translator: Eve

editor: xiin

Because Xiao Shenglin had yet to make a full recovery, Zhou Nan chose a vegetarian restaurant.

The vegetarian restaurant was located inside a Suzhou style garden. The garden was not very big but it had a bridge, running water, a rock garden and potted plants. Every detail was exquisite, and it was like the landscape changed with every step he took. Song Xuanhe was rather surprised; he had lived in the Capital for so long, but he had never been aware that such a place existed.

Zhou Nan was in no mood to admire the scenery. He was curious, “What did you talk to your brother about? You didn’t fight, right? But if you weren’t fighting, why did you talk for so long? Your conversations usually end really quickly.”

“Says who?”

“You’re like that all the time. Remember when I went to the Song Group looking for you? You were talking to Lin ge while standing at the elevator. Lin ge asked you if you’ve eaten, you said ‘no’ and then you two just stared at each other silently. I nearly went mad with laughter from watching that.”

Song Xuanhe rolled his eyes before picking up his pace.

Zhou Nan chased after him and walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him. He turned to smile. “Did your brother tell you just what happened with Bai Mo? I’m really curious. Tell me.”

Song Xuanhe stopped walking. Zhou Nan did the same and said, “Come on, you’re not even willing to satisfy my curiosity over something as trifling as this? Why’d you become so ruthless after your trip….”

“…Hm?” Zhou Nan turned his head and looked straight ahead. He dragged the word ‘trip’, the tone gradually changing to a question. He then looked at Song Xuanhe pensively. “Looks like enemies meet on a narrow road, huh?”

Song Xuanhe glanced at him and looked at the person who had arrived in front of them. Bai Mo smiled. “Song Ershao, Zhou shao, long time no see.”

Zhou Nan raised a brow. There was ridicule in his brows as he smiled. “Indeed, long time no see. However, we’ve heard a lot about you.”

Bai Mo’s smile changed. His gaze focused onto Song Xuanhe. “I heard that Ershao’s suddenly developed an interest in fashion design, and that you’ll be presenting your work at the upcoming fashion work. I’m looking forward to it. I hope you succeed.”

Song Xuanhe’s gaze shifted from Bai Mo to Jiang Deyi behind him. His lips curled up. “Thanks.”

Bai Mo blinked, then asked, “Did you two come to eat? I’ve never seen you here before.”

“It’s our first time here,” Song Xuanhe said, “Because our friend is injured, he needs to eat lighter food. Bai shaoye, did you also come for the same reason?”

Jiang Deyi, whose head had been hung low all this time, grew rigid. He raised his eyes slightly to glance at Bai Mo before looking back down.

Bai Mo grinned back. “I’m vegetarian, so I’m a regular here. But that can be considered one of the reasons why we came here.”

Song Xuanhe feigned seriousness before suddenly breaking out into a smile. “Since that’s the case, I should treat you two to a pot of tea.”

Bai Mo was taken aback, and Jiang Deyi also looked up quickly. Song Xuanhe’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “When I heard that Mr. Jiang’s injury had something to do with me, although I’ve only found this out recently, I’ve been curious to know why people have been saying this. Now that I’ve seen the victim and the person who has been spreading this information, I have to treat you to a meal. Can you satisfy my curiosity as the main character in these rumours?”

Jiang Deyi’s bandaged hands shook. The smile on Bai Mo’s face also faded quite a bit. However, his expression was still one of innocence. “This was my fault. Deyi is a friend from abroad. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him after I’ve come back to China. When I heard that he wanted to work at Mr. Feng Tong’s studio, I was pleasantly delighted, but Mr. Feng Tong then chose to work with you. Inevitably, I was disappointed. Then, I heard about the disagreements between you two and saw that my friend was injured. That’s why, when others asked, I couldn’t help but mention you. I never expected my casual mention to be twisted by others. This matter has made me realize how scary rumours can be.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’ve never insinuated that Song Er was behind Mr. Jiang Deyi’s injury?”

Bai Mo nodded. “That’s right.” He then gave Song Xuanhe an ashamed look. “Nevertheless, I still want to apologize to you. After all, if I hadn’t mentioned your name, such a rumour would never have spread. Please accept my apology.”

Regardless of who was in the wrong, as long as you apologized first, the other party would be looked down on if they refused to accept your apology. Zhou Nan frowned upon hearing Bai Mo’s words. He was about to interject when Song Xuanhe cut him off. “Since Bai shao did it unintentionally, I obviously won’t hold this against you. But there is another reason for why I want to treat you to a pot of tea.”

“No need,” Bai Mo replied with a smile, “Deyi and I have an appointment to get to so we can’t stay for long. Furthermore, Ershao and Zhou shao came hereto eat. I would feel extremely guilty if I were to delay your meal. If you have any questions, you can ask them now. If we know the answer, we will do our best to reply.”

This was a public place. What Song Xuanhe wanted to know was definitely not something that would be considered small talk. So it wouldn’t be appropriate for Song Xuanhe to talk about something serious. In other words, Bai Mo was tactfully refusing him.

