Jiang Nan followed his gaze and looked back.
Fu Jingzhou had just finished washing up. His black hair hung down, a few strands damp.
He gave Jiang Nan a dispassionate glance, then told the housekeeper to serve breakfast.
Breakfast that morning included crab roe buns, custard buns, and century egg and pork congee...
Everything was something Jiang Nan liked.
Much of Jiang Nan's resentment over the green-haired Fu Xingli snatching the last pouch of yogurt from under his nose dissipated. He took a straw, ruthlessly stabbed it into a plump crab roe bun, and sucked hard.
Fu Jingzhou studied him, his expression unreadable, before finally asking, "How did you two end up at a bar last night?"
His tone was very mild, as though it were a casual question.
Fu Xingli's eyelid twitched, however.
He was four years younger than Fu Jingzhou, but he had truly grown up trailing after him, and knew just how vicious and nasty he could be beneath that cold exterior.
He looked calm now, but he was actually settling scores.
Fu Xingli hurriedly lowered his head, looking as though none of this had anything to do with him.
Jiang Nan, however, noticed nothing and explained, "He tempted me into it."
After they had cleared up their identities the day before, the two had huddled together to play games.
Fu Xingli had claimed, in lofty terms, that he was testing Jiang Nan's skills.
The more they played, the more engrossed they became. When they finally grew tired, they decided to settle things over drinks instead.
Fu Jingzhou's gaze landed on Fu Xingli again.
Fu Xingli looked up in a panic and jabbed a finger at Jiang Nan. "It was him! He was egging me on! Besides, I was doing it for your sake, bro. If you're marrying someone, your wife should at least know how to game and drink."
Jiang Nan stared at him in shock. "Little bro, you really know how to shift the blame."
Fu Xingli snorted.
Fu Jingzhou said nothing and simply opened his tablet.
Fu Xingli hurriedly started sucking up to him. "Bro, you're so hardworking. You even watch financial news while you eat."
Not to be outdone, Jiang Nan said, "Our Zhouzhou has always taken things seriously. How else could he shoulder everything on his own?"
Without even lifting his eyes, Fu Jingzhou asked gently, "Did both of you black out last night?"
Biting his spoon, Jiang Nan nodded.
Fu Xingli said, "We drank too much and slept like the dead."
Fu Jingzhou nodded to acknowledge this, then silently tapped on a video.
There was a burst of static, and then Jiang Nan heard his own voice.
"Don't be scared, son. Daddy's here to protect you."
Startled, he dropped his spoon, which clattered into his bowl of century egg and pork congee.
Fu Xingli was even more shocked. "You already have a son?"
Jiang Nan was bewildered.
He had never even dated anyone. Where had a child come from????
Fu Xingli was just about to feel sorry for his brother when, a second later, he heard his own sobbing voice.
"Boo-hoo-hoo, Daddy, you're still the one who treats me best."
Clang-
The spoon in Fu Xingli's hand fell too.
Jiang Nan looked at Fu Xingli in astonishment. "Son?"
Fu Xingli's handsome face turned as black as charcoal. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Jiang Nan. "You took advantage of me?"
A faint smile lingered on Fu Jingzhou's lips as he looked at the two of them and slowly asked, "Do you remember now?"
Jiang Nan's little-animal radar sounded a warning. He nodded silently, looking pitiful and innocent.
Perhaps because he had been drunk the night before, he had slept in an awkward position. There were still faint red pressure marks on one side of his face, and his pink hair was a mess. Sitting beside Fu Xingli, they looked like a pink feather duster and a green feather duster gathered together.
But... he was simply much easier on the eyes than Fu Xingli.
So Fu Jingzhou turned his fire on Fu Xingli. "Stay here for a week, then go back and apologize to Second Uncle."
Fu Xingli was Second Uncle Fu's only child and had been pampered since childhood. The servants doted on him, the elders doted on him, and even the only brotherly affection Fu Jingzhou possessed had all gone to Fu Xingli.
At eighteen, Fu Xingli had all the temper of a spoiled young master.
"I'm not going back. I just had a fight with my dad." He was glum.
"That won't do either." Fu Jingzhou's tone was gentle, but brooked no argument. "After all, you only scored a little over two hundred on your college entrance exam. You can't even get into a decent junior college."
Hearing this, Jiang Nan, who had been enjoying the show all along, couldn't help letting out a "Whoa." He turned and gave Fu Jingzhou a thumbs-up. "Badass."
Fu Xingli was thin-skinned to begin with, and his face instantly flushed under Jiang Nan's gaze. "You did terribly on your college entrance exam too! Your brother Jiang Qingye got into Imperial Capital University, while you went to Jingkou Vocational and Technical College next door."
Jiang Nan was left speechless.
He couldn't help complaining to 771: [I scored over seven hundred on my college entrance exam!!!]
771 could only console him: [You can still pursue graduate studies now. All your knowledge is still in your head, after all.]
When 771 had bound himself to Jiang Nan, he had actually looked carefully through Jiang Nan's background and experiences.
With neither father nor mother, he had grown up in an orphanage.
He was very cute and had been socially adept from a young age, making him the most popular child in the orphanage.
He had been adopted three times, only to be sent back to the orphanage every time.
There was no other reason; Jiang Nan had simply been unlucky. Just after he arrived at each new home, his new parents had a child of their own.
Raising a boy was too expensive, so he had ultimately stayed in the orphanage until he was eighteen.
For Jiang Nan, who had neither father nor mother, the college entrance exam was his only chance to change his fate.
Reminded by 771, Jiang Nan suddenly saw the light. [You're so right.]
He remained silent for so long that Fu Jingzhou thought he was deeply upset, so he interrupted Fu Xingli. "I had Secretary Lin find you a tutor. You'll have one-on-one tutoring this summer. You can't score this badly again on next year's college entrance exam."
In fact, Fu Xingli could easily have studied abroad and paid for a diploma from a diploma mill.
But Second Uncle Fu was getting older and couldn't bear to have him go abroad. He also hoped Fu Xingli could learn something useful.
Had he been at home, Fu Xingli would already have thrown down his spoon.
But in front of Fu Jingzhou, he didn't dare say a thing and could only reply sullenly, "I understand."
Jiang Nan looked at him with a beaming smile, feeling thoroughly refreshed after getting his revenge. "Study hard, little bro."
Fu Xingli: "..."
You little green tea.
Time flew by. On Friday evening, Fu Xingli had just moved out, and to celebrate the nuisance finally leaving, Jiang Nan sat cross-legged on the sofa playing games.
He wore shorts, exposing long, fair, slender legs with exquisite proportions, as though a manga artist had painstakingly drawn them.
When Fu Jingzhou entered the living room, his gaze was involuntarily drawn to Jiang Nan's legs.
They were porcelain-white, dazzling under the light.
His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, and he cleared his throat.
Hearing him, Jiang Nan turned to look, his lips spreading into a broad smile. "Zhouzhou, you're back?"
Fu Jingzhou gave a hum of acknowledgment, then said, "Ten tomorrow morning. Remember not to sleep in too late."