Chapter 64: “I Want to See You Lose Your Composure.”

After meeting his friends, Jiang Yao didn’t go home but instead took a taxi to the outskirts of the city. He knocked on the door of Duan Zhuxian’s grandfather’s house and learned that Old Qin was fishing at the back lake.

Following the maid’s directions, Jiang Yao saw an elderly man with gray hair by the lake, draped in a coat, holding a fishing rod, and sitting quietly in the cold wind.

Jiang Yao jogged over, brushed his messy bangs aside, and greeted Old Qin.

Old Qin didn’t look at him, continuing to stare at the fishing float, with a kind expression: “Xiao Jiang, you’re here?”

Jiang Yao also looked at the desolate lake surface, where pieces of floating ice drifted, and curiously asked, “In such cold weather, are there any fish?”

Old Qin smiled calmly: “Not many, only those willing will bite.”

Jiang Yao thought this old man had quite a sense of humor, fitting his stereotype of an artist.

Jiang Yao had left home at noon, and by afternoon the temperature had dropped sharply. He hadn’t worn enough clothes, so he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stood quietly beside Old Qin for a while. Just as he was about to speak, Old Qin spoke first: “Go ahead, what brings you to see your grandpa?”

Old Qin was straightforward, so Jiang Yao swallowed all the small talk he had prepared and got straight to the point: “Grandpa, I came to see you because I want to know about Duan Zhuxian’s childhood.”

“Why not ask him yourself?”

“You know, Duan Zhuxian’s indifferent nature makes even the most significant events seem trivial.”

“You really do understand him well. This child indeed loves to keep things to himself more than anyone else,” Old Qin said, shaking his head with a smile.

His only grandson was good in every way. He was mature, steady, and outstanding, with few peers able to match him. But he was too reserved. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have liked someone for over ten years without making a move, and ultimately resorting to a business marriage to secure the person.

Fortunately, the child who came in a hurry was like a fish in an icy lake: seemingly untouchable but willingly biting the hook in confusion.

After all, wanting to know about someone’s past is the beginning of love.

Talking about events from over twenty years ago wasn’t actually that complicated.

Back then, Duan Zhuxian’s mother, Qin Youyang, and his father, Duan Song, fell in love freely and got married hastily after an unplanned pregnancy.

Later, when Elder Duan fell seriously ill and nearly passed away, Duan Song, seeing the unfavorable situation and wanting to strengthen his position to vie for the family inheritance, got involved with He Lu, the only daughter of the He family, who later became Duan Zhuxian’s stepmother.

However, an affair would damage his social image, so to save face, Duan Song schemed repeatedly to portray Qin Youyang as a villainess who forced him into marriage and drove away his true love.

However, Qin Youyang was always unwilling to divorce. It could have been due to emotional instability during pregnancy, lingering love for Duan Song, or concern for the child she was carrying. No one truly knew her real thoughts.

As the divorce was continuously delayed, He Lu constantly complained. Duan Song, seeing no other way out, collaborated with several Duan family relatives to fabricate a scandal accusing Qin Youyang of infidelity. This reversal of blame made Elder Duan, bedridden and feeling humiliated, forcefully compel the two to divorce.

Perhaps having finally given up hope on Duan Song, Qin Youyang left the Duan family alone after giving birth to the child.

With the previous generation’s grievances looming, Duan Zhuxian was destined to be disregarded from birth. Treated like an illegitimate child, he endured cold neglect in the Duan family and was even pushed to live in the old house in the western part of the city by He Lu and her son.

Duan Zhuxian’s rise to the position of Vice President of Hua Yan amidst such adversity was due to his self-destructive perseverance and latent patience. His goal was to bring the entire Duan family to his knees.

For this, Duan Zhuxian sacrificed much, including a carefree childhood and the freedom to express his emotions. He transformed from a child who feared loneliness into a detached and aloof prodigy.

