Chapter Ninety-Five

  I really don't know what Jiang Chuan went back to China for.

  As for this, Jiang Chuan didn't bring it up himself either. Although the person has returned to his side and there's no need to dwell on such things, seeing Jiang Chuan return in that exhausted state made Jian Ran feel that he must have encountered something terrible - and even if Jiang Chuan didn't explicitly say so, he always had a feeling that this time Jiang Chuan left, he probably didn't grasp whether he could come back himself.

  It's fortunate to be able to come back.

  So for the next few days, wherever Jiang Chuan went, Jian Ran would stick to him. It just so happened that before leaving, Jiang Chuan had pushed all his work onto Jian Ran, so he let him stick around.

  Every day, Jin Yan would bring breakfast and knock on Jiang Chuan's door early in the morning. The latter would open the door with sleepy eyes, and Jin Yan would enter the house to eat breakfast at the dining table. Jiang Chuan would run back to bed for a nap. After Jin Yan finished eating his breakfast slowly and watched some morning news, Jiang Chuan would also finish washing up and come out. While eating breakfast, he would listen to Jin Yan summarize what was said in the news.

  At noon, Jin Yan would order takeout over the phone, and the two of them would eat lunch together. Jin Yan would sit cross-legged on the sofa, looking at scripts and documents, while Jiang Chuan sat on the carpet under the sofa playing games. The two would occasionally chat, with Jin Yan asking Jiang Chuan to play games with him, only to be strictly rejected by the great god Jiang Chuan, who said "idiots can't play".

  In the evening, after dinner, Jiang Chuan would go back inside to look at documents, while Jin Yan would do some cleaning and tidying up, putting clothes in the washing machine. Then he would take out the trash and prepare to head home.

  In Fang Yu's words, the two of them thus inexplicably lived a shameless life as husbands.

  During this time, Jian Ran would occasionally ask Jiang Chuan what he was doing when he went home, and at first, Jiang Chuan wouldn't say a word. However, because Jian Ran always asked questions while Jiang Chuan was playing games, after a long time, Jiang Chuan might have been annoyed to the point of collapse, and finally, some information was pried out of his mouth by Jian Ran.

  "My family wants me to go back and inherit the traditional craftsmanship that has been passed down in my family," Jiang Chuan explained. "I don't want to. After all, there's a formidable older brother above me, so it won't be my turn anyway."

  "What skill? Where is your incredibly powerful brother?"

  "Probably about ironware business?" Jiang Chuan thought for a moment and then answered the second question cautiously, "The formidable brother went to prison."

  “……”

  "But I heard he's doing well inside, and it's only been a month or two that he's already become..." Jiang Chuan's voice trailed off.

  "What should I wear on top?"

  "Prison King."

  “……”

  So being a prison tyrant is an honor that can only be obtained by bullying all the prisoners in the entire prison? This is also called performing well? You're kidding me.

  In the subtle expression of tonight, only heard the man sitting in front of him frowning and saying: "Although he has just entered now, but one day he will still come out. If I agree to take over the family business during this period, when he comes out later, it's inevitable that there will be disputes again. Why bother? Originally not interested in that - now only temporarily helping him deal with some urgent matters because of his entrustment, most of the important documents can also be handled by himself in prison, let alone..."

  "What's more?"

  "He even laughed at me when my hamster ran away and didn't want to help him."

  “……”

  "What the hell, did you two brothers just graduate from elementary school? Jing Yan put down the script in his hand with a gloomy face, staring at the majestic back of the man who was typing quickly on the keyboard below, and after thinking for a moment, he slightly widened his eyes and said in a subtle tone: '... Your family business is quite big?'"

  "It's okay." Jiang Chuan replied concisely, "It's still quite famous, the cooperative partners all like it."

  “……”

  I almost thought I had missed out on something big, a young master from a prominent family. After thinking for a moment, it seemed like the topic was getting off track, so he quickly and persistently brought the conversation back on track: "So what did you go back for this time? Just to reject your dad again?"

