ABSTIWTVMST Chapter 137

On the day An Rouyu was discharged from the hospital, Jing Yicheng immediately received the news.

On one hand, he despised Ruan Chenxuan for being shameless—flirting with An Rouyu every day while still thinking about Xu Chenghao. On the other hand, he was worried that An Rouyu being discharged might harm Xu Chenghao. After thinking it over, he still decided to call his assistant and instruct him to send more people to protect Xu Chenghao.

The assistant agreed and then asked, “Should we inform President Xu?”

Jing Yicheng looked up at the person playing with a little yellow duck abacus and said calmly, “No need.”

His Haohao didn’t need to worry about these people.

Not far away, Xu Chenghao seemed to sense something and lifted his head. Seeing Jing Yicheng looking at him, he simply got up and walked over. “Are you busy?”

Jing Yicheng expressionlessly hung up the phone. “Just some minor matters.”

“I thought you wanted to leave but didn’t know how to say it.” Xu Chenghao sat beside him with a smile. “If you’re busy, you don’t have to follow me every day.”

“I’m not with you every day.” Jing Yicheng complained resentfully. “I wasn’t here the day before yesterday, and I heard you had dinner with Li Nian!”

Xu Chenghao chuckled. “I only had one meal with Li Nian. If we’re counting, I’ve had meals with you several times.”

Jing Yicheng said unhappily, “You’re too close to Li Nian.”

Xu Chenghao: “We’ve been brothers for over ten years. Are you really going to compare yourself to him?”

Jing Yicheng narrowed his eyes slightly, then silently wrapped his arm around Xu Chenghao’s waist and suddenly exerted force, lifting him onto his lap. “Haohao, don’t provoke me.”

Xu Chenghao hurriedly steadied himself by grabbing Jing Yicheng’s shoulders. “How did I provoke you? If anything, you’re the one scaring me.”

Jing Yicheng: “You think you haven’t? Do you not realize that the way you talk only makes me more jealous?”

“I think you’re just being irrationally jealous.” Xu Chenghao cupped his chin and looked into his eyes seriously. “You can’t treat Li Nian like that. We got together thanks to him. I was even planning to have you properly thank him.”

Jing Yicheng asked, puzzled, “Thanks to him?”

“That’s right.” Xu Chenghao explained, “If it weren’t for Li Nian persuading me back then, I might not have agreed to be with you.”

The arm around Xu Chenghao’s waist suddenly tightened. Xu Chenghao patted it reassuringly and continued, “At that time, I had a lot of concerns. There were too many uncertainties, and I couldn’t make up my mind. I was hesitant about getting together with you.”

“In our relationship, Li Nian essentially played the role of a matchmaker. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have agreed to be with you. So, you should be a little nicer to him, understand?”

Jing Yicheng nodded very seriously and then asked, “Haohao, do you still have any concerns about being with me now?”

Xu Chenghao countered, “If I did, would you let go?”

“No way. Don’t even think about it.” Jing Yicheng rejected the idea instantly.

Xu Chenghao laughed. “Then that settles it.”

Jing Yicheng: “But you also can’t abandon me because of your concerns.”

“I won’t.” Xu Chenghao reassured him. “Back then, I was hesitant because of my worries. But once I took that step, those worries disappeared. All we need to do is keep moving forward. There’s no need to overthink it.”

Jing Yicheng played with his fingers, feeling a bit more at ease. “Alright.”

After a moment of silence, Xu Chenghao suddenly realized something was off. “Don’t change the subject! Did you hear me? You need to treat Li Nian better!”

“I heard you.” Jing Yicheng responded reluctantly. But after thinking about it, if Li Nian was really that important, being nice to him might actually be beneficial to him in the future.

With this in mind, the light in Jing Yicheng’s eyes grew brighter. After lunch, when he returned to Xu’s Group with Xu Chenghao, he made time to visit Li Nian’s office.

Li Nian didn’t even look up. “Files go on the left. If you have something to say, say it directly.”

Jing Yicheng said blandly, “I heard you’re a matchmaker.”

Hearing this, Li Nian abruptly lifted his head and stared at the person standing in his office. He stammered, “J-Jing… President Jing, did you… did you walk into the wrong office?”

“No, I came here specifically to see you.” Jing Yicheng sat across from him expressionlessly and repeated, “I heard you were the matchmaker for me and Haohao?”

Li Nian had no idea where this conversation was going. “Well… yes and no. I just happened to give President Xu the affirmation he needed. President Jing, what exactly do you want to say?”

Jing Yicheng said calmly, “I want you to put in a good word for me.”

Li Nian was utterly confused. “Huh?”

“If your words are really effective, then persuade Haohao to agree to marry me.”

Li Nian stared at Jing Yicheng in bewilderment. After confirming he wasn’t joking, he hurriedly refused. “That’s something President Jing should work on yourself. No matter what I say, it won’t compare to your own actions.”

“Of course, I’ll do my part. But you have your role to play too.” Jing Yicheng didn’t want to waste words. Before Li Nian could reject him again, he threw out a tempting offer. “If Haohao agrees to marry me and get a marriage certificate within six months, I’ll give you a generous reward.”

Jing Yicheng’s aura was too intimidating. Being stared at by his dark, brooding eyes while hearing about a “reward,” Li Nian felt like he was about to be shot. He forced a laugh and said, “President Jing, you’re overestimating me. I’m just a small assistant. How could I possibly influence President Xu’s major life decisions?”

Jing Yicheng lifted his gaze and said, “I have a luxury villa.”

