On Top - Chapter 3

The spring rain began to fall again, fine and dense. It hung before their eyes like a misty curtain. Holding the handle of his umbrella, Su Xingyan suddenly found himself thinking that if the man upstairs earlier really married Yan Chong, he probably wouldn’t be able to withstand this guy’s torment. He was no match for Yan Chong.

…But what did any of that have to do with him?

Su Xingyan lightly exhaled a breath of misty air, tightened his grip on his umbrella, and prepared to leave. He had no desire to linger around Yan Chong. Yet, before he could even take half a step forward, his feet were anchored by a faint, seemingly non-existent sigh from behind him.

“…How heartless. Leaving me all alone.”

Su Xingyan paused and turned back around.

Yan Chong was looking at him with easy leisure. Behind those thin lenses, it was impossible to discern the true emotions buried in his eyes. “Madam, where is my umbrella?”

“Threw it away,” Su Xingyan said.

“Threw it away?”

Yan Chong feigned astonishment. From his expression, he even looked a bit hurt. “How can you be so heartless?” Yan Chong said with a touch of regret. “I was still waiting for you to return it to me.”

Su Xingyan let out a cold laugh and decided to confront him directly. “Would the grand Eldest Young Master of the Yan family actually be lacking an umbrella from me?” He added cryptically, “Furthermore, from what I saw, that umbrella was uniformly customized for internal use within your conglomerate, right? It probably…”

“Isn’t worth much money either.”

Su Xingyan spoke these last words softly, like raindrops tapping into a clear stream. He lifted his eyelids and shot a sudden, cold glance at Yan Chong. A trace of mocking aggression had already seeped into his bright eyes. Narrowing them, he asked, “How about I just give you the cash value instead?”

But how could a rogue like Yan Chong be affected by mockery? He merely smiled genially, taking the brunt of the other man’s anger in stride, and smoothly pulled out his phone. “Sure. Just transfer it to me via WeChat.”

Su Xingyan glanced at the QR code displayed on the screen and was angered into a laugh. This was truly an eye-opening experience for him, he hadn’t expected someone like this to exist in the world!

“How did you know I am the Eldest Young Master of the Yan family?” Yan Chong calmly retrieved his phone without any haste, he was only teasing him, knowing full well that Su Xingyan wouldn’t actually add his WeChat. “What’s this? Has Madam met me before?”

“Someone with as much ‘personality’ as the Eldest Young Master is quite rare. If I had met you before, I would definitely remember.”

Su Xingyan gave a fake, hollow smile, insulting him covertly. Yan Chong pretended not to understand, merely nodding his head as if in agreement, or perhaps encouraging Su Xingyan to keep speaking.

Su Xingyan continued, “Last time, the umbrella you gave me bore such a large logo of your company. Unless I am blind, I would certainly see it.”

“But the Yan family has a thriving, populous lineage. How did Madam guess I was the Eldest Young Master and not someone else?” Yan Chong was indeed a bit curious. He stared straight at Su Xingyan.

Su Xingyan didn’t back down either, smiling back at him with a glistening, watery gaze that seemed to silently curse him: Who else could be this shameless besides the Eldest Young Master?

Su Xingyan said softly, “If I remember correctly, Old Master Yan has only ever had one lawful wife and one son. The rest have always been kept outside, never even granted a proper status. Where would they get the audacity to go around flaunting the Yan family’s name?”

When Su Xingyan smiled, it was like autumn ripples. It was clearly a mockery, yet it carried a unique, captivating charm. Sweeping a glance at Yan Chong from the corner of his eyes, he criticized him deliberately and unhurriedly: “To act so unrestrained and wild… apart from the Eldest Young Master, I really cannot think of anyone else.”

“I am unrestrained and wild?”

When Yan Chong smiled, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. His bespoke, handmade leather shoes stepped across the bluestone pavement soaked by the spring rain as he took a step closer to Su Xingyan. “Why don’t you tell me, Madam, how exactly am I being unrestrained and wild?”