Though Old Qin spoke casually about these past twenty years, his wrinkled face inevitably showed a trace of melancholy.

“Blessing or curse, the Duan family is a pit of fire. It was good that Xiao You could wake up and extricate herself. It’s just a pity that our Qin family was too weak back then to fight for Zhuxian’s custody. Now that the Qin family has finally gained some social standing, Zhuxian is already capable of standing on his own.”

During the conversation, Old Qin caught a fish. It’s not big, but lively and jumping, bringing a touch of joy.

Jiang Yao stood beside him, his clenched fists refusing to relax, feeling as if fire was coursing through his entire body. The only way to vent his anger seemed to be dismembering his obviously villainous father-in-law and feeding him to the fish.

Seeing Jiang Yao lost in thought, and his face pale with anger, Old Qin cheerfully called out, “Xiao Jiang, come over and keep your grandpa company while fishing.”

Jiang Yao snapped back to reality. Unable to refuse, he unfolded a folding chair and sat next to Old Qin.

He imitated Old Qin, holding the fishing rod and staring at the rippling lake surface. After a while, he felt the raging anger inside him gradually subside.

No wonder powerful figures love fishing; it indeed tempers one’s character.

In the evening, Old Qin invited Jiang Yao to stay for dinner.

As night fell, Jiang Yao received a call from Duan Zhuxian, who asked where he was and if he had eaten.

Jiang Yao replied, “I’m at Grandpa’s place. Just finished dinner, about to take a taxi back.”

Duan Zhuxian seemed a bit surprised, paused for a moment, and said, “I’ll come to pick you up.”

*

Duan Zhuxian arrived quickly, greeted his grandfather, and then took Jiang Yao away.

As they were leaving, Duan Zhuxian wrapped a scarf around Jiang Yao, covering his drafty collar.

The scarf was thick and warm, brought from home by Duan Zhuxian. The part near his chin was already warmed by Duan Zhuxian’s hands. Jiang Yao lowered his head slightly, brushed his lips against the scarf, and suddenly felt an uncontrollable flutter in his heart.

When they reached the car by the lakeside, Jiang Yao suddenly stopped. As Duan Zhuxian turned to look at him, he grabbed both ends of the scarf, covering their faces, and swiftly kissed Duan Zhuxian’s slightly cool lips. Although it was just a fleeting peck, it drew the attention of passersby by the lake.

Two men as handsome as celebrities walking together were already very eye-catching.

Duan Zhuxian rarely looked stunned for so long. He cupped Jiang Yao’s head, which was about to droop, and asked, “Why the sudden kiss?”

Jiang Yao’s eyes darted around briefly: “No particular reason, it’s just really cold, and you’re good-looking.”

Duan Zhuxian raised his eyebrow, unable to see the connection.

Though Jiang Yao was the one who initiated the kiss in public, he was the first to blush.

Duan Zhuxian chuckled softly, ruffled Jiang Yao’s hair, and felt an unprecedented softness.

Once they got home, Jiang Yao quickly took a hot shower to ward off the cold.

While Duan Zhuxian was showering, Jiang Yao sat on the bedroom sofa, neither handling work nor playing on his phone. He simply listened to the sound of the water, and his mind was continuously replaying the stories Old Qin had shared.

Thinking about how Duan Zhuxian used to be a lonely, pitiable child with no one to love or care for him, like a little wild cabbage, made Jiang Yao’s heart ache.

However, Duan Zhuxian, with his proud and aloof nature, certainly couldn’t bear to have his old wounds exposed.

After contemplating for a while, Jiang Yao remembered that despite dating for so long, he had never given Duan Zhuxian flowers. He decided to try something romantic.

Tonight, he could take the initiative again, aiming to captivate Duan Zhuxian completely. Just when the afterglow lingered, 999 roses would descend from the sky, landing right in front of Duan Zhuxian.

Wouldn’t such a grand gesture thrill his “beast” to no end?

