ARBRMW : Chapter 81

Xiang Xiuhe had not appeared in public for a while. At some point, rumors started circulating online that he had been arrested. These claims were immediately dismissed by his fans as malicious attacks. As a popular celebrity, Xiang Xiuhe had plenty of fans ready to defend him. The person who posted the rumor was harassed by Xiang Xiuhe’s fans until they deleted their Weibo account.

However, it wasn’t long before news of Xiang Xiuhe’s imprisonment made it to the trending topics, causing Weibo to crash. It was said that he was jailed for intentional harm, a claim his fans refused to believe, insisting he was being framed.

The incident continued to escalate online, becoming widely known. Even Mo Hang couldn’t suppress the news despite his efforts. Whenever he deleted posts, more would pop up. Realizing the persistent nature of the posts, he suspected it was the work of Si Ye’s people.

Having loved Xiang Xiuhe for many years, Mo Hang couldn’t bring himself to let this go. He picked up his phone and called Si Ye, assuming that Chen Xu wouldn’t let Si Ye answer. But after a few rings, the call connected.

“Hello.” It was Si Ye’s voice.

Mo Hang’s throat felt dry and itchy. He opened his mouth but struggled to find the words. “How are you feeling?”

“Recovering.” Si Ye’s voice was as indifferent as ever, but to the guilt-ridden Mo Hang, it sounded deliberately distant.

Mo Hang licked his dry lips. “Can you stop what’s happening online? He’s already been punished.”

After a moment of silence, Si Ye replied, “I don’t know what’s happening online, and it has nothing to do with me.”

Mo Hang didn’t believe him. His first thought was that Si Ye didn’t want to show mercy and was determined to take revenge on Xiang Xiuhe.

“Si Ye… please, I’m begging you. Tell your people to stop.”

Si Ye repeated, “I haven’t done anything.”

“Si Ye! Do you find this satisfying? Xiang Xiuhe indeed made a mistake, but he has been punished. All his efforts and achievements have gone up in smoke, and he’ll be in prison for a long time. His life is ruined. Isn’t that enough? Do you have to destroy him completely?” 

Mo Hang’s emotions were getting out of control. He knew Xiang Xiuhe was at fault, but he believed everyone makes mistakes. Si Ye was fine now, so why couldn’t he show some mercy?

After a brief silence, Si Ye’s cold voice replied, “He brought this upon himself. It has nothing to do with me.”

Mo Hang gripped his phone tightly, his eyes filled with rage. “You deserve to be abandoned by everyone, left all alone.”

Si Ye stared at his phone, his expression heavy. He had tried before; in his previous life, he had been lenient for the sake of family, only to suffer more pain. Maybe he was destined to have weak family ties. His parents didn’t like him, his eldest brother who treated him well died young, and his nephew, whom he finally found, suspected him. His aunt and uncle were only interested in getting more from him.

A sharp pain shot through his head, and Si Ye winced in agony, closing his eyes to rest. After the pain subsided, he felt nauseous. Stumbling to the bathroom, he came out five minutes later, pale-faced.

At some point, a message had arrived. Si Ye picked up his phone and saw it was from Chen Xu.

“Uncle Si, I’m almost home. I bought you a cake.”

A ray of sunshine broke through the ice in Si Ye’s eyes, gradually warming his heart. Who said he was abandoned and lonely? He had Chen Xu, his child, his lover, his family.

Si Ye stared at the message for a long time before replying. Then Secretary Jiang called.

“Chairman Si, everything is ready with the Chen family.”

“Alright, go ahead.” Si Ye had previously given many benefits to the Chen family, but nothing comes for free. While investigating Chen Xu’s background, he discovered many instances of the Chen family mistreating Chen Xu. Chen Yue and his wife had been emotionally abusing Chen Xu, constantly berating him, while Chen Hao and the neighborhood kids bullied him, pushing him into the mud. When he got home, Chen Yue and his wife would scold him, calling him a bad child and a slob, despite having servants who did the laundry. 

