Joking aside, when Sunday finally came, Jiang Wang canceled his drinking plans. First, he properly bought a bouquet of white roses, then picked up the pre-ordered Irish whiskey from a friend’s winery, and finally carried home some fish soup noodles and soybean milk fried dough nests.
Ji Linqiu had just woken up, his hair still a bit messy.
While brushing his teeth, he heard movement at the door and poked his head out to take a look.
In one glance, he saw Jiang Wang holding a bouquet of roses and whiskey in his left arm, and carrying two bowls of noodles and fried dough nests in his right.
With a toothbrush in his mouth, Ji Linqiu leaned against the railing and whistled.
“Handsome guy, your mix-and-match style is pretty trendy.”
Jiang Wang glanced at the clock—it was only 10 AM—and shook the breakfast in his hand. “Out for a date before having breakfast?”
“Did you skip breakfast too?”
The two quickly freshened up and sat down at the dining table to divide the food.
The two cups of soybean milk had a bit of fish soup spilled on them and sat next to the white roses, creating an odd mix of scents.
Receiving roses first thing after waking up put Ji Linqiu in a great mood. He leaned in to take a whiff, his eyes smiling.
Jiang Wang enjoyed indulging him and propped his chin on his hand. “If you like them, I’ll bring you some every time I go for a walk.”
“What are you talking about?” Ji Linqiu chuckled. “Next time, shouldn’t it be my turn to buy flowers for you?”
Jiang Wang wanted to retort but found himself inexplicably flustered.
He instinctively wanted to treat Ji Linqiu like a girlfriend, but he quickly realized that neither of them played the so-called “girlfriend” role. Even if they ended up in bed, which one tops would be based on personal preference.
It was indeed wise of him not to secretly call him “wife” earlier.
“I… can I receive flowers too?” The tough guy hesitated. “Feels a bit awkward.”
“Really?” Ji Linqiu took a bite of the fried dough nest and looked at him for a few seconds.
When they stepped out of the apartment complex, they saw an elderly woman with silver hair selling strings of white magnolias. The thin threads were carefully threaded through the flower’s calyx, tied at the center of the stamens, and secured into a wrist loop. The delicate, milky-white flowers were beautiful.
Ji Linqiu bent down to buy two strings. He first put one on his right wrist, then picked up the other and looked at Jiang Wang.
The tough guy caved immediately, obediently extending his left hand.
Jiang Wang, unused to being adorned with such soft and radiant flowers, rotated his wrist to look at it.
“Isn’t this a bit too showy?”
Ji Linqiu replied calmly, “Your features are very striking. The flowers make you stand out even more.”
“Besides,” he added with a smile in his eyes, “aren’t we at the age to be a little dramatic?”
Jiang Wang blinked and suddenly said, “I think taking you away from Hongshan Primary School was absolutely the right decision.”
“When you left that hellhole and came to live in the big city, you finally seemed to bloom freely. Your branches stretched outward, and you grew however you wanted.”
Ji Linqiu looked thoughtful.
“Then I owe you a proper thank-you someday.”
“Sure,” Jiang Wang grinned. “How about a kiss first?”
Ji Linqiu glanced at him before heading to a nearby newsstand to buy a copy of “Reader’s Digest”.
Jiang Wang didn’t feel disappointed. He followed along to the intersection and waited for the light to change.
Ji Linqiu, flipping through the magazine, stepped closer to him.
He raised the wide magazine as if showing him a passage.
When Jiang Wang leaned in to look, he suddenly felt a warmth on his lips—Ji Linqiu had kissed him.
Amid the bustling crowd and the noisy traffic, they shared a kiss right at the intersection.
It was incredibly bold.
Jiang Wang was still processing what had happened when Ji Linqiu had already gone back to casually flipping through the jokes section of the magazine.
“Enjoy the date.”
As the light turned green, Jiang Wang wrapped an arm around his shoulder, guiding him forward.
