Once he saw the man sitting on the sofa inside the hall, Yao Qi went straight to him.
The man smiled and waited for Yao Qi to sit down in front of him before putting down the documents in his hand.
“Xiao Qi, long time no see, do you miss me?” The man was beautiful in a feminine way, but his sharp aura showed that he wasn’t one to be treated lightly. He always looked at people through half-lidded eyes, making that pair of phoenix eyes look even more seductive. With a smile devoid of geniality perched on his face, he was the very picture of a beguiling demon.
Unlike Yao Qi’s gentle smile, this man’s smile radiated an imposing air.
He was Su Yu, Yao Qi’s brother-in-law, the spouse of Yao Qi’s eldest brother, and the head of the most powerful clan in the underworld.
“Of course I do.” Raising the corners of his lips, Yao Qi greeted him, “Brother-in-law.”
However, even though Su Yu really liked Yao Qi, they hadn’t actually spent a lot of time together.
Yao Qi had a very likeable disposition. Even if he did nothing, people couldn’t help but feel affection for him.
With his good looks as the cherry on top, it was no wonder that everyone around him would grow to like him.
Su Yu carefully scanned Yao Qi with his captivating eyes, looking at him from top to bottom. At last, he straightened up his lax posture.
Su Yu didn’t speak, so Yao Qi didn’t speak either. He calmly sat and let Su Yu scrutinise him to his heart’s content. The man’s piercing eyes and aura had no effect on him.
They made for an unusual view. In a hall full of European-style decor, a beautiful man clad in western suit was quietly sitting face to face with a young man in traditional Chinese garb. The sense of incongruity in time made Yao Qi stand out further.
“Xiao Qi, do you know what it means for you to return home in this attire?” Su Yu finally stopped putting on airs and slowly asked. His gaze shifted to meet Yao Qi’s eyes. “Since you’ve put it on, you won’t get another chance to do whatever you please—understand?”
“I’m well aware,” Yao Qi nodded, his eyes narrowing.
As a direct descendant of the Yao family, it was impossible for him not to know.
Before entering the family business, every direct descendant of the Yao family would participate in the ‘gathering’ wearing this special attire. The head of the family would invite various partners and heirs of other big families and use the ‘gathering’ to officially introduce the direct descendant who would be making their debut in high society.
Yao Qi should have gone through this a long time ago, but because of his willfulness, he had yet to attend the ‘gathering’ until now.
By putting on his suit, Yao Qi was announcing his decision to return to the family. He would enter the core system of the Yao family and regain the status, wealth and power he had abandoned in the past in exchange for freedom.
“I thought it would be difficult to make you change your decision.”
“My surname is Yao, it’s only natural that I’m a businessman.” He had always been a businessman. He would only make choices that benefited him. “As a businessman, a decision will always be flexible in the face of greater interests.”
Should he need to, he would have no qualms changing his previous decision.
When Yao Qi was thirteen years old, he had made it clear that he didn’t want to join the Yao family business. The reason was actually very simple—he felt that it was too troublesome.
The need for constant social interactions, the endless documents he would have to handle every single day, all of it felt troublesome for him.
He just wanted to live a relaxed life. For Yao Qi, owning a house, a car, and not having to worry about food or clothing was enough. Status, wealth, and power were meaningless to him, because those were things an ‘ordinary person’ did not need.
Even without relying on his family, he could still live an easy life, so why would he choose the tedious path?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Moreover, Yao Qi already had two excellent older brothers and an older sister who was no less capable than his older brothers. Therefore, when Yao Qi declared that he did not want to join the family business—and went on a hunger strike for three days—Father Yao finally relented.
Since then, the Yao family no longer had a direct descendant named Yao Qi.
However, they still had a ‘third young master’.
This was to show that Yao Qi was still under the protection of the Yao family. Other families were not allowed to bother him, and furthermore, Yao Qi could come back at any time should he ever wished to.
Yao Qi had a clear understanding of this, so he still learned all the necessary knowledge for the descendants.
Like every other heir of wealthy families, he went abroad for further studies, made some connections, and returned to the country to study in the department of psychology that he took interest in.
But after knowing that being a psychologist was not easy, he didn’t hesitate to give up this job.
He never had to worry about starving to death, because no one in the Yao family would ever let him be penniless. Putting that aside, Yao Qi also had the skills to earn money on his own.
After returning to China, in order to avoid the family affairs, he only went home once a year, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month for a get-together consisting of his direct family. He never attended any of the Yao family’s big banquets.
