Chapter 85

The two of them were both busy with work. In addition, Yang Yunran spent half of his time accompanying his parents, so he didn’t have much time left in the week to spend with Jiang Yi.

Most of the time, they communicated through phone calls and voice chats, so Jiang Yi hadn’t seen him in a week.

The nanny’s car went straight to the airport. After passing through airport security, it was already midnight when they took off.

Yang Yunran took a shower on the plane, lay down on the bed, and held Jiang Yi’s hand while lying down.

Through the porthole, he saw the dawn rising. Eventually, Yang Yunran fell asleep in Jiang Yi’s arms, exhausted.

When he woke up, the plane was flying over the North Pacific Ocean. Yang Yunran rested his chin on Jiang Yi’s chest and saw Jiang Yi breathing with his eyes closed. He didn’t dare to move, afraid of waking Jiang Yi up.

So he watched for a long time from that angle, Jiang Yi’s jawline clearly visible, with a slight stubble on his chin that hadn’t been shaved, feeling rough to the touch, full of the charm of a mature man, while Yang Yunran’s face was softer, quite different from Jiang Yi’s.

Jiang Yi’s eyelashes drooped, half-opened, and he was awakened by Yang Yunran touching him.

Yang Yunran said, “Did I wake you up? My bad.”

Jiang Yi pointed outside the window, still not fully awake, and said, “The airflow was noisy, not your fault.”

Yang Yunran maintained his position lying on Jiang Yi’s chest, his hands on his waist and abdomen, slowly getting up. “Are you hungry? Should we get up and eat?”

Jiang Yi said yes, then hugged his waist with one hand and pulled him back into his arms, saying, “Let’s eat later.”

Jiang Yi could kiss him on the lips just by lowering his head, but it wasn’t a deep kiss. The stubble on his chin scratched Yang Yunran’s face, making him laugh and turn his head to avoid it, then Jiang Yi flipped him over and pressed him down.

Yang Yunran instinctively bent his knees, pressing against his legs, suppressing a laugh, his eyes bright. “I forgot, Jiang Yi ge ge wakes up like this every day.”

Jiang Yi wasn’t annoyed by the teasing, his lips lingering on Yang Yunran’s cheek, slowly moving to his earlobe. “Can we?”

Yang Yunran tilted his head. “We can, but I’m worried that turbulence might interrupt us later. What am I going to do for the rest of my life?”

“I’ll be careful,” Jiang Yi looked at him and began unbuttoning his pajama shirt, but halfway through, he turned his head. “Is the door locked?”

Yang Yunran glanced. “… What if it’s not locked?”

For the safety of passengers, airplane doors don’t have locks that can be used from the inside. Yang Yunran was a bit panicked. “What if someone comes in?”

Jiang Yi looked around the room. “If we don’t turn on the light, they won’t disturb you. I’ll go slow, and you be quiet.”

Yang Yunran nodded, and Jiang Yi pulled the blanket over, covering his own back. He completely covered Yang Yunran’s body.

Due to the time zone difference, it was 5 PM UTC over the North Pacific.

In the purple and orange glow of the approaching sunset, Yang Yunran’s face and shoulder skin were bathed in warm light. Jiang Yi looked at him and gently held him close.

Due to turbulence on the plane, Jiang Yi ended early.

Yang Yunran’s lips were red from biting them, as he didn’t dare to let go like at home, only crying through his nose. Both of them were sweating, and Yang Yunran hung on him weakly, his arms around Jiang Yi’s back, his chin on his muscular shoulder, fingers tracing his back muscles.

Jiang Yi asked, “Are you tired? How long until you come back?”

Yang Yunran closed his eyes. “Probably about half a month in Los Angeles. Besides next month’s concert, there’s no other important work that requires me to return to China, but I’ll come home to find you.” He slowly opened his eyes, and moved his head back to look at Jiang Yi, “I’m not patient. I can’t stay away from you for too long.”

Neither could Jiang Yi. He had never felt so strongly that he couldn’t live without someone else, often thinking about Yang Yunran.

“I still have four more hours of flying.” Jiang Yi glanced at the screen for the time, got up from Yang Yunran’s body, removed his belongings, and tossed them aside. “Rest for a bit, take a shower, and eat, and we’ll be there.”

Yang Yunran nodded slowly, resting on Jiang Yi’s shoulder, and dozed off again for a while.

