Jiang Yue widened his eyes, looking at Qi Jiahe with an innocent expression as he deliberately drew out his voice, “I’m not that hungry anymore.”
Qi Jiahe’s mischievous streak was genuinely annoying.
If Qi Jiahe weren’t holding that spoon of mouth-watering pork ribs right now, Jiang Yue would definitely have started a fight with him.
Hearing this, Qi Jiahe immediately burst into laughter, feeling quite smug inside. He intentionally put on a straight face, “Not hungry anymore? Then I guess I’ll just eat the whole pot myself.”
The whole pot?!
Jiang Yue’s eyes widened like copper bells, trying to defeat Qi Jiahe with a glare, but it was all in vain, as Qi Jiahe simply didn’t fall for that trick.
Fine, go ahead and eat. Who could ever out-eat you anyway?
Just as Qi Jiahe turned around, Jiang Yue’s stomach let out two loud rumbles. He bit his lower lip tightly and grabbed onto the corner of Qi Jiahe’s shirt.
“Please, master chef! Let me have a bite!”
Qi Jiahe chuckled softly and extended the spoon of ribs right up to Jiang Yue’s lips.
Jiang Yue opened his mouth and took a small bite. The rich broth and tender meat instantly filled his heart with a profound sense of happiness.
As he ate, he didn’t forget to dish out praise, “Delicious! Although it doesn’t compare to what my mom makes, it’s not bad.”
He chewed the meat in his mouth while nodding in satisfaction, then leaned closer to the spoon in Qi Jiahe’s hand and took a sip of the soup.
Jiang Yue deliberately flashed a sly smile to show just how content he was.
Looking at him, Qi Jiahe couldn’t help a stir in his heart, smiling and shaking his head, feeling a deep sense of accomplishment.
Watching Jiang Yue’s satisfied appearance, Qi Jiahe couldn’t help chuckling softly, raising his other hand to ruffle Jiang Yue’s hair.
“You really know how to talk, huh? Mentioning Auntie’s ribs right in front of me.”
With the spoon now empty, Jiang Yue gave Qi Jiahe’s hand a defiant look and rolled his eyes at him before turning around to leave the kitchen. He walked over and sat down on a dining chair to check his phone.
Qi Jiahe found a plate, transferred a portion of the ribs onto it, and brought the plate over to Jiang Yue.
“There’s a dinner party with the director tonight. Did your manager tell you?”
Jiang Yue smoothly took the chopsticks from Qi Jiahe’s hand, focusing entirely on filling his stomach. Hearing Qi Jiahe’s question, he answered without hesitation, “No. Wait, no, maybe he did? I forgot.”
Qi Jiahe frowned and stared at him, thinking: He only put half a bottle of beer in those ribs. What’s wrong with him? Is he drunk already?
Qi Jiahe watched him for a few seconds before looking away. He turned and walked upstairs, pausing for two seconds at the bedroom door. Sniffing the air, he caught a whiff of sweet, cloying cream.
He turned around, pressed his waist against the hallway ban railing, and looked down at Jiang Yue to remind him, “Don’t forget to take your suppressants.”
Downstairs, Jiang Yue—busy devouring his food—nodded. Qi Jiahe opened the door with peace of mind and stepped inside.
As if moving into his place wasn’t enough, he has to be this controlling. The moment I arrived this morning, he tried to put me in my place and almost made me fall off the second floor.
Jiang Yue let out a soft hiss of annoyance, instantly losing his appetite for the meat.
“Better off never meeting … A long-expired vow …”
That lyric suddenly popped into his head, and he sang it out in a light, breezy tone.
After cleaning up the table, he hooked one leg over a chair, rested his head on another stool, planted his bottom right in the middle, tilted his head back, and raised both arms.
He was looking at his phone in an utterly bizarre posture.
Opening WeChat, he saw quite a few people from within the industry asking him whether the rumors were true, making him want to block the lot of them.
Ignoring the red notification badges, he opened his chat with his manager.
His eyes widened—his manager had called while he was asleep, and he had actually answered, even though the call lasted a mere thirty seconds.