Feeling a bit smug and a bit nervous, Jiang Yao started planning the first step, that was buying the flowers.

He confidently picked up his phone, only to find it was updating its system and couldn’t be used for a while.

Thinking it over, he decided to borrow Duan Zhuxian’s phone instead.

Duan Zhuxian’s phone was on the table. Knowing the unlock password, he easily accessed the delivery app after picking it up.

While searching for a florist, Jiang Yao accidentally touched the personal homepage, unexpectedly seeing Duan Zhuxian’s username—

X.

X…

X!

Jiang Yao’s mind momentarily froze, his fingers moving faster than his brain. With trembling hands, he clicked on the order history.

The most recent purchase was a bouquet of roses, with the delivery address being the suburban hot spring hotel, and the recipient being Mr. Jiang Yao…

Half a minute later, Jiang Yao let out a genuine cold laugh, and his knuckles turning pale from gripping the phone so tightly.

*

At that moment, Duan Zhuxian was still unaware that he had lost the surprise of 999 roses.

After coming out of the bathroom, he first noticed two dangerously intense gazes directed at him.

Not far away on the sofa, Jiang Yao was holding his phone, adopting a boss-like posture. He was expressionless, yet somehow resembling a powder keg. Even his usually soft hair, now tousled by Duan Zhuxian, seemed to emit a low-pressure vibe, with an imminent tendency to explode.

Seeing his phone in Jiang Yao’s hands, Duan Zhuxian already had an inkling of what might have happened, but he still asked symbolically, “Who upset you?”

Jiang Yao didn’t speak, just kept his face stern, and his gaze fixed intensely under his lowered eyelids.

When Duan Zhuxian walked up to him, Jiang Yao finally slammed the phone onto the small coffee table in front of him, “Duan Zhuxian, explain this to me!”

Duan Zhuxian glanced at the order history and, after a moment of silence, said, “As you can see.”

As I can see?

What kind of lousy explanation is that!

Jiang Yao had been suppressing his temper for a long time, and upon hearing this, he almost fainted from anger.

That day, in front of Duan Zhuxian, he was blocked by that idiot surnamed Xu at the entrance of the hot spring private room, and coincidentally, he was holding roses in his hand. It was a situation where he couldn’t explain himself, afraid of being misunderstood by Duan Zhuxian.

Yet Duan Zhuxian was not only not angry but also acted very magnanimously.

Moreover, with Duan Zhuxian’s inexplicable frigidity afterwards, refusing to get jealous no matter what, Jiang Yao was utterly baffled and even began to question himself.

Over this period, he had almost developed a suspicion disorder.

Jiang Yao was so angry he laughed, “Your grandpa was right, you really are good at hiding things!”

Duan Zhuxian responded with a simple “Hmm,” making no attempt to argue, and his attitude rather honest.

But this only made the storm in Jiang Yao’s chest rage even more.

Jiang Yao took a deep breath, crossed his arms, and adopted a judgmental stance, “Go ahead, why did you mess with me?”

Duan Zhuxian raised an eyebrow and asked, “You want the truth?”

Jiang Yao said, “This is the trial phase. Concealing anything will add to your charges!”

He was curious to see what kind of impeccable excuse Duan Zhuxian’s sharp tongue could come up with.

Duan Zhuxian replied calmly, “The truth is, I wanted to see you lose your composure for me.”

Jiang Yao blushed, “Nonsense, who lost their composure?”

Thinking back to his own flustered state and realizing that Duan Zhuxian had witnessed it all, Jiang Yao felt an urge to grab a stick and fight to the death with him.

Seeing Jiang Yao looking around as if searching for a suitable weapon, Duan Zhuxian, anticipating that he might settle on a pillow. He pulled him swiftly into his embrace, locked his arms and body tightly.

Jiang Yao immediately resisted, and shouted, “Get off, let me go!”

