Don’t Ignite It chapter 89
Difficult to Escape Blame: Xu Zhan × Ruan Sen (18)
When Qin Sheng heard He Zhinyin say that Xu Zhan had gotten married, his first reaction was disbelief. How could that be possible?
Qin Sheng felt that He Zhinyin must have been mistaken. But this young man surnamed He had no idea about Ruan Sen’s relationship with Xu Zhan. Their acquaintance was also coincidental. The Xu family was usually represented by their eldest daughter, Xu Ping. Xu Zhan didn’t socialize much, nor did he attend gatherings of the second generation. However, He Zhinyin’s cousin had been classmates with Xu Zhan in college, and he had seen Xu Zhan at his cousin’s wedding. Xiangshi and Chuan City were very close cities, and within such a small social circle, you could get to know people by asking a few questions.
So He Zhinyin chuckled. He wasn’t very familiar with Qin Sheng, but he was willing to strike up a conversation with this young prince from TROY. Having a mutual acquaintance served as a good conversation starter. He told Qin Sheng, “You must have remembered it wrong. Xu Zhan got married three years ago. My cousin even attended his wedding. When my cousin got married, Xu Zhan brought his partner along, who is quite good-looking and comes from a wealthy business family. They are a good match.”
Qin Sheng’s face turned cold.
His long and powerful fingers tightened around the glass of wine, as if they were about to crush it in the next second. But he didn’t ask any further questions. These few sentences were already revealing enough. He was sure that He Zhinyin was not lying. But what was the twist in this story? He would have to investigate it himself. He heard He Zhinyin ask in a rather naive manner, “Qin, how did you meet Mr. Xu? Was it during this vacation?” Qin Sheng took a sip of his wine, his eyes narrowing slightly. His heart was in turmoil, as if it had been filled with ice, but his face remained calm.
He calmly lied, “Yes, when I returned to China, I stayed in the same hotel as him. He was on a business trip, and I was on vacation. We happened to meet several times in the same place, and I felt like there was a connection, so I added him on WeChat.”
“I see,” He Zhinyin suddenly realized, “No wonder you have photos of Mr. Xu. I guess you took them during your vacation.” He didn’t delve any further into the topic of Xu Zhan. After all, he wasn’t very familiar with Xu Zhan. He had only seen Xu Zhan and Xia Yu together at his cousin’s wedding, and the two exceptionally good-looking people had left a strong impression on him. But he was a straightforward straight guy, so he had only taken a few glances.
After that conversation, Qin Sheng was absent-minded. He went and sat alone in a corner, drinking in silence. He didn’t wait for the party to end; he left early. Sitting in the open-air garden downstairs, he sent a message to Xu Zhan. His gaze was cold, but the words he typed with his fingers were gentle, “What are you doing? Do you miss me?” Still no response. He closed the page, opened his contact list, and dialed a number.
After half a day, some of Xu Zhan’s information appeared on Qin Sheng’s desk. These details weren’t difficult to find, and they didn’t infringe on privacy. After all, Xu Zhan’s marriage to Xia Yu was public knowledge, openly displayed in to the public without any concealment.
If Qin Sheng had wanted to know more about Xu Zhan, he could have simply searched for Xu Zhan’s name to find all this information. But he hadn’t. He knew Xu Zhan was a university professor and even had an idea of which school he worked at, yet he hadn’t looked it up.
Xu Zhan had been too open in front of him, not hiding anything. He would talk about his family, work, and probably thought Qin Sheng was just a kept man, not needing to put up any defenses, believing that even if Qin Sheng found out, it wouldn’t matter.
Holding the information, Qin Sheng was curious about Xu Zhan, but he was like a child holding a beautifully wrapped gift, torn between wanting to open it with excitement and wanting to preserve the sense of mystery, not wanting to open it until his birthday.
Qin Sheng went through all the information about Xu Zhan with a blank expression. The details about his family and work matched what Xu Zhan had said, but the information about his marriage was an outright lie.
The person who had been with him day and night had indeed been married for three years. Their match was perfect, and they seemed deeply in love. Qin Sheng even saw a video of Xu Zhan and Xia Yu’s wedding, which had been shared by friends at the time. It was a short clip, recorded on a shaky smartphone camera, making it almost impossible to see the faces of the guests and the groom clearly.
However, Qing Shen was too familiar with Xu Zhan. With just one glance, he recognized the groom in the white suit.
