Chapter 26 “There’s Something Off About You.”

After returning home and changing out of the formal attire worn for the photos, Jiang Yao switched into casual clothes. In the afternoon, he went to the archery club with Chen Yiqi.

In Chen Yiqi’s mind, Jiang Yao, having gotten his marriage certificate with the person he disliked the most, would surely be feeling depressed. So, on the way there, he thought of many ways to comfort him.

To his surprise, Jiang Yao was in a particularly good mood. At first glance, he even seemed a bit radiant.

After two hours, Chen Yiqi was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, and could barely lift his arms. In contrast, Jiang Yao was full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue.

“Your stamina is incredible.”

Chen Yiqi admiredly patted the beautiful muscles on Jiang Yao’s arm.

However, Jiang Yao was not very satisfied. He glanced at the target with a few missed arrows and put down his bow. “It’s been a while since I played; I’m rusty.”

Chen Yiqi clicked his tongue twice. “It seems like you’ve been living a chaste life lately. You’re either buried in work or at the construction site. You don’t even go to bars anymore. When we finally manage to hang out, you choose such a boring place for activities. Are you really planning to cultivate a husbandly image?”

Jiang Yao retorted, “Nonsense, I’m just being professional.”

Chen Yiqi suggested, “Let’s go horseback riding in a couple of days. My sister gave me that purebred black horse, and I haven’t had many chances to ride it yet.”

Jiang Yao waved his hand. “We’ll see.”

The last time he went to the riding club, a rich young man had suddenly appeared and pursued him with confessions, claiming he would frequent the club to find him.

While Jiang Yao wasn’t afraid of these nuisances and might have enjoyed teasing and then dealing with them in the past, he didn’t want to give Duan Zhuxian any more reasons to act irrationally.

Thinking back to that night playing cards at home with Amy, it still made his legs weak, even though Duan Zhuxian had pretended to act out of understanding.

Chen Yiqi was utterly bored with this newly married Jiang Yao.

After a while, he curiously asked, “How does it feel living under the same roof as Duan Zhuxian?”

“It’s okay, I guess,” Jiang Yao replied nonchalantly.

Chen Yiqi squinted his eyes. “Something’s off about you. You’re acting strange.”

Jiang Yao glanced at him. “What’s off?”

“In the past, whenever you mentioned Duan Zhuxian, you looked like you wanted to eat him alive. Now you don’t even have a negative comment.”

Chen Yiqi’s face was full of gossip.

Jiang Yao ignored him.

Chen Yiqi’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “I heard from a friend that Duan Zhuxian is really popular in the gay circle.”

Jiang Yao unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and drank a few gulps. Though he didn’t want to admit it, it was indeed true.

The circles Chen Yiqi referred to were messy and promiscuous, which Jiang Yao found distasteful and usually avoided. However, he had heard some flirtatious zeros in the love scene proclaim that they would trade three years of celibacy for a night with Duan Zhuxian.

“He can be as popular as he wants; what does that have to do with me?” Jiang Yao dismissed it.

“In my opinion, you have a thing for his face,” Chen Yiqi said, pausing to lean in closer with an increasingly sleazy tone. “What’s a nemesis? Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘Better to die under a peony flower than to live without romance’?”

“Get lost.”

Jiang Yao pushed Chen Yiqi away, feeling a bit guilty.

However, Chen Yiqi was also wrong. Over the years of entanglement with Duan Zhuxian, Jiang Yao had admired, questioned, and disliked him. No matter how handsome Duan Zhuxian’s face was, he had grown tired of it.

At most, he was currently attracted to Duan Zhuxian’s body.

Two pretty girls walked into the club and kept glancing in Jiang Yao’s direction, seemingly wanting to strike up a conversation.

Jiang Yao pretended to ignore them, while Chen Yiqi eagerly ran up to the girls to ask for their WeChat.

Bored, Jiang Yao picked up his phone. The browser had just pushed a trending news article. He was about to swipe left to delete it when the preview image caught his eye. He paused and then clicked on it.

It was a gossip article from a celebrity news account.

