Chapter 1
The moment the phone rang, Jiang Chaochao’s heart skipped a beat.
His senses returned to the world. The scorching summer air was blasted with air conditioning, the cicadas buzzed incessantly outside the window, and sunlight streamed through the glass, casting tree shadows on the floor.
Jiang Chaochao glanced at his phone screen, saw the caller ID, and curled his lip in resignation.
He was right in the middle of drawing…
“Hello.”
As Jiang Chaochao answered the call, he saved his file.
“Jiang Chaochao, I have a cocktail party tonight, come with me.” The voice on the other end said.
Jiang Chaochao sighed deeply. His heart was still pounding from the sudden interruption, and he even felt a light sheen of sweat on his neck.
“What cocktail party? Where did you get a cocktail party from?” Jiang Chaochao asked.
“This is a formal cocktail party,” Xu Hengzhi chuckled on the other end. “The event I’ve been busy with recently ended yesterday, and the organizers are having a cocktail party today.”
“So you’re asking me…”
“There are handsome guys!”
Jiang Chaochao’s words were cut short.
What an effective and direct interruption technique. Jiang Chaochao forcibly swallowed his refusal and complaint.
Silence fell on both ends of the phone.
A few seconds later.
“What time?” Jiang Chaochao asked.
Xu Hengzhi first let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh: “HAHAHAHAHAHA,” before saying, “Seven o’clock. Tidy yourself up, I’ll pick you up at your place at six-thirty.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Did I agree to go?”
Xu Hengzhi: “I’ll bring you that double-skin milk you really, really like.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Heh.”
Xu Hengzhi: “And I’ll buy you a cream puff.”
The corners of Jiang Chaochao’s mouth started to turn upwards.
But in the next second.
Xu Hengzhi asked: “What were you doing just now?”
Jiang Chaochao’s smile disappeared.
He glanced at the unsightly things on his drawing board, and felt a flush of heat.
“I, uh,” Jiang Chaochao felt guilty for half a second before straightening up: “Nothing.”
Xu Hengzhi: “If you weren’t doing anything, why are you panicking?”
Jiang Chaochao: “I’m not panicking.”
“Alright, I won’t keep you,” Xu Hengzhi’s surroundings suddenly became noisy. He finished with, “I’m going to work, see you tonight,” and hung up the phone.
The room instantly returned to the previous quiet.
Jiang Chaochao looked down at the drawing board in front of him. On it, two men, heads tilted back, fluid, intertwined…
Whenever he stopped and looked at these drawings, Jiang Chaochao felt incredibly embarrassed.
It was too explicit, whether at first glance or a closer look, all the details were too suggestive.
Therefore, as Jiang Chaochao closed the drawing board, he also denied that he was the one who had been drawing.
Right, it was Teacher Bianbian who was drawing, not him, Jiang Chaochao. What did it have to do with him, Zhou Shuren? (This is a reference to a famous Chinese writer, Lu Xun, whose pen name was Zhou Shuren. It’s used to deflect responsibility or involvement.)
After drinking half a bottle of water and eating a few pieces of watermelon, Jiang Chaochao sat in his chair in a daze for a long time before getting back into the mood.
He was already in the final stages. Learning his lesson, he turned on Do Not Disturb on his phone and concentrated for an hour to finish the drawing.
The moment he closed the tablet again, Jiang Chaochao switched identities once more, from the “Ahhhh!”-inducing Teacher Bianbian online, back to the proper older brother next door, Jiang Chaochao.
It was neither early nor late. After Jiang Chaochao finished showering and tidying himself up, Xu Hengzhi was almost downstairs.
While going downstairs, Jiang Chaochao suddenly remembered what the event Xu Hengzhi had been busy with was.
Xu Hengzhi had previously mentioned a stage show in collaboration with a modeling agency. He said that the modeling agency was mostly filled with tall, handsome, mixed-race models.
As he neared the first floor, Jiang Chaochao remembered that Xu Hengzhi had also sent him many pictures of handsome male models.
So Jiang Chaochao picked up his phone.
But soon, Jiang Chaochao put his phone down again.
Forget it, there was nothing worth looking through. He had only casually complimented them at the time and didn’t have much of an impression.
Meaning they weren’t eye-catching, not worth admiring again.
Arriving at the entrance of the complex, Jiang Chaochao spotted Xu Hengzhi’s particularly flashy and brightly colored car at a glance.
