Chapter 65

Yang Yunran heard this and looked up. Due to their positions, he was sitting on Jiang Yi’s lap, so tilting his head slightly would easily bring his face close to Jiang Yi’s.

Jiang Yi continued to kiss Yang Yunran’s corners of the mouth, cheeks, and ears.

Yang Yunran, unsurprised, lowered his eyes and said, “Why are you starting to learn from my uncle now and calling me like this? I’m not used to it.”

Jiang Yi’s voice was near his ear, “What’s the matter? If Jiang Fan can call you ‘baby’ and you allow it, why can’t I call you like that?”

“Well, you can call me whatever you want,” Yang Yunran said as Jiang Yi tickled his earlobes, making him so ticklish he couldn’t speak. He wanted to sleep, his arm draped over Jiang Yi’s shoulder, wanting to embrace him.

Seeing that Yang Yunran didn’t mind the kisses or being held by him, Jiang Yi knew that Yang Yunran had feelings for him. But whether Yang Yunran liked someone else or not, Jiang Yi didn’t know.

Jiang Yi asked to confirm, “Who do you have in your heart, me, Jiang Fan, or someone else?”

Jiang Yi speculated that recently, Yang Yunran had experienced sudden family changes, coinciding with the days he returned to the country. Yang Yunran learned about being embraced by mistake, couldn’t accept the truth, and ran away to rent a house and work elsewhere, living alone in a modestly decorated house.

Coincidentally, a former lover who liked to send love texts took advantage—

Jiang Yi found out that Jiang Fan had been working in Changsha for the past few months, so the probability of Jiang Yi being with Yang Yunran was high.

Because he wasn’t around, maybe Jiang Fan provided Yang Yunran with a sense of security during difficult times, or maybe they even slept together… So they broke up over the phone that night.

Seeing that Yang Yunran was almost falling asleep, Jiang Yi lightly pinched his face and made him look up. “Answer me before you sleep. Are you still in contact with Jiang Fan?”

“…No, I haven’t contacted him. I don’t know him, really don’t know him, and I don’t like him.” Yang Yunran still liked lying in his arms. He didn’t know how to explain to Jiang Yi about Jiang Fan; after all, they had never really dated. It was easier to brush it off. Anyway, he wouldn’t contact Jiang Fan again, maybe just occasionally bump into him at events.

In a company, you can’t avoid seeing each other.

Jiang Yi searched with his tired eyes, “You don’t like him, then do you like me?”

Yang Yunran hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “If you don’t like him, why did you let him break up with you like this…”

Jiang Yi responded with a faint “Hmm,” a slight smile on his lips, then remembered to ask him again, “When I wasn’t here, did you sleep with him?”

“…,” Yang Yunran, although sleepy, still pushed him away and sat up, “No, no, no! Really didn’t, just met him at work, and then he got my phone number. My taste isn’t that bad.” Yang Yunran supported his forehead and hung his head down, “I’m so tired, let’s talk about this tomorrow, I’m going to sleep.”

After finishing with Jiang Yi yesterday, he had dinner with his boss at night, and his biological father came to visit again. As a result, his voice was hoarse during the recording today, and he was criticized by not-so-great mentors, including a group of unprofessional music critics on the judging panel. Yang Yunran had never expected to encounter such things before, and he was very resentful because of his patience.

He went to bed as soon as he entered the room, unable to think about the two Evans.

Jiang Yi stood outside the door and chose to believe his words for the time being.

With Jiang Yi absent, Yang Yunran lacked a sense of security and was likely to be with his ex.

But since Jiang Yi was here, it was impossible. Besides being good at saying “I love you,” what else did Jiang Fan have? It’s just texting, who can’t do it?

Because Yang Yunran didn’t have pajamas at home, Jiang Yi ordered takeout in the middle of the night and left a note not to knock on the door before taking a shower.

At two-thirty in the morning, Jiang Yi got up from the empty side of the bed, with Yang Yunran sleeping on the other side as if he had deliberately left a place for him.

Knowing that Yang Yunran slept lightly, Jiang Yi tried not to make any noise, turned off the light, and lay flat in the dim light. Unable to resist, he moved closer to him and slept beside him.

