The Consequence of Judging Others by Appearance

“Qian Qian?” Cen Baihe saw Qi Yan staring at a corner and followed his gaze. He saw Ruan Youyi who had her head lowered and was talking to Yuan Peng. The diamonds on her skirt were dazzling.

Qi Yan shook his head, lowered his head and said to him, “I think something was not right with that waiter just now.”

“The waiter who soiled your clothes?” Cen Baihe looked solemn and walked to Qi Yan’s side. At this time, the staff was preparing the dance floor for the young people, and most of the elderly people were either chatting in the upstairs lounge or resting in the hotel room.

“Yes,” Qi Yan took a glass of juice and a glass of water. He handed the water to Cen Baihe, and glanced at everyone in the room, “This shouldn’t have anything to do with your family. Before I left this morning, I told your family’s fortune and there should be no accidents today.”

Cen Baihe smiled. When he first met Qian Qian, he thought that Qian Qian was a cold and mysterious master. After getting to know him, he found that Qian Qian seemed detached, but he was a very attentive and sincere person.

“What are you smiling at?” Qi Yan took a sip of the juice. “Is this surprising to you?” He put the juice on the table next to him and whispered, “I’m going to the bathroom.” “

“Then I’ll wait for you here, be careful.” Cen Baihe sat down on the high stool and put down his glass next to Qi Yan’s. The red juice and the transparent water contrasted each other, but they 
looked harmonious.

There was a faint scent of sandalwood in the bathroom. Qi Yan dried his hands and when he came out of the restroom, he saw the same waiter who spilled sauce and peeked at him just now walking towards him with an empty wine glass. Qi Yan stood there, watching and waiting for his reaction.

Sure enough, when approaching him, the waiter walked slower and said in a hesitant tone, “Is your surname Qi?”

Qi Yan looked at this timid man and nodded slightly, “Is there something wrong?”

Seeing that Qi Yan did not deny it, the waiter was a little excited, “Are you really Qi Yan?”

His timidness turned into joy, like a mouse hiding in the dark who found a piece of cheese. The man seemed happy and in disbelief. Qi Yan didn’t remember where he saw him, so he asked politely, “Who are you?”

“I’m your primary school classmate.” The waiter was emotional, the glass on the tray shook slightly, “My name is Yang Heshu, do you remember me?”

His primary years were a long time ago. At that time, the living and educational standards in the small town were not very good, so the students were naughty and did not pay attention to their studies. But there were some students who studied hard so that they could escape the poor town and live in the city. Yang Heshu was one of them.

Qi Yan remembered that Yang Heshu was very thin, his hair was dry and yellow, and he had a soft voice. He was not usually liked by the boys in his class, but the teachers liked him because of his good grades. He was also a member of the class’ study group.

Qi Yan remembered the dilapidated bricked building, windows without glass, old tables and chairs, the teacher who was reluctant to throw a chalk away even when it’s not much left, the blackboard that couldn’t be wiped clean, as well as the tall trees outside the classroom.

At that time, they were so young. They didn’t know what would happen after graduation, how big the country was, and how far apart they would be from each other. In fact, after Qi Yan entered high school, he almost never saw his classmates from primary school again. So he was really surprised to bump into an old classmate in this hotel.

“You are Yang Heshu?” Qi Yan looked at the waiter in front of him, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah,” Yang Heshu’s face was a little red, “I’m surprised to see you doing so well now, being with those upper class people/ I didn’t dare to talk to you just now.” He scratched his head shyly, “A few years ago, when I heard that you were the best science student in the city, I knew you were different from us.”

Qi Yan smiled and said, “It’s just a coincidence. If I didn’t know a certain important person here, I wouldn’t even be able to get in. How have you been all these years?”

“Quite good,” Yang Heshu didn’t seem to want to talk about his past. He looked up to see the manager coming and said hurriedly, “Can you leave me your contact information? I’ll contact you after I finish work.”

Qi Yan handed him a business card, then watched him stuff the business card into the pocket of his vest, and left in a hurry.

It wasn’t until Yang Heshu disappeared at the corner that Qi Yan retracted his gaze and turned to look at someone not far to the left, “Why are you here?”

“Seeing that you haven’t returned for a long time, I thought you’ve fallen into the toilet,” Cen Baihe glanced at the corner, “That waiter just now…”

Qi Yan smiled and saw someone coming out of the bathroom behind him. He stepped forward and walked beside Cen Baihe, “He said he was my primary school classmate.”

Cen Baihe frowned. He thought that didn’t sound right. “He said” he was his primary school classmate?

“Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence?” Qi Yan walked to the corner and sat down. He said coldly, “But… Yang Heshu passed away a long time ago.”

Even though Cen Baihe didn’t quite believe that there were ghosts in this world, after hearing Qi Yan’s words, a chill coursed through his spine. How could a dead person be here?

