Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 56 (Part 3)
Translated by Pure
Edited by tingting
Chapter 56.3 "...I love you so much..."
Qi Kai’s injury looked rather serious. And because Hawaii was hot and humid, Dai Gaofeng didn’t feel comfortable in allowing him to stay any longer, so he decided for this get-together to end early and for everyone to return home the next day.
He led a group of worried people back to the room to rest, but Qi Kai couldn't fall asleep. He sat blankly in the lounge near the beach in the hotel lobby, and ordered a bottle of whiskey in a daze.
The starry sky above his head were like the unpredictable paths on earth. He couldn't figure out how the two men, Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi could possibly get together.
He lit a cigarette, held it between his fingers, and watched the plume of smoke rise. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice behind him——
"You got another cig?"
Qi Kai quickly turned his head back, pulling his injured leg and almost hit the table leg. He fixed his gaze on the speaker behind his chair.
Lin Jingzhe changed his clothes again. It was the local style– loose festive clothes provided by the hotel. The bright tropical pattern flattered his complexion and the loose fit also made his physique look more slender. His buzz cut hadn't been maintained for a long time, so the hair grew about four to five centimeters in length. Probably because he just took a shower and didn't blow dry it, so he casually stroked it towards the back. The wet hair was pushed back but a few strands hung down towards the sides. These few strands of hair on his smooth forehead, gave him a more unrestrained look.
Qi Kai met his gaze and fell into a momentary confusion.
Lin Jingzhe didn't get an answer, so he chuckled slightly. He supported the back of the sofa that Qi Kai was sitting on with one hand. He exerted a little force on his arm, and jumped to sit on the back of the sofa.
Qi Kai was so frightened that he leaned back and almost slipped from his seat, but Lin Jingzhe just stretched out his outstretched hand lightly.
"…………………"
In such a calm confrontation, Qi Kai took a sip of his untouched glass of whiskey on the table, trying to mask his inner apprehensiveness. He then calmly took out the cigarette pack and his lighter from his trouser pocket and handed it to Lin Jingzhe.
Lin Jingzhe didn't pilfer the rest of his cigarettes this time. He lit one for himself, then threw the cigarette pack and lighter on the sofa, and turned to rest his back on the sofa as he took a puff.
Qi Kai dragged that leg over and looked back at him. Lin Jingzhe arched his back, lowered his head, and rested his elbows on his legs. His wet hair fell to the front of his head because of his movements, covering his forehead.
It was hard to depict Lin Jingzhe’s expression clearly in the dark. Qi Kai could only see his languorous movements while smoking, his voice was hoarse than usual. "You are quite timid."
His words were vague, but the content clearly meant something. Qi Kai looked at his indifferent appearance, along with the pain from his battered knee, he immediately bursted into anger. "Lunatic! Disgusting!"
Lin Jingzhe remained calm as he chuckled lightly at Qi Kai’s offensive name calling. He looked back at him with a smile. "Scared?"
Lin Jingzhe's bright eyes were slightly bent when he smiled, he looked extremely peaceful. Qi Kai inexplicably felt that he had become the one who made trouble for no reason.
Malice surged up in his heart. "Do you think it's interesting? You and Xiao Chi, you two men...you... you two are abnormal..."
He mulled over it for a long time, but his usually sharp tongue was nowhere to be found. Qi Kai stuttered for a long time and couldn't finish a complete sentence, only desperately venting his unreasonable anger.
Lin Jingzhe, who had never backed down from a confrontation with him, was unusually quiet this time. Even though Qi Kai used all kinds of ugly words to attack, Lin Jingzhe remained silent. Only after the peace was restored did he gently stand up from the sofa, walked around the armrest, and stood in front of Qi Kai.
Qi Kai also jumped onto his two feet. Two clusters of hot flames ignited in his eyes, and he asked guardedly, "What do you want to do?!"
Lin Jingzhe ignored him, but just pressed the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray on the table. He then calmly glanced at Qi Kai’s serious-looking wound wrapped in gauze, and said, "I heard Mr. Dai said that you fell very hard, so I came to see how you were doing."
