Chapter 76

Because Jiang Yi actually doesn’t call him that often, Yang Yunran’s ears always feel hot when he hears it. Jiang Yi’s way of addressing him is different from that of his fans and Professor Chen. Fans treat him as an idol, and Professor Chen treats him like a child. Jiang Yi’s tone is extremely cold, but unconsciously softens towards himself, which makes Yang Yunran feel loved.

Because of being loved, his heart swells.

Yang Yunran quickly scanned his gaze, then moved from him to the nearby graduate student who was turning around.

He used to think these people, who were about the same age as Jiang Yi were colleagues. Now he knows they are Jiang Yi’s students.

“Your students are watching us, and you’re holding me… won’t there be any bad rumors about you?” 

“It’s okay,” Jiang Yi said, “You’re wearing a hat, so he can’t see what you look like.”

Yang Yunran tilted his head back and noticed that the student had already left. He extended his arm around Jiang Yi’s waist and said, “I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about you, Professor Jiang.”

“I don’t mind,” Jiang Yi said without concern, at most, he would be talked about for having a boyfriend, and the school would not intervene due to his excellent skills. Not to mention, he also has shares in the laboratory.

He glanced at his watch and said, “I still have an hour before I get off work. You can wait for me outside the management room on the first floor of the lab, play games for a while, or I can take you to the library like before.”

“I’ll wait inside for you!” Yang Yunran immediately said.

“Okay,” Jiang Yi gently pushed him away, “Baby, not now, I haven’t changed my clothes yet.”

Yang Yunran suddenly tilted his head and kissed him on the lips.

Jiang Yi lowered his head but did not deepen the kiss, instead holding his arm and leading him inside.

He bought hot tea and a large bag of snacks from the vending machine for Yang Yunran.

Yang Yunran whispered, “There’s too much, I can’t finish it all.”

“Eat slowly,” Jiang Yi rubbed his head and let him wait here. The lab administrator glanced at them from the glass window.

Yang Yunran was once a celebrity who withdrew from the circle. He later appeared on hot searches a few times, but he was not well-known to everyone. The administrator only saw half of his fair face and could not see his full appearance. They probably wouldn’t know who he was.

Jiang Yi swiped his card to enter the elevator, and Yang Yunran sat outside quietly waiting for Jiang Yi. The lab renovations were not as modern as MIT’s, likely a refurbishment of an old building. Yang Yunran, as an outsider, could only sit outside the management room, very close to the main door, with the vending machine beside him.

The female administrator looked at Yang Yunran several times but didn’t speak to him.

Yang Yunran played “Piano Tiles” on his phone with Bluetooth earphones, his ten fingers moving quickly on the small screen.

Around 6 o’clock in the afternoon, it was time to get off work at the lab, and people started coming downstairs one after another.

Yang Yunran occasionally glanced up to see if it was Jiang Yi. Jiang Yi came out a bit later; usually, he was the last to leave, but today he left earlier.

He changed into casual clothes, with an open black jacket over a matching hoodie, his black hair neatly styled short, his features handsome, and his demeanor resembling that of a student.

“Let’s go,” he said, coming over and holding Yang Yunran’s hand, “Didn’t you finish the snacks?”

A student who followed them out saw this scene: “!!!”

Yang Yunran said, “You bought too much for me to finish.”

Jiang Yi said, “Take them back to eat. What do you want for dinner tonight? Eat at home or at a restaurant outside?”

As they walked and talked, all the students gasped, “Professor Jiang, he’s actually gay?”

“He must be his boyfriend, can’t be his little brother, he looks so young.”

Because they couldn’t see his face clearly, they could only judge from his slender neck, fair skin, pointed chin, height, temperament, and the way he dressed that Yang Yunran was a refined young man.

Such a refined young man, holding hands with the professor, it would be strange if they weren’t in that kind of relationship!

Jiang Yi didn’t care how others perceived them and opened the car door for Yang Yunran.

Yang Yunran got in the car and glanced at the parking lot where there were quite a few luxury cars worth over a million, while Jiang Yi’s Volvo, only cost around three hundred thousand.

Yang Yunran said, “Your lab students are all well-off.”

Jiang Yi started the car and said, “I haven’t noticed.” He didn’t pay attention to managing students or teaching seriously, still focused on his own experimental projects. He didn’t care about students’ names, what cars they drove, or anything related to him.

Yang Yunran looked through the car window and saw his students coming out one after another. They all knew this was Jiang Yi’s car and looked over. He said, “Isn’t it okay for so many people to see me?”

Jiang Yi handed him a blue mask and said, “Put it on.”

Yang Yunran sighed softly, “Isn’t it too late to wear it now?”

Because Yang Yunran had no intention of letting his true identity as a celebrity slip, he wasn’t particularly worried about being seen. He was originally worried about affecting Jiang Yi’s work, but Jiang Yi seemed totally unconcerned about gossip or his professional reputation.

