Chapter 28
It seemed like coaxing a child.
In truth, in his grandparents’ eyes, Jiang Qingyu had always still been a child who liked to act spoiled and had not yet grown up, so ever since he was little, this was how they had coaxed him.
He had to be held in their arms and gently rocked, his back patted again and again, his head stroked, and comforted in soft, gentle voices.
Holding Fu Jingqiu in his arms and rocking him was really not very feasible. With his physique, who knew who would be holding whom? But putting an arm around him and patting him a couple of times was not difficult.
He just could not guess whether Fu Jingqiu would fall for this or not. In any case, Fu Jingqiu’s emotions did not fluctuate much. Apart from his body stiffening for an instant when Jiang Qingyu first patted his back, he was quite normal the rest of the time.
No matter what, it was good that he had let Jiang Qingyu off.
Jiang Qingyu really could not keep practicing anymore. He only wanted to collapse on the yoga mat and play dead.
Their plan was to spend almost all of today and tomorrow on the road. Fu Jingqiu was still somewhat uneasy about the automatic driving, so he went to the front to check several times. The partition door between the driver’s area and the living room was left wide open, all to prevent any possible accident.
If some unexpected situation occurred, he could rush to the front in time to fix it.
Jiang Qingyu, meanwhile, heartlessly prepared the ingredients. During this period, it seemed they had constantly been eating noodles and beef. Today, he wanted rice, along with some sour and spicy fish slices, plus two small side dishes.
Fu Jingqiu liked eating shrimp, so he would make a dry pot shrimp dish too. He chose the extra-large kind as usual. Fu Jingqiu was still the one helping as his assistant, processing them by slicing open the backs, removing the veins, and trimming the legs. First, they were marinated for about ten minutes, then lightly fried over low heat together with the side ingredients.
For the side ingredients, he chose corn segments, lotus root slices, and rice cakes. Eaten together, they went extremely well with rice. Jiang Qingyu deliberately controlled the amount of seasoning, so it did not taste salty at all.
Because he wanted to eat leafy greens, and considering how much they shrank after being cooked, plus the fact that there were two of them, they added thin tofu sheets and generously stir-fried a big pot of Hangzhou cabbage, resulting in a full plate.
There was also a small pot of five-spice stewed chicken legs. They had been pressure-cooked until very soft and tender. With one poke of the chopsticks, the meat separated from the bone.
When night fell, the RV was still driving along the road. Occasionally, large trucks passed by, but no one cared what kind of scene was inside these two RVs with their curtains drawn.
Previously, when Jiang Qingyu had been alone, he could not make too many dishes. If he could not finish eating them, the leftovers would also be troublesome.
Now it was good. With Fu Jingqiu joining him, making big dishes had become easy. They could have a balanced combination of meat and vegetables and even add a soup. Drinking a bowl on a night when the temperature suddenly dropped was extremely comfortable.
Jiang Qingyu took the initiative to share with Fu Jingqiu, “Do you know? I feel like eating and sleeping are among the happiest moments of my day.”
Fu Jingqiu actually knew how to tease him. “Ninety-nine percent of people are like that.”
Jiang Qingyu shook his head proudly. “But not necessarily that many people can do both wholeheartedly, right?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Eating and sleeping—do they require any technical skill?”
“Of course!” Jiang Qingyu puffed out his chest proudly. “Our family never scolded children at the dining table!”
“…” Fu Jingqiu said, “So that’s what you mean.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “It doesn’t affect the appetite, doesn’t cause indigestion, and doesn’t waste food.”
That made a lot of sense.
Fu Jingqiu asked again, “Then what about sleeping?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Before sleeping, I don’t let my thoughts run wild. As long as I want to sleep, I’ll definitely fall asleep within ten minutes.”
He said happily, “And now I can sleep until whenever I want. No one urges me, and I don’t have to get up early to rush for a bus to work.”
He really was a particularly easily satisfied child.
Jiang Qingyu moved forward a little and stared at Fu Jingqiu’s hand as he ladled soup for him. “What about you?”
