ALCSRB Chapter 96

“Now you know I can pick a date. But just now, weren’t you about to say something else, hmm?”

A hand lightly pinched the back of Jiang Mingyi’s neck. Shen Xingyan’s tone was calm, but Mingyi still caught the hint of displeasure.

Jiang Mingyi’s survival instincts flared instantly. Ignoring his aching waist and trembling legs, he flipped over and threw himself into the man’s arms.

“You’re overthinking it—I really was just trying to praise you.”

He wrapped his arms around Shen Xingyan’s neck, pressing his cheek against him, his voice soft and coaxing. “It was stupid of me not to realize you’d carefully chosen a day with such special meaning.”

“When you present me to Dad tomorrow, it’ll be straightforward, obvious, crystal-clear, perfectly understood…”

He rattled off a string of words, fully expressing his admiration for Shen Xingyan.

“Quit your nonsense.”

Shen Xingyan unceremoniously pinched his chattering lips, the pretty thin lips instantly squished into fish lips—comical and silly.

Unable to speak, Jiang Mingyi could only blink innocently at him, which made Shen Xingyan break into laughter.

Laughing heartily, he couldn’t resist leaning in to plant a kiss on the dazed youth staring back at him.

Before Jiang Mingyi could react, Shen Xingyan pulled him onto his lap, making their already intimate posture even more ambiguous.

“Ge, don’t you think it’s getting late? Shouldn’t we go to sleep now?”

Seeing the deepening desire pooling again in Shen Xingyan’s eyes, Jiang Mingyi’s heart gave an unsteady tremor, a little frightened.

His fragile body really couldn’t handle another round.

Shen Xingyan’s palm slowly caressed his back—gentle, soothing, reassuring.

“Relax, I’ll just hold you for a while.”

The resistance Mingyi had just managed to summon instantly melted away. Relaxed and comfortable under the touch, he couldn’t help but let out a small, contented hum.

Shen Xingyan chuckled silently, pinching Jiang Mingyi’s chin as he leaned in close.
“My dear little brother.”

“Hm?”

“Open your mouth.”

Jiang Mingyi’s face instantly turned red.

Little brother is already embarrassing enough—why add dear on top of it? So humiliating!

Shen Xingyan’s deep black eyes fixed on him, his voice low and mesmerizing, like a spell whispered against his ear.
“Be good. Open your mouth.”

“…”

A shred of reason still lingered in Jiang Mingyi. He felt the man’s words were not to be trusted—after all, he’d suffered losses at his hands many times before.

Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, Shen Xingyan flashed a charming smile, coaxing softly:
“Listen.”

His voice was too magnetic, too enticing. Jiang Mingyi, shamefully weak-willed, was bewitched.

Even knowing the man had no good intentions, he still parted his lips.

His thin lips opened slowly, just a tiny slit. Shen Xingyan waited patiently. Only when he could see the faint pink of his tongue did his gaze darken.

Jiang Mingyi, embarrassed by the predatory look in those eyes, flushed all the way to the tips of his ears. His tongue, taut with nervousness, pressed against the roof of his mouth—

And suddenly produced a weird little “deh” sound.

The atmosphere shattered instantly. Shen Xingyan couldn’t hold back and buried his face in Jiang Mingyi’s neck, laughing hard.

“…” Jiang Mingyi felt like dying of embarrassment. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

The man’s hot breath against his neck, mixed with his laughter, only reminded him of how untimely his slip-up had been.

His fragile little body felt like it was about to be shaken apart by Shen Xingyan’s laughter.

Enduring, enduring, until he couldn’t anymore, he slapped a hand over the man’s mouth to shut him up.

But the moment he did, his palm was licked by something warm and wet.

“…”

Seeing that smile still lingering in Shen Xingyan’s eyes, Jiang Mingyi instantly lost all his temper.

He dropped his hand, rubbed his stomach, and muttered softly, “You’ve annoyed me so much I’m hungry now.”

Shen Xingyan’s heart stirred at the sight of those slightly aggrieved eyes. He reined in his laughter and asked,
“You want something to eat?”

“Mm.” Jiang Mingyi nodded. “But it feels a little wrong to wake Aunt Wang at this hour for a midnight snack.”

Of course Shen Xingyan knew what he was thinking. He pinched the boy’s soft cheek lightly and got out of bed.
“Then I’ll just have to serve you myself.”

—

It was already past eleven, and the first floor was quiet.

The stairwell lights clicked on as Shen Xingyan led the way down, Jiang Mingyi shuffling behind him in small steps.

Half a minute later, the kitchen lights blazed to life.

“What do you want to eat?”

Opening the fridge, Shen Xingyan pulled out some ingredients for him to choose from.

Jiang Mingyi glanced at what he had in hand, then poked around the fridge a bit before finally saying,
“I want noodles.”

“Such low standards?” Shen Xingyan arched a brow, genuinely surprised.

Jiang Mingyi nodded with a sly sparkle in his eyes, grinning.
“Well, what if you mess it up? How embarrassing would that be? Better to keep it simple—just veggie-and-egg noodles.”

“Don’t underestimate me.” Shen Xingyan put the unnecessary ingredients back, keeping only greens, eggs, and noodles.
“Go sit down and wait for your noodles.”

Banished to the dining room, Jiang Mingyi could only watch from afar, the bright kitchen light casting the tall man’s silhouette.

He couldn’t see the actual process, but Shen Xingyan’s easy confidence made him brim with anticipation.

