Chapter 65: A Man’s Possession (2)
“Are you sure?” Qi Zhenbai turned his head and glanced at Zhu Bocheng nonchalantly, but didn’t agree immediately. There was some pressure and sharpness in the pair of phoenix eyes under his thick, slanted eyebrows. Especially since he was a little taller than Zhu Bocheng, his entire body exuded discouragement when he looked down at Zhu Bocheng.
On the contrary, when Chi Shuyan, who was in Qi Zhenbai’s arms, heard Zhu Bocheng’s words, she took the opportunity to struggle free. “You guys play, don’t worry about me.”
“Of course. Look, Sister Shuyan has agreed, so what reason do you have to refuse? Besides, I’ve long wanted to have a match with you. Zhenbai, are you coming?” Zhu Bocheng hurriedly urged with a smile.
After the warm and fragrant jade in Qi Zhenbai’s arms left, his cold slender eyes darkened and flickered. Looking at Zhu Bocheng, who was urging him expectantly, his thin lips curled and he agreed with a half-smile. “As you wish.”
When Zhu Bocheng met Qi Zhenbai’s black and cold eyes, his momentum subconsciously faltered. When he noticed Chi Shuyan on the side, however, he immediately straightened his back, coughed twice, and cleared his throat. “Zhenbai, let me remind you that although we’re friends, a compet.i.tion is a compet.i.tion. Don’t expect me to go easy on you or have mercy.”
Qi Zhenbai raised his eyebrows. He didn’t expect Zhu Bocheng to really have eaten the guts of an ambitious leopard today, to actually dare provoke him. The smile on his lips deepened this time, but his chiseled, sharp features revealed a trace of fierceness. His dark eyes, which resembled deep pools, were unclear with some emotion. He nodded and said, “You’re right. A compet.i.tion is a compet.i.tion. I’ll definitely do my best.”
When Zhu Bocheng heard this, his heart thumped nonstop, but he wouldn’t admit defeat, especially when he was still in front of Sister Shuyan. Even though he was terrified, he still swallowed his saliva and stiffened his neck as he said calmly, “Zhenbai, you’re right. That’s how it is.” He turned to Chi Shuyan and grinned. “Sister Shuyan, go sit on the sofa in the rest area. There are snacks and drinks there.”
Chi Shuyan was also amused and beamed from ear to ear. “Okay, then I’ll go sit over there.”
When Chi Shuyan walked away, Zhu Bocheng, who had just acted all imposing and dared to openly provoke Qi Zhenbai, immediately deflated like a balloon. With a fawning smile on his face, he leaned over and said, “Zhenbai, I’m kidding. I absolutely didn’t provoke you. Don’t go all out! I won’t be able to take it!” He glanced at the rest area, winked and sounded Qi Zhenbai out. “Zhenbai, I’m not really going to compete with you. Didn’t I tell you on the phone that I want to woo Sister Shuyan? You see, Sister Shuyan and I are a match made in heaven. So, Zhenbai, your brother’s lifetime happiness is entrusted to you. You have to ‘perform well’.”
Qi Zhenbai’s eyebrows knitted slightly and his face quickly hardened. He sneered inwardly, but his face was expressionless and indifferent. “I’ll perform well.”
Hearing Qi Zhenbai’s words, Zhu Bocheng was finally slightly relieved. To be safe, he wanted to give a few more detailed instructions, but Qi Zhenbai was already too impatient to hear him speak and heartlessly walked away.
Qi Zhenbai and Zhu Bocheng moved to the large field beside the shooting range for their compet.i.tion. This was different from the previous simple and motionless target shooting on level terrain. This time, they chose a more complex and comprehensive obstacle course which mimicked actual combat.
200 meters past the starting point, there would be countless moving targets which needed to be hit in a particular order. In addition, a player needed to switch guns several times and a.s.semble the guns themselves on the course. It was a compet.i.tion to see who could complete the obstacle course the quickest while also testing their accuracy.
