FIMA Ch145: Discussion

A dead silence fell over the room. No one had expected that in a place like this, someone would dare to just strike without warning and cause such a massive commotion.

Those present today were either famous internet celebrities, event sponsors, or organizers—all prominent figures. In such social circles, everything was usually handled with negotiation and tact. Especially since there was a ring of reporters waiting right outside…

Xie Fengqing was also stunned for a moment. Then, his expression shifted; the icy glare that had covered his face entirely melted into boundless grievance.

He scurried over to Gu Siyuan with a few quick steps, looking utterly pitiful: “Why are you so late? I was just getting bullied…”

Gu Siyuan’s eyes darkened even further. He looked down at the fat man struggling on the floor, his voice freezing cold: “He will pay the price.”

Xie Fengqing nodded vigorously: “It’s best to send him to squat in prison! Actually daring to touch me with those fat pig trotters.”

As soon as these words came out, an uproar swept through the crowd.

“So what if I touched you? You’re just a stinking internet celebrity, what act are you putting on?!” The fat man on the floor stopped groaning, took a deep breath, and roared at Gu Siyuan, “And you, you wild brat from nowhere, you dare hit me?! I’ll make sure you suffer the consequences!”

Just then, a middle-aged man in his forties and a young man in his twenties rushed forward.

The young man ran to help the fat man up. The middle-aged man, however, turned his face to Xie Fengqing and scolded, “What are you trying to do? Do you want this situation to become completely unmanageable?”

Xie Fengqing sneered: “Old man, you’re truly ridiculous. Did you not hear what this guy just did? Instead of blaming the one causing trouble, you’re blaming the one who exposed it.”

The man in front of him was none other than Xie Fengqing’s father, Xie Xu, one of the co-hosts of this event.

Xie Xu’s face flushed red with anger: “You’ve had this dog-shit temper since you were a kid! Offending President Hu like this, in the future…”

“What future? There is no future,” Xie Fengqing scoffed coldly. “If I see this piece of trash in the future, I’ll beat him every time I see him.”

Xie Xu pointed a trembling finger at Xie Fengqing, practically gasping for breath: “You… you unfilial creature!”

Seeing this, Xie Haoran’s lips curled up slightly. He hurriedly stepped forward to support his father, saying, “Dad, don’t be angry. Fengqing is still young, don’t lose your temper over him.”

Xie Xu grabbed his hand and glared at Xie Fengqing: “If you were even half as sensible as your brother, I would…”

Xie Fengqing let out a cold laugh: “Then that’s truly impossible. The two of us are bound to compete over who lives longer and who pisses the other off to death first. Also, my mom only gave birth to me; I don’t have a brother. If you like the word ‘brother’ so much, you can call him that yourself.”

Xie Xu was thoroughly rendered speechless by sheer fury. Having no energy left to argue with Xie Fengqing, he glared at Gu Siyuan. He recognized this young man; Xie Fengqing had once swaggered into the Xie household bringing him along.

Just a shallow-minded, poor boy clinging to wealth.

“Don’t think that just because you’ve bewitched this unfilial son, you can act brazenly in front of me. I’ve seen plenty of people like you.”

Hearing this, Gu Siyuan’s expression didn’t show a single ripple of emotion.

Right at that moment, a group of people wearing standardized uniforms entered the banquet hall. They were the management staff of the skyscraper.

Xie Xu immediately locked his gaze on them, pointing at Gu Siyuan: “You arrived just in time. How are you letting just anyone into the banquet hall?”

The leader of the group surveyed the situation in the room. Then, he turned to Gu Siyuan and gave a respectful nod: “President Gu, what happened here?”

Gu Siyuan said flatly: “Manager Cheng, I need to trouble you to pull the security footage for the banquet hall. Additionally, please call the police. Someone committed sexual harassment in a public space.”

Manager Cheng nodded: “Understood. I will arrange it immediately.”

Seeing Manager Cheng’s attitude, Xie Xu’s heart leaped in shock.

Wasn’t this kid just a poor boy? What is going on now?

However, there were more pressing matters to resolve. He looked at Xie Fengqing: “Why call the police? What’s there to call the police for? Why escalate such a minor issue to the authorities?”

He was the co-host of today’s event. If the police arrived, the event would be completely ruined.

