Chapter 91: Bo Yu Is Actually the Father-in-law
Shen Jixing stood calmly in place. The wind of the long night rose behind him, his slender eyes indifferent and cold.
Anyone familiar with him would have noticed—
He was angry.
His warning that day—did Bo Yu treat it as passing wind?
Sensing Shen Jixing’s gaze, Bo Yu merely smiled faintly, as if facing a rebellious and unruly child.
“Ah—”
A lazy, languid voice interrupted.
“Darling, come here.”
Zhou Yili stood at the entrance to the banquet hall, one hand in his pocket, long eyes indifferent and aloof, but that expression melted into a ripple of a smile only when he looked at Shen Jixing.
Shen Jixing walked toward him.
Bo Yu’s expression darkened instantly, a cold wind skimming at his side.
He watched as Zhou Yili strode over with a smile, casually draping an arm around Shen Jixing’s shoulders to draw him near, fingers gently pinching his pale ear lobe.
“Upset? Who’s bothering you?”
Shen Jixing glanced at him, saying nothing, his ear lobe turning red from the pinch and shifting away.
Zhou Yili laughed languidly. Even a little pinch was too much for him—how delicate he was.
“Come, meet your not-quite-relative.”
“…”
Two words.
They managed to shake even the two most composed men.
A cold, violent light surfaced in Bo Yu’s eyes. Earlier, he had spoken briefly with Zhou Yili—
“Mr. Zhou.”
Bo Yu sat elegantly in his wheelchair, long fingers interlaced over his abdomen, waiting like a hunter for Zhou Yili to approach.
He took the initiative. “It’s been a long time.”
Zhou Yili nodded slightly, not breaking stride. “Not signing autographs today.”
“…”
As Zhou Yili passed by, Bo Yu called out, “Where’s my Jixing?”
Sure enough, Zhou Yili stopped in his tracks.
Draped in black, he melted into the night, the loose tie at his chest fluttering in the wind. His tone betrayed nothing. “Yours?”
Zhou Yili’s aura was naturally arrogant, looking down on everyone. In truth, his words said: Who do you think you are?
Bo Yu, instead of anger, smiled, savoring the effect his provocation had on others. He liked the feeling of control.
“Jixing grew up with me. If he’s not mine, whose could he be?”
Under Zhou Yili’s cold gaze, Bo Yu’s voice remained refined and elegant, as if the tip of a blade piercing his heart.
“He’s quiet, obedient, gentle, respects me, admires me, can’t leave me. We are each other’s most important person in this world.”
“So, what do you suppose our relationship is?”
Zhou Yili’s tall frame tensed.
A lion is naturally fierce and possessive; the beauty he’d just brought into his lair was forbidden to any other gaze.
Bo Yu’s words were clearly a deliberate provocation.
They were closer, they loved more.
Just as Zhou Yili glared coldly at him, Shen Jixing’s car arrived.
Bo Yu was ready to relish Zhou Yili’s loss of composure, but he hadn’t expected that this furious little lion, upon seeing Shen Jixing, would change entirely.
He might feel aggrieved, lick his wounds in secret, but on the battlefield, he only knew how to bite.
So he returned Bo Yu two words: “Relative.”
“…”
“Relative?” Even Shen Jixing was taken aback.
“Yes,” Zhou Yili gripped his cool shoulder, holding him close, his gaze at Bo Yu’s smiling face devoid of warmth.
“This gentleman says you’re family, that you respect him.”
Zhou Yili’s gaze met Bo Yu’s.
Bo Yu heard him deliberately omit “admire”—the young man was too inexperienced to face him outright.
The next moment, Zhou Yili’s wit shone.
He feigned sudden realization. “Oh, so you’re the father-in-law.”
“…”
Bo Yu’s face turned ashen in an instant.
Shen Jixing rubbed his temple with one hand, helpless, almost amused.
Someone else laughed first.
A slender youth leaned against a maple tree under the pale moonlight, slowly chewing a green leaf, unable to suppress his amusement. “Sorry—I couldn’t hold it in. Please, go on.”
He finished the leaf, chewing deliberately.
It was Mu Si.
