ALCSRB Chapter 66

The moment he woke up, Jiang Mingyi was forced to “participate in a fire drill” first thing in the morning. Now, rubbing his sore arm, he trailed behind Shen Xingyan as they made their way downstairs.

When Su Wanxin saw the two brothers coming down one after the other, she looked at Jiang Mingyi in surprise.

“Xiao Yi, did you have mosquitoes in your room? What’s with that huge bump on your neck?”

Jiang Mingyi instinctively clapped his hand over his neck. Forget about his sore arms — he scrambled to explain, but Shen Xingyan beat him to it.

“There was indeed a big mosquito last night. I caught it first thing this morning so it wouldn’t keep tormenting him tonight.”

He draped an arm around Su Wanxin’s shoulders and led her toward the living room.

Behind him, Jiang Mingyi glared daggers at this so-called “big mosquito,” baring his teeth in silent protest.

It’s all his fault — who told him to bite my neck? It hurts and it itches, too!

He popped his shirt collar up, stomped off to find Auntie Wang, and asked for a bandage to cover it up.

When he came back, Su Wanxin’s attention had already shifted.

After breakfast, Jiang Mingyi was dragged reluctantly into Shen Xingyan’s car.

While Shen Xingyan leaned over to fasten his seatbelt for him, Jiang Mingyi finally couldn’t help but ask, “Where exactly are you taking me?”

Shen Xingyan didn’t answer. Instead, he shot back, “Where do you want to go?”

Jiang Mingyi was instantly speechless. “You’re the one who dragged me into the car — how can you turn around and ask me that?”

A faint note of irritation showed on his face as he glared at Shen Xingyan with an almost fierce expression.

But Shen Xingyan only found him more adorable like that. He couldn’t resist lifting a hand to ruffle his hair.

“Pouting that much, huh? Are you upset because you didn’t get enough kisses in bed and want me to keep going now?”

The teasing tone made Jiang Mingyi instantly clap a hand over his mouth, eyes flaring with caution.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” he mumbled through his fingers, his voice muffled and shy. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

He thought he sounded all tough and defiant, but to Shen Xingyan, it was just pitiful posturing.

Shen Xingyan’s lips curled up faintly as his dark eyes locked onto the boy’s face, now tinted with a rosy blush. “Funny — you’re plenty into it when we’re kissing. Why do you act like you don’t know me once we’re out of bed?”

“Don’t say things like that… it’s too ambiguous.”

Jiang Mingyi squirmed under his stare, looking away in embarrassment. “We’re brothers — how can you do those things? It’s not right.”

“What did we do?”

Shen Xingyan suddenly leaned closer. The boy, strapped in by his seatbelt, had nowhere to escape and could only let the man hold him tight in the cramped seat.

“Are you talking about us kissing, or sleeping together, or…” His low voice, dripping with a teasing kind of sexy confusion, whispered in Jiang Mingyi’s ear, “just helping each other out a bit.”

One hand silently slid onto Jiang Mingyi’s thigh, the sudden heat making his whole body tense up.

Jiang Mingyi held his breath for a few seconds, his eyes dropping down to fixate on that hand. In a flash, he remembered that not long ago, this same hand had been doing whatever it wanted on his body.

He swallowed nervously. “Take your hand off.”

“Relax, we’re in the car,” Shen Xingyan smiled, sensing his tension and deciding not to tease him further.

He sat back and fastened his own seatbelt, but in the corner of his eye, he caught the way Jiang Mingyi’s tense expression softened a little. A faint smile played in his dark eyes.

Jiang Mingyi still nervously gripped his seatbelt across his chest, thinking over Shen Xingyan’s words.

If they weren’t in the car, would he really be doing that kind of thing?

This guy really had no sense of shame.

He scolded silently in his heart, just as Shen Xingyan said, “I’m taking you somewhere.”

The car soon pulled out of the villa.

The ride was quiet. Jiang Mingyi wanted to ask where he was being taken several times, but every time the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back down.

Shen Xingyan knew what he was wondering but didn’t explain—until the car entered the underground parking lot of a shopping mall.

“Why did you bring me here?” Jiang Mingyi couldn’t hold back anymore when the car stopped.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Shen Xingyan got out first, walked around to the other side, and opened the door. “Get out.”

Jiang Mingyi looked up at him, puzzled, trying to read something from Shen Xingyan’s handsome face but found nothing.

In the end, he obediently stepped out of the car.

The mall had just opened; there were very few people around.

Jiang Mingyi followed Shen Xingyan into the elevator and rode up all the way to the top floor.

When the elevator doors opened, a young man in work clothes greeted them respectfully, “Mr. Shen.”

Shen Xingyan nodded lightly. “Is everything arranged?”

“It’s all set up according to your instructions,” the young man replied before quickly leaving.

Jiang Mingyi stood there, feeling a bit lost. He didn’t understand why Shen Xingyan had brought him to a movie theater so early in the morning.

As the largest mall in the city center, the theater was usually bustling with business, but right now it was eerily quiet—just the two of them, with none of the usual lively summer vacation crowd.

“I know you have questions, but now’s not the right time for me to explain.”

Shen Xingyan took his hand, gripping it tightly in his palm — so tight that Jiang Mingyi felt as if he’d been caught in a snare he’d never escape.

He looked deep into Shen Xingyan’s eyes, those dark pupils staring right back at him.