He saw Xu Zhan smiling, genuinely happy, and even helping his partner remove flower petals from his hair. The guests cheered, wishing them a lifetime of happiness and urging them to share a kiss.
“Don’t be too pushy,” Xu Zhan’s voice was a bit blurry in the shaky video, but it was exceptionally clear and filled with tenderness. “Xia Yu is shy, don’t tease him.”
However, the guests continued to tease them. In the end, Xu Zhan smiled and gave his partner a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Throughout the video, Xu Zhan’s partner, the one he had married, seemed genuinely shy. After the kiss, he buried himself in Xu Zhan’s embrace, while Xu Zhan, like the most caring husband, lightly patted his back and whispered something in his ear.
“Ah, they are really in love,” someone’s voice could be heard in the video.
The video abruptly ended, fading to black.
However, a few seconds later, the video automatically resumed, and Xu Zhan’s voice once again emanated from the computer.
“Don’t be too pushy,” Xu Zhan said, laughing. “Xia Yu is shy, don’t tease him.”
With a heavy thud, the computer was pushed onto the floor. The force had been so great that the screen almost split apart, leaving an unsightly, long crack.
Xu Zhan’s voice disappeared, and the room fell silent once again.
Qin Sheng glanced at the nearby window. He wasn’t in the Qin family house but in his own apartment, which happened to be on the seventeenth floor, just like the one he shared with Xu Zhan. Looking out from here, the night scenes of different cities always seemed somewhat similar.
However, this time, he saw a shameful reflection in the glass – a face distorted by jealousy, pale, and almost unrecognizable as his own. He lowered his hand, and the emerald beads on his right wrist slid off gently.
He stared at the string of beads, lost in thought, remembering the look on Xu Zhan’s face when he had given it to him – shy and reserved. He felt that these beads were genuinely precious, not because of their value, but because Xu Zhan had used them to symbolize a commitment.
But just now…
Just a moment ago…
He had seen in that blurry video that Xu Zhan’s partner, the one who had been shyly hiding away, also had an identical string of beads on his wrist. The young man had more delicate and fair hands than him, and the emerald beads suited him perfectly, looking like a work of art.
Qin Sheng couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. There was a moment when he genuinely wanted to smash these beads just like he had the computer. He didn’t know which parts of Xu Zhan’s words were true and which were false. Was this string of beads really left behind by his grandmother, or did Xu Zhan simply pick a piece of jewelry at random from his former partner’s collection to appease him?
In Xu Zhan’s mind, he was just a cheap, kept man, and he couldn’t distinguish between the good and the bad, couldn’t see through his lies.
It was absurd.
Qin Sheng slumped into his chair and suddenly remembered Zach’s mocking words in the video, about walking by the shore and couldn’t avoid getting his shoes wet. Chinese idioms always held wisdom, and this time he had truly made a big mistake. He had thought of himself as the hunter and Xu Zhan as an innocent prey, something he could enjoy during his journey and part ways amicably, leaving only a few months of pleasure. But in the end, he had become the prey.
Xu Zhan, with his innocent face, scholarly appearance, and gentlemanly demeanor, was, in fact, the most cunning hunter. He had been arrogant, believing that Xu Zhan loved him to the core. But in the end, he was just someone’s pastime, and he hated infidelity the most.
Qin Sheng felt waves of nausea churning in his stomach. The word “infidelity” kept echoing in his mind, and in the midst of the chaos, he recalled the arguments between his parents from his childhood.
His usually gentle and dignified mother had turned into a hysterical patient, throwing everything at his father. His father, indifferent and cold, had continued to argue as if he hadn’t seen his wife’s pain, still taunting her.
His biological father had been a notorious playboy, unsuited for marriage. Yet, he had deceived the eldest daughter of the Ruan family, making her believe that he would be faithful after marriage. But he continued to cheat on her again and again until she found out when she was pregnant with their third child.
Then came the endless arguments and breakdowns, leading to Ruan Xiaoxiao’s mental collapse. They couldn’t divorce because of the scandal, so she had moved out of the Qin family. Her mental and physical health had been deteriorating, making it impossible for her to care for the third child. She didn’t want her husband to raise the child either, so she had sent the child to Qin Rongxin, the head of the Qin family.
The child’s name had also been changed; he was no longer called Qin Ruansen but was given the name Qin Sheng by Qin Rongxin.
