When Chen Gu received the message, Chen Hongyu had just finished explaining the matters and was getting up to leave.
On his way out, Chen Hongyu, for some unknown reason, glanced back at Chen Gu.
Sometimes, he actually did wonder why his son always had to oppose him. He also suspected Chen Gu had some mental issues, because he had never once seen a kind expression on his face.
The memory of that little child, toddling towards him calling “Daddy,” seemed to be merely his illusion.
However, when Chen Hongyu looked back, he saw Chen Gu looking down at his phone.
He didn’t know what Chen Gu saw, but…
Chen Gu’s originally stern, cold brow and eyes softened in an instant, blooming into a smile.
The curve he made almost made Chen Hongyu question reality itself, let alone those eyes, which were always filled with nothing but coldness and disgust when directed at him—now brimming with tender mirth.
Like a river of stars in the night sky, dazzling yet softened and made peaceful by the moonlight.
This was the first time Chen Hongyu felt a small prick of self-doubt within his own arrogance.
But it was only a very light prick. By the time he stepped out and closed the door, that feeling had already dissipated.
He’d heard that young people nowadays all liked watching short videos. Maybe he’d seen something funny.
Chen Hongyu thought.
How could a son possibly treat an outsider better than his own father?
Chen Hongyu told himself, after all, he treated Chen Gu so well.
In recent days, Jiang Mian and Chen Gu’s morning and evening greetings had become practically fixed. But usually, after an early “Morning,” they’d dive into their respective busyness.
Though there wasn’t much communication, and a 24-hour flight’s distance separated them, Jiang Mian just felt that Chen Gu seemed to be by his side constantly.
Because besides breakfast, Chen Gu ordered both his lunch and dinner.
He also had Chen Yishen bring him cake, milk tea, and fruit platters for afternoon tea. Jiang Mian didn’t know what Chen Gu had told Chen Yishen, but now Chen Yishen no longer asked him questions. He just said every time that his brother asked him to bring it—and he’d been paid a delivery fee.
Jiang Mian didn’t refuse, either. Mainly because the things were already bought. And what Chen Gu specially ordered were things Jiang Mian loved to eat but Chen Yishen didn’t particularly like. The intention couldn’t be more obvious.
In any case, he’d already figured out what to buy in return.
Jiang Mian bit into a fresh mango cube. After swallowing, he glanced at Chen Yishen. “He’s your brother.”
Chen Yishen was confused. “Huh?”
Jiang Mian said slowly, “Your biological brother. And you still take a delivery fee?”
Chen Yishen thought Jiang Mian’s words sounded a bit odd. “I’m treating it like a part-time job.”
Jiang Mian looked puzzled.
Chen Yishen elaborated. “Just.”
He paused, a little embarrassed. “Want to propose to Huihui. I can’t exactly use my parents’ money, can I?”
Jiang Mian was slightly stunned. “I thought you’d wait until after graduating and having a stable job.”
“I thought about it that way at first, too.” Chen Yishen said honestly. “Felt I needed a career, a stable income, to be able to support a family on my own before proposing. That’s being responsible and dependable.”
Despite having truly terrible EQ and often seeming like an overgrown kid, Chen Yishen did have a mature side.
“But.”
Chen Yishen grinned sheepishly. “I like her too much, Jiang Mian. We’ve been together so long. I’m afraid if I keep dragging it out without giving her a definite answer, she’ll say No to me.”
“But those are all just excuses. Honestly, I just can’t hold back anymore. I want to put that ring on her finger.”
Normally, Jiang Mian would have just nodded or said “good luck” and then helped Chen Yishen find suitable part-time work, aiding his dream.
But today, he found himself asking, almost possessed, “Because you like her, you can break the plan?”
Chen Yishen, noticing nothing unusual, nodded and laughed. “Lawyer Jiang, as always, you sound like you’re discussing an academic thesis with me.”
Jiang Mian, who indeed viewed this as another form of academia, ate another piece of watermelon and stayed silent.
Was this… not academia?
He felt it was even harder than those exam questions.
Abroad.
The day of the Old Master’s official burial happened to be overcast.
Layers of dark clouds stacked in the air, a heavy, oppressive gray that made the solemn atmosphere even more grave and silent.
Chen Gu wore a black suit, a standard white dress shirt underneath, and a black necktie.
The tailored suit perfectly outlined his impeccable proportions.
Normally, in his everyday clothes, he looked like a young male college student. Paired with that hair, the artistic vibe was very distinct, with a touch of lazy, decadent charm.
Now, in this austere black suit, even with his hair tied back, there wasn’t a trace of youthful rawness. Especially with his cold, detached brow and the calm yet sharp look that swept past, the few people who had been whispering when he stepped out of the car immediately fell silent.
The discord between Chen Gu and Chen Hongyu was hardly a secret in the circle.
Initially, some mocked Chen Gu, sneering that he was just acting up, thinking that without Chen Hongyu, he was nothing but a strange painter who only drew weird, incomprehensible things.
Until the year Chen Gu turned eighteen, when Chen Hongyu had an accident and landed in the hospital.
With many watching the drama unfold, waiting to see him fail, Chen Gu was thrust into that position. He only needed half a month to make many people never dare look at him with those mocking eyes again.