Li Nian: “…”

Jing Yicheng continued, “A standalone villa, by the sea. If you succeed within six months, I’ll transfer it to you.”

Li Nian: “This really isn’t about whether I’m willing or not…”

Jing Yicheng leisurely added, “Worth three hundred million dollars.”

“…”

“Deal!”

In the end, Li Nian still bowed to wealth and power. After all, Xu Chenghao and Jing Yicheng were mutually in love, and getting married within six months shouldn’t be difficult. If he could earn three hundred million dollars for free, why not take it?!

Besides, all the effort he had put into their relationship before—helping Jing Yicheng speak well of himself—it wasn’t in vain. He always knew that good people would be rewarded!

However, Li Nian didn’t stay happy for long. In his first attempt to test the waters, he discovered that Xu Chenghao’s attitude was firm. That’s when he realized he had been tricked—he should’ve known that Jing Yicheng’s offers weren’t so easy to earn!

If it weren’t for the fact that the two were still deeply affectionate and loving, Li Nian would have suspected that Jing Yicheng had upset Xu Chenghao and dragged him in to play mediator. But since there was no argument, no unhappiness, then why was Xu Chenghao unwilling to get married and register their marriage?

What is wrong with this couple?!

Li Nian sighed helplessly and could only probe indirectly, trying to find the root of the issue.

Xu Chenghao was unaware of their agreement but did notice that Li Nian had been bringing up marriage more frequently. Feeling puzzled, he asked, “Why are you suddenly so concerned about this? Did your family force too many blind dates on you and drive you crazy?”

Li Nian half-jokingly replied, “Yeah, that’s right. I need to confirm the exact timing so that when you get married, I can escape far away and make sure my family can’t catch me.”

“Then don’t worry. There are no plans for the next six months.”

That only made him worry even more. Li Nian frowned. “Why no plans in the next six months? Given how deeply in love you two are, shouldn’t this be on your agenda?”

“Jing Yicheng has plans, but I haven’t agreed yet.”

“Why not?”

Xu Chenghao paused for a few seconds. “Not telling you.”

Li Nian: “…”

At that moment, Li Nian felt like he had been completely played by this couple.

No wonder Jing Yicheng had approached him with such generous conditions. He had naively thought that the man had a conscience and was genuinely rewarding him for speaking well on his behalf. Turns out, he was just too naive.

Damn it, can he back out of this deal now???

Just then, the office door was pushed open, and Jing Yicheng walked in, speaking gently, “Haohao, it’s time to get off work.” He then glanced at Li Nian, his eyes cold.

Li Nian: “…”

Wuwuwu… alright, I’ll keep trying. Who made him not have the guts to tell the big boss that he wanted to back out?

Xu Chenghao looked up at Jing Yicheng. The moment their eyes met, Jing Yicheng’s gaze instantly softened. He picked up the little yellow duck flower pot for him and gently asked, “Hungry? Let’s go home for dinner.”

“Okay.” Xu Chenghao got up and reminded him, “Don’t knock over my chili plant.”

Jing Yicheng glanced down at it. “When will it bear fruit?”

“Tomorrow.” Xu Chenghao clenched his fists excitedly. “By tomorrow, we’ll finally see the results. I wonder how many chilies we’ll harvest this time.”

Jing Yicheng stroked the little yellow duck pot and said casually, “Perfect. I also want to see who will come to collect them.”

Xu Chenghao: “…”

He cleared his throat twice and forced himself to stay calm. “You’ll see tomorrow. Let’s go home first.”

“Alright.”

The two of them bid farewell to Li Nian and left for home. On the way, Jing Yicheng reiterated, “You must call me when you harvest the chilies tomorrow. If… never mind, I’ll just go to the company with you tomorrow.”

Xu Chenghao’s mouth twitched. “Aren’t you really busy lately?”

Jing Yicheng: “I can spare half a day.”

Xu Chenghao had nothing to say to that. He outwardly agreed, but inwardly, he started frantically poking at the system. System! Ahhh! How’s the feedback going? Is it still working? Is anyone coming??

【Ding—Host, please be patient. Someone will arrive on time to harvest the chilies tomorrow.】

Xu Chenghao immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Now that he had some certainty, he no longer feared tomorrow’s events. In fact, he was even more curious than Jing Yicheng about what the chili harvester would look like.

However, plans never keep up with changes. Before the scheduled harvest the next day, in the dead of night, Xu Chenghao’s phone suddenly started ringing like crazy.

Xu Chenghao had just fallen asleep not long ago and was exhausted. He buried himself into Jing Yicheng’s embrace, unwilling to open his eyes.

Jing Yicheng answered on his behalf, gently patting Xu Chenghao’s back to soothe him to sleep while speaking in a low voice, “Speak.”

Urgent panting came from the other end of the line. Jing Yicheng initially thought it was some pervert, so he pulled the phone away from his ear to check the screen. Seeing that it was Chen Long, his brows immediately furrowed. “Chen Long?”

“It’s me! President Jing, is that you? The greenhouse is in trouble!”

The eyelashes of the person in his arms trembled slightly, seemingly disturbed by the noise. Jing Yicheng immediately lowered his voice. “What happened?”

The voice on the other end was chaotic, mixed with sharp police sirens. Someone shouted, “There’s a fire!”

The bedroom, shrouded in darkness, was too silent, making those words explode in their ears.

Xu Chenghao, who had been in a deep sleep, suddenly opened his eyes. He sat up from Jing Yicheng’s arms and exclaimed, “A fire?!”

 

T/N: I hope the chili peppers are saved in time.