Fu Jingqiu did not understand. “What?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Have you been happy these past few days?”
Without thinking, Fu Jingqiu said, “Of course.”
Meeting Jiang Qingyu’s slightly doubtful gaze, he paused, then added sincerely, “I don’t lie, and that is indeed the truth.”
Every day, there were very few things he needed to deliberately think about or worry over. Jiang Qingyu did not have a bad temper when waking up. Every day when he got up, he was in a good mood. Faced with such a smiling face, even the most serious person would soften their expression and speak to him patiently.
He no longer had to repeat the same phrasing day after day to reject his mother, be accused by her, then have her turn around and coax him with a sweet date to make him change his mind… It was as if it were a set process. When it was exaggerated, it could even happen several times a day.
His silence was not understood by others. His younger brother was always careless and unserious, hinting and showing off as if joking, advising him not to go against their mother, and so on, as if everything was already within their grasp.
Before this, Fu Jingqiu had often thought about leaving. His mother had recovered from her illness, and her body was still quite strong, so she did not need him to stay by her side and take care of her.
Originally, after this “family trip” ended, Fu Jingqiu had planned to find his younger brother and have a proper talk with him, and appropriately provide some financial support.
But unexpectedly, the two of them could not wait. They had used clumsy methods first to try to harm his life and seize his property.
Now, they were still on the road. Presumably, they still did not know that the house had already been sold. Perhaps they were still celebrating after getting rid of him, this stumbling block.
Actually, Fu Jingqiu very much wanted to know what their expressions would be when they learned that he was still alive.
It would surely be very interesting.
However, it was best not to let Jiang Qingyu know these thoughts.
After receiving an affirmative answer, Jiang Qingyu became slightly more satisfied and emphasized, “If you have any thoughts or problems, tell me in time. I don’t want us to suddenly start arguing one day and for me to be completely confused, not knowing what happened at all.”
He was thinking quite far ahead.
Although this wording was somewhat strange, Fu Jingqiu still smiled and agreed. “All right. I’ll definitely tell you.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Right, you don’t have to worry about the automatic driving. The one equipped on my vehicle is… a very top-level system. No, the kind that isn’t available on the market. It absolutely won’t have any problems.”
Fu Jingqiu hesitated for a moment before saying all right.
Jiang Qingyu could tell that he was actually still a little worried about it, but since the words had already been said to this extent, it would not be good for him to keep adding explanations. So he went to Meimei’s special storage compartment to rummage for a comb and nail clippers.
Because they were focused on rushing along the road, they did not delay too long on the way. Very soon, they arrived in Dunhuang, the next destination on their itinerary.
Uh, after arriving, the first thing they had to do was actually go pick up packages.
There was no way around it. The staff at the courier station had called Jiang Qingyu to complain. There were simply too many packages. They only saw packages coming in and none going out, and they were almost out of room to step.
Moreover, they were not only Jiang Qingyu’s packages. Over the past two days, Fu Jingqiu had also been shopping crazily. Because they had communicated in advance, they had chosen the same courier station for the delivery address, and the quantity was even more exaggerated.
The owner of the courier station had even borrowed a vehicle and parked it at the entrance, then pulled up a large canopy and separated out most of their packages into one pile so they could be dragged away conveniently later.
While Fu Jingqiu was not paying attention, Jiang Qingyu secretly emptied the storage compartment at the bottom of the RV completely. He sneakily added a turn inside it, making it more convenient for him to stuff his things into the space later.
When buying, he had no real sense of the quantity. When moving the packages, he finally did.
When they were moving the goods, Fu Jingqiu almost did not let him interfere. Jiang Qingyu did want to help, but the other party stopped him with one look. For some inexplicable reason, he did not quite dare move.
But Jiang Qingyu was a person who, sometimes, was very obedient. If he was told to do something, he would do it and cooperate very well. But at other times, like now, he really could not just stand there watching Fu Jingqiu work. So he secretly went to find the courier station owner and asked him to scan some small packages and hand them to him.