For a long time, Qin Sheng hadn’t seen his mother. However, he didn’t blame her. When her health gradually improved, she became gentler than anyone else. She felt guilty toward him and would tell him bedtime stories, teaching him to be a responsible person.
But he seemed to have inherited some of his father’s negative traits. Growing up in such a family, he didn’t believe in true love, nor did he believe in growing old together. So, he had only sought companionship with those who could afford to play with him. However, over the years, no matter who he was with, he had never indulged in infidelity or played with someone’s feelings.
Goodbyes were always amicable, and there was no talk of genuine love. That had been his motto.
But as it turned out, wanting to give one’s heart truly only led to a bad ending.
Qin Sheng ultimately didn’t throw away the emerald bead bracelet. He opened his liquor cabinet. When he returned to the living room, he saw the gray satin box placed on the table. Inside was an antique book from the 16th century, which had been given to him by his mother. He had intended to give it to Xu Zhan as a gift, a token of his mother’s greeting, hoping it could match the depth of feeling behind Xu Zhan’s gift of the emerald bead bracelet.
…………………
When Aurora arrived at the apartment, it was already a day later. She had been trying to call Qin Sheng but couldn’t reach him. Finally, when she did get through, the voice on the other end was muffled, and the mood seemed quite low.
Worried, she came straight to the apartment, entered the code, and walked into the room. However, as soon as she stepped into the living room, she stumbled due to the strong smell of alcohol in the air. The room was dark, and she muttered a curse under her breath. Her high heels knocked over a bottle of wine. When she raised her head, she was startled.
Qin Sheng sat on the carpet with his back against the sofa. His long legs seemed to have no place to rest, casually bent here and there. There were wine bottles on the floor and table, expensive wine glasses from an auction casually mistreated. However, he didn’t appear drunk; his pitch-black eyes were shining sinisterly, his cheeks were gaunt, and his expression was intimidating.
“What’s wrong with you?” Aurora couldn’t understand. Just a few days ago, Qin Sheng had seemed fine, even cheerful and relaxed. Now, he had transformed into this disheveled and sharp-looking figure. She couldn’t recognize the current Qin Sheng from the one she had seen recently.
She didn’t know how to describe the impression Qin Sheng was giving her right now. She felt that if she handed him a button, he might press it immediately, causing the world to explode.
“What happened to you?” She removed her high heels and sat next to Qin Sheng, frowning in disapproval. “What’s going on? How much have you been drinking?”
Qin Sheng chuckled softly. He hadn’t actually drunk much; he had a good tolerance for alcohol. Only Xu Zhan had worried about him drinking too much and had made hangover soup for him everytime.
Xu Zhan.
Thinking of that name, every fiber of his being ached, and he suddenly understood Xu Zhan’s lingering feelings for his first love. Strictly speaking, Xu Zhan was his first love, too. It sounded a bit funny because he knew himself well enough to realize that he didn’t have a admirable romantic history.
However, Xu Zhan was indeed the first person he had truly fallen in love with. He raised his head, looked at Aurora’s concerned face, and remained remarkably calm.
He switched to Italian, speaking in a calm and gentle tone, “Nothing’s wrong; I just need to go back to China for something.”
Aurora sensed that something was amiss. “What happened?”
Qin Sheng replied softly, “My boyfriend has made a little mistake, and I need to communicate with him in person.”
This statement sounded reasonable and composed, but Aurora knew it was far from the truth. She knew Qin Sheng too well, and the calmer he appeared, the crazier he was likely to be. The current tranquility was just the calm before the storm.
Qin Sheng wasn’t a heavy drinker, and she had rarely seen him in such a desolate state.
“What mistake… if something’s wrong, you can discuss it with me.”
Before she could finish her sentence, Qin Sheng gestured for her to be quiet.
“Don’t ask me any more,” Qin Sheng said coldly, looking at her. “If you keep asking, I might take it out on you.”
Aurora furrowed her brow even more, but she held back her words.
Qin Sheng glanced at his phone, slowly stood up, and lowered his head to give Aurora a smile. “I need to catch a flight. My love must be anxiously waiting.”
Two hours ago, he had finally reached Xu Zhan on the phone. He hadn’t asked any questions, pretending to know nothing. However, Xu Zhan’s voice was hoarse, asking when he would return, as he needed to see him.
“Alright,” Qin Sheng said, his eyes icy, his voice like honeyed wine. “If you want to see me, I’ll come to you.”