ALCSRB Chapter 37
by Suxxi“Ten million once, ten million twice…”
The auctioneer’s excited voice announced the jade peace pendant’s final owner.
Jiang Mingyi widened his eyes, not bothering to hide his shock. Watching Shen Xingyan casually wave his hand and throw out ten million—honestly, it was badass.
“Bro, you…” He didn’t even know what to say. After hesitating a few times, he finally muttered, “Being rich is really nice.”
Shen Xingyan heard the emotion in his voice and smiled, “Jealous?”
Jiang Mingyi nodded immediately. “Of course I’m jealous.”
The Shen family hadn’t treated him badly over the years, and his personal savings were quite substantial. But compared to Shen Xingyan, Jiang Mingyi knew where he stood.
He had originally planned to win the pendant with a few million and then…
Forget it. The result was the same either way.
The transaction was completed quickly. Soon, an auction staff member brought over the box containing the jade pendant.
Everyone craned their necks to get a better look at the precious item.
Shen Xingyan took the box and, without hesitation, handed it directly to Jiang Mingyi. “I bought it for you.”
“For me?”
Jiang Mingyi was dumbfounded again.
“You said you liked it, didn’t you?” Shen Xingyan’s deep black eyes swept past the slightly disappointed Du Zhihe and placed the box into Jiang Mingyi’s hands with a gentle tone. “I told you—if there’s anything you like, just tell me. I’ll get it for you.”
He’d heard Shen Xingyan say this a few times before but never took it seriously. Now, holding the box, Jiang Mingyi finally realized he really meant it.
Just—
He didn’t need to spend that much money though, right?
Jiang Mingyi thought that if he had known this would happen, he should’ve just shut Du Zhihe up from the start. Would’ve saved a lot of money.
He gave Du Zhihe an annoyed glare. Du Zhihe’s heart instantly shattered—was he being disliked now?
Shen Xingyan noticed the exchange and let out a faint smile. “Alright, put it away.”
“Oh.” Jiang Mingyi quickly put the box away.
The auction continued, and finally the spotlight shifted off them and back onto the next item.
Xie Zhuoyan nudged Jiang Mingyi with a teasing grin. “Must be nice having a brother like that.”
Jiang Mingyi grinned sheepishly. “Of course it’s nice.”
He beamed with pure happiness.
Lu Jinglan, overhearing, chimed in with a smirk, “Well, that’s easy—you could always make Shen Xingyan your big brother too.”
Xie Zhuoyan’s eyes lit up instantly. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea!”
But just as he finished speaking, Shen Xingyan shot him a cold glare.
Lu Jinglan burst out laughing, while Xie Zhuoyan shrugged in defeat. “Looks like Ah-Yi only recognizes Xiao Yi as his one and only little brother.”
Jiang Mingyi puffed out his chest proudly. “Brother Zhuoyan, give up on that little scheme of yours.”
Mocked in return, Xie Zhuoyan acted offended. “You brat, teasing your Brother Zhuoyan now?”
When he tried to mess with him, Jiang Mingyi quickly leaned towards Shen Xingyan. “Bro, save me!”
Shen Xingyan shielded him and gave Xie Zhuoyan a warning look.
Xie Zhuoyan had no choice but to surrender with his hands up.
Lu Jinglan, seeing him behave, couldn’t help but joke again, “Then maybe I’ll settle for less and be your big sister instead.”
Xie Zhuoyan gave her a blank stare. “Wow, thank you so much!”
—
On the other side, Pei Mingyue noticed the person beside him glancing over in that direction from time to time. He looked down and asked, “Do you want something?”
Pei Shiqing pulled her gaze back when she heard his voice, tilted her head slightly, and smiled softly. “There’s nothing I want… But is there anything you have your eye on, Brother?”
Pei Mingyue’s gaze landed on his fair cheek. He paused for a moment, then shook his head. “No.”
After he spoke, he noticed the smile on Pei Shiqing’s face fade a little, and his brows knit together slightly.
Pei Shiqing said, “That’s a pity. Otherwise, I could have bid on something for you.”
Pei Mingyue clearly hadn’t expected him to say that. The tension in his brow relaxed, and a trace of gentleness appeared in his dark eyes. “There’s no need.”