Qi Kai was clearly aggressive, but somehow felt that he was at a disadvantage. He loathed Lin Jingzhe's confident front, and retorted angrily, "You should worry about yourself! Just wait! When we return to China, I will tell everyone about you and Xiao Chi! You two are disgusting..."
Lin Jingzhe has been worried about the exposure of his relationship with Xiao Chi. But now that it really happened, he was surprisingly calm. Facing Qi Kai's threat, he just shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "It's up to you. Since you're fine, I'll go back to sleep."
Qi Kai was furious that his intimidation didn't get a response. He glared at Lin Jingzhe's departing back and shouted, "F*ck your mother!"
Lin Jingzhe was wearing the resort clothes of the hotel, and his temperament seemed unusually sloppy. Hearing Qi Kai cuss, he just waved his hands without looking back. His nonchalant reply floating out of the opened elevator, "Go ahead—"
Now that he was again alone by his solitary self, Qi Kai threw his body back on the sofa exhaustedly. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the sofa, completely disregarding his continuously aching leg.
After a while, he let out an angry roar. He fumbled around with his hands, grabbed the cigarette pack that Lin Jingzhe threw into the sofa, and flung it far without hesitation.
******
Lin Jingzhe felt that Qi Kai would definitely tattle. With the cat out of the bag, he had no more worries and simply slept in Xiao Chi's room that night.
Xiao Chi probably had the same thought as him. The two of them didn't talk about Qi Kai at all, they just slept in each other's arms as usual, and then exchanged lingering good morning kisses when they woke up.
The next morning.
Everyone was about to depart back, but Qi Kai didn't sleep all night. When he opened the door with dark circles under his eyes, he ran straight into Lin Jingzhe who came out of Xiao Chi's room.
He subconsciously looked up at the number plate of the door behind Lin Jingzhe. However, before the door was fully closed, it was opened again. Xiao Chi and his uncombed morning hair, popped out from the crack of the door. Qi Kai couldn’t make out what the two said to one another, but as if their flirting gazes weren’t enough, after speaking, they moved closer and exchanged a long kiss.
After the kiss was over, Xiao Chi retreated back into the room. His temperament returned to his previous appearance as if he had no emotions or desires, but before closing the door, his sharp eyes cut towards Qi Kai like a knife. Qi Kai swore that he saw the deep pride and threat deep in his eyes.
The two men just kissed in front of him, and Qi Kai almost went blind.
Lin Jingzhe just said ‘good morning’ to him without looking the least bit ashamed; he just passed him by as if nothing had happened.
Qi Kai looked back and stared at Lin Jingzhe’s back, stunned. At this moment, Dai Gaofeng came over from the other end of the corridor. When he saw the two of them, he smiled and greeted them good morning. Then, his puzzled eyes fell on Qi Kai who was standing there blankly. "What's wrong?"
"..." The door of Lin Jingzhe's room opened and closed. Qi Kai's lips trembled, but after some hesitation, he replied, "Nothing."
Dai Gaofeng looked at his absent-minded appearance and still trembling hands with a worried face. The fall couldn’t have caused him to turn stupid, right?
Along their way, Qi Kai witnessed with his own eyes what it meant to be unscrupulous!
Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi were inseparable, they even deliberately swapped seats to sit together. To make matters worse, they chose to sit right next to Qi Kai! The two huddled together and whispered short nothings to each other. To an outsider’s perspective, this looked normal. However, in the eyes of Qi Kai, who knew their real relationship, this was simply an unbearable public provocation! Especially during the flight, as if talking wasn’t enough, from time to time they had to take advantage of people's unpreparedness and exchanged short kisses!
Qi Kai looked at Xiao Chi, who had just retracted his tongue. After he licked his dry lips, Xiao Chi then began to hold the Buddha beads and looked at the stewardess with a dignified and upright face. Qi Kai was deeply dumbfounded by his shameless mannerisms.
Along the way, he wanted to jump up and yell violently countless times. Every time the thought arose, Qi Kai was immediately suppressed by a hesitation that came from nowhere.
