Chapter 12 Give Me a Ride

Chapter 12: Take Me With You

Lu Xingye felt he must really be dying. Otherwise, how could he see his wife getting off a tractor, and together with Jiang Jiang?

He stood there dumbfounded, staring at Jiang Heyao, all his usual defiance gone.

A smile still lingered on Jiang Heyao's face, breathtakingly beautiful in the hazy twilight.

"Now that's my wife. So beautiful," Lu Xingye murmured.

"Lu Xingye?" Jiang Heyao had seen him too. His smile faded, and his brows furrowed slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." Lu Xingye opened his mouth, his brain short-circuiting before the words tumbled out, "Wife, I love you."

"..."

"Lu Xingye." A hint of threat laced Jiang Heyao's voice. "What did you say?"

This time, Lu Xingye sensed something was off. He pinched his own thigh.

*Ouch.*

That hurt.

So it wasn't a hallucination.

"S-sorry, my brain just short-circuited for a moment." After saying this, Lu Xingye stole a glance at Jiang Heyao's expression. Seeing it soften slightly, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

But he couldn't help feeling a bit put-out inside.

They were in a normal relationship, yet outside they had to pretend to be just ordinary friends. Now it felt like he was some secret lover.

"Weren't you supposed to be at your internship? What are you doing here, and in this state?" Jiang Heyao frowned.

Just this morning, he had sent a message complaining about how hard it was to get up early for work, insisting on a kiss.

"I..." Lu Xingye was momentarily at a loss for words. He couldn't very well say he'd snuck out to give him a surprise, only for his motorcycle to break down halfway, could he? That would be too embarrassing.

He didn't answer Jiang Heyao's question.

Instead, he looked at him, a hint of a whine in his tone. "It's so cold here."

Jiang Heyao looked at him, wearing only a sleeveless T-shirt and shivering slightly in the evening breeze. His heart softened in the end, and he sighed.

Jiang Jiang watched Lu Xingye's performance with a tsk of amazement. "So what's your deal? Need help or not? If not, we're leaving. I still have to take Brother Jiang for a spin."

He made as if to pull Jiang Heyao away.

"Wait!" Lu Xingye immediately called out to stop him. Although he didn't want to owe Jiang Jiang a favor, stuck in this middle-of-nowhere place, he gritted his teeth and explained, "My motorcycle broke down."

"If it's broken, why didn't you call for roadside assistance?" A note of helplessness tinged Jiang Heyao's voice.

"My phone... crashed." Lu Xingye's voice grew small.

Actually, he had turned it off on purpose to avoid his brother tracking him, not expecting to overdo it and now it wouldn't turn on.

Jiang Jiang listened with great interest. "Wow, you're really lucky then, running into us. Otherwise, you might have been mosquito food all night."

Lu Xingye: "...So now you know too."

"Yep, I know." Jiang Jiang nodded, his tone innocent. "And so?"

Lu Xingye took a deep breath, telling himself to swallow his pride. "...Take me with you."

A mischievous grin spread across Jiang Jiang's face. "Sure, but..."

He drew out the word. "...you can't expect me to help for free. You have to call me 'good brother,' and then I'll reluctantly take you along."

"Jiang Jiang!" Lu Xingye ground his teeth.

Watching this scene, Jiang Heyao couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. He hadn't really seen Lu Xingye like this before.

These two seemed like oil and water.

He ruffled Jiang Jiang's hair. "Jiang Jiang, I'll owe you one, but please take him along today."

Jiang Heyao knew Jiang Jiang wouldn't actually leave Lu Xingye behind. He just had a playful streak. But it was getting late, and it was better to head back sooner.

Lu Xingye stared at Jiang Heyao's hand on Jiang Jiang's head, jealousy practically overflowing.

"Alright, alright, for Brother Jiang's sake." Jiang Jiang glanced at the motorcycle behind him. "But that motorcycle of yours, even the three of us together couldn't lift it onto the trailer. It'll have to stay here."

Lu Xingye didn't argue; his motorcycle was indeed quite heavy.

The three of them walked together to the tractor.

"Get on." Jiang Heyao was the first to climb into the trailer, extending a hand to Lu Xingye.

Lu Xingye stared at the scene, stunned.

This felt so strange.

"What are you spacing out for?" Jiang Heyao waved his hand in front of Lu Xingye's face.

Looking at that hand with its distinct knuckles, Lu Xingye resisted the urge to sniff it, grabbed it firmly, and used Jiang Heyao's strength to pull himself up.

There was still some dry straw in the trailer; it wasn't exactly clean.

Once up, he immediately snuggled up to Jiang Heyao, trying to steal some warmth, muttering softly, "Wife, I'm so cold..."

