ALCSRB Chapter 83

Shen Jili’s car and Shen Xingyan’s car arrived home one after the other.

Only, the obedient little son who had ridden with him in the morning was now hopping out of his older brother’s car all cheerful. God knows what the boy had just said, but it made Shen Xingyan smile gently and reach out to ruffle his little brother’s hair.

Watching the two walk into the house side by side, looking like the picture of brotherly harmony, Shen Jili lagged behind, sighing.

Earlier when getting off work, Shen Jili had even asked Jiang Mingyi,
“Are you riding with Dad again after work?”

But Jiang Mingyi had flat-out refused without hesitation.
“I’ll go with my brother.”

“But that’s not what you said this morning…” Shen Jili looked wounded.

“Oh, but I already rode with Dad this morning. I don’t want to anymore.”

Jiang Mingyi’s blunt words were so direct that even Shen Xingyan had a hard time keeping a straight face. Holding back a laugh, he quickly comforted Shen Jili a bit to stop the conversation from spiraling into a pointless squabble.

Thinking about how he’d left home that morning in such a heartwarming father-son moment, only to end up feeling like a lone, abandoned figure by evening—Shen Jili couldn’t stop sighing.

“What’s wrong now?” Su Wanxin asked, clearly curious upon seeing his expression.

Shen Jili looked over at her with a rather pitiful expression, then suddenly pulled her into an embrace, calling out affectionately,
“Wife…”

“What kind of nonsense are you pulling?” Su Wanxin looked at him with some disdain and shoved him away.
“Aren’t you worried the boys will see you acting like this? Have some dignity—you’re their father.”

Shen Jili looked even more heartbroken.
“So Xiao Yi can reject me, and now even you don’t want me?”

“Cut that face out,” Su Wanxin said. “Even if you’re not embarrassed, I am. You look ridiculous. And anyway, Xiao Yi’s such a sweet boy—how could he dislike you? You must’ve done something wrong.”

Shen Jili: “…”

What happened to him being the head of the family? What is this?

—

During dinner, Shen Jili was still staring at Jiang Mingyi with wounded eyes.

Jiang Mingyi blinked.
“Daddy, do you want this sweet and sour pork rib?”

When he didn’t reply, Jiang Mingyi turned his chopsticks and placed the piece into his bowl.

Shen Jili looked at the sweet and sour pork rib in his bowl, then at his younger son who had gone back to picking up more food. He let out a long sigh and said,
“Xiao Yi, are you riding with Dad to the company tomorrow?”

Jiang Mingyi calmly pulled back his chopsticks and looked at Shen Jikun with confusion.
“No.”

This morning, he’d only ridden with Shen Jili because he was angry at Shen Xingyan. Now that things were fine between them again, why would they go in separate cars to the company?

Of course, he only thought that to himself and didn’t say it out loud. But his outright refusal still hit Shen Jili hard.

“So… you made Dad happy for just one morning?”

“…” Jiang Mingyi didn’t understand what he meant, his face full of puzzled innocence.

Shen Xingyan chose this moment to break the intense emotional gaze of their father. His tone was calm as he said,
“Dad, did you forget? You’ve got a meeting with Director Liu tomorrow. You’re not going to the company.”

Shen Jili: “…”

Oh. He really had forgotten.

Shen Jili: “Then… the day after tomorrow?”

Su Wanxin mercilessly shattered his hopes,
“You’re scheduled for a medical checkup the day after tomorrow. Don’t tell me you’re planning to use this as an excuse to get out of it?”

The moment he saw the dangerous glint in his wife’s eyes, Shen Jili immediately plastered on a smile.
“Of course not! Me? Avoid a doctor’s appointment? Never! I just… forgot for a second. Hehe…”

Su Wanxin said coolly,
“Sounds like we should add a brain scan to the checkup, just in case.”

Shen Jili: “…”

---

After dinner, upstairs, Jiang Mingyi trailed behind Shen Xingyan at a leisurely pace, his hand firmly held in Shen Xingyan’s.

Shen Xingyan had been about to ask, “Your room or mine?” But when he turned to look, he saw Jiang Mingyi yawning lazily. So without another word, he simply pulled him straight into his own room.

It wasn’t until the door closed that Jiang Mingyi realized—this wasn’t his room.

The next second, he was pinned against the door and kissed over and over again.

“You look so adorably dazed right now—I can hardly resist,” Shen Xingyan whispered, his forehead resting against Jiang Mingyi’s, breath slightly ragged. His mind immediately flashed back to the “incident” in the office that afternoon.

After being kissed for a while, Jiang Mingyi’s brain was still foggy. His usually bright eyes now shimmered with a soft layer of moisture, making his already beautiful gaze even more innocent and captivating.

Shen Xingyan couldn’t help but drop a gentle kiss on his eyes, his voice laced with a chuckle,
“Good thing you didn’t look like this in the office—otherwise I might’ve kissed you right in front of Dad.”

“Then Dad would’ve found out about us…” Jiang Mingyi blinked, taking a couple seconds to fully process what he meant.

Shen Xingyan raised an indifferent brow. “He’s going to find out sooner or later.”

“Isn’t it a bit too sudden?” Jiang Mingyi hesitated. “What if he can’t accept it?”

Shen Xingyan leaned over and kissed his pouting lips again. “There’s no what if.”

Jiang Mingyi glanced up at him, his expression a little odd. “He won’t accept it.”

“Can that little brain of yours try thinking positively for once?” Shen Xingyan said helplessly. “Dad may be a bit slow on the uptake in certain areas, but he’s not that hopeless.”

“Does your dad know about your orientation?” Jiang Mingyi suddenly changed the subject.

“……” Shen Xingyan was uncharacteristically silent.

