By the time it was past ten o'clock, Chu Jianglai, who had been given his marching orders for the second time, refused to leave, using the excuse of "a sudden, excruciating chest pain that makes it impossible to go downstairs" to squat in his house. 

As a doctor, Chu Qiubai examined him with a mix of half-belief and half-doubt. 

Lying obediently on his back on the sofa, Chu Jianglai tightly furrowed his brows, putting on a pitiful display of being in so much pain he was about to stop breathing. 

"Does it hurt here?" 

"Yes." 

"And here?" 

"It hurts there too." 

"What about here?" 

"Ow, ow, ow!" 

"Is it a severe pain accompanied by a tearing sensation that radiates to your back?" 

"Uh, now that you mention it, my back does hurt a lot. Yes, it's exactly the radiating kind!" 

"Oh." Chu Qiubai stood up. "Aortic dissection rupture. You're beyond saving. Just wait to die." 

This fake patient had been rosy-cheeked and lazily watching a mindless comedy variety show on his sofa just a second ago, only to suddenly collapse in a second at the sound of an eviction notice. 

His blood pressure and heart rate were perfectly normal, yet he dramatically complained of severe pain in the precordial and scapular regions, radiating to his back. 

Chu Qiubai stood over him, watching him act, his expression colder and darker than the night sky outside. 

Having goofed around for half the day, Chu Jianglai pitifully sat up. The grown man, over 1.8 meters tall, hugged a throw pillow and curled up on the sofa, refusing to budge. "Seeing as I'm about to die, can you let me crash here for the night?" 

"No." 

"Ah, why?" 

"I just bought this place two months ago. If you die here, it'll become a haunted house, and the property value will plummet." 

"Then I'll compensate you for the difference, okay?" 

"No." Chu Qiubai threw his jacket at him, delivering a resolute third eviction notice. "Leave. Right now." 

Ruthlessly kicked off the sofa by his favorite older brother, Chu Jianglai—who was dubbed the "Business Tyrant" by the outside world—pitifully clutched his jacket. As he was shoved toward the door, he looked back every three steps, pleading his case: "Seeing as I'm about to die—" 

"Chu Jianglai!" His patience exhausted, Chu Qiubai's tone sharpened. "Stop talking like that! Don't you think it's bad luck?" 

"Didn't you bring it up first?" the young man muttered a quiet protest, not daring to speak too loudly lest he genuinely anger his already fuming brother. 

His usual adorableness and nonsense slowly chipped away at the iron resolve Chu Qiubai had taken three months to build. Yet, Chu Qiubai still maintained an invulnerable, cold exterior. 

After Chu Jianglai asked, "If I obediently get out of here, will you walk me to the elevator?", Chu Qiubai firmly replied, "No." 

"But I have to go on a business trip to Xincheng tomorrow and won't be back until next month. Are you really not going to see me off?" 

"I'm getting married next Thursday. Your business trip is timed perfectly." 

The smile on Chu Jianglai's face froze. "Can't you just cancel it? You're going to get divorced anyway." 

"Who said that?" 

"If you don't get divorced, what am I going to do in the future? Besides, you've barely even met the bride, how could there be any feelings? It's highly likely she's just looking for a sham marriage, and you're using her to make me angry!" 

"Stop talking nonsense!" 

Although this marriage wasn't meant to make anyone angry, at its core, it was indeed a cooperative agreement reached after both parties had laid their cards on the table. To call it mutual use wouldn't be entirely wrong. 

Struck by the truth, Chu Qiubai shoved Chu Jianglai, who was still dawdling at the door, into the elevator and leaned in to press the button for the basement level. 

"You're not a child anymore. Stop saying such unrealistic things!" 

"Then let's talk about something real." 

The arm he had reached out to press the button was suddenly grabbed. The dry, warm temperature of Chu Jianglai's palm seeped covertly through the thin fabric of his shirt. 

"What—" 

Chu Qiubai was taken aback. 

Chu Jianglai held onto him tightly, forcefully pressing the "close door" button with an indisputable attitude, causing the elevator doors to shut rapidly. 

His eyes widening slightly in surprise as the doors closed, Chu Qiubai, unable to react in time, was once again forced into a confined space with this young man who never played by the rules. 

Chu Jianglai's expression turned serious. "If it's not a sham marriage, are you trying to tell me you love her?" 

The private investigator's report was a thick stack; Chu Jianglai was absolutely certain they were already divorced. He didn't understand why Chu Qiubai was going to such great lengths to deceive him, to deceive everyone. 

"So what if I do?" Chu Qiubai, forced to stay behind, wore a dark, cold expression. 

"Then what about me?" 

Chu Jianglai stepped closer to him. "Do you still love me or not?" 

In the bright, reflective mirror of the elevator, Chu Qiubai saw his own face—feigning calm, yet flustered. 

Did he love him or not?

He couldn't answer. 

If he didn't, there would be no need to avoid him like a venomous snake. 

"Chu Jianglai..." 

"Answer me!" 

The young man's sudden rise in volume and his increasingly red-rimmed eyes left Chu Qiubai speechless. 

He couldn't deceive himself, and it was precisely because he couldn't deceive himself that he had no choice but to leave Jianghu, abandoning his hometown to come to Jing City all alone. 

He admitted that even if all that terrifying evidence proved to be true, he couldn't just cut his emotional losses immediately. 

Yes, he did feel utterly disheartened, but he couldn't simply stop loving Chu Jianglai right away. 

If a measured, laughing, and shameless Chu Jianglai already made him feel difficult to handle, then this Chu Jianglai—with damp eyes and a slightly red nose tip—was even more lethal to him. 

