Chapter 37: Blackout

Attend Julos’ birthday party? With Maine and Julos’ current relationship, was Maine’s uncle’s head in the sand?

Xie Sen, since he knew how much Maine thought of his uncle, only sighed in disgust and asked, “Did you say yes?”

Maine nodded, “I can’t say no.”

Xie Sen looked at him in surprise. What do you mean you can’t say no?

Maine pursed his lips. “I don’t want to make things difficult for Uncle. Admiral Cox gave him the order.” Here Maine’s tone was slightly cold. “He probably wants to talk to me about something!”

Xie Sen guessed, “Could it be that he saw you win the league, thought you were good and wants to take the opportunity to improve relations?”

“Maybe,” Maine said. “We’ll find out when we go tomorrow.”

Xie Sen wasn’t quite sure. Maine’s most important person was his uncle, while his worst relationship was with his uncle’s brother and Julos, and Maine was ostracized. It was most likely due to them.

At Julos’s birthday party, with all these people present, there were too many possible situations.

“I’ll go with you,” Xie Sen suggested, as he thought clearly. “Can you take me?”

Maine said, “Do you really want to go?”

Xie Sen nodded affirmatively, and Maine said, “I’ll ask Uncle for another invitation.”

“No need to go through all that trouble. For a party like this, you should be able to bring a date, right?” Xie Sen asked.

Maine looked at him, and nodded, “Yes.”

After they decided to go to the party together, they once again rented suits online. Neither of them were too concerned about Julos’ birthday party, so they didn’t put any thought into it.

The next day, Xie Sen went home from work to change, and had dinner with Maine before they headed to the Cox’s house. The architecture of the Cox’s house was similar to that of the Aben Family. A castle with a huge open area. It was very nice to enter through the front door and pass through the corridor to reach the banquet hall, with fake ornamental plants along the way.

“Oh, dear Maine, it’s so good to see you.” Sotoko, dressed in a black straight suit, walked up to Maine, and opened his arms to give him a hug. A warm meet-and-greet.

After the meet-and-greet, Sotoko took a step back, and looked at Xie Sen beside Maine with slight surprise and curiosity. “Won’t you introduce me to this beautiful female?”

The standard smile on the corner of Xie Sen’s mouth froze, and the back of his teeth clenched as he tried to hold back the ‘You’re the female!’ that usually came out.

Maine corrected, “This is my friend Xie Sen. He’s a male.”

“I’m sorry,” Sotoko apologized, as he extended his hand towards Xie Sen. “Please forgive me. It’s nice to meet you.”

Xie Sen reached out and shook his hand. He tried to be generous and smiled, “It’s okay.”

“We have twenty minutes before the official start, so you can look around and have something to eat. I have to go greet the guests.”

Maine nodded as Sotoko greeted another visitor. Xie Sen looked around, and pulled Maine with him, ready to go to the couch in the corner and stay there. He could already feel that the eyes of the guests around them were falling on them now and then, accompanied by murmurs of surprise.

Maine’s appearance at Julos’ birthday party was indeed surprising enough, given that the conflict between Maine and Julos had been rampant not long ago. He hadn’t taken two steps with Maine when a tall man in a tuxedo of the same color as his approached them. Like most of the people here, this man had handsome features and was holding two wine glasses.

He bent slightly, and brought the glass in his right hand to Xie Sen with a graceful look. “May I have a drink with you, beautiful young man?”

Maine’s eyebrows knitted as he gave the man a grim look, and turned his head to see Xie Sen’s reaction. The corners of Xie Sen’s mouth twitched. He did look good now, but he wasn’t used to people using ‘beautiful’ to describe him at all.

“Thank you, I don’t drink,” he politely declined.

Wine was definitely a super luxury here, and to have it at a party meant the Cox family was really strong.

The man looked disappointed, shrugged his shoulders, and didn’t dwell on it, “I hope to have the pleasure of dancing with you later.” He finished and took a graceful step to the side, no longer blocking their path.

Xie Sen didn’t reply. He had never seen a Brandt Star dance, let alone dance himself, and even if he could, he wouldn’t dance with a stranger. He pulled Maine, whose brow was stretched by his reaction, over to the corner, and within a few steps, there was a discussion in his ears that was not intentionally muted.

“Wow, is this female a fool? I can’t believe he rejected the young master of the Qiao family, to be together with the bastard son of the Cox family!”

“He wouldn’t not know the identity of the young master of the Qiao family, would he?”

