Spoiled by a Paranoid Big Shot Since Childhood - Chapter 23

The five members of the “Shohoku Five” were finally assembled two weeks after Qin Yian and Xi Bei started school.

Although Jiang Wanjiao protested strongly, arguing with wide eyes that “Pretty Cure” would have been better, and “Girls’ Generation” would have sufficed if they just added a few more people, Qin Siyu refused to budge. He lectured Jiang Wanjiao with a look of “you know nothing,” asking if it made any sense for four men to be the Pretty Cures.

Jiang Wanjiao yielded not an inch: “Does it make sense for a beautiful little princess to be part of the Shohoku Five?”

After arguing for ages, Xi Bei finally offered a suggestion. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the group name would be “Shohoku Five.” On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, it would be “Princess Jiang and Her Four Followers.” Sundays were special the group name would become “Mayday.”

Though this proposal was quite absurd, it was at least equitable, and no one felt shortchanged. This bizarre rule was actually agreed upon.

…

Saturday, early morning.

[“Jiaojiao” changed the group name to “Princess Jiang and Her Four Followers”]

[Jiaojiao: It’s Saturday, it’s Saturday! Hmph, I’ve endured you guys for a whole day.]

[Idol is Brother Bei: Big Miss, why are you awake so early? People are still sleepy, and you’re already calling us to be followers. So sleepy.]

[Jiaojiao: Yeah, it’s my birthday today! I’ve been up since six getting dressed. Bei Bei and Qin Yian aren’t still asleep, are they?]

[Idol is Brother Bei: Unlikely. Xie Ye might not be awake, and Brother Bei might not be either, but my cousin is definitely up. He normally opens his eyes at five.]

[Jiaojiao: ??? Terrifying!]

The “terrifying” Qin Yian had already finished two hours of piano practice and emerged. Since he woke up so early, he even had time for a shower.

The teenager’s tall, growing frame was neither overly muscular nor too thin, standing somewhere between boyish and mature. Streaming water droplets followed his extremely fair skin, seeping into the towel wrapped around his waist, looking surprisingly, shockingly seductive. He carelessly pulled a towel over his slightly messy hair, soaking it, his whole body emanating a damp warmth.

A moment later, he glanced at his phone, saw the 99+ messages from the group chat, scrolled through them casually, and raised an eyebrow. Then, with unhurried steps, he returned to the bedroom.

Xi Bei was still fast asleep on the bed. His soft, chubby face pressed against the pillow, leaving two sleep marks. His messy hair sprouted several little cowlicks, and his long, curled lashes trembled occasionally, as if he were dreaming of something wonderful. His cherry-pink lips were soft and slightly pursed, looking as if they were waiting for someone to pinch them.

No wonder he’s called a little piglet.

Qin Yian smiled lightly. He leaned over, closer to Xi Bei, then took off his own slippers. Like a large beast on the hunt, he leaned in and trapped Xi Bei directly within his arms.

“Little pig,” Qin Yian bit Xi Bei’s ear, “Time to get up.”

Xi Bei wasn’t fully awake yet. Being startled out of his dream, he felt a familiar tingle on his earlobe not painful, but very itchy. He sleepily reached out, trying to grab Qin Yian’s shirt hem, but after feeling around, he only touched smooth skin and gave a dazed, “Hm?”

A moment later, he tried to grab again, failed, and gave up.

His voice was hoarse as he acted spoiled: “An’an… sleep a little longer, just a little bit.”

He was very restless when he slept. When Qin Yian was around, he would cling tightly to him; without Qin Yian, he would curl up his body and pull the quilt under him.

Qin Yian reached out, tidied the quilt Xi Bei had tossed into a mess, and whispered, “Tuantuan, get up.”

“An’an…”

Xi Bei turned over, wanting to keep sleeping, but Qin Yian blocked him, forcing him to collide into his chest with a muffled groan. It was the scent of freshly showered, crisp peppermint.

“An’an smells good,” Xi Bei didn’t forget to compliment Qin Yian even in his sleep, rubbing against his embrace, his furry little head looking incredibly cute. “Good smell…”

Qin Yian let out a low laugh.

On a normal weekend, Qin Yian would never have the heart to wake Xi Bei up like this. But after all, today was Jiang Wanjiao’s birthday. He pinched Xi Bei’s nose, whispering, “Tuantuan, we have things to do today. Jiang Wanjiao hopes you can attend her birthday banquet early.”

