Spoiled by a Paranoid Big Shot Since Childhood - Chapter 10

With his rims reddened, Xi Bei felt as embarrassed as a little rabbit. Only after a few moments did he carefully lift his eyes.

“An An,” Xi Bei whispered.

Qin Yian gave a firm, heavy nod. “Mm.”

Xi Bei repeated it once more, “An An.”

“I’m here.”

“We are the best family, right?”

“Right.”

Finally, Xi Bei pressed his lips together, revealing a genuine, heartfelt smile.

Having secured Qin Yian’s solemn vow, he felt as though he had reclaimed his status as the brave little man his parents used to praise he was someone’s “precious bundle” again, rather than a timid child constantly gripped by the fear of abandonment.

“My father never calls me An An,” Qin Yian murmured. “In the past, only my mother used to call me by that name.”

It had been a very long time since anyone had addressed him this way. First, it was his mother, and now it was Xi Bei. His one and only Xi Bei.

Xi Bei nodded with absolute sincerity. With a soft, tender voice, he reached out somewhat awkwardly to take hold of Qin Yian’s hand. “I will call you that from now on.”

Qin Yian answered with absolute certainty, tightening his grip on the smaller boy’s uninjured hand.

“By the way, Tuan Tuan,” Qin Yian spoke up suddenly, “you still haven’t told me exactly who bullied you.”

Xi Bei stiffened slightly. After a brief pause, he ruffled his soft, jet-black hair, pulling at a stray cowlick as he whispered, “I don’t know…” He added sheepishly, “I don’t know his name.”

Amusement actually flickered across Qin Yian’s eyes.

Taking off his baseball cap, he reached over to smooth down Xi Bei’s ruffled hair before gently placing the cap onto the younger boy’s head.

“But you must know what he looks like, right?” Qin Yian’s gaze remained anchored to Xi Bei as he tilted his head slightly. “Point him out to me in a little bit.”

Xi Bei’s eyes widened instantly.

Although he knew now that Qin Yian wouldn’t find him a nuisance, Xi Bei was naturally bright, warm, and sweet-tempered like a little sun; he genuinely disliked conflict. Qin Yian, on the other hand, looked entirely ready to exact retribution on his behalf.

“…An An,” Xi Bei suddenly stood up, pulling Qin Yian toward the exit. “How about I tell you a joke?”

He wore an entirely solemn expression, his clear, sparkling eyes focused intently on the older boy.

Qin Yian paused for a fraction of a second.

As the two emerged from behind the clinic curtains, they happened to cross paths with Xie Ye, who was standing outside staring listlessly at the sky out of sheer boredom.

The moment Xie Ye spotted them, his eyes lit up. Discerning that the two weren’t angry with him, he immediately chimed in, “What joke? I want to hear it too!”

Xi Bei nodded instantly, assuming a highly mysterious aura. “It goes like this! Today on the basketball court, I saw a banana walking ahead of me.”

Xie Ye: “…Huh?”

Qin Yian, however, gave an appreciative nod.

If this had been any other occasion, Qin Yian’s razor-sharp tongue would have delivered a frosty retort like: “A banana can walk? Are you a banana?” But this time, he simply praised, “Remarkable.”

Xie Ye: “…”

“As it walked, it kept complaining, ‘Oh dear, it’s so hot!'” Xi Bei extended his index finger, waving it twice through the air with a bright smile. “So, I told it, ‘If you’re hot, why don’t you take off your clothes?'”

Xie Ye shivered slightly at the sheer dryness of the joke. “…And then what?”

Xi Bei giggled innocently. “And then! It stripped its clothes off. The banana peel went splat right in front of me, and I tripped and fell!”

“…” Xie Ye’s lips twitched into a stiff grin. “Ha… haha…”

He darted a sideways glance toward Qin Yian. Was Qin Yian not supposed to be the master of biting sarcasm? At a time like this, shouldn’t he chime in with something like, “That’s your joke? Ha, your delivery is funnier than the punchline”? After all, whenever Xie Ye attempted to tell a joke in the past, Qin Yian would relentlessly shut him down precisely like that!

Instead, Qin Yian spoke softly: “Did the fall hurt?”

Xi Bei blinked, offering an embarrassed smile as he tightly held Qin Yian’s hand. “It didn’t hurt…”

Accompanied by a thoroughly dumbfounded Xie Ye, the two boys quickly made their way into the academic building. By this time, the athletic activities period had practically concluded, and nearly everyone had filtered back into the classroom. The physical education instructor stood at the lectern, conducting roll call.

