Since Secretary Lu had gotten the job through connections, Jiang Ji needed a superficially reasonable excuse if he wanted to fire him; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain once they got home.
Jiang Ji could not think of one for the moment, so he dragged it out for several more days.
During those few days, Lu Xingyan remained completely unaware that his days were numbered. He was bursting with enthusiasm at the company and helping everywhere, from revising proposals and writing code for project teams to looking after employees’ personal lives; if someone was heartbroken after a breakup, he would even offer a few words of comfort and order milk tea for them, practically turning himself into a saint.
When people thanked him, he said there was no need. “It’s what I should do.”
He acted even more like the boss than Jiang Ji did.
After watching him for days, Jeanne could not help getting curious. “Why are you working so hard? Aren’t you tired?”
Lu Xingyan said profoundly, “Not at all. You wouldn’t understand. I’m willing to do anything for President Jiang.”
“…” Jeanne cringed at how cheesy that sounded. His tone seemed a little strange to her, though she could not tell exactly what was strange, so she dryly praised him. “You brothers really are close.”
Lu Xingyan immediately put on an inscrutable expression. “See? You really don’t understand. Forget it.” With that, he strolled away, leaving the female assistant staring after him in confusion.
It was not that Lu Xingyan did not want to explain properly; Jiang Ji had strictly forbidden him from showing off their relationship.
He said, “It’s fine. As long as I can be with you, I’m satisfied,” but in reality he was itching unbearably to show off, dropping roundabout hints to Jeanne every day that he and Jiang Ji were not like other brothers.
Yet Jeanne, who normally seemed to have pretty decent emotional intelligence, was a complete blockhead when it came to this. No matter how much Lu Xingyan tried to enlighten her, she never understood a thing.
For example, when Lu Xingyan said, “We’re not related by blood. We’re not real brothers,” Jeanne replied, “That’s okay. You don’t have to be real brothers to be closer than real brothers. As long as you get along, haha.”
When Lu Xingyan said, “Don’t you think President Jiang treats me differently? He’s serious with everyone else, but he smiles at me all the time,” Jeanne replied, “Really? I never noticed.”
When Lu Xingyan said, “Ever since I came to the company, President Jiang’s complexion has improved and even his appetite has increased,” Jeanne replied, “That’s normal. If someone prepared four dishes and a soup for me every lunchtime, my appetite would increase too”…
Lu Xingyan was speechless. He could not understand how someone this oblivious had managed to become Jiang Ji’s only assistant, especially when she repeatedly swooned over Jiang Ji right in front of him. “Wow, President Jiang’s suit is so fitted today. It really shows off his figure.”
Lu Xingyan wanted to fire her.
Unfortunately, Lu Xingyan had no authority to fire anyone; instead, he himself was about to be fired.
—A few days later, Jiang Ji finally came up with an excuse and figured out a tactful way to fire him.
It was the last Friday of May, both the end of the month and the start of the weekend. Although plenty of work was still ongoing, there was the illusion that everything had temporarily come to an end and everyone could relax for two days.
With half an hour left before quitting time, Jiang Ji received a message from a certain someone right on schedule.
Lu Xingyan: “Are we going straight home after work, or should I wait for you at the usual place?”
Lu Xingyan: “[Kiss][Kiss][Kiss]”
Jiang Ji: “…”
“The usual place” meant his private lounge.
They worked five or six days a week, went into the private lounge to fool around at least four times, and occasionally even had an “extra snack” in the car.
The private lounge was actually pretty comfortable; the car was more torturous because the space was cramped and poorly ventilated, and even with the air-conditioning on, there was still an unbearably sticky, suggestive sense of suffocation.
Lu Xingyan’s technique improved astonishingly fast; whether he used his mouth or his hands, he understood far better than before how to stimulate Jiang Ji.
They were no longer limiting themselves to mouths and hands, either.
They had gotten home late the night before, and after the garage door closed, leaving the car completely dark inside, they kissed in the back seat.
