Transmigrated as My Best Friend's Ex

149. Jealousy Is A Driving Force

Translator: Guy Gone Bad

“Don’t let your imagination run away with you.” When he saw Nancheng Lie’s face, Li Qinghao immediately understood what Nancheng Lie was thinking about. This guy easily indulged in his fancy.

“You know me pretty well, Xu. You can outguess me easily. I feel like we have some sort of connection.” Nancheng Lie came to the bedside and gave the book back to Li Qinghao. “I went out to drink with Han Ping tonight.”

“Oh?”

Li Qinghao raised his eyebrows. He didn’t take Nancheng Lie’s words to heart. Nancheng Lie was sad. He threw himself on the bed and said, “Xu, don’t ignore me.”

Li Qinghao pushed Nancheng Lie’s head away and said, “Go take a shower.” The smell of smoke and alcohol drifting from Nancheng Lie made Li Qinghao feel very uncomfortable.

Nancheng Lie turned a deaf ear to Li Qinghao’s words. He pressed Li Qinghao down beneath him and refused to get out of bed. The smell of smoke and alcohol mixed with Nancheng Lie’s perfume, in fact, was not as awful as he imaged. It made Li Qinghao feel sick only for a second. He reached out a hand and rubbed Nancheng Lie’s messy hair. Nancheng Lie had dry, stiff hair, by nature iron-willed and unyielding. “Go take a shower first, okay?” Li Qinghao said softly. He knew that Nancheng Lie was the type who yielded to soft approach but rejected force.

Nancheng Lie raised his head and looked at Li Qinghao with a smile. “I want a massage.”

“Okay,” Li Qinghao replied. His gentle voice was a small stone that had been thrown into the serene lake of Nancheng Lie’s heart, causing thousands of ripples.

Nancheng Lie closed his eyes and savoured the silence. There was no greater happiness than that of having Xu’s company.”When I was drinking with Han Ping, he mentioned that he had been followed these days.”

“Oh,” Li Qinghao replied casually. He moved to the side of Nancheng Lie, sat down, and then began to massage Nancheng’s shoulders.

“Try harder.” Nancheng Lie had sore shoulders. He hadn’t had a massage for a long time. Now he leaned against Li Qinghao, feeling relaxed and peaceful. “He said he had tried to seek the help of the police, but they ignored him. He asked me if I knew any reliable private detectives, because he wanted to find out who was following him,” said Nancheng Lie.

Li Qinghao paused, as if he understood what Nancheng Lie meant. “What’s wrong? Do you also think there’s something wrong with him?”

“Whether there is something wrong with him or not, it doesn’t change anything. But I think you should be interested in this matter.” Nancheng Lie turned over and faced the ceiling. “By the way, I’m afraid that there is a plot behind Yangming Electronics. Are you going to tell Uncle Li about this?”

“I intend to do so. What do you mean by ‘a plot’?” Considering the friendship between Mr. Li and the boss of Yangming Electronics, Li Qinghao thought it necessary to tell Mr. Li. After all, almost all the people in this world went after money and fame, and even two close friends were likely to betray each other.

“You learned from the Internet that Yangming Electronics might have been acquired, remember?” With that, Nancheng Lie got up, took off his clothes neatly and went naked to the bathroom. He didn’t close the door. Soon from the bathroom came the sound of splashing water.

“Of course I do. What’s the result of your investigation?” If Nancheng Lie hadn’t mentioned Yangming Electronics, Li Qinghao wouldn’t have asked about the investigation. But now that he mentioned it, Li Qinghao’s interest was rekindled.

“The result proves that there is nothing wrong with Yangming Electronics.” Nancheng Lie’s calm voice came from the bathroom. “So I’ve set a trap for my opponent. ”

“What have you done?” Li Qinghao was a bit curious. Men were very charming when they were doing something earnestly. Li Qinghao had seen Nancheng Lie play basketball earnestly, but never paid attention to his way of working. Hearing the words, Li Qinghao felt something boiling in his veins.

“I originally intended to entrust Yangming Eletronics with the production of Nancheng Group’s new-developed temperature sensor, but I changed my mind. I decided to choose a cooperator by way of competitive bidding. Guess who has won the bid?” Nancheng Lie took a quick shower and walked back to the bedroom, wearing only a bath towel around his waist. He didn’t dry himself because he was anxious to share his feelings with his beloved.

“It’s pretty easy to guess.” Li Qinghao rolled his eyes at Nancheng Lie. Did this guy regard him as a fool? He frowned and stared at Nancheng Lie’s wet hair for quite a while before he jumped out of bed and said, “Go and sit on the sofa over there.”

Nancheng Lie was flattered by Li Qinghao’s concern for him. He settled himself quickly on the sofa.

Li Qinghao shook his head and felt that Nancheng Lie was a child-like adult. He went to the bathroom and soon came out with a hair dryer. “Why didn’t you blow-dry your hair?”

“It’s too much trouble.” Nancheng Lie answered with a smile. There was a flash of cunning in his eyes. He knew that Xu was a perfectionist, who couldn’t bear to see his wet hair. Naturally Xu would help him dry his hair. So, Nancheng Lie never blow-dried his hair after a shower every time they spent the night together.

