YPHC Chapter 62

“I’m the most stubborn person in the world!!…”

 

Yan Jie found it difficult to describe his feelings when he heard Jiang Nan’an’s indifferent rhetorical question.

 

He gave a light chuckle, habitually wanting to deflect with a joke, but as he raised the corners of his lips, he realized he really couldn’t bring himself to smile.

 

He knew Jiang Nan’an didn’t understand concepts like “liking” or “love,” and even had some resistance to them. He had also noticed something suspicious about Jiang Nan’an’s sudden proactive attempt to learn how to love and his sudden change in attitude toward accepting his feelings.

 

He could accept that Jiang Nan’an was trying to be with him to better interpret a role.

 

But he couldn’t accept that in Jiang Nan’an’s eyes, what was between them didn’t even count as dating.

 

Thinking about it, it seemed true that from the day Jiang Nan’an had proactively suggested trying kissing again until now, he had never explicitly acknowledged that they were dating, nor had he accepted Yan Jie’s status as a “romantic partner.”

 

Though it sounds absurd and laughable to say it, everything Yan Jie thought he had seemed to be just his own imagination.

 

In Jiang Nan’an’s view, this wasn’t a proper romance at all, but just a timely teaching opportunity.

 

Yan Jie suddenly felt a bit tired.

 

He took a silent deep breath, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible:

 

“Yet you’re willing to let me kiss you and hold you. Teacher Jiang, can you really go to such lengths for a role?”

 

Jiang Nan’an found this question a bit strange.

 

While casually noting character profiles in his notebook, he replied:

 

“What sacrifice? Aren’t these natural behaviors that two people would have based on love? It’s quite normal, isn’t it?”

 

That’s true.

 

Yan Jie had forgotten that Jiang Nan’an was an actor. In movies, male and female leads kiss and embrace for plot requirements. Even if he hadn’t performed such scenes himself, he had seen enough of them to consider them commonplace.

 

So the logic was complete. Perhaps, regardless of whether it had been Yan Jie or anyone else who had pursued Jiang Nan’an, as long as they could teach or allow Jiang Nan’an to experience love, he probably wouldn’t have refused. He would likely have accepted everything that person did to him, just as he was now doing with Yan Jie.

 

“…Yes.”

 

Yan Jie let out a soft, derisive chuckle, though it wasn’t clear if it was self-mockery or something else.

 

He slowly curled his fingers, looked at Jiang Nan’an with a somewhat deep gaze, his tone becoming heavier:

 

“Then do you know that beyond love, two people would do more than what I’ve done to you?”

 

Jiang Nan’an’s pen tip paused slightly.

 

He finally looked up at Yan Jie, as he sensed from his tone that Yan Jie’s mood seemed a bit off.

 

But before he could speak, Yan Jie leaned over and, without saying anything, kissed him directly.

 

Jiang Nan’an was startled, and before he could react, Yan Jie somewhat forcefully took the fountain pen and notebook from his hands, tossed them onto the coffee table, and pushed him down onto the sofa, holding his waist.

 

This kiss was very dominant, even a bit rough. Jiang Nan’an wasn’t used to it. He pushed against Yan Jie’s shoulders, managing to break free slightly, but before he could say “Yan Jie,” he was kissed again.

 

For the first time, Jiang Nan’an felt a hint of resistance during a kiss with Yan Jie.

 

It was hard to describe, but he felt that they shouldn’t be like this.

 

Yan Jie seemed completely unaware. He touched Jiang Nan’an’s neck, kissed the corner of his lips, then buried his face in the crook of his neck to kiss his side.

 

The room wasn’t cold, and Jiang Nan’an was only wearing loungewear. Yan Jie easily lifted his clothes and touched his slender waist.

 

Jiang Nan’an’s hands were often cold, but the skin at his waist was delicate and warm. Yan Jie placed his palm against it, intending to move higher, but in the next second, his movement stopped.

 

Buried in Jiang Nan’an’s neck, he wondered what he was doing.

 

…This is really fucked up.

 

He let out a breath, propped himself up, remained silent for perhaps half a minute, then said softly:

 

“I’m sorry… had a brain freeze.”

 

Jiang Nan’an looked at him, but Yan Jie kept his head down, his falling hair hiding his eyes, preventing Jiang Nan’an from seeing his expression clearly.

 

After speaking, Yan Jie pulled Jiang Nan’an’s half-lifted clothes back down, covering that section of his waist, then stood up and said:

 

“…What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll make it for you.”

 

“…” Jiang Nan’an didn’t answer, just slowly sat up supporting himself on the sofa, his gaze fixed on Yan Jie, as if observing his state.

 

What’s wrong?

 

Why did he suddenly become like this, looking so unhappy?

 

Did he say something wrong, or did he do something wrong?

 

But Yan Jie didn’t notice his gaze, just walked directly toward the kitchen.

