Xiang Wei had deliberately chosen to come on a Friday. So Jiang Mian declined Li Yue’s overtime invitation and spent three days accompanying Xiang Wei around South Boundary.
Xiang Wei also mentioned someone. “That emerging painter from the last couple of years—Sleep.”
She smiled. “Atiao and I went to see his exhibition. His palette is very bold, the imagery seemingly bizarre yet extraordinarily captivating. Anyone with even a little empathy can resonate with his paintings. Many people abroad really like his work. I’d guess he’s a handsome man around thirty, someone who’s experienced quite a lot in life.”
As she spoke, Xiang Wei went on a bit more about this Sleep. It was clear she genuinely liked his art.
After all, Xiang Wei was an artist herself.
Jiang Mian, who hadn’t heard any news about Chen Gu for over half a month, was taken aback.
Unbidden, the last memory he had of seeing Chen Gu surfaced before his eyes.
Truthfully, Jiang Mian’s everyday memory was somewhat poor. He often failed to remember things.
He thought his recollection of that final scene might have become a little blurry. But Chen Gu’s smile from that moment remained so vivid.
It was as if it were right in front of him now.
Back then… why had Chen Gu been so sad?
Jiang Mian pressed his lips together slightly.
“Mianmian?”
Xiang Wei called him a few times. “Mianmian? Babe?”
Jiang Mian snapped back to the present. “Mm?”
Xiang Wei looked at him strangely. “What are you thinking about?”
It belatedly dawned on Jiang Mian that his mind had wandered while Xiang Wei was talking. He slowly tried to form an excuse. “A case.”
Xiang Wei didn’t question it. “It’s a day off. Don’t think about work anymore. You’re exactly like your old man in this.”
Jiang Mian slowly said, “Alright.”
—
Chen Yishen actually didn’t like posting daily life updates on social media in real time. Because of his looks, people would always repost his updates onto the campus forum, which then resulted in people stalking him.
So it wasn’t until a month after his birthday that Chen Gu saw the birthday post Chen Yishen finally put up.
【Chen Yishen: Twenty years old now! From here on out, I’m on the road to thirty- (images x9)】
Chen Gu had originally been about to scroll past, but for some reason, he tapped to open the images.
He thought he might see Jiang Mian’s figure somewhere—even just a side profile or a corner of his clothes. But there was nothing.
The photos Chen Yishen posted were only of him and Zhou Yuhui together. Further down, various gifts were tagged with who they came from.
There were the earbuds he’d given, along with a mishmash of presents from other friends. The sneakers Zhou Yuhui gave were marked with a heart.
But Chen Gu didn’t see the bookend, nor that combination Victoria-lantern-and-music-box.
All he saw was Chen Yishen’s new phone identifier—this year’s newest model on the market.
And the comments section—
【(Comment) Chen Yishen: Also, see this new phone tag? That’s right. Our Lawyer Jiang, as always, year after year, splurges this much money every summer for me. (little figure spinning in circles • jpg)】
Chen Gu paused.
Jiang Mian… hadn’t given those two hand-assembled art pieces?
And Chen Yishen said Jiang Mian had always given phones over the years?
He didn’t usually follow Chen Yishen’s activity. And Chen Yishen’s feed was set to only show the last three days, so past posts were impossible to scroll back to.
Without conscious thought, Chen Gu tapped into his message window with Jiang Mian. The conversation still stopped at Jiang Mian’s last stubborn money transfer, sent at midnight on Chen Yishen’s birthday.
But the transfer had expired and been automatically returned over a month ago.
Chen Gu tapped on the message input box. The keyboard popped up, but in the end, he typed nothing. He simply exited DingDong and went back to painting.
On the canvas that already had its base colors, amidst his distraction, a pair of clear yet cool willow-leaf eyes were painted into existence.
They gazed at Chen Gu quietly amidst the bizarre colors, as if Jiang Mian himself were sitting across from him, watching him.
Chen Gu stared at this painting in silence for a long time, then suddenly laughed.
Jiang Mian, huh.
When exactly had he fallen for him?
—
Today was Sunday. It was Chen Yishen’s stepfather, Tang Luji’s, fiftieth birthday. Because the two families shared a good relationship, Jiang Mian was representing Jiang Liaoyi in offering blessings to Tang Luji.
The crowd wasn’t large—only close friends and relatives. But Jiang Mian didn’t know any of them, so he could only hide in a corner and act like a transparent ghost.
Fortunately, Zhou Yuhui had also come. So had Zuo Yao, who was back for summer break.
Zuo Yao was a classmate who’d transferred to their school in their third year of high school. They’d originally both gotten into the Law program at South Boundary University together, but less than three months into the semester, Zuo Yao had gone to the mainland as an exchange student to study law there.
