Chapter 27 Little Liar.

Chapter 27: The Little Liar.

A strange silence fell over the place.

System 404 felt its whole system glitching out. If it had a physical form, it would have grabbed Jiang Jiang by the shoulders and shaken him hard, dying to know what was going through his head.

It took a deep breath. "Jiang Jiang! Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong! It's supposed to be Lu Xingye! Lu Xingye! Ants have been racing for ten years! Jiang Jiang, snap out of it!"

Jiang Heyao looked at Jiang Jiang standing on the table, cheeks flushed, and was momentarily stunned before letting out a soft laugh.

He could clearly see Jiang Jiang was drunk. This childish behavior was less a confession and more like a drunken tantrum.

He shook his head helplessly, his tone tinged with indulgence. "Alright, Jiang Jiang, come down now. Don't fall."

Meanwhile, Lu Xingye felt a surge of inexplicable fury shooting straight to the top of his head.

What the hell was this guy doing? He could let the hugging his wife slide, but now confessing to his wife right in front of him?

Was he trying to provoke him?

Did he think he was dead?

Lu Xingye already disliked Jiang Jiang, and now he disliked him even more.

If he could, he really wanted to roll this guy up into a ball and throw him as far away from his wife as possible.

He abruptly stood up, fists clenched. "Jiang... Jiang, this is my..." The word "wife" hadn't even left his lips.

"Lu Xingye."

A deep, magnetic voice cut through the surrounding noise.

If it weren't so familiar—familiar from twenty years of hearing it—Lu Xingye might have complimented the guy on his nice voice.

He turned his head stiffly, one notch at a time.

The others also looked toward the source of the voice. A tall, imposing man with a cold, aloof demeanor stood at the entrance of the booth. He wore a well-tailored dark gray suit, completely out of place in the bar's casual, relaxed atmosphere. His handsome face showed no expression, his deep eyes fixed directly on Jiang Jiang, who was still standing on the table.

Lu Xingye froze. His ears hadn't deceived him. It really was his brother.

At that moment, he was incredibly relieved his words had been cut off, that the word "wife" hadn't escaped his lips.

If his brother had heard, if he knew he had a boyfriend...

Lu Xingye shuddered.

Thank goodness.

He slowly relaxed, forcing a casual tone. "Brother, how did you..."

His words were interrupted again.

"Jiang Jiang, get down." The tone brooked no argument.

Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Jiang's cowlick swayed. He turned his head sluggishly.

He blinked his watery eyes, looking at Lu Nanzhou, who had suddenly appeared here, momentarily unable to process it.

"Lu... Lu Nanzhou?"

A flicker passed through Lu Nanzhou's eyes.

This was... the first time he had heard Jiang Jiang call him by his name.

So... why wasn't he calling him 'brother' anymore?

"Yeah, it's me. Come down first."

"Okay." Jiang Jiang was surprisingly obedient now.

Or perhaps, his mind was still foggy. He obediently tried to jump down.

But he had indeed drunk quite a bit earlier. The alcohol was hitting him now, making his body somewhat uncooperative. He missed his footing.

"Careful!"

"Ouch!"

Two exclamations sounded almost simultaneously.

Jiang Heyao, being closer, instinctively reached out to catch him, but someone moved faster.

Lu Nanzhou frowned, took a long stride, and just as Jiang Jiang lost his balance and was about to topple off the table, he caught him steadily.

The warm, alcohol-scented body of the youth crashed into his arms, causing his steps to falter slightly.

Jiang Jiang, however, was completely unaware, only feeling the thrill of the momentary weightlessness.

He squirmed out of Lu Nanzhou's arms and scrambled back onto the table, mumbling incoherently, "Hehehe, so... so fun! Again!"

Lu Nanzhou reached out but grasped empty air. He watched as Jiang Jiang scrambled back onto the table, spread his arms wide, and shouted, "You jump! I jump!"

The next second, he jumped down again.

Once more, Lu Nanzhou caught him steadily.

