The new Clay Pot Chicken place Chen Gu mentioned was doing booming business.
Luckily, Chen Gu had booked a table in advance. By the time they arrived, they could enter without waiting in line.
So, the two walked in under the envious and admiring gazes of those queuing outside.
Chen Gu’s height was considered tall even in a place like the South Boundary with many foreigners, and with his good looks, attracting attention was inevitable.
But plenty of people were also looking at Jiang Mian.
Standing together, they were the center of attention.
Chen Gu was very sensitive to camera lenses. So, when a girl pulled out her phone, seemingly to sneak a photo of Jiang Mian, Chen Gu leaned forward, subtly blocking the shot for him.
After they sat down, a server brought the menu.
Coming here for Clay Pot Chicken, chicken was a must. The question was how much to order.
Chen Gu said one whole chicken. Jiang Mian hesitated. “Won’t we not be able to finish it?”
“Don’t worry.” Chen Gu smiled lazily. “I’m here.”
Jiang Mian responded with a slow “Mm.”
Holding the menu, Chen Gu raised an eyebrow, sliding it towards him while asking, “Something wrong?”
Jiang Mian scanned the menu but eventually said, “I want to add sides.”
Adding sides for clay pot chicken wasn’t about ordering separate dishes for the table. It meant adding ingredients directly to the pot to cook with the chicken, similar to hot pot.
Jiang Mian really liked eating it that way.
Chen Gu laughed. “What a coincidence, me too.”
Jiang Mian: “…”
Then one whole chicken? Wouldn’t they not finish it?
As if hearing his thoughts, Chen Gu repeated, “Don’t worry, we can finish it.”
He looked at Jiang Mian and said slowly, “With me here, food won’t be wasted.”
So Jiang Mian hesitantly ordered the ingredients he wanted.
Oyster mushrooms, mung bean noodles, tofu skin rolls, potatoes, lettuce slices… When he finished and passed the menu to Chen Gu, Chen Gu glanced at it and chuckled. “Our tastes really do seem identical.”
Everything Jiang Mian ordered were things he also liked.
Jiang Mian said a slow, “Oh, really?”
On the surface, he looked very calm, but inside, he couldn’t help thinking that Chen Gu really made a perfect dining companion.
After that, Chen Gu went to buy bubble tea. Again, two identical cups of pearl milk tea.
To avoid them accidentally mixing up their drinks, Jiang Mian deliberately tore off a tiny piece of the label on his cup.
The popularity of this new Clay Pot Chicken place was indeed not just built on opening promotions. The food tasted great.
Perhaps because it was genuinely delicious, or maybe because he had company, Jiang Mian ate a bit more than usual.
Only in the middle of the meal, Chen Yishen called.
Jiang Mian swallowed the mung bean noodle in his mouth and answered the phone.
“Jiang Mian.”
Chen Yishen’s end also sounded somewhat noisy. “Are you free this weekend to come and film the summer assignment?”
Their summer assignment was a Moot Court. The case file was written by the professor, and they’d drawn lots long ago. Jiang Mian had drawn Prosecutor, Chen Yishen was Defense Lawyer, and other classmates were Judge and the Jury.
During this period, besides work, Jiang Mian had also been preparing for the summer assignment.
The method of submission was to record the entire mock trial.
Jiang Mian: “At your place?”
Chen Yishen confirmed. “Yeah, doesn’t my place have that spare room? We cleaned it up to film there.”
For this kind of summer assignment, the scene requirements weren’t strict. After all, they couldn’t actually go to a real Court to film.
After confirming this Saturday with Chen Yishen, the call didn’t end. Chen Yishen still wanted to discuss the Bar Exam with Jiang Mian when he heard a somewhat muffled yet very familiar voice from Jiang Mian’s side: “You want more mung bean noodles? Let me scoop them out for you, or they’ll get mushy.”
Chen Yishen froze.
Jiang Mian replied to Chen Gu, “Can you get an empty bowl and scoop them out? Then we can just grab what we want.”
Chen Gu nodded. “Okay.”
Chen Yishen was astonished. “You’re out eating with my brother?”
Jiang Mian “mm”-ed, without saying anything else.
“Wow, you two! Eating out without inviting me? Rude!”
Chen Yishen didn’t think too deeply about it at all. “What are you eating? Hot pot?”
“Clay Pot Chicken.”
“Ah, never mind then. I find that flavor a bit weird.”
He seemed ready to ramble on about other things, but Jiang Mian interjected first, “Is there anything else?”
Talking to Chen Yishen on the phone required seizing the right moment to interrupt him. Otherwise, Chen Yishen could talk for over half an hour, jumping from topic to topic. It wasn’t just with Jiang Mian; that was simply Chen Yishen’s personality. A social butterfly who loved to chat idly.
Chen Yishen said there was nothing else, so Jiang Mian said okay and hung up.
“Chen Yishen?”
“Yeah.”
“Asking you to work on your summer assignment?”
Jiang Mian nodded.
Chen Gu’s eyes curved. “Then, I’ll see you then.”
Jiang Mian: “…”
Chen Gu tilted his head, a picture of total innocence. “He asked me to help with the filming.”
A second question mark slowly formed in Jiang Mian’s mind.
Couldn’t they just set up a phone on a tripod for that? Why make Chen Gu go out of his way?
Was Chen Yishen out of his mind?
After the meal, Jiang Mian again proposed splitting the bill. Chen Gu didn’t refuse.
But Jiang Mian didn’t know why, this time when he transferred the money for his half, he had a slightly uneasy feeling.
Yet asking Chen Gu not to split? Jiang Mian couldn’t do it.
