TYAM Chapter 81

Sorry for the late update! I was busy with the Lunar New Year preparation+clean-up… Thankfully, next year it won’t be my family’s turn to host~

He could sense that she was a little afraid of him.  

It was the kind of subtle avoidance that came after hearing a shocking revelation, tinged with disbelief.  

But Du Wenjuan suppressed these emotions and hugged him, trying to give him warmth and strength.  

Jiang Wang was rarely hugged by women. Even as a child, he had few memories of being held by his mother.  

When she hugged him, he seemed unsure how to breathe. After a moment, he finally said, “I don’t have AIDS.”  

“I wouldn’t mess around with people, nor would I do anything that might harm Xingxing.”  

Du Wenjuan panicked, “No, no, that’s absolutely not what I meant. I trust you.”  

She wanted to comfort him but was afraid of being misunderstood. This news had come so suddenly that she was at a loss herself.  

“How long have you… known about this? Have you gone to a doctor?”  

Jiang Wang was stunned for a moment, then covered his head and started laughing.  

Back when he first heard Ji Linqiu say these words, a similar thought had crossed his mind.  

—Should I go see a psychologist?  

—Did something unpleasant happen in the past, leading me to dislike women?  

“Buddy, don’t overthink this. You’ll definitely find the right girlfriend.”  

Thoughts he had never said back then were now being echoed back to him by someone else.  

“There’s no need to persuade me,” Jiang Wang said after some thought, lowering his head. “I don’t like those men on the streets either.”  

“If I go to a public bathhouse, seeing those men only makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable—I wouldn’t even glance twice.”  

Du Wenjuan hadn’t expected him to say that. After a moment of processing, she replied, “Then… that doesn’t really count, does it?”  

“No,” Jiang Wang shook his head. “The person I really like is a man.”  

“I’ve kissed him, hugged him, and I don’t regret it.”  

Du Wenjuan stood up to pour Jiang Wang a glass of water. Looking at his compliant demeanor, she didn’t have the heart to press further.  

Yet, the speculation had already formed in her mind.  

“That person… is it Teacher Ji?”  

She had met Ji Linqiu several times and even chatted briefly with him.  

She also remembered how both Xingxing and Jiang Wang had repeatedly said that Ji Linqiu had accompanied them to Yuhan and now worked at the same company. The three of them had a close bond.  

Peng Xingwang, though still struggling with writing, always filled pages with wobbly characters mentioning how Teacher Ji was teaching him something new.  

Jiang Wang didn’t expect her intuition to be so spot-on. After a moment’s hesitation, he slowly nodded.  

To his surprise, Du Wenjuan also covered her head, mimicking his earlier action, laughing in exasperation.  

“Hm, that actually makes sense.”  

“What?”  

He thought she knew some insider information, but Du Wenjuan looked at him, half-amused, half-helpless.  

“When I first saw Ji Linqiu, I couldn’t help but think, ‘This kind of man, along with my brother, are both one in ten thousand.’”  

“Stable personality, driven at work, down-to-earth, and doesn’t flaunt his looks to mess around—what kind of girl would be so lucky to meet the two of you?”  

“Someone like Ji Linqiu… even if a man liked him, it would make perfect sense.”  

Jiang Wang didn’t immediately catch her drift. He replayed her words twice in his mind, chewing on them.  

“If you were out there fooling around with those unseemly types on the streets, I’d definitely be worried,” she said, relaxing her shoulders. “But… the two of you—could it be that mutual admiration is being mistaken for something else?”  

Can a man… really fall in love with another man?  

Jiang Wang shook his head.  

“It’s not a misunderstanding, nor is it confusion. I truly love him.”  

Du Wenjuan looked troubled. “You have only me as an older sister, our parents are gone. Even if you really love him, there’s no one who could stop you.”  

“But what about Teacher Ji… what do his parents think? Are they no longer around as well?”  

She, being in her thirties, was already finding it hard to fully accept this. If it were the older generation, their reaction would surely be more intense.  

Jiang Wang realized her thoughts always revolved around him, considering everything from his perspective.  

He had rarely experienced this kind of treatment, so much so that the realization distracted him.  

So this is what a mother’s warmth feels like.  

Back then, when she had no choice but to leave her son to escape an abusive husband and flee to another province, she must have had her own struggles too.  

“I’m afraid his family will be a real challenge,” Jiang Wang admitted bitterly. “Gaining their blessing will likely take a great deal of effort.”  

Du Wenjuan opened her arms and hugged him tightly again, as though this six-foot-tall man was still a child in need of comfort.  

“I feel like there’s still a lot for you two to sort out,” she said with a smile. “But from how lively and positive Xingxing has become, it’s clear how much you both care for him.”  

Children can’t hide anything. They’re like mirrors, reflecting exactly how others treat them.  

When Du Wenjuan saw Xingwang in Yuhan—carefree and cheerful—she felt both relieved and guilty.  

“Wangwang, having someone you love is a wonderful thing.”  

“This sister of yours might nag because I worry you’ll face hardships in the future,” she said, self-deprecatingly. “But looking at my own situation, I might not even have the right to say these things.”  

Jiang Wang slowly finished his warm water and glanced at her. “Why did you… like Peng Jiahui back then?”  

Whenever Du Wenjuan mentioned Peng Jiahui before, her reaction was as though she’d stepped in something disgusting, her tone immediately turning cold.  

Jiang Wang had a hunch the answer would be sharp.  

But Du Wenjuan thought for a long while and, instead, calmed down.  

“Before we got married, his personality was pretty much the same as it is now—not much change.”  

