Chapter 54
After Jiang Mi returned home, Liang Jinyi also drove back.
Ever since Father Liang got married last year, they had moved out of the old Liang family residence and into a hillside villa Father Liang had purchased several years earlier.
The place added more than ten minutes to Liang Jinyi’s drive to school, but the view was excellent. Bei City was mostly flat, with only the eastern suburbs sitting at a slightly higher elevation.
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows in his room, Liang Jinyi could overlook the glittering lights of Bei City below.
He parked the car in the garage and walked into the living room, where he immediately heard a baby’s laughter.
Five months ago, his stepmother, Zhu Zhengxin, had gone into premature labor and given birth to a daughter.
Little Liang Yu was an energetic baby who refused to sleep at night. She had Zhu Zhengxin carry her around the living room while her round eyes curiously looked everywhere.
Zhu Zhengxin was a woman who was both gentle and strong. She was very patient with Liang Yu, introducing the world to the curious baby.
“That’s a table. That’s a chair. That’s a teacup.”
Suddenly, she saw Liang Jinyi walking in through the door and smiled while holding Liang Yu.
“Jinyi’s back.”
Liang Jinyi called her Auntie Zhu in greeting, then went upstairs.
—
On Monday, Jiang Mi returned to work.
And from that day onward, he began receiving messages from Liang Jinyi.
The messages were not particularly frequent. After all, Liang Jinyi was now a third-year high school student, with only a few months left until the college entrance examination.
But at noon, just as Jiang Mi got off work and was preparing to eat, he received a message from Liang Jinyi asking what he was having for lunch.
Attached was a photo of Liang Jinyi’s own meal.
Jiang Mi could not be bothered to respond.
The next moment, his phone was practically bombarded.
Over the course of a single meal, Liang Jinyi sent nearly a hundred messages.
If Jiang Mi did not reply, Liang Jinyi would probably keep sending them all afternoon.
So after returning to his office, Jiang Mi sat down and finally replied.
They chatted for a while before Liang Jinyi sent another message.
[Brother, I don’t want to go to school. I want to see you.]
Liang Jinyi’s affection was always expressed with passionate directness.
Jiang Mi lowered his eyes and typed:
[Be good and go to class.]
Liang Jinyi: [Do I get a reward if I behave and go to class?]
Jiang Mi: [You’ll get punished if you don’t.]
Liang Jinyi: [Brother, you’re so cruel.]
Liang Jinyi: [aggrieved.jpg]
The two continued chatting intermittently.
Gu Yuan had something important to discuss with Jiang Mi. Seeing Jiang Mi’s office door open, he strode inside.
“Lawyer Jiang, what are you looking at? Why are you smiling so happily?”
Jiang Mi was looking down at his phone, the corners of his lips unconsciously raised high.
Hearing Gu Yuan’s words, Jiang Mi froze.
He put down his phone and looked up suspiciously.
Had he really been smiling that happily?
“You were,” Gu Yuan said. “The corners of your mouth were practically touching your ears.”
“What were you looking at?” Gu Yuan asked casually.
“Nothing. Just chatting with a friend.”
Before Gu Yuan could ask more, Jiang Mi said, “Lawyer Gu, did you need something?”
Gu Yuan got straight to the point.
“Yeah, about that land owned by Hangcheng Group…”
The days passed amid work and his younger brother’s harassment.
On Thursday evening, Liang Jinyi messaged to ask where they were going on their date this Sunday.
Jiang Mi had not thought about it.
But he absolutely could not give Jinyi the right to choose.
Sitting in the living room, Jiang Mi replied:
[Let’s go on a picnic.]
Liang Jinyi: [A picnic?]
On Sunday morning, Liang Jinyi came to Hongfeng Road to pick Jiang Mi up for their second date.
It was late March, right in the heart of spring. The grass in the park was lush and green, and the fragrance of flowers drifted from not far away.
Jiang Mi chose a patch of grass near the river and directed Jinyi to take the reclining chairs out of the trunk.