“I regret it a little.”
“Regret what?”
“Should’ve gone for a French kiss earlier.”
“…”
Having worked together for a while, their dates carried an unspoken understanding. They didn’t need to discuss who would buy tickets or drinks, and they took turns choosing movies that suited the other’s taste.
Halfway through the sci-fi movie, Kuang Ye called. Without much thought, Jiang Wang hung up.
But the guy was persistent, calling three more times.
Jiang Wang gestured for Ji Linqiu to continue watching and stepped out to the restroom to take the call.
“What’s the emergency?”
“Good news! Big news!” Kuang Ye’s naturally loud voice sounded even more exuberant, shaking the flip phone as if it might fall apart. “Brother, your Dad is getting married!”
“Look at this messed-up seniority,” Jiang Wang started to retort but paused, realizing something was off. “Your current girlfriend – hasn’t it only been four months?”
“You don’t get it,” Kuang Ye sighed deeply. “I’ve had seven or eight exes before, and none of them clicked like Chengcheng does. It’s like… we’re perfectly in sync, heart to heart, soul to soul—”
“You’re rushing into marriage,” Jiang Wang said flatly.
“Exactly!” Kuang Ye was ecstatic. “Trendy, huh? Even my parents were stunned, asking if I’d lost my mind.”
“I’m watching a movie.” Jiang Wang yawned. “Let’s catch up later, and you can tell me all about it over dinner.”
“Wait, wait! It’ll only take a minute,” Kuang Ye said, still riding the high. “We’ve already picked the chapel[mfn]yes, a chapel, I swear I didn’t Westernized this one![/mfn], the lawn, and the wedding dress. It’s all happening next weekend. I’ll send you the invitation—you better come! If you dare be on a business trip then, I’ll shoot your plane down!”
Jiang Wang paused mid-step, astonished. “You two must’ve had a serious case of anxiety. When did you even propose? And now the dress and chapel are all set?”
“When love hits, you can’t stop it,” Kuang Ye scoffed. “This morning, I woke up and saw her curled up in my arms, half-asleep like a drooling orange tabby, and suddenly, I just knew. Like hey, she’s the one for me.”
“No point dragging it out. Might as well get the paperwork done and over with.”
Fair enough.
The two were well-matched, and Jiang Wang had met them before—they did seem like a good pair.
Jiang Wang offered his congratulations, but when Kuang Ye hesitated to hang up, he sighed. “I’m on a date. Go brag to Duan Zhao instead, will you?”
Kuang Ye habitually said, “Oh, okay,” but realized something the moment before hanging up.
“Fuck!”
“Jiang Wang, say that again?! You’re dating someone?!”
“Yeah.” Jiang Wang replied calmly. “We’re really happy together. I’ll bring him[mfn]a reminder: he and she sounds the exact same in spoken Chinese[/mfn] to the wedding later.”
“Fuck! How long have you been dating?! Is she pretty?! Which girl could you possibly like? I swear I thought you were impotent, not touching a single girl around you—”
“He’s pretty.” Jiang Wang smiled. “You even said he’s pretty yourself.”
“And if you ever mention impotence again, we’ll settle it at the shooting range.”
“Fuck, I believe you—” Kuang Ye shouted. “I said she was pretty? I tell everyone they’re pretty! Send a photo of her over!! I don’t care, show me right now!!”
Jiang Wang thought to himself that this call would never end. He spoke calmly, “Ji Linqiu, you remember him?”
“The first time you met him, you said, ‘Damn, there’s actually such a good-looking teacher. I thought all teachers were like that bastard Duan Zhao.'”
“I’ve been chasing him for less than half a year.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
Before Jiang Wang could hang up, Kuang Ye suddenly shouted with a wild thought: “How about we both get married at the same chapel? We can all chip in for the wedding gift!”
Jiang Wang slammed the phone down, too lazy to continue the conversation.