He couldn’t remember a single thing about it, likely because it was about that director.
A wave of panic washed over Jiang Yue. He tentatively typed into the chat box: What time tonight?
He was trying to cover up his guilty conscience.
The manager’s reply came two minutes later: [Just arrive sharp at eight, and don’t be late. Let me tell you again, this director is a big deal with a massive ego.]
Looking at the message, Jiang Yue couldn’t help mentally slapping a difficult label on this director.
[What time are you getting there?]
[You and Best Actor Qi are going together this time. Something came up at the company and I can’t get away.]
Catching a glimpse of this reply, Jiang Yue felt a heavy surge of resentment.
I do not want to ride with Qi Jiahe.
He had expected Qi Jiahe’s manager to come pick them up for the dinner party, but close to 7:30 PM, Qi Jiahe announced that his manager was busy and told him to go by himself.
His manager is that busy?! Then why did he make a special trip here this morning?
Jiang Yue stood by the front door waiting for Qi Jiahe to pull the car out. When he arrived earlier, he had driven his own car, while his manager had taken a taxi to the office, leaving Jiang Yue’s car parked at his house.
A moment later, Qi Jiahe pulled up right in front of Jiang Yue. Jiang Yue opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Put your seatbelt on.”
Jiang Yue obediently complied, pulling the seatbelt across and clicking it softly into place.
The scenery outside the window flashed backward. As Jiang Yue looked out, his mind drifted back to his manager’s previous message.
A director with a big ego meant this dinner party might run very late, yet he still had to psyche himself up to handle it. For some reason, even though he had slept for so long during the day, he still felt overwhelmingly sleepy.
Jiang Yue couldn’t help letting out a yawn, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
While driving, Qi Jiahe observed Jiang Yue’s expression through the rearview mirror.
Seeing him looking half-asleep, the corners of Qi Jiahe’s mouth curled upward.
Qi Jiahe’s pheromone was mint, which had a refreshing and invigorating effect. As Jiang Yue rested his head against the car window, he suddenly caught a whiff of that scent.
A faint, crisp fragrance diffused the fatigue on his eyelids. Jiang Yue felt his brain suddenly overtaken by the minty aroma, waking him up instantly.
“Your pheromones?” Knowing that Qi Jiahe was a mint type and feeling that wake-up scent lingering around his nose, Jiang Yue turned to look at him.
Seeing that Jiang Yue was fully awake, Qi Jiahe retracted his pheromones, “Yeah. Saw you were about to pass out, figured I’d wake you up.”
Jiang Yue accepted the kindness, though he kept up a front of stubbornness, “Just drive properly.”
Soon, they arrived at the designated restaurant just before eight o’clock and parked by the side of the road.
The director hadn’t arrived yet, so they went ahead and took their seats in the reserved private room.
Moments later, the director arrived fashionably late.
A variety of dishes were already spread across the dinner table. Qi Jiahe and Jiang Yue were sitting side by side, and Qi Jiahe called out, “You’re finally here, take a seat.”
Before the director arrived, Qi Jiahe had specially rearranged the seating, pulling away all the chairs on Jiang Yue’s side so that only their half of the table and the opposite side remained.
The director didn’t mind at all and plopped right down opposite them, “You brat, acting picky with me now? You’re usually the one who’s always late.”
It seemed the director and Qi Jiahe were quite familiar with each other.
Jiang Yue stood up, picked up the wine bottle, walked across to pour half a glass for the director, walked back to pour half a glass for Qi Jiahe, and, under Qi Jiahe’s watchful gaze, poured himself a couple of sips.
Looking in a good mood, the director picked up his wine glass and said, “So this is your… family member?”
The director spoke without any hesitation, which made Jiang Yue feel rather awkward.
Not hearing the answer he wanted, Qi Jiahe intentionally asked, “Which family member?”
Jiang Yue lowered his head and ground his teeth.
Catching the expression on Qi Jiahe’s face, the director rolled his eyes, “Which one? Which one? Who do you think? Your wife, obviously.”