Seeing Cen Baihe’s solemn expression, Qi Yan reached out and patted his arm, “Don’t worry, I’m not telling a ghost story. Yang Heshu was only twelve years old when he died. I heard that there was something in his stomach, and his family had no money for medical treatment. He passed away in pain. Outsiders didn’t know that there were many families who exceeded the number of children they could have, so many children were not registered. After Yang Heshu passed away, his younger brother, who had not registered, took his place.”

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Seeing that Cen Baihe was in a daze, Qi Yan smiled melancholically, “At that time, the authority in charge of household registration in a small town was not as strict as that in big cities. As there were too many children born without being registered, the local authority could only turn a blind eye. They didn’t want to embarrass people from the same village. But such absurd things will not happen anymore.”

As the economy developed and the people became more educated and technologically savvy, the strict household registration system had become a thing of the past.

So only his family and very few people remembered Yang Heshe’s death. Others had no idea that such a person even existed in the world. He disappeared in the river of time.

Seeing that Qi Yan was melancholic, Cen Baihe got up and sat down by his side. He reached out and patted his shoulder, “Let the past go.”

“Hmm,” Qi Yan forced a smile, “I don’t know who sent this imposter, maybe he doesn’t even know that Yang Heshu, the one who’s still alive with a different name, is not the real Yang Heshu and that the person who used to be his friend in primary school was in fact, long gone.”

Those who had never experienced real poverty, did not know how helpless or absurd it was to live in that barren land. So he didn’t like thinking about his primary school years.

“I’ll ask someone to check the identity of the waiter,” Cen Baihe was not happy that someone was using Qi Yan, “You…”

“No, let him come,” Qi Yan sneered, “I also want to know who is plotting against me. If you send someone to investigate him, he might be alerted and the person behind this might go into hiding.”

Cen Baihe saw Qi Yan’s cold face for the first time and he was conflicted on the inside. In the end, he nodded helplessly.

The music was played, and a couple of young men and women stepped onto the dance floor. Qi Yan looked towards the crowd and saw Ruan Youyi dancing gracefully. He did not recognize the man holding her, but he could clearly see that this man was courting her.

“I dance too when I’m free.” Qi Yan didn’t want to bring the mood down by talking about Yang Heshu again, so he changed the subject.

“What kind of dance?” Cen Baihe thought that Qi Yan meant dancing in a club, and he felt that there was a big age gap between him and Qian Qian.

“Square dancing,” Qi Yan said with a serious face, “Don’t look down on square dancing, some uncles and aunties there can dance very well, and not just square dancing.”

“Square dancing?” Cen Baihe’s mind was blank for a few seconds, and the image in his mind was destroyed. He couldn’t imagine Qian Qian, who had a baby face, square dancing with a bunch of middle-aged people.

Seeing Cen Baihe’s blank expression, Qi Yan felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

Not far away, someone watched Qi Yan and Cen Baihe chatting and laughing, and his face was pale with fright. He was the wealthy businessman who looked down on Qi Yan just now. When he saw Qi Yan and Cen Baihe enter the hotel together, he was filled with regret.

If he knew this young man who drove a cheap car had such a good relationship with Fifth Master Cen, he would not rob him of a parking spot, and he would even park the car for him. What should he do after offending such an important person?

Originally, he wanted to find an opportunity to apologize to the young man, but he didn’t expect Fifth Master Cen to stay with the young man almost the whole time, and he was too embarrassed to approach them. What was even more frightening was that he found that not only the Cen family was very kind to this young man, even the heads of several other prominent families were exceptionally gentle when talking to him.

He no longer cared about who he was. He only hoped that this young man would let the incident go.

“Mr. Luo, what’s the matter with you today?” A wealthy businessman who knew him walked up to him with a glass of wine. “It’s your first time attending Mr. Cen’s birthday party. Are you nervous?”

“I’m not nervous, but don’t laugh at me,” Mr.  Luo looked at his friend with a bitter face, “I was stupid and offended Fifth Master Cen’s friend.”

Mr. Fu’s expression changed slightly, “You mean the young man next to Fifth Master Cen?”

“Who else could it be,” Mr. Luo recounted the incident to his friend. When he was done, he drank all his wine in one gulp. “I don’t know what’s wrong with this kid. Why does he drive such a cheap car when he’s such good friends with the Cen family? He’s intentionally causing misunderstandings!”

“Mr. Luo, this is your fault. It’s their freedom to drive what kind of car they want. It’s not respectable of you to take his valet and mocked him,” Lao Fu said. He knew that Mr. Luo liked to show off his wealth, but he didn’t expect him to do that regardless of the occasion. Everyone who was here must have a high status. Besides, some wealthy people liked to drive cheap cars, so it was his own fault.

There was no point in saying this anymore. Mr. Fu patted his shoulder, turned around and left without a word.

Mr. Luo watched Mr. Fu left and felt resentment in his heart.

“Would you like to go to the hotel to rest for a while? There is a dinner party in the evening,” Cen Baihe knew that Qi Yan had the habit of taking naps. So he checked the time and said, “Want to go to my room?”

