Chapter 56
Liang Jinyi was in a terrible mood today.
It was time for another follow-up appointment at the hospital. After collecting his medicine, he left the hospital and saw Uncle Li waiting in the parking lot.
More than half an hour later, the Bentley arrived at the Liang residence.
It was already seven in the evening. Zhu Zhengxin and Liang Hong had both finished dinner.
Liang Jinyi sat alone in the dining room, eating without tasting anything. After dinner, he returned to his room.
He opened his schoolbag and began working on a biology test paper.
But because he was in such a bad mood, a paper he could normally finish in a little over half an hour took him two hours today, and there was still an entire page left undone.
Liang Jinyi pursed his lips in displeasure, got up, and went downstairs.
He took a bottle of ice-cold beer from the refrigerator.
Liang Hong and Zhu Zhengxin’s room was on the second floor. As Liang Jinyi passed the second-floor landing, he heard a baby crying.
He turned and walked toward the nursery.
Liang Yu was almost six months old now. She could move, laugh, and recognize people.
She sat on her pink-and-blue princess bed, clutching a plush toy in one small hand as tears streamed from her eyes.
Liang Hong sat helplessly beside the bed.
The fine lines on his face made him look nothing like the powerful authority figure he usually was. He was utterly at a loss as he tried to soothe Liang Yu.
Zhu Zhengxin stood nearby, using her phone to record the moment between father and daughter.
When she saw that Liang Hong could not calm Liang Yu down at all, she helplessly walked over and took over herself.
Liang Jinyi took out his phone.
Standing silently in the doorway, he snapped a photo of the three of them.
A minute later, Liang Jinyi went upstairs.
He casually set the beer on his desk, skillfully opened his phone, and sent Jiang Mi a message.
Liang Jinyi: [Brother, I’m unhappy.]
It was already ten-thirty.
Jiang Mi had just returned home, washed up, and entered the study. He planned to review the materials for a custody case going to trial tomorrow and verify one last time any issues that might arise in court.
He had barely sat down at his desk when he saw Liang Jinyi’s message.
Before he could reply, Liang Jinyi sent a photo.
It looked like it had been taken from the doorway.
The phone’s camera quality was good enough to clearly capture everyone’s expressions.
Jiang Mi had never met Zhu Zhengxin in person, but he had seen several photos of her.
In this picture, she wore soft light-purple loungewear. Her striking brows and eyes were filled with tenderness as she carefully soothed the crying baby in her arms.
Liang Hong stood behind her holding a pellet drum, looking somewhat helpless as he tried to entertain the infant.
Liang Jinyi: [My parents have never coaxed me like that.]
Jiang Mi sighed and leaned back against his office chair.
[All right. Go to bed early tonight.]
Jiang Mi was not good at saying especially warm or sentimental things.
Liang Jinyi: [Brother, I want to see you.]
Before Jiang Mi could reply, another message arrived.
[Brother, I want to see you. Come to the Liang residence right now.]
Jiang Mi glanced at the time.
It was already after ten.
Besides, he really could not keep indulging Jinyi without limits.
If he continued, their relationship would eventually spiral even further out of control.
Jiang Mi: [I still have work to finish. Go to bed early.]
Liang Jinyi: [Brother, I’m going to wait for you outside the villa now.]
Jiang Mi ground his teeth.
Looking at the latest message, he could not help letting out a curse under his breath.
His brows lowered.
With a dark expression, he replied that he was not coming tonight.
Then he turned his phone facedown, opened the file, and resumed reviewing the materials.
Two minutes later, he raised his head.
His gaze fell on the silent phone resting on the desk.
Expressionless, Jiang Mi picked it up and opened it.
No new messages from Liang Jinyi.
Jiang Mi stared at the phone for a long while.
Still nothing.
His jaw tightened unconsciously.
A few seconds later, the legs of his office chair scraped harshly against the floor as Jiang Mi abruptly stood.
At ten at night, the wheels of the Audi sped through Bei City’s wide, quiet streets, leaving only a blur in the eyes of distant pedestrians.
Jiang Mi knew Liang Jinyi had moved.
After meeting him several times recently, he also knew Jinyi’s current address very well.
Half an hour later, the man in the driver’s seat saw a tall figure standing at the iron gates of the hillside villa, almost blending into the darkness.
Jiang Mi slammed on the brakes.
He lowered the window and turned his head, looking at the tall figure about two meters from the Audi.
But the shadow merely stood there, silently staring back at him.
It showed no intention of moving.
After several seconds of stalemate, the one who took the initiative was, as always, the rational and clear-headed older brother.
Jiang Mi turned off the engine, opened the door, and walked toward the dark figure standing in the shadows.
When Jiang Mi was only one step away, the other person finally moved.
Liang Jinyi stepped forward, emerging from the darkness into the orange-red light.
