The Real Young Master is Entangled by the Paranoid Fake Young Master - Chapter 19

“Let go of me!”

Only after they had reached the corridor outside the banquet hall did Zhao Qing violently shake off Song Yuening’s hand. Song Yuening had held him so tightly  as if he were a criminal  that a purple bruise now encircled Zhao Qing’s wrist, standing out starkly against his pale skin.

Zhao Qing glared at Song Yuening with icy eyes. He clenched his fists, struggling to suppress his rage, and asked coldly:

“What do you want with me?”

He needed to find out exactly how Song Yuening knew the secret between him and Song Lili. A terrible suspicion had already formed in his mind; he feared Song Yuening was plotting to ruin things again. Zhao Qing wasn’t afraid of being scolded by the Song family, but he was terrified of involving Song Lili.

As expected, Song Yuening spoke in a calm yet certain tone:

“Then can you tell me… where exactly did Lili go?”

His attitude appeared gentle, even carrying a hint of playful mockery. This version of Song Yuening was quite different from the one in Zhao Qing’s memories, which only made him more wary.

“You know?”

Zhao Qing asked, though he was already certain. In a sense, he understood Song Yuening; the fact that he led with a question about Song Lili meant their entire plan had been exposed.

“You took her to see Zhen Xue? Were you really so sure that this would never be discovered?” Song Yuening stopped pretending and spoke bluntly.

“Are you threatening me?” Zhao Qing frowned, his eyes filled with loathing.

“Zhao-zhao, it was my fault for almost letting you get hurt. I apologize to you.” Unexpectedly, Song Yuening didn’t snap back. Instead, he said something that left Zhao Qing completely bewildered.

“Huh?” Zhao Qing didn’t understand his train of thought, and for a moment, he didn’t grasp the meaning behind the words.

Song Yuening stepped closer, forcing him back into the shadows.

“Isn’t it because Big Brother misunderstood you at the hospital because of me, and almost moved to hurt you, that you hate me so much?”

He spoke directly, even sounding a bit pitiful. Zhao Qing was momentarily lost as to what kind of tactic this was. In his memories, he had never seen a version of Song Yuening so blunt, let alone one playing the “pity card.”

Zhao Qing fell silent. He knew the best move now was to say something like “How could I hate you?” or “We’re family,” but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. If this were the past, he wouldn’t have minded lying to Song Yuening to keep up appearances. Since Song Yuening was so hypocritical, he might have kept Song Lili’s secret if Zhao Qing played along.

Zhao Qing knew he should do that.

But when he closed his eyes, all he saw were the memories of his past life  the humiliation and bullying at school, the cold neglect and torture at home, Song Yuening’s suppression after he entered the Song Corporation, and the way Xie Chengxuan looked at him with lingering obsession.

Perhaps not all of these were orchestrated by Song Yuening, but they were inextricably linked to him. The favored son of heaven, Song Yuening, was like a curse; for an insignificant person like Zhao Qing, proximity to him was the beginning of misfortune.

At this moment, Zhao Qing couldn’t utter a single insincere word. His Adam’s apple bobbed. After a long pause, he hardened his heart and said coldly:

“I’m not angry about that. As long as you don’t make things difficult for me, we can coexist in peace.”

He skillfully avoided the topic of whether he “hated” him. This was the maximum concession Zhao Qing could make. He loathed this kind of double-dealing.

“If you’re not angry, then why won’t you give me your phone number?” Song Yuening pivoted to a request so absurd Zhao Qing didn’t know how to respond. “I saw it just now; you exchanged contact info with that Eldest Young Master Fang.”

“Do you like him?” “What do you like about him?” “Do you like that he’s handsome? Or his voice?” “Is he your ‘type’?”

Listening to him grow more and more out of line, Zhao Qing’s brow furrowed tighter. In my past life, how did I not see that Song Yuening was a person with zero boundaries?

But Song Yuening seemed oblivious to Zhao Qing’s disgust. Finally, his solo performance returned to the starting point.

“If you gave him your contact info, why can’t you give it to me?”

As he mentioned this, the “grievance” in Song Yuening’s voice increased by another degree. To an uninformed observer, it would look like the two of them had a very deep history.

