Chapter 58 part 1
Tang Yue had never been this hungry before.
It was past three in the morning. He was slumped in the rocking chair, crunching on potato chips while watching Jiang Shulu’s back as he cooked hot pot in the kitchen.
The curtains were drawn tight. On the TV, a sci-fi movie Tang Yue had randomly cast was playing.
Wormholes, light-years, time travel—he just treated it as background noise. Essentially, he was watching Jiang Shulu to pass the time.
To get a better view, Tang Yue had moved the rocking chair to the kitchen doorway, giving Jiang Shulu the feeling that he was being camped out on by someone waiting to be fed.
Tang Yue: “I want a yuan-yang (split) pot.”
Jiang Shulu: “You can’t eat spicy food.”
Jiang Shulu didn’t really eat snacks. The potato chips Tang Yue was eating now had been delivered yesterday along with the groceries Jiang Shulu had ordered.
It was so strict that Tang Yue was rather unhappy; the chips were cucumber flavored and had barely any taste.
Jiang Shulu: “Did you eat spicy food every day when you lived with Xiao Mie?”
Tang Yue shook his head. “Xiao Mie can’t eat spicy, so I didn’t eat it either.”
“But Xiao Mie isn’t here now, so what’s wrong with me eating a little spice?”
He sounded quite self-righteous.
Jiang Shulu: “You were just complaining about pain earlier.”
Tang Yue: “That was pleasure! Besides, I’m an alien, you don’t need to hold back.”
Jiang Shulu had been educated to be restrained, but Tang Yue led him to indulge.
Every time, he was afraid of hurting the other, yet Tang Yue would pull him down into the depths.
Time and again, making the word “intimacy” infinitely concrete.
This guy seemed to have an endless aftertaste for their first time, giving Jiang Shulu the feeling that he wasn’t as good as he was five years ago.
But Tang Yue was indeed a bit different; after a shower, he returned to normal.
Now, the young man, still radiating the dampness of a bath, swayed back and forth on the rocking chair. His wide pajama pants were so loose that the legs looked like they could fit several limbs. When Tang Yue lifted his leg slightly, the pant leg slid up, revealing distinct finger marks on his ankle.
Jiang Shulu: “You said that yourself.”
Tang Yue: “I don’t want it now, I’m full.”
He touched his abdomen and muttered softly, “But I feel like it’s still inside.”
The clear soup base was already bubbling. Jiang Shulu brought the pot over, and Tang Yue jumped off the rocking chair and walked over.
“My heart is full, but my stomach is empty.”
Jiang Shulu: “You didn’t need to add that last sentence.”
Tang Yue: “Are you going to the company with me tomorrow?”
Jiang Shulu: “Can I not go with you?”
Tang Yue: “Of course you can.”
He dumped ingredients into the pot like he was dumping dumplings. Jiang Shulu hurriedly used his chopsticks to stop the impulse to dump a whole bag of rice cakes in.
“Don’t eat too much.”
Tang Yue looked up. “You’ll help me eat it, right?”
Counting carefully, the time they had been reunited was minimal. But because they had been practically glued together for so long, plus their three years of living together in the past, they were unlike ordinary couples.
They seemed very familiar, yet there was a subtle strangeness hidden in the details of life that needed to be discovered bit by bit.
Jiang Shulu: “Yes, but this big bag is too much.”
Tang Yue: “Then can I put all the beef in?”
Jiang Shulu nodded.
Tang Yue still loved hot pot as much as ever. The intimacy gave him an infinite desire to talk; he could say a whole lot without Jiang Shulu even asking.
“Xiao Mie really likes shrimp paste too. It’s just that I really have no talent for cooking. Even now, I only know how to boil things, so his taste is very bland.”
“But Xiao Mie was very easy to raise when he was little. Actually, I was very lucky; he was really, really good…”
“I even have photos of Xiao Mie drinking milk. Super cute. Ah, where’s my phone!”
Seeing Tang Yue about to stand up to get his phone, Jiang Shulu pulled him back down. “No rush.”
Tang Yue: “There are backups on the hard drive at home. I’ll show you later.”
Jiang Shulu: “You don’t need to show me. I’ll go with you, and we can watch together.”
Tang Yue gave an “En.”
Jiang Shulu: “When Xiao Mie drank milk, was he drinking…”
Tang Yue instantly understood what he was asking. His face turned beet red, and he stammered, “I-I… I did have some, but… but not much… it was mostly…”
Jiang Shulu coughed.
Tang Yue: “It’s a pity, I don’t have any now, otherwise…”
Afraid that if they continued this topic they wouldn’t be able to eat hot pot, Jiang Shulu changed the subject. “Do you really have a lot of my posters?”
Tang Yue had just stuffed a mouthful of meat and froze for a moment. Jiang Shulu asked, “When did you take them? I remember some of them had to go through Sister Lin.”
Tang Yue puffed out his cheeks. “I said I was giving them to a friend.”
Jiang Shulu: “Friend?”
Tang Yue: “Fine, I don’t have friends! Isn’t that pitiful?”
The clear soup pot really had no flavor, and the dipping sauce wasn’t spicy at all. Tang Yue could only indignantly add a lot of sesame paste, his tone carrying a bit of resentment.
Jiang Shulu: “I don’t either.”
Tang Yue: “Aren’t Second Brother and Third Brother friends?”
Jiang Shulu: “Yes.”
Tang Yue: “Then you still…”
Jiang Shulu: “So you have them too.”
Tang Yue: “I was leaving back then so I cut off contact. But Shulu-ge, in all these years, you must have…”
Jiang Shulu shook his head. “I have many classmates and colleagues. Some were playmates chosen for me by the Jiang family, but they don’t really count.”
While scooping up the meat Tang Yue liked, he said, “Away was my 100% choice.”
There were no clear conflicts of interest, nor were there social rules where elders had to approve beforehand.
It was just about forming a team and choosing the ones who caught his eye from the suitable candidates.
Tang Yue: “Did you choose Second Brother too?”
Jiang Shulu: “I chose him in the preliminary selection. Little Uncle made the final decision on him.”
Tang Yue said “Oh.” “Then what about me? Not… I was chosen from a resume before, right?”
Jiang Shulu: “The planning producer did the prelims. Little Uncle and I made the final decision.”
He paused. “But I had seen the two of them before. The first time I saw you, I didn’t expect it to be in the hospital. I thought you wouldn’t make it.”
Jiang Shulu: “You arrived at that time, right?”
Tang Yue hummed in agreement. “I don’t know why it happened either. I even did a DNA test, and I’m biologically related to Sister Yi.”
Jiang Shulu: “Do you have any other family over there?”
Tang Yue shook his head. “I only heard there’s an uncle doing spice business elsewhere, but my mom said they don’t contact each other much. That uncle seems to have some mental issues.”
Jiang Shulu suddenly laughed, remembering how Yao Lixin used to complain that the maknae seemed to have brain problems.
Tang Yue was very sharp. “What are you laughing at?”
Jiang Shulu: “Nothing.”
Tang Yue’s chopsticks clamped onto Jiang Shulu’s chopsticks. “You’re definitely laughing at me.”
Jiang Shulu: “I just think you’re cute.”
Tang Yue narrowed his eyes. Those eyes were beautiful no matter what, worthy of Jiang Shulu kissing them thousands of times.
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