“Master Lu, I’m working here because it was the chairman’s arrangement, so please don’t make things difficult for me. If I go back just like this, I won’t be able to explain myself to Madam either. She’ll definitely fire me.”
Jiang Ci looked from one side to the other, feeling more and more that something about the atmosphere inside the car was not quite right. He reached out with his little hand and gently nudged Lu Shiying’s arm. “Brother, you’ve only just started working, so there must be bad people who want to bully you. There’s strength in numbers, you know. Special Assistant Ji looks like a good person too.”
Ji Ancheng glanced over through the rearview mirror. The corners of his lips curved upward as he put on an amiable smile that made him look every bit like a good person.
Lu Shiying shot Jiang Ci a sideways glance.
They had only just met and he was already taking the outsider’s side. He really was gentle and pure hearted.
“Jiang Ci.”
The moment Jiang Ci heard his full name, his entire body jolted. He immediately looked at him. “Hm?”
“Look outside. I think there’s something in the sky.”
Lu Shiying’s expression remained perfectly calm and his gaze had already shifted away.
Jiang Ci immediately became interested. His whole body practically sprawled against the car window, his face pressed against the cool glass as he craned his neck and stared upward with all his might.
The sky was a clear, brilliant blue, almost completely spotless except for a few wispy clouds drifting overhead. The dazzling sunlight was so bright that it made his eyes sting, while rows of buildings rushed past the window at high speed.
“What is it?” He narrowed his eyes, searching in every direction.
“Look carefully. I can see it already.”
Jiang Ci stretched his neck as far as it would go, practically wishing he could open the window and stick his head outside. He looked left, then right, searching for a long time until his neck began to ache yet he still could not find anything.
Up front, Ji Ancheng casually glanced at the rearview mirror, only to meet Lu Shiying’s eyes directly.
There was not the slightest trace of youthful innocence in those eighteen year old eyes. They were unnervingly deep, like a pitch black abyss whose bottom could not be seen.
That heavy gaze pressed silently toward him, carrying an unmistakable warning.
A chill ran down Ji Ancheng’s back.
He finally understood.
Lu Shiying had deliberately diverted Jiang Ci’s attention toward the window so that the child would not have the chance to say another word to him.
This possessiveness……. Was it not a little too frightening?
If things continued developing like this, in another ten or twenty years, would the two of them even be able to separate? 3
Photographs on the phone were swiped past one after another. As the child grew older, the traces of his youthful innocence gradually faded and each successive photo recorded the changing figure of the boy, year after year.
It had only been a few cycles of spring, summer, autumn and winter yet the peach trees planted in the courtyard had already begun producing an abundant harvest, their branches heavy with fruit.
When Lu Shiying returned from work, his suit jacket was draped over one arm. Special Assistant Ji opened the car door for him and even before Lu Shiying reached the courtyard, he could already hear the commotion coming from inside.
“Young Master, please come down!”
“Young Master, you’re going to leave all our work for us at this rate!”
“Good heavens, my little ancestor, you really are something!”
Hearing the voices, Lu Shiying walked inside.
Back when Jiang Ci had wanted to plant peach trees, Lu Shiying had rearranged part of the landscaping in the southern courtyard and planted two of them for him. Several years had passed and now it was July. The branches were already laden with fruit.
Lu Shiying raised his eyes and saw a group of people gathered beneath the peach tree, all of them reaching their hands upward. An air cushion had been spread out underneath. When he looked higher, he saw Jiang Ci actually sitting up in the tree.
The sight frightened him so badly that his heart nearly stopped.
“Jiang Ci!!”
Thirteen was precisely the age when children were at their most mischievous. The boy was sprawled across a branch of the peach tree, two juicy peaches clenched tightly in his hands. The moment he saw Lu Shiying return, he was scared out of his wits. He immediately lowered his head and glanced at his electronic watch.
It was only a little after four.
Had Brother gotten off work early?
Old Zhang and Auntie Chen hurriedly moved aside, while the other servants all retreated as well. Lu Shiying walked over and saw Jiang Ci lying across the branch, his legs trembling from where he was perched.