Jiang Mingyi could feel his heart inexplicably skip a beat. He instinctively pressed his lips together.

A fingertip brushed across his lips — the touch so gentle it sent a crackle of electricity through him. For a moment, Jiang Mingyi felt his knees go weak.

He leaned back to dodge Shen Xingyan’s caress, pausing mid-motion to purse his lips again.

“Coming to the cinema — did you bring me here to watch a movie?”

He blurted something out just to fill the silence, his eyes drifting to the giant screen overhead, where the lineup of summer blockbusters was on display.

But he didn’t spot any genres he actually liked.

His gaze drifted back to the man at his side.

Truthfully, watching anything was fine — as long as it was with Shen Xingyan.

Jiang Mingyi fell silent for a moment, berating himself for lowering his standards this much. No wonder people say that when you’re nursing a secret crush, just being with the other person makes everything feel sweet.

Even after all the over-the-line things Shen Xingyan had done to him, never once giving him any words of genuine affection — he still felt so at ease with it all. Love really did scramble your brain.

Shen Xingyan gave him a soft “mm” in reply, then led him into the theater.

Inside, the enormous screening room was quiet and dimly lit. If it hadn’t been for their joined hands, Jiang Mingyi might’ve tripped on the steps.

Shen Xingyan reacted quickly, steadying him and asking with concern, “Did you hurt yourself?”

“No,”

Jiang Mingyi answered immediately, his head brushing against Shen Xingyan’s chest, inhaling the faint, clean, cold scent that lingered on the man.

Shen Xingyan’s grip on his hand tightened a little as they slowly made their way to the center seats.

Once they sat down, Jiang Mingyi shifted uncomfortably — his hand still trapped firmly in Shen Xingyan’s grasp.

The heat in their palms seeped through their joined hands, and even with the air conditioning blasting overhead, Jiang Mingyi could feel the flush creeping up his face.

He thought that ever since stepping into the theater, Shen Xingyan had been strangely serious — but not in the same way he usually was.

Exactly what was different, he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

The two of them sat quietly in their seats as the giant screen gradually lit up in front of them.

Just as Jiang Mingyi was about to ask which movie was playing, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure on the screen.

Shock froze him to his seat — his pair of peach blossom eyes widened, staring unblinking at the huge screen as more identical figures appeared, one after another.

This was—

“How… How is there footage of me as a child?” He grabbed Shen Xingyan’s hand in disbelief, his pupils trembling, a clear reflection of the shock coursing through him.

Shen Xingyan interlaced their fingers, his voice warm and steady. “Keep watching.”

Jiang Mingyi followed his words and turned his eyes back to the screen.

Now, the screen showed a beautifully decorated room.

“My little darling, today is your sixth birthday — it’s also your very first birthday since you became part of our family. Make any wish you want, okay?”

It was Su Wanxin’s voice.

That was his first birthday after losing his parents — the first one he spent as an adopted child of the Shen family. Jiang Mingyi remembered every detail.

That day, Shen Xingyan had held his hand and brought him into that room, a space filled with colorful balloons and beautiful decorations.

A huge cake sat on the table, topped with a figurine of his favorite cartoon character.

He’d been overjoyed back then — even though his new family still felt a bit unfamiliar, he’d felt a comforting warmth, almost like his parents were still watching over him.

It was after that birthday that he fully accepted the Shen family as his new home.

“You are my brother now — Shen Xingyan’s little brother. From now on, your big brother will take care of you, stay by your side, and make sure you live a carefree, happy life.”

Those words had felt like a warm current that washed away the loneliness and helplessness after his parents died. He’d thrown himself into Shen Xingyan’s arms, clutching his brother’s hand tight.

On camera, his young face showed a pure, unguarded smile. “Brother, I love you the most.”

The screen played many more moments of him and Shen Xingyan — but all from when he was small.

Later on, that person who had been by his side for just a few short years had vanished for so, so long — but every birthday, without fail, he would still receive a carefully prepared gift.

Thinking back on all the time they’d lost, Jiang Mingyi felt a dull ache of regret in his chest.

The hand that held his twitched slightly — the next moment, their fingers slid together, interlocking.

Jiang Mingyi turned his head to look.

“Xiao Yi… There’s a part of your life I missed out on — but from now on, I want to be by your side, every single day, every moment.”

Jiang Mingyi felt a little shy under the heat of that earnest gaze. His eyes lowered, heart pounding wildly out of control. “Ge… you’re back now, aren’t you? We’re together every day…”

He didn’t even get to finish that sentence before a sudden closeness startled him.

The next second, warm lips brushed against his.

Jiang Mingyi froze.

The kiss was fleeting, barely there — but Shen Xingyan’s warm breath lingered by his ear as he murmured, “This is what I mean.”

“Xiao Yi is so clever — you should know what I’m trying to say.”

“It’s not just as a brother — I want to be the one you love most, the one you spend your life with.”

“To trade good morning kisses at the first light of dawn.”

“To fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms under the stars.”

“For all the days to come — to cherish you, to love you, until the end of my life.”

The man before him looked at him with a sincerity and tenderness that sank straight into his bones — his low voice echoing the most direct, unvarnished vow in that vast, silent movie theater, etching it deep into Jiang Mingyi’s heart.

After a long while, Jiang Mingyi finally realized — Shen Xingyan was confessing to him.