“I think it’s very likely that maybe he still thinks Maine can enter the Cox family smoothly by attending the banquet. He thinks he’s hugging the Cox family’s thighs!”

“How can the Cox family be so easy to enter? He’s an illegitimate son! He doesn’t have a family to back him up.”

“If he knew the status of Young Master Qiao, and that Maine wasn’t valued by the Cox family, he would regret it!”

Xie Sen kept pulling Maine’s arm, and immediately felt his muscles tighten up.

Xie Sen turned his head and glared at the three short females who were talking together. “Don’t be such bad talkers. Can’t you whisper? Otherwise why don’t you just take a loudspeaker, and let the whole venue hear your gossip?”

Even if he couldn’t hear it, he would know it was happening and it would affect his mood. His voice was not small, and immediately drew the eyes of many people, which then followed his gaze to the gossip group of three.

The three females were completely unprepared for his loud sarcastic remarks about them, and the stares from all around made them blush. One of the light gray haired boys glared at him indignantly. “What do you care what we say about you? Are we wrong?”

“Of course you’re wrong!” Xie Sen pointed at himself. “First of all, I’m a male, and second, if you mention me, of course it’s about me. Does it have nothing to do with you, if I talk about you?”

The three females looked at him in surprise. They hadn’t expected him to be male.

After being surprised, the light gray haired boy scoffed, “If you can be considered a male like that, why don’t you just call yourself a pseudo-female?”

Xie Sen instantly translated his words. Pseudo-female = sissy. Xie Sen’s face immediately darkened. His manhood was called into question! He pointed his finger at the boy. “A superficial female who judges people by their appearance, that’s you. Go find a male you think is good, and let him spar with me. When I win, you must say ten words about me being a male!”

The boy froze. He hadn’t expected Xie Sen to react like this. The people around him also looked at Xie Sen in surprise. Was he so confident? The boy looked at Xie Sen’s small body. “What if you lose?”

Xie Sen gritted his teeth. “I’ll apologize to you, and admit what you said.”

“And apologize to my friends!” the boy said.

“Yes.” Xie Sen agreed. Even if he used up all his energy at once, and it rained super potatoes and chili powder, he would still win!

The boy opened his bracelet. “Brother, someone is bullying me. Come here!”

Xie Sen was speechless, “You don’t have to talk nonsense. You’re the one who was sarcastic to me. When did I bully you? I gave the challenge order openly and honestly, while so many people were watching!”

The boy grunted lightly, and looked towards the door. Not long after, a tall and strong black-suited man walked in. The boy immediately waved towards that side. The man in the black suit walked up to the boy, who immediately pointed his finger at Xie Sen. “Brother, he wants to challenge you.”

The man looked at Xie Sen, and showed a surprised look, “What’s going on?”

Xie Sen explained what happened. “Find an open space and spar!”

The man slapped his brother’s head. “Nonsense, apologize to him.” He looked at Xie Sen with a smile. “Sorry, it was our fault. I’m taking the initiative to admit defeat. Why don’t you leave your contact information, and I’ll buy you dinner sometime to make amends?”

“Brother, I asked you to teach him a lesson, not to ask him out!” The boy covered the back of his head with a displeased look.

The corners of Xie Sen’s mouth twitched. Maine looked at the man with a scowl, and a lot of laughter rang out around them.

“Apologize.” The man looked down at his younger brother, his tone stern, “You were the one who was in the wrong, gossiping about others and making taunting remarks. Where is your upbringing?”

The boy bit his lip in aggravation, but after being stared at by him, he said to Xie Sen in an exasperated voice, “I’m sorry.”

Xie Sen was like a deflated balloon at this moment. Originally, he had been thinking of a painful fight to make a name for himself, but things turned out in a completely unexpected way. Now, he just felt uninterested. He waved his hand to show that he was fine, and didn’t care.

He pulled on Maine, and headed for the corner. The man followed, as he held out his bracelet. “I’m really sorry. Give me a chance to make amends.”

Xie Sen looked at this man speechlessly. He was using the same tactics that his roommates used to pick up girls, to deal with him. He didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry, so he just shook his head. “Your brother has already apologized. No need to be polite.”

The man was about to say something else, when Maine took Xie Sen’s arm and switched him to a different position. He stood between Xie Sen and the man, then looked at the man coldly. “Your brother is so angry he ran out. You should probably go talk to him.”

The man looked back. His brother really wasn’t in the same place. He looked at Maine and their eyes met like a lightning bolt.

For a moment, the man was silent before he said with a light-hearted smile, “It’s useless to guard him. You can’t guard.”

