Wu Siyuan didn’t wait any longer for Shi Yuzhe’s reply.
He buried himself in studying and making money, with everything proceeding covertly. The two male leads didn’t sense any crisis outside at all.
Xiao You, based on how often Jiang Jingtong came looking for him, was able to gauge the frequency of Jiang Jingtong's meetings with Shi Yuanbai.
On Chen Xuyao’s side, he had already dug up quite a lot of information about Jiang Jingtong’s lovers, as well as the remaining flower guardians1 around Shi Yuanbai.
It wasn't that Shi Yuanbai's ambiguous partners were inadequate, instead it was just that Jiang Jingtong's lovers proved to be far more loyal. The main difference was that one relied on money, while the other relied on emotions. A comparison made it clear which was more reliable.
Since the two of them had been meeting up a lot lately and strengthening their bond, Wu Siyuan decided to give Jiang Jingtong another suggestion.
— Meeting often is good, but it lacks novelty. Being generous is fine, but you should be more romantic. It's the season for traveling now. Shixiong, you can take advantage of the weekend for a short trip. That’ll speed things up in your relationship.
At first, Jiang Jingtong still held grudges about Gu Siyuan’s initial rudeness. But with each useful suggestion from this junior, his relationship with Shi Yuanbai kept improving. Jiang Jingtong thought that maybe he should let Gu Siyuan off the hook. He wasn’t a petty man anyway, there was no need to retaliate over such a small matter.
Besides, every single suggestion Gu Siyuan gave was good. Most importantly, he was really sick of Xiao You. He wanted to switch to someone new for fun, and Gu Siyuan was the best candidate.
Even though Gu Siyuan didn’t seem to have such intentions right now, what about later? Soon, Jiang Jingtong would enter his family’s business. By then, Gu Siyuan wouldn’t have the luxury of refusal.
He had already investigated Gu Siyuan and found him to be clean, having never been in a relationship.
Thinking this way, Jiang Jingtong stopped walking towards Shi Yuanbai’s for dinner. Instead, he opened a contact on his phone. “Xiao You, I’m coming over today.”
While walking, Jiang Jingtong also replied to Wu Siyuan.
— That’s a great idea. I’ll have someone recommend a good short-trip destination. Do you have any suggestions? You’ve been helping me for so long, I feel bad. Let’s have a meal together sometime?
A meal? With Jiang Jingtong’s face, who could eat anything after seeing him? Just looking at him already fills the stomach. Was this gratitude? Obviously, it was revenge!
— Thank you, Shixiong. But let’s wait until you and Shi-shixiong are officially together before we talk about it.
People often speak insincerely. Look, this is the price of growing up.
Meanwhile, Xiao You contacted Wu Siyuan.
— Shidi, he suddenly changed his mind and came to find me again.
Wu Siyuan was puzzled. Jiang Jingtong had opened displayed his loss of interest in Xiao You. And Xiao You’s words told him that Jiang Jingtong was truly tired of Xiao You and didn't want to be with him anymore.
So why was he just talking about traveling one moment, and then looking for Xiao You the next? Was this like a trial rehearsal before the real trip?
Maybe… this was true love?
Wu Siyuan stared at the texts on his phone, feeling deeply impressed.
Jiang Jingtong walked toward Xiao You’s place while calling Shi Yuanbai.
“Yuanbai, we don’t have many classes right now. Why don’t we go on a trip? I've found a great tourist spot. It's not far. We can go there this weekend.”
Coincidentally, Shi Yuanbai had been feeling troubled lately. He suspected his brother had discovered something. His own people in the family and company were constantly blocked at every turn. Worse, he and Shi Yuzhe hadn’t gone back to the main house for a long time.
Then there were his parents, whose attitude towards him seemed to be growing colder. This left Shi Yuanbai at a loss. As the youngest in the family, his parents had always been quite protective of him.
There was also his grandfather. When Shi Yuanbai called yesterday to say he wanted to visit his grandfather, he was coldly rejected. From the tone, it seemed like his grandfather didn't want to see him anytime soon.
Shi Yuanbai had not received any concrete news, but he felt this was just the calm before the storm.
Jiang Jingtong’s call was like a beam of light, reviving him.
Shi Yuanbai quickly said, “Sure, as long as it’s your invitation, I’ll always have time.”
The two of them chatted sweetly, while Jiang Jingtong arrived outside Xiao You’s place.
“Then it’s a date this weekend.”
After hanging up, he hugged Xiao You, who had opened the door to greet him.
Initially, Wu Siyuan had told Xiao You that if he wanted, he could help him break free of Jiang Jingtong. But Xiao You refused. To be honest, despite the risks, Jiang Jingtong was very financially generous with his lovers.
At first, Xiao You naively thought Jiang Jingtong truly loved him. Until he ended up in the hospital, where he realized he had been foolish, thinking love was all he needed. He never asked Jiang Jingtong for money, but in Jiang Jingtong's eyes, he was just a gold-digger.
Since that was how Jiang Jingtong saw him, he would make it come true.
Xiao You lamented over his past stupidity. He hadn’t taken a cent, and in the end, all he got was broken bones.
Now, he would take as much as he could. He wouldn’t let those two have it easy. They wanted to be together? Xiao You didn't mind. What he wanted was to make their future miserable.
Jiang Jingtong had slept with so many people, and Xiao You had kept tabs. He wanted to quietly collect evidence, then when they married, he would make sure that they regretted it endlessly.
