Chapter 74 - Counterfeit

Qiu Yanzhi knew it was game over the moment he admitted to liking He Zhou.

But it wasn’t until he brought He Zhou to see the night view, held him close and kissed him that he realized how deep a hole he had fallen into.

In the 25 years he’s lived, Qiu Yanzhi had carefully and selfishly encased his true heart in steel armour before hiding it deep within himself.

The thought of even the slightest bit of harm coming to it was intolerable.

He was a selfish and stingy person. He wasn’t willing to take chances, accommodate others, or be attracted to anyone.

Who would’ve thought a certain someone called He Zhou would stumble into his life?

The true heart he had miserly held onto for 20+ years broke open like Humpty Dumpty’s shell. Every part of him spilled out and could never be put back inside again.

Just the sight of He Zhou made Qiu Yanzhi want to hold hands with him, to hug him and kiss him. He wanted with all his heart to be good to the man.

It was almost like he had lost his mind.

To be honest, if Qiu Yanzhi had a ring on him right now, he would immediately go down to one knee and ask He Zhou to marry him.

He unfortunately didn’t have one, so he took off the only accessory on him and put it around He Zhou’s neck.

It was a black rope necklace adorned with a piece of milk-white jade. It wasn’t worth much, but Qiu Yanzhi’s worn it for the last 20 years. If he didn’t just give it to He Zhou, he would’ve probably worn it for the rest of his life.

Qiu Yanzhi never thought he would ever give this jade to someone else, but at this moment, the thought of He Zhou wearing something that belonged to him brought him great satisfaction.

It was as if he was, in a way, marking He Zhou.

He Zhou touched the jade beneath his clothes. It was a solid presence against his chest, still radiating residual heat from Qiu Yanzhi’s body.

Qiu Yanzhi looked up at He Zhou and said in a serious tone, "He Zhou, I've worn this jade for 20 years. You need to wear it for the rest of your life.”

He Zhou was stunned for a moment. Then he blinked and said, "Alright."

Qiu Yanzhi looked into his eyes. He couldn’t resist leaning in for another kiss.

Yet before he even got close, he heard an abrupt and irritating voice.

"Zhizhi!" Fei Sihao called as he stumbled across the street. His face was flushed due to inebriation, but his expression was of pleasant surprise. “...What are you doing here?”

Not a split second later, Fei Sihao clumsily tripped on the steps and fell...

...Right at the feet of Qiu Yanzhi and He Zhou.

Qiu Yanzhi: "......"

Qiu Yanzhi didn't really want to help him up.

Regardless, Fei Sihao didn't stay on the ground for long. He wobbled his way to his feet a short while later. He still seemed unsteady as he lunged towards Qiu Yanzhi with both hands outstretched.

When Qiu Yanzhi subconsciously dodged, Fei Sihao ended up draped across the railing.

Fei Sihao was so drunk that he didn't even care about Qiu Yanzhi dodging. He stared at He Zhou and thought out loud, “Hey, Cousin. Your leg’s all better now? How come you’re standing?”

He Zhou frowned. "Don't call me cousin."

Fei Sihao scratched his head. The cold wind blowing in his direction made his face flush even more. He said, “Wha, what else am I supposed to call you? I’m Zhizhi’s boyfriend, so Zhizhi’s cousin is my cousin. Right, Zhizhi?”

Qiu Yanzhi fanned away the smell of alcohol wafting in his direction with some disgust. Another gust of cold wind blew over, making Fei Sihao shiver. His expression suddenly sobered.

"Wait a minute." Fei Sihao sharply turned to Qiu Yanzhi. "Zhizhi, didn’t you say you were going to bed? How come you’re here with your cousin?"

Qiu Yanzhi's heart skipped a beat. He felt like the jig was almost up. He opened his mouth and frantically tried to talk his way out. “Um, you see I wanted to go to bed, but…”

Thud.

Before Qiu Yanzhi could even finish his sentence, Fei Sihao dropped like a rock to the ground.

Qiu Yanzhi: "......"

Welp, at least that saves me an explanation.

Although Qiu Yanzhi really wanted to leave Fei Sihao here and forget about him, he was afraid of not being able to explain why tomorrow morning. Thus, he could only work with He Zhou to lug Fei Sihao to the back seat of the car.

Qiu Yanzhi was about to close the car door when Fei Sihao's cell phone rang.

