Rules of Civility - Chapter 6

When Shao Yiqing stepped outside, Deng Su was already waiting for him, his car having just pulled up.

As a beta, Deng Su’s appearance was far from ordinary. In fact, he surpassed quite a few alphas, yet conveniently lacked the arrogant superiority complex that many alphas possessed. This appearance naturally made him much more approachable, making him a great fit for any occasion; his modest and gentle temperament made him pleasing to get along with for anyone.

Pushing open the door, Deng Su stepped out wearing a pair of polished dark brown leather shoes, a grayish-blue suit, and permed hair styled in soft, backward-swept waves that revealed his fair forehead and neatly trimmed eyebrows. He was just about to open the door for Shao Yiqing when he heard Shao Yiqing’s voice.

“Change cars. We aren’t taking this one today.” Shao Yiqing lowered his head to adjust his cuffs. He wasn’t wearing a watch, wanting to add a touch of ease to a meeting that could be considered official business, yet could also be classified as a private affair.

“Not taking this one?” Deng Su hesitated, his hand resting on the car door, but quickly complied and pushed the door shut.

“Mhm. Go to the warehouse and get that Kia.” Shao Yiqing handed him the keys.

Deng Su took them in a daze. Though he didn’t understand why, he picked up his pace and headed toward the warehouse.

The car was brand new and had barely been driven. The license plates had just been issued, and the dust-proof film hadn’t even been peeled off yet. Why abandon a million-dollar Maybach in favor of a Kia with a retail value of six hundred thousand? Deng Su didn’t quite understand, but he figured that as long as he followed along, he would figure out the reason sooner or later.

When Shao Yiqing came out, he was on the phone, his expression calm, though his tone sounded as if he were speaking with a smile. When you couldn’t see someone’s facial expressions, it was easiest to throw the other party off guard.

Deng Su waited in place for a moment. Sitting in the driver’s seat, he didn’t idle either; finding a box of wet wipes inside the car, he used them to wipe down the car windows and steering wheel. He only hurried out to open the back door when Shao Yiqing made a move to depart.

Shao Yiqing didn’t force him to do these things, but this was a standard Deng Su set for himself. He knew bosses cared about face, and the polite pleasantries from a superior’s mouth could not be taken literally; what they said was one thing, but what you ought to do still had to be done. The two things didn’t conflict.

Don’t be too rigid.

Deng Su had never been to Cuihu Ting, nor had he ever picked up Shao Yiqing from there, which meant this wasn’t a property under Shao Yiqing’s name, but someone else’s.

Someone important lived there, or perhaps someone who could prove useful.

He thought back to that phone call. Where did Shao Yiqing get the confidence to assert so firmly that the contract couldn’t be signed? Could it be that he really did have dealings with the Sheng family, only he, Deng Su, didn’t know about it?

That shouldn’t be the case. He had been by Shao Yiqing’s side for at least five or six years, and he understood most matters big and small. He had never heard of any connection to the Sheng family.

Yet Shao Yiqing wasn’t someone who liked writing blank checks. Since he had said it, there had to be a solution. As Deng Su adjusted the navigation for Cuihu Ting, he peeked at Shao Yiqing through the rearview mirror.

It was as if Shao Yiqing had eyes on the back of his head. Even without looking forward, he saw right through Deng Su’s thoughts. “Is there something written on my face?”

There were three routes to Cuihu Ting. After selecting the most convenient and smooth path, Deng Su gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands and murmured, “No.”

He backed the car out and drove out of the courtyard.

“I just suddenly realized you look quite spirited today.” Deng Su’s gaze landed on Shao Yiqing’s neck. A blue and white square scarf pushed Shao Yiqing’s scholarly elegance to its peak, softening that overwhelming allure and adding a touch of gentle consideration.

“Your mouth isn’t very honest,” Shao Yiqing exposed him. He was looking at his phone, leaving him no mind to bicker with Deng Su.

As the car drove along the smooth road, Deng Su rolled down the window a crack. He knew Shao Yiqing liked fresh air, and he liked it too.

