Chapter 22

Chapter 22

That scene from the dream was real...

So, they had been intimate.

Looking back, it was he who had shamelessly made the first move, completely clueless.

Was Fu Yuze giving him an out?

"Are you okay?" Bian Han's train of thought was interrupted by his reaction, and she pulled Jiang Jining aside. "Don't move."

Jiang Jining looked at the shattered teacup, picked up the towel the auntie had hung on the rack, and carefully placed the larger pieces of glass to one side. As Bian Han approached, he said, "Sorry about that."

"It's no big deal." Bian Han had always doted on him, but after saying that, she looked at him again and said sternly, "But the matter between you and Fu Yuze is serious. Go have a seat on the couch."

Jiang Jining was silent.

She finished up with the vacuum cleaner. After cleaning up, Bian Han saw Jiang Jining leaning back on the sofa, his face flushed, and knew he still wasn't feeling well. She made him another cup of hot herbal tea. "Here you go."

Jiang Jining took a sip.

Worried he might break it again, he gently placed it on the coffee table. Under Bian Han's rather complicated gaze, he volunteered all the details.

The speaker didn't mean anything by it, but the listener read into it.

After he finished his story, Bian Han, upon careful consideration, realized that the two of them had hugged quite a few times. Strangely, when Jiang Jining mentioned it, he glossed over it in a single sentence, not even realizing he had crossed a boundary.

Just counting the times he saved him from the water, that was twice already.

How did he pull him out?

That had to involve a lot of touching, didn't it?

In Jiang Jining's words, it became "he saved me by the lake" or "he was worried I would drown and carried me ashore." Described this way, Fu Yuze really seemed like a real gentleman.

Bian Han caught another point and raised her hand to stop him. "You've been chatting with Fu Yuze all this time?"

No way. She was completely in the dark.

Carrying on right under her nose, and so stealthily??

Her little cabbage was bound to be plucked sooner or later.

After reaching this conclusion, Bian Han fell silent.

Luckily, Fu Yuze was the type to own up to his actions. After one kiss, he'd gone and scared her boy so badly he got blocked and ghosted. To find him, Fu Yuze had even swallowed his pride and explained the situation to her.

Bian Han's eyelid twitched.

She started in on Jiang Jining: "Baby, do you think... it's normal for you to chat with a young, successful, handsome guy every day, even having long phone conversations, and within just over a month of knowing him, having his fingerprint to get into his house and exclusive use of his pool?"

Jiang Jining disagreed with one part. "He's not that young."

Bian Han pointed out, "He's only six years older than you."

"...When my dad was twenty-five or twenty-six, he already had my older siblings." Jiang Jining insisted on his own view.

Bian Han stared, baffled.

"Have you been treating him like a father all along?"

"...I don't know."

Jiang Jining was all mixed up now, too.

Deep down, he didn't want to believe Fu Yuze had forced himself on him. He didn't know why, but he had an inexplicable sense of trust.

If the dream was real...

then *he* was the one at fault.

But why would Fu Yuze admit to it?

While Jiang Jining was puzzled, he faintly felt a weight lift from his heart. If Fu Yuze had pretended nothing happened, kissed him, and then acted like it was nothing... then he would have cut Fu Yuze off for good.

Bian Han leaned back on the sofa silently, analyzing.

So, Jiang Jining had been maintaining "frequent chats" as a way to comfort a lonely old man, not as some coy, half-hearted flirtation...

Exactly!

What did Jiang Jining know about such things?

No wonder the lonely old man was in such a rush to come over.

The older guy was different, though—he overthought things, urgently wanting to determine whether Jiang Jining's disappearance was due to shyness or rejection.

"...I understand." Put that way, Jiang Jining got it. "I won't chat with him so much in the future. I'll keep my distance."

Now he understood. Uncle Lu saw Fu Yuze as lonely and wanted to matchmake them. With all the back-and-forth, and with Fu Yuze getting positive signals from him, it was no wonder he went along with that kiss happening.

So...

Jiang Jining thought of that dream again.

His lips still seemed to carry a burning sensation, like sparks flying, a blush creeping up to the tips of his ears.

He had become corrupted.

If his older brother and sister knew someone had kissed him, they would surely be furious.

"You've really decided?" Hearing Jiang Jining draw such a clear line, Bian Han felt a second of pity for Fu Yuze and confirmed, "Alright, if you've decided, then we'll just drop him."

It was a bit of a shame.

After regaining her rationality, Bian Han thought: Fu Yuze's personal conditions weren't just rare, they were practically unique. She heard from Bian Jiacheng that he hadn't even been in a relationship before, right?

Full marks for male virtue...

If Jiang Jining and Fu Yuze really got together, his heat cycles would have a solution, and he wouldn't have to suffer through them alone so painfully.

Of course, Bian Han didn't say this out loud.

After all, Jiang Jining had to genuinely like him.

Drop him...

Jiang Jining's lips tightened slightly. "I don't have time to meet him these next few days."

"It's nothing." Bian Han pulled her phone out of the bag again, crossing her legs. "I'll call to put his mind at ease. Otherwise, you might be taken in by all those sweet words when you meet."

"...No."

Jiang Jining suddenly spoke up.

Seeing Bian Han wink at him, he blurted out a phrase he’d picked up from somewhere: "You should handle your own business."

