Chapter 30
They're all young people; how deep can their thoughts be?
Lu Mingxiao made a wish upon the aurora, hoping that they held hands because they wanted to hold hands, and not because they used some clumsy brotherly affection as an excuse.
Under the aurora, the two people's hands were actually always clasped together, but because of the thick gloves, they couldn't feel each other's body temperature.
After making his wish, Lu Mingxiao turned to look at Jiang Huaiyu. The purple light also flowed in Jiang Huaiyu's deep black pupils, like a beautiful nebula. When Lu Mingxiao met those beautiful eyes, he suddenly felt as if he had drawn immense courage from the starry universe...
"Jiang Huaiyu, I..."
"Young Master!" The bodyguard came over with a satellite phone: "Madam just called and said that the Gregorian New Year is in a few hours. She wants you and the eldest young master to go back to the hotel early so the family can have a video call and celebrate the New Year together."
Lu Mingxiao: ...
He had a bad feeling, and grabbed Jiang Huaiyu with his hand wrapped like a bear's paw: "I haven't finished speaking yet."
Jiang Huaiyu had already turned slightly to the side; from this angle, the aurora couldn't reach his eyes.
"Shh..." He exhaled a puff of mist, his eyes crinkling as he patted Lu Mingxiao's hand on his shoulder: "Mom said to go home early, let's go, Brother Xiao."
He turned around first and walked towards the cabin. The snow under his feet was thick, and it always felt like he wasn't stepping on solid ground, but rather floating around.
Of course he knew what Lu Mingxiao was going to say. For a moment, he wanted to agree. He was only seventeen years old this year, and he always had a moment of youthful impetuosity. He also wanted to hold on to the person he liked.
But it was my mother's phone call.
The dopamine rush that momentarily sent her into a frenzy was quickly dissipated by the Arctic night wind, transforming into something more dazzling and elusive than the aurora borealis, slipping away from Jiang Huaiyu.
Jiang Huaiyu himself knew that because he had been burdened with the title of "heir" since childhood, his style of doing things, to put it nicely, was thoughtful and thorough, but in reality, he was somewhat hesitant and cautious. He knew that the acceptance of homosexuality among young people was relatively good, but Song Jingliang and Jiang Lan, Lu Chuan and Li Qing, were not young people after all.
Jiang Huaiyu understood her adoptive parents quite well. Song Jingliang and Jiang Lan were quite open-minded, but not to the point of being overjoyed to let their son marry off—regardless of which one he married.
He and Lu Mingxiao were still minors, and they couldn't fully control their own destinies. Song Jingliang could come up with eight solutions in a second to separate them, none of which they could resist.
...
But if we just give up like this...
Jiang Huaiyu was reluctant to part with it.
He stopped at the door of the cabin and turned to look at Lu Mingxiao, who was still standing on the slope. In the fading light of the aurora, the tall and upright young man had his back to him, wearing a heavy windproof suit, his silhouette resembling a silent mountain.
He couldn't bear to part with it, he really couldn't bear to.
Jiang Huaiyu slowly exhaled.
Tomorrow is the new year; the years go by so quickly.
They won't always be powerless teenagers.
...
On the way back, the two young masters were unusually quiet.
When they make eye contact, his eyes will involuntarily dart away. Young Master Jiang is no longer afraid of slipping when he walks, and he can walk briskly on his own without holding hands.
The two bodyguards exchanged glances, privately wondering if the two young masters had a falling out, but it didn't seem like it. Because whenever the two didn't make eye contact, their gazes would inevitably drift towards each other, intentionally or unintentionally. But if they did make eye contact…
They then casually moved away.
The two bodyguards, both straight-laced men, were completely baffled as to what the two young masters were up to. Only the assistant, who was still recovering from a cold, looked at the two boys thoughtfully.
When she was sick, the young master gently told her to rest, saying he could handle the translation problem himself. The eldest young master even brought her local delicacies and cold medicine. Although these were nothing major, in the adult world, how many people are willing to be considerate of others' "small things"? She remembered the kindness of both young masters, so when Chairman Jiang asked for the third time about the relationship between the two young masters...
