Chapter 127.1

Thank you Miimaas for the Ko-fis!

Editor: Sahloknir

Shi Qing slept comfortably for who knows how long. When he woke up, the hands of the man, who had remained very close to him, were still massaging his foot.

He hadn’t stopped all this time.

As the little master had just woken up on an unfamiliar bed, his eyes blearily drifted over to Jiang Bieyu.

The soft and harmless look he gave off, even when awake, caused Jiang Bieyu’s gently moving hands to unconsciously still.

The tender foot that had been pampered since birth retreated a bit, like it was planning to leave the man’s grip.

Almost subconsciously, Jiang Bieyu’s hand immediately clenched down, grasping the foot that was trying to escape him.

“Wu?”

The newly awakened little master’s voice was as soft as cotton. Despite his dazed state, he still shot the man a displeased stare.

Jiang Bieyu looked down to hide the sharp look that shouldn’t be in his eyes. He slowly let go before Shi Qing was fully awake.

The man’s quiet voice was hoarse. “It’s a bit cold in here. Do you want to put on socks?”

As expected, the little master didn’t notice anything amiss. He squinted comfortably and leaned back, voluntarily plopping his foot back onto that palm which contained a thin layer of calluses.

So Jiang Bieyu silently put Shi Qing’s socks on. After his tender feet were covered with pure white socks, the little master yawned and leaned on the man while looking outside.

It was very clear from the sounds out there that those young masters were having fun. They showed no regard for the person sleeping inside.

That was natural.

After all, no one even considered that someone would drag another person into such a fun place, where the host prepared everything (toys) in advance just to sleep.

If it were them, they would be doing a different, more active kind of ‘sleeping’.

So when the little master lifted the curtain, revealing his small face that was rosy from sleep, the young masters sitting and drinking together all had ambiguous expressions.

“Shi Qing, I didn’t expect you to be the last one to come out.”

“What unfathomable depths you have. I must toast you a cup today.”

Jiang Bieyu remained silent as they praised Shi Qing to the nines. He straightened out the little master’s clothing and helped him put on his boots, noting how the little master proudly accepted their compliments.

After getting dressed, Shi Qing got out of bed and sauntered over to his seat. He picked up a glass of wine and clinked it with the others.

The little master downed it before glancing at Jiang Liye, who was also back in his seat. He deliberately turned back and beckoned to Jiang Bieyu.

“Come and keep me company.”

Immediately, the tall and strong man came to the young master’s side and sat on his lap as a ‘boytoy’.

This wasn’t as easy as it looked, since Jiang Bieyu had to make it appear like he was sitting on the little master’s lap, while actually maintaining a tying horse stance.

Luckily, his core was strong enough to maintain this position while remaining indifferent.

Shi Qing smugly wrapped his hands around the man’s waist as he provoked

Jiang Liye again.

“I haven’t thanked you, brother-in-law, for gifting me such a good boytoy yet. I’m really overjoyed.”

He sighed in mock frustration. “The only thing is…I can’t get over how this boytoy resembles brother-in-law a bit.”

Jiang Liye’s face turned blue.

The young masters next to him were quick to laugh awkwardly.

“A few of us went out for a stroll just now and saw that it’s actually snowing outside. It’s also suddenly a lot colder outside, enough to freeze a person.”

Shi Qing’s eyes lit up.

He suggested, “Then how about we go to play on the ice?”

Who didn’t know that the Shi family young master’s favourite activity was playing out on the ice? But since he was Shi family’s only inheritor, he wasn’t allowed to go until the ice was completely frozen solid.

This rule held true no matter how unhappy it made him. The Shi family could dote and acquiesce to the little master in every other way, but they were very strict when it came to matters that could potentially put his life at risk.

The young masters present all yielded to him and nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go today. If it gets dark to see we can light some lanterns.”

His high status prevented any of the others from disagreeing. The atmosphere in the room gradually warmed up again.

Jiang Liye was the only odd one out.

Because Shi Qing had taken the initiative to laugh and joke with the others over what they’d be doing later, he firmly occupied the spotlight.

No one paid Jiang Liye any attention.

This made his expression become even more ugly.

But Shi Qing wasn’t done with him yet. The little master glanced at him occasionally, his pretty eyes filled with smugness.

His ruby red lips opened and closed, letting out soft words filled with self-righteousness.

“Those fenced off places are no fun. We should go to the city moat where there’s plenty of space.” He said, smiling and looking at Jiang Liye. “Would brother-in-law like to come along?”

“Oh that’s right. I almost forgot that brother-in-law doesn’t like to play on the ice. In that case, we’ll be going without you. Brother-in-law should go back home to rest.”

Jiang Liye’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

What did Shi Qing mean by this???

Was it not enough that he stole the spotlight and used Jiang Bieyu to torment him? Was he also planning to completely exclude him from their social circle?

You’ve gone too far!!

At this moment, not to mention going to skate, Jiang Liye would agree without hesitation even if Shi Qing said they were going to skip through a minefield.

