Translator - Kate from dummytranslations
Editor - Mimishijie

1.16   Absolute control interest
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Mu Ye sniggered, then laughed. In all honesty, every time he saw lil’ brother Yan talk like this with Wei Zhichen, he couldn’t help but want to laugh. The feelings they both gave him were totally opposite.

Others may not know, but he was quite clear. Wei Zhichen really liked lil’ brother Yan—at least, he didn’t regard him as a plaything. He hadn’t taken it seriously at first, assuming that it was out of the ordinary for Wei Zhichen to eat meat, so it was possible he had gotten a little addicted to the novelty. But with the other party’s self-control, this would be a trifling matter.

As it turned out, this year or so of interaction had quickly slapped his face swollen. The spectacle he imagined of lil’ brother Yan clinging to Wei Zhichen and not letting go didn’t appear at all. Even he and Qi Sinan were merely Wei Zhichen’s friends in lil’ brother Yan’s eyes, and his attitude towards them was insipid. When the both of them were together, it was Wei Zhichen who seemed more attentive instead.

After understanding this, even if he didn't quite want to admit it in his subconscious mind, the fact wouldn’t change that the clingy one was his good pal. He and Qi Sinai’s attitudes since changed, and the change brought on by the different manner of interaction was also tremendous. Once he got to know him, Mu Ye found he really liked lil’ brother Yan’s temper. Way better than those flattering and fawning guys around him.

Thereafter, he treated lil’ brother Yan like a friend, not involving gain nor family. Such pure feelings made him feel like his integrity had also promoted.

Too bad lil’ brother Yan’s disposition was a tad indifferent. That’s right, indifferent. He might not seem like it on the surface, but you could feel it after getting along with him. He possessed a flavour of carelessness towards everything. There was nothing he paid special importance to. Besides living it up and not treating himself unfairly, he was casual about everything else.　　

Of course, he also understood a bit of the Yan family’s situation, including some’s evaluation of its eldest young master, but he would scoff about them all. Though he didn't know why lil’ brother Yan was being laissez-faire, he understood him—he absolutely had his own reasons. He didn’t have the habit of scouting out his friends’ secrets so he acted as though he hadn’t discovered anything. In any case, lil’ brother Yan had never had any pretence in front of them and that was enough for Mu Ye.

At this point, he instead felt pity for Wei Zhichen. In his view as a loiterer hiding from an underbush, lil’ brother Yan hasn’t fallen head over heels for his good pal over his identity at all, and most of the time, treated his good pal like a lover. If someone had told him this in the past, he would’ve thought his imagination was running wild. But the fact was in front of him and he had no choice but to believe it.

Lil’ brother Yan actually didn’t actively invite them for this coming-of-age birthday, such an important day. So to put a name on it, they had turned up uninvited this time.

At the thought of that, Mu Ye couldn’t help passing Wei Zhichen a subtle look of sympathy. Continue persisting, brother. You have to rely on yourself for stuff like feelings, others can’t really help you out.

Wei Zhichen didn’t receive Mu Ye’s sympathy at all. He just looked helplessly at Hao Ritian and finally rapped on his forehead softly, “You!”

How could Mu Ye and Qi Sinan compare to him when it came to understanding? He, of course, knew that this little sprite was heartless, but he didn’t care since there was no doubt that they were comfortable together.

Wei Cheng and He Yan beside them were dizzy.

At first, they thought eldest young master Yan built a relationship with the noble sons of three super families by good luck. But now it seemed they were very tight with each other. No matter who was talking to eldest master Yan, they would have an equal attitude. Most shocking was second master Wei. He was beyond familiar, and a bit overly intimate.

However, it wasn't the time to ponder this. They suppressed their various guesses and opinions and watched from the side with as much calmness as possible, not interrupting or self-indulgently moving closer.

All sorts of gazes unobtrusively probed their way, how could Hao Ritian not feel them? He casually swept a glance at the guests who thought they were being inconspicuous and sneered, saying to Wei Zhichen, “Let’s go sit in the lounge.”

Then he looked towards Wei Cheng and He Yan, “Are young master Wei and young master He coming too?”

He didn’t question Wei Zhichen about coming here on his own accord. In fact, he was inwardly very calm. As for Wei Cheng and He Yan, he felt they were passable. He might as well give them some face, since he knew from the system that after he completed his mission and left, the original owner’s life would still continue. So he was paving the road for Yan Qi.

