Chapter 62 part 1
This was the first concert Tang Yue had attended in years.
He was also given a light stick and sat in the audience as a fan, watching the juniors’ performance.
On the screen, the four members of Away sat in a row. To many viewers, it felt like an echo across time and space.
Especially since Varm had stated at their debut that they were fans of their seniors.
This performance was under immense pressure for them, and they appeared quite nervous in many interviews.
The livestream channel was different from the special channel Chengkong Media had opened solely for Varm.
The contrast between the stage and the audience, and they even added footage of Away’s debut stage from years ago.
Three years, then five years. Tang Yue thought of his seventeen years on Planet 9787. At the climax of the song on stage, amidst the interplay of lights and the rising dry ice fog, he looked toward Jiang Shulu.
He didn’t expect the other to be looking back at him at that exact moment.
Tang Yue suddenly felt like crying.
Back when they were on stage, even when he was physically close to Jiang Shulu, he still felt the man was untouchable.
But now, sitting together, holding their child in his arms, Jiang Shulu’s eyes were filled only with him.
Jiang Shulu didn’t understand why Tang Yue’s eyes had turned red just from watching a concert. He leaned closer to Tang Yue and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Tang Yue: “Can we go somewhere later?”
Jiang Shulu: “You want to go shoot balloons?”
He actually knew!
Liu Xichao, sitting on Tang Yue’s other side, heard this too: “I want to go too.”
Yao Lixin glanced over. Liu Xichao had just said the word “shoot,” and the other party also said they wanted to go.
It happened to be the intermission. Tang Mian finished his water and asked Tang Yue, “Is it fun?”
Tang Yue: “It’s very fun.”
Liu Xichao: “You never played back then; you only thought about buying trinkets.”
He reached out and grabbed Tang Yue’s hand: “Look, this watch was given to your dad by your Daddy Shulu.”
Tang Mian let out an “Oh”: “I knew it.”
The child, wise beyond his years, asked another question: “So, are Daddy and Daddy Shulu going on a date later?”
Before Tang Yue could answer, Tang Mian said, “Then I can only play with Brother Xuanyu. I won’t be a third-wheel Xiao Mie.”
Tang Yue: “We can all shoot balloons together!”
Tang Mian: “Daddy lost miserably when playing Whac-A-Mole with me. How could you win at shooting?”
Tang Yue: “Shulu-ge is very good at it!”
Tang Mian: “Really?”
He turned to look at Jiang Shulu. Jiang Shulu nodded: “At least when your dad wanted that puppy pillow that required a perfect score, I won it for him.”
Liu Xichao couldn’t listen anymore: “You had a guilty conscience even back then?”
Before Jiang Shulu could speak, Tang Yue hurriedly interjected: “Me! I have a ghost!”
This statement sounded hilarious. At least the child didn’t understand, asking excitedly, “Is Daddy going to tell me a ghost story?”
Tang Yue: “No…”
Jiang Shulu pulled Tang Mian into his arms: “It’s a story about a coward. I’ll tell you later.”
This wasn’t even a subtle hint; it was a direct call-out. Tang Yue glanced at Jiang Shulu.
But the man held the child, urged him to continue watching the concert, and then said, “After Xiao Mie comes to live with me, I’ll tell Xiao Mie stories every day, okay?”
Tang Mian: “Then can we live together starting today?”
Jiang Shulu: “Sure.”
These conversations weren’t recorded after the concert resumed. In the eyes of the audience, it was just a normal scene of boy group seniors watching their juniors perform.
At most, it added a label of “family time.”
But this day also pushed the anticipation for Tang Yue’s comeback to its peak. Many fans left messages under the Weibo account of Tang Yue’s studio, urging them to release the new song Tang Yue mentioned in the livestream.
After the concert ended, many fans were waiting outside to see the four members of Away leave.
Tang Yue held Tang Mian in front, chatting with Liu Xichao.
Jiang Shulu walked behind. Yao Lixin noticed he was checking his phone frequently today and asked, “How are things with the Jiang family?”
Although Yao Lixin’s family wasn’t a top-tier wealthy family, his sister had married into one, so he was an insider who knew some secrets.
