Chapter 48
Jiang Mi felt that there was no way to communicate with Liang Jinyi right now. After telling him to get lost, he drove away.
On the way back to Shimao Tingfang, Jiang Mi repeatedly flirted with the speed limit. A drive that normally took thirty or forty minutes took him just over twenty today.
When he got home, Jiang Mi collapsed onto the bed, his mind racing.
There was no question that Jinyi was incredibly difficult to deal with. But if it had been any other pursuer this persistent, would things have gotten this bad?
Jiang Mi already knew the answer.
Of course not.
Any other pursuer who crossed even half as many lines as Jinyi—no, even one-third as many—would have been cut off without mercy. Jiang Mi might even have reported them for sexual harassment.
But this was Jinyi.
The younger brother he had doted on since childhood. The younger brother who acted spoiled with him, worried about him, and had learned to cook so well just to take care of his stomach.
Jiang Mi could not bear to treat him too cruelly.
And that was precisely why, even now, he had failed to put their relationship back on the right track.
Instead, he had allowed Liang Jinyi to cross the line again and again.
This could not continue.
Jinyi was young. He could be immature.
But if Jiang Mi kept indulging him and allowing him to cross boundaries over and over again, wasn’t that another kind of immaturity too?
At that thought, Jiang Mi got up and walked to the front door.
He stared at the keypad lock for a long time.
Finally, he pressed the asterisk key.
—
In the blink of an eye, it was Thursday again.
That afternoon, Jiang Mi received a message from Liang Jinyi saying that he was going to his place that evening.
Jiang Mi ignored him.
At six, employees began packing up and leaving one after another.
Jiang Mi stood, sat back down, then finally sighed and remained at his computer.
At that moment, his phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID.
Liang Jinyi.
Jiang Mi answered.
Liang Jinyi’s voice came through the phone, a frown evident in his tone.
“Brother, something’s wrong with your keypad lock. I can’t open the door.”
Jiang Mi was silent for a moment.
“It isn’t broken.”
Liang Jinyi gave a puzzled hum.
Jiang Mi said calmly, “I changed the password.”
After saying this, Jiang Mi waited for Liang Jinyi to question him or act spoiled and ask for the new password.
But Liang Jinyi merely fell silent for two seconds before saying, “All right.”
Then he asked, “When will Brother be home?”
Jiang Mi answered coldly, “I don’t know. I have a dinner engagement tonight.”
Liang Jinyi said softly, “All right, then. Brother, don’t drink too much. I’ll wait outside your door.”
“I’m hanging up.”
Jiang Mi ended the call abruptly.
He still had a little work left, so he simply focused on that instead.
Finally, at nine-thirty, Jiang Mi shut down his computer, picked up his car keys, and left.
There was no traffic at this hour.
Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Mi arrived home.
The moment he stepped out of the elevator, he saw Liang Jinyi leaning alone beside his front door.
Next to him was a large bag filled with fresh vegetables and meat.
Without glancing at him, Jiang Mi walked to the door and entered the password.
Once the door opened, Jiang Mi stepped into the entryway first.
Liang Jinyi followed him inside.
Bei City was still heated in late February.
After entering, Jiang Mi took off his coat and suit jacket, went to the bathroom to wash his hands, then came back out.
Liang Jinyi was carrying the bag of groceries into the kitchen.
He opened the large double-door refrigerator and neatly sorted all the ingredients inside.
Then he walked back out.
He showed no intention of cooking whatsoever.
Jiang Mi’s lips moved.
In the end, he could not help asking, “Have you eaten dinner?”
Liang Jinyi asked, “Brother already ate, right?”
Of course Jiang Mi had eaten.
He had ordered takeout at the office. A young man with a high metabolism and heavy mental workload could not exactly skip dinner.
Jiang Mi hummed.
Liang Jinyi said, “I’m not hungry tonight. I won’t eat.”
Then, as though he had no intention of pestering Jiang Mi, Liang Jinyi turned and walked toward his room.
Jiang Mi watched the young man’s tall, slender back and suppressed the impulse rising inside him.
He returned to his own room, showered, and changed into pajamas.
When Jiang Mi came back out, he did not see Liang Jinyi in the living room or study.
The light in Liang Jinyi’s bedroom was on.
Jiang Mi quietly walked to the half-open door.
