Little birds
Unfortunately, Jiang Zhuoye didn’t manage to keep his cranberry-red hair after all.
Just one week later, he was sitting in a private club, forced to dye his hair back to black.
Because news of his engagement to Bo Yun was going to hit the front-page headlines, even without Bo Yun saying a word, his brother and mother teamed up to pressure him into changing it back.
Serious. Proper. Well-behaved.
Like a dignified young master of the Jiang family—the kind you could put on the front page without anyone finding the slightest fault.
Jiang Xu fastened a diamond watch—freshly received—onto his younger brother’s wrist and said gently, “Little brother, do I really have to keep an eye on you over such a small request?”
Their mother was even more straightforward.
Liang Jie smacked him outright. “Who gets engaged and married with red hair? You look like a gorilla. Change it back. You look best with black hair.”
And so Jiang Zhuoye now sat in the club, seething but helpless.
Before the wedding, he’d have to come back several more times for touch-ups, just to keep the look flawless.
Bo Yun had come along as well, sitting off to the side reviewing tuxedo designs sent over by the designer.
After Jiang Zhuoye finished dyeing his hair, they still had to meet the designer in person to discuss further details.
Jiang Zhuoye glared unhappily at his reflection in the mirror, his head smeared with dye.
He asked Bo Yun coldly, “Satisfied now? You got what you wanted in the end. Does black look that good?”
Bo Yun lifted his gaze from the tablet. He knew exactly what Jiang Zhuoye meant.
He curved his lips slightly, though there was little emotion in his voice. “You’re blaming the wrong person. I only asked you to dye it back before the wedding. This is your parents’ decision—you can’t pin it on me.”
Jiang Zhuoye scoffed, not believing a word of it. “Yeah right. Like you didn’t fan the flames.”
“I really didn’t,” Bo Yun replied calmly, returning his attention to the tablet. “You overestimate my thoughtfulness. I don’t care enough about you to nitpick every little pre-wedding detail. If you can just behave decently at the wedding, I’ll already be thanking the heavens.”
The words were razor-sharp.
Jiang Zhuoye stared at him through the mirror, his face dark, looking like he very much wanted to shoot his future groom in the head before the wedding.
Even the stylist behind them felt on edge, afraid he’d done something wrong.
Thankfully, a few minutes later, Jiang Zhuoye’s phone rang. He picked it up, lazily wedging an earbud into his ear and letting out a drawn-out “Hello.”
A few seconds later, he rolled his eyes.
Not again.
Ever since news of his impending marriage to Bo Yun had leaked, his circle of friends had been sending messages from all over the world—expressing shock and sympathy.
This was one of those calls.
“No way, Jiang Zhuoye. You’re really marrying that deadpan freak Bo Yun? For real? I was off the grid in the mountains with no signal—how do I come back to something this explosive? What happened to you? Your family didn’t go bankrupt, did they? How did things get this bad?”
On the other end was one of his childhood friends, Fang Chen.
Twenty-three years old, obsessed with extreme sports, and perpetually overseas.
“You’re the one who went bankrupt,” Jiang Zhuoye snapped lightly, then sighed helplessly.
His gaze drifted, unconsciously, to Bo Yun reflected in the mirror.
Bo Yun sat on the wide sofa. Even in casual wear—a soft, loose white linen shirt—he looked composed. His half-long black hair fell to his shoulders, and yet he still appeared aloof and untouchable.
“You’re seriously behind on the news,” Jiang Zhuoye mocked his friend. “Gu Qiangyun and the others have already checked on me multiple times. Which backwater did you crawl out of?”
Fang Chen was still freaking out.
“They’re the ones who told me! But didn’t you say you’d definitely break off the engagement? You said you were going to talk to your family this year—how did it suddenly turn into a wedding? Man, if you end up with Bo Yun, you’re done for.”
Wasn’t that the truth.
Jiang Zhuoye rolled his eyes again. He didn’t even have the energy to get mad anymore. This was his one redeeming quality—once he made a choice, he couldn’t be bothered to keep complaining.
The contract was signed.
His own name—Jiang Zhuoye—written by his own hand.
What was the point of whining now?
“What do you think?” he said. “I got sold out by my brother. Anyway, it’s just for show—who you marry is all the same. Stop acting so shocked. What, you’ve never seen an arranged marriage before?”
Fang Chen thought: I’ve seen them—but you and Bo Yun together is a first.
I’m honestly worried you’ll wake up in the middle of the night and stab him.
He knew just how incompatible Jiang Zhuoye and Bo Yun were. Earlier in the year, the two had run into each other at a club. Jiang Zhuoye accidentally bumped into Bo Yun, and Bo Yun had looked disgusted, brushing off his shoulder. Jiang Zhuoye had nearly gotten into a fight over it.
Still, Fang Chen could hear that Jiang Zhuoye didn’t want to dwell on it—maybe he couldn’t talk freely—so he wisely dropped the subject.
But he was too shocked to keep it in completely.
“I’m just saying—of all people, why Bo Yun? I seriously can’t accept this. Am I supposed to call him my brother-in-law now? God, I think I’m going to lose my appetite.”
“Get lost.”
