Chapter 12
Elder Brother Jian’s blind date was at a coffee shop.
Jian Huaiyi arrived a few minutes early. After giving Elder Brother Jian’s name at the front desk, the waiter led him to a booth.
The booth was on the second floor, by the window.
After sitting on the sofa for about five minutes, the sound of leather shoes clicking on the wooden floor came from the stairs.
“Sorry, I was on the…” The words trailed off as Zhao Yanting’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Jian’er, why are you here?!”
Jian Huaiyi choked on his water, putting down the glass, surprised. “Yanting?”
They stared at each other.
Jian Huaiyi regained his composure first, saying to Zhao Yanting, “Sit down.”
Zhao Yanting sat down opposite Jian Huaiyi. For the blind date, he had specially worn a European-style suit and used hair gel to style his hair, revealing a pair of affectionate peach blossom eyes.
He aimed to stun the person across from him with his handsomeness and make them feel inferior and run away, ending the blind date right then and there.
Although he always longed for love to arrive, how could his true love possibly be someone he met through a blind date?!
“I’m here for my elder brother’s blind date,” Jian Huaiyi said calmly.
“Your elder brother!” Zhao Yanting’s face instantly changed. “Didn’t the old man say it was a girl? What kind of girl is your elder brother?”
Jian Huaiyi chuckled, his lips curving slightly upward, his eyelashes drooping, the corners of his eyes curving beautifully.
“My elder brother is indeed not a girl.”
Zhao Yanting coughed involuntarily, staring straight at Jian Huaiyi, suddenly saying from the bottom of his heart, “But Jian’er, you’re prettier than a girl.”
Jian Huaiyi: ?
Zhao Yanting waved his hand, saying, “Forget it, let’s not talk about this. Jian’er, my buddy opened a riding club, and he invited me to go today. I was planning to go after the blind date. Shall we go together?”
With nothing else to do, Jian Huaiyi went with Zhao Yanting to the riding club.
The 300-square-meter riding club had several handsome guys in riding gear riding horses in the distance. The horses were tall and strong, their dark brown coats shining, making people’s blood boil.
Every man has a primal urge to seek thrills, and Jian Huaiyi was no exception; his fighting spirit was ignited.
“Here’s Lao Zhao.”
Zhao Yanting shook hands with the newcomer. “Boss Yan, this riding club is quite something.”
“So, do you want to try? Just got a new batch of horses.”
Zhao Yanting smiled, putting his arm around Jian Huaiyi’s shoulder and introducing him. “Jian’er, this is my friend, Boss Yan.”
“Young Master Jian.” Boss Yan extended his hand to Jian Huaiyi.
After a brief handshake, Boss Yan smiled faintly. “Long time no see.”
Jian Huaiyi, however, nodded coldly without replying.
“Jian’er, you two know each other?!” Zhao Yanting looked back and forth between them, somewhat confused.
Jian Huaiyi’s hands were in his pockets. In the sunlight, a thin layer of blood vessels on his eyelids could be faintly seen, his aloof aura overwhelming.
“High school classmates,” he said.
Yan Zhi chuckled wryly, echoing, “Mm, high school classmates.”
Zhao Yanting was easy-going and didn’t sense the unusual atmosphere between them.
The coach brought a horse, claiming it was an Akhal-Teke.
The horse’s coat was jet black, its eyes the size of copper bells, staring at people with untamed arrogance.
“Cool!” Zhao Yanting whistled. “Jian’er, are you riding?”
“No.” Jian Huaiyi refused.
Seeing Jian Huaiyi’s lack of interest, Zhao Yanting didn’t insist. He stepped on the stirrup, swung his leg over the horse’s back, and raised an eyebrow at Jian Huaiyi. “I’ll ride two laps, then we’ll leave.”
“Okay.”
The temperature was high, it was noon, and the sun was scorching hot.
Yan Zhi walked out from under the shed, handing Jian Huaiyi a bottle of iced water. “It’s hot, drink some to cool down.”
“No need.”
Jian Huaiyi didn’t take it. Yan Zhi’s hand paused in mid-air. He awkwardly took it back, twisting off the cap and taking a couple of gulps. His Adam’s apple bobbed, the ice water burning a path down his throat to his chest.
“About the photos… it was my fault.”
Jian Huaiyi coldly lifted his eyes, unmoved. “Boss Yan’s words, after all these years, are truly worth a thousand gold.”
Yan Zhi clasped his hands, his back slightly bent, his throat dry.
“Two years ago, my family’s company had cash flow problems. My father, in order to quickly turn things around, put the entire company into a project, pinning all his hopes on it, but he was undercut halfway through, losing everything. Do you know who undercut him?”