To spare Jiang Yi from cooking after a long day, Yang Yunran casually found a nearby restaurant on Dianping to eat, stepping into a potential mine and stepping out.

“How is it that Beijing cuisine is worse than Boston Chinese food?” Yang Yunran remarked. He had also redeemed two movie tickets and bought a couple of seats, reclining in the back with Jiang Yi to watch the film.

It was a domestic romantic movie that featured a song sung by Yang Yunran as the theme song. The song had sold 600,000 copies, and the tickets were given by the film production team.

The movie was so dull that Jiang Yi frowned while watching it. However, because he could occasionally hear Yang Yunran’s theme song, he chose to endure it.

Yang Yunran found the movie equally boring. It was a clichéd film where the female lead gets an abortion for the male lead, and they reunite years later. Bored, he started playing with Jiang Yi’s hand, feeling his fingertips, nails, and knuckles.

Jiang Yi found it difficult to tolerate, and his jaw tightened.

He typed a message to Yang Yunran: “Do you still want to watch?”

Yang Yunran originally wanted to wait for the end credits to see the line: “Theme Song/Insert Song: Haliyeh”.

Yang Yunran also felt a bit impatient to keep waiting.

Taking Jiang Yi’s phone, Yang Yunran typed: “Go home now?”

Jiang Yi: “If you still want to watch, let’s finish it.”

Yang Yunran typed back: “No, let’s go.”

They quietly left the cinema through the side exit. Jiang Yi asked, “Where’s the dog? Didn’t you bring it back?”

“Doudou is taking care of it. Should we go to your place or mine?” Yang Yunran said, “My parents gave me the addresses of several apartments, but I haven’t been to any of them yet…”

In fact, he had let Doudou take the dog to stay at one of those apartments first.

“My place,” Jiang Yi preferred to be in a familiar environment with Yang Yunran, holding his hand. “I’m free tomorrow, so I can take you to see those apartments. A friend recommended a few properties, and I’ve already checked them out once. Some are closer to your company.”

Yang Yunran said, “We already have a place to live. Is it necessary to buy another one?”

“It is,” Jiang Yi replied, “Otherwise, what would we use to get married?”

Deep down, Jiang Yi was still quite traditional. In the past, he didn’t care about money and wasn’t interested in profiting from every project; he cared more about recognition. Now, he wanted everything because he was planning a future with Yang Yunran.

“Alright, let’s go check it out tomorrow. But I don’t often go to the office, so it’s more important that it’s close to your school. You need to commute, I don’t.” Yang Yunran reasoned, considering that buying a house near Jiang Yi’s school would be cheaper.

Jiang Yi hummed in agreement, and since it was a short drive, they quickly reached home.

As usual, they encountered some elderly professors returning from grocery shopping or exercising. The elevator carried the scents of each family’s cooking. Jiang Yi knew and interacted with them, so they recognized him.

Once home, Jiang Yi drew the curtains and said, “I have an experiment report to write. It’ll take about an hour. Do you want to take a shower first?”

Yang Yunran, who had thought Jiang Yi wanted to get intimate right away, was disappointed.

“Oh… I’ll go take a shower then.”

“I bought you some pajamas,” Jiang Yi handed him the items. “Towels, underwear, everything you need is in the bathroom. Use whatever you want.”

Yang Yunran saw Jiang Yi start working on the study, so he went to the bathroom.

This time, he noticed many new things in Jiang Yi’s home. For instance, the brand of shampoo he used in the US. In reality, Yang Yunran didn’t have a particular preference; he just picked whatever looked good.

Jiang Yi had remembered and bought it through a proxy.

He also knew what snacks Yang Yunran liked, the brand of incense he used, and there was even a conspicuous bottle of saline solution for cleaning Yang Yunran’s prosthetic eye.

Yang Yunran spent half an hour in the bathroom, then leaned against the study door to watch Jiang Yi work. Jiang Yi, expressionless, typed swiftly, his glasses reflecting the screen’s light.

Noticing him, Jiang Yi looked up: “Finished?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you dry your hair? Want me to help?”

Yang Yunran declined, not wanting to disturb Jiang Yi but unable to look away because he missed him so much.

Jiang Yi noticed and said, “Come in.”

As soon as Yang Yunran stepped in, Jiang Yi said, “Yang Yunran, put on a coat.”

Yang Yunran pouted, “Doesn’t Brother call me ‘baby’ anymore?”

Jiang Yi paused his typing, “Do you like it when I call you that?”

Yang Yunran, a bit shy to admit it, said, “It would be nice if you called me that in bed too.”

Jiang Yi was silent for a few seconds and then said, “Later.”

Yang Yunran nodded, went out to put on a coat, and came back. Jiang Yi pointed to a corner sofa for him to sit on. Seeing his bare thighs, Jiang Yi looked a few times and said, “I’ll take care of you after I finish. It’ll take thirty minutes. Can you wait?”

