Chapter 36
The two continued walking as they talked, Liang Jinyi still holding the eye-catching bouquet of blue roses in his arms.
When they had gone into the cat café earlier, Liang Jinyi had been afraid that the cats might accidentally damage his flowers, so he had stored them in one of the lockers provided by the café and only retrieved them before leaving.
There were plenty of places to eat and have fun along the commercial street. After walking a few dozen meters, Liang Jinyi spotted an arcade and asked Jiang Mi if he wanted to go in and play.
Jiang Mi hadn’t played these kinds of games in a long time, and since his little brother was interested, he immediately agreed.
The two entered the arcade. As usual, Liang Jinyi stored his roses first, while Jiang Mi exchanged five hundred yuan for game tokens.
“What should we play first?” Jiang Mi hadn’t been to an arcade in years. Things had changed so quickly over the years that he actually felt a little out of touch.
“How about the basketball machine?” Liang Jinyi suggested.
“Sure,” Jiang Mi replied.
The two walked over to the basketball machines. Jiang Mi rolled up his sleeves and tried a few shots. His aim was just as good as it had been back then, and all three balls went in.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Liang Jinyi was also making every shot.
Jiang Mi smiled and called, “Jinyi.”
Liang Jinyi sank the basketball in his hands. Hearing Jiang Mi call him, he naturally turned his head to look over.
Jiang Mi smiled. “Jinyi, want to compete? Let’s see who can make more shots.”
Liang Jinyi raised an eyebrow. “Sure.”
Jiang Mi asked again, “Then what about the stakes? What should we bet?”
Since it was a competition, naturally there had to be something at stake. Jiang Mi lowered his eyes and thought carefully.
Liang Jinyi also began considering what they could wager, but the moment he did, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward Jiang Mi’s lips.
His brother had to meet clients and frequently visited their companies, so naturally, he paid close attention to his appearance. The temperature in Bei City had dropped over the past few days, and the air was dry, so his brother had developed the habit of applying lip balm.
His moist, red lips, nourished by the balm, gleamed temptingly beneath the bright lights.
Liang Jinyi’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently beyond his control.
Jiang Mi thought for a long while. There wasn’t much housework for them to do. An auntie came by every week to clean, and as for cooking and washing the dishes, they had already divided those chores between them.
“Jinyi, how about this? Whoever loses has to wash the other person’s socks for a week.”
Socks had to be changed every day, and neither Jiang Mi nor Liang Jinyi was lazy enough to leave them sitting around until the auntie came to wash them.
Although Liang Jinyi was disappointed, he also knew there was no way he could say aloud what he had wanted as the wager.
“Sure.”
Jiang Mi picked up a basketball from the rack beside him and raised an eyebrow. “Then let’s start.”
“Sure, Brother.”
Liang Jinyi rolled up his sleeves.
They dragged the competition out for quite a while, each taking a hundred shots. In the end, Jiang Mi won by the narrowest possible margin—just one basket.
Although Jiang Mi appeared gentle and refined, deep down, he was extremely competitive. Liang Jinyi was the exact opposite. He looked fierce and highly competitive, but in reality, there were many things he simply didn’t care about, and he wasn’t particularly driven to win.
Having beaten his little brother, Jiang Mi glanced sideways at him and smiled.
“Little Brother, looks like you still need more practice.”
Liang Jinyi hadn’t gone easy on Jiang Mi. He had given it his all. When he was younger, he had seen his brother play basketball. Jiang Mi had been one of the main scorers and played fiercely. If Liang Jinyi deliberately let him win, there would have been no point.
He laughed. “Another round, Brother?”
“Sure.”
Jiang Mi smiled as well.
The two played the basketball machines for a while longer, then tried every other machine that caught their interest. By the time Jiang Mi checked the time, it was already eleven o’clock.
Although Jiang Mi was used to staying up late, Jinyi was still a growing kid. Jiang Mi wanted him to maintain a healthy sleep schedule, so he exchanged their unused tokens back for cash and took him out of the arcade.
By the time they got home, it was only eleven-thirty.
Jiang Mi changed his shoes and walked into the living room. He was just about to remind Liang Jinyi to wash up and go to bed early when the phone in his coat pocket rang.
Jiang Mi took it out, glanced at the caller ID, and answered.
“Mom, what’s wrong this late at night?”
