Chapter 57
Jiang Mi had been stared at by Liang Jinyi with that kind of obsessive, burning gaze many times before.
He had thought he would eventually get used to it.
But every time it happened, his body still trembled faintly.
Why could one person like another person this much?
Now was not the time to think about that, Jiang Mi’s rationality reminded him.
He said with apparent calm, “First of all, that kind of drug would fall under mind-control substances. Under normal circumstances, research into it would never be approved.”
“Second, even if we boldly assume you somehow managed to develop it, secretly testing it on a human being would still be illegal.”
Liang Jinyi raised an eyebrow, unconcerned. “If it means getting a Brother who can’t leave me, so what if it’s illegal?”
Jiang Mi was helpless.
He rubbed his temples and cursed, “Get out. I need to review the case files.”
Liang Jinyi did not get out.
He had not been to Jiang Mi’s home for a year, but the desk opposite Jiang Mi’s had never been removed, and the study chair was still neatly tucked beneath it.
Liang Jinyi stood, moved the chair beside Jiang Mi, and quietly accompanied him while he reviewed the documents.
Seeing that Liang Jinyi was no longer disturbing him, Jiang Mi lowered his gaze to the files and stopped trying to drive him away.
Jiang Mi went to bed rather late that night, so he did not get up for his morning run.
After hearing movement in the living room, he got up and went to the bathroom to wash up.
When he opened his bedroom door, he saw Liang Jinyi coming out of the guest room with his schoolbag.
Jiang Mi said coldly, “I’ll drive you to school.”
Liang Jinyi’s eyes curved.
“Okay, Brother.”
Liang Jinyi’s classes started an hour earlier than Jiang Mi’s workday.
After dropping him off at school and driving to the office, the entire commercial building was still quiet.
Jiang Mi entered his office and poured himself a cup of warm water.
Suddenly, the phone lying on his desk rang.
Jiang Mi had used his domestic phone number for many years.
The caller ID read: Officer Huang.
He answered the call.
More than ten minutes later, Jiang Mi said he would be careful and ended the call.
He had a case going to trial that afternoon.
After lunch, he met up with his client.
The custody case lasted an hour and a half in court.
At five in the afternoon, the judge delivered the ruling.
Custody was awarded to the mother, while the father received visitation rights.
His cousin’s entire family wanted to treat Jiang Mi to dinner.
They even called Jiang Mi’s parents and maternal grandparents and invited the elders to join them.
Jiang Mi had grown up in a large, close-knit family, so he did not refuse.
At six in the evening, Jiang Mi received a message from Liang Jinyi asking about the outcome of the trial.
Jiang Mi replied simply:
[Custody was awarded to my client.]
The father and mother had similar financial circumstances.
The child preferred living with her grandmother, but Jiang Mi had provided evidence that the grandmother enjoyed gambling and was emotionally unstable.
The father’s job also required frequent business trips, meaning he had far less time to spend with the child than the mother did.
In truth, Jiang Mi had not been especially confident.
But the result was good in the end.
Liang Jinyi: [I knew Brother was the best.]
Jiang Mi: [Are you home yet?]
Liang Jinyi: [On the way home.]
Jiang Mi: [I’ll stop chatting for now. I’m out having dinner with them.]
Liang Jinyi: [Okay, Brother.]
Dinner itself did not take particularly long.
But relatives could spend ages talking afterward, though most of the time it was the elders chatting while Jiang Mi quietly listened.
By the time Jiang Mi parked in the Shimao Tingfang parking garage, it was already nine at night.
He turned off the engine, got out, walked to the elevator, and pressed the button.
A minute later, the elevator rose to the twenty-eighth floor.
The moment Jiang Mi stepped out, he saw someone familiar sitting outside his front door.
His footsteps stopped.
Liang Jinyi complained mildly, “Brother, you came back later than I expected.”
“Didn’t you say you were going home?” Jiang Mi frowned.
Liang Jinyi stood and closed the physics textbook resting on his knees.
“I did say I was going home.”
He tilted his chin toward Jiang Mi’s door.
“This is my home too.”
Jiang Mi had no choice but to walk over and open the door.
Ever since Jiang Mi changed the password last year, he had never told Liang Jinyi the new one because he wanted to maintain some distance between them.