“Oh.” Pei Shiqing lowered his head, hiding the disappointment in his eyes.
—
When the auction reached the latter half, Jiang Mingyi and Pei Shiqing slipped out of the venue.
The two returned to the banquet hall next door. Since most people were attending the auction, the hall was nearly empty.
They found a sofa to sit on, and Pei Shiqing urged, “Hurry and open it. Let me see.”
“Why are you so impatient?” Jiang Mingyi grumbled, but still opened the box as requested.
“It’s so beautiful,” Pei Shiqing gasped at the jadeite peace buckle lying in the box. “So green.”
Jiang Mingyi’s mouth twitched. “You could’ve left out the second part.”
Pei Shiqing burst out laughing. “Alright, I take those two words back.”
The actual jadeite peace buckle looked even more stunning and translucent than it did in the photos. The vibrant green piece was threaded with a red string, and it felt cool to the touch as he held it, the chill seeping into his fingertips.
Jiang Mingyi found it hard to put down—he really did like it.
“You said before that you wanted to win it and give it to your brother,” Pei Shiqing said. “Now it’s your brother who bought it and gave it to you.”
Jiang Mingyi had thought of that too.
Originally, he wanted to win the jadeite peace buckle and give it to Shen Xingyan. But unexpectedly, it ended up in his own hands—gifted by Shen Xingyan instead.
“I guess I can’t give it to my brother now.”
“Yeah, it’d be weird to give something back to your brother that he bought with his own money.”
The two of them rested their chins on their hands, one on the left and one on the right, deep in thought.
Just then, a server approached with a tray. “Would you two like something to drink?”
Interrupted, Jiang Mingyi decided to think about it later. “I’ll have an orange juice.”
The server paused for a moment. “Certainly, please wait a moment,” he said before walking off.
Pei Shiqing clicked his tongue and complained to the server’s back, “So unprofessional. He didn’t even ask what I wanted.”
“It’s fine. He’ll be back soon.” Jiang Mingyi placed the jadeite peace buckle back in its box. “Are you hungry? Want something to eat?”
Not far away, a long table was filled with various delicacies. Whenever a dish was finished, it was promptly replenished.
Just as Jiang Mingyi was about to get up, Pei Shiqing stopped him. “I’ll go. What do you want to eat?”
Jiang Mingyi sat back down and listed a few items.
Pei Shiqing quickly came back with food. “Someone just recommended this little cake to me. It’s supposed to be really good. Try it.”
He handed one to Jiang Mingyi and took a bite himself. “It really is good.”
The cake was soft and fluffy, sweet but not cloying.
While talking and eating, his words came out a little muffled. Jiang Mingyi saw his cheeks puffed out and how happily he was eating, so he tried a bite as well.
He found the little cake surprisingly delicious. The two of them went to get some more.
By the time the waiter came back with the orange juice, they had already eaten most of the food and were leaning back on the sofa with satisfied expressions.
“Perfect timing, let’s have some juice.” Jiang Mingyi reached for the orange juice and gulped it down, feeling instantly satisfied.
Pei Shiqing looked at the tray and was dumbfounded to see only one glass. “Why did you only pour one?”
Even though he didn’t particularly like orange juice, it was still better than nothing.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the waiter apologized with his head lowered. “Would you like something else to drink? I’ll go get it right away.”
The apology came so quickly that Pei Shiqing couldn’t bring himself to get angry. He waved his hand. “Forget it, just bring me a glass of water.”
“Yes, sir. Please wait a moment.” With that, the waiter hurried off with the empty glass.
“This level of service is terrible. I’m going to have a word with Brother Zhuoyan later—we can’t hire people like this again.”
Pei Shiqing grumbled to himself, then turned and saw his friend unresponsive. “Uh… Yi-bao, are you seriously sleepy after eating?”
Jiang Mingyi was almost fully sprawled on the sofa, limp. Hearing the voice, he struggled to open his eyes.
“What… Did you say?” His voice was weak and breathless.
“I said you’re like a pig—eat and then sleep,” Pei Shiqing teased, grinning as he leaned closer.
“Hot…”
Jiang Mingyi pushed his approaching body away, reaching toward his collar with his fingers. A faint blush had appeared on his pale cheeks, and his gaze started to lose focus.