Wu Siyuan didn’t care much about this. Everyone had their own plans, and he couldn’t force anyone.
After half a month of silence, Shi Yuanbai’s older brother finally contacted him.
— What do you want?
Wu Siyuan thought for a moment and then replied.
— Your dear brother is preparing to run away abroad.
His answer was completely off-topic, but Shi Yuzhe seemed to have filled in the blanks himself.
— You don’t want him to leave the country? You want him to stay here so you can take revenge? Remember, he’s my brother.
Seeing this reply, Wu Siyuan was truly surprised. The fact that Shi Yuzhe contacted him meant that he had already uncovered the truth. But he hadn’t expected that even then, Shi Yuzhe would still defend Shi Yuanbai.
— If I wanted revenge, I wouldn’t have waited until now.
This SIM card Wu Siyuan used was only for contacting Shi Yuzhe. Unless Shi Yuzhe had state-level resources to track him, he couldn’t be found.
Even so, it didn’t matter. Wu Siyuan rarely used that card. Even if Shi Yuzhe had the means, the authorities weren’t idle enough to track his calls and check surveillance for him.
So Wu Siyuan was at ease. Then, another message arrived.
— Don’t worry, he won’t be leaving the country.
That seemed like tacit agreement with Wu Siyuan’s next moves.
— Relax, I really won’t hurt him. It's not about preventing him from going abroad, just delaying it a bit.
Shi Yuzhe couldn’t figure out what this person wanted. On the surface, he seemed harmless. He had once told him about the long-term poisoning, which made Shi Yuzhe assume this person bore a grudge against his brother. But now, these new messages left him even more confused. What did this person really want?
Shi Yuzhe had considered many people, especially the Chen family.
Back when the Chen family had gradually distanced themselves, he had investigated. Kids’ romances came and went, and he hadn’t taken it seriously.
But this time, when investigating Shi Yuanbai, he discovered that much of what had happened to the Chen family’s daughter had been orchestrated by his beloved little brother.
Shi Yuzhe couldn’t understand. He had never wronged Shi Yuanbai. Why did his brother hate him so much?
Over inheritance? Shi Yuzhe found it laughable. Just for the right of succession, his own brother wanted to kill him?
Looking at all the reports, Shi Yuzhe was angered into laughter. Did his brother really want power and the company that badly? Honestly, he had never cared about these things. Between brothers, it wasn’t worth fighting over. Once Shi Yuanbai graduated, if he wanted it, Shi Yuzhe wouldn’t mind handing it all over.
But now? The more Shi Yuanbai cared, the less Shi Yuzhe would let go.
Let him watch as his brother rose higher and higher.
Their family already knew of Shi Yuanbai’s outrageous deeds, but their parents still made excuses for him.
The company was already firmly in Shi Yuzhe’s hands. No matter how much his parents helped Shi Yuanbai, they couldn’t be an obstacle to him.
Even his grandfather wanted nothing to do with Shi Yuanbai. They hadn’t found additional evidence of poisoning, but who could guarantee Shi Yuanbai wouldn’t target them next?
Even his parents didn’t want to live with him anymore. The food Shi Yuanbai once brought back was thrown out overnight.
Since they weren’t the ones hurt, they kept persuading Shi Yuzhe to be generous. Saying things like ‘You’re brothers, you’re family.’
Shi Yuzhe thought a lot. If something happened to him, would his parents immediately abandon him, or stand up for him?
He already knew the answer. Otherwise, how could Shi Yuanbai’s antics have gone unchecked for so long?
Shi Yuzhe didn’t understand why this mysterious person wanted his brother to stay here, but he would cooperate.
— Cooperate? Actually, it's not necessary. As long as you don't get killed by him, that's a big help.
Reading that reply, Shi Yuzhe decided to sleep early and mind his own business.
Wu Siyuan, seeing everything progress smoothly, was satisfied and went back to studying hard.
There was an exam soon and it was the perfect time to review.
Next time, he would negotiate with the system not to assign him an identity that required exams. It was truly painful.
Shi Yuanbai should know by now that Shi Yuzhe had discovered his actions, so he must be quite anxious.
Wu Siyuan calculated the time and thought maybe next semester, they could go straight to getting a marriage license.
How to maintain his position? Obviously, by pushing Jiang Jingtong and Shi Yuanbai together to minimize losses.
Wu Siyuan propped his chin on his hand, thinking about how to tell Shi Yuzhe to go along with the flow and let Shi Yuanbai marry Jiang Jingtong.
Jiang Jingtong messaged him, thanking him for suggesting that tourist spot.
Wu Siyuan smiled faintly. That spot would definitely heat up their relationship.
In the original plot, the protagonist and Jiang Jingtong went to that very spot, and when they returned, their feelings deepened rapidly.
Although Shi Yuanbai was supposed to be the protagonist shou, the cannon fodder didn’t have to follow the script. And there was no rule restricting the main characters’ actions either.
An improvement in feelings was obviously a good thing. Wu Siyuan would never let Shi Yuanbai suffer losses. So he sent a reply to Jiang Jingtong.
— I remember both senior brothers have birthdays early in the year. Perhaps you could even apply for a marriage certificate then.
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Hey guys, from now on, there will be weekly 1 chapter, 2 if i get more time.
Flower guardians: a term for guys who hover around and protect a pretty person, usually with romantic or lustful intentions.