  "Hmm, he made some investments behind my back, which I was completely unaware of beforehand. He thought that this would make me happy and eager to return home... His thinking is totally off the mark, and I couldn't explain to him what I really like. We were at odds with each other for several days, watching him cry and throw a tantrum - truly more troublesome than a woman! Until I saw the specific investment project he was working on, and agreed to return to China once again in February to attend the launch ceremony, only then did he let me come back."

  "You're also very difficult to serve as a son," Jian Yan said.

  "You won't think so when you see him," Jiang Chuan muttered, "Stubborn old man."

  "So you're planning to return home in February?"

  "Uh-huh."

  The young man with black hair who had changed from "sitting" to "lying down" sat up again: "Where is the launch ceremony of your project in Germany?"

  Berlin.

  The person on the sofa suddenly lit up and sat up straight, saying: "Just in time, after the New Year in February, my 'Mysterious Seed' premiere promotion ceremony also has a Berlin station, why don't we go together?"

  The tone of expectation in those words made the man playing games with his back to a young black-haired person pause for a moment, gripping the mouse tightly. After a brief moment, he nodded and replied: "Okay."

  Upon hearing this response, the young black-haired man sitting behind him suddenly clenched his script tightly in his hand.

  "I still have a movie premiere invitation in my hand, why don't you take it and go with me? At that time, the director, investors, main actors of 'Mysterious Seed' will all be there. The director also has half German blood, who knows, maybe he'll find you suitable for a role or something - haha, what are you laughing at? After all, you're so handsome and have great acting skills, anything can happen.

  Jian Yan kicked Jiang Chuan's back, satisfied with himself, opening and closing the script in his hand mechanically, repeating the action. He calmed down, thought for a moment, then suddenly had an idea, "Since you don't have work for the next two months, why not follow me home on New Year's Eve? You can't just stay alone in G city every year, buying a bunch of instant noodles at the supermarket... how sad is that?"

  Just as he was saying something, the person behind him suddenly turned around and stared at him. Those piercing blue eyes made people feel terrified when they stared silently. Jian Ran subconsciously moved his butt back a bit: "What's wrong?"

  "How did you know how I spent last year?" Jiang Chuan asked.

  "......side, what you said just now." Jing Ran blinked her eyes and her heart was racing as she stuttered, "Just the other day, he told me that Chinese New Year is coming soon and he's been busy all year, but doesn't know if there will be a year-end bonus this year...and then somehow he mentioned you, an international friend, saying that last year during Chinese New Year you were alone at home feeling down...so, I was thinking of asking you if you want to come back home with me for Chinese New Year this year? My family has a lot of people, it's lively and everyone is very enthusiastic - except for a few who are overly enthusiastic, but anyway, ignoring them, at least let you experience the real festive atmosphere..."

  He talked and talked, but eventually he himself didn't even know what he was saying. Just when he thought that even he couldn't convince himself of the appeal of "come to my house for New Year's", Jiang Chuan stared at him for a while before suddenly curling up his lips and throwing out a sentence "Okay". He then turned his head back to continue playing games - at this time, on the screen, Jiang Chuan's game character was being beaten by others because he had turned his head to talk to Jian Ran earlier, quickly being beaten until he was left with only a sliver of health. After Jiang Chuan refocused, he relied on his skills and defensive tower to take down three enemy heads and complete a comeback kill. On the screen, Jiang Chuan's teammates as well as the opposing team typed out a string of "6666" in excitement, Jian Ran looked at him and asked: "What does it mean?"

  Jiang Chuan: "I'm awesome."

  "...... You're so capable, why didn't you take me along?"

  "Even if you're super capable, you can't carry me. As an old man, just honestly act in some anti-war dramas and brush up your presence."

  "......How can you be like this."

  "It's like this."

  "You're like this, I also like you."

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  In the midst of a silent atmosphere at home, he felt that he had completely lost his dignity. Using the script to cover up the sly smile on his face, he fell onto the sofa and turned over, and the young man with black hair was still crazy about praising his own cleverness in his heart.