“Okay,” Qi Yan glanced at the others in the hall, “What are these people doing?”

“There are a lot of things to do on the upper floors, they’ll entertain themselves,” Cen Baihe stood up. “Besides, my brother and the others are here, so I don’t need to worry about it.”

“I know, you’re not in good health.”

He gave an excuse without a change in expression. This man was indeed shameless, and it seemed like it was not the first time.

After the two walked into the elevator and swiped their cards to go up, Qi Yan threw himself on the big soft bed and didn’t feel like getting up anymore.

Cen Baihe took out a set of robes from the closet and threw it on the bed. While taking off his suit jacket, he said, “Change your clothes before going to bed, otherwise your clothes will be wrinkled when you wake up.”

Qi Yan tugged on his bow tie and went to the bathroom to change into the robe. Seeing Cen Baihe sitting at the desk with his computer on, he asked, “Aren’t you going to nap?”

“No, you go ahead. I’ll read some documents,” Cen Baihe glanced at Qi Yan’s ankle, “I’ll wake you up later.”

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“Okay.” Qi Yan threw himself on the bed again, wrapped himself in the quilt and fell asleep without any care in the world.

After an unknown amount of time, Cen Baihe looked away from the laptop screen and his gaze landed on the small backpack on the big bed. Qi Yan slept with one foot out, but his head was under the quilt.

Cen Baihe smiled helplessly, got up and turned up the temperature of the air conditioner. He went to the side of the bed and pulled the quilt away from Qi Yan’s face, revealing his nose and mouth. Looking at the calf that was stretched out on the edge of the bed, Cen Baihe reached out and gently grasped Qi Yan’s ankle. It felt a little cold and his skin was soft.

After tucking his foot into the quilt, Cen Baihe looked down at his palm and bent his finger. The sensation seemed to be embedded in his mind.

After pausing for a long time, Cen Baihe came back to his senses when the phone rang. He took out his phone and pressed the answer button. He looked back at Qi Yan, who was still sleeping, and quickly walked out of the room, “Yes?.”

“Okay, I’ll be right over here.”

“Baihe,” First Master Cen saw Cen Baihe walked in and looked behind him, “Where’s Master Qi?”

“He’s resting,” Cen Baihe sat down on the sofa, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing,” Brother Cen smiled with embarrassment, “Uncle Ruan Shi was hinting that he wanted to matchmake you and his granddaughter.”

“We are not even in the same generation,” Cen Baihe took out a magazine and sat down on the sofa, “Why are you telling me this?” He looked up at First Master Cen, “Don’t tell me dad wants to set me up?”

“How is that possible? I am telling you now so that you’re prepared,” First Master Cen didn’t think that Miss Ruan was that great. Perhaps it might be the big age gap, he had different taste in looks compared to the younger people.

“Which table are you going to let Master Qi sit at during dinner?” To the Cen family, Master Qi was an honored guest, so they paid more attention when arranging seats.

“Right next to me,” Cen Baihe flipped through a few pages of the magazine, and found that there was actually an article about himself and a female celebrity. He threw the magazine on the table with a frown, “He came because of me, and he doesn’t know other people, so it’s better for him to sit next to me.”

“Sure,” First Master Cen nodded, thinking that was quite appropriate.

Cen Baihe stood up and pointed to the magazines on the table, “Don’t read these tabloid magazines.

First Master Cen looked confused. He just picked up a few magazines from the hall downstairs. He had no idea what’s in there. After Cen Baihe left, he flipped through the magazine and was speechless. Why didn’t these tabloid writers change their profession to novel writers since they liked to make things up.

When Qi Yan woke up in a daze, he almost couldn’t tell where he was. After seeing Cen Baihe sitting on the sofa and reading a book, he slowly remembered that he was still in the hotel.

“You’re awake?” Cen Baihe closed the book, “It’s getting late, let’s wash up and go down.”

Qi Yan walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face before he could fully wake up. He wiped the water off his face with a towel, and when he turned to go to the closet to get his clothes, he found that the clothes had been ironed.

“Thank you,” He came out after changing and thanked Cen Baihe.

“Like you said, there is no need to say thank you among friends.” Cen Baihe got up from the sofa and walked to Qi Yan, “Don’t move, raise your head.”

Qi Yan looked up blankly and did as he was told, not knowing what Cen Baihe was going to do.

“The bow tie and collar were messy.”

Qi Yan lowered his head, his chin hit the back of Cen Baihe’s hand, so he raised it again. He was standing very close to Cen Baihe and he realized that Cen Baihe’s lips were very sexy, but the color was a little pale. However, his neck and shoulders looked good. No wonder he looked so good in a suit.

“Done.” Cen Baihe retracted his hand, reached out and patted the non-existent dust on his shoulder. He couldn’t help but touch the back of his hand.

Qi Yan smiled at Cen Baihe, “Then let’s go down.”

“Sure.”

“Why does your voice sound a little hoarse?”

“Maybe I’ve been sitting for too long.”

“Is there a connection?”

“……”