He forced the corners of his lips up into a not-smile. “Of course I’ll go. For your sake if nothing else. I can’t imagine what someone as delicate as you would do if you slipped on the ice. As your brother-in-law, I should be there to take care of you.”

This time it was the little master’s expression that didn’t look so good.

Who didn’t know that, despite loving to skate, the little master slipped and tripped everywhere instead of gliding around like everyone else.

Thankfully, he was bundled up in thick layers everytime to keep out the cold. The clothes made him a bit clumsy, but at least falling didn’t hurt.

Every winter, a thick layer of ice formed over Crane City. These young masters had been playing together since they were children, so there was no one as clumsy as this little master from the south.

When he first came to Crane City, people even laughed at him because of this. However, due to the rising status of the Shi family, no one was laughing now.

That was, except for Jiang Liye.

“If I remember correctly Shi Qing, didn’t you fall right on your butt last year? It’s lucky you didn’t hurt yourself thanks to the extra clothes you were wearing. Still, I have to say something as your brother-in-law. Why is a man like you wrapping yourself into a ball just to skate? ”

He snickered, not hiding his mockery in the slightest. “It’s a good thing the land here is flat. If we were on a hill, I’m afraid you would’ve rolled all the way down.”

His words painted vivid pictures in everyone’s head. They tried very hard not to laugh.

Jiang Bieyu had never been allowed to go out before. He only snuck out occasionally by scaling the walls of the manor. It was only this year that Jiang Liye brought Jiang Bieyu with him in order to cement his status in the family to his other half-brothers who were coming of age.

So what if Jiang Bieyu had the blood of the Jiang family running through his veins too? He could only be a servant in the end.

Therefore, the man who had never been allowed to go out had never seen the scene that Jiang Liye was talking about.

Despite this, with Jiang Liye’s words, it was almost as if he could see the delicate little master all bundled up into a ball on a frozen lake.

His small face would look even smaller on top of that ball of clothing.

Because of his bulky clothes, the little master’s movements would definitely be a little slower. He might be walking forward one step at a time, but his eyes shone brightly with anticipation.

The man’s gaze darkened. He looked at the little master who was working hard on pretending to ‘hug’ him.

It was clear that Shi Qing was annoyed by Jiang Liye’s words.

As expected.

How could a man like him stand to be looked down upon by others.

Jiang Bieyu’s dark eyes took in his angry form. Suddenly, he shifted slightly so that his body was closer to Shi Qing’s.

Shi Qing didn’t immediately react when a heat source came closer. But after giving Jiang Bieyu a look, he perked up.

His hand casually landed on the shirt of the man ‘in his lap’ again. Proudly raising his chin, the little master announced to Jiang Liye.

“This young master suddenly doesn’t want to go anymore. Why would I venture outside to suffer in the cold when I have a beautiful man in my arms?”

He leaned forward slightly and rested his cheek on Jiang Bieyu’s arm with a pleased expression. “He’s so good looking, with such a solid build and mild temperament. I’ll take him over skating any day.”

Then, like he was guarding against Jiang Liye stopping him, the little master patted Jiang Bieyu and got up after he did.

“You guys have fun. I’ll be going first.”

Thus, with a casual look on his face, Shi Qing practically zipped out of the place with Jiang Bieyu in tow.

The people present almost wanted to describe it as ‘running away’.

The young masters all knew why Shi Qing left so quickly.

Him saying he preferred Jiang Bieyu to skating was a load of baloney. He just didn’t want to lose face.

Shi Qing might’ve bitten the bullet in the past, but he had almost been killed this year. There was no way he could possibly take this lying down.

Everyone else understood, but unfortunately Jiang Liye didn’t get the memo. To him, Shi Qing’s words earlier basically condensed into one simple sentence:

This tool I can use to mess with you is much more fun than skating.

When combined with Shi Qing’s smug look, it really made Jiang Liye want to go back in time and punch his past self who had given Jiang Bieyu to Shi Qing .

Even letting Shi Qing beat Jiang Bieyu to death on the spot would’ve been preferable to this.

Now Jiang Bieyu was being used to disgust him.

But Jiang Liye refused to give in.

Was Shi Qing the only one who knew how to make others disgusted?

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Liye stepped forward just as the youth was pulling the tall man out the door.

“If you can’t bear to leave his side, just take him with you. There’s no need to hide away with him.”

Since they were outside with other people walking by, Jiang Liye didn’t make his barbs as obvious. He put on a mask of congeniality and said,

“It just wouldn’t be right for all of us to go skating without you.”

As expected, his words caused the little master’s face to darken. Shi Qing looked like he was about to get angry, but he restrained himself after looking around.

Jiang Liye was very pleased with himself.

So what if Shi Qing acted out in front of him? Outside, Jiang Liye was still his brother-in-law.

Even if he was the one who had pushed Shi Qing into the lake and nearly killed him, this lawless little master still had to call him ‘brother-in-law’ in front of outsiders.

Not doing so was simply not an option.

A smile appeared on Jiang Liye’s face as he raised his voice and lied boldly,

“Speaking of which, you haven’t called me ‘brother-in-law’ even once since you got here. Oh you, you grow more impertinent by the day.”