ALCSRB Chapter 33

By the time work ended, Jiang Mingyi got into the car with Shen Xingyan.

This time, he fastened his seatbelt swiftly and efficiently. As he turned his head, he was met with a pair of smiling black eyes.

“W-What?” he stammered, blinking. Under Shen Xingyan’s gaze, he slowly lowered his head again.

Why was the guy staring at him like that? Did the mark at the corner of his eye still not fade?

Feeling unsure, Jiang Mingyi reached up and touched the corner of his eye. His finger accidentally poked his eyeball, and he cried out, “Ow!”

Shen Xingyan was startled by his reaction. When he saw that Jiang Mingyi had squinted in pain and that tears had gathered at the corner of his eye, he quickly grabbed a tissue.

“How can you be so clumsy!”

Though the words sounded like a scold, his movements were gentle. With his long fingers, he lightly dabbed at the corner of Jiang Mingyi’s eye with the tissue, wiping away the glistening tear.

Shen Xingyan leaned in a bit closer, his voice softening, “Be good. Let me see if your eye is red.”

As his eyelid was gently touched, Jiang Mingyi instinctively squinted even tighter. His other eye swept over Shen Xingyan’s handsome face. Seeing the concern and tension in his expression, the resistance in Jiang Mingyi’s body faltered slightly.

“…It was just a little accidental bump, it shouldn’t be red, right?” Jiang Mingyi spoke with little confidence. He genuinely felt he had just done something incredibly stupid—why did he always end up acting so clumsily?

As he thought about it, he stole another glance at Shen Xingyan.

It had to be Shen Xingyan’s fault. He was perfectly smart when this guy wasn’t around.

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

“Let me take a look. If it’s not red, then it’s probably fine,” Shen Xingyan gently coaxed. “But if it is red, we should go to the hospital and check if your finger scratched your eye.”

Jiang Mingyi tensed up—he made it sound so serious.

Why did he have to make a big deal out of everything?

Fine. He could tell Shen Xingyan was just concerned about him. “Don’t touch me, I can open my eye myself.”

“Okay.”

Shen Xingyan withdrew his hand as asked, turning his body slightly, only about half a foot away.

That distance was already very close—close enough that Jiang Mingyi could feel the warmth of his breath. He pressed his lips together and, after a slight tremble of his eyelids, slowly opened his eye.

The temporary blurriness from having kept it shut made it hard to focus right away, so the person before him appeared hazy at first.

“It doesn’t really hurt anymore,” he said, blinking a few times. Once his vision adjusted, everything came back into focus.

He moved his eye left and right, then let out a breath of relief. “See? It’s probably not red. I don’t feel any discomfort at all.”

He gave Shen Xingyan a relaxed, cheerful smile. But seeing that the latter was still staring at him, he urged, “Oh come on, I’m fine now. Bro, go sit back down. We can go home.”

Shen Xingyan’s gaze lingered on his eye—it wasn’t red—but before sitting down, he reached out and gently ruffled the boy’s hair. “Don’t do dumb things like that again. I get worried.”

Jiang Mingyi pouted at the first half of the sentence, but the latter half immediately dissolved all his irritation.

“Okay,” Jiang Mingyi muttered, feeling the warmth of that large palm on his head. “But I’m not dumb. It’s just that you always mess up my brain by ruffling my hair—it’s like your fault I act stupid.”

“Well then, my bad,” Shen Xingyan said with a small smirk, withdrawing his hand.

There was a teasing note in his voice. “Next time I’ll go easy on the head pats—so your brain slows down a little more gradually.”

Jiang Mingyi: “…”

That was just too mean.

…

When they got home, Su Wanxin immediately greeted them with, “You two, go upstairs and take a shower first. We need to try on the outfits for the banquet later.”

Jiang Mingyi clearly hadn’t expected his mom to be this thoughtful—she had already picked out several formal outfits suitable for a charity banquet.

Seeing the boys still dawdling in the living room, Su Wanxin gave them a mock-angry glare. “What, do you need Mom to help you bathe too?”

Shen Xingyan was the first to head up the stairs.

Jiang Mingyi hurried after him, whispering, “How did Mom know I was going to the banquet too?”

“Dad must’ve told her,” Shen Xingyan replied, glancing down at him.

“But how did Dad know I was going?”

They reached the second floor just then. Shen Xingyan stopped walking and looked at him with a hint of amusement in his deep black eyes. “What do you think?”

Jiang Mingyi met his gaze, still slightly confused. “So… you already decided for me? What if I had said no to going with you?”

Shen Xingyan chuckled. “Then I might have to pack you up and take you to the banquet—after all, everyone else is going as couples. Would you really let your brother go alone?”

“…”

Jiang Mingyi was caught off guard by the slightly ambiguous words.

By the time he snapped out of it, Shen Xingyan had already walked away.

–

The weekend arrived quickly.

Su Wanxin dressed up both brothers with care and sent them out the door, completely satisfied.

Standing at the entrance, she waved at them. “Have fun tonight!”

Jiang Mingyi waved back from the car. After the car pulled out of the villa district and merged onto the road, he tugged at his clothes with a frown.

“But this isn’t the color I tried on before.”

“You’re the one who said you didn’t like wearing red formalwear.”

“But you didn’t want to wear that blue suit either, did you?”

Well then, neither of them was satisfied with their original suits, so they ended up wearing the colors they were most comfortable in.

The charity banquet was held at a five-star hotel. When they arrived at the venue, Pei Shiqing spotted them from a distance.

He waved his hand and ran up to Jiang Mingyi. “Wow, Yibao, you look amazing in that white suit.”

“Is it the suit that looks good, or is it me?” Jiang Mingyi raised a brow.