Green tea [manipulator], Zhao Qing cursed in his heart.

His logic told him that Song Yuening’s pestering had veered the conversation miles off course, but he couldn’t do anything about it  at least not until Song Lili returned safely. A person as petty as Song Yuening was more than capable of snitching. He might have the face of a gentleman, but he was anything but.

After a moment of thought, Zhao Qing finally recited his phone number.

Having achieved his goal, Song Yuening didn’t stop. Instead, he pushed his luck by wrapping an arm around Zhao Qing’s shoulders, half-forcing him back into the banquet hall with a composed stride.

When the doors opened, almost every eye in the room landed on them. Zhao Qing, who only wanted to be invisible, felt like he was being roasted on a spit.

Song Zhiyuan’s gaze swept over first. When he saw Zhao Qing and Song Yuening walking side-by-side with the latter’s hand on the former’s shoulder, his expression turned sour. The shift wasn’t lost on Zhao Qing; in fact, many people in the hall began whispering the moment they saw the pair.

Fang Haoyang and Fu Lansheng also looked over. Fu Lansheng, who had always been focused on Song Yuening, finally showed a crack in his “smiling tiger” mask, his eyes flashing with a startling, icy hatred.

Faced with these reactions of shock and jealousy, Song Yuening was remarkably shameless. Acting as though he saw nothing, he led Zhao Qing to a leather sofa in a corner of the hall. He didn’t sit upright; he kept one hand pressed against the side of Zhao Qing’s neck in a gesture that looked like an elegant kidnapping.

Then, Song Yuening asked as if no one else were there:

“Do you want to eat something? I’ll go get it for you.”

He actually seemed prepared to lower himself to fetch food for Zhao Qing.

It was only then that Zhao Qing finally realized: this guy was using this tactic to make everyone else hate him even more. His eyes grew colder. However, he didn’t know that this thought “wronged” Song Yuening somewhat.

Song Yuening wasn’t trying to set Zhao Qing up for a fall. He was simply feeling an inexplicable irritability after seeing Zhao Qing chatting so warmly with that unfavored Fang boy. This Song Zhaoqing is so cold to me, so why did he smile so defenselessly at someone he just met?

He had a childish urge to win. If his kindness couldn’t move the boy, then the boy wouldn’t be allowed to be close to anyone else either. Song Yuening didn’t like having things out of his control, and at this moment, what he hated most was not being able to control Song Zhaoqing. He wanted to use everyone’s gaze as a noose to keep Song Zhaoqing by his side, even if the boy was unwilling.

Thinking that his “toy” was now safely by his side rather than “fickly” attracting others, the restlessness in Song Yuening’s heart began to settle.

Listening to Song Yuening whisper “What do you want to eat?” into his ear repeatedly, Zhao Qing’s patience finally snapped. He wanted to shut the guy up, so he said concisely:

“Peanut brittle.”

He immediately turned to see Song Yuening’s reaction. Then he added:

“I almost forgot. Brother Lin told me… you’re allergic to peanuts, aren’t you?” He was lying  Lin Qi had never told him that. But Zhao Qing remembered the scar on his forehead from his past life that didn’t exist in this one.

“But right now, I happen to want peanut brittle. You’re so delicate; a single speck of peanut dust on your skin might trigger an allergy.”

His words were laced with pure malice. Yet Song Yuening didn’t even flinch. He simply signaled a waiter to bring a plate of peanut brittle.

“It’s fine. I’ll just watch you eat; it won’t trigger an allergy.”

Song Yuening spoke with a tone that was almost tender. His intuition was sharp, but he couldn’t understand why Zhao Qing’s mood had suddenly soued the moment he mentioned the peanut brittle.

Just as Zhao Qing was about to say something, a voice interrupted them.

“Ningning.” Song Zhiyuan’s voice, strained with suppressed emotion, sounded from nearby.

They both turned to see a grim-faced Song Zhiyuan walking toward them. He walked straight past Zhao Qing to Song Yuening and said:

“Ningning, Father is looking for you.”

