On Saturday morning, Lu Yang took the early bus to meet Xin Hexue again. For lovers in the passionate early stages of a relationship, even a half-hour bus ride felt like an unbearable long-distance relationship spanning the ends of the earth. If it weren’t for Xin Hexue strict prohibition, Lu Yang might have ridden the bus back and forth every day just to have dinner with Xin Hexue.
After enduring until the weekend, Lu Yang hadn’t been with Xin Hexue for long when, after having lunch together at noon, Xin Hexue had to take a taxi to tutor an ungrateful male high school student.
“Don’t tutor for that family anymore. What kind of thing are they? They can’t even distinguish the king from the jack just because they have a few banknotes.” Lu Yang’s eyes darkened, his face cold and fierce. “If I ever meet him face to face, I’ll definitely teach him a lesson in respect.”
Xin Hexue listened with a calm expression.
He only briefly mentioned to Lu Yang the situation he encountered last weekend, already glossing over the impropriety in Jiang Tongchen’s words. Unfortunately, it could not change the fact that the other party was no different from a beast in Lu Yang’s eyes.
Lu Yang: “For people like this, their level of hatefulness is just as the books say…’If you find out the way to his house in the morning, he should be dead by night’.”
Xin Hexue raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked hesitantly, “If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening?”
***Meaning: learning something valuable even if it leads to death.
Lu Yang’s eyes widened, and the hand holding Xin Hexue’s even swung happily with joy. His tone held a touch of naive inquiry. “You tell me, are we a match made in heaven? Otherwise, how do you always know what I’m thinking?”
Xin Hexue neither confirmed nor denied it. He even patted Lu Yang’s head with a somewhat affectionate gesture. Lu Yang deliberately lowered his head to let him pat it a second time.
“You should read more books,” he advised.
Fortunately, there were no abnormal factors interfering with the physiological structures in this small world, otherwise Xin Hexue would definitely have asked Lu Yang to get a vasectomy.
It was truly terrifying.
He also felt helpless about the fact that intelligence doesn’t spread through sex.
It was just past noon, with sparse pedestrians.
The sun hangs high in the sky, its rays shining brightly, making one feel lazy and relaxed. The lake was quiet, with willows swaying gently, their green like rippling jade waves.
When they reached a secluded spot, Xin Hexue was suddenly pulled forcefully by Lu Yang into the shade of a tree, the movement startling a kingfisher to skim over the reed marshes.
A kiss as scorching as his warm palm was branded onto Xin Hexue’s lips. Lu Yang tilted his head, kissing and sucking lightly, like a large dog using its wet black nose to curry favor with a human.
This metaphor made Xin Hexue laugh softly. “Do you really not have a tail wagging behind you?”
Lu Yang: “I don’t understand. I just want to kiss you.”
As he spoke, he kissed his lover again, heedless of everything else.
Being in love was like ice cream melting in summer. No matter how much you restrained it, the sweet strawberry flavor would still ooze out from the cracks in the chocolate coating.
Lu Yang couldn’t help but ask, “Do you really still have to go?”
Xin Hexue answered in a very light tone, “I have no choice. He’s offering too much.”
Though he didn’t know why, the eldest brother of the Jiang family seemed very concerned about his younger brother’s studies. The younger brother, Jiang Tongchen, was stubborn and unyielding, but judging from his subdued demeanor before parting last time, he probably wouldn’t dare show such overt and overflowing malice this week.
Moreover, according to Jiang Heguang’s request, Xin Hexue only needed to deliver his own lesson. Whether it was listened to, understood, or not, depended on Jiang Tongchen’s own comprehension.
The family was supporting two university students studying in Beijing. He wanted to ease the financial pressure on his aunt and uncle. According to Xin Hexue’s current plans, there would be many places that required continued spending in the future, especially during his graduate studies and further education. It’s just that he might not encounter such generous parents then.
“Can’t I earn money for you?” Lu Yang offered, like a husband who had finally found legitimate work after marriage. “I found a part-time job as a basketball coach at a youth palace.”
Xin Hexue praised in a light tone, “Sounds good, very suitable for you.”
It seemed the probability of making him give up this tutoring opportunity wasn’t high.
Lu Yang’s mind was clear as a mirror. Great wisdom can appear as foolishness. He knew that Xin Hexue responded better to soft approaches than hard ones. Through persistent pestering, he successfully made Xin Hexue agree to go out with him to stroll the night market tonight.
By the time he saw Xin Hexue off into a taxi by the roadside, Lu Yang was already thinking about what to wear for tonight’s date in his mind.
Not long after walking back, the phone in his pants pocket rang. Lu Yang answered without looking. “Did you forget something? I haven’t left yet. Do you want me to go get it from your dorm?”
Zhuang Tongguang said calmly, “Lu Yang.”
“Do you have time to meet?”
Lu Yang was stunned. “…Yes.”
Then he chuckled casually. “I definitely have time, Brother Tongguang.”
…………
The dappled light through the tree shadows was like a veil, covering the area before the study window.