Because she planned to settle on the mainland later on.
Jiang Mian just huddled in the corner with the two of them.
Zuo Yao was telling Zhou Yuhui about all the interesting things that had happened on the mainland. Zhou Yuhui was also laughing and sharing stories about her own life.
Jiang Mian… was essentially still playing the transparent ghost.
It was just that there were now two more familiar faces present.
By the time the banquet began, Jiang Mian still hadn’t seen any sign of Chen Gu.
But then again, he supposed, Tang Luji and Chen Gu had neither legal nor blood relation. Even if Chen Gu wanted to come, he had no standing to be here.
At that thought, Jiang Mian unconsciously pursed his lips slightly.
Chen Yishen had told him he didn’t like their biological father. If even someone like Chen Yishen disliked him, then the man probably really had some issues.
Chen Gu, having followed his father, had most likely never experienced anything good.
Meanwhile, despite being twins, Chen Yishen had followed his mother into a remarriage and had a happy, complete family.
Jiang Mian could understand Chen Gu’s psychology. He just didn’t think it was justified.
Nor did he feel sorry for Chen Gu. He just felt…
Jiang Mian couldn’t quite articulate the feeling inside him.
Honestly, Jiang Mian didn’t eat very well at this meal. He disliked banquet-style dining.
Sometimes the dish he wanted to try just kept circling past without stopping in front of him. When he reached out to turn the lazy Susan, he’d see someone else reaching for food and give up.
By the time the meal dispersed, not many people were left in the hotel private room.
Chen Yishen somehow got to chatting with Xia Ming about his birthday from the month before.
“I was really looking forward to celebrating with my brother, but he said he had something come up.”
“Your brother’s an artist. Sometimes when inspiration strikes, you can’t control it. It’s normal.”
Zuo Yao also had something to do and had to leave early. Xia Ming gestured for Chen Yishen to see her off.
Chen Yishen and Zhou Yuhui went. Jiang Mian checked the time and felt he could probably leave now too.
He stood up and walked over to Xia Ming. “Auntie.”
Xia Ming smiled at him. “What is it?”
Before he could speak, Xia Ming seemed to suddenly remember something. “Oh, right, Jiang Mian. Were you guys planning to combine Chen Gu and Chen Yishen’s birthdays into one day that time?”
“…” Jiang Mian froze. He stared blankly at Xia Ming. “What?”
What did she mean, combine into one day?
Chen Gu and Chen Yishen were twins. Weren’t they born on the same day?
Xia Ming was even more surprised than him. “Chen Gu didn’t say? His birthday is one day before Chen Yishen’s.”
She continued, “Chen Yishen was born at five past midnight. Chen Gu was born about twenty minutes before him.”
So…
Chen Gu’s birthday was the day before Chen Yishen’s.
That meant if Chen Yishen’s birthday was Sunday, then Chen Gu’s birthday was Saturday.
Jiang Mian could hardly believe it.
On the day Chen Gu turned twenty… what exactly had he said to him?!
Xia Ming’s words instantly made the indescribable, strange feeling that had already been drifting in Jiang Mian’s heart flood into a heavy, aching emotion. Regret and remorse surged up together, filling his heart until it physically hurt.
He understood everything in that moment. That night, when they’d talked—why Chen Gu had kept giving him such a strange feeling. Including later, when Chen Gu had looked back after seeing him stand up…
What on earth had he done?
Seeing his stunned expression, Xia Ming’s heart also skipped a beat. “You guys… didn’t you know?”
She sighed. “That’s my fault. I forgot to tell Chen Yishen.”
Xia Ming added, “But since Chen Gu didn’t mention it, maybe that child doesn’t really care…”
“Auntie.”
Jiang Mian rarely interrupted anyone speaking. His voice was even faster than usual. “I have something to do. I have to go.”
He waved a hand. “No need to see me out.”
With that, Jiang Mian turned and headed straight for the exit.
Xia Ming paused briefly. She thought to herself that this might be the first time she’d ever seen Jiang Mian move so quickly.
Jiang Mian walked straight out of the large private room, took out his phone, and, without any hesitation, tapped into DingDong—an app he had set to not notify him.
And then he saw that about five minutes ago, Chen Gu had sent him a message.
【Chen Gu: You didn’t throw away my wrist guard, right?】
Jiang Mian’s footsteps slowed by half a beat.
Smart people knew this sentence was a signal.
As for what kind of signal—only Jiang Mian and Chen Gu would know.
Jiang Mian replied with an “Mm,” then typed: “If you want it, I can bring it to you.”
But almost at the exact same time, Chen Gu’s message arrived: 【Where are you? I’ll pick you up.】
Jiang Mian: “.”
On the other end, Chen Gu also laughed a little.
