Chapter 9

Assembling those two things turned out to be far harder than Jiang Mian had imagined.

But thankfully, he had patience and devoted all his spare time to them. He finally finished two nights before the trip to the agritainment farm.

Because of this, he was noticeably fatigued at work. During the lunch break, for once, he took a nap and was teased by Li Yue, who joked, “Were you out clubbing last night?”

Jiang Mian told the truth. “Preparing a birthday gift for a friend.”

Li Yue choked. Even he didn’t know how to follow up on that for a moment.

Jiang Mian had a car, so on Friday evening, after getting Li Yue’s approval, he clocked out on time and drove directly to the agritainment farm Chen Yishen had mentioned.

It wasn’t his first time there, but it was his first time driving himself. So Jiang Mian drove very slowly.

When he arrived, the first person he saw wasn’t Chen Yishen—it was Chen Gu.

Chen Gu had set up an easel not far from the guesthouse entrance, painting under the glare of the white fluorescent light above him.

He wore a dark-colored casual dress shirt with loose, comfortable trousers. From head to toe, his colors were all muted today, but they suited him perfectly.

Paired with the secluded nighttime atmosphere of the agritainment farm, he looked like a predator resting in the darkness.

Jiang Mian stopped two meters away. He didn’t know what impulse drove him, but he stood there quietly watching for a while, until Chen Yishen appeared at the guesthouse entrance and called out to him. “Jiang Mian! What are you standing there for?”

That shout from Chen Yishen pulled Chen Gu straight out of his painting zone. He turned to look at Jiang Mian.

Before Jiang Mian could speak, Chen Gu curved his eyes at him—not mimicking Chen Yishen’s smile this time, but his own. It was bright, yet tinged with a trace of carelessness and distance.

Jiang Mian gave him a small nod, then finally turned to Chen Yishen.

Chen Yishen didn’t notice the interaction between the two of them. He just said, “Your room is the same one as before. But Huihui and I are on the floor below. My brother is staying next to you. If you need anything, go to him.”

Jiang Mian paused briefly. “Alright.”

Chen Yishen continued, “My plan is this: we have fun tomorrow to relax, and then the day after, we’ll properly celebrate my birthday.”

Jiang Mian thought to himself that this hardly qualified as a “plan.” Outwardly, he just kept nodding.

Because the guesthouse was designed in a faux-ancient style, there was no elevator, so they had to take the stairs.

As they were heading up, they ran into Zhou Yuhui coming down. “Jiang Mian.”

Zhou Yuhui’s lips curved. “Long time no see.”

Jiang Mian offered a faint smile. “Yeah.”

Zhou Yuhui came over, wrapped her arm around Chen Yishen’s, and said to Jiang Mian, “That charm pendant you gave me—I really like it. Thanks.”

Jiang Mian knew it was just polite talk, just like his reply would be. “I’m glad you like it.”

After exchanging that bit of small talk, Zhou Yuhui started clinging to Chen Yishen in conversation.

Jiang Mian didn’t interrupt them and silently slipped into his most familiar role—the third wheel.

Zhou Yuhui was a very pretty girl. When she smiled, a dimple appeared. She had a bright personality, occasionally threw little tantrums, but was ultimately kind-hearted and good-natured. She and Chen Yishen were a great match.

They parted ways in the middle of the hallway. Jiang Mian entered the room he stayed in every time he came.

The room was tidied to perfection. Since he was a regular, the boss had even set up a cherry blossom-scented diffuser according to his preference. The fragrance was faint but refreshing. Just smelling it felt enough to clear away a whole day’s worth of fatigue.

Out of habit, Jiang Mian made a round by the window—and then stopped.

It was also the first time he’d discovered that you could see the entrance of the guesthouse from here.

Because he saw Chen Gu.

Chen Gu had picked up his pencil again and was sketching. From this angle, Jiang Mian could no longer see his expression, but he could tell from Chen Gu’s movements that he was completely focused and absorbed.

Truth was, he and Chen Yishen were very different.

