Before Jiang Ji’s message came through, Lu Xingyan had already suffered through a miserable night, and his phone was nearly out of battery.
He had been thrown out at around ten, and by midnight he was already sleepy and wanted to leave.
Actually, Lu Xingyan didn’t think he had done anything terribly wrong.
Why was Jiang Ji so angry? Hadn’t he just “returned the favor”? If he absolutely had to say what he had done wrong, it was only that he hadn’t obediently stayed in the role of a toy and had broken his word.
But he was a living person; it wasn’t as though he came fitted with an on-off switch.
Once someone got carried away, it was hard to control themselves, and he hadn’t done it on purpose, so did Jiang Ji really have to throw him out over it?
Full of resentment, Lu Xingyan aimed a hard kick at the wall, only to hurriedly pull back just before his foot connected, afraid the noise would be too loud and Jiang Ji would hear.
He crouched pitifully against the wall and lamented to himself, I feel like a watchdog.
—It was fine; he could keep holding out.
As the saying went, when Heaven was about to entrust a man with a great responsibility, it would first test his resolve and wear down his body… No one succeeded without hardship, and the anger Jiang Ji was directing at him now would one day turn into tears shed for him when Jiang Ji finally came to his senses and regretted everything.
Having successfully comforted himself, Lu Xingyan decided not to leave.
He would stand guard outside the door tonight, and when Jiang Ji opened it tomorrow morning and saw that his devotion remained unwavering, he would surely be deeply moved.
With his devoted-lover script firmly in hand, Lu Xingyan began putting on a performance over WeChat.
Every message he sent Jiang Ji came with a sticker, and once he had exhausted all the puppy pictures he had previously stolen from other people, he went online to search for new ones, imported them into WeChat in batches, and pestered his brother in every way imaginable.
Jiang Ji, however, did not reply with so much as a single word.
Lu Xingyan kept up his one-man show all night, hungry and exhausted, with his eyelids practically fighting to stay open. Hotel staff passed by several times and, on three separate occasions, asked him in confusion, “Sir, do you need any assistance?”
Lu Xingyan turned them down twice, and the last time was early in the morning, when the staff member happened to be carrying a tray of food, apparently delivering it to one of the rooms.
The sight reminded Lu Xingyan of something, and he sprang to his feet and asked, “What floor is the restaurant on?”
So by the time Jiang Ji’s message came through, Lu Xingyan had just returned from the hotel restaurant with an armful of takeout.
In his left hand were small wontons; in his right, beef rice noodles; he had also bought freshly baked, fragrant pastries and a bacon-and-cheese egg wrap, and because he had no idea what his brother might want to drink, he had prepared milk, soy milk, coffee, and freshly squeezed juice as well.
Lu Xingyan was just about to knock and deliver breakfast when WeChat suddenly chimed, and with some difficulty, he freed up a hand and glanced at the screen.
The moment he saw I forgive you, Lu Xingyan immediately perked up.
—His efforts had paid off, the plan was still on track, and sure enough, Jiang Ji still couldn’t escape the palm of his hand.
“Bro, I’m here!” Lu Xingyan called through the door in reply. “Let me in. I brought you breakfast.”
It was quiet inside for a long while before he heard footsteps approaching, and Jiang Ji came over and opened the door.
“Morning.” Lu Xingyan felt like the cool, handsome male lead in an idol drama who had won the heart of a stereotypical “silly, fair-skinned, sweet” heroine with one simple little trick. “Look, quite the spread, huh?”
He held out the breakfast with both hands. “Pick whatever you want; I’ll finish the rest.”
Unfortunately, of the three qualities in that “silly, fair-skinned, sweet” heroine archetype, Jiang Ji only had the “fair-skinned” part, and breakfast certainly hadn’t set his heart fluttering. He merely gave Lu Xingyan a cool glance. “Come in first.”
“…”
Hadn’t he said he forgave me? Then what was with that expression?
Lu Xingyan followed his brother inside, opened all the breakfast containers, and arranged everything neatly on the table by type, then, ever attentive, opened the utensil packets and personally presented Jiang Ji with a pair of chopsticks and a spoon.
Jiang Ji didn’t refuse. He seemed more interested in the small wontons and took a bite; they were filled with shepherd’s purse.
“Is it good?” Lu Xingyan asked.
Jiang Ji nodded, which was a sign that the iceberg was melting. Lu Xingyan’s heart leapt with delight, and he couldn’t resist edging closer. “You really forgive me?”
“…”
They were both standing in front of the table, and neither of them sat down.
The chairs beside them had been used during their intimacy the night before, and although they bore no traces of it, in Lu Xingyan’s imagination they had already absorbed his brother’s scent; one glance was enough to send the scenes from last night replaying endlessly through his mind.
His gaze involuntarily settled on Jiang Ji’s lips.
Probably because Jiang Ji had only just gotten up, there still wasn’t much color in his lips, and a little broth clung to them as he bit into a wonton, making them glisten.
Lu Xingyan’s mouth went dry, and he wanted to lick the broth away himself and taste Jiang Ji’s lips.
He had shown far too little self-control last night, and the intense pleasure had overwhelmed his reason, leaving him barely aware of anything besides how good it felt. He had no idea how warm his brother’s lips were or how wet the inside of his mouth was… Come to think of it, he seemed to have reached his throat.
“Lu Xingyan.” Jiang Ji suddenly shot him a glance.