Yan Chong pressed closer. “Have I done anything to you?”

Forced by his advance, Su Xingyan took a step back, but his back hit the wall behind him, he was already cornered with no further room to retreat. Su Xingyan lifted his head and knitted his brows, staring right back at Yan Chong. As the eldest son of the Su family, he had been educated since childhood to be dignified, upright, and never to lose the Su family’s face under any circumstances. Consequently, he did not falter now. His cold, clear eyes reflected Yan Chong’s face as he threw the question back aggressively: “What is it that you want to do to me?”

“I want to…”

Yan Chong dragged out his words, sizing Su Xingyan up with a half-smile as he spoke to himself.

Undeniably, Su Xingyan was very beautiful.

Especially when he was angry.

His blatant desire was plain to see for Su Xingyan. Su Xingyan only looked at him, let out a cold laugh, and warned, “Try touching me, and see what happens.”

Splash!

A low-profile luxury vintage car rolled through the water-logged puddles and pulled up steadily by the roadside.

Recognizing it as the car sent by the Wei family to pick him up, Su Xingyan gripped his umbrella handle and prepared to walk over. Yan Chong, however, showed no intention of stepping aside, blocking him squarely with an amused, patient look.

He wanted the other man to speak. To beg him.

Su Xingyan looked at him, his tone turning cold. “Move.”

“Don’t make me say it a second time.”

Su Xingyan was, after all, the Eldest Young Master of the Su family. Although he usually appeared to have a good temper, he never lacked the dignity he ought to possess. If he were truly a pushover, he wouldn’t have been able to hold his ground within the Su family back then.

Yan Chong watched him quietly, showing no signs of anger. Last time, Tang Chao had suggested investigating him, but Yan Chong hadn’t agreed. Now, looking at the irritation in Su Xingyan’s eyes, a strange itch stirred in his heart. He suddenly felt a trace of curiosity toward him. The warmth of the spring rain diffused through the air. After a brief moment, Yan Chong smiled genially and stepped aside to clear the path. “Have a safe trip, Madam.”

Su Xingyan walked away without looking back.

Once he got into the backseat, the driver asked curiously, “Madam, was that a friend?”

Su Xingyan furrowed his brows in annoyance as Yan Chong’s hypocritical face flashed through his mind again. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before maintaining his refined upbringing to reply, “No. …He is nothing at all.”

If I had to label him, he’s just a bastard in a suit, Su Xingyan added in his mind.

Meanwhile, the bastard in a suit was narrowing his eyes, quietly watching the vintage car carry Su Xingyan away. For some reason, the smile curving up his lips lingered for a very long time.

It had indeed been a while since anyone dared to scold him like that. Who exactly gave him such confidence? Was it his family, or the person he married? Yan Chong suddenly grew curious about who such a beautiful person belonged to.

By the time Yan Chong finished his meetings, it was already eight o’clock in the evening. Checking the time, he wasn’t particularly hungry, so he headed straight to the Huixin Sanatorium.

His grandmother maintained a much more regular dining schedule than he did, she had eaten an early dinner and was currently being pushed around the courtyard in her wheelchair by a caregiver. Spotting him from a distance, the old lady let out a cold snort and teased him intentionally, “Forgot your mother once you got a wife. I thought you weren’t coming today.”

Yan Chong walked over in a few strides and took over the wheelchair from the caregiver. Hearing this, he lowered his eyes and smiled composedly. “How could I? When a child travels a thousand miles, the mother worries. If I didn’t come, wouldn’t you be anxious?”

Old Madam Yan snorted again and fell silent. Over the past few years, her son had been bringing his illegitimate children back home, even subtly trying to introduce them into the company, he had truly lost his mind! Did he really think those useless bastards could ever compare to Yan Chong? Whether it was capability in handling business or navigating interpersonal relationships, Yan Chong was sharp when he needed to be sharp, and smooth when he needed to be smooth.