His heart trembled amidst a wave of sour numbness, like solid steel soaked in strong acid, rapidly corroding away, leaving behind only a weak groan. 

Any iron will in the world would completely soften under this overwhelming, head-on rush of sorrow. 

Chu Qiubai despairingly realized that high-minded rationality was actually so incredibly fragile in the face of foolish love. 

Even if the evidence was solid, even if it was undeniable, as long as Chu Jianglai questioned him with true emotion and begged him earnestly, all the logic and hypotheses built by his rationality would instantly fall apart. 

He just wanted to hear him speak, wanted to hear him explain it himself. Even if the reasons and motives were dark, as long as Chu Jianglai admitted to it and gave a reasonable explanation, he was willing to try to understand and forgive. 

Completely softening, Chu Qiubai became hesitant and overly cautious. He even began to worry that he might have pieced together a terrifying story from fragmented evidence, and thus wrongfully accused him. 

Facing this young, handsome, and fiercely sincere face, Chu Qiubai couldn't help but laugh bitterly in his heart. Truly, lust befuddles the mind. 

"Chu Jianglai," he said, "I got married because I was disappointed in you." 

The red-eyed young man froze, seemingly surprised by his sudden frankness. 

"I accidentally found out some things and suddenly felt very disappointed, which is why I wanted to separate from you. Marriage was also a decision made after careful consideration. You might be right; I probably don't love my current wife that much yet. But since I married her, I will fulfill my promises to her. I am willing—" 

"So, you still love me, right?" 

Having impulsively spoken his mind, Chu Qiubai had no way to deny it, so he could only say, "Let me finish." 

"I don't want to!" 

Ding— The elevator had reached the first basement level. 

The elevator doors slowly slid open on both sides. Chu Qiubai stood still. "Fine, then I won't say it. You can go back." 

Chu Jianglai blocked the doorway like a mountain, stubbornly shaking his head. "I'm not leaving." 

Under their silent standoff, the obstructed elevator doors let out a long, piercing warning beep. 

"Don't block the door, it's dangerous!" 

"If you're so worried, does that mean you still love me?" 

He clearly possessed such a smart face, yet for some reason, he always had to ask such clumsy questions. 

"Is there any point in asking this? You are my younger brother. Even if we separate, do you think I would just ignore you and let you act recklessly?" Frowning, Chu Qiubai forcefully shoved the door-blocking Chu Jianglai out of the elevator and said coldly, "Blocking the door to ask this... if the elevator system malfunctions, the doors will close and crush you—" 

"If you don't like me anymore, then even if I get crushed to death, it's my own business!" 

"Do you have to speak to me like this?" 

After timing out, the elevator doors slowly began to close again. 

Chu Jianglai slammed his hand against the door, and the slowly closing gap instantly sprang wide open once more. 

"Then come out, and let's talk properly." 

He had originally planned to kick him out right at the doorstep, but somehow, inexplicably, he found himself standing side-by-side with him in the basement lobby. 

Chu Qiubai felt disheartened by his own softheartedness and indecision. 

From the moment Chu Jianglai appeared in front of him, the direction of things had completely spiraled out of his control. 

Under the bright lights of the underground garage lobby, Chu Jianglai's eyes didn't look quite as red anymore, but his dewy pupils and tightly pressed lips gave him an aura of fragile contradiction. 

"You said you decided to separate from me because you were disappointed, but why were you disappointed?" 

Facing Chu Jianglai like this, Chu Qiubai didn't want to lie. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "Go back and think about it yourself." 

Having wasted nearly another half hour in the basement, Chu Qiubai finally managed to return home alone, his mind still filled with Chu Jianglai's reluctant, pitiful face. 

Before leaving, this young man—who had recently been ruthlessly dominating his industry—was still making excuses to act pathetic. 

"Brother, can I stay over? The Feng Shui in the hotel room I booked is terrible, it might even be haunted. I only slept there for an afternoon, and now my head is killing me." 

How could someone spout such a ridiculous excuse with such a sincere expression? 

He wasn't a three-year-old child anymore! 

Thinking of this, Chu Qiubai subconsciously felt the urge to laugh. 

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the elevator mirror. The reflection of himself—corners of his mouth turned up, expression relaxed—was smiling like an idiot who had just struck gold. 

Chu Qiubai shuddered abruptly, as if violently jolted awake from a nightmare, uncontrollably overwhelmed by a strong wave of creeping dread. 

Returning home with an expressionless face, he found the phone he'd left on the sofa vibrating incessantly. 

Chu Qiubai picked up the phone. The caller was Chu Rong; she had already called several times before this. 

"Are you home?" Chu Rong asked in a light, cheerful tone. 

"Yes." 

"Let me tell you some gossip!" the little aunt, barely older than him, excitedly and mysteriously announced over the phone. "I heard your little brat ditched an entire project team and flew back to the country!" 

"Oh." 

Seeing his cold reaction, the enthusiastic Chu Rong couldn't help but let out a "Huh?" before asking, "What does 'oh' mean? Don't tell me you already knew? Then hurry up and tell me where he went! Fiona and I made a bet. I bet Chu Jianglai's backyard is on fire, and he rushed back to put it out! Who told him to date so many girls in New York at the same time!" 

"Is Fiona the one from the gossip magazine?" 

"Yeah!" 

"Stop making weird friends all the time," Chu Qiubai said wearily. 

"What do you mean 'weird friends'? She's my shipping buddy! You don't get it! Gossip is human nature, okay? Fire can't be wrapped in paper! Besides, if it weren't for my gossiping, you, as his older brother, probably wouldn't even know that your cute, obedient, pure younger brother is actually incredibly popular!" 

"Even in New York, he's killing it! He's got all those girls practically chasing after him! As expected of my nephew!"