Spoiled by a Paranoid Big Shot Since Childhood - Chapter 20

Qin Yian’s summer vacation was, naturally, very busy. However, there was still leisure to be found amidst the busyness. With Qin Siyu, that little ball of energy, around, their summer was destined to be far from boring.

Qin Siyu had failed in his attempt to have sleepovers with them, but because he was truly persistent as if he could carve through metal and stone he shifted his tactics. He clung to the two of them, begging them to play video games, watch anime, and eat fried food.

The third time Qin Siyu insisted on treating Qin Yian to “junk food,” the Young Master Qin, who had endured Qin Siyu for a long time, finally snapped.

Qin Yian sneered coldly, “Still eating? You eat so much fried food; will you even be able to run later?”

Under the table, Qin Siyu secretly handed a piece of fried chicken to Xi Bei. Upon hearing this, his eyes widened. “What? How could I possibly be unable to run! You’re criticizing me again!”

“Am I criticizing you?” Qin Yian crossed his arms, glanced at the barely visible “spare tire” around Qin Siyu’s waist, and couldn’t help but scoff, “Are you sure?”

Qin Siyu followed Qin Yian’s gaze downward, then tremblingly looked up at Qin Yian’s own waist and abdomen. One had a faint “spare tire,” while the other possessed perfectly proportioned, defined abdominal muscles. The fried chicken in his mouth instantly fell with a plop.

He wailed, “Ahhh! I’ll never eat it again…”

Xi Bei, sitting to the side, couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Although Qin Siyu had eaten his way to a small belly, Xi Bei still wanted to try it. He cautiously looked at the spicy chicken wing Qin Siyu had handed him and, like a young beast sampling new food, took a small bite.

…So, so delicious.

Xi Bei’s eyes lit up instantly. As if he had discovered a hidden treasure, he raised his hand from under the table and said excitedly to Qin Yian, “An’an! But this is so good um…”

Qin Yian looked at Xi Bei, hearing him continue, “You try some!”

Qin Siyu was horrified. “Brother Bei! Don’t ask him. This devil won’t try it; he’ll only scold us for being degenerate!”

The handsome Qin Yian swept a cold glance at Qin Siyu, then, to his utter disbelief, walked gracefully to Xi Bei’s side, lowered his head, and ate that piece of juicy meat right along the small tooth marks Xi Bei had left behind.

“…Not bad,” Qin Yian said calmly.

? Ah? What? Not bad??

Qin Siyu widened his eyes in disbelief! This “devil” had actually said such a thing! He stayed calm and collected for a moment, then, while chewing, tentatively held out another piece to Qin Yian. “Not bad? Then will you have another piece?”

Qin Yian turned his head away once more, devoid of any empathy. “Get lost.”

“…”

Qin Siyu felt numb. He finally understood completely! This infuriating cousin of his was only special when he was with Xi Bei!

…

Later, Xie Ye also came over to play during the summer. He had originally planned to bring Qin Yian and Xi Bei to go see some tanks, but upon arriving, he discovered Qin Siyu.

The two miserable brothers-in-arms, both victims of Qin Yian’s persecution, felt an instant bond.

Qin Siyu’s eyes filled with tears. “—Xie Ye!” Xie Ye sobbed deeply. “—Qin Siyu!”

Qin Yian said coldly: “Get out.”

The two of them quickly stopped their melodramatic display. Although they were sharp-tongued, the group soon became close friends. Qin Siyu and Xie Ye even forcibly dragged Xi Bei and Qin Yian into a four-person group chat, declaring that if they had one more person, they would be the “Shohoku Five.”

They also pestered Xi Bei and Qin Yian to go out and play, preferably basketball. However, Qin Yian never liked that sport and only evaluated the two of them as: “Childish.”

The two of them teamed up to mock him, “You just don’t know how to play basketball!”

Qin Yian remained silent, offering them a cold, mirthless smile.

“Fine, you want to go out and play, right?” Qin Yian agreed. “We’ll go tomorrow.”

Xi Bei, holding Qin Yian’s hand, looked at him blankly and asked foolishly, “An’an, but we…”

The night passed quickly. When morning arrived as promised, amidst the extreme excitement of Qin Siyu and Xie Ye, Butler Gu took them to the venue.

A horse racing track.

Qin Yian nimbly swung onto a horse and helped Xi Bei up as well.

“Didn’t you want to play ball?” “We are playing.”

Xi Bei couldn’t help but cover his face. “…” Qin Siyu and Xie Ye were silent.

They knew it! Qin Yian was a devil! A devil!

…

The lively summer vacation finally came to an end.

Xie Ye’s grades were not very good, so he had to roll off to another aristocratic school to continue his studies; Qin Siyu had to return to his own city for school. Only Qin Yian and Xi Bei, both having equally excellent grades, would attend the best middle school in Jingbei.

This middle school had two divisions: the Development Division and the Regular Division. The Development Division was not like an ordinary international class; you couldn’t get in just because your family was wealthy you had to have excellent grades. Among a grade of a thousand students, you had to rank in the top hundred. The Regular Division was a bit more of a mixed bag; students were there either because they were simply good at academics or because of their family background, and the environment could be somewhat chaotic.

Butler Gu explained all of this to Qin Yueyuan, summarizing at the end: “…Therefore, Young Master Qin Yian and Young Master Xi Bei will naturally be in the Development Division.”

“Oh.”

Qin Yueyuan responded distractedly. He tapped the edge of his desk, suddenly remembered something, and clicked his tongue. He didn’t dislike Xi Bei, really. Sometimes he even felt that Xi Bei was very well-behaved and would jokingly tease Xi Bei and Yian. Moreover, he felt that with Xi Bei around, Yian had become better at least, less cold.