“I was just wondering who lives at Cuihu Ting. It’s not often you put in this kind of effort.” It was rare; Shao Yiqing never reined in his sharpness, and his aesthetic style was fashionable and avant-garde.

When Deng Su had first joined the company, Shao Yiqing was still strutting down the wild highway. Back then, his flamboyant style was more electrifying than any hotshot in the entertainment industry. In any setting, he could make a whole group of people stare until their eyes went blind. The most absurd part was that he had infatuated a bunch of star-struck junior employees in his own company; on their office desks sat not their favorite idols’ standees, but photos of their boss.

At that time, it wasn’t even when Shao Yiqing was at his absolute youngest, he was in his early thirties, yet his outfits and styling were intensely trendy. Perhaps because of his fine physique, he looked imposing in anything he wore. The company was abuzz all day long, and in their after-work conversations, whispers of alphas wishing they could be dogs for their boss would occasionally slip out.

Back then, Deng Su just thought the employees were being abstract. But later, after interacting with him in person, Deng Su, a beta completely unaffected by pheromones, couldn’t resist feeling an impulse toward Shao Yiqing’s back either. He didn’t deny it, nor did he harbor any unrealistic expectations of getting truly entangled with his boss; he simply had the clearest, most direct reaction to the word sex appeal.

He didn’t make an intentional effort to hide it, because Shao Yiqing was the kind of open-minded person who, even if he noticed, would just say, “Having feelings for your boss? Go date someone, young man, don’t let it interfere with work tomorrow.”

“Don’t we need to prepare any gifts?” Halfway through the drive, Deng Su suddenly brought it up.

Shao Yiqing raised his head from the back seat and asked, “Do you know who we’re going to see?”

“I don’t know, but Cuihu Ting is a residential area, and we’ve never been there before. Your outfit doesn’t look like you’re going for official business. You must be visiting a friend you haven’t been in touch with for a long time.” He made a bold guess, though he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.

“More or less. Barely falling into the category of a friend,” Shao Yiqing said. If calling someone much older a sworn brother or friend counted, then Deng Su’s expression wasn’t wrong.

Cuihu Ting was a mid-to-high-end residential complex with an artificial lake inside. Before the complex was built, it used to be a scenic park, which was how it got its name. With four universities and three Grade-A tertiary hospitals nearby, the living experience and convenience were greatly enhanced. The underground parking garage had three levels; it was spacious and comfortable, with the third basement level maintaining a constant temperature year-round, and people often exercised down there during winter and summer.

From the outside, Cuihu Ting was just a decent real estate location, incomparable to the places Shao Yiqing frequented. Because of this, Deng Su couldn’t gauge what kind of status this friend of Shao Yiqing’s held. He was only responsible for parking the car properly and fetching a fine bottle of wine he had prepared along the way.

Shao Yiqing waited for him at the entrance of the complex. Once the handoff was complete, he didn’t let Deng Su follow him, carrying the bottle of wine up by himself. Curious, Deng Su stood behind and watched.

The elevators weren’t in constant use. Shao Yiqing hadn’t visited apartment-style buildings in a long time, and the experience felt novel. Still, with society progressing so quickly nowadays, the materials and facilities of slightly nicer apartment complexes were practically indistinguishable from private villas.

With one apartment per floor, there was no need to worry about disturbing others. Shao Yiqing pressed the doorbell, and his face appeared on the video intercom next to it. The visage displayed on the monitor was feast-for-the-eyes material; who could tell that he was already well past his twenties?

After a brief wait, the sound of footsteps came from inside the apartment, and the video intercom blinked for a few seconds. A moment later, the door was pulled open from within. Standing behind the door was a man of the same age, yet clearly looking more fitting for that age than Shao Yiqing. Looking astonished, the man blurted out, “President Shao…”

Shao Yiqing raised the bottle in his hand. “Am I welcome?”

The man took a step back, seeming surprised by the visitor and momentarily forgetting to make the proper reaction. Once he recovered, he hurriedly piled on an enthusiastic smile and said, “Of course you’re welcome.”

With that, he shouted into the apartment, “Old Du, President Shao is here!”

