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Chapter 88: Control, “If you want to blame someone, blame Ge for being too charming.”…
This sleep was exceptionally deep. When Jiang Yunian woke up, the sky outside had already darkened.
Before his consciousness had fully returned, the first thing he felt was the hand resting on his waist. Opening his somewhat hazy eyes, what entered his vision was Jiang Yan’s face, so close it was right before his eyes. The lights weren’t turned on in the lounge; there was only the faint twilight filtering in from the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, tracing his deep brow and eyes.
The other party had clearly been awake for a long time, lying on his side, propping his head up with one hand, looking at him without blinking. Those eyes, always as calm as ink, were exceptionally focused in the dim light, hiding emotions that Jiang Yunian couldn’t quite understand, yet inexplicably made his heart race.
“Ge.” After a moment of silence, Jiang Yan spoke, his voice carrying the hoarseness of someone who had just woken up, sounding low by his ear. “It’s been a long time since I looked at you properly like this.”
Through the dim twilight, Jiang Yunian stared at him blankly, temporarily forgetting to react. This face, this voice, this aura… Countless moments of spending day and night together, the nights of sharing the same bed—those scenes he had deliberately suppressed in the depths of his memory now surged forward, scrambling to overlap with the sight before him. He suddenly realized that in some corner of his heart, he actually felt that nothing made him long for this tranquility more than this moment.
He didn’t want to admit it, but all his deliberate forgetting before was just a fear of being gnawed at by this yearning every second of the day. People were always a contradiction; the more they wanted to escape, the deeper they sank.
In those slightly distracted eyes, the emotions were complex and hard to distinguish—there was confusion, struggle, and it seemed there was also a trace of… a softness that Jiang Yan wasn’t quite sure of. He couldn’t help but lower his head, a kiss as gentle as if cherishing something precious, landing on his forehead.
This kiss was very light, just a quick taste, different from his previous kisses that carried strong possessiveness and aggression. Jiang Yunian blinked, seemingly unaware, still wearing a blank look. In his line of sight, a stray lock of hair hung messily over Jiang Yan’s forehead, making him look slightly less cold and hard than usual, and adding a rare touch of softness.
Jiang Yunian slowly raised his hand, wanting to brush away that lock of hair blocking his vision. Just as his fingertips were about to touch it, he abruptly stopped, suddenly snapping awake. He wanted to withdraw his hand, but was caught firmly by the other party.
The warmth in that palm conveyed an undeniable strength. Jiang Yan pressed his hand tightly against the position of his own heart; the steady, powerful heartbeat striking Jiang Yunian’s willpower, beat by beat.
“Ge misses me too, right?” Jiang Yan’s gaze was locked on him, his voice deep and affirming.
Jiang Yunian didn’t answer, merely turning on his side, turning away his slightly flushed cheek. His forehead gently brushed past the other’s hair, remaining silent. When he fully sobered up, the soft mattress beneath him, the faint fragrance in the air, and the city nightscape looking down upon the masses outside the window—all of it reminded him that the place he was in right now was the top floor of a skyscraper, the territory of this man.
The massive imbalance dripped vividly before his eyes, making it impossible to ignore. He lowered his head and murmured in his throat: “…Who would have thought you had such a big background.”
Jiang Yan seemed to hear it, and seemed not to. He didn’t answer the question, but instead gripped his hand even tighter, pressing closer to his heart, trying to transmit a certain conviction through this method. He said in a low voice, carrying a promise-like certainty: “The current me can protect Ge better, isn’t that good?”
Is it good or not? Jiang Yunian smiled bitterly in his heart. How was this a choice for him to make? The Jiang Yan of the past, or the currently illustrious Qi Yan, fundamentally, they were still the same person. That vileness deep in his bones had never changed.
He struggled with his gripped hand, failing to break free. Instead, this movement caused the other arm, originally resting on his waist, to tighten even more. The temperature of Jiang Yan’s palm transmitted directly through thin… skin, making him suddenly realize something was wrong.