Maine’s face instantly sank. The man looked at Xie Sen with a smile, and said goodbye in a gentle tone to Xie Sen. Then he turned away to chase his temperamental brother.

Xie Sen watched the man’s back. He thought about how he was after an impure relationship. Look at who is impure. He and Maine were buddies, not so ambiguous!

He tugged at Maine’s sleeve. “Don’t be angry. He’s speaking nonsense.”

Maine looked at him. Xie Sen showed a bright smile. “Don’t be angry about strangers. Come on, let’s go sit in the corner and try the food here.”

However, after a couple of steps, someone else came up to him and offered him a lot of attention. Xie Sen sent three people away, one after another, before he finally sat down with Maine on the sofa in the corner. He propped his hand on his chin, and pinched the side of his face. “I look better than you?”

Is it possible to look good enough to make people feel good?

Maine shook his head. “No.”

Xie Sen was puzzled. “Then why are you so abnormal today?”

Maine murmured softly, “Maybe…”

“What?” Xie Sen didn’t hear it clearly, and leaned closer to his face. “Maybe what?”

Maine looked at him, then turned his head to look around and whispered, “The Cox’s house must have surveillance all over the place to ensure the safety of their guests.”

Xie Sen was even more surprised. He was saying such remarkable things, but to actually avoid the surveillance?

Suddenly, the lights in the ballroom all went out. Xie Sen was startled, but in the next moment, his right hand was held by a pair of large hands. The palm of the hand was warm and had thin calluses although the owner of the hand was very young. Xie Sen felt at ease.

He turned his head just as the lights of the banquet hall’s speech table went on. The light that reached the corner wasn’t very bright, but he could see people clearly. His and Maine’s eyes met. Xie Sen felt that Maine’s gaze wasn’t the same as usual, which made him inexplicably panicked.

“Welcome, everyone…”

He turned his head to look at the address table, but noticed that Maine’s eyes didn’t move away from him. He wanted to ask why he was staring at him, but he felt embarrassed.

After the welcome speech, Julos performed on his instrument. He looked thinner and paler. With his delicate face, it was easy to feel sorry for him.

His performance won warm applause, and he gave a speech to say thanks. His tone was sincere, his voice was a bit weak, his attitude was low, his manners were meticulous and he won a lot of praise.

The lights in the hall came back on, but it was still a little darker than before. Then the music started, and many people began dancing in pairs.

Xie Sen watched curiously as the others danced. The dancing here was very strong, somewhat like a rumba, only less tangled. It was very passionate and spirited, and the atmosphere warmed up in no time.

Maine put his hand on his shoulder and asked, “Do you want to dance?”

Xie Sen hurriedly shook his head, and said honestly, “I don’t know how.”

“I can teach you,” Maine said.

Xie Sen looked up, and saw two partners face to face. The male’s flattened palm pressed against the female’s back shoulder, then slid all the way down the back to the waist, while the female’s right foot hooked around the male’s left leg, and gradually moved up from the ankle.

It was hot and ambiguous.

He looked away, and blushed vaguely. “No, it’s not necessary. My hands and feet aren’t coordinated enough for dancing.”

“Is that so?” Maine laughed lightly.

Xie Sen coughed a little, and nodded in a serious manner.

“Brother.” Julos came over, and called out affectionately. Unlike his voice, he didn’t look too good. His mouth hung at the corners with a stiff smile. Obviously his acting skills weren’t too good, but his back was to the hall and the rest of the people couldn’t see his expression. His voice lifted slightly, “I’m so happy that you came to my birthday party.”

Xie Sen rubbed his arms. This person was lucky he wasn’t acting, otherwise he would have pissed off the director.

Maine looked at him coldly, and didn’t give him any face. “If your expression was in sync with your voice, I might believe you to be sincere.”

Julos’ expression stiffened, as he sat down opposite them. “Brother misunderstood. I just,” he coughed lightly. “Haven’t yet recovered from my previous injury. I’m sorry brother, I was too ignorant before, please forgive me,” he said. Where his hand was resting on his knee, he clenched his fist.

Maine averted his eyes, and didn’t pay any attention.

Xie Sen let out a puff of laughter as Julos glared at him, then quickly changed to a gentle expression. “It’s good that you’re here too.” He picked up a stack of jerky. “Try it. It’s delicious.”

Xie Sen waved his hand. “I don’t want to eat right now.”

Julos got up, sat next to Xie Sen, and eagerly said, “So what do you like to do in your spare time? Do you like to race cars or go shopping? Or go on a trip to an alien planet. Is there any place you want to go? I’ll invite you there.”

