Chapter 63: “Installment Compensation.”

Pushing Duan Zhuxian onto the living room sofa, Jiang Yao leaned down to kiss him again, igniting sparks across Duan Zhuxian’s brows, lips, and chin.

One hand pressed down on Duan Zhuxian’s shoulder while the other caressed the sharp contours of his face, trailing down his neck and stopping at the rapidly moving Adam’s apple. He toyed with it briefly before aggressively moving towards the collar…

This was the first time Jiang Yao took full control, and with Duan Zhuxian almost unresponsive, he ended up exhausted, panting heavily on Duan Zhuxian’s neatly dressed chest.

Initially, he intended to strip Duan Zhuxian’s upper body, but winter clothes were too cumbersome. He lost patience after unbuttoning just the first two buttons.

“Measuring your waist isn’t just my job. Why aren’t you cooperating at all?” Jiang Yao grumbled.

Hearing this, Duan Zhuxian moved slightly.

Jiang Yao instantly bit his lower lip, trying to suppress any sound, and after a moment he warned, “Either go out or stop moving!”

“The sofa is too small for me to move freely.”

Duan Zhuxian’s voice that tinged with laughter, flowed into Jiang Yao’s ears, full of allure. It sounded like he had just feasted and was brimming with energy, ready to go all out.

Jiang Yao’s mind was still in a half-blank state and hadn’t had time to react to Duan Zhuxian’s words when Duan Zhuxian picked him up face to face, lifting him off the sofa in an instant.

Although he was a man of 1.8 meters, this method of being held with only an arm for support felt very insecure, especially since Duan Zhuxian hadn’t gone out yet.

Jiang Yao was both ashamed and angry, and also afraid of falling, so he immediately tightened his grip on Duan Zhuxian’s neck and waist as Duan Zhuxian carried him directly upstairs.

Compared to the cramped sofa, the master bedroom was indeed much more spacious, with a sturdy big bed and a thick, soft carpet.

After measuring Duan Zhuxian’s waist multiple times with his enthusiastic cooperation, Jiang Yao finally felt dizzy and couldn’t take it anymore.

He found an opportunity and used both his hands and feet to escape, leaving a series of stubborn little dents in the dark blue bed sheet, with small distances between each pair of dents.

Duan Zhuxian’s intrigued gaze followed Jiang Yao’s smooth and beautiful back. He let him crawl a few steps like a snail. Then he asked lazily, “Where are you planning to crawl to?”

“I’m going to get the locked belts, all three of them…” Jiang Yao’s voice was tinged with resentment.

He was determined to lock up this beast, Duan Zhuxian!

All three belts!

All of Jiang Yao’s earlier bravado had vanished, leaving only the thought of fleeing the scene.

He pushed forward with all his might, but just as he was about to reach the edge of the bed, an arm appeared around his waist, with the veins visible beneath the firm muscles.

The next second, Duan Zhuxian dragged him back.

The overwhelming warmth engulfed him, Duan Zhuxian’s breath and husky voice whispering in his ear, “Baby, one belt is already tight enough. Three might suffocate someone.”

Jiang Yao’s face instantly turned red. “Get lost, don’t call me baby…”

He couldn’t stand it when Duan Zhuxian called him that. Every time those normally indifferent lips uttered those words, he became completely defenseless, unable to resist, and utterly at Duan Zhuxian’s mercy.

After a long time, the endless night finally reached its end.

In the end, Duan Zhuxian carried Jiang Yao to the bathroom for a shower, then brought the sleepy Jiang Yao back to bed, and propped him up so that he could rest his head on his thigh.

Jiang Yao didn’t sleep long, and woke up about half an hour later. Through the dim light, he saw Duan Zhuxian wearing silver-rimmed glasses, reading documents, looking more proper than anyone else.

Disliking Duan Zhuxian’s scholarly yet rogue demeanor, Jiang Yao stretched out his hand to snatch his glasses, then hid it under the pillow.

