Chapter 3

Yang Yunran had never been in a relationship before and naturally didn’t know how to interact with a partner. On top of that, he didn’t know anything about the original host’s relationship with his boyfriend, and to make matters worse he didn’t even know his boyfriend’s Chinese name!!

Yang Yunran tried to handle the situation with a universal approach, reaching out to grab the man’s sleeve and saying, “It’s okay, I’ve just been waiting for half an hour, and it’s a bit cold.”

“…I’m sorry.” Jiang Yi gently raised his hand and discreetly shook off Yang Yunran’s fingers from his sleeve, his expression as cold as ever, his eyes and brows dark like unforgiving ice crystals.

Although Yang Yunran felt that something wasn’t quite right, his boyfriend was too aloof he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He said, “Since we’ve made up now, how about we have dinner together later?”

Jiang Yi said, “There’s still work in the lab.”

“Still haven’t finished the experiment?” Yang Yunran checked the time on his phone; it was not even 3 PM yet.

Yang Yunran replied, “Oh, it’s still early. What time will you be done? I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

“You can’t come into the lab building,” Jiang Yi said, turning his head. “Go to the library instead.”

Yang Yunran asked, “Where is the library?”

Jiang Yi glanced at him for a moment, then looked away, speaking softly, “Follow me.”

He turned and walked ahead. Yang Yunran hurried to catch up; the original owner was slightly taller than him by a few centimeters. Yang Yunran had only grown to 177 cm due to childhood malnutrition in his past life.

Now he was almost 180 cm tall, slightly shorter than the average man. Yang Yunran observed his broad shoulders from behind, hastening to walk by his side again. He saw the black lab logo and abbreviation on his chest, under which was his English name: Evan.

“Evan,” a common name.

Jiang Yi led him to the courtyard of Building 14. There were no people reading outside in this weather. Through semi-transparent sky-blue glass windows was the courtyard café of Hayden Library, with bookshelves on the other side, creating a tranquil atmosphere.

Jiang Yi took out his student card from his pocket, taking him inside to the seating area. He said softly, “You can stay here.”

“The dining area?” Yang Yunran saw desserts and drinks on nearby tables. “It’s a café.”

“Yes, you can read there,” Jiang Yi instructed, then said, “I’m going back.”

He didn’t linger, leaving directly. Yang Yunran called out his English name, “Evan.”

Jiang Yi turned back, the winter sun casting across his deep profile through the glass.

Yang Yunran watched him say, “If you finish class, could you send me a message on WeChat?” He didn’t even know which WeChat account was his boyfriend’s; he checked all his friends yesterday and couldn’t find any chat records!

“Okay.” Jiang Yi was about to leave, then saw Yang Yunran smiling at him, waving and saying, “I’ll wait for you here, you go ahead and work!”

Jiang Yi withdrew his gaze, his steps were decisive and firm. He didn’t look back once, his black hair cut very short, his tall figure gradually receding from the courtyard outside the library.

Yang Yunran picked up a book on marketing from the shelf, ordered a toasted panini, and comfortably basked in the winter sun in a window seat.

After Jiang Yi left Hayden Library and returned to the lab, he received a voice call from Professor Chen Fangzhou.

Professor Chen was Jiang Yi’s teacher in China and also Yang Yunran’s uncle.

Professor Chen has been studying gene stem cell regeneration for fifteen years. Jiang Yi joined the project during university; he was precocious, admitted to Tsinghua’s Life Sciences Academy at fourteen, and was a true genius.

He entered Professor Chen’s Genetic Engineering Research Institute at seventeen, participating in research on gene editing and repair reconstruction technology.

Jiang Yi spent seven years at the institute, from adolescence to youth, dedicating all his time to scientific research.

Three years ago, Professor Chen wrote a recommendation letter for him to study for a PhD at MIT, excitedly telling him, “The head of this lab is an old friend of mine, and they’ve made new breakthroughs in genetic reconstruction technology! Jiang Yi, go to MIT and join their research. I need to know their research progress at all times. If there’s a breakthrough in a new endogenous repair mechanism, you must tell me immediately!”

Research data needed strict confidentiality, so Jiang Yi wouldn’t communicate data with Professor Chen but would discuss progress.

Six months ago, Professor Chen called Jiang Yi and said, “My nephew Yunran is coming to study in Boston. Jiang Yi, can you pick him up at the airport if you have time? He doesn’t know anyone in the US and is a public figure. It would be great if you could accompany him.”

Jiang Yi agreed, and Professor Chen said, “Great, I’ll give you his contact information.”

It rained heavily that day, and Jiang Yi was delayed at work in the lab, stuck in traffic, and missed Yunran.

Yunran probably waited at the airport for a long time and coldly said on WeChat, “I went to the hotel myself. Wouldn’t it be waiting until daytime if I waited for you? Haha, I don’t need your help.”

Then he deleted Jiang Yi.

Before that, Jiang Yi had only seen Yunran a few times at Professor Chen’s research institute. Usually, Jiang Yi did experiments there, wearing a mask and goggles.

People said, “That’s Professor Chen’s nephew, who lost an eye in an accident as a child. Isn’t our professor always working on constructing a three-dimensional artificial eyeball model closer to real tissue structure in the biology lab? It’s for giving that child a new eye. Professor Chen really cares for him.”

Apart from this, Jiang Yi didn’t have any more impressions of Yunran and didn’t expect him to come looking for him today, being so familiar with him.

In the phone call, Professor Chen and Jiang Yi exchanged research progress without mentioning Yunran.

After the airport pickup mistake six months ago, Professor Chen said, “Baby was angry on the phone. Did he scold you, Jiang Yi? Don’t take it to heart. He’s still young.”