Xie Sen moved in Maine’s direction, and looked at him oddly. “What do you want?”

“If you’re my brother’s friend, you’re my friend.” He looked at Maine’s ugly face, and his smile was finally not forced. “I like you and want to play with you.”

Maine stared at him with cold eyes. “He won’t play with you.”

Julos laughed lightly, and suddenly reached out to lift Xie Sen’s collar, but Maine slapped him away.

Julos covered the back of his hand, and gave him a hard stare. Then he looked at Xie Sen, and smiled, “This suit is a rental, right? I can buy it for you and give you a few more. It’s too hard for you to work at Gold Medal. I can help you find an easier job with better pay.”

“No need.” Xie Sen was speechless. Was he trying to make him his sugar baby? He was a man. Did he need to be taken care of? Was he looking down on him?!

“I’m so happy to see you two brothers talking to each other.” Sotoko walked over with a touched look on his face.

Xie Sen frowned. He knew he was lying! 

Sotoko said to Maine, “Come with me for a moment. Admiral Cox wants to see you.”

Maine subconsciously frowned, but he had long been mentally prepared. There were some things that could only be said clearly face to face. He got up. “Can my friend come with me?”

Sotoko stretched his hands helplessly. “I don’t think the Admiral wants other people to meddle in his meeting with you. Don’t worry, Julos will take care of him.”

Maine was even more uneasy, and said to Xie Sen, “I’ll be back soon. Stay here and don’t leave.”

Xie Sen agreed, and after some thought asked, “Where is the Admiral?”

“The study.” Sotoko pointed to a room behind the banquet hall.

Xie Sen glanced over there. It wasn’t far away. He said to Maine, “Contact me if you need anything.”

“You too.”

Sotoko laughed, and patted Maine’s shoulder. “Relax. There are no man-eating monsters. You young people just like to think too much. Many guests have seen you tonight. No one will hurt you.”

Maine and Xie Sen looked at each other, then he followed Sotoko away.

Julos picked up the stack of jerky again. “You can try it now that Maine isn’t here, right? This is really good.”

“I don’t want to eat it.” Xie Sen sat across from him, and distanced himself from him. “Maine isn’t here, so you don’t have to act. Just now, you were deliberately using me to piss off Maine, right?”

“How come?” Julos laughed. “I really like you. I don’t understand why you have to follow Maine, he has nothing, and I–”

Xie Sen raised his hand to stop his next words. “I’m friends with Maine because of who he is as a person, not because of what he has. As for you, I’m not interested at all.”

“You!” Julos sneered. “As a person? You’re eighteen years old, right? I really didn’t think adults would be stupid because of his looks. You don’t know him at all. He’s a demon. Born wrong. An unknown.”

Xie Sen frowned. “Are you out of your mind? Interstellar kid, what are you talking about?” If they continued, would they have to talk about ancient curses?

“I’m not talking nonsense,” Julos said firmly. “You don’t know him. You don’t know, his dad…”

He said this and suddenly stopped. Xie Sen froze. He had never heard Maine mention his dad. On Brandt Star, a dad was the equivalent of a mother.

“What was wrong with his dad?” Xie Sen asked nervously.

Julos surveyed his expression. “You want to know? Let’s go play together in the backyard. Someone is setting off fireworks. It’s beautiful, but you have a prejudice against me. I think playing together will make you change your impression of me.”

Xie Sen deflated. “No. Say what you want. I’ll stay here.”

Julos whispered to himself, “Stubborn as an old man. I don’t understand why Dad wants me to please him.”

Xie Sen didn’t care what he was saying. He adjusted his sitting position, slid his body down and leaned against the back of the couch to make himself more comfortable, as he turned on his bracelet and casually flipped through the news.

Julos was silent for a moment, having run out of things to say. “Have you ever been to…”

He asked a bunch of questions. Xie Sen began with looking at him, and then didn’t even look up at all. The words Julos said were where the scenery was beautiful, where the food was delicious, how much money he spent to buy this and that. Xie Sen listened for a while and understood. This wasn’t to promote tourist places, this was simply to show off his wealth!

“Hey, I have said so much, you do not have any idea? Don’t follow Maine, stay with me and I’ll give you all my stuff,” Julos tempted.

Xie Sen was powerless and wanted to spit. Even as a friend, how come it sounded so wrong?

Julos tried all the topics he could, but Xie Sen wouldn’t respond at all. He gritted his teeth. “Didn’t you just get interested in Maine’s father?”