Jiang Ji had only meant to kiss him once before going upstairs, but once a deep kiss started, it was difficult to stop. Lu Xingyan treated the restraint he had endured all day at the company as though it had been a separation, and the instant he touched Jiang Ji’s lips was their reunion; his limbs seemed to sprout suction cups, and once he latched onto Jiang Ji, he refused to let go easily.
They undressed as they kissed; Jiang Ji fell sideways across the back seat, and Lu Xingyan undid his belt, freed himself, and pressed into Jiang Ji’s palm.
Their mouths were still locked together, and Jiang Ji was not someone willing to show weakness or retreat, but if he wanted things to stop, he had no choice but to pull away; the moment he did, Lu Xingyan chased him even more closely and asked, “Why are you dodging?”
Every word spoken during a deep kiss was damp and hot. Jiang Ji’s breathing quickened and the tips of his ears burned as he reached back, grabbed Lu Xingyan, and reversed their positions.
The car roof was too low, forcing Jiang Ji to hunch his entire body. His thigh caught against the metal buckle of his younger brother’s belt, and under the unfamiliar stimulation, his overly tense body gave a subtle, electric shudder.
The reaction was not actually very strong. No matter how far things went, Jiang Ji would never react too intensely; that would be undignified.
But Lu Xingyan already knew him far too well; he could catch every tiny tremor Jiang Ji made, tell exactly what he reacted to, then seize on it and intensify the sensation.
So the belt was pulled free, wound around Jiang Ji’s thigh, and tied tight. The cold metal buckle pressed against his hipbone and caught against the inside of his thigh, digging into him whenever he moved as though he were being tortured.
Jiang Ji could not stand it. “Undo it. Who gave you permission to do that?”
Lu Xingyan did not call him out and instead coaxed him obediently. “My fault. Bear with it, big brother.”
“…” This man apologized as casually as breathing now; he had long since stopped feeling any shame over it.
There was something subtle about the very idea of “coaxing” someone: if one person was particularly good at coaxing another, it meant he understood exactly where the latter’s weak points were and could turn passivity into initiative, influencing him more and more deeply.
In other words, a relationship built on control was not safe; absolute control required ensuring that you yourself remained unaffected and did not sink into it.
But people were naturally drawn to pleasure, and when the pleasure became too intense, the will lost control over the body. Every day Jiang Ji thought this could not continue, and the next day everything remained exactly the same.
That belt left his entire leg numb. When he got out of the car, he could not stand steadily, and Lu Xingyan caught him in one motion, pulled him hard into his arms, and kissed him until he was starved of air.
Jiang Ji rarely found himself in such an undignified state, which only strengthened his determination to fire Secretary Lu.
Lu Xingyan still wanted to do it today, clearly growing even bolder after getting a taste of it. Jiang Ji replied, “Home. I have something to tell you.”
Lu Xingyan did not realize how serious the situation was and asked, “What is it?”
Three cutesy reaction stickers followed the sentence.
Jiang Ji did not reply again. The moment work ended, he took Lu Xingyan and left right on time.
It was rare for them to come home so early, and the moment they stepped inside, Lu Yong and Jiang Wanyi were both surprised. “You’re back this early?”
“…” Jiang Ji nodded. “No overtime today.”
Lu Xingyan was still completely clueless. “My brother said he has something to talk about.” He turned to Jiang Ji. “What is it? Who do you need to talk to? Stop keeping us in suspense.”
Jiang Ji did not answer and stubbornly waited until they were at the dinner table before speaking.
For anyone other than Lu Xingyan, this was a trivial matter and hardly worth worrying about.
But out of consideration for Lu Yong, Jiang Ji still needed to explain himself a little to avoid causing conflict at home.
He addressed Lu Yong. “Uncle, Lu Xingyan’s thesis defense is next Wednesday. He says there’s no pressure, but I think he should prepare properly, so he shouldn’t go to work on Monday or Tuesday.”