The veins at Lu Shiying’s temples throbbed repeatedly but he still suppressed his anger and kept his voice calm.
“Jump down. I’ll catch you.”
Jiang Ci drew his legs in slightly and hugged the two peaches tightly against his chest. He stubbornly refused to give in. “I’m not coming down. You’re definitely going to hit me. I planted this peach tree myself, so I have to pick the peaches myself.”
Lu Shiying put away that dark and intimidating expression and gave him a faint smile instead.
“How could I hit you? I haven’t hit you in three or four years, have I?”
Jiang Ci tilted his head and thought about it.
That seemed to be true.
He immediately grinned. “Brother, then stand a little closer. I’ll jump down.”
Lu Shiying’s heart was pounding with fright. He was terrified that the impact of the landing might hurt Jiang Ci’s small, delicate body. He stepped closer, opened his arms wide and said, “Jump.”
Jiang Ci tightened his grip around the two peaches and leaped.
His entire body came flying down, landing squarely in Lu Shiying’s arms. His brother caught him securely, holding him firmly against his chest.
Jiang Ci tilted his head back to look at him and suddenly felt that his brother was almost one meter ninety tall.
“What if he falls and gets hurt?”
Lu Shiying’s expression instantly darkened. He turned toward the servants gathered around them.
“Who let him climb the tree? Can’t you even keep an eye on him? What if he falls and hurts himself?”
Jiang Ci reached up and patted his face.
“Why are you like this again? I was the one who insisted on climbing up there. They couldn’t stop me.”
Lu Shiying suddenly raised his hand and smacked him once on the butt. The force was not particularly heavy but it still stung.
Jiang Ci immediately yelped in pain. He had just begun twisting around, trying to wriggle free, when Lu Shiying grabbed him by the collar and carried him toward the house.
Auntie Chen followed them for a couple of steps, looking worried.
“Are you really going to hit the child?”
Old Zhang shook his head and answered in a low voice, “No. If he actually hurt the young master, he’d be heartbroken.”
Jiang Ci was carried inside and dropped onto the sofa, only for his bottom to receive another smack.
He kicked his legs vigorously and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Don’t hit my butt! I’m not a little kid anymore!”
Lu Shiying froze.
He was actually talking back now?
Jiang Ci glared at him with his cheeks puffed up, his eyes wide with indignation.
Lu Shiying stared at him.
His face was fair and delicate, his features refined and handsome and his nose straight and well defined. He had already grown into a clean cut and pretty young boy, his entire appearance carrying a fresh, pleasing elegance.
“You’re always so fierce.”
Jiang Ci picked up one of the peaches and threw it at Lu Shiying’s head. Then he scrambled to his feet, rubbed his sore bottom and ran upstairs without even looking back.
Lu Shiying covered the spot where the peach had hit him, his face filled with disbelief.
He had actually dared to hit him?
Why had this child’s temper been getting more and more explosive lately and why was he becoming increasingly difficult to discipline?
Auntie Chen came over and began picking up the little cat toys scattered across the floor.
Lu Shiying suddenly asked, “Auntie Chen, what age does a child go through their rebellious phase?”
Auntie Chen finished putting everything away and smiled kindly.
“The peak of the rebellious period is usually between twelve and sixteen. Their physiological hormones are changing as they grow, so they become fond of talking back and causing trouble. The young master was simply getting temperamental just now, which was why we couldn’t stop him from climbing the tree to pick the peaches.”
Lu Shiying rubbed his temples. He had never expected that the child who had been so obedient from childhood all the way through growing up would have a rebellious phase after all and would even learn to hit people and talk back.
He had originally thought Jiang Ci would go back to his room, slam things around and throw a fit but when he pushed open the door, he found that the child was instead sprawled over his desk doing his summer homework, occasionally rubbing his bottom.
Lu Shiying wondered if he had hurt him just now. Every time he disciplined Jiang Ci, he carefully controlled the amount of force he used. He knew every detail about the boy’s fragile bones and delicate skin, knew exactly how much pressure it took before a bruise would appear.