“…”

Xi Bei kept his eyes closed, seemingly not yet having returned to his senses.

Qin Yian was tireless, whispering again, “Tuantuan…”

Suddenly, Xi Bei rose like a carp leaping out of water, climbing onto Qin Yian’s shoulder and sitting directly on his lap, looking dazed and whispering, “Birthday party…”

Oh, right. Jiang Wanjiao’s birthday.

“…An’an, why aren’t you wearing clothes when you got up this morning?” Xi Bei finally woke up, rubbing his eyes. “Did you just finish showering?”

Qin Yian said “Hm.” “I’ll dress you first. Reach out.”

Xi Bei obediently reached out. His bathrobe was untied by Qin Yian, and he was slipped into a milky-white thin base shirt, followed by a well-designed false-two-piece sweatshirt.

“Lift your legs,” Qin Yian said softly as he dressed him. “What gift did you prepare for her?”

“Hm…” Xi Bei looked confused. “What gift did I prepare? Oh!”

Qin Yian pulled up the zipper and leaned into his ear. “Hm?”

“If you dare give her a wood carving like the one you made for me,” Qin Yian threatened in advance, “you’re done for.”

Xi Bei seemed to snap to attention, saying dryly, “No way… I bought her a little gift, and I also made that character she likes from Pretty Cure.”

“Hm,” Qin Yian started dressing himself without any self-consciousness, his fluid lines extremely beautiful. “That’s good.”

Xi Bei sat obediently on the bed, handing Qin Yian his base shirt. He finally felt completely awake.

Every time this happened, he could feel just how intimate his relationship with Qin Yian was. Xi Bei couldn’t imagine anyone other than Qin Yian helping him get dressed. Furthermore, he couldn’t imagine Qin Yian doing this for anyone else he would find that shocking.

But…

Maybe it was because it was so early, but Xi Bei suddenly felt a bit lost. Xi Bei naturally liked it in his heart, and he didn’t feel that being so close to Qin Yian was a bad thing. However, Uncle Qin Yueyuan’s thoughts weren’t wrong; An’an was, after all, the heir and the young master. Uncle Qin definitely wouldn’t be happy to see An’an doing impulsive things for his sake. Butler Gu had already hinted to him very tactfully that his relationship with An’an was indeed too close.

“An’an,” Xi Bei suddenly said, “Let’s be like this only at home. If others are around, we can’t be too close.”

Qin Yian had just stood up and smoothed the hem of his shirt. His movements paused.

“Why the sudden thought?”

“Not sudden,” Xi Bei shook his head. “It’s because you’re always protecting me, always holding me up. I still remember Li Chengyi in second grade. But that kind of thing can’t happen again…”

Because Li Chengyi had hurt Xi Bei, Qin Yian had shown him no mercy and had him transferred. Xi Bei could tell that Wen Li and his crew weren’t very friendly, and they would whisper and discuss Qin Yian and him behind their backs; that was genuinely annoying. Qin Yian didn’t care about being talked about himself; he only cared if Xi Bei got hurt or was scolded. But Xi Bei was the same as him. He only cared about Qin Yian.

“Of course, that kind of thing can’t happen again because he hurt you,” Qin Yian said calmly, “but why can’t we be close?”

“Why can’t I protect you?”

“…Because if you stay like this, Uncle Qin will scold you.”

“I don’t want you to be scolded by Uncle, I don’t want you to fight with Uncle, and I don’t want us to be separated.”

Xi Bei suddenly interrupted him, looking unhappy, and lowered his eyes.

Qin Yian paused, saying nothing. It was indeed the case. Because of his past behavior, the two had almost been separated. That was why now he had to look ahead and behind, and didn’t dare to casually let Wen Li get out of his sight. It was the first time he felt his lack of ability would make him subject to others. This statement was absolutely correct.

“…”

“An’an,” Xi Bei got off the bed and stood on tiptoe near Qin Yian. “Don’t be angry…”

His eyes were filled with moisture. There were still marks on his soft little face, and because he was in a hurry, his hair was sticking up.

“I’m not angry,” Qin Yian said in a low voice.

He wasn’t angry at Xi Bei, only at himself. He paused for a long time before saying, “…I know.”

He lowered his body, picked Xi Bei up, put him on the bed, then took the towel off his neck, held Xi Bei’s ankle, and wiped his bare feet.

“Look at the group chat,” Qin Yian tried to pick a light topic. “Jiang Wanjiao is looking for you.”

Xi Bei blinked. “Okay.”