Yang Yunran was probably really tired, as he didn’t wake up even with this, breathing softly with a warm breath.

Jiang Yi stared at him in the darkness for a while, then gently hugged him.

Yang Yunran remained quiet, instinctively finding a comfortable position in his embrace.

Jiang Yi closed his eyes, ready to sleep as well. He wanted to tell Yang Yunran that even if he was embraced by mistake and his parents didn’t want him anymore, he would always want him.

He could imagine how Yang Yunran must feel, definitely not as carefree as he appeared on the surface.

Knowing that Yang Yunran found out he was “embraced by mistake,” that his biological son had returned, and that he no longer had a home, couldn’t go back to his parents, and was excluded, how could he appear so indifferent on the surface? Even casually saying, “I was embraced by mistake by my parents, I’m not a second-generation wealthy anymore”…

How could a child used to a good life easily accept such a disparity?

There was no recording work the next day. Yang Yunran woke up late, nearly noon. Although he saw Jiang Yi there, he didn’t say anything or ask why Jiang Yi hadn’t left.

They hadn’t broken up for a few days at all, and it felt like they had come back quickly.

Yang Yunran got up to wash.

Jiang Yi had prepared brunch for him at the dining table, already dressed neatly in yesterday’s clothes, which had been washed and dried.

Jiang Yi was tidying up the table: “Your fridge is empty. I went to the market early this morning and bought some meat and vegetables. We have to check out from the hotel by noon, or they’ll deduct the deposit. I’m going to get our luggage from the hotel now…” Jiang Yi saw Yang Yunran coming out with an electric toothbrush in his mouth, looking drowsy, and walked over to tousle his hair. Yang Yunran’s hair was messy and somewhat disheveled, and he suddenly felt a bit awkward seeing the food on the table.

“I’ll be back within forty minutes. I’ve already walked the dog. Let’s go eat.” Jiang Yi acted as if they had already reconciled, and Yang Yunran didn’t object. He only realized it after Jiang Yi had left.

Did he agree to reconcile last night?

It seems like there was, yet wasn’t… Yang Yunran couldn’t remember clearly. He just remembered letting Jiang Yi kiss him for a while, feeling oxygen-deprived and tired, so he went to sleep.

Actually, reconciliation isn’t impossible… After all, it was a mix-up between Jiang Evan and Jiang Yi, and Yang Yunran no longer needs to be anxious.

Moreover, he has absolutely no connection with the original owner.

He stumbled upon Jiang Yi by accident, not as someone else’s leftovers.

Although Jiang Yi knew about his eye condition, he’s pretending not to know now, and Yang Yunran can naturally continue pretending.

It might be good to keep up this pretense for a lifetime.

After deleting all chat and search records related to Jiang Fan last night, Yang Yunran spent some time confirming again that Jiang Fan is indeed a real person!

Because Du Jie liked his friend’s circle post, and Du Jie is Jiang Fan’s agent, they just became friends!

As for Jiang Yi…

After finishing his meal, Yang Yunran brewed a cup of black tea and walked into the sunlit room to write songs. The glaring sunlight was dazzling, so Yang Yunran pulled down the white gauze curtain.

Jiang Yi said he’d be back in forty minutes. Yang Yunran glanced at the time; there were about ten minutes left, so Jiang Yi was probably on his way.

He realized how little he knew about Jiang Yi. He only knew his father was in their hometown in Inner Mongolia, his mother accompanied a younger brother studying in Hebei, and this younger brother seemed a bit rebellious with poor grades.

Sometimes Yang Yunran overheard these details during Jiang Yi’s phone calls, and Professor Chen’s words seemed to confirm that Jiang Yi’s family was not well-off. So Yang Yunran never bothered to inquire more about his family. He never asked what his parents were like if there were photos, or what they did for a living.

At that time, Yang Yunran remained skeptical about whether there could be a lasting future between himself and Jiang Yi, and their days together were just getting by. He feared that one day Jiang Yi might run off with Zhao Youmo.

Now, as he recalled, he had just found a way to look into it.

There wasn’t much information about Jiang Yi online.

Yang Yunran searched for Jiang Yi’s English name on the MIT website and found a few relevant introductions about Jiang Yi, detailing his research topics and achievements.