“…”
Jiang Yue’s face flushed alternately red and white. He glared at Qi Jiahe, his eyes seemingly asking: Did you do this on purpose?
Noticing that Jiang Yue’s face was as red as a monkey’s bottom and that he was staring wide-eyed at Qi Jiahe, the director burst out laughing, “Little Jiang is even blushing! This kid told me all about it this morning.”
Not only does he fail to cut his losses, he goes out broadcasting it.
Jiang Yue glared at Qi Jiahe through clenched teeth, wanting to attack him with sheer eye contact.
Watching this, Qi Jiahe felt his urge to tease reach a peak. But mindful of the director’s presence, he chuckled softly, “Alright, Director Wang, let’s talk about the show.”
Sitting beside him, Jiang Yue picked and drank in a daze, listening to their conversation absent-mindedly.
This director wasn’t nearly as ruthless and formidable as his manager had claimed.
Jiang Yue knew this was simply because the director gave face to Qi Jiahe—after all, he was a Best Actor with a hundred million followers on Weibo.
He sat quietly to the side, cup after cup of wine sliding down his throat, until his head felt dizzy and Qi Jiahe firmly slammed his wine glass down onto the table, finally putting an end to his drinking spree.
Jiang Yue’s cheeks were faintly flushed, and the corners of his eyes were red as well. His bangs partially obscured his vision, and unable to make sense of what they were saying, he slumped forward onto the table the very next second.
Qi Jiahe looked at the faint flush spreading across Jiang Yue’s fair neck. His Adam’s apple bobbed as his gaze shifted down to the wine glass, a playful smile touching his lips. “Drunk again. Director Wang, let’s stop drinking too; why don’t you have your wife pick you up?”
Director Wang gave Qi Jiahe a knowing, mischievous grin, picked up his phone from the table, and said, “Your sister-in-law is already waiting downstairs. You… good luck!”
He hadn’t drunk much since the two of them had mostly just chatted, and they hadn’t eaten much either. With that, he stood up and walked toward the door.
Qi Jiahe sighed and tapped Jiang Yue on the neck, “Get up, it’s over. Let’s go home.”
With an irritable hum, Jiang Yue raised a hand and swatted Qi Jiahe’s hand away, muttering incoherently for half a minute in a way Qi Jiahe couldn’t make out.
Judging by his guess, Jiang Yue was probably saying, Don’t touch me.
Qi Jiahe’s fingers mischievously rubbed against Jiang Yue’s slightly flushed neck. Jiang Yue’s eyes were like stars in the dark night, gleaming with light as Qi Jiahe’s fingers brushed past his neck, gliding over the delicate skin and grazing his rosy lips.
An omega is really just an omega, even their lips look glossy.
Qi Jiahe withdrew his hand and shook his head, trying to clear his own mind.
Having been the designated driver, he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, yet looking at Jiang Yue’s sleeping face, he felt the heavy haze of sleep settling in.
Qi Jiahe stood up, lifted Jiang Yue from behind, and scooped him into his arms. Jiang Yue furrowed his brow, turned his head to look at him, and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Going home.” Qi Jiahe supported him, wrapping him securely in his arms, and spoke softly.
Jiang Yue let out an “oh,” his footsteps walking unsteadily as he drifted out of Qi Jiahe’s embrace.
Fearing he would fall, Qi Jiahe instinctively grabbed him and accidentally pinched his waist. Before Qi Jiahe could even react, Jiang Yue snapped his head around instantly.
“Why are you pinching me?”
It was just a split-second touch, why is he so sensitive?
Qi Jiahe sighed helplessly, staring at Jiang Yue’s waist in silent resignation.
“Sorry, it was an accident.”
Jiang Yue looked at him with a slightly reddened face and nodded, “Alright, I’ll forgive you. Take me home.”
Qi Jiahe paused for two seconds, grabbed his arm, and led him out. Over the two-hundred-meter walk from the restaurant to the car, his phone vibrated five times.
He settled Jiang Yue comfortably in the back seat, draped his own suit jacket over him, closed the door, and took out his phone.
[Found it.]
[The IP address of the original poster traces back to Guan Ge Entertainment Company in Fengcheng.]