Despite the strong struggles of the person in his arms, Duan Zhuxian tightened his grip and continued, “When you suddenly got flustered and worried that I might misunderstand, while pretending otherwise and saying the opposite, and sulking with me, and when your heart was busy revolving around me. I could clearly feel that you also like and care about me.”

As his words fell, the person in his arms froze and suddenly stopped struggling.

Jiang Yao lowered his eye lashes, which had been glaring for a long time. He slowly digested Duan Zhuxian’s words, and felt a strange discomfort in his heart.

Sure, Duan Zhuxian was detestable.

But this was also partly his own fault.

He really didn’t know how to navigate a relationship. He was used to being pampered and coaxed by Duan Zhuxian all the time, thinking that was the entirety of their romance.

Meanwhile, he hadn’t made any romantic gestures towards Duan Zhuxian, nor could he even say any sweet, charming words to make Duan Zhuxian feel genuinely loved. That’s why Duan Zhuxian resorted to such measures.

The relationship guru Chen Yiqi once said that love is mutual.

With his lips pressed against Duan Zhuxian’s shoulder, Jiang Yao muttered gloomily, “If you wanted to see me embarrassed, fooling me for a few minutes would have been enough. Did you really have to keep it going until now? Do you have any humanity left…”

Duan Zhuxian let out a low laugh, like a self-mocking, “The feeling was so wonderful, I guess I got addicted to it and didn’t want it to end.”

Jiang Yao felt even worse, he huffed, “If things hadn’t been exposed today, were you planning to keep using this bouquet of roses to manipulate me, making me feel guilty from time to time?”

Duan Zhuxian paused, “I did consider it.”

Jiang Yao frowned and pushed Duan Zhuxian’s loosened embrace away, “Damn it, you even dare to admit that? Are you sure I won’t have any way to deal with you?”

Duan Zhuxian asked helplessly, “So should I hide things from now on, or not?”

“Don’t you dare hide anything!”

Jiang Yao snapped fiercely.

He swore that starting today, he would uncover every single one of Duan Zhuxian’s schemes.

He stood up and stormed towards the bed. After just a few steps, Duan Zhuxian’s voice, tender enough to drip honey, came from behind, “It’s almost the New Year.”

With his back to Duan Zhuxian, Jiang Yao gruffly replied, “Don’t think I’ll forgive you just because it’s the holidays.”

Duan Zhuxian chuckled softly, then switched to a serious tone, “On New Year’s Eve, I need to go to the old Duan family house.”

Jiang Yao was taken aback, “What about me?”

He had been to the old estate once before and absolutely hated the environment. Being there, he never felt comfortable for even a second.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go. I’ll arrange everything,” Duan Zhuxian said as he walked toward Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao, with his head slightly lowered, had the red-dyed tips of his hair sticking up, looking quite like he was sulking.

Duan Zhuxian smiled knowingly. He had expected that Jiang Yao would throw a fit upon learning the truth. After all it was all his own doing.

Just as Duan Zhuxian was about to open his mouth to continue comforting him, Jiang Yao suddenly turned around and said seriously, “No, I want to accompany you!”

Feeling that his words were too sentimental and his intentions too obvious, he quickly added while touching his nose, “After all, we’re married. Some traditional courtesies should still be observed.”

Duan Zhuxian was momentarily stunned, realizing that Jiang Yao had said “accompany.” His eyes softened and flickered with emotion.

He gently cupped Jiang Yao’s face and said softly, “You don’t have to force yourself. There will be many people from the Duan family there, and you probably won’t like them.”

Jiang Yao: ?

That made him even more determined to go!

He absolutely would not allow Duan Zhuxian to endure any mistreatment alone in such a hostile environment filled with predatory relatives.

Jiang Yao’s expression turned serious, like the head of the household making a final decision, “No more talking. We’re going together, and you’re listening to me.”

Author’s Note:

Darlings, I have something to attend to tomorrow and need to take a day off. See you at 8 PM on Monday! Bowing.