Who would have expected that Song Xuanhe wouldn’t care that they were in a public place? The other had a smile in his limpid eyes and his tone was filled with sincerity. “Mr. Jiang Deyi and Mr. Hayden are close. I just wanted to ask Mr. Jiang Deyi about how Mr. Hayden has been lately. I talked to Mr. Hayden quite a bit during our first meeting on the cruise and had a very good time speaking to him. It felt like we had been friends for years. Every time I think about it, I always wish to have another chat with him, but I haven’t heard anything about him as of late. That’s why I wanted to ask Mr. Jiang Deyi about him.”

It wasn’t just Bai Mo and Jiang Deyi’s expressions that had become complicated, even Zhou Nan thought that Song Xuanhe was extremely shameless for saying what he did. Everyone here knew exactly what had happened on the cruise. Song Xuanhe and Hayden—if it wasn’t because they were concerned with their images, they would have gotten into a physical fight instead of engaging in a war of words. And yet, Song Xuanhe had the audacity to say that he had a good time speaking with Hayden, that they were like old friends, and that he wanted to chat with him again?

Zhou Nan thought that, if Hayden Schroder were to hear this, he would probably ignore the fact that this was a public place and get violent instantly.

Bai Mo was astonished by Song Xuanhe’s ability to utter nonsense without batting an eye. However, he couldn’t fault anything Song Xuanhe said. It wasn’t like he could question his relationship with Hayden Schroder in public. Moreover, it wasn’t like Song Xuanhe had asked an inappropriate question. It was just that Bai Mo didn’t want to reply to this question at all.

However, Song Xuanhe didn’t so much as glimpse at Bai Mo. His gaze was on Jiang Deyi the whole time. He probed, “Mr. Jiang?”

Who knew if it was out of anger or whatever, but Jiang Deyi shook all over. A long time later, he squeezed three words out from between his teeth in a trembling voice: “He’s doing great.”

“Then, does he have any plans on visiting China soon?” Song Xuanhe continued to ask, “I can’t wait to see him again and chat.”

Jiang Deyi froze. He finally looked up and met Song Xuanhe’s eyes. “You stole everything from me and made me like this. What else do you want? What do you want to do to Hayden? He’s already—just what do you want?!”

Ah, turns out Jiang Deyi was angry.

Song Xuanhe and Zhou Nan came to the same conclusion upon meeting this pair of bloodshot eyes that were filled with hatred.

Song Xuanhe looked like he was confused by Jiang Deyi’s sudden outburst. He said in an innocent voice: “Mr. Jiang, I don’t know what you’re talking about? What do you mean, I stole everything from you? I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to you?”

Jiang Deyi’s face was filled with resentment. “Feng Tong’s studio! I had invested two years of blood and sweat, and exhausted all my connections to get that opportunity. It was a sure thing until you stepped in! And yet, you dare say you didn’t steal anything from me? There’s also the cufflinks and the Xiao Group’s eldest young master! You only dated him because you knew he was the Xiao Group’s young master. How could a person like you ever truly like anyone? The Xiao Group’s eldest young master only fell for you because he was tricked by that innocent facade of yours. Just you wait–a person like you will never get a happy ending! The Xiao Group’s eldest young master will throw you away one day!”

The smile finally fell from Song Xuanhe’s face. He raised a brow, a sliver of derision in his brows. “Like how Hayden Schroder threw you away?”

Jiang Deyi’s furious expression became blank, then twisted. “Who said Hayden threw me away? It’s because you ruined him and made him lose his position as successor. You crippled him. It’s all your fault! Song Xuanhe, you’re going to suffer from karmic retribution!”

Song Xuanhe: “Zhou Rong’s thing came from you, didn’t it? You used your connection with Hayden Schroder to get something from the Schroder Family, and then acted as the middle man and gave it to Zhou Rong. You gained quite a profit from that too, didn’t you?”

Jiang Deyi’s expression changed. Panic and surprise nearly spilled out from his eyes. “What thing? What nonsense are you spouting?”

“If my guess isn’t wrong,” Song Xuanhe pretended like he didn’t see the guilt in Jiang Deyi’s eyes and continued, “You obtained that thing from Hayden Schroder with the excuse of getting revenge on me. That’s why you were only able to give him one syringe. But after you found out how much money you could make, so you couldn’t help yourself from finding other buyers. You just never expected that this would be the reason Xiao Yuanmu’s people would be able to find you. They caught all of you.”

“No!” Jiang Deyi’s expression was extremely ugly. His eyes were full of misgivings as he stared at Song Xuanhe.

Jiang Deyi was certain that there was no way Song Xuanhe would know about this. Before he had fainted, he had heard Xiao Yuanmu tell his people not to tell Song Xuanhe about this. If Xiao Yuanmu didn’t tell him, then how could Song Xuanhe know?

The more Jiang Deyi thought about this, the more afraid he got. He didn’t say a thing and Song Xuanhe had already guessed most of what had happened. Moreover, he was so calm despite knowing the truth. This reminded him of Xiao Yuanmu when the other had been interrogating him. Underneath the ripple-less appearance was a serenity that caused one to shiver uncontrollably.

“Therefore,” Song Xuanhe bent down slightly, meeting Jiang Deyi right in the eye. His tone was filled with ridicule. “Everything that happened to you was of your own making. Everything that happened to Hayden Schroder was because of you.”

When he saw Jiang Deyi’s face turn deathly pale, Song Xuanhe straightened up and smiled. “So, the one who deserves a miserable ending and karmic retribution is you.”

Eve: JDY, bye bye.

xiin: Fierce~