He raised his arms around Jiang Mi’s waist, buried his face against Jiang Mi’s shoulder, and murmured,
“Brother.”
At first, Jiang Mi’s emotions had been complicated.
He disliked being threatened.
Even when it was Liang Jinyi, he did not like being threatened by him.
He also despised himself for being unable to harden his heart toward Liang Jinyi.
Originally, his anger had outweighed his concern.
Liang Jinyi might have been in a bad mood, but over the past decade, he had never shown the slightest sadness over Father Liang’s neglect.
At times, he had even seemed to think such a life gave him enough freedom.
But at this moment, Liang Jinyi rested his head on Jiang Mi’s shoulder and softly called him Brother, his voice carrying several unmistakable traces of grievance.
In an instant, Jiang Mi no longer wanted to pursue the matter of his younger brother threatening him.
Nor did he have time to despise himself for being unable to be cruel to Liang Jinyi.
He did not even want to think about why Jinyi was upset tonight.
Jiang Mi raised a hand and soothingly patted Liang Jinyi’s broad, firm back.
Liang Jinyi tightened his arms around Jiang Mi’s waist and rubbed his face even harder against Jiang Mi’s shoulder.
Only several minutes later did he finally bear to pull back a little.
His gaze traced Jiang Mi’s features.
Without any forcefulness in his tone, he made a request.
“Brother, I want to sleep at your place tonight.”
Ever since their one-year agreement ended, they had gone out on weekend dates as promised.
But Liang Jinyi had not yet been to Shimao Tingfang, much less stayed overnight.
“Brother, can I?”
Liang Jinyi lowered his eyes.
A pleading expression appeared on his cold, beautiful face.
Jiang Mi was silent for three seconds.
“Whatever.”
The moment Liang Jinyi heard that, he smiled.
The beautiful dimple in his cheek even appeared, and all the gloom surrounding him vanished instantly.
“Then, Brother, I’ll go tell Uncle Lin.”
Uncle Lin had originally planned to retire in the spring of last year.
At the time, Liang Hong was busy with work, and most of his free time was spent with Zhu Zhengxin, who was still his girlfriend then.
Liang Xuping had also left the old residence.
Liang Jinyi lived at Jiang Mi’s home for long periods.
Uncle Lin had felt there was little use left for a housekeeper.
But because Liang Hong remarried, Uncle Lin delayed his retirement.
“All right. Go,” Jiang Mi said.
Jiang Mi waited at the entrance.
About ten minutes later, Liang Jinyi came out carrying a schoolbag.
It was still the black schoolbag Jiang Mi had given him for his birthday the year before last.
Once Liang Jinyi came outside, the two opened the driver’s and passenger-side doors respectively and got in.
From the corner of his eye, Jiang Mi saw that Liang Jinyi had fastened his seat belt.
He leaned slightly forward, preparing to release the handbrake.
Liang Jinyi placed his hand over Jiang Mi’s.
Jiang Mi looked up.
There was a smile in Liang Jinyi’s eyes.
“Brother, I suddenly want to ask you something. You keep rejecting me—is it really because you don’t like me?”
Jiang Mi used his left hand to brush Liang Jinyi’s hand off his.
His expression remained calm.
“Of course I like you. The way an older brother likes his younger brother.”
Liang Jinyi smiled at him.
“But judging from what you did tonight, I don’t think that’s true.”
Jiang Mi released the handbrake, started the engine, and calmly turned the car around.
“You’re thinking too much. If it had been Peipei tonight, I would have done the same thing.”
“Really, Brother?”
Liang Jinyi’s gaze remained fixed on Jiang Mi’s face.
The Audi pulled onto the road.
Jiang Mi focused on driving and could not be bothered to answer again.
Yet his mind involuntarily began asking the same question.
Really?
If it had been Peipei telling him late at night that she was unhappy and wanted to see him, as long as Jiang Mi was not handling something especially urgent, he would also have gone to her side and comforted his upset younger cousin.
But even so…
Would he allow her one boundary-crossing request after another?
Jiang Mi’s lashes trembled.
“Brother, why aren’t you saying anything?” Liang Jinyi pressed skillfully. “Feeling guilty?”
Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, Jiang Mi answered as naturally as possible.
“You refuse to believe what I say. There’s no point communicating.”
Hearing this, Liang Jinyi looked at Jiang Mi’s profile and gave a quiet laugh.
But he did not press further.
At eleven-thirty, the two returned to Shimao Tingfang.
Jiang Mi switched on the main lights in the living room and told Liang Jinyi to wash up, then get lost and sleep in the guest room.
After taking off his own coat, Jiang Mi headed toward the study.
Liang Jinyi had originally planned to inspect the room he had not seen in a year.
But seeing Jiang Mi go into the study, he tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa and followed him.
“Brother, it’s almost midnight. You’re still working overtime?”
Jiang Mi pulled out his office chair, sat down, and opened the file.
