Chapter 79: Living Together (I) “Honestly, he’s really not your brother…

Hearing Yu Xiang's answer, Jiang Ci smiled knowingly and brought the topic back to the starting point: "So what do you think?"

Yu Xiang came back to his senses and realized that Jiang Ci was asking for his opinion. After thinking for a moment, he tentatively asked, "Are you inviting me?"

Jiang Ci asked back: "What else?"

"No, I mean, are you inviting me to live with you?"

Unexpectedly, Jiang Ci immediately denied it: "No."

This made Yu Xiang confused for a moment, his expression becoming a little bewildered: "What is that...?"

"I'm inviting you to live with me." Jiang Ci tapped Yu Xiang's head again in annoyance. "With your current financial situation, how could I possibly ask you to pay rent?"

Yu Xiang immediately said, "We can't let you go all by yourself."

Jiang Ci: "Does this mean you agree?"

"No, this has nothing to do with that... I--" Yu Xiang's mind and tongue were tied together, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Fortunately, Jiang Ci explained in time: "You may have misunderstood something. I mean there is no need for rent. The house is mine."

"So that's how it is... Wait, what did you just say? Whose house does it belong to??" Yu Xiang's reflex arc was so long that it could circle around the playground, so he didn't realize something was wrong until after he had responded. His pupils dilated with shock, and he couldn't believe his ears.

Jiang Ci had no choice but to confirm with him once more: "It's mine, you heard it right."

"Wait, give me a minute." Yu Xiang was still trying to process this. "Aren't you from Beiqing? Why did you buy a house here? I know you're financially well-off, but are you really that well-off enough to afford a house?"

Didn't they grow up together? How could this person be so secretive?!

"I am indeed a native of Beijing, but have you forgotten where my mother is from?" Jiang Ci answered the first question.

"Aunt Fang... oh, so this house?" Yu Xiang then remembered that Luo Fang's parents' home was here, and most of his doubts were immediately resolved.

"My mom bought this house before my dad got married, but the mortgage wasn't fully paid off. After we got married, she got a promotion, and with her salary up, she paid off the remaining balance." Jiang Ci explained to Yu Xiang as briefly as possible, "But they still used up a few years of my New Year's money and scholarship. Shortly after I turned eighteen, a relative of hers wanted to borrow the house, but she didn't want to, so she simply transferred the ownership to me, claiming I'd need it soon. Naturally, she turned the relative down."

"Oh oh." Even though Jiang Ci didn't say it explicitly, Yu Xiang understood it immediately - the relative simply thought that since Luo Fang was married, the house would be empty anyway, so it would be a waste not to live in it.

He had seen many cases of this kind of situation where someone else took over someone else's nest. Luo Fang was not stupid, so of course he would not agree to it.

"It was such a big deal, why didn't you say anything?" Yu Xiang asked, rubbing his chin in confusion. If it were anyone else, they would have already boasted, "I have a house to my name."

Although he knew that Jiang Ci would not brag about such things, it would not be right to mention it casually.

"Because I don't think I got it by my own ability, there's no need to explain." Jiang Ci replied calmly, "I only contributed a small part. If I bought this house myself, I can give it to you with peace of mind."

Yu Xiang was stunned: "Stop, stop. The logic is wrong. How can it be related to me? I didn't say I wanted a house, right?" Probably not, right?

He admitted that he had joked in his daydreams that Jiang Ci would start a business and become a boss to solve his employment problem, but he probably didn't ask him to buy him an apartment, right?

"Indeed not. I wanted to give it to you myself. This way I would feel more... safe?"

Yu Xiang was filled with questions: "What sense of security? The sense of security of having my name on the property deed?"

He was just giving an example casually, but he didn't expect Jiang Ci to actually nod: "Yeah."

Yu Xiang: "Tell me the truth, did you secretly download Persimmon's novel on your phone?"

Jiang Ci looked at him with a hint of doubt in his eyes: "Huh? No."

Yu Xiang: "Did Sanshui secretly recommend some novels to you?"

Jiang Ci's face was filled with more confusion: "Huh? No."

"So you've been watching too many short videos lately?"

"I remember I said that watching too much of that kind of drama will lower your intelligence." Jiang Ci helplessly reached out and rubbed Yu Xiang's head. "No, don't think about it."

"Actually, there are still a few high-quality ones... You've messed up my hair—"

Jiang Ci withdrew his hand feeling wronged: "But from the first moment I saw you, your hair was already in a messy state."

"No matter, you have no evidence."

"Then I'll remember to take a picture next time."

“No filming!”

"Oh, so domineering."

Finally, both of them looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

"childish."

"Aren't you the same?"

After the military training ended, moving out was quickly put on their agenda.

Yu Xiang was originally worried that his mother might disagree, but the fact was that his worry was completely unnecessary.

