I'm Rich - 56
When the noisy drinking eventually wound down, the banquet drew to a close.
It was only the older generation taking their leave, however. Rare as it was for the younger crowd to gather in such full force, none of them had any intention of calling it a night just yet. They decided to change venues and head somewhere more suited to their age.
In the end, Guan Yuanbai reached out to Song Li, asking him to clear out a large private suite at his family's club.
When a group like this went out to play, the night inevitably revolved around drinking and games. Once inside the suite, everyone scattered to their own amusements. Since the room was filled entirely with familiar faces, Guan Zhiyi did not stand on ceremony. She settled into a seat right beside Guan Yuanbai, casually picking at a plate of fruit.
And, on the side... stealing secret glances at Qi Chengyan.
Qi Chengyan sat across from her to the left, with Song Li glued to his side, chattering away animatedly and trying to hold his attention.
The room was somewhat loud, leaving Guan Zhiyi unable to catch what they were saying. She only saw Qi Chengyan's gaze land on her. His brow arched ever so slightly, his eyes flicking toward the empty space next to him.
He was signaling her to come sit beside him.
Guan Zhiyi felt the urge stir within her, yet because she was secretly dating Qi Chengyan behind everyone's back, she harbored a lingering hesitation to go over and speak with him. It felt as though the moment she stepped near him, her secret would instantly spill out.
Their eyes met through the open air.
As Guan Zhiyi vacillated, Guan Yuanbai suddenly spoke up beside her. "How long are you staying this time?"
Startled, Guan Zhiyi jerked her gaze back. "Ah? It's really just a day altogether. I have to leave tomorrow afternoon."
"In such a hurry?"
"The movie is still filming, I can't ask for too much leave. But we'll wrap up in another month anyway."
"Oh."
"Yuanbai! Get over here! Jiang Suizhou's hand is way too lucky tonight—come help me out!" Guan Ziyu shouted from a short distance away.
Guan Xi's displeased voice drifted over in immediate response. "Second Brother, have some shame. If you can't win, you call in external aid?"
Guan Ziyu shot back, "Comrade Guan Xi, recognize your status! You aren't part of the Jiang family yet! How is he external aid—"
"I don't care. If Jiang Suizhou loses, it's my loss anyway."
...
As the bickering unfolded over there, Guan Yuanbai offered a faint smile and turned to Guan Zhiyi. "Go easy on the cold food. I'm heading over for a bit."
"Sure."
Once Guan Yuanbai walked away, Guan Zhiyi stole another glance at Qi Chengyan. Song Li had just run off to pick songs at the karaoke system, leaving someone else chatting with him in his place.
Seeing that he was occupied with conversation and not looking her way for the moment, she lost the impulse to rush right over. Remaining in her seat, she quietly listened to Song Li sing.
As she listened, the sofa beside her suddenly dipped slightly.
Guan Zhiyi blinked in surprise and turned her head.
"Why didn't you go over to play with your brother and the others?" Qi Chengyan had actually walked straight over and sat down.
Finding him so close, Guan Zhiyi felt her heart flutter with an involuntary flutter of nerves. She forced herself to maintain an air of composure. "I don't know how to play cards."
"Then why didn't you come sit next to me?"
Guan Zhiyi lowered her voice. "There was someone beside you..."
Qi Chengyan glanced down at her, a low laugh breaking from his lips. "If you came over, I would have naturally made them move."
"I wouldn't want to do that. It's too obvious."
"Obvious how? Since when did you ever think doing that was anything out of the ordinary?"
Everyone in the room was an old acquaintance who knew she had trailed after Qi Chengyan since childhood. In a room like this, her not staying by his side was the only thing that would look strange.
It was simply her own guilty conscience driving her to hold back.
Unable to refute his logic, Guan Zhiyi could only murmur, "Well, you came over yourself anyway."
Qi Chengyan tapped her forehead lightly, his tone effortless. "I did. Because I missed you."
Guan Zhiyi's eyes widened slightly. She cast a swift glance at the person seated nearest to them, relaxing only when it became clear the other person hadn't overheard a thing. "You're being too loud..."
"Hmm?"
"I said you're speaking too loudly."
"No one heard." Qi Chengyan looked into her eyes. "It seems you didn't miss me at all."
Guan Zhiyi couldn't bear to let him think that. Taking a soft breath, she summoned her courage and leaned close to his ear, her words rushing out. "That's not true. I... I missed you a lot too."