Shao Yiqing walked in and began admiring the spacious apartment. He had only visited once during its construction when it was still just steel and concrete with nothing much to look at. Now, it had transformed into a cozy and warm homestead, greeted by a faint fragrance of tea and the sound of a pot of Jin Jun Mei boiling not far away.

The boiling water made a sharp whistling sound. Shao Yiqing took the liberty of walking over to switch off the power. It was precisely this action that caught the eye of Du Dezhong, who had just walked out. Du Dezhong softly called out, “Yiqing.”

The moment Shao Yiqing lifted his gaze, it carried an alluring charm that even he himself couldn’t perceive. Even just a bending motion or a glance upward could easily awaken a longing for beauty deep within someone’s heart. It was hard to say what kind of magic that was, but Du Dezhong still attributed it to the unique charm exclusive to Shao Yiqing.

“Uncle Du, you still like drinking this?” Shao Yiqing straightened up, his hand slightly scorched by the tea vapor. He used his other hand to pinch the warm spot.

“I tried switching to others, but I couldn’t get used to it.” Du Dezhong walked out of the bedroom and pulled the door shut, leaving only the two of them in the living room. The soundproofing was quite good; the crying of the baby inside completely vanished.

“Is the kid fussy?” Shao Yiqing asked.

“Not too bad,” Du Dezhong raised a hand, inviting Shao Yiqing to sit down. “His mother takes care of him mostly.”

Du Dezhong’s wife was a male Omega, and they had just welcomed a little son this year. In fact, modern society had very blurred definitions of Omegas across many aspects. For instance, titles like wife or mother, due to an Omega’s ability to nurture life, and because their physical constitution and bodily structure were entirely different from alphas, resembling more of a vulnerable party that needed protection, raised questions: should Omegas be defined by their primary sex characteristics externally, or classified by their secondary sex characteristics? It was a difficult scale to balance, and no matter which way you looked at it, there was controversy.

Therefore, for an Omega partner, whether an alpha called them husband or wife, and whether the children called them father or mother, was a matter for each family to discuss and decide among themselves. The titles of husband or wife were even more of a private bedroom affection between an alpha and their Omega, and no matter how one called it, it wasn’t overstepping.

However, when facing outsiders, primary sex characteristics were generally more widely recognized.

Du Dezhong was roughly ten years older than Shao Yiqing, yet his Omega was the exact same age as Shao Yiqing. The reason behind this was simple: everyone loves youth.

“What is that?” Du Dezhong noticed the object on the table that Shao Yiqing had placed there. The box bore the English words La tache. Not knowing much about wine, Du Dezhong could only roughly tell that it was a bottle of wine. “You know I don’t drink.”

“You love tea, but unfortunately I don’t understand tea. Your knowledge in the realm of tea far surpasses mine, and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself, so I could only bring something I actually understand,” Shao Yiqing patted the wooden box. “Romanee-Conti, the king of reputation among the youth. I’ve tested it on behalf of Zhuocheng; he’ll probably like it.”

Du Zhuocheng was Du Dezhong’s eldest son who had studied abroad.

“It’s considerate of you to still think of him.” Du Dezhong chuckled, unwrapped a pack of cigarettes, and handed one to Shao Yiqing. “You never visit a temple without a purpose. What brings you to see me this time? Just dropping by to say hello?”

Du Dezhong didn’t beat around the bush. Shao Yiqing took the cigarette, pressed it down beside his hand, and offered a bit of flattery: “Being ten years younger than you, I really can’t keep up.”

Du Dezhong curled his lips into a naturally pleased smile.

“I heard you’re solely in charge of the signing ceremony between Lingrui and the Sheng family?” Shao Yiqing cut straight to the point, not giving Du Dezhong time to react, though someone like Du Dezhong had experienced everything, didn’t need reaction time, and wasn’t all that slow-witted anyway.

“You heard about it too?” Du Dezhong’s tone was cautious.

“When an empire falls, the momentum is like a mountain collapsing. If I didn’t even know about such a huge commotion, I wouldn’t need to bother surviving in this industry anymore,” Shao Yiqing said.