Lu Shiying pushed the door open and walked inside.
The instant Jiang Ci saw him, he shot onto the bed with a “whoosh,” burrowing straight under the covers to hide.
“Are you really this angry just because I wouldn’t let you play?” Lu Shiying asked.
Jiang Ci ignored him.
Lu Shiying walked over and sat down beside the bed, letting out a quiet sigh.
He glanced toward the Maine Coon cat still sleeping on the balcony. Then he got up, carried it over and gently placed it on Jiang Ci.
“Meow~ Meow~” Little Mi used its paws to paw at Jiang Ci’s head.
Only then did Jiang Ci poke his head out from under the covers. He stuffed the cat beneath the blanket and continued hiding under it himself.
Lu Shiying decided to use a little emotional blackmail.
“When I first brought Little Mi home, I told you that I was allergic to cat fur. You asked me what ‘allergic’ meant. I explained it to you but you still didn’t understand.”
Jiang Ci revealed half of his face and blinked at him. In a small voice, he asked, “Then why didn’t you throw the cat out?”
Lu Shiying reached out and pinched his cheek. “Because I felt sorry for you. You stared at me with those aggrieved eyes and even said that you would definitely listen to your brother properly from then on.”
Jiang Ci immediately lost the last of his confidence. Like a little cat that had puffed up its fur only to be tamed again, he obediently crawled over and nestled into his brother’s arms.
“I’m sorry……”
Lu Shiying rubbed his head.
Then, without warning, he reached out and started pulling at Jiang Ci’s pants.
Jiang Ci jolted in fright and hurriedly grabbed his waistband but it was already too late. He had been exposed completely.
“Lu Shiying!”
“Who are you shouting at? Have you forgotten your manners?” Lu Shiying lowered his head and took a careful look.
His buttocks were very white. There were no bruises, no palm prints and no traces of redness.
Jiang Ci had a coagulation disorder, so Lu Shiying could not afford to hit him with any real force. Otherwise, he could develop a subcutaneous hematoma. Sometimes, what appeared to be an ordinary bruise could actually contain accumulated blood beneath the skin, pressing against the nerves and taking a very long time to disappear.
After taking care of him for so many years, Lu Shiying had only ever hit Jiang Ci twice.
He had lost his temper just now and acted without thinking. Now that the anger had passed, regret had already begun to creep in. He had been too impulsive. From now on, if Jiang Ci misbehaved, he would make him copy passages from his books instead. He absolutely could not use physical punishment.
Jiang Ci pulled his pants back up and put on a stern little face. “I’m a big kid now. You can’t just pull my clothes down whenever you want and you can’t look at my butt either. Can’t you have a little sense of boundaries?”
Lu Shiying let out a soft scoff of laughter. “So you’ve grown up, have you? From the time you were little, I was always afraid you’d bump or hurt yourself, so I was the one who helped you bathe, scrub your back, soak your feet and get dressed and now you finally know how to be embarrassed?”
Jiang Ci made a couple of dissatisfied little sounds. “That’s different……. I’ve already grown up……..
Lu Shiying raised an eyebrow.
“Brat.”
Jiang Ci climbed down from the bed and began gathering his things. He took all the snacks from the bedside table, scooped the cat into his arms and even tucked his favorite plush teddy bear beneath one arm.
Lu Shiying asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sleeping in a separate room. I’m a grown up now.” Jiang Ci wore an utterly serious expression on his baby fat covered face as he said it.
Lu Shiying frowned as he watched the child carry a whole pile of belongings toward the door. Thirteen years old and already a grown up? <4>
How ridiculous. This child had been much more fun when he was little.
That night, Jiang Ci couldn’t sleep.
He tossed and turned restlessly in the guest bedroom, unable to settle down. Every so often, he would crawl over to the door and peek through the crack, wondering if his brother was really not going to come over and sleep with him.
Once, during physical education class, he had heard one of his classmates say that since he was always clinging to his brother every day, people had started teasing him, asking whether they even slept together at night too.
