Chu Xingye tried to change seats, only to get another scolding from his dad. He could only sit back down, simmering with resentment and wearing a face like thunder.
Jiang Xun had his daily KPI to meet. With his lips almost against Chu Xingye's ear, he said, "Xingye, don't you think we're a perfect match?"
Chu Xingye edged away as though avoiding the plague and shot him a look that said, In your dreams.
Jiang Xun said, "Black and white."
Chu Xingye: Ha. Ha.
Jiang Xun dragged his chair closer, refusing to let up. He leaned slightly, pressing his shoulder against Chu Xingye's, then tilted his head toward the other boy's ear and lowered his voice conspiratorially:
"Stop running away, Xingye. I'm alive, and you're alive too. How could there possibly be such a coincidence? You just like me."
Chu Xingye was on the verge of losing his mind. He wanted to jump out of this thirty-eighth-floor window.
Death would let him preserve his chastity. He absolutely could not let that dark little bastard Jiang defile him.
Finished with his little bout of madness, Jiang Xun looked at his bargain-bin fiancé's expression, which suggested he had swallowed a live fly, and felt considerably better.
He lifted his wineglass and took a sip of fruit wine, using the glass to hide the barely perceptible upward curl of his lips.
Suddenly, Jiang Xun's usually keen instincts told him someone was looking at him. He glanced up but found nothing.
Everyone was chatting.
Fu Yanli sat directly opposite him, and he couldn't help taking another look.
Beside Fu Yanli, Jiang Zixing was pouring him some wine, a restrained smile touching his eyes as he said gently, "Uncle Fu, this fruit wine tastes quite nice. Give it a try."
"Thank you."
Were Jiang Zixing and Fu Yanli close?
While Jiang Xun was still wondering, Fu Sang suddenly addressed everyone. "Oh, there's something else I forgot to mention."
"Xun and Xingye are both boarding at school right now, aren't they? Yanli happens to live nearby, so we discussed it with him and arranged for both of them to stay at his place."
"That way, they can get to know each other better and learn a few things from Yanli too."
"What do you think, Xun?"
Before Jiang Xun could speak, Chu Xingye's face turned green. "Mom, didn't we agree I'd be staying at Uncle's by myself? I don't agree!"
Fu Sang glared at him. "You little brat, that's your uncle's house. Who are you to agree or disagree?"
Chu Xingye turned a pitiful look toward his uncle, his eyes pleading for rescue. "Uncle."
Fu Yanli received his nephew's plea for help but chose to ignore it. "Either is fine."
Chu Xingye's urge to jump from the thirty-eighth floor grew even stronger. He made one last desperate attempt. "Doesn't Aunt have any objections?"
Fu Yanli said, "No."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly impose." Jiang Xun lowered his head shyly, then immediately followed with, "Uncle, when can we move in?"
Fu Yanli said, "Whenever you like."
After a moment's consideration, Jiang Shiyuan spoke as well. "As long as Jiang Xun wants to go, we have no objections."
His willingness to agree was mainly because of Fu Yanli, who was a role model for countless young people.
Living with Fu Yanli, Jiang Xun was bound to learn something from him. It might even help straighten out those unsavory habits of his. There was no downside.
Deng Shu thought the same.
And so it was settled. Chu Xingye was the only one opposed, and his objection counted for nothing.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang Zixing, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke. "Jiang Xun, I think staying at school would be better for your studies."
His tone was sincere, as though he genuinely had Jiang Xun's best interests at heart.
Jiang Xun narrowed his eyes slightly and studied Jiang Zixing across the table. His gaze seemed capable of piercing through flesh, inch by inch, straight into his heart.
Jiang Zixing lowered his eyes, avoiding his gaze. He unconsciously squeezed his fingers and pressed his lips together. "If you don't want to, then never mind."
He paused, his peripheral vision drifting almost imperceptibly toward Fu Yanli beside him, before looking back at Jiang Xun. "Then could I move in too? You've only just come home, and I'd like us to get to know each other better."
His voice was so quiet that Jiang Xun almost missed it.
"How could that possibly work?" Jiang Huaijin was the first to object.
He had been the first to agree to Jiang Xun moving out, glad to have him out of the house instead of hanging around irritating him.
But Zixing was different. Quite apart from having been pampered by the family since childhood, what if Jiang Xun got some nasty idea and deliberately bullied him after they moved in together?
Neither he nor their parents would be there to keep an eye on things. With Zixing's temperament, he wouldn't say a word even if he was bullied.
"Yes, Zixing, you'd be better off staying home. Besides, you and Jiang Xun don't attend the same school. Yanli's place is a long way from yours."
Jiang Shiyuan also coaxed him gently. "Going back and forth would be such a hassle."
Jiang Zixing was an arts student attending a renowned music conservatory in City A.
Deng Shu said, "Your brother will still come home on weekends. You'll have plenty of time together then."
Jiang Xun leisurely lifted his glass and sipped his fruit wine. As though watching a show, he let his gaze travel over the members of the Jiang family before finally settling on Jiang Zixing's face.
Jiang Zixing flushed slightly. He hesitated as though wanting to say something, but finally nodded awkwardly.
"All right. I'll listen to Mom, Dad, and Huaijin."
The subject passed without anyone giving it much thought. They simply assumed he really couldn't bear to part with Jiang Xun.
Jiang Xun quietly observed Jiang Zixing across the table, taking in his every move.
He definitely wasn't asking to move in because of Jiang Xun. Was it for Chu Xingye? Did Jiang Zixing like Chu Xingye?
No. If Jiang Zixing really liked Chu Xingye, he wouldn't have agreed to hand his fiancé over.
Besides, Jiang Zixing hadn't spared Chu Xingye a single extra glance throughout the meal. He clearly wasn't interested in him that way.
That left only... Fu Yanli.
A strange glint flashed through Jiang Xun's eyes as his fingertips tapped idly against his wineglass.
Ever since Jiang Xun had arrived, Jiang Zixing had been sitting beside Fu Yanli, constantly finding things to talk to him about.
With that suspicion in mind, Jiang Xun looked over again and began noticing the difference.
The way Jiang Zixing looked at Fu Yanli was different. Though he hid it well, sometimes the eyes couldn't lie.
For a moment, Jiang Xun didn't know whether to be more surprised that he liked his former fiancé's uncle or that he had fallen for a married man.
The Jiang and Chu families were old family friends and very close. Everyone sat around the dining table, eating, talking, and laughing in a warm, pleasant atmosphere.
Intrigued, Jiang Xun couldn't help casting glances across the table. Who didn't enjoy a little gossip?
He watched Jiang Zixing's every move, which meant some of his attention fell on Fu Yanli as well.
Fu Yanli was remarkably pleasing to watch as he ate. The hand holding his chopsticks was long-fingered and broad, its tendons and veins clearly defined.
An expensive watch encircled his left wrist, and that simple wedding ring still rested on his ring finger.