He was naturally averse to owing anyone anything, unless it was Jiang Liaoyi. Even with Xiang Wei, he always felt the need to repay her.
Because Xiang Wei and Jiang Liaoyi were divorced. His custody was with Jiang Liaoyi, not Xiang Wei.
And back when Jiang Liaoyi and Xiang Wei divorced, during their private agreement, Jiang Liaoyi had insisted Xiang Wei didn’t need to pay child support or fulfill any custodial duties.
After all, Xiang Wei was only twenty-six then, still young. Jiang Liaoyi hoped she could seek the love she wanted without burden.
So, whenever Xiang Wei spent money on him now, Jiang Mian would subconsciously record it in his mental ledger. Then, whenever he saw an expensive gift suitable for Xiang Wei, he would use Jiang Liaoyi’s supplementary card (?) to buy it for her, putting her name and address as the recipient.
Jiang Mian considered it just reciprocating courtesy.
He also thought he was probably just like what a classmate back in middle school once said to him.
Probably just a cold-blooded animal.
After eating with Chen Gu, Chen Gu didn’t insist on any other activity, releasing Jiang Mian to go home and watch his lectures.
This made Jiang Mian sigh in relief.
He liked maintaining a sense of distance.
Every time before when Chen Yishen insisted he go along to KTV or bars or other entertainment venues, it always made Jiang Mian extremely uncomfortable.
Back home, Jiang Liaoyi’s call came in, undoubtedly about his resignation.
With Jiang Liaoyi, Jiang Mian was a little more talkative.
After all, for the nineteen-year-old Jiang Mian, Jiang Liaoyi was the mountain supporting his sky.
Hearing Jiang Mian say he wasn’t planning on the lawyer path anymore, that he wanted to take the Civil Service Exam and become a prosecutor or judge, Jiang Liaoyi didn’t think Jiang Mian’s decision was hasty. He just used his years of industry experience to offer guidance and said he’d send Jiang Mian some relevant exam prep materials.
Jiang Mian listened quietly. After Jiang Liaoyi’s end was silent for a few seconds, he spoke up. “Dad.”
He pursed his lips slightly, recalling what Chen Gu had said to him that day. For the first time, he asked, “You don’t think I’m being too willful, do you?”
The part-time job was arranged by Jiang Liaoyi. On the path to becoming a lawyer, Jiang Liaoyi had invested a lot of energy in him. He had even personally guided him through several cases before.
Back then, Jiang Mian hadn’t been very good and even made minor mistakes. Jiang Liaoyi hadn’t criticized him, only gently explained things.
Jiang Liaoyi seemed like someone without a temper. Jiang Mian had never seen him lose it.
Jiang Liaoyi chuckled softly, teasing him. “You probably need to retake Chinese class and re-learn what ‘willful’ means.”
He said, “Mianmian, you are my child. As long as you don’t do anything illegal, whatever you choose, I will support you.”
This was the first time Jiang Mian had asked Jiang Liaoyi such a question, and the first time Jiang Liaoyi had said something like this to him.
As a father, Jiang Liaoyi might not be perfectly competent, but he truly was a very good father.
“Even if one day you break the law,” Jiang Liaoyi said softly, “I would defend you.”
He would abandon all his moral principles and bottom lines to defend him.
Jiang Mian gazed at the tiered halos of warm lamplight in his room, his heart inevitably pricked gently by an iron skewer.
He couldn’t quite describe the feeling, only knowing he was very glad he had asked that question.
So after Jiang Mian smiled faintly, said okay to Jiang Liaoyi, chatted a little more, and hung up, he opened DingDong, which he genuinely rarely used.
[Jiang Mian: Thank you.]
[Chen Gu: Hm? Going to give me another ‘good guy’ card?]
[Jiang Mian: No.]
It was just… after acting on what Chen Gu had told him that day and making several choices for himself, he found the results were all quite good.
Especially today.
He thought knowing Jiang Liaoyi loved him was enough. He hadn’t imagined that hearing such words directly from Jiang Liaoyi would make him this happy.
So on the day they were recording the Moot Court, on his way to Chen Yishen’s place, when Jiang Mian saw someone selling strawberry-flavored frosted hawthorns near the subway entrance, he bought two bags.
He arrived at Chen Yishen’s place a bit late. Song Wen and the others had already arrived. Chen Gu was there too.
Because the air conditioner was on inside, Chen Gu hadn’t tied up his hair.
His shoulder-length hair was loose. It wasn’t effeminate, nor did it look gangster. Instead, it exuded an entirely artistic aura.
Especially today, he wore a loose-fitting half-sleeve T-shirt that looked like it had been haphazardly stained with various paints.
Chen Gu and Chen Yishen greeted him almost simultaneously. Subconsciously, Jiang Mian nodded first to Chen Gu, then handed him the separately packed paper bag. “I forgot to ask if you like these. If you don’t, you can just say.”
Chen Gu raised an eyebrow, glanced at the slightly bewildered Chen Yishen, and half-joked, “Jiang Mian, you didn’t mistake me for someone else, did you?”
Jiang Mian made a soft “ah” sound, as if not understanding why he’d ask that. “I didn’t. Chen Yishen doesn’t eat these.”
Confirming the gift was indeed specifically for him, Chen Gu reached out, took it, and looked inside. “Thanks.”
His mood was excellent, his tone light. “I like them.”
Chen Yishen: “??”
He stared blankly at the two people whose relationship had somehow gotten so “good.” “Jiang Mian, you always used to bring me snacks!”
Jiang Mian said slowly, “I left late, was afraid you guys would wait long. Didn’t have time.”
But you had time to buy Chen Gu a bag of hawthorns.
Did Jiang Mian really not realize what was wrong with his statement?