He’s still “young.”

Professor Chen called his adult nephew “baby,” which Jiang Yi found somewhat amusing, indicating the family’s doting on that child.

Jiang Yi didn’t feel anything about Yunran, neither liking nor disliking him, just the professor’s nephew.

Professor Chen asked him to take care of Yunran, but due to force majeure, it ended before it began. Now Yunran came knocking, and Jiang Yi paused, saying to Professor Chen before hanging up, “Teacher, Yunran came to see me just now.”

Professor Chen was slightly surprised. “Really? This child… a few days ago, he called me saying he wanted to go back to China. Jiang Yi, you’re close to his school; please take care of the kid more, help him with his language.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yi agreed.

“Alright, you go back to the lab. We’ll talk more if there’s new progress.”

The call ended, and Jiang Yi returned to the lab. Ken looked up from the microscope and asked him, “Back already? Evan, your boyfriend looks quite small. Is he an adult?”

“It’s not a boyfriend, you heard wrong,” Jiang Yi thought it was a misunderstanding due to Yang Yunran’s poor English and explained, “He’s an adult.”

Ken: “Ah? I didn’t mishear… Alright,” Ken also thought Jiang Yi didn’t want to admit it, so he went along with it obediently, “Wow, he’s actually an adult. You Easterners all look very young.”

Jiang Yi just “hmmed” and turned to perform immunocytochemical staining on the cells, saying, “Ken, take a look at the staining results.”

The stained cells gradually unfolded under the microscope, swelling like solar flares.

Speckled light fell on Yang Yunran’s back.

In the library lounge, Yang Yunran lowered his head to read when his phone vibrated.

Taking a look, it was a call from his uncle.

Yang Yunran was startled, afraid of being exposed, and immediately swiped to hang up.

He opened the chat page and reviewed the chat records with his uncle.

He had already seen these contents last night and had also searched online.

Uncle Chen Fangzhou was an outstanding professor in biology, with a genetic engineering research institute under his name. Just the government’s funding for research projects amounted to tens of billions annually.

The industrialization of research results made Professor Chen’s revenue substantial.

As for the relationship between Professor Chen and the original owner, it could be said to be very close. They messaged almost every day, and Professor Chen cared deeply for him, calling every few days, more frequent than contact with his parents.

Learning the original owner’s typing habits, Yang Yunran told Professor Chen, “I’m at the library.”

Professor Chen replied, “Is my baby studying well, at the MIT library?”

Yang Yunran: “…”

Goosebumps rose on Yang Yunran’s arms. He wasn’t quite used to being called “baby” by Professor Chen. As an only child, the original owner’s parents also called him that, probably from childhood until now.

But that was a small matter. How did Professor Chen know he was at the MIT library?

Yang Yunran replied, “Uncle, how did you know?”

Professor Chen: “I know you went to find Jiang Yi. MIT is relatively close to your school and where you live, making it convenient for you to go see him after class or for him to pick you up.”

Yang Yunran was somewhat alarmed. Did Professor Chen know about his boyfriend?

Was his boyfriend called Jiang Yi? Yang Yunran recalled from the novel; it sounded quite familiar. It should be this name.

Judging from Professor Chen’s tone, it seemed like he knew about their relationship, but also seemed like he didn’t… Yang Yunran scrolled through the chat records; it hadn’t been mentioned there.

Just a few days ago, the original owner had complained to Professor Chen about not having any friends abroad.

Forget it, he had to probe slowly. He couldn’t ask directly.

Yang Yunran typed, “Okay. Uncle, what time is it there? Have you eaten?”

Professor Chen replied, “Haha, it’s already 2:30 in the morning here. I’m about to sleep!”

Yang Yunran quickly said, “Then let’s not chat! You should go to bed! Good night!”

Yang Yunran continued reading. The spring semester would start at the end of next month. A hearing concerning him would be held, and he had to figure out the contents of his study subject before then.

English reading was somewhat of a barrier for him, but not very difficult. For unfamiliar words, he used translation software. Yang Yunran read slowly, unwittingly passing the time. As the sky darkened, the library lights came on, and outside, the courtyard’s snow was illuminated by the night lamps.

In the darkness, the snow blended shades of blue and amber.

“Yang Yunran.”

He heard someone calling his name, lifted his head, and saw Jiang Yi standing a few steps away. He had changed out of his white coat and wore a simple black down jacket, matching pants, and sneakers.

The outfit was ordinary, and on someone else, it might have been forgettable. But because Jiang Yi had a good figure and a sufficiently handsome face, it made him stand out.

Perfect, almost like sculpted from jade. Yang Yunran admired silently in his heart. He didn’t want to break up anymore. Such a good-looking man, it would be a shame not to play around a bit.

Jiang Yi walked up to him, and Yang Yunran raised his head to ask, “Are you done with classes?”

Jiang Yi replied coldly, “Yes.”

“Oh, okay, let’s go then!” The library had turned on the heating. Yang Yunran took off his coat and scarf, hung them over the chair, stood up, put on his coat again, and glanced at Jiang Yi because it was too hot to wear a scarf. He took a glance at Jiang Yi.

Is it okay to order your boyfriend around like this?

Yang Yunran handed him the scarf: “Jiang Yi, help me with this.”

Yang Yunran’s orders were very natural, and he felt a little nervous. Looking at him out of the corner of his eye, this way of getting along was right…?

Jiang Yi looked down at him without refusal, reached out and took the black scarf hanging on his arm, and at the same time, took the marketing book borrowed from him: “Do you want to borrow it or return it?”