…

Ding-dong.

Jiang Wanjiao pushed away the makeup artist trying to help her with her eyeliner, speaking proudly and politely: “Sorry, just a moment.”

She decisively took out her phone, which was covered in little dangling charms, opened QQ, and seeing Xi Bei’s emoji in the group, started typing away.

[Jiaojiao: Bei Bei, are you coming? It’s the Huatingqiu with the KTV!] [Suiyieryan: [Little tuantuan nodding.jpg]] [Suiyieryan: Okay. We’re on the way; we’ll be there in a minute.]

“Suiyieryan” (Following Yian), this was Xi Bei. Even after looking at, it a dozen times, she still found the nickname somewhat amusing.

[Qingtuan: Got it.]

…This was Qin Yian.

Jiang Wanjiao huffed. Qin Yian, you stingy person, can’t you just share your brother with me? She was getting a bit tired and stood up to rest, when she suddenly saw through the window of the lounge that several familiar faces were entering the KTV next door. Walking in front was Wen Li, followed by those guys Jiang Wanjiao couldn’t remember the names of. They were holding something in their arms, hiding it tightly; it was hard to see, first held behind their backs, then moved to their chests. Before entering, they glanced at the “Happy Birthday Jiang Wanjiao” sign at the entrance, whispered to each other, and snickered.

She shouldn’t have been seeing things.

Jiang Wanjiao gave an “Eh” and exclaimed in surprise:

“I didn’t invite them, why are they here?!”

The makeup artist next to her looked outside and gently reminded her: “Miss Jiang, did you forget? That’s the KTV next door, we didn’t book the whole thing.”

Jiang Wanjiao immediately frowned. She forgot!

“The banquet starts soon, are you going to continue with your makeup?”

Jiang Wanjiao’s angry and awkward mood temporarily subsided. It wasn’t her KTV, so she couldn’t just kick Wen Li and his friends out, could she?

“…How annoying,” Jiang Wanjiao said helplessly. “Fine, let’s do the makeup first!”

Five minutes later.

She closed her eyes and waited for a moment. While enduring the fine touch of the eyeliner pen, she felt she couldn’t take it anymore and waved her hand, whispering: “Wait, wait, let me yawn…”

“Ugh—”

“Sister Wanjiao.”

The sudden voice woke her from her irritation. Jiang Wanjiao didn’t even yawn anymore, her mouth wide open as she looked at the two people in front of her. She knew Xi Bei looked good, but having seen him so many times, she was still stunned! His little lip bead was pursed, the color even more beautiful, soft and pink. Perhaps because he was going to a birthday banquet, his hair had been specially styled. Unlike those non-mainstream styles, his soft hair was just styled slightly, faintly revealing his delicate brows.

Qin Yian, behind him, took a step forward, his handsome, cold face blocking Jiang Wanjiao’s sight.

“Happy birthday,” he said faintly.

Saying that, he reached out and handed her the small box he had been carrying. Jiang Wanjiao had wanted to bicker with Qin Yian, but now she was too embarrassed. She took the box with pleasant surprise, and at a glance, knew it was a customized, expensive diamond hair clip. It was drop-dead gorgeous.

“Brother Qin Yian,” Jiang Wanjiao said sincerely, “You are my biological brother!”

Xi Bei smiled until his eyes curved; he also handed her his gift: a designer bracelet and a hand-carved wood carving of the “Pretty Cure” character.

“Oh my god…”

Jiang Wanjiao felt the surprises coming one after another. She loved it to death, clutched the gift Xi Bei gave her, jumped up, and gave the Pretty Cure a fierce kiss:

“Oh my god! I love it so much!! Bei Bei! You really understand me—”

As she said that, she made as if to rush over to hug Xi Bei, only to be blocked slightly by Qin Yian. A cold “don’t push your luck” made her sheepishly pull back.

The makeup artist nearby was stunned. It was clear that this little princess Jiang was genuinely happy. The expensive gifts she’d received in the past were only worth a glance; pampered as she was, she was only used to being pampered, never to “sucking up” to others. Yet, she just happened to like these two new friends she’d only known for two weeks so much.

“Alright, no more eyeliner!”

Jiang Wanjiao stood up happily, striding confidently to take them outside:

“I’ll take you to see where we’re playing this afternoon, then we’ll go to the second floor for dinner! I called the girls from our class to sing, in the two largest private boxes on the first floor, don’t get lost…”

They soon arrived at the KTV. The decor was exquisite, luxurious, and fashionable, with no vulgarity of piles of gold and silver, but clean and trendy. The two largest boxes were side by side, and there was already the sound of songs drifting from them.