He’d heard of group buys for cabbage, but not group weddings.
The call dragged on for so long that by the time he returned, the movie was already over.
But it didn’t matter. He’d watched it many times before, and not seeing the ending wasn’t a big deal.
Ji Linqiu stood outside the crowd, holding up his phone.
“Did you tell Kuang Ye?”
Jiang Wang raised an eyebrow in question.
Ji Linqiu opened his messages and scrolled back through the list.
[Kuang Ye]: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Kuang Ye]: You guys better be happy!!! I’m so happy today, I want to explode!! Can’t wait to explode with you two!!!!!!
[Kuang Ye]: Do you both plan to go to London or New York to get a marriage certificate? I know a lot of pastors, I can give you a 20% discount on the fees!!
[Kuang Ye]: Damn, I forgot to mention, next weekend, Chengcheng and I are getting married! Make sure to come! I’ll save the best seats for you two!
Jiang Wang: …
Alright, this grandson of his was still on cloud nine.
Ji Linqiu replied a few more messages and walked out with Jiang Wang.
Both were lost in their thoughts, neither of them spoke first.
“What if…”
“If—”
They exchanged a look and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“You go first?”
“Okay,” Ji Linqiu laughed, holding his forehead. “If you ever propose, don’t do anything like a hot air balloon or a rose wall, too tacky for me to handle.”
“Then, how long will I have to wait?”
“At least three or four years,” Ji Linqiu joked. It was ridiculous how they’d started talking about this. Both of them were crazy now, pushing their parents and the current situation aside, half-joking, half-serious. “As long as the feelings are right, any time is fine.”
Jiang Wang wholeheartedly agreed. “Yeah, the later we enter the grave, the better.”
Ji Linqiu laughed and nodded, taking a few steps ahead before suddenly grabbing his hand in the crowd.
The dozens of moviegoers streamed out, rushing for the last spots in the elevator, or taking the nearby escalator, slowly disappearing.
It was just the two of them, hand in hand, standing in the almost empty exit hallway.
Ji Linqiu instinctively tightened his grip for a moment but, having actually held his hand, felt his throat go dry, unsure of what to say.
Jiang Wang let him hold his hand and looked back over his shoulder.
The man’s eyes were like amber, clear and warm.
Ji Linqiu looked up, trying to smile, but found he couldn’t. After a long pause, he spoke. “You’ve met my parents.”
“They… are very traditional, to put it mildly.”
“I don’t know what will happen in the future.”
Some words had churned in his heart many times but had never found the chance to be spoken.
If it hadn’t been for Kuang Ye’s call today, he might have continued deceiving himself, pretending he didn’t know what was likely to happen in the future.
Ji Linqiu took a deep breath and suddenly didn’t want to suppress his thoughts anymore.
“If I hadn’t met you, I might have ended up somewhere, rotting away alone.”
“No connections, so I wouldn’t be controlled or tied down by any of them.”
“I never thought I would fall for anyone, let alone have so many twists and turns in the future.”
He looked at Jiang Wang, suddenly smiling a bit bleakly, his chest full of words that couldn’t be said.
‘Why does it always have to be at a crossroads?’
‘If I turn towards my parents, I can’t hold your hand.’
‘But it’s you. You’re the one who brought me back to them, allowing me to slowly love everyone again.’
Jiang Wang bent down and gently tapped his nose.
“It’s not a big deal. Why are your eyes all red?”
“Meals are eaten one bowl at a time, and love is experienced one day at a time.”
“Don’t worry, your Brother Wang is here. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Ji Linqiu froze for a few seconds, breaking free from his emotions and leaning against the wall, covering his face. “…I’m being stupid again.”
These words sounded corny, but somehow they worked.
Suddenly, he didn’t feel so suffocated anymore.
Jiang Wang reached out, ruffling his hair, just wanting to kiss him again.
Sweet boys~
Thank You for the new chapter (灬♥ω♥灬)