Duan Zhuxian looked down at him helplessly, and asked softly, “Awake already? How are you feeling?”

Jiang Yao, hearing this, felt that Duan Zhuxian was somehow provoking him. Ignoring his aching waist and back, he said, “Aren’t you the one who’s not feeling well? Holding back for so long without any problems, you’re really lucky and talented.”

Duan Zhuxian replied calmly, “It was you who wanted pure love.”

“I never asked for pure love!” Jiang Yao retorted with furrowed brows. “Isn’t there a middle ground between pure love and beastly behavior?”

Duan Zhuxian seemed to seriously consider this for a moment before saying, “Probably not.”

Perhaps because he had been yearning for so long, whenever he saw Jiang Yao, his mind would flood with indecent thoughts, ready to explode at the slightest spark.

Sensing what Duan Zhuxian was thinking, Jiang Yao blushed at those words.

He turned his gaze away. “If I hadn’t figured out your pure love game, how long were you planning to keep up this gentleman act?”

Duan Zhuxian said, “Until you’re willing.”

Jiang Yao grunted twice, turned over, and faced away from Duan Zhuxian: “You’re just talking nonsense. You don’t have that much patience.”

Duan Zhuxian didn’t respond immediately. He curled his lips, and letting out a soft laugh.

When it came to Jiang Yao, he had always been able to endure; he’d been doing so for ten years. It was Jiang Yao, who complained outwardly but couldn’t tolerate it inwardly.

Jiang Yao wrapped himself tightly in the blanket and asked in a muffled voice, “Duan Zhuxian, do you even know how to date?”

Duan Zhuxian replied, “This is my first time. I’m not very good at it.”

“Then why do you always act so confident and in control?”

So it was all just a facade and pretending to be composed!

Hearing this, Duan Zhuxian glanced at the blanket bundled up like a little hill beside him and couldn’t help but laugh.

In front of Jiang Yao, he had never actually been in control.

Jiang Yao continued to criticize, “You never make things clear. I even thought you had some problem and that I’d have to spend my life with a disabled person.”

Duan Zhuxian suppressed his laughter, “It’s my fault for making you worry.”

Jiang Yao wasn’t satisfied, “Don’t just talk. How are you going to compensate me for my mental anguish?”

Duan Zhuxian leaned over, pulled him out of the blanket and kissed him from behind.

“I’ll compensate you in installments. Today counts as part of it.”

Jiang Yao froze for a moment. When he realized what Duan Zhuxian meant, his face turned red again.

The two of them hugging each other quietly for a while.

Jiang Yao’s gaze fell on the small photo frame on the bedside table. Inside, there was a landscape photo of a flower garden with a blue sky. The colors were gorgeous. It didn’t look like anything special, and it didn’t fit Duan Zhuxian’s minimalist taste, but it seemed to have always been there. And the date on the lower right corner indicated it was taken seventeen years ago.

Jiang Yao pointed at it, “Where was this photo taken?”

He had wanted to ask for a long time.

“It was taken where I used to live, in the west of the city,” Duan Zhuxian paused, then added, “I spent most of my life there until I was sixteen.”

After hearing this, Jiang Yao was puzzled. He remembered that Duan Song and He Lu lived in a house in the south of the city, and Duan Zhuxian’s mother had gone abroad for medical treatment when Duan Zhuxian was very young.

After realizing something, he widened his eyes and asked, “You lived alone?”

“Yeah, most of the time.”

Duan Zhuxian’s tone was still very nonchalant.

But the more casual he sounded, the more uncomfortable Jiang Yao felt.

As the youngest child who had always been pampered and cared for, Jiang Yao couldn’t imagine how a young child, at an age when they needed companionship, could face an empty, large house alone.

According to Shen Tang’s description, the younger Duan Zhuxian was also a child afraid of loneliness, preferring to eat at roadside stalls rather than be abandoned by friends.

Yet, despite this, that lonely house remained Duan Zhuxian’s eternal sanctuary, or else he wouldn’t have kept the photo by his bedside.