Jiang Zhuoye cursed him out, but couldn’t help laughing a little.
Fang Chen kept rambling, saying how miserable he felt for him, asking whether he should come back home to throw him a bachelor party—hire a whole line of male or female models so he could at least leave behind some beautiful memories before stepping into the grave of marriage.
It was really getting more and more ridiculous the longer it went on.
But Jiang Zhuoye still couldn’t hold back and was amused. He had always been close with Fang Chen. Among their group of childhood friends, Fang Chen actually had the best temper. Though he looked unreliable, he did try hard to act like an older brother, yielding to them whenever he could.
“Get lost. Stop egging me on—do you want me to get scolded by my brother?” Jiang Zhuoye laughed as he cursed.
Only then did Bo Yun look at him through the mirror.
Jiang Zhuoye was focused on the phone call and didn’t notice.
He looked completely different from his earlier gloomy expression. Even with his hair covered in dye, Jiang Zhuoye’s smile was light and easy. His brows and eyes seemed to light up all at once.
His handsome, refined features looked like a masterpiece of creation in the sunlight—clean, sharp brow bones, beautifully defined lines, a straight nose bridge, lips neither thin nor thick, full in just the right way. It was the kind of face that could steal a girl’s heart at first glance.
Whoever was on the other end of the line was a mystery.
Jiang Zhuoye’s expression was gentle, smiling the whole time, even his voice noticeably brighter.
“Sure. When you get back to the country, I’ll throw you a welcome party,” he said, unconsciously tapping the armrest with one hand. “We’ll call Gu Qiangyun and the others too. Sisi should come as well—tell him to stop studying. He’s the one who takes the college entrance exam way too seriously.”
Bo Yun couldn’t help raising his eyebrow slightly.
He rarely saw Jiang Zhuoye like this. After all, Jiang Zhuoye was always rather hostile in front of him.
But then he thought about it and vaguely recalled that he had seen Jiang Zhuoye with his friends before.
Back then, Jiang Zhuoye seemed just like this—smiling freely and flamboyantly, arms slung around people’s shoulders, leaning over a black railing and shouting down at classmates below. Even his eyes were bright, brimming with youthful vitality.
…..
It wasn’t until he hung up that Jiang Zhuoye noticed Bo Yun watching him.
He immediately became wary. “What are you looking at?”
Bo Yun studied him.
Faster than Sichuan opera face-changing.
Just one second after hanging up, Jiang Zhuoye went from springtime sunshine to guarded and defensive, with a hint of rejection.
It dampened Bo Yun’s interest.
“Nothing,” Bo Yun said lightly. “Just curious who you were chatting so enthusiastically with. You looked so happy I didn’t have the heart to interrupt—but I should remind you, according to our prenuptial agreement, after marriage you’re not allowed to have any scandalous rumors with anyone. If the media catches even one incident, you’ll lose twenty million in allowance as PR expenses.”
He looked at Jiang Zhuoye pointedly, the corner of his mouth lifting. “So before we get married, you’d better take care of all the little birds around you—old flames, new flings, the whole lot.”
“?”
This bastard really knew how to slander people.
Jiang Zhuoye genuinely felt like swearing this time. What little birds? What old flames and new flings?
He was a clean, upright young man. Twenty years of life, spotless.
The only scandal he’d ever had was marrying this old bastard Bo Yun.
“Who are you calling little birds?” Jiang Zhuoye sneered. “Just because you’re a womanizer doesn’t mean everyone else is. That was my childhood friend—pure brotherhood. He’ll be back in the country and was just inviting me out.”
“Is that so?” Bo Yun didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Fine, let’s say it is. But you’ve always had some close friends, haven’t you?”
He looked at Jiang Zhuoye leisurely. “If I remember correctly, you ran away from home in high school and didn’t come back at night—wasn’t that with some classmate? Then in college, you were involved with the second son of the Liu family. And there were also Fu Xuming and Guan €€—those two even fought over you once, didn’t they? Same social circle. It caused quite a scene.”
Bo Yun curled his lips, smiling mockingly. “When you put it that way, you’re quite charming.”
Jiang Zhuoye almost spat blood.
That was pure fabrication.
Liu Yuanzhou was completely his buddy. They’d lost a gaming bet and had to pretend to be a couple for a week. Afterward, both of them even wanted to bathe with pomelo leaves to wash away the bad luck.
As for Fu Xuming and Guan €€, they had both pursued him—but those two jerks ended up together instead!
Mutual affection, off to the U.S. hand in hand, and neither of them thought to clear his name!
But saying all that out loud would be humiliating.
And being a healthy young man with a playboy face who’d never dated anyone by age twenty didn’t exactly sound impressive either.
Jiang Zhuoye crossed his arms and said sarcastically, “You’re really well-informed. What a waste you’re not a paparazzo. But that’s none of your business. I don’t have any romantic scandals and I won’t cause trouble. You, on the other hand, should watch your own love life—if I catch you, you’re done.”
Bo Yun snorted.
He ignored the threat, merely lifting his cool, clear eyes—half teasing, half warning. “You’d better mean what you say. If you insist on causing trouble, remember to hide it well. Otherwise, I’m afraid even your allowance won’t be enough to cover the fines.”