Translator: Xena
Editor: CLYo
It was not until Jiang Yao got into a taxi and disappeared into the traffic that Duan Zhuxian got into his car. The consideration and cautiousness hidden beneath his eyes relaxed a little bit.
He sat in the back seat, opened the door, and lit a cigarette.
Earlier, Jiang Yao was smoking fiercely in front of him. His soft, moist lips repeatedly wrapped around the cigarette filter. When he lowered his eyes and exhaled smoke, he made deliberate and impatient deep breaths, one after another.
He was a little addicted.
When the cigarette was half burned, Duan Zhuxian took out his cell phone and opened the photo album. The latest photo was of Jiang Yao drinking.
He slowly flipped through a few pictures, and the protagonists were all Jiang Yao.
Before rushing to the company to preside over an emergency meeting this morning, he deliberately left someone to wait in the hotel who would report to him about Jiang Yao’s movements at any time.
These photos were taken at the club a few hours ago.
Under the booth’s dim and ambiguous atmospheric lights, Jiang Yao sat alone, wearing an ill-fitting black shirt.
Even the flamboyant red highlights at the ends of his hair looked dull.
In his impression, Jiang Yao was like a proud red fox. He couldn’t hide his arrogance no matter whether he won or lost, and he rarely showed such hesitant and fragile expressions.
The only two similar memories were when Jiang Yao asked him outside the school gate ten years ago with a look of disappointment on his face why he confiscated his love letter and then rushed up to him with red eyes and punched him.
Another time was last night.
Jiang Yao rushed into his room and drunkenly lunged at him until the other was pinned down by him in reverse.
Soon after, the reluctance on that beautiful face gradually turned into confusion, and his resistance and counterattacks slowly turned into unconscious compliance. He couldn’t figure it out because he couldn’t process the situation well, causing his wet eyes to be full of unspeakable desires…
The last wisp of smoke rose and dissipated.
Duan Zhuxian put out his unsmoked cigarette, closed the car door, and said to the driver, “Drive.”
The driver asked, “President Duan, are you going back to your residence?”
Duan Zhuxian replied, “To the company.”
At that moment, the built-in car navigation reported the time: 22:00.
The driver started the car. Although he was not surprised by the destination, he still felt a bit curious.
As the youngest senior executive of Huayan Group, President Duan led the team to expand the territory boldly and decisively in order to win the support of the masses as soon as possible after he took office. Every minute and every second was precisely allocated in his schedule. He was simply a complete workaholic.
It was rare for him to suddenly drop work and run to a club full of debauchery like today.
He thought that after working non-stop for so long, President Duan was finally willing to give himself a break, become like the young person he was, and enjoy himself. However, he didn’t expect that after the break, he would still go back to the company to work overtime.
*
Today was Sunday, the end of the weekend. People were hiding away in their residences, and taxis were driving by faster and faster.
Jiang Yao pressed his face against the open car window, unable to open his eyes because of the howling night wind.
The driver kindly reminded him, “Handsome guy, if you let the cold wind blow on you while you’re drunk, you’ll have a headache the next day.”
“I’m not drunk.”
Jiang Yao retorted subconsciously but was choked by the cold air. He coughed and retracted his head.
The driver smiled and didn’t intend to argue with the passenger. He just slowed down the car slightly, a little worried that the passenger would vomit in his car.
Over ten minutes ago, Jiang Yao stopped the taxi at the entrance of the club. His steps were hurried and unsteady, and his eyes, nose, and cheeks were all red.
From the driver’s point of view, it was the most obvious sign of drunkenness.
Otherwise, how could a grown man cry on the streets?
The phone in his pocket vibrated.
Jiang Yao rubbed his stiff face, opened WeChat, and replied to the work message sent by his subordinates. Then he received a voice message from his childhood friend Chen Yiqi, asking him to go to Moments to help like a post to show support.
He opened his Moments and saw the latest post was a photo his brother posted of him having dinner with their parents.
The three of them had their arms around each other’s shoulders, filling the screen so full that no one else could fit in. It was very warm and cozy.
In the comment section, a friend of his brother had left a message: [The power of genetics is too strong. You’re simply the result of your parents added together.]
