Even though Jiang Ji knew Lu Xingyan extremely well, he had still underestimated just how badly this idiot could ask for a beating.
Using every ounce of self-restraint he had accumulated in his life, Jiang Ji kept his hands to himself and corrected the rumor on the spot. “He’s my younger brother. He’s joking.”
“Ah, your brother has quite a sense of humor, hahaha…” The man opposite them laughed. “For a second I thought fate had come for you unusually fast. Last time you told me you weren’t interested in dating, and now suddenly you had a boyfriend.”
Jiang Ji smiled too. “I spend every day working. Where would I even find romance?”
He knocked the dishonest arm away from his waist and glanced at Lu Xingyan. “Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Yang Pusong, someone I used to play cards with. And this is my younger brother, Lu Xingyan. He’s young and a little… energetic.”
The implication was obvious. Immature. Unreliable. Do not take the child seriously.
Lu Xingyan disliked the introduction, but he could not cause a scene in public and embarrass his brother. Reluctantly, he extended a hand to the man with the diamond watch. “Hello.”
“Hello.” Yang Pusong politely complimented him. “Your brother is quite handsome too. Very impressive.”
“He just looks convincing.”
Jiang Ji caught Lu Xingyan’s sleeve in a warning grip and walked with Yang Pusong around the pool. The three of them entered the villa one after another.
Today’s host was Tang Lei, a female friend Jiang Ji had met two years earlier.
Anyone capable of becoming close friends with Jiang Ji—male or female—usually had a fairly outgoing personality. Otherwise, they would never survive trying to socialize with Mr. Jiang, who rarely initiated conversations.
In truth, Jiang Ji hardly played cards and had no spare time for it.
He had met Yang Pusong through Tang Lei. Even now, the two of them merely knew each other. They were not particularly close. Jiang Ji knew nothing about Yang Pusong’s family background, character, or romantic history. He did know one thing: Yang Pusong was attracted to him.
Jiang Ji was not oblivious. But plenty of people were attracted to him. What did that have to do with him?
Adults had their own sense of proportion. As long as someone did not say it outright, Jiang Ji simply pretended not to know.
Jiang Ji could be casual about it, but Lu Xingyan, unfortunately, could not.
Before they came, what had Jiang Ji said? Friend gathering. How had it suddenly turned into a convention for all of Jiang Ji’s admirers?
Was he not embarrassed? Was he secretly enjoying this? Scumbag.
Lu Xingyan no longer wanted to give the scumbag a pleasant expression, but the instant his eyelids lowered, he was kicked.
“I’ll remember what you just did,” Jiang Ji said coldly. “If you say one more thing you shouldn’t say, I’ll skin you alive and throw you into the river.”
Lu Xingyan said, “…”
What a vicious man.
His score had already bottomed out, so Lu Xingyan did not dare answer back. He followed Jiang Ji into the living room like some miserable attendant serving a tyrannical master.
The villa was not Tang Lei’s home. It was merely being used temporarily as a gathering venue.
As soon as they entered, the scent of baked goods reached them. Miss Tang had personally made a large number of small cakes for the guests and arranged them with fruit across a long dining table.
She was still busy. The guests had formed small groups and were chatting among themselves. There seemed to be more than twenty people inside, and counting those outside by the pool, probably over thirty altogether.
Lu Xingyan considered himself very social. Unexpectedly, Miss Tang was even more of a social butterfly.
How had she met Jiang Ji? Did their personalities even match?
Lu Xingyan had no desire to make new friends. From the moment he entered, his gaze revolved entirely around Jiang Ji, scanning every man and woman who approached his brother like a security checkpoint—
Diamond-watch guy left; a woman carrying an LV bag came over. Not close. Jiang Ji only exchanged three sentences with her; another woman arrived. This one seemed closer. She invited Jiang Ji to dinner; then an ugly man. His smile was greasy; another ugly man. Older. No competitive value; this one was not ugly, but he had obviously had cosmetic work done and now looked like a certain male actor who constantly appeared on trending searches; another one. Nothing particularly wrong with him except that he was short. Not even 180 centimeters.
Why were there still more?
Lu Xingyan spent a lifetime’s worth of vicious criticism evaluating every flower and weed growing around his brother and ended up with a stomach full of anger.
He said nothing aloud, but Jiang Ji only needed to look at his expression to know there was nothing decent happening inside his head.
“If you’re bored, go outside and play. Stop sitting there with that sour face and ruining the mood.” Jiang Ji pointed toward the door.
Lu Xingyan refused. “I’m hungry. I’m going over there to get something. Want anything?”
“No. Go yourself.”
They were sitting on a sofa near the edge of the room, some distance from the central dining table.
Apparently, the small cakes were only pre-dinner snacks. Later there would be an outdoor barbecue and some musical performances.
