Chapter 3: Are You Chasing Me?

Cha Kexing silently decided to upgrade Cha Qingle’s nickname from “Third Sissy” to “Third Love Saint.”

But Cha Kexing couldn’t become a love saint; he was born to be a corporate slave. Even though he was born into the wealthy and prestigious Cha family, he was just a rich and prestigious corporate slave.

Just like Zheng Yao, born a rogue. Whether he was born into a rogue family or an ordinary one, he would still be a rogue. Now, he could stir up trouble in New York, but it didn’t change the fact that in high school, he was a petty thief and a little hooligan.

(Flashback begins)

After that “growing up” night at sixteen, Cha Kexing was completely attached to Zheng Yao.

“Why are you following me?”

As soon as school was out, Cha Kexing would chase after Zheng Yao. If Zheng Yao rode a bicycle, he would too. But Zheng Yao’s long legs pedaled fast, and Cha Kexing couldn’t keep up. So he simply bought an electric bike, the kind with a basket in front and a baby seat in the back, and continued the chase the next day.

Zheng Yao was annoyed and pushed him into an alley, pinning him against the wall to scare him: “Follow me again, and I’ll beat you up!”

Cha Kexing widened his eyes, looking like a fawn chasing after its mother, and said with admiration, “Brother Zheng, you’re so charming. I really want to follow you!”

Flattery always works, and Zheng Yao’s attitude softened a bit: “There are plenty of people who want to follow me. You’re not even in line.”

Cha Kexing didn’t give up: “It’s okay, just let me be in line. I just want to be in the queue, don’t despise me!”

“If you can find me, then you can line up!” Zheng Yao smirked arrogantly and directly snatched Cha Kexing’s electric bike and rode off.

But Cha Kexing just couldn’t find Zheng Yao. He went to the barbecue stall but didn’t see Zheng Yao. Instead, he encountered other hooligans who first drank and cursed loudly, then harassed passing girls when drunk. When rejected, they smashed tables and kicked chairs, even overturning the barbecue grill. The owner even pulled out a knife, and in the chaos, it was unclear who stabbed whom, but blood was shed.

Cha Kexing hid behind a trash can and called the police before the conflict escalated.

This was also why he was determined to follow Zheng Yao—he wanted to be a fool, no, he wanted to be a delinquent, but he didn’t really want to be a stinking rogue, a societal scum. He just wanted to experience a life different from being a good boy. So Zheng Yao’s way of being a fool, stupid but not causing trouble, exciting but not dangerous, seemed just right to him.

Besides Zheng Yao, he couldn’t find anyone else, nor did he trust anyone else. A big fool who slept through classes every day couldn’t be that bad.

Cha Kexing decided to change his strategy. He couldn’t catch up after school, but Zheng Yao couldn’t run away at school, right?

He bought an oversized nap pillow and an ergonomic seat cushion, fully equipping Zheng Yao’s desk into a sleeping sanctuary.

When Zheng Yao came in and saw his out-of-place seat, he was stunned, but he quickly adapted, sitting on the “throne” with a regal posture, enjoying the attentive service and fawning care from “Little Xingzi.”

Zheng Yao was afraid of heat, and even in autumn, he often sweated profusely while sleeping. At this time, he would feel a cool breeze, open his eyes, and see Cha Kexing bending over in front of him, holding a small electric fan in each hand, blowing wherever the sweat went.

His almond-shaped eyes focused intently on the sweat beads, as if watching the tears of the Little Mermaid, only satisfied when the tears turned into foam and disappeared.

Zheng Yao sweated a lot, so he naturally got thirsty. While sleeping, he felt his mouth dry, subconsciously moved his lips, and something soft touched them. Opening his eyes, he saw Cha Kexing squatting in front of him, holding a thermos cup filled with iced drinks, with a silicone straw inserted.

His chubby little face and plump lips were nervously pursed, and only when Zheng Yao sucked on the straw and drank the cold drink did the corners of his mouth curl up.

Zheng Yao often slept for hours without moving, making his limbs stiff. In a daze, he stomped his foot, feeling his leg lifted. Turning his head, he saw Cha Kexing sitting properly diagonally across, placing one of his legs on his own, massaging from the calf upwards like playing the piano, meticulously not missing a single “key,” inching upwards until Zheng Yao kicked him over when he reached the thigh.

Cha Kexing wasn’t discouraged; he got up and continued!

