QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead

Chapter 71: Don't bite the hand that feeds you

Xi Zirui grows a little less tense every second that goes by without him hearing the sound of tires skidding over the gravel driveway. 

Su Xueyi, on the other hand, only grows more antsy. He looks out the windows constantly and checks the time on both his phone and his watch every five minutes.

Xi Zirui doesn't want to gloat, but perhaps, unlikely as it is, Han Yu got his message.

"I think they aren't coming Host!" Ni Ni announces excitedly, after Su Xueyi's third turn around the living room. 

Of course this only solves part of Xi Zirui's problem, which is to keep Han Yu and Bai Mi out of danger for now. 

It still doesn't get him out of Su Xueyi's clutches, puts him behind bars, or maxes out his favor.

Xi Zirui has an idea, but he doesn't like it. He sincerely hopes it doesn't come to that.

Just in case, he needs to check with Ni Ni if the sleeping drought he used in the previous world is still in his inventory.

"Of course, that is a permanent item, and once bought will remain on Host's inventory forever," she chirps. "Just like that...other item, but Host knew that already."

Good to know that if push comes to shove he still has that to fall back into.

It's been about three hours since they arrived at the house and Su Xueyi is downright glaring now.

"I think maybe you overestimated how much Han Yu cares about me," Xi Zirui says, smiling derisively. "Maybe you shouldn't assume everyone is as invested in me as you are."

Su Xueyi's reply never makes it past his lips because his phone vibrates in his hand. 

Whatever he reads makes him throw it against the wall.

Maybe now Xi Zirui can gloat a little.

"What is it? Was someone else smarter than you?" That someone being Xi Zirui himself.

Ni Ni chimes. "Ni Ni helped," she says, her voice small and wounded.

Xi Zirui rolls his eyes. In reality neither of them deserve much credit, but he wants to feel better about being tied to a chair while Su Xueyi evil-villain-monologues at him.

Su Xueyi glares at him, but it's not like he can blame Xi Zirui for anything, on account of him being tied to said chair.

"The Shen family knows," he says, and rolls up his shirt sleeves. "Somehow, they know."

"Unfortunate for you," Xi Zirui says, nodding. "I can help with that."

Su Xueyi gives him a disbelieving look. "Why would you help me?"

"I love your fortune, remember?" Xi Zirui says, rolling his eyes. "Just go, and leave me here. I'll clean up your messes and let you know once it's safe to return."

Su Xueyi keeps looking at him in abject confusion. "How can you expect me to trust you?"

"What choice do you have?" Xi Zirui shrugs, hissing at the strain on his shoulders. "You can always stay here and wait for the Shen family to get here and then try to reason with them."

Glaring, he adds. "Or you can let me handle them, since you're too incompetent to do anything right."

"Congratulations Host, CEO's favor up by +3 points. Now at 81 of a possible 100."

"What's stopping you from just disappearing with Han Yu?" Su Xueyi asks, looming over Xi Zirui.

Your goddamn unfilled favor meter. "Your money," Xi Zirui groans. "Just freeze all of your accounts, if you don't trust me."

Su Xueyi gives him a long accessing look, but Xi Zirui can tell he's wavering.

"Do you really think I like Han Yu so much that I would rather be poor with him than rich with you?" 

He's counting on Su Xueyi's perception of the original to make him believe his words. 

It's so funny how a person's worst nightmare can be another's most extravagant fantasy.

What he wouldn't give for a quiet, simple life with Han Yu?

And now he's banking on someone else's extreme materialism to get a chance at that.

Su Xueyi's lip curls upwards, he pulls Xi Zirui up by the collar of his t-shirt, almost lifting the armchair's front legs off the floor. "I'll keep tabs on you, though. You're going to turn the cameras back on, and I'm going to call you on the house's landline to to check on how things are going, and you better be able to back up your words."

Xi Zirui nods. "I'm going to solve the mess with the Shen's and get rid of Bai Mi. Once the coast is clear you can come back."

Su Xueyi's fist tightens on his shirt too. "You're going to get rid of Han Yu, too," he smirks, "I don't share."

This motherfucker has some nerve. "But I'm supposed to?"

His full lips stretch out in a brilliant grin. "Come on, baby, you're not the jealous type," he says, before leaning over to plant a messy kiss on Xi Zirui's lips.

Xi Zirui returns the kiss with a bite, drawing blood.

Su Xueyi wipes his red lips on his white shirtsleeve with a delighted smirk. "My little rabid dog."

"Uhm, Ni Ni knows it's probably not the right time, but she just wanted to let Host know that CEO's favor is now up by +5 points, and at 86 out of 100."

He leaves Xi Zirui like that, tied to the armchair with his lips stained with red.