The assistant, who had noticed something amiss, replied as usual: "The two young masters are having a great time."
Not a single other unnecessary word was mentioned.
She didn't see anything at all.
...
The Gulfstream G500 completed its polar voyage and carried the two young masters back to Shanghai.
Lu Mingxiao had promised Jiang Lan and Song Jingliang that he would be staying in Shanghai for the winter break after returning from Norway, so the plane was scheduled to land directly at Shanghai's airport.
Lu Mingxiao is now a little regretful, regretting his action of poking a hole in the window that day. Why couldn't he have kept his composure?
She shouldn't have brought this up before returning to Shen City. She was about to see her parents whom she hadn't seen in a long time. Given Jiang Huaiyu's sensitive nature, she would definitely be afraid that Song Jingliang and Jiang Lan would notice something, so she would avoid talking about the two of them.
Lu Mingxiao didn't even dare to think that if Li Qing found out he had turned Jiang Xiaoyu gay, she would beat him to death with a rolling pin.
Jiang Huaiyu would definitely worry that Jiang Lan and Song Jingliang would be disappointed in him. Jiang Xiaoyu is such a responsible person, he always likes to take on burdens. He might even feel that he is the one who turned his parents' biological son gay, and he feels very sorry for Jiang Lan and Song Jingliang.
After thinking it over, Lu Mingxiao felt that this winter break was probably not a good time to open the window, so he pretended that nothing had happened and continued to put his arm around Jiang Huaiyu under the guise of brotherhood.
But Jiang Xiaoyu started to keep her distance from him!
Lu Mingxiao was heartbroken. He lay on the sofa in the airplane lounge area and pounded the cushions. He had come here carrying his little fish, but they slept separately when they got back!
He bit down on the corner of the pillow.
"What are you doing?" Jiang Huaiyu stood in the corridor between the rest area and the lounge area, holding a water glass, and looked at Lu Mingxiao with a strange look in her eyes: "If you bit the pillow, don't bite me, thank you."
Lu Mingxiao: ...
I'll devour you in one bite!
But of course he couldn't show it, so he awkwardly put the pillow back and patted it a couple of times to soothe it: "I'm just a little anxious."
He casually said, "I'm afraid my parents won't be happy with me."
However, as soon as he said it, he realized he wasn't just talking nonsense. It seemed that it was easier to say something if you treated your worries as a joke. He had indeed spoken without thinking...
He then expressed his concerns.
Jiang Lan and Song Jingliang raised Jiang Huaiyu for sixteen years, investing a lot of resources and love. Jiang Huaiyu was undoubtedly outstanding, shining brightly. Even among his peers of the same class, he shone brightly.
But he...
Lu Mingxiao thought to himself with a touch of self-deprecation: It seems he really doesn't have anything to offer.
Just as he was feeling lost, the sofa next to him dipped slightly, and Jiang Huaiyu sat down, handing him a bottle of cola: "Want to chat?"
Lu Mingxiao: "Let's chat!"
Being able to sit on a sofa at an altitude of 1,000 meters, drinking cola and watching boring variety shows on TV is the result of countless resources. Jiang Huaiyu actually knows that if he says he's going on vacation, many people will "run themselves ragged" to arrange it.
Of course, the Jiang family wouldn't let their employees work overtime for nothing; bonuses were always provided.
This is what Jiang Huaiyu learned from life since childhood. How much wealth he had was secondary; what was more important was that the Jiang family controlled the capital to mobilize resources.
These things should have belonged to Lu Mingxiao, but now, he's the one who has to comfort Lu Mingxiao...
From her own perspective, Jiang Huaiyu was a little unsure where to begin. After thinking for a moment, she decided to start by talking about the origin of the incident where the babies were switched at birth.
“Mom was the eldest daughter of the Jiang family and the apple of Old Master Jiang’s eye. My maternal grandmother passed away early, so Old Master Jiang doted on his only daughter and wanted to give her the best of everything. But when it came to marriage, Mom didn’t choose the ‘best’ option. She rebelled and chose Dad.”
“I’ve heard my mom mention this before…” Lu Mingxiao hugged his pillow, remembering that Li Qing had mentioned this to him, but he didn’t know the specifics.
