Chapter 1
Class One and Class Two of Yunde High School’s second year were both elite science-track classes. This Thursday, because Class One had rearranged its schedule, both classes happened to have PE during the third period of the afternoon.
PE at Yunde High School was simple. After an easy warm-up jog, the PE teacher let them do whatever they wanted.
No one knew which class suggested it first, but before long, the students from both classes had decided to play a basketball game.
After half an hour of fierce competition, Class Two was ahead by a narrow one-point lead.
Just when Class Two thought victory was theirs, however—one second before the bell rang—
Jiang Mi from Class One stole the ball.
He turned, bent at the hips, and shot.
The basketball struck the backboard, spun rapidly around the rim twice, then dropped into the basket.
At that exact moment, the bell rang.
The students from Class One erupted into deafening cheers.
“Brother Jiang is freaking awesome!”
“Jiang Mi, you’re my god!”
And plenty of other equally enthusiastic cries of admiration.
Jiang Mi himself, the one being cheered for, remained remarkably calm. He casually lifted the hem of his school uniform and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Only after half the people on the court had left did he head upstairs with Liang Xuping, the classmate he was closest to.
Liang Xuping had also taken part in the fierce game. His mind was still caught up in the excitement as he praised him nonstop.
“Jiang Mi, that last three-pointer was insanely cool!”
Jiang Mi took a gulp of water. As they climbed the stairs, he turned and asked, “Only my last shot was cool?”
“Fuck,” Liang Xuping said. “You were cool the whole game, okay? The whole game! Didn’t you hear how loudly everyone was shouting your name? I swear, if we’d been indoors, those girls would’ve screamed the roof off.”
Laughing and joking, the two made their way to the third floor.
The moment they entered the classroom of Class One, they saw more than a dozen students crowded around the podium, looking at something.
Liang Xuping was naturally curious, so he immediately squeezed toward the center of the crowd. But the moment he learned that everyone was looking at the results of the latest monthly exam, he hurriedly backed away.
“Check for me,” he instructed Jiang Mi.
Then he added, “If I’m in the top twenty in the class, tell me my ranking the second you get back to your seat. If I’m below twentieth, don’t say anything. Give me some time to mentally prepare myself.”
Jiang Mi said, “Sure.”
Liang Xuping fled back to his seat like a gust of wind.
Jiang Mi squeezed into the crowd instead.
One of the students looking at the rankings noticed him and turned around with admiration.
“Jiang Mi, you’re first again. First in the class and first in the entire grade.”
Hearing that, the small trace of nervousness in Jiang Mi’s heart immediately disappeared.
He squeezed to the front and looked at the rankings for the monthly exam.
At the very top were the two unmistakable characters of his name: Jiang Mi.
He quickly scanned his scores in each subject, then checked the difference between his total score and the second-place student’s. After that, his gaze moved downward as he searched for the three characters of Liang Xuping’s name.
Two minutes later, Jiang Mi returned to his seat and took out the chemistry book he planned to read during the next self-study period.
Liang Xuping had been watching his every move.
He saw Jiang Mi come down from the podium.
He saw Jiang Mi return to his seat without saying anything.
Then he saw Jiang Mi take out his chemistry book.
I’m screwed, Liang Xuping thought.
But just then, Jiang Mi turned his head and smiled at him.
“Not bad this time. Seventh in the class, thirteenth in the grade.”
Liang Xuping froze for two seconds.
Then he violently shoved his chair back and charged toward the rankings on the podium.
Three minutes later, he returned to his seat looking immensely pleased with himself. Turning toward Jiang Mi, he said, “Holy shit, I really am seventh in the class! And I’m only half a point behind sixth place.”
Jiang Mi praised him too. “You did pretty well this time.”
Liang Xuping chuckled. “Still not as good as you, though. You beat second place by four whole points.”
Yunde High School was one of the top high schools in Bei City. Their class, in particular, was an elite class, so the students’ total scores were always extremely close. A difference of just one or two points could often mean several places in the rankings.
Jiang Mi smiled.
Now that he had confirmed he’d done well on the monthly exam, Liang Xuping became smug.
He dragged his chair closer to Jiang Mi and excitedly suggested, “Jiang Mi, come over to my place this weekend and play games. We haven’t played together in months.”
“I even got a new batch of games last month.”
“And a few days ago, I had Uncle Lin replace the screen in my room. It’s as big as the one in the living room now, and the display quality is just as good. We can play in my room and won’t run into my little brother,” Liang Xuping said.
“You hate your brother that much?” Jiang Mi asked as he opened his chemistry book. “You won’t even play games in the living room anymore?”
“I don’t hate him. I’m just a little scared of him. I’ve told you before—I think he’s… weird. Creepy.”
The October wind wasn’t particularly cold, but as it blew through the wide-open window, Liang Xuping suddenly felt a chill all around him.
“He doesn’t talk. He just stares at you with those creepy, pitch-black eyes. If he were a few years older, I’d seriously suspect he might stand beside my bed in the middle of the night holding a knife.”
Liang Xuping couldn’t help shuddering.
Jiang Mi gave him a speechless look.
