Spoiled by a Paranoid Big Shot Since Childhood - Chapter 22.1

Under Jiang Wanjiao’s envious and jealous gaze, Qin Yian not only took a bite of Xi Bei’s cheek but also nibbled at his collarbone, leaving behind two distinct, vivid marks before he was finally satisfied.

Xi Bei wasn’t angry either. Instead, he reached out to touch the tooth mark on his face, let out an “Oh my,” and said with a beaming smile, “An’an, are you very hungry?”

Qin Yian, harboring a bellyful of unvented frustration, simply replied, “Yeah.”

“I thought so,” Xi Bei opened his eyes wide and told a dry joke to coax him, “But even if you’re hungry, you shouldn’t be gnawing on a little pig raw. Eating raw food will make you sick.”

Qin Yian gave the little pig’s nose a fierce pinch.

Xi Bei didn’t feel any pain; he just covered the tip of his nose with a smile and, when Qin Yian wasn’t looking, pouted at him.

Qin Yian sighed. It took him a moment to calm down before he spoke: “Do you know the way back? Go back to class first. I’ll come find you at noon; wait for me in your classroom…”

“No need,” Xi Bei shook his head. “I already know the way. Don’t classes at the Development Division end a little later at noon? I’ll come find you instead.”

Xi Bei was wearing a simple white T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and his shoes were a similar style to Qin Yian’s. The simpler his attire the more cute and fresh he looked. When he spoke softly like that, it was almost impossible to refuse him.

“…That works too,” Qin Yian said in a low voice. “It’ll be a good chance for the teachers to get to know you.”

Xi Bei blinked.

“Alright, alright, go on then,” he urged, “You were late today, so no leaving early is allowed. Study hard in class later… mmph.”

As if reluctant to let go, Qin Yian gave Xi Bei’s nose one last pinch. “Don’t let others bully you.”

And don’t let others call you ‘Tuantuan’!

Jiang Wanjiao watched as her “brother” let out a soft laugh, waved his hand, and finally disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Qin Yian watched Xi Bei leave, then turned around with a tense face, looking clearly in a bad mood.

Jiang Wanjiao, who had been mesmerized watching the two of them, finally came back to her senses. After a brief pause, her eyes lit up, and she stood up to run after Qin Yian toward the Development Division.

“Hey! Hello there!”

Jiang Wanjiao was breathless by the time she caught up. She finally stood on her tiptoes, reached out, and touched Qin Yian’s shoulder, making him turn around.

“Something up?”

Qin Yian stepped back indifferently. He mercilessly brushed off the spot where Jiang Wanjiao had touched him and looked down at her from above.

He recognized her. The attire gave it away immediately. She was the only daughter of the Jiang family—the little princess of the Jiang clan.

She had grown up pampered, quite famous in the capital. Her family would pluck the stars from the sky for her, and she could invite over a dozen celebrities to her birthday banquet.

Little Princess Jiang Wanjiao was so shocked by his lack of chivalry that her eyes widened. She took a few deep breaths to suppress her emotions and tried to speak politely, “Qin Yian? I saw you over there just now. There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Qin Yian lowered his head coldly. Saw him just now? It couldn’t be that she recognized him from a back profile. She must have watched them for a while, likely while he was talking with Xi Bei.

“…”

Qin Yian lost all patience to continue listening. He turned to walk away.

Jiang Wanjiao panicked completely. She stomped her priceless little leather shoes, frowned, and shouted at him: “Qin Yian! Who was the person talking to you over there just now?”

“That boy who looked so cute and super pretty!” Jiang Wanjiao said angrily, “I saw you bite him! Are you guys very close?”

Qin Yian finally stopped. He turned around and scanned Jiang Wanjiao up and down. “Yeah.”

Of course. He was the closest to him.

“Oh!” Jiang Wanjiao seemed excited to finally get a response. “Can you introduce him to me? I want to make him my little brother!”

Qin Yian: “…?”

His tone held a rare trace of confusion: “What did you say?”

“I said, can you introduce us? I want to make him my good friend and treat him like my little brother,” Jiang Wanjiao’s eyes sparkled, her branded outfit dazzling. “I’ll definitely be good to him, don’t you worry!”

Jiang Wanjiao had a lovely thought. She even continued, “I remember you’re an only child, right? Was that boy adopted? That’s perfect! Now he can have a brother and a sister.”

As for why he was adopted, Jiang Wanjiao naturally didn’t know; she had been too young at the time.