If Chen Hongyu was a cunning, sly, slick businessman full of schemes, then Chen Gu was an executioner without any regard for sentiment, as if lacking all empathy.
Not to mention, his physique, almost rivaling Chen Hongyu’s bodyguards, was both eye-catching and commanded awe.
The funeral proceedings went quickly. When Chen Gu stood before the headstone, he held no flowers.
He merely curved his eyes slightly at the smiling old man in the photo and said softly, “Thank you, for back then.”
He pulled a lazy half-smile. “I won’t give you flowers. As you said.”
Flowers can only be given to one person.
Afterwards, Chen Gu stayed in this country one more day.
He’d used his money to make some investments earlier. This trip back was also to handle those matters on the way.
By the time he’d packed his things and prepared to fly back to South Boundary, counting the days, it had already been eight days since he’d seen Jiang Mian.
Plus the day of travel, that made nine days.
【Chen Gu: My flight is at 2 PM.】
A 2 PM flight meant arriving in South Boundary by eight the next evening.
【Jiang Mian: Okay.】
Chen Gu twirled his phone, the toes of his shoe resting against his suitcase, and typed lazily: “After landing, it’ll be Saturday. Are you on break?”
【Chen Gu: Can I trouble you to pick me up from the airport? That time, the airport is crowded, hard to get a taxi.】
Chen Gu had already prepared himself. If Jiang Mian told him to ask Chen Yishen, he’d bring up Chen Yishen’s part-time job, then add a little self-pity to soften Jiang Mian’s heart into agreeing.
But unexpectedly, what appeared in the chat box was another “Okay.”
Chen Gu was a little surprised.
He raised an eyebrow, in a very good mood, and sent Jiang Mian a cat snuggling sticker.
Jiang Mian, who was in the middle of doing practice problems, couldn’t help but click on the sticker to enlarge it when he saw it.
It was two cats, one black, one white, snuggled together. Their expressions looked very blissful (?).
Jiang Mian moved his fingers and added it to his own sticker collection.
Thus, his years-long empty sticker collection held an image for the very first time.
The next afternoon.
Because South Boundary Dali International Airport was quite far, and Jiang Mian had to go home first to get his own car, after finishing the Curry Chicken Rice Chen Gu ordered for him at school, Jiang Mian set off.
Knowing well he drove slowly and clear about South Boundary’s traffic, Jiang Mian left four hours early.
While waiting at a long red light, he remembered Chen Gu saying he didn’t like airplane food and would be hungry on the flight.
Jiang Mian pressed his lips and ordered two portions of Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl from a place he could conveniently pick up on the way, plus two cups of Pearl Milk Tea.
Just along the way.
And he hadn’t eaten either.
Jiang Mian thought.
That was a very good reason.
Jiang Mian’s estimate was accurate.
By the time he reached the airport parking lot, it was already eight o’clock. He waited a bit longer, until the airport finished playing the new song by that super popular singer, Liang Buyuan, and started playing an old one. About three songs later, he saw Chen Gu pulling his suitcase and walking out.
Today, Chen Gu wore a black casual dress shirt, loose-fitting and long-sleeved.
Paired with cargo pants that perfectly showed off his long legs, people had been frequently glancing at him along the way. Some even took out their phones to film him.
Suspicious he might be some celebrity.
Chen Gu recognized Jiang Mian’s license plate, so Jiang Mian didn’t get out of the car.
But he hadn’t expected that after Chen Gu put his suitcase in the trunk, he’d lean over and knock on the driver’s side window.
Jiang Mian had no choice but to roll down the window. As Chen Gu rolled up his sleeves against South Boundary’s heat, he gestured for him to get out. “Let me drive.”
There was no “long time no see,” nor any other words of reunion.
It was as if those nine days apart had never happened.
Jiang Mian was slightly stunned.
Chen Gu said lazily, “You don’t like driving, do you?”
Jiang Mian: “…”
How could Chen Gu tell?
Jiang Mian hesitated a moment but still got out and gave Chen Gu the driver’s seat.
He offered an explanation. “I’m just not very good at it.”
Jiang Mian hadn’t failed his driving test, but he truly wasn’t skilled at it. Every time he got on the road, he was so slow, inevitably getting honked at from behind.
Chen Gu smiled slightly. “Mm, no worries.”
He didn’t say anything else, but Jiang Mian felt he’d said everything.
After Chen Gu got into the car, he noticed the takeout containers between the passenger seat and driver’s seat, and the two cups of milk tea.
The aroma of food wafted over. He raised an eyebrow slightly, waiting until Jiang Mian had settled into the passenger seat before asking, “You haven’t eaten?”
Jiang Mian made an affirmative sound, then added slowly, “One of those is for you.”
Chen Gu chuckled softly. Before Jiang Mian could give the reason he’d prepared, Chen Gu spoke first. “Jiang Mian.”
Clearly, this was all a result he’d orchestrated, yet he insisted on using it to confirm something. “Bringing me food… is it because you felt for me, saying I can’t stomach airplane food and would be starving all day?”
Sometimes, Jiang Mian truly suffered from not speaking fast enough.
Because Chen Gu, with his eyes curved, leaned slightly closer to him a little before he could speak. His brow and eyes were full of delight. “Can I take this as… my pursuit of you is showing results?”
