Sang Li, leave Brother Jiang and come with me.
Suddenly having someone walk up and claim to know you always makes people start to guard their defenses.
Sang Li hugged his phone tightly, his expression serious: “No dating, we are not dating.”
Jiang Zhi stated: “I know you are from University D, and I have even seen the production of Titanic you acted in during college.”
Sang Li was deeply suspicious: “What proof do you have?”
Jiang Zhi said: “You played Rose.”
Sang Li: “Ha.”
Jiang Zhi: “During the official performance on stage, you said affectionately to the guy playing Jack, You jump, I push.”
Sang Li: “…”
That was because the guy playing Jack insisted that Sang Li accept the nine hundred and ninety-nine roses he sent!
Who would want to pick up a two-hundred-pound pile of roses, ugh!
Sang Li’s gaze was gloomy and his expression was dark: “You know too much, I’m going to have my husband shark you.”
“Who is your husband? Jiang Xiucheng?”
The pure white ruffled shirt on Jiang Zhi was lightly rippled by the city’s night breeze. The buttons he had intentionally unbuttoned revealed the unrestrained vitality unique to youth, making him look vibrant and energetic.
Jiang Zhi said: “Brother Jiang has had a wife for a long time. You’ve been lied to, did you know that?”
Sang Li: “…Huh?”
Sang Li felt shocked.
Jiang Zhi spoke with absolute certainty: “In the upper-class society of City H, this is simply no secret. Brother Jiang has had someone he loves dearly for a very long time. He has always kept her hidden away in a golden house, completely unwilling to let that person show their face in public, let alone bring them to an occasion like this.”
Sang Li, who was attending this place for the very first time: “…”
Sang Li attempted to defend himself: “Perhaps, possibly, maybe, could it be, is there any chance that I am actually Jiang Xiucheng’s wife?”
“Absolutely impossible.”
Jiang Zhi said flatly, casually taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and leaning against the pure white railing of the semi-open European-style terrace, raising his glass toward Sang Li: “You might not know this, but Brother Jiang and his wife already have a child, who is already in middle school.”
Sang Li, who had just walked out of a parent-teacher conference: “…”
Jiang Zhi: “You’re a boy, could it be that you and Brother Jiang have a child together?”
Sang Li: “…”
Damn, for a moment it was actually hard to prove that I am myself.
After a moment of silence, Sang Li sincerely gave Jiang Zhi a thumbs-up: “What you said makes a lot of sense, I am enlightened.”
Jiang Zhi looked over at Sang Li: “The ground is cold. Get up, stop squatting.”
Like a little rabbit crouched at the edge of its nest, Sang Li looked up at Jiang Zhi for a moment and stubbornly shook his head.
Jiang Zhi glanced back at the main hall: “Brother Jiang and the others went to the inner courtyard, they can’t see this place, you can get up now.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to.”
Sang Li gritted his teeth: “My legs fell asleep.”
Jiang Zhi was amused: “Then what should we do, do you want me to go help you call Brother Jiang over?”
Having been ruthlessly mocked, Sang Li was beyond furious: “Either you get lost, or if you’re a brother, give me a hand!”
Jiang Zhi finally extended his hand: “Grab on.”
Sang Li grasped it.
That was a very strong, very young hand.
Somewhat different from Jiang Xiucheng’s.
Jiang Xiucheng’s hands were also large, with distinct knuckles and full of strength. The wedding ring on his ring finger never came off year-round, and whether from the temperature of the ring or his own body heat, it always felt slightly cool.
Especially at times like that, when those ring-wearing fingers reached inside to grind against him, it was always exceptionally agonizing and made one want to beg for mercy.
Jiang Zhi’s hand, however, was scorching hot.
The warmth radiating from his palm startled Sang Li slightly. Before he could react, he was effortlessly pulled up by Jiang Zhi.
Perhaps because the initial force used to pull someone up like that was too great.
The excess momentum carried Sang Li straight into Jiang Zhi’s embrace, crashing against his exposed chest.
Whoa, still bouncy pectoral muscles.
