I Became the Darling of the Wealthy Through Gossip - Chapter 12

“The vast horizon is my love…”

Qi Beichen wanted to laugh, but he had to hold it in; Qi Run’s ringtone had a certain nostalgic feel to it.

Qi Run answered the phone, “Mm-hmm, got it. Mm, understood. Right at the entrance, right?”

I don’t know what was said on the other end, but Qi Run was clearly beaming, unable to stop smiling. Even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened as they twitched with his expression.

Qi Beichen didn’t care about the conversation; he only knew that a batch of high-end goods had recently arrived at the company from Beijing, and he was going to make a fortune.

But a thought suddenly popped into his head: The petty man is elated by success. Tsk, Qi Run probably didn’t fit that category, but there was a certain “nouveau riche” vibe about him. The previous shift from real estate to the jade industry had given him that impression.

He stood to one side, not knowing whether to leave or stay, so he just stood there like a pillar no, serving as a pillar.

His phone vibrated it was definitely the gossip expert from that “Whisper” group. But it wasn’t convenient to check now. It was like an ant crawling on his heart; the more he couldn’t check, the more he wanted to see what was being said. He felt itchy all over.

Perhaps because the sunlight was so bright, the room felt a bit stuffy. Qi Beichen decided to roll up his sleeves. A length of lotus-root-white forearm was revealed, looking firm, powerful, and possessing smooth muscle lines. I have to say, this body’s physique was truly top-tier. If he were a minor celebrity, he could probably make a fortune. It was clearly a life meant for relying on his looks, yet he insisted on competing with this Qi Beixing.

“Qi Beichen, you’ve been staring at your own arm for thirty seconds. Don’t tell me you’re harboring improper thoughts about yourself?” Qi Beixing popped out with that comment for no reason.

Truth be told, he did harbor a bit of “improper thought”—a bit of narcissism wouldn’t hurt. Qi Beichen shook his head immediately. What kind of messy thoughts are these? Throw them all out.

Qi Run finished his call just then and turned around, looking radiant enough that even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were clearly visible under the spotlight.

“Beixing, you take Beichen and show him around. A batch of high-end goods arrived from Beijing and is at the building entrance now. I’m not at ease; I’m going to go check.”

Before Qi Beichen or Qi Beixing could respond, Qi Run hurried away.

That worked out perfectly. Now he could check his phone messages. As for that Qi Beixing, he wasn’t worth the attention.

He hadn’t looked for a while, and the message bar was already at 99+. These people could really chat; they were practically the zhí (a marmot-like animal) in the “gossip plate.”

Liang Han: Are you guys up yet? Where did those two from the room next door go? Why did they dump us like this? Su Haoxuan: It probably means they had something urgent to attend to. Xie Zhixu: …It seems they really had something to attend to. Xie Zhixu: [Photo.jpg] Liang Han: Damn! Su Haoxuan: Damn! Xie Zhixu: These two are really capable of making a mess. I saw this at the front desk—three boxes used. Truly, no wonder Bai Muxuan takes such good care of Qi Beichen; it turns out they had already, tsk, what do you call it? “Pregnant before marriage.”

Qi Beichen finally had a free moment. Sitting on a small chair to the side, he wanted to see what other outrageous things they would say.

Bai Muxuan: Beichen was just drunk, and we were playing around. Why are you guys so gossipy? Liang Han: Please look at the group name. Su Haoxuan: Please look at the group name. Xie Zhixu: Please look at the group name. Bai Muxuan: …My suggestion is that you guys should get your brains checked with a CT scan. The neurosurgery department at Jiangcheng People’s Hospital is very famous. You could also do a genetic test; this situation is most likely a genetic mutation. Xie Zhixu: Give me a break. That’s your family’s hospital, and you’re a cardiac surgeon. You’re abusing your power for personal gain and settling old scores. Bai Muxuan: Xie Zhixu, I think you should improve your idiom usage. That’s not how these terms are used. Liang Han: Wait, this isn’t right. Qi Beichen hasn’t appeared again. Could it be that he’s unconscious? Qi Beichen: I’m at the company, currently looking around. You guys are the ones who are good at making things up. Su Haoxuan: Oh, across from Jiangcheng People’s Hospital. Xie Zhixu: Oh, across from Jiangcheng People’s Hospital. Liang Han: Oh, across from Jiangcheng People’s Hospital.