The noon sun in September was still scorching. As soon as Zheng Yao stepped out of the teaching building, a huge parasol opened behind him;

The international school’s cafeteria offered a variety of dishes. As soon as Zheng Yao raised his hand, a pair of chopsticks was placed between his fingers, and looking down, the dishes to his taste were already served, even the crayfish were peeled;

During PE class, when the weather wasn’t hot, Zheng Yao would participate. His powerful ACE serve scored directly, and turning around, Cha Kexing was like a ball boy, diligently mopping the floor on his side, wiping his sweat clean.

At home, Cha Kexing was also a young master who had everything done for him. He never knew he had such a talent for serving others. He didn’t think of himself as someone who wouldn’t turn back until hitting a wall. In his sixteen years, he had given up many times, but this time, he was determined to stick with Zheng Yao!

Even classmates who weren’t very familiar teased him: “Cha Kexing, why do you look like Zheng Yao’s little wife?”

After enjoying a week of being treated like an emperor, Zheng Yao finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you chasing me?”

Cha Kexing rolled his eyes internally, not forgetting to peel pistachios for him, his almond eyes shining: “No, Brother Zheng, I want to follow you!”

“Do you like me?”

“I admire you!”

“Alright, you don’t have to pretend. I can tell the difference between admiration and liking!” Zheng Yao waved his hand generously, saying, “Although I’m not into that, I don’t discriminate against you. You can have a secret crush on me, or even openly like me, no need to feel burdened.”

Cha Kexing took a deep breath, telling himself to endure! For the dream of being a fool, endure!

Thanks to the genetic blessings from Cha Tianque and Zeng Mei, even when he humbled himself, he wasn’t obsequious. His small face was full of charm, “Brother Zheng, when you go out to play at night, can you take me with you? I promise I won’t hold you back!”

Seeing his “devotion,” Zheng Yao finally nodded. He threw a handful of pistachios into his mouth, chewing as he said, “Alright, I’ll take you in! Be smart during actions, hide if there’s danger. Being timid isn’t a fault, but running around recklessly and getting beaten to death, I won’t burn paper for you.”

What Zheng Yao referred to as actions was collecting protection fees.

Sometimes they went to the night market, charging ten yuan for snack stalls, five for fruit stalls, and two sausages from those selling starch sausages—and sometimes they really did maintain the peace and prosperity of the night market as their sacred mission!

Sometimes they also went to nearby internet cafes to “extort” underage kids using their parents’ IDs to go online, threatening to tell their moms if they didn’t pay!

If they made a lot of money, they’d go for barbecue; if less, they’d have fried ice—Cha Kexing’s weekly allowance could buy a truckload of barbecue, starch sausages, and ice cream. Zheng Yao, being able to attend an international school, probably had a wealthy family too, but they never flaunted their wealth, always adhering to the principle of spending what they “earned,” sharing blessings and hardships with their little brothers.

Every night, seven or eight little hooligans squatted on the curb, eating chicken bone sausages with relish, their eyes searching for the next “action” target.

Hmm? That glasses guy peeking under girls’ skirts, pretending to be dumb, I have evidence on video, where are you running!

They did such foolish things all night, but—damn, it was fun!

#

Last year, at Cha Yuzhou’s 80th birthday banquet, Cha Qingle made a high-profile appearance, then suddenly became the head of Cha Media’s film department, seemingly firing the first shot in the family feud. A year later, he came out publicly, then announced he was going to the US with his lover for further studies, leaving a mess behind as he left carefree.

Cha Kexing had to take over the unfinished business of the film department without any preparation. After sorting things out… well, calling it a “mess” was slandering Cha Qingle. Although the guy was unreliable, he was competent at work.

Perhaps because of these events, Cha Yuzhou realized that the only diligent and non-rebellious workhorse in the Cha family was Cha Kexing, so his attitude towards him softened a bit, occasionally inquiring about his work and life, telling him not to overwork.

Cha Kexing was outwardly touched but inwardly indifferent.

Cha Yuzhou’s blatant favoritism over the years also indirectly showed that his father, Cha Tianque, was indeed a coward. His wife and three children were treated differently by his father, and if it were him, he wouldn’t endure humiliation for so many years.

After showering and lying in bed, Cha Kexing was about to put in eye drops when he received a WeChat message.

“The house transfer procedures are complete. The keys and property certificate have been sent by express, please check.”