Jiang Jiang's eyes lit up. "A... Again!"

Lu Nanzhou: "......"

Lu Xingye: "......"

Jiang Heyao: "......"

The other band members: "......"

"Mission..." System 404, though knowing there was probably no hope, tentatively reminded him.

Of course, it got no response from Jiang Jiang.

Lu Nanzhou sighed helplessly.

He grasped Jiang Jiang's arms. "Alright, settle down."

But a drunk Jiang Jiang was in no mood for reason. He struggled, still trying to climb back onto the table.

Lu Nanzhou sighed again.

He wrapped his arm around Jiang Jiang's shoulder, drawing him into a full embrace.

Jiang Jiang was dazed for a moment, feeling completely enveloped.

But... this actually felt... pretty comfortable too...

He stopped struggling, nuzzling his fluffy head against Lu Nanzhou's chest. "Wh-what did you come here for?"

Lu Nanzhou's body stiffened for an instant before relaxing slightly.

He kept one arm firmly around Jiang Jiang's waist, holding him securely in place, while his other hand gently patted his back. His tone was unreadable. "To take you home."

Lu Xingye was utterly dumbfounded.

He watched as his usually aloof, dignified, and unapproachable older brother held Jiang Jiang so naturally, while that guy acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Although he had seen his brother hold Jiang Jiang at the horse ranch before, he could convince himself back then that his brother was just being kind-hearted, giving Jiang Jiang a hand because he had sprained his ankle.

But what on earth was this situation now?

His brother and Jiang Jiang???

Jiang Heyao also looked at Lu Nanzhou with some surprise.

He knew of Lu Nanzhou—the head of the Lu Group and Lu Xingye's older brother—he just hadn't expected him to be so familiar with Jiang Jiang. They seemed... to have a rather close relationship?

The other band members exchanged bewildered glances.

"Brother?"

Lu Nanzhou's gaze swept over everyone in the booth, pausing for two seconds on Jiang Heyao before finally settling on Lu Xingye. "Don't stay out too late tonight."

Lu Xingye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but under his brother's cool stare, he swallowed his words. All his questions condensed into three words.

"Okay, brother."

Jiang Jiang instinctively wrapped his arms around Lu Nanzhou's neck.

After taking just a few steps, a fluffy head struggled to peek out from Lu Nanzhou's embrace.

Jiang Jiang waved towards the booth. "Brother Jiang, let's play together again next time! Bye-bye~"

His head was gently pressed back down.

......

Inside the booth.

Jiang Heyao watched their departing figures, lost in thought.

He patted Lu Xingye's shoulder lightly, signaling him to calm down. "Alright, they're gone. It seems Jiang Jiang is very close with your older brother."

"My brother, he..." Lu Xingye scratched his hair irritably, feeling like everything tonight was bizarre.

He looked at Jiang Heyao, his tone sour. "Were you really that happy when he confessed to you?"

Jiang Heyao gave him a faint glance. "Why are you picking on a drunk kid?"

"I..." Lu Xingye was speechless, feeling aggrieved.

He wasn't that much older than Jiang Jiang either...

Meanwhile, at the bar, the bartender approached with the bill, smiling politely. "Sir, who will be settling the bill? For the drinks at the booth of the guest who just left."

Lu Xingye looked at the long list of expensive cocktail names on the bill, his face darkening further.

Damn it, Jiang Jiang. This guy came to confess to my crush, pissed me off, and in the end, *I* have to pay?!

......

404 watched as Jiang Jiang moved further and further away from Lu Xingye, thinking about the mission.

Tears fell—*prada, prada*.

Soon, two piles of 0s and 1s appeared in the system space.

Just as it was wallowing in sorrow.

"Mission... judgment... failure... success... zzzt... success!"

"Mission completed. Reward: 100,000 (pending distribution)."

404 stared blankly at the mission completion prompt.

Wait, that worked?

Could it be... Jiang Jiang has someone backing him?

