Chapter 6
This time, the hot search didn’t implicate Yu Xiele, so Huangda didn’t step in. Xie Tiancheng didn’t usually pay attention to the entertainment industry, so by the time he found out, it was already approaching noon.
In the side building of Chunshui Xifeng, the door to a suite was wide open. Several people stood in the hallway, heads bowed in feigned obedience, staring at their toes, while their ears were actually perked up like antennas.
Xie Wangyuan leaned against the headboard, the messy quilt draped over his legs. Wearing only a pair of boxer briefs, he squinted at the time. “Tsk, only noon.”
He lit a cigarette and took a drag, the headache from the all-nighter easing slightly. Xie Wangyuan complained, “Dad, I didn’t sleep all night. Can’t you let me sleep a bit longer?”
Seeing that he had the nerve to mention last night, Xie Tiancheng trembled with rage. “Sleep? You still want to sleep?! Don’t you know what you did last night?!”
“I know.” Seeing the situation, Xie Wangyuan realized sleep was out of the question. He ran a hand through his hair with a hint of regret. “Didn’t I just… what was it? Just played around with a few Betas? It’s not like anything bad happened.”
Xie Tiancheng took a few breaths, but the anger still rushed straight to his head. He roared, “You will get your ass back home right now, immediately, this instant!”
After smoking half a cigarette, Xie Wangyuan was completely awake. In a great mood, he said to Xie Tiancheng, “Sure. You sit first, I’ll take a shower.”
The tall Alpha’s voice was hoarse and satisfied, deliberately drawling his words. The morning physiological reaction was too obvious to ignore, yet he got out of bed without a shred of self-consciousness and walked right past Xie Tiancheng.
No matter how Xie Tiancheng heard it, those words sounded filthy. He was so angry he could barely stand. He was about to sit on the bed but remembered that an unknown number of Betas had rolled around on it last night, so he immediately straightened up and walked out of the bedroom.
Butler Wang was standing right outside. When Xie Wangyuan passed him, he even had the leisure to greet him. “Morning, Uncle Wang.”
Butler Wang: “…”
Xie Tiancheng saw the wide-open door and roared again, “Tell the people outside to get lost!”
Xie Wangyuan didn’t care at all about being heard. He said lazily, “They’ve seen everything they’re going to see. Are you afraid of them listening?”
He took a shower at an unhurried pace and even leisurely shaved. While shaving, he leaned against the bathroom door frame, boneless. “Dad, I don’t have any clothes. Have the clubhouse send a set over.”
Xie Tiancheng’s temples throbbed with rage.
“It’s fine if there are no clothes,” Xie Wangyuan looked down, admiring himself up and down. “I don’t think my body is unpresentable, do you, Dad?”
Xie Tiancheng remembered the Xie Wangyuan in the videos and felt that this shameless creature really was capable of doing such a thing.
Last night’s events were already causing a huge stir. If he made the news again for walking out of the clubhouse in his underwear… Xie Tiancheng took a few more deep breaths. “Go get him clothes.”
“Uncle Wang, get something I like,” Xie Wangyuan nitpicked. “Something bright. No white, black, or grey. Floral would be best…”
Xie Tiancheng couldn’t bear it anymore. “Get him black!”
Xie Wangyuan mumbled without a filter, “Tsk, people who didn’t know would think I’m attending a funeral…”
Xie Tiancheng said coldly, “I’m not dead yet.”
The Xie family car was parked at the back door of the clubhouse. Dressed in a black casual outfit, Xie Wangyuan gave a insincere smile. “This setup looks a bit familiar.”
“You think I want this?!” Xie Tiancheng pulled out his phone. The screen was paused on the entertainment news. He shoved it ruthlessly in front of Xie Wangyuan’s face. “Do you know how famous you are right now?!”
Xie Wangyuan glanced at it casually and praised, “Nice shot. I have to say, I’m quite photogenic.”
Xie Tiancheng: “…”
Xie Wangyuan followed him into the back seat. His legs were long, and he couldn’t stretch out comfortably no matter how he moved. He complained, “Dad, couldn’t you have sent a more spacious car?”
Xie Tiancheng’s temples throbbed again. “How about I just stick a sign on the car saying ‘Xie Family’ to pick you up?”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Xie Wangyuan yawned, speaking lazily. “It’s already spread everywhere. Is there any point in hiding?”
“You think I’m doing this for you?” Xie Tiancheng had weathered many storms in his early years and had calmed down by now. “I’m doing this for the Xie family, for Lele.”
Xie Wangyuan scoffed coldly and slumped against the car door.
Xie Tiancheng suppressed his anger and asked, “What is so fun about Betas? They don’t even have pheromones; they’re of no benefit to you at all.”
Xie Wangyuan closed his eyes, his eyeballs not even moving.
“If you really like Betas, that’s fine, but don’t look for those trashy, unpresentable ones from last night again. Keep a couple secretly outside in the future, and no one will know.” Xie Tiancheng continued, thinking himself considerate. “Let’s just drop the matter of last night. I’ve already had it suppressed. When the heat passes, I’ll have Lele come to the house.”
Xie Wangyuan opened his eyes. “Dad, don’t use that tone with me anymore. If you do it a few more times, I’ll really think you have a terminal illness and are trying to act out a scene of fatherly benevolence and filial piety before you die.”