The moment the words left her mouth, she straightened her posture instantly, picking up her glass to take a deliberate sip of juice.
Qi Chengyan froze for a brief second, his gaze deepening as he looked at her.
"Say that again."
At that exact moment, Song Li reached a towering high note in his song, the sound booming through the room.
Cornered under his intense gaze, Guan Zhiyi had no choice but to lean back toward his ear. "If you didn't hear it, then forget it... Good words aren't repeated twice!"
Qi Chengyan narrowed his eyes slightly. His right hand reached out, covering the back of her hand as it rested on the sofa cushion.
A wave of heat enveloped her skin. Guan Zhiyi tried to pull away as if scorched, but he held her down firmly, refusing to let go.
A nervous look crossed her face. "What are you doing..."
"We haven't seen each other in so long. Is there nothing else you want to say to me?"
The sleeves of their outfits draped loosely, partially concealing their joined hands from view.
Guan Zhiyi felt a flutter of panic at the thought of being caught holding hands in full view of everyone, mixed with the sweet warmth of reuniting after a long separation.
She pursed her lips and asked, "What about you? Is there anything you want to say to me?"
"I asked you first. Why are you throwing the question back at me?"
Guan Zhiyi let out a soft hum. "I want to hear your answer first so I can take notes before giving you mine."
The young woman before him looked altogether delicate and charming, her expression brimming with clever mischief.
Qi Chengyan suddenly felt a stroke of regret for coming along with this crowd. Right now, he should have quietly whisked her home instead.
"Alright, then I'll go first."
"I'm listening."
"Chengyan, I picked a song! Let's do a duet!" Suddenly, a booming voice blared through the speakers, shattering the intimate atmosphere that had settled between them. Looking up, they saw Song Li jogging over from the song selection terminal.
Qi Chengyan released her hand just as Song Li turned around. "...Who wants to sing a duet with you?"
Song Li ran over to stand right before them. "Oh, come on, just one song! I'll take the female part, you take the male."
"No."
"Then I'll take the male part and you take the female?"
"Get lost."
Song Li rolled his eyes at him before turning to Guan Zhiyi. "Then I'll sing with Xiao Wu."
Looking at the song title on the screen, Guan Zhiyi felt a touch embarrassed. "But... I've never heard this song before."
Song Li gasped. "For real? You've never even heard this song?"
"Really."
"Tsk, youth today. Chengyan, there really is a generation gap between us and Xiao Wu."
Qi Chengyan cast a sideways glance at him. "A song this old? I haven't heard it either."
Song Li: "?"
"There's a generation gap between me and you, too."
Song Li: "..."
Paying him no further mind, Qi Chengyan stood up. "I have something to take care of. Going outside to make a call."
"Wait—hey, get back here! Say that again, you haven't heard this song? The school radio station played it on loop back in middle school, alright?!"
Qi Chengyan did not turn back. Left without a duet partner, Song Li could only stalk back to the console in frustration and hit replay. Then, taking on both parts himself, he forced his way through the love song single-handedly.
"Song Li! Can you shut up?! My ears have never suffered such indignity in my entire life!" From the card table nearby, Guan Xi shouted over in a fit of rage.
Song Li turned a deaf ear to her, entirely lost in his own melody, a sight that left Guan Zhiyi chuckling.
Just then, her phone vibrated.
Guan Zhiyi pulled out her phone and saw a two-word message from Qi Chengyan: [Come out]
Guan Zhiyi quietly put her phone away after reading it. Then, acting as though she merely needed to step out for the restroom, she slipped out unnoticed.
Exiting the private suite, she walked down the corridor toward one end, but Qi Chengyan was nowhere to be seen. Just as she was about to pull out her phone to ask where he was, a hand suddenly reached out from around the corner and pulled her in.
"Ah—"
"It's me."
Guan Zhiyi covered her mouth instantly. "You scared me to death."
"Come here."
Qi Chengyan led her toward the far end of the hallway, heading up the stairwell when they reached the end. Their original suite was already on the top floor, so continuing upward led straight to the rooftop exit.
He had originally intended to take her to the roof, but seeing that Guan Zhiyi was wearing a dress and might catch cold outside, Qi Chengyan stopped on the stairs instead of going all the way up.
Because no one ever came up to this floor, even the lights were turned off, leaving only faint traces of light spilling in from the rooftop door above.