 

Jiang Nan’an watched as he took vegetables from the refrigerator, turned on the faucet to wash them clean, and then took out a cutting board from under the island.

 

But as he was about to cut the vegetables with the knife, Jiang Nan’an noticed that he maintained the position of being about to cut for a very long, long time.

 

Afterward, Yan Jie seemed to sigh, or perhaps quietly cursed under his breath. Jiang Nan’an couldn’t hear clearly.

 

He just saw him put down the knife, wash his hands, walk back to the sofa to pick up a cushion, find his phone and put it in his pocket. Without looking at Jiang Nan’an, he just said to him:

 

“I’m going out. You’ll have to eat by yourself tonight… Actually, I’ll order takeout for you later. Don’t trouble yourself. I’m leaving.”

 

After saying this, Yan Jie walked directly to the entryway, took a coat from the rack and put it on, grabbed his car keys, and left.

 

The door opened and closed, the sound of the lock ending, and the spacious room fell completely silent.

 

Jiang Nan’an sat in the corner of the sofa for a long time, then raised his hand to rub his lips with the back of his hand.

 

He lowered his eyes to look at the notebook Yan Jie had thrown on the coffee table, which had a long ink mark smudged on it by the fountain pen.

 

Ah…

 

This is,

 

Being disliked again, isn’t it?

 

–

 

“To be honest, Fish, I’m feeling really awful.”

 

Yan Jie opened a bottle of foreign liquor, poured himself a large glass with several gulps, and also filled one for his friend.

 

Fat Fish leaned back in his chair, holding a cigarette, looking at his suddenly visiting good friend with a weathered expression. He could guess with his toes that Yan Jie was troubled by love again; otherwise, he wouldn’t have come to his place with alcohol, insisting on drinking until they were completely drunk.

 

“What’s this about?” he tapped off some ash:

 

“How did your man-eating flower hurt you? Isn’t everything going smoothly? Didn’t you move into his place?”

 

“Let’s have a drink first.”

 

Yan Jie pushed the glass toward him, then downed half of his own glass in one gulp before saying:

 

“Do you know what the most clownish thing in the world is? It’s that I thought we were dating, but today I found out that he’s been approaching this with a purely professional attitude the whole time. He never planned to give me any status-he never even considered me his boyfriend! Damn… I was already thinking about where we’d get our marriage certificate, but when I opened it, it turned out what he gave me wasn’t a marriage certificate but a clown license.”

 

“What the hell?” Fat Fish found it absurd:

 

“He doesn’t see you as his boyfriend? Then what does he see you as? A friends-with-benefits?”

 

“…Not even that.” Yan Jie lit a cigarette for himself:

 

“We haven’t done anything, so how could we be friends-with-benefits? We’re not even that. At most, I’m like a live-in teacher.”

 

“What the hell??” Fat Fish’s tone immediately rose by eight degrees:

 

“You’re living together and you haven’t done anything?? I really look down on you. Are you impotent or something?”

 

“Get lost.” Yan Jie snorted, tapping off some ash:

 

“He doesn’t understand anything. Taking him to bed right after starting to date-am I a beast? I’m dating him because I genuinely like him. Don’t think of me as so vulgar.”

 

“The person doesn’t take you seriously, yet you’re here with genuine feelings. Aren’t you being stupid?”

 

Fat Fish sighed, thinking it made less and less sense:

 

“No, listen, Yan Jie, think about it. With your conditions, you could find anyone you want. You could go to an entertainment company, spend some money on resources, sign a few young stars who would treat you like a lord out of gratitude. Why do you have to hang yourself on Jiang Nan’an’s tree? I told you earlier that Jiang Nan’an’s personality is impossibly strange, and whoever deals with him is just suffering. You didn’t listen, and now you’re feeling bad? You’ve been single for almost thirty years-was it just to be someone’s lapdog?”

 

“Tsk,”

 

Yan Jie downed another mouthful of alcohol:

 

“What are you saying? If I asked you to leave your wife and find someone else, would you be happy with that?”

 

“How is that the same?”

 

“How is it not the same? I don’t even want to say it, but weren’t you also fawning over your wife when you were pursuing her?”

 

Fat Fish spread his hands: “But after I caught my wife, she was seriously dating me, not treating me like a clown.”

 

“Well, it’s not quite like that…”

 

Yan Jie tapped his fingers on the table, feeling like they were going in circles:

 

“Actually, I know he’s not deliberately treating me this way. He just doesn’t understand, really doesn’t understand these things, and doesn’t know what should be said and what shouldn’t be said. Like you said, low emotional intelligence. But even though I understand this rationally, when I hear it, it still feels awful. Really, it sounds too hurtful. I can’t help but mind.”

 

“…”

 

After Yan Jie finished speaking, he looked up to see Fat Fish’s eyes full of disdain.