Forget it, no point overthinking. It's good the mission succeeded. Neither of them will get electrocuted.

"System Notification: High compatibility auxiliary detected..."

"Confirmed as optimal auxiliary candidate."

"Initiating binding of shared mission auxiliary system."

"Binding successful!"

404 was also happy upon hearing the successful auxiliary binding notification. However, when it opened the auxiliary function to check the information, it saw three squares.

"Auxiliary: □□□"

404 felt a little dizzy.

Why is this censored too?

At the same time, the driver, seeing his boss come out, immediately opened the car door. Lu Nanzhou helped Jiang Jiang into the car and fastened his seatbelt.

Suddenly, Lu Nanzhou heard a voice in his head.

"Ding. You have been selected as an auxiliary. From this moment on, you can receive system mission information and can assist the host in completing tasks to a certain extent. Upon mission success, you will share the mission reward equally with the host."

Lu Nanzhou paused as he was about to get into the car, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "Who's there?"

The driver looked bewildered, completely confused. "Mr. Lu?"

Observing the driver's expression, Lu Nanzhou confirmed he hadn't heard anything.

This voice seemed to appear directly in his head?

A hallucination? Or...

Lu Nanzhou shook his head, signaling to the driver he was okay, then got into the car.

He pressed the bridge of his nose. The so-called system in his mind didn't make another sound, as if it had all been an illusion.

But he knew it wasn't.

He just didn't have any leads at the moment.

......

After leaving the bar, Jiang Jiang had caught a bit of the night air and now felt even woozier sitting in the car.

He sensed someone sitting down beside him. A crisp, pleasant scent wafted into his nose, and he instinctively leaned toward it.

Lu Nanzhou stilled for a moment, then gently shifted his position to let Jiang Jiang lean more comfortably.

He put up the partition.

In the small, enclosed space, all that was left was the sound of their breathing.

After a long moment, Lu Nanzhou finally spoke.

"Jiang Jiang."

Jiang Jiang, who had been on the verge of falling asleep, responded groggily upon hearing his name, "Hmm?"

"Why did you go to the bar?"

Jiang Jiang's mind, hazy from the alcohol, felt as if shrouded in a fog, unable to tell what he should or shouldn't say.

He answered instinctively, "To... to run into someone."

Lu Nanzhou's hand resting on his leg tightened slightly.

"You like him? Why?"

At this moment, Jiang Jiang couldn't process two questions at once. He answered the second one.

"Because... because Brother Jiang... Brother... is, is good-looking!"

So good-looking that at first glance, he felt he had to become good friends with this person.

Silence.

The car was quiet except for the faint hum of tires on the pavement.

Jiang Jiang's head nodded bit by bit until he finally fell completely asleep, his breathing becoming even and steady.

Lu Nanzhou looked down at the boy's peaceful sleeping face.

The boy's cheeks still carried a flush from the alcohol, his long, curled eyelashes like two small fans, occasionally fluttering gently. He mumbled indistinctly in his sleep.

He reached out, his fingertips lightly brushing aside the slightly curled strands of hair on the boy's forehead, his movements gentle in a way even he hadn't realized.

Only now did he realize that Jiang Jiang seemed somewhat different to him.

He didn't know when this difference began, but he knew that hearing Jiang Jiang say he liked someone else didn't sit right with him.

Many scenes surfaced in his mind.

Jiang Jiang calling him "brother," Jiang Jiang's clumsy attempts at running into him, Jiang Jiang smiling as he gave him flowers, Jiang Jiang's birthday gift to him...

So Jiang Jiang also called others "brother," would deliberately run into others, and would even confess to others...

He had thought Jiang Jiang liked him.

Lu Nanzhou looked down at the boy sleeping soundly against his shoulder.

"Little liar."

He'd even been fooled.

-----------------------

Author's Note: The increase in subscriptions doesn't seem great. Could it be that the story isn't interesting enough? (Scratches head thoughtfully)