Let's start now.
The soft natural light softened the harshness of the industrial lighting, and the gold-embossed design on the room key in the central room of bedroom 512 at the Rosewood Hotel shone brightly in the increasingly intense morning light.
It was only a little past 8 a.m. when someone knocked on Jiang Songhe's door.
Jiang Songhe took a deep breath, then relaxed it again. He used the fleshy part of his eye to scrape away the dark circles under his dry eyes, then got up from the single sofa to open the door.
It turned out to be a room attendant who said that someone had just delivered something to him and left it at the front desk.
Jiang Songhe thanked him and took a hotel-issued envelope with the Tang family logo printed on it. He suspiciously closed the door and, as he returned to his bedroom, he opened the envelope with one hand and took out the contents.
It contained his passport, a room key for room 513, and a note.
"Your room key has mysteriously disappeared. Ask Guiman how to get a replacement."
It was incomplete and the handwriting was messy, but it was still clear that it was written by Jiang Songyun, and that it was written in a hurry.
“Tang Dynasty…” Jiang Songhe looked at the logo on the envelope and remembered that Jiang Songyun had said that those who made it to the preliminary rounds would stay at hotels under the Tang family’s umbrella. She said wistfully, “Judging from this, he should have already checked in smoothly and doesn’t plan to go back.”
While Jiang Songhe was seriously ill and fast asleep, Jiang Songyun went to Xingxiu to check in. Before leaving, he also took Jiang Songhe's passport and room key to try to keep him there. He also left a note saying something like, "You're not a child, you can manage on your own."
Whether it will work or not is another matter, but he has indeed been held back... and he hasn't recovered yet.
After Jonathan left, Jiang Songhe sat on the single sofa all night, staring blankly into space. Her mind was in turmoil, and her illness only worsened.
He recounted everything that had happened the night before, wishing he could peel back the folds of his brain to clearly distinguish the boundary between dreams and reality, what he had done to the "death knell," and where he had actually started doing it to Jonathan.
Who knew that after thinking about it, I would take the wrong path.
Unbeknownst to him, the indescribable images invaded his optic nerve. His focus shifted, and he rummaged through the fragments of reality and illusion. Were the red marks on that person's wrist and neck still there? Was the clasp of the necklace, the culprit, truly warped from being violently pulled?
“Yeah, right like that, baby…”
Jiang Songhe slumped to the edge of the bed, slowly unfolding her left hand, which still seemed to have a tangible feeling on her lap. It was burning hot, throbbing, swollen, and sticky...
The hand, as if possessed, shifted slightly, as if about to be thrust forward.
The ring on her middle finger shimmered in the light, as if reminding her: "Where is your obsession with cleanliness? Where are your choices and boundaries?"
Jiang Songhe was startled and punched the bedside table with her fist, making the empty cup and medicine box jump.
"Is Maner only developing the entertainment industry?" Jiang Songhe glared at him angrily, thinking, "This medicine has absolutely no real therapeutic effect, but it has a whole host of bizarre side effects!"
He then got up and went straight to the bathroom, intending to use cryotherapy in conjunction with the Mind-Clearing Mantra to format the waste in his brain.
-
After washing herself thoroughly and throwing her pajamas into the washing machine, Jiang Songhe returned to her bedroom, turned off the light, and picked up her room key from the floor. Only then did she regain her senses, remembering the endless troubles that had followed the absurd events of the previous night.
Jiang Songyun, a contestant on the talent show, is staying at a hotel not far from TANG. Jonathan is a judge on the talent show and also an artist under TANG. Jiang Songyun has always believed that his re-entry into the competition is the result of negotiations between Jiang Songhe and the competition organizers. However, Jiang Songhe and Jonathan parted ways in an extremely unpleasant manner last night...
Jiang Songhe's mind went blank for a moment, and he immediately pulled out his phone to send a WeChat message to Jiang Songyun.
At 9:13, a message was retracted.
9:20, ▉: "Songyun, delivery received. I know you checked in smoothly. [Strong]"
9:30, ▉: "What time is your schedule at Star Show today? I'll come see you. [OK]"
A long time passed, and Jiang Songyun didn't reply to a single message.
Jiang Songhe opened the window, lit a cigarette, and after a few puffs, he frowned and sent another message.
10:00 AM, ▉: "Today is New Year's Day, and this is the first year we didn't leave our parents in China..."
Delete "This is the first year we didn't leave our parents in China".
10:10, ▉: "Today is New Year's Day. I'll wait until you're free so we can go out for a meal."
Another long day passed, and Jiang Songyun still hadn't replied.
