translator: Eve

editor: kara

Because he didn’t know when exactly Xiao Shenglin’s car accident would occur, Song Xuanhe had no choice but to find a bit of time to call and ask where the other was going every day.

Within a few days, it wasn’t just Xiao Shenglin who had started to feel like something was off. Even Zhou Nan had realized that there was something going on.

During one of these times of Song Xuanhe calling Xiao Shenglin to “check in,” Zhou Nan, who was next to Xiao Shenglin, couldn’t help himself from snatching the phone. “Song Er, the hell are you doing? Every time I meet up with Lin zi, you call him. If I didn’t know that you were with Xiao Yuanmu, I’d think you were planning on dating Lin zi.”

Despite the teasing, Song Xuanhe knew that Zhou Nan could perceive that something was wrong. He had always been smart. Furthermore, there had also been that incident last time where Song Xuanhe had forced Xiao Shenglin to talk about his issue with the Xiao Family.

“We’re at Ruyi Pavilion. If you have nothing to do, come join us for a meal.”

Song Xuanhe was in the middle of a design, so he didn’t really want to leave. However, he knew that Zhou Nan and Xiao Shenglin were suspicious of his actions. He had to give them an explanation, or Zhou Nan would come after him some time today to ask him about it. In any case, being disturbed was inevitable. He might as well take the initiative.

Ruyi Pavilion was a bit far away from Song Xuanhe’s apartment. It was almost noon now, so the traffic was quite bad. He had been stuck in traffic for nearly half an hour, and Zhou Nan had already called him twice to hurry him along. Song Xuanhe also felt helpless. Once again, his phone rang. Song Xuanhe answered it: “I haven’t moved at all. You keep calling me every ten minutes. It’s annoying.”

The other side was silent for a few seconds. Shortly after, Xiao Yuanmu’s chilly voice came through the other end: “It’s me.”

Song Xuanhe paused and then raised a brow. “Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?”

“Louis was injured while street racing. I just got back from the hospital.”

Song Xuanhe knew Louis. He would occasionally hear the other’s voice through Xiao Yuanmu’s phone. Therefore, he inquired politely about the other’s condition. “Is he okay?”

Xiao Yuanmu said in a flat voice, “He scraped his arm a bit. He wants to take two months off.”

“Clever guy,” Song Xuanhe praised him, “Did you give it to him?”

“What do you think?”

“Must suck for him to be business partners with you.” Song Xuanhe clicked his tongue. He then lamented, “It’s one thing for you to work over time. Don’t force others to do it with you. He can’t even get any time off despite being injured. How tragic.”

Xiao Yuanmu listened to Song Xuanhe quietly until he had finished. He then said, “I gave it to him.”

Song Xuanhe didn’t even pause. He continued speaking without feeling any embarrassment. “He wants two months off just for a scraped arm. What an unreliable guy.”

Xiao Yuanmu chuckled. His voice then grew heavy. “Louis’s accident wasn’t an accident.”

“What?” Song Xuanhe’s smile faded. “Is it related to the Xiao Family?”

Xiao Yuanmu gave him a quiet sound of agreement.

Song Xuanhe frowned and said, “It can’t be Xiao Baicong, right? He’s only eighteen. How ruthless.”

When Xiao Yuanmu had heard Song Xuanhe suspect Xiao Baicong right away, the darkness in his eyes lightened. His lips curled up slightly. “You trust me this much?”

Song Xuanhe didn’t know what Xiao Yuanmu was getting at.

Xiao Yuanmu continued quietly, “You’ve never even met Xiao Baicong. Based solely on what I’ve said, you’ve already decided to unconditionally stand by my side. I’m…really happy.”

The low “really happy” echoed in Song Xuanhe’s ears. The vibrations from the other’s voice seemed to bring a current with them as they pierced through his eardrums. Song Xuanhe subconsciously moved his phone away from his ear and coughed quietly.

He wanted to explain himself. “I….”

——Beep beep beep.

The driver of the car behind him stuck his head out the window and shouted, “Hey buddy, are you going to move or what?!”

Song Xuanhe paused. He stepped down on the accelerator and continued driving. By the time he responded, he had already formulated an excuse. “I don’t know anything about the Xiao Family. Aside from the head and his wife, I’ve only ever heard you mention Xiao Baicong. That’s why I thought of him when you had told me that something had happened to Louis.”

Xiao Yuanmu knew that Song Xuanhe wouldn’t admit to this. His smile deepened, and he didn’t pursue it any further. He got back onto the main topic. “I’ve got some information. Xiao Baicong dispatched some of his people to China in the last few days. I don’t know why, but I thought it’d be best to give you a heads-up.”

“In the last few days?” Song Xuanhe suddenly felt uneasy. “Do you know the exact time?”

“Three days ago,” Xiao Yuanmu said, “His subordinates are completely loyal to him, which is why it took me so long to get news of this. But, this information is absolutely trustworthy.”

“Three days ago…” Song Xuanhe muttered. “Do you think this is related to Xiao Shenglin?”

“I don’t know.”

When Song Xuanhe had told him about Xiao Shenglin, Xiao Yuanmu had thought that the probability of Xiao Baicong going to such troubles in order to frame him was very low. But when he had heard that Xiao Baicong had sent his people to China, his intuition told him that it was because of Xiao Shenglin.

His intuition had always been spot-on. But, he didn’t want to tell Song Xuanhe this, because his only “proof” was his gut feeling. This was because Song Xuanhe was more important to him than Xiao Shenglin.

That was why he had first contacted Zhang Siwei to add people to Song Xuanhe’s security detail as soon as he had received the information. If Xiao Baicong dared to do anything to Song Xuanhe, Xiao Yuanmu would ensure that the other suffered a fate worse than the one he had in his previous life.

