Chapter 124

Chapter 124

It had been almost a month since Yu Xing's surgery, and Yu Chuang had been too distracted to focus on anything else.

Since before the surgery, about four to five weeks had passed, and the progress on the software had been almost zero.

By November, Yu Xing had been discharged from the hospital and returned to school, and only then did Yu Chuang start to attend to his own matters.

School matters also started to accumulate—selecting a mentor, thesis proposals, and more. Plus, Yu Chuang hadn’t attended classes for a month, so his regular grades were alarmingly low, and he still had to prepare for midterm exams.

He woke up early in the morning, spent an hour coding, and then organized his thoughts for the thesis proposal he was going to present to his graduation project mentor. After that, he grabbed his laptop and went to meet the mentor.

Seeing him leave, Jiang Zixing, who was in the opposite bed, casually asked, "Yu Chuang, are you leaving school again?"

"No, I'm going to see my mentor."

Yu Chuang found Jiang Zixing's question a bit odd. "What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just that you've been leaving school so frequently this past month..." Jiang Zixing hesitated.

He was convinced that Yu Chuang must be secretly dating someone, constantly going out on dates.

He really wanted to ask a few questions—what kind of person could have caught Yu Chuang's attention?

Yu Chuang indeed often left school. However, the reasons were far more complicated than Jiang Zixing imagined.

At first, it was to work part-time at high-end restaurants like Meidun, and later it was to take care of Yu Xing at the hospital... Recently, going out was mainly for Ji Mian.

Ji Mian expected that Yu Chuang be available at any moment. Often, Yu Chuang would be deep in coding when suddenly he would be called to the Ji Family, because the young master needed a pillow while watching a movie—Yu Chuang would then act as a human pillow for Ji Mian to rest his arm on.

Or sometimes, while still in class, he would receive a call from Ji Mian summoning him for dinner, and he would rush out of class to accompany him. After eating and drinking, before getting out of the car to return to school, he would have to give a kiss.

Jiang Zixing finally blurted out, "Yu Chuang, are you in a relationship?"

"A relationship? No."

Jiang Zixing thought for a moment, then declared, "Then you must be in the ambiguous stage."

"..."

Yu Chuang wanted to deny it, but thinking about having to explain the reasons for going out if he did, he simply remained silent.

Not hearing a denial, Jiang Zixing assumed it was a yes and felt a sense of betrayal: "Last month when I asked you, you said you weren’t interested in relationships and planned to stay single forever."

Yu Chuang thought back carefully but couldn’t remember.

Last month had been such a whirlwind for him, and he hadn’t paid much attention to some trivial conversations.

"What does she look like? Is she pretty? If you're dating, show us a photo!"

Dating was impossible, and showing a photo was out of the question. Jiang Zixing was a local of Ningcheng, his family was in business, and they were fairly wealthy, so they could have ties with the Ji Family.

Yu Chuang replied with an "Alright," dodging the question, and then left.

Yu Chuang's graduation project mentor was already very familiar with him, having been his guide for several competitions before.

After reviewing Yu Chuang's graduation project proposal, the mentor hesitated, "This topic is quite challenging, are you sure you can complete it?"

Yu Chuang: "Yes."

His project resembles a small module in the software he’s currently developing, and it’s nearly finished.

"I trust your skills; just keep up the good work. If you finish it as planned, you’re sure to win the university excellence award, which will boost your job prospects," the advisor added, though he felt the remark was unnecessary.

With Yu Chuang’s resume, any company in the field would be eager to hire him. Why would he even need an award like this?

"Hmm."

"Some of my senior colleagues now run their own labs, and they’d love to have you on board. Still not thinking about it?" The advisor, who valued talent, had invited Yu Chuang multiple times, hoping he’d pursue further studies.

"Even if the pay doesn’t match big corporations..."

Just then, Yu Chuang’s phone rang in his pocket—someone was calling.

The advisor was typically strict with his students, insisting phones be silenced during group meetings. Yu Chuang had always followed this rule in his project group.

With other students, he’d inevitably give a reminder. But with Yu Chuang, he was more patient.

Yu Chuang checked the caller ID and said, "Sorry, Advisor Luo, I’ve got an emergency..."

It was rude for a student to claim an emergency and leave mid-meeting.

Advisor Luo, who wasn’t known for his patience, still nodded. Senior year is hectic; maybe it was a call from a company.

Geniuses always get special treatment, no matter where they are.

Yu Chuang hurried out of the office and picked up the call.

The voice on the other end simply said, "Come over."

"..."

Yu Chuang pressed his lips together and replied, "Okay."

Yu Chuang still had his bag but didn’t have time to return to the dorm to drop it off.

Ji Mian was impatient and would get upset if kept waiting.

So he grabbed his bag, flagged a taxi outside the school, and headed straight to the Ji Family.

When he arrived and didn’t see anyone in the living room or garden, he went straight to Ji Mian’s bedroom.

Ji Mian’s bedroom had the best view in the Ji Family, with windows facing the open garden. The bedroom had two doors, the inner one only accessible from inside, leading to the garden.

In spring and summer, the room was filled with fragrance.