These incidents were numerous. When Chen Yuqi arrived, she imitated her parents and enjoyed tormenting Chen Xu. She refused to eat her own food, insisting on taking Chen Xu’s, making him go hungry. Chen Xu would happily bring home awards, only to have Chen Yuqi tear them up. When he cried, his parents scolded him for making a fuss over a piece of paper and scaring his sister.

Each of these instances made Si Ye’s heart ache. He wished he could go back and take Chen Xu away from the Chen family when he was two years old, to raise him himself. 

Si Ye originally intended to destroy the Chen family, but Chen Xu told him about the kindness of his grandfather, mentioning the safety net his grandfather left for him. Chen Xu’s eyes reddened as he spoke. With this in mind, Si Ye changed his plans from destroying the Chen family to acquiring Chen Corporation at a low price and giving it to Chen Xu. It was, after all, the hard work of Chen Xu’s grandfather, and giving it to Chen Xu would likely meet with his grandfather’s approval. 

Despite his efforts, Si Ye had not been able to uncover Chen Xu’s background, as the information from that time was scarce. Nonetheless, he was determined to continue cherishing Chen Xu.

On the other side, Chen Xu received a call saying that Mo Hang had been trying to delete the online messages.

“Whatever he deletes, I’ll buy more.” Chen Xu’s eyes were cold. This was Si Ye’s good friend, yet he was still inferior to a manipulative person like Xiang Xiuhe. 

Unlike Chen Xu, who had made a significant amount of money himself, along with his pocket money and New Year’s money from childhood, he also had the inheritance left by his grandfather. In an emergency, he could even use the black card given to him by Si Ye.

In short, Chen Xu had no shortage of money.

Mo Hang, on the other hand, would face inquiries from his family if he made too much noise. If he couldn’t explain himself, his father would break his legs.

Prison and a ruined future were the deserved fate of Xiang Xiuhe. Chen Xu was merely ensuring that Xiang Xiuhe would never have a chance to rise again. As long as Mo Hang liked Xiang Xiuhe, if this matter didn’t escalate, Xiang Xiuhe could start over after serving his sentence. Chen Xu would never allow that to happen.

When Chen Xu returned home, it was quiet. Si Lin had moved to Villa No. 5, leaving the main house occupied only by servants, Si Ye, and Chen Xu. Chen Xu enjoyed the peace.

“How much did Uncle Si eat today?” Chen Xu asked Uncle Zhong as he handed his coat to a servant.

“He ate half a bowl.” Uncle Zhong’s eyes crinkled with a smile.

“That’s great.” Chen Xu’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “Did he vomit?”

“No.” Uncle Zhong replied cheerfully.

Chen Xu breathed a sigh of relief and went upstairs with the small cake and a bouquet of jasmine flowers he had bought.

“Why did you buy flowers?” Si Ye looked at the bouquet in Chen Xu’s hand, and as Chen Xu approached, he saw it was a jasmine flower.

Si Ye smiled and said, “I thought you’d buy roses.”

Chen Xu touched his hand, feeling it was a bit cold, and rubbed it to warm it up. “There was a flower shop next to the cake shop, so I bought a bouquet.”

After warming Si Ye’s hand, Chen Xu got up to replace the flowers in the vase, carefully arranging the jasmine flowers. The room was filled with the light fragrance of jasmine. Chen Xu planned to make the old flowers into dried flowers.

“Jasmine flowers are nice.” Chen Xu said softly, staring at the flowers.

Si Ye noticed that Chen Xu’s ears were slightly red. Why?

While Chen Xu was tidying up, Si Ye looked up the meaning of jasmine flowers on his phone. His fingers paused as his eyes widened in surprise, then softened with a smile that spread from his eyes to his lips.

After cleaning up, Chen Xu came over to help Si Ye unpack the cake. Si Ye suddenly pulled him into his arms. Chen Xu stumbled and almost fell onto Si Ye, hurriedly bracing himself against the wall behind Si Ye.