The article suggested that an idol from a boy band named Zhang Sheng had recently been getting cozy with a high-ranking executive from a certain conglomerate, implying that he might be on the verge of a major career boost.

The typical clickbait format—starting with a photo, the article was vague and did not specify the executive’s identity, except for a paparazzi photo taken from the side.

The background showed the entrance of a five-star hotel, with the young idol throwing himself into the executive’s arms, looking very coy. Although the executive’s face was not visible and only a side profile could be seen, Jiang Yao could recognize who it was even if he were turned to ash.

Under the bright lights of the archery club, Jiang Yao stared at the screen for a long time, then laughed out of anger.

Duan Zhuxian was truly something. He forbade him from going to clubs for entertainment, yet he was secretly keeping a lover outside.

Jiang Yao opened his browser and searched for information on Zhang Sheng. The encyclopedia entry showed that he was from a small, obscure boy group called ODD.

The entry was mostly filled with scandals—sleeping with fans, scamming money, cheating, and a myriad of other misdeeds. His appearance was also far from impressive, with clear signs of botched plastic surgery.

Jiang Yao frowned as he read.

How could Duan Zhuxian’s taste have degraded to this level?

It was hard to believe they once liked the same person.

Chen Yiqi, having successfully gotten the girls’ WeChat numbers, saw Jiang Yao’s phone screen and thought Jiang Yao was interested in the obscure idol. He said, “I have a friend who recently hooked up with the leader of their group. Want me to introduce you?”

“No need.” Jiang Yao closed his phone and put it back in his pocket.

Chen Yiqi said, “Oh, I forgot you’re a married man now.”

Jiang Yao replied, “I just don’t like him.”

With that dismissive comment, he stood up, drew his bow, and shot several arrows at the heart of the target, ignoring the ten rings on the head.

When the staff went to retrieve the arrows, some were so deeply embedded that they had to pull hard several times to get them out.

Jiang Yao tossed aside the bow, wiped his sweat with a towel, and turned. “Let’s go.”

Chen Yiqi, still dazzled by Jiang Yao’s impressive archery, snapped back to reality and asked, “Where to?”

Jiang Yao replied, “The usual place.”

Chen Yiqi was stunned for a moment, then cheered and quickly followed.

*

They arrived at the club at nine in the evening.

Chen Yiqi couldn’t sit still and went off to dance and flirt, while Jiang Yao sat in a quieter booth, drinking.

Drinking alone felt a bit dull, so Jiang Yao reached into his pocket. Before he could find his cigarette pack, he touched a small plastic wrapper. He pulled it out; it was a piece of wedding candy from the Civil Affairs Bureau.

He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth, sucking on it a few times before lightly frowning.

Maybe the alcohol had numbed his taste buds. The candy that had been sweet in the morning now tasted bland and worse than low-quality saccharin.

He took a sip of brandy and swallowed the candy whole.

Chen Yiqi returned, drenched in sweat, and sat beside Jiang Yao. “I just saw that idiot Li Ruizhi.”

Jiang Yao followed Chen Yiqi’s gaze and indeed saw Li Ruizhi, the guy who had always been jealous of Duan Zhuxian and couldn’t stand him.

Next to Li Ruizhi was a man in his twenties.

The man was holding a beautiful woman and happened to be looking in Jiang Yao’s direction.

The man bore a slight resemblance to Duan Zhuxian, but his high cheekbones and the sharp, triangular eyes were markedly different from Duan Zhuxian’s deep-set eyes, making his gaze unsettling.

“I heard that Li Ruizhi hit someone and crippled them a while back. It couldn’t be covered up, and his father found out. His father was so furious that he wanted to kick this illegitimate son out of the family. It was only after his mother went through a dramatic episode of crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself that he managed to keep his wealth and status. Everyone is talking about it privately,” Chen Yiqi shared the gossip with disdain.

Jiang Yao, busy with work lately, hadn’t paid much attention to irrelevant matters. He responded absentmindedly with a “Mm,” his attention more focused on the man beside Li Ruizhi.

He overheard the woman flirting with the man and calling him “Yi-ge,” guessing that he must be Duan Zhuxian’s half-brother.