He shot a glance at Zhao Qing, as if accusing him of preventing Song Yuening from leaving. Zhao Qing found it utterly tiresome. He stood up to leave, and Song Yuening’s voice immediately followed.

“Zhao-zhao!”

“Song Yuening, go on. Your father is looking for you.”

Zhao Qing’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was perfectly audible to Song Yuening and Song Zhiyuan. The sarcasm was palpable. Heh, “your” father.

Feeling much better after that remark, Zhao Qing walked toward the exit. Fang Yang had just returned after changing his clothes. Seeing that the boy had calmed down and regained his usual spirit, Zhao Qing felt at ease. He had no reason to stay in this filthy place any longer.

Checking his watch, he decided to go retrieve Song Lili. He was about to climb over the wall again when he saw a middle-aged figure flash past the iron gate outside. The man practically ran through the shaded path before disappearing.

The man was unremarkable and had tried to minimize his presence, even wearing a baseball cap. But when Zhao Qing caught a glimpse of his right ear which was missing a piece of flesh his head began to throb.

He never expected that Tao Jiang, the man who had kidnapped him, Song Yuening, and Song Lili in his past life, would appear under these circumstances in this life!

A terrible premonition flooded his mind. He jumped down from the wall to chase Tao Jiang, but the man was already gone.

This won’t do! Tao Jiang is already lurking around the Song residence. I have to tell Song Shicheng immediately!

Tao Jiang was a desperate man. He had been a foreman for the Song family’s construction company and had served five years in prison for an accident caused by poor construction quality. In reality, he had taken the fall for Song Zhiyuan, who had taken the lion’s share of the profits. Song Shicheng didn’t know about this, and Song Zhiyuan had pinned everything on Tao Jiang to hide it from his father.

Tao Jiang had been a thug before prison. After his release, he found his wife had remarried and his parents had died. Alone and bitter, he had tried to extort money from the Song family. After being beaten by their bodyguards and then diagnosed with early-stage cancer, he had been looking for a chance for revenge.

If it hadn’t been for Zhao Qing’s desperate gamble in his past life, the three of them would never have escaped that psychopath’s hands. Zhao Qing also knew Tao Jiang kept a shotgun at home… He did not want to experience that life-or-death situation ever again.

Tao Jiang’s appearance was a wake-up call. Zhao Qing told himself he couldn’t let himself fall into such a dangerous situation again.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice his surroundings and ran straight into a thin, frail figure. He heard a soft “Aiyo,” and looked up to see a pale girl with delicate features sitting on the ground. Most notably, her face was wet with tears, and a large bruise was visible on her left cheek.

“Are you… are you okay?” Zhao Qing feared he had made her cry and hurriedly helped her up. “I’m so sorry. Are you hurt? Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

The girl seemed to recognize him. She wiped her tears, covered the bruise on her face, and said in a strained, calm voice:

“Young Master Zhao Qing, I’m fine. No need for the hospital.”

Hearing her call him that, Zhao Qing noticed a name tag on her chest she was a Song family servant.

“You… you are?”

She looked unfamiliar. He asked what had happened to leave her in such a state. Under his questioning, she told him her story. Her name was Xiao Yue, a kitchen helper hired recently. She had been called to help in the front hall because they were short-staffed. While clearing dishes, she had accidentally bumped into a lady in a purple dress. Even though she had been careful not to spill anything on the lady, the woman had slapped her hard.

She felt wronged and didn’t want to go back to the kitchen to be mocked, so she had hidden here to cry. Then she ran into Zhao Qing.

A lady in a purple dress? The image of Duan Ran’s arrogant face immediately came to mind.

Do these spoiled brats have to bully people every day? Zhao Qing felt a surge of anger for the girl. But she pleaded with him not to tell the butler, fearing she would be fired. Her grandmother was seriously ill and needed the medical fees; she couldn’t lose this job.

Zhao Qing felt even worse. He gently told her he wouldn’t tell anyone, and that if anyone bullied her again, she could come to him or Song Lili for help. The girl was moved to tears. After thanking him repeatedly, she hurried back toward the villa.

Watching her go, Zhao Qing felt a sense of shared pain. Perhaps because he saw the shadow of his former bullied self in her, he felt a deeper pity for this stranger.