But Bian Han told him, "Parents' orders and the matchmaker's word."

Jiang Jining was taken aback.

How could he have forgotten even that?

"Hmm, let's see..." Bian Han looked at his still-red ears and didn’t mind asking again, chin in hand. "Should I tell Fu Yuze that you said yes, or should I schedule a meet-up?"

Jiang Jining was silent...

Even he could sense the teasing now.

After vehemently rejecting the first option, his retreating figure carried a hint of a hurried escape.

In any case, Bian Han used some kind of reasoning to calm down the guy who was so eager to come apologize.

In his right mind, Jiang Jining was incredibly reserved.

He didn’t reply with a single word; his phone and watch were left to gather dust, and he didn't even bother charging them.

Not only Fu Yuze, but Bian Jiacheng also called Bian Han daily, asking about that little butterfly that had flitted away.

Jiang Jining gave no response to any of them.

The heat lasted four days.

On the final day, that overwhelming tide surged back.

Jiang Jining didn’t leave his room the entire day, worrying Bian Han half to death. When they had a late-night snack for dinner, she looked at him with pity. "Sweetie, you’re so pitiful... Good thing you’re about to start dating. By the way, how are you going to explain this to Fu Yuze?"

"Cough, cough—"

Jiang Jining turned red because of what she said.

Bian Han patted him again and asked, "You haven’t decided whether to agree yet, have you?"

"I have." Jiang Jining’s immediate priority was to assert his position. "I don’t need to tell him about this for now."

Bian Han grew even more worried. "Not telling him?"

"...Then how will you explain to Fu Yuze when you suddenly disappear every month at the end?"

With the cure right there!

Can't you really use it?

Jiang Jining had been learning new things every day and spoke knowledgeably. "...Nowadays, people have freedom in relationships, and personal privacy is respected. Similarly, if he has secrets he doesn’t tell me, I won’t blame him either."

Bian Han wore an expression of "my child is all grown up," yet couldn’t help feeling wistful: But you two are men dating, Ning Zai. Are you aiming for a platonic relationship?

So headstrong.

Not bad either; good sense of self-preservation.

Jiang Jining didn’t reveal more.

He thought Bian Han had clearly forgotten one thing—

If he and Fu Yuze were together every day, spending his heat periods together, how would that differ from being married?

He didn’t want to regret it.

So he planned to try out this world’s dating rules.

Dating and marriage should be fundamentally different. If the two were completely merged, his parents would think he was being taken advantage of.

And what if...

Jiang Jining subconsciously touched his stomach.

He couldn’t take that risk.

*

A new day began. After his heat ended, Jiang Jining glowed with health, with no trace of sickness. His skin was fair with a hint of pink, tender and soft, like a ripe peach emitting a faint fragrance.

The housekeeper resumed work and arrived early, greeting him, "Xiao Jiang, feeling better?"

"Much better."

Jiang Jining chatted idly with the housekeeper, brushing the kitten, when he saw Bian Han shuffling over in slippers to instruct, "Auntie, go open the door in a bit. We have a guest."

Bian Han had a toothbrush in her mouth.

She breezed in and out like the wind.

Jiang Jining remembered overhearing last night that she had booked a repairman to maintain the cat tree and deliver a new one.

The doorbell rang while the housekeeper was still busy.

"I’ll get it." Jiang Jining also wanted to move around a bit. He secured the harness on the kitten in his arms, who was itching to make a break for it again, and walked through the yard, pulling the door open with one hand. "Please, come in—"

Before he could finish.

Jiang Jining nearly dropped the kitten in his arms.

"Why are you answering the door yourself?"

Fu Yuze helped steady the kitten’s precarious bottom, hovering mid-air. "Heading out?"

It had been days since they last met.

The man’s tone was as gentle and warm as a spring breeze.

Jiang Jining slowly met his gaze but was burned by the undisguised intensity, averting his eyes. He pretended to be calm. "I’m just taking the kitten for a walk around the neighborhood."

Fu Yuze gently closed the door behind him, his eyes fixed on Jiang Jining. "Let’s go together, okay?"

Jiang Jining: "..."

Fu Yuze gave off a different vibe today.

The path the two would walk together.

Jiang Jining had the final say.

He chose a quiet path with dense grass and trees, giving the kitten more to explore.

Fu Yuze walked beside him at a careful distance. Initially side by side, their hands accidentally brushed as they hung by their sides.

Jiang Jining unconsciously pulled away.

After that, Fu Yuze kept a bit more distance, positioning himself slightly behind, and asked about Jiang Jining’s health over the past few days.

Jiang Jining was never much of a talker.

Now, he was even more tight-lipped, his words coming out one at a time.

Spotting two large dogs, Fu Yuze picked up Bone. From then on, Jiang Jining had to lean on him completely.

“Are you still angry with me?” Fu Yuze returned the kitten to him and said, “You kissing me might have been impulsive, but I am older than you after all, and I really shouldn’t have been so reckless.”

“!”

Jiang Jining didn’t know how the topic had shifted so abruptly. “I’ve been unwell these past few days, constantly feverish and not in my right mind… That day, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I know.” Fu Yuze accepted all his explanations but added, “It’s just that I’ve had a thing for you for a while. I originally intended to keep it well hidden, but once you took the initiative, I threw caution to the wind.”

Jiang Jining lowered his head.

Why did he have to speak so directly…