These were qualities she had painstakingly cultivated over the years. How could those wild children ever measure up?

“Have you met the child from the Tang family yet? How is he?” Old Madam Yan asked. “Did he agree?”

Yan Chong still smiled very genially, the moonlight reflecting a blue tint across his thin lenses. He asked in return, “Does he even have the right to refuse?”

Old Madam Yan couldn’t help but turn her head to look at her arrogant grandson, yet, looking at his face alone, one would actually think he was humble and polite. Yan Chong said, “The wedding banquet will be held next month, together with your birthday banquet. As for the arrangements, I’ll have Tang Chao handle them properly.”

“Tang Chao has been with you for ten years now, hasn’t he? …With that temper of yours, who knows who will be able to keep you in check in the future.”

Old Madam Yan also knew that her grandson was boundlessly arrogant. However, with the Yan family backing him up, what was wrong with him being a little arrogant? Thus, she merely closed her eyes and let out a long sigh of resignation.

The rain had stopped long ago. Only the mist continued to permeate Rong (Rong Port). Yan Chong narrowed his eyes, peering into the depths of the thick fog ahead. For some reason, Su Xingyan’s indignant, furious face came to mind once more.

“A-Yan? A-Yan? …What are you thinking about?”

Inside the old Wei family residence, Wei Zhenning noticed that Su Xingyan had been holding his chopsticks and zoning out. He couldn’t help but inquire with concern. In his impression, Su Xingyan was nothing like that reckless brat, Wei Chengran. Su Xingyan had always been well-behaved, proper, and dignified, rarely showing any lapses in composure.

Su Xingyan snapped out of his thoughts. Seeing the entire family staring at him in unison, his face grew inexplicably warm. He lowered his head slightly, cursing Yan Chong’s ancestors for eighteen generations in his mind before softly breathing out. “It’s nothing. I probably haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

Su Xingyan immediately followed up by asking, “What is it, Father?”

Wei Zhenning set down his chopsticks and let out a long sigh before asking, “Is Chengran… still busy running that little company of his lately?” Wei Zhenning closed his eyes, appearing somewhat frustrated by his son’s lack of progress. “Chengran is sometimes full of impulsive passion, without the slightest clue of how difficult it is to start from scratch. On one hand, I want him to go out and face more trials, but on the other hand…”

“He is the only son of the Wei family. If this company isn’t handed over to him in the end, who else can I give it to? I can’t build and protect this empire for him for the rest of my life.”

Su Xingyan merely kept his eyes lowered and remained silent. He wasn’t foolish, he knew very well that this wasn’t the time for him to speak up. He only needed to listen.

“…I originally wanted to finalize this cooperation for him. Once he returns to the company, we could just put his name on it. It’s just a pity,” speaking up to this point, Wei Zhenning coughed fittingly.

Wei Mingran was startled and quickly called out “Daddy” while stepping over to pat Wei Zhenning’s back. “Daddy is fine, it’s just that regarding the cooperation…”

Wei Zhenning looked over at Su Xingyan with a gaze full of worry. Su Xingyan quickly took up the task. “Please rest assured, Father. Leave the company matters to me. As for Chengran’s side…”

Su Xingyan’s gaze paused slightly. Having known Wei Chengran for so many years, how could he not understand him? He only appeared careless and never serious on the surface, but in reality, he was as stubborn as a donkey, once he set his mind on something, there was virtually no possibility of changing it.

Su Xingyan let out a soft breath but still stated, “I will go and negotiate with Chengran.”

With this assurance from Su Xingyan, Wei Zhenning finally felt relieved. “Good, go talk to him more. He only listens to you, what we say doesn’t work on him at all.” As he spoke, the butler standing behind Wei Zhenning understood the cue and handed over the prepared project proposal.

Su Xingyan took it and read through it carefully. Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, as if he had just seen something extraordinary.

“Father… are we cooperating with the Yan family?”