Chapter 21: Sigh! Negotiations & Capitalism

Rain pattered against the umbrella, producing soft thudding sounds.

Zefi and Lin Zhiyan stood beneath the same umbrella, unconsciously leaving a small distance between themselves that neither acknowledged. The rain isolated them from the world around them, yet it could not extinguish the faint scent of gunpowder lingering between them.

One hand in his pocket and the other holding the umbrella, Zefi lowered his gaze toward Lin Zhiyan. His tone carried a faint smile, as though nothing in the world could truly disturb him.

“But disappointment never lasts long,” he said. “As long as he’s still here, it’s never too late to let Le Mans see.”

Lin Zhiyan wasn’t surprised by this outcome.

She merely looked at him and asked, “How much do you actually know?”

“Only recently.” Zefi laughed softly. “He thought he hid it well.”

Lin Zhiyan smiled too.

“Maybe he wanted to hide it,” she replied, “so he could hide it well.”

“I have no opinions regarding his little schemes.” Zefi tilted his head slightly at her, damp gray hair clinging lightly to his forehead, though his calm demeanor remained unchanged. “You’ll become a very good lesson for him. The older he gets, the less obedient he becomes.”

These two brothers not only looked alike—they handled things alike too.

Li Siheng had tried to use Zefi to separate her from Le Mans. If she were expelled, he could secretly compensate her afterward, keeping her within his control without dirtying his own hands.

Zefi, meanwhile, simply followed the current. On one hand, he could remove her. On the other, he could use this opportunity to reinforce his dominance over Li Siheng.

They were truly like two venomous snakes.

Lin Zhiyan said nothing.

Zefi had already turned toward Le Mans, who was being restrained by several people.

“Before you see your mother,” he said, “perhaps we should talk first. After all, she hopes I’ll handle this matter.”

“I don’t care!” Le Mans struggled furiously, chin raised high. “If you want to drag me back to Mother so she can judge me, then hurry up already! Stop making things difficult for her! You think you’re acting under her orders, but don’t forget—nothing’s decided yet. You don’t have the authority to deal with anyone!”

Zefi’s brow twitched slightly as he raised a hand.

The men immediately began forcing Le Mans upstairs.

Le Mans clearly didn’t understand the deeper implications. He was simply furious.

“What exactly are you wasting time for?” he shouted. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Coming here in the middle of the night to play the villain breaking apart lovers—no wonder your back-to-school plans failed. None of your energy ever goes toward anything useful!”

Even while being dragged away, his voice remained impressively loud through the rain.

Lin Zhiyan still said nothing, merely holding the bouquet in her arms as though detached from the entire scene.

Zefi glanced at her and noticed her lashes fluttering like a butterfly whose wings might snap apart in the rain at any moment.

“Please,” he said lightly. “Otherwise you may end up going upstairs in a much more embarrassing manner.”

But the next second, she abruptly lifted her head, black eyes staring directly into his.

Then she raised the bouquet she had been clutching and hurled it hard at his face.

Flowers struck Zefi’s face and chest one after another. Scarlet petals stained his spotless suit even in the rain, and several thin scratches appeared across his face, red against skin even more striking than the flowers themselves.

The smile on Zefi’s face faded.

His gray eyes stared directly at her.

He didn’t brush away the petals on his body.

“The more you behave like this,” he said evenly, “the more it reveals your helplessness, Miss Lin.”

“So what if I’m helpless?” Lin Zhiyan curled her lips slightly, chin lifted proudly, eyes blazing. “At least throwing that made me feel better. The only thing I regret is wasting the flowers Le Mans gave me.”

Seeing this, Le Mans couldn’t help laughing.

“Should’ve left the thorns on them!” he shouted provocatively over his shoulder at Zefi.

Lin Zhiyan genuinely admired Le Mans. Even while restrained, he still carried himself like an arrogant young master—cocky and proud.

As Le Mans was about to be taken upstairs, Lin Zhiyan still showed no intention of moving.

Zefi was beginning to lose patience. He raised a hand, and several security guards approached behind her.

“I think,” Lin Zhiyan said calmly, “you’d better not do this.”

“Not do what?”

Zefi raised a brow.

“Any of it.” She lifted her hand and grabbed the umbrella handle. “Unless you want your brother dragged into an academic fraud investigation.”

Zefi’s pupils trembled.

