My Perfect Enemy is Finally Broke Novel - Chap 8
Ji Wei wore a white suit with a flower in his breast pocket. His expression had yet to recover till now so even his smile was stiff.
“Congratulations,” a guest shook his hands, “your complexion is quite bad. Nervous?”
Ji Wei forced a laugh, “A little.”
After ushering in this business partner, he let out a breath before he heard a stern voice from behind, “Ji Wei.”
He quickly looked back and saw a middle-aged man, “…Dad, you’re here.”
“Yes,” Ji Guo Zheng had just gotten off the plane. He scanned the decor once over and gave his verdict, “It’s too small-scale. Why didn’t you host it at a hotel?”
“She said she likes flowers.” He was referring to his fiancee.
Ji Guo Zheng nodded, “Is your grandmother here?”
Ji Wei replied, “She’s already inside.”
Ji Guo Zheng made a sound of approval and prepared to head inside. However, Ji Wei was faster, he walked forward and lowered his voice, “Dad… why is he here?”
Realizing who he was referring to, Ji Guo Zheng replied, “He’s already here? It’s your grandmother’s request, just go along with it.”
Ji Wei murmured, “Dad… mom won’t be happy.”
“Is it your mother or you who’s going to be unhappy? Don’t worry, your mother understands the severity of the situation.” Ji Guo Zheng looked at him, “You, on the other hand, shouldn’t lose your mind over an insignificant person.”
Ji Wei gritted his teeth, “I understand.”
“Also,” Ji Guo Zheng remembered something, “has Qin Man arrived?”
——
Ji Ran sat with his legs crossed, holding his phone and playing a survival game. He hated these sort of events the most, where socializing took up most of the time. He’d been sitting here for over half an hour but the ceremony had yet to begin.
Thankfully, online entertainment targeted at youths was abundant. Putting in his earphones and switching on his phone, the people around him practically became invisible…
Wrong.
“There’s someone at the bottom right corner.”
“Oh, is that your teammate?”
“Your team is telling you to turn on voice chat in the chat box.”
Ji Ran’s annoyance spiked and he abruptly pressed the volume key, increasing it until 70%.
His right earbud was unexpectedly pulled out. Qin Man asked, “You’ve turned it up too loud. You don’t want your ears anymore?”
Ji Ran snatched his earbud back, softly cursing him, “You’re really annoying…”
“Qin Man.” He didn’t know when the welcome reception had ended. Ji Wei walked over to Qin Man’s side without sparing his brother a glance, “Why are you sitting here? Your seat is at the main table, didn’t the servers tell you?”
Main table?
Ji Ran glanced at Qin Man suspiciously. Earlier, he’d seen that the people sitting at the main table were mainly relatives while the remainder, who he didn’t recognise, were much older than him. It was easy to see that their status wasn’t modest.
Not to mention Ji Wei’s group of brotherly friends. They were all seated at the middle tables or lower.
He was already very surprised that Qin Man, this bankrupt person, was invited to the party. Now, Ji Wei actually invited him over to sit at the main table?
“I’m fine here,” Qin Man said. “I haven’t seen Ji Ran in a long time, I just wanted to catch up with him.”
“…You two know each other?” Ji Wei frowned, “You guys can catch up any time. I’ve already saved a spot for you, let’s go.”
Qin Man was just about to refuse when he felt a weight on his shoulders.
Followed by that, the ostentatious and despotic scent of a man’s cologne filled his nostrils.
Ji Ran raised his arm and directly propped it atop Qin Man’s shoulders, “Are you deaf? He said he wants to catch up with me.”
Ji Wei wanted to blow up, but Qin Man was one step ahead of him. He suddenly lifted his hand and held Ji Ran’s fingers, laughing, “How could we not know each other? He’s my junior brother. You should go, I’ll stay here instead. Send my regards to uncle and auntie.”
Feeling his fingers be enveloped by a warm touch, Ji Ran instinctively wanted to retract his hand. Unexpectedly, the other person increased his strength so he wasn’t able to break free.
Qin Man held his hand at an angle no one else could see and used his thumb to gently trace his palm.
Fuck.
Ji Wei, “…Fine, but don’t leave after this is over. I want to discuss the matter of the plot of land at Xingjia road.”
“Alright.”
After Ji Wei left, Ji Ran immediately snatched his hand back.
Since there were too many people around, it wasn’t convenient for him to cause a ruckus. Therefore, he secretly pinched Qin Man under the table.
After pinching, he finally realised something was amiss.
These little actions under the table seemed to be fucking… flirty!
Ji Ran decided to ignore him, his attention returning to his game only to find out that his character had already been killed by an enemy’s headshot and turned into a crate. He clicked his tongue and left the game, beginning a new round.
His surroundings were very noisy and could still be heard even through the earphones. The emcee talked for a long time, it sounded like he was doing his best to provide some humour but the audience remained serious.
It would’ve been more interesting if they called Yue Wen Wen over to say the dialogue.
Due to the nature of their marriage, there weren’t any feelings to speak of and there were practically zero shared experiences to fall back on. Therefore, this segment passed quickly.
This wasn’t even a fifth of the time spent on welcoming guests.