“I often heard mother say that Xiao Qi is very similar to father. Now I finally get why,” Su Yu praised him with a smile.
The mother and father Su Yu just mentioned were Yao Qi’s parents. The Su family head, Su Changsheng, adopted Su Yu from a collateral relative. To cover up the succession line, they hid his real gender and made outsiders think that he was a woman. Long story short, Su Yu and Yao Qi’s eldest brother fell in love with each other, and since both families would benefit from their relationship, Su Yu simply married into the Yao family as the ‘youngest daughter’ of the Su family. It was only natural for him to address the Yao family couple as father and mother.
Previously, he didn’t think that Mother Yao’s words were right. He felt that Yao Qi was too harmless, like an unthreatening soft little rabbit, whereas Father Yao was like a ruthless tiger with a smiling face. His aura was so strong that most people wouldn’t dare to come close to him.
But now, he had to admit that the Yao Qi sitting in front of him was simply the younger version of Father Yao.
Even though Yao Qi was smiling, there was a force to be reckoned with underneath the seemingly harmless outlook.
Su Yu had heard from his adoptive father that the Yao family was not as powerful and large as it currently was. In the past, Father Yao was just one of the many Yao family members, and he was not a particularly valued heir.
But one day, Father Yao fell in love with Mother Yao, soon to be successor of a very powerful family. With his status, wanting to marry her was nothing short of an unattainable daydream.
Like an unprecedented whirlwind, Father Yao soon began to bare his fangs, taking the position of the Yao family head and bringing them to the top, gaining the qualifications to stand side by side with Mother Yao.
His unwavering love and capability not won the heart of Yu Manlian—the head of the Yu family, the woman who used to be on an equal footing to the Su family head.
The Yao Qi he saw today was just like his father back then.
His sharp fangs were hidden beneath his gentle appearance. Unaware of the danger, those who carelessly approached him would die under his bite.
He possessed an impressive network and connections, and his communication skills were excellent. If he were to be in charge of public relations, he would no doubt be able to attract a lot of talents and greatly benefit the family.
Su Yu chuckled; he understood why his baby wanted Yao Qi to come back.
It would be such a pity for this kind of person not to join the family business.
Since his baby was reluctant to force his ‘cute’ little brother, Su Yu didn’t mind being the bad guy.
He only wanted to let his baby have it easier. As long as Yao Qi came back, regardless of his capability, he could share some of the family workload. But now that he had seen Yao Qi’s fangs, Su Yu began to take this seriously.
Yao Qi had an innate ability to win over people’s hearts. Moreover, because he was also a direct descendant, they wouldn’t have to worry about him turning traitor. On top of that, Yao Qi was not interested in the position of the family head.
But of course, if Yao Qi had the ambition and the ability to back it up, his baby would not object to let him take the position.
“So, Mr. Su divulged Ah-Lin’s whereabouts just to see if I’m really like my father?”
Yao Qi raised his eyebrows and interrupted the man who was immersed in his own thoughts. The way he addressed Su Yu as ‘Mr. Su’ instead of ‘brother-in-law’ conveyed his obvious displeasure.
At first, Yao Qi genuinely thought they had accidentally discovered Liu Lin’s location. But on the way here, the person who picked him up said a sentence that made him feel suspicious.
“Young Master Su saw that Madam misses you very much, so he purposely picked this place.”
The day before Liu Lin ran away, he said he saw a huge rat. Yao Qi thought it was really a rat, but now he realised it was probably someone from Liu Lin’s former gang.
Despite catching sight of his former gang member, Liu Lin did not attempt to go after and silence them. This shoe already knew they had found out about him. Aside from that night when Yao Qi led him away in order to test Yao Yue, Liu Lin had always stuck to Yao Qi’s side. Therefore, someone must have come to him during the time they were separated and gave him an ultimatum. That was why Liu Lin could still remain calm when he saw the ‘rat’.
Based on the circumstances with which he left, they should have been after Liu Lin’s life, but on the contrary, they forced a deal for him to return. The only plausible reason for this would be that they needed Ah-Lin’s strength, and there was a high probability that this need was deliberately created by someone else.
Yao Qi didn’t think it was a coincidence that his parents and older brothers happened to leave the city within the past two days. Perhaps Su Yu sent them away because he knew Yao Qi felt it was not yet the right time to tell his family about Liu Lin. Or perhaps all of them already knew about Liu Lin, so they decided to go along with Su Yu’s scheme and left the stage for him.
