ALCSRB Chapter 31

Jiang Mingyi fled in utter panic.

Just thinking about Shen Xingyan’s equally stunned expression made him want to bash his own head in.

He just wanted to express his joy a little, and somehow he ended up knocking the guy onto the bed and even… kissed him.

“Aaahhhh!!!”

He stopped abruptly. “He’s not going to think I forced a kiss on him, right?”

Surely not?

After all, they were just brothers. A normal person wouldn’t read into it like that, right?

Jiang Mingyi was a mess. But then again, no little brother goes around force-kissing his big brother.

Even if it was totally an accident.

But now that he had run away, that “accident” was even harder to explain.

He turned back and hesitated, wondering if he should go explain things. But if he went just to explain, wouldn’t that make it seem even more suspicious?

He paced back and forth, unsure—until his eyes met a pair of suspicious, questioning ones.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”

Jiang Mingyi was startled and patted his chest. “You scared me to death, sneaking up behind me like that.”

Shen Jili frowned. “Xiao Yi, what were you just doing?”

He paused, his eyes drifting to Jiang Mingyi’s neck. “Your face is all red—and even your neck too?”

He glanced up at the central air conditioner in concern. It wasn’t hot at all.

“…” Jiang Mingyi froze for a second, then made up a random excuse. “I was swatting a mosquito. It bit my neck, and I hit it too hard, ended up making myself red.”

He lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Shen Jili. Thankfully, the latter didn’t seem to doubt his awkward excuse. Still worried, he said, “How could there be mosquitoes in a place like this? I’ll have Wang Ma disinfect the whole villa tomorrow.”

Jiang Mingyi nodded in agreement. “Maybe it’s going to rain soon. That makes mosquitoes fly indoors.”

“Very likely.” Shen Jili pulled out his phone to check the weather forecast. “Says there’ll be a heavy storm at midnight.”

Seeing the phone in his hand, Jiang Mingyi suddenly realized that in his rush just now, he had left his own phone in Shen Xingyan’s room.

Ugh—he hadn’t even figured out whether or not to go back and explain things. What should he do now?

Was he supposed to go back and say: I didn’t mean to kiss you, but I did come back on purpose to get my phone?

Instant scumbag vibes.

“…”

Jiang Mingyi was running through a dozen chaotic scenarios in his head when he saw Shen Jili start walking in the other direction.

Wait…

“Dad, are you going to see my brother?” he quickly called out.

Shen Jili nodded. “I forgot to mention something at dinner. Need to talk to him.”

“Oh.” Jiang Mingyi wasn’t the least bit curious about what they needed to talk about—he only cared about his phone. After hesitating for two seconds, he said, “Dad, I accidentally left my phone in his room just now. Can you bring it back for me?”

“Sure.”

Jiang Mingyi instantly relaxed—only for Shen Jili to add a few steps later, “I’ll have your brother bring it to you himself in a bit.”

“…” Jiang Mingyi was stunned. “Dad, that’s not what I meant…”

He rushed forward to stop him, but just then, the door was opened from the inside.

Jiang Mingyi instantly pivoted and darted back to the corner, hiding out of sight.

He poked his head out and could only see Shen Jili’s back—not Shen Xingyan’s face.

Shen Jili said, “Look at this—father and son telepathy. I was just coming to see you and you opened the door.”

Shen Xingyan ignored the pleased expression on his father’s face and glanced behind him, not seeing anyone else.

Jiang Mingyi ducked his head back. Whew—he was almost spotted.

“I thought I heard voices just now,” Shen Xingyan said, pulling his gaze back.

“Oh, that was your brother,” Shen Jili immediately explained. “I saw him at the corner swatting mosquitoes. Silly kid—if there are mosquitoes, just tell Wang Ma. Instead, he had to do it himself until his face and neck turned red.”

Shen Xingyan paused for a moment, thinking of the boy’s flushed cheeks and reddened neck when he ran out earlier. A faint chuckle slipped from his lips.

“Don’t laugh at him,” Shen Jili said. “Otherwise, he’ll get all worked up.”