Ji Ran exited his game, wondering when he should leave.
”Qin Man.”
Ji Ran never thought he would ever hear this voice again in his life.
His hands holding the earphones froze and he instinctively looked back.
Ji Guo Zheng held a glass of wine in his hands as he looked at Qin Man with a kind, fatherly gaze, as though Qin Man was his own son.
Qin Man picked up his glass, politely replying, “Uncle Ji, it’s been awhile. How have you been?”
“Good. How about your parents, why didn’t they come?” Ji Guo Zheng asked.
Qin Man answered, “It wasn’t convenient for them.”
Ji Guo Zheng nodded amicably, “Uncle hasn’t seen you in a long time. I remember you often came over to play when you were young. I believe you haven’t seen Ji Wei in a long time either, right? Why don’t you stay over tonight? We have many rooms so you can stay the night and catch up with Ji Wei. Don’t let the brotherly relationships you forged during your youth disintegrate as you get older, it’s a pity.”
“How could I bother you?” Saying so, he suddenly turned around, “Ji Ran, are you staying here tonight?”
Ji Ran was eavesdropping and didn’t expect Qin Man to direct the conversation towards him. He froze, “Of course not…”
“He’s staying here.” Ji Guo Zheng’s smile dissolved and he was finally willing to spare Ji Ran a glance, “Ji Ran, it’s also been a long time since you returned. Stay for the night, your grandmother has something to say to you.”
Ji Ran never imagined that the household he’d been unable to get into for the last 20 years, would just suddenly open its doors to welcome him simply because of Qin Man’s words.
But, why?
Although his relationship with his father wasn’t good, he could tell from Ji Guo Zheng’s actions that he definitely wasn’t enough of a kind and charitable person to offer alms to a bankrupt man.
Bankruptcy was something that was ruled by the court. If it wasn’t for the news, he’d suspect that Qin Man had been pretending to be his bitch all this time.
After throwing out these words, Ji Guo Zheng turned back to Qin Man, “President Yun and I were just talking about you. Let’s go and greet him.”
“Okay.” Qin Man looked back, “I’ll be right back.”
Ji Ran, “…Just go if you want to go, why are you telling me this?”
Qin Man laughed and left.
Ji Ran swirled the glass of red wine in his hand, his gaze fixed on Qin Man’s back.
He didn’t waste time with his friends. Following behind Ji Guo Zheng, all the people they greeted were old foxes who sat at the head of the table. Qin Man wore an elegant smile, his actions befitting of an experienced businessman.
What a hypocrite.
Ji Ran silently cursed in his heart, picking up his wine and finishing it.
After the event ended, it was time for more socializing. Everyone began to form groups and chatted among themselves, their topics never straying far from business.
Thankfully, no one tried to talk to him, leaving him all alone and at peace. Sitting for a while, Ji Ran felt bored and stood up, preparing to have a smoke in the bathroom.
In a stall, just as he lit up his cigarette, he heard footsteps.
“What’s up with Qin Man? Is he really bankrupt?”
“How can it be fake? But it doesn’t look like it… Ji Wei, you know the most. Tell us.”
Fuck. Enemies really do meet on a narrow road.
Ji Ran spat out his cigarette and continued to listen.
“Of course it’s true,” Ji Wei answered.
“Then why… I don’t mean anything by this but I saw that he seems to be living well. Earlier on, he was even with your dad and talking to those big bosses.”
Ji Wei, “So what if he’s bankrupt? My dad focuses on his character and has also liked him since long before. He wants to train him.”
As if anyone would believe that.
“Is that so? True, Qin Man has a pretty good relationship with those big bosses. Right, I also saw Ji Ran earlier? Did I go blind?”
Ji Wei’s voice raised, “You’re being annoying. Why’d you suddenly mention that bastard?”
“Relax, I’m just curious. Why’d you invite him? To mess with him? Just tell me, I’ll help you!”
Mess with me?
Ji Ran narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself. Why don’t you try? We’ll see who’d get messed up.
Ji Wei explained, “My grandmother called him over. Today’s my engagement party, don’t cause a scene. I’ll call security later to chase him out .”
Ji Ran inhaled a deep breath of his cigarette and stubbed it before he came out of the stall.
“Want to chase me out? Ji Wei, you’re overestimating yourself.” As he spoke, he slowly exhaled the smoke, “Let me tell you, not only can you not chase me away, you even have to open your doors tonight and invite me in.”
Ji Wei’s face instantly turned dark. His friend reacted first, “You—”
“What about me?” Ji Ran made him choke up. Sizing Ji Wei’s friends, he dissed, “A weak chicken like you wants to mess with me? All of you look skinnier than a stick, have you gone stupid from your office jobs? You guys probably don’t even dare to step out when it rains. One punch from me and you’ll all be flying from the bathroom onto the stage.”
Ji Wei was furious, “Ji Ran!”
The atmosphere immediately took a turn for the worse, growing frigid.
After a moment.
“It’s just a joke. How could I possibly hit someone?”
Ji Ran’s words were utterly lacking in sincerity. He glanced at the ‘elites of society’ who’d gone mute and fixed his necktie in satisfaction. He laughed, “I’m done using the bathroom. You guys can continue.”