“Did I hurt you?” Chen Xu asked anxiously. Si Ye’s face was smiling as he looked at him and suddenly leaned in to kiss him.

Chen Xu’s eyes widened for a moment, but within a couple of seconds, he closed them, responding to Si Ye’s gentle and passionate kiss.

“Don’t do that again. What if you get hurt?” Chen Xu leaned against Si Ye’s shoulder, his voice filled with lingering fear.

Si Ye held his waist and whispered in his ear, “I know the meaning of jasmine flowers.”

These words made Chen Xu’s ears and cheeks turn visibly red. He struggled to escape Si Ye’s embrace, but Si Ye held him tightly, not letting go.

Si Ye’s low, pleasant laughter in his ear made Chen Xu’s mind almost explode.

Afraid of hurting Si Ye, Chen Xu stopped struggling, curling up in Si Ye’s arms, his head resting on Si Ye’s shoulder, his fair, slender neck turning a tempting shade of pink.

“You are mine.” Si Ye whispered in his ear.

Chen Xu’s hands tightened on Si Ye’s shirt, his voice trembling. “Stop talking.”

Being so easily seen through made Chen Xu feel like dying of embarrassment.

Si Ye was delighted, feeling as if a flock of butterflies had taken flight in his chest.

“I’m yours.” He kissed the back of Chen Xu’s neck lightly, making Chen Xu shiver, his heart swelling uncontrollably.

Chen Xu’s eyes reddened as he looked up at Si Ye. “Uncle Si, don’t tease me.”

Hearing this, Si Ye was stunned for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. It was supposed to be his line.

Given his current health, the strict Chen Xu wouldn’t let him do anything, so Si Ye had to endure.

Seeing that Si Ye really didn’t continue, Chen Xu felt a bit worried. Had Si Ye’s condition affected him in that way?

…

Recently, Chen Xu had been so busy taking care of Si Ye that he almost forgot about the design competition. Fortunately, with his experience from his past life, he managed to finish his submission just before the deadline.

Si Ye’s health was slowly improving, and his appetite was returning. He no longer vomited after eating.

Everything was moving in a positive direction.

The official account of Si Corporation also issued a lawyer’s letter, accusing Xiang Xiuhe of intentional harm. This news caused Weibo to crash again. The evidence was overwhelming, and even Xiang Xiuhe’s most devoted fans couldn’t deny his crime. Their world seemed to crumble.

No one expected that the victim was Si Ye! Xiang Xiuhe must have been crazy to harm Si Ye.

His die-hard fans tried to defend him, saying that Xiang Xiuhe and Si Ye were classmates with a good relationship. They argued that there must be more to the story, accusing Si Corporation of hiding the truth and suggesting that Si Ye might have used his position to bully the smaller star.

[Please, Mr. Si is the victim here. Asking the victim to explain what happened is a form of secondary harm. No wonder you’re Xiang Xiuhe’s fans, like idol, like fans.]

[The evidence is in your face, yet you still don’t believe your idol committed a crime. Delusional.]

[I’ve always thought Xiang Xiuhe was leeching off Si Ye’s fame. Si Ye never mentioned him. The good classmate story must be a fabrication.]

[Let me reveal something: Xiang Xiuhe always said he was Si Ye’s classmate and had a good relationship with him. But they only went to school together for half of the first year. Si Ye left before the first semester ended and went abroad. He probably doesn’t even know who Xiang Xiuhe is.]

[Mr. Si: Who is this wannabe always adding drama all day long ?]

Xiang Xiuhe’s fans rapidly abandoned him, though some die-hards still said, “Our brother just made a small mistake. We’ll wait for him to come back.”

Adding to their woes, the police discovered that Xiang Xiuhe had been involved in the gray areas of the entertainment industry, making money through questionable means. When he was sentenced to ten years in prison, only a few fans remained. As the saying goes, when the wall falls, everyone gives it a push. Suddenly, many came forward to claim they had always seen through his facade, knew that he was a scheming bxtch just looking at his face, and now he was finally in jail.

