ALCSRB Chapter 21

Another lamp was lit outside the shop, and through the windows, the interior looked even brighter.

The oversized light bulb Xie Zhuoyan gave a friendly smile to the four sets of eyes staring at him. “I was just saying.”

“If you don’t know how to talk, just say less,” Shen Xingyan said flatly, then shoved a peeled crawfish head into his bowl. “Here, stuff your mouth.”

Jiang Mingyi and Pei Shiqing followed suit and tossed crayfish heads in too. “Brother Zhuoyan, eat some brain food—so you don’t say dumb things again.”

Looking at the three crayfish heads aimed at him, Xie Zhuoyan’s eyes twitched.

Just as he was about to pick them out, another one landed in his bowl.

He looked up and met Pei Mingyue’s cold, sharp gaze. His hand froze immediately.

“Alright, alright.” Xie Zhuoyan raised his hands in surrender. “It was my fault. But I’m not eating these.”

He grabbed a beer, popped the cap, and smiled at the others. “I’ll punish myself with a bottle, okay?”

With that, he gulped down a whole bottle of beer.

Because of the interruption, Jiang Mingyi and Pei Shiqing no longer felt comfortable asking about school days. They quietly focused on eating.

Shen Xingyan, unaffected, kept peeling. One by one, the tender pieces of crayfish meat filled Jiang Mingyi’s bowl.

“Eat. Don’t mind him.”

With the sweet taste still lingering in his mouth, Jiang Mingyi sucked on his fingers. Shen Xingyan’s gentle voice rang in his ears.

He stole a glance at Xie Zhuoyan across the table. Suddenly, a wave of shyness rose within him.

“No need. I can peel them myself.” He pushed the plate of meat back and reached for a crayfish.

“Ah—!” Jiang Mingyi yelped and instantly pulled his hand back.

“What happened?” Shen Xingyan frowned. Seeing him in pain, he grabbed Jiang Mingyi’s hand. A red dot had formed on the fair-pink finger.

“How can you be so careless?”

Apparently, he had been pricked by one of the crayfish’s whiskers.

Without another word, Shen Xingyan dragged him to the restroom.

Pei Shiqing looked worriedly at their backs and wanted to follow, but Pei Mingyue stopped him.

Xie Zhuoyan smiled and said, “Big brother taking care of his little brother. No need for you to interfere.”

Pei Shiqing closed his mouth under Xie Zhuoyan’s suggestive gaze.

Pei Mingyue shot Xie Zhuoyan a cold look as if to say, Enough is enough, and said icily, “Eat your supper.”

Xie Zhuoyan pouted.

In the restroom, cold tap water flowed over Jiang Mingyi’s fingertip. The pain had faded—it only hurt briefly at first.

What made him more uncomfortable now was Shen Xingyan’s sullen expression.

He tried to pull his hand back, but it was immediately gripped tighter.

“Don’t move.” The low voice carried a calming tone. The movement of his hands became gentler. “The wound needs to be cleaned thoroughly, or it could get infected.”

“It’s not that serious…” Jiang Mingyi lowered his gaze and muttered softly.

His eyes glanced at the hand holding his—clearly larger and more powerful than his own.

It wasn’t his first time eating crayfish, nor the first time getting pricked.

He’d never made a big deal out of it before. But now, the way he was being treated made him feel… oddly pampered. Almost like he was being overly delicate.

“If you don’t want me to take you to the hospital for disinfection right now, then be good.”

A slightly damp, large hand gently landed on his head. The touch wasn’t forceful—more like comforting a child—gentle and tender.

Jiang Mingyi blinked and didn’t dare look up. For some reason, Shen Xingyan now felt like he was radiating fatherly affection, which made him uncomfortable.

Shen Xingyan’s gaze lingered on the boy’s long eyelashes. After a moment, he suddenly said, “You don’t need to mind what Xie Zhuoyan said. He’s always joking around like that.”

“Oh.” His voice was still low and soft.

Shen Xingyan pressed his lips together and chuckled lightly. “When you were little, he even teased you thinking you were a girl. You didn’t care back then—why are you suddenly so sensitive now?”

“Did he?” Jiang Mingyi honestly couldn’t remember the incident he was talking about.

“Looks like you really don’t remember.” Shen Xingyan recalled, “It was at a wedding. You were admiring how beautiful the bride looked and said you wanted to wear something that pretty too. Xie Zhuoyan picked you up and said you could be his bride in the future.”

“…” What kind of embarrassing story was that?

“You wriggled out of his arms, ran over on your little short legs, jumped into mine, hugged my neck, and cried, saying, ‘I don’t want to be Brother Zhuoyan’s bride—I want to be Brother Xingyan’s bride.’ You had the whole wedding party laughing.”

Jiang Mingyi’s eyes widened in shock. “You… You’re making that up.” There was no way he’d ever say something like that.

Shen Xingyan suppressed the smile tugging at his lips. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask Mom.”

Jiang Mingyi pressed his lips tightly together, still unwilling to believe he’d said something so cringeworthy.

Besides, how could he possibly bring himself to ask about that?

Back then, Jiang Mingyi was only six. The words of a child weren’t taken seriously.

To Shen Xingyan, it was just a funny little memory to share with him.

“Just a joke, don’t take it seriously.” He comforted the still-silent, downcast boy, not noticing the flush creeping up behind the boy’s ears.