Xie Sen subconsciously raised his head, but halfway through he stopped. Julos might make another offer if he showed interest.

Julos mocked, “I told you. Maine is an unknown. You’ll have bad luck with him too. He’s acting like a fool. He still thinks his father died in a car accident, but in fact he killed himself for him!”

“What do you mean?” Two voices came from either side of Julos, one after the other at the same time.

Xie Sen asked the question while looking up sharply, then saw the owner of the other voice. Maine.

Maine was standing behind the couch where Julos was sitting. His face was shady, and his eyes were dark. He took two steps forward, and grabbed Julos by the back of his collar. He was so strong that the veins on the back of his hand were bulging. “Say it again!”

Julos was strangled by the collar. His face immediately turned red, and one of his hands went to pick at Maine’s hand, while he coughed violently. “Let go of me!”

Xie Sen was startled and stood up. “Maine!”

Maine seemed not to hear his voice. His eyes were fixed on Julos, his voice was cold in the extreme, “Say what you just said again!”

Julos winced, his body shook. He gritted his teeth and said, “Devil.” He quickly unbuttoned his shirt, twisted around and raised his hand towards Maine, who took a step back. He took the opportunity to get out of his clothes.

“So what if I say so, you’re the one who’s stupid!” Julos sneered.

Maine’s eyes glowed red, and he rushed forward. He jumped over the couch with ease, grabbed Julos by the neck with his right hand, and pressed him into the couch. “You forced him to do it, didn’t you?”

His memory was that man was timid, but full of passion for life. He absolutely would not kill himself for no reason.

Julos’ face turned white, and he was completely speechless.

Xie Sen was stunned. With Maine’s strength, he had no doubt that Julos would have his neck snapped in the next second. He reached out, and grabbed Maine’s left arm. “Don’t be impulsive!”

Even if there was a good reason to kill Julos here, the consequences for Maine would be absolutely miserable. As his words fell, a two-meter tall gray wolf suddenly appeared in the living room, howled, then leapt up in the air, and ran in Maine’s direction.

Xie Sen’s eyes widened. Before he could react, he was pushed to the left by Maine, and fell to the ground. He didn’t bother to get up, just looked in Maine’s direction.

Maine dodged to the right. The gray wolf landed, and continued to attack him with a claw to his shoulder. With Maine’s hands, he could completely avoid it, but he didn’t dodge anymore, only stared at the gray wolf.

“Julos, how are you?” Sotoko followed closely behind the gray wolf. He picked up Julos, who was limp on the sofa, and shouted anxiously without even looking at Maine.

The light in Maine’s body seemed to disappear in an instant, it left only endless blackness. He looked at the gray wolf, and the corners of his mouth slowly hooked up. He let out a short sound, “Heh.”

It’s really like this. It’s all fake. Everything is fake! All of them are liars! Hypocrisy. Disgusting!

He knew it all, he knew it all! As a senior in the Information Department, how could he not know that Sotoko’s words were suspicious? But Sotoko’s words were so nice, and spoke to the deepest longing of his heart.

Maybe if he believed it, it would be true.

Maine’s voice was obviously very soft, but it was like a heavy hammer hit Xie Sen’s heart. Xie Sen’s heart instantly ached. He was about to call out to Maine, when a voice came from his side. The young master of the Qiao family stood beside him, then bent down to help him, and asked with concern, “Are you okay?” 

Xie Sen then realized that he was still sitting on the ground, and hurriedly got up. He politely looked up to thank him, “Thank you.”

Maine’s gaze twitched. No, he still had hope, a faint hope. He looked in Xie Sen’s direction and saw the graceful man was holding Xie Sen while Xie Sen looked up, and spoke to him with a smile.

“Hahahaha…” Maine burst into a steep laugh, a laugh that was thick with derision, all against himself. As he laughed, he shouted violently, his voice harsh and frightening. He swept his freezing gaze over Sotoko and Julos, then turned and ran out the door.

“Maine!” Xie Sen shouted anxiously, as he pulled his legs to follow.

The young master grabbed his arm. “You’ve got a bruise here. You should see a doctor.”

Xie Sen was so anxious that he slapped his hand away, and ran after Maine, not bothering to speak. Maine’s shoulder was bleeding halfway down his body, and with his frenzied appearance, it was particularly frightening.

Xie Sen wasn’t as fast as him, and was still running when a man stopped him. “Don’t chase him. He’s dangerous, and will hurt you.”

Xie Sen glared at him viciously, and pushed the man away. “Get lost!”