Chapter 11 "Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"
A few days later in the evening, Duan Zhuxian returned to the Duan family after a long absence, and Duan Song personally opened the door to welcome him for the first time.
Duan Song has always been cold towards Duan Zhuxian. After divorcing his ex-wife in his early years, he sent the non-competitive Duan Zhuxian to live alone in another house, and never invested too much educational resources in Duan Zhuxian.
When Duan Zhuxian was admitted to the top university in the country through hard work and returned from studying abroad, he suddenly became an existence that he could not ignore. He began to be wary of this eldest son who was extremely capable and deep-minded, and always felt that Duan Zhuxian was ambitious.
But now, Duan Zhuxian actually took the initiative to arrange a marriage with a man, at the cost of not being able to pass on the family line and losing important competitiveness among his peers, in order to gain the favor of the old man.
It was a rare occasion for him to let go of his guard and prejudice, returning to his fatherly role, and having a few drinks with Duan Zhuxian at the dinner table.
At the end, he took the initiative to care about how Duan Zhuxian and Jiang Yao were getting along, and asked Duan Zhuxian to bring Jiang Yao to dinner another day.
"Don't disturb Jiang Yao's life."
Duan Zhuxian's tone was calm, but contained a warning.
Duan Song laughed dryly upon hearing this: "I don't have the time to care about the affairs of you young people."
Duan Zhuxian slowly cut open the bloody steak: "You know what I'm talking about."
After the engagement was finalized, Duan Song sent many people to investigate Jiang Yao. It was only because Jiang Yao, a carefree young master who thought no one dared to mess with him, that they didn't notice anything.
Duan Song's elder-like smile was somewhat shaken when his son challenged his authority at the dinner table.
Duan Zhuxian still had that indifferent expression.
Seeing this, He Lu, who hadn't said a word for a while, quickly chimed in, "Zhuxian has her own family now, so it's normal for her to protect her partner. If her husband really wants to take care of the kids, he still has Feiyi." She glanced at the clock and said, "Hey, it's already past seven. Why is Feiyi still working overtime at the company?"
With this interruption, the tension on Duan Song's face eased a little: "Fei Yi has indeed made a lot of progress recently."
Duan Song casually praised him for a few words, then changed the subject and asked Duan Zhuxian, "I heard from the Finance Department that the head office has been checking the accounts of several branches recently. Was it your instruction?"
He Lu was stunned, a strange look flashing across her face: "Didn't we just check it not long ago?"
Duan Zhuxian hummed, "That was before I took office."
Duan Song nodded without saying anything more. Only He Lu was still hinting about the audit.
The tense atmosphere at the dinner table gradually returned to peace.
Duan Song no longer talked with Duan Zhuxian about topics related to marriage, but only asked about some company affairs. His expression became increasingly amiable, like an old house with new paint, trying hard to hide the spots and cracks inside, which was extremely hypocritical.
He Lu was clinging to the loose window frame of the old house, which creaked non-stop at the slightest movement of the wind.
The combination of the two makes for an annoying picture.
*
At 8 o'clock in the evening, Jiang Yao finished work and spent another hour in the company's gym before slowly returning home.
Since they started living together, he and Duan Zhuxian have arrived home at the same time for several consecutive days, as if the gravitational force between them has exceeded the limit, which is extremely strange.
He almost suspected that Duan Zhuxian was deliberately making things difficult for him.
But I guess Duan Zhuxian thinks the same way.
So in order to prevent any further misunderstandings between them, he worked overtime today.
As a result, Duan Zhuxian came back even later than him.
As soon as he entered the room, Duan Zhuxian pushed the door open and walked in.
Seeing the man walking into the room while loosening his tie, Jiang Yao took two steps back as if pricked by a needle, lowering his eyes and asking, "What are you doing?"
Because of the humiliating experience of being tied with a tie, Jiang Yao was instinctively wary of this action.
"Go upstairs and take a shower."
After Duan Zhuxian finished speaking, he walked past him, bringing with him a distinct smell of red wine.
"If you drink this much, you won't have to worry about your feet slipping even if you take a shower."
Jiang Yao turned around and muttered to himself as he looked at Duan Zhuxian's back.
Duan Zhuxian stopped walking up the stairs and turned back with a half-smile: "Are you so worried about me?"
Jiang Yao rolled his eyes at him and said, "I'm afraid you'll fall to your death and I'll become the only suspect at the crime scene."
A high-brightness chandelier was added to the living room. A fair-skinned and handsome young man stood in the bright light, saying words that clearly showed concern, but his eyes and eyebrows revealed a frivolous bad temper.
Like a cluster of thorn flowers blooming in March, it stands brightly in the middle of the road, its thorns covered with spring sunshine. It has no deterrent effect at all, but instead looks fluffy and warm.
Duan Zhuxian's lips moved slightly, and the gloom that originally came from the Duan residence dissipated a lot, and his mood became much happier.
He suddenly thought of ten years ago.