Wait, where are the clothes?
Turning his head to look, Jiang Yan’s smooth, taut muscle lines were clearly visible in the dim light. His upper body was actually completely naked.
He shoved Jiang Yan away and threw back a corner of the blanket. Immediately, his blood surged—he was actually completely naked too!
Jiang Yunian widened his eyes in shock, his cheeks flushing as red as a cooked shrimp, both from shame and anger.
“You… When did you… Where are my clothes?!” He had actually slept so dead that he was completely unaware even when his clothes were stripped off.
Jiang Yan wasn’t annoyed at being pushed away. He sat up, pressed a fist to his lips and gave a light cough, his eyes somewhat evasive as he explained: “Ahem… Sleeping in wet clothes is bad for your health. Ge was sleeping too deeply, so I… just helped out.”
This ability to cast the blame was unmatched. He even had the nerve to call it helping?
Excuses!
Jiang Yunian pointed a finger at him, so angry he stuttered. “You… You definitely did it on purpose!”
Those few drops of tea water had probably dried before they even entered the door. Why did he need to be so enthusiastic?
Jiang Yan watched him, caught between shame and anger, even his neck flushing pink, dark lights floating in the depths of his eyes. He leaned over, his hands grasping Jiang Yunian’s thin shoulders, lightly pressing him against the wide headboard. The shadow of his entire body fully enveloped him, adding a bit of ambiguous oppression to the already dim lighting.
“Ge, did I do something wrong again?” He leaned down, his nose touching his, their breaths intermingling. “But Ge is right in front of me, how could you expect me to hold back?”
Inch by inch, his fingertips brushed across that white-and-pink cheek, carrying a searing temperature.
“If you want to blame someone, blame Ge for being too charming.” He spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying a sense of self-righteous justification. “It made me unable to resist wanting to get closer.” Knowing the texture of every inch of skin under his hand like the back of his hand—this feeling of control was extremely satisfying.
Shifting the blame and making it sound so high-sounding, Jiang Yunian let out a sound of furious reproach from his throat and forcefully turned his head away, unwilling to look at that bewitching face anymore.
The instigator, however, was completely unaware of any impropriety in his actions, or rather, felt this was only natural. His Ge’s reddened profile and trembling eyelashes made his heart itch terribly. How was this not a kind of seduction? However, now wasn’t the time to be impatient. He gently gathered this soft, fair body closer, slowing his tone to coax: “Move out and live with me, hmm? My bed is very soft and big, Ge slept very soundly.”
How could Jiang Yunian not know what he was plotting? He increasingly felt that this guy was simply exposing his true nature now, truly arrogant.
“No,” he refused mercilessly. “The dorm bed is pretty good too.”
“So Ge likes small beds.” Jiang Yan smoothly went along, the corners of his mouth curling into an ambiguous smile: “Mm, a bed too big really isn’t very convenient for doing certain things.”
Jiang Yunian: “…”
That wasn’t what he meant…
Seeing his deflated, speechless look, Jiang Yan chuckled softly. His arm circled back around his waist, pulling the person closer into his embrace. He rubbed his chin against the soft crown of his head, acting spoiled: “Alright then, if Ge wants to live in the dorms, I’ll live with you.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yunian’s scalp went numb. “No! You’re not allowed to come to our dorm anymore.”
“I said, wherever Ge goes, I’ll follow. Only with Ge by my side can I feel at ease.” Jiang Yan’s arm tightened, and he sighed by his ear. “I need to sustain my life too…”
“…”
Jiang Yunian’s ears slowly crawled with a flush. Pressed against him, his heartbeat sped up. Just as something was about to spiral out of control, a sudden, urgent phone ringtone broke the delicate standoff in the lounge.
Seeing it was Qian Cheng calling, Jiang Yunian felt he had a legitimate excuse to push Jiang Yan away. Ignoring his wildly pounding heart, he frantically fumbled for his clothes in the dark, haphazardly throwing them on. Not even caring if he had put them on properly, he yanked open the lounge door and fled.