However, this did not mean… that Qin Yueyuan viewed Xi Bei as his own biological son.

Qin Yueyuan knew that over the past two days, the Xie family boy, Xie Ye, and his nephew, Qin Siyu, had just prepared to leave the Qin residence. Both of them had greeted him with smiles before coming over to “complain” to him.

What were they complaining about?

Xie Ye accused: “Yian is sharp-tongued with me every day! He scolds everyone except Xiao Bei. I just wanted to eat some ice cream, and he said I loved additives too much…”

“Ahhh, Uncle!” Qin Siyu also ran over, “My cousin won’t let me play with Brother Bei. He even called me a glutton, saying I’ve turned into a ball over the summer. I don’t believe it!! Thank goodness Brother Bei stood up for me!”

“…”

After Qin Yueyuan finished talking to the two, his face suddenly returned to an expressionless mask, even tinged with worry.

“Except for being sharp-tongued with Xiao Bei.” “Won’t let me play with Brother Bei.”

Xi Bei, Xi Bei. It was always Xi Bei. Was Qin Yian’s focus on Xi Bei… a bit too much?

Qin Yueyuan naturally didn’t have any other thoughts; he figured, what could happen between those two boys? The problem was likely with Qin Yian; he must have been treating Xi Bei like his own doll. Like some little girls, he was loath to let go of his “doll” and didn’t want anyone else to touch it. It was one thing to be like that in elementary school. But to be like this in middle school was going a bit too far.

Qin Yueyuan was silent for a long time before speaking: “In that case… let Xi Bei not go to the Development Division for now.”

Butler Gu was startled. “…Why?”

Xi Bei’s grades were excellent; getting into the Development Division was not an issue at all. Besides, Xi Bei was publicly known as the second young master of the Qin family not to mention the family background issues.

Qin Yueyuan didn’t speak.

“My apologies, Sir; I have overstepped,” Butler Gu quickly reacted. “I understand. May I ask if I should inform the young master about this?”

Qin Yueyuan hesitated for a moment.

“Not yet.”

Qin Yian also needed to make some other friends. For example, the young master of the Xie family, or the little princess of the Jiang family… he couldn’t always just play with Xi Bei alone.

Butler Gu guessed Qin Yueyuan’s intentions. After hanging up the phone, he sat silently for a while. Although Qin Yueyuan didn’t want him to tell Qin Yian, in a couple of days, Qin Yian would certainly find out.

At that time…

Butler Gu sighed, sat in his room for a moment, and ultimately followed his heart and went upstairs.

There was no one in the room. Some sounds were drifting faintly from the piano room. He opened the door a crack and saw Xi Bei sitting beside Qin Yian, looking at him with a smile. The two in the piano room had not noticed him.

“…So this is what you’re playing?” Xi Bei smiled. “This summer vacation was so different from the past. We have such a good relationship with them; don’t you feel reluctant to let them leave?”

Qin Yian’s piano playing paused for a moment; he said calmly, “Who has a good relationship with them? No one.”

“Clearly you do,” Xi Bei hugged Qin Yian’s arm. “Is there, or isn’t there? Tell me?”

“…”

Qin Yian said coldly: “It’s better that they leave, lest they try to snatch you away from my side every day.”

Xi Bei burst into laughter.

“That’s impossible,” Xi Bei blinked, “And they are my friends, but you are my dearest, dearest family.”

Qin Yian glanced at him sideways: “Is that so? I think a certain little piglet was about to leave with them.”

Xi Bei looked wronged: “I did not!”

Knock, knock. The door was knocked twice.

The hesitation on Butler Gu’s face hadn’t completely dissipated, and only after a moment did, he look a bit better. He coughed twice and said, “Young masters, please go wash up. School starts soon; you should go to bed early.”

Xi Bei stood up obediently: “Okay!”

“Then I’ll go wash up first,” Xi Bei winked at Qin Yian, “An’an, come over quickly. If you miss them, you have to tell me, okay?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he scurried away.

Only Qin Yian and Butler Gu remained in the piano room.

“What is it?” Qin Yian looked up sharply, “You have something you didn’t say.”

Butler Gu was startled and swallowed hard: “No. I just suddenly thought… well, Young Master Qin Siyu and Young Master Xie Ye rarely get to stay for long. I’m afraid the next time they come will be the summer after they graduate from middle school. Does the Young Master really not miss them?”

“…”

Qin Yian’s piano playing paused again.

“A little bit.”

The butler sighed in relief: “No wonder the Young Master seems a bit unhappy.”

Qin Yian didn’t speak this time. He continued to play the piano, remaining silent. Qin Siyu and Xie Ye were his friends after all; naturally, he was a little reluctant to see them go. But that wasn’t the most important point.

Ever since the incident with Qin Er’an’s “stepmother” and Qin Siyu’s “intrusion,” Qin Yian had felt inexplicably unhappy whenever he thought about what might happen in middle school. Qin Yian didn’t like making many friends; he liked the atmosphere of elementary school where “everyone knew Qin Yian and Xi Bei were best friends.” He definitely did not like the idea of entering a new, unfamiliar environment where an endless stream of people would approach them and enter their world.

However, Xi Bei actually liked making friends. A girl who was easy to get close to, or a Qin Siyu who was pestering him that was enough for Qin Yian to “dislike.” If a girl came along who was determined to pester Xi Bei, Qin Yian’s brows would probably knit all the way up to his hairline!

“That’s fine.”

Thump.

Qin Yian pressed the last note.

He murmured: “As long as I can be in the same class as Tuan Tuan, that will be enough.”

As long as he was by Xi Bei’s side, those who tried to take Xi Bei away would have no way to do it.

Butler Gu: “…”

Damn.