Jiang Yao had never met Duan Feiyi and didn’t know what kind of person he was. However, considering he was hanging out with trash like Li Ruizhi, he couldn’t be much better.

The thought that he almost married this man made Jiang Yao feel a bit nauseous.

By eleven o’clock, Chen Yiqi had to leave early for an unexpected matter. Jiang Yao finished his last drink, exchanged pleasantries with the club owner, and exited through the back door.

He had only walked a few steps down the alley when a figure emerged from behind a streetlight, blocking his way.

It was Li Ruizhi.

Behind him were a few drunken hooligans with bad intentions.

“Jiang Yao, long time no see,” Li Ruizhi sneered.

Jiang Yao looked down at Li Ruizhi, who was half a head shorter than him. “Are we close?”

Li Ruizhi’s attempt to be imposing failed miserably, and he snapped instantly. “Don’t pretend, you bastard. You’re the one who told my dad about me hitting that idiot with my car, aren’t you?”

Jiang Yao was silent for a moment, recalling the time he and Duan Zhuxian had slept together for the first time. The day after, at this very club, Li Ruizhi had mocked Duan Zhuxian’s nose injury, claiming he got beaten up. Jiang Yao had used that incident to shut Li Ruizhi up.

It seemed this guy wasn’t just stupid but also paranoid.

“I’m very particular about sorting trash. If you hadn’t jumped in front of me, I wouldn’t even remember you exist.”

Jiang Yao’s indifferent remark infuriated Li Ruizhi, making his eyes red with anger. However, he quickly calmed down, and an unpleasant smile formed on his lips.

“You’ll do anything for Duan Zhuxian, won’t you? Do you have a thing for him? A guy like Duan Zhuxian is hard to get, isn’t he?”

Jiang Yao found it amusing and looked at Li Ruizhi. “None of your damn business.”

Li Ruizhi, thinking he had hit the mark, combined with rumors about both of them being gay, shook his head mockingly and clicked his tongue. “Tsk tsk, Duan Zhuxian already has a new lover, and you’re still willing to be his lapdog. I feel sorry for you.”

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and held it up in front of Jiang Yao. The screen showed the gossip article about the “idol cozying up to a big shot.”

Jiang Yao frowned slightly.

The leak only showed a side profile, and unless one was very close to Duan Zhuxian, it would be impossible to recognize him. Except, of course, for someone who already knew about it.

Seeing Jiang Yao’s displeased expression, a buzz-cut guy next to Li Ruizhi decided to “seize the opportunity.” “I’ve always disliked that Duan kid. What a high and mighty act. Just because he was born into a good family, he acts all superior, pretending to be all pure and innocent. Who knows how many young stars he’s fooled around with? I’ve heard that the so-called upright old money types are hosting all sorts of sleazy parties lately, with no regard for gender, even going so far as to cause deaths…”

The buzz-cut guy, emboldened by Li Ruizhi’s presence, spewed filth with a smug attitude.

“Move aside, a good dog doesn’t block the way.”

Jiang Yao cut him off and started to walk away.

Li Ruizhi stood aside, and said sinisterly, “You’re not getting away that easily today.”

Immediately, Jiang Yao heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind him.

Jiang Yao’s eyes flashed with sharpness as he precisely grabbed the club coming at him from behind, yanking the assailant forward and using the momentum to block another attacker coming from the front. In just three seconds, he had taken down two men.

Seeing this, the others immediately surrounded him.

He had already noticed the burlap sack prepared by the wall, likely intended to bag him for a beating. But Li Ruizhi’s need to taunt him first had given him ample warning.

Jiang Yao clenched his fists, and cracked his knuckles.

He was in a bad mood anyway, so he decided to entertain himself by fighting back.

A few minutes later, everyone except Jiang Yao was down, unable to stand. The buzz-cut guy with the foul mouth had received five hard slaps from Jiang Yao, and his nose was bleeding profusely.

The people Li Ruizhi had brought were all a bunch of weaklings who usually partied and indulged themselves. Their bodies were soft from indulgence, and they had never encountered someone who could actually fight. Terrified, they fled in panic.