Only the two of them remained in the quiet space, their breathing the only sound. In this deep silence, the urgent longing and sweetness that had been building up since her flight finally burst through the surface. Using the ambient light from outside, she looked up at his face, unwilling to turn her gaze away.
"Gege, no one is here to disturb us now. You can say whatever you were going to say." Standing one step higher on the stairs, coupled with her low heels, Guan Zhiyi was just barely eye-to-eye with him.
Qi Chengyan pinched her cheek, his voice dropping low. "Alright."
Guan Zhiyi waited in earnest expectation.
Yet as Qi Chengyan looked at her, he suddenly let out a quiet sigh.
Guan Zhiyi: "Hmm?"
Qi Chengyan: "Let's hold off on talking for now."
"Why—"
Qi Chengyan offered no answer. He simply reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace. Guan Zhiyi froze for a brief second before all her bottled-up enthusiasm spilled over, sweeping away every trace of restraint or modesty.
A helpless smile curved her lips as she hugged him back with all her strength.
Neither of them spoke another word, content to hold each other in silence. Yet Guan Zhiyi felt as though she understood everything without a word being said.
In truth, there was really nothing that needed to be said right now. They simply missed each other terribly.
Neither knew how long they had been stealing this embrace when Guan Zhiyi's phone rang at an inconvenient moment. Pulling it out, she saw it was a call from Guan Xi.
"They must have noticed I was missing from the room and started looking for me."
"Mm."
Guan Zhiyi held a different status now and needed to exercise caution in public. Qi Chengyan fully understood why her family would worry if she disappeared for too long.
Even so, this brief moment together was hardly enough to satisfy him.
Guan Zhiyi answered the call, promised she would head back immediately, and hung up. Seeing her make a move to step down, Qi Chengyan caught her hand. "You're going back just like that?"
"They're looking for us..."
Qi Chengyan didn't reply, yet he couldn't bring himself to let go of her hand either.
Just then, a faint rustle of clothes rubbing together came from the bottom of the stairwell. Qi Chengyan and Guan Zhiyi both froze at the same time, looking downward. Two figures were stumbling their way up the stairs, kissing as they moved, putting on quite a show.
"..."
Was this stairwell some kind of romantic hotspot?
The pair quickly reached their level. The woman was the first to notice someone was standing there, letting out a startled gasp as she urged the man to let her go.
The moment they came up, Qi Chengyan had already pulled Guan Zhiyi completely into his arms, blocking her face entirely from view. Shadowed by the dim light, nothing could be seen clearly anyway.
"..."
"First come, first served. Mind giving us some room, you two?" Qi Chengyan glanced at them from the side, his tone calm and detached.
The couple were people of the world. Once the man realized what was going on, he let out a chuckle. "Brother, you sure know how to pick a spot."
Qi Chengyan murmured softly, "It's decent."
"Fair enough. Sorry to disturb, carry on."
With a grin, he wrapped an arm around the woman and headed back downstairs.
Pinned between Qi Chengyan's chest and the wall, Guan Zhiyi felt her face burn entirely red.
Indeed... he really knew how to pick a spot.
"Shall we head back?" She looked up at him after the footsteps faded away.
Qi Chengyan looked down at her, let out a low "mm," and then naturally leaned down to press a kiss against her lips.
Guan Zhiyi blinked, staring at him in a daze.
"Can't take up someone else's spot and do nothing with it." Qi Chengyan let out a soft laugh, leaning down to kiss her once more. "Don't you think?"
Guan Zhiyi pursed her lips. "I suppose..."
"Another kiss, then?"
His voice dropped into a lower register.
The look in his eyes reminded Guan Zhiyi of that time inside the wardrobe, giving her a sudden premonition that if they took things any further, he would never stop.
Promptly raising her hand, she covered her mouth. "Next time. Know when to stop for today."
Qi Chengyan said faintly, "You make it sound like I don't know when to stop."
"You really don't."
"..."
"Anyway, we really have to go back."
"Mm."
He clearly had no desire to return.
Noticing his somber expression, Guan Zhiyi gave his hand a gentle shake. "Don't be unhappy. I'll come over to your place to play tomorrow."
Qi Chengyan cast a side glance at her. "Is that so? And what are we playing?"
"Whatever you want to play?"
Qi Chengyan patted her head gently. "You."
---
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