Keep it simple
Lin Jiaze rolled his eyes and turned his back, looking at Jinnan as if he were an elder looking at his own disappointing children.
Jinnan had suffered a lot throughout his life, but he had never been too foolish. Judging from his outward behavior, Jinnan had always been wary of Xu Zhiyuan.
There is a real conflict of interest between them, one side gains while the other loses, a life-and-death struggle. This dispute has long been integrated into a deeper network of relationships and cannot be resolved by simply saying "there is no blood relationship."
All his friends who were good to him regarded his opponents as wolves. Even if they didn't fight each other, they should be wary of each other and use each other carefully.
Even Lin Jiaze, a true brother-con, could see this. To Jinnan, Xu Zhiyuan wasn't the brother he could rely on wholeheartedly like Lin Jiayi.
But Jinnan used the phrase "no blood relationship" as an excuse. He did not try to hide the fact that the relationship between them had already deteriorated.
Lin Jiaze felt somewhat disappointed with his friend.
"Jinnan, I'm not saying you..."
"What are you talking about?" Li Hongfang came over after ordering and glanced at the place where they were staring.
Jinnan had turned off the screen, so no one could see anything.
"It's okay. Aren't we here to drink with Jiaze today? I asked Xu Zhiyuan for a bottle of Romanee-Conti. If you can't finish it, you can take it away."
As Jinnan spoke, he quietly put his hand on Lin Jiaze's wrist and shook it gently, as if begging.
This was still a secret, a sweet secret. It wasn't that Jin Nan didn't want others to know, he just wasn't ready yet.
His relationship with Xu Zhiyuan was not yet strong enough to withstand external shocks.
Jinnan suddenly understood Xu Zhiyuan and understood his action of letting go of Jinnan's hand when Min Jing and his group let go three days ago.
Although he understood, he still felt sad. Jin Nan would not reveal his feelings. When he was discovered, he would only explain without refuting. He was not afraid of others knowing about his relationship with Xu Zhiyuan.
Incest? Homosexuality? Jin Nan could handle any harsh words. He wasn't afraid.
If he was being held by Xu Zhiyuan, and someone came and countless eyes were watching him, Jin Nan probably would not let go of Xu Zhiyuan.
Understanding, sadness, grievance. They couldn't empathize with each other. Jinnan was someone who had climbed up from the mud and sand. He grew up at the bottom and was not afraid of falling again. But Xu Zhiyuan was different.
Xu Zhiyuan received an elite education since childhood. Even though his family suffered changes in the middle of his life, he is still a favored child of heaven.
Is he afraid? Jinnan found that he was only concerned with liking her and never thought about this question.
If Xu Zhiyuan is afraid of social pressure, what should Jinnan do? Break up?
Jinnan asked himself, could he really fully respect Xu Zhiyuan's wishes?
"You said it." Li Hongfang became excited when he mentioned wine. He pulled Chen Chen to sit down in a familiar manner.
As luck would have it, Chen Chen was sitting face to face with Lin Jiaze.
"Jia Ze." Chen Chen spoke first. "My girlfriend asked yesterday when you could come over to our house. She wanted to bake you a cake to thank you."
"Oh." Lin Jiaze glanced at his phone. "Isn't tomorrow Saturday? Then tomorrow?"
"Oh, really?" Chen Chen was not embarrassed at all as he was being followed up with polite words. He was really inviting her just now.
Jinnan saw them chatting back and forth and couldn't help but sigh at the wonderful fate between these two people.
Some of the words are connected, some are not, and it is impossible to tell which are polite and which are sincere, but one can still chat for a long time in a confused manner.
When talking about the dishes later, they also arranged for Jin Nan and Li Hongfang to go to Chen Chen's house early the next morning to help the kitchen bake a cake for Chen Chen's girlfriend Bai Yi.
Jin Nan unpacked the package and looked up quietly: "Can I bring another person?"
"No!" "Yes."
Lin Jiaze and Chen Chen spoke at the same time.
Chen Chen was a little surprised. Lin Jiaze was still trying to make amends. Finally, he closed his eyes and said speechlessly, "Alright, alright. Just don't scare his girlfriend."
Li Hongfang and Lin Jiaze looked at each other, and they understood each other tacitly.
The strange attitudes of the three of them made Chen Chen curious about the mysterious guest that Jin Nan was going to bring.