Qin Yian remained silent. Just when Jiang Wanjiao thought he might agree, he suddenly spoke.

“Look up at the sky.”

Jiang Wanjiao was bewildered but obeyed. She looked until her neck ached and didn’t see anything wrong; she only knew the weather was great today with a bright sun. She frowned. “What is it?”

Qin Yian sneered. “Watching for stars in the bright sun daydreaming.”

With that, he turned away coldly, not even sparing her a glance, and walked straight toward his classroom. Regardless of Jiang Wanjiao behind him, who reacted with frantic, exasperated shouts, he remained unmoved.

When the two of them got back to the classroom, there were only a minute or two left before class. Those who had been bad-mouthing Qin Yian earlier fell silent the moment he entered, poking each other and signaling toward the door, as if terrified that others wouldn’t know they were talking behind his back.

Wen Li cleared his throat, putting on a brave face. He was just about to say something to Qin Yian when he saw Qin Yian sweep a glance over the room and sit down without saying a word.

He was incredibly arrogant.

“…”

Wen Li’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

Jiang Wanjiao couldn’t help but scoff, thinking to herself: This is only the beginning! Evil will eventually be defeated by an even bigger evil!

Everyone had their own thoughts. The morning classes were boring, mostly just going over class rules and school history, and before they knew it, the lunch bell rang.

Children, always eager for the end of class, quickly headed out noisily, leaving only a few people in the large classroom. Wen Li and his crew still wanted to see what Qin Yian was up to, so they feigned packing their things while glancing back at him.

“Yeah, are you buying the new 4s that’s coming out…”

“Yeah, buying it, of course…”

Qin Yian hadn’t moved at all until he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure at the door. He suddenly stood up, his long legs covering the distance to the door in a few strides. Jiang Wanjiao, realizing something, followed right behind him.

Xi Bei stood at the door, waving at Qin Yian with a smile. “An’an, I’m here!” He smiled, then suddenly noticed the person behind Qin Yian. “This is…”

Qin Yian turned back and saw Jiang Wanjiao leaning in with a cheeky smile to greet them. “Hi! I’m his classmate, my name is Jiang Wanjiao. Nice to meet you, what’s your name?”

Xi Bei seemed pleasantly surprised. He looked at Qin Yian, then back at Jiang Wanjiao. “Hi! I’m Xi Bei.”

“Are you a new friend of An’an’s?” Xi Bei smiled, his little lip bead looking incredibly soft. “Wow, how rare. An’an actually making friends.”

Qin Yian reached out and took the bag from Xi Bei’s back, slinging it over his own shoulder. He then pulled Xi Bei close by the shoulder and said coldly, “Don’t know her.”

“Hey, hey, don’t be so cold,” Jiang Wanjiao couldn’t help but protest, stomping her foot. “Are you going to eat? Let’s go together. Xi Bei, my treat! What do you like to eat?”

Qin Yian flatly refused. “The Qin family isn’t bankrupt to the point where we can’t afford a meal.”

“Tch…” Jiang Wanjiao stuck out her tongue.

Although there was a slight “conflict,” Qin Yian wasn’t being too extreme he didn’t push Jiang Wanjiao away or forbid her from following. However, on the very first day, he had attracted the kind of “clingy girl who refuses to leave Xi Bei alone” that Qin Yian dreaded the most.

Qin Yian furrowed his brows silently and pulled Xi Bei even closer.

At that moment, someone called out to Qin Yian from behind.

“…Qin Yian.”

It was Wen Li. He looked quite polite, his shirt neatly tucked in, putting on airs. “Hi, you weren’t here during the self-introductions… so I came over to say hello.”

Qin Yian stood in place. Xi Bei, nestled in his arms, and Jiang Wanjiao beside him, both looked at the newcomer in confusion, wondering why he was doing this.

Qin Yian gave a short “hm.” He scanned Wen Li with deep eyes, seemingly seeing right through the ill intent behind his facade. Then, he turned to leave.

“Hey!” Wen Li frowned tightly. “Don’t you want to ask my name?”

Qin Yian’s eyes held pure indifference and confusion. “Why would I?”

Xi Bei was stunned, and Jiang Wanjiao couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

“Is it necessary for me to know your name?” Qin Yian said calmly. “It’s not important.”

Jiang Wanjiao couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Amidst the livid expressions of Wen Li and his followers, the three of them calmly walked out and quickly blended into the crowd.