Liang Jinyi was sitting at his desk, apparently doing homework.
After writing for a while, he picked up the glass beside him and gulped down a large amount of water.
Jiang Mi’s expression darkened.
He returned to his room, pulled out his chair, and sat for a while.
In the end, he still failed to control himself.
He picked up his phone and opened an app.
Twenty minutes later, the elevator bell downstairs rang.
Jiang Mi went to the living room and opened the downstairs elevator access.
Less than a minute later, the doorbell rang as well.
Jiang Mi opened the door and accepted the pizza from the delivery driver.
He placed it on the dining table, then walked expressionlessly to Liang Jinyi’s door and knocked.
Liang Jinyi turned around.
Jiang Mi said coldly, “I’m hungry. I ordered takeout. Come eat some too.”
Hearing this, Liang Jinyi put down his pen and looked at Jiang Mi.
The corners of his lips slowly curved upward.
Jiang Mi had ordered three eight-inch pizzas.
But he was not actually hungry at all.
After eating three small slices, he could not eat another bite.
“Brother isn’t eating anymore?” Liang Jinyi asked with a smile from across the table.
Under the warm white light, Jiang Mi noticed that Liang Jinyi’s face looked a little flushed.
He stood and poured himself a glass of water.
“I’m full.”
Liang Jinyi stared at Jiang Mi’s back and chuckled softly.
“Brother, when you care about me this much, how could you possibly reject me?”
Jiang Mi’s finger paused on the water dispenser button.
His face darkened, but he said nothing.
When the cup was almost full, he released the button, picked it up, and walked back toward his room under Liang Jinyi’s burning gaze.
Back in his room, Jiang Mi opened his phone and replied to several messages from friends.
Then, suddenly, he heard a thud from the living room.
Jiang Mi pushed back his chair, got up, and opened the door.
Liang Jinyi was sitting on the cold floor.
Jiang Mi frowned.
“What happened to you?”
Liang Jinyi sighed.
“My body feels weak.”
He stretched a hand toward Jiang Mi.
“Brother, pull me up.”
His tone was unbearably childish.
“Brother, if you don’t pull me up, I’m not getting up.”
Jiang Mi cursed fiercely in his heart.
The brat kept insisting he was no longer a child, yet wasn’t that exactly the kind of thing a six- or seven-year-old would say?
But seeing Liang Jinyi sitting on the floor with his face slightly flushed, staring stubbornly at him, Jiang Mi could not be bothered to argue.
He walked over and pulled him up.
But the moment he took Liang Jinyi’s hand, Jiang Mi stiffened.
He helped Liang Jinyi to his feet, then reached out and touched his forehead.
“Jinyi, you have a fever.”
Liang Jinyi looked completely unconcerned.
“I do have a bit of a fever.”
Then he sighed and looked at Jiang Mi aggrievedly.
“Brother, it was really windy outside your door.”
Jiang Mi genuinely wanted to curse.
Shimao Tingfang was a mid-to-high-end residential complex with fairly dense buildings. Right in front of the corridor outside his door was a large window.
Although spring had technically arrived, the nighttime temperature had only barely risen above freezing.
“If it was windy, didn’t you know how to close the window?” Jiang Mi snapped.
Liang Jinyi wrapped both arms around Jiang Mi’s waist.
His burning forehead pressed against Jiang Mi’s shoulder.
In a clingy voice, he said, “My head was full of Brother. I forgot to close it.”
Jiang Mi cursed his younger brother several more times inwardly.
He knew perfectly well how to take care of Jiang Mi.
But when it came to himself, had he regressed into a kindergartener?
“Stand properly,” Jiang Mi said. “I’ll find you some fever medicine.”
Jiang Mi kept more stomach medicine at home than anything else.
But he had lived independently abroad for a long time, and with his busy job and irregular schedule, he had caught minor illnesses several times.
So he also kept some common cold medicines at home.
Jiang Mi found a box of fever reducers, took out two tablets, and brought them to Liang Jinyi.
By then, Liang Jinyi was sitting in his room.
He took the tablets Jiang Mi gave him and, without even drinking water, tilted his head back and swallowed them dry.
Jiang Mi made no comment on his method of taking medicine.
After swallowing the pills, Liang Jinyi looked straight at Jiang Mi.
He stuck out his tongue and licked the palm where the two tablets had just rested.