Looking at the bubbles rising in the glass, Jiang Huaiyu continued, "When Dad first went to college, he had nothing and had to work several part-time jobs a day. He met Mom while working as a waiter. It was a rather old-fashioned beginning. Mom was being harassed, and he helped her out. Later, they met again at school, and Mom realized that the boy was a year ahead of her... But Grandpa Jiang didn't approve of the relationship."
"I guessed it. To be honest, it's understandable that he disagreed, but I really dislike his attitude towards you, so I'm on Mom's side." Lu Mingxiao chuckled, then curiously pressed on, "So? They eloped?"
“Hmm.” Jiang Huaiyu no longer cared about Jiang Qiheng’s attitude and said slowly, “Everyone thinks that Mom went back because she couldn’t bear the hardship, or that Grandpa Jiang chose to compromise because they had a child, but that’s not the case.”
"Mom and Dad worked hard together for two years. Dad never let Mom suffer a bit. In the beginning, the rented place was in poor condition, so Dad renovated it himself and even bought Mom a piano for the rented room..." Jiang Huaiyu couldn't help but smile as she recalled the proud look on Jiang Lan's face when she talked about these things. "She was right. Back then, Dad would rather sew up his own worn-out shoes than not buy Mom a pair of leather shoes. Mom said she believed Dad wouldn't let life continue to be hard. As it turned out, Mom had a good eye for people. In the third month, Dad was able to hire people to help him with his seafood business, and he had a small shop of considerable size, allowing Mom to sit in the shop and be the boss..."
Lu Mingxiao listened intently. Those were his biological parents. In his mind, they were originally just two well-dressed, blurry figures, but as Jiang Xiaoyu narrated, those two figures came to life and became concrete people with joys and sorrows just like him.
"And then?" Lu Mingxiao pressed.
"Later, the Jiang family found my mother, but she didn't want to go back. At that time, she was tutoring and could support herself. My father's business was also quite successful, and the two of them were living a good life. My mother was five pounds heavier than when she was in the wealthy Jiang family."
"Then we were born at the Juxian Maternal and Child Health Hospital." Jiang Huaiyu took a sip of cola and suddenly smiled: "Both of our mothers were admitted to the hospital in advance. Maybe we had already met each other through our mothers' wombs before we were even born."
Lu Mingxiao thought about that scene. Perhaps in some unintentional moment, Li Qing and Jiang Lan had brushed past each other, their babies sleeping peacefully, unaware that the gears of fate had begun to intersect from that moment.
Jiang Huaiyu slowly summarized tonight's conversation: "Look, Mom gave up her comfortable life without hesitation because she fell in love with someone, and you, too, are willing to stay in a small city for the person you love, instead of going back to compete for your vast fortune... You and Mom and Dad are so similar, how could they not like you?"
The plane will land in Shanghai tomorrow morning, and after talking about this fleeting memory, Lu Mingxiao's restless mind, which had been churning for several hours, finally calmed down.
His seemingly unattainable wealthy parents were not some celestial beings; they too had a past and a future, and the simplest wish for family reunion.
"Are you able to fall asleep?" Jiang Huaiyu asked.
"Yes, I guarantee I'll sleep soundly until dawn this time," Lu Mingxiao said.
"So?" Jiang Huaiyu asked expressionlessly, arms crossed, looking at the person on the bed. "Why are you in my bed?"
"That sofa is too short, it can't stretch out my 1.2-meter-long legs." Lu Mingxiao rolled around on the bed: "We're brothers, what's wrong with sleeping together?"
Jiang Huaiyu: "Who's with you...?"
Lu Mingxiao stopped rolling around and hugged his pillow, asking, "What's that?"
Jiang Huaiyu: "...We're brothers."
Lu Mingxiao: "What's wrong with brothers sleeping together?"
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
They're setting a trap for him.
In the end, Young Master Jiang gave in, and Lu Mingxiao successfully climbed into bed with him.
Author's Note:
It's short, but I'll be posting for several days in a row next. [heart emoji]
One hundred small red envelopes will be randomly given away in the comments section! [cat paw]
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