Part 4
[What does Jiang Shulu mean by ‘in a minute’? Does he mean what I think he means?]
[Can you all calm down! Don’t let a little bonus kiss knock you senseless!]
[I get to watch this for free. What’s wrong with being knocked senseless? I’m happy.]
[Besides, a kiss isn’t that big of a deal. Tang Yue kisses Tang Mian all the time. Aww, a parent-child trip, so sweet.]
[It looks exactly like a family of three with divorced parents. No pressure at all!]
The path was lined with guide signs set up by the crew. The dog, a regular on these island trips with the old man, trotted ahead, looking like it was leading the way.
“Daddy, can you put me down? I want to play with the dog,” Tang Mian said.
“Oh,” Tang Yue replied, his voice tinged with reluctance.
“If Daddy needs a hug, you can hug Uncle Jiang. I’m still too small right now.” Having said this, the little boy, now on his feet, looked a little sad. He glanced at his own small hands, then at Jiang Shulu, who was confirming the tent situation with a crew member. Jiang Shulu was holding a folded chair with one hand, making it look effortless.
“When I grow up to be a man like Uncle Jiang, I’ll give Daddy a big, big, big, big hug,” Tang Mian declared.
There was a childish lilt to his words that made anyone who heard him smile.
Night had fallen, and it was cold on the island. They still hadn’t reached their destination. The dim lighting seemed to cast a natural, grainy filter over everything, giving the scene a cinematic quality.
[Kids always want to grow up… and adults always want to be kids again, huh?]
[Hahaha, Tang Yue really loves to be clingy.]
[Brother Mian is playing matchmaker again.]
[This feels like a blended family, starting with introductions from the child…]
[Do they look like they’re on their second marriage? Get a grip, people. They look more like a couple who’s been separated for years finally getting back together.]
“I wish Mian Mian could stay like this forever,” Tang Yue murmured suddenly. When Tang Mian tilted his head in confusion, he just smiled and tidied the little boy’s messy hair. “Go on, go play.”
Tang Mian skipped away happily.
Tang Yue watched his son’s retreating back for a moment. Just as he was about to sigh, Jiang Shulu asked, “Why would you say that?”
“What?” Tang Yue asked, then remembered. “Oh. Because when Mian Mian grows up, he won’t be able to stay by my side anymore.”
Tang Yue saw Jiang Shulu carrying his backpack and reached for it, but Jiang Shulu just handed him the folded chair instead, and they walked forward together. The path’s lights were dim, clearly set up by the crew beforehand; some even looked like balloons.
The kiss and the crew’s teasing had left Tang Yue feeling mortified, but somehow, standing next to Jiang Shulu, he felt miraculously calm again. The helpless feeling of wanting to run away from his own feelings was gone. He now cherished every moment he could stand by Jiang Shulu’s side.
On camera, the two of them walked closer and closer together.
“He’ll grow up eventually,” Jiang Shulu said.
“I know,” Tang Yue mumbled. “Sometimes I wish he’d grow up faster, and other times I wish he’d stay this age forever.”
Tang Yue had always been indecisive. Back in the day, if you put a strawberry milk and a grape milk in front of him, he would stare at them in silence for ages. Liu Xichao would burst out laughing and ask why he didn’t just drink both. Tang Yue would shake his head, saying he could only have one a day, any more would be a waste, and then go back to his dilemma. It was no wonder people thought he was strange.
Now, his indecision had shifted from milk to his child, and Jiang Shulu still found him unbearably cute.
He slipped an arm around Tang Yue’s shoulders. “I can stay by your side.”
[What are they talking about!! I’m losing it!]
[Jiang Shulu’s character has completely collapsed.]
[But this version of Jiang Shulu is so much better than the aloof ice prince from before, sobbing.]
[Look, Tang Yue isn’t rejecting it at all. He just loves physical affection. He’ll take it any way he can get it.]
“Captain, don’t just grab me so suddenly,” Tang Yue said.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize, that’s not what I meant.”
Jiang Shulu chuckled. “So, should I give you a heads-up before I do something?”
Tang Yue thought about it. Asking, Can I kiss you? before a kiss seemed a bit strange too.
“It depends on what you’re doing.”
His answer was ambiguous. “Oh?” Jiang Shulu said. “For instance?”
Tang Yue was at a loss for words again. After a moment, he managed, “Kissing me so suddenly… you’ll scare Mian Mian.”
[He wouldn’t be scared! Brother Mian is dying to marry you off.]
[Wait!! Hold on!! So you have no objections to Jiang Shulu kissing you?]
“Then will you give me a heads-up the next time you say you love me?” Jiang Shulu’s voice was laced with a smile. The microphone seemed to struggle to contain the relaxed air that came from having Tang Yue by his side, a feeling that was infectious to anyone listening. “Should we coordinate beforehand? Otherwise, I might actually believe you.”
[So it was fake?]
[So it was Tang Yue who was shipping?]
[I don’t get it anymore!!]
“It was…” Tang Yue started, but the words got stuck in his throat.
“From the heart?” Jiang Shulu finished for him.
He kept his arm around Tang Yue as they walked. Up ahead, it sounded lively. He could even hear Yao Lixin’s loud laughter, as if there was a large crowd.
“Of course it was,” Tang Yue said.
“I’m sorry for kissing you so suddenly,” Jiang Shulu said. His hand rested on Tang Yue’s shoulder. They had rarely had moments like this before. Tang Yue was too good at dodging, and Jiang Shulu would never force it. Most of their contact was incidental, never driven by a strong desire from Jiang Shulu.
But things were different now.
“I feel the same way you do,” Jiang Shulu said.
[The same as what!!]
[Well, some things are better left unsaid…]
[Does that mean ‘I kissed you because it was from the heart’? HELP!!!]
[It would be a crime against nature if they’re not dating… sniffle. Since they’ve already kissed once, a second time wouldn’t hurt, right?]
[They have to be dating!! I’m waiting for the official announcement!]
There was music up ahead. Tang Yue and Jiang Shulu happened to be walking under the shade of some trees where the lighting was weak, and the crew member with the fill light hadn’t caught up.
Jiang Shulu was about to say something else when Tang Yue suddenly pushed him.
Right out of the camera’s frame.
He was met with a fleeting, butterfly-light kiss in return.
Then, Tang Yue shouted Tang Mian’s name at the top of his lungs and ran towards the lights.
The livestream comments were a stream of question marks.
Then they saw Jiang Shulu walk back into the frame, covering his face with his hand. The doting look in his eyes was so over-the-top that even a blind person could feel the love.
[What mischief just went down!!]
[You can’t do this to us! You kissed, let us see!]
[Who would have thought that the aloof ice prince of a leader would be the one picked by the youngest member…]
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