In the quiet, the warm light traced half of that focused face, and suddenly Jiang Mingyi remembered something from long ago—

When he was just four or five, he once woke in the middle of the night to find his father cooking noodles for his mother.

He’d thrown a tantrum, upset that they were sneaking good food without him.

In the end, his father had to make him a bowl too.

There had been too much. He only ate a few bites before refusing more, and the rest had gone into his parents’ stomachs.

Now Shen Xingyan placed a steaming bowl of noodles on the table, noticing Mingyi’s faraway look. He called him twice.

“Huh?” Jiang Mingyi blinked back to reality. “It’s done already?”

One glance down at the perfectly presented veggie-and-egg noodles, and he couldn’t help a gasp of amazement.

“Ge, who would’ve thought your cooking’s actually pretty good.”

Shen Xingyan accepted the compliment without hesitation, handing him chopsticks.
“What were you thinking about just now? I called you twice and you didn’t hear.”

Jiang Mingyi froze as he took the chopsticks.
“Nothing much… just remembering how Dad used to make noodles for Mom.”

Over the years, he’d rarely thought back to those childhood memories.

After all, his parents had passed away early. His impressions of them were scarce—only the most vivid fragments remained.

He didn’t know why, but that brief scene had stayed in his memory.

Shen Xingyan immediately realized that the “dad and mom” he spoke of weren’t Shen Jili and Su Wanxin.
“You miss them.”

Jiang Mingyi thought for a moment, then made a small gap between his fingers.
“A little, I guess. But they died when I was too young, so there are a lot of things I can hardly remember.”

Though his tone was extremely flat, Shen Xingyan knew that deep down, he still longed for his real parents.

After all, the maternal and paternal love Su Wanxin and Shen Jili could give him would always be separated by that thin layer of bloodline.

A broad palm gently stroked the boy’s soft hair, soothing him in a low voice.
“It’s okay. They know you’re doing well now.”

The next morning, Jiang Mingyi woke up in Shen Xingyan’s arms.

Seeing that he was still asleep, he cautiously leaned in and brushed the lightest kiss against Shen Xingyan’s thin lips—quick as a thief, like a kitten sneaking a taste of fish.

Unfortunately, just as he tried to pull away, the arm around his waist suddenly tightened, locking him firmly in place.

“…” The smile at the corner of Jiang Mingyi’s lips froze.

Lifting his head slightly, he met a pair of pitch-black eyes that showed no trace of sleep. In those eyes was his own reflection—their owner had clearly been awake for quite some time.

Realizing this, Jiang Mingyi muttered, “You were pretending to sleep.”

Shen Xingyan looked completely innocent.
“I only just woke up a second before you did. I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet when I felt a little rascal trying to take advantage of me, so I had no choice but to stay still and see what exactly he was planning to do.”

“…”

Jiang Mingyi was speechless for a moment. Then, stiffening his neck, he defended himself:
“I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you. I was openly and honorably taking liberties.”

“Then why were you so guilty just now?”

Shen Xingyan smiled, his gaze as if seeing right through Jiang Mingyi inside and out.

“I wasn’t guilty, I was…” He paused. “I was embarrassed.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve kissed me.”

Shen Xingyan was clearly amused by his bashful appearance. He pressed his palm against Jiang Mingyi’s back, pulling him tightly into his embrace.

“I told you—kiss me whenever you want.”

“However you want to kiss.”

“For as long as you want.”

Their lips were barely a centimeter apart, breaths mingling in the tiny gap between them.

Sensing the looming danger of a “morning workout,” Jiang Mingyi firmly refused to be tempted.
“No need. I’ve already kissed you today.”

Shen Xingyan raised a surprised eyebrow.
“So…”

“So we should get up.”

Without a hint of reluctance, Jiang Mingyi slipped free of his hold, got out of bed gracefully, and set his bare feet on the floor. His round, pale toes looked soft and adorable.

He turned back to glance at Shen Xingyan, who was sitting up in bed, and urged,
“We still have important things to do today. Stop dawdling in bed.”

Having said that, he ignored the man and headed straight to wash up.

Shen Xingyan strolled after him, wrapping him up from behind and resting his chin on Jiang Mingyi’s shoulder. In a low voice, he whispered:
“Suddenly, I don’t feel like taking you to see Dad anymore.”

With toothbrush and toothpaste still in hand, Jiang Mingyi gave him a look through the mirror.
“What do you mean by that?”

“Spending Qixi* on Dad is such a waste.”
Jiang Mingyi rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“You’re the one who set the date.”

Shen Xingyan sighed dramatically.
“Fine then, let’s deal with Dad first.”

—

That morning, Shen Jili had only one thing on his mind: his future daughter-in-law. He got up early and went downstairs.

Sitting on the sofa, he was waiting for Shen Xingyan to come down so he could ask when he planned to bring her home. Just then, he heard footsteps on the stairs.

Looking up, he saw his eldest son holding hands with his youngest son, walking down step by step.

Although he had seen the brothers holding hands affectionately many times before, somehow today it felt… different.

Shen Jili thought it over carefully, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

“Ah-Yan, why are you two dressed so alike today…”

Jiang Mingyi’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Dad, you finally noticed we’re wearing couple outfits today—congratulations!

“…Like twins.”

“…”

Without giving his father a shred of face, Shen Xingyan directly lifted their joined hands.
“Dad, these are couple outfits. Got it?”

Shen Jili looked from his younger son, to his elder son, then finally to their interlocked fingers.

The air went silent for a beat, and then Shen Jili cried out:
“Wife, this is bad! Our big cabbage has gone and stolen the little cabbage!”