Once the chairs were set up, Jiang Mi put on sunglasses, lay back, and basked in the warm spring sunshine.
Liang Jinyi lowered his eyes and silently stared at Jiang Mi lounging so leisurely.
After a long while, he finally could not stand it anymore.
He dropped into the folding recliner beside Jiang Mi and said in a complicated tone, “Brother, this date is way too boring.”
Jiang Mi turned his head slightly and looked at him with a smile.
“Jinyi, you think it’s boring because we’re not compatible. I’m almost thirty, and you’re only eighteen. For an old man in his thirties, I think this kind of date is actually pretty—”
“Jinyi.”
Jiang Mi’s steady voice suddenly trembled.
Liang Jinyi reached out and took his hand.
After squeezing Jiang Mi’s pale, flexible fingers, Liang Jinyi smoothly lay down in the recliner beside him and said lazily, “Brother, I take back what I just said. I think this is pretty interesting.”
“I can experience life at thirty in advance. Doesn’t that mean I get to live through two different versions of being thirty?”
He turned his head slightly and looked at Jiang Mi, half an arm’s length away.
“And if you’re with me, don’t you get to experience the happiness of being eighteen all over again?”
Liang Jinyi tightened his grip on Jiang Mi’s hand, looking genuinely puzzled.
“Brother, why would you reject such a win-win arrangement?”
Jiang Mi was actually very eloquent.
Except when talking to his younger brother.
Because his younger brother could be completely shameless and utterly unconcerned with restraint.
Jiang Mi lightly tried to pull his right hand free from Liang Jinyi’s grip.
When he failed, he stopped bothering.
Looking up at the sky, Jiang Mi said, “Just sunbathe, little brother.”
Liang Jinyi put on his sunglasses, held Jiang Mi’s hand, lay back, and joined him in basking in the sun.
They did too many indoor activities anyway.
Sunbathing like this did not feel bad at all.
Jiang Mi had chosen a park for the date for two reasons.
First, to prevent Liang Jinyi from choosing somewhere enclosed.
Jinyi was far too brazen. Being alone together indoors would only make him even more reckless.
Second, Jiang Mi had been busy all week and did not want a mentally exhausting date.
He simply wanted to lie there, soak up the sun, and perhaps go fishing in the afternoon.
In fact, he had expected Jinyi to strongly object to such a boring date.
Jiang Mi turned his head slightly and looked at Liang Jinyi’s handsome profile.
Although he had complained several times, once Jiang Mi said he wanted to relax and get some sun, Jinyi had not suggested changing locations.
Jiang Mi looked away.
He stopped thinking too much about the warm, thoughtful things his younger brother did beneath all that domineering behavior.
It was rare to have such a relaxed and pleasant moment.
Better to simply enjoy it.
The two basked in the sun for two hours.
When the sunlight grew stronger, Jiang Mi told Liang Jinyi to let go of the hand he had been playing with for the past two hours.
He got up from the recliner and stretched his lazy body.
“Jinyi, let’s walk around the garden over there, then come back and eat.”
After lying down for two hours, Jiang Mi wanted to move.
Liang Jinyi obediently agreed.
Then he took Jiang Mi’s hand again and walked beside him.
Jiang Mi knew he could not pull free anyway, so he no longer wasted the effort.
The two headed toward the nearby garden.
Before they even left the grass, Jiang Mi saw someone familiar.
His body stiffened.
He immediately shook off Liang Jinyi’s hand.
Seeing this, Liang Jinyi narrowed his eyes slightly.
Lin Wan had brought her younger siblings out for a spring outing today and had not expected to run into someone she knew.
Wearing a blue-and-pink tracksuit, she smiled in surprise.
“Jiang Mi!”
Jiang Mi was surprised too.
Bei City was enormous and had no shortage of places for leisure and entertainment. The chances of randomly running into someone were extremely low.
“Lin Wan. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Lin Wan smiled.
“Yeah. We haven’t seen each other in over two months. What a coincidence. I brought my younger brother and sister out to have some fun. You…”
Her gaze shifted to the right.
Only then did she notice the young man standing beside Jiang Mi.