At that time, in order to please his new father-in-law and get the support of the He family, Duan Song used some tricks and registered a house left by Duan Zhuxian's mother under Duan Feiyi's name to show his attitude towards his ex-wife and eldest son.
Before this, Duan Zhuxian had been living there alone. When he rushed back after learning about the situation, the door lock had been changed and the irises planted by his mother in the flower garden were gone. Instead, they were all planted with cosmos, which He Lu liked.
He was blocked outside by the iron gate, while Duan Feiyi stood inside, grinning at him smugly and scornfully declaring, "Your mother has been living in the Duan family for several years, so how could she only leave you such a small fortune? My mother and I would find it embarrassing to accept it."
As the least valued grandchild in the family, Duan Zhuxian learned to endure very early on. Even when his interests were divided up bit by bit by the people around him, he rarely fought back.
That was the first time that Duan Zhuxian was swept by the loneliness of having nothing. He lost all his restraint, and was replaced by the impulse of a young man - even if it meant hook or crook, he would take back the only thing his mother left him.
He drove the driver out of the car and got in the driver's seat himself. Just as he was about to step on the accelerator towards the closed gate, a message popped up on the phone in his hand -
[Are you coming or not? You're dead if you stand me up! (The yellow bean man is angry)]
There was only a moment of pause, and all the uncontrollable violent emotions collapsed after seeing the message.
There will be a high school swimming competition next month, and both he and Jiang Yao will participate. Jiang Yao can't wait to compete with him, so he asks him to have a race in advance.
And now, an hour has passed since the agreed time.
He hurried to the empty swimming pool, and the boy on the other side of the pool swam towards him quickly. The moment the sunlight broke through the water, his thin but powerful body bloomed before his eyes like a beam of light, so beautiful that it was dazzling.
Jiang Yao didn't blame him for being so late. He just urged him to get into the water and made a bet with him on who would swim to the other side first.
After coming out of the water naked, Jiang Yao stuffed a small object into his hand.
"You win, I'll pay you."
Duan Zhuxian looked down at the little fox keychain in his hand. The little fox was red, with squinting eyes and its tail wagging in his palm.
There was something soft in my heart that was disturbed.
After a long while, he smiled and thought that he was not completely without anything.
By the pool, dyed orange by the setting sun, Duan Zhuxian asked Jiang Yao, "What would you do if someone kept stealing your things?"
"Of course, to make him regret it." Jiang Yao used his toes to poke the water in the pool, stirring up a large amount of sparkling water splashes.
Duan Zhuxian smiled. This aggressive answer was very consistent with Jiang Yao's personality.
But the next second, Jiang Yao tilted his head: "But not now."
"Um?"
"Being offended repeatedly means you haven't yet built up enough capital to confront them. A head-on confrontation is definitely not going to work. Controlled anger is a spark and a driving force, but if it erupts at inappropriate times, it becomes impulsive and a worthless emotional outburst."
"Knowing that someone has a strong fist, yet still baring your teeth and leaning forward, that's what a fool would do."
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the young man was sharp and determined, his eyes were blazing, but his expression was serious.
Duan Zhuxian stared at those soft lips. The words that came out were a little rough, but they rolled into his heart like pearls and jade, dispelling his doubts about his usual forbearance.
After a while, Duan Zhuxian nodded: "You are right."
Before he became an adult, during those oppressive days when he was surrounded by wolves and controlled by the Duan family, it was Jiang Yao who appeared again and again, tearing open the suffocating gap in the most unintentional way, letting fresh air fill his chest and soothing the turmoil in his heart.
Unexpectedly, now that he has already stood on a high place, looking down at the motley crowd of the Duan family, he can still have this precious experience.
Standing on the stairs, Duan Zhuxian put one hand into his trouser pocket and touched the metal that was warmed by his body temperature.
It's a keychain.
"If you're really worried about me falling, you can come to the bathroom and help me."
Duan Zhuxian looked down at Jiang Yao deeply, raised his hand to pull off the tie around his neck, and slowly held it in his palm.
Jiang Yao's provocative look suddenly stopped, the tips of his ears turned slightly red, and his eyes began to dodge.
At the end, his voice was cold: "You'd better fall to your death."
*
The next day was Saturday, and Jiang Yao had a rare moment of free time. He stayed up late for a while, and around midnight, he finally finished revising a library design draft and sent it to a senior student he had met when he was studying for a second degree in architecture.
This senior student is young and promising. She recently planned to set up a sharing website for architecture enthusiasts and invited many like-minded friends to write articles, including him, a half-baked person who only has an architect certificate but no practical experience.
Across from West District 5, it was lunchtime, and Jiang Yao quickly received a reply.
The senior student asked whether his design proposal, which used a large area of unpartitioned glass curtain wall as support, had taken transportation and load-bearing issues into consideration.
Jiang Yao simply made a video call to her and explained his thoughts face to face.
After her doubts were resolved, the senior student repeatedly exclaimed at his ingenious design and couldn't help but persuade him again: "You are so talented, and you have a degree from University B as a foundation. Aren't you really planning to switch to architecture? Why not come to Country A to study abroad?"
