“What?” Yan Yixuan’s first reaction was to question back.
Ji Ling found it funny and held his hand, then leaned over and kissed the corner of his mouth, smiling as he said, “You heard me loud and clear.”
In that moment, Yan Yixuan’s face went through a storm of emotions.
Not only had he heard it — he got it, too.
“You’re dreaming,” Yan Yixuan muttered as he pushed at Ji Ling and tried to sit up. “Just look at how small you are.”
Ji Ling pressed down harder, not giving him any chance to get up, and said, “Why don’t you try and see?” As he spoke, he kissed Yan Yixuan again, sealing his mouth shut.
Yan Yixuan could feel this guy was serious. His hand had already slipped inside his shirt through the opened buttons. Naturally, Yan Yixuan wasn’t about to let that happen. He lifted his leg and tried to kick Ji Ling’s stomach — but Ji Ling was crazy fast. He yanked his hand back and hooked Yan Yixuan’s leg, pulling it to the side and wedging his whole body in close.
Yan Yixuan: “……”
The two of them wrestled, arms and legs tangled, mouths locked together, biting and fighting like neither of them planned to back down. In the end, they ended up crashing off the bed together.
The moment they hit the floor, Yan Yixuan shoved Ji Ling off him. Ji Ling rolled onto his back, laughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath.
Yan Yixuan grabbed the bed to help himself up, legs still a little shaky. He shot Ji Ling a fierce glare and growled, “I’m gonna beat the crap out of you.”
Ji Ling couldn’t stop laughing. He gasped, “What are we gonna do, Yan Yixuan? You wanna do it, I wanna do it, but neither of us wants to be underneath.”
Yan Yixuan plopped back onto the bed, breathing heavily. He shot a sideways glance at Ji Ling, who was still lying there on the floor, and kicked him lightly, saying, “You’ve got some nerve, huh?”
Ji Ling finally sat up, brushing his messy bangs away from his forehead, revealing those deep black eyes of his. Smiling, he said, “Even if you pull the sugar daddy card, I’m not giving in.”
Yan Yixuan snapped, “You think I’m gonna be the one under? Dream on. And I really will beat you if you keep talking. Get lost.”
Ji Ling thought to himself, ‘Why not, though?’ A pretty young master like Yan Yixuan should be spoiled a little. But he didn’t say that out loud — if he did, Yan Yixuan really might start throwing punches.
Ji Ling placed his hand on Yan Yixuan’s knee and felt the heat still radiating off his body. Then again, he was no better.
The arrow was already drawn; holding back hurt like hell. Both of them were the same. Smiling, Ji Ling said to Yan Yixuan, “You really sure you want me to leave? Come on, Young Master Yan, let’s make a deal. We fight it out first, and then we go all the way.”
Yan Yixuan glared at him but didn’t say anything.
Ji Ling shifted his posture, moving from sitting to kneeling. He held Yan Yixuan’s knees, looking up at him, his deep dark eyes full of hunger and temptation.
Ji Ling’s smile had this weird, wicked edge to it. The words coming out of his mouth were dirty as hell, but he said them so casually it made people want to punch him — yet somehow, you just couldn’t say no. “Let me take care of you, young master,” he said.
Yan Yixuan really was completely wiped out. Meetings all day, then a fight with Yan Yili, then dinner with Ji Ling, and after they got back, the two of them had messed around until half the night. He slept like a rock.
By the time he woke up, the sunlight of late winter and early spring was already sneaking through the gaps in the curtains.
Ji Ling was sitting up by the headboard next to him, scrolling through his phone.
“You’re up?” Ji Ling said when he saw Yan Yixuan open his eyes. “Good morning.”
Yan Yixuan sat up in bed, scrubbed a hand over his face, then got up, grabbed a few pieces of clothing from the wardrobe, and tossed them onto Ji Ling. “Get up,” he ordered.
Ji Ling had actually been awake for a while. He’d kept up his morning run habit for almost a year now, but crashing at someone else’s place, he couldn’t just wander around without permission. So he’d just waited quietly for Yan Yixuan to wake up.
Ji Ling got up too, washed up, and changed into Yan Yixuan’s clothes.
He remembered how Yan Yixuan had teased him yesterday about being small, but look — the clothes fit just fine.
Once they were both ready, they headed downstairs together. The housekeeper had already laid out breakfast in the tea room.
Ji Ling thought that, being at Jinyuan, breakfast would be something fancy and Western. But maybe because there was a guest, the table was full of stuff like crab congee, mini barbecue pork buns, veggie pockets, and three-flavor buns. Just one look, and his stomach instantly woke up.
They ate quietly, neither of them mentioning anything about last night.
Ji Ling figured Yan Yixuan would probably love nothing more than to wipe yesterday right off the calendar — fighting with his brother in public, and then, thanks to a moment of weakness, getting dragged into doing a bunch of crazy things.
Ji Ling couldn’t help but chuckle, and sure enough, got hit with a death glare from Yan Yixuan.
Ji Ling knew if he kept laughing, Yan Yixuan would lose face and kick him straight out, so he quickly shut up and went back to eating.
After breakfast, Yan Yixuan didn’t show any sign of heading to work. Instead, he lounged around and said lazily, “Wanna go for a walk?”
Ji Ling asked, “Aren’t you going to the office?”
Yan Yixuan waved him off. “All I’d do is keep fighting if I went. Might as well cool off for a day.”
“… Being the boss sure has its perks.” Ji Ling, a total workaholic, could only follow along and take an unexpected day off to keep him company.
