| PN | 13
If the three people entering the hotel were adults, Qi Chao wouldn't have interfered, no matter how wild their fun was.
However, the catch was that his two younger half-brothers were still minors.
Qi Chao couldn't just stand by and watch as minors went astray. He kept his hands in his pockets, ready to call out to the three people ahead. But before he could shout, he noticed something odd out of the corner of his eye and immediately closed his mouth.
A few meters away, in an alley, two shifty-looking men were furtively watching in the direction of the three. Even more suspicious, as soon as his half-brothers entered the hotel, the two men looked thrilled, as if they had caught a big fish, and quickly followed.
Qi Chao scratched his head and looked up at the sky. Clearly, his two brothers were in trouble.
With his nearly thirty years of experience, this scene screamed a setup for an extortion scheme.
He walked into the alley, finding only a few smoldering cigarette butts. After thinking for a moment, he took out his communicator and dialed a number. When the voice on the other end asked for details, Qi Chao spoke clearly, "Hello, I'd like to report..."
The staff estimated they would arrive at the scene within half an hour.
After ending the call, Qi Chao hesitated between going into the hotel and buying resin, but eventually, he resigned himself to entering the hotel.
Inside, the two shifty-looking men were sitting absentmindedly on the lobby sofa, fiddling with their communicators.
Qi Chao sat on a single sofa behind the two men, picking up a nearby magazine to pretend he was passing time, but his attention was entirely on them.
It had been ten minutes since his half-brothers entered the hotel. Although Qi Chao suspected these two men were targeting his brothers, he wasn't certain.
His mission remained to prevent his underage brothers from going astray.
On this end, Qi Chao specifically called the anti-pornography brigade and described the figures of his two younger brothers to the staff.
As long as the police officers rush to the hotel and verify with the front desk, they can successfully ruin his younger brothers' coming-of-age night.
Qi Chao should have left by this point, knowing his brothers' night was unlikely to succeed. However, thinking about the two suspicious men, Qi Chao decided to stay.
After a few minutes, the two men seemed to receive a message, exchanged some words, and headed towards the elevator. Seeing this, Qi Chao leisurely stood up and followed them naturally.
When they got off on the third floor and entered room 306, Qi Chao noted the room number and leaned against the wall to observe the situation.
This could be the room booked by his two brothers, or it might not be. Qi Chao's thoughts wandered. If his brothers really fell into a trap, they'd probably be quite embarrassed.
However, his suspicions were not all that baseless. After all, his brothers were wealthy and handsome; any normal girl would be smitten with them, so why would anyone want to set them up?
Yet, reality is often unexpected. Just as Qi Chao yawned, a group of uniformed officers with anti-pornography armbands rushed out of the elevator, heading straight for room 306. They broke down the door, and inside, two familiar voices could be heard.
Ah, well then.
Qi Chao was stunned. However, the ones truly devastated were Qi Feng and Qi Ye inside the room.
Today was their first day of freedom after being grounded. The two brothers were like huskies locked up for days, once released, they eagerly rushed out. Initially, they planned to go sing karaoke with their girlfriends, but the girls suggested an overnight stay at a hotel instead.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye were hesitant; after being cooped up at home, they weren't in the mood for anything too elaborate. But they couldn't resist their cute girlfriends' pleas and eventually agreed.
To avoid being caught by their father, the twin brothers, on their girlfriends' suggestion, booked a hotel in a neighboring district.
Who could have predicted that shortly after arriving, while they were in the shower, they would be photographed naked?
Soon after, two strange men entered and started demanding money. The girlfriends, too, changed their tune and threatened to send the compromising photos to people they knew if they didn't pay up.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye were dumbfounded. Where were their gentle and understanding girlfriends?
Despite their rebellious appearance, the brothers were naive and inexperienced. This was their first encounter with such a situation, and they sat on the bed, shirtless and dazed, unable to process what was happening.
Then, the anti-pornography squad broke in.
For the second time, the two brothers were taken away, unsure whether to feel relieved or despondent.
After taking their statements, the officers realized the two minors had been caught in an extortion scheme and sympathetically asked them to notify their parents to pick them up.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye sat silently in the interrogation room, feeling utterly humiliated. How could they call anyone?
This was the second time the anti-pornography squad had apprehended them. The first time, their girlfriends had also tried to set them up, but the anti-pornography squad thwarted the plan.
This time, the same tactic was used, and once again, the anti-pornography squad intervened.
Although they hadn't lost anything, the boys' proud self-esteem and their sense of dignity were shattered to pieces.
"Who will come to pick you up?" the officer taking their statements asked. Technically, since the case didn't involve any actual s*x work and they were innocent victims, they could leave.