Dazed from the collision, Sang Li felt dizzy for two seconds and thought this subconsciously.
Jiang Zhi’s hand, which instinctively came to rest on his lower back, supported Sang Li’s momentum-driven fall, forming a closed embrace.
He lowered his head slightly and asked by Sang Li’s ear: “Are they still numb?”
“Mm.”
Sang Li shook his head. The cherry-scented perfume sprayed on the newly styled little curly hairs atop his head drifted into Jiang Zhi’s nose with his movements, and the little curls brushed against the man’s jaw over and over again.
Having finally managed to stand steady, Sang Li pushed Jiang Zhi away and extended his left hand: “Not numb anymore, but it hurts a bit. You should still compensate me with some money.”
Jiang Zhi: “?”
Jiang Zhi: “Did you major in fraud management in college?”
Sang Li gave him a blank stare: “What nonsense are you talking about? I’m afraid you’ll feel guilty, so I’m giving you a chance to make amends to me. You should cherish it.”
Jiang Zhi: “…”
Jiang Zhi took out his phone: “Fine, add me as a friend, and I’ll transfer it to you.”
Happily, Sang Li took out his phone and added him as a friend. Just seconds after the request was accepted, a transfer notification came through: “Wow, you’re this rich?”
The previous misunderstanding and pain vanished, and Sang Li’s eyes filled with friendly starry sparkles: “Next time something happens, I’ll still let you come rescue me, okay?”
“I’m not as rich as Brother Jiang, but it should be enough for you to spend.”
Jiang Zhi finished the last sip of champagne in his hand, letting out a soft sigh as if compromising with himself: “Sang Li, leave Brother Jiang and come with me.”
Sang Li: “…?”
Sang Li froze: “Huh?”
Jiang Zhi said: “Brother Jiang has a lover. Although no one has ever seen them, he relocated the Jiang family’s ancestral home and largest industries back here. Rumor has it that person loves gems very much, so every year he definitely bids on the largest and most precious gem at every auction and sends it back to his wife.”
Sang Li: “…”
I do not demand the most expensive gems every single year! Who on earth is framing me behind my back?
Sang Li desperately wanted to speak up for himself, but the other person’s reasoning was just too sound.
Jiang Zhi said: “He doesn’t like his lover seeing other people. He has a terrifying obsession and an incomparably secretive desire for control over that lover, which is probably why he found you as a substitute to attend this kind of occasion. Sang Li, you shouldn’t fall for that kind of trick.”
“Brother Jiang might look good on the outside, with wealth, refinement, fame, and fortune, but he isn’t like that underneath.”
Jiang Zhi looked at Sang Li with a mixture of pity and complexity: “Lili, it’s impossible for him to love you.”
Oh, is that so?
Sang Li opened his mouth, attempting to say something else.
Jiang Zhi spoke first: “But I’ve been waiting for you, Sang Li.”
Jiang Zhi: “Ever since you took an extended leave of absence from school during your junior year, I looked for you for a long time, until I saw you again today. Where did you go?”
Sang Li: “Ah, I, I…”
Jiang Zhi looked at him intently.
Sang Li blinked his eyes and spoke with absolute conviction: “I went to undertake some grand life-fusion research projects, and then I earned a tiny bit of pocket money.”
Jiang Zhi: “Then what about now, has the money run out?”
Ah, this.
Sang Li hesitated: “You said earlier that you liked me.”
Jiang Zhi: “Mn.”
Sang Li raised his head: “It was love at first sight for me, huh?”
Jiang Zhi smiled: “You could say that.”
Sang Li was unfazed: “Oh, yes, I am just this charming.”
Hesitating for a few seconds.
Sang Li curiously asked: “Then will you marry me?”
Jiang Zhi fell silent.
After a moment, he said: “I will always take care of you and give you everything you want.”
Oh, wow.
Scumbag!
Lili despises you!
Even though Jiang Xiucheng is a bad man who won’t let me go outside, at least he knows that being together requires getting a marriage certificate before having children. Male college students really are the most irresponsible!
