Chen Zhiyan’s eyes remained indifferent. “I do not want to know.”
“The secret is that you are not my biological child.”
“…” Chen Zhiyan pressed his hand against Jiang Yu’s shoulder, his cool expression flickering with a few traces of irritation. “Do not provoke me.”
“I will provoke you.” Jiang Yu claimed that Chen Zhiyan always bullied him just because he was stronger, saying he lacked masculinity and was instead filled with a “slutty aura.” He even wondered what kind of filthy things Chen Zhiyan had been doing in the bathroom just now.
Chen Zhiyan’s knuckles curled slightly as he said calmly, “It is only human nature.”
He added, “Compared to me, you are the one who could be called a dog. After all, your nose is so sharp you could smell it through a door.”
Jiang Yu used his core strength to try and pin Chen Zhiyan down onto the bed, but Chen Zhiyan lifted weights every day and was simply too strong. Finally, Jiang Yu gave up and wrapped his legs around Chen Zhiyan’s waist like a persistent sloth.
“From now on, you are sleeping with me,” he said crossly.
He wanted to make sure Chen Zhiyan did not do those disgusting things behind his back anymore. This time they were at home, but what if Jiang Yu were away next time? It would be mortifying. The headlines would be all about Chen Zhiyan.
At that thought, Jiang Yu felt like biting him. “Did you fucking hear me? From now on, you sleep with me!”
“And you still claim you are not gay.”
“I mean sleeping in the same room! Now get the hell onto the sofa.”
The disparity in strength was clear. In the end, it was Jiang Yu who was tossed onto the sofa.
Having exhausted quite a bit of energy, he kicked the blanket a couple of times and fell fast asleep. Chen Zhiyan muttered “madman” under his breath. It was already one o’clock in the morning; changing the entire bedding set again would take too long.
Jiang Yu was so annoying.
At two o’clock in the morning, Chen Zhiyan finally finished hanging up the washed bedsheets. He came out to find Jiang Yu’s blanket had fallen onto the carpet. With a sour face, he picked it up with two fingers as if he were handling trash and tossed it back onto him.
Neither of them had classes the next morning, so they were both still asleep at eight. Chen Zhiyan’s biological clock woke him up once, but Jiang Yu never stirred.
By ten o’clock, Jiang Yu stared at the ceiling lamp with bleary eyes. He lifted his legs to stretch, performing a “zombie wake-up” routine. Following his habit, he prepared to roll around on Chen Zhiyan’s bed, but as his body dropped, he slammed into a solid physique.
“?”
Chen Zhiyan let out a muffled groan, his eyes bloodshot from the sudden impact. “Jiang Yu!”
Feeling guilty, Jiang Yu rolled to the other side and pretended to sleep with his back turned to Chen Zhiyan.
“…”
Chen Zhiyan exhaled heavily, grabbed his phone to check the time, pulled back the covers, and went to the bathroom to wash up. Jiang Yu opened one eye to peek at him, and then his eyes grew wider and wider.
Holy crap.
The gaze was too burning and persistent. Once Chen Zhiyan noticed it, he glanced back. Following Jiang Yu’s gaze downward, he said, “No need to feel inferior.”
“You are the one who is inferior!”
Perhaps because he could not compete with Chen Zhiyan in that department, Jiang Yu began using his phone to search for every possible disadvantage of being that size.
When Chen Zhiyan came out, Jiang Yu blushed and blurted out, “Let us see who can actually stand you!”
“That is not something you should be concerned about.”
“When the fuck did I say I was concerned?”
Chen Zhiyan shot him a look that said he was asking the obvious.
So frustrating.
Jiang Yu stuffed the key to Chen Zhiyan’s room into his pocket and went next door to grab three or four sets of clothes to put in Chen Zhiyan’s wardrobe. If his clothes got dirty later and needed changing, what would he do if Chen Zhiyan locked the door?
After finishing this, he saw Chen Zhiyan sitting nearby watching him. Jiang Yu tilted his chin up and repeated, “You are sleeping with me from now on.”
That way, if that “something” happened again, he could stop it immediately.
“Two people can look out for each other. If you are scared at night, just call my name.” Anyway, I am a heavy sleeper, so I might not respond.