“Why haven’t I seen you go back to visit?” Jiang Yao asked.

“The house is no longer mine.”

Jiang Yao responded with an “Oh,” unsure of what to say.

And he realized that he seemed especially sentimental today.

Duan Zhuxian rubbed the back of Jiang Yao’s head. “It’s just a photo. Is it that fascinating?”

Jiang Yao caressed the photo and asked softly, “You miss it a lot, don’t you?”

Duan Zhuxian replied, “Not really.”

Jiang Yao detected a barely perceptible wistfulness in Duan Zhuxian’s tone and pouted.

Liar, clearly you’re nostalgic.

Yet, you insist on pretending it doesn’t matter.

A true master of pretense.

Putting down the photo frame, Jiang Yao turned around and, like comforting a child, he gently hugged the master of pretense.

*

The next day, Jiang Yao called a trusted friend. “How’s the investigation into Duan Feiyi coming along?”

The friend replied, “I’ve gathered most of the information. I was just about to arrange a meeting with you.”

They met in a private room at a restaurant, where Jiang Yao treated the friend to a table full of good food and drinks.

After Jiang Yao took the stack of documents, he looked through them page by page. Duan Feiyi’s twenty-something years of life were basically laid out before him, nothing more than the extravagant lifestyle of a rich playboy.

During his time studying abroad, his excessively privileged lifestyle led to all sorts of debauchery. He even got into trouble with the law, nearly being arrested by foreign police, and Duan Song had to spend a lot of money to settle the matter.

Thinking about how Duan Zhuxian had to earn his own tuition and living expenses when he went abroad, Jiang Yao felt a surge of anger.

His friend also dug up some information about Duan Feiyi’s mother, He Lu. Apparently, He Lu was Duan Song’s true love, while Duan Song’s marriage to Duan Zhuxian’s mother was a shotgun wedding.

Hearing the words “true love,” Jiang Yao couldn’t help but sneer.

Halfway through the meal, his friend suddenly remembered something and took out his phone, opening a document. “By the way, I also found out that Duan Feiyi originally owned a house, which was later transferred to someone named Liu Jing. The first owner of this house was Qin Youyang, who is Duan Zhuxian’s biological mother.”

Jiang Yao asked, “Where is the house?”

His friend replied, “In the west of the city.”

Jiang Yao’s brow furrowed slightly.

It seemed this was the house Duan Zhuxian had mentioned as his former residence.

According to the documents his friend pushed in front of him, on June 15th, 11 years ago, the house was officially transferred to Duan Feiyi, and handled by his guardian, He Lu.

On that same day, Jiang Yao had invited Duan Zhuxian to the swimming pool for a challenge, and Duan Zhuxian was nearly two hours late.

This date was significant because that night, his aunt gave birth to a second child, so Jiang Yao remembered it very clearly.

At that time, he wasn’t too angry. After all, he had only just met Duan Zhuxian, and besides the occasional secret meetings, they mostly saw each other during competitions, always at odds with each other. He simply assumed that Duan Zhuxian didn’t take their agreement to heart.

But now, it seemed that Duan Zhuxian’s lateness was likely due to this matter.

Even so, Duan Zhuxian had managed to overcome all obstacles to make it to their relatively unimportant meeting.

His friend said, “That house is currently for sale.”

Jiang Yao said, “Help me get in touch with this Liu Jing.”

His friend was surprised, “Do you want to buy that house?”

Jiang Yao replied with a simple “Hmm.”

His friend analyzed, “Although the house is old and has changed hands several times, the location is excellent, so the price is quite high. The cost-effectiveness isn’t great.”

Jiang Yao glanced at the sale price. It was indeed expensive.

He thought for a moment, then dug into his pre-marriage savings, and counting it all. Excluding stocks and assets, all his available cash was just enough to buy that small villa.

It just so happened that Duan Zhuxian’s birthday was coming up.

And Duan Zhuxian probably hadn’t been back to that house in a long time.