Truth or the Past?

There was no particular expression on Shan Yatong’s face. He stretched out his hand towards the indifferent man across Xiao Qishen. “Hello, President Xiao.”

The man looked at his hand and said coldly, “The shape is fine.”

Shan Yatong smiled and retracted his hand. He didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He held the glass and drank a mouthful of water. He stood up and said, “Since that’s the case, Lu Fan will be in charge of my endorsement. President Xiao, if you have anything to say, discuss it with Lu Fan. I have something else to attend to. I’ll go first.”

Just as he took a step forward, his hand was pulled back. He turned around and saw the smiling Xiao Qishen. “Yatong, this advertisement is more important. Sit here and listen.”

A female assistant looked at the pair of clasped hands. Her face was calm, yet her heart was already in a state of shock. She wished she could take out her phone and take a picture.

Calm down. As she muttered to herself, she opened the document and placed it in front of Shan Yatong. “Hello, Mr. Shan. I’m President Xiao’s assistant, Zhao Ling. This is the plan for the said advertisement. Please have a look.”

Shan Yatong picked up the file on the table and wasn’t in a rush to read it. Instead, he asked, “Since it’s a product of the Xiao Corporation, why didn’t you let Brother Xiao[mfn]Xiao Qishen[/mfn] endorse it?”

“The Xiao family isn’t so poor that they want to be endorsed by their own people.” Xiao Chengyu frowned as he looked at the young man in front of him. “The endorsement fee for the Xiao family isn’t low. You just need to properly shoot the advertisement.” Anyone could hear the contempt in his words.

Xiao Qishen frowned; the smile on his face disappeared without a trace. He turned his head to look at Shan Yatong, who was beside him, and found that his expression didn’t change. He felt his worries subside.

Lu Fan pushed his glasses. He had a bad feeling about this.

Shan Yatong quietly placed the document on the table and took a sip of water from his glass. He suddenly turned to Xiao Qishen and asked, “He’s your brother?”

Xiao Qishen nodded.

Shan Yatong put down the glass and gazed at Xiao Chengyu from head to toe. “A paralyzed face and poisonous mouth are diseases. Tell him to treat it quickly.” After saying that, he stood up and glanced sideways at Xiao Chengyu. “What?”

His peach blossom eyes were filled with an unceasing formidable sense of ridicule. At that stare, he was like an exalted and majestic queen looking down on a toothless sinner[mfn]A weak, harmless person; with no tooth, they couldn’t bite[/mfn]. “Every single word he said made me sick.”

The female assistant, Zhao Ling, held the folder in her hand and trembled with excitement. As expected of a young master, he looked captivating when he was angry.

Lu Fan closed his eyes and sighed in his heart. He really couldn’t understand why Shan Yatong was in a bad mood today.

Tang Ruanqing’s expression remained the same. But when Lu Fan observed it carefully, he felt like he was anticipating this scene of them arguing. Lu Fan rubbed his forehead. Was it an illusion? Was he having delusions?

Shan Yatong’s words were indeed extremely unpleasant to hear. Not to mention Xiao Chengyu, who was the President, even an ordinary person would be angry when they heard this.

Xiao Chengyu grabbed Shan Yatong’s collar with one hand. “What did you just say?”

“Brother!” Xiao Qishen pushed Xiao Chengyu’s hand away and pulled Shan Yatong behind him. He frowned and said, “Brother, this isn’t the Xiao family. Please calm down.”

Xiao Chengyu looked at him coldly. “Xiao Zimo[mfn]Xiao Qishen[/mfn], what right do you have to concern yourself about my affairs?” With that rebuke, his sharp gaze landed on the young man who had his head down. Tidying up his collar, he exclaimed. “He’s just a little celebrity. He should be careful with his words.”

“What kind of celebrity is that?” Xiao Qishen raised his eyebrows. “He’s an artist of Sky Crown. Xiao Chengyu, if you’ll only cause disturbance here, then don’t come to Sky Crown.”

“Good, very good.” Xiao Chengyu looked coldly at Shan Yatong. “I want him to shoot this commercial. I want to see how amazing this artist is.”

After saying that, he got up and walked out of the hall. Zhao Ling hurriedly stood up and looked at Shan Yatong with an embarrassed expression.

Shan Yatong suddenly thought of something and chased after him with a smile on his face. Eventually, he caught up to the cold-faced Xiao Chengyu at the elevator entrance.

The people sitting on the sofa didn’t know what Shan Yatong had said to Xiao Chengyu at that moment but they saw that Xiao Chengyu looked like he was struck by lightning while the elevator door hadn’t opened yet.

Tang Ruanqing looked down at the glass of clear water on the table. Although he had a smile on his face, his thoughts were drifting somewhere.

Xiao Qishen could clearly see the cold smile on Shan Yatong’s face when he turned around and left. He had never seen Shan Yatong give anyone such a smile, not even Yuan Wen.

The smile carried a hint of revenge and an indescribable peculiarity.

He had an unfathomable feeling in his heart. After thinking for a moment, he strode forward.

“It’s not him…” Tang Ruanqing didn’t even look at Xiao Qishen, who chased after Shan Yatong. He leaned against the sofa and wearily closed his eyes. He had a feeling that Shan Yatong was Jing Anjue. But today, he was certain that it was just his own ridiculous imagination.

Jing Anjue never drank clear water; he liked black tea the most. He would even feel disgusted when drinking clear water. But this youth obviously liked to drink plain clear water.

Tang Ruanqing didn’t know if he should feel tired or desperate. He opened his eyes and said to Lu Fan, “Anyone who has ever been with him will be receiving an invitation.”