The taxi entered the double roundabout section and went around it. Jiang Yao felt a little dizzy as he stared at his phone.
It was strange to say but he looked nothing like his family members since he was a child, one could even say he was their total opposite.
When the four of them go out together, outsiders can usually tell at a glance that his brother is his parents’ child, but they always hesitate a little when it comes to his identity.
A few minutes later, Jiang Yao forgot about liking Chen Yiqi’s post, he liked his brother’s post instead and closed WeChat directly.
Maybe it was because he talked too much to that bastard Duan Zhuxian, but he suddenly felt a little stifled in his chest.
After returning home, Jiang Yao rushed into his room on the second floor, changed his clothes quickly, threw the black shirt on the ground, stomped on it a few times, then crumpled it up and stuffed it whole into the trash can.
He had been drinking to drown his sorrows today and was already famished. Unfortunately, the housekeeper had called in for a day off, so he had no choice but to go into the kitchen and find some fast food to fill his stomach.
When he came back and passed by the study, Jiang Yao heard his parents talking through the half-open door and mentioning his name.
He stopped and eavesdropped for a while. He found out that his parents were actually discussing arranging a marriage for him.
Yuan Li obviously disagreed. Her voice came out from the crack of the door resoundingly, “Yaoyao has his own life. He shouldn’t be dragged into this, he has no obligation to sacrifice his future.”
Jiang Qingtian was silent for a long time before sighing. “Well, you’re right. If it really can’t be done, then let’s think of other ways.”
Jiang Yao stood at the door, frowning slightly.
The Jiang family originally ran a hardware business in a small southern city. Twenty years ago, when the first wave of the Internet hit, the couple had a keen eye and immediately booked for a commercial ship ticket, boarded the great ship of the era, and sailed to Lingbei City with all their assets to settle down, and founded Jiangli Technology.
However, since the beginning of this year, Jiangli’s big ship has sailed into a reef due to certain policy reasons. Shareholders have been divided, with large meetings followed by small meetings. Now even the co-investors were thinking of jumping ship and withdrawing their investment.
In this situation, one usually has to find a reliable partner for support, and marriage was a good, simple, and crude way to do it.
Jiang Yao’s brother, Jiang Chen, was two years older than him. Two years ago, he married the daughter of the Meng Group. It was also a business marriage.
Jiang Chen made a fuss for a long time and even asked his parents whether they would be willing to send him to marry someone else if he was his younger brother.
It was no wonder that Jiang Chen spoke without thinking. From childhood to adulthood, Jiang Qingtian and Yuan Li were indeed particularly accommodating to Jiang Yao. No matter what mistakes he made, they never beat or scolded him, and were always kind to him, which was in stark contrast to Jiang Chen, who was brought up under the stick.
Jiang Chen had been jealous many times because of this kind of thing and had even secretly told Jiang Yao that he suspected he was picked up somewhere.
In the beginning, Jiang Yao was proud of being favored by his parents, but as he grew older, he felt more and more that his parents seemed too careful with him and there was a sense of distance between him and them.
Like now, for example. His brother could be pushed out to take responsibility by his parents on the grounds of family dedication without any hesitation, so why couldn’t he?
Even using such an estranged word as “drag”…
Wasn’t he part of this family?
Besides, marriage wasn’t a one-shot, all-out deal. One could always get divorced if they couldn’t live together anymore. The most urgent thing was to help the family get through this difficult time first.
A surge of blood rushed to his head as Jiang Yao pushed the door open.
“Dad, Mom, don’t make things difficult. It’s not like I can’t get married.”
In front of the large desk, the capable-looking woman and the blessed-looking man both looked towards the door.
Yuan Li didn’t expect Jiang Yao to hear them. She suppressed the aura she had just used when talking to her husband and spoke with some difficulty, “Yaoyao, the other party is a boy.”
Jiang Yao nodded. “Yes, I heard.”
Jiang Qingtian, who was sitting on the sofa, put down the teacup in his hand, looked up at Jiang Yao, and said in a kind tone, “This is a major turning point in your life. Mom and Dad have no right to decide for you and will not force you to do anything.”