Du Dezhong twirled the cigarette in his hand, wearing a sympathetic expression as if he were well-accustomed to seeing the rise and fall of empires, and let out a sigh of helpless pity: “Yeah, such a huge enterprise, crashing down just like that. At the end of the day, it comes down to poor management. Even though there were petty schemers messing things up behind the scenes, it shouldn’t have collapsed this thoroughly. At this point, even if you want to save it, there’s no bringing it back.”

By saying this in advance, he was signaling that Lingrui was beyond saving. Du Dezhong was an old fox; the moment Shao Yiqing spoke, he roughly deduced the latter’s intent. To lower the other party’s expectations, he opened his mouth and immediately slapped a death sentence on Lingrui.

“As far as I know, neither of these two forces affects the operation of Jiachuang. Who wins or loses shouldn’t matter to you, right?” Du Dezhong looked at Shao Yiqing. It was an extremely seductive face; when he fell silent and didn’t speak, it added a touch of sternness to his allure, carrying a strong desire for conquest.

Shao Yiqing was twirling the cigarette between his fingers. He had never really liked the taste of Jinsheng; even though others claimed Jinsheng was infused with agarwood essential oil and possessed an indescribably elegant aroma when smoked, he couldn’t taste it. He only found the flavor quite harsh. Presumably, what Jinsheng conquered wasn’t someone like him who had overly high demands for scent.

“Whether it matters depends on whether Uncle Du takes it seriously,” Shao Yiqing saw through Du Dezhong’s craftiness and didn’t rush to jump the gun. “Whichever of those two rabbits dies doesn’t affect the operation of my little workshop, that’s unquestionable. What it shakes is merely a bit of my credibility in the eyes of others. That kind of thing can be big or small, essential or dispensable.”

Du Dezhong furrowed his brows. “Who did you place a bet with?”

Shao Yiqing raised his face, met Du Dezhong’s gaze, and answered with absolute candor: “Xu Mingfu.”

“Lingrui’s young master?” Du Dezhong was greatly perplexed. “How did you get entangled with him?”

“Xiangjiang is only this big. Either you bump into me or I run into you. It’s not worth finding surprising.”

“So, because of this young master, you’re going to extend a helping hand to Lingrui?”

“More or less,” Shao Yiqing said. “It hasn’t reached the point of extending a helping hand. At most, it’s just letting this collapsing building stand a little longer. Everything else is none of my concern.”

Racing against time was the most urgent matter for Lingrui right now. Every single second could potentially give Lingrui a chance at resurrection, but once the signing ceremony began, everything would be completely useless.

A tottering Mount Tai still had a sliver of breath left in it, but if Lingrui were truly incorporated under the Sheng family’s banner and they tried to dig it back out from the Sheng family’s pockets, that would be wishful thinking.

“But what good does this do for you?” Du Dezhong sought to get to the bottom of it. “Under normal circumstances, you should be standing on the Sheng family’s side, pulling strings to negotiate a partnership. Once Lingrui goes down, Xiangjiang will belong exclusively to the Sheng family. Smart people are all hovering around the Sheng family group right now.”

“Are you one of them, Uncle Du?”

“Not only am I, but you should be too.” Du Dezhong had already lit his cigarette at some point, holding it in his mouth. After taking a fierce drag, he said, “Though you certainly have the capital not to be.”

Shao Yiqing let out a soft laugh, not out of agreement, but leaning more toward amusement.

“In other words, Uncle Du is already standing at the bow of the Sheng family’s ship and can’t help me?” Shao Yiqing stopped beating around the bush.

Du Dezhong adopted a tone of profound regret: “I’m sorry, Yiqing. I genuinely want to help you, but my hands are tied. Though I suppose you won’t be driven to a dead end either. If you just shout out to Beijing over there, what problem can’t you solve?”

“But the moment I set foot on this road in Xiangjiang, I never planned to have any further entanglements with Beijing,” Shao Yiqing stood up. “Alright, I understand Uncle Du’s predicament. I will never put you in a difficult position.”

He walked away a few steps. Even though the matter he needed help with hadn’t even been brought up before being shot down, Shao Yiqing didn’t look annoyed at all, acting genuinely as if he intended to pack up and head straight back.

Du Dezhong looked at the bottle of Romanee-Conti on the corner of the table. Suddenly thinking of something, he said, “Wait.”