“Jiang Yu, just how much trouble are you planning to cause?”
“I am not planning any trouble. It is settled.”
Chen Zhiyan stepped closer to Jiang Yu and looked down at him. “Do not put your clothes in my wardrobe.”
“I already put them in before you said anything. If you want them out, clean them up yourself.” Jiang Yu sidestepped him. “If you dare throw them away, I will tell my godmother.”
Dealing with someone as thick-skinned as Jiang Yu was truly a hopeless situation.
Downstairs
Chen Ying’an was peeling shrimp for Mu Chuxia and Jiang Yu; this meal counted as lunch.
“Little Treasure, how was sleeping with Xiao Zhi last night?”
“It was pretty good, except he would not let me sleep on the bed and he grinds his teeth, farts, and snores.”
Chen Zhiyan, who had just walked to the table, was speechless. “Is this how you ruin my reputation outside?”
Of course not. Jiang Yu knew where to draw the line with jokes. Even if he usually hated Chen Zhiyan enough to want to kick him away, on important occasions, he would still show off all of Chen Zhiyan’s achievements, feeling that his impressive record gave them both a sense of prestige.
To put it in one sentence: they bickered at home but stood united against outsiders, supporting each other. Actually, that did not seem quite right. How should he describe it?
Mu Chuxia smiled and patted the back of Jiang Yu’s hand. “You should not talk nonsense. Xiao Zhi is a very good sleeper.”
“Mhm, I will stop talking.” Jiang Yu moved the shrimp from his bowl to Chen Zhiyan’s. “Brother, eat more. It is a good thing you are not a pufferfish, otherwise you would explode from anger several times a day.”
Chen Zhiyan tossed the shrimp back. “I am not angry.”
He was just feeling a bit exhausted from Jiang Yu’s torment. Jiang Yu was too rowdy and childish, no different from a bratty kid who only behaved after being beaten or caught red-handed.
“Not angry, huh?”
How can he not be angry? Jiang Yu muttered under his breath, thinking that Chen Zhiyan was truly a born punching bag.
This tone of regret made Chen Zhiyan’s hand pause as he reached for food.
After lunch, Chen Zhiyan went to school to continue writing his code. Computer science students really had a tough life. If the school had not opened a Sports Big Data course, Jiang Yu, Li Heng, and Xu Zhile would not even be in the same classroom as him. However, they would be liberated in another two months.
Jiang Yu went to Chen Zhiyan’s room for a nap. Where did he lie down? The bed, of course. It was so comfortable. He could even turn and roll 360 degrees.
On that crappy sofa, Jiang Yu would fall off three or four times a night. Chen Zhiyan was truly heartless for not letting him sleep on the bed.
As the saying goes, people have a rebellious streak, and Jiang Yu’s was even worse. The more he was told not to do something, the more he wanted to do it. He lay down and rolled around twice, using Chen Zhiyan’s pillow as a horse and draping the bedsheets over himself like a cape. He took a photo for his Friend Circle, not forgetting to block the victim, a certain Mr. Chen.
Fearing that Chen Zhiyan might actually get furious, Jiang Yu finished playing and called the nanny, asking her to tidy up Chen Zhiyan’s bed. The nanny looked troubled and stood at the door. “Master Chen never lets us in, and he does not let us touch his things. Maybe, Master Jiang, you should”
“He will not know. Just come right in.”
“No, Master Chen will get angry if he smells something different.”
“I told you he was a dog. Smelling things? What can he smell? Is it because you all went sour in the summer?”
“We are not sour. It is just that everyone has a unique scent. For instance, Master Jiang is very fragrant, and the places you stay in become very fragrant too.”
“Of course! My perfume was not bought for nothing!”
Jiang Yu looked at such a large bed and really did not want to do it himself. “I told you he is not here. Just come in, change everything quickly, and get out. I will just pin the blame on”
Wait. If he pinned the blame on himself, Chen Zhiyan would fight him again. That would be double the pain!
Jiang Yu abruptly changed his words. “When the time comes, just pretend you do not know anything.”
“Master Chen will really get angry.”
“I come in here so many times every day and even lie on his bed, yet he has not done anything to me, has he? What is there to be afraid of?”