However, being minors, they needed a guardian to escort them out of the police station.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye stayed silent. Their mother had abandoned them for wealth, and their father was a workaholic. The last time they were taken to the station, the butler picked them up, but the butler always looked down on them, and they didn't want to give him more reasons to disdain them.
Though outwardly rebellious and arrogant, the brothers were actually very cautious. The most daring thing they had done was date the same girlfriend, and now they were paying the price for it.
"Have you notified your family?" the officer asked again.
Qi Feng, with his dyed red hair, kept his mouth shut. Qi Ye, who was usually more reserved, nodded and was about to contact the butler.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. A young officer popped his head in and said, "Are you done? The kids' guardian is here to pick them up."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye exchanged confused glances and followed the young officer out, only to find their much more competent older brother waiting in the lounge.
Qi Chao was lounging on a sofa, lazily smiling at them. His dark brown eyes carried a nonchalant amusement, as if his brothers had simply gone on a casual errand rather than ended up in a police station. Standing up, he smiled and said, "Let's go."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye were speechless, trailing behind him silently. Their minds were buzzing with questions—how did their brother know about this? Why did he come? Would he look down on them? Yet, they couldn't bring themselves to voice any of these thoughts, so they followed Qi Chao in silence.
It wasn't until they realized they had followed him to an unfamiliar street that they snapped out of their daze. They watched as Qi Chao entered a shop, spoke some unintelligible words with the owner, bought a few items, and then repeated the process at another store.
Before long, the two younger brothers found themselves carrying bags full of items, struggling to keep up with the energetic Qi Chao.
"Brother, what are you buying?" Qi Feng seized a moment to ask.
Qi Chao was examining some soothing liquid, and without looking up, he replied, "Your future nephew."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye: ...??
With this inexplicable answer, the brothers were dragged around shopping with Qi Chao for the entire afternoon. By the time they finally sat in the vehicle, they were almost in tears from exhaustion.
Seeing their expressions, Qi Chao couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He handed each of them a lollipop.
He had bought these after the brothers were taken away, intending to use them to soothe their emotions after the extortion incident, but had forgotten about them until now.
The brothers were surprised to receive candy from their older brother. They accepted it with odd expressions, not planning to eat it at first.
However, when they saw Qi Chao unwrap a lollipop for himself, they exchanged glances and followed suit, tearing open the wrappers.
Inside the vehicle, the three men sat with lollipops in their mouths, creating a rather amusing scene.
"Brother, how did you know we were taken to the police station?" Qi Feng asked incoherently while biting a candy and turned red from embarrassment.
Qi Ye, sitting next to him, was equally mortified.
Qi Chao, on the other hand, was very calm after hearing this. "Oh, because I was the one who reported it."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye: ...
Qi Chao explained how he had seen them and suspected something was wrong, leading him to make the report. He then scolded them, "You two really lack common sense. What kind of decent girl would simultaneously confess to both of you and invite you both to spend the night together?"
It was obvious to anyone that something was off, yet they foolishly walked right into it. They had neither integrity nor intelligence, they clearly needed a lesson.
The two brothers hung their heads in shame, their ears turning red. "We know we were wrong. We’ll never do anything like that again."
Qi Chao wasn’t one for lecturing, but in this situation, he had to say what needed to be said. Love isn’t like a card game; it’s meant for two people. If three people are involved, it’s either deceitful or a joke. In his view, the girlfriend was the former, and his two brothers were the latter. Neither was any better than the other.
This conversation should have been had by their father, but his way of teaching was just to lock them up and make them write self-reflections, never breaking down the reasons for them. So, Qi Chao had to step in himself.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye, sitting in the back seat, listened to their older brother's long-winded lecture.
Normally, they would have been impatient with such seemingly pointless talk, but perhaps the sweetness of the lollipops or the rare feeling of being genuinely cared for by family made them listen quietly.
Qi Chao expected his brothers to reject him after his lengthy speech, but to his surprise, when he paused, he found them warming up to him. They even offered him water, a sign of their growing closeness.
The destination of the vehicle was the old family residence. Qi Chao needed to drop the two high school students off first, as they had to attend classes the next day.
"Big brother, what did you mean earlier about a nephew?" Qi Feng asked curiously.
Qi Chao remembered his offhand comment and decided not to hide it. He had already submitted his resignation online, and the news would spread soon enough. "I've decided to become a puppet maker and pursue my dream."
The two brothers had always thought their older brother would be the future heir of the family business. Hearing this news left them completely stunned, unable to find words.
Qi Chao didn't care about his younger brothers' opinions. He only wanted to get home and sleep. His afternoon had been interrupted, and he hadn't had time to buy the heart of the puppet. He would have to go out again tomorrow to purchase it.
Thinking about how he could start making his new puppet once he had the heart filled him with energy, dispelling his earlier fatigue.
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