Mo Hang had been overwhelmed trying to deal with Xiang Xiuhe’s issues, neglecting his own company. By the time he turned his attention back, he found that a rival company had poached several key employees, leaving him in a precarious position.

His father, who was abroad, returned home in the middle of the night to confront him about his actions.

…

“This is strange.” Chen Xu frowned at his computer screen. “Who else is competing with me for Chen Corporation?”

Who would be so bold as to risk losing everything?

Chen Xu wasn’t planning to back down. This was his grandfather’s legacy. He couldn’t let it fall into the hands of outsiders. Besides, making Chen Hao’s family live off him would be quite satisfying.

“Chairman Si, it’s Young Master Chen competing with us for Chen Corporation.” Secretary Jiang had noticed something odd two days ago and had sent someone to investigate, discovering it was Chen Xu.

Si Ye was surprised, then a smile appeared on his lips. “Let’s withdraw.”

He had intended to give the company to Chen Xu as a gift, but it turned out Chen Xu had taken the initiative himself. Over the past months, Chen Xu had lost weight but also grown a lot. Si Ye felt both proud and heartbroken.

From an objective standpoint, Chen Xu was indeed the best candidate to be his successor.

Secretary Jiang thought to himself, after all this time and effort, now Chairman Si decides to give up. It really showed how much he pampered Young Master Chen.

Chen Xu, who had been determined to wrest Chen Corporation from the competitor, was baffled when the other side suddenly backed off.

What was going on?

He didn’t dwell on it long and proceeded to acquire Chen Corporation at a low price.

Chen Yue hadn’t called Chen Xu until the deal was done. Then, in a panic, he tried to sell Chen Corporation to him, quoting an outrageous price.

Did he think he was dealing with an idiot?

Chen Xu coldly said, “You’re too late, Mr. Chen.”

Before Chen Yue could explode, Chen Xu hung up and blocked his number to avoid further harassment.

When Chen Xu returned home and told Si Ye about the incident, he started to piece things together. Chen Corporation had been drained by Chen Yue and his son, making it unattractive to others. The only ones interested were himself and Si Ye.

“Uncle Si, was the other person trying to acquire Chen Corporation you?”

Si Ye paused, slightly smiling. “What made you think it was me?”

Chen Xu walked up from behind and hugged him, slipping his hands under Si Ye’s arms. As Si Ye’s mind wandered, Chen Xu deftly took the coffee beans from his hand. “Uncle Si, you’re not being good. You can’t have coffee.”

Si Ye hadn’t expected Chen Xu to come for the coffee beans. He thought Chen Xu just wanted to be close to him.

As soon as he let go, Si Ye grabbed Chen Xu’s wrist, trying to pull him back. Chen Xu struggled a bit but couldn’t break free. “Uncle Si, let go.”

Chen Xu was pressed against Si Ye’s back, his arms around Si Ye. Though it was an awkward position, Si Ye enjoyed it.

“Call me something sweet.” Si Ye teased.

Chen Xu’s ears turned red, his mind imagining all sorts of things. Unfortunately, Si Ye couldn’t see.

“It’s your fault for not listening.” Chen Xu muttered, sounding pitiful.

Si Ye couldn’t bear to tease him anymore and let him go, turning to comfort him. But as soon as he let go, Chen Xu dashed away with the coffee beans.

Si Ye stood there, a bit bewildered. Had he been tricked by the little rascal again?

After hiding the coffee beans, Chen Xu brought two cups of warm milk over, handing one to Si Ye and clinking their cups together. “Cheers.”

Si Ye laughed, obediently clinking cups and drinking the milk.

Almost thirty years old, and he still drank warm milk every night. If word got out, many would be shocked.