Qi Zhenbai let Zhu Bocheng choose the gun type and compet.i.tion format first. When Zhu Bocheng saw this, his eyes instantly lit up as he realized that Zhenbai really was going easy on him as he wanted by letting him choose what he was best at.
He instantly perked up and was extremely relieved. Zhenbai was so smart; what was there to worry about? Zhenbai could definitely deal with whatever was thrown at him.
Zhu Bocheng took the lead. When he stood on the field with a gun in hand, his usual frivolous demeanor changed drastically, and he looked like a professional hunter. His eyes were sharp as he pa.s.sed through the obstacles one after another. Whether it was shooting or a.s.sembling a gun, he kept up this momentum. When he reached the finish line, Chi Shuyan gave him face and clapped enthusiastically.
Zhu Bocheng secretly wiped at the nonexistent beads of sweat on his forehead and let out a shaky breath. Seeing Sister Shuyan clapping, he was so happy that his mouth was about to split open all the way to his ears. In fact, he was sure that he had performed extraordinarily well this time, with much fewer mistakes. Compared with his friend Zhenbai, however, he was still far inferior. But later, with Zhenbai going easy on him, Zhu Bocheng’s image in Sister Shuyan’s heart would become much greater.
The more Zhu Bocheng thought about it, the brighter his smile became, and he urged, “Zhenbai, it’s your turn.” Seeing Qi Zhenbai step out, he secretly gave him a wink, in case he forgot that the two had just discussed going easy on him.
Qi Zhenbai stared straight ahead and paid no attention to Zhu Bocheng’s wink. He had already gone easy on Zhu Bocheng by letting him choose the gun that was his specialty and the compet.i.tion format.
Then, Zhu Bocheng’s expectant gaze turned helpless as he watched a frosty-faced Qi Zhenbai a.s.semble the gun with extreme familiarity and indifference.
Seeing Qi Zhenbai’s posture, Zhu Bocheng inexplicably had a bad feeling. Sure enough, after waiting silently for a long while, Zhenbai raised his hand and fired continuously without moving. A series of bullet rings didn’t even leave their positions. Stopping to a.s.semble his gun didn’t stop Qi Zhenbai from pummeling the bullseye each time.
Under the sunlight, the tall man’s posture didn’t change as his entire body emitted a cold domineering aura and oppressive pressure; he looked utterly unapproachable and dazzled the eye as he completely crushed the compet.i.tion.
Zhu Bocheng’s eyes widened in astonishment. What happened to going easy?
He glanced at Chi Shuyan, who was already standing up and looking around with s.h.i.+ning eyes, with a bitter face.
While Zhu Bocheng mocked his best friend inwardly, on the field, Qi Zhenbai’s proficiency increased; he was like a hunter on a large hunt in the forest, cold-hearted and agile.
By the time Zhu Bocheng came back to his senses, the man beside him had already put the gun back on the table, and the latter said faintly, “It’s over! Keep your distance from my woman from now on!”
Zhu Bocheng had already confirmed some of his speculations at this point, but hearing his best friend say something like “keep your distance from my woman” still blew Zhu Bocheng’s mind. He gaped and even stuttered despite his usually glib tongue. “Zhen… Zhenbai, when… when did this happen? No, no, when did you hook up with Shu… with Sister Shuyan?”
Qi Zhenbai’s cold gaze s.h.i.+fted away from Zhu Bocheng’s face to fall on a certain heartless woman not far away. His eyes were extremely complex. It was true that when he heard Celestial Master Zhang say that they were fated to marry, he didn’t believe it.
Qi Zhenbai didn’t believe in fate, and only believed that man’s wisdom would prevail. As long as nothing happened, who could truly determine what would happen in the future? So long as he didn’t want to admit it, who would dare force him?
But now, he changed his mind. Whether it was that prediction or the fact that he didn’t feel an aversion to this woman, he realized that since she might be his in the future, how could he give her up and let himself be cuckolded? Whether or not it was a man’s desire to monopolize her, he wasn’t prepared to let the woman cuckold him!