Several seconds later, he looked at her.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Are you sure you never used your authority to give your brother special treatment?” Lin Zhiyan’s hand slid lower along the umbrella handle, almost touching the hand he used to hold it. Through the white silk glove, his warmth seeped into her fingers.

She leaned forward slightly, the tips of her shoes nearly touching his.

“Maybe you think this sort of thing happens all the time,” she continued. “That there’s nothing strange about me knowing.”

Zefi leaned backward slightly, widening the distance between them.

“Do you have evidence?” he asked. “And even if you do, are you sure you can submit it? Who exactly would you report it to? Teachers? The dean? The principal? The police? Or perhaps public media?”

His eyes narrowed.

“But you should understand—if a system operates smoothly, then its source of authority is already accepted by procedure. And that means it answers to powerful interest groups.”

Lin Zhiyan smiled faintly.

“But at the United Military Government Academy, power isn’t held by only one side. For example… Jiang Yi, chairman of a certain committee.”

Well.
Jiang Yi really had grabbed the right position.

Otherwise, she truly wouldn’t have realized how much authority students in the Military-Government Division possessed.

Zefi’s gaze shifted slightly, curiosity flickering within it.

“So what? Do you think I have some relationship with him?” After several seconds, he added, “Go ahead and try naming names. See if you can find someone who just happens to oppose me enough to help you handle this matter while offending such a massive interest group.”

A trace of panic rose inside Lin Zhiyan.

Up until now, every one of her attacks had been deflected by Zefi’s vague but calculated responses. Worse, he was still probing how much information she truly knew.

At this rate, her bluff would soon be exposed.

Just as she thought that, Zefi smiled.

Damn it.
He saw through her.

There was amusement in his smile, along with admiration—but most of all, condescension.

“You’re very clever,” he said. “You almost convinced me. Unfortunately… you were just slightly short.”

The hand holding the umbrella loosened slightly.

Then he lifted a finger and lightly tapped the hand she had wrapped around the handle.

His voice softened as he leaned closer, shortening the distance between them.

“Le Mans is probably getting impatient. You should let go now.”

Cold sweat formed on Lin Zhiyan’s forehead.

Her heartbeat accelerated, temples throbbing.

No.

If she lost momentum now, she would become passive afterward.

And passive meant being carved apart.

Her lips moved slightly.

Then, instead of letting go, she slid her hand downward and grabbed Zefi’s hand directly.

Zefi frowned instantly.

A dangerous warning entered his gaze.

“Let go.”

“I don’t know whether you and Jiang Yi get along,” Lin Zhiyan said with a smile. “But I do know Lu Weixi and Jiang Yi definitely don’t.”

For a split second, the hand she held stiffened.

Lin Zhiyan nearly burst into laughter.

Ha.
She caught him.

Rain hammered noisily against the umbrella.

For a brief moment, silence stretched between them.

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Zefi returned to that calm, saintly gentleness. “You seem to think you understand the Military-Government Division very well. As a freshman, hearing a few rumors and taking them as truth is extremely foolish.”

He bluffed even better than she did.

Unfortunately for him, that tiny reaction had already told her everything she needed.

Lin Zhiyan almost wanted to laugh outright.

But in the end, she only stared calmly into his gray-black eyes.

“Lu Weixi was involved too, wasn’t he?” she said. “And I’m quite certain Jiang Yi would love the opportunity to compete against him. I’m also sure that once Lu Weixi realizes he’s been dragged into this, he’ll be very interested in finding out where the leak came from.”

She released Zefi’s hand.

Then she took out her terminal and tapped it a few times.

Soon, a recording began playing:

“I won’t let you get expelled. As for those courses, they were arranged by Zefi, I don’t—”

Lin Zhiyan immediately paused the recording before the rest could play.

After all, the later part would reveal that Li Siheng had been the one leaking information.

Zefi closed his eyes.

His breathing deepened slightly.

Several seconds later, he opened them again.

Obviously, he could still argue that those “courses” referred to tutoring or something harmless.

But the moment she mentioned Lu Weixi’s involvement, it became clear she knew far more than she should.

Zefi couldn’t help looking at the girl before him several times over.

Even in a situation like this, she had somehow managed to seize leverage against him.

Lin Zhiyan’s throat was so dry it felt as though smoke might rise from it, but she resisted swallowing and stared straight at him.

Several seconds later, Zefi finally spoke—not to her, but to the people behind her.

“Go inform them. Tell them to take Le Mans home.”

Then he looked back at her.