Upon seeing the trio enter, the teacher blinked in surprise. “Ah, Qin Yian is back? Hurry along to your seats and take a good rest.”

Qin Yian said nothing.

Xie Ye let out a sharp scoff. Before returning to his desk, he shot a deliberate look in the bully’s direction, mouthing the words: You are completely finished. Only then did he clap Qin Yian on the shoulder and saunter off contentedly.

Beneath the platform, expressions varied wildly among the students. Since they were a group of eight-year-old children, whatever emotions they harbored were written starkly across their faces. Some looked entirely clueless, others were merely eager for a spectacle, while a few specifically the bully Xie Ye had gestured toward looked rigid and thoroughly panicked.

Qin Yian cast a frigid glance in his direction, deliberately slowing his pace as he led Xi Bei along.

Before returning to their respective seats, Qin Yian deliberately took the long route around the classroom. This unusual movement commanded the attention of nearly every student in the room. Even though the physical education teacher wanted to instruct him to sit down, he hesitated, deeply mindful of Qin Yian’s formidable family background.

“Li Chengyi.”

Upon hearing his name called by Qin Yian, the bully Li Chengyi shuddered visibly. He couldn’t stop his peripheral vision from darting anxiously toward Xi Bei.

Stammering, Li Chengyi asked, “W-What do you want?”

“You want to curry favor with me,” Qin Yian stated flatly.

“…”

Not only was Li Chengyi stunned, but the surrounding classmates and even the instructor at the podium were struck with absolute astonishment. They were floored by the sheer coldness, maturity, and piercing clarity displayed by a child of his age he had completely stripped away any semblance of polite pretense.

“Who—who says?!”

Li Chengyi’s face flushed a deep, burning crimson. Children valued their pride above all else, and he could instantly feel the bizarre, judging stares of his peers locking onto him. Standing up abruptly, he craned his neck and retorted furiously, “You’re talking nonsense!”

“Nonsense?” Qin Yian countered coldly. “If repeating exactly what you did constitutes nonsense, then what does that make you? A bastard?”

“Pfft… Hahaha…”

A wave of muffled snickering erupted across the room. These slightly precocious children of an elite academy had long since mastered the art of kicking a person while they were down.

Xie Ye burst into a hearty roar of laughter. “Yes! That’s the way!”

Qin Yian had been so exceptionally gentle with Xi Bei that everyone had nearly forgotten his innate ability to utterly suffocate a person with his sharp tongue.

Unlike the amused onlookers, Li Chengyi looked ready to snap the pencil in his hand in half, glaring resentfully at Qin Yian.

“How else do you plan to argue your way out of this?” Qin Yian questioned calmly. “You cannot stand my Tuan… you cannot stand Xi Bei because I share a good relationship with him while refusing to spare you a single glance, correct?”

Li Chengyi slammed his pencil onto the desk. “You…”

“You are an uncultured bastard, and I will never be friends with someone like you,” Qin Yian concluded flatly. “Apologize to Xi Bei.”

“Right now. Instantly.”

“Do not make me repeat myself.”

“…”

The teacher at the podium found himself entirely incapable of intervening. Catching sight of the white bandages wrapped around Xi Bei’s hands, he pieced together the sequence of events and swallowed a sharp breath, privately reeling in shock. To offend the young master of the Qin family Li Chengyi was bound for an incredibly grim outcome. Then again, a spoiled brat truly deserved to be taught a harsh lesson.

Li Chengyi could barely hold back his tears. With reddened rims and tightly gritted teeth, he squeezed out a muffled: “…I’m sorry.”

Standing just behind Qin Yian, Xi Bei blinked in slight surprise. He possessed beautiful, delicate features and, above all, an exceptionally kind heart. Most ordinary people found it impossible to harbor malice toward such a gentle, sweet child, though the mental wiring of an unhinged bully naturally defied logical comprehension.

Although Xi Bei deeply resented the malicious comments made regarding his late parents, he still offered a polite nod, speaking softly after a brief pause: “Please do not do this ever again.”

Qin Yian squeezed Xi Bei’s hand gently before finally leading him away.

Upon returning to their desks, Qin Yian pulled out Xi Bei’s chair for him before attending to his own. The collective gaze of the room remained anchored to them; while Xi Bei felt a touch self-conscious, Qin Yian sat with absolute composure, acting precisely as though the ruthless, razor-tongued boy who had just reduced a classmate to tears wasn’t him at all.

Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Qin Yian lifted his head, directed his gaze across the room toward Li Chengyi, and spoke out: “By the way.”