Mother Jiang’s voice was anxious. “Little Mi, did Peipei go to your place?”
“No,” Jiang Mi replied.
Mother Jiang said anxiously, “Peipei is missing.”
“Missing?” Jiang Mi’s expression changed. “What happened?”
Mother Jiang explained that Peipei had argued with her mother that afternoon and then run away from home. Aunt Jiang had originally thought Liu Peipei would return after an hour or two.
“But it’s almost midnight now, and she still hasn’t come back. Her phone is turned off too.”
“Have you called her classmates?” Jiang Mi asked.
“Yes, yes, we called all of them. Peipei didn’t go to any of their places,” Mother Jiang said miserably.
“Have you called the police?” Jiang Mi asked again.
“Your uncle is getting ready to go to the police station,” Mother Jiang said.
“Mom, don’t panic too much yet. I’ll come back right now.”
Jiang Mi picked up the coat he had casually tossed onto the sofa.
A child going missing was indeed a serious matter. Mother Jiang hurriedly replied, “All right. Come back quickly.”
After hanging up, Jiang Mi hurried toward the door.
Liang Jinyi had originally been about to return to his room to get his pajamas and wash up. Seeing Jiang Mi’s grave expression, he quickly asked, “Brother, what happened?”
Only then did Jiang Mi remember that there was still someone else at home.
Distracted and worried, he said, “Peipei is missing.”
Then he reminded Liang Jinyi, “Go to bed early. I have to go back—”
Liang Jinyi interrupted him.
“Brother, I’ll go with you.”
He pulled up the zipper of his school uniform jacket.
“If you’re looking for someone, I can help too.”
Jiang Mi only thought for a second.
“Okay.”
Jiang Mi drove directly to his aunt’s house. His aunt actually lived quite close to Jiang Mi’s parents, only five or six kilometers away.
By the time Jiang Mi arrived, the police had already responded.
Cases of children running away from home were extremely common, and most of them returned after a day or two. Liu Peipei had only been gone for five hours, so the police weren’t overly concerned. Even so, they were still conscientious and pulled up surveillance footage from the streets around the Liu family’s home to trace Liu Peipei’s movements.
However, there was only surveillance footage on the street to the left after leaving the Liu residence. They saw Liu Peipei turn left, but there were no cameras farther down that street.
There were several branching roads along the way, so no one knew which direction she had taken.
Checking all the surveillance footage from that point onward would require an enormous amount of work, and there was no guarantee they would find anything. After all, she might have taken the subway, a bus, or even a three-wheeled vehicle somewhere along the way.
Jiang Mi said, “Auntie, Mom, you stay here and check the surveillance footage with the officers.”
Then he looked at his father and uncle.
“Dad, Uncle, the rest of us should drive around nearby and look for her. It’s so cold tonight. She’s probably staying somewhere like a KFC or convenience store.”
Father Jiang had been thinking the same thing.
“Okay.”
They called several close relatives and began searching.
Actually, if the girl had simply run away from home and found somewhere to sit, no one would have been too worried.
But accidents happened in this world.
A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl wandering outside alone in the middle of the night—what if something bad happened to her?
They knew the probability was small, but as long as the possibility existed, none of them could relax.
After everyone divided up the search areas, Liang Jinyi got into Jiang Mi’s car.
Jiang Mi drove slowly, first checking the pedestrians on the streets, then the brightly lit convenience stores, cafés, internet cafés, supermarkets, and similar places.
If a convenience store or café was small enough to see everything from inside the car, Jiang Mi and Liang Jinyi wouldn’t get out. Otherwise, they would stop and go inside to check.
They searched like this for almost two hours but still found nothing.
Unable to resist, Jiang Mi took out his phone and called Liu Peipei again.
The same automated message came through: the number was temporarily unavailable.
Irritated, Jiang Mi tossed his phone onto the dashboard and slowly drove on, carefully scanning every street and every brightly lit convenience store.
“Brother, is that Liu Peipei?”
Liang Jinyi’s gaze swept past a twenty-four-hour convenience store. Seeing the girl sitting by the window, he spoke up.
Aunt Jiang had told them what Liu Peipei was wearing when she left home. She had come home directly from school, so she was still wearing her school uniform.
Although public school uniforms varied slightly in style, most were blue-and-white tracksuits.