“I’m not laughing at him,” Shen Xingyan replied, but he didn’t explain the reason behind his smile.

“Oh, right—your brother said he left his phone in your room. Bring it over to him later.”

Shen Xingyan hadn’t expected his dad to bring that up. His hand, which had been hanging loosely by his side, discreetly slipped the phone into his pocket.

Meanwhile, Jiang Mingyi was squatting on the floor, silently punching the ground in frustration.

His dad was really something—he managed to say everything, whether it should’ve been said or not. Now there was no way to salvage the situation.

Ahhh—

He groaned on the floor in despair, while on the other side, the topic had already shifted, and the sound of a closing door reached him.

Jiang Mingyi instantly scrambled up and peeked out—great, both of them had gone into the room.

There was no way he could knock on the door now and ask for his phone back. That would be asking for humiliation.

The more he thought about it, the more conflicted he felt. With heavy steps, Jiang Mingyi walked toward his room.

Forget it. He would just pretend he wasn’t in his room later. If Shen Xingyan came to knock, he’d act like he didn’t hear it.

But just as he reached his bedroom door, he bit his lip in despair—wouldn’t that mean he couldn’t get his phone back?

“Jiang Mingyi, you idiot.”

He opened the door. The empty room seemed to mock his stupidity in silence.

The wind from the air conditioner above ruffled his drooping black hair. He looked like a defeated little soldier—completely drained of energy.

Jiang Mingyi threw himself onto the bed in a fit of hopelessness, wrapping himself in the blanket and rolling around. Several pillows were knocked to the floor, leaving only a cocooned figure on the wide bed.

No, he had to think of something. He couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.

He bit the corner of the blanket, letting out muffled groans, “Ugh ugh ugh…” He couldn’t think of a single good idea.

It was all Shen Xingyan’s fault. Why did he have to confiscate his phone for no reason? That led to the accidental kiss.

He hadn’t even had a chance to make a fuss about that being his first kiss. If it wasn’t Shen Xingyan’s first too, then he really got the short end of the stick.

“…”

Ugh, what was he even thinking about?

Jiang Mingyi reached out from under the blanket and lightly slapped his burning cheeks. Then he threw the blanket off, rolled over, and muttered, “I need to find a way to get my phone back…”

He kept repeating that to himself, but a few minutes later, his gaze started to drift blankly.

—

After sending Shen Jili off, Shen Xingyan went straight to Jiang Mingyi’s bedroom door.

He raised his hand and knocked. There was no response. After a moment’s hesitation, he pushed the door—it wasn’t locked.

The lights were on inside, but there was no sign of anyone.

Only when Shen Xingyan stepped into the room did he spot a lump under the covers—and a softly sleeping figure buried within.

The boy’s sleeping posture never failed to surprise him. Despite being a tall, lanky teenager, he was currently lying on his stomach like a baby, his round and full butt raised in the air, snugly pressed against the bunched-up blanket. No wonder he didn’t notice anyone on the bed when he first walked in.

This position might be comfortable for a baby, but for an adult, it certainly wasn’t ideal.

Shen Xingyan saw the frown between his brows even in sleep and sighed helplessly before stepping forward to help him adjust his sleeping position.

He slid one arm under his neck, while the other gently applied pressure to softly roll the sleeping boy onto his back. The curled-up limbs were now free to stretch out. The person in sleep let out a faint sigh, his lips muttering unintelligible words.

Shen Xingyan leaned down slightly and faintly caught words like “gege” (older brother) and “phone” in his mumbles.

His gaze fell to the slightly parted lips, pouty with a childlike innocence—it made him want to laugh.

With a long finger, he gently brushed the bridge of Jiang Mingyi’s tall nose. The touch was light, but the boy still twitched his nose twice in response.

Only then did Shen Xingyan withdraw his hand.

Although that kiss had been sudden, he knew Jiang Mingyi hadn’t done it on purpose—it was more of an unexpected coincidence.