“Liang Xun.” Yan Zhi feigned a relaxed smile. “Can this be considered self-inflicted, or self-destruction?”
Jian Huaiyi’s fingertips slightly tightened.
Liang Xun hadn’t told him about taking revenge on the Yan family, and he wasn’t even familiar with Liang Xun when the photos incident happened.
“I paid people to delete all the photos. I’ve owed you this apology for so many years, Huaiyi, whether you accept it or not, I have to say sorry.” Yan Zhi chuckled wryly.
Just then, Zhao Yanting returned after changing his clothes, holding two bottles of water, throwing one to Jian Huaiyi.
“Thanks for the hospitality, Boss Yan.” Zhao Yanting smiled, his smile laced with deep meaning.
Yan Zhi adjusted his expression. “You’re welcome.”
They returned home around dusk.
Liang Xun was flipping through documents in the living room. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the sound of paper rubbing abruptly stopped.
“Back?”
“Mm.” Jian Huaiyi was absent-minded.
He inevitably recalled that incident, his palms clenching into fists, the throbbing heartbeats, even after so many years, were still deeply ingrained in his memory.
The premeditated sneak shots from his youth were like a huge stone pressing on his heart, never disappearing. For many years afterward, he hated having his picture taken and hated being surrounded by people in public.
If the Jian family hadn’t been powerful enough to stop those photos from being sent to unknown websites in time, he would have been trapped in the shadows for life.
Jian Huaiyi calmed his heartbeat, his eyes regaining clarity. The question on his lips became, “Liang Xun, how are things going at your company?”
“It’s alright.” Liang Xun closed the folder.
Jian Huaiyi nodded, but he felt something stuck in his heart.
“I have a week off. If you need my help, just ask.”
Liang Xun’s attitude remained cold and hard.
“No need.”
Jian Huaiyi felt uneasy; he didn’t like owing people things, especially in this matter.
The next day, he got up early. Since there was nothing he could help with at the company, he started with his life.
—Make Liang Xun a nutritious meal.
Liang Xun was still asleep in the other bed. Jian Huaiyi quietly got out of bed and went downstairs in slippers.
Habit is a terrifying thing.
He had already accepted seeing his best friend’s face the moment he opened his eyes every morning.
After taking down the light-colored apron from the clothes rack and putting it on, Jian Huaiyi went into the kitchen.
At eight o’clock, Liang Xun came downstairs, his dark grey pajamas buttoned to the top. He lowered his eyes to scan the living room.
A person wearing an apron was running back and forth between the living room and the kitchen.
“Jian Huaiyi.”
He had touched the bedsheets next to him that morning. If he hadn’t seen Jian Huaiyi asleep, he would have thought that the person had been out all night.
Jian Huaiyi had just taken off his apron. Hearing the voice, he gestured for Liang Xun to come over.
Liang Xun walked over in confusion. Jian Huaiyi handed him the meticulously prepared lunch box, his light-colored pupils shining brightly, explaining with a feigned nonchalance: “Doctor Song said you need to supplement protein.”
Liang Xun raised an eyebrow. The heat from the food steamed his palm. He looked down at the fried egg on top of the lunch box, glistening with oil.
It’s pretty good, not burnt.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Liang Xun took the lunch box to the company. Jian Huaiyi didn’t have to go to work and continued to stay home leisurely.
Qin Zhu, as Liang Xun’s confidant, had been handling matters at the overseas company after Liang Xun’s memory loss. But this couldn’t go on forever. Liang Xun didn’t know when his memory would return, so he had Qin Zhu tell him everything about both the domestic and overseas companies in detail over the past few days.
Fortunately, his memory was gone, but his instincts remained.
It wasn’t too difficult to get back into the swing of things.
“Mr. Liang.” Qin Zhu came in to report as usual, smelling the scent of food.
What smell?
Qin Zhu’s lenses flashed, his gaze sharply falling on Liang Xun’s desk.
A lunch box lay awkwardly behind the computer.
It didn’t look like it was made by Mr. Liang, it looked like it was made by someone with a special relationship with Mr. Liang.
Someone with a special relationship with Mr. Liang, and who’s in the country… Qin Zhu could only think of one person.
“Was this lunch box made by Young Master Jian?” Qin Zhu asked curiously, his gossip heart burning fiercely.
Liang Xun replied faintly, “Mm.”
Seeing Qin Zhu’s unconcealed surprise, Liang Xun’s heart stirred, and he asked Qin Zhu, “Is this the first time he’s made me a lunch box?”
Qin Zhu regained his composure, his voice flat. “It’s the first time I’ve seen it.”
