Chapter 23.1 “Fiancée”

Without any change in his expression, it was the first time he had ever tested the waters.

In the dim room, Jiang Yao’s eyebrows relaxed, his face was calm, and he was sleeping peacefully.

A few seconds later, he suddenly opened his eyes, and a look of terror surged out.

“Damn! Is this the latest ghost story???”

Jiang Yao’s heartbeat was chaotic for a moment, he stared at Duan Zhuxian’s face, but because the light was too dim, he couldn’t make out the other’s expression.

Duan Zhuxian must be joking, right?

It must be a joke.

Definitely a joke…

Jiang Yao clutched the quilt, analyzed urgently, and repeatedly brainwashed himself.

“Ghost story? Is it very scary that I like you?”

Duan Zhuxian’s voice fell again, Jiang Yao pricked up his ears, and from his steady tone, he heard a hint of suppressed strangeness.

It seemed like… mockery.

He was indeed joking!

He wanted to see him hooked, and then see his deflated look.

Jiang Yao exhaled a breath, and his wildly beating heart slowly calmed down.

“Don’t worry.” Jiang Yao squinted his eyes and sneered, “If that’s the case, I will definitely run as far as I can!”

He must seize this opportunity for revenge, to let Duan Zhuxian taste the bitterness of being rejected!!

After Jiang Yao finished speaking, he turned his body towards Duan Zhuxian, lifted his chin, shook his head and swaggered, with a provocative look.

The butterflies that were about to surge out of his throat suddenly stopped, like soulless dead leaves, they all sank into the lake called ‘rationality’.

Watching the righteous yet childish ghost in front of him, Duan Zhuxian’s forehead was throbbing.

He grabbed the quilt and forcefully covered Jiang Yao’s mouth, which was still trying to babble.

Caught off guard, Jiang Yao widened his eyes and whimpered pitifully a few times.

Only to be met with two cold and ruthless words from Duan Zhuxian—

“Sleep.”

*

Lately, Jiang Yao’s butt hurts.

Ever since they confirmed their friends-with-benefits relationship, someone has turned into an insatiable beast, pinning him down every now and then.

At first, he was still full of vigor, skillfully mingling with the other party, secretly enjoying this sense of immorality of “deceiving everyone and getting into bed with his sworn enemy after getting engaged”, occasionally after the fact, if he still had the energy, he would stubbornly say “it’s nothing more than that”.

But soon, he was made to doubt his life.

But a man can’t easily say “no”, especially in front of his lifelong opponent, Duan Zhuxian.

So, to escape, he tilted his spare time towards work, spurred on the music platform project in his hand, went home and fell asleep, eliminating any opportunity.

Then, he simply didn’t go home at all.

Working overtime too late, he directly stayed at the company, moved to a building site built by an acquaintance during the holidays, under the pretense of: it’s convenient to learn from the stationed engineers on site.

In this way, he didn’t see the beast named Duan for a whole week.

Until one day at noon, he was wearing a yellow safety helmet, treating the workers to a luxurious meat-packed lunch in a simple shelter made of bricks. Just after finishing the last bite, he was taken away from the construction site by Duan Zhuxian, looking disheveled, to visit Grandpa Duan.

In the car, Jiang Yao asked Duan Zhuxian with a puzzled face: “Why didn’t you give me a heads up before taking me to see your grandfather?”

Duan Zhuxian said lightly: “Five days ago, I asked Assistant Lin to notify you to come home once, but you didn’t.”

Jiang Yao rolled his eyes upwards, recalling the message. It seemed there was such a thing.

Assistant Lin’s exact words were: “Mr. Duan said he has something to do.”

At that time, his butt was still hurting, so he thought what Duan Zhuxian meant by ‘doing something’ was doing that kind of thing. It was awkward to ask more through Assistant Lin, so he ignored it.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yao’s ears turned hot, he silently turned his head to look out the window, blaming Duan Zhuxian, this beast in human clothing, for corrupting his pure heart.