Even though the guy clearly knew Jiang Chaochao had already seen him, he still cheekily flashed his lights a few times.
Getting into the car, a freezing temperature enveloped him from all sides. Jiang Chaochao closed the door and said, “Do you have a body in the back?”
“What body?” After repeating this, Xu Hengzhi also reacted. He laughed and said, “It was too hot just now.”
How could Xu Hengzhi not understand Jiang Chaochao? Making something out of nothing was just his way of being sarcastic.
What could he do? Of course, he first turned down the air conditioning, then raised the temperature a notch, and then brought over the cream puff from the back seat.
“Here’s the cream puff, the double-skin milk is here,” Xu Hengzhi said. “Eat it if you’re hungry. There might not be anything to eat later. I’ll treat you to crayfish after it’s over.”
One thing after another. Taking the cream puff, Jiang Chaochao looked at Xu Hengzhi suspiciously.
Xu Hengzhi started the car and laughed: “What?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Is there some ulterior motive for tonight’s party?”
Xu Hengzhi loudly proclaimed: “This is a proper party hosted by the proper boss of a proper event at a proper hotel, what ulterior motive could there be?”
Jiang Chaochao asked the key question: “Then why did you ask me to go?”
Xu Hengzhi: “To look at handsome guys! Didn’t you ask me last time to take you to see the handsome models?”
Jiang Chaochao was stunned: “Did I say that?”
Xu Hengzhi, not surprised at all: “Go check the chat logs yourself.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Fine.”
Then he must have.
But based on Jiang Chaochao’s understanding of Xu Hengzhi…
“Really?” A few seconds later, Jiang Chaochao expressed his doubt again.
Xu Hengzhi couldn’t hold it in any longer: “Oh, not really, alright?”
Jiang Chaochao raised an eyebrow: “Tell me.”
Xu Hengzhi pondered for a while, then said: “A female executive from that company might have a crush on me. I feel safer with you by my side.”
Jiang Chaochao leaned back in his seat: “Ah…”
Xu Hengzhi echoed: “Ah…”
Jiang Chaochao made a gossipy sound: “Oh?”
Xu Hengzhi continued to echo: “Oh?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Honesty is the best policy.”
Xu Hengzhi tsked: “It’s nothing really, it’s just that she’s asked me out to dinner alone a few times, and I’ve declined all of them. She even messaged me at noon today, asking if I would be going tonight.”
Jiang Chaochao made another sound: “Ah…”
“But that’s not the main reason, she didn’t say she’d be coming tonight,” Xu Hengzhi’s voice grew louder. “The main reason is that we haven’t seen each other in a while. I’m about to start a new project, and you’ll be traveling all over the place soon. I thought tonight would be a good opportunity for us to catch up.”
Jiang Chaochao was still: “Ah…?”
Xu Hengzhi: “I’m serious!”
Jiang Chaochao: “Did I say anything?”
Xu Hengzhi raised his voice even more: “Do we need to explain our relationship?”
Jiang Chaochao nodded: “We do. I don’t know who ditched me for a girl last month…”
“Oh, stop scolding me, stop scolding me!” Xu Hengzhi looked contrite. “Didn’t I apologize and make it up to you?”
“More importantly!” Xu Hengzhi, not wanting to dwell on the past, suddenly changed the subject again: “Tonight’s handsome guys, they’re not just those models, there’s also…”
“Stop, as if…” Jiang Chaochao interrupted him. “Am I going for the handsome guys?”
Xu Hengzhi: “I know, I know, you’re going to accompany me.”
“Good that you know,” Jiang Chaochao took another bite of the double-skin milk. “I’m a person who always repays evil with kindness.”
Xu Hengzhi didn’t dare to retort: “Yes, yes, yes, you’re the best.”
Jiang Chaochao’s home was very close to the hotel, just enough time for him to finish the double-skin milk and the cream puff.
With a satisfied stomach, his mood naturally improved a lot. Even with the sticky, humid air, Jiang Chaochao didn’t mind.
After the car was parked, the two walked side by side into the hotel and took the elevator under the guidance of a waiter.
“It’s still early, there shouldn’t be many people yet,” Xu Hengzhi said. “It’s common to be late for these kinds of parties.”
Jiang Chaochao watched the elevator numbers ascend: “Then why are you so punctual?”
Xu Hengzhi: “What am I? Am I worthy of being late?”
Jiang Chaochao wanted to tease Xu Hengzhi, but the next thing Xu Hengzhi said was: “You look so handsome today.”
