ALCSRB Chapter 39

Jiang Mingyi felt like he was about to completely shatter.

Just listen to what he’d done!

Even if it was because of the medication, he couldn’t have just gone and… made out with Shen Xingyan in front of other people, could he?

He bit his tongue! That has to count as a French kiss, right?!!!

Just picturing the scene in his head—he imagined that pale face—and instantly, his own face flushed bright red, even more vivid than the apple he’d just eaten. It was so red it practically glowed.

He was so embarrassed he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it.

Aaaahhh—

How could he have done something like that?!!

No wonder Shen Xingyan had just said he’d bitten “somewhere else,” and he hadn’t believed it.

Is that something anyone could actually believe?

At this point, the IV drip restricted Jiang Mingyi’s movements—otherwise, he would’ve buried himself under the covers in seconds, out of sight, out of mind.

Trying to deceive himself, he just wanted to play ostrich and pretend nothing ever happened. But then he heard Pei Shiqing say, “I know you’re super embarrassed. Honestly, we were really embarrassed watching it happen too.”

“…” Jiang Mingyi slowly pulled down the blanket that was covering his face with his free hand. “We?”

“Who else could it be?”

“Of course your brother,” Pei Shiqing said with a chuckle, noticing how flushed half of Jiang Mingyi’s face still was. “Just the two of us. No one else saw.”

As soon as he said that, Jiang Mingyi stiffly laid back down and closed his eyes. “I think the effects of the drug still haven’t worn off.”

Pei Shiqing was full of question marks. Wasn’t this guy perfectly fine just a moment ago?

He hesitated, then leaned over to check his temperature. But before he could, Jiang Mingyi murmured faintly, “Otherwise, how could I be hearing all the nonsense you’re saying?”

“…”

Pei Shiqing blinked. “You think I’m lying to you?”

“How could I? Do I look like someone who lies?” Pei Shiqing scooted closer, but when he saw Jiang Mingyi staring blankly at the ceiling, he sighed and said, “Are you finding it really hard to accept that you kissed Brother Shen?”

“Well, how would you feel if you kissed your brother?” Jiang Mingyi snapped, shooting him a glare.

The moment he said that, Pei Shiqing’s face turned red—and not just his face, the color spread all the way down his neck.

Jiang Mingyi blinked. That was even more dramatic than how red he had been earlier.

“You… don’t talk nonsense,” Pei Shiqing stammered, pushing him lightly and darting his eyes everywhere except at Jiang Mingyi. “How could I ever kiss my own brother?”

“Then why are you blushing so hard?”

Jiang Mingyi shifted, making the IV above him clink, startling Pei Shiqing into quickly steadying it for him.

“I—” Pei Shiqing bit his lip. “It’s just that what you said was too shocking.”

Jiang Mingyi stared at him suspiciously, eyes lingering on his bright red face. Then he teased, “Shocking? Or embarrassing?”

“Quit it,” Pei Shiqing snapped, pinching Jiang Mingyi’s cheek. “We’re brothers—we can’t joke about things like that.”

Jiang Mingyi tilted his head, pleading, “Okay, okay, I won’t joke anymore.”

Only then did Pei Shiqing let go, noticing the redness left on his cheek and rubbing it gently in apology. “Besides, you and Brother Shen aren’t even real brothers. A kiss doesn’t matter.”

“Just because we’re not blood-related doesn’t mean you can go around kissing people.”

And just like that, they were back to the same topic.

When Shen Xingyan pushed the hospital room door open and walked in again, both boys—still sitting side-by-side on the hospital bed—looked over at him at the same time.

“You two…” Shen Xingyan paused for a second. “What are you whispering about, faces all red like that?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Mingyi replied instantly.

Pei Mingyue stood at the door and said coolly, “If you’re done talking, it’s time to go.”

Pei Shiqing knew that was aimed at him. He gave a little “oh” and climbed off the bed.

He waved to Jiang Mingyi. “I’ll come see you again tomorrow.” With that, he followed Pei Mingyue out.

Jiang Mingyi glanced toward the door. “Where’s Zhuoyan-ge?”

Shen Xingyan walked over. “You were drugged at his party. What face does he have left to come see you?”

“But you can’t blame Zhuoyan-ge for that…”

Seeing Shen Xingyan sit down in the chair beside him and lower his eyes, Jiang Mingyi asked, “Don’t tell me… you scolded him?”

“Sure did. I even hit him,” Shen Xingyan said casually.

“Ah?” Jiang Mingyi hadn’t expected him to say that and was startled.

“I’m kidding.” Seeing the surprise in those clear, bright eyes of his, Shen Xingyan smiled and reached out to lightly tap the tip of his nose. “I asked him to take care of something—saves us from listening to him chirp away and be annoying.”

“Brother Zhuoyan isn’t a bird,” Jiang Mingyi mumbled. What was with the chirping comment?

He leaned back slightly, still feeling the faint touch on his nose. Remembering the things Pei Shiqing had said to him, a flush crept back up his cheeks.

He quickly lowered his head to hide the embarrassment in his eyes. “That Lu Jingze…”

“You don’t have to worry about the Lu family. Dad and I will make sure justice is served for you.”

—

Jiang Mingyi stayed in the hospital for a few peaceful days. It wasn’t until the day before his discharge that he learned Lu Jingze had been arrested by the police.

Seeing him bowing his head, Su Wanxin said, “Don’t go soft-hearted now. Your dad’s already torn things apart with Lu Guozhang. Who told his son to treat you like that?”

“Torn things apart?” Jiang Mingyi was stunned. “But Dad and Lu Guozhang… haven’t they been close friends for decades?”

“Not as important as his own son.” Su Wanxin patted his hand. “Your dad and your brother were both heartbroken over what happened to you. The Lu family is definitely going to pay for this.”