Jiang Mian never understood why people found it hard to tell Chen Gu and Chen Yishen apart. He could distinguish them at a single glance.

Chen Gu was, in reality, very quiet. At the very least, Chen Yishen couldn’t sit in front of an easel like this—he’d probably be fidgeting like his backside was on fire within twenty minutes.

The air conditioner in the room, likely a bit old, hummed with a faint creaking sound as it ran.

The air shifted from hot to cool. Jiang Mian stood there until Chen Gu got up and started packing away his easel. Only then did he turn to open his backpack and take out the three carefully wrapped gifts.

Jiang Mian hadn’t eaten dinner before driving over. So after settling his things, he grabbed his room card and headed out to grab a meal.

And then he just so happened to run into Chen Gu, who was coming out of the room right next door.

Jiang Mian paused briefly.

Chen Gu tilted his lips up at him. “Have you eaten?”

Jiang Mian instinctively replied, “No.”

So Chen Gu nodded. “Together, then? I heard from Chen Yishen that there’s a really good hotpot place nearby.”

Jiang Mian, who had only been planning to find a noodle shop to grab a quick bite, hesitated for a moment.

In daily life, making decisions always took him a beat slower than others. And people with the patience to wait for him were few. At the very least, in the past, whenever he was with Chen Yishen and the others, decisions were made before he even had a chance to say anything.

Perhaps Chen Gu had plenty of time, because he waited patiently, looking at Jiang Mian with an innocent face as he sweetened the deal. “If you don’t go, I won’t go either. Even if I’m used to eating hotpot alone, I can’t get used to being this lonely.”

Jiang Mian pressed his lips together. Even knowing full well that Chen Gu was saying this on purpose, under the assault of those pitiful puppy-dog eyes, he still nodded.

The agritainment farm was at the base of a mountain, surrounded by lots of greenery—and mosquitoes.

That was why the smell of mosquito repellent on Jiang Mian was a bit strong.

The two of them walked along a small path lined with various vendor stalls. Most of the people around were tourists from out of town, speaking all kinds of dialects or heavily accented Mandarin.

Jiang Mian habitually kept his head slightly lowered when he walked, which was why he could see Chen Gu’s shadow shifting.

Chen Gu was dodging every person he might possibly bump into or have physical contact with.

Come to think of it… even now, Chen Gu hadn’t had so much as a single moment of physical contact with him.

Even during the basketball game, Chen Gu had tried his utmost to avoid it.

Neither of them spoke. Even with the bustling noise around them, Jiang Mian still felt it was too quiet. So after pressing his lips together, he asked, “Aren’t we going to call Chen Yishen and the others?”

Chen Gu tilted his head slightly and let out a soft laugh. “At this hour… are you sure?”

Jiang Mian blinked. He glanced down at his watch, looking at the time the hands pointed to, his beautiful willow-leaf eyes holding a trace of confusion. “Forty past eight. What about it?”

Chen Gu probably hadn’t expected Jiang Mian to be this innocent. He didn’t respond right away.

He was speechless for a moment, then laughed again. “Jiang Mian, have you never dated anyone?”

Jiang Mian honestly shook his head. A sliver of curiosity surfaced. “Have you?”

“Mm.” Chen Gu nodded jokingly. “My studio is my wife. Every painting I produce is my child.”

Jiang Mian: “…”

He wasn’t good at responding to this kind of joke, so he naturally shut his mouth.

If this were anyone else, they’d either feel awkward or, knowing him as they did, switch to a different topic.

But Chen Gu was neither of those.

He looked down at the silent Jiang Mian and let out a lazy, nasal hum to prod him for a response. “Mm?”

Jiang Mian moved his lips and dryly offered, “That’s… that’s pretty good?”

After forcing that out, Jiang Mian felt a little defeated himself. But Chen Gu just smiled. “I think so too.”

Jiang Mian paused briefly. The stifled feeling in his chest was like a bank of clouds scattered by the wind, revealing the clear blue sky inside.