Compared to the Wei Zhichen trio’s over-the-top statuses, Wei Cheng and He Yan were of much closer standing with Yan Qi. Hao Ritian didn't think reaching the heavens with a single leap was good. It was more fitting to go one step at a time.

　　

Wei Cheng and He Yan didn’t expect eldest young master Yan to take them along. They were surprised and grateful at the same time. Several people, led by Hao Ritian, found a quiet place to sit and chatted casually.

But their actions were involuntarily tracked by the gazes of others. Seeing Wei Cheng and He Yan have such a good opportunity, their eyes couldn’t help but turn red with envy. However, the one they envied more was eldest young master Yan. How come he was so lucky?

Surrounded with compliments at his left and right, Yan Yongan’s smile was very forced. If it was all normal, these compliments would have made him very happy, proud even. But at the moment, he was terribly worried in his heart.

Didn’t his eldest son lose connections with second master Wei a long time ago? How come second master Wei visited in person, and together with young master Mu and Qi as well? He hasn’t forgotten what a special day today was. The lawyer called early in the morning to inform him that he would come over to finalize Yan Qi’s inheritance of the stocks. He set the time for the afternoon so that all the guests would be gone and the affair would be better managed.　　

Over the course of the last two years, his eldest son had no longer rejected his wife, and even his attitude towards him also improved. Although he was still rather standoffish towards his siblings, that was trifling so long as he was obedient.

After the announcement of the shares in the afternoon, his son would be a shareholder and could freely allocate the shares under him. At that time, as long as he took the shares under the pretence of safeguarding it for his son due to his young age, everything would be settled.

But now, the arrival of second master Wei has made him smell danger, and a foreboding premonition lingered in his mind, so that he couldn’t calm down.

He wasn’t the only one panicked. Yuan Wenyu was too. She had the same idea as Yuan Yongan, and has been providing for Yan Qi like an ancestor for nearly two years, when a Cheng Yaojin[1] suddenly appeared just as she saw absolution in sight. In case a problem occurred, did she have to provide for Yan Qi like an ancestor her whole life?

She couldn’t possibly accept that outcome.　　

In her panic, she suddenly recalled Cheng Nian. That’s right, there was Cheng Nian. That whelp, Yan Qi, was closest to Cheng Nian and listened to him the most. Before he disappears, she must make use of his role to the fullest. That would act as compensation for taking so much money from her. She must take back the company’s shares as quickly as possible!

Cheng Nian, whom Yuan Wenyu placed high hopes on, happened to see Hao Ritian and his group. His expression instantly changed, and he walked over with what he thought was his gentlest smile. He went straight towards where Hao Ritian was standing. He spoke dotingly, “Today is your birthday, Qiqi. You should be where the bustle is, why are you hiding here with your friends?”

The faces of the originally harmoniously chatting group all differed due to this person’s abrupt appearance. Mu Ye and Qi Sinai’s faces were a bit odd. It was for no other reasons except that, at the very beginning, they thought lil’ brother Yan treated Cheng Nian very special and so they became familiar with him. Though they were disgusted, on the other hand, they knew lil’ brother Yan wouldn’t be entangled with another man for no reason while being with Wei Zhichen.

So the extremely inquisitive Mu Ye investigated Cheng Nian in private, and the results stunned him.

After graduating from H university, Cheng Nian was doing well in an electronics company, and compared with ordinary folks, he was young and talented. But, Yan Yongan’s wife Yuan Wenyu, started getting close to him out of the blue, telling him he was her distant nephew and allowing him to stay at the Yan House.

Mu Ye didn’t care about that. The problem was that Cheng Nian was bisexual, and used his attractive face and gentle facade to play with a lot of men and women. After intersecting with Yuan Wenyu, he actually targeted Yan Qi. Mu Ye was enraged when he saw the results of his investigation. He even dares touch his brother’s man, he simply doesn’t want to live.

In the end, as he continued reading, he found himself feeling sympathetic towards Cheng Nian.

Six months after striking a connection with Yuan Wenyu, Cheng Nian was unexpectedly pushed down by a tough guy. Leaving aside that Cheng Nian who had always been the one doing the pushing was pushed down, that tough guy was very fierce and bothered Cheng Nian since then, training him into a pure zero that could only get pleasure through insertion.　