It was rare for Lu Fan to see Tang Ruanqing appear exhausted. Tang Ruanqing was in this state when he met him four years ago when Jing Anjue died.

Perhaps others didn’t know, but he knew how tortured Tang Ruanqing was when Jing Anjue died. At that time, he finally understood what kind of feelings the fox-like man had for Jing Anjue.

The kind of love that wouldn’t be tolerated by the world.

Shan Yatong sat on the sofa with a scowl on his face. He couldn’t help frowning when he thought of Xiao Chengyu.

It didn’t matter whether he would pick it up or not. If he hated it, he would hate it. He didn’t need to look at the face that had stirred up bad memories because of a so-called advertisement.

Xiao Qishen placed a cup of coffee before him and sat down next to him. He glanced at the clock on the wall and said, “This is my private lounge. Don’t worry about anyone disturbing you. If you’re tired, just take a rest.”

Shan Yatong looked at the gentle smile on Xiao Qishen’s face, feeling a bit puzzled. Other than the first time when he saw Xiao Qishen’s conspicuous superstar aura at Starry Sky TV, he had never seen Xiao Qishen’s formidable side since then. In his memory, he would always smile and speak to him. He was quite strange. How could a person who came out of that kind of family be so easy to get along with?

“You don’t have to care too much about my brother’s words. He has never liked artists,” Xiao Qishen stood up and turned on the music. Then, he sat down beside Shan Yatong. “For a person like him, perhaps being the heir to the Xiao family’s property is the noblest position.”

Shan Yatong took a sip of coffee. It was awfully bitter, but it had a pleasing taste. The irritation in his heart dissipated a lot. Listening to the ridicule of the people around him, the corners of his lips curled up. “Aren’t your feelings for your brother particularly good?”

“Motherf*cker’s mom is my old man’s first wife, and my mother is his second wife. The current Madam Xiao has nothing to do with him,” Xiao Qishen said as he fiddled with the remote control in his hands. “I really don’t know how his outlandish mentality got distorted. So, don’t get angry because of this. Just treat him as a lunatic.”

Shan Yatong raised an eyebrow. This person relayed to him those ugly scandals just to comfort him? He couldn’t understand why Xiao Qishen would do such a thing. It wasn’t good for him, was it?

“Alright,” a warm palm rubbed his hair. “You don’t have to worry about him getting back at you. I’m still here.”

His body stiffened slightly. Shan Yatong wasn’t used to the sudden warmth above his head. He continued to drink a mouthful of coffee. “I’m not worried, and…” The corners of his mouth curled up. “Perhaps it’s him that should be worried.”

Xiao Qishen instinctively told himself that Shan Yatong knew something about that stiff-faced brother of his. He placed the remote control on the coffee table. “It’s better if you’re not worried.” After saying that, he got up and walked to the small tea room in the room.

Shan Yatong looked at his back and narrowed his eyes. Wasn’t he going to ask why? He retracted his gaze and looked at the gilded pattern on the coffee cup. “Xiao Chengyu is gay.”

“Bang!” 

The sound of a cup breaking came from the tea room.

The corners of Shan Yatong’s mouth curled up in delight. He had said that this Heavenly King Xiao has a problem with his dexterity[mfn]clumsy[/mfn]. How long has it been since he had entered? He had broken a cup. It was a pity that the cup was part of a set. It wasn’t perfect if one was broken.

Xiao Qishen walked out with a cup of coffee and said with a strange expression, “Yatong, don’t you know that my brother is married?” That man was gay; it would be impossible for him to be loyal to her!

“Then it would, at most, indicate that he’s bisexual.” Shan Yatong looked innocently at Xiao Qishen. “If he were gay, would he tell you?”

Xiao Qishen cursed silently. Did he tell you?

The young man sitting beside him smiled innocently. “However, I know that he once wooed a boy in California and cheated on him in the name of a friend. You don’t know about this.”

After putting down the coffee cup, Shan Yatong stood up and leaned over to Xiao Qishen’s ear. His warm breath teased Xiao Qishen’s sensitive ear. “You can destroy him if you want.”

Xiao Qishen stared blankly at the young man’s tea-colored eyes, unable to move his gaze away.

“Puchi!“ Shan Yatong smiled and straightened his body. “It looks like you really don’t want to be the master of the Xiao family.” Afterward, he sat down on the sofa. “I was just joking. Don’t take it seriously.”

Xiao Qishen snapped back to his senses and said, “This isn’t a filming venue.” After taking a sip of coffee, Xiao Qishen smiled and said, “So, at the end of the concert tomorrow night, you should prepare for the advertisement. Next week, ‘Millennium’ will be officially launched. You will understand what it means to be an artist.”

“Then I’d better get ready for my announcement.” Shan Yatong put down his cup and said goodbye with a smile.

Xiao Qishen looked at the closed door and the smile on his face gradually calmed down. He recalled what Shan Yatong had said just now. His instincts told him that it wasn’t a joke.

However, Shan Yatong and Xiao Chengyu didn’t have any previous interactions at all. How could he know such a secret? Moreover, Yatong’s dislike for Xiao Chengyu was obvious. This was glaringly different from Shan Yatong’s attitude towards other people. That disgust seemed to have been brought from somewhere deep within his bones and couldn’t be resolved.

California? He remembered that it was many years ago. Based on Shan Yatong’s age, how could he know what had happened when he was less than 10 years old?

Or was Shan Yatong really just joking?

A familiar melody sounded from the stereo. It was Shan Yatong’s “Go Back”. Xiao Qishen suddenly laughed. Regardless of what happened, he only liked Shan Yatong. He didn’t want to know about the past.

Xiao Zimo only liked Shan Yatong.

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