“But at the time, I liked how he was passionate and caring toward me, looking after me every day. Working in the same unit, I slowly grew to like him.”  

“Looking back now, he was someone who really needed a hand to guide him—a man who thrived on momentum.”  

“When everything was going well, he could stay on the right track and keep improving.”  

“But once things took a turn—when work became tough or office politics got messy—he would suddenly fall apart, unable to climb back up on his own.”  

“My mistake was failing to see this. I kept hoping he would pull himself together, kept pushing him to improve, always demanding more.”  

“At first, we argued every day. Later, he realized what was happening and started drinking and eventually became violent.”  

When Du Wenjuan recalled these things, her tone carried a barely perceptible trace of nostalgia, but she quickly suppressed it.

“Alright, I’ve disturbed you enough,” she said, wiping her hands and standing up. “I’ll go make dinner now. Let’s have a good meal tonight and not talk about these sad things.”

Jiang Wang subconsciously responded with a soft “mm.”

But, little brother,” Du Wenjuan said seriously, “about you liking men—don’t share this with others easily.”

“Whether or not people discriminate or gossip unpleasantly, more importantly, this could become a weakness others might exploit.”

“You’re in a critical stage of your career. Don’t let something like this hold you back. Be careful in all matters.”

Jiang Wang nodded in agreement.

---

The next afternoon, he went to the bank, depositing his passbook and bank card in a safe deposit box to ensure they wouldn’t get lost.

Before storing them, he withdrew six yuan from the bank card his father had given him and four yuan from the passbook his mother had given him.

Then, with those ten yuan, he bought himself a very small cake from the bakery downstairs at work.

Jiang Wang had rarely eaten cake since he was a child. Back then, he didn’t have the opportunity and could only take bites from others.

When he grew up and had money, he often found himself lingering outside bakeries, stealing a few extra glances at the cakes. But when he actually bought one home, he’d lose the desire to eat it.

Now, with those ten yuan, he got himself a freshly made cake—a small portion, topped with a single cherry.

Bathed in the warm afternoon sunlight, he stared at the cake for a while, feeling an illusion as if it were a New Year’s gift his parents had bought for him together.

The start of a new year, a fresh beginning. Many things had ended this past year, and many things would change, begin, and blossom in the new one.

The cream was very sweet.

Scooping up a bite, he could feel the soft, collapsing texture of the chiffon cake.

He ate slowly, but couldn’t help feeling a quiet happiness. Every bite brought him joy.

It was as if this ten-yuan cake could fill the empty spaces in his life, enough to make up for many things.

Jiang Wang had never eaten a dessert so leisurely and freely before.

He chewed the bits of chocolate carefully, savored the delicate sweetness of the cream, and embraced the fleeting joy of biting into the cake.

It felt like he had stepped out of some kind of shackle.

Or perhaps, in one silent and fleeting moment, the shackle had turned to dust, leaving only this bright winter sunlight and this small, soft, and sweet cake.

After finishing the cake, the man sat staring at the empty paper plate for a long time before finally stretching lazily.

Suddenly, a large bouquet of champagne-colored flowers was placed in front of him.

“Brother Wang, your snow mountain roses.” Ji Linqiu sat across from him, his eyes smiling. “These are pretty hard to find around here in Yuhan. I drove quite far before I finally found them.”

Jiang Wang froze for a second, instinctively asking, “Did you just see that?”

“See what? See you secretly eating cake behind my back?” Ji Linqiu leaned in and pinched his cheek. “Wow, eating alone, huh.”

“No! How about we get two more slices?” Jiang Wang retorted.

“Alright, alright. Here’s the flowers. I still have a class to teach in a bit.”

“Alright,” Jiang Wang said naturally, hugging the large bouquet in his arms. “Let’s head upstairs together.”

Ji Linqiu was taken aback. “You… really plan to bring this to the office?”

“Why not?” Jiang Wang held the bouquet tightly, refusing to let go. “You said you wanted me to look at the flowers and think of you every day.”

True to his word, Boss Jiang carried the entire bouquet of peach-colored snow mountain roses up to his office.

From the moment he stepped into the elevator, his coworkers recognized him and couldn’t stop exclaiming.

“Boss Jiang, you’re in love?!”

“Mm.”

“Holy crap!! Which lucky lady is it? This flower is so rare! I’ve seen red roses and white roses, but never this color. Are you going to give them to her after work?”

Jiang Wang, basking in the compliments, was in a great mood.

“No, this was given to me instead.” 

The gossiping crowd in the elevator froze.

“Your partner… gave them to you?”

Boss Jiang confirmed this with a nod.

Everyone: …???

Our boss?? Is he the “bottom” in the relationship???

He’s the bottom???

A female coworker asked hesitantly, “But… isn’t it usually men who give flowers to women?”

Jiang Wang glanced sideways. “You don’t think I deserve flowers?”

“No, no, no!! We definitely didn’t mean that!!”

“These flowers are so beautiful! They really suit you, Boss! Don’t they look amazing with his complexion?!”

“Yeah, they just scream elegance—uh, I mean they’re so likable! If Boss likes them, that proves they’re really good flowers!!”

The elevator doors opened with a ding. Jiang Wang, looking as proud as a peacock, carried the bouquet into his office under everyone’s watchful eyes.

As soon as the door closed, the gossiping began.

“Boss is in love??”

“Can you believe it? Those flowers were given to him!”

“Damn! I shipped it the wrong way!! Crap!!”

“?? Shipped what? What are you even talking about?”

Meanwhile, Ji Linqiu quietly bypassed the excitedly chattering coworkers.

‘Forget it,’ he thought. ‘Maybe I should just change jobs.’