Chapter 138: Vying for Favor and Jealousy

Battling the wind and snow, the two of them left footprints step by step as they climbed the snowy slope. Several times, Zhong Huayan almost tripped over the snow and fell, only to be caught by the man in front, saving her from tumbling down the slope.

"You are truly outrageous, dragging people straight down without even asking for their opinion. I really must have run into someone like you—"

"I know what I'm doing."

Guan Yujing uttered merely those three words, yet they effortlessly revealed his absolute self-confidence. He hadn't even been to this ski resort before and had no idea what lay ahead down the slope, yet he could remain utterly convinced that no accident would occur.

The sun slowly climbed into the sky. After walking for what felt like nearly twenty minutes, the brilliant sunlight pierced through the trees, and lifting one's gaze revealed the ski trail not far off, along with a dense crowd gathered at the very summit of the slope.

"We... finally made it back."

Zhong Huayan's voice was slightly choked by the headwind. Her white and yellow ski suit was covered in thick, goose-feather snowflakes, and her hair looked somewhat disheveled.

Her face grew even paler, yet her eyes possessed a touching, poignant vulnerability. She stumbled forward a few steps, her legs nearly giving out from exhaustion, though she managed to steady herself. She waved her arms in the air, trying to make herself clearly visible to the people at the top. As she reached the bottom of the halfpipe, Fu Yanying stood there today dressed in black casual wear, wearing a baseball cap and sneakers, his long legs encased in slim-fitting black trousers.

Facing the wind, he walked down, pulled the woman before him into a tight embrace, and instinctively ruffled her hair.

Yet, the gaze he cast at the man behind her turned gloomy and sharp.

When Fu Yanying's upright, handsome face broke into a smile, it carried an eerie, indescribable sense of dissonance. The sandalwood Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist were somewhat glaring, emitting a soul-penetrating, muted resonance as they swayed in the air. His voice was exceptionally soft, yet it sounded like a death warrant.

"President Guan, this ski resort is far too dangerous. Just last year, several people died right here."

"I have heard about it. However, I happen to prefer dangerous things; death is humanity's ode to nature."

"Then I will certainly find a way to let President Guan sing praises to nature to his heart's content."

Guan Yujing took off his snow goggles, the scent of lilies lingering around him growing even more intense. Until he reached the side of the other man, the two remained silent. Leaving behind only a few snowy footprints, he removed his snowboard and walked toward the shop.

Zhong Huayan clearly felt the pangs of hunger as well. She also unstrapped her snowboard and followed him into the shop to order some light dishes.

After ordering, they took seats on the far left, while Guan Yujing sat at the very right. Zhong Huayan pulled the hood of her down jacket over her hair, drew a cigarette from her pocket, and deftly lit it.

Amidst the swirling wisps of smoke, before she even had a chance to eat, the area outside the shop was already crowded with bodyguards from the Fu and Guan corporations. The two sides appeared amiable on the surface, but undercurrents seemed to violently surge beneath. She merely took a deep drag of her cigarette, having no intention of saying anything more.

Instead, Guan Yujing beside her also lit a cigarette.

As the smoke drifted across his mesmerizing, deep blue eyes, his demeanor became even more elusive and ethereal, like gathering clouds and mist.

"President Fu, you are currently triumphant in both love and business. When is the wedding? I'll want to come and partake in the celebration."

"Sooner or later, President Guan. No need to trouble yourself with it; you'd better focus more on your company's business."

"Since President Fu has already snatched away our company's business, it seems rather unreasonable to begrudge me a wedding banquet, doesn't it?"

Caught right in the middle, Zhong Huayan felt an overwhelming sense of oppression. On the surface, the two men were exchanging polite pleasantries like good friends, but upon closer inspection, it felt like two venomous snakes baring their fangs at each other.

Fu Yanying removed his baseball cap, strands of loose hair falling across his forehead. He sat opposite them with complete composure, even the gesture of brushing off the snow was imbued with aristocratic restraint and abstinence. When he picked up his chopsticks, his hands were cleaner and clearer than the snow outside.

Even wearing black could not conceal him; the light from outside always favored falling upon him, making him appear almost sacred and inviolable.

Yet the evasive remarks he uttered were laced with a discordant, malicious resentment. The gloom deep within his eyes surfaced naturally, and even his light laugh sent a shiver down one's spine.

"There is nothing unreasonable about it. You'll get used to it in time. While I am not in the habit of making things difficult for women, my methods for dealing with people in the business world are not exactly gentle either."

"I am not in the habit of troubling married women either; I only have a fondness for those who are yet to be wed."

"My A-Huan is still in university; marrying too early would have a negative impact on her."

Guan Yujing was eating a bowl of Changchun noodles. Steaming hot, he ate with hearty enthusiasm, finishing it in just a few bites. Still seeming hungry, he ordered several more large dishes. He muttered some praises in English about how delicious the noodles were. As he grew warm from the food, he immediately shed his jacket, leaving only a white T-shirt that revealed arms covered in faint scars.

He glanced at the two people across from him. Fu Yanying looked as though he had been struck by a love potion, the romantic desire overflowing in his eyes as he stared fixedly at the woman eating.

Guan Yujing had once believed that anyone who had seen the world and crawled their way up from humble beginnings would never wholeheartedly serve and madly adore a woman like a servant—that it was something utterly contrary to human nature.

That was, until he laid eyes on these two.

He didn't even know whether Fu Yanying was truly in love with the deceased Zhong Huayan, or the woman before him, Li Yanyan.

He joked with a teasing tone.

"Well, young people... need to have a few more relationships before they can tell what is good and what isn't."

"President Guan, you haven't broken your celibacy in all these years, so how could you possibly instruct others on how to date?"

Both men aggressively poked at each other's sore spots, turning what should have been a pleasant meal into a suffocating ordeal.

It wasn't that Guan Yujing was so deeply enamored with Li Yanyan that he simply had to spar with Fu Yanying like this.

It was just that, over all these years, the Li Yanyan before him had brought a remarkably fresh and dynamic energy.

She seemed to possess the ability to turn the tides, making the seemingly impossible a reality right here. For instance, back at the stables, the words she spoke had been so aggressively piercing that they struck directly at the most deeply hidden, unknown agony in the depths of his soul, moving him emotionally and forcing tears to fall.

Such a realm was far too magical, bringing a brand-new sensation. That poignant vulnerability and resilient grit flowed along with that trembling, poised tear, turning into a knot within his heart.

It tempted him, compelling him to explore.

To explore life itself.

"I am not a casual person. Some women cannot be touched, for fear that they might drain my passion for athletic competition."

"You're just afraid a woman would hollow you out. Your constitution must be terribly weak."

Zhong Huayan let out a soft chuckle, courting death with her retort. Yet, surprisingly, the man opposite her showed no signs of anger; instead, he replied with shameless audacity.

"It depends on the person. Some women are foul-bodied and prone to draining me. But someone like Miss Li Yanyan, who can make President Fu's business thrive day by day, must surely be a blessed presence. That is how Chinese culture puts it, if I haven't learned it incorrectly."