger onto him. “What did you do to him!”

Yan Xizhi also stared eagerly in the direction the youth disappeared. “Yeah, A-He, what exactly did you do? Look how terrified you made A-Qing!”

Hearing their words, Zhao He mockingly revealed a smile as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world. His tone was filled with icy hatred: “You should ask, what did he do to me.”

[Reminding Host, Zhao He’s favorability is currently in the negatives.]

[I know.] He Qing recalled everything this body had endured, the corners of his mouth pressing into a tiny smile. [These three people are finally gathered together. It’s time for me to use some ruthless moves too.]

Let them feel the despair this body felt back then.

He Qing looked down at his own hands. Exquisite and slender, a pair of hands so beautiful they didn’t seem to belong to the mortal realm. He cherishingly brought them to his cheek and rubbed them against it. [So smooth. What a pity.]

“Haven’t you guys always asked me why, when I was staying perfectly fine in Liucheng, I suddenly came back?”

Zhao He rested his long legs on the coffee table, his eyes pitch-black and terrifying. “In Liucheng, I fell in love with a boy.”

The tea Yan Xizhi had just swallowed immediately sprayed out. He looked at his friend in disbelief. “Don’t tell me that boy is A-Qing!”

“Right.” Zhao He said, “It is He Qing.” The teacup in his hand was gripped tightly, as if merely bringing up this name filled him with endless disgust.

Eight years ago, he was still attending school in Liucheng when he met his junior, He Qing. It was love at first sight upon their first meeting, and they got together naturally. Just as Zhao He began planning to tell his family and prepare for an engagement right after graduation, a problem arose with one of the Zhao family’s capital chains. Rumors spread like wildfire in the outside world that the Zhao family was bankrupt. Right at his most despairing, most helpless moment, He Qing chose to break up, and the very next day he transferred schools and left Liucheng.

Furthermore, he left behind a text message that trampled his entire dignity right into the dirt.

Following that, his father fell gravely ill. While taking over the company, he didn’t hesitate to enter into an arranged marriage to consolidate the Zhao family enterprise. That period was Zhao He’s darkest time.

As much as he had loved him back then, that was exactly how much he hated him now. After his father woke up, he reverted back to being a playboy, but his mindset could never return to the carefree nature of the past.

He started becoming gloomy, depressed, and a wanderer among the flowers, no longer naively believing in any sort of love. After all, these so-called lovers would all leave for money.

Therefore, when Feng Xinyang and Yan Xizhi proposed this game, Zhao He gladly joined. Every time he watched those people struggle and indulge themselves among the three of them, only to ultimately gain nothing and fall into darkness with pain and despair in a pathetic state, he felt immense pleasure.

This was retribution—the retribution for greed!

Zhao He had always wanted to find He Qing to return the pain inflicted upon him tenfold. He just didn’t know why he could never find him all this time, until today.

—Yan Xizhi’s expression was very hard to describe.

“A-He, did A-Qing really leave you because your family was about to go bankrupt?”

Although they were friends who grew up together, bringing up the past buried in his heart in front of them still made Zhao He somewhat displeased. He said in a cold voice, “Of course.”

How that person heartlessly left back then, and what kind of humiliation he brought him—even though eight years had passed, those scenes were still vivid in his mind!

“Uh.” Yan Xizhi looked at the dark-faced Feng Xinyang, who was deep in unknown thoughts, then looked at the teeth-gnashingly hateful Zhao He. “But Xinyang is currently in a state of ‘bankruptcy’ too. Why is A-Qing still treating him the same as before…”

“Heh!” Zhao He sneered. “Xinyang was merely kicked out temporarily. He will forever be the eldest young master of the Feng family. How does that count as bankruptcy!”

“But none of this matters.” Excitement and loathing coexisted in the gloomy man’s eyes. “Since I’ve found him, I will absolutely return the pain He Qing gave me back then double!”

Feng Xinyang, who had been quietly listening the whole time, put down his teacup. His voice was calm as he raised his eyes to directly meet the slightly frantic expression of Zhao He. “Hezi, give me some face. Let A-Qing go.”

The smile on Zhao He’s lips vanished. “Feng Xinyang, what do you mean.”

“Yeah A-He, A-Qing really isn’t like what you say. I feel like there must have definitely been some misunderstanding back then. Why don’t you guys meet up and clear the air?” Yan Xizhi didn’t really want to stand on Feng Xinyang’s side, but if Zhao He made a move, he truly had no confidence in being able to protect He Qing.

Moreover, A-Qing abandoning the poor for the rich? How could that be possible?

Compared to Zhao He’s one-sided story, he believed his own eyes more.

Zhao He’s expression darkened. “Are you two protecting him now?”

Neither of them answered, but their expressions had already given him the answer.

The agitated heart Zhao He had the moment he suddenly saw He Qing slightly calmed down. He looked at the two of them, as if seeing his past self.

“If I recall, he is Xinyang’s boyfriend, right.”

Feng Xinyang’s expression sank slightly, having already guessed what the gloomy man was about to say. Sure enough, in the next second, Zhao He’s voice dropped low, enunciating every word: “He’s the new toy, isn’t he?”

“Just a toy. I’ll play with him however I want.”