The combination of red wine and Sichuan cuisine is really strange. After eating a few bites, Li Hongfang went downstairs and brought back a pitcher of cold beer. After all, he didn't steal Jinnan's bottle of wine.
The weather wasn't too warm, so the four of them managed to finish their meal before it got completely cold. It was rather strange for the four of them to eat around the conference table. Compared to the days when they used to spend five or six figures, everything was simple, a bit down and out.
But everyone enjoyed the meal. Chen Chen felt that these young masters were not as difficult to approach as he thought, especially Lin Jiaze.
After eating and drinking, Lin Jiaze, who had the worst alcohol tolerance, was almost ready to become his sworn brother.
"Brother, why didn't you show up a few years earlier? If I had known you before, I wouldn't be beaten with a belt by my brother at the age of 20 for failing a test! Brother, brother, let me tell you..."
"This idiot is drunk." Li Hongfang kicked him lightly on the side of his stool.
Lin Jiaze slid away with the swivel chair. Chen Chen hurried to chase him. Jin Nan stopped the chair with one arm and looked at the mess on the table: "They will all have spicy rabbit head flavor in the meeting tomorrow."
Chen Chen rolled up his sleeves to clean up, and Jin Nan joined him. His movements were surprisingly more skilled than Chen Chen, who had worked as a waiter.
Chen Chen was a little surprised: "Boss Jin, do you often do this at home?"
The sleeves rolled up to the elbows revealed a pale arm. Jin Nan had a well-proportioned figure, with some muscle definition visible but not exaggerated. His hands were slender and white, and he didn't look like someone who often did housework.
"I'll tell you a secret," Jin Nan whispered, "I was also adopted into the Jin family later, when I was fifteen."
Chen Chen was shocked, as if he had just discovered something shocking. He looked around and saw that Lin Jiaze was drunk and asleep, and Li Hongfang was taking ugly photos of him.
"Did your ex-parents agree to let you come back?" Chen Chen also lowered his voice.
"No." Jin Nan smiled, "I didn't have parents before, so after I returned to Lido, I lived a good life."
"You will have a good life in the future."
Chen Chen also smiled: "Thank you, you too."
After packing up, Jin Nanzhao agreed to call Xu Zhiyuan. Li Hongfang couldn't drive, so Chen Chen planned to take the subway. After discussing Lin Jiaze's whereabouts, they prepared to take him back to the Lin family.
But Lin Jiaze, who had been sleeping the whole time, woke up immediately when he heard the name "Lin family". He was unyielding and said, "No, I won't go home. I can't go home."
He struggled so hard he nearly fell off the stool, and Jinnan quickly went over to hold him down. Lin Jiaze sat down, mumbling, "Go home."
No sense of grievance? How could he not feel wronged? No matter how open-minded he appeared, he couldn't keep a single detail secret.
Jinnan stood by the chair, hugged his shoulders, and let him lean on him. Lin Jiaze wiped his nose with his coat, rubbing it for a while, and then sobbed.
Chen Chen was the first to feel bewildered, like a child who had done something wrong. It had nothing to do with him; he was the other most innocent person. In a sense, he was even more pitiful than Lin Jiaze.
But the closeness and distance of people are established over time. Lin Jiaze protected and accompanied Jinnan when he was in the most difficult time. Naturally, Jinnan cannot treat everyone equally now.
"Hongfang, did you call a designated driver?" Jinnan said, "How about I call the driver and you guys take Chen Chen back. The subway runs every six or seven minutes now, so it's not worth waiting."
"Alright."
Li Hongfang opened the window, letting in the cold night air. Beneath the tall buildings, the brightly lit Lido was a bustling scene of people and cars. He didn't ask about others' shallow concerns, nor did he think deeply about himself. At this moment, the four of them all felt a sense of heaviness.
Xu Zhiyuan arrived first, bringing a thick coat with him. He put the coat on Jinnan and took Lin Jiaze from Jinnan's arms.
The drunkard couldn't walk steadily at all. He tried to stagger a few steps but failed. Xu Zhiyuan simply rolled up his sleeves and carried him on his back.
Jinnan gave Li Hongfang the driver's phone number and, as he said goodbye to Chen Chen, introduced the guest who would be arriving tomorrow: "This is Xu Zhiyuan, my brother. We'll go together tomorrow."
Xu Zhiyuan nodded in greeting. He had heard a little about the Lin family.
"Shall we go first?" Jinnan said to Li Hongfang. "If we're any later, Jiaze might vomit in the car."