The classroom’s attention focused even more intensely, fueled by a collective thirst for drama. Li Chengyi, who was currently sniffling, wiped his face haphazardly as he looked up, entirely unsure of what terrifying words Qin Yian would deliver next.

“I don’t completely refuse to consume things handled by others,” Qin Yian announced.

“…?”

The surrounding children looked entirely blank.

Qin Yian calmly reached over, lifting the carton of ordinary, cheap strawberry milk that Xi Bei had left half-finished on his desk. Then, right before Li Chengyi’s utterly dumbfounded gaze, he lowered his head and casting aside every ounce of his typical aristocratic haughtiness drank the remainder of Xi Bei’s milk without the slightest trace of hesitation.

“Xi Bei’s things are perfectly fine,” he decreed. “Anyone else’s will not do.”

Xi Bei rubbed his eyes, feeling a sharp prickle of warmth behind his eyelids.

He understood. From Li Chengyi’s cruel remarks, he knew exactly how cheap and ordinary the items he gifted Qin Yian truly were, and how impoverished he appeared in the eyes of others.

Yet Qin Yian would never view him that way. The previous carton of milk he had given Qin Yian was currently being kept safely inside the toy room, perched safely atop a massive beanbag chair like a silly little treasure. Though it looked slightly ridiculous, it was entirely sincere.

That evening.

By the time the butler concluded his duties at the academy and brought both children home to study, bathe, and tuck them into bed, it was already eleven o’clock.

Butler Gu sat in the living room; his eyes fixed firmly on the telephone. He seemed to be calculating his words with immense care. After a long, heavy sigh, he finally dialed the numbers.

“Hello… Sir. It’s me. First, to brief you regarding young master Xi Bei his parents have been properly laid to rest, and their remaining belongings have been safely organized. Tomorrow is Saturday, so I will be taking Xi Bei to visit the memorial park.”

“The legal adoption paperwork has been finalized, and everything with the evening newspapers has been settled cleanly. You need not worry.”

An approving tone seemed to hum from the other end of the line. Qin Yueyuan was perpetually consumed by a relentless schedule; seeing that Butler Gu finished his report, he prepared to conclude the call.

“Please wait a moment!”

Qin Yueyuan sounded entirely preoccupied. “Is there something else?”

“…The young master got into a dispute with a classmate today. The child from that family spoke with immense insolence, so the young master taught him a severe lesson.” Butler Gu continued smoothly, “The young master was furious and refused to allow that child to ever appear before him again. The boy’s parents brought him over to plead for clemency, but I politely declined.”

“I have already arranged for that child to be transferred out of the school.”

In their social circles, no one dared to cross the Qin family. Even if the Qins themselves deemed it beneath them to take action, there would always be plenty of entities eager to exact “vengeance” on their behalf. When Li Chengyi returned home to find his parents’ faces entirely pale with despair, a profound sense of regret finally consumed him; he wept bitterly, sobbing that he would never dare bully another classmate again. His furious parents had beaten him until his skin swelled, leaving the entire household in tears.

Qin Yueyuan offered a casual grunt, flipping through a document as he replied, “You can handle minor matters like that yourself, no need to consult me—” He paused abruptly. “Wait, Yian got into a dispute? Why?”

The butler weighed his words carefully before responding, “That child envied young master Xi Bei’s close relationship with Yian, which led him to hurl verbal abuse at Xi Bei and physically strike him. Once young master Yian discovered this, he furiously reprimanded him.”

Qin Yueyuan could no longer sit still. He shifted his posture twice in his executive chair, letting out a sharp click of his tongue. “Oh… and then? How did they fare this evening?”

Strangely, the butler hesitated for a moment. He spoke somewhat haltingly:

“Young master Yian finished the remainder of Xi Bei’s left-over cheap milk at school. Upon returning home, he insisted on an exchange, personally holding the bowl to feed Xi Bei the premium milk we typically fly in from abroad…”

Qin Yueyuan: “…Huh??”

“Young master Xi Bei initially wanted Yian to drink it himself, but young master Yian held the bowl and coaxed him, saying that only by drinking plenty of milk could he grow tall and remain a good, obedient Tuan Tuan…”

Qin Yueyuan: “???”

“In the end, the young master only felt satisfied once the boy finished nearly all of it, drinking down the very bottom of the bowl himself.”

Qin Yueyuan sat entirely frozen. Ever since Qin Yian developed basic cognitive awareness as a toddler, he possessed an unyielding germaphobic streak he absolutely never consumed anything touched by another human being.

After a prolonged silence, he finally spoke:

“Go run a thorough check on the milk he’s been drinking lately.”

“How on earth did my son end up mutating like this?”