Jiang Mian’s answer was silence.
He felt he had truly misjudged Chen Gu.
The mental script he had prepared beforehand was thrown to the nine heavens beyond the clouds in those few sentences.
For a long moment, Jiang Mian completely forgot what he was going to say.
Because… what Chen Gu had said just before was right.
He had brought Chen Gu food precisely because Chen Gu had said he couldn’t stomach airplane meals.
When he didn’t speak, Chen Gu prompted him, unhurried, “Mm?”
Chen Gu smiled. “Sir Jiang, your ears are red again.”
Jiang Mian: “…”
He reflexively reached up to pinch his own ear, finding that it was, indeed, a little hot.
Noticing his small gesture, Chen Gu’s eyes lowered slightly, the look within them deepening.
Chen Gu’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The less-than-clean thoughts that momentarily surged in his mind made his voice slightly strained.
Seeing Jiang Mian still silent, Chen Gu offered him an out.
He laughed lowly, his voice a little rough. “Jiang Mian, you don’t have to answer the last question. Just tell me…”
He looked down at the insulated containers still sitting between them, the depths of his eyes shadowed and unreadable. “If it were someone else who told you airplane food was bad, would you bring them a meal?”
Even though Chen Gu had asked the question, just the thought of it—knowing Jiang Mian’s heart was so soft, he probably would help someone out—even as the thought was still brewing, before it was voiced, a dark, chaotic feeling stirred inside Chen Gu.
Yet he still had to wear this mask in front of Jiang Mian, lest he scare him. If Jiang Mian ran, it would be troublesome.
Jiang Mian paused.
He looked at Chen Gu. Even though the man before him was smiling lightly, his expression seemingly relaxed, his question sounding like a casual joke, Jiang Mian could still sense it.
His greatest gift since childhood had always been his intuition.
Chen Gu was like a brilliantly vibrant, dazzling, and decadent flower. You could admire it from afar, but the moment you got close and touched it, you’d either be poisoned or bitten to death by the fangs hidden beneath the facade.
Even if he permitted “desecration,” once you dug the flower out, all you’d see was a skeleton that terrified everyone.
Jiang Mian didn’t like people who dragged others down, either.
But…
He looked at Chen Gu. Just as Chen Gu gave up expecting an answer, even thinking Jiang Mian might nod—Jiang Mian, slowly handing the insulated container to him, spoke softly. “No.”
The truth was, from the very beginning, Chen Gu had been a little more special to him than others.
And as time passed, what was originally a tiny pinhole had been torn open wider and wider.
Jiang Mian was lost and confused, not knowing what to do.
But he wasn’t panicking as if the world was collapsing.
Because he would eventually figure out what to do.
There was no such thing as an unsolvable problem in this world. If there was, it was just a matter of time.
It was Chen Gu’s turn to be silent now.
He looked at Jiang Mian with some uncertainty. In just these few short minutes, Jiang Mian had surprised him too many times.
But Chen Gu didn’t dwell on it too deeply. Jiang Mian’s intuition was sharp. He might just be trying to comfort him.
He and Jiang Mian were different kinds of people. If he were Jiang Mian, he wouldn’t like someone like himself.
Noticing his gaze, Jiang Mian looked up with slight confusion.
He just happened to have a piece of chicken in his mouth. That hint of cold detachment was utterly ruined, making him look exceptionally obedient.
Actually, deep down, Jiang Mian was just a well-behaved kid.
Chen Gu thought.
“I was just thinking, it’s only been nine days, but you seem to have changed a lot.”
Jiang Mian: “?”
He took two more bites of rice, then sipped his milk tea. Seeing Chen Gu seemed to have only made an offhand joke—the car had fallen quiet, and Chen Gu hadn’t said anything else—Jiang Mian pressed his lips and slowly started to speak. “I.”
He paused briefly, then said quietly, “I’m not as good as you think.”
He felt Chen Gu was idolizing him a bit.