The moment she saw his strikingly handsome face, Lin Wan’s voice paused.
Liang Jinyi smiled obediently at her and moved closer to Jiang Mi.
“Sister Lin Wan.”
Lin Wan’s gaze instantly snapped back to Jiang Mi.
Lin Wan and Jinyi had met before.
And Jinyi had even shown her those “bed photos” of him and Jiang Mi.
Remembering that incident, Jiang Mi sighed inwardly.
Meeting Lin Wan’s stunned gaze, he smiled politely.
“Lin Wan, we’re going to walk around up ahead.”
Lin Wan quickly recovered.
Looking at the two equally striking men before her, she forced a difficult smile.
“Sure. Okay.”
Jiang Mi and Liang Jinyi headed toward the garden.
As they walked, Liang Jinyi asked, “Brother, did you meet Lin Wan during the past year?”
Jiang Mi’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Looking at Liang Jinyi, who was narrowing his eyes as though interrogating him, Jiang Mi deliberately relaxed.
“Lin Wan is my friend. It’s normal for us to meet once in a while.”
Liang Jinyi suddenly stopped walking.
He lowered his eyes and stared at Jiang Mi.
“But she used to be your blind date. You also said you liked her back in university. And just now, when she appeared, you let go of my hand.”
Liang Jinyi frowned.
His dark eyes grew heavy.
“Brother, I’m angry.”
Jiang Mi had no intention of taking him seriously.
“Fine, fine. Be angry.”
With that, Jiang Mi continued walking according to his original plan, intending to enjoy the spring flowers.
But after more than ten steps, he realized that the young man who normally followed him everywhere had not come along.
Jiang Mi turned around.
Liang Jinyi was still standing on the grass where he had been, staring at him expressionlessly.
Jiang Mi turned back and continued walking by himself.
This was a municipal park planned and built two years earlier.
It was enormous, with gardens, lawns, hills, and lakes.
Everything one could want.
In March, peonies, crabapple blossoms, and roses competed for attention in the garden, blooming brilliantly.
Jiang Mi had originally been in the mood to appreciate them.
In reality, he only made a quick loop before returning to the grass where they had started.
As expected, Liang Jinyi was sitting in the same place.
His head was lowered as he played with his phone.
When Jiang Mi returned, he merely lifted his eyes briefly before looking back down at the screen.
Jiang Mi coughed lightly and brought over the large bag hanging behind their recliners.
“It’s noon. Let’s eat something.”
Some of the food had been prepared by Jiang Mi, while the rest had been prepared by Liang Jinyi.
They were all convenient foods suitable for a picnic.
Jiang Mi opened a box of handmade cookies and ate a few.
Seeing Liang Jinyi still expressionlessly playing with his phone, Jiang Mi could not help sighing.
“All right. I already told you. Lin Wan and I are only ordinary friends now.”
“And last year, we only met twice.”
Liang Jinyi finally looked up.
He stared at Jiang Mi without blinking for two full minutes.
Then he slightly opened his mouth.
Jiang Mi did not move.
Liang Jinyi did not move either.
He simply waited.
What an annoying little nuisance.
Jiang Mi picked up a cookie and stuffed it into Liang Jinyi’s mouth.
The moment the cookie went in, Jiang Mi tried to withdraw his hand.
But Liang Jinyi moved faster.
He grabbed Jiang Mi’s wrist.
His eyes fixed on Jiang Mi, his right hand tightly gripping Jiang Mi’s wrist as his lips closed around Jiang Mi’s finger.
His tongue slowly traced over it before he finally released Jiang Mi’s wrist.
Looking at the wet sheen left on Jiang Mi’s index finger, Liang Jinyi said in an excellent mood,
“Brother, thank you for the cookie.”
Jiang Mi glared at him with a dark expression.
He pulled out a tissue and wiped his finger, then threw the entire packet of cookies at Jinyi.
“Go eat somewhere farther away.”
“No, Brother.”
Not only did Liang Jinyi refuse, he moved even closer to Jiang Mi.