“Of course, it’s you.” Knowing how vain he could be, Pei Shiqing chuckled and flattered him. He glanced at Shen Xingyan beside him and lowered his voice. “Why is your brother wearing black? He looks so serious.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jiang Mingyi replied, unfazed.

He was used to seeing Shen Xingyan in black suits—it didn’t seem too formal to him at all.

Shen Xingyan, dressed in a black suit, looked particularly poised and composed. His dark eyes carried a hint of a smile, softening the sternness that black suits typically brought. Instead, his presence exuded a noble elegance with every movement.

“Look at all those wealthy heiresses—practically glued their eyes to my brother. Just shows that women really go for his type these days.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Pei Shiqing was wearing a light gray suit tonight. He was about the same height as Jiang Mingyi, and both of them had delicate features and slender builds.

With Shen Xingyan and Pei Mingyue standing beside them, many of the banquet guests couldn’t help but focus their attention on the four of them.

The murmuring around them didn’t faze the two mature men at all.

Pei Mingyue’s dark eyes swept over to Shen Xingyan. “Why are you two brothers dressed like opposites—one in white, the other in black?”

Shen Xingyan lifted his eyelids lazily and glanced at him. “What, got a problem with that?”

Pei Mingyue spoke in a calm tone, “You don’t really look like brothers.”
More like a matching couple outfit.

“Well, you two sure look like brothers—one in dark gray, the other in light gray. Afraid people won’t notice how deep your brotherly bond runs?”

The two of them exchanged jabs, then called over their younger brothers and headed into the venue.

The charity banquet was hosted by the Xie family. As soon as the four entered, Xie Zhuoyan walked over to greet them.

“You four came together?” Xie Zhuoyan’s eyes swept over the group with a teasing look. “No wonder none of you replied to my messages earlier.”

Pei Mingyue couldn’t be bothered to respond, while Shen Xingyan casually slung an arm over his shoulder. “You sure talk a lot. Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of tonight’s banquet?”

“I’m not like you guys. In the Xie family, we’ve got no shortage of brothers.” He motioned with his mouth. “Didn’t you see? There’s barely room for me beside my grandpa. But it’s fine, I didn’t want to hang around them anyway. I’ll sit with you guys during the auction later.”

At the mention of the auction, Jiang Mingyi and Pei Shiqing’s eyes lit up.

Xie Zhuoyan immediately pulled out an auction catalog. “Exclusive insider info—here you go.”

“Thanks, Brother Zhuoyan.” Jiang Mingyi took the auction booklet and tugged Pei Shiqing along to find a seat where they could study it in peace.

Watching the two walk away, Xie Zhuoyan sighed a little enviously. “Your little brothers are so easy to handle. You older ones don’t even need to worry about them.”

Pei Mingyue’s voice was icy. “You really talk too much.”

“What, can’t stand me? Then bite me.” Xie Zhuoyan smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

…

Jiang Mingyi wasn’t very interested in the cocktail party, but the auction was another story.

He and Pei Shiqing found an empty spot, sat down, and leaned their heads together, carefully studying what valuable items might be up for bid.

They flipped through the auction catalog page by page. The Xie family had clearly prepared thoroughly—many of the items were top-tier.

They were fully immersed when suddenly someone tapped Jiang Mingyi on the shoulder.

At the same time, a cheerful voice sounded right next to his ear. “Baby, guess who I am?”

Then, a pair of warm hands covered his eyes.

Jiang Mingyi froze.

The voice sounded oddly familiar—he could’ve sworn he’d heard it not too long ago.

But for the life of him, he couldn’t remember who it was.

Pei Shiqing was also stunned by the sudden intrusion.

“Baby, did you forget me so quickly?” the cheerful voice now carried a hint of disappointment, but quickly perked up again. “It’s okay—as long as I remember you, that’s enough.”

“I saw you come in with your big brother just now, but I was afraid he’d hide you away if I approached. So I waited until you two split up to come find you. Smart of me, right?”

That familiar “big brother-in-law” title and his self-assured tone finally triggered Jiang Mingyi’s memory.

Wasn’t this the young master from the Du family—Du Zhihe—who had been blacklisted and kicked out of the game project by Shen Xingyan?

Uh… yeah, pretty sure his name was Du Zhihe.

“Du Zhihe, if you keep this up, my brother will notice you very soon.”

Jiang Mingyi tried to bluff with borrowed authority, but Du Zhihe wasn’t scared at all. Instead, he happily threw an arm around him.

“Baby, don’t call me Du Zhihe. Call me Hehe.”

Jiang Mingyi: “…”

He shouldn’t have called him by name. He should’ve just pretended not to know him.

“Yibao, who is this guy?” Pei Shiqing looked at his friend being half-hugged by someone and was once again on the verge of having his jaw drop.

Jiang Mingyi pulled Du Zhihe’s hand off and stood up. “Du Zhihe, if you keep touching me, I’ll tell my brother to beat you up.”

“No, don’t! Your big brother really doesn’t look easy to deal with.” Du Zhihe quickly withdrew his hand. “I just missed you, you know? Why did you block me? Was it because of your brother…”

He glanced toward Shen Xingyan, who was talking with other guests, and sighed. “There are always obstacles on the road to true love.”

Jiang Mingyi crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Dare to say that again in front of my brother?”

Du Zhihe: “…”

Meanwhile, Director Du walked over with a glass of wine, smiling warmly as he greeted Shen Xingyan. “President Shen.”

Shen Xingyan had been drinking with Xie Zhuoyan and the others. When he heard the voice, he turned his head.

“Oh, it’s Director Du.” He raised his glass in response, and they clinked glasses lightly.

Just as the wine touched his lips, Shen Xingyan suddenly furrowed his brows. “Did you come with Mrs. Du today?”