The ringtone was so shrill it was impossible to ignore.

At first, Qiu Yanzhi only took the phone out to turn it off. But when he glanced at the caller ID--

--It was Qiu Xicheng.

Qiu Yanzhi hesitated. In the end, he answered the call after glancing at the drunken Fei Sihao lying in the back seat.

However, he put the phone on speaker and held it over Fei Sihao’s head.

Qiu Xicheng's voice soon came from the other end, "Fei Sihao, why haven't you been answering my calls recently?"

Fei Sihao was irritated by all the noise coming from above his ear. He subconsciously took the phone and grunted.

Qiu Xicheng continued, "How are you doing on Zhizhi’s matter? Do you know how many days it’s been? Why are you dragging your feet so much this time?”

Even though Fei Sihao was drunk, his eyebrows knitted together.

Qiu Xicheng’s tone became cold due to the lack of response he was getting. "Fei Sihao, what's wrong with you? Are you in or not? Did you forget what I said? If you handle this matter well, I’ll transfer you the deed to that West Mountain villa.”

Fei Sihao suddenly snorted. “...Save it. Don’t you fucking think you can order me around like a dog by dangling a villa over my head… Heh, who the fuck do you think you are? How shameless can you be to badmouth Zhizhi when your mom’s a mistress too...hmph! Don’t fucking pretend to be a gentleman all the time when you’re the most underhanded, disgusting one of all...”

Qiu Yanzhi was stunned.

He was beginning to regret picking up too.

Even though he was happy to watch these two bastards snap at each other, right now was clearly not the time.

If Fei Sihao and Qiu Xicheng go their separate ways, where was he supposed to get his evidence?

Additionally, what made Fei Sihao suddenly snap? Did he get stimulated in some way?!

Qiu Yanzhi turned to share a glance with He Zhou. He was at a loss of what to do now.

On the other end of the line, Qiu Xicheng was also shocked. It was quite a while before he hissed through gritted teeth, “Fei Sihao, you actually dared to…”

Beep.

Fei Sihao hung up. Making himself comfortable while incoherently mumbling something under his breath, he passed out again.

Qiu Yanzhi silently closed the car door, got in the driver’s seat, and started the car. As he drove, he mulled over how to install the spyware on Qiu Xicheng’s phone now that he and Fei Sihao were no longer working together.

Everything went smoothly until He Zhou and Qiu Yanzhi were getting Fei Sihao out of the car.

Qiu Yanzhi’s momentary inattention sent Fei Sihao’s head crashing into the car frame. The heavy thud that resulted made Qiu Yanzhi’s heart tremble.

Fei Sihao let out a shrill scream. The immense pain made him open his eyes. Fei Sihao stood while holding on to Qiu Yanzhi for support.

He winced as he rubbed his head.

Qiu Yanzhi tentatively asked him, “...You’re awake?”

Fei Sihao nodded with a twisted expression.

As he rubbed, Fei Sihao suddenly remembered that he seemed to have just answered a call from Qiu Xicheng.

The shock instantly sobered him up completely.

He stared at He Zhou and Qiu Yanzhi, asking in a slightly shaky voice, “D-did I just...get a call?”

Qiu Yanzhi nodded a little.

Fei Sihao paled. “Then what did you hear…?" Qiu Yanzhi’s heart clenched. He cut in, “We were outside of the car when you took the call, and you had already hung up by the time we came in. I don’t know exactly what you were shouting, but you seemed pretty unhappy with someone. Who was it, ah?”

Thank goodness Qiu Yanzhi didn't hear anything.

Qiu Xicheng, on the other hand...

When Fei Sihao recalled what he had dared to say during the call, he felt like a heavy boulder just fell and pinned him underneath.

Even his lips were trembling.

The flush of alcohol across his cheeks drained away. Fei Sihao wasn’t in the mood to ask Qiu Yanzhi why he appeared on the bridge with his cousin after saying good night anymore.

He just held onto the railing and went back home with a dazed look in his eyes.

Qiu Yanzhi opened up the program installed on Fei Sihao's phone after getting home, but there was nothing useful in the recordings.

Plus he had to go on that business trip tomorrow morning. He didn’t have time to deal with the mess Fei Sihao had just made of things.

Qiu Yanzhi’s job this time was from his boss at his previous workplace.

Although Qiu Yanzhi only ever took short, part-time jobs, his work ethic was excellent. As a result, he would quickly get rehired based on recommendations after each job.