Seeing that he still wanted to say something, she added, “You don’t need to worry about a thing. Just focus on getting better. Your dad and your brother will handle everything.”

“Oh.” Jiang Mingyi didn’t really care what happened to Lu Jingze anyway.

Thinking about the suffering he’d gone through with Lu Jingze in the original timeline, he snorted. Honestly, Lu was getting off easy this time.

The next morning, Shen Xingyan came to pick him up from the hospital.

The car was quiet. Jiang Mingyi kept glancing at Shen Xingyan from time to time.

He stared at the man’s impossibly handsome side profile and perfectly defined jawline, suddenly wondering whether this guy had been especially popular with both men and women while he was abroad.

He’d heard that people overseas were more open.

But he didn’t dare ask. He just harbored a bit of curiosity in his heart.

Noticing the intense gaze, Shen Xingyan turned to look at him during a red light. “Why do you keep staring at me?”

Caught red-handed, Jiang Mingyi didn’t have time to look away.

He turned his head with some embarrassment. “It’s nothing.”

“Really nothing?” Shen Xingyan looked at him. “Why do I feel like you have something you want to say to me?”

Jiang Mingyi pressed his lips together. “Mom said you’ve been busy these past few days because of me. Did I cause trouble for you and Dad?”

“You silly thing, what are you thinking!” Shen Xingyan reached over and ruffled his hair. “These are things Dad and I should do. You’re our family. If we don’t stand up for you, who will?”

As the red light began to count down, he pulled his hand back. “Don’t overthink. If you’re upset, that’s when Dad and I will really worry.”

Hearing his warm, gentle tone, Jiang Mingyi’s heart instantly lightened.

Actually, when Su Wanxin mentioned how their two families had fallen out, he’d felt a bit guilty. After all, when he was younger, Shen Jili often took him to the Lu family’s house as a guest.

In his understanding, the Shen and Lu families were old friends with deep ties. Especially after Shen Xingyan went abroad, leaving him without the older brother he used to rely on, that void in his heart had gradually drawn him closer to Lu Jingze.

Lu Jingze had always loved bullying and teasing him. And the more he was bullied, the more unwilling he was to back down, so he kept going to play with Lu Jingze.

To both families, it looked like he and Lu Jingze were close. But in truth, he was just being foolish.

“…”

Looking back now, maybe it was because he always insisted on playing with Lu Jingze that Shen Jili kept taking him to the Lu household.

So he had misunderstood the cause and effect all along.

On the way home, Jiang Mingyi finally sorted it out. “So from now on, we don’t need to have anything to do with the Lu family.”

“So this whole time you were so quiet, just to think about that?”

Seeing the boy unbuckle his seatbelt to get out, Shen Xingyan grabbed him. “Can’t that little brain of yours think about something more useful?”

He tapped him on the forehead. Jiang Mingyi pouted. “It is an important matter.”

Shen Xingyan raised an eyebrow. “What’s so important about the Lu family? They’re irrelevant.”

“Uh…” Jiang Mingyi paused, meeting the man’s slightly displeased gaze. The words he’d been about to say took a turn and came out as, “Not anymore.”

Shen Xingyan seemed finally satisfied with that answer. Just as he was about to say something, the boy slipped out of his hand like a little mudfish.

He watched as Jiang Mingyi ran over cheerfully to the waiting Su Wanxin, calling “Mom” as he clung to her arm, acting spoiled. Shen Xingyan let out a helpless chuckle.

Getting out of the car and approaching them, he heard Su Wanxin say, “One of these days, I’ll take you to the temple to pray. You’ve only just come of age and already ended up in the hospital twice. That’s not a good sign.”

“Huh? Is that really necessary?”

As soon as he heard the word temple, Jiang Mingyi’s face fell. “We should believe in science, not superstition.”

“This was caused by external forces—it has nothing to do with metaphysical stuff.” He threw Shen Xingyan a meaningful look.

The three of them entered the foyer together.

After changing his shoes, Shen Xingyan looked at the boy bent over, switching into house slippers. “Let’s go this weekend. I’ll drive you two.”

Su Wanxin nodded in satisfaction. “Good. We can ask the master to give both of you a proper reading.”

Jiang Mingyi twitched his lips. He hadn’t expected Shen Xingyan to take her side. “A reading? For what?”

“You silly child. Obviously to ask for a peace blessing,” Su Wanxin said. “Back then I asked for academic success for you, but you must not have been sincere—how else could your grades have been so bad?”

“As for your career, our family’s well off. We’re not counting on you to earn anything. Just spend happily and let your brother earn it for you.”

The way she said it made it sound like Shen Xingyan was some kind of gullible money machine. Jiang Mingyi couldn’t help but press his lips together and laugh in secret.

Shen Xingyan shot him a glance but didn’t refute Su Wanxin’s words.

“You’ve only just turned eighteen. It’s way too early to be worrying about love and relationships.” As she said this, Su Wanxin turned her gaze to her eldest son.

Shen Xingyan withdrew his gaze and his expression turned a bit stern. “He’s just a brat—what’s he doing worrying about relationships?”

“Don’t say that about Xiao Yi,” Su Wanxin said seriously. “You’re not getting any younger yourself. All these years, I’ve never heard you mention dating anyone. You might as well ask for a love fortune while we’re there, so I can stop worrying.”

“Mom, how can you be superstitious about stuff like this?” Shen Xingyan replied helplessly.

From the side, Jiang Mingyi chimed in to stir things up. “Mom, he’s questioning your beliefs!”

Su Wanxin’s gaze swept across both her sons, and she simply said, “Sometimes a little superstition is good. What if it brings a pleasant surprise?”