Two hours before landing, Yang Yunran got up for a shower. Because they turned on the lights, the flight attendant saw them and came over to knock on their door, asking if they wanted to have a meal.

Yang Yunran is now refreshed. After having their meal, they finally arrived in Los Angeles in the early morning local time.

Jiang Yi didn’t bring any luggage, just his passport and sunglasses. Wearing a down jacket, he saw Yang Yunran off in the car, bending down to hug him for two minutes before rushing to catch his connecting flight to New York to retrieve his violin.

Last year, when he came to New York for an academic conference, he ordered an expensive handmade violin from an old shop.

Because he was just an ordinary customer, not from a wealthy family or royalty, he had to wait a long time before they notified him that it was ready.

Jiang Yi didn’t know much about instruments, but he could tell by the feel and appearance that it was a fine piece. The violin maker had introduced many details, which Jiang Yi had noted down. After packing the violin on his back, he hurried to catch his next flight.

Because his flight didn’t have WIFI, and he couldn’t contact the outside world, Jiang Yi had specifically called Yang Yunran before boarding.

“I’ll be flying for a while, so I won’t be able to reply to messages or calls. I’ll only land tomorrow morning.”

Yang Yunran asked, “Why are you transferring to New York? That’s quite a long journey.”

“I bought something, and I have an hour before boarding.” Jiang Yi sat in a corner of the lounge, asking him, “Did you see Grandma?”

“Yes, I did… She’s doing well, kind, knowledgeable, and very lovely. I’m helping her make jam right now! She also has an old Jinjila cat, who crawled into my bed to sleep last night, very adorable.”

The kindness of this elderly lady completely dispelled Yang Yunran’s fear of the “grandma” identity, which used to evoke nothing but anger and complaints from an elderly lady.

Now she was a loving lady who made sweet jams and brewed English tea.

Those bad memories in Yang Yunran’s mind were slowly being washed away, replaced with something new and bright.

After flying for more than ten hours, Jiang Yi’s flight finally landed.

Yang Yunran was asleep.

Jiang Yi sent him a text message, and then walked out of the airport with his violin. His parents were there to pick him up, but his younger brother Jiang Wei was absent.

When his parents saw him coming out alone, they hesitated and glanced behind him several times without saying anything.

Jiang Yi said, “Are you looking for my partner? He didn’t come back with me.”

Dad breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That’s good… Ah Yi, no luggage?”

“None,” Jiang Yi said. “Can you accept me bringing him home again, or is it better if you never meet him in this lifetime?”

Mom said, “No, Ah Yi, it’s not that. Your dad and I just can’t accept a son-in-law who can’t provide anything, not even help with household chores.”

The generation gap made it hard for Jiang Yi to explain.

Jiang Yi’s face turned cold. “He doesn’t do housework, and he can’t have children. If you want grandchildren, wait until Jiang Wei grows up.”

Dad hurriedly spoke up, “Don’t be angry. Your mom is just a bit impatient. Your dad and I need some time to think… There’s no one like this around here. You suddenly changed, how can we suddenly accept it?”

His dad dared to drive recklessly in their hometown but didn’t dare to drive in Beijing, so the couple took a taxi here and would take another one to leave.

Dad smoked in the car and was reprimanded by the driver with a Beijing accent. He quickly put out his cigarette and opened the window for ventilation.

Jiang Yi sat next to Dad and handed him a bottle of mineral water.

After a moment of contemplation, Dad asked, “Son-in-law, do you have a photo?”

Jiang Yi briefly showed him the screen saver. Dad looked at it for a while, a worried expression on his face. “It looks like a girl… but it’s still a boy, hmm.”

“Just a boy,” Jiang Yi said, putting away his phone, his tone calm and almost indifferent. “Gender can’t change, but he’s beautiful. You can deceive yourselves about that. He can’t have children, just consider it my health problem.”

“Well, well,” Dad scratched his head and pondered, “if he had long hair, it might be easier to accept. Oh well, just think of him with short hair.”

The couple had discussed it at home and realized that, whether they could fully accept it or not, they had no choice but to accept it. Jiang Yi was someone with his own ideas and had been mature from a young age. As parents, they actually had no real authority over him.

Jiang Yi knew how to use his bonuses to buy a house and a car for the family at a very young age. Everyone who talked about it was envious, saying, “Old Jiang, your son Xiao Yi is so obedient and smart. You don’t have to worry about anything. He grew up on his own, got into Tsinghua University on his own, and went to America on his own…”

“So, your parents’ attitude has softened?” Yang Yunran called Jiang Yi as soon as he woke up, knowing he had arrived.