“Isn’t that a bit much? He’s just a six-year-old kid. You’re more than ten years older than him.”
Liang Xuping replied stiffly, “If you’d met him, you’d know I’m not exaggerating. He really is kind of terrifying.”
“Forget it, forget it. Let’s not talk about him anymore.” Liang Xuping threw an arm companionably around Jiang Mi’s shoulders. “So, are you coming over this weekend to play games?”
Jiang Mi thought for a few seconds.
“Sure. Saturday?”
“Saturday works.”
—
Saturday.
Jiang Mi and Liang Xuping had agreed to meet at two in the afternoon.
The taxi stopped outside the large iron gates of the Liang family villa. Jiang Mi took out his phone and called Liang Xuping to tell him he had arrived.
“Wait a second. I think my brother went downstairs. Let me check whether he’s in the living room first.”
Jiang Mi was helpless. “Is that really necessary?”
“Of course it is!” Liang Xuping replied righteously.
A few minutes later, Liang Xuping had searched the enormous living room and found no sign of his brother.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
“He’s not in the living room. Where are you?”
“At your front gate,” Jiang Mi answered.
Only a few seconds after he finished speaking, the iron gate leading to the Liang family’s main house slid open.
Liang Xuping had opened it for him, and the two went upstairs together.
The Liang family’s main house had three floors, and Liang Xuping lived on the second.
Although Jiang Mi and Liang Xuping had only known each other for a little over a year, they shared a dorm room and had become close during military training. Jiang Mi had already visited the Liang residence several times.
Familiar with the place, he followed Liang Xuping through the lavish living room, up to the second floor, and stopped outside Liang Xuping’s bedroom.
Liang Xuping raised his hand and turned the doorknob.
Just then, Jiang Mi heard the creak of a door opening behind him.
He instinctively turned around.
There stood a tiny child, barely half his height.
Hearing the movement diagonally behind him, Liang Xuping cursed, “Fuck!”
He immediately shoved open his bedroom door, grabbed Jiang Mi by the arm, dragged him inside, and slammed the door shut at lightning speed.
The tiny child Jiang Mi had only glimpsed for a moment vanished from sight.
All that remained before him was the dark red wooden door.
Jiang Mi asked curiously, “Was that your little brother? He looked pretty cute. He didn’t seem as terrifying as you said.”
As he spoke, his hand landed on the doorknob, as though he intended to open the door again.
Liang Xuping hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.
“You only caught a quick glimpse of him. Of course you don’t know how weird he is. I’ve been living with him for almost four months.”
Jiang Mi: “…”
Liang Xuping pulled Jiang Mi farther into the room.
“Enough, enough. Let’s not talk about him. Didn’t you come here to play games?”
Liang Xuping’s attitude made Jiang Mi curious about his newly six-year-old little brother. But seeing Liang Xuping enthusiastically rummaging around for game cartridges, Jiang Mi remembered that he had indeed come here to play games and joined him in choosing one.
They picked a newly released turn-based PvP game.
Sitting on the floor, the two played for more than two hours before Liang Xuping announced that his stomach hurt and he needed to use the bathroom.
Jiang Mi was feeling thirsty.
He called after Liang Xuping, who was rushing toward the bathroom, “I’m thirsty. I’m going downstairs to get a bottle of water.”
Liang Xuping had already needed to use the bathroom halfway through the game, but they had been right at the most exciting part, so he had held it in for ages and was now barely able to endure it.
As he shut the bathroom door, he replied, “Go ahead.”
This wasn’t Jiang Mi’s first time at the Liang residence. The first time he came, Liang Xuping had even shown him around the house. He knew there was bottled water in the refrigerated storage room on the left side of the living room.
Jiang Mi took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerated room, drank half of it, then headed upstairs with the remaining half.
But just as he reached the staircase, his steps suddenly stopped.
He heard a crisp sound coming from behind the stairs, like a bead dropping onto a marble floor.
He turned and walked toward it.
Jiang Mi saw a child.
The child was sitting on the snow-white marble floor with his head lowered. He tossed the marble in his hand onto the floor, then reached out with a small hand that wasn’t particularly chubby and picked it up.
Then he did it again.
He dropped the marble.
Picked it up.
Dropped it.
Picked it up.
Over and over.
Jiang Mi stood three or four steps away, watching the expressionless child play with the marble.
After Jiang Mi had stared at him for a full minute, the child finally noticed him.
After picking up the marble yet again, Liang Jinyi didn’t throw it down.
Instead, he raised his head and looked at the boy who had been staring at him.
More than two hours ago, when Jiang Mi had entered Liang Xuping’s room, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of little Liang Jinyi. But he had only seen the child’s profile before Liang Xuping dragged him into the room.
He had vaguely thought the child was quite good-looking, but he hadn’t gotten a clear look at him.
Only now, when the child lifted his head, did Jiang Mi finally see what the little brother Liang Xuping avoided like the plague actually looked like.
And he couldn’t help marveling inwardly.
He’s actually such a beautiful little kid.
Jiang Mi looked at where Liang Jinyi was sitting.
The boy was sitting directly on the marble floor, wearing only a pair of thin denim pants suitable for early autumn.