Normally, if someone were to push him down, he would homicidal, not to mention Cheng Nian who’d been pressed until he couldn’t flip himself over. This couldn’t be described as simply a tragedy.

But there is no ‘the worst’, only ‘worse’.

Another half a year after being pushed by the tough man into a pure zero, Cheng Nian became addicted to drugs. And he only got into them because of his relationship with the tough guy, so he couldn’t pin the blame on someone else. Hence, Cheng Nian became a bloodsucker leaching off of Yuan Wenyu. After all, where would he get drugs without money?!

Druggies could actually be detected through various respects, like appearance and vigour. Cheng Nian’s disguise was good and his intake wasn’t particularly big, and that was why, for a short while, he’d been able to fool others.

Mu Ye felt complicated about his findings. Especially when he also found out that the tough guy who pushed Cheng Nian down was instructed by lil’ brother Yan, his feeling was even more subtle. His first response at that time was that lil’ brother Yan had become aware of Cheng Nian’s aim and was paying back in kind. With that conjecture, he felt that lil’ brother Yan wasn’t someone ordinary people should provoke. His means of retaliation was too direct.

　　

Looking at Cheng Nian now, Mu Ye could, of course, tell he wasn’t looking too well; there were obvious traces around the rims of his eyes. He looked gingerly between Hao Ritian and Cheng Nian without speaking, just quietly watching.

Hao Ritian looked at Cheng Nian and, all of a sudden, snorted with a laugh but didn’t follow up with him as usual. The ridicule and disdain within his eyes were very blunt, so blunt that Cheng Nian’s heart jolted, and a foreboding instantly emerged from his heart. But on the surface, he held an awkward expression.

“What’s wrong, Qiqi? Did cousin do something to make you upset?” For better or worse, he’d dealt with Hao Ritian for close to two years and Hao Ritian had always treated him well, giving him confidence that he would listen to whatever he said. So despite being a bit embarrassed, he still kept his face unchanged, and his tone carried a pleading and intimate flavour.

Setting aside what he felt, those sitting there looked at him, then at Hao Ritian’s apathetic reaction, and felt second-hand embarrassment for him. Only Wei Zhichen was in a good mood. But his eyes that regarded Cheng Nian excluded strength and indifference.

The fear in Cheng Nian’s heart could hardly be contained from being watched by such eyes.

He changed his mind and no longer had the desire to stay in this strange atmosphere. Cheng Nian smiled and tried to gloss things over, “Since cousin had offended you, I won’t bother you. Entertain your friends first. Once the banquet is over, cousin will apologize to you again.”

He nodded to the others and left in discomfiture. On the inside, he was infuriated, feeling like he had lost face, secretly hating Hao Ritian for not giving him any deference. He decided to find a chance to teach him a lesson afterwards.

—That was how big his heart had grown under Hao Ritian’s fostering. To the extent that he really thought he was something. This was Cheng Nian’s true nature.

“Why do you still keep him around?” After Cheng Nian left, Wei Zhichen looked at Hao Ritian with his dark eyes, displeasure tingeing his voice.

Hao Ritian grabbed a small piece of cake and gave it to Wei Lin sitting next to him. He supported his chin with one hand and replied lazily, “Today should be the last day.”　　

Wei Zhichen’s lips curled up and was consoled by this simple sentence, causing Wei Cheng and He Yan who were seeing this situation for the first time to be secretly speechless.

Hao Ritian suddenly shook his head. The thought occurred to him, perhaps Cheng Nian fit the phase, ‘a wicked person will be bedeviled by another of like ilk.’

Cheng Nian had made the original owner Yan Qi miserable; Hao Ritian had long been ready with how to deal with him. The tough guy that Mu Ye investigated was really someone he had contact with. He didn’t do anything else, just gave him a sum of money and divulged Cheng Nian itinerary once, letting the tough guy push Cheng Nian down as per their agreement.

The man himself was gay and was muscular, tall, and robust, which was very popular among the zero circles. And Cheng Nian was his type. Since he was getting money and even a man to play with, the tough guy naturally didn’t refuse.

Hao Ritian didn’t anticipate the later development. He never expected the tough guy to be so into Cheng Nian’s type, and to especially like Cheng Nian’s efforts to resist him. It was to the extent that he started playing with a certain style in bed, training Cheng Nian to become more coquettish and inseparable from him.