Chen Gu raised an eyebrow at him, as if not understanding why Jiang Mian would say that.
Jiang Mian didn’t know how to explain it to Chen Gu.
He simply felt that Chen Gu seemed to be putting him on a pedestal, thinking too highly of him.
Never mind.
Jiang Mian thought to himself. After spending more time together, the rose-tinted glasses would eventually shatter.
After finishing their meal in the car, Chen Gu drove them back to his apartment.
Since it was the weekend, Jiang Mian didn’t have to stay at the school dorm tonight—though that didn’t mean he planned on spending the night at Chen Gu’s place.
It just meant he could go upstairs with Chen Gu and go inside.
While still in the car, Chen Gu had remotely turned on the air conditioner. Now that they entered, the timing was perfect. It was very cool.
Chen Gu wasn’t in a hurry to wheel his suitcase into his room. He just left it casually in the entryway. “Your results are out today, right?”
If he hadn’t mentioned it, Jiang Mian would have forgotten. “Ah. Seems like it.”
Jiang Mian checked the date. “Yeah. You can check it now.”
He tried his best to speak more. “Usually, results are released at 8 PM. The system gets jammed with everyone checking at once. Now is probably the best time.”
Chen Gu remembered things about him even more clearly than he remembered his own.
Jiang Mian lowered his head, unconsciously curving his lips up very slightly.
“Then do you want to use the computer?”
“May I?”
“Of course.” Chen Gu led him toward the study, curving his eyes. “That way, am I the first one to know your score?”
Jiang Mian said seriously, “No. Strictly speaking, the people on the system side know first.”
He was genuinely correcting Chen Gu. “Even before I do.”
Looking at the utterly earnest Jiang Mian, Chen Gu let out a couple of low chuckles.
He remembered how Chen Yishen used to say Jiang Mian never knew how to joke, that he was practically a bookworm, sometimes even dull and boring.
But… he felt Jiang Mian and the words “dull and boring” didn’t match at all.
He was so adorable.
Jiang Mian followed Chen Gu into the study.
Aside from an entire wall that was a bookshelf, the rest of the study walls were covered with oil paintings, none of them signed.
Jiang Mian didn’t know much about these things, but his gut said Chen Gu had painted them himself.
Also, Chen Gu’s bookshelf wasn’t the common black or white, standing square and upright.
His bookshelf was irregularly shaped and color-blocked. Jiang Mian had never seen one like it before, so he looked at it a bit more.
Noticing where his gaze lingered, Chen Gu smiled lazily. “Looks good?”
Jiang Mian answered honestly, “Mm.”
The smile in Chen Gu’s eyes deepened, his tone light and cheerful. “Designed it myself. Bought the materials and assembled it myself.”
He said casually, “If you like it, I can build one for you sometime.”
Jiang Mian had assumed it might be custom-made, but he never imagined Chen Gu had designed it himself, even assembling it on his own.
Jiang Mian was a bit surprised. “You know how to do this too?”
Chen Gu smiled. “Got bored, watched some videos to study it. I once thought, if fine art didn’t make money, I’d just become a craftsman to support myself.”
Jiang Mian paused slightly.
“What is it?”
“Nothing…”
He hesitated a little, but based on the various information he’d gathered these days, knowing mutual understanding was also necessary, Jiang Mian still asked. “It’s just, I heard from Chen Yishen before that your biological father does business abroad, and it’s quite big.”
The subtext was clear: Chen Gu had absolutely nothing to worry about in that regard.
If it were anyone else bringing up Chen Hongyu in front of Chen Gu, even if he didn’t immediately turn cold, his demeanor would definitely shift noticeably.
But in front of Jiang Mian, his posture was still as casual and natural as ever. Even the curve of the smile on his lips didn’t fade one bit.
The negative emotions Chen Hongyu stirred in him were, before Jiang Mian, like a tiny, insignificant speck of dust, easily blown away.
