Chapter 34

Jiang Yi has a strict sense of time; he’s accustomed to being punctual. After returning home from work, he doesn’t respond to any personal messages, and this rule applies even to matters involving his professor.

Last summer, he didn’t go to the airport to pick up Yang Yunran due to lab work delaying him—a rare instance of his being late.

After listening, Yang Yunran set his phone aside. “Alright, I’ll stop playing. Can you give me your hand, Jiang Yi?”

Jiang Yi raised his gaze and saw Yang Yunran lying on the bed looking at him, his eyes wide open, giving him a somewhat childish appearance.

“It’s time to sleep,” Jiang Yi said, feeling unable to endure further. He was afraid that physical contact might lead to another cold shower to relieve himself.

Jiang Yi attributed this situation to his long-term celibacy and perhaps partly to Yang Yunran, though not the main reason.

Yang Yunran said joyfully, “Can I see your watch then?”

“Sure.” Jiang Yi was about to take it off when Yang Yunran said, “No need to take it off. I can see it like this.”

As he reached out, Jiang Yi was worried he might start playing again and intended to intervene at the right moment. However, Yang Yunran simply glanced at his watch and remarked, “This watch is quite expensive. Did you buy it yourself?” Yang Yunran didn’t wear watches but had bought some for appearances. He recognized that the one Jiang Yi wore was probably worth over a hundred thousand.

“Professor Chen gave it to me,” Jiang Yi said.

Yang Yunran nodded in understanding. So Professor Chen had also funded Jiang Yi. Considering Jiang Yi’s status as an MIT PhD, Professor Chen’s support was indispensable.

“Are you helping my uncle monitor me? Does he know about us dating?” Yang Yunran asked, looking directly at him.

“I don’t know. I haven’t said anything or monitored anything. I’m just taking care of you,” Jiang Yi replied. In fact, he and Yang Yunran weren’t officially in a relationship; they were still in a subtle phase.

“Then you’re taking care of me very well. I won’t tell my uncle either. Let’s keep our relationship a secret,” Yang Yunran said, resting his chin on the edge of the mattress, his eyes like obsidian.

“Okay,” Jiang Yi said. He then turned off the light, not giving Yang Yunran a chance to capture his expression.

“Why did you turn off the light? I’m scared,” Yang Yunran said.

“Scared of the dark? It’s time to sleep,” Jiang Yi replied.

“I’m not afraid of the dark. I’m just afraid of staying in hotels like this,” Yang Yunran said.

Jiang Yi turned on a night light for him and said goodnight. Yang Yunran couldn’t find any more words and responded with a quiet goodnight before closing his eyes. After a while, he opened them again. “Are you asleep?”

Jiang Yi’s face was softly illuminated by the warm night light on the bedside table, his head resting on the pillow.

“Not comfortable on the floor? If you want to come up, I can reluctantly agree. You sleep half, and I’ll sleep half. We won’t touching each other.

Jiang Yi kept his eyes closed, his eyelashes drooping heavily. “Sleep.”

Yang Yunran was rejected again, feeling a chill in his heart. What hidden secrets did his ex-boyfriend have? Such serious physical resistance.

This reminded Yang Yunran of a past life when a junior colleague at work approached him intentionally for resources. Yang Yunran was 23 then, the junior was 19 and had just returned from Korea.

Yang Yunran didn’t like younger brothers, so he politely declined and left it at that.

Later, at a drinking session, the junior, drunk, blurted out, “Damn it, homosexuality is disgusting. Brother Chao asked me to seduce Yang Yunran for resources, saying he’s easy to flirt with anyone. I can’t do that kind of thing. What’s good about messing with a man’s butt?”

Sometime later, Yang Yunran heard he got involved with a big shot and became a dual wielder.

He despised such people who would change even their sexual orientation for resources and opportunities for advancement. Their depth of calculation was unfathomable.

Yang Yunran fell asleep, but Jiang Yi did not. He dreamed that Yang Yunran reached out to him, inviting him up. They ended up on a bed, clothes mysteriously gone. Yang Yunran touched Jiang Yi’s body as he played with his fingers, smooth as oil, sometimes gentle, sometimes forceful.

The senses he had barely suppressed were easily stirred up, and he climaxed messily.

At five in the morning, Jiang Yi frowned and went to the bathroom to wash his underwear.

He came out and, in the dawn light, looked at Yang Yunran in bed for a while.

Yang Yunran slept soundly, hands grabbing the blanket, long eyelashes hanging down without a seductive expression, looking very pure.

At half past seven in the morning, Yang Yunran got up to livestream. Without a guitar or a mask, he placed his phone on the table, aimed below his neck, and played the backing track from another device.