Yan Yixuan led Ji Ling around Jinyuan, giving him the full tour and telling him all about the history behind it.
From the way the buildings were laid out, to the kinds of plants they had, to the stories behind the decorations — from the way Yan Yixuan talked, Ji Ling could tell he really loved this place.
It was Ji Ling’s first time seeing the mansion clearly in broad daylight. It looked completely different than it did at night — layered and vivid like a painting, the lines sharp and full of life.
The two of them strolled around and eventually settled down in a small garden tucked behind the house.
The garden wasn’t very big, wrapped up neatly by rows of bushes. Inside a little European-style gazebo with a domed roof, there were a table and a few chairs.
What caught Ji Ling off guard was that there were even a few books scattered across the table.
He picked one up and flipped through it — all Western poetry collections.
“Didn’t think Young Master Yan would be such a romantic, into poetry and all,” Ji Ling said, teasing.
Yan Yixuan leaned back lazily in his chair, looking totally relaxed, but there was a mocking smile on his face. “Those are ones Yan Yili left behind and forgot to take with him,” he said.
Ji Ling was a little surprised.
Yan Yixuan explained, “Sometimes he comes back and stays for a few days — usually when I’m not around.”
Ji Ling thought to himself, ‘What’s the point of that? Might as well move out completely.’
Yan Yixuan seemed to read his mind. He gave a cold laugh and said, “He wishes I’d be the one to move out.”
He closed his eyes for a second and added, “And with Grandpa still around, there’s no way we’re splitting the family.”
Maybe because both his sons had passed away early, Yan Jisheng had always wanted to keep the family together. You could tell from how he kept gathering everyone for family meals every now and then.
But if people’s hearts weren’t in it, forcing them to sit around the same table didn’t really mean anything. It was all for show.
Ji Ling knew better than to comment on someone else’s family drama, so he just turned his attention back to the garden.
Right in front of the gazebo was a large flower bed. It was pretty big, but sadly, it was winter now, and there weren’t any blooms. Ji Ling had no idea what kind of flowers were planted there — he could only stare at the bare soil.
“That’s where the roses are,” Yan Yixuan said.
In a flash, Ji Ling pictured a scene from an old Republic-era movie — a lady of the house in an apron, trimming rose bushes under the sun — and said, “With so many, it must look amazing when they’re all in bloom.”
Yan Yixuan’s tone was cold as he said, “They were transplanted there after Yan Yili moved in.”
“…Here we go again.” Ji Ling couldn’t help thinking that Yan Yili had pretty much left his fingerprints all over this place.
Poetry books, rose gardens — thinking back to Yan Yili’s arrogant face, Ji Ling felt it was weirdly fitting.
Yan Yixuan noticed the curious look all over Ji Ling’s face. He hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should keep talking.
But Ji Ling had already caught onto something. He asked, “Did Yan Yili use to live overseas?”
Yan Yixuan could only nod and say, “His mother was a British expat. After he moved here, he really didn’t fit in. Grandpa planted the roses for him and used to make him sit out here and read.”
Ji Ling thought again about Yan Yili’s proud, distant attitude. Even though he was born outside of marriage, he had clearly received a very good education and was incredibly capable. Ji Ling glanced once more at that rose garden, still bare and waiting to bloom…
Looking at that patch of English roses, Ji Ling instantly guessed that Yan Yili’s mother definitely wasn’t some ordinary woman — and she probably came from money too.
It was nothing like the rumors about a poor girl and a rich young master falling in love. The real story was way different.
Ji Ling met Yan Yixuan’s gaze but didn’t ask any more questions, choosing to stay quiet.
He’d already learned way too much about the Yan family these past few days — pushing any further would’ve been stepping out of line.
So he changed the subject and said, “Your chef’s pretty good.”
Yan Yixuan finally laughed. “That switch was so obvious.”
Ji Ling didn’t get mad at being called out; he just smiled and said, “I’m being totally serious.” His eyes were full of sincerity as he looked at Yan Yixuan. “Thanks. This place is really amazing.”
Praising someone’s home often worked even better than praising the person, and Yan Yixuan, of course, knew that. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a little pleased.
He lounged lazily in his chair, chatting with Ji Ling without any pressure.
Stolen moments of peace like this always felt extra sweet.
The early spring sun wasn’t too hot yet, and there was even a cool breeze, but as Ji Ling looked at Yan Yixuan, he felt this warm, summery feeling, like just seeing him made the whole world gentler.
He could almost picture what Jinyuan would look like in the heart of summer, full of wild, lush greenery — even more beautiful than it was now.
A guy like Yan Yixuan, raised by a family like this — charming, wild, but with a soft heart underneath — it really was something rare and amazing.
Ji Ling thought, ‘I’m probably never gonna forget these past two days.’
The feeling of holding each other close last night still seemed to linger on his fingertips, making him ache to reach for more.
The beautiful Jinyuan and its free-spirited young master — they were memories he knew he would never be able to let go of.
The poetry book they had flipped through was still lying open on the table. A few lines in it stuck deeply in Ji Ling’s mind:
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.’
‘So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.’[mfn]These lines are from Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare, one of the most famous poems in English literature. In the poem, the speaker compares someone they love to a beautiful summer’s day, but says the person is even better — lovelier and more gentle. While summer eventually fades, the beauty of the person will live forever through the poem itself. As long as people are alive and can read, their beauty and memory will never die.[/mfn]
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