No matter which it was, both scenarios had the same purpose, which was to placate him.
Lastly, Su Yu even said such a thing.
“I often heard mother say that Xiao Qi is very similar to father. Now I finally get why,”
Everything pointed to the fact that Su Yu knew about Liu Lin’s existence, and that he was treating this revelation like a game. Su Yu didn’t try to conceal anything, because it didn’t matter to him.
After all, he was just betting on whether or not Yao Qi would be willing to enter the family business for the sake of his lover who ran away—and now, his bet was proven to be successful.
“I just don’t want your brother to be so tired.” Su Yu unrepentantly shrugged and chuckled, “Xiao Qi, be honest with me, has your eldest brother ever treated you badly? Why are you unwilling to help him?”
It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but his eldest brother was capable of handling everything without his help—albeit arduously.
Yao Qi’s cold expression didn’t change. He remained still in his seat, but now, it was his turn to observe the man sitting in front of him.
“If I didn’t wear this attire and only came back to ask Mr. Su for help, what would Mr. Su do?”
“Of course I’d help you. I wouldn’t want Xiao Qi to be estranged from me over an outsider. It’s not worth it.” This was the truth. Regardless of Yao Qi’s capability, he would never risk ruining their relationship because Yao Qi was his baby’s younger brother.
“If I lend you my help, you’d be able to see him this afternoon—but it seems like Xiao Qi is someone who prefers to solve the problem on your own rather than asking for help.”
“I see.” Knowing that Su Yu did this for the sake of his brother and not to trap him, Yao Qi decided to let it slide. “As for your help, there won’t be any need for it.”
The Su family was the most powerful clan in the underworld. With just a word from Su Yu, his Ah-Lin would be back in no time. Needless to say, the Yao family also had the power to do this.
However, the moment Liu Lin ran away ‘to protect him’ without even telling him a single word, Yao Qi realised that some things could only be done if he grasped the power with his own hands.
If he asked for help this time, what would happen should he encounter another problem in the future?
He might be weak in Liu Lin’s eyes, but Yao Qi was in fact not weak at all. He hated the feeling of having someone important to him cover up everything in order to shield him. For him, it was a show of distrust, and a provocation.
It was his reverse scale.
Even knowing that Yao Qi had abandoned his family status, Shao Qing still informed him when he got into trouble.
But Liu Lin just ran away.
At that moment, Yao Qi was so angry he wanted to smash the whole house apart.
He was also to blame for putting up a harmless act and never telling Liu Lin about his family background, but regardless of that, Liu Lin had already provoked his wrath. So Yao Qi would certainly, definitely, properly punish this misbehaving dog and let him know just who was his true master.
Using his other identity, he would catch Liu Lin back and punish him well.
Even though Liu Lin was completely not at fault.
Small theatre
Mr. Su: Xiao Qi, didn’t you say you won’t join the family business because you want to live leisurely?
Xiao Qi: *cold-faced* My dog ran away with someone else. I want to catch him back, but it’ll be hard to do with my current resources.
Mr. Su: You can ask me for help, you know? I can help you catch your dog back.
Xiao Qi: No, I want to do it myself.
Mr. Su: *smiling* I thought it’d be difficult to make you change your decision.
Xiao Qi: My decision is flexible. I can change it whenever I want to.
Mr. Su: My Xiao Qi is really awesome. Actually, I’m the one who leaked your dog’s whereabouts to those cannon fodders.
Xiao Qi: I know, what you did was too obvious.
Mr. Su: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Xiao Qi: *looks at the camera and sneers* You silly dog who dares to run away with other people, make sure you hear this—if I don’t clean you up, then my surname is not Yao.
T/n: I’m sure I’m not the only one wanting to slap Yao Qi and his equally manipulative brother-in-law after this hhh
Slap the both of them! slap slap slap
Thank You for the new chapter ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)˚๐*˟ ♡
Smack them all! Hahahaha thanks for reading 😂😂😂
cackling, popping popcorn This is great! I knew it!
It’s nice to see you having a blast each chapter 😂 thanks for reading!
I live for underworld dogblood drama! 🙂
Poor LL thinking he’s making the right decision… i think l l would be okay with any punishment as long as he’s not abandoned 😅
Thanks for the chapter ♡♡♡♡♡
Liu Lin only wanted to keep Yao Qi safe :’) yes, unfortunately, Yao Qi knows that too… 🤐
Thank you for reading ☺️💝💝💝