Unfortunately, after winter, the view outside wasn’t as vibrant.

When Yu Chuang entered, Ji Mian was standing by the window, looking at the white chrysanthemums in the garden, and only lazily turned his head upon hearing the door open.

Yu Chuang approached him, and as soon as he stood in front of Ji Mian, the person in front frowned.

"There’s a smell of smoke," Ji Mian sniffed, his expression one of disdain. "Did you smoke?"

"No, the taxi I took had a smell of smoke." The taxi driver smoked, although he didn’t touch the cigarette while Yu Chuang was in the car, the smell inevitably lingered in the car.

He had thought of changing cars, but was afraid Ji Mian would get impatient.

It had been about ten minutes since he got out of the car, and the wind outside was strong. He didn’t expect Ji Mian’s nose to be so sensitive, still able to smell it.

Yu Chuang took off his coat and left it outside Ji Mian's bedroom, worried it might carry a smell into the room. Then he entered wearing only the gray-white sweater underneath.

Ji Mian looked at him, thinking his brother was really tough when it came to the cold. No matter the situation, he’d only wear two layers at most, even in the coldest weather.

Winter and spring were the best times to hug his brother—it was so warm. Summer was too hot.

Yu Chuang had a great build, with broad shoulders, and even in just this thin sweater, he looked really good. When Ji Mian came back, he leaned in and sniffed at Yu Chuang’s sweater, his eyes flickering with hesitation.

Yu Chuang knew Ji Mian had a bit of a cleanliness thing. That look was because he didn’t smell smoke, but in his mind, he still thought there might be.

He said, "I'll go change my clothes."

"Forget it."

Ji Mian said to forget it, but his nose still twitched a little. Like a golden retriever who, even after checking, still wasn’t convinced.

Yu Chuang held back a smile, his lips just starting to curve when Ji Mian suddenly pulled him into a hug.

He got the hint right away and leaned down to kiss Ji Mian.

Their first kiss had been almost two weeks ago. Ji Mian had come back from S City a few days earlier and had been giving him little kisses here and there. Until one day he suddenly went for his lips.

Since then, kissing had become second nature for them.

Yu Chuang was a good half-head taller than Ji Mian, so he always had to lean down to kiss him. Luckily, the desk was right there, so he just hooked an arm around Ji Mian’s waist and hoisted him onto it.

The desk came up to Ji Mian’s waist, and sitting on it put him at about the same height as Yu Chuang.

In just two weeks, Yu Chuang had already gotten pretty good at this.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected things with Ji Mian to kick off with kissing. He’d figured their relationship would be mostly physical, though so far they hadn’t done much beyond this.

A soft thud came from Ji Mian’s side.

Yu Chuang’s hand bumped into a photo frame on the desk, and Pei Qing’s picture clattered onto the table.

Even while Yu Chuang was kissing him, Ji Mian managed to spare a glance toward the desk, reaching out to straighten the photo frame.

He couldn’t let his character slip.

"Affection Points +100, courtesy of Yu Chuang."

"Mmm..."

Ji Mian frowned and pushed Yu Chuang back, "What did I say? Don’t be so rough."

"Okay," Yu Chuang said, leaning down again, trying to be gentler this time.

But his head was pushed away by Ji Mian.

It was always Ji Mian who made the decisions.

Who made the decisions didn’t matter. Yu Chuang straightened up and took a step back.

After all, when he saw Ji Mian straightening the photo frame, he had lost the desire to continue.

His eyes lingered for a moment on Ji Mian’s lips, still glistening, before he slowly looked away.

"Come closer," Ji Mian urged.

"..." Yu Chuang moved back to where he was.

Ji Mian gently touched the bridge of his nose.

"Affection Points +50, courtesy of Yu Chuang."

Lately, the Affection Points had been skyrocketing, Ji Mian thought.

The mole on his brother’s nose was like a button—press it, and the Affection Points would go up.

Whenever he got jealous, the Affection Points always shot up. However, his brother's Affection Points had always increased more than others.

He couldn’t still be mad about Pei Qing, right?

Ji Mian studied Yu Chuang’s calm face, unsure.

He knew he usually treated Yu Chuang like dirt. After all the humiliation, Yu Chuang probably didn’t feel anything for him anymore, right?

Only an idiot would fall for someone like him.

With that thought, Ji Mian relaxed and pressed the “button” on Yu Chuang’s nose again.

"Affection Points +30, courtesy of Yu Chuang."

In just over a month in this world, he’d racked up over a thousand points. Maybe, like the system said, he could actually hit 100,000 points in this world.

Maybe because he was getting closer to success, he’d been feeling a little antsy lately.

But every time he saw the points tick up, that urgency faded, and his mood brightened.

Ji Mian swung his legs cheerfully.

His calves were splayed on either side of Yu Chuang’s waist, and even though they didn’t brush against him, Yu Chuang still noticed.

He glanced down at Ji Mian’s swinging right leg, watched for a moment, then instinctively reached out and grabbed it.

After grabbing it, he froze, unsure what to do, and slowly let go.

Ji Mian barely noticed and kissed the “button” again.

"Affection Points +80, courtesy of Yu Chuang."

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