Qian Cheng was waiting downstairs, getting a bit impatient. Just as he was about to make another call, he saw Jiang Yunian running out of the elevator in a panic, his hair slightly messy, his collar untidy, and his face still carrying a flush that hadn’t completely faded.
“Where did you run off to? I looked for half the day.” Qian Cheng frowned as he sized him up, his eyes suspicious. “What were you doing?”
Jiang Yunian’s cheeks burned even hotter. He hurriedly lowered his head to adjust his collar, his fingers trembling slightly, and made up a random excuse: “N-Nothing… Just looking for the bathroom, accidentally barged into a place where people were having a meeting, and then… then I got lost.”
“Incapable of succeeding, more than enough to fail.” Qian Cheng clicked his tongue in disgust, lecturing him with the tone of someone experienced: “You can get lost on just this one floor?”
He shook his head, carrying a bit of innate superiority. “Looks like I’ll still have to be the one to bring home the bacon.”
“Ah, mm…” Jiang Yunian, terrified he would keep asking questions, quickly changed the subject: “How… how was your tour?”
Mentioning this, Qian Cheng instantly perked up. He waved a paper bag printed with the Qi Tian Technology logo in his hand, his face unable to hide his excitement and smugness: “Awesome! Simply paradise!” He shoved the bag to Jiang Yunian. “Here, your bro got a lot of good stuff, all limited edition merch! Pick whatever you like, take whichever catches your eye!”
Jiang Yunian opened the bag and looked. Inside was a rather large box containing game figurines and merchandise that didn’t look cheap. He shook his head and handed the bag back: “It must be very expensive, right? You should probably keep it for yourself.”
“Look at how little ambition you have,” Qian Cheng waved his hand, putting on the full airs of someone generous. “Why be polite with me? Next year when I come in for my internship, what won’t I have? Will I lack these little trinkets?”
Jiang Yunian: “Oh.”
“Oh!?” Qian Cheng felt he was being looked down upon: “Don’t just think it’s an internship. With my relationship with my cousin, in a few years, your bro will be the second-in-command here. Let alone asking for whatever I want, even if you wanted to come in and be my lackey, it would just take one word from your bro.”
“Oh.” Jiang Yunian said without much sincerity: “Then congratulations in advance.”
With this tour as an opportunity, in the following days, Qian Cheng devoted almost all his enthusiasm to the great cause of currying favor with Jiang Yan, running to Qi Tian Technology every couple of days. Relying on this incredibly distant connection, he essentially viewed himself as a part of the capital circle. Zhou Shu had even taken him to meet friends a few times, leaving his vanity extremely satisfied. Because of this, he found He Qing much more pleasing to the eye and no longer deliberately made things difficult for him in private. After all, he still had some misgivings about the power of pillow talk.
While he was busy expanding his “connections,” he had no time to torment Jiang Yunian, and Jiang Yan’s company affairs genuinely seemed very busy, so he didn’t appear often at school. Because of this, Jiang Yunian breathed a massive sigh of relief, and his studying efficiency improved quite a bit. His only small annoyance was that without Qian Cheng’s errand fees, his living expenses became outgoing only, with nothing coming in, making things a bit tight.
The others in the dorm knew his family situation and always took good care of him. That evening, Xu Zhiyuan returned from outside and excitedly announced: “Brothers! There’s a good opportunity for a work-study, anyone interested?”
Jiang Yunian pricked up his ears. “What is it?”
“A hotel needs waiters for Friday night,” Xu Zhiyuan couldn’t hide the stars in his eyes, saying mysteriously: “I heard you can meet a lot of big shots at this banquet.”
Translator’s Note: Honestly, the sheer audacity of Jiang Yan to strip him naked and just casually claim “I was helping”… classic possessive Gong behavior! Let’s see how he handles the next chapter.
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