“Jiang Mian,” Chen Gu said with a chuckle, “I was joking with you.”
Jiang Mian choked slightly. “Oh.”
But he felt… Chen Gu had genuinely considered it.
Chen Gu turned on the computer for Jiang Mian, gestured for him to sit, and then went outside to drag a chair in.
Since he was the one checking the score, Jiang Mian didn’t overthink or be overly polite. He obediently sat in the chair and began typing the website address.
When Chen Gu came back in, Jiang Mian was already inputting his ID number to check his score.
His fingers flew across the keyboard at a decent speed. The slender, pale tips danced over the black keys, forming a vivid color contrast.
Jiang Mian was very fair, but not the cool-toned kind. It was simply the result of rarely going out plus good genes that resisted tanning. Under the white fluorescent light, his skin almost seemed to reflect light.
Sitting on his right, when Chen Gu lowered his eyes, the first thing he glimpsed was the faint Cinnabar Mole hidden behind Jiang Mian’s ear.
He swept his gaze around unobtrusively, then averted his eyes.
On the computer screen, Jiang Mian’s score appeared.
“291 points.”
Because of Jiang Mian, Chen Gu had done his research.
He knew the bar exam was divided into an objective test and a subjective test. The passing line for the objective test’s Type A Certificate was 180. The full score was 300.
291 could only be described as a very high score.
If it were anyone else, they would definitely be overjoyed.
But for Jiang Mian…
Very calmly, Jiang Mian pulled out his phone, took a picture, and prepared to send it to Jiang Liaoyi.
He indeed felt nothing in particular.
Because since he was a child, the one thing Jiang Mian had never lacked was outstanding scores.
Everyone who knew him was also used to him producing scores that, to others, were simply not humanly possible.
However, just as Jiang Mian sent the picture to Jiang Liaoyi, before he could even add a note saying he’d passed, he suddenly felt a weight on his head.
He froze. Turning his head instinctively to look, his cheek just happened to brush against the palm resting on his head.
In that instant, countless dark thoughts surged in Chen Gu’s heart. Gloomy emotions tangled around him, and the impulse that had been blocked for who knows how long turned into a violent urge, wanting to break free.
But in the end, Chen Gu simply ruffled Jiang Mian’s hair and said what he wanted to say. “Sir Jiang is truly amazing.”
Jiang Mian was still frozen until Chen Gu withdrew his hand.
In his memory, very few people had ever ruffled his hair.
Actually, Jiang Mian didn’t resist physical contact that much. But…
The sensation of contact with others was completely different from contact with Chen Gu.
Seeing him silent, Chen Gu lightly scratched his own fingertip with his nail.
From the very moment he saw Jiang Mian today, his condition had been struggling on the edge of a breakdown.
Now, having solidly touched Jiang Mian, no amount of reason could turn this into nothing.
So Chen Gu asked softly, “Jiang Mian, can you help?”
Before he even finished saying what it was, Jiang Mian had already instinctively extended his hand toward him.
Chen Gu looked at the person who seemed quiet and obedient, carefully testing the waters to take another step forward.
His eyes slightly lowered, all the sharp thorns and fangs hidden exceptionally well, looking like a wounded herbivore seeking shelter and pitifully weak.
Chen Gu drooped his head. “I still remember the ‘rules’ we set. I don’t want to break them.”
He said in a low voice, “But Jiang Mian, I might… not be able to get relief just from holding your wrist.”
He wanted to ask Jiang Mian if he could hold his hand. Just earlier, watching Jiang Mian type, he had desperately wanted to hold those curving, straightening fingers in his palm.
If he weren’t afraid of scaring Jiang Mian, he would also want to kiss them, nibble on them a little, leave some kind of mark that belonged to him.
—Even more, he wanted those hands to roam his entire body, soothing every restless place.
But before Chen Gu could even finish setting up his pitiful act, Jiang Mian’s hesitant voice came first. “Then… do you want me to hug you?”