Before Xie Tiancheng could get angry, he curled his lips. “Don’t you know what I’m like? Now everyone knows I just got back to the country and rolled in the sheets with several trashy, unpresentable D-list celebrities. You like Yu Xiele so much, but if he gets with an Alpha like me, how do you think the public will talk about him? Gold digger, bootlicker, selling himself for money and power…”
“Xie Wangyuan!”
“What? Don’t like my ugly words?” Xie Wangyuan smiled mockingly. “I have even uglier ones—Dad, do you want to hear them?”
Xie Wangyuan sat up straight, staring at Xie Tiancheng, and said maliciously, “You probably don’t know, but Betas are much more durable* than Omegas. Aren’t you afraid I’ll play too rough in bed and damage your precious darling—”
(Note: “Durable” here is a translation of “耐操”, which is vulgar slang implying can take a pounding)
A crisp slap echoed in the car, followed by Xie Tiancheng’s uncontrollable, heavy breathing.
Butler Wang and the driver sat in the front, staring straight ahead like dead men, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire between the two antagonistic Alphas in the back.
Xie Tiancheng had put all his strength into that slap. Xie Wangyuan’s face was knocked to the side. He poked his tongue against his slightly numb cheek, licked the corner of his mouth where blood was seeping out, and smiled. “Dad, so angry you skipped a meal?”
Butler Wang, the driver: “…”
“If your mother were still here, you definitely wouldn’t have been spoiled into this state. Can you face us? Can you face her?!”
Xie Wangyuan sneered. “Spoiled?”
Xie Tiancheng’s mouth was wide open, his eyes red. He stared dead at Xie Wangyuan and said, “If not for her, do you think I would have indulged you in everything since you were little? If not for Lele having feelings for you, do you think I would have let you stay outside for so many years? If I had known she was pregnant with a thing like you, I would have rather…”
Xie Wangyuan chuckled, adding fuel to the fire. “Then who’s to blame? Blame yourself for not holding back. It’s not like she could have given birth to me on her own.”
Xie Tiancheng had lived most of his life and had never been this angry. Provoked, he raised his hand again, but finally, looking at Xie Wangyuan—who didn’t bear a single trace of resemblance to the gentle and beautiful face in his memories—he gritted his teeth and said, “I’ve suspended your cards. You will stay home honestly for the next few days.”
The familiar wrought-iron gates appeared. The unlit courtyard was pitch black, just like when Xie Wangyuan was a child.
The empty villa was completely dark at night. Everywhere, there was only the sound of his own voice, the echo returning to his ears, as if he were talking to himself.
Xie Wangyuan tasted the rust-like flavor in his mouth and suddenly felt very bored. Before the car came to a complete stop, he opened the door and got out.
Xie Tiancheng remained in the car and said, “Your older brother was originally on a business trip out of town, but now he has to rush back to clean up the mess you made! Xie Wangyuan, think about it properly.”
Xie Wangyuan walked through the door sporting the slap mark on his face. He grabbed two bottles of mineral water from the refrigerator in the dining room and went upstairs.
In another suite with the exact same layout, Ren Yi slept until the afternoon before being yanked awake by the ear by Ren Ke, who had come over from the company.
“Ah—Sis! Pain, pain, pain!” Ren Yi, half-naked as he was dragged out, hurriedly shrunk back into the quilt. “What are you doing, Sis?”
“A white cut chicken, what’s there to hide?” Ren Ke, dressed in a sharp little suit, scoffed lightly. She sat on the chair nearby, tossed her phone over, crossed her legs, and asked, “You were there last night too?”
Ren Yi was confused. He picked up the phone and laughed as he watched. “Hey, this editing is really good. Who wrote this copy? It’s too f*cking fitting…”
Ren Yi finished watching and finished laughing. He looked up and met Ren Ke’s icy gaze, his smile freezing.
Just before Ren Ke got up to strike again, Ren Yi hurriedly added, “The banquet was real, the hot search isn’t real!”
Ren Ke raised an eyebrow. “Let’s hear it.”
Ren Yi shut his mouth tight after letting that slip, shaking his head and refusing to utter another sound.
“You didn’t go to the company today, and you weren’t at the hotel either. Dad asked about you, and I covered for you.” Ren Ke took back her phone and made a move to call. “Tell me, if I let Dad know that last night you…”
“Hey, Sis, Sis, Sis!” Ren Yi cried out with a bitter face. “Aren’t you threatening me? I can’t betray Brother Yuan!”
“What betrayal? You think you’re playing Infernal Affairs?” Ren Ke rolled her eyes. “I just want to hear some gossip in my spare time. I won’t tell anyone. What are you afraid of?”
Ren Yi hesitated. “Really?”
Ren Ke picked up the phone again. “Dad should be…”
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” Ren Yi couldn’t care less about being shy anymore. He leaped up and snatched Ren Ke’s phone. “But swear first.”
Ren Ke suppressed the urge to roll her eyes again, perfunctorily raised her right hand, and said, “Fine, swore. Speak.”
“…” Ren Yi dared to be angry but not to speak.
After listening to the whole story, Ren Ke couldn’t help rolling her eyes anyway. “That’s it? A rebellious kid encounters an arranged marriage, runs away from home, and is now continuing to fight against his family? And you, you followed him to run away from home back then without knowing anything?”
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