…

Xi Bei sighed, as if he had expected this, and asked with a smile, “An’an, did you get into a conflict with someone?”

Qin Yian frowned. “No.”

“Even though their expressions weren’t very friendly,” Xi Bei tugged on Qin Yian’s sleeve, “you could have just asked casually. It wouldn’t have mattered.”

Qin Yian always listened to Xi Bei, and he did so this time too. Although he didn’t look happy, he still said, “Hm.”

Jiang Wanjiao stuck out her tongue. “He won’t listen. His temper is too bad. Those people didn’t like Qin Yian from the start, and now they’ll like him even less.”

“Since they don’t like me anyway, there’s no need for me to put on a fake front,” Qin Yian said calmly. “It’s not important.”

He then turned to Jiang Wanjiao. “And you. You followed us all the way to the cafeteria. What do you want?”

Jiang Wanjiao forced a smile. “Nothing much. I just want to get to know Xi Bei. Is that not allowed?”

Xi Bei blinked and said naturally, “It’s allow mmph, mmph.”

Qin Yian said calmly, “It’s not.”

“An’an…” Xi Bei finally broke free from Qin Yian’s hand covering his mouth and dragged out his words, “Don’t be angry. I’m hungry, let’s eat, okay?”

“…” Qin Yian hummed. “Let’s eat first.”

“Great!” Xi Bei smiled. “I knew An’an was the best. Shall we go to the second floor for sweet and sour pork ribs? I heard people saying they’re delicious.”

“Okay!” Jiang Wanjiao jumped on the opportunity and agreed happily. She smoothed out her skirt and followed them. “Anything else good?”

“I heard the stir-fried shrimp is also good, though it’s a bit hard to get.”

Xi Bei seemed to remember something. “They sell Tiramisu at the third-floor window, and An’an really likes it. They say it tastes just like a proper bakery.”

Jiang Wanjiao’s eyes lit up, but before she could speak, Qin Yian interrupted them.

“Tuantuan.” Qin Yian turned on the stairs to look at Xi Bei. “‘They’? Who told you what tastes good?”

Xi Bei: “…”

He belatedly covered his lips, eyes wide, looking particularly pitiful as if he had realized his slip-up.

“Tuantuan.”

“…My classmates said so,” Xi Bei said, feeling a bit embarrassed. Suddenly, he saw them. “Ah, over there!”

Qin Yian looked in the direction Xi Bei indicated and, sure enough, saw a group of people gathered together, waving excitedly at Xi Bei. There were many of them, and they all looked friendly.

However, they were all girls.

Qin Yian shifted his gaze back to Xi Bei. The implication was clear.

“This morning…”

Taking advantage of the moment Qin Yian was talking, Xi Bei winked at Jiang Wanjiao behind him, then pulled on Qin Yian’s sleeve as they walked up. He responded with a few “Mhm, mhms” to Qin Yian’s questions:

“I didn’t do anything this morning. I just moved some books, and I saw some girls who couldn’t move their desks, so I went to help…”

Although Xi Bei had been spoiled by Qin Yian to dislike exercise or heavy lifting, in reality, when Qin Yian wasn’t around, he was very proactive in offering help and never asked for special treatment. After he finished helping those girls move their desks, they all crowded around, asked his name, and immediately began chatting happily, telling him which cafeteria dishes were good, when the sports meet started, and the relationship between the Development and Regular divisions…

After recounting this, Xi Bei tugged on Qin Yian’s sleeve again, looked at the sweet and sour ribs at the window, and whispered, “An’an, I want that.”

Qin Yian’s face wasn’t great, but he gave a “Hm.” Seeming to prevent Jiang Wanjiao from taking advantage of the situation again, he immediately made Xi Bei sit down while he went to get the food.

Soon they were back: Qin Yian naturally placed the other tray in front of Xi Bei, and Jiang Wanjiao followed closely behind, unwilling to lose out.

“Xi Bei!” she said triumphantly, “I got the dish you wanted, here!”

Xi Bei smiled gently at her, but shook his head, taking the dish Qin Yian had brought. “No need, thank you! I have what An’an got for me.”

Qin Yian’s lips curved slightly.

Jiang Wanjiao looked a bit dejected, but she didn’t give up. She just poked at the food on her plate with her chopsticks, mumbling unhappily:

“Actually… I just asked Qin Yian because I wanted to know who you were! Because I think you perfectly fit my aesthetic… do you want to be friends with me?”

