Chà Chà Novel

Meals were meant to be eaten properly. Ji Shileng had risen too late for breakfast.

Lunch had fallen at an awkward hour, making it effectively brunch. That made eating it all the more necessary.

Especially with his sprained ankle, he needed enough protein.

Although Ji Shileng said nothing, he picked up his chopsticks again. His mockery gave way to curiosity.

“How did Mr. Chang end up pleading with my sister?”

“The media probably has closer dealings with the business world. Your sister is a successful businesswoman. Perhaps he thinks offering enough benefits will buy him a way out”

Qin Si gave a faint, unreadable laugh.

How could he not understand the games people like Mr. Chang played?

Heartless people like them assumed that businesspeople always valued profit over affection.

“That’s funny”

Ji Shileng raised an eyebrow.

“If they’d backed down sooner, I might have been in a good enough mood to keep playing with them a little longer”

The Ji family was fundamentally different from the Empire’s cold, unfeeling crowd.

They lacked neither money nor power. What use did they have for the Empire’s paltry offerings?

Ji Shileng guessed his sister had agreed simply to vent her anger.

Qin Si diligently turned the lazy Susan. Having watched him earlier, he brought the dishes Ji Shileng had eaten most often around to his side.

“Whatever happens, they brought it on themselves”

He handed Ji Shileng a tissue and said evenly:

“What goes around comes around. Retribution never misses”

Ji Shileng took the tissue and propped his cheek on one hand, nibbling his dumpling.

Missing breakfast had left him with little appetite at noon.

But refusing to eat wasn’t an option. With Qin Si watching on one side and his sister on the other, he didn’t dare misbehave.

“Actually, why does my sister tell you everything?”

The realization came belatedly. Honestly, anyone who didn’t know better would think Qin Si’s surname was Ji.

Why was Qin Si always the first to tell him all the miscellaneous news about his own family?

Somehow, he felt like the outsider.

Qin Si continued what he was doing, clearly having anticipated the question.

“I got up fairly early. I ran into your sister in the lobby, and we talked for a while”

Ji Shileng was speechless.

His surname must be counterfeit. Qin Si was the real Ji.

One conversation in the lobby, and his sister had told Qin Si everything.

Ji Shileng had been sitting at the table all this time, yet she hadn’t told him a thing. He still had to hear it from Qin Si.

He was going to run away from home.

Before he could speak, Qin Si sighed softly, sounding regretful.

“If only I’d known. I would have asked your sister to put me on the matchmaking list then”

Of all the things Ji Shileng had imagined, that was not what he had expected Qin Si to say.

Smiling faintly, he insisted on adding something to needle him.

“There’s no need to rush. Even if you make the list, we don’t know who I’ll meet first, do we?”

His point was that getting on the list sooner wouldn’t necessarily make Qin Si his first date.

Unbidden, an image formed in his mind: he would dress up for a blind date, sit down, and find someone from his own circle across from him, someone who already knew everything about him.

Embarrassment washed over him.

Please, no familiar faces. He would rather take his chances with a stranger.

At least he could wreak havoc with a stranger without feeling guilty.

Qin Si considered that for two seconds. Far from being annoyed, he smiled.

“Thank you for reminding me. I’ll have to discuss it with your sister and ask her to make a special arrangement for me”

Ji Shileng stopped chewing and decided to leave him to it.

Damn him.

Qin Si never followed the expected script.

While they whispered together, the conversation around the table had moved through several topics.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Mr. Qin. You look even younger in person than in the reports”

The conversation turned toward Qin Si.

Only then did Ji Shileng feel things were proceeding as they should.

The interstellar media had called Stegala’s Qin Si and the Federation’s Ji Shifeng the twin rising stars of military engineering.

Then Shang Jianli had entered politics and spearheaded reforms in the Empire’s military engineering. The media had added him to their favorite pair.

They called him a moon rising between two stars.

Now, Ji Shileng thought the outlets that wrote such things had no shame. A moon between two stars? Did Shang Jianli deserve that?

In military strategy, he did.

But in the major branches of military engineering, such as weapons construction and modification, he couldn’t match Ji Shifeng and Qin Si.

Shang Jianli led a team that conducted research together. The other two were themselves the core of their respective teams. To exaggerate a little, having a team could even slow them down.

Qin Si was familiar with the polite exchanges of a business meal. He raised his glass.

“You’re too kind. I’m new to the Federation. There’s still so much I can learn from everyone”

“Not at all, Mr. Qin. We in the Federation have much more to learn from you”

When word had spread through the Federation’s senior circles that Qin Si was coming to work there, those who heard it had puzzled over the news for quite some time.

Relations between Stegala and the Federation weren’t strained, but they were ordinary partners at best. And who was Qin Si?

He was Stegala’s most precious treasure, someone they cherished and protected with the utmost care.

Had they really let him come to the Federation so easily?

“Speaking of which, Mr. Qin, what made you agree to work in the Federation?”

The others quietly studied his expression. Everyone present was shrewd.

Qin Si set down his glass and placed the explanation squarely on Ji Shifeng.

“Ever since I gained a little recognition, people have constantly compared me with Engineer Ji”

“I felt that the opportunity to learn from him would help me improve”

Ji Shifeng was speechless.

Pursue whoever you like, but why drag him out as a shield?

Come on, man. At least rein in that gaze.

Anyone could see the way he looked at Ji Shileng.

Ji Shifeng couldn’t say that aloud. He had to preserve Qin Si’s dignity.

“Not at all. We’ll be learning from each other and improving together”

Everyone laughed and agreed. Qin Si’s explanation was reasonably convincing, after all.

He and Ji Shifeng were around the same age and had achieved unparalleled success in the same field at roughly the same time.

Naturally, outsiders often placed them side by side for comparison.

How could these perceptive people have missed the undercurrents between Qin Si and Ji Shileng?

They merely refrained from mentioning it because the Ji family was sitting right there.

Besides, Qin Si was from Stegala. Both his parents were dead, and he had no relatives. They instinctively imposed their own assumptions: the Ji family might not consider him suitable.

So what if he was exceptional? Without powerful backing, he was still at a disadvantage.

Everyone kept their own thoughts hidden. On the surface, the meal was a pleasant one, with hosts and guests alike enjoying themselves.