As for the drug addiction, that had nothing to do with Hao Ritian. Everything except for the beginning was coincidental.　

The original plan Hao Ritian had mapped had to be thrown out the window, since this free development of the situation had won his heart. Not only was Cheng Nian solved, Cheng Nian was also dependant on Yuan Wenyu. No one was happy, so he was happy.

After today, the Yan family’s inheritance will fall on him. He had played enough and this task was about over. Naturally, he needn’t pretend and mix with them, making it hard on himself.

Hao Ritian’s twentieth birthday banquet soon came to a close.

Those who attended the banquet, raised eldest young master Yan’s status in their hearts a lot higher. They repeatedly turned over how they should have dealings with the Yan family later. Just looking at eldest young master Yan’s personal connections, they would have to pay him more attention.

Not long after the guests had all left, Yan Yongan called Hao Ritian to his study. The only guest who hadn’t left yet was Wei Zhichen. Yan Yongan could only politely attend to him and take Hao Ritian to the study on the premise of personal matters.　　

In the study, the trio of Yuan Wenyu and her children were there. Together with the two of them, all five members of the Yan family were present.

Yan Yongan looked at Hao Ritian with complicated eyes, speaking only after a while, “Why did second master Wei come to your birthday banquet? Did you invite him?”

Hao Ritian found himself a place to sit and crossed his legs, looking indolent, “He came on his own.”

Yuan Wenyu anxiously wanted to speak up, not even noticing Hao Ritian’s abnormality due to her anxiety, when the door of the study was knocked. The housekeeper’s voice rang outside the door, “Sir, lawyer Chen has arrived.”

Yan Yongan spoke with a heavy voice, “Lawyer Chen, please come in.”

The door was opened and a cultured man with gold-rimmed glasses steadily came in. His eyes swept through the people present, “It seems everyone is here.”

Yan Yongan’s mouth opened, but after some consideration, closed them again. If he could accomplish it, he would have accomplished it a long time ago. Who let this lawyer Chen attach so much importance to principles, so that he couldn’t get a hold of him. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to bother with his son. With a lack of a better option, he nodded to him, “Everyone is here, lawyer Chen, get to the point.”

Lawyer Chen trained his eyes on Hao Ritian, an unusual colour flashing past them. He took some documents out of his briefcase, “Before she died, Ms. Yan Wenyan entrusted her shares to me, saying to wait until Eldest young master Yan turned 20 to hand full authority over the shares for him to manage. Eldest young master Yan had already signed the transfer of shares at the beginning. Now, after signing this entrustment contract, my entrustment will be completed. All the contracts are here. Eldest young master Yan, take a look.”

Hao Ritian was shocked, “Mom, she…”

His expression was a little sad from thinking of his deceased mother, but was also touched and disconsolate due to what his mother had done, and he didn’t go take a look at those contracts straight away.

Since he crossed over, he had never once called Yan Yongan dad, but he wasn’t against calling Yan Wenyan mom. Yan Wenyan, besides marrying Yan Yongan being her life’s greatest mistake, as a woman and a mother, she never did anything wrong. For this, Hao Ritian was willing to give her some respect.　　

It was instead Yuan Wenyu who was getting restless. Her eyes were nearly nailed on the contacts.

Eventually, she wasn’t able to hold it in. She smiled warmly and said, “I’ll take a look at it first in Qiqi’s stead. Although Qiqi is twenty now, that’s still a young age and there might be some places he won’t understand.”

That said, she immediately picked the contact up and leafed through it.

The moment she did so, her heart burned up with anxiety. Despite being psychologically prepared for it, seeing that 55 percent of the company’s shares was going to be transferred to Yan Qi almost made her lose control over her emotions.

What concept was 55 percent?

This meant that as long as Yan Qi inherited these shares, he had the final say in the company. Even if all the other shareholders ganged up, they wouldn’t be able to shake him. How can this absolute authority be given to a stinky boy who just turned twenty?

The fingers gripping the contract instantly tightened. Yuan Wenyu looked unobtrusively towards Yan Yongan, telling him to think of a way out.

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Footnotes:

[1]: Cheng Yaojin is a general. There is a saying called Cheng Yaojin ambushes the enemy. fig. sb shows up unexpectedly and disrupts the plan/ sb whose presence is regarded as irksome.

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