However, there was no reason to tell Song Xuanhe any of this.

“If he’s targeting Xiao Shenglin, then Xiao Shenglin’s in danger. I’m going to hang up.” Song Xuanhe pressed on the gas pedal with furrowed brows. Before hanging up, he pursed his lips and quietly said, “You be careful too.”

Song Xuanhe had already hung up, but Xiao Yuanmu didn’t immediately pull the phone away from his ear. Some time later, he chuckled softly. The raised corners of his eyes were overflowing with affection.

After passing the most congested part of the road, traffic became much better. Less than fifteen minutes later, Song Xuanhe arrived at his destination.

Zhou Nan and Xiao Shenglin had been waiting for him for nearly an hour. They were starving, especially Zhou Nan. With a hand on his stomach, he said, “And, here I was wondering if I’d be eating dinner with you instead of lunch.”

Song Xuanhe’s expression was heavy. He didn’t reply to Zhou Nan’s comment.

Xiao Shenglin noticed that his expression wasn’t good. He frowned slightly. “What happened?”

Song Xuanhe took in Xiao Shenglin’s characteristic, gentle expression. His lips pressed into a line. “Xiao Yuanmu called me while I was stuck in traffic.”

Xiao Shenglin didn’t understand what that had to do with anything, but he still nodded. He listened to him earnestly.

“Xiao Baicong dispatched his people to come here.” Song Xuanhe got straight to the point. “I think he’s going to do something to you.”

Zhou Nan was baffled. “What do you mean? Isn’t Xiao Baicong Xiao Yuanmu’s younger brother? Why would he come looking for Xiao Shenglin?”

Xiao Shenglin seemed to read something from Song Xuanhe’s expression. His soft expression changed. “What do you know?”

Song Xuanhe stared at the ground, mind whirling. A few seconds later, he gave them an account of Xiao Yuanmu’s conjecture. He hid the fact that he was the one to raise the question first. He let them believe that it was Xiao Yuanmu, who had first held suspicions that someone wanted to hurt Xiao Shenglin.

Xiao Shenglin’s expression turned grave. He was quiet for a moment. “No wonder. I’ve felt like someone’s been watching me lately, but nothing ever came up when I tried to look into it. Turns out they’re Xiao Family people.”

Zhou Nan was shocked. “You’re being followed? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Xiao Shenglin shook his head. “When Xuanhe had asked me about the Xiao Family, I had sensed that something was wrong. I had started to feel suspicious. But nothing had happened, that is, until two days ago. Suddenly, I was being followed. Xuanhe’s also been calling me every day to confirm my location and safety. At that point, I had more-or-less guessed that something was going on. I was originally planning on asking Xuanhe what he knew today.”

Zhou Nan looked at Song Xuanhe and then punched him in the chest. “We’re all buddies. Why didn’t you tell us about something this serious before?”

“He wasn’t sure until now,” Xiao Shenglin said, “It’s normal for him not to tell us.”

Zhou Nan had actually been just trying to lighten up the atmosphere. He didn’t really blame Song Xuanhe. That’s why he didn’t continue down this line of conversation after hearing Xiao Shenglin try to mediate the situation. However, his expression still grew heavy.

Upon seeing Song Xuanhe and Zhou Nan’s worried expressions, Xiao Shenglin laughed. “Don’t worry. We know what’s going on now. We can prevent anything from happening now.”

“How can we not worry when Xiao Baicong sent his people here?” Zhou Nan’s brows furrowed deeply. He was indignant. “What the hell is going on with the Xiao Family? They’re crazy. Why do they have to use others’ lives as their stepping stones in their own power struggle? It’s like a damn palace drama.”

Song Xuanhe was also frowning. Xiao Baicong’s people had already arrived, but he still didn’t know what they were planning to do to Xiao Shenglin. His arrival had already changed many things in this world. If Xiao Baicong’s plan had changed too, then they wouldn’t be able to do anything but wait and see.

“What do you think Xiao Baicong is going to do?”

Despite being the party involved, Xiao Shenglin was the calmest out of the three of them. When he had heard Song Xuanhe’s question, he muttered under his breath for a while before shaking his head. “It’s extremely easy for the Xiao Family to quietly kill someone off without alerting authorities. I can’t imagine what method they would use. But if it’s Xiao Baicong, he doesn’t have that much authority yet. He will do his best to create a logical pretense for my death. That means that a car accident is the most likely method he’ll use.”

Song Xuanhe looked up at once. Xiao Shenglin was a bit startled. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Suppressing the emotions swirling in his eyes, Song Xuanhe shook his head. “Aside from that, is there anything else?”

Xiao Shenglin thought about it. “If he wants to frame Xiao Yuanmu, an ‘accidental death’ during a break and entry is possible as well.”

Zhou Nan said, “Xiao Baicong’s people probably won’t be Chinese, right? There has to be records of their arrival. I’ll send someone to look into that.”

Xiao Shenglin stopped him. “There’s no time for that. Not even Xiao Yuanmu can verify who Xiao Baicong’s subordinates are. It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack for you. Besides, it’s not a guarantee that they are using their real identities.”

“Is the Xiao Family a financial group or a mafia organization?” Zhou Nan joked despite the sombre air. “There’s no way he got an assassin group involved, right?”

When they heard this, both Song Xuanhe and Xiao Shenglin looked up at the same time, identical conjectures emerging in their minds.

Eve: XSL my baby. Mama Eve will bang a metal club over anyone who tries to hurt you.

Kara: I heard someone was threatening one of my sons!! Where are they?! LET ME AT THEM!! I’ll show them what happens when you mess with our kids! (ง •̀_•́)ง

xiin: happy chinese new year~