He slept like a baby.

The other reason, which he realized just as Zhang Weiran closed his eyes and accepted Xiaokai’s kiss as clumsily as if it was his first time, was that it was a good way to control him. Weiran had loyalty to the cause, he had loyalty to Xingyu—but his loyalty to Xiaokai? Zhang Weiran was stupid enough that he would get himself caught, and Xiaokai needed a way to ensure he wouldn’t give Xiaokai up if and when that happened. If Weiran didn’t want the love of his life finding out that he was sleeping with said love’s brother—well, needless to say, Xiaokai was probably out of the line of fire for now.

16

THE DISCOVERY

WHILE XINGYU WAS in his lessons with Ba, it seemed an army of decorators had come into the house and drenched every square inch in holiday cheer. It was almost sickening, this display of normalcy, especially for a holiday so closely related to charity. When had Liu Incorporated done anything remotely charitable without considering tax benefits or public image first? Everything Ba decided for the company—everything he was teaching Xingyu to decide for the company—was coldly calculated. There was no room for altruism. Ba had no concept of the word, and Xingyu wasn’t entirely sure he knew what it meant, either.

“Xingyu!” Laoma was directing some of the few decorators who were lingering to do the final touches. “What do you think?”

Xingyu was still frozen in the entryway, trying to take all this in. He looked at Laoma—at the smile that curved her lips, at the long red dress that fluttered around her legs with every movement—and had no idea what to say.

“I don’t remember it ever being this…”

“Extravagant?” Laoma laughed. “It wasn’t, when you were younger. We toned it down while you were gone, too. But I thought…well, since all of us are together again…” The trail of her voice was less hesitant than it was a specific kind of communicating strategy that Xingyu had become familiar with the few times he’d communicated with her as a child; she was letting Xingyu fill in the blanks, letting him make his own assumptions. He assumed it was something she used in business, though he’d never seen it used such a way—where Ba taught him how to be direct and demanding and unyielding, it seemed it might be possible that Laoma did the exact opposite while still remaining in control: she spoke carefully, gently, almost sweetly, leaving white space between her words that her opponent could fill in as they liked until they’d come to the same conclusion as her without even knowing about it. Did Xiaokai learn this as well? Surely he had—he was her heir, after all.