Unable to wait for the elevator, the two men jogged straight down the stairs.
Once on the ground floor, they split up, each with a clear target.
Ji Shileng was accepting yet another glass, this one marked with a lipstick stain.
He was about to down it when he caught sight of Qin Si emerging from the stairwell in the reflection on the glass.
Assuming he had drunk enough to start seeing things, he looked away and paid it no mind.
He had grown accustomed to behaving himself over the past few years. One important feature of the persona he had maintained in the Empire was an alcohol allergy.
Occasionally, when he was alone with Shang Jianli, he would have a drink or two. Apart from that, he scarcely touched a drop.
On previous visits home for holidays, he usually stayed for a simple meal and never spent very long at a club.
This was the first time in years he had drunk so much. Frankly, he was a little dizzy.
Besides, how could someone as respectable as Qin Si possibly come to a place like this?
“Young Master Ji, do I get a reward if I finish?”
Xiao Liao tilted his face up toward him. He had drunk too quickly just now and choked on the liquor.
His coughing had left his cheeks flushed and his eyes shimmering with tears, making him look terribly pitiful.
Ji Shileng set down his half-full glass and loosened the ribbon tied around his cuff, revealing a stretch of pale skin and a slender watch on his wrist.
Those who recognized it could not stop marveling inwardly. VEKAL’s latest slim men’s watch, named Galactic Interstice, was worth fifty million star credits.
On its dial, a silvery sky, Sirius, and the moon shifted in an intricate interplay. Thirty-eight star-shaped diamonds set into the platinum bezel further enhanced the grandeur and beauty of the galaxy.
At the Federation’s recent watch exhibition, themed “Watches and Wonders,” VEKAL had achieved the highest timekeeping accuracy among luxury watches, breaking Patek Philippe’s nine-year monopoly on the distinction.
And Ji Shiyun had simply given that watch to Ji Shileng.
Everyone gained a fresh appreciation of just how thoroughly he was spoiled.
With a click, Ji Shileng undid the clasp one-handed and dangled the watch before Xiao Liao.
“Drink another two bottles, and this watch is yours. Understand?”
A fortune had suddenly landed right before his eyes, close enough to touch. Xiao Liao swallowed several times.
When he failed to move, Ji Shileng asked leisurely, “What? Don’t believe me?”
Xiao Liao shook his head repeatedly, pitching his voice even sweeter.
“How could I not? Everyone knows Young Master Ji keeps his word. Once you give it, nothing can take it back”
The people around them were green with envy.
“Young Master Ji, where’s the fun in letting one person drink alone? It’s livelier if everyone joins in, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. Watching only Xiao Liao drink would be boring. Why not let the hosts and hostesses have a drinking contest?”
The racing team captain laughed heartily, removed the brooch from his shirt, and slapped it onto the table.
“It can’t compare to Young Master Ji’s prize. Just a little trinket worth a few million. Something to add to the fun”
Seeing this, the others began putting down cash and cards.
Ji Shileng drank another two glasses, his eyes misty as his lips curved.
“Looks like everyone’s jealous of Xiao Liao”
Xiao Liao felt wronged and bitterly resented everyone who had joined in.
That watch was worth fifty million star credits! It would have been his if he had simply finished the drinks.
Who could have expected everyone to interfere? Now he probably would not get it at all. He was far from the strongest drinker among the hosts and hostesses.
“Young Master Ji, what if I can’t beat them?”
Xiao Liao’s brows pinched together. He looked ready to cry.
Ji Shileng stroked his smooth cheek and smiled.
“Can’t beat them? Young Master Ji won’t let you lose out”
Somewhere in the distance, someone called, “Xiaoshi,” but the voice was easily swallowed by the music.
Qin Si’s expression was icy. His silver-gray bespoke suit did nothing to contain the sharp, commanding elegance that surrounded him.
His gaze fixed firmly on Ji Shileng. Then he strode toward him without the slightest hesitation.
Someone set off a few party poppers, showering Ji Shileng with streamers.
He casually brushed some off his shoulder, leaned back against the sofa, and lazily raised his glass.
“Xiaoshi”
Qin Si was closer this time. Someone at the edge of the group turned toward him, and an odd expression flickered across his face when he recognized him.
Ji Shileng did not hear. With his back to Qin Si, he remained entirely unaware of the approaching danger.
A young heir who did not recognize Qin Si assumed he was there to flirt. He ignored him and topped up Ji Shileng’s glass with whisky.
Ji Shileng was drinking enthusiastically tonight, accepting every glass offered. If it was full, he drank it. He turned no one down.
He was just about to bring the freshly filled glass to his lips when someone took it from his hand.
Cold fingertips brushed his palm. Disliking a stranger’s touch, Ji Shileng frowned in annoyance and turned, meeting Qin Si’s eyes.
Qin Si looked down at him, his gaze dark, his thin lips pressed into a line.
Now that he was close enough to see the scattered lipstick marks on Ji Shileng’s jaw and neck, his expression grew colder still.
Alcohol had dulled Ji Shileng’s mind. For a moment, he failed to react.
Someone nearby recognized that face and exclaimed first.
“Qin Si? Qin Si, the military engineering scientist?”
At that, recognition dawned on everyone. No wonder he had looked so familiar.
Even if these young heirs had never met Qin Si at a formal event, they remembered the face that appeared so often in national news reports.
Ji Shileng’s second brother, Ji Shifeng, worked in the same field, after all. People in their circle were constantly comparing the two.
“Qin Si?”
Ji Shileng narrowed his eyes at him, his misty gaze irresistibly alluring.
Qin Si removed a streamer from his hair and answered softly.
Ji Shileng did not move away.
“Are you the real Qin Si or a fake one?”
Without waiting for an answer, he patted the seat beside him.
“Let me feel your face. How do you look exactly like Qin Si?”
The young heirs around them scarcely dared to breathe.
Who was Qin Si? A military scientist and military engineering expert renowned throughout interstellar space.
Yet now, his relationship with Young Master Ji seemed anything but ordinary.
The tension in Qin Si’s jaw made it clear that he was far from calm, but he still indulged Ji Shileng.
Ji Shileng’s long, elegant fingers touched his face.
A cloying trace of makeup lingered on his fingertips.
Qin Si frowned, suppressed his displeasure, and let him touch him.
“Seems like the real Qin Si”
Having finished examining him, Ji Shileng reached for a glass on the table again and smiled lazily.
“What are you doing here? I thought genuinely respectable people like you didn’t come to disreputable places like this”
Qin Si gave a laugh of exasperation.
“So you do know what kind of place this is?”
“Of course”
Ji Shileng offered him the glass.
“A place to drink with pretty company”
Qin Si accepted it. After a moment of silence, he said, “I’m here to take you home”
Ji Shileng frowned and refused.
“No. They haven’t finished the contest yet”
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