Looking down from the large window, one could see most of the private garden’s scenery. The cotton rose hibiscus, famous for changing color three times a day, glowed with a pink sheen in the afternoon sun. The gardener tended the low shrubbery and flower walls, the specialized pruning shears making soft sounds when cutting branches.
Same location, same people, but the student opposite had changed drastically.
All earrings were removed, leaving only tiny, hard-to-find piercings. The silver hair was all dyed back, now a neat and proper black short cut.
He listened to the lesson and took notes without a word.
While lecturing, Xin Hexue casually glanced at Jiang Tongchen’s legs, which were in casts on the wheelchair.
If legs could be broken, what was hair?
A minimal submission.
Xin Hexue talked to a brick wall for most of the afternoon. Before leaving, he was informed by the housekeeper to wait a moment; the sir would be back soon.
Did he have something to say to him?
Xin Hexue had no qualms, and freely enjoyed afternoon tea in the yard.
The housekeeper auntie carried the refreshments upstairs, and Jiang Tongchen slammed the door shut upon hearing the sounds on the staircase.
One of his bad friends called, and he answered impatiently. “If you have something to say, say it quickly. If you have a fart to let out, let it out quickly. Do you know how precious time is in senior year?”
Meng Wenzhuo found it strange. “You’ve changed your ways? I originally heard from Old Three that you’re holed up focusing on studying now, but I didn’t believe it. I heard you even have tutoring on weekends too. Intense, huh?”
Jiang Tongchen: “Say what you have to say. I’m busy studying for the college entrance exams.”
Meng Wenzhuo: “Why not just have your brother donate a building?”
Due to their families being generations of friends, Meng Wenzhuo knew the Jiang family background well. The father currently forced into the ICU by the eldest son was a second-generation red. The late mother’s family belonged to a prominent local power in Hong Kong. With their political and business backgrounds, plus the current eldest son’s capabilities, wasn’t donating money or buildings to get his brainless younger brother into university just a matter of signing a name?
Meng Wenzhuo questioned: “If it doesn’t work on the mainland, wouldn’t it be better for you to go back to Hong Kong or abroad? Without your brother watching, you could focus on your racing.”
Jiang Tongchen: “How many times do I have to say it? Jiang Heguang won’t let me leave the country! I think he just wants to push me to death. He doesn’t even care about father and son, what are brothers? To put it bluntly, he’s just jealous of me!”
Meng Wenzhuo laughed loudly. “What is he jealous of you for?”
Jiang Tongchen suppressed his brows and eyes, his gaze clearly showing disdain for the unfortunate, proudly saying: “Jealous that I’m healthier than him, jealous that I’m luckier and didn’t inherit…”
“Unlike him, a pathetic wretch who is always on the verge of…”
Meng Wenzhuo was at a party, champagne was spraying everywhere, and everyone was laughing and clinking glasses. For a moment, he didn’t hear Jiang Tongchen’s words clearly, only vaguely catching a few words.
Fortunately, he wasn’t curious and didn’t care about the Jiang family’s messy affairs. Meng Wenzhuo threw his head back and drank a full glass heartily. The people around flattered him: “Young Master Meng has great alcohol capacity!”
Meng Wenzhuo scanned the companions, lacking interest. Only when he thought of someone did he remember the original reason for calling Jiang Tongchen to boast. “I’m telling you, unexpectedly there’s a celestial beauty among this year’s freshmen. I have never seen anyone so beautiful in my life. The first look made me completely mesmerized…”
Jiang Tongchen listened to his endless chatter, snorted with a laugh, and thought to himself, I have an even better-looking one here. I said a couple of things to him and got my legs broken by Jiang Heguang. Good-looking? What’s the use of being good-looking? No life to enjoy it.’
‘Clearly, Jiang Heguang has taken a fancy to him and is using me as a cover.’
Jiang Tongchen gritted his teeth in anger.
Meng Wenzhuo on the other end of the phone had already been talking to himself for a long time, and finally said something arrogant: “Just wait. I’ve already inquired about his major, name, and hometown. I will definitely succeed by the social gathering at the end of this month. It just so happens that Old Three got some new stuff.”
Jiang Tongchen moved the phone away from his ear and said coldly: “Scum.”
Before Meng Wenzhuo finished, he hung up.
…………
The Jiang family’s private garden was indeed quite large. Xin Hexue saw the gardener packing up his tools and heading towards the storage room. He had eaten some pastries and biscuits during afternoon tea, and his stomach felt slightly uncomfortable. This waiting gap was perfect for a walk to aid digestion.
The wind carried his scent far away, simultaneously bringing back faint whimpers, like the distinctive cries of a puppy missing its mother. It was probably some kind of pet the villa owner kept.
But for some reason, the cries suddenly tugged at Xin Hexue’s sensitive nerves.
He circled around the low bushes. Behind the flower wall, there was another corner with a low hut painted blue.
Next to it stood a warning sign: “Vicious Dog Inside. No Entry.”
Xin Hexue crouched down not far away, faced the darkness of the low hut, and called out, “Zuo zuo zuo.” (A sound to call dogs.)
Jiang Tongchen, who was on the second floor, suddenly pushed the window open.