With numerous technical terms, Yang Yunran struggled to understand and had to use translation software to make sense of it.

Regarding his educational background, he discovered that Jiang Yi had entered university at the age of 14, completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and then went to MIT at the age of 24 to pursue a PhD in molecular biology and genetics.

Jiang Yi’s research primarily focused on biomedical transplantation and regenerative medicine, including immunology and biological mechanisms of organ transplantation, stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine technologies, tissue engineering, and the development of artificial organs, as well as the regulation of immune suppression and transplant rejection…

Yang Yunran couldn’t fully comprehend it, so he tried to interpret it based on the literal meaning.

Jiang Yi’s research direction seemed consistent with what Professor Chen had mentioned, seemingly related to projects involving eye regeneration.

Below are the titles of important international journal papers published by Jiang Yi. He has published several significant papers in the field of biomedical transplantation and regenerative medicine and has received awards such as the AST Outstanding Young Investigator Award, ISSCR Outstanding Paper Award, SFB Best Paper Award, and AST Emerging Investigator Award…

Yang Yunran checked each one and found that they were all prestigious awards in highly specialized fields.

Is his boyfriend really that impressive?

Because Jiang Yi never boasted, he usually wore cheap clothes, drove a second-hand car, not only lived in a mini-dormitory on campus, but also bought everything on sale, and he even used coupons when buying groceries…

Yang Yunran had always imagined him as a hardworking doctoral student who received subsidies, and it was the first time he knew about all these awards and prestigious titles.

“Uncle, I want to ask you…” Yang Yunran took the opportunity while Jiang Yi hadn’t returned yet to call Professor Chen to inquire about other aspects of Jiang Yi.

“This child is fine in other aspects, but his family situation isn’t very pleasing. All his money goes to his family, supporting his younger brother. I can’t be bothered to mention it… Originally, there wasn’t much family wealth to begin with, and now it’s all for his brother,” Professor Chen pinpointed Jiang Yi’s most disliked trait, then continued, “He’s pursuing you now, right?”

Yang Yunran hesitated, “More or less… I just want to understand him better. I want to know how much he knows about my eyes. Has he taken me as a research subject? Is he working on projects related to eyeball bio-transplantation?”

Professor Chen hesitated for a few seconds before confirming, “Yes,” and then added, “I suggested it to him, but never forced him. How are things between you two now? I heard you had a disagreement a few days ago. Are things better now?”

“We didn’t really fight much. I just wanted to know about his romantic history, his past relationships…” Yang Yunran said.

“To my knowledge, and I emphasize, there shouldn’t be any,” Professor Chen stressed, “Of course, you should ask him yourself. I don’t know if he had any after going to the US. In China, at least, I haven’t seen any.”

Knowing someone’s face but not their heart, Professor Chen couldn’t vouch for everything, and he added, “If you like Jiang Yi, it’s worth trying. As long as he treats you well.”

“He treats me well,” Yang Yunran said.

Jiang Yi had always been good to him, occasionally cold and fond of instructing others, but it didn’t matter. Yang Yunran just feared that one day Jiang Yi would look at him with sympathy, thinking he was pitiable because of his disability.

“If he’s good, then you can like him. Although his family background isn’t very wealthy, and conditions at home are poor, he’s still reliable and smart. He’s tall and has a place in Beijing, but he lives with his mother, younger brother, and relatives from his hometown. You definitely won’t be able to stand that,” Professor Chen had seen his family members, and honestly, he didn’t have a good impression of them.

Yang Yunran felt sorry for himself.

“I’ll leave it at that. You handle it yourself.”

Yang Yunran replied with a couple of “Mm-hmm”s. Professor Chen was about to talk about Xu Xing, but Yang Yunran heard Jiang Yi seem to be coming back, typing in the password, so he hurriedly said goodbye and hung up.

Yang Yunran walked out in slippers and saw Jiang Yi coming in.

“How did you get my password? Did Doudou tell you?” Yang Yunran was a bit puzzled, looking at him carrying a suitcase and putting it down on the floor.

“Seeing you entering your password, you really need to be more careful. Your password is too simple and can easily be cracked.” Jiang Yi changed his shoes. Despite being out for just a short while, he was already sweating profusely.