At the time, Jiang Ci had answered that they had separated rooms a long time ago and that he had slept by himself ever since kindergarten. In truth, he had been lying and there had been a little guilt weighing on his conscience.
He had thought about it for a long time and decided that it was time for him to become independent.
Jiang Ci lay back down on the bed and continued trying to sleep.
The Maine Coon kept rubbing itself against him, its tail swaying lazily from side to side. His brother’s allergy had already been cured but the amount of time Little Mi got to spend accompanying him had become less and less.
“Meow~”
Jiang Ci hugged it close and rubbed the little cat’s ear against his cheek. “Little Mi, the longest living Maine Coon in the world lived to be thirty one years old. Why don’t you live to thirty two and break the record?”
Little Mi suddenly stood up, grabbed Jiang Ci’s pajamas in its teeth and tugged at them. Its enormous body stepped right onto his stomach, pressing down hard enough to make him cry out.
“Don’t step on my stomach, you huge fat cat.” Jiang Ci pushed it away.
“Meow, ” Little Mi jumped onto the floor, ran over to the doorway, then turned around and flicked its tail at him. After that, it swaggered straight into the master bedroom across the hall.
Jiang Ci shouted toward the doorway, “Little Mi, you traitor!”
He lay back down, twirling a strand of cat fur around between his fingers. Then, all of a sudden, he sat upright again. Gathering all his belongings back into his arms, he hurried out of the room and ran toward the master bedroom with quick little thudding footsteps.
Lu Shiying was pretending to sleep on the bed, his eyes firmly closed. He felt a cat jump onto the mattress and settle down at the foot of the bed, pressing down on the corner of the blanket.
Immediately afterward came the child’s careful, tiptoeing footsteps, slowly inching closer and closer to the side of the bed. Then one corner of the blanket was quietly lifted and a warm little body slipped underneath it and settled down beside him.
Perhaps Jiang Ci felt that there was too much distance between them. After a moment, he secretly edged a little closer to Lu Shiying.
Lu Shiying could not help laughing.
Jiang Ci kicked him. “Brother, why are you so mean? You were pretending to be asleep!”
Lu Shiying turned over and pulled him into his arms, smiling as he said, “In my heart, you’re still a child. Don’t fight with your brother anymore, okay?”
Jiang Ci tilted his head back to look at him and Lu Shiying took his hand, placing it against his own chest. Through the thin fabric of his pajamas, his heart could be felt pounding, beating even faster than before.
He said, “When you threw that peach at me, I felt terrible. I felt like I hadn’t taken good care of you and I was afraid that you might come to hate me or want to stay away from me in the future. It really hurt me, do you realize that?”
“Mm… I didn’t mean to.” Jiang Ci hugged him, dropping his petulance as he obediently rested his head against Lu Shiying’s chest. “Brother, I’m sorry. I won’t ever hit you again.”
Lu Shiying ruffled his hair and chuckled softly, “That’s a good boy.”
He woke up the next day.
In his groggy state, Jiang Ci felt a damp patch on the bedsheets.
He rubbed his eyes and sat up, then suddenly his eyes widened in sheer panic; having studied biology, a specific term immediately sprang to mind.
It was his first wet dream and thankfully, his brother hadn’t seen it.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Even He, an outsider, couldn’t stand itChapter 2 · DaddyChapter 3 · Thank you for the gift!Chapter 4 · Do You want to sleep with your brother?Chapter 5 · Smart BabyChapter 6 · Life in a Wealthy FamilyChapter 7 · Genius BrotherChapter 8 · Brother’s giftChapter 9 · Xiao Ci was injured.Chapter 10 · ThoughtfulChapter 11 · Treat as treasureChapter 12 · Only recognized oneChapter 13 · Lu family coupleChapter 14 · A closed heartChapter 15 · Understanding my brotherChapter 16 · Reluctant to hitChapter 17 · UneasyChapter 18 · PossessiveChapter 19 · Teenage RebelChapter 20 Part 1 · The car accidentChapter 20 Part 2 · The car accidentChapter 20 Part 3 · The car accidentChapter 21 · My heart is racingChapter 22 · Physiological Knowledge