Yang Yunran nodded, “Don’t worry about me.”

Jiang Yi added, “Put on your pants.”

Yang Yunran, a bit exasperated, said, “Okay…”

Jiang Yi brought him a blanket to cover up.

Yang Yunran then checked the reviews of the movie they just watched.

As expected, the ratings on Douban wouldn’t exceed 5 points.

Yang Yunran opened Weibo.

He laughed—he had overestimated it; the movie was rated 3.8.

[“Terrible movie, only the theme song was good!”]

[“The song is pretty nice, but the female lead made me laugh.”]

[“The soundtrack was touching. I cried several times. After leaving the cinema and recalling the plot, I felt like slapping myself. How could I cry?? The singer is very talented. The director should stick to making music videos, not movies.”]

The song was written during a breakup with Jiang Yi, a period when Yang Yunran was heartbroken and wept daily.

Yang Yunran was pleased with the reviews, as it represented his successful entry into the film soundtrack industry. Whenever there was such a movie, he would be the first lyricist and composer to come to mind.

However, at this point, Haliyeh was no longer a newcomer; his prices had gone up significantly.

Yang Yunran could envision a flood of contract offers, but realistically, he couldn’t write that many songs. His inspiration wasn’t as abundant as it was in his youth, though recently, thanks to Jiang Yi and seeing Yang Wanyu, he had been in a slightly better state.

But still, far from his peak.

Yang Yunran opened an app to listen to chords he had composed that morning and browsed comments on Hakimi.

Hakimi had been marketed by the company as an amateur singer.

So, most netizens were generous and tolerant of him, especially since Yang Yunran’s skills far exceeded those of the other contestants.

However, there were still some inappropriate negative reviews, clearly from hired critics, and Yang Yunran could guess who paid for them.

Jiang Yi finally stopped typing but hadn’t yet started revising. He shut down the computer and looked at Yang Yunran, who had his eyes closed, thinking he was asleep.

Jiang Yi bent down to pick him up, and Yang Yunran opened his eyes.

“Not asleep?” Jiang Yi asked.

Yang Yunran unbuttoned his robe and kissed Jiang Yi’s Adam’s apple, “Of course not. Can we do it in the study today?”

Jiang Yi tensed up all over and said, “Study room, where do you mean?”

Yang Yunran leaned in and said, “On the desk, or your chair, the small sofa…” Because even when Jiang Yi was letting loose, he wasn’t extremely indulgent and didn’t talk much. Most of the time, his ten fingers would clasp Yang Yunran’s fingers, taking care of his feelings, and it seemed like he never fully went in.

Just thinking about Jiang Yi talking dirty made Yang Yunran feel an overwhelming rush of pleasure. But it was clear that Professor Jiang would never talk like that. Jiang Yi’s posture and rhythm were as meticulous as doing academic research, and Yang Yunran thought it was necessary for Jiang Yi to be less restrained.

“Alright, the sofa then.” Jiang Yi chose a spot that seemed relatively comfortable. To satisfy Yang Yunran’s request, he half-knelt on the carpet, the light from the floor lamp casting a glow on his flushed skin.

Yang Yunran initially intended to teach him something but ended up forgetting it himself because he was too exhausted.

The only thing he remembered was Jiang Yi carrying him to the shower and saying that he loved him.

Yang Yunran was so tired that he couldn’t recall it clearly, but he suddenly remembered the next day.

“What did you say last night?” Yang Yunran asked him.

Jiang Yi had already gotten up and changed. Being pulled down by Yang Yunran, he said, “What? You asked me to be gentler.”

Yang Yunran grabbed his clothes and asked, “I mean, when we were showering, what did you say?”

Jiang Yi knew exactly what he was referring to, but saying it again felt slightly embarrassing. He asked in return, “What are you referring to?”

Yang Yunran was frustrated, “You won’t say it again, huh? Next time, I’ll record the whole thing.”

“Say it,” Jiang Yi, slightly helpless, was almost pulled onto Yang Yunran. He propped himself on the bed with one hand and wrapped his other arm around Yang Yunran’s waist. He lowered his head and kissed his neck, “I love you, baby.”

Yang Yunran’s cheeks instantly turned red, and his breathing became heated.

Jiang Yi asked, “Better now?”

Yang Yunran got up and said, “Yes, let’s go look at houses.”

Jiang Yi said, “Can you walk?”

Yang Yunran found it a bit difficult to move. He changed clothes, walked to the door, then came back. Since Jiang Yi had the weekend off, Yang Yunran naturally preferred to stay home with him rather than look at houses. He said, “Can we not go? Haven’t we made appointments already?”

Jiang Yi beckoned, “We can go tomorrow. Come here and let me check if you need any ointment.”