Chapter 10: “It has nothing to do with me whether you live on the edge of the world.”

The marriage house was not far, about half an hour’s drive from the Jiang family’s home, and they arrived quickly.

Suddenly coming out of the brightly lit business car, the night was like waves, rushing in from all directions.

Standing outside the gate and looking inside, the spacious Chinese-style courtyard leading to the residence had only a few scattered lights, sparse like stars.

The moonlight was faint tonight.

The courtyard was filled with strange rocks and lush vegetation, with sharp branches and leaves hanging high, emitting a cold silver light, which completely sank the dense darkness and gave it substance, hindering even a small step.

The butler and assistant Lin, who were waiting at the door, worked together to remove the luggage off the car and went in first.

The moment the car lights went out, Jiang Yao’s eyes were instantly plunged into chaos, everything lost its basic lines, and a faint dizziness followed.

With his intuition, he bravely took a few steps forward, but his shoe tip unexpectedly kicked a protruding cobblestone, making him almost stumbled.

Duan Zhuxian, who was walking in front, stopped and turned to look at Jiang Yao, who was still in place.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“You go ahead, I have something to do.”

Hidden in the darkness of night, Jiang Yao shook his phone as if he was going to answer a call, and nonchalantly made a gesture as if shooing someone away.

It wasn’t until Duan Zhuxian disappeared into the distance that he let out a big sigh of relief. He was about to use his phone as a flashlight, but only to find that it was out of battery.

His night vision ability was very poor, he could easily fail to see clearly when suddenly entering a dark place. It was an old problem. He had seen doctors and had thorough examinations, and in the end, it was diagnosed as being induced by psychological factors.

Jiang Yao put his palm against his forehead, and slowly inserted his fingertips into his hair against the hairline. He used his fingertips to match his deep breathing rate and pressed his scalp several times.

After a while, he could finally see the outlines of objects a little clearer.

Just as Jiang Yao was mentally preparing himself and trying to take a step, the sound of footsteps approaching from afar suddenly rang in his ears.

He immediately put the hand that was on his head into his pocket, lifted his chin as if nothing was wrong, and followed the sound to look at Duan Zhuxian’s silhouette.

“There’s something I haven’t taken,” said the other person.

Jiang Yao made a “Hmm” sound, deliberately steadying his voice, but still revealed a slight trembling in his breath.

Fortunately, it seemed that Duan Zhuxian didn’t notice anything. He opened the car parked outside the gate and took something out from inside.

In the moment they passed by each other, Jiang Yao couldn’t tell if it was his illusion, but he felt that Duan Zhuxian slowed down his pace a little.

His body moved faster than his brain, and he quickly took the opportunity to follow.

With each subsequent step, he precisely stepped where Duan Zhuxian had stepped, passing through an entire long corridor that was mostly flat ground.

Fortunately, Duan Zhuxian didn’t know about his poor night vision.

Jiang Yao thought with relief as he stared at Duan Zhuxian’s figure.

Otherwise, he would definitely be led into a ditch.

Just as he was thinking this, the person in front suddenly stopped.

Jiang Yao took a step forward, almost bumping into Duan Zhuxian’s back. Before the other person turned around, he quickly shifted his focused gaze to the air.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yao asked.

“Look down,” Duan Zhuxian said.

With suspicions in his heart, Jiang Yao subconsciously did as told, and the calm voice once again reached his ears.

“Watch your step, there are stairs, three steps.”

“…”

Upon hearing that, Jiang Yao was startled, and the tension he had been holding all the way suddenly seemed a bit hard to maintain.

After entering the softly lit entrance corridor, Duan Zhuxian’s stride noticeably increased, leaving Jiang Yao behind.

It was then that Jiang Yao finally saw what Duan Zhuxian was holding in his hand. It was the small car pillow that he had used to hit Duan Zhuxian earlier.

He couldn’t quite understand why Duan Zhuxian had deliberately come back to retrieve this thing and bring it home.

Following that, Duan Zhuxian casually threw the small pillow into the basket at the end of the entrance corridor, even more carelessly than throwing away garbage.

Jiang Yao stared at Duan Zhuxian’s nonchalant figure, and an explosive thought slowly emerged in his mind, only to be immediately overturned –

Could it be that he specifically came back to show him the way?

*

The residence arranged by Elder Duan had two floors.

All around, floor-to-ceiling windows were used, connecting with the flowing water outside. Combined with the deep and light walnut color as the main color tone inside, it appeared extremely transparent visually, giving a sense of seclusion like a hidden paradise. The overall orientation was also good, and it should have good natural lighting during the day.

It perfectly matched Jiang Yao’s preferred style.

In just a few seconds after entering the living room, Jiang Yao looked around and deduced the general structure of the house based on the position of the central pillar and the direction of the stairs.

