“Send me that.”
Xiaoqiu looked at him in surprise.
“You admire handsome men too, Song?”
Song Liang generally didn’t. But looking at Xiao Yi’s photograph, he replied, “This one’s good-looking.”
“He certainly is.”
With a giggle, Xiaoqiu sent it over, then swiped to the next photograph, this one of Xiao Ji.
“His nephew’s handsome too. Want that one?”
“No.”
“…”
【That’s not what you said when you were calling him sweetheart.】
Song Liang: 【Staying in character.】
【Tsk.】
Watching them gather around a photograph and chatter enthusiastically, Chi Yi couldn’t resist interrupting.
“Don’t you think he looks a little strange?”
All three turned to look at him.
Or rather, at his face.
“What’s with those looks? I’ve competed in an entertainment industry talent show, you know!”
Chi Yi bristled.
“Besides, I didn’t say he was ugly. I meant his genes. Can’t you tell he’s mixed-race?”
They stared at him without answering.
Finally, Xiaoqiu asked in confusion, “What’s wrong with that?”
“Honestly.”
Chi Yi rolled his eyes.
“The Xiaos are obviously a traditional family. Do you think they’d let a son marry a foreign woman, then let someone of mixed heritage inherit the family?”
“Why couldn’t they?”
“Of course they couldn’t!”
Their lack of reaction frustrated him.
“When I was in the entertainment industry, I heard a few rumors about Xiao Yi at a reception.”
Xiaoqiu and Xiaoma immediately lit up.
“What rumors?” they asked together.
Chi Yi thoroughly enjoyed their attention. Only after an extensive account of just how exclusive the reception had been did he leisurely reveal:
“I heard Xiao Yi isn’t actually a member of the Xiao family.”
…
“Some tabloid probably leaked it for clicks.”
In the speeding Rolls-Royce, Yang Xuan sat in the front passenger seat, frowning at the photograph of Xiao Yi circulating online and the speculation about his mixed heritage beneath it.
“I’ll contact the platforms and have it removed immediately.”
Xiao Yi remained composed and said nothing.
Yang Xuan, however, dared not relax.
His brother had left him with three instructions. First, obey Xiao Yi. Second, his employer disliked every member of the Xiao family except Xiao Ji. Third, he disliked people discussing his appearance.
Especially his eyes.
Accordingly, Xiao Group’s public relations and legal departments were meticulous about the matter. Aside from essential official materials, they kept his photographs out of circulation and rarely arranged interviews requiring him to appear.
Linhai’s major media outlets had all been warned. They would sooner publish more stories about the Xiao family’s feuds than risk offending Xiao Yi.
Yet some outlet, hungry for traffic, had released his photograph at the very moment public attention on the Xiaos was at its highest.
They must have had a death wish.
Yang Xuan immediately contacted Xiao Group’s legal department, instructing them to approach the platforms’ management, remove all photographs and related comments, and pursue legal action against the outlet responsible.
Also seated in the back, Xiao Ji glanced at his uncle, his brows drawn together.
“The legal department warned the major outlets long ago. None of them should be willing to take a risk like this on their own.”
For this outlet to dare, someone must have authorized it—and offered substantial protection.
At such a critical moment, the move not only distracted the public from Xiao Wenyu’s suspension but targeted Xiao Yi directly.
The person behind it could only be Xiao Ji’s third uncle, Xiao Guangjin.
Naturally, Xiao Ji didn’t believe the rumor. If his youngest uncle truly weren’t a Xiao, his grandfather would never have admitted him into the family, much less entrusted Xiao Group to him.
But Xiao Guangjin surely had more planned.
Who knew what awaited them at tonight’s family dinner?
In the past, his uncle would have had nothing to fear. Those people had always been the ones afraid of him.
This time, however, Xiao Ji’s mistake had dragged him into trouble.
His fingers curled slightly. He took out his phone and opened the conversation with the contact saved as “Idiot.”
The first thing he saw was:
[What are you up to, sweetheart?]
His expression darkened.
Damn Song Liang!
He had cursed him inwardly countless times, yet still couldn’t understand how an idiot who usually did nothing but trail after him like a dog had acquired so much nerve.
He was blackmailing him with the Emperor’s Tear.
Even attacking the Song family’s company hadn’t shaken him.
Most baffling of all was how the idiot had obtained it.
Between the yacht reception and his uncle’s hospitalization, only Xiao Yi and the robbers had handled the Emperor’s Tear. At the time, Song Liang should still have been floating somewhere in Yalong Bay.
How had—
Wait.
Something occurred to Xiao Ji.
How had Song Liang survived the sea at all?
He couldn’t swim, could he?
Xiao Ji immediately sent a message.
[Xiao Ji: How did you survive in the sea? Don’t you not know how to swim?]
[Idiot: My love for you kept me alive~~~]
It came with an enormous heart sticker that practically filled the conversation window.
Xiao Ji’s face darkened. He wanted to drag the man through the screen and beat him.
He was about to reply when his uncle’s low voice sounded beside him.
“Seeing someone?”
Xiao Ji answered hastily, “No.”
Xiao Yi said nothing more. He merely glanced at the enormous heart on the screen.
Xiao Ji: “…”
Forcing a smile, he explained, “…You’ve misunderstood. We’re not dating. Just a friend.”
Xiao Yi evidently took that another way.
Hearing that they weren’t dating, he looked up at his nephew.
“A lover?”
Xiao Ji could hardly find the words to explain.
Before he could try again, his uncle calmly reminded him, “I won’t insist on the marriage alliance with the Qiaos. But you’re still young. Your career should come first. Don’t let romance distract you. Your ambition should extend beyond deputy CEO.”
Xiao Ji straightened inwardly and lowered his head.
“I understand, Uncle.”
Xiao Yi gave a quiet acknowledgment.
Then, looking at his nephew’s lowered eyes, he added, “But if there’s someone you truly love, bring them to meet me.”
Warmth spread through Xiao Ji’s chest.
He knew his uncle genuinely cared for him.
The strained atmosphere in the car eased considerably. Xiao Ji glanced at him, remembered something, and smiled.
“Uncle, why haven’t you been wearing the silver-gray tie I gave you lately?”
Xiao Yi: “…”
Yang Xuan, in the front seat: “…”
After a brief silence, Xiao Yi replied evenly, “Sent it to be cleaned.”
Xiao Ji thought nothing of it. He remarked that the brand’s recent designs suited his uncle very well and offered to order him another of the same style.
Xiao Yi answered absently.
His thoughts had drifted to the wrist that silver-gray tie had bound.
Slender and pale, with a pronounced wrist bone and the delicate leanness of someone poised between boyhood and adulthood.
Its owner, however, possessed none of that apparent innocence or reserve.
Quite the opposite.
One moment he had been nestled in Xiao Yi’s arms, playing sweet and pitiful.
The next, he had vanished.
After antagonizing a whole collection of people best left alone, he had even dared hide in a casino, a disreputable place crawling with all sorts.
Outrageously bold.
“Unc—”
Xiao Ji was about to speak when he caught his uncle’s reflection in the window.
To his surprise, a faint hint of a smile had passed through those usually unruffled dark green eyes, like a breeze rippling across an emerald lake.
He paused.
He had assumed being forced to return to the old residence would leave his uncle in a terrible mood.
But now…
His uncle seemed rather pleased?
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