When Ms. Chen Xiaomei heard that she would be living with Jiang Ci, she agreed without hesitation: "Of course, that's great. I was worried that no one would take care of you outside, and you would just stay up late playing games with your roommates every day. Now that's good, I can rest assured."

Yu Xiang: “…”

Chen Xiaomei continued to talk: "You should learn more from Xiao Ci and emulate him..."

Yu Xiang could almost recite the rest of the words: "Okay, okay, I got it, Mom. I have to go to class soon. I won't say anything more now. Bye--"

He finished speaking in one breath and hung up the phone without hesitation.

When Yu Xiang's roommates heard that he was going to move out, they all expressed their reluctance to let him go. The most exaggerated one was almost crying.

"Xiao Yu, if you leave, we'll be one person short in our team!"

Yu Xiang: "It's also possible to play online with friends, hahaha."

"Xiao Yu, we will miss you——"

Yu Xiang nodded repeatedly: "Yeah, I will miss you too."

"Then can you not leave for us?"

Yu Xiang: “No.”

"Knock knock." Someone knocked on the dormitory door.

"Coming——" Yu Xiang felt as if he had been granted amnesty. He slipped out from the encirclement of his roommates like a nimble fish and opened the door.

Jiang Ci, in white shirt and black pants, was standing at the door. The sunlight shone from behind him, making his facial features look even more profound.

"Hello, I'm here to help him get his things." After he came in, he greeted a few people politely, and then turned around and asked Yu Xiang which ones could be taken away directly.

"I've already packed the suitcase. If you can still carry it, could you please help me take the bag down with you?"

"Okay." Jiang Ci didn't say a word extra and started to work after receiving the instructions.

"Hey, Xiao Yu." Li Mingsheng pulled Yu Xiang aside after watching Jiang Ci leave with his things. "Tell me the truth, he's really not your brother?"

Yu Xiang was startled by this sudden action. "Huh? He's a few months older than me, so technically he can be considered my brother?"

"No, I mean, are you really not related by blood?" Li Mingsheng's eyes were full of inquiry. "Why does he take such good care of you?"

Yu Xiang touched his face guiltily: "I don't really take care of him, do I? Just help him out occasionally?"

"This isn't just occasional; it's a regular occurrence. Even though his school is right next door, it's not right for a top student from Q University to keep coming here every few days."

Yu Xiang: "That's right, don't we often go to Q University for a walk?"

Li Mingsheng: "That's different. It's because our school's grounds are too small for walking... Wait, is that the point? You've led me astray."

"Yeah, Xiao Yu, he's been so good to you." Chen Jianmin also came over, "I asked my brothers to do something, and those guys ran faster than rabbits."

Yu Xiang smiled guiltily: "Maybe people are different, hahahaha..."

"Fuck! Come and see, isn't that our campus beauty?"

"What a pretty girl! Why is she downstairs in the boys' dormitory? Is she here to look for her boyfriend?"

"Wasn't she single just two days ago?"

"Who's that next to her?"

The corridor outside was noisy and inexplicably became lively.

Several people in the dormitory looked at each other and decided to go out to see what was going on.

They were on a higher floor, and looking down from above, one could only see two heads with black hair, but one could still tell that one of them was a very famous girl in their school, and the other was Jiang Ci.

"Isn't Xiao Yu your good brother? How come he is chatting with the beautiful girl in our school?" Li Mingsheng asked curiously.

"Fuck, that's too much. Why are boys condemned when they go downstairs of the girls' dormitory, but it's a completely different story when girls go to the boys' dormitory?" Chen Jianmin's focus was completely off the mark.

Tao Yu corrected him, "It's not that everyone is calling for your death, it's just that you were the one who was called for your death in the past."

Chen Jianmin: "Shut up."

"Oh, I understand!" Li Mingsheng suddenly looked enlightened, causing the other three to look at him.

Yu Xiang: "What do you know?"

Li Mingsheng: "The drunkard's real interest is not in the wine."

Chen Jianmin: "Don't tell riddles, speak human language."

Li Mingsheng glared at Chen Jianmin with a look of disappointment. "Oh, you're so stupid. You don't even understand. I mean, Jiang Ci keeps coming to our school. Ostensibly to look for Xiao Yu, but actually he's attracted to a girl from our school."

Yu Xiang: “?”

However, Li Mingsheng was so caught up in his reasoning that he completely ignored Yu Xiang's expression and continued his analysis. "Think about it, it's so hard to win over girls at Q University. Plus, there aren't many pretty girls, so he might not be interested in them. But our school has so many beautiful girls. He's so talented, and he's from Q University, so winning over girls from our school shouldn't be easy. Look, here comes the campus beauty."

"Hiss. Now that you put it that way, it seems to make a lot of sense." Chen Jianmin rarely agreed with his point of view. "That makes a lot more sense, right. What do you think, Xiaoyu?"

"No." Yu Xiang answered firmly, "He is not single."