Chapter 51
Jiang Mi saw Liang Jinyi suddenly look in his direction. Even through the gray-brown tinted car window, his younger brother’s gaze seemed capable of piercing straight through to him.
Jiang Mi looked away and told the driver to go.
“Where to?” The driver thought today’s passenger was a little strange. He had come all the way to Experimental High School, only to stay in the car.
Still, the man had said he would pay according to the meter, so the driver was more than happy to sit around and earn money.
“Shimao Tingfang,” Jiang Mi said.
“Got it.” The driver stepped on the accelerator.
“Young Master.”
Uncle Li saw Liang Jinyi open the car door but not get in, and could not help reminding him.
Liang Jinyi withdrew his gaze from the orange taxi driving away, bent down, and got into the car. His expression was calm.
“Let’s go. Home.”
Time always passed quickly.
Only a few days ago, when Jiang Mi went jogging around the residential complex in the morning, the trees had still been lush and green. Before long, the leaves began to yellow.
Autumn had arrived.
Today, after leaving a client’s company, Jiang Mi suddenly remembered something.
It was September 18th.
Liang Jinyi’s birthday.
Back in March and April, Jiang Mi had thought about Liang Jinyi often. During the preceding months, Jinyi’s presence in his life had simply been too overwhelming.
But as time passed, Jiang Mi took on several major cases and became so busy he barely had time to sleep, let alone think about Jinyi.
“Lawyer Wang, I’m not going back to the office.”
After leaving the client’s company, Jiang Mi gave instructions to the colleague accompanying him.
“I’ve worked late two nights in a row. I’m heading home early today to rest.”
“All right. I’ll take the documents back.”
There were still more than two hours until the end of the workday.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Jiang Mi had driven today.
After his colleague got into a taxi, Jiang Mi drove away.
He did not go to Experimental High School.
Instead, he drove to a nearby shopping center, parked, and went inside.
Ever since Jinyi started kindergarten and Jiang Mi bought him his first schoolbag, Jiang Mi had given him a new one every year on his birthday.
But this birthday was different.
This was the little brat’s eighteenth birthday.
Jiang Mi wandered around the mall for a long time, unable to decide what to buy.
Aside from Jiang Mi himself, Jinyi did not seem to have any particularly strong interests.
So Jiang Mi began thinking about what Jinyi might actually use.
Jiang Mi was not normally indecisive.
He was good at making decisions.
Yet over this trivial matter, he hesitated for two hours, browsing sporting equipment stores, sports shops, stationery stores, clothing stores, and shoe stores.
In the end, he chose a simple but classic luxury-brand smart sports watch.
A watch was a symbol of maturity.
But Jinyi was still a student and had little use for a traditional wristwatch.
A smartwatch suited him better.
After buying the watch, Jiang Mi also bought a simple, clean-looking schoolbag that suited his younger brother.
Carrying the two shopping bags, Jiang Mi returned to his car and drove straight home.
He did not intend to give Jinyi the birthday gifts this year.
Once home, Jiang Mi opened his wardrobe and placed both bags deep inside the walk-in closet.
Autumn passed quickly.
After autumn came winter.
This winter was even colder than the last.
Before the New Year, a snowfall heavy enough to bury a person’s calves blanketed the city. Jiang Mi could not even drive normally to work.
At that moment, he found himself wondering whether his younger brother could get to school safely.
That day, after discussing it with Gu Yuan, Jiang Mi decided to give employees who had difficulty commuting the day off.
When he returned home, he saw on the Bei City morning news that because of the extreme weather caused by the heavy snow, all primary and secondary schools in the city would close for two days.
There was only that one major snowfall.
Afterward, the temperature rose, and once the New Year passed, the weather became quite warm.
In early March, Jiang Mi traveled out of town with two employees for a business trip.
One morning, just after waking up, he received a call from his mother.
“Little Mi, you really can’t come back today?”
“Mom, I can’t. Didn’t I tell you yesterday? The situation is a little complicated, so I need to stay another two days.”