“It seems,” he said slowly, “that we really do need to have a private conversation now.”

His ice-gray eyes darkened heavily.

But a moment later, they became clear and cold again.

Le Mans was dragged back downstairs loudly protesting the entire way, like a piglet being relocated by force.

“What exactly are you doing?!” he shouted in collapse. “Are you messing with me?!”

Zefi smiled.

“Miss Lin’s sincere confession moved me. It made me realize that perhaps it’s more appropriate for me to speak with her alone rather than keep you present.”

“Stay away from her!” Le Mans snapped. “I already told you—I haven’t spoken to Mother yet! You can’t just decide to expel her like this!”

“Of course not.” Zefi looked toward Lin Zhiyan. “I told you. She moved me.”

He was smiling.

But there wasn’t the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes.

This guy really knew how to patch things up.

Lin Zhiyan smiled back at him and walked over to Le Mans.

She wiped the rainwater from his face.

“No matter what happens, it’s okay.”

Then she added:

“Don’t stay out in the rain anymore.”

Le Mans’s lips moved slightly.

He rubbed his cheek against her hand.

“I’ll definitely get us a good result,” he promised. “Otherwise I’ll withdraw from school together with you!”

Lin Zhiyan: “…That really won’t be necessary.”

She absolutely did not want to imagine two uneducated people working factory assembly lines together while living in some rented apartment.

Good heavens.

Back before she came to the Central District, the future she imagined for herself involved getting fat, taking bribes, flirting with handsome assistants, and eventually reminiscing about corrupt-official glory days from prison.

Not some passionate rental-apartment romance.

She’d already had enough of that kind of thing dating gangsters back in District Sixteen.

Le Mans kept shouting for her to trust him all the way until he was shoved into the car. Soon, the vehicle disappeared into the distance.

Before long, only Zefi, Lin Zhiyan, and the guards remaining inside the nearby cars were left downstairs.

Zefi closed the umbrella and went upstairs with her.

The stairwell was steep and dim, yet Zefi showed no surprise, walking upward without even glancing around.

But the moment Lin Zhiyan remembered he was going upstairs to clean up Li Siheng’s mess, she found the entire thing absurdly funny.

In the dark hallway, Zefi spoke lightly.

“You seem very confident. You think my suggestion to ‘talk’ means compromise.”

“No,” Lin Zhiyan replied. “I also considered the possibility that you’d simply kill me inside to silence me. After all, I don’t think we’re on very good terms right now.”

They reached the door, and she unlocked it.

The door opened.

Zefi scanned the apartment once and found it faintly ridiculous.

Le Mans’s taste was always easy to recognize—flashy, luxurious designs cluttered with unnecessary tropical plants, every color bright to the point of being dazzling.

The moment Zefi entered, his first glance landed on the tightly shut bedroom door.

His voice was calm but heavy.

“Li Siheng.”

No movement came from inside.

Lin Zhiyan walked over and unlocked the bedroom door.

Zefi looked at her strangely.

Then he twisted the handle open himself and turned on the light, his voice already cold.

“Li Siheng.”

What greeted him was the unmistakable atmosphere left behind after intimacy, along with the figure curled motionlessly beneath the blankets.

Li Siheng showed no reaction at all, as though he had merged together with the bedding itself. Only the faint rise and fall of the blankets proved he was still breathing.

Lin Zhiyan stepped in front of Zefi and looked at him.

“Perhaps you could wait in the living room.”

Zefi’s expression darkened.

He stared at her.

Lin Zhiyan merely continued smiling.

She thought:

Zefi was furious right now.

Furious because the puppet that had obeyed him so completely had finally slipped out of control.

Several seconds later, Zefi turned and walked out.

Lin Zhiyan entered the bedroom and shut the door.

Then she walked to the bed and pulled back the blanket.

Li Siheng’s face was cold and beautiful, yet utterly lifeless. Tears filled his gray-black eyes, but they remained hollow and sluggish.

Slowly, his gaze shifted toward her.

Then, almost instinctively, he reached out to embrace her.

Originally, she had thought his separation anxiety had improved.

Apparently, it never would.

Li Siheng hugged her tightly, rubbing his face against hers as another kiss nearly fell.

But Lin Zhiyan said:

“Put your clothes on.”

Then she added:

“I don’t want to leave a bad impression in front of your brother.”

Instantly, Li Siheng snapped out of that empty, numb state.

He shot upright, fury igniting in his eyes.

“What did you say?”

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