Xie Fengqing sneered: “None of your f*cking business. I’m the victim, and I want to call the police.”

“You…” Xie Xu’s face turned red with anger. “Do you have any sense of shame? You’re a man! What good does blowing up this kind of scandal do for you?”

Xie Fengqing’s expression instantly changed, his spine trembling.

He was the victim, why should he feel ashamed?

From childhood until now, no matter what happened, his idiot of a father would always find a way to pick on him first, blaming this and that, blaming him for being disobedient, blaming him for his bad temper…

Suddenly, a wave of warmth pressed against his trembling back.

Gu Siyuan rested his hand on Xie Fengqing’s shoulder and looked coldly at Xie Xu: “Since Mr. Xie Xu is so concerned about calling the police, perhaps you could let this Mr. Fat Guy feel you up as well. That way, you wouldn’t have to envy others, and you could decide for yourself as a victim whether or not to call the police.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the room practically erupted into laughter.

Xie Fengqing also laughed so hard his entire body shook.

“You!” Xie Xu’s face swelled with a purplish-red hue; he wished he could tear Gu Siyuan into ten thousand pieces.

Gu Siyuan ignored him, his cold gaze sweeping over the fat man: “However, judging by this Mr. Fat Guy’s moral character, once the security footage is pulled, there might be more than one victim in this room.”

The fat man’s face instantly went pale.

Xie Xu’s face alternated between red and white. With so many reporters outside, if the police came and reviewed the tapes, his perfectly fine event might be slapped with a terrible label. The sponsors might even demand compensation from him.

This damn brat!

__

An hour later.

Gu Siyuan and Xie Fengqing walked out of the banquet hall. The fat man had been taken away by the police, throwing a massive fit of madness right before leaving.

Gu Siyuan looked at his suit pants and leather shoes, which had been dirtied during the scuffle, and frowned in disgust.

Manager Cheng offered, “President Gu, I’ll go open a room upstairs for you to wash up.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Alright.”

Xie Fengqing immediately said: “I’m going with you.”

Ten minutes later.

Xie Fengqing sat on the sofa in the hotel room, listening to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. All sorts of vivid images played in his mind—especially the smooth back muscles he had seen that day at Gu Siyuan’s apartment…

The water stopped.

Xie Fengqing subconsciously sat up straighter.

Gu Siyuan walked out, casually wrapped in a bathrobe, drying his hair with a towel. The belt around his waist was tied loosely, revealing a large expanse of his beautiful, robust chest muscles.

Xie Fengqing stared blankly.

This man looked thin when dressed, but in reality, he possessed the sheer strength to toss that fat man aside with a single hand.

Gu Siyuan met his gaze: “Do you enjoy staring at me?”

Xie Fengqing’s cheeks flushed slightly, but his mouth remained stubborn: “Who loves staring? It’s not like I don’t have it too. Whatever you have, I have.”

Gu Siyuan cast a sweeping glance over his slender frame. The corners of his lips hooked up in a faint smile, but he didn’t say anything. He sat down on the adjacent sofa and continued drying his hair.

Xie Fengqing felt incredibly despised. His male pride was deeply wounded.

It’s just muscles, right? What’s the big deal?

He glared at Gu Siyuan and declared self-righteously, “I have muscles too! I have a great body.”

“Mm-hmm, whatever you say.” Gu Siyuan nodded perfunctorily, tossed the towel aside, picked up his phone, and started browsing.

This tone, just like that smile earlier, made one’s blood boil easily.

Huffing with anger, Xie Fengqing knelt on the sofa, aggressively ripped open the buttons of his own shirt with a shhhk, and pointed at his barely visible abs: “I really do have them! If you don’t believe me, come look.”

“Alright. Very nice,” Gu Siyuan said, focused entirely on his phone, ignoring this childish behavior.

Furious, Xie Fengqing crawled forward on his knees, intending to forcefully pull Gu Siyuan over to take a look. However, he tripped over his own suit jacket that had been discarded on the sofa, and his entire body pitched forward, landing squarely on Gu Siyuan’s shoulder.

Gu Siyuan finally reacted, turning his head to see if the guy had hurt himself in the fall.

“Gu…” Xie Fengqing also raised his head at the exact same moment.