“Huh?”
Pei Shiqing noticed his strange state and let out a surprised sound.
“Yi-bao, why do you look like you’re drunk?”
But he hadn’t had anything to drink just now.
Just then, Du Zhihe arrived and saw Pei Shiqing looking flustered and at a loss.
“What’s wrong?” As the words left his mouth, he noticed Jiang Mingyi had already undone his buttons, exposing a graceful, slender neck.
His face flushed.
Pei Shiqing clutched him urgently and said, “Go get Brother Shen—Yi-bao doesn’t seem right.”
Du Zhihe finally noticed Jiang Mingyi’s dazed state, his voice turning anxious. “What happened to him?”
Pei Shiqing didn’t have time to explain. He shoved him and urged, “Just go!”
“Okay, I’ll go right now.” Du Zhihe immediately turned and ran off.
Pei Shiqing let out a breath of relief. When he turned back, Jiang Mingyi suddenly sat up, his limp body slumping onto him, tugging at his clothes.
“…”
By the time Du Zhihe returned with others, the two on the sofa were already tangled together, their clothes in disarray.
Shen Xingyan’s expression darkened immediately. He strode over, separated them, and pulled Jiang Mingyi into his arms—only to realize his body was burning with a frightening fever.
Xie Zhuoyan stood to the side, his expression just as grim. “The ambulance has already been called. Judging by his condition, it looks like he’s been drugged.”
When Pei Shiqing was pulled away, he nearly fell off the sofa but was caught just in time by Pei Mingyue.
Ignoring the mess of his disheveled clothes, Pei Shiqing quickly explained what had happened earlier. “We ate the same things, but the only thing Yi-bao drank was that glass of orange juice.”
“I’ll have someone find that waiter immediately,” Xie Zhuoyan said, turning to handle it.
Pei Mingyue frowned, looking at Pei Shiqing with concern. “You’re not feeling anything unusual?”
Pei Shiqing met his worried gaze and shook his head. “I’m fine.”
If it really was drugged, then it was clearly targeted at Jiang Mingyi.
Shen Xingyan’s eyes sharpened. He called Qin Hao, and just as he finished giving instructions, a hand suddenly wrapped around his neck, followed by Jiang Mingyi nuzzling into him.
“So hot… you’re cool… it feels nice.” The voice was soft, but since it was so close to his ear, Shen Xingyan heard it clearly.
His heart tightened, suspicions solidifying. “The ambulance is too slow. I’ll take him to the hospital myself.” He bent down and carried Jiang Mingyi in his arms.
“I’ll drive you,” Pei Mingyue offered.
It was an emergency—Shen Xingyan didn’t waste any time and carried him straight into the elevator.
Du Zhihe tried to follow but was stopped by Director Du. “Listen to your brother. Don’t get involved in this mess.”
—
On the other side, after Xie Zhuoyan gave out orders, he turned around and saw Qin Hao holding a young man dressed in a waiter’s uniform.
“I saw him sneaking down the emergency stairs,” Qin Hao said.
“You really pulled through,” Xie Zhuoyan chuckled coldly.
He walked over and yanked off the man’s hat, revealing an unremarkable face.
“Who are you people? Why are you grabbing me?”
Xie Zhuoyan took out a cigarette, lit it, the glowing tip flickering ominously.
The man looked at him warily.
After a few puffs, Xie Zhuoyan blew out a smoke ring. The man choked on the smoke and started coughing.
“Talk. Why did you drug him?” The smile vanished from Xie Zhuoyan’s handsome face, replaced by a chilling coldness.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Xie Zhuoyan held the cigarette in his hand, blew gently—its tip flaring brighter.
Hiss—a small hole was burned into the man’s hat.
Xie Zhuoyan tossed the hat away in disdain. “Qin the Block, how many holes do you think a cigarette can burn into someone’s body?”
“Cigarettes can’t, but this can.” Qin Hao pulled something out and tossed it to him.
The man’s eyes widened in shock when he saw what Xie Zhuoyan caught. “You… killing people is illegal!”
“Who said we were going to kill you?” Xie Zhuoyan gave a small laugh. “We’re law-abiding citizens, you know.”