After rinsing the wound for a few more minutes, Shen Xingyan was finally satisfied.

He asked a waiter for a band-aid and carefully wrapped the boy’s finger.

As they returned to the table, Jiang Mingyi kept that hand hidden behind his back.

“You’re back,” Xie Zhuoyan called out cheerfully as soon as he saw them, waving them over. Once they were seated, he poured Shen Xingyan a glass of beer.

“If you two had taken any longer, we’d have finished off all the crayfish.”

There were now two large trays of crayfish in different flavors on the table, and the mountain of shells had been cleared by the staff.

Pei Shiqing had already eaten quite a lot and was sipping beer slowly from his glass.

He’d gotten scolded by his older brother at the bar earlier and thought he wouldn’t be allowed to drink again. Fortunately, it was just beer, so his brother hadn’t said anything.

As soon as Jiang Mingyi sat down, Pei Shiqing leaned in and whispered, “What happened? Did your brother scold you again?”

Jiang Mingyi gently pressed the finger with the band-aid. It still stung a little.

“No.”

“That’s good. Your brother looked pretty angry earlier. But now he seems to be in a good mood.”

Jiang Mingyi followed his gaze and looked at the three men clinking their glasses and drinking together.

Xie Zhuoyan noticed him looking and immediately said, “Want a drink too?”

Before Jiang Mingyi could answer, Shen Xingyan frowned and said, “Don’t lead him astray.”

“It’s just beer, it’s not like he’ll get drunk.” Xie Zhuoyan picked up the glass in front of Jiang Mingyi and poured him a cup as well.

The amber liquid fizzed with white foam, releasing a cool and thirst-quenching aroma in the summer night air.

Jiang Mingyi had just tasted a bit of alcohol at the bar earlier today, and now his interest was piqued again.

“Xiao Yi is all grown up now. Naturally, he should start doing things only adults can do,” Xie Zhuoyan said as he clinked glasses with him. “Cheers.”

He downed the entire glass in one gulp and held up the empty glass to show off.

Jiang Mingyi glanced at Shen Xingyan’s disapproving face. As if trying to prove something, he immediately picked up his glass.

“How can an adult be so shy?” He drank too quickly and choked a little, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.

Looking at his delicate and pretty face, Xie Zhuoyan sighed. “In the blink of an eye, you’ve all grown up.”

His gaze slowly swept over Jiang Mingyi and Pei Shiqing before settling back on Jiang Mingyi.

“Ah Yi, do you still remember something funny from the past?” Xie Zhuoyan turned his head. “Back when Xiao Yi was the flower boy and I joked about making him my bride.”

Shen Xingyan noticed the boy’s hand tremble slightly as he gripped the glass. “Did that really happen?”

Jiang Mingyi looked up at him, his eyes filled with surprise.

Shen Xingyan replied to Xie Zhuoyan in a calm tone, “Are you sure you’re not drunk and talking nonsense again?”

“I’ve barely had anything,” Xie Zhuoyan muttered in protest. “Back then, Xiao Yi mercilessly rejected me. He hugged your brother and swore he would marry no one else but him. It was hilarious.”

Thinking about that small, pretty kid making such a bold declaration in his milky voice, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Jiang Mingyi hadn’t expected that story to be true. Now he just wanted to crawl into a hole and bury himself.

Pei Shiqing, who was hearing this for the first time, stared in astonishment with his mouth open.

Was something like that even okay to say?

His heart was shaken, and his eyes subconsciously drifted toward the quietly eating Pei Mingyue nearby.

Pei Mingyue seemed to sense it and looked up at him.

Pei Shiqing quickly turned away.

Jiang Mingyi, now both angry and embarrassed, snapped, “You’re all just teasing me on purpose.” He refused to admit he had ever said such a thing.

Xie Zhuoyan waved his hand. “No, no, it just suddenly came to mind. Who told you to grow up looking so beautiful, Xiao Yi baby? I could never forget it.”

—

They ended up eating until dawn.

Jiang Mingyi, sulking, drank quite a lot of beer—so much that his cheeks were flushed, and his charming peach blossom eyes were red and misty.

He stood up, swaying as he walked toward the restroom.

Shen Xingyan, worried, followed after him. “I told you to drink less, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Hearing that, Jiang Mingyi stopped in his tracks and looked back with a gloomy expression. His eyes carried a hint of grievance, causing Shen Xingyan to swallow the rest of his scolding.

“Forget it, I’ll help you.” With a soft sigh, Shen Xingyan supported his slightly limp body.

The moment their skin touched, he felt the boy’s burning temperature—clearly a reaction to the alcohol coursing through his system.

A few minutes later, after coming out of the restroom, Shen Xingyan helped him wash his hands.

“They’re wet,” Jiang Mingyi said.

Shen Xingyan followed his gaze to his index finger. “It’s fine, the bandage is waterproof.”

“Oh.” The boy’s voice was soft and gentle.

Seeing him this quiet and well-behaved for once after drinking, Shen Xingyan reached out and patted his head.

“Let’s go.”

Just as he turned to leave, his shirt hem was tugged.

In the next instant, a figure suddenly threw himself onto Shen Xingyan’s back.

Shen Xingyan was momentarily stunned, then heard the boy’s tearful voice from behind.

“Ge…”

“Ge, you’re back…”

“Ge, please don’t go…”