Seeing the tide turn against him, Li Ruizhi also tried to escape, but Jiang Yao grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

Jiang Yao usually had a friendly demeanor, always smiling slightly and looking at people with a casual air. When he encountered someone he didn’t like, he typically ignored them, making it hard for people to imagine him angry.

But now, Jiang Yao’s face was dark and frightening, devoid of any smile, his expression as ominous as a brewing storm.

Jiang Yao picked up a steel pipe and pressed it against Li Ruizhi’s face, grinding it against the concrete wall. The sound was sharp and piercing, like a blade scraping.

Li Ruizhi shuddered, nearly wetting his pants. The next moment, a cold voice whispered in his ear, “If you don’t want to regret it, don’t let me hear a single word about Duan Zhuxian again. No matter who says it, I’ll hold you accountable.”

Li Ruizhi had thought Jiang Yao was going to beat him to death, but it turned out to be just a verbal warning.

It seemed that this Jiang family’s second young master was extremely protective of Duan Zhuxian, possibly deeply in love.

Lovers are always crazy; it’s best not to provoke them!

He immediately nodded vigorously and raised three fingers, swearing he wouldn’t do it again.

Jiang Yao dropped the steel pipe and left without looking back.

Exiting the alley, he took off his dust-covered jacket and draped it over his arm. The night wind repeatedly swept away the sweat on his skin, cooling him to the core.

It had been a long time since he had fought someone—not counting the bed.

After venting, the emotions that had been suffocating him all night dissipated somewhat, leaving only a thin layer of displeasure that, while not painful, but still lingered.

This area was a hub of nightlife, with dynamic music, noisy laughter, and bustling footsteps blending together, like a movie played through a poor-quality sound system.

Jiang Yao slowly walked along the end of the road, like an extra at the end of a movie.

He was pondering Li Ruizhi’s words.

When he first saw the gossip article, he was furious, even considering forwarding it to Duan Zhuxian. But soon after, the initial surge of anger transformed into a persistent annoyance.

It was because he couldn’t find a reasonable stance to demand Duan Zhuxian to remain virtuous.

Of course, he could use the agreement, like Duan Zhuxian did, to pressure him, accusing Duan Zhuxian’s actions of damaging their marital image and, consequently, the reputation of both companies.

But he didn’t want to do that.

It felt meaningless.

In the grand arena of fame and fortune, there were plenty of people with affairs, and those who remained faithful were the minority. As long as it was handled properly, it rarely affected the company.

He wasn’t as domineering and unreasonable as Duan Zhuxian.

Moreover, he could vaguely sense that his irritation wasn’t entirely due to this reason.

But he couldn’t quite figure out what exactly he was angry about.

It wasn’t until he was sitting in the car outside his home that Jiang Yao suddenly realized a serious issue—

He and Duan Zhuxian were not just in a business marriage; they were also friends with benefits!

As a regular bed partner, he had the right to demand that his sleeping partner ensure their body was clean and not messing around with others.

His simmering anger finally found a point of release.

With newfound confidence, he entered the house with a righteous attitude, ready to confront.

However, the motion sensor light automatically turned on, welcoming him to an empty house.

Duan Zhuxian’s slippers were still neatly placed in the shoe cabinet, completely untouched.

Jiang Yao paused for a moment.

It was already past midnight. Although he and Duan Zhuxian never reported their whereabouts to each other, Jiang Yao knew that Duan Zhuxian rarely stayed out all night.

He must be spending the night in someone’s warm embrace and won’t be coming back tonight.

Jiang Yao scoffed, put on his slippers, and entered the house. Suddenly, he winced as a sharp pain shot through his back.

It was then he realized that he had gotten hurt during the fight. Now that the numbness was wearing off, the pain from his injury was starting to make itself known.

Jiang Yao rummaged through the living room and found a first aid kit, intending to apply some ointment on himself.

However, the injury was located in a tricky spot in the center of his shoulder blade. Sitting on the sofa, he tried several times but couldn’t reach it.

His patience ran out faster than ever before. Frustrated, he threw the ointment and cotton swabs back into the first aid kit, gritted his teeth against the pain, and went straight upstairs to sleep.