Chapter 29
There were many pendants hanging from the light above the dining table in Xiang Ye’s house, some long, some short, each one shaped like a water droplet.
The light was a bit dazzling, so Jiang Chaochao only glanced at it before looking away.
Looking down, Xiang Ye and his niece, Xiang Shici, were transferring files using their phones at the dining table.
Live photos, the kind that couldn’t be sent directly through WeChat, they needed AirDrop – some pictures.
Not important.
Jiang Chaochao’s heart was still racing, the awkwardness of being caught by Shici still fresh in his mind.
He couldn’t quite remember what he and Xiang Ye were doing before Shici suddenly appeared, only remembering Xiang Ye’s breath almost on his face.
Rather than saying he didn’t know what they were doing, it was more accurate to say they weren’t doing anything.
Shici was also quite embarrassed. People tended to find something to do when they were embarrassed, so even though she had originally come down to get a drink, she racked her brains and came up with something, asking Xiang Ye to send her the photos he took a few days ago.
The file transfer was very quick, just a few seconds, and Shici took back her phone.
“Okay,” Shici’s eyes darted around, seemingly wanting to glance at Jiang Chaochao, but immediately stopping herself. “You guys carry on, haha.”
After saying this, she quickly went upstairs in her slippers, tap, tap, tap.
Then tap, tap, tap back down again, grabbed a drink from the table, and tap, tap, tap back upstairs again.
Jiang Chaochao listened to her footsteps turning the corner, going upstairs, gradually fading away, then disappearing completely.
Jiang Chaochao awkwardly scratched his chin.
“Shall we go?” Xiang Ye put away his phone.
He didn’t look at Jiang Chaochao when he said this, but since they were the only two people in this space, he could only be talking to Jiang Chaochao.
Jiang Chaochao: “Sure.”
Xiang Ye seemed to remember something: “Have you chosen your alcohol?”
Jiang Chaochao thought for a moment: “The red wine from just now.” As if afraid Xiang Ye would misunderstand, he added, “It caught my eye.”
Xiang Ye didn’t say much. He still didn’t look at Jiang Chaochao, walking past him to the wine cabinet.
But just as he was about to brush past Jiang Chaochao, he suddenly reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Hey!” Jiang Chaochao exclaimed.
Xiang Ye chuckled softly.
After getting the red wine, they returned to their previous state.
As if nothing had happened, no close breaths, no sudden interruption, no Xiang Shici, and no awkward avoidance of eye contact.
Getting into the car, Jiang Chaochao asked Xiang Ye: “How far is your place?”
Xiang Ye said: “Twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes at night, that was indeed quite far.
This ride was much more natural. Xiang Ye also remembered the music exchange event Jiang Chaochao had mentioned. Shici had talked about it at home.
“Is she going too?” Jiang Chaochao asked Xiang Ye.
Xiang Ye shook his head: “She wasn’t invited.”
Jiang Chaochao gave an “ah.”
Xiang Ye said again, “Recently I heard from Shici about things in your music world, and only then did I realize how talented Jiang laoshi is.”
If someone else had said this, Jiang Chaochao would have shown some modesty and then engaged in some polite mutual flattery, but this person was Xiang Ye.
“Well,” Jiang Chaochao puffed up his chest, “I am indeed talented.”
Xiang Ye: “Do you know who’s sitting in my car?”
Jiang Chaochao burst out laughing.
Jiang Chaochao: “Good that you know.”
Xiang Ye: “What if I didn’t?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Then you’re dead.”
Xiang Ye asked: “How will I die?”
Jiang Chaochao choked, but quickly hummed, “Forget it, I’ll spare your life.”
Xiang Ye didn’t reply, just laughed.
Since it wasn’t funny at all, Jiang Chaochao naturally asked, “What are you laughing about again?”
Xiang Ye: “Again?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Not again? Tell me yourself, how many times have you laughed inexplicably in front of me?”
Xiang Ye agreed with an “mm-hmm”: “Indeed.”
Jiang Chaochao: “What’s so funny, Mr. Xiang?”
Xiang Ye: “I told you.”
Jiang Chaochao was wary for half a second, “What are you going to say?”
Xiang Ye: “Do you want to hear it?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Tell me.”
Xiang Ye: “If I remember correctly, every time I laughed inexplicably, it was because I was marveling.”