It was from his elementary school classmate, Lu Tong. Cha Kexing attended public school for nine years of compulsory education and kept in touch with a few reliable classmates who helped him hold some shares and properties unrelated to Cha Media Group.

He certainly had substantial private assets and some investments he didn’t want known.

Cha Kexing then contacted another middle school classmate, asking him to come over tomorrow to discuss the house renovation.

After finishing the communication, he turned off the bedside lamp, ready to sleep, when his phone screen lit up again. This time, he received a text message: “Be careful lately, someone wants to buy one of your legs.”

Without looking at the number, he knew who sent it. Besides Zheng Yao, it couldn’t be anyone else.

He hadn’t saved Zheng Yao’s number, but he remembered it for ten years. Last time, to save Cha Qingle, he called, worried Zheng Yao might have changed his number. Fortunately, despite going to the US and back, the number was still in use.

This time, he dialed directly without hesitation.

The phone rang twice before being answered: “A Xing…”

Zheng Yao’s voice was so deep and pleasant that listening to it while lying in bed made Cha Kexing a bit sensitive. He instinctively sat up, getting straight to the point: “What’s going on?”

“Yang Dan, remember him? He passed the message.” The sound of a lighter came from the other end, and Zheng Yao said slowly, “He asked if we were still in touch. Someone tried to buy one of your legs from him, but he didn’t take the job.”

Yang Dan, their little red-haired brother from back in the day, the one who pulled him out from behind the trash can, had really gone down that path.

“Who is it?”

“Yang Dan didn’t say, but I checked, and it should be Feng Ji.”

So it was that big fool!

Cha Kexing mentally cursed Feng Ji’s ancestors for eighteen generations, gritting his teeth: “I’ll buy Feng Ji’s hand and foot!”

Zheng Yao laughed: “Don’t tell me, I’m a law-abiding small business owner in the country, I don’t do illegal things.”

Cha Kexing laughed too. Maybe because he had been reminiscing about the foolish things they did in their youth, his speech unconsciously carried the tone of a “social person.” In reality, he spoke gently with his family and politely with partners, earning praise as “Second Young Master Cha is truly a Confucian businessman!”

“Aren’t you curious about how Feng Ji and I got into a feud?”

“Because of your idiot brother? Wasn’t there news before about Feng Ji and your brother’s little lover getting into a car accident?”

“Yes, but not entirely.”

The Feng family was in real estate, once ranking in the top five on the domestic rich list at its peak. Feng Ji was the only son, the apparent sole heir of the Feng family.

In Cha Kexing’s first two years at Cha Media, he focused on upgrading news content. One of their newspapers, “Ancient Capital Daily,” ran a full-page report for a week on illegal land occupation in a county around the city, converting farmland into a golf course. During the occupation, they colluded with local thugs to beat uncooperative villagers and even conspired with the village chief to embezzle land compensation, causing a huge stir.

The real estate company involved was newly established, essentially a side project for Feng Ji to gain experience. At the time, Feng Ji used various connections to send messages to Cha Kexing, asking him to withdraw the reports, even issuing death threats to the investigative journalists. Cha Kexing protected the journalists while reporting to higher authorities, issuing statements vowing to fight against evil forces, and mobilizing a bunch of celebrities and bloggers to repost, eventually making it impossible to end without a thorough investigation, almost dragging the Feng family into it.

Later, the real estate company went bankrupt, and the legal representative was sentenced. Feng Ji was spared but was severely punished by his father, forbidden from touching the family’s main business, and given some money to start small ventures. Feng Ji then opened cinemas and invested in films, mainly to play with celebrities, which led to clashes with Cha Qingle, who was involved in cinema chains.

At the time, Feng Ji and Cha Qingle’s rivalry over keeping celebrities was a hot topic, and Feng Ji even crashed his car into Cha Qingle, but luckily, Emperor Jiang saved Cha Qingle’s life.

Then Cha Kexing used this incident to extort a hefty sum from the Feng family. The land for the currently under-construction internet celebrity filming base was acquired from the Feng family at a super low price.

After the car accident, Feng Ji broke his leg and was sent to the US by his father, who confiscated his passport, preventing him from returning. Unexpectedly, he could still stir up trouble abroad, and with old and new grudges combined, he directly hired a hitman.

After hearing the whole story, Zheng Yao’s voice was filled with more amusement: “Didn’t expect you to be quite… tough.”

Big brother, can you not pause like that?

Besides, do you really need to see if I’m tough? Haven’t you experienced it firsthand?