  Actually, when he heard that Jiang Chuan would return home in February and also go to Berlin, his heart was almost overjoyed.

  The premiere of the movie "Mysterious Seed" at Berlin Station was scheduled for February 14th, which coincidentally happened to be Valentine's Day. As a non-main character but with an unexpectedly high sense of presence in the film, Jianran naturally held several invitation cards for the premiere ceremony - two of which had already been sent to company bosses Xue Kai and Luo Cheng. At that time, both of them showed different degrees of discomfort when they learned that they would be spending February 14th together. Jianran didn't dare remind them that there was still him, a company employee, who seemed to have become invisible in the eyes of the two bosses; after sending out the two invitation cards, Jianran still had one left in his hand. On that special day, going to see a movie with his crush under the guise of a noble reason also seemed like a good choice, so before this, Jianran quietly waited for an opportunity to invite Jiang Chuan.

  Unexpectedly, Jiang Chuan finally fell into his own trap.

  Hehehehe.

  "Alright then, you're coming with me for Chinese New Year and then we'll go to Berlin together - no backing out, I'm booking the tickets now."

  "Uh-huh."

  "I've booked your ticket, now hand over your passport, you won't be able to run even if you want to."

  "Go get it yourself from the wardrobe inside."

  "I'm really going to take it, don't think I'll be polite with you. Even if you cry and beg me on your knees later, I won't give it back to you."

  "Are you annoying?" Jiang Chuan said helplessly, "Can't you let me play quietly for a while?"

  He put down the script with a satisfied heart, rushed into Jiang Chuan's room barefoot and flipped through his passport. At the same time, he heard a man's impatient reminder from behind: "The floor is cold, wear slippers! The passport can't run away!"

  ……

  Above.

  In this way, in the deliberate and planned gradual deception, he successfully deceived "future daughter-in-law" back home for the New Year.

  The 30th day of the Lunar New Year in 2016 was February 10th, and on the morning of February 9th, Jiang Chuan and Jin Ran arrived at the company headquarters to finish up their remaining work. They then grabbed their luggage and headed straight to the airport, taking a one-and-a-half-hour flight from G City back to J City. When they got off the plane, Jin Ran and Jiang Chuan were each wearing a cartoon character mask and a matching duck-billed hat. As they walked out of the VIP channel, they saw an SV car waiting for them at the exit. Jin Ran patted Jiang Chuan on the shoulder and muttered, "My cousin, who grew up with me in the same split pants... isn't too bright..."

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  As soon as the words fell, I saw a woman with high heels and a cigarette jumping down from the driver's seat, waving at them in their direction: "Hurry up, hurry up, Yuan Da Shen, next time your brain-dead fans will come over and kill me - I'm still young, I haven't married yet, I don't want to die..."

  Hearing Jiang Chuan let out a low laugh behind him, Jin Yan revealed a helpless expression under his mask. He quickened his pace to the front of the car, and as the trunk opened, he hastily stuffed their luggage inside. When he turned around, he found that several people had already taken notice of them - after all, two tall and fashionably dressed young men were still somewhat eye-catching, especially since they were wearing masks and duckbill caps, giving off a rather suspicious vibe...

  With a serious expression, he slightly pursed his lips and let out a soft "tsk" sound. He then casually grabbed Jiang Chuan's luggage and stuffed it into the back trunk of the car. Next, he pushed both Jiang Chuan and another person onto the back seat of the car, where they tumbled in somewhat disheveled. As soon as they sat down, the robust female driver in front stepped on the gas pedal and sped off with a "whoosh" sound. Although it had been a long time since they last met, the female driver completely ignored Jian Ran and instead gazed at the two people in the backseat through the rearview mirror, teasing the person sitting next to Jian Ran: "Fang Yu, even if Yuan Da Shen wears a mask, why do you have to wear one too? You look like someone who's trying to go incognito on the streets... Oh, I see that this year