Jiang Mi craned his neck and looked toward the convenience store Liang Jinyi was pointing at.
A minute later, he swiftly pulled open his door and hurried out of the car.
The fine, salt-like snow had stopped in the early hours of the morning, but now it had begun falling again. Snowflakes as large as goose feathers drifted from the pitch-black sky and settled on Jiang Mi’s shoulders.
Liang Jinyi frowned and quickly followed.
Liu Peipei was sitting inside the convenience store with her head lowered, one finger absentmindedly tracing patterns across the dark red tabletop.
Only when clear footsteps sounded nearby did she casually raise her head.
The moment she saw who it was, Liu Peipei shot to her feet.
“Brother!”
Jiang Mi strode over to Liu Peipei.
Seeing that she was completely unharmed, he first let out a breath of relief.
Then he asked, “All right. Tell me what happened.”
Liu Peipei froze.
She stared at him blankly.
“Brother, aren’t you going to scold me?”
Jiang Mi asked, “Scold you for what?”
Liu Peipei’s eyes reddened.
She said softly, “For not going home in the middle of the night. For making all of you worry. For being immature.”
Jiang Mi sighed and said gently, “Peipei, the fact that you can say those things means you’re a sensible, considerate kid.”
He softened his voice.
“You must have had a reason for running away. Tell me. What made you unhappy?”
Plop.
A tear slid from Liu Peipei’s reddened eyes.
She threw herself into Jiang Mi’s arms and called out aggrievedly, “Brother…”
Jiang Mi lowered his head and gently stroked her hair.
“Tell me. Say it out loud and let Brother see if I can help you solve it.”
Liu Peipei raised her tear-filled eyes and said miserably, “I—I’ve been studying really hard these past two months. I improved by a hundred places in this monthly exam. I thought my mom would be a little happier.”
Liu Peipei didn’t actually want to cry, but she couldn’t stop the tears or her runny nose.
She choked out, “But my mom kept saying, ‘You’re still only ranked in the five hundreds. You can’t even get into a decent first-tier university.’ Then she scolded me for not working hard and said I only cared about having fun.”
The more Liu Peipei spoke, the more aggrieved she felt.
“But I really have been working hard these past two months. I study until midnight every single night.”
Jiang Mi took a packet of tissues from his coat pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to her.
After Liu Peipei wiped her nose, Jiang Mi said gently, “Your mother was wrong about this. Brother will talk to her tomorrow.”
After pouring out all her grievances and sadness to Jiang Mi, Liu Peipei calmed down considerably.
But when she heard Jiang Mi mention her parents, she couldn’t help saying irritably, “It won’t make any difference even if you talk to them. They won’t change. They can’t see how hard I’m trying. All they care about is that I can’t get into a 985 university or a top-tier university, so they think I’m useless.”
Jiang Mi sighed softly.
“Your parents are wrong about that, and Brother will help them work on changing. But your parents care about you very much. When I saw them tonight, both their eyes were red.”
Liu Peipei raised her head and stared at Jiang Mi speechlessly.
Jiang Mi rubbed her head again and said gently, “Come on. Brother will take you home first.”
With that, he took Liu Peipei by the wrist and tried to lead her away.
But after Jiang Mi took one step, he realized that Liu Peipei was still standing where she was, not moving.
Jiang Mi looked at her in confusion.
Liu Peipei said quietly, “Brother, I still don’t want to go home right now.”
Jiang Mi thought for a moment.
“Then you don’t have to go home. How about staying at Brother’s place tonight?”
Liu Peipei’s eyes lit up.
“Okay.”
After getting into the car, Jiang Mi first called his mother to tell everyone that Liu Peipei had been found. He also explained that the girl wanted to stay at his place tonight, so he would take her there and told everyone else to hurry home.
Aunt Jiang was right beside Mother Jiang. Hearing that Liu Peipei had been found, she let out a breath of relief.
As for her staying at Jiang Mi’s place for the night, that wasn’t a problem at all.
After informing everyone that Liu Peipei had been found safe and sound, Jiang Mi drove back to Shimao Tingfang near the Second Ring Road.
Jiang Mi was very thoughtful. On the way, they passed a twenty-four-hour supermarket, so he stopped and bought Liu Peipei a set of pajamas and toiletries.
By the time they got home, it was already three-thirty in the morning.
