Chapter 02.1 “You’re quite cooperative.”

Duan Zhuxian was invited to the club by Feng Yan as the host.

Feng Yan had a project that required substantial investment, and he wanted to get close to Duan Zhuxian privately.

At first, Duan Zhuxian refused his invitation.

It’s understandable, after all, Duan Zhuxian and his peers were quite different and he never participated in messy parties.

Feng Yan then changed his plan, intending to find an elegant place in a couple of days to formally invite Duan Zhuxian over.

However, just before the gathering started, he unexpectedly received a message that Duan Zhuxian agreed to join.

With the honored guest’s arrival, Feng Yan specially invited several internet celebrities and models to liven up the atmosphere.

Duan Zhuxian sat in the private room, with his brows knitted the entire time, not even glancing at the beauties. Not long after, he said he wanted to take a call, but he didn’t return for a long time.

Worried that Duan Zhuxian might be dissatisfied with his hospitality, Feng Yan hurriedly went to find someone. Just as he was about to invite Duan Zhuxian back, he turned around and met Jiang Yao.

At that moment, Jiang Yao was embracing a hot-looking woman, and met them on a narrow path.

“Young Master Jiang,” Feng Yan greeted with a smile, “Long time no see.”

When they met unexpectedly, Jiang Yao’s brain buzzed for a while, but his face remained expressionless.

He nodded slightly, then his sharp gaze swept over Duan Zhuxian beside him, and found that Duan Zhuxian was also looking at him.

However, the other party only glanced at the hand he had around Amy’s shoulder, then shifted his gaze away, continued to look at his phone. His shoulder and neck illuminated by the dim yellow light of the corridor, and his facial features appeared somewhat cold and stern.

On Duan Zhuxian’s straight nose bridge, there was a conspicuous red mark, the result of their fight on the bed the night before.

It had disrupted the original balance of his facial features, making his face seem less harsh, more carefree, and somewhat improper, even carrying an inexplicable air of flirtatiousness.

Like a prostitute from a club.

Jiang Yao thought maliciously.

At this moment, a sarcastic male voice suddenly rang out: “Yo, Mr. Duan, who did you offend to get beaten up like this?”

Jiang Yao looked in the direction of the voice.

The person who spoke was someone he happened to know, named Li Ruizhi, but unfortunately, he was a typical idiot.

Duan Zhuxian took the elite route, receiving admiration and jealousy from others, accumulating countless grudges over the years, and Li Ruizhi happened to be one of them, spreading numerous rumors about Duan Zhuxian.

The matter between him and Duan Zhuxian was not something for this kind of person to criticize.

Before Duan Zhuxian and Feng Yan could react, Jiang Yao released Amy and walked a few steps forward and said: “Do you still have time to care about others? Why don’t think first about how to hide your reckless driving and hitting someone from your dad.”

Jiang Yao raised his chin and stood in front of Duan Zhuxian, not noticing Duan Zhuxian’s subtle reaction.

Upon hearing this, Li Ruizhi cursed.

The man demanded three million in damages right off the bat, otherwise, he would make a big fuss with the media. It wasn’t that he couldn’t pay, but such a transaction going out could hardly be kept from his father’s notice.

He had been worrying about this for several days, and suddenly Jiang Yao publicly exposed it, making him angry and embarrassed, “When I speak, is it your turn, a stinky country bumpkin upstart, to interrupt?”

Jiang Yao was not a local native and had heard many such insults before.

He rubbed his ear and asked with a bit of amusement: “If I’m a stinky country bumpkin upstart, then what are you, a stinky beggar?”

Feng Yan was watching enthusiastically the battle nearby, and when he heard Jiang Yao’s words, he suddenly remembered that Li Ruizhi was the illegitimate son brought by the mistress to claim legitimacy, and had been looked down upon by the Li family since childhood because of their emphasis on reputation.

He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Li Ruizhi’s face turned red with anger as he was repeatedly poked in the painful foot. He glared with wide eyes and said angrily, “Jiang Yao, you wait for me!”

Jiang Yao raised his eyebrow, “No problem, I’ll wait and see your dad break your legs, and your mom mourn for you.”

Li Ruizhi opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but realizing he couldn’t win the argument, and with four pairs of eyes watching him, he left in embarrassment.

Feng Yan cursed “idiot” at Li Ruizhi’s retreating figure, then turned to Jiang Yao and said  “Is Young Master Jiang here alone today?”

“Mm.” Jiang Yao nodded.

“Why don’t you come to our place, it’s more lively with more people.” Feng Yan gestured to the private room not far behind him.

Jiang Yao originally wanted to refuse, but seeing the gaze from Duan Zhuxian who also looked over, he swallowed back his words.

Don’t make it seem like he was intentionally avoiding Duan Zhuxian.

“Alright.” Jiang Yao lifted his chin, “I’ll go over and sit.”

In the private room, a group of people were wildly boisterous and colorful.

Jiang Yao was a bit surprised to see that Duan Zhuxian would also come to such a place to have fun.

The others didn’t expect Feng Yan to be able to bring a new member over, and they all greeted Jiang Yao, and their curious gazes shifting back and forth between Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian.