Surrounded by his parents’ indulgent gazes, Jiang Yao’s blood slowly subsided and he realized that he seemed a little impulsive.
The sudden defeat he suffered today had severely damaged his self-esteem. His mind was still in a mess and he’d been wanting to prove something.
Although “romance” was not an option in his current life pursuits, and he was quite indifferent towards marriage, this was a decision that concerned himself and his family after all, it couldn’t be made based solely on a surge of blood and a sense of responsibility.
He pondered for a moment but still left some leeway. “Let’s meet the person first, and then we can talk about this again if we’re not suitable.”
*
Before going to bed, Jiang Yao prepared himself mentally for a long time before walking into the bathroom, but he still stood in front of the mirror in a daze.
Jiang Yao started learning martial arts at the age of nine. Despite his fair skin and lean body, he was full of strength like a bamboo breaking through the ground and was definitely not the type to be bullied.
However, at this moment, this body seemed to have experienced bullying.
Even his knees were a little blue.
When he woke up at the hotel, the sunlight had been blocked out by the heavy curtains and the room was very dim.
In addition, he was so panicked at the time that he wore his clothes and fled the hotel in a hurry, not even bothering to check himself carefully.
“Duan Zhuxian, that motherfvking son of a bitch!!”
Jiang Yao couldn’t help but curse out loud and then simply tilt his neck back to avoid looking at the marks. He turned on the shower head and let the water wash over him.
After rinsing off the first layer of foam, he reapplied shower gel several times, as if he had obsessive-compulsive disorder and mysophobia.
He had lost consciousness last night, and what he remembered thereafter was full of dampness and wrapped in sweat as if his entire body had been drowned.
However, after waking up, he didn’t feel dirty, which meant that someone had helped him clean up.
Recalling Duan Zhuxian saying that he had applied medicine to him, Jiang Yao’s mind uncontrollably emerged with a scene—
Duan Zhuxian stood by the bed and wiped the ointment evenly on him bit by bit…
Jiang Yao couldn’t help but let out a “fvck” as the sudden surge of heat stung his cheeks from the inside out and burned all the way to his ears.
He lowered the water temperature, but it still failed to relieve the heat on his face.
Jiang Yao took this bath for a full hour, alternating between hot and cold water as he rubbed his skin red.
As he lay on the bed, he felt as if there was a smell on his body that had not been washed off, resembling the smell of some kind of animal.
He hadn’t turned on the big lights the entire night last night, and it was so dark all around him that he felt like he was dreaming. There was only a blurry night light that shook at a high frequency, and he couldn’t tell whether it was the light that was moving or his vision that was moving.
He had poor vision in the dark, and when he couldn’t see clearly, his other senses became extra sharp.
In that drunken state of his, he had smelled a conspicuous scent coming from Duan Zhuxian, which was coldly distinct and dangerous. Every time he inhaled it, it would set his heart racing.
It was like standing on the edge of a cliff on a high-latitude snowfield while surrounded by the night sky. If you made a mistake, you would fall into the abyss…
Exhausted, Jiang Yao fell asleep quickly, but his sleep wasn’t very sound. He saw a bizarre dream as heavy as a block of lead and in the dream, he was being chased by a madman.
The man hooked his neck from behind and, like a pervert, used the tip of a knife to tear the fabric of his trousers at the back. He turned around in fear and saw that the madman had the face of Duan Zhuxian.
The next morning, Jiang Yao got up early with a yawn.
Not long after arriving at the company, he met with business partners and got busy until his feet didn’t touch the ground anymore.
Jiang Yao has always been an optimist and was best at self-regulation. He rarely remained in a depressed state for a long time.
After devoting himself to work, he gradually recovered.
As for the absurdity of that night, he just treated it as being bitten by a dog.
He didn’t even need to get an anti-rabies vaccine, it was no big deal.
His top priority now was to get married and reach the peak of his life.
Who has time to bother about Duan Zhuxian, the guy who’d been kicked out of his life’s big picture a long time ago?
【 The author has something to say】
Life’s big picture: Is that so? (Turning around and taking out a small paragraph)