Qiu Yanzhi didn’t intend to go so far away for three days at first, but the offer was just too good to refuse. The secretary of the company was very sincere when discussing the details with him, and they were even willing to compensate him $30,000 for travel expenses.

Qiu Yanzhi had no reason to refuse.

Since he accepted the job, he had to do things right. While on the plane, Qiu Yanzhi perused the company document he received from the secretary.

This company was called Faraway Technologies. It was a subsidiary of the renowned Shengyuan Group.

Qiu Yanzhi's duties on this trip was to go with the company's newly appointed president to Berlin, Germany and translate for him during negotiations to acquire a large-scale virtual reality game.

Virtual reality games again.

Qiu Yanzhi’s interest was slightly piqued, so he read the entirety of the documents. It was only when he closed the folder that Qiu Yanzhi realized there was nothing in there about his boss.

He wanted to ask the company employee seated beside him at first, but said employee had already fallen asleep.

Instead of bothering him, Qiu Yanzhi put away the document and took a short nap as well.

The flight from Haichuan to Berlin took 14 hours with a connecting flight.

By the time they arrived in Berlin, it was already late afternoon.

The boss's executive assistant told them to rest for the day so they could start working tomorrow refreshed.

After putting away his luggage, Qiu Yanzhi video called He Zhou.

Because of the time difference, it was already eleven o'clock at night on He Zhou's side.

"Shouldn’t you be in bed?" Qiu Yanzhi said with a frown.

He Zhou: "Are you tired?"

Qiu Yanzhi shook his head. "I slept on the plane."

"I'm not tired either." He Zhou replied, "I took a nap this afternoon.”

Qiu Yanzhi: "We’re on break right now so I’m going down to eat. Want to keep me company?”

"Sure. What do you want to eat? I'll order something similar for delivery."

Qiu Yanzhi thought for a moment. "I haven't decided yet. I’ll tell you after I take a look around downstairs.”

Qiu Yanzhi stepped out with the tablet he was using for the call.

As he opened the door, he suddenly felt strange about the tablet in his hand.

...When did he, Qiu Yanzhi, become so clingy? Was he some kind of giant baby who needed his lover back home to keep him company during meals?

Cough, cough. Love makes people’s IQ drop like a rock.

Oh well, at least they’re happy.

Qiu Yanzhi smiled. He had no intention of correcting his own behaviour anytime soon.

As Qiu Yanzhi closed the door to his room, he suddenly heard a person's voice from behind him.

"Xia Yuan."

Qiu Yanzhi froze before turning his head somewhat stiffly.

It was Qin He.

The sight of a face that looked exactly like He Zhou's made Qiu Yanzhi's heart clench.

He hugged the tablet to his chest, afraid to let Qin He see He Zhou’s face on the screen.

Qin He suddenly thought of something and said, "I forgot, I should call you Qiu Yanzhi now."

He looked down and let out a bitter laugh. "I always dwell too much on the past."

Qiu Yanzhi pursed his lips. "Why are you here?"

Qin He’s eyes crinkled as he smiled.

He extended a hand to Qiu Yanzhi. “Let me reintroduce myself. I’m the CEO of Faraway Technologies, and also the client for your three day translation job, He Zhou.”

Qiu Yanzhi froze.

The He Zhou on the other end of the video call remained absolutely silent.

Qiu Yanzhi hugged the tablet so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

His throat was dry as he asked, “...I-isn’t your name Qin He?”

“My father’s surname is Qin, and my mother's surname is He. My name was changed when I returned to the He family after we went our separate ways.”

Seeing as Qiu Yanzhi had no intention of shaking hands with him, Qin He lowered his hand and smiled gently. “Don’t worry. If you’re not used to it, you can still call me Qin He like you used to.”

Qin He tilted his head and asked, "Are you going to eat too? Why don’t we go together?”

Qiu Yanzhi swallowed dryly. He pointed at his tablet and said, “...Sorry, I already made plans to eat with my boyfriend.”

"Boyfriend? The one at the amusement park yesterday?"

Qin He frowned, his expression a little bemused. "I couldn't see clearly because of the hat and mask he was wearing yesterday. .

Is your boyfriend Fei Sihao or..."

Qin He paused for a moment, his dark eyes flickering with indecipherable emotions as he slowly drawled, “...or that NPC He Zhou?” “My...counterfeit?”