Chapter 23
No one noticed the cat’s reaction. Lu Yichuan, his gaze fixed on the wall, only blinked slightly. “He asked you about that?”
“Not just that…” Zhao Shuo said. “He also asked me if you were very busy and why you weren’t replying to his messages.”
“Your brother seems quite well-behaved and sensible, but he looks rather frail, coughing after every sentence. Even so, he’s still concerned about how you’re doing at university…”
Lu Yichuan interrupted him. “He’s not my brother.”
Zhao Shuo was taken aback. “Huh?”
Lu Yichuan retracted his legs and went to sit on the sofa.
“He’s not my brother,” he said. “He’s just a friend’s younger brother. We’re not very close.”
Zhao Shuo followed him, scratching his head in confusion. “Not close? The way he acted, I thought you two grew up together.”
He looked at Lu Yichuan’s expressionless face and tentatively said, “So, next time he asks, I’ll just say I don’t know.”
The man didn’t respond, and Zhao Shuo immediately knew he had guessed correctly.
Thinking of the familiar way the so-called “younger brother” had acted, and then looking at Lu Yichuan’s indifferent face, he felt curious, but his intuition told him not to ask.
Jiang Heng didn’t have much fur and looked very dirty, but he was actually easy to bathe, and soon he was a pink-skinned kitten covered in a thin layer of white fuzz.
Zhao Shuo scrutinized him for a while and couldn’t help but laugh.
Jiang Heng, nestled in Lu Yichuan’s arms, rested his head against his arm and shut down.
The man stroked his head. “Don’t laugh, you’ll make him angry.”
Zhao Shuo was surprised. “He’s that petty?”
Jiang Heng, with lightning speed, pounced on Zhao Shuo and bit him.
You’re the petty one!
Your whole family is petty!
Zhao Shuo showed the faint teeth marks on his wrist to Lu Yichuan. “See? He really is petty.”
Lu Yichuan gently touched the kitten’s newly emerged baby teeth. “Be good, don’t bite everything.”
Zhao Shuo: “…”
After leaving the pet store, the two humans and one cat went to the grilled fish restaurant next door.
As darkness fell, barbecue stalls lined the streets, smoke rising under the streetlights, the aroma of grilled food wafting through the cool spring night, filling the air with a unique smoky flavor.
Zhao Shuo took two bottles of beer from the cooler, handed one to Lu Yichuan, and just as he opened it, a familiar face walked in.
Gao Zhilan also spotted them and waved at Zhao Shuo. “What a coincidence! You’re here too?”
She was followed by six or seven people. Several girls’ eyes lit up when they saw Lu Yichuan sitting opposite Zhao Shuo, but before they could say anything, a boy stepped forward from beside them.
“Yichuan-ge…”
Gao Zhilan was taken aback and looked at Lu Yichuan.
The man, holding his beer bottle, glanced up indifferently.
She looked at the boy. “You know each other?”
Jiang Xingbai chuckled. “Our families are on friendly terms.”
Lu Yichuan pushed the kitten’s head back down, popped a peanut into its mouth, and said nothing.
Gao Zhilan chuckled. “Since you know each other, why not eat together? Have you ordered yet?”
Zhao Shuo said, “We just ordered.”
Gao Zhilan said, “It’s fine, we’ll order another fish and share a table.”
Zhao Shuo hesitantly looked at Lu Yichuan.
Before Lu Yichuan could speak, Jiang Xingbai sat down next to him.
Zhao Shuo had no choice but to call the waiter over to combine the tables.
After some rearranging, everyone finally sat down. Zhao Shuo asked Gao Zhilan, “Are you guys here for a gathering?”
“Sort of…” Gao Zhilan poured herself a cup of tea. “Club recruitment, so I brought them here for dinner. I didn’t expect Jiang Xingbai to know Xuechang Lu.”
Jiang Heng suddenly realized something and turned to look at the boy sitting next to Lu Yichuan.
As soon as Gao Zhilan finished speaking, everyone’s gaze fell on Jiang Xingbai. He pursed his lips and smiled shyly.
“I didn’t expect to see Yichuan-ge here either. I’m not in good health and often miss classes, and Yichuan-ge is very busy with his studies, so we don’t see each other very often. It’s normal that you didn’t know.”
Jiang Xingbai…
Jiang Heng repeated the name silently in his heart.
So he had taken the Jiang surname.
It wasn’t surprising that he hadn’t recognized him. He had only seen Jiang Xingbai twice. Once in a photo, and once at the Jiang residence.
The photo was when he was forced to learn that he wasn’t the Jiang family’s biological child. The news had been so shocking that he couldn’t think straight, and he had only glanced at the photo briefly.
A thin, frail boy, wearing faded clothes and jeans, his face pale due to his congenital heart disease.
He clearly hadn’t had an easy life.
The second time he saw him was at the Jiang residence.
Zhao Huailan and Jiang Zhiming were hugging him and crying. The boy, still wearing his faded T-shirt and jeans, his face pale, his expression timid, looked out of place in the luxurious villa.
Jiang Heng, on the other hand, was dressed head to toe in expensive, custom-made clothes, his complexion rosy, his eyes clear and bright, a stark contrast to the timid boy.
