"Boyfriend?" Jiang Che's deep voice came, and Jiang Ze suddenly shuddered and turned to look.
Upon seeing Jiang Che's slightly furrowed brows, Jiang Ze was so startled he almost jumped up, not even having time to cry: "You...you...how did you get here?"
Jiang Ze stammered through his sentence, only to see Jiang Che looking at him with a slightly somber expression, and then asking, "Boyfriend?"
Jiang Ze hurriedly shouted, "You must have misheard me! What boyfriend! I don't have a boyfriend..."
Jiang Che calmly thought that, given Jiang Ze's personality, if he had a girlfriend, he would want to show her off to him as many times as possible. His flustered and contrite appearance clearly showed that he was feeling guilty.
The more Jiang Che thought about it, the more his heart sank. Looking at the flustered Jiang Ze, he asked, "When did you get a boyfriend?"
As he asked questions, he approached Jiang Ze, who hurriedly ran into the house, and he followed him inside.
The people who came out of the kitchen carrying dishes looked at the two of them with puzzled expressions.
Seeing Jiang Che's gloomy face, Ye Zhao quickly pulled Jiang Ze aside and said gently, "Talk things over calmly, don't rush."
When Jiang Che saw her, his expression softened, and he didn't say anything more. Seeing this, Xiao Lin quickly stepped forward and pulled the two of them to sit down at the table, and started a conversation with Yang Juan.
Jiang Ze knew that this matter was definitely not going to be resolved. He ate his rice in a very low mood. Usually the most talkative person at the dinner table, he was quiet and didn't say a word today.
Jiang Che was also lost in thought, glancing at Jiang Ze every now and then, but saying nothing.
Yuanbao chattered on for a while, and for some reason, he suddenly noticed Jiang Ze.
He held up his chopsticks and observed Jiang Ze for a few minutes. Then he leaned close to Ye Zhao's ear and said in a voice that he thought was very quiet but everyone could hear, "Mom, was Uncle Aze poisoned and made mute? He's so pitiful."
"puff……"
A series of suppressed laughs rose and fell across the dinner table, and Ye Zhao quickly reached out to cover his mouth.
Even Jiang Ze looked at Yuanbao speechlessly, then said, "Little brat, I'm not deaf or mute, you can speak a little quieter."
Yuanbao removed Ye Zhao's hand, grinned at him, and chuckled.
The somewhat serious atmosphere was enlivened by Yuanbao's antics.
However, Jiang Ze remained heavy-hearted, keeping his head down as he ate, avoiding Jiang Che's gaze.
After dinner, while Xiaolin and the others were clearing away the dishes, Ye Zhao nudged Jiang Ze and said, "Go on, you two have a good talk."
After saying that, she gave Jiang Che a look, and Jiang Che nodded at her before following Jiang Ze to his room.
Throughout the journey, Jiang Ze kept his head down and remained silent.
His room was one of the most spacious rooms in Green Field. Although it was small, it had everything he needed. Although Ye Zhao complained about him, she had prepared everything for him.
Jiang Che heard the door behind him close before asking in a deep voice, "You like men?"
Jiang Ze gave a barely audible "hmm," which was almost inaudible unless you listened very carefully.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Che frowned deeply, remained silent for a while, and then asked, "When did you start having a boyfriend?"
Jiang Ze calculated the time and answered softly, "It's been over a year."
He hadn't done anything wrong, yet he was acting like a child who had made a mistake, hanging his head and waiting to be scolded.
Jiang Che turned to look at him, his heart heavy with emotion. He sighed softly before asking, "Why didn't you tell your family?"
Jiang Ze then looked up at him, remembering what Ye Zhao had said, and slowly said, "I didn't mean to hide it from my family, I just... was afraid that my parents wouldn't be able to accept it right away, and that they wouldn't be able to bring it up."
Jiang Che looked at him, his face slightly darkened, and he didn't say anything. Then Jiang Ze spoke again.
“Brother, it was wrong of me to keep it from the family, but I’m really embarrassed to tell you. I’ve been struggling with this for the past year, wondering whether to tell the family or not, but… Zhao Zhao is right, you’ll find out sooner or later. I didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just that my sexual orientation is different from everyone else’s. I was going to tell you anyway, it’s okay if you find out two days earlier.”
Jiang Che was really struggling to process what was happening to his younger brother. Of course, Jiang Ze hadn't done anything wrong; he was just different from the others.
However, he still couldn't quite process the fact that this difference was happening to his own younger brother.
Seeing that he remained silent, Jiang Ze sighed and said in a defiant tone, "Anyway, that's how things are. You can say whatever you want about me. Most people would find this hard to accept, and I didn't expect you to be able to process it right away..."
As Jiang Che listened, he suddenly remembered that Yuanbao had mentioned that Uncle Ze had gone to see his boyfriend. At the time, Ye Zhao calmly said that it was a male friend, and Jiang Che actually believed him.
These two are really something, trying to hide everything from him. Jiang Che actually laughed as he thought about it. His laughter made Jiang Ze quite scared, and he immediately took two steps towards the door: "Brother, let's talk this out. You can't resort to violence. If you do, there's nothing I can do to change this!"
Jiang Che took a deep breath, gave him a complicated look, and walked past Jiang Ze while Jiang Ze was trembling with fear, then opened the door and left.
Jiang Ze watched his retreating figure and sighed softly.
Ye Zhao, who was downstairs, saw Jiang Che come down so quickly and asked in surprise, "So fast?"
Jiang Che walked straight up to her and asked, "You know about Aze making friends?"
Although his tone was calm, Ye Zhao hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "I just found out too, what's wrong?"
You only just found out? Not necessarily. Jiang Che sat down beside her and simply asked, "What's your opinion on this?"
Ye Zhao was bewildered: "You're asking me?"
Jiang Che nodded, his gaze sharper than usual.
After receiving his nod, Ye Zhao remained silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "I think the people who would find this hardest to accept are probably the parents. Young people don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's just a different sexual orientation. He didn't kill anyone or break the law. He's still a good kid. It's not a big deal."
Jiang Che had thought the same way before, but now that his own younger brother was in this state, he needed time to process it.
Ye Zhao seemed to understand what he was thinking and said in a low voice, "Actually, it's not a big deal. Aze is just like all of us. He also has someone he likes. It's just that the person he likes is of the same sex. He originally wanted to tell you about it, but he was afraid that you wouldn't be able to handle it, so he didn't dare to say it..."
"You don't need to worry too much about this. It's just that you might need to put in some effort with your parents, but it's okay. Just talk to them nicely..."
Jiang Che's initial anxiety gradually subsided, and he seemed to understand why Jiang Ze enjoyed associating with Ye Zhao so much.
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