Jiang Songhe put his phone in his bathrobe pocket, went to the bathroom to wash his hands several times, dried them, and then went to the dressing room to take out a suit and change into it. Just as he was about to take out his phone to call a car to go to TANG, Jiang Songyun replied to his message.
10:34, Song Yun: "I know. I had something to do yesterday and overslept. I don't have any plans for today. Okay."
Although the three replies together still seemed impatient, the key one was answered exceptionally readily, suggesting that the two brothers had an unspoken understanding of the New Year's Day tradition. Jiang Songhe felt a surge of warmth and didn't spoil the mood by asking, "Who did you talk to yesterday?"
10:40, ▉: "Send the hotel address and room number to my brother."
-
On the way there, Jiang Songhe tried to boost her morale. On this big New Year's Day, she decided to put aside her brother's ulterior motives and her own dejected and sickly state. Today, she would enjoy a happy reunion dinner, and everything else could wait.
As a result, once he entered Jiang Songyun's single room, which was not even half the size of the original 513, he was no longer himself.
The bed wasn't wide enough, the window wasn't big enough, the sofa wasn't comfortable enough, and there wasn't even a kitchen... Jiang Songhe, a huge figure almost as tall as the ceiling, muttered and circled around the room like a black whirlwind.
Jiang Songyun had just woken up and was already grumpy when she woke up. Jiang Songhe's nagging made her dizzy and her rebellious streak kicked in immediately.
He snapped, "I love sleeping in a small bed, living in a small dark room, and sitting on a small sofa! How can my broken money tree take up a lot of space? Unlike you, who's so picky about cleanliness and living in the street, so precious!"
Jiang Songyun had mentioned the question of "shaking the money tree" more than once this year. The last time Jiang Songhe heard it, he just thought it was a teenage girl's wild temper and didn't take it to heart. But hearing this nonsense again this time, he was really heartbroken and had a feeling that it was related to the reason for Jiang Songyun's drastic change in personality.
Jiang Songhe wasn't going to keep indulging her. Taking advantage of the ice shards on her head, she asked directly, "Don't give me that sarcastic talk. It's been a year. What exactly do you want? Did I do something to displease you? Or did you listen to someone's nonsense?"
Although he always had a sour face, he had almost never spoken harshly to Jiang Songyun. Jiang Songyun was stunned for a moment by the three questions from the perspective of bloodline suppression. After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke, but his answer was still not kind.
"Will you listen to me when I say what I want to do? I want freedom, I want independence, I don't want to always be tied to your waist. Will you give me that? Don't you just want me to never grow up and always play this 'raising game' with you, where I have to do all the hard work and get tons of coins?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Songhe suddenly choked up.
"Me, treating Song Yun like a 'raising game'?" Jiang Songhe pondered each word in his mind. Putting aside his disagreement with the "gold coin" part, he reviewed the various things he had done in raising his younger brother over the past seventeen years. It seemed that, apart from atoning for his sins, he had indeed developed some additional obsessions at some point.
Because he lacked companionship since childhood, he stayed by Jiang Songyun's side almost every step of the way.
Having suffered too much malice, he used the guise of protection to harshly screen Song Yun's circle of friends.
Because he gave up going to university, he demanded that Song Yoon graduate from university before he could become a full-time actor.
...
Can he truly say whether he did all this out of genuine concern for Song Yunhao, or out of selfish motives to make up for his own regrets?
It's hard to say.
But can he let go now? Can he bear the thought of his younger brother no longer needing him?
No, at least not now.
He needs time, a lot of time, to break the habit and then face it again.
Well then, let's start now.
Otherwise, if Song Yun discovers that his inclusion in the competition was not the result of his negotiations with Xingxiu, or even the complete opposite, that he had used his guardianship privileges to suggest to Jonah that Song Yun withdraw from the competition, then he probably wouldn't even have time to quit.
It's always better to start now than to be caught off guard.
“Brother, from now on…” Jiang Songhe’s throat was still very hoarse and painful, and he had to break down the sentence to make it complete. “Just loosen your grip. In two more months, you’ll be an adult. Give me two more months, uh, I’ll be your manager for a while and accompany you through the whole process.”
He's like someone with linguistic bulimia, using the term "brother" in a greedy and excessive way.
After saying that, he forced a stiff smile, thinking it was nonchalant and believable, but little did he know that in Jiang Songyun's eyes, his smile was worse than crying.
Jiang Songyun pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and finally hummed in agreement.
The two brothers remained silent for a long time. Jiang Songyun guessed that his morning grumpiness had subsided, and the anger on his face had disappeared. He even had a visibly smiling expression.
"So, what are you taking me out for a meal later, bro?"
"Order whatever you want, I'll do whatever you say."
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