【Chen Gu: I’ll come get you.】
【Jiang Mian: But I’m out right now…】
【Chen Gu: That’s perfect then. Find somewhere cool to wait and send me your location. I’ll pick you up along the way.】
Jiang Mian thought this solution really was excellent.
And mentally simulating it, if Chen Gu wanted to avoid the summer tourist traffic on his way to Jiang Mian’s place, he’d have to take a detour this way and bypass the city center.
So Jiang Mian, with practiced ease, turned into a coffee shop. 【Alright.】
【Jiang Mian: (location shared)】
Jiang Mian decided to order something while he was here. He thought for a moment. Under the server’s enthusiastic questioning, he first said, “Just a moment.”
【Jiang Mian: What do you want to drink?】
【Chen Gu: (voice message)】
Jiang Mian paused.
He looked at the voice message, his fingertips unconsciously curling slightly.
He had left the house in a hurry today and hadn’t brought his earphones.
But Jiang Mian didn’t tap the text-to-speech conversion. Instead, he hit play and brought the phone to his ear.
That voice he hadn’t heard in a month rang out with a faint hint of a smile, casual and lazy. “Do you have any recommendations?”
Chen Gu’s tone was as if nothing had ever happened—as if they’d never had that conflict, never gone a month without any contact.
【Jiang Mian: Their mocha is very famous.】
Chen Gu sent back a very succinct “1.” Yet Jiang Mian somehow understood exactly what he meant.
He turned to the server. “Two mochas. And one box of original egg tarts and one box of strawberry. To go.”
By the time the steaming mochas and egg tarts were ready, Jiang Mian spotted Chen Gu’s car through the shop window.
Because this section didn’t allow parking and enforcement was strict, he didn’t wait for Chen Gu’s message. He picked up the bag and walked straight out.
Chen Gu caught sight of his figure, put his phone down, and leaned over first to push open the passenger door for him.
This time, Jiang Mian didn’t hesitate too much. He couldn’t let Chen Gu get a parking ticket because of him.
“The egg tarts smell really good.”
Chen Gu spoke first, his tone completely natural, as if nothing had ever cooled between them.
Still thinking about what Xia Ming had said, Jiang Mian gave a sound of agreement while lowering his head to buckle his seatbelt.
Chen Gu’s index finger tapped the steering wheel. Casually, he asked, “Is there a strawberry flavor?”
Jiang Mian was a little surprised.
The coffee and egg tarts were packed together. Though the egg tarts smelled delicious, the aroma of mocha was also very strong. And the tarts were in a tightly sealed box. At the very least, Jiang Mian’s sense of smell was somewhat overwhelmed by the mocha—he could only really smell that.
“Yes.”
The car stopped again at a red light. Ahead was a long line of vehicles—it’d likely take at least three light cycles.
Jiang Mian looked at Chen Gu. Today, Chen Gu’s clothing was still in his own style.
A blue-gray ice-silk dress shirt, black loose-fit cargo trousers. The watch on his wrist had a leather strap, but the watch face was mechanical steampunk style—very vintage.
His hair was a bit longer than a month ago, so he’d tied it all back, leaving only some stray strands framing his temples. It gave him an inexplicable air of artistic dishevelment.
He looked like a male celebrity heading to an event, or perhaps a model about to walk a runway.
Jiang Mian didn’t deliberate for too long.
But as it happened, at the exact moment Jiang Mian looked at him, Chen Gu turned his head too, meeting his eyes.
So they spoke at virtually the same time—
“Sorry.”
“Jiang Mian, I have to apologize to you.”
Both of them paused.
Jiang Mian was a beat slower, so Chen Gu spoke first. “You were right. I really shouldn’t have treated Chen Yishen that way. But I think what’s more important is that I shouldn’t have used you.”
He looked down at him, those overly dark eyes seemingly holding only Jiang Mian. “Can you forgive me?”
Jiang Mian moved his lips. A hint of curiosity surfaced in Chen Gu’s expression. “But why are you apologizing to me?”
“I.” Jiang Mian exhaled lightly, letting out a bit of the heaviness in his chest. “I didn’t know that day was your birthday. I’m sorry.”
Chen Gu truly hadn’t expected Jiang Mian to be apologizing for that.
He blinked, slightly stunned. Seeing Jiang Mian’s pressed-together lips, Chen Gu smiled and deleted all the words he’d originally planned to say. “How about this—let’s both stop saying sorry.”
“Let’s just start over.”
Chen Gu’s eyes curved. “My name is Chen Gu. I’m a painter.”
He said, “Jiang Mian, please take care of me from now on.”
This time, Chen Gu didn’t say, “I’m Chen Yishen’s older brother.”
He introduced himself to Jiang Mian as his own person.