Xi Bei was listening to her seriously, and when he heard this, he nodded twice: “Did our classmates come?”

Jiang Wanjiao let out an “Ugh”:

“Maybe? …But I remember telling them to go to the second floor for dinner first.”

Qin Yian was silent. Jiang Wanjiao also felt it was a bit strange. She was only five feet tall and had to stand on tiptoe to see inside. But Qin Yian’s height was enough for him to see inside through the glass window.

“The four people inside, is that the surprise you prepared?”

Qin Yian spoke suddenly, with a mocking tone. And his lips were clearly curled, but he looked very cold.

Xi Bei was stunned and subconsciously said: “Could it be…”

Qin Yian sneered.

Jiang Wanjiao suddenly associated this with the four people who had just entered the KTV, understood instantly, and her face turned ugly. She clenched her fists tightly and said angrily:

“Is it Wen Li and the others?! I didn’t invite them at all, they’re deliberately waiting for us in this box.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she opened the door with a “bang” and glared fiercely at the four people inside. The four, Wen Li included, didn’t seem to expect them to come so quickly; the things they had wrapped tightly were placed on the sofa and covered with school bags. Upon hearing the noise, they turned their heads and looked at the three people, Qin Yian included, in confusion.

Jiang Wanjiao was furious:

“Who told you to come in?! This is the large box I booked! There’s a sign at the door, please get out!”

Wen Li’s face turned ugly instantly. He paused, then pretended:

“Is this a large box? Why are you in such a hurry, kicking people out the moment you come in?”

“Yeah, don’t all the boxes here look about the same? We booked a large box too,” a follower insisted, arguing, “we just walked into the wrong one by mistake, do you have to be like this?”

“If you have the ability, call the police.” “Yeah, yeah, if you have the ability, call the police.” “…”

This group was genuinely shameless. They were the ones in the wrong, yet they turned it around and squeezed them out. Usually, she would have bickered with this group, but today was her birthday, and she felt aggrieved. Xi Bei saw Jiang Wanjiao’s chest heaving in anger, tears almost streaming down; before she could try to argue with them, he stepped forward:

“Apologize to her.”

“You guys…”

Qin Yian suddenly pinched Xi Bei’s hand.

“Call the police?” Qin Yian mocked coldly, “You need the dog-catching team to catch you.”

“If you bark like dogs again, I suggest you get sterilized and neutered soon, so you don’t disturb the neighborhood at midnight, breaking into other people’s territory to pee everywhere.”

The veins on Wen Li’s forehead popped out. He was never calm when he saw Qin Yian. He held back for a moment but couldn’t endure it, stepped forward, and faced Qin Yian’s cold gaze:

“Do you really think you’re so great? You’re the focus of the class the moment you enter, even the teacher has to wait for you to start class? You—”

“Yeah,” Qin Yian said faintly, “Didn’t expect someone as stupid as you to be able to say something so reasonable.”

“…You!”

Jiang Wanjiao: “…Pfft.”

Her tears were laughed away! Even Xi Bei couldn’t help but rub the tip of his nose to hide the smile on his lips. Qin Yian’s ability to talk back was always first-class. Wen Li was furious, but instead, he calmed down a bit. He stood up abruptly and grabbed his school bag. Under Jiang Wanjiao’s disgusted gaze, he whispered to the three people behind him:

“Let’s go.”

The three followers looked at each other, suddenly without a leader, looking a bit at a loss for what to do, and just followed him out. Jiang Wanjiao pulled Xi Bei and giggled.

Qin Yian said lazily: “Walk slowly. Be careful not to be caught by the dog-catching team.”

After saying this, Wen Li, who had walked to the door, stopped. Wen Li, back turned to Qin Yian, lowered his head. He didn’t know what he was searching for in his bag, his shoulders shaking.

“Young Master Wen…”

A follower was a little afraid of Qin Yian, but also worried about Wen Li, so he reached out and patted Wen Li’s shoulder:

“Hey, don’t be angry…”

He had just patted him when he suddenly saw what Wen Li was doing.

“Hey!” “F*ck!”

The four people preparing to leave at the door suddenly burst into chaos. Three of the followers took two steps back, shocked. Jiang Wanjiao opened her eyes wide in confusion, and when she looked up, she saw Xi Bei and Qin Yian, who were beside her, seemed stunned.