He brought Yao Xuanyu on shows, and his sister, whose children took her surname, would occasionally talk about business matters.
Including the recent changes in the Jiang family. It was said that after Jiang Shulu left, his cousin Jiang Jinan, who returned from abroad, took over the follow-up matters.
The press conferences were grand, and all sorts of news reports were disparaging Jiang Shulu.
But it was an indisputable fact that the Jiang family suffered heavy losses due to Jiang Shulu’s departure. Even though Jiang Jinan quickly announced his engagement to a daughter of a certain family after taking over, it was difficult to salvage the impact brought by Jiang Shulu’s revelations that day.
Many predicted that the Jiang family couldn’t plug the holes just by marriage alliances and likely wouldn’t recover in the short term.
If Jiang Jinan’s methods weren’t good enough, they might fall from the top of the wealthy list to the bottom, destroying the efforts of several generations.
Jiang Shulu: “It has nothing to do with me anymore.”
He also didn’t care about the fans online who criticized him for living off a partner. He actually looked incredibly relaxed and indifferent.
Compared to the detachment when he was labeled a “flower on a high peak” during the group era, and the coldness as a person in power over the past five years, the current Jiang Shulu seemed like a fallen leaf returning to its roots—he belonged to Tang Yue.
Yao Lixin: “Still acting with me? My sister said you took quite a lot of things. Does Xiao Yue not know?”
Ahead, Tang Yue said something to Liu Xichao, making Liu Xichao look a bit exasperated. Liu Xichao poked Tang Yue’s forehead as if Tang Yue was worthless, seemingly imparting some dating techniques, which made Tang Mian dance with joy.
Jiang Shulu never withdrew his gaze, his tone filled with rich love: “He knows a little, but didn’t ask much.”
This sounded heartless, but Jiang Shulu wasn’t sad in the slightest: “Xiao Yue is just like that. In his eyes, I am just myself.”
Yao Lixin: “I think you just enjoy the feeling of everyone saying Tang Yue is supporting you.”
Jiang Shulu didn’t deny it, nodding and saying, “Can you enjoy such treatment?”
Yao Lixin was speechless for a while: “Your hobbies are really unique enough.”
Jiang Shulu: “It is Xiao Yue who is special.”
When he mentioned Tang Yue in the past, it was different. Yao Lixin and Liu Xichao had discussed when exactly it started.
But there was no way to verify it. Jiang Shulu’s sense of responsibility was too strong; no fault could be found in his care for them.
Tang Yue, a useless person in daily life, made the other two boisterous members care for him meticulously, let alone someone with Jiang Shulu’s personality.
He worried about everything, from hot water bottles in winter to specifying exactly how many ice cubes in drinks in summer.
His meticulousness was to the point that Yao Lixin found it creepy, agreeing with fans who said the Captain actually had a strong desire for control.
Yao Lixin felt he had discovered clues when Tang Yue was eighteen.
At this moment, he couldn’t hold back. Taking advantage of the livestream being off, he asked Jiang Shulu: “When exactly did you start liking Tang Yue?”
There were vendors selling fluorescent headbands outside. Tang Yue bought a glowing rabbit ear headband and put it on his son.
Liu Xichao held up his phone, taking a selfie with Yao Xuanyu in his arms.
The staff stood to the side. The fans in the distance were still watching, but they didn’t disturb them.
Jiang Shulu: “After he left.”
This sounded truly sad. Yao Lixin made a sound of “Uh,” and was about to say let’s not talk about it.
But Jiang Shulu added: “You definitely haven’t experienced love at first sight, have you?”
Yao Lixin: …
I really want to expose the face of the former boy group captain showing off like this.
What “flower on a high peak”? It’s all fake. He’s just an ordinary man who loves to show off his wife.
Yao Lixin took a deep breath: “By the way, I have something to tell you. My sister asked me to tell you that someone in the Jiang family is investigating Tang Mian.”
Yao Xuanyu’s mother was originally in the testing business. Although not a monopoly, it was a leading enterprise.
Jiang Shulu’s bit of joy instantly dissipated. For a moment, he gave Yao Lixin a sense of alertness, like someone guarding their food from a tiger.
He asked: “Which member of the Jiang family?”