Sang Li rolled his eyes hard in his mind and was about to turn around and walk away.
Jiang Zhi suddenly reached out and grabbed Sang Li’s slender wrist: “Except for marriage! Lili, you’ll have to wait for me regarding marriage, I will handle everything else properly. I’ll take you to do anything else, anything you want to do!”
Ha.
Is there anything in this world that Husband cannot take Lili to do?
Sang Li let out a disdainful snort, suddenly freezing in his tracks. His eyeballs rolled around slyly before he burrowed back close to Jiang Zhi: “Are you being truly serious?”
That cute, light chestnut-colored little curly hair bobbed up and down right in front of him.
Bobbing so much that the young college student’s heart pounded heavily.
Jiang Zhi nodded fiercely: “I swear.”
Sang Li cautiously confirmed once more: “On your card?”
Jiang Zhi: “Of course.”
“That’s great!”
Sang Li grabbed Jiang Zhi’s hand and dragged him toward the stairs in a flash: “Let’s go, let’s go, we’re going over there. I already scouted the spot earlier. While the banquet isn’t over yet, hurry up!”
Half an hour later.
Inside the hottest bar in the downtown center, lights swayed, gorgeous glows cast a ghostly illumination across the booth seating, and explosive DJ beats echoed through the entire dance hall.
On stage.
Men and women in scant clothing swayed their bodies wildly to the rhythm of the music, instantly triggering successive waves of echoing cheers from the crowd below.
Audacious physical friction, exchanging glances back and forth, the clinking of wine glasses, the constant popping of champagne bottles, and electronic mechanical sounds made this night a wild, sleepless carnival.
A slightly tipsy Sang Li stood on the booth sofa, having taken off his overcoat to wear only a rabbit-fur sweater. A ring of fluffy trim made his flushed face look even prettier and more glamorous, more bewitching than all the male and female models and performers in the entire bar.
Unfortunately, he was completely oblivious to all of this.
Holding Jiang Zhi’s card, he swiped for the thirty-third set of Ace of Spades, ringing up thirty-three sets in a row and completely shattering the bar’s nightly consumption record of the past dozen years.
All the bar staff lined up in formation, carrying placards and marching around the floor ten times to celebrate the champagne tower built entirely just to serve him, spraying the entire venue with a sweet, syrupy aroma of alcohol.
Sang Li finally realized his long-held dream of booking out an entire venue, and without even spending his own money.
“So cool!”
Having been toasted quite a few times repeatedly, Sang Li was barely able to stand steady and had to grab onto Jiang Zhi’s shoulder to avoid falling over, his tongue a bit tangled: “Open, open more.”
Jiang Zhi draped Sang Li’s arm over his shoulder, reached around his waist, and lifted him down from the sofa: “We can’t open any more, you’re drunk.”
“Pui pui!”
Sang Li was not behaving well in Jiang Zhi’s arms: “I’m not drunk! You’re a scumbag!”
Jiang Zhi: “…”
The bill for the millions just spent was still spread out on the table.
Jiang Zhi was exasperated to the point of laughing: “Sang Li, be reasonable, will you? I’m a scumbag? How am I a scumbag?”
“You won’t marry me, you’re a scumbag!”
Sang Li retorted loudly.
Jiang Zhi froze.
The bar’s excessively glaring lights fell into the burning eyes of Sang Li in his arms, as if reflecting the sparkling tears at the bottom of those eyes, looking aggrieved beyond words and sorrowful beyond measure.
Jiang Zhi suddenly felt a pang in his heart: “Lili, I…”
Sang Li scrambled out of his arms on his own accord, stumbling across from the other side of the booth sofa to fish out his phone.
It was probably an illusion, but he kept feeling like he had heard his phone ringing repeatedly just now.
Sang Li rubbed his eyes, which were stinging from the lights, squeezing out a few crocodile tears, and looked down.
Incoming call: Jiang Xiucheng
Missed calls: Jiang Xiucheng (19)
Sang Li: “Oh my.”