“So you’ve never told your parents about it?”

Seeing him still silent, Jiang Mingyi understood. “So before we reveal our relationship, shouldn’t we give them a heads-up?”

Shen Xingyan didn’t think his ever-“understanding” family needed any sort of prep talk, but seeing Jiang Mingyi lowering his head deep in thought, he didn’t interrupt him.

After a while, Jiang Mingyi still hadn’t figured out a good way to do it, so he decided to go take a shower first.

He didn’t expect that as soon as he opened the door, he’d come face to face with Shen Jili—his hand already raised mid-knock.

Shen Jili: “……”

Jiang Mingyi: “……”

The two stood awkwardly in silence, staring at each other.

Shen Xingyan noticed Jiang Mingyi stuck at the door and came over. The next moment, Shen Jili’s gaze shifted to him.

In his eyes was a clear and glaring message: What exactly were you two brothers doing behind closed doors?

Shen Xingyan naturally lowered his gaze and said to the slightly tense Jiang Mingyi, “Weren’t you going back to get your laptop so I could look at your thesis? Why are you blocking Dad at the door?”

Shen Jili looked at them, confused. “What thesis?”

Jiang Mingyi squeezed his fingers behind his back.

I don’t know either…

Without missing a beat, Shen Xingyan said, “I showed him a management journal article a while ago. He got interested and said he wanted to write a related paper too. He asked me to take a look and see if he’s grasped the key concepts from the past year.”

Jiang Mingyi: “……”

Bro, your ability to lie without blinking is seriously next level.

Shen Jili’s face lit up in realization. “Xiao Yi’s that good now? Writing journal papers already? Should I take a look too?”

Jiang Mingyi wanted to throw Shen Xingyan a look, but Shen Jili was staring straight at him, waiting for a response.

“Dad, I’ll help him with it,” Shen Xingyan calmly cut in. “Young people are more aligned in thought and ideas.”

Shen Jili: “……” He suddenly felt like his eldest son was calling him old.

Shen Xingyan added slowly, “Xiao Yi’s only just started learning. I doubt he’d get much out of your experience sharing sessions, Dad.”

“Well, when I was in school, I didn’t care much for those old professors’ theories either,” Shen Jili muttered. “Fine, I won’t butt in.”

Jiang Mingyi quietly let out a breath of relief. “Then I’ll head back for now. If you and ge need to talk, I’ll ask him about the thesis tomorrow.”

Once the door shut behind him, Jiang Mingyi dashed back to his room like a rabbit on fire.

—

Later that night, Shen Jili came out of the bathroom after washing up, eyebrows practically knotted together.

Su Wanxin was at the vanity doing her skincare. Noticing his expression in the mirror, she asked, “What’s wrong? You’ve looked distracted ever since you came back from talking to Ah-Yan. Did you two disagree on something?”

“No, nothing like that.” Shen Jili replied. “But when I went to find him just now, I saw Xiao Yi coming out of his room.”

“What’s the big deal? The two brothers are close. It’s good that they visit each other’s rooms.” Su Wanxin rolled her eyes and went back to her creams and serums.

“But yesterday, I also saw Ah-Yan coming out of Xiao Yi’s room.”

Shen Jili couldn’t help recalling what he saw earlier in the office. “Don’t you think they’re… a little too close?”

What kind of grown brother crawls into his older brother’s arms to nap, half-asleep like a toddler?

That wasn’t normal.

“The way they were… it looked especially…” Shen Jili paused—he couldn’t quite find the right word.

“They’re just close as brothers. What, you jealous now?” Su Wanxin finished her skincare and went to wash her hands. “I was wondering why you’ve been acting so weird today after work. Are you seriously jealous of your sons? I wish they were more affectionate with each other.”

Shen Jili wanted to protest—he wasn’t jealous! But Su Wanxin was already in bed, lifting the covers.

“Lights out. You’re not young anymore. Keep overthinking and you’ll end up growing more white hairs.”

“Oh.” Shen Jili scratched his head and slipped into bed too. “I was just curious, that’s all.”

“You’re just too full with nothing better to do,” Su Wanxin said with distaste.

Just as the two were about to fall asleep, Shen Jili suddenly opened his eyes.
Su Wanxin was awakened by his movements, her voice laced with irritation: “If you can’t sleep, get out. Don’t disturb my beauty rest.”

Shen Jili’s motion paused mid-turn, and he furrowed his brows, whispering, “Honey, didn’t you say Ah-Yan has someone he likes? How about we ask him to bring them home someday?”

“What are you up to?”

“…Just to, you know, take a look. See if that person suits Ah-Yan.” Shen Jikun hesitated. “If they’re a good match, we might as well push them to get married sooner.”

“Your son’s not in a hurry, why are you so anxious?”

“I’m just worried those two brothers are too close. If Ah-Yan gets married in the future, won’t Xiao Yi be sad and heartbroken?”

Shen Jili thought it was a decent idea. “While they’re still not that emotionally attached, creating some distance between them might be a good thing.”

Su Wanxin was so infuriated by his logic that she smacked on the bedside lamp with a loud click. “What the hell is stuffed in that blockhead of yours? The boys finally managed to become close, and now you’re eager to drive a wedge between them?”

“I don’t think you should be sleeping at all. Get up and go clear your head!”
With that, she kicked Shen Jili right off the bed.

Shen Jili stood barefoot by the bed—getting back in felt wrong, going out felt worse.

“Even if Ah-Yan gets married, can’t he still dote on Xiao Yi? I’ve never seen a father so disturbed by his sons being close. You’re truly a model parent,” Su Wanxin said with biting sarcasm.

She pointed toward the door. “Get out. I don’t want to see you tonight.”