Zhou Yili seemed still lost in his own world. “Father-in-law, thank you for raising my wife. I’ll be sure to pay my respects another day.”
Shen Jixing’s eyes paused minutely.
What nonsense was this scoundrel spouting?
Bo Yu’s expression was darker than the night; his gaze shifted to Shen Jixing, issuing what sounded like a final ultimatum. “Is that so? What is your relationship?”
Zhou Yili instinctively looked down at Shen Jixing.
He had a rightful title now, didn’t he?
Shen Jixing would acknowledge him, wouldn’t he?
A boy once abandoned, even with Shen Jixing’s gifts—the six-pointed star, the small crown, nine million—still harbored subtle unease.
Zhou Yili thought, with Shen Jixing’s personality, he would never say anything so bare.
“He’s my husband.
We’re lovers.
We’ll start a new family.”
These were all things he longed to hear, but not words Shen Jixing would necessarily say.
Indeed, Shen Jixing did not say them.
He simply looked at Bo Yu with cool detachment, his slender shoulders leaning against Zhou Yili. “Whatever he says, so be it.”
In that instant, fireworks blossomed in the sky, echoing someone’s heartbeat.
Shen Jixing spoke no more and led the way to the banquet hall.
Zhou Yili stood still for several seconds, the arrogant young master seemingly stunned, taking a while to find his voice.
“Father-in-law, did you hear that clearly?”
He curled his lips in a friendly smile. “Shall I help push you inside…?”
Shen Jixing’s temple throbbed. “Zhou Yili!”
Summoned, Zhou Yili promptly turned and strode after him.
“Coming, coming.”
From behind, Zhou Yili hooked an arm around him, lowered his head to nuzzle close, inhaling his scent. “Whatever I say, goes?”
His voice was lowered, barely containing laughter. “Then, can we go again tonight? It didn’t feel very practiced last night.”
He took Shen Jixing’s hand, kissing his fingertips.
Shen Jixing’s fingers paused, thinking coldly, Last night, I was far too lenient.
“If you’re dissatisfied, don’t use it. Get lost.”
“Tsk, why so grumpy?” Zhou Yili held the slender, warm fingers, and if not for the people passing by, he’d be tempted to lavish even more affection.
“Was I talking about that? I meant my little bro—”
Shen Jixing glared at him, his ears burning.
Zhou Yili muffled a laugh, kissing him. “So shy.”
“…”
…
The two figures disappeared around the corner.
Bo Yu sat unmoving for a long time, until someone approached, their tone tinged with a faint sigh.
“Sir, the wind is strong out here. Let’s go inside.”
Sometimes even Mu Si couldn’t tell whether it was the young master he couldn’t let go, or himself.
“What are you doing here?” Bo Yu looked up coldly.
He actually knew—Mu Si had come on purpose, likely knowing he would be here.
Mu Si didn’t deny it. “For free food and drink?”
He gnawed on a little green leaf and answered with honesty.
Bo Yu: “…”
Little Mu Si’s life wasn’t smooth; Bo Yu had never given him anything, and he had nothing.
Yet, even so, he’d never thought to go back.
“You’d rather wander like him than go home?”
“Mm.” Mu Si casually shrugged off his suit jacket, draping it over Bo Yu’s icy legs. “Since someone else has gone in my place, for the three years until his sentence is up, I am free.”
This was the freedom Shen Jixing had given him.
But to Bo Yu, “freedom” had become a sore point, almost a joke.
“All of you want freedom, but you forget—if I hadn’t brought you back, you wouldn’t even have the right to survive.”
He looked up at Mu Si. “Do you think you get to decide when your sentence is over?”
If he wished, the charges were always his to assign.
Mu Si didn’t deny it. “You do whatever it takes for your goals, but I have my principles too.”
The three-year sentence was handed down by Bo Yu.
So Mu Si, for these three years, reclaimed the life he’d handed over.
“I don’t have all the ties the young master has. I have nothing—just myself.”
Bo Yu regarded him in silence for a moment.
Every good deed he’d done for Miracle’s Rebirth was not for show.
Even now, he still thought Mu Si was a pitiable child.
Until that pitiable child locked his wheelchair and said, “What I mean is, sir, if you were a little turtle… you probably wouldn’t catch me.”