He couldn't even remember when he returned home. Anyway, immediately after getting off the plane, a car took him to the hospital for treatment of his wounds. After reapplying the medicine and bandaging, Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi had already bid farewell and left. Qi Kai bid farewell to a group of visitors, overlooking whether they were genuinely concerned or not, and then he was sent to the door of his house by the driver. All the while he was still in a trace.
After the Elder Qi officially retired, he usually stayed home all day. After Qi Kai gave his greetings, he discovered that Shi Nanxing was also present.
Although he wasn’t in the mood to talk to his young uncle, Shi Nanxing followed him into his room and threw a document envelope directly on Qi Kai's desk.
"Read this." Shi Nanxing motioned for him to open the envelope. At the same time, he looked at his leg suspiciously. "I thought it was just a minor injury, how did you fall into this state when you went to Hawaii?"
Qi Kai didn't want to recall the incident, so he didn't answer, but asked while opening the document envelope, "What is this?"
Shi Nanxing didn't overthink his lack of response, and changed the subject obediently, "Do you remember that Lin Jingzhe you told me about before? I had someone do a check on him, there really is something about him."
Qi Kai paused, and suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness.
"Guess what I found out?" Shi Nanxing didn't care to notice Qi Kai’s inner conflict and continued to explain to him enthusiastically, "This person is actually from Qunnan! From Liyun Town in Qunnan, don't you think there is anything strange about that?"
Qi Kai asked, "How so?"
"Did you forget the batch of antiques that Elder Fang bought before? They were obtained from Qunnan! If it weren't for this batch of antiques, how could he and Zheng Cunzhi have caused such a big disturbance?"
It could be said that Shi Nanxing and Qi Kai's misfortune also started here, so when talking about this incident, Shi Nanxing maintained a gloomy expression, "They kept the news very tight, but I still found out that the source of these antiques should be from Liyun!"
Qi Kai’s brain did not turn as fast as Shi Nanxing, so he worried, "This matter has already passed and those antiques are already in the museum. Why bother to investigate their source? What if my grandfather and uncle find out..."
"You don’t know sh*t!" Shi Nanxing snorted coldly, "Lin Jingzhe is said to only have one family member, his grandfather. But he died a few years ago, and no one even knows who his parents are. Why do Fang Wenhao and Elder Fang take such good care of such a common countryman? He came from Liyun, so there must be something strange here… Oh right!–"
Shi Nanxing suddenly thought of something and stared at Qi Kai. "I heard that Lin Jingzhe is at odds with Xiao Chi from the Xiao Family?"
Qi Kai was taken aback by the question, "Who did you hear that from?"
"It’s a frequently discussed rumor. I heard that they even fought?" Shi Nanxing asked, "Is it true? If it is true, we can take advantage of this."
Qi Kai felt tired after hearing his enthusiastic plan. "Don't even think about it, it's impossible!"
Shi Nanxing still trusted his own news channel very much, so he couldn't help being taken aback when he heard this. "What? Is their relationship not that bad?"
Qi Kai answered sullenly, "Yeah."
"Impossible?..." Shi Nanxing didn't believe it, "Where is your evidence? Their conflict has been personally confirmed by Dai Gaofeng."
Qi Kai really wished he could tell him what he saw, but he held back after thinking about it. He found another reason irritably. "Don’t you know about 2nd Middle Road? Their two companies are still cooperating."
Shi Nanxing was not so easily persuaded. "That doesn’t prove anything. Aren’t you cooperating with Qiqing Real Estate?"
Qi Kai's mind was about to explode, but he couldn't think of a suitable reason to support his argument. In the end, he just unreasonably retorted, "Just listen to me, okay?! Why would I lie to you?!"
He lost his temper without warning, and then drove Shi Nanxing out of his room. After closing the door, Qi Kai was so annoyed that he wanted to die, or gouge out his eyes that had seen many things he shouldn't have borne witness to.
AHH AHH!!!--
My eyes have been infected!! I’ve been blinded!!
Translated by pure, hosted on puretl.com / do not repost!