I have to say, Qi Beichen was quite helpless. He hadn’t realized their two companies were so close before; the original host didn’t have these memories.

“Brother Beichen, I didn’t expect your methods to be so impressive. All these young masters are revolving around you. You didn’t actually do anything, did you?”

Qi Beixing stood behind him at some point. What was even more outrageous was that his eyeballs were practically falling into his phone, staring straight at it without moving.

Qi Beichen glanced at Qi Beixing. “Just because you might do something doesn’t mean I would. Is there anywhere else to visit? If not, I think we don’t need to stay together and loathe each other.”

“Go out from here, there’s a staircase on the left leading to the third floor. That’s where the large jade sculptures are. If you want to see them, go ahead. Anyway, I’ve been bored of looking at them since I was a kid. I think you probably haven’t seen those things, maybe you’re curious.”

“You forget it. I’ll go see them myself. You don’t need to lead; it’s a waste of time.”

Qi Beichen walked toward the door on his own. The sunlight seemed a bit dim, perhaps blocked by clouds, making the indoor light sources appear more prominent.

The place Qi Beixing pointed to did have a staircase. The entire company was covered by surveillance; normally, he shouldn’t be able to do anything strange.

The stair railing was wooden, but the balusters beneath were white marble—a clash. But then he remembered that every time Qi Run faced a major event, he went to Nanshan Temple. This matched up; he must have listened to some so-called “master” from there and arranged these half-Western, half-Chinese trinkets.

Walking on the stairs, it creaked it was wooden, and it looked quite old, probably also arranged by the Nanshan Temple master.

Arriving upstairs, it wasn’t a small cubicle; a large batch of jade materials was piled on the floor. Some were only half-cut, clearly lacking good quality, and some had large cracks down the middle.

Qi Beichen couldn’t help but sigh, “How much does it take to get one high-value piece?”

Qi Beixing stood behind him again. “These are all worthless trinkets—either too many cracks, or sediment embedded in the edges of the jade. They aren’t worth much.”

“You’re quite knowledgeable.”

“Of course. I studied jade appraisal in college specifically to inherit the company. You, wanting to compete with me? Why don’t you go back and learn again?”

“Then that’s a real pity. I should have been shoved back; if my existence is an eyesore to you, I’m truly sorry. But I am an eyesore—what are you going to do about it?”

Qi Beixing glanced at Qi Beichen. “If someone is an eyesore, they should mysteriously disappear.”

“I really want to see that. I really won’t disappear.”

“Tsk, do as you please. Anyway, you can’t beat me.”

Qi Beixing was actually being honest. Though he was a bit of a “villain,” never mind, let’s not think about it anymore.

“I’m telling you, I have no interest in this company. I’m a medical student, and my ideals aren’t that vulgar: ‘I wish the world is free of illness, even if the dust collects on the shelves of medicine.’ Who’s like you, burying yourself in those square-holed coins all day long?”

“Qi Beichen! I don’t believe you didn’t return to the Qi family for the money. You’ve been away for twenty years; Dad has been supporting that orphanage all this time, but the moment the company’s inheritance权 is about to be released, you appear. Who would believe you didn’t hear something?”

Qi Beichen couldn’t be bothered to deal with this clown jumping on the bandwagon.

He gently stroked the jade material it was warm, moist, and icy-cool. He inexplicably thought of Bai Muxuan’s thigh; he’d touched it last night, and the feeling was absolutely top-notch.

He picked up a black marker and subconsciously drew a heart shape on the jade slab. He didn’t know if he was born without drawing talent, but it was all crooked, and the tip of the heart was concave. In his mind, he was thinking of Bai Muxuan.

Qi Beichen shook his head again. How could that be? I’m straight! He had rarely read gay novels before; this was just curiosity. He’d found one to read, but unexpectedly, it was quite good, and he got more and more into it. He even felt aggrieved on behalf of the lead character’s idiotic behavior, thinking about how he should have done this or that differently but in the end, it still led to a bad ending.

“Qi Beichen, I say, what are you thinking about now? Did you hear my words or not?”

“Huh? What did you say? Weren’t we looking at this piece? I don’t think its quality is very good. Let’s try designing an ornament and see if we can upgrade its ‘grade’ after it’s finished.”

