TRYMBPIETM 154: Succession (3)

The rain grew heavier, with lightning frequently streaking across the sky, and the thunder was deafening.

Chi Qingning opened the car door, stepped out first, and opened his umbrella.

Fu Wenan quickly parked the car, got out, and walked under the umbrella, raising his hand to slam the car door shut.

Chi Qingning saw that he was in a bad mood, but didn’t try to console him. Instead, he said, “Wen Ge, the rain is too heavy right now, let’s go upstairs first.”

Fu Wenan’s expression softened a little as he took Chi Qingning’s hand and murmured, “Qingning, apart from you, I won’t marry anyone else.”

Chi Qingning: “…”

Even if you’re willing, Chi Qingzhou still wouldn’t look at you, okay?

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, gave Fu Wenan a push, and urged him to walk toward the residential building.

“Hurry inside, you’ll get wet. I wonder if Second Brother is back. I hope we can sleep inside tonight.”

Fu Wenan: “…”

Hearing the longing in Chi Qingning’s tone, he hesitated to say something but eventually fell silent and walked into the building.

For the past few days, he and Chi Qingning had been staying at the door of Chi Qingzhou’s house.

Been a rich second-generation, Fu Wenan did feel a bit ashamed of this situation. However, considering his safety, he had no choice but to endure it.

In fact, after returning from Linghe Village, Fu Wenan had suddenly realized that he and Chi Qingning had been trapped for a long time.

He wasn’t sure whether it was only the Chi family that was involved, or if some branches of his own family had participated as well, so he chose to temporarily stay in the safest place.

His family didn’t know about these matters; they only saw him spending all his time with Chi Qingning, so they had someone investigate him privately.

Fu Wenan, who was busy trying to figure out whether his relatives were involved, didn’t have the energy to pay attention to these things. It wasn’t until his grandmother angrily called him back that he realized the secret arrangement between him and the Chi family had been exposed.

Grandma Fu was very displeased with Chi Qingning.

She looked down on this manipulative child and had called Fu Wenan back early this morning, forcing him to change his marriage contract partner.

Because of the incident in Linghe Village, their feelings for each other have deepened, and just when their relationship was at its best, his grandmother’s orders made him extremely unwilling.

He tried reasoning with her, but Grandma Fu believed he was being stubborn and repeatedly scolded him for lacking judgment.

Madam Fu was puzzled. “I’ve met Chi Qingzhou, isn’t that young man better than Chi Qingning? Why are you unwilling to be with him?!”

When Fu Wenan heard the name Chi Qingzhou, he froze. After hearing his grandmother’s words, he immediately went weak at the knees and fell to the ground with a thud.

Originally, after narrowly escaping death, Fu Wenan was still somewhat dissatisfied with the indifference of his family. But after hearing her words, he couldn’t care less about whether his family was concerned about him. He felt a spinning sensation in his head.

No, my grandmother, is it a matter of whether I’m willing?

Chi Qingzhou is strong, but if I’m with him, I’ll be dead!

Fu Wenan was completely terrified by his grandmother’s words and, in a panic, incoherently expressed that he wasn’t worthy of Chi Qingzhou.

He didn’t dare to reveal Chi Qingzhou’s abilities without permission and could only repeatedly say, “Chi Qingzhou is very excellent. He’s too excellent, I’m not worthy of him! And he already has a boyfriend, I can’t do something immoral!”

This explanation seemed more like an excuse than a reason.

Grandma Fu didn’t believe him at all, and in a fit of rage, she grabbed her cane and hit Fu Wenan several times.

Fu Wenan didn’t dare to dodge. He waited until his grandmother was exhausted from hitting him before quickly running away.

Before leaving, he specifically turned back and reminded her, “Chi Qingzhou already has a boyfriend, it’s better not to disturb him.”

Grandma Fu yelled “Get lost” but didn’t stop him.

Fu Wenan hurriedly ran off, went back to the company to handle some work, still uneasy inside. He decided to leave his work behind and go to Chi Qingning to discuss a strategy.

Chi Qingning hadn’t expected that the Fu family would find out about him and Fu Wenan at this time, and he was a bit flustered.

He hoped that the Fu family wouldn’t make a mess of things, and even if they did, not drag him and Fu Wenan into it. After worrying for a while, he decided to give his eldest brother a call to test the waters.

The result, of course, wasn’t good.

Grandma Fu personally called Chi Jianming and told him about the engagement issue, directly demanding a change of partner.

Chi Jianming still hadn’t realized anything was wrong with Chi Qingzhou. When Grandma Fu said that as long as the partner was changed, the Fu family would support the Chi family’s business, he agreed immediately.