Due to the time difference, they didn’t have much time to talk.

Jiang Yi said, “Yes. Give them a little more time. Meeting them once is enough. You don’t need to see them often. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to meet them in the future.”

“And your brother?” Yang Yunran was fiddling with the jam in his fridge while wearing earphones. “Is his academic performance still poor?”

“Very poor,” Jiang Yi replied.

“How bad is it?” Yang Yunran asked.

“I failed; I can’t get into high school,” Jiang Yi said. He had seen his brother’s scores but didn’t get angry. He had been a bit annoyed earlier, but talking to Yang Yunran made him feel much better.

Yang Yunran stayed with his grandma in the US for twenty days and returned to China in early March.

His father stayed to continue accompanying the elderly lady, but his mother came back with him.

When Yang Yunran went to work, he saw the HR department looking flustered, and everyone had a grim expression, whispering among themselves.

Zhou Kai kept sighing. When Yang Yunran saw him, he asked what was going on.

Zhou Kai lamented, “The company’s ownership has changed. Starting from the end of last year, someone secretly began buying our company’s shares at a high price. Later, there were marital issues between the big boss and the boss lady. The boss lady actually sold 10% of the shares. The major shareholder held a shareholders’ meeting today, and it looks like the company’s strategy and decision-making power will be altered.”

Yang Yunran asked, “Does that mean President Lin’s power will be undermined?”

Zhou Kai shook his head and analyzed, “Probably not. President Lin is the CEO and holds 13% of the shares. If the new major shareholder is dissatisfied with the current structure, there might be some adjustments. The specifics… I don’t know yet. The chairman’s personal issues have damaged the company’s reputation, and it might involve changes in the board and partial personnel adjustments…” As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to realize something, looking somewhat uneasy.

The new chairman might keep things the same, or there might be a purge, including a re-examination of the accounts.

In the past few years, there were some unclear figures in Zhou Kai’s accounts, which could be construed as money laundering if questioned. The amount wasn’t large, but Zhou Kai wasn’t sure if it would attract the big boss’s attention.

This wasn’t within Yang Yunran’s professional domain; he only knew that the company was getting a new boss, but President Lin’s CEO position was likely to remain unchanged. So, he didn’t worry too much.

There was a meeting upstairs.

“I am Gao, representing Mr. Xu. I am Mr. Xu’s secretary, and this is our lawyer, Jiao Lu,” Gao said.

Jiao Lu was a renowned lawyer and the mentor of the chief attorney of the Wanyan Legal Team.

In such a situation, Mr. Xu didn’t even show up, just gathered everyone together and sent a secretary and a lawyer. What did this mean?

For a moment, the shareholders’ expressions were quite colorful.

Some were indignant, some disdainful, and some observant.

Secretary Gao expressed some opinions on the current company structure, then said, “Given the current scandals involving Chairman Zhang and their impact on the company’s stock price, we propose that for the long-term development and sustained growth of the company, we must make significant decisions at critical moments. For example, a vote to remove Chairman Zhang from the board and elect a new acting director.”

Due to Xu Xing’s complete lack of interest in managing an entertainment company, he didn’t even bother to attend in person. Instead, he briefly appeared via video link during the meeting.

During his speech, shareholders couldn’t help but search for his name under the table and inquire around. Soon, everyone’s expressions changed, concealing their previous annoyance or disdain.

Because shareholders only really care about the stock price, they disregard everything else. Once they discovered that the new major shareholder was a big shot, their lingering worries dissipated.

After the shareholders’ meeting ended, everyone genially surrounded Secretary Gao as they left the conference room.

Secretary Gao, holding a file bag and adjusting her glasses, asked General Manager Lin, “Mr. Lin, is Mr. Ye at the company today?”

Mr. Lin hesitated for a moment. “Mr. Ye?”

Shareholders around them exchanged puzzled looks. “Who’s Mr. Ye?”

Mr. Lin realized suddenly. “Secretary Gao, are you talking about Haliyeh?”

Secretary Gao nodded. “Yes.”

Shareholders then realized this. “Oh, the singer.”

Mr. Lin chuckled. “He should be downstairs. Are you also a fan of his?”

Secretary Gao smiled. “Yes, I’m a small fan. But to be precise, Mr. Ye is my boss.”