And so, their lips crashed together.

Xie Fengqing’s eyes went wide.

A stormy tempest raged in his heart, and his entire body began to tremble. Then, he tentatively stuck out his bright red tongue and gave a little lick, thinking to himself: No matter how cold and hard Gu Siyuan is as a person, his lips are still soft.

Realizing what the person in front of him was doing, Gu Siyuan immediately pulled him away: “What are you doing?”

Xie Fengqing’s face was flushed red, but his hands stubbornly gripped Gu Siyuan’s clothes. He stretched his head forward again, gently bit down on Gu Siyuan’s lower lip, and mumbled ambiguously, “What do you think?”

In all of Gu Siyuan’s calculations, he had never anticipated a situation like this. However, his rationality allowed him to adjust instantly, and his capability ensured he remained the one in control.

With a slight exertion of force, he grabbed Xie Fengqing’s wrists, raised them high, flipped him over, and pinned him firmly against the back of the sofa.

Xie Fengqing was instantly rendered immobile. However, his mood wasn’t bad. With a voice carrying a faint smile, he teased, “President Gu, why so rough…”

But in the next second, as he met Gu Siyuan’s gaze, he suddenly froze.

In those eyes, there was no joy, no aggression, and no anger. There was only calm scrutiny and contemplation—the exact same expression he wore when analyzing Xie Fengqing’s academic essays.

The joy in Xie Fengqing’s heart completely dissipated, as if struck by a massive, invisible blow. It hurt indescribably, and his body couldn’t help but begin to tremble slightly.

Gu Siyuan naturally sensed his emotional shift and frowned: “What are you thinking about?”

Xie Fengqing stared at him. After a long silence, a mocking smile touched the corners of his mouth, and he said flatly, “Isn’t it obvious? I was thinking about kissing you.”

As if he hadn’t expected this answer, Gu Siyuan’s frown deepened: “You should know that you and I… have already broken up.”

Xie Fengqing let out a laugh: “Can’t people get back together after a breakup?”

Since arriving in this world, Gu Siyuan had heard people around him mention the phrase “getting back together” many times, but he assumed it was just idle talk. He had never taken it seriously.

He looked at Xie Fengqing: “You want to get back together?”

Xie Fengqing’s expression remained calm as he looked back: “So, does that mean you don’t want to?”

If you didn’t want to, why did you tease and provoke me over and over again? Why did you do things that would cause misunderstandings?

Gu Siyuan looked at Xie Fengqing and didn’t answer immediately.

With his depth of experience, even if he wasn’t particularly interested in romance, he could easily discern the joys and sorrows of others if he chose to. And right now, although Xie Fengqing appeared calm, he was radiating absolute sorrow.

Xie Fengqing stared fixedly at him, pressing sharply: “Answer me. So, you don’t want to? You don’t want to get back together with me?”

His expression was unprecedentedly dark.

Gu Siyuan met his gaze directly, neither dodging nor yielding: “I apologize. I haven’t considered this question.”

Even counting from his past life, he had never considered the issue of romantic feelings with anyone.

“Heh…”

Xie Fengqing slumped back against the sofa. He took a deep, heavy breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing on his slender neck. Tilting his head back, he looked at Gu Siyuan: “You hurt me. I’m very sad right now. Extremely sad. Gu Siyuan, I’m very sad…”

Looking at the slight redness in the corners of Xie Fengqing’s eyes, and hearing the faint edge of hysteria in his voice, Gu Siyuan felt a strange, sour ache rise in his chest. However, his face remained a mask of cold sternness: “I am very sorry.”

“Gu Siyuan, can you just be a little kinder to me?” Like an enraged, wounded young beast, Xie Fengqing grabbed Gu Siyuan’s collar, lunged forward, and viciously bit his lips.

He had already bared his soul to this extent, throwing away the pride he valued most.

Gu Siyuan quickly tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. To him, this level of pain was negligible, so he made no other movements to avoid provoking Xie Fengqing further.

A moment later, Xie Fengqing pulled his lips and tongue away. As if drained of all strength, he tilted his head and rested it against Gu Siyuan’s broad right shoulder.

Gu Siyuan looked at him out of the corner of his eye. After thinking for a moment, he asked flatly, “Are you wanting to date? Wanting to have a boyfriend?”