Jiang Mi had come to another province because of a merger and acquisition case.
But after investigating, he discovered that the company his client intended to acquire was hiding numerous legal disputes.
“Then aren’t you going to spend your birthday out of town this year?” Mother Jiang said.
Jiang Mi froze.
Only then did he suddenly remember that today was his birthday.
“Mom, I’m already twenty-nine.”
Jiang Mi placed his phone on the bed while tying his tie.
“I’m not nine. It doesn’t matter whether I celebrate my birthday or not.”
“How can it not matter?”
Mother Jiang disagreed.
But with nearly two thousand kilometers between them, there was nothing she could do to celebrate with him.
“We’ll make it up when you come back.”
“Okay,” Jiang Mi said.
Knock, knock.
Two knocks sounded at the door.
“Mom, I have to go. I’m hanging up.”
“Go get busy,” Mother Jiang said.
Jiang Mi ended the call, picked up the black suit jacket he had ironed before bed, put it on, buttoned it, then opened the door for his two colleagues.
“Let’s go.”
Seeing that they were ready too, Jiang Mi picked up his laptop bag.
The group spent the entire day organizing the company’s legal risks.
It was nine in the evening before they finally left.
After a full day of work, they ate a simple dinner near the hotel and returned to their rooms to rest.
Once back in his room, Jiang Mi sat for a while before opening his phone.
He had been too busy all day to check it.
Sure enough, there were many missed calls and countless birthday messages.
Jiang Mi first returned the calls from close family and friends who had tried to reach him.
By the time he finished those calls, more than half an hour had passed.
Then he began replying to his friends’ messages.
After replying to them all, Jiang Mi scrolled downward.
He kept scrolling until he reached messages from the previous day.
There was still nothing from Liang Jinyi.
Jiang Mi clicked his tongue softly and put down his phone.
He took off his jacket, picked up his pajamas, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Today marked the end of their agreed one-year period.
And it was also his birthday.
By all logic, Jinyi should have messaged him first thing in the morning.
Or after school.
Or called him.
It was almost eleven now, yet there was still no word from his younger brother.
Apparently, Jinyi had forgotten his birthday.
If he had forgotten Jiang Mi’s birthday, then the one-year separation had accomplished exactly what Jiang Mi wanted.
At that thought, Jiang Mi tilted his head back and let warm water pour over his face.
Even if the romantic feelings were gone, even if the raging hormones from two years ago had faded, Jiang Mi was still his older brother.
And he had actually forgotten his birthday.
Jiang Mi sighed, turned off the water, dried himself with a towel, changed into pajamas, and left the bathroom.
After drying his hair, he checked his phone again.
Still no message from Liang Jinyi.
Jiang Mi could not quite describe what he felt.
He tugged faintly at the corner of his lips.
Sure enough.
He had not been wrong last year about Jinyi’s feelings for him.
It was getting late.
Jiang Mi still had an entire day of mentally exhausting work waiting for him tomorrow.
He prepared to turn off the light and go to sleep.
His finger had just reached the bedside lamp when the hotel room doorbell rang.
Who could it be this late?
Puzzled, Jiang Mi walked to the door.
As he opened it, he asked, “What is—”
His voice stopped abruptly.
The moment he saw the person standing outside.
Jiang Mi had only enough time to catch a brief glimpse of him before a pair of strong arms pulled him into a tight embrace.
Liang Jinyi buried his face against Jiang Mi’s shoulder.
The moment he breathed in that familiar, unique, faint scent of wild roses, his restless soul seemed to finally find somewhere to belong.
After a long while, his lips brushed across Jiang Mi’s neck.
In a hoarse voice, he said,
“Brother, I missed you so much.”
Half an hour ago, when Jiang Mi had thought Liang Jinyi had forgotten him, he had felt a sense of of course.
Yet now, feeling the emotion the other person was struggling desperately to restrain, Jiang Mi found that he was not particularly surprised either.
In fact…
He almost felt that this was what was supposed to happen.
No.
What was happening now was absolutely not what was supposed to happen.
Jiang Mi pushed Liang Jinyi away and asked in confusion, “You… why are you here?”
This was not Shimao Tingfang in Bei City.
This was an inland province nearly two thousand kilometers away.
Liang Jinyi pulled back slightly and stared greedily at Jiang Mi.
“Because I missed Brother too much. I couldn’t wait until you returned to Bei City to see you.”
After saying that, Liang Jinyi stared at him without blinking.
Jiang Mi’s heart suddenly began beating faster.
He slightly avoided Liang Jinyi’s gaze.
“Does your dad know you came here?”
“No,” Liang Jinyi answered honestly. “I couldn’t be bothered explaining, so I told him I was staying at Zhu Yurui’s place tonight.”
“Then when are you going back?”
It was only Wednesday.
Liang Jinyi gazed intently at Jiang Mi.
“Tomorrow morning. I bought a nine o’clock flight back to Bei City.”
Standing in the doorway, Jiang Mi gave a quiet hum.
At that moment, the door to the room across the hall opened.
The guest inside saw a boy in a school uniform standing opposite and gave them a suspicious look.
“All right. Come in.”
Remembering that they were still standing in the doorway, Jiang Mi opened the door wider.
Liang Jinyi stared at him without blinking.
The moment Jiang Mi let him in, he eagerly stepped inside.
Then he suddenly remembered the things he had left by the door.
Liang Jinyi bent down and picked up the birthday cake and enormous bouquet of roses he had specially bought for Jiang Mi.
Carrying the cake and roses inside, he kicked the door shut with his foot.
Then he asked, “Brother, you haven’t eaten birthday cake today, right?”
Of course Jiang Mi had not.
He was traveling for work with colleagues who did not even know it was his birthday, and Jiang Mi would never deliberately tell them.
“Then let’s eat birthday cake first,” Liang Jinyi said.
Jiang Mi had eaten dinner fairly late and was not hungry at all.
But seeing the expectation in Liang Jinyi’s eyes, he could not refuse.
“Okay.”
Liang Jinyi took off his coat, inserted the candles, turned off the lights, and told Jiang Mi to make a wish.
After Jiang Mi blew out the candles, Liang Jinyi turned the lights back on.
The two shared the cake.
He had not bought a large one, only a small six-inch cake.
After Jiang Mi ate one small slice, Liang Jinyi sat cross-legged on the floor and nearly finished the rest by himself.
Jiang Mi sat on the edge of the bed watching his younger brother eat.
Unable to help himself, he asked, “Didn’t you eat dinner?”
Liang Jinyi had a huge appetite and was not picky, but under normal circumstances, even he could not eat that much sweet cake.
Liang Jinyi dug out another spoonful and put it into his mouth.
Yet his greedy gaze remained fixed on Jiang Mi.
“I rushed to the airport after school. I didn’t have time to eat dinner.”
Jiang Mi kept his expression calm.
“There should have been an in-flight meal.”
Liang Jinyi answered honestly, “My head was full of Brother. I forgot I needed dinner.”
Jiang Mi was immediately rendered speechless.
At that moment, Liang Jinyi ate the last bite of cake.
Seeing that he had finished, Jiang Mi let out a breath.
He picked up his phone and checked the time.
It was almost midnight.
Jiang Mi stood.
“I’ll go downstairs and get you another room.”
Liang Jinyi frowned.
“Brother, I’m sleeping with you tonight.”
Jiang Mi’s expression remained calm.
“Two people in one bed is less comfortable than one. If you don’t want to move, then you can—”
His voice cut off abruptly.
Before Jiang Mi could react, he was suddenly lifted sideways into someone’s arms.
The next second, he was thrown onto the bed.
Jiang Mi had just tried to sit up when Liang Jinyi immediately pressed down over him.
He seized both of Jiang Mi’s wrists and pinned them beside his shoulders.
With his hands restrained, Jiang Mi did not simply surrender.
He bent one knee and drove it neatly toward Liang Jinyi’s lower abdomen.
But Liang Jinyi used the opportunity to press his thigh across Jiang Mi’s legs, immobilizing them too.
Jiang Mi was a man.
And a man accustomed to giving orders.
Being pinned down so completely, unable to resist at all, made his expression darken.
“Let go of me, Jinyi.”
Liang Jinyi slightly lifted his upper body and stared at Jiang Mi without blinking for a long while.
Then he lowered his head and buried his face beside Jiang Mi’s neck.
“Brother, a long time ago, I already told you.”
“Sometimes, I won’t listen to you.”
“You…”
Jiang Mi was helpless.
Liang Jinyi breathed in Jiang Mi’s scent and stared at the pale, slender neck so close to him.
His breathing quickened.
After a long moment, he finally restrained his desire and lifted his head.
Smiling brightly, he asked Jiang Mi, “Brother, I’m going to wash up now. You have two choices.”
“One, I go take a shower, and you stay here on the bed and wait for me obediently.”
“Or two…”
His gaze landed on the black tie Jiang Mi had tossed onto the bed.
Liang Jinyi lowered his head, his warm breath spilling across Jiang Mi’s face.
“I use the tie to bind Brother to the bed and force you to stay here waiting for me.”
A year had passed.
Liang Jinyi had not changed much.
He was still wearing that familiar high school uniform, his figure tall and slender.
Jiang Mi tried to move his wrists within Liang Jinyi’s grip, only to discover that his younger brother seemed even stronger than last year.
And his attitude now was clearly far more…
far more excessive than it had been a year ago.
Jiang Mi forced himself to remain calm.
“Jinyi, are you starting to pursue me now?”
Liang Jinyi nodded and rubbed his nose against Jiang Mi’s.
“Of course.”
“I started pursuing Brother a long time ago.”
Jiang Mi did not know how far things between him and Liang Jinyi would ultimately go.
But worrying about Jinyi had already been carved into his bones.
“If you’re pursuing someone, you need to respect them. You should cater to what they like.”
“All right. Let go of me now.”
Feeling that something seemed to be happening with his younger brother’s lower body, Jiang Mi spoke without blushing or changing expression.
Liang Jinyi shook his head and pressed his entire body closer against Jiang Mi.
“Brother, I’m not a gentleman. This is how I pursue people. Mm, this is…”
Liang Jinyi thought back to the novels the girls in his class read.
“Old-school style. Forced possession. Coercion and temptation.”
“But I also heard it ends in an HE, so don’t worry.”
What HE?
What old-school style?
Jiang Mi felt that there was a generation gap between him and his younger brother.
He shifted, trying to put a little more space between them.
Liang Jinyi raised his head slightly and asked again,
“Brother, you still haven’t told me which one you choose.”
“Will you stay obediently on the bed and wait for me?”
“Or should I tie you to the bed with the necktie and make you wait?”
Jiang Mi: “…”
He did not want either option.
Liang Jinyi nodded in understanding.
He stretched out slightly toward the tie Jiang Mi had tossed near the pillow.
Jiang Mi’s eyelid twitched.
Not daring to think too carefully about what might happen next, he hurriedly said, “I choose one.”
Liang Jinyi’s left hand had already reached the tie.
Hearing this, he looked at Jiang Mi with obvious regret.
Seeing the disappointment in Liang Jinyi’s eyes, Jiang Mi’s eyelid twitched violently several times.
“All right. Go wash up.”
Liang Jinyi asked again, “Will Brother leave while I’m washing up?”
Jiang Mi’s heart skipped a beat.
He had indeed been considering it.
Liang Jinyi laughed again.
He turned Jiang Mi’s face back toward him, forcing Jiang Mi to look directly at him.
“If Brother dares to leave, then once I catch you…”
“I’ll kiss you hard.”
His burning gaze fell on Jiang Mi’s lips.
His Adam’s apple bobbed violently, beyond his control.
“Brother knows.”
“A long time ago, I already wanted to kiss you.”