After finishing their milk, they stood side by side brushing their teeth. Si Ye’s electric toothbrush was white, while Chen Xu’s was black. Even their cups were matching couple sets.

Si Ye received a call from Secretary Jiang before bed, dealing with some work. Not wanting to keep his little friend waiting too long, he hurried back to the bedroom.

Chen Xu was engrossed in a book, not noticing Si Ye’s arrival. Si Ye quietly approached, leaned over, and kissed him.

The warmth on his lips brought Chen Xu back to reality. He blinked his thick lashes, but before he could respond, Si Ye had already pulled away.

After kissing him, Si Ye nonchalantly got into bed, leaving Chen Xu’s heart racing, unable to focus on his book.

Unable to calm down after several attempts, Chen Xu put the book on the bedside table, slid under the covers, and turned off the light.

The room gradually darkened, with only the bedside lamp casting a warm glow.

“I was planning to buy Chen Corporation for you, but it seems you don’t need my help.” Si Ye said, pulling Chen Xu into his arms. Chen Xu instinctively found a comfortable position to nestle in.

“Thank you.” Although it matched his guess, Chen Xu was still happy to hear Si Ye’s confirmation. His heart felt like blooming flowers in spring. He looked up and pecked Si Ye on the lips.

“What will you do with Chen Corporation?” Si Ye’s hand played with Chen Xu’s soft black hair.

Chen Xu, nestled in his arms, sniffed Si Ye’s faint fragrance. “Chen Corporation deals in daily chemicals. I have no experience in this field. Can you lend me a few people?”

If Chen Corporation had been in fashion, he would have had some say.

 But in daily chemicals, he was clueless.

However, he didn’t plan to be a hands-off manager. His idea was to borrow some of Si Ye’s capable assistants and use Chen Corporation as a practice ground, learning slowly.

Under the dim light, Chen Xu saw a meaningful smile on Si Ye’s face, which made him instinctively want to run.

Si Ye pinched the soft flesh on his nape, asking in a deep voice, “We should be clear about this. What will you give me in return for lending you my people?”

It’s usually “brothers clear accounts,” but since when did “husbands clear accounts” become a thing?

Chen Xu pursed his lips, pondering. Si Ye’s injury had mostly healed, so it was a good time to test if there were any lingering issues in that aspect.

Determined, Chen Xu suppressed his shyness and reached out to Si Ye.

Si Ye originally wanted Chen Xu to take the initiative to kiss him, but what he didn’t expect was that Chen Xu actually stuffed a large piece of meat into his mouth, and the kiss became a side dish in an instant.

Sure enough, carnivores need meat.

??

His breathing was suddenly hot and heavy, and he tightly held Chen Xu in his arms. His dry lips were pressed against Chen Xu’s fair and tender neck, and he couldn’t help but bite it.

Chen Xu felt pain, the end of his eyes turned red, and the movements of his hands stopped unconsciously.

??

Si Ye held his hand, guided his hand gently, step by step.

…

Chen Xu stared at his palm, dazed for five minutes.

No problem, absolutely no problem!

Overjoyed, Chen Xu quickly called Si Ye’s attending physician.

After last night’s test, Si Ye was not only fine but exceptionally so, leaving Chen Xu with sore hands and vivid memories.

He quickly showered and put on a loose black T-shirt, light blue jeans, and slippers, exposing a fair ankle. With the weather warming up, he could wear ripped jeans without worrying about being caught not wearing thermal pants.

“Yes, I’ve confirmed his sexual function is normal and unaffected.” Chen Xu reported to Si Ye’s doctor, his face serious, free of the shyness he showed Si Ye.

“This indicates Chairman Si should be fine, but it’s best to arrange a full check-up soon.” The doctor suggested.

“Okay, I’ll arrange it.” Chen Xu agreed.

He relaxed, putting his phone away, only to turn and find Si Ye standing behind him.

The author has something to say:

Si Ye: It’s time to show my real skills.

Mo Hang’s three views are towards Xiang Xiuhe.

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