Jiang Mi called Liang Jinyi over and had him help change the bedding in the master bedroom.
Then he said to Liu Peipei, “Peipei, you can sleep here tonight.”
“Then where will Brother sleep?” Liu Peipei asked.
There were only three bedrooms in her brother’s apartment. There had originally been another spare bedroom, but Liang Jinyi was living in it, while the study didn’t have a bed.
As Jiang Mi zipped up the light blue duvet cover, he said, “I’ll sleep with Jinyi.”
The master bedroom had its own private bathroom. Since Peipei was a girl, it would be more convenient for her to sleep there.
Liang Jinyi was standing opposite Jiang Mi, straightening the bedsheet.
The moment he heard those words, his entire body stiffened.
He couldn’t help glancing at Jiang Mi.
Jiang Mi didn’t notice.
He had slept with Liang Jinyi countless times before, so one more night made no difference.
As for two tall adults sharing a 1.8-meter-wide bed, it might be slightly cramped, but only slightly.
“All right, it’s late. Go to sleep early.”
After finishing the bedding, Jiang Mi opened the wardrobe and took out a set of pajamas.
“Mm. Okay, Brother,” Liu Peipei said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Jiang Mi carried his pajamas into Liang Jinyi’s room.
Seeing the photo of himself and Liang Jinyi placed beside the bed, he couldn’t help laughing.
Then he turned and asked, “Are you showering first, or should I?”
Liang Jinyi smiled.
“Brother can go first.”
“Okay.”
Jiang Mi picked up his pajamas and headed for the bathroom.
It was already very late, so Jiang Mi moved quickly. A little over ten minutes later, he emerged from the shared bathroom.
He stood in the living room drying his hair and called out to Liang Jinyi, who was still in his room, reminding him to hurry up and shower. It was already past four.
Liang Jinyi answered and took his pajamas into the bathroom, which was filled with Jiang Mi’s scent.
Men’s hair was usually short. After only two or three minutes, Jiang Mi’s hair was no longer dripping wet.
He slipped on his slippers and entered Liang Jinyi’s room.
Having already passed his usual bedtime, Jiang Mi was surprisingly wide awake once he lay down.
Seeing that Liang Jinyi still hadn’t come out, Jiang Mi leaned against the headboard, opened his email on his phone, and decided to get some work done.
He had almost finished reading through his emails by the time Liang Jinyi finally walked in wearing his pajamas.
Calling them pajamas was generous. It was really just an oversized white T-shirt and a pair of gray shorts.
The shorts only reached Liang Jinyi’s knees, exposing a pair of straight, lean calves.
Unlike Jiang Mi’s smooth calves, however, Liang Jinyi’s were covered with leg hair of varying shades.
Jiang Mi checked the time and couldn’t help exclaiming, “Good grief. Little Brother, what kind of shower were you taking? You were in there for more than forty minutes.”
Liang Jinyi lifted the covers without answering.
He lay down beside Jiang Mi, draped his right arm around Jiang Mi’s waist, and said in a spoiled tone, “Brother, I’m sleepy. Let’s sleep.”
It was indeed very late.
Or rather, it was so late that it could already be called early.
Jiang Mi put down his phone, sat up slightly, and switched off the light.
“Go to sleep.”
Jiang Mi lay back down beneath the covers, closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep.
But two minutes later, he couldn’t help calling out, “Jinyi.”
Liang Jinyi’s head was resting against Jiang Mi’s shoulder. Hearing him, he gave a muffled response.
Jiang Mi said helplessly, “Little Brother, could you not hold me so tightly?”
When Jiang Mi had slept with Liang Jinyi as a child, the boy had also liked hugging him. But because of their difference in size, the child couldn’t actually wrap his arms around an adult. Little Liang Jinyi had simply pressed himself obediently against Jiang Mi while he slept.
But now…
Jiang Mi reached down, trying to move away the iron-like arm wrapped around his waist.
Seeing this, Liang Jinyi opened his eyes slightly in the dim bedroom.
His voice was hoarse as he asked, “Brother isn’t used to sleeping like this?”
Jiang Mi: “…”
Of course he wasn’t.
Hearing that, Liang Jinyi let out a low laugh.
Then he tightened the arm around Jiang Mi’s waist and said without the slightest courtesy—
“Then Brother can start getting used to it now.”