Shao Yiqing paused his steps. He lowered his gaze to look at the floor; fortunately, it wasn’t a mirror, so it couldn’t reflect the fleeting smile on his face.

“Asking me to sabotage things at the signing ceremony is something I absolutely cannot do. That concerns my rice bowl and my lifelong human rights,” Du Dezhong left room for negotiation, waiting for Shao Yiqing to fill in the options himself.

Shao Yiqing collected his thoughts and said, “Of course I never thought of having Uncle Du do something that would smash his own rice bowl. I just hope the signing ceremony can be postponed by two days. Even just a week would work.”

“How I wish I could say sure, leave it to me, I’ve got this handled for you. But Yiqing,” Du Dezhong sighed with the helplessness of scattered grayish-blue smoke drifting in the wind, “I am merely a third party invited to host the signing ceremony. I have no say whatsoever in the core power dynamics, let alone the ability to decide the timing of the ceremony.”

Calling it hosting the signing ceremony was just flattering terms; in reality, he was just there as a third party to act as a witness. He couldn’t change a thing.

Shao Yiqing walked back, revealing a hint of dilemma.

Du Dezhong glanced at him. That lost-and-bewildered expression seemed to carry a subtle, intangible seduction. As his dense, long eyelashes drooped, he looked utterly pitiful. After a moment, Du Dezhong relented: “However, I can build a stepping stone for you. As to when the signing ceremony is set and whether it can be postponed, you might as well talk directly with the Sheng family.”

Whether the negotiation succeeds or fails, you bear the responsibility yourself.

He, Du Dezhong, was already on the ship. The main helm wasn’t in his hands, so he couldn’t change the vessel’s course, but he could jump around on deck and kick up a few ripples. That wasn’t too difficult.

“It seems that’s the only way.” Shao Yiqing sat back down, looking ready to listen to Du Dezhong’s high advice.

“Tomorrow afternoon at six o’clock, before the signing ceremony, there is a meeting regarding Lingrui’s restructuring. Senior executives from the Sheng family will be in attendance. Specifically, Quan Hongying, who holds centralized power…”

“Will Sheng Tingzhou be going?” Shao Yiqing abruptly interrupted. It was precisely because of these words that Du Dezhong experienced a massive reaction.

He stared fixedly at Shao Yiqing, attempting to analyze the ripples beneath his eyes. Some belated information surged into his mind, and for ten seconds, Du Dezhong forgot to raise his hand to put his cigarette back in his mouth.

“There is only one person who holds the acquisition authority, and that is the helm of the Sheng family. The so-called executive with centralized power is merely able to act decisively in other aspects. Swallowing an elephant is easy to burst your stomach; the opinions of people at the bottom don’t matter, the top boss has to make the clear decision himself. Yet once a decision is made on a matter like this, it basically won’t be easily shaken. Therefore, I have to talk directly with the top boss.”

The leader of a small workshop was a leader too; Shao Yiqing understood completely what the top boss was thinking.

His words sounded as though they had been drafted in advance, and his attitude was even more resolute. The look of disappointment from a moment ago had instantly transformed into such unwavering certainty, beyond doubt. After hesitating for a moment, Du Dezhong finally understood.

Shao Yiqing had been waiting right here the entire time.

Just like an item of clothing priced at 800 yuan: a shrewd negotiator opens with an outrageous lowball offer of 100 yuan, which only triggers the merchant’s defensive reflex and naturally makes them unwilling to waste words with you anymore. At that point, you step up and say you’re willing to pay a bit more. Seeing that you genuinely like it, and lacking a certain financial capacity, the merchant offers another 180-yuan model for your consideration. By then, the merchant has no heart left to haggle, and sells it at 180 yuan, a price close to cost. Hesitating, you quickly pay, the deal is sealed, and the seller makes only a tiny profit, or none at all.

Yet only as the merchant did you realize that from the moment the buyer stepped into the shop, what they had their eyes on all along was the 180-yuan model.

Shao Yiqing seemingly took a step back to settle for less, but in reality, right from the very beginning, his target was Sheng Tingzhou.

Support