 

Then, Fat Fish snorted and teased:

 

“I never realized before that you’re such a love-brain. Does this need to be understood? Isn’t this something that comes naturally without teaching? Stop deceiving yourself. Don’t use low emotional intelligence as an excuse. If he really liked you, would he use those words to hurt you and make you feel bad? Simply put, he just doesn’t care!”

 

“Tsk, I’m not joking with you. I’m serious.”

 

Yan Jie sighed:

 

“I’m not comforting myself or brainwashing myself. He really doesn’t understand… Forget it, you don’t understand either. Laugh if you want to, laugh me to death.”

 

“I’m not trying to laugh at you. I just can’t understand. Great lover, enlighten me?”

 

Fat Fish shook his head:

 

“You say you treat that little star like a lord, and now you say you’re dating, but you can’t find any emotional value from him, there’s no emotional feedback, and you’re not sleeping with him. What are you getting out of it? Just enjoying his good looks? Wouldn’t hanging a couple of posters at home have the same effect?”

 

“I’m not looking to get anything. I just want to take good care of him. Actually, I really feel sorry for him. Who knows what the kid experienced before to become like this. You don’t know, on his body… Forget it.”

 

“Whatever he’s been through is his business. That’s not a reason to come and torture you, is it?” Fat Fish completely couldn’t understand Yan Jie’s inexplicable spirit of sacrifice.

 

“Let’s drop it, I can’t get through to you. You just think I’m an idiot.”

 

Yan Jie raised his glass to clink with his:

 

“Let’s drink. Just keep me company in my sorrow.”

 

Though he said they’d drop the topic, after a few rounds, Fat Fish gradually became tipsy and grew more indignant the more he thought about it.

 

His good friend, who had been pampered all his life, how could he stumble so badly over a little celebrity and be led around like a dog? So he slammed the table:

 

“Let me tell you, Yan Jie, if you won’t break up, you should at least get properly angry! Let that Jiang know you’re not a soft persimmon or a pathetic lapdog! Make him come win you back! If he doesn’t speak up, it means he doesn’t take you seriously. This person isn’t worth keeping-dump him and chase the next one. The next one will be better!”

 

Yan Jie was also a bit drunk, and after hearing Fat Fish’s directive advice, he immediately clapped his hands:

 

“Good! I should be angry! What’s that saying about only appreciating something after losing it! Fish, let me tell you, I’m so wronged, damn it. No one has ever treated me like this from childhood… I’ll let him know that I have a temper too!!”

 

“Right! That’s it! Be firm!!”

 

“I’m the most stubborn person in the world!!”

 

The two brothers drank for most of the night. Eventually, Fat Fish couldn’t hold on anymore, collapsed onto the sofa, and immediately fell into deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

 

But it felt like he had barely closed his eyes when he was awakened by a damned alarm.

 

The alarm rang relentlessly, one round after another. Fat Fish initially tried to ignore it, but finally couldn’t bear it anymore:

 

“Yan Jie! Turn off that damn alarm! Otherwise, I’ll throw that broken phone out the window. Why is it so annoying?!”

 

“…” The angry shout was effective. There was a rustling sound from under the sofa as Yan Jie found his phone and finally turned off the alarm.

 

Fat Fish thought that was the end of it and turned over, intending to continue sleeping. But he heard the person on the floor seemingly getting up, and soon there was the sound of water from the bathroom. It sounded like he was showering, blow-drying his hair, brushing his teeth, and shaving, with no end in sight.

 

Fat Fish opened his eyes in confusion, sat up on the sofa with his hair looking like a chicken’s nest, and looked at Yan Jie, who appeared exhausted but had at least cleaned himself up:

 

“Why are you up and about instead of sleeping? We drank until four, and it’s not even eight yet. Are you a college special forces soldier rushing to an 8 AM class??”

 

“Go back to sleep. I’m leaving,” Yan Jie said with a yawn, casually running his hands through his hair.

 

“Where are you going?? Heaven??”

 

“Going to buy breakfast for my baby.”

 

Yan Jie sighed:

 

“Being angry is one thing, but I can’t just not take care of him, right? If I’m not there, he won’t get up. If he doesn’t get up, he won’t eat. How can that be okay? Sigh, I don’t even know if he ate the takeout I ordered for him last night. Every day I worry myself to death about his eating… I’m off, okay?”

 

After the door slammed shut, Fat Fish was left in disarray with his wild hair.

 

What just went out?

 

So the one who was talking tough last night about teaching someone a lesson wasn’t Yan Jie?

 

It’s only been half a night, and he’s already adjusted himself and is back to calling him “baby”?

 

Damn it, go ahead and grovel, just keep groveling! It’s really a case of the right lid for the right pot…

 

Fat Fish fell back onto the sofa, fiercely grabbed a cushion to hug, and tightly closed his eyes, angry at Yan Jie’s lack of resolve.

 

Big idiot!!!!

 

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