Chapter 55 part 1
The Jiang family had handled her arrangements carelessly, unwilling to even properly carve her name on the tombstone.
It was only after Jiang Shulu reached adulthood that he moved her here.
The rental fee for this cemetery was exorbitant, requiring registration for entry. Every time Jiang Shulu visited, he would check the number of visitors.
Tang Yue asked, “Can I bring Xiao Mie next time?”
As if just remembering, he added, “Do we need to take Xiao Mie for a paternity test?”
He looked at Jiang Shulu. “Ge, do you really not suspect anything at all?”
“None of that matters,” Jiang Shulu replied.
He smiled. “I never thought I’d have a child before.”
Tang Yue let out an “Oh.” “I always felt you hated kids.”
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
“Once, when we were watching a movie together, your tone was just so… annoyed.”
Tang Yue pinpointed the specific year, and Jiang Shulu recalled the fantasy monster movie. He explained, “I was just critiquing the movie’s content.”
Then, remembering Tang Yue’s resistance when they first joined the variety show, he asked, “Did you hesitate because of that?”
“A little,” Tang Yue admitted.
He pinched Jiang Shulu’s fingers, leaning very close to him, his eyes lowered. “After all, we didn’t exactly have a child through the normal process.”
“But you still chose to keep Xiao Mie, didn’t you?”
Tang Yue looked up. “I thought that if I was all alone, it would be too lonely. Xiao Mie could keep me company.”
The next second, he sighed. “But it was too idealistic. Kids always grow up.”
“I was afraid I wouldn’t be a good father,” Jiang Shulu said.
He turned Tang Yue by the shoulders, speaking earnestly. “But many things don’t happen just because I’ve planned for them.”
“Like falling in love with you.”
He paused. “I always thought, if only I could be by your side. Your sister told me that even if you are different from ordinary people, you still feel pain.”
Tang Yue whispered, “We could have another one.”
Jiang Shulu: “What?”
Tang Yue shook his head. “Nothing.”
Jiang Shulu: “Then say goodbye to Mom. We should head back.”
“It’s already dark,” Tang Yue noted.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Can I go see the place where you lived with your mom when you were little?”
Jiang Shulu thought for a moment. Tang Yue quickly added, “If it’s too much trouble, forget it.”
The next second, he was pulled tighter into the embrace. “Don’t say things like that next time.”
Tang Yue: “Hmm?”
“Between you and me,” Jiang Shulu said, “there is no such thing as trouble.”
“You’re suddenly so serious.”
“Scared again? Is your impression of me really that unfair?”
He opened the passenger door, helped Tang Yue in, and fastened his seatbelt. As he got into the driver’s seat, he added, “There are still many things we haven’t said to each other.”
Tang Yue: “I’ve never dated anyone before, I just have some…”
“Textbook experience?” Jiang Shulu finished, his eyes smiling, seemingly recalling the content Tang Yue used to read.
Tang Yue’s gaze drifted, and he asked softly, “Do you have any?”
Jiang Shulu shook his head. “Neither do I.”
“But surely people have liked you over all these years?”
“That wasn’t liking me.”
Many people’s affection was merely for his status. Only Tang Yue was different.
“I only want to be with you,” Jiang Shulu said.
Tang Yue didn’t dare look at him. He touched his own face; he didn’t know if it was from crying or because Jiang Shulu was being so direct, but his cheeks were burning hot again.
Yet Jiang Shulu insisted on asking, “Why aren’t you talking again?”
“Becau—”
Before he could finish, Tang Yue received a sudden kiss, landing loudly on his cheek.
Then came Tang Yue’s flustered complaint: “The seatbelt is too tight.”
Before Jiang Shulu could say anything, Tang Yue blurted out, “I only want to sleep with you, too.”
Jiang Shulu: …
He had almost forgotten that when this person decided to be direct, he was incredibly fiery.
Are all aliens from his planet like this?
Tang Yue seemed to read his mind. “You’re not allowed to associate me with those triangle-headed things.”
He puffed out his cheeks, seemingly finding this world’s popular science about aliens a bit terrifying, then sighed again. “I still don’t know how to tell Xiao Mie about this.”
“What if he already knows?”
Tang Yue suddenly found that prospect terrifying. “He’s only five!”
He looked at Jiang Shulu. “Ge, were you this smart when you were little?”
Jiang Shulu shook his head, then smiled. “I should have been slightly better than you.”
“Why do you say that? I’m not that dumb.”
“I like all of it,” Jiang Shulu said.
From yesterday to today, Tang Yue had lost count of how many times he’d heard Jiang Shulu say “like.”
It made him feel that Jiang Shulu possessed a rare kind of childishness.
He had to say “like” when kissing, and “like” when holding hands.
Even when he was about to enter him, lips brushing against the corner of Tang Yue’s mouth, there was another “like.”
It was as if Jiang Shulu had never felt it before, or at least never expressed it so fervently—
Like.
It made Tang Yue’s responses increasingly frantic, wishing he could sink into the abyss with him forever.
The car drove over the evening overpass. After exiting, they took several turns Tang Yue didn’t recognize.
Jiang Shulu didn’t even look at the GPS, navigating the car familiarly to the entrance of an alley in the old district.
This area was slated for demolition by the end of the year, and the original residents had been moving out one after another.
Tang Yue checked the map on the screen; it was very far from where they stayed yesterday.
And it would take a long time to take the subway to the city center.
Clear Sky Media’s headquarters were in S City. Tang Yue had been in the group for three years and had visited many places in S City, but he had no memory of this area.
He thought of the past. Jiang Shulu was simply too busy. In Liu Xichao’s words, Jiang Shulu was the typical person whose work and private life were blended together—or rather, he simply had no “private life.”
Yao Lixin said Liu Xichao just had a personal grudge against the Jiang family, so he insinuated the Captain wasn’t human.
Tang Yue occasionally wondered: Did Jiang Shulu ever have times when he sneaked out to play?
Years later, Jiang Shulu brought Tang Yue to a place he liked to visit.
He opened the car door. “Let’s go, I’ll show you around.”
Tang Yue extended his hand. “Can we hold hands while we walk?”
He looked up at Jiang Shulu, his eyes filled with the affection Jiang Shulu had dreamed of.
Jiang Shulu nodded. “Of course.”
It was already dark. The streetlights here flickered intermittently. In the distance, high-rise buildings were under construction, their red warning lights blinking atop the cranes.
The occasional passerby rode an electric scooter. The railings along the sidewalk looked ancient, the handrails rusted, giving Tang Yue a feeling of traveling back in time.
The person holding his hand walked slowly forward. Tang Yue looked at Jiang Shulu, then looked at the small alley.
The alley opened out onto a main road. The supermarket at the corner was already closed, a red circle painted on the shutter door with a large character for “Demolish” written inside.
Tang Yue: “Did you grow up here?”
Jiang Shulu: “Before elementary school.”
Holding Tang Yue’s hand, their shadows stretched long on the ground. Tang Yue wasn’t well-behaved even while holding hands; he insisted on swinging their arms, like a teenager in high school.
Childish and cute.
They had indeed missed the best time for romance, making this compensation feel incredibly precious, enough to make Jiang Shulu’s heart waver and lean in to kiss him.
Tang Yue was startled. Just as he looked up at Jiang Shulu, Jiang Shulu wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Don’t look at me right now.”
“Then I still want to hold your hand.”
“So you really are this clingy.”
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