Fu Jingqiu was responsible for moving the packages from the vehicle outside. He had taken off his jacket, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms. Unexpectedly, underneath, he was wearing that black semi-turtleneck thin sweater that did not abide by male virtue. His muscles had swelled from the exertion, and their shape was extremely obvious.
Originally, people who came to pick up packages basically took them and left. But with him doing this, quite a few people actually came forward to strike up conversations, asking whether Fu Jingqiu was a newly hired worker at the courier station, repeatedly praising him for being handsome and having a good figure.
There were even people who came over to ask the nonsense question of how he trained, wanting to touch him and feel the texture.
When Jiang Qingyu came out carrying a bag of small miscellaneous items, this was exactly the scene he saw. For a moment, he had nothing to say.
Big brother, how does that man look like he’s asking you how to train? He is clearly trying to take advantage of you!
He silently rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to go forward and stop it, Fu Jingqiu avoided the other person’s touch first and said lightly, “There are many tutorials online, and gyms also have trainers. I still have things to do here.”
Jiang Qingyu took back his eye roll.
He walked forward. The guy, who obviously looked like his sexual orientation was toward men, was still not quite willing to give up and wanted to use the excuse of helping him move packages to keep chatting. Jiang Qingyu glanced at Fu Jingqiu, did not cut in, and heavily tossed the bag of packages into the storage compartment, making a loud clanging sound.
Fu Jingqiu: “…”
Passerby man: “…”
Passerby man: “This is?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “My friend.”
He turned his face to look at Jiang Qingyu. “I can take the things. Are there still more inside?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “No. I brought them all over.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “All right. I’m almost done here too. Let’s go.”
Jiang Qingyu really climbed into the vehicle without looking back, leaving Fu Jingqiu with the back of his perfectly round head. It was impossible to tell whether he was angry or not, but if it was the former, Fu Jingqiu did not understand why.
The passerby man held his phone and looked at Fu Jingqiu eagerly. “Um, how about we add each other on WeChat? When you’re free later, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Fu Jingqiu wiped off his sweat. “No need. I’m only passing through here. I won’t be staying long.”
After saying this, he politely nodded to the other party. “Goodbye.”
The RV door closed mercilessly. The vehicle started and drove toward a nearby park parking lot.
Jiang Qingyu had already gotten into the bathroom to shower. When he came up just now, he had glanced in the mirror. Calling himself dusty and disheveled would not be too much. He did not know where his face had rubbed against something, and he looked rather comical.
He stood under the shower. The mist was thick, and hot water poured down over his head, making it almost impossible to open his eyes.
He stood there like a wooden stake for several minutes before he finally had the mood to tidy himself up. He washed his face carelessly and shook his head in the shower room like a puppy. Thinking that Fu Jingqiu would also need to shower later, he did not delay much. He quickly finished washing and came out. Only then did he hear another sound of water outside, with quite a presence, pattering noisily against the poplar trees nearby.
Fu Jingqiu said, “It only rains a few times a year here. We happened to run into it.”
Jiang Qingyu raised an eyebrow. “Quite a coincidence.”
He flicked his towel. “Go wash. Come out and eat when you’re done.”
Later, he would make a fresh shrimp and spring bamboo shoot soup to drink. It was raining now, the most suitable time to calm down and enjoy good food.
But Fu Jingqiu asked him, “Are you unhappy?”
Jiang Qingyu: “?”
At a time like this, shouldn’t the two of them pretend nothing had happened? What do you mean by asking directly?
Seeing that his expression did not look quite right, Fu Jingqiu took the initiative to explain, “When you got into the vehicle just now, you looked like you weren’t very happy.”
What does that have to do with getting in the vehicle, hey!
Jiang Qingyu said with a sullen face, “I wasn’t.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Two days ago, you said that if something happened, we had to communicate in time. Otherwise, if we argued, we would both be confused and not know what had happened. So why are you unwilling to say it now?”
This was bad. He had lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot.
Jiang Qingyu paused, then instead said righteously, “I am a little unhappy. So what?”