After a while, he took out his phone and quietly dragged Duan Zhuxian, who had a snow globe avatar, out of the WeChat blacklist, temporarily releasing him.

The Duan family residence is located on the hillside in the suburbs, a large courtyard passed down from ancestors with four entrances and exits. From the main entrance to the residential house, the car had to drive a bit further.

On both sides of the road, there are dark ancient cypresses planted, like loyal guards along the way, blocking the sun, making people’s voices unable to rise.

After getting out of the car, an old man with a white beard, looking like a butler, bowed to Duan Zhuxian and called out ‘Young Master’, just like in a TV drama.

Jiang Yao felt a sourness in his teeth from listening.

It’s hard to believe that it’s the 21st century, and this big city of Lingbei still has such a strong feudal atmosphere.

He was afraid that the old man would call him ‘Young Madam’ in the next sentence, so before the other party looked over, he quickly took the initiative to say hello.

Not far away, by chance, a man was sent out of the residential door by a nanny and then got into the car parked at the door.

If he didn’t see it wrong, it should be the mayor who just retired a while ago, Jiang Yao had seen him with his father before.

It was only then that he realized, belatedly, that he was about to face not only Duan Zhuxian’s grandfather, but also one of the top entrepreneurs in Lingbei, who now held the lifeline of the Jiang family.

Even the former mayor had to visit in person, and he, a powerless and insignificant junior, had come to pay his respects without any preparation.

Jiang Yao thought for a moment and couldn’t help but feel a sense of retreat. His steps slowed down a lot and gradually fell behind Duan Zhuxian.

“Um… I just remembered that I didn’t bring a gift. Why don’t you go first, and I’ll come another day?”

“I’ve prepared it for you.”

Duan Zhuxian, walking in front, shook the gift box in his hand as if he had eyes in the back of his head. With his other hand, he reached back and accurately grabbed Jiang Yao’s hand, pulling the little fox who was trying to slip away to his side. The moment he stepped into the entrance, he boldly inserted four fingers into Jiang Yao’s.

Jiang Yao lowered his head, looking dumbfounded at the two hands intertwined, and walked the first two steps into the door in a daze.

When he looked up again, he came face to face with Grandpa Duan, who was sitting on the grandmaster’s chair in a Zhongshan suit.

Grandpa Duan was from the army, and even though he was now in his eighties, he still couldn’t hide the murderous aura all over his body.

Jiang Yao was already nervous, and being stared at by those hawk-like murky eyes made him even more uncomfortable. Even Duan Zhuxian, who was righteous and dignified by his side, became kind and amiable.

The room was filled with the scent of incense, offering to the gods, and the atmosphere was a bit gloomy. Jiang Yao subconsciously moved closer to Duan Zhuxian.

Duan Zhuxian pinched his hand and reminded, “Call him Grandpa.”

The young man next to him immediately parroted, “Hello, Grandpa.”

He was dazed and stunned, obedient like a quail, without a hint of the arrogance of a fox.

Duan Zhuxian suppressed the upward curve of his lip corner, opened the box in his hand, and handed it to Grandpa Duan, “This is the gift Jiang Yao prepared for you.”

Jiang Yao also leaned over to take a look, inside lay a jade seal-like curio, which looked quite valuable.

Grandpa Duan took out the jade seal and played with it for a while. His eyebrows and eyes showed a bit of amiability, as if he was pleased with the gift.

“You are thoughtful.” Grandpa Duan put down the jade seal and patted Jiang Yao on the shoulder.

“As long as Grandpa is pleased.” Jiang Yao grinned, laughing a bit awkwardly.

The old man still had guests to see in the evening, so he didn’t keep them for dinner. He had tea with them, asked Duan Zhuxian about some company affairs, and then signaled that they could go.

Apart from the initial nervousness, Jiang Yao’s subsequent performance was quite decent. He managed to make the old man laugh a few times, earning some goodwill for the Jiang family. But his heart was tense the whole time, and he only relaxed when they left the mountain.

Sitting in the car, Jiang Yao stretched his limbs and turned his head: “Thanks for the gift.”