Jiang Chaochao asked, “Marveling at what?”
Xiang Ye: “Marveling at how cute someone is.”
Someone was instantly speechless.
After a long time, Jiang Chaochao finally managed to say, “Is that so?”
Xiang Ye’s voice carried a hint of a sigh: “Yes, Mr. Jiang.”
Jiang Chaochao stopped being defiant, became obedient, and sat properly, “Okay then, thank you.”
Xiang Ye chuckled again: “You’re welcome.”
Well.
Was he being cute again?
Fine.
The car gradually left the bustling streets, Xiang Ye turned on the music and turned up the volume.
The rain had stopped, but there were still many water stains on the windows, and the city looked wet.
Listening to music in Xiang Ye’s car in this kind of weather was very comfortable, and gradually, they both fell silent.
After one song ended, Jiang Chaochao, snapping out of his daze, suddenly remembered something.
So he took out his phone and opened Bianbian’s group chat.
The most recent message was from half an hour ago.
Just as Jiang Chaochao was about to exit, a new message popped up in the group chat.
Not Shi Not Ci: “Ahhhhh! Help!”
Jiang Chaochao subconsciously placed his hand on his chin.
Soon, his active group friends emerged.
Group member 1: “What’s wrong, what’s wrong?!”
Group member 2: “What’s wrong, what’s wrong?!”
A more perceptive group member said:
Group member 3: “Is it new developments with Uncle?!”
Group member 4: “Ah, Uncle, Uncle!”
What was wrong with this Shici, typing so slowly.
Finally, after more than ten seconds of anticipation, Shici’s next message arrived.
Shici: “I think I ruined my uncle’s good thing!”
Shici: “What should I do, I’ve committed a grave sin!”
Group member 1: “What good thing?”
Group member 2: “Tell us more!”
Shici: “I just went downstairs to get a drink.”
Shici: “Our dining room and wine cabinet are right next to each other, and the refrigerator is next to the wall with the wine cabinet.”
Shici: “When I went downstairs, the lights inside the wine cabinet were on, but all the other lights were off.”
Shici: “It was that kind of warm yellow, not very bright, mood lighting.”
Shici: “My grandma’s been controlling my grandpa’s alcohol intake recently, so I thought it was my grandpa secretly getting a drink.”
Shici: “I walk very quietly, and I was afraid of startling him if I suddenly appeared, so I peeked first.”
Shici: “Holy shit! What did I see!”
Reaching this point, Jiang Chaochao was already smiling.
A group member answered:
Group member 1: “Could it be Uncle and xuechang?!”
Shici: “Exactly!”
Shici: “But!”
Group member 2: “But!”
Shici: “Wuwuwu, they were about to kiss, but I interrupted them.”
Jiang Chaochao put down his phone after seeing this.
He really wasn’t thinking much.
So Shici’s words “about to kiss” appeared so suddenly that Jiang Chaochao’s hands went numb.
He secretly glanced at the person driving before picking up his phone again.
Group member 1: “What!!!!”
Group member 2: “About to kiss?!!!”
Group member 3: “Your uncle and your xuechang? Really?”
Shici: “I was just casually guessing and shipping them before, now I…”
Shici: “Oh my god, I’m so shocked.”
Shici: “I also want to ask, really? Really?!”
Shici: “And you don’t understand how impactful that scene was. Only that faint light, both of them wearing black, my uncle a bit taller, xuechang a bit shorter, my uncle leaning down, xuechang looking up and tilting his head back.”
Shici: “Can you imagine! Can you?!”
Group member 1: “Damn! So vivid.”
Group member 2: “You’re so good at describing it.”
Jiang Chaochao: “…”
Okay, he could picture it too.
Shici: “I used to say that my uncle loves wearing black, and he walks so quietly at night, like a ghost.”
Shici: “Now I understand, ghosts have their reasons.”
Group member 1: “Ghosts have their handsomeness.”
Shici: “Hahaha, exactly.”
Group member 2: “So, really?”
Group member 3: “Does your uncle seem gay?”
Shici: “Not at all.”
Shici: “Holy shit, I’ve been a fujoshi for so many years, and I’ve never suspected my uncle.”
Shici: “But he does have gay friends.”
Group member 1: “It’s a done deal.”