"Go ahead." Li Hongfang said helplessly, "Leave Xiao Chen to me. I will take him home safely."
The three of them left. Chen Chen stared at their backs, lost in thought for a moment. "Are they cousins? They seem to be very close."
Li Hongfang smiled and said nothing more.
Xu Zhiyuan tossed Lin Jiaze into the back seat, while Jinnan, clutching the bottle, had already climbed into the passenger seat. The cork wouldn't stay in place, and the aroma of red wine filled the car. Jinnan, feeling it was a waste, simply wrapped it in his clothes.
It was not until Xu Zhiyuan got into the car and started the engine that he remembered an important issue.
He didn't know where Lin Jiaze lived now.
In the end, they called Lin Jiayi. Lin Jiayi expressed his understanding of his brother's willful behavior of not going home. After giving him an address, he said that they would have dinner together another day to thank them for sending Jiaze home.
Young Master Jiaze's new nest is on Haining Third Street. The houses in this area are basically resettlement houses built more than 20 years ago. Each of them has two bedrooms and a living room, about 80 square meters. In the past, it was not even big enough to accommodate Lin Jiaze's car models.
But he lives here now.
Xu Zhiyuan carried the person into the elevator. Jinnan took out the house key from Lin Jiaze's pocket. When he turned it, he found that Lin Jiaze had not locked the door.
The room was pitch black. I turned on the light and the kitten Monica came running over with her big tail erect, meowing at the people who came in.
"Hong Fang even sent Monica to accompany him!"
Jinnan rubbed the kitten out of the way and squatted down to look for his shoes. Xu Zhiyuan carried the person in first, and only then did he have time to look around Lin Jiaze's new home.
Jinnan's concept of home is either extremely large or extremely small, which seems quite novel. Xu Zhiyuan turned around and said to Jinnan, "My home is nearby."
"Your home?" Jin Nan asked, and suddenly realized that Xu Zhiyuan might be referring to the home from more than ten years ago.
"Haining Street," Xu Zhiyuan said, "my parents bought it when they got married."
Lin Jiaze snored in his sleep, but he was fine on the way, not vomiting. Jinnan went to the bathroom to wash his face, and when he felt a little more awake, he came out and sat on the sofa.
Xu Zhiyuan helped Lin Jiaze take off his shoes and coat and carried him to the bedroom. Jinnan came over to lend a hand and tucked Lin Jiaze into bed, tucking him in tightly. The job was done.
When Jinnan turned off the lights and left, he could clearly sense the incongruity between this place and Lin Jiaze's. He didn't know if it was a hasty purchase by Lin Jiaze, or if it was one of the cheaper assets among the Lin family's assets. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for a long time. Although everything was tidy and new, it lacked the air of everyday life. It felt cold and deserted.
"Jia Ze probably won't stay here for long." Jin Nan said, "Do you think he will return to the Lin family?"
"Lin Jiayi treated him very well," said Xu Zhiyuan.
"What does it matter? They are not brothers anymore."
Even Jinnan was stunned when he said this. Hadn't he and Xu Zhiyuan had a similar relationship in the past? No blood ties, just affection. They'd been together for so many years.
Jinnan still remembers Lin Jiaze’s “lack of confidence” speech today. Looking at Xu Zhiyuan, he can’t help but wonder, will Xu Zhiyuan also have such a “lack of confidence” moment?
"Where's your home?" Jinnan asked. "Haining 1st Street? Is there anyone cleaning it?"
Xu Zhiyuan put the key that Jinnan left on the coffee table back into the key rack in the entrance hall, and took a last look at it before leaving.
The house was so small that you could see through it at a glance. It was in this home that Xu Zhiyuan spent the first eleven years of his life.
"Do you want to go?" Xu Zhiyuan locked the door. He was familiar with the way to the elevator without waking up the voice-controlled light.
Jinnan held his sleeve, and eventually his hand. In the darkness, this was acceptable, tacitly accepted. Xu Zhiyuan wouldn't let go.
"There's cleaning every week, and they have all the daily necessities, but only my clothes."
"Will you go back and live there?"
"Occasionally, I don't dare to come back."
The elevator descended, and in a place with lights and surveillance cameras, Xu Zhiyuan held Jinnan's hand. He shouldn't be cold now. Jinnan reached up and felt his pulse. It was quite fast.
"Take me with you," Jinnan said, "I'll go with you, don't be afraid."
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