Caught red-handed while immersed in his erotic memories, Lu Xingyan jolted and, forgetting himself, pressed a few inches closer, nearly pinning Jiang Ji against the table and pulling him into his arms.
“I didn’t mean to,” Lu Xingyan defended himself.
“Then let go first,” Jiang Ji said. “Get away from me.”
“…Fine.”
Lu Xingyan obediently backed up two steps, but he couldn’t bear to retreat too far, and while Jiang Ji lowered his head to eat his wontons, Lu Xingyan secretly inched forward centimeter by centimeter until, without giving himself away, he was pressed against his brother’s back again.
Jiang Ji had an exceptional figure: broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long, straight legs, like a perfectly sculpted statue. Lu Xingyan hovered his arms around him from behind, encircling his waist without quite touching him. At first, he was only miming the embrace, but then his hands settled into place and he really hugged him.
Jiang Ji paused mid-bite, and Lu Xingyan said with feigned seriousness, “Bro, my hand is really big.”
He spread his palm flat against Jiang Ji’s lower abdomen, as though he were merely using his brother’s body as a reference to measure the size of his hand.
Jiang Ji said nothing and continued eating his small wontons.
Since Jiang Ji didn’t object, Lu Xingyan simply kept holding him like that until he finished eating and turned around, by which point Lu Xingyan was practically tipsy on his brother, clinging to him as though he had grown there and dreamily nuzzling his neck.
“Are you addicted or something? Rein it in.” Jiang Ji raised a hand and gave him a smack. Pa! Lu Xingyan’s face, already a little pale from staying up all night, flushed faintly red.
“…”
Jiang Ji hadn’t used any force at all, but Lu Xingyan remembered the sensation of being struck below the waist the night before; a current seemed to run through his whole body, making his head swim a little and leaving him wanting more.
He couldn’t exactly say that aloud; all he knew was that his sense of shame seemed to be dwindling by the minute.
Was he sacrificing too much for this plan?
“I’m not addicted,” Lu Xingyan muttered. “Isn’t it just because I like you…”
Jiang Ji ignored his excuses and left the table to change clothes. Lu Xingyan followed him every step of the way like a personal maid, and when his brother began buttoning his shirt, Lu Xingyan reached out of his own accord and meekly helped fasten the buttons for him.
Jiang Ji deliberately left him hanging for quite a while, neither warm nor cold toward him, before finally speaking. “I did forgive you.”
Lu Xingyan looked up.
“But forgiving you and continuing this are two different things.”
“Huh?”
Lu Xingyan looked confused, and Jiang Ji said, “Forgiving you means I’m not going to hold what happened last night against you, but after what happened, I realized you aren’t suited to being my toy.”
“…”
“You can’t control yourself,” Jiang Ji said pointedly. “You put on this sweet, obedient act and promise you’ll listen to me, but the moment we get into it, you lose control. How am I supposed to trust you, Lu Xingyan?”
“I know I was wrong. It won’t happen next time.” Lu Xingyan instinctively grabbed his hand, but Jiang Ji coldly pulled it away.
“There won’t be a next time; I don’t want to play with you anymore.”
“Bro!” Lu Xingyan was starting to panic. “You obviously enjoyed it too, so just give me one more chance, only once; I can control myself, and next time I really won’t make the same mistake again…”
Jiang Ji scrutinized him with a doubtful gaze and paused.
When it came to tormenting people, Jiang Ji was undoubtedly an expert. His pause was timed to perfection, as though an invisible hand had tightened around Lu Xingyan’s throat, leaving him breathless with discomfort and frantic with anxiety.
Then, after enjoying enough of his younger brother’s panicked expression, Jiang Ji finally showed mercy and asked, “Really?”
“Really.” Lu Xingyan had no choice but to bow his head. “I promise.”
“How are you going to guarantee it?” Jiang Ji said. “Words alone prove nothing. I don’t trust someone with a record.”
“…”
Lu Xingyan had never imagined that one moment of getting carried away the night before could be serious enough to count as having “a record,” and he was a little dumbfounded.
But what else could he do? Things had already come this far, so was he supposed to give up halfway?
He refused to accept that.
Even if he died and became a ghost, he still wouldn’t let this infuriating Jiang Ji off!
“Bro, what do you want me to do?” Lu Xingyan continued to give in, standing properly with his head lowered and his eyes fixed on the floor. “As long as you give me one more chance, I’ll do whatever you say, okay?”
“You’ll really be that obedient?”
“Mhm, mhm.” Lu Xingyan nodded repeatedly. “I will, I’ll definitely be really obedient.”
“Fine, then let me think about it.” Jiang Ji looked troubled and extremely reluctant, as though he were the one getting the short end of the stick in this relationship.
And so he slowly “thought it over” for several minutes, finished dressing, went to the door to change his shoes, and only when Lu Xingyan had been kept in suspense for so long that he could barely breathe did Jiang Ji finally relent. “How about this? I can give you a chance, but there’s a condition.”
“What condition?”
“I’ll give you a probationary period,” Jiang Ji said. “Let’s set it until… the end of the month and see how you perform during that time. If you really behave yourself and perform well, you’ll be made permanent; if you perform badly, you’re fired.”
Lu Xingyan: “…”
Was this really what it took to be a little toy?
Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was running for President of the United States.
“What? You don’t want to?” Jiang Ji gave him a cool sidelong glance.
Lu Xingyan swallowed his grievance through gritted teeth and forced out an obedient smile. “I do, I really do—Bro, you’re so good to me.”
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