His voice was full of confusion.
“Brother, why does every medicine you give me taste so good?”
Jiang Mi’s eyelid twitched.
He tried his best to keep a cold expression.
“All right. Go to sleep early tonight.”
His gaze fell on the chemistry test paper on Liang Jinyi’s desk, and his voice softened slightly.
“Don’t do the test paper tonight.”
Liang Jinyi was very obedient now.
“Okay, Brother.”
Jiang Mi looked at him again.
Seeing the feverish flush spreading from his cheekbones all the way to his forehead, Jiang Mi’s brows furrowed involuntarily.
Still somewhat worried, he returned to his own room.
It was still some time before Jiang Mi normally went to bed.
He lay down and read a book written for parents of adolescents for a while before finally turning off the light and falling asleep.
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Mi slept fairly well and could sleep straight through until around six.
Even on nights when he slept poorly, he would usually just dream for half the night.
But tonight, after only about three hours of sleep, Jiang Mi woke up.
No matter what, he still cared deeply about Liang Jinyi.
When Liang Jinyi was little, his health had been poor and he often got sick.
But after the age of eight or nine, he rarely fell ill.
Jiang Mi had not seen him with a fever in a very long time.
Moving quietly, he pushed open Liang Jinyi’s bedroom door and walked lightly to the bedside.
He sat down.
The moment he did, he noticed Liang Jinyi’s breathing was heavy.
Jiang Mi reached out and touched his forehead.
He was startled.
It was scorching.
Far hotter than it had been around ten o’clock.
Liang Jinyi seemed to sense someone beside him.
Half-conscious, he murmured, “Brother.”
Jiang Mi had no mind to respond.
He picked up the forehead thermometer from the bedside table and checked Liang Jinyi’s temperature.
His eyelids immediately twitched violently.
“Jinyi. Liang Jinyi.”
Jiang Mi patted Liang Jinyi’s face, then straightened and switched on the bedside lamp.
Under the combined effect of the light and Jiang Mi’s voice, Liang Jinyi opened his swollen, reddened eyelids.
In a hoarse voice, he called, “Brother.”
Then he asked what was wrong.
Jiang Mi grabbed the clothes Liang Jinyi had tossed over a chair and handed them to him.
Frowning, he said, “Your fever is almost forty degrees. Get up. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Jiang Mi had plenty of basic medical common sense.
Under normal circumstances, if a fever kept returning for two or three days despite fever medication and showed no improvement, one should seek medical care.
And Liang Jinyi had taken fever medicine four hours ago, yet his symptoms were clearly getting worse.
He needed to go to the hospital immediately.
The fever really did seem to have affected Liang Jinyi’s mind and behavior.
He stared blankly at the clothes and pants Jiang Mi had handed him.
It took him a long moment to react.
The nearest top-tier hospital was about a twenty-minute drive from Jiang Mi’s home.
With the recent change of seasons and fluctuating temperatures, the emergency department was fairly crowded.
Jiang Mi and Liang Jinyi waited outside the consultation room for a while before it was Liang Jinyi’s turn.
After examining him, the doctor diagnosed a viral cold.
But after learning that Liang Jinyi had already taken fever medication and his symptoms had only worsened, the doctor still prescribed two bottles of IV fluids to help bring the fever down first.
There were quite a few people in the infusion room.
Liang Jinyi sat in a small corner receiving the IV.
His head was clearly muddled.
He sat in the chair with the IV line attached to his hand, his head resting against the wall as he drifted in and out of sleep.
Jiang Mi sat beside him and stayed with him.
Liang Jinyi had only slept with his head against the wall for a short while when he suddenly opened his swollen eyes slightly.
His unfocused gaze wandered around before finally settling on Jiang Mi.
He mumbled, “Brother.”
Then, using his right arm—the one without the IV—he wrapped it around Jiang Mi’s waist.
He rested his head in the hollow of Jiang Mi’s shoulder and fell heavily asleep.
Jiang Mi lowered his eyes and stared at Liang Jinyi for a long time.
His eyes were tightly shut, his cheeks flushed red with fever.
In the end, Jiang Mi still could not bring himself to push him away.
Instead, he reached out and adjusted Liang Jinyi’s head, helping him sleep a little more comfortably.
Author’s Note
Brother’s biggest problem is that he’s far too softhearted when it comes to his little brother.
