Chà Chà Novel

His private life might have been a total mess, but when it came to friends and work, Ji Xinghui was definitely reliable.

Fu Baihan and Ji Xinghui’s friendship went back to before they were even born. Their moms were best friends and their dads were old family friends. They almost ended up with an arranged childhood betrothal.

But from kindergarten on, Ji Xinghui showed his true nature as a flirt. The Ji family basically gave up on finding him a girl of equal standing in their circle. Everyone knew what he was like, and no one wanted to marry in and put up with this playboy young master.

They’d beaten him, they’d yelled at him, but the elders couldn’t do anything about him. In the end they just turned a blind eye and gave in, saying they didn’t care who he was with, as long as he brought home a grandchild someday.

The fact that Fu Baihan had considered Ji Xinghui a friend for so many years showed he wasn’t just some spoiled rich kid who only knew how to party. He kept up a business partnership with the Fu family and kept his illegitimate half-brothers firmly under his thumb. Ji Xinghui had real skills of his own.

Fu Baihan trusted Ji Xinghui’s abilities, but not his morals. The very first time Ji Xinghui met Su Nuo, Fu Baihan sternly warned him not to be a bad influence on his kid.

Of course, Ji Xinghui had zero interest in kids. Especially since back then Su Nuo was tiny and skinny and shy around people. Only his eyes were big and bright. There was nothing about him that would catch Ji Xinghui’s attention.

But he discovered that his buddy’s kid was a hidden treasure who only got more dazzling as he grew up. Still, he’d watched the kid grow up. As shameless as Ji Xinghui was, he would never go after Su Nuo.

He liked beautiful people, regardless of gender. Plenty of young, pretty boys had been sent his way, but next to Su Nuo, all of them paled in comparison.

Ji Xinghui didn’t dare say that out loud. If Fu Baihan ever found out he’d compared his precious little brother to those cheap little playthings, he’d be in for serious trouble.

Naturally, the more stunned he was by Su Nuo, the nicer he became to him. And he always knew exactly where the line was, so he could always make the kid happy.

Whatever mischievous thoughts he’d had about teasing Fu Baihan’s little brother slowly melted away every time Su Nuo softly called him “big brother.” Just like the secretary had said countless times, no one could help spoiling a little treasure like this.

And after spoiling him long enough, everyone ended up treating him like their own kid.

“Nuonuo, your brother is heartless, making you do his work for him.” Ji Xinghui was trying to lure the kid away as usual. “Don’t waste your time on him. I just got a new motorcycle. Want to go for a ride?”

Su Nuo was tempted, but he held firm. “No, I already promised my brother.”

“I canceled three dates just to take you out. It’s fully customized. Don’t you want to see it?” Ji Xinghui was like the Big Bad Wolf.

Fu Baihan clicked his tongue impatiently. “Did you switch careers to sales?”

“Why so grumpy? Don’t scare our Nuonuo,” Ji Xinghui said with a grin.

Fu Baihan could tell the kid’s heart was already halfway out the door, so he didn’t play the bad guy. “Go have fun with him.”

They had everything at home, but the kid just had to go look at someone else’s ride. Were teenagers really this hard to understand?

Ji Xinghui was making him look like some strict, heartless patriarch, and Fu Baihan wasn’t about to lose face in front of him.

He knew it was a cheap trick to provoke him, but it worked on him anyway.

“So I can go with Star-ge?” Su Nuo blinked.

Fu Baihan laughed at him. “Go on.”

Turning his eyes to Ji Xinghui, Fu Baihan tapped his fingers on the desk. “The project hasn’t started yet. Don’t take Nuonuo anywhere sketchy.”

The message was clear: if you corrupt my kid, you can forget about making any money.

Ji Xinghui promised, “Don’t worry, I’m great at babysitting.”

Su Nuo: “…What babysitting?”

Don’t you guys discriminate against me just because you’re taller and I just turned eighteen!

“Let’s go.”

After a quick trip through the Fu Group, Ji Xinghui had successfully stolen the little young master away, and he was very pleased with himself. He didn’t dare race with Su Nuo on the back. After showing him the bike, he drove him at a snail’s pace to the club where he’d made plans, so slowly that Su Nuo asked him if he even knew how to ride.

“Sweetie, you can’t let your brother know about what happens next, okay?” Ji Xinghui put an arm around Su Nuo’s shoulders as they walked in. “There are two dates I couldn’t cancel, so I have to go see them. Can you hang out on your own for a bit?”

Su Nuo’s eyes basically spelled out the word “player.” That silent judgment made Ji Xinghui ruffle his hair again. “Your brother’s such an old fuddy-duddy. When I was your age, I’d already… ahem, never mind. Not talking to you about that.”

Su Nuo puffed out his cheeks. “My brother is not an old fuddy-duddy. You’re just too much of a player to understand a decent guy like him.”

Ji Xinghui gave him a thumbs-up. “Does Baihan know you go around talking him up like this?”

This little brother really was worth raising. If his own illegitimate half-brothers were even half as sweet and half as cute as Su Nuo, he wouldn’t have left them with zero way out.

Ji Xinghui took Su Nuo into a private room. Everyone there was a friend of his. Su Nuo had seen a few of them at the banquet. All the rich young masters who liked to party were there.

Su Nuo hadn’t experienced this kind of buzz in a long time. Back when he was an extra on film sets, he’d been to every kind of drinking party and met every kind of person.

Ji Xinghui was surprised by how comfortable he looked and how easily he fit in. How did this little sweetheart seem to know the scene even better than he did?

“Young Master Ji, things are getting loud next door. Those two ran into each other.” A server came to find Ji Xinghui and whispered the situation in his ear.

Ji Xinghui pinched the bridge of his nose. “What a pain. I have to go deal with it.”

He stood up. “Nuonuo, wait for me.” He looked around at everyone else. “Don’t let my little brother touch any alcohol. Got it?”

People who partied hard often slipped something into drinks. But Su Nuo looked young, and he was there with Ji Xinghui, so no one dared mess with him.

Su Nuo was pretty confident about how much he could drink, but he’d forgotten that he didn’t have the body from his past life yet, the one that had gotten used to drinking until he threw up. And here, the drinks that looked the least alcoholic were actually the strongest. He grabbed one himself, and no one noticed, but before long he started feeling dizzy.

The little young master swatted away a glass of water someone handed him and stared wide-eyed. “Where’s my brother?”

“Young Master Ji will be back soon…”

“I want my brother.” The little young master pouted.

Even acting completely unreasonable like this, regardless of his status, his face alone made it impossible for anyone to scold him.

But there were also greedy eyes fixed on him. Someone tried to get handsy under the excuse of helping him up. Su Nuo grabbed the man’s wrist and bent it backward. “Got you. I’m taking you to my brother so he can beat you to death.”

I’ll scatter your ashes!

When Ji Xinghui pushed the door open, he saw Su Nuo fiercely pinning down a man who was screaming in pain. He went over, kicked the guy away, and shielded Su Nuo. “Nuonuo?”

As soon as Su Nuo saw a familiar face, the fierceness in his eyes turned into hurt. “I want my brother to come get me…”

Ji Xinghui turned around and kicked the guy again. “Damn it, I leave for two minutes and you can’t keep an eye on him? If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you. When Fu Baihan gets here, you’re all dead.”

Who gave his little brother alcohol?!!