Yang Yunran asked, “Why are you still secretly watching people enter their passwords?”

“I wanted to help you walk the dog, in case we couldn’t come back if we went out,” Jiang Yi explained, then asked, “Have you eaten?” He noticed Yang Yunran had eaten half his meal. “Did you save some for me?”

“Yes, did you check out of the room? Did they deduct your deposit?”

“Just in time,” Jiang Yi sighed in relief that he made it in time.

Jiang Yi’s hair was damp with sweat. Before heading upstairs, he changed into a new shirt in the car. He was somewhat dissatisfied with himself, having changed into slippers he had just bought at the supermarket. He entered the bathroom without embracing Yang Yunran, used one hand to grab the back of his collar, took off his shirt, and tossed it into the washing machine, exposing the muscles on his back. “I’ll take a shower. What are you doing this afternoon?”

“Writing songs.” Yang Yunran stole a glance at him, his eyes somewhat direct.

“Give me ten minutes before you start writing,” Jiang Yi glanced at him and closed the bathroom door.

Soon, the sound of running water filled the bathroom.

Yang Yunran went to help with the hot dishes, but being a kitchen disaster, he made a mess and nearly blew up the microwave, causing a loud crackling noise. Yang Yunran hurriedly unplugged it, opened the microwave, and stared blankly at the charred food.

In the end, unable to clean up the mess, he threw everything, including the plates, away.

He silently ordered takeout for Jiang Yi. Jiang Yi emerged from the bathroom after smelling something burning. Seeing Yang Yunran standing in the kitchen, looking bewildered, he said, “Don’t touch the gas stove or microwave anymore. Come out, I’ll clean up.”

Jiang Yi had assumed Yang Yunran was a typical young master who knew nothing about such matters.

Yang Yunran bent down and said, “Should I put the pot in the dishwasher… Is this the dishwasher?”

“No, that’s the sterilizer,” Jiang Yi beckoned.

Yang Yunran was clueless, “Oh…”

“Come here, from now on I’ll handle all this,” Jiang Yi decisively walked over and led him away. Just out of the shower, his short black hair was still damp, and water droplets remained on his neck.

Jiang Yi wanted to tell him he wouldn’t suffer, but he knew he wasn’t good at boasting, and he knew he couldn’t compare to his parents’ wealth.

Jiang Yi told Yang Yunran, “I have some savings and a decent job. I’ll be going back to work next month, and I’ll spend it all on you. I’ll make sure you live just as well as before. I can’t afford a private jet or an island for now, but maybe in a few years, I’ll get them for you, okay?”

Jiang Yi spoke seriously, pulling Yang Yunran closer and looking down at him.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to promise me anything. I don’t need a jet or an island… I’m fine with just ordinary things.”

Yang Yunran didn’t spend much on himself; he worked hard mainly to cover his medical expenses and didn’t seek great wealth.

Although he had a seemingly wealthy biological father who treated him well, his birth mother was surely still looking for Zhao Youmo. After all, Zhao Youmo had the protagonist’s halo, the kind of storyline where the whole world adored the protagonist, and that would only happen to the protagonist.

So Yang Yunran had no expectations or emotional needs for Xu Xing, even though Xu Xing had sent him many caring messages today.

“What are you thinking about? I’m not making empty promises to you,” Jiang Yi pinched his earlobe. “I’m serious… Forget about Jiang Fan and don’t contact her again. Pretend we never broke up, okay?”

Yang Yunran looked at him and nodded quietly. Jiang Yi sighed in response, as if he had expected this. He continued to watch Yang Yunran and asked, “Promise me you won’t contact Jiang Fan again. Promise me.”

Yang Yunran glanced at him, feeling a bit unhappy about Jiang Yi getting involved in so many things. However, since he wasn’t planning to contact her anyway, he obediently said, “Okay, okay, I won’t contact Jiang Fan…”

Although he didn’t swear, Jiang Yi felt it was enough. He said “good boy,” kissed his forehead, and pecked him on the lips without a deep kiss.

With Yang Yunran saying this, Jiang Yi could feel more at ease. Otherwise, he worried about going to work and Yang Yunran working in another city, fearing problems arising from the distance.