When Jiang Yao heard this, a ripple appeared on his face.
After a few seconds, he smiled nonchalantly and leaned back in his chair in a cocky manner: "No, my family still has property waiting for me to inherit."
The senior rolled her eyes: "I'm going to fight you rich people!"
After the heated chat, Jiang Yao pulled out his portfolio from his folder, and suddenly an impulse surged in his heart...
Half an hour later, he stretched and planned to go downstairs for a walk to stretch his muscles.
The spiral staircase was newly equipped with a row of floor-mounted sensor lights. Wherever he walked, the lights would light up. Every step was like stepping on a musical note, which made him feel relaxed and relieved.
When he reached the stairs, he was prepared to face the darkness, but he didn't expect that the first floor was brightly lit.
What is even brighter than the lights is the junction of the living room and the dining room.
Duan Zhuxian was standing there with his upper body naked, answering the phone. As he held the phone, his back muscles and arms bulged out in the bright white light, revealing lines of dormant strength.
Jiang Yao almost missed a step and hit a body not far away. He was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened in surprise.
"Who are you trying to scare by standing here without clothes on?"
He loudly condemned the uncivilized behavior and walked towards the living room in his slippers, making a clicking sound to cover up the suddenly strong heartbeat.
"The habit of taking a shower."
Duan Zhuxian hung up the phone and turned around, blocking Jiang Yao's aggressive footsteps from a distance.
The frontal impact force is greater.
Jiang Yao slowly turned his eyes away, silently took a detour, and walked towards the refrigerator near Duan Zhuxian.
Forget it, I won’t bother with this gangster.
Someone usually wraps himself up tightly, as if missing a button would cost him his life. He acts as if he is about to become a monk at any moment, pretending to be more serious than a monk, and you can't tell that he is an exhibitionist at all.
He has completely implemented the term "beast in human clothing" to the core.
Seeing Jiang Yao trying to avoid him, Duan Zhuxian showed a bit of surprise on his face.
It was the first time he saw Jiang Yao choose to avoid instead of attacking all at once.
Duan Zhuxian looked over with interest, his eyes passing over the back of the head that was full of "tension", and fell on the back of the slightly swollen ears, until Jiang Yao took out the mineral water from the refrigerator, unscrewed the bottle and drank it.
It is enough to imagine what that beautiful and noble face looks like now.
Young Master Jiang has always been arrogant and can take things as they come, but he blushed twice in one night.
He is so thin-skinned.
Duan Zhuxian was a little surprised. He thought that when Jiang Yao faced him, he would not have any other reaction except showing off his strength and fighting fiercely.
"I didn't expect you to be awake at this hour."
Between teasing and giving a reasonable explanation, Duan Zhuxian chose the latter.
Jiang Yao didn't say anything.
Haha, it’s his fault now.
After two minutes, perhaps having calmed himself down, Jiang Yao turned around, holding the bottle of mineral water, and said to a half-naked man, "Okay, I understand you have a quirk. After all, a hypocrite like you needs to shed your skin occasionally and let your hypocritical soul breathe."
Duan Zhuxian laughed when he heard that.
It was rare for him to smile so vividly. His usually bottomless black eyes suddenly opened up, as if waves were swaying in the dark, and there was an inexplicable romantic air that was inconsistent with his true character.
Jiang Yao seemed to be distracted for a second, then came back to his senses and asked unhappily, "What are you laughing at?"
Duan Zhuxian was almost overwhelmed by the cuteness, but he still said seriously: "I'm glad that you can come up with such a literary and elegant rhetoric."
Jiang Yao: "..."
He suspected that Duan Zhuxian was just itching to talk nonsense and felt uncomfortable if he didn't talk to him for a day, but then he thought again, he had talked to Duan Zhuxian a lot too.
The two of them were destined to be at odds with each other, whether they were living in peace or after their relationship broke down, it was like the echo in a valley, there must be a give and take.
The only difference was that time ten years ago when he unilaterally and cautiously extended an olive branch of friendship to Duan Zhuxian, but was broken by the other party's indifference, causing the balance of power between them to be seriously unbalanced for the first time.
The person who takes the initiative first is always the loser.
This was the lesson he learned from Duan Zhuxian.
Jiang Yao threw the water bottle away in annoyance, his eyes wandered and he accidentally looked next door again.
Duan Zhuxian stood under the cold white light, like a glowing sculpture, exuding the hormones of a mature man as if it were free.
A few drops of water fell from the ends of her hair onto her collarbone, then meandered down her chest, along the lines of her abdominal muscles, and slowly sank into the waistband of her semi-loose black pajamas.
He did it in the dark that night and had not yet taken a close look at Duan Zhuxian's figure.
Someone may not look impressive on the outside, but he is quite attractive when he takes off his clothes.
Very flirty.
Jiang Yao thought so in his heart.
I couldn't help but took a few more glances.
【Author’s words】
It’s better to be a little sexy. How can you do Ai without being sexy? Who agrees and who disagrees!
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