Liang Jinyi was unusually well-behaved now.
As Jiang Mi’s fingers moved over the keypad and each light tap made a faint beep in the quiet corridor, Liang Jinyi did not lean over or try to peek at the password.
A few seconds later, the security door opened.
Jiang Mi and Liang Jinyi entered one after the other.
Liang Jinyi seemed thirsty.
After putting down his schoolbag, he picked up his own cup and went to the water dispenser.
Jiang Mi unbuttoned his suit jacket and casually asked while walking toward his bedroom, “Have you eaten dinner?”
Standing beside the water dispenser with his cup, Liang Jinyi said, “I got hungry around seven-thirty, so I went downstairs and ate a bowl of noodles.”
Jiang Mi gave a flat hum.
Lowering his head, he removed his tie and asked, “Are you going to come over often from now on?”
Jiang Mi had assumed that when Liang Jinyi said he was going home tonight, he meant the Liang residence.
“Of course,” Liang Jinyi answered without hesitation.
Jiang Mi’s fingers rested on the master bedroom door handle.
After several seconds, he quickly and quietly recited six digits, opened the bedroom door, and strode inside.
Liang Jinyi put down his cup.
The same cup he had picked out for himself more than a year ago when he and Jiang Mi went grocery shopping together.
He strode to Jiang Mi’s bedroom door and barged inside.
“Brother, what were those numbers for?”
His tone sounded genuinely confused, as though he truly had no idea.
Jiang Mi tossed his suit jacket onto a chair and turned to look at him, warning him with his eyes not to push his luck any further.
Liang Jinyi put on an expression of sudden realization.
“Oh, I know. It’s the password to Brother’s home. Thank you, Brother.”
Jiang Mi could not be bothered with him and headed toward the bathroom.
Liang Jinyi followed behind him.
“Brother, tomorrow is Friday. Where are we going on our date this week?”
Jiang Mi had not thought about it.
Hearing Liang Jinyi bring it up, he considered for a moment before answering, “Let’s go fishing.”
Liang Jinyi’s expression soured.
Standing outside the bathroom, he stared at Jiang Mi washing his hands and said resentfully, “Brother, you’re not planning to spend an entire year fishing with me, are you?”
Then he added, “There’s a fireworks festival in Bei City on Sunday. Let’s go watch the fireworks, okay?”
Jiang Mi thought about it.
The fireworks festival would be crowded and held outdoors, not in some enclosed, dim space.
So he agreed.
Jiang Mi went to bed at his usual time that night.
A little after six the next morning, he got up, changed into sportswear, and went for a morning run around the residential complex.
Liang Jinyi’s classes started at eight.
A little after seven, he got out of bed.
He had just finished washing up and stepped out of the bathroom when he heard a phone ringing in Jiang Mi’s room.
Liang Jinyi walked to the bedroom door and naturally pushed open the half-closed door.
Jiang Mi’s phone was vibrating continuously on the bedside table.
Liang Jinyi picked it up.
The caller ID read: Officer Huang.
The phone buzzed in his hand.
Liang Jinyi answered.
“Hello?”
A middle-aged man’s voice came through, sounding somewhat suspicious.
“This is Lawyer Jiang’s phone, right?”
“Yes, but he isn’t here right now. I’m his boyfriend,” Liang Jinyi said.
The man went silent for several seconds.
Perhaps he had been shocked by the word boyfriend.
Homosexuality had become a familiar concept to younger people over the past couple of years, but to many middle-aged people, it was still something extremely uncommon.
Liang Jinyi asked, “What is it?”
The middle-aged man recovered and cleared his throat.
“Please tell Lawyer Jiang that according to today’s latest investigation, Wang Qiang not only purchased a controlled knife, but also prepared sulfuric acid in advance. So until Wang Qiang is arrested, Lawyer Jiang must be extremely careful.”
“Wang Qiang? Be careful?” Liang Jinyi asked. “What does that have to do with Lawyer Jiang?”
The man paused.
“Lawyer Jiang didn’t tell you?”
Five minutes later, the call ended.
Half a minute before it did, Jiang Mi had finished his morning run.
He returned to his room.