Because Wen Li turned around suddenly, with a smile of almost anticipation on his face.

“Fizzle, fizzle”  it was a whole handful, a large handful of brilliant, dazzling sparklers ignited in his hand.

Flames splashed everywhere, the firelight soared into the sky.

The air seemed to freeze.

Wen Li was looking forward to Qin Yian making a fool of himself. He really hated Qin Yian. He hated the person who occupied his position and fame, and hated the person who didn’t even know his name.

“It’s just a sparkler.”

Wen Li suddenly lunged in Qin Yian’s direction, laughing:

“Aren’t you afraid?”

As he expected, Qin Yian’s expression indeed changed.

Qin Yian’s breezy, slightly mocking expression turned ashen. He clenched his fists, and in the shocked gaze of everyone, he turned around suddenly.

Then he hugged Xi Bei, who was trembling on the spot.

The frozen time began to flow again: the “fizzling” sparks, the blinding, gorgeous light, the “crackle-crackle” sound, the heat of the fire…

Vehicles colliding, fire soaring into the sky, parents’ corpses turning into charcoal.

Flashbacks.

Xi Bei’s gaze had lost focus, his lips pale, his whole-body trembling. Even though Qin Yian grabbed him, his retina seemed to still be imprinted with the blinding light.

“Tuantuan, be good, don’t look, don’t look…” Qin Yian’s palms were sweating, he barely managed to clasp the back of Xi Bei’s head, making him bury his face into his chest, “Don’t be afraid, An’an is here, don’t be afraid.”

Xi Bei was still trembling.

“…An, An’an…”

Qin Yian had never been this flustered. The last time someone secretly played with a sparkler in class, there was only one, and it was far from Xi Bei. Even then, he had rested for a long time with pale lips. From that time on, Qin Yian had been even more vigilant; he didn’t dare let Xi Bei see any firelight again. But he hadn’t expected today, today!

He hurriedly and anxiously picked Xi Bei up, let Xi Bei lie down, knelt on the ground and pressed his forehead against Xi Bei’s, breathing quickly to help Xi Bei catch his breath, not letting him throw up. Qin Yian’s movements were fast, hurried, and flustered. He was indeed very afraid, but what he showed was completely different from what Wen Li had imagined.

The four of them leaned against the door, and in the next moment, they saw Jiang Wanjiao, eyes red, rush over, her braided hair all messed up:

“What did you do?! What are you doing, if something happens to Xi Bei, none of you will be able to escape.”

“…No, I don’t know…”

Wen Li was tongue-tied; he took two steps back, and the sparklers in his hand dropped with a “plop”:

“I really don’t know, I thought Qin Yian was a coward and afraid of fire, why is it Xi, Xi Bei, he…”

Jiang Wanjiao screamed: “Call the police, I want to call the police right now!”

“…”

The sounds in his ears were hazy and blurred. Xi Bei couldn’t hear clearly, but he could feel Qin Yian, who was breathing beside him, panting heavily, and was about to stand up instantly, like a leopard to grab Wen Li.

Xi Bei suddenly reached out and grabbed Qin Yian’s shirt.

The slender, pale hand had very little strength.

Lightly.

Qin Yian didn’t expect Xi Bei to still maintain consciousness; he immediately stopped, knelt on one knee again, his heart drumming: “Tuantuan, can you still open your eyes? I’ll take you to the hospital, we…”

“…An’an.”

Xi Bei spoke with difficulty; his heart palpitations were terrible, and he really felt like he was about to faint; it was only with great difficulty that he managed to clearly see the person in front of him. Looking into those glass-colored eyes, Xi Bei’s voice was light:

“Don’t be angry…”

I’m fine. You don’t have to conflict with them.

Compared to Xi Bei’s own pain, he didn’t want Qin Yian to be sad. He didn’t want Qin Yian to be scolded by his father.

Qin Yian turned his head suddenly.

His glass-colored eyes were exceptionally bright in the darkness, heartache and anger mixed together, flowing out, wanting to burn everything to ashes.

Yes. Tuantuan is right.

His father didn’t want him to be too impulsive, causing conflicts over these matters. He was worried about consequences, so he couldn’t act. He couldn’t lose his sanity, couldn’t be like a savage.

But…

Qin Yian whispered:

“F*ck it all.”

In the next moment, he covered the distance in three strides, and in the shocked and incredulous gaze of everyone, one hand grabbed Wen Li’s collar, the other formed into a fist, raised high.