“Young Master Jian is a thoughtful person,” Qin Zhu said meaningfully. “At least, he’s very thoughtful towards Mr. Liang.”
Liang Xun’s eyebrows furrowed, the small flame that had been deliberately extinguished reignited by this sentence.
“Qin Zhu, how did I treat Jian Huaiyi before?”
Mentioning this, Qin Zhu got excited again. He adjusted the silver frames of his glasses.
“Mr. Liang, frankly speaking, your actions towards Young Master Jian can be described with three words: selfless (doing good deeds anonymously), broad-minded (secretly in love for years, but dared not confess, only calling him a friend), thoughtful (to prevent Young Master Jian from discovering it, you even publicly claimed to be homophobic).”
Liang Xun’s lips tightened into a thin line; he felt that these words held deep meaning.
Selfless, referring to giving the project to the Jian family for free?
Broad-minded, meaning that he could even accept Jian Huaiyi cheating with a race car driver?
Thoughtful, well, this one sounds slightly more palatable.
“Mr. Liang, I think you should let Young Master Jian know your feelings, otherwise, one day Young Master Jian might start dating someone else…” Qin Zhu stopped promptly, silently muttering to himself: you won’t even have time to cry.
“Too much talk.” Liang Xun’s voice suddenly dropped several degrees.
But Qin Zhu’s words left him quite shocked.
Regardless of the past, he and Jian Huaiyi were now lovers, not the half-familiar Jian family adopted son and the second young master from before.
Moreover, they had slept together.
He had to be responsible for him.
Qin Zhu carefully observed Liang Xun’s expression and suddenly said, “Mr. Liang, Young Master Jian’s birthday is a week from now. Would you like to make arrangements in advance?”
Jian Huaiyi’s birthday… Liang Xun looked at the calendar on the desk. He remembered that Xiao Yuanzhou would be away for a few days every year around the same time, seemingly to celebrate his boyfriend’s birthday.
From their chat records, it could be seen that Xiao Yuanzhou valued his boyfriend’s birthday very much and would always ask what gift he wanted.
He usually replied with “Whatever.”
Now it seemed that compared to Xiao Yuanzhou, he was a very uncaring boyfriend.
Jian Huaiyi stayed home for two days. Not having to go to work made everything feel relaxed and comfortable. His attitude towards Liang Xun was even more enthusiastic than before.
This made Liang Xun feel even more guilty.
He recalled the red spots on Jian Huaiyi’s hands that morning. He hadn’t paid attention to it at the time, but now he thought it was probably because he had been splashed with oil.
Jian Huaiyi washed a plate of cherry tomatoes in the kitchen and brought them out, generously giving Liang Xun one.
The path from the living room to the kitchen was not carpeted.
Liang Xun noticed Jian Huaiyi’s bare feet, his plump toes touching the floor. He pursed his lips.
He was about to speak, when he remembered the post he had searched online.
He stood up and walked in front of Jian Huaiyi. Jian Huaiyi thought he wanted more and picked up two more cherry tomatoes from the plate and handed them over.
Liang Xun curled his hand, wrapping his forearm around Jian Huaiyi’s legs, lifting him up horizontally.
Suddenly suspended in the air, Jian Huaiyi was stunned for a moment, his eyes unblinking, subconsciously meeting Liang Xun’s gaze.
“Liang Xun?”
W-what is he doing?
The sudden touch made Jian Huaiyi at a loss, but he dared not move. Who knows how far Liang Xun’s recovery has progressed? What if he struggles and touches his wounds?
Liang Xun put Jian Huaiyi on the sofa and got up to find Jian Huaiyi’s little pig slippers, lifting them to Jian Huaiyi’s feet.
“Put on your shoes, the floor is cold.”
Jian Huaiyi belatedly swallowed the cherry tomato in his mouth, unsure of how to react.
Did Liang Xun just carry him?
Why did Liang Xun carry him?
Would best friends carry him like that?
And the sudden grabbing of his hand last time.
Something’s wrong.
Jian Huaiyi kept looking up at Liang Xun, trying to replace Liang Xun’s face with Zhao Yanting or Jiang Yue, feeling even more wrong, his heart in turmoil.
This is wrong, even if he had to put on his shoes, he didn’t need to give him a princess carry, he could just say it.
Was it to repay him for the cherry tomato? But that’s too much of a gesture.
Liang Xun stood beside him, like a straight piece of wood, taking in Jian Huaiyi’s reaction.
He couldn’t even handle a simple hug, it seemed that he really wasn’t a good boyfriend before.
Jian Huaiyi even began to suspect that the person in front of him wasn’t Liang Xun, perhaps Liang Xun’s half-brother.
He didn’t believe it, and called out, “Liang Xun?”
“Yes.”