Duan Zhuxian, who was driving on the side, responded with a “Hmm.”

Jiang Yao asked, “How much did that ornament cost? I’ll pay you back when we get home.”

Duan Zhuxian quoted a number, and upon hearing it, Jiang Yao’s eyes nearly popped out. He calculated whether selling his beloved sports car in his garage would be enough to cover it.

“You don’t have to pay me back.” Duan Zhuxian said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “You can consider it an expense of our shared marital property.”

Jiang Yao hummed noncommittally, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Seeing that Jiang Yao was unusually quiet and not in high spirits, Duan Zhuxian asked, “Tired?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Yao said weakly, “The atmosphere at your house is too gloomy. I got goosebumps just from going there once.”

Duan Zhuxian raised an eyebrow, “Does Young Master Jiang get stage fright?”

Jiang Yao gave a dismissive “heh,” “It’s just not suitable for someone like me who needs to be nurtured by the sun.”

Duan Zhuxian said, “Actually, I rarely go there too.”

“Huh?” Jiang Yao didn’t understand, “Isn’t that your home?”

Duan Zhuxian explained, “Not really, that’s where my grandfather lives. The juniors who can go there often are those he values and acknowledges.”

Jiang Yao was surprised, thinking that even a strong and challenging person like Duan Zhuxian had times when he was not valued. He also thought about how Grandpa Duan had many descendants when he was young, and Duan Zhuxian’s father had married a stepmother for him when he was young and even had a younger brother who was only half a year old. He probably wasn’t loved by his parents…

Thinking of this, he glanced at Duan Zhuxian.

This was the opponent he had personally chosen nine years ago. Regardless of his character, it could not erase his affirmation of Duan Zhuxian’s abilities.

The person he had always been competing with, both openly and secretly, was actually looked down upon by others. Jiang Yao had an indescribable feeling.

He waved his hand disdainfully, “That kind of oppressive place, it’s better not to go.”

Seeing that Duan Zhuxian was still staring ahead without speaking, he quickly added, “What I mean is, for someone like you who is not sunny and cheerful enough, going there more will only make you more solitary.”

Jiang Yao’s tone was awkward and stiff, but Duan Zhuxian heard the comfort in it.

Most of the time, Jiang Yao was carefree, as if he was particularly heartless, but occasionally he would suddenly become delicate, more keenly aware than anyone else of what Duan Zhuxian was hiding under his surface emotions.

It was in these unexpected moments that Duan Zhuxian slowly fell, so much so that in his heart, Jiang Yao was always a particularly cute person.

As the sunset spread, the night-blooming jasmine along the way finally endured the long day, and a soft light fell on Duan Zhuxian’s eyebrows and eyes.

“Then we’ll go there less often in the future.”

Jiang Yao exclaimed, “Can’t we just not go?”

Duan Zhuxian said, “It’s not very realistic not to go. My grandfather is a suspicious person, he will definitely check on our relationship like today to ensure the stability of the marriage alliance.”

“Sigh, getting married is too troublesome.” Jiang Yao yawned, as if his enthusiasm had been hit, “So what’s your grandfather’s standard for approval?”

The car stopped at a red light, Duan Zhuxian looked at Jiang Yao and said: “The requirements are not high, just have a bit of the look that a couple should have.”

Jiang Yao was puzzled, “What does it mean to have the look that a couple should have?”

“For example, get a little closer when talking, like this…”

Duan Zhuxian reached out his hand, his palm clasping the back of Jiang Yao’s head, turning him slightly towards himself, and the next second, their faces were close together.

“Do you understand what it means to be close?”

“Shit…”

Jiang Yao was choked by the thin air between their lips and retreated sharply.

That was close, I almost lost my first kiss!

“Isn’t this requirements too high??”

Jiang Yao’s voice was startled high.

When he was acting in front of his brother, he didn’t ask Duan Zhuxian to do this much.

“You didn’t just make this up yourself, did you?”

Jiang Yao’s heart was pounding, and he squinted his eyes in suspicion.

“What do you think?”

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