---

Xi Zirui uses the last of his experience points to buy another 'Shy Lover', and tell Han Yu the coast is clear, because who knows how long he's going to stay tied up to this chair otherwise.

Turns out, he has to wait another hour before someone comes.

He can see diffused silhouettes through the opaque windows on each side of the door, just before the lock clicks open.

Han Yu is the first one to rush through the door, his eyes widening as soon as he sees the blood on Xi Zirui's mouth.

"Are you okay?" he asks, kneeling down next to the armchair and inspecting Xi Zirui up-close. "It's like I suddenly got this warning from you, inside my head, telling me that Su Xueyi was setting up a trap."

Bai Mi makes her way inside the house, stepping gingerly over the polished floor. "I have to say, I didn't give his 'soulmate link' bullshit much credit, but it does look like it was right."

"It's true, Su Xueyi was trying to set both of you up," Xi Zirui says, and then yanks on his restraints for emphasis. "I'm happy to tell you all about it, but first can someone get me out of here?"

--- 

Han Yu cuts through Xi Zirui's restraints with a kitchen knife, which is not the most dignified thing.

"I'm sorry," he says, smiling apologetically, "we only brought guns and pepper spray."

Xi Zirui wants to laugh at the genuine guilt in his voice. "Next time, remember to bring a knife to a gunfight."

Bai Mi groans from the sofa. "The two of you are disgusting." She gives her perfectly manicured nails a bored once-over. "Can we go now? I have the downfall of a former business partner to plan."

"About that," Xi Zirui says, while getting up to his feet with Han Yu's help. "I think I have an idea."

---

It takes some time to convince Bai Mi of the soundness of his plan, but Xi Zirui makes use of his best argumentative skills during the drive back to the penthouse.

By the time they arrive in front of the high-rise, she relents. "I still don't know why we can't just let the Shen family handle him, but fine, if you want to go the karmic retribution route, who am I to step in the way of true sadism?"

"I knew you would see it my way," Xi Zirui says, and steps out of the car.

She frowns and sticks her head out of the lowered window."Don't go acting all familiar with me, we don't know each other!"

"Thank you for all the help, older sister," Xi Zirui says, throwing a careless wave above his head.

Han Yu helps him into the building with a possessive hand around his waist, and Xi Zirui leans into the touch, because he knows he'll have to go without as soon as they turn the cameras back on.

He stops Han Yu outside the door. "Wait," he says, looking up into his clear eyes, taking in his disheveled hair and sculpted features, he wants to commit all of him to memory. The time he has with Han Yu always feels too fleeting, as if the universe is playing a cruel trick on him.

Han Yu looks down at him with a questioning look but lets Xi Zirui take his time admiring his features. "Thank you for rescuing me," Xi Zirui says, after a moment of silence.

Han Yu smirks. "It seems to me like you did most of the rescuing yourself," he shakes his head, "I still can't explain why I heard your voice in my head. Twice. Do you think Bai Mi is right, about the soulmates thing?"

Xi Zirui doesn't believe in soulmates, and he knows the real reason why Han Yu heard his voice, but somehow, the truth is so much harsher than letting that tiny smile curl shyly on Han Yu's lips.

Something about that smile makes Xi Zirui want to believe.

"Perhaps," it's all he says, before raising himself on his tiptoes to brush his lips against Han Yu's.

---

Han Yu helps him reconnect all the hidden cameras, a cumbersome task that takes them almost two hours.

Afterwards, Xi Zirui escorts Han Yu to the door and they part ways in not very pleasant terms.

His words may be cold, but Xi Zirui hopes his eyes convey the depth of his feelings. If all goes well, it won't be long until he and Han Yu can be together again.

Being alone in Su Xueyi's huge penthouse is lonely, and it's tempting to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and forget the shitty day he had, but he needs to get the house in order if he wants to get rid of Su Xueyi.

The first order of business is to go up to Su Xueyi's office and log in to his computer. Xi Zirui has no hacking skills, but the keycode he used to open the door of the glass house jogged something in Xi Zirui's mind. 

4 and 5. Fourth of May, Xi Zirui's birthday. The last two numbers should be the original's birth year. 

As soon as he unlocks Su Xueyi's computer the landline rings.

"Already? You must be feeling very comfortable in your hideout," Xi Zirui says, swiveling around in Su Xueyi's chair and facing the camera mounted above the bookshelf. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Su Xueyi hisses, his voice staticky and tinny through the line. 

"I need to know what exactly you're getting up to, if I'm meant to pin all your crap on Bai Mi," Xi Zirui says, with a bored sigh. "You're gonna have to trust me more than this, if you want our marriage to work out, baby."

He can hear Su Xueyi's angry intake of breath on the other end on the line. "Don't forget I'm watching you," he says, before disconnecting.

Xi Zirui clicks the handset back into the base, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

He's counting on that.

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