Jiang Chaochao almost choked, the words catching in his throat. He glanced at Xu Hengzhi: “Just noticed?”
Xu Hengzhi: “The lighting in the car wasn’t good.”
Jiang Chaochao repeated: “So, just noticed?”
Xu Hengzhi immediately understood, nodding and humming in agreement: “Indeed, you’re not just handsome today.”
Silence.
“Satisfied?” Xu Hengzhi asked as the elevator dinged, reaching their floor.
Jiang Chaochao: “Of course.”
Of course.
Of course, handsome.
Jiang Chaochao was, in Xu Hengzhi’s experience from childhood to adulthood, a recognized handsome guy.
Good family background, good knowledge, good education, good dresser, well-groomed, good taste, he had too many plus points.
In Xu Hengzhi’s eyes, Jiang Chaochao was a perfect person, just a little sharp-tongued sometimes.
But no big deal.
Out of the elevator, they continued under the guidance of the waiter to the entrance of the banquet hall.
The banquet hall had two doors with a short corridor between them. There was a table set up here as a registration desk.
Running into a colleague, Xu Hengzhi’s demeanor instantly shifted to work mode, and he very politely guided Jiang Chaochao to sign in on the sheet.
There were indeed very few people. The place was already quiet, and the carpet absorbed the sound of footsteps, making it even quieter.
“Ah, wait a minute.”
Reaching the second door, Xu Hengzhi suddenly spoke.
As he spoke, he opened the door: “You go in first, I’ll make a phone call.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Hengzhi pushed Jiang Chaochao inside with one hand, closed the door with the other, and retreated outside.
The moment the door closed, Jiang Chaochao looked at the suddenly vanished Xu Hengzhi, then at the scattered people in the banquet hall.
???
Xu Hengzhi, you…
After the visual awkwardness, his hearing began to return, especially in his right ear, which was particularly noticeable.
A man about two meters away was making a phone call.
It wasn’t that Jiang Chaochao wanted to eavesdrop, it was simply too quiet, so the voice from over there came through very clearly.
He said: “Mm.”
He said: “Mm.”
He said: “I’ll leave in a bit.”
After three sentences, he hung up the phone.
Then, in the next second, their eyes met.
Jiang Chaochao froze for a moment, perhaps blinking at the same time.
Then he realized he should avert his gaze.
He quickly turned his head, first looking at the cakes on the nearest table, then at the girl in red further away, then at the huge backdrop behind the podium, and finally settling his gaze on the flowers by the long table.
But his peripheral vision was filled with this man. He was dressed entirely in black, a watch on his wrist, slightly curly hair, very tall, the hand holding the phone had long, very beautiful fingers.
Just now, when he was on the phone, he had been facing sideways to Jiang Chaochao, so only his high-bridged nose was visible. Now he had turned his head…
“Hey, why are you standing here?”
The door beside him suddenly opened, and Xu Hengzhi walked in from outside.
Perhaps blocking the way slightly, Jiang Chaochao shifted to the side.
Xu Hengzhi seemed about to say something, but the next second he also saw the man.
“Mr. Xiang,” Xu Hengzhi put on his professional smile again. “Hello, hello.”
“Hello.”
After a brief nod and greeting, Xu Hengzhi pulled Jiang Chaochao away.
“I need to go see my boss,” Xu Hengzhi said as they walked. “Over there.”
Jiang Chaochao followed, his mind blank: “Oh.”
After a few more steps, completely away from the entrance, Xu Hengzhi suddenly asked: “Handsome, right?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Huh? Who?”
Xu Hengzhi quickly glanced towards the entrance: “Him.”
Jiang Chaochao wanted to look back, but Xu Hengzhi quickly stopped him: “Don’t look like that!”
Jiang Chaochao: “…Oh.”
Xu Hengzhi: “He’s the leader of the network engineering team hired by the modeling agency. I was going to tell you about him in the car earlier, but you interrupted me.”
Jiang Chaochao: “What car?”
“Just now…” Xu Hengzhi shook his head: “Forget it, it’s not important. Anyway, I’m talking about him, he’s really handsome, especially stylish, and he has a unique aura, a kind of indescribable charm.”
After he finished speaking, he nudged Jiang Chaochao: “What do you think?”
Jiang Chaochao seemed to be pondering something, and he did so for a while.
Then he pursed his lips and said: “He’s alright, I didn’t look closely.”