[All the accounts that subsequently reposted the thread are marketing trolls.]
[Even the deleted posts originated from Guan Ge.]
[Jiang Yue’s company is called Guan Ge.]
Guan Ge Entertainment. Qi Jiahe lowered his gaze, his face turning as dark as the night sky.
“What are you doing?” Just as he was about to make a phone call, a head popped out of the car window right beside him, “Hurry up and take me home.”
Qi Jiahe turned to lock eyes with Jiang Yue, reached out to push Jiang Yue’s head back inside, picked up the jacket that had slipped down, and opened the door to get Jiang Yue properly seated.
He climbed into the driver’s seat and locked the windows.
Glancing back at the rear seat, he asked with a puzzled expression, “What are you doing?”
Jiang Yue had his face pressed flat against the seat cushion, his legs stretched out straight and resting on the headrest of the passenger seat, while one arm hung limply in front of his face in a particularly bizarre posture.
“What did you say?”
Jiang Yue frowned, his eyes narrowed into thin slits, his ears pressed flat against the cushion so he couldn’t hear a thing.
Catching sight of his thoroughly drunken state, Qi Jiahe sighed and said softly, “Nothing. Sit tight, and don’t blame me if you bump your head.”
Jiang Yue glared at him, taking a good while to process what he meant. He wriggled around in the back seat for half a minute before finally pulling himself up and sitting properly.
Seeing him seated, a helpless smile tugged at the corners of Qi Jiahe’s mouth as he gently started the car.
Sitting in the back with his eyes half-closed, Jiang Yue turned his head to look at Qi Jiahe’s silhouette from behind and let out a long sigh.
Sometimes it all felt so surreal. He had thought he would never have any more entanglements with Qi Jiahe, but two years ago he was informed by his father about an arranged marriage. He had originally thought he could spend his whole life hiding from Qi Jiahe like that, only for the news of their marriage to be exposed.
This industry was a complete mess, and he had no idea what twists and turns lay ahead in the future.
Through the rearview mirror, Qi Jiahe noticed Jiang Yue’s eyes staring intently at the back of his head, and he couldn’t help but smile.
The car drove into the courtyard of Jiang Yue’s house, and Qi Jiahe parked it in the garage.
Turning back to look at Jiang Yue, he saw that Jiang Yue had unbuckled his seatbelt, yawned, gotten out of the car, opened the rear door, and grabbed Jiang Yue’s legs.
Jiang Yue had fallen asleep at some point, thoughtfully pulling Qi Jiahe’s suit jacket from the back to cover himself.
Hoisting Jiang Yue up bridal-style, Qi Jiahe kicked the car door shut and strolled slowly toward the front door of the villa.
“Did you bring your keys? Or do you want to tell me the password?” Looking at Jiang Yue’s flushed face, Qi Jiahe couldn’t resist a wave of mischief as he whispered into his ear.
Perhaps finding it ticklish, Jiang Yue raised a hand and covered his ear.
Witnessing this, Qi Jiahe let out a playful, teasing smirk, “Sleep tight, and I hope you don’t have a headache tomorrow morning.”
He fished the keys out of his jacket pocket, hoisted Jiang Yue over his shoulder, and unlocked the door with his right hand.
The house was pitch black. Carrying Jiang Yue, Qi Jiahe carefully stepped inside, raised his right hand to grope along the right-hand wall, and flicked on the living room lights.
“Why have you gotten so heavy?” Qi Jiahe let out a rare gasp of breath, though his steps remained light as he headed up the stairs toward the second floor, giving Jiang Yue’s rear a light pat.
Jiang Yue kicked his legs a few times over Qi Jiahe’s shoulder, caught a glimpse of the drop below, widened his eyes, and yelled, “What are you doing? Don’t throw me down!”
Qi Jiahe let out a light hiss and patted him twice more, “Behave yourself, I’m very tired.”
On second thought, remembering what Jiang Yue had just said, he burst out laughing.
Looks like I really did leave him traumatized.
“I’m not throwing you down, I’m taking you to bed.”