The Chi family’s company had already fallen into a mire. Recently, he had offended several members of the business association, and the few remaining collaborations that were barely holding on were now under attack. The entire company was left with just one shaky project.

Chi Jianming didn’t reflect on what he had done wrong, only thinking about saving the company.

Now that the Fu family had placed the opportunity in front of him, forget about just changing Chi Qingning’s engagement; even if it meant divorcing Fan Tao and marrying into the Fu family, he would do it!

Chi Xiaoyuan, on the phone, still hypocritically comforted Chi Qingning, repeatedly saying “Just consider it a contribution to the family,” making Chi Qingning roll his eyes.

He especially wanted to ask this elder brother if he understood how many dangers he and Chi Qingzhou had overcome together.

Compared to this older brother, it was obvious that he, as a younger brother, was closer to Chi Qingzhou, right?

If anything were to happen, Chi Qingzhou would be the first to deal with it, not him.

Chi Qingning was also in a bad mood because of the Chi family’s actions. Since there were no important engagements in the afternoon, he skipped the class arranged by the company and went out for a walk with Fu Wenan.

However, the weather today was clearly not suitable for a walk.

The two of them played outside for several hours but didn’t dare to go to a bar. Seeing that it was getting late, they quickly drove back to Chi Qingzhou’s house.

When it came to valuing their lives, they were serious.

They took the safety passage and went upstairs.

Chi Qingning stomped his foot to activate the motion sensor light while nervously talking to Fu Wenan, “Do you think Second Brother is back? We’ve been staying in the corridor for several days now, with this kind of weather, I really want to sleep inside.”

But today, both the Fu and Chi families had made reckless moves.

Chi Qingning took a deep breath. “What if Second Brother finds out, then we…”

Fu Wenan paused in his steps and showed a cautious expression.

The two of them slowed their pace, hesitantly walking toward the staircase. The motion sensor light turned on, illuminating the entire corridor.

In an instant, the clean corridor floor and the wide open door of Chi Qingzhou’s apartment came into their view.

The expressions of both froze.

They stood there stiffly, legs trembling, and didn’t dare to look inside.

In the silence, with only their breathing, the motion sensor light turned off.

Darkness instantly enveloped everything, giving them a bit of a sense of security.

In the dim light, they glanced at each other and saw the hesitation and fear on each other’s faces.

Had Chi Qingzhou returned?

Should they really go in at this moment?

What if Chi Qingzhou gets angry?

But if they don’t go in, where will they sleep tonight?

Did they really dare to go somewhere else to stay?

In such a situation, with no certainty of how many people might want to harm them?

For a moment, Chi Qingning and Fu Wenan found themselves stuck, unable to move forward or back.

Before they could make up their minds, Chi Qingzhou’s voice came from the darkness.

“Brother, you’re back. Why aren’t you coming inside?”

Chi Qingning and Fu Wenan froze again.

Their minds went blank, standing still for a few seconds. When they regained their senses, they instinctively responded, “Coming in right away!”

The motion sensor light turned on again.

The light illuminated their faces, showing their panic.

They exchanged a glance, took a deep breath, and resolutely entered Chi Qingzhou’s house.

In the darkness, shadows shifted.

With a dull thud, the door slammed shut behind them.

Their faces instantly turned as white as ghosts.

The living room, with no lights on, was pitch black, and they could only see a figure sitting on the sofa, unable to make out the person’s expression.

From the figure, it seemed to be Chi Qingzhou.

The two hesitated and slowly moved forward by two steps.

The figure in the darkness shifted its sitting posture, crossing one leg over the other, looking very relaxed.

In a bland tone, he asked, “Why aren’t you coming over? Are you afraid?”

A loud thunderclap exploded as a lightning bolt streaked across the sky, and through the open balcony window with no curtains, the flash lit up the living room.

In an instant, the bright white light revealed Chi Qingzhou’s figure, his lips curving into a smile devoid of emotion.

He knew?

He knew!

Chi Qingning and Fu Wenan let out a horrified cry, almost simultaneously jumping up and desperately clinging to each other.

Their legs were so weak they almost collapsed, and it was only thanks to their mutual embrace that they didn’t directly kneel before Chi Qingzhou.

Even so, they couldn’t stop trembling, their bodies completely filled with fear.

“I-I-I…” Chi Qingning wanted to explain, but his tongue seemed tied, and he couldn’t say a complete sentence.

“Mm…” Fu Wenan managed to squeeze out a syllable, but in his extreme fear, he couldn’t manage to say what he wanted to.

The lightning faded, and the living room plunged back into darkness.

Chi Qingzhou let out a light laugh, his tone cheerful, “You both smell really good.”