The moment he reached the doorway, he saw Liang Jinyi standing in the middle of his bedroom holding his phone.
Hearing movement at the door, Liang Jinyi turned around.
His expression was dark as he stared at Jiang Mi.
“Give me my phone.”
Jiang Mi frowned and walked over.
Liang Jinyi stared at him, then handed it back.
Once Jiang Mi took the phone, he noticed the recently ended call screen.
Officer Huang.
“You answered my phone?” Jiang Mi asked.
Liang Jinyi questioned him in a heavy voice, “Brother, why didn’t you tell me you’ve been in danger lately?”
Jiang Mi tossed the phone aside.
“I’ll be careful. And under normal circumstances, Wang Qiang’s first target for revenge probably won’t be me.”
During Jiang Mi’s senior year of university, he had taken on many legal-aid cases.
One of his clients had been injured by Wang Qiang.
Because Wang Qiang had fled after intentionally injuring someone and had left no direct evidence behind, Jiang Mi, his client, and the police officer who handled the case had investigated for a long time before finally finding direct evidence.
Two months ago, Wang Qiang was released from prison.
The day before yesterday, he harmed a member of the original victim’s family.
Officer Huang believed that Wang Qiang’s purchase of a controlled knife and anesthetic equipment after his release showed a strong desire for revenge.
As one of the people responsible for sending him to prison back then, Jiang Mi was also at some risk.
“If you knew that, why did you still agree to go to the fireworks festival with me? Brother, do you know how crowded and chaotic that place will be? If he wants revenge, it’ll be easy for him to find an opportunity.”
After rapidly saying all that, Liang Jinyi frowned and stared at Jiang Mi.
“Brother, we’re not going to the fireworks festival this week.”
Then he added, “And from now on, I’ll personally drive you to and from work.”
Jiang Mi froze.
After thinking about it, he said rationally, “Jinyi, your classes start an hour earlier than my workday. It’s inconvenient. I’ll be careful myself.”
“It’s fine. I can take leave from school.”
Jiang Mi sighed.
“You have a little over two months until the college entrance examination. Do you think your teachers will let you take long-term leave?”
Liang Jinyi’s position was clear.
He intended to drive Jiang Mi until Wang Qiang was arrested, however long that took.
“My dad won’t hit me anyway,” Liang Jinyi said.
After a pause, he added, “And even if he does, it doesn’t matter.”
Liang Jinyi was extremely stubborn about certain things.
Jiang Mi could not persuade him.
Feeling irritated, he took a change of clothes into the bathroom and quickly showered.
When he came out again, he was dressed in clean clothes.
He opened a drawer, hurriedly selected a tie, then picked up the black suit jacket he had tossed by the bed.
Jiang Mi pushed open the bedroom door and saw Liang Jinyi sitting in the living room waiting for him.
As Jiang Mi strode toward the entrance, he coldly threw out one word.
“Work.”
Liang Jinyi picked up his schoolbag and stood.
At the same time, he checked the time.
It was not even seven-forty yet.
Traffic on the Second Ring Road was not too bad at this hour.
Fifteen minutes later, the Audi stopped in the temporary parking area outside Jiang Mi’s office building.
Jiang Mi opened the door and got out.
Liang Jinyi unfastened his seat belt and followed him.
Jiang Mi asked irritably, “Aren’t you going to school?”
Standing beside the car, he reminded him, “Liang Jinyi, your second mock exam is coming up soon, isn’t it?”
Liang Jinyi answered lazily, “Doesn’t matter. I already dropped to three or four hundredth in the grade on the first mock exam. This one can’t be much worse.”
Jiang Mi froze.
“Weren’t you sixth in the entire city and second in your grade?”
The moment Liang Jinyi heard that, his eyes curved.
He said with certainty,
“Brother, you really do care about me.”
The first mock exam had taken place in early February, just after the new semester began.
At the time, he and Jiang Mi had still been under their one-year agreement not to see each other.
He had never once told Jiang Mi his exam results.
Author’s Note
I changed a small detail in the previous chapter. The relative’s surname is Liu, so she should be from Jiang Mi’s mother’s side of the family.
They’ll be together soon. It just feels like the progress is slow because the chapters have been shorter lately. Sob sob.