Duan Zhuxian walked in front of Jiang Yao and passed by the single sofa where he was originally sitting. Instead of sitting down, he walked straight to the hard seat opposite.

After Jiang Yao finished exchanging pleasantries with others, he sat down on the single sofa nearby, leaned back, and rested his waist on the soft duck-down cushion. The soreness was immediately relieved a lot.

This sofa is quite comfortable to sit on.

Unlike the noble son like Duan Zhuxian who stood aloof from worldly affairs, Jiang Yao exuded a strong worldly aura, being generous and sincere, with good popularity among others. Many in the private room wanted to befriend him, and quickly making him the new center of attention.

After greeting Jiang Yao, Feng Yan walked to the small bar counter and clinked glasses with someone, with a gossipy expression.

“I’ve heard those people say recently that Young Master Jiang and Mr. Duan don’t get along, but just now I saw outside that Young Master Jiang actually defending Mr. Duan.”

The fact that Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian were not on good terms had already spread throughout the circle, but it was all vague and uncertain news, and everyone could only treat it as entertainment.

Another person waved his hand dismissively: “That’s because you’ve never been to Lingbei before, you don’t know, these two have been fighting for many years. When we were in high school, I used to watch them play ball, and whenever these two prominent figures faced off, it was guaranteed to be an exciting show…”

As they discussed over the music, bits and pieces of their conversation vaguely drifted into Jiang Yao’s ears.

Although what they said was somewhat exaggerated, it was not entirely nonsense.

Jiang Yao was at a disadvantage in appearance, looking like an incompetent embroidered pillow^[1]繡花枕頭(xiù huā zhěn tou) = embroidered pillow is a metaphor for a person who only has appearance but no real talent., but he actually had a good mind and well-developed athletic cells, and could outperform his peers in everything.

Until high school, he thought he could effortlessly hold onto the top spot in his grade. However, after the first monthly exam, someone surpassed him by just one point on the rankings.

On the day the results were posted, he stood alone in front of the notice board for a long time.

Duan Zhuxian.

On his way back to the school building, Jiang Yao repeated this name several times silently, and suddenly he heard someone beside him calling out these three words.

He followed the person’s gaze, then he looked up into the distance.

A group of students were chatting beside the railing of the second floor, and Duan Zhuxian was among them.

Although his skin tone was not particularly white, he seemed to be glowing among the group. The moment his gaze fell in response to the call, he was like a god who had strayed into the mortal world and glanced at passers-by.

Proud to the extreme.

Jiang Yao had been accustomed to smooth sailing from a young age, was a bit too proud, and happened to be in the most defiant phase of adolescence, looking down on everyone.

Duan Zhuxian was the first person who made him look up for a long time.

After that, Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian completely became rivals, with equal strength and both wanting to outdo each other.

In addition to the fixed program of competing for the first and second places on the performance list every month, leaving the third place far behind, they would also confront each other on the sports field, or represent their respective classes in debate competitions, and even stand in front of the national flag to give speeches one after the other.

He quite enjoyed the feeling of being Duan Zhuxian’s rival.

Later, through Duan Zhuxian, he met Shen Tang, Duan Zhuxian’s deskmate, and was attracted by Shen Tang’s tranquil temperament.

After much investigation, he found out that Shen Tang came from a scholarly family background and he had a great passion for modern poetry.

Jiang Yao learned things quickly, but language arts was his weak point, and writing poetry was even more difficult for him.

It took him a month, and his brain cells were almost dead, but he finally managed to compose a love poem, which was so artificial and pretentious that he couldn’t even bear to look at it.

For the first time in his life, he experienced severe shame, so he asked a classmate from the class next-door, with whom he had a good relationship, to help deliver the letter.

But before the letter could be delivered, it was intercepted by Duan Zhuxian.

At that time, their school was cracking down on discipline, especially on puppy love affairs, and Duan Zhuxian was the disciplinarian appointed by the headmaster. He was reputed to be ruthless, even to his own kin, earning him the nickname “Jade-Faced Yama.”^[2]玉面閻羅(yùmiàn yánluó) = “Jade-Faced Yama.” it refers to a character who is a strict enforcer of discipline, with an appearance as refined as jade.

After the evening self-study session that day, in the snowy alley by the school gate, Jiang Yao caught up with the tall figure of the young man in front of him.

He gasped and asked, “Did you deliver my letter to the Student Affairs Office?”

“I confiscated it.”

Duan Zhuxian did not stop walking.

Jiang Yao breathed a sigh of relief that Duan Zhuxian didn’t act too decisively, saving him some trouble.

But he still couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy.

He followed behind and said, “I know this is your duty, and I can understand that, but we have a little bit of friendship, can’t you make an exception for me?”

Hearing this, Duan Zhuxian suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at Jiang Yao, with his expression hidden in the darkness and snow.

“A little bit of friendship?”

Standing by a noisy, annoying small grocery store, Duan Zhuxian only said these five short words.

But Jiang Yao would never forget the tone Duan Zhuxian used at that moment—

Full of doubt and disagreement, with a hint of mockery at the end, not knowing who he was mocking.