Jiang Yi didn’t disturb him, leaning against the door with his shoulder, sending him a few carnival gifts on his phone.

Hearing Yang Yunran say “Thank you, 099,” Jiang Yi’s lips curved slightly.

At ten in the morning, the insurance company came to tow the car. Jiang Yi made a call, instructing them not to touch the things in the trunk, giving his address and asking them to send the car to Boston.

Then he and Yang Yunran took a taxi home.

Yang Yunran was also on the phone with classmates, asking for help to walk the dog.

The drive took nearly two hours. Sitting in the backseat together, Yang Yunran complained of motion sickness, leaning his head on Jiang Yi’s shoulder to relieve himself.

Without lifting his head, he said, “I invited you. Click ‘register’. I want a backpack space.”

Jiang Yi agreed, and Yang Yunran watched as he took out his phone. In this moment, he peeked at Jiang Yi’s WeChat interface, where he found his own contact listed as “Professor Chen’s Nephew – Yang Yunran.”

Yang Yunran: “…”

Yang Yunran couldn’t believe it, his hand paused in mid-air from playing his game. “Jiang Yi!”

Jiang Yi: “What’s wrong? You’ve registered.”

Yang Yunran saw the notification that he unlocked a new backpack slot in his game, but he wasn’t happy. He raised his head, eyelashes brushing against his jaw. “What’s with the note you gave me?”

Jiang Yi: “I forgot to change it.”

Jiang Yi felt he was too close, his breath on Yang Yunran’s neck, his hair touching his skin, causing an itch. Jiang Yi cleared his throat and said, “I’ll change it now.”

Right in front of Yang Yunran, he changed it to simply “Yang Yunran.”

Yang Yunran remained silent.

Jiang Yi deleted the surname too, changing it to just “Yunran,” and asked, “Is this okay?”

Yang Yunran made an “OK” gesture with his hand, then turned to lean against the window, continuing his game.

The subtle discomfort and guilt of sleeping on the floor with his ex-boyfriend canceled each other out.

Jiang Yi noticed his unhappiness and turned to look at him.

After playing his game for a while, Yang Yunran received a WeChat message from Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi said, “I’ve changed it. What do you want to eat later?”

Yang Yunran typed back, replying face-to-face, “Whatever.”

Jiang Yi sent over a few restaurant options.

Yang Yunran typed again, “You choose.”

Jiang Yi: “Sitting like that isn’t good for your neck.”

Yang Yunran smirked, “There are plenty of positions bad for my neck.”

Jiang Yi: “If you’re tired, you can sleep.”

Yang Yunran continued typing, “On your lap?”

This time, Jiang Yi showed that he was typing but didn’t reply.

Yang Yunran shifted his gaze from his phone screen to glance at Jiang Yi, who also looked over. Sunlight streamed in through the car window, highlighting Jiang Yi’s long eyelashes and sharp features.

Yang Yunran: “You don’t seem like a gay guy at all. Could it be that you’re pretending even about this?”

Jiang Yi didn’t answer. That response might hurt him. Even he wasn’t sure; he just knew he treated Yang Yunran differently.

Jiang Yi said, “Are you sleepy? Come over.”

Yang Yunran blinked slowly and leaned over very slowly.

Yang Yunran rested his head on Jiang Yi’s thigh. From this angle, Jiang Yi looked more like an artistic sculpture. Jiang Yi had no expression on his face but lifted his hand to touch Yang Yunran’s hair. “Keep playing your game.” “Or just go to sleep. Don’t touch me randomly.”

“Where did you think I was going?” Yang Yunran’s displeasure over the nickname seemed to evaporate in an instant. “I’m not that kind of person. I’m very polite too. I didn’t do that kind of thing before I started dating.”

Yang Yunran exhausted his energy in the game and refused to spend a few bucks to recharge it. He decided to sleep with his phone in Jiang Yi’s shirt pocket. He reached out to hold Jiang Yi’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Jiang Yi didn’t say anything, didn’t resist, silently allowing him to do so.

Lunch was settled at Chinatown with Jiang Yi. Yang Yunran went home and discussed with classmates, then parted ways with Jiang Yi.

Shortly after, he received a call from Levi.

In Yang Yunran’s eyes, Levi was Wangyan’s agent in Boston, so the reason for contacting him was work-related.

Levi said, “Kevin will be coming over next week specifically to meet you. Can you have dinner together if you’re free?”

Kevin was Zhou Kai, Wangyan Entertainment’s agent. Yang Yunran guessed it was about signing a management contract; Zhou Kai had mentioned it several times before, but Yang Yunran hadn’t agreed.