In the past, he wanted to enjoy Xu’s rare tenderness. Now they were a couple. He wanted Xu to be the only one who had the right to touch his hair, because only Xu could give him happiness and and security.

A man was unlikely to allow someone to touch his hair, unless it was the one with whom he decided to spend his life.

“Humph!” Li Qinghao snorted coldly. He was drying Nancheng Lie’s hair gently. “Yangming Electronics won the bid. What do you think they will do next?”

“No need to think about this question,” Nancheng Lie answered confidently. “No matter what they will do, it can’t be done by only one person. So, I’ll wait and see. By the way, I’m wondering why Yangming Electronics has tried everything to attract my attention.”

“My father mentioned Mr. Yang to me several times. He described Mr. Yang as a very decent man. What’s more, Yangming Electronics is not at all a patch on Nancheng Group. So…”

“So…” Nancheng Lie smiled and didn’t say any more.

Li Qinghao called Mr. Li early the next morning. Mr. Li was having his breakfast when he received the call from his son. He was a little surprised. Actually Mr. Li lived a regular life. That was why Li Qinghao specially chose to call Mr. Li during breakfast. Nancheng Lie was cleaning himself up in the bathroom. ‘Why did he have to get up so early to call Mr. Li? I think this call can be made in the evening,’ Nancheng Lie complained in his heart.

In fact, he just wanted Li Qinghao to sleep a little longer.

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Qinghao? What’s wrong with your voice?” Mr. Li felt that the voice from the other end of the line was totally different from his son’s. Although a person’s voice on the line was more or less different from his or her real voice, Mr. Li was so familiar with his son’s voice that he sensed something wrong at once.

“Don’t worry, dad. It’s just because I have a cold and a sore throat. Today my companions and I got up early. We came to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. Suddenly I thought of mom’s breakfast, so I made this phone call to you. How are you and mom?” Li Qinghao answered in a gentle voice. He sent Mr. Li a picture of sunrise with his cell phone. The picture was downloaded from the Internet. The reason he dared to send the picture to Mr. Li was because he was very sure that Mr. Li wouldn’t search the Internet for pictures of sunrise.

“You mom is putting on weight recently…” Before Mr. Li could finish his sentence, Mrs Li snatched the cell phone from his hand. “Qinghao, your dad is talking nonsense, don’t believe him. I’ve been practicing hot yoga recently. Your dad is jealous of my good figure. He’s afraid that I would abandon him, so he has always been against my practicing yoga. Do you think I should keep practicing, Qinghao?”

“The desire to look attractive is universal. No matter how old a woman is, she has the right to pursue beauty.” What Li Qinghao said sounded pleasant to the ear. A few days ago Nancheng Lie’s mother said those words, and they stayed in Li Qinghao’s mind. Now he used them to please Mrs Li.

“Yes, you are quite right.” Due to the support of Li Qinghao, Mrs Li raised her voice in excitement. “Take care of yourself, my dear son. If you dislike fast food , come home…”

Mr. Li snatched the cell phone back and said, “Don’t worry about me and your mom, Qinghao. We’re both fine. Don’t listen to your mom. Everyone should go out to see the world. I’m glad you are willing to take the initiative to adapt to the society.”

“Hahaha…” Li Qinghao laughed. He felt good to live as Li Qinghao. He never felt love from his parents. He had no memory of his father, and his mother died early. Sometimes he felt that Mr. Li and Mrs Li were his real parents, because they gave him a feeling of warmth. “Dad, yesterday my senior Nancheng Lie called me and mentioned that Yangming Electronics won the opportunity to cooperate with Nancheng Group. Dad, as a friend of Mr. Yang, why didn’t you bid on the production of Nancheng Group’s latest temperature sensor?”

“Don’t tease me. A large production line is required for the cooperation with Nancheng Group. My factory is too small to undertake such a large scale of production. Last night I went to visit Mr. Yang with a gift, finding that many people went to his house to congratulate him. If Yangming Electronics can be successful in cooperating with Nancheng Group, it will be greatly developed.” Every manufacturer which was lucky enough to cooperate with Nancheng Group would be favoured by many other companies. So, even if a company, which only cooperated with Nancheng Group once, lost money temporarily, it would make great profits in the future.

“Dad, you seem jealous of Mr. Yang’s success,” Li Qinghao teased with a smile.

“Jealousy is a driving force for a person’s progress. Er, by the way, why did you mention Yangming Eletronics to me? I guess you are trying to tell me something, right?” Mr. Li was a shrewd man. Li Qinghao was his son, so he felt no need to stand on ceremony.

Li Qinghao was silent for a moment before he replied, “Yes, I want you to be more cautious.”

Mr. Li narrowed his eyes. He understood what Li Qinghao meant. Li Qinghao wanted him to stay away from Yangming Electronics. Although he didn’t understand why, Mr. Li took his son’s advice without asking questions, considering the good relationship between his son and Nancheng Lie. “I got it.”