Jiang Heyao with a blank face pushed away the head that was about to press against his face. "I told you not to call me that outside. And who told you to wear so little?"

Despite his words, he took off his own thin jacket and tossed it to Lu Xingye. Luckily, he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath.

Lu Xingye instantly looked like he'd received a treasure, happily draping it over himself, enveloped in Jiang Heyao's unique scent.

He leaned close to Jiang Heyao's ear. "Wife, are you cold? Should I hold you?"

His head was pushed away.

"People are watching."

Jiang Jiang turned his head, confirming both were on board. "All passengers, hold on tight! The Jiang Jiang Express is preparing for departure!"

*Chugga-chugga-chugga.*

The tractor roared to life again, carrying the three of them forward along the country road.

Jiang Jiang gripped the steering wheel tightly, humming an off-key tune. "Driving my beloved tractor, it never gets stuck in traffic~"

Lu Xingye, making sure Jiang Jiang wasn't looking, leaned close to Jiang Heyao's ear and whispered, "Babe, what are you doing with him?"

Jiang Heyao watched the tuft of hair on Jiang Jiang's head bounce with the tractor's jolts, a faint, unconscious smile touching his lips. "I met him at the resort. He's really cute, and we tried out quite a few activities together." If he had a younger brother, he'd probably be just like this.

Cute?

Lu Xingye felt like he'd been struck by lightning.

His wife actually used "cute" to describe this guy?!

"What's so cute about him?!" Lu Xingye was oozing jealousy.

"Ding, Impression Value +5. Current Impression Value: 55."

Jiang Jiang then remembered that 404 was back. He asked in his mind, "404, did they fix you yet?"

404 thought of the long queue in the repair line, was silent for two seconds before sighing and replying, "No, still waiting in line."

Speaking of this, 404 truly had a tale of woe.

Actually, he had retired long ago. It was because some system got infected with a virus from a small world, came back, and infected many other systems, leading to a shortage of available systems. That's why they had to rehire old-timers like him.

At the current repair speed, it was estimated they'd barely manage to fix it just before the official mission started.

......

Halfway through the journey, Jiang Jiang glanced in the rearview mirror at the two people huddled together in the back and grinned. He deliberately hit a pothole.

"Thump!"

Lu Xingye was bounced up and then slammed back down. "Ouch."

Jiang Heyao, however, was fine because he had grabbed onto the railing.

"Jiang Jiang!"

"Oops, sorry, the road's a bit rough," Jiang Jiang apologized without a shred of sincerity, his voice tinged with barely concealed laughter.

Lu Xingye gritted his teeth, fuming, but could do nothing about it, only mentally marking down a hefty grudge against Jiang Jiang.

Jiang Jiang had a good laugh, then shouted, "Brother Jiang! Heads up!"

His voice carried over with the wind.

The evening breeze, carrying the scent of earth and grass, brushed past. The rhythmic "putt-putt" filled their ears, and beside him was the person he loved... If the guy driving weren't Jiang Jiang, Lu Xingye thought this could indeed be considered romantic.

The tractor puttered along toward the resort.

As they neared the entrance, Jiang Jiang spotted his second brother, Jiang Huaiyu, standing at the gate from afar, arms crossed, watching him with an amused expression.

Jiang Jiang parked the tractor and nimbly jumped down.

Jiang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow, watching Jiang Heyao and Lu Xingye climb out of the truck bed one after the other. His tone was playful. "So... you went out and even picked someone up?"

"Second Brother, you don't understand. I'm just helping others," Jiang Jiang said, hands on his hips.

Jiang Heyao nodded politely to Jiang Huaiyu, then said to Jiang Jiang, "Thank you for today, Jiang Jiang. I had a great time."

"I had a blast too! Brother Jiang, let's hang out again next time!" Jiang Jiang waved, completely ignoring the aura of resentment emanating from Lu Xingye.

Lu Xingye grabbed Jiang Heyao's hand. "Let's go, we're heading back!"

He urgently needed some alone time with his wife to recharge.

Meanwhile, Lu Nanzhou, who was working overtime at the company, felt his phone vibrate. He picked it up to see a message from Assistant Lin.

"President Lu, the young master has been found. He's at that new resort opened by the Jiang family." Assistant Lin paused before continuing, "It seems... the Jiang family's young master happened to run into our young master whose motorcycle broke down while he was out joyriding on a tractor. In the end, it was the Jiang young master who drove the tractor to bring our young master back."

Lu Nanzhou stared at the words "tractor," fell silent for a moment, then slowly replied, "Understood."

He put down his phone and rubbed his temples.

He even knows how to drive a tractor...

This Jiang Jiang guy always seemed to find unexpected ways to catch his attention.

Author's Note:

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Lu Nanzhou: Jiang Jiang, how many more little surprises do you have that I don't know about?