Jiang Mi asked curiously, “Little one, aren’t you cold?”
Liang Jinyi didn’t react to his words.
He simply stared straight at Jiang Mi, as though he had discovered something fascinating that he had never seen before.
Seeing Liang Jinyi stare at him without moving, Jiang Mi remembered Liang Xuping saying that his little brother liked to be alone and play by himself.
Maybe he was disturbing the child.
Jiang Mi gave little Liang Jinyi an apologetic smile and was about to turn around and leave the child’s little corner of the world.
Then, suddenly, he saw Liang Jinyi move.
The child, who had been sitting there with his round little head tilted up and staring at him motionlessly for ages, smiled at him.
A small dimple appeared on his right cheek.
Then he stretched out his thin little arms and made a gesture that…
Jiang Mi took a moment to process it.
He bent at the waist and asked gently, “Are you… asking Brother to hold you?”
Liang Jinyi stared at him without blinking and nodded his little head vigorously.
Jiang Mi placed his half-empty bottle of mineral water to the side, bent down, and picked the child up.
Liang Jinyi, however, seemed unused to being held.
The instant Jiang Mi lifted him, his entire body reacted like a startled puppy. Both hands flew into the air as though he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
He froze for two seconds.
Then he turned his head.
After getting a clear look at Jiang Mi’s face, he tentatively reached out and wrapped his arms around Jiang Mi.
Jiang Mi had a little cousin around the same age as Liang Jinyi.
She adored her older cousin, and because she was sweet-tongued and knew how to act spoiled, Jiang Mi adored her too.
Whenever they met, she always wanted Jiang Mi to carry her. And the moment he picked her up, she would automatically wrap her arms around his neck.
Liang Jinyi’s reaction was exactly the same as hers.
Instinctively, Jiang Mi found himself liking the little boy a little more.
And when little Liang Jinyi saw that Jiang Mi smiled at him after he wrapped his arms around his neck, it was as though he had been encouraged.
He lowered his head and, like a puppy acting spoiled, rubbed against Jiang Mi’s neck.
Once.
Then again.
Liang Jinyi wasn’t chubby.
Jiang Mi had noticed it the moment he picked him up. His little cousin was about the same height, but when he held her, he could clearly feel her weight.
This child, however, was so thin that through the thin layer of fabric, Jiang Mi could almost feel the bones beneath his skin.
His hair, though, was beautiful—thick and pitch-black.
Jiang Mi was actually rather ticklish. When the child rubbed against him like that, he couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.
“Jiang Mi, didn’t you go downstairs to get some water? How did you vanish after getting a drink? I’ve been waiting forever. Where the hell are you?”
Liang Xuping rushed down from the second floor in search of the missing Jiang Mi.
Just as he descended the last section of the spiral staircase, he seemed to hear his friend’s laughter coming from behind it.
Curious, Liang Xuping walked around the staircase.
“Jiang Mi, you—”
His voice abruptly stopped when he saw the scene before him.
Liang Xuping stood frozen in place for two seconds.
Then he firmly concluded that he must have played video games for too long and lost his mind.
He abruptly closed his eyes.
Then he took a deep breath.
Exhaled.
Only then did he cautiously crack one eyelid open.
Good.
The first thing he saw was the huge floor-standing famille rose porcelain vase his grandfather had bought at an auction for twenty million US dollars.
He looked to the right.
Good.
The space behind the staircase was empty.
There was no horrifying, impossible-in-this-lifetime scene like Fifth Prince Yongqi falling in love with Ziwei.
Liang Xuping wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Just then, the sound of approaching footsteps came from beside him.
Liang Xuping turned his head.
And the next second, the breath he hadn’t yet exhaled lodged in his throat again.
He was now certain that what he had just seen wasn’t some hallucination caused by a comet smashing into his skull.
His little brother—
the little brother who hated being touched and would explode in rage the moment anyone laid a hand on him—
was obediently nestled in his best friend’s arms.
And his best friend seemed to like his little brother quite a lot.
He even reached out and scratched beneath the boy’s chin.
Apparently tickled and slightly uncomfortable, his little brother turned his head away, then clingily buried his entire little head against his best friend’s neck.
Jiang Mi had noticed Liang Xuping long ago, but only now did he finally have the attention to spare for him.
He looked at Liang Xuping with a complicated expression.
“Liang Xuping, are you sure you’re not prejudiced against your little brother? Jinyi is obviously such a well-behaved child.”
Held against Jiang Mi’s chest with one arm, little Liang Jinyi looked at his older brother, Liang Xuping, and—as though agreeing with Jiang Mi’s words—nodded his head vigorously.
Liang Xuping: “…”
Liang Jinyi, you little bastard! You actually have the nerve to nod?!
Last month, when you were sitting on the stairs spacing out, I accidentally touched you once. You bit my thigh until it bled, and that still wasn’t enough for you! You went crazy in the living room and smashed the teapot, cups, cushions, and vases. Then you stared at me creepily for ten whole minutes before finally letting me go!
Have you fucking forgotten all of that?!
Author’s Note:
Time for an age-gap younger-top romance. Ten years apart.