He remembered from the original plot that this was roughly around the time Xie Fengqing fell for the protagonist shou, Ying Ning.

Xie Fengqing’s heart began to ache intensely—a pain that spread through his entire chest and seized his breath. At the same time, he found the question incredibly amusing. He let out a low laugh, nodded without hesitation, and said rebelliously: “That’s right! I just want to date. I’m the kind of person who can’t live without a man. If I go a day without kissing or having sex, I’ll die.”

Gu Siyuan’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes darkened a fraction. He reached out and pinched Xie Fengqing’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet directly. His voice was low: “Speak properly. Using a tone like that… are you deliberately throwing a tantrum at me?”

Again. It’s like this again.

Why does he have to be so gentle, yet so cold?

Xie Fengqing was completely enraged. His beautiful, thin eyebrows shot up, and a fierce light flashed in his eyes.

“Who’s throwing a tantrum at you?! Gu Siyuan, I truly don’t understand you! Since you already cheated and we broke up, why did you have to provoke me like this? Why did you help me time and time again? Why did you make me… make me…”

Love you and hate you? Yet unable to fully do either?

Gu Siyuan froze, not expecting such a violent reaction from Xie Fengqing.

He reached out to stroke the smooth, dark back of the young man’s head, his expression earnest: “Xie Fengqing, what are your requirements for a boyfriend?”

“What does it matter if you know? Are you going to give them to me?” Xie Fengqing sneered. Rubbing his wrist, he said carelessly, “It’s nothing special. Handsome—at least as handsome as you. Rich—absolutely cannot have less money than you. Treats me well—at least not worse than how you’ve treated me since we broke up…”

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained unchanged as he continued to inquire: “Handsome and rich are relatively easy to quantify. But this ‘treating you well’… to what specific degree does that entail?”

Seeing that he was actually seriously discussing this, Xie Fengqing’s attitude involuntarily straightened up a bit. Lifting his eyelids and puffing his cheeks, he said: “What else does being good in a relationship mean? Of course, it means being loyal to me and loving only me.”

“Loyalty is clear. But what is love? What is the concept of love, and what actions does it require? Are kissing, hugging, and sex enough…?” Gu Siyuan looked at him and asked.

His tone and expression were entirely calm, as if he were discussing a theorem in physics or mathematics.

Xie Fengqing couldn’t quite figure him out. He laughed: “Are you trying to set a complete, standardized criteria for everything? Even for love?”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Only with clear standards can we avoid meaningless arguments and offenses in the future, allowing everyone to live more comfortably. I can help you gatekeep the candidates in this regard.”

Xie Fengqing’s face changed drastically. He felt that Gu Siyuan might be seriously ill in the head.

After a long pause, he let out a soft chuckle. As if thinking of something, he asked, “Love is mutual. After clarifying my requirements, what about the other party’s requirements? Do you know what the other party demands from love?”

“Do you know if the other party is satisfied with me? Hehe… Back then, when you broke up with me, was it because I didn’t do a good job? Because I didn’t meet your requirements for a lover?”

Gu Siyuan immediately shook his head: “No, you are very good.”

Xie Fengqing truly was quite good. His looks perfectly matched Gu Siyuan’s aesthetics, he never made demands regarding money, and although he had a bit of a temper, it was occasionally quite cute.

Xie Fengqing closed his eyes, his fingers tightening their grip on Gu Siyuan’s clothes: “Since that’s the case, then what are we doing right now? Why can’t we get back together? Why do I need to look for someone else?”

Gu Siyuan paused slightly. Very quickly, he reiterated: “I simply have never considered this point.”

Xie Fengqing’s eyes grew red.

Between ‘never considered you’ and ‘unsatisfied with you’, which answer was more heartbreaking?

However, since he had already brought the conversation to this point, there had to be a final resolution. He absolutely refused to keep pressing his hot face against a cold ass. Throwing away his pride could happen once or twice, but absolutely not a third time.

He stared fiercely at Gu Siyuan: “I, Xie Fengqing, am not someone who clings and drags things out. So, starting from now, there are only two possible relationships between us. One: we get back together, start dating, and love each other for a lifetime. Two: I leave this place immediately, and from now on, we won’t speak a single word to each other. You don’t involve yourself in my business, and don’t you ever try to control me again.”