The two of them worked peacefully for a while. Yang Yunran wrote songs in a small room while Jiang Yi used a computer in the dining room to write a paper.

He also checked on Yang Liming’s recent situation. There was no information online about Yang Liming finding his biological child.

This was Yang Liming’s family matter and had not been publicly exposed.

But seeing that Yang Yunran wasn’t doing well now, Jiang Yi even saw from Zhou Kai’s computer data that Yang Yunran had rented a small loft in Beijing and was unwilling to go home despite living in such a small place.

Jiang Yi knew things weren’t going well.

He must have received a lot of inexplicable blows during this period.

Jiang Yi looked towards the door of the songwriting room, where Yang Yunran was. It was very quiet inside, occasionally accompanied by the sound of strings being played.

Yang Yunran was on the phone. He didn’t like being interrupted when he was focused, but since the caller was Professor Chen, whom he had just spoken to, Yang Yunran answered and asked what else was going on.

“It’s about your biological father…” He mentioned some details about Xu Xing. “You’ve met him, right? Uncle just found out he’s not a simple person. He remarried with your biological mother, which is quite complicated. Your mom had a previous husband, but your biological parents don’t have any other children. You’re the only one.”

Yang Yunran wasn’t paying much attention to what Professor Chen was saying, lazily listening and responding. Professor Chen also mentioned that his mother had a brand called Yuduo, and Yang Yunran remembered Doudou bringing him something from the company. So that’s what the brand was.

“Mm-hmm…” Yang Yunran absentmindedly replied. Sensing his low spirits, Professor Chen decided to cut short the conversation. “Go ahead and focus on your work. I just wanted to bring this up. Oh, why did I mention Jiang Yi being good? Do you remember Professor Alex?”

Yang Yunran held his phone in his left hand and wrote lyrics with his right, multitasking. “I remember, he made me an artificial eye. That day… he worked through the night and had Jiang Yi bring it to me the next day. But I haven’t seen him in person in Boston. I heard he’s very busy.”

“The artificial eye was made by Jiang Yi, there is no Professor Alex,” Professor Chen explained. “We kept it from you because we were afraid you’d feel resistant, thinking your uncle was unreliable for casually mentioning it. You even instructed me not to let Jiang Yi know. But actually, Jiang Yi has known all along…”

Yang Yunran couldn’t process the rest of what was being said. He was stunned, holding his phone and looking out towards the door, knowing Jiang Yi was in the dining room.

Yang Yunran: “It… Jiang Yi made it?”

“Yes, he didn’t sleep all night, tried so many times. Your uncle didn’t know. This manufacturing process is very difficult, as you know,” Professor Chen discussed the matter objectively. Despite Jiang Yi’s flaws and his aloof demeanor, he might not be affectionate, but he had a good character that suited his nephew.

“I… I didn’t know…” Yang Yunran stuttered, “I mentioned Professor Alex in front of Jiang Yi, saying I wanted to meet him, and every time… every time he said, ‘Professor is on a business trip, Professor is busy, Professor isn’t in Boston…'”

Professor Chen: “So he wasn’t intentionally deceiving you.”

“I know, I know… He wasn’t doing it on purpose. He… he pretended not to know, to avoid hurting me,” Yang Yunran didn’t elaborate to Professor Chen, quickly hung up the phone, and put down his pen to open the door and walk out.

Jiang Yi sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair, his long legs somewhat awkward under the table, looking up as he saw Yang Yunran approaching.

He thought Yang Yunran had come out to use the restroom or get water, but instead Yang Yunran walked straight towards him.

Jiang Yi caught a glimpse of the information on the screen and gently closed the laptop.

Yang Yunran didn’t say a word, he bent over and threw himself into Jiang Yi’s embrace. Jiang Yi was momentarily startled, his palms resting on the table as he slowly stood up, transitioning from being hugged to hugging. He was tall enough to completely envelop Yang Yunran in his broad embrace, his large palm gently cupping the back of Yang Yunran’s head as he asked, “Sudden clinginess, tired from songwriting?”

Yang Yunran still didn’t speak, only wrapping his arms tightly around Jiang Yi’s waist, exerting extra force. If possible, he hoped that despite both of them understanding the situation, they would never mention it for the rest of their lives.