The designer to the side was a young girl, probably in her early twenties. Two small braids rested on her goose-yellow clothes, her face was smooth and oily, and her large eyes blinked.

“Young Master Qi’s eye is sharp. This material has mediocre quality, but if we design a Buddha figure, it might be a big surprise when it’s finished.”

Qi Beixing’s face turned from pale to green. He snorted and turned to leave.

Qi Beichen smiled at the girl and followed immediately.

“What act is this now?”

“Nothing. I just felt you were being too wordy. ‘Matters should be kept secret; too much talk leads to mistakes.’ Don’t you understand?”

Qi Beichen didn’t want to bother with Qi Beixing, but what he said actually wasn’t wrong.

“You guys, lift this up. Be careful.”

Qi Run’s voice drifted up from below. Qi Beixing leaned closer to Qi Beichen, a triumphant look on his face.

Fine. This guy was trying to frame him, and the “shoved down the stairs” trope—logically, it should have happened at the recognition banquet. Looking at it now, it was already quite late.

“Brother Beichen, I have to say, this is what they call ‘Heaven helping me.’ Every opportunity is on my side.”

Qi Beichen didn’t plan to interfere with the plot’s progression; he let Qi Beixing court his own death.

“Whatever you say. Do whatever you want. The legs are yours, the mouth is yours, the pain is yours what does it have to do with me?”

Qi Beixing pulled Qi Beichen’s hand. “Mm, perhaps. But what I want is for you to disappear. If you’d just been obedient and not appeared, it would have been fine.”

“This isn’t up to me, that’s…”

Qi Beichen shook his head helplessly. Wasn’t this just something that author wrote? He had appeared; he didn’t even want to appear. If he were a fortune teller, he might have been swimming in money by now.

The two of them were pulling and shoving. “Beixing, stop tugging. If you keep pulling my clothes, I think my collar is going to tear.”

Clearly, Qi Beixing saw the red marks on Qi Beichen’s neck. They weren’t left over from kissing—they were from that damn mosquito from yesterday, sitting in a spot that was neither here nor there, giving Qi Beixing plenty of room for imagination.

They were right in the hollow of his neck, and it was a small cluster. Whoever saw that couldn’t help but think crookedly.

“Brother Beichen, you didn’t really do something like ‘going through the back door,’ did you?”

“Go ahead and imagine it. Whatever you think can I control it?”

Qi Beichen used a bit of strength. “Let go, my clothes!”

Qi Beixing was doing it on purpose. Qi Beichen’s collar was pulled out of shape, and that little red spot was exposed starkly to the air; the red was particularly conspicuous.

Qi Beixing tugged even harder on Qi Beichen’s clothes, visibly wrinkling them. “Brother Beichen, I couldn’t possibly compete with you for things. Even our parents favor you, I…”

Watching Qi Run happen to pass by downstairs.

Thump, thump, thump…

Qi Beixing’s acting was truly realistic. He rolled and crawled down from the nearly three-meter-high steps, landing in a mess. It didn’t look serious, but the process was thrilling.

Qi Beichen almost wanted to applaud. Could this next Oscar for Best Actor belong to Qi Beixing?

“What’s going on?”

Qi Run walked over quickly. Qi Beixing was covered in dust, holding his leg with both hands, tears in his eyes. “Dad, look at Brother! He said I tried to steal his position.”

It was so familiar, it couldn’t be more familiar. “I say, Beixing, can you make up a different reason?”

“Beichen, three percent of the company’s shares have been prepared to be allocated to your name. Beixing has more because he’s in this profession; the Qi family doesn’t tolerate such things.”

“Dad, you can’t just look at him at the bottom of the stairs! There’s surveillance here. Why don’t we pull it out and see if I was the one who pushed him down? Besides, look at him jumping around like that…”

“Sss…” Qi Beixing gasped, pointing to his ankle. “Brother, you can’t say that. My foot… it’s broken.”

Qi Run’s expression turned noticeably darker. “If there’s anything wrong with Beixing, don’t think you’ll get away with it.”

“Dad, surveillance! Pull it out and we’ll see, right?”

The assistant to the side scratched his head. “Um, Eldest Young Master, the surveillance here broke a few days ago, and we were only preparing to fix it today.”

Qi Beichen’s heart sank. Great. He’d been set up, played like a fiddle again.