The performer was none other than Tang Lei herself. That alone demonstrated how cheerful Miss Tang was and how colorful her life must have been. Her confession being rejected last month had apparently done nothing to dampen her spirits.
Lu Xingyan was almost impressed. He went to the dining table alone.
He really was hungry. He had eaten nothing since getting off work. Jiang Ji had eaten nothing either, but somehow did not seem hungry at all. Maybe being admired by people could fill the stomach. Heh.
Lu Xingyan viciously bit into a small cake while watching the sofa from the corner of his eye.
Jiang Ji sat quietly scrolling through his phone. For the moment, nobody was speaking to him, and he did not seek anyone out either.
Lu Xingyan relaxed and lowered his head to pick through the fruit. But only a short while later, when he looked up again, the sofa was empty. Jiang Ji was gone.
＊
“Where’s your brother?”
Outside in the courtyard, at a corner far from the crowd, Jiang Ji stood beneath a streetlamp and lowered his gaze while lighting a cigarette.
Only after taking a deep drag did he answer quietly, “Eating. I came out for a smoke.”
The person asking was Yang Pusong. He did not smoke himself, but he seemed extremely willing to breathe in Jiang Ji’s secondhand smoke. He stood very close, almost as though he feared the wind might carry the smoke away before he could inhale it. That would apparently be a tragedy.
“Is he your biological brother?”
“No.”
“Thought so.” Yang Pusong smiled. “He watches you constantly, like a dog guarding its food. Doesn’t want anyone getting close.”
Jiang Ji took another hard drag and said nothing.
Yang Pusong sensed something ambiguous in his attitude and could not resist testing the waters. “Is that your type?”
“He’s my mother’s husband’s son,” Jiang Ji answered without answering. “So basically half a real brother.” Then he changed the subject. “Didn’t Tang Lei say she wanted to play cards all night? There are this many people. How many tables are you planning to open?”
Yang Pusong had no choice but to follow the new topic. “We can’t open too many. It’ll turn into a gambling den and someone will report us.”
They both laughed. Soon, conversation ran dry.
Yang Pusong was ordinarily very talkative. But no matter how talkative someone was, Jiang Ji had a way of making them nervous. His gaze was too sharp. It seemed capable of seeing through everything, including whatever someone happened to be thinking.
Yang Pusong was accustomed to being the controlling one in relationships. Nobody he had interacted with before had ever made him feel this way. Jiang Ji somehow seemed to control him without doing anything at all.
Yang Pusong’s gaze fell on Jiang Ji’s lips around the cigarette. Smoke drifted between them in the wind. His thoughts drifted with it. Jiang Ji suddenly asked, “Want one?”
“…Can I?” Yang Pusong’s throat tightened.
“Why not?” Jiang Ji took a fresh cigarette from the pack and held it out. “Light it yourself.”
“…”
When Yang Pusong did not take it, Jiang Ji found it amusing. “What? You want the one I already smoked?”
As he spoke, he casually glanced past him. A familiar figure had just emerged from the villa’s side door and was looking around, searching for someone.
Jiang Ji immediately recognized Lu Xingyan. They had only been apart a few minutes, and already Lu Xingyan could not stop himself from following, always stuck to him like glue.
Jiang Ji remembered that final remaining point. On a sudden whim, he shifted his position so that Yang Pusong blocked him from view.
The other man sensed something and instinctively began turning around.
“Don’t move.” Jiang Ji stopped him. “Help me with something.”
“…What?” Yang Pusong faced forward again. His eyes returned to Jiang Ji’s cigarette. A man who did not smoke had suddenly developed a ferocious craving and urgently needed something to relieve it.
Jiang Ji did not explain. He only reminded him again. “Don’t turn around.”
The hand holding Jiang Ji’s cigarette suddenly came up and rested lightly against Yang Pusong’s shoulder. The touch was gentle, yet Yang Pusong felt as though something heavy had slammed into him. His knees almost weakened. In the next instant, Jiang Ji leaned closer—a kissing position.
Yang Pusong’s heart and mind shook. He had never seen Jiang Ji’s face from this close.
But there was no kiss. Their lips did not touch. Jiang Ji was not even looking at him. His gaze had drifted into the distance, toward something—or someone—behind Yang Pusong.
“Jiang Ji…”
“Don’t move.”
If the kiss had been real, it would probably have looked extremely lingering. At least, from behind Yang Pusong, the two of them appeared to be locked in a tight embrace and deep kiss with no space between them.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached from behind. A smile curled at the corner of Jiang Ji’s mouth. Yang Pusong vaguely understood. He had become one of the props in someone else’s game. The feeling was complicated.
And then Jiang Ji closed his eyes and pretended to be lost in the moment. He continued acting until a violent force suddenly tore the two of them apart.
“Jiang Ji!”
Lu Xingyan’s face was dark with fury. He shoved Yang Pusong aside with one elbow and seized his brother roughly. “What the hell are you doing?!”
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