Group member 2: “It’s a done deal.”
Group member 3: “It’s a done deal.”
…
It wasn’t Shici’s fault. Jiang Chaochao, outside the screen, also wanted to say, Xiang Ye really didn’t seem gay.
It took him a lot of probing to find out the truth.
Just as Jiang Chaochao finished complaining about Xiang Ye in his mind, Shici’s next message arrived.
Shici: “I can’t tell that my xuechang is gay either!”
Shici: “Not at all.”
Group member 1: “Didn’t you say yesterday that your xuechang had a rumored boyfriend in high school?”
Group member 2: “Yes, and many of you shipped them.”
The xuechang himself was stunned seeing this.
Huh? There was such a thing?
Shici: “Oh, that, that was just school gossip.”
Shici: “They practiced together a lot for a while because of piano, and then participated in a competition together. It was just that the picture of them winning the award looked like something was going on.”
Jiang Chaochao mentally said “oh,” Zhang Lingzhi, then it’s fine.
He also remembered now. He had indeed heard some gossip about him and Zhang Lingzhi in high school, but he didn’t take it seriously and forgot about it.
Zhang Lingzhi was super straight.
Well, whether Zhang Lingzhi was straight or not had nothing to do with him.
Group member 1: “Shici, what are you doing? Trying to clear your xuechang’s name for your uncle? Is that what you were saying yesterday?”
Shici: “HAHAHAHAHAHA”
Shici: “So what! There’s nothing going on between xuechang and that person, I’m telling the truth.”
Shici: “Who hasn’t shipped a few handsome classmates in school?”
Group member 2: “That’s true.”
Group member 2: “Back in school, we were so starved, we shipped anything and everything, not picky at all.”
Shici: “You understand me so well.”
Group member 1: “Why don’t you go and test your uncle’s sexual orientation?”
Shici: “I wouldn’t dare.”
Shici: “I only dare to gossip behind his back.”
Group member 2: “Hahaha, you’re so cowardly.”
Shici: “That’s my uncle.”
Shici: “Although we’re close, I’m still quite afraid of him.”
Seeing this, Jiang Chaochao lowered his phone slightly and turned to look at Xiang Ye.
A burning gaze, the kind that wanted Xiang Ye to notice.
Sure enough, Xiang Ye quickly noticed.
“What’s wrong?” Xiang Ye not only asked the question Jiang Chaochao wanted him to ask, but also added, “Smiling so creepily.”
Jiang Chaochao was immediately diverted, touching his face: “Am I?”
Xiang Ye: “You’ve been creepy for a while now.”
Jiang Chaochao, feeling awkward, silently agreed.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jiang Chaochao first said what he wanted to say. “Shici said she’s afraid of you, did you know that?”
Xiang Ye raised an eyebrow slightly, then quickly deduced, “You’re looking at your group chat.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Yes.”
“She is afraid of me,” Xiang Ye confirmed. “So what are you trying to say?”
Jiang Chaochao had originally wanted to tease him a bit, but since Xiang Ye knew about it: “Nothing, scary uncle.”
Xiang Ye: “I’ve never been scary to her.”
Jiang Chaochao: “You’re naturally intimidating.”
Xiang Ye: “Really? You think so?”
Jiang Chaochao: “You look super evil when you’re not smiling.”
Xiang Ye picked up on a word in Jiang Chaochao’s sentence: “Super evil.”
Jiang Chaochao’s hidden meaning being exposed, he instantly felt a flush of heat.
Yes, he should have said super scary, right?
But Jiang Chaochao still continued, “Yes, super evil.”
Xiang Ye seemed to hum softly.
It seemed like there was an unspoken sentence hidden in this hum.
Something like, This is evil? This is nothing.
Will be even more evil?
How will I be even more evil?
Jiang Chaochao felt a bit unwell, and his head started to spin.
While the phone screen was still lit, he picked it up, preparing to use it to dispel some inappropriate thoughts.
He didn’t expect to see…
Group member 1: “Will your uncle be evil to your xuechang?”
Group member 2: “Ahhhh Thinking about it, so hot.”
Group member 3: “Evil or wreck?”
Jiang Chaochao immediately locked his phone.
As expected of his dear group friends, nurtured by explicit drawings, what were they even talking about!