After delivering the ultimatum, he looked like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, waiting only for his sole master to decide whether he would be thrown into the pot or allowed to keep running in the meadow.

Gu Siyuan didn’t become overly shocked or angry.

He looked at Xie Fengqing, his voice calm and steady: “Although I have never experienced the taste of love, I have read many books. They describe love as one of the most beautiful things in the world. Beautiful things naturally should be cherished. You shouldn’t make such an irresponsible decision about yourself under such hot-headed circumstances.”

In the original plot of this world, it was perhaps precisely because of a hot-headed impulse that Xie Fengqing ultimately became trapped by love and met such a tragic end.

“Hehe…” Xie Fengqing stared at Gu Siyuan in sheer disbelief. “Hot-headed? Isn’t love exactly a hot-headed thing?! It’s not solving a math problem, and it’s not writing an academic essay! It’s just a rush to the head, a skip of the heartbeat! It’s that I want to kiss you, I want to be close to you, and just being in the same room as you makes the air smell sweet!”

After saying this, Xie Fengqing lowered his head and began kissing Gu Siyuan’s sharp eyebrows, his straight nose, his thin lips, and then his Adam’s apple…

Feeling the unfamiliar, warm wetness on his skin, Gu Siyuan trembled slightly, an unavoidable heat rising in his body. Especially since Xie Fengqing had completely ripped open his shirt buttons earlier to show off his abs, the two of them were pressed far, far too closely together.

A moment later, Xie Fengqing looked up at Gu Siyuan, his voice slightly breathless: “Gu Siyuan, do you like kissing? Let’s be like this every day from now on, okay?”

Gu Siyuan gritted his teeth, trying his best to maintain his composure and avoid being blinded by lust.

“Don’t do this, Xie Fengqing. Your emotions are unstable right now. You are being highly irrational.” He lifted Xie Fengqing’s chin, looking at him as if he were a naughty child: “Decisions made under these circumstances, whether for you or for me, I consider to be inappropriate.”

Looking at Gu Siyuan’s instantly composed face, Xie Fengqing felt an unspeakable fury and sense of injustice.

“What’s inappropriate?! Gu Siyuan, are you impotent?! Hehe, if you can’t get it up, just say so! It’s not like I don’t have that same piece of equipment. Let me be the top, how about that?!”

This provocation was massive enough for any man.

Gu Siyuan’s expression slightly changed.

But very quickly, he returned to normal.

“We raise problems in order to solve them, not to create bigger messes. Since you are unhappy today, we will table this issue for now. We will continue this discussion when everyone has calmed down.”

Gu Siyuan’s voice was piercingly crisp, and his tone was exceptionally tranquil.

Usually, whether in academia or the corporate world, when he spoke like this, the other party would slowly calm down, often even feeling apologetic and ashamed.

But Xie Fengqing wasn’t like that.

Gu Siyuan’s attitude completely and utterly enraged him.

Because this wasn’t an academic study, nor was it a corporate negotiation. This was feelings. This was love…

What right does Gu Siyuan have to stay this calm from beginning to end, watching from the sidelines like a bystander while I struggle alone, making an absolute fool of myself?!

Xie Fengqing let out a cold laugh and violently stood up from him: “I get it. I know your choice now. Are two-legged people that rare in this world?! If I want to kiss or f*ck someone, who the hell can’t I do it with?!”

Suddenly, Xie Fengqing felt the gaze that had been calm and steady instantly turn freezing and deadly. The grip on his wrist tightened so intensely it felt as if his bones were about to be crushed.

He’s angry?

But what right does he have to be angry?!

Xie Fengqing sneered. I haven’t even fully unleashed my anger yet!

“Hehe, speaking of which, this place is really convenient. I’m sure I can find someone on the street right outside! Do I really need to waste my time nagging with you here? What’s stopping me from walking out right now and finding some random guy?!”

Saying that, he shoved his feet into his shoes and bolted for the door.

However, in the next instant, Xie Fengqing felt his feet leave the ground. His vision flipped upside down as he was hoisted over a broad shoulder, and then viciously, violently thrown onto the bed.

It was a terrifying, brutal roughness he had never once seen from Gu Siyuan before.

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