The stares directed at him felt like needles, and at that moment, Jiang Heng felt like a thief who had stolen someone else’s happiness. Eating someone else’s food, wearing someone else’s clothes, and now that the real owner had returned, his past misdeeds were exposed.
So he had shamefully run away.
There were times after his rebirth that Jiang Heng had even felt relieved. Relieved that he was dead, relieved that he didn’t have to face the boy whose life he had stolen, because he wouldn’t know how to make up for the eighteen years of love and life he had taken.
Even though it wasn’t his intention, the guilt always made it hard to breathe.
He hadn’t expected him to have changed so much in four years.
He still looked frail, but his every move exuded elegance and refinement, no different from any other pampered young master.
Jiang Xingbai raised his hand, casually revealing the watch on his wrist, and complained to Lu Yichuan, “Yichuan-ge, why did you leave so suddenly on my birthday? You gave me such an expensive watch, and I didn’t even get to thank you properly.”
Gao Zhilan leaned closer and said, “Tsk! Such an expensive watch, just like that. Xuechang Lu is truly generous.”
Birthday…
Jiang Heng froze.
So that was why Lu Yichuan hadn’t come to the hospital that day; he had been celebrating his birthday.
Lu Yichuan had remained silent throughout their conversation. He opened his beer can, took a sip, and offered another peanut to Jiang Heng, his voice slightly slurred. “Not eating anymore?”
Suddenly, everyone’s gaze fell on Jiang Heng.
Seeing Lu Yichuan’s attention focused on the ugly little cat, the smile on Jiang Xingbai’s face became strained. “Yichuan-ge, you have a cat?”
“Mm.” Lu Yichuan responded, stroking the kitten’s chin, his features appearing strangely indifferent in the dim light. “I adopted it a couple of days ago.”
Jiang Xingbai fidgeted with his watch strap and couldn’t help but say, “What a coincidence! I also got a cat a couple of days ago. A Ragdoll, very beautiful.”
Lu Yichuan finally looked at him. “You got a cat?”
Seeing him finally looking at him, Jiang Xingbai smiled. “Yes, it just arrived yesterday and is still a little shy. I can bring it over in a couple of days to play with your cat.”
Lu Yichuan seemed to chuckle, the sound lost in the commotion from the next table. When the noise died down, he said, “Isn’t your mother allergic to cat fur?”
Jiang Xingbai sipped his drink through a straw, not noticing the coldness creeping into Lu Yichuan’s eyes. “Yes, but she saw how much I liked it, so she let me keep it. As long as I change the bedsheets frequently and don’t let the kitten go near the places she frequents, it’s fine.”
Lu Yichuan rotated the beer can in his hand, silent.
Jiang Heng was also silent.
After a few seconds, he stood up and ate the peanut Lu Yichuan had placed on the table.
Roasted peanuts were so delicious.
He thought.
…
It was almost ten o’clock at night when they finished eating.
Gao Zhilan said goodbye to Lu Yichuan and Zhao Shuo at the entrance. “We’re going to karaoke. We won’t be going back with you.”
She looked at Jiang Xingbai. “Xingbai, are you coming with us, or…?”
Jiang Xingbai smiled shyly. “I won’t be going. I’m not feeling well, and my mom wants me home before eleven every day.”
“Okay, are you going back by yourself?”
Jiang Xingbai looked at Lu Yichuan. “Yichuan-ge will take me home.”
Lu Yichuan didn’t say anything, and Gao Zhilan took his silence as agreement.
Watching them leave, Zhao Shuo scratched his head. “Then I’ll be going back now. Lu-ge, should I take your cat back for you?”
Before Lu Yichuan could react, the cat in his arms jumped nimbly into Zhao Shuo’s arms.
Lu Yichuan froze.
Zhao Shuo rubbed the cat’s head and chuckled. “This little guy knows what’s good for him. Let’s go, I’ll give you some sausage when we get back.”
Watching Zhao Shuo’s retreating figure, Lu Yichuan felt a strange pang in his chest.
Not painful, but cold.
An unbearable coldness.
“Yichuan-ge…”
Jiang Xingbai called out to him, bringing Lu Yichuan back to his senses.
He was smiling, genuinely happy. “It’s so late, I won’t call the driver. I’ll just hail a cab.”
“No need…” Lu Yichuan said. “I’ve already called someone.”
Before Jiang Xingbai could react, a car stopped beside them, and Jiang Zhuo poked his head out the window. “Jiang Xingxing, come home with me.”
Jiang Xingbai was startled, his expression blank. “Brother, why are you here?”
Jiang Zhuo scoffed. “What? You’re not happy to see me?”
“Why are you here?” Jiang Xingbai complained. “Yichuan-ge was going to take me home.”
“Why do you think I’m here? It’s because your Yichuan-ge sent me a message. It’s late, does he have nothing better to do? It would be too much trouble for him to send you back and then have someone take him back. Just get in the car and come with me.”
“No.”
Jiang Xingbai had drunk a little alcohol with them earlier and was feeling slightly tipsy and stubborn.
“I’m not going back with you.”