He hadn’t intended to tease him either, but clearly, the boy had been so embarrassed he’d run out of the room without a word. Thinking back to what his dad said earlier, Shen Xingyan guessed the boy was probably too shy to come back and get his phone.

Shen Xingyan took out the phone and placed it gently on the nightstand. He tucked the blanket around Jiang Mingyi, gave him one last warm look, and quietly left the room.

…

Jiang Mingyi was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of rain.

Groggily opening his eyes, he saw the room lit by the soft glow of the bedside nightlight. Under the gentle light, a phone lay quietly on the nightstand.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “Bro, how’d you come back by yourself?”

He reached out and tucked the phone into his chest, and with the sound of rain in the background, he quickly drifted back to sleep.

—

The next morning, Jiang Mingyi happily rushed into the bathroom with his recovered phone and took a shower.

When he came out, he was full of energy again.

After getting dressed and going downstairs, his eyes immediately met Shen Xingyan’s gaze across the dining room.

Jiang Mingyi paused. Alright, the phone didn’t grow legs and walk back by itself, so it must’ve been Shen Xingyan who returned it.

Ugh, he must’ve slept too deeply last night to even realize the guy had come into his room.

After sitting down, and seeing it was just the two of them in the dining room, Jiang Mingyi lowered his voice and said, “Ge, about last night… I really didn’t mean to do that.”

He looked a little embarrassed after speaking, but before he got a response from Shen Xingyan, Su Wanxin came back with breakfast and asked, “What are you two whispering about so early in the morning?”

Jiang Mingyi immediately straightened up and took the breakfast she handed him. “Thanks, Mom. We weren’t talking about anything.” From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Shen Xingyan, who was calmly eating breakfast without a trace of emotion.

He pouted slightly. Why wasn’t this guy reacting at all?

Was he the only one who couldn’t get over that kiss?

After breakfast, Jiang Mingyi followed Shen Xingyan out to the company.

Just as he got into the car, a figure beside him suddenly leaned in.

He turned his head toward the man who was gradually leaning closer and instinctively covered his mouth.

Shen Xingyan was momentarily surprised but then chuckled softly. “I’m just helping you with your seatbelt.”

As he spoke, he leaned over slightly, one long arm reaching past Jiang Mingyi’s ear to pull the seatbelt across his tense body. Click—it snapped into place.

Jiang Mingyi realized he had forgotten to breathe. He couldn’t help it—just now, an image had flashed through his mind: the two of them lying closely on the bed the night before.

Sure enough, if they didn’t talk this through, he’d keep feeling awkward about it.

Once the man returned to his seat, Jiang Mingyi took a couple of deep breaths.

He was just about to speak when Shen Xingyan suddenly said, “Xiao Yi, the kiss you gave me yesterday was a bit rough. Look—my lips are still swollen.”

Jiang Mingyi followed the direction of his long finger. Sure enough, there was a small red spot on his lip.

His mind went blank with a loud boom, and his entire face flushed red.

“I… I…” he stammered, “I didn’t do it on purpose…”

“Oh, so you did do it on purpose.” Shen Xingyan held back a laugh, noticing the redness climbing up his ears, and said with a straight face, “But it’s fine. I won’t hold it against you for making the first move.”

“……”

What did he mean by “making the first move”? It was clearly an accident!

Could he not make it sound like he’d taken advantage of him?

He was clearly the one at a loss here!

Jiang Mingyi pressed his lips together and decided—he was not going to apologize anymore.

Shen Xingyan couldn’t help but smile, but he thought better of teasing him further.

The car soon started moving.

Jiang Mingyi poked at his phone a couple of times and suddenly remembered something. “Why did you block Du Zhihe?”

The black car had just left the estate when it suddenly came to a stop.

“What, you have a problem with that?” Shen Xingyan’s voice dropped a few tones, and his dark eyes locked onto Jiang Mingyi like a hawk—sharp and piercing.

Jiang Mingyi felt his scalp tingle. “N-no problem.”

He paused, swallowed hard, then under the man’s intense gaze slowly added, “I was going to say… good job, bro.”