“What for?” Lu Xingyan cut in. “I thought you were going to announce something serious. So you’re just worried about me. Why are you being so solemn about it…”
Lu Xingyan tried to act as though he did not care, but he could not suppress his smile and hid it by eating. Before he could even swallow that mouthful, Jiang Ji said, “What I mean is, you shouldn’t work for me anymore. Being a secretary doesn’t suit you.”
Lu Xingyan froze.
Lu Yong asked, “What happened? Did he cause trouble for you?”
Jiang Wanyi looked over curiously too.
“No,” Jiang Ji said. “It’s my problem. I’m too busy and don’t have time to teach him. Rather than have him idle around doing nothing, he’d be better off finding somewhere that can genuinely train him and learning something properly.”
“How am I not learning?” Lu Xingyan snapped. “What do you mean by that?”
Lu Yong tapped him with his chopsticks. “Is that any way to talk to your brother? What kind of attitude is that?”
“…”
Lu Xingyan lowered his head and shoveled rice into his mouth, his throat so tight that it was hard to swallow.
He watched Jiang Ji from the corner of his eye, but unfortunately there was no expression to read—Jiang Ji was acting as though he were not Lu Xingyan’s boyfriend at all. Without discussing it with him beforehand, he had simply made the decision in front of their parents and fired him.
Why? On what grounds? Had he done anything wrong?
He had clearly made himself small and obedient both at work and in private, always listening to Jiang Ji, yet this man had turned on him without warning and simply discarded him.
Lu Xingyan choked on a mouthful of rice, covered his mouth, and coughed violently several times until his face turned red.
Jiang Ji acted as though he had not seen it and showed no concern whatsoever. Jiang Wanyi was the one who pulled out a napkin and handed it over. Lu Xingyan wiped his mouth hastily, dropped his chopsticks, and stood up from the table. “I’m full!”
“Lu Xingyan!” Lu Yong shouted after him. “Who are you giving that attitude to?”
But Lu Xingyan had already strode upstairs, returned to his room, and slammed the door hard enough for the sound to travel from the second floor all the way down to the dining room, as though he had suffered some enormous injustice and there was not a single person in the family who understood him.
Lu Yong was about to keep scolding him, but Jiang Ji hurriedly stopped him. “Forget it, Uncle. I didn’t discuss it with him first. He has a right to be angry.”
“You too.” Lu Yong was not in a position to say much, but Jiang Wanyi started blaming her own son. “You know what your brother is like. Why didn’t you ask for his opinion first?”
“…”
Of course he couldn’t ask. Lu Xingyan would never have agreed.
Jiang Wanyi continued lecturing him for quite a while. Jiang Ji quietly endured it, though he was starting to feel irritated too.
He had thought Lu Xingyan would at least be able to remain calm at the dinner table and wait until they were alone to make a scene, but a leopard could not change its spots; this man’s rotten temper had not improved in the slightest.
The meal left everyone unhappy. Afterward, Jiang Ji went out to the garden for a cigarette.
As he smoked, he thought, All I did was stop him from being my secretary and he reacted this badly. If I bring up breaking up after a while, won’t he turn the whole house upside down?
Jiang Ji extinguished the cigarette and went back upstairs to change. The door next door was tightly shut. He knocked twice, but there was no response.
Jiang Ji understood Lu Xingyan’s temper far too well: he was the type who would be fine if you ignored him, but the more you coaxed him, the more worked up he became. Jiang Ji had fired him precisely because he wanted to change how excessively intimate they had become lately; cooling things down would be better.
Jiang Ji returned to his room. When he came out again after changing, there was still no movement from next door. Lu Xingyan seemed to have decided that if no one came to coax him, he would never open the door again.
If that were really the case, he might as well weld the door shut. After all, over all these years, whether their arguments had been serious or minor, Jiang Ji had never once truly coaxed him afterward.
Jiang Ji had plans to play cards with friends that evening. He decided to leave Lu Xingyan alone for the time being and go enjoy a private life that belonged only to himself.
Leave a Reply