“If you hadn’t wasted an hour and a half of my time, I could be sleeping now.”
“Brother, I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
Although Liang Jinyi said the words, there was no apology in his tone.
If anything, he sounded a little smug.
“All right. Get out and go sleep.”
Jiang Mi’s gaze remained on the documents.
Liang Jinyi stood beside him.
He did not get out and go to sleep.
Instead, he read the documents along with Jiang Mi.
After finishing one page, Liang Jinyi raised an eyebrow.
“Brother, this looks like a litigation case.”
He had seen words such as divorce and child in the documents.
“It is.”
Jiang Mi did not often take litigation cases, but he still handled one or two every year.
Mainly because litigation procedures and related regulations underwent minor changes annually, and Jiang Mi wanted to keep up with the times.
“Is the client related to you?” Liang Jinyi asked.
Jiang Mi raised his eyes and looked at him.
“I saw the client’s name. Liu Nanyu. Her surname is Liu, and it sounded familiar.”
“She’s one of my older female cousins,” Jiang Mi answered.
Then he turned to the next page and frowned slightly.
The movement was extremely subtle, but Liang Jinyi still noticed.
Concerned, he asked, “Brother, is this case hard to win?”
Jiang Mi thought for a moment and did not hide it from him.
“It is.”
His cousin and her husband had already agreed to divorce.
There was not much dispute over the division of property either.
The key issue was custody of their daughter.
His cousin’s primary goal was to obtain custody.
But her soon-to-be ex-husband also refused to give up custody of the child.
The two had similar financial circumstances and were both capable of raising their daughter.
The crucial problem was that their five-year-old daughter preferred living with her father.
After the child was born, both his cousin and her husband had needed to work.
The child had therefore spent the most time with her paternal grandmother and was most dependent on her.
The child was already five.
When both parents had similar financial conditions and could provide roughly equal material circumstances for her upbringing, the judge would naturally place significant weight on the child’s wishes.
That was why Jiang Mi thought winning custody would be difficult.
Originally, he had not planned to take this case.
Although he handled one or two litigation cases each year, there was very little room for him to influence this one.
Jiang Mi had wanted to refer his cousin to a former classmate who specialized in divorce and custody disputes.
But his cousin had insisted that Jiang Mi handle it.
She said he had even appeared before an international court and that she trusted his ability.
Jiang Mi’s parents had also been persuaded by his cousin’s parents.
In the end, Jiang Mi had no choice but to take the case.
But he did not have much confidence that he could win.
“Brother, it’s okay if you lose,” Liang Jinyi suddenly said, staring at the crease between Jiang Mi’s brows.
“Little brother, the case hasn’t even gone to trial yet and you’re already predicting my defeat?”
Jiang Mi put down the documents and laughed.
Liang Jinyi looked at him intently.
“I’m not predicting your defeat.”
“I’m just telling Brother that whether you win or lose, you’ll always be brilliant and dazzling in my eyes.”
Jiang Mi had been a favored child of heaven since childhood.
The legendary “someone else’s child” praised by relatives and friends.
He had worn that halo for so long that everyone seemed to believe he was capable of anything.
Almost no one had ever told Jiang Mi that failing was okay.
That failure was normal.
Not even his parents.
Because Jiang Mi had rarely failed since kindergarten.
Even when he did, everyone treated it as an abnormal performance and believed he would surely reclaim first place next time.
Only Liang Jinyi.
It was okay if Brother failed.
It was normal if Brother failed this time, or even the next.
The result of what Brother did was not important.
Brother’s intelligence, discipline, and hard work were already dazzling enough.
Jiang Mi rested his index finger on the document.
Only after a long while did he quietly turn another page.
Liang Jinyi suddenly said, “Brother, what do you think about me studying law in university too?”
Jiang Mi froze and looked up.
“Law?”
Liang Jinyi nodded as though it were obvious.
“That way, I can not only take care of you in everyday life, but also help solve your problems at work.”
“Thank you, but no. I can hire employees for work.”
After saying that, Jiang Mi thought for a moment.
“Besides, Jinyi, you’re not suited to studying law.”
Law was tedious and complicated.
It required enormous patience and rationality.
Liang Jinyi possessed neither exceptional patience nor particularly calm, rational thinking.
Liang Jinyi thought about it.
“All right. I didn’t really want to study law anyway.”
“Brother, actually, I want to study pharmacy,” Liang Jinyi admitted.
Jiang Mi stared blankly.
When had Jinyi become interested in pharmacy?
“I became interested last year.”
Liang Jinyi stared at Jiang Mi.
His eyes suddenly narrowed.
“Because I want to develop a drug that, once Brother takes it, will make you love me completely and wholeheartedly.”
Liang Jinyi straightened, his voice becoming slightly excited.
“If I moved even half a step away from Brother, you’d cry and beg me not to go.”