Qin Yian placed a few de-boned pork ribs into Xi Bei’s bowl.

Xi Bei said seriously, “Of course we can be friends. I’d be very happy to be your friend.”

Jiang Wanjiao let out a breath of relief. Watching Xi Bei naturally eat the ribs Qin Yian had placed in his bowl, she seemed to understand something immediately and started clumsily peeling the shrimp from her own bowl, preparing to put them in Xi Bei’s, only for him to block her slightly.

“No need to peel them for me,” Xi Bei said gently. “You should eat them yourself.”

“But, Qin Yian can…” Jiang Wanjiao sounded anxious. “Isn’t he also not your biological brother? The Qin family adopted you; my Jiang family can adopt you too! Can’t you be my little brother?”

She poked at a rib in her bowl fiercely, making a clucking sound, appearing to be in a very bad mood. When she looked up and saw Qin Yian reach out, and Xi Bei naturally pull a wet wipe from his pocket to wipe the sauce off his knuckles, it was as if they had done these things a thousand times before.

Xi Bei’s soft cheeks were rosy and tender, and Qin Yian gently rubbed them, urging him: “Eat quickly, or it’ll get cold.”

Xi Bei didn’t like hot food, so he blinked lazily. He turned to Jiang Wanjiao and, before eating the ribs in his bowl, gently and carefully said to her:

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Jiang Wanjiao opened her eyes wide in disbelief. As the little princess of the Jiang family who had been pampered all her life, this was the first time she felt the frustration of not getting what she wanted. Furthermore, she didn’t even have any ulterior motives like wanting to date Xi Bei or anything  so being rejected felt bizarre. She just thought Xi Bei was really well-behaved and would be the perfect little brother.

Why would Xi Bei reject such a win-win request?!

“Why?!” she asked, looking a bit irritated.

“Because I promised An’an when I was seven,” Xi Bei said very seriously. “He is my closest family, and he is my only brother.”

Jiang Wanjiao froze, subconsciously turning her gaze toward Qin Yian. Strangely enough, Qin Yian, a stingy guy who wouldn’t even let her be friends with Xi Bei, showed no ripples at all when she asked for Xi Bei to be her “brother.” It was as if he had already known Xi Bei wouldn’t agree.

Xi Bei, of course, wouldn’t agree. Even when Qin Siyu had pestered him for so long, he hadn’t wavered, because in his heart, there was only one Qin Yian.

Jiang Wanjiao was very angry. She bit her lip, trying to manage a smile that wasn’t too ugly, but she was in such a bad mood she couldn’t smile at all. After a long while, she wiped her face. After a “Hmph,” she lifted her head, pretending her reddened eyes didn’t exist.

“Whatever, I didn’t want it that much anyway!”

She stumbled, then picked up her tray and left swiftly, maintaining the dignity of a young lady.

Xi Bei was a bit stunned. He wanted to stand up and chase after her, but Qin Yian said calmly:

“Don’t move.”

Xi Bei was anxious. “But…”

“If you chase after her and tell her not to be sad, but then she asks you to be her brother again, will you agree or refuse?” Qin Yian reasoned logically. “Chasing her now will only make her sadder.”

“…” That… that actually makes sense.

“I think we could have told her a different way. She won’t be like An’an to me, but she could be ‘Sister Wanjiao’,” Xi Bei whispered, “like Brother Xie Ye.”

Actually, being friends was fine, and adding the suffix “Sister” was something Qin Yian could barely accept.

Qin Yian said “Hm.”

Xi Bei bit the tip of his chopsticks, looking troubled. “But she left. What do I do now…”

“I’ll tell her this afternoon.”

Qin Yian pinched the tip of his nose.

“Eat first.”

…

On the car ride home that evening, Xi Bei immediately asked Qin Yian anxiously:

“How was it? Is she still sad?”

Qin Yian shook his head. His expression was calm and indifferent; he didn’t seem concerned. Xi Bei was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard Qin Yian continue:

“She ignored me.”

“…?!”

“And when I walked over to tell her not to be sad,” Qin Yian raised an eyebrow, looking a bit puzzled, “she thought I was showing off and told me to get lost.”

Xi Bei: “…”

“An’an,” Xi Bei said with difficulty, “And then?”

Qin Yian said naturally, “And then I left.”

He didn’t indulge the little princess of the Jiang family in the slightest.