Yang Yunran replied, “If he’s here to discuss a management contract, I don’t think it’s necessary for him to specially fly over. Levi, I just terminated my contract with the previous company and I’m not eager to enter into another binding contract for another decade so soon.”

Levi said, “Actually, I don’t handle company matters, so it’s not my concern either. Your talent needs a platform to shine. I’ve been watching your livestreams recently, albeit just one insignificant viewer among your audience. But your reputation doesn’t match your talent. What do you think?”

Yang Yunran suddenly remembered “099” and out of curiosity, he checked the person’s profile and saw their IP was in the United States.

Yang Yunran asked, “Do you watch my livestreams every day?”

Levi paused, “Almost every day.”

Yang Yunran asked, “Ninety-nine?”

Levi: “What?”

Yang Yunran: “…Nothing. Okay, when is Kevin coming? It’s fine to have dinner. I’ll treat.”

Levi said, “Let me arrange it. What would you like to eat?”

In the following week, Yang Yunran attended classes every day. His schedule wasn’t packed because of his livestreaming commitments, and he never slept in. On days without classes, he would go outside to soak up the sun and write songs.

When he had classes, he would have noodles with Jimmy. For dinner, Jiang Yi usually came to pick him up from school.

Jimmy didn’t like Jiang Yi mainly because he thought Jiang Yi’s car was too shabby. He believed Jiang Yi, this poor guy, wasn’t good enough for him.

“His beautiful and rich friend.”

Moreover, Jiang Yi didn’t have a good expression for Jimmy either, and the two were in a state of mutual dislike.

Although Yang Yunran tried to avoid them meeting directly, they still bumped into each other when Jiang Yi came to pick up Yang Yunran from school.

Jimmy: “Evan, where are you from? Shanghai? Beijing?”

Jiang Yi replied expressionlessly, “Inner Mongolia. How about you?”

Jimmy: “I’m from Guangdong.” He never mentioned his family background, but those who knew him knew his family owned shipping companies, making him extraordinarily wealthy. Jimmy had a tendency to look down on many people. He crossed his arms. “Inner Mongolia, huh? What do your parents do? Teachers? Construction workers?”

Yang Yunran felt like Jimmy was a meddling old aunt and nervously pulled Jiang Yi away. “We’re going to eat now, Jimmy. See you!”

Jimmy chuckled, thinking Yang Yunran’s love-struck brain was beyond help. However, judging from Yang Yunran’s past relationships, it probably wouldn’t last long with this Evan either.

His previous boyfriend was named Evan too.

Did Yang Yunran have a special preference for boys named Evan?

Yang Yunran thought Jimmy’s words might hurt Jiang Yi’s self-esteem. If he remembered correctly, Professor Chen mentioned that Jiang Yi’s parents were farmers and it wasn’t easy for them to support such a bright child.

He noticed Jiang Yi’s indifferent mood as Jiang Yi started the car, the engine making noise due to its old age.

Yang Yunran: “Oh, Jiang Yi, the solar system model suddenly stopped rotating. After we eat, can you come to my place and take a look? I really like that gift.”

Jiang Yi nodded but didn’t say anything.

Yang Yunran: “Don’t mind what Jimmy said.”

Jiang Yi: “I’m not.”

Because Jiang Yi often said one thing but meant another, Yang Yunran couldn’t tell if he truly didn’t mind or was pretending not to.

Jiang Yi indeed didn’t care. Even in his teens, he never had any psychological fluctuations about the luxury cars and opulent lifestyles of those around him. He calmly said, “Yunran, my family’s situation is different from your friends’ and your family’s. My parents aren’t wealthy; they’re just ordinary people. I have a younger brother a few years younger than you, but he’s not as obedient as you.”

Yang Yunran: “…Am I really obedient?”

“Pretty obedient.” He developed special feelings for Yang Yunran, perhaps mixed with many other emotions, thinking he was obedient, cute, beautiful, well-behaved, cheerful, and always smiling, as well as a subtle sexual impulse that arose at night.

For this, Jiang Yi spent three days self-studying psychology and wrote a paper to analyze it. He found that he had a 79.8% tendency towards homosexuality.

Yang Yunran wasn’t very receptive to this statement: “I listen to you because I like you, not because I am like that.”

“I know.” Jiang Yi glanced at him through the central rearview mirror.

Yang Yunran gripped the seatbelt and scratched the non-slip belt a few times. “Aren’t you pursuing me? How long do you plan to pursue me?”

Jiang Yi replied, “Until you agree.”

Yang Yunran looked at his phone, his eyelashes drooping. “Today is Friday, the weather is nice. Let’s make it today then. I agree.”