The butler, who was waiting in the house, walked over to Jiang Yao’s four large suitcases and respectfully asked, “Mr. Jiang, should these be moved upstairs to the master bedroom like Mr. Duan’s belongings?”

Jiang Yao, who was still assessing the pros and cons of the architecture, immediately raised his hand to stop him: “No need, I’ll choose my room myself.”

The butler was taken aback, probably not expecting Jiang Yao to treat the marriage house like a hotel.

Seeing the hesitation of the butler, Jiang Yao turned to ask Duan Zhuxian, “Did the old man specify that we have to sleep in the same bed?”

Duan Zhuxian’s expression twitched slightly.

Jiang Yao stared at Duan Zhuxian’s lips, and after a while, those tightly closed lips slightly opened, and uttered two words, “No, he didn’t.”

Jiang Yao breathed a sigh of relief and hummed, “That’s good.”

The butler and assistant Lin exchanged a glance and both chose to pretend they didn’t hear.

Afterwards, Jiang Yao strolled around as if he were the young master, with his hands in his pockets, and inspected the house from top to bottom. The overall structure of the house was not far off from his expectations.

There were many bedrooms on the second floor. He estimated the smallest one in terms of area, pushed the door open, and unpacked the daily necessities from his suitcase. The rest of the suitcases were filled with books.

As he sat on the carpet sorting the books, a hardcover notebook fell out from between two books with a thud.

Jiang Yao froze for a moment and couldn’t help but gently touch his forehead in resignation.

“Why did I bring this too?”

He casually said, but he handled the notebook with great care.

Opening the yellowed notebook, inside were architectural design drawings, all dated from over a decade ago, including hotels, science museums, and pedestrian bridges.

Although many ideas were narrow and one-sided, it was enough to see the young author’s outstanding talent and perception.

Jiang Yao slowly flipped through the pages, appreciating his own clumsy ideas from middle school with a critical attitude. As he was engrossed, he suddenly heard a voice from ahead—

“This bedroom has a good location.”

He raised his head abruptly.

The slightly open door had already been pushed open, and Duan Zhuxian leaned against the door with his arms crossed, not knowing how long he had been there.

Jiang Yao snapped the notebook shut with one hand, and his eyebrows furrowed in alertness.

“Are you here to compete with me for this territory?”

The young man sitting cross-legged on the carpet had slightly upturned peach blossom eyes that seemed to hold a charming and affectionate look for everyone, even when he scowled, it carried a hint of allure.

Like a natural seducer.

Unfortunately, he was completely unaware of this and thought he looked fierce and intimidating enough.

Duan Zhuxian’s Adam’s apple moved slightly as he replied: “I’ve already had someone put my things away, right next door in the master bedroom.”

Jiang Yao: “…”

He had been too focused on choosing the size of the room and hadn’t realized that the master bedroom was right next door.

Jiang Yao thought to himself, “Why am I so unlucky,” but casually chuckled, “As long as you don’t stay in my room, it has nothing to do with me whether you live on the edge of the world .”

Duan Zhuxian raised his eyebrows and his gaze, which had lingered on Jiang Yao for quite some time, finally shifted to the surroundings.

The room was filled with books, the majority of which were related to architecture. There were drawing tools and 3D models piled up on the desk.

He asked, “Are you interested in civil engineering?”

Jiang Yao narrowed his eyes like a fox and replied, “Is Mr. Duan conducting a household registration check?”

Duan Zhuxian said, “There is no need to check the household registration. We’ll soon be on the same family register, and I can check it anytime in the future.”

Jiang Yao suddenly stood up and walked up to Duan Zhuxian.

“Then wait until Mr. Duan has crossed the threshold of my Jiang family before saying that.”

After saying that, he gave Duan Zhuxian a provocative look from up close.

Bang –

He closed the door.

*

After being unceremoniously shown out by Jiang Yao, Duan Zhuxian stood at the door and recalled the situation inside the room.

Aside from the basic supplies already provided in the room, most of the things taken out of the suitcases were neatly piled up outside instead of being put in the cabinets, filling up the already small room, just like how a feline would make a nest.

When it came to people, it was likely an expression of lacking a sense of security.

Another attention-grabbing aspect was the lighting.

There were four visible lamps – a desk lamp, a night light, a handheld flashlight, and an emergency light.

When combined with Jiang Yao’s unusual behavior after getting off the car…

After descending to the first floor, Duan Zhuxian called the butler over and instructed him to arrange for workers to install smart lights in every corner of the courtyard and interior, ensuring that there were no dark corners without light at night.

“Alright, Mr. Duan,” the butler responded and took out his phone to contact the home decor team.

“Wait.”

Duan Zhuxian walked to the entrance and pressed a switch, and a soft silver light gently spread across the floor, resembling a hazy moonlight.

“The light at the entrance needs to be changed too. It’s too dim.”

[Author’s Note]

I usually like to commend men who are attentive and doting on their wives.