Chapter 53
Jiang Mi shuddered all over. If Liang Jinyi had not been holding his hand with their fingers intertwined, his head still resting on Jiang Mi’s shoulder, Jiang Mi might have abruptly shot to his feet.
“Liang Jinyi.”
Jiang Mi’s patience was nearly exhausted.
Liang Jinyi looked aggrieved. “Brother, I like you so much. Isn’t it normal for me to desire you?”
Jiang Mi felt that deciding to speak to Liang Jinyi at all had been a mistake.
He turned his gaze back to the movie screen.
“Shut up and watch the movie.”
Then he reminded him, “Don’t keep talking in the theater.”
Liang Jinyi looked at Jiang Mi’s profile for a while before obediently replying, “Okay, Brother.”
After that, he did not speak to Jiang Mi again.
He merely continued holding Jiang Mi’s hand with their fingers intertwined, quietly watching the movie.
Jiang Mi finally let out a breath of relief.
He forced himself to ignore the sensation in his hand.
To ignore the palm that was slightly larger than his own, with distinct knuckles and unmistakably belonging to a grown man.
The movie Liang Jinyi had chosen was a recent critical success.
The story was excellent. As a mystery thriller, it was full of twists and reversals. The plot was unexpected, yet once one thought about it carefully, everything made sense.
If they were only talking about the movie itself, it had actually been a very good viewing experience.
Two hours later, the film ended.
The ending theme began playing, and the lights suddenly came on.
At the same time, Jiang Mi noticed several people glancing toward him and Liang Jinyi.
In a hoarse voice, he said, “Let go.”
Liang Jinyi looked at him for a moment before reluctantly releasing his hand and moving away.
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Mi smoothed down the hoodie Liang Jinyi had wrinkled and spoke calmly.
Liang Jinyi agreed and obediently followed him out of the theater.
It was still early and nowhere near dinnertime.
Jiang Mi was about to suggest wandering around the mall when Liang Jinyi spoke first.
“Brother, let’s go buy clothes. I want to get a couple of things.”
Jiang Mi suspected Liang Jinyi was plotting something again.
Remaining on guard, he agreed.
Yet everything that followed was unexpectedly normal.
His younger brother genuinely focused on buying clothes and did nothing outrageous.
Jiang Mi finally relaxed.
Going on a date with an eighteen-year-old high school student did not mean he had to spend every second trembling with anxiety, as though walking on thin ice.
“Brother, does this look good?”
Liang Jinyi opened the fitting-room door and walked out wearing a black-and-white technical-style jacket.
“It looks good,” Jiang Mi said sincerely.
Jinyi was exceptionally handsome, tall and slender, with excellent proportions. Anything looked good on him.
“All right, then. I’ll take this one.”
Liang Jinyi was not particularly picky either.
After buying several jackets, Liang Jinyi left the clothing store and led Jiang Mi toward the shop next door.
The moment Jiang Mi saw what the neighboring store sold, his footsteps stopped.
“Brother?”
Liang Jinyi looked puzzled as to why Jiang Mi had not followed.
Reminding himself to stay calm, Jiang Mi walked inside.
Liang Jinyi swept his gaze around the store and humbly asked, “Brother, which underwear do you think looks good?”
The store mainly sold men’s pajamas, undershirts, shorts, underwear, and similar items.
Jiang Mi glanced around.
Too lazy to choose carefully for Liang Jinyi, he pointed at one at random.
“That one.”
Liang Jinyi walked over and lowered his eyes to look.
Then he laughed.
“Brother, it even has a Snoopy print. How childish.”
He clicked his tongue twice and looked at Jiang Mi.
“So Brother likes younger ones.”
“Luckily, I’m young. I meet Brother’s requirements.”
Jiang Mi: “…”
Jiang Mi felt he could no longer stay in this place.
“I’ll wait outside.”
With that, he turned to leave.
Liang Jinyi hurriedly grabbed his arm, refusing to let him go.
“Wait, Brother. Help me pick a few more.”
“Choose them yourself.”
“If I choose for myself…”
Liang Jinyi looked around the shop.
Suddenly, he laughed.
“If I choose myself, Brother, then I’ll buy that one.”
Jiang Mi followed his gaze.
His eyelid twitched violently.
Liang Jinyi asked with great interest, “Brother, do you like it?”
Jiang Mi’s expression appeared utterly calm.
“As long as you like it.”
“But I want to buy what Brother likes.”
Jiang Mi: “…”
He pulled his arm free from Liang Jinyi’s grip, walked to the display, grabbed several pairs of plain cotton underwear at random, and tossed them at him.
“All right. Go pay.”
Liang Jinyi obediently answered, “Okay.”
Jiang Mi had finally sent the annoying little bastard away.
He let out a breath of relief and turned around, only to see two young women standing near the shop entrance, staring at him and Liang Jinyi with overwhelming excitement.
When they noticed Jiang Mi looking at them, the two girls exchanged a glance, blushed, and hurried away.
Jiang Mi rubbed his temples with complicated feelings.
After buying the underwear, his younger brother finally stopped making trouble.
He obediently went to dinner with Jiang Mi.
The only problem was that throughout dinner, he kept staring at Jiang Mi with a gaze that seemed to want to devour him.
Jiang Mi reminded himself that he could not see it.
After dinner, the two wandered around for a while longer.
When Jiang Mi suggested going home, Liang Jinyi finally agreed and drove him back.
Half an hour later, the Range Rover stopped on the street outside Jiang Mi’s parents’ residential complex.
“The road ahead is under construction.”
Jiang Mi looked at the road conditions.
“All right. It’s only about a hundred meters. I’ll walk the rest of the way.”
He unfastened his seat belt and prepared to get out.
Seeing this, Liang Jinyi released the handbrake, turned off the engine, and unfastened his own seat belt.
“I’ll walk Brother back.”
They had already spent several hours together today.
A few more minutes hardly mattered.
So Jiang Mi did not tell him not to bother.
The two got out and walked forward.
Two minutes later, they reached the entrance to Jiang Mi’s residential complex.
Jiang Mi turned to Liang Jinyi.
“All right. Go home.”
Liang Jinyi did not leave.
His eyes curved.
“Brother, I was very happy today. Were you happy?”
The streetlights outside the complex were bright.
Jiang Mi said helplessly, “If I say I wasn’t happy, can we stop going on dates?”
Liang Jinyi shook his head.
“Of course not. But I’ll work hard to make Brother happy.”
Seeing the certainty on his younger brother’s face, Jiang Mi casually asked, “And what if you can never make me happy?”
Liang Jinyi’s body went rigid.
The smile on his face suddenly vanished.
Jiang Mi froze.
Jinyi was forceful, domineering, and always seemed absolutely certain he would win.
Surely one casual sentence from Jiang Mi was not enough to leave him at such a loss that he actually looked hurt?
As Jiang Mi thought this, Liang Jinyi’s momentary vulnerability vanished as though it had been an illusion.
He lowered his head and curved his lips at Jiang Mi with complete certainty.
“Then Brother is still mine.”
“It’s Brother’s own bad luck for meeting me.”
Seeing the fragility disappear and the familiar domineering little bastard return, Jiang Mi actually relaxed.
“I’m going home. You should go back early too.”
“Wait, Brother.”
Liang Jinyi stopped him.
“Can you kiss me?”
Jiang Mi froze.
Liang Jinyi looked at him expectantly.
“Just on the cheek.”
After saying that, he turned his face slightly, waiting for Jiang Mi to kiss him.
Jiang Mi had kissed Liang Jinyi before.
When Jinyi was little, he had been far too adorable.
And when his younger brother was small, he had often kissed Jiang Mi’s cheek without the slightest restraint.
But that had been many years ago.
Ever since Jinyi turned ten, they had stopped doing such things.
Yet now, looking at the tall, slender young man before him, Jiang Mi suddenly felt as though Jinyi overlapped with the little boy he used to be.
“Brother.”
Seeing Jiang Mi remain still, Liang Jinyi urged him.
Meeting Liang Jinyi’s expectant gaze, Jiang Mi’s Adam’s apple moved involuntarily.
He leaned forward.
But in the very next second, a familiar voice rang out.
“Little Mi.”
Jiang Mi snapped back to his senses.
Following the voice, he saw Grandfather Jiang and Grandmother Jiang standing not far away.
Jiang Mi abruptly stepped backward, instinctively putting distance between himself and Liang Jinyi.
“Grandpa, Grandma, why are you here?”
He forced out a smile.
Grandfather Jiang and Grandmother Jiang walked over.
“Your grandpa fried some crispy pork tonight. Doesn’t your father love it most? The two of us had nothing to do at home, so we brought some over for him.”
Only then did Grandmother Jiang notice the person beside Jiang Mi.
Surprised delight appeared in the smile lines around her eyes.
“Jinyi is here too.”
Liang Jinyi had not seen Jiang Mi for an entire year.
But that did not mean he had not seen Grandfather Jiang and Grandmother Jiang.
Every two or three months, he would visit the two elderly people.
Of course, each time he would send Jiang Mi a message in advance to avoid accidentally running into him.
“Grandpa. Grandma.”
Liang Jinyi was perfectly polite.
“Did you two go out together today?” Grandmother Jiang asked kindly.
“Yes.”
Liang Jinyi’s tone suddenly became complicated.
“But Brother said he wasn’t happy spending time with me today.”
Liang Jinyi looked at Jiang Mi aggrievedly and asked again, “Brother, were you really unhappy today?”
Feeling Grandfather Jiang and Grandmother Jiang’s gazes fall on him, Jiang Mi cursed the little bastard inwardly.
If he said he had been unhappy, wouldn’t the two elderly people find that strange?
He could only answer, “I was happy. Very happy.”
Liang Jinyi curved his lips at him.
Jiang Mi looked away and cursed the little bastard again in his heart.
Liang Jinyi turned to the two elders.
“Grandpa, Grandma, I’ll head home first.”
“All right, Jinyi. Go on. Come visit often when you have time,” Grandfather Jiang said cheerfully.
“Okay, Grandpa.”
After Liang Jinyi walked away, Grandfather Jiang and Grandmother Jiang could not be bothered going all the way to Jiang Mi’s home anymore.
They handed him the crispy pork and told him to take it back, then prepared to walk home.
Their home was only two kilometers from Jiang Mi’s parents’ house.
The two elderly people had walked over and intended to walk back as well.
Jiang Mi accepted the food from Grandfather Jiang and agreed.
A little over ten minutes later, Jiang Mi returned home.
He gave the crispy pork from his grandfather to Father Jiang, who was watching television in the living room, then went upstairs.
Jiang Mi closed his bedroom door and pulled out a chair to sit.
Yet the scene from just before his grandfather appeared surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.
Just like when Jinyi had been little and Jiang Mi had indulged his every wish without limits—
In that moment, he too had wanted to grant Jinyi’s wish.
At that thought, Jiang Mi could not help sighing.
Why couldn’t Jinyi want something else?
A sports car.
A villa.
The moon.
The stars.
Jiang Mi would have done everything in his power to give it to him.
Author’s Note
Let me explain the underwear little brother wanted to buy: black lace men’s erotic underwear with a little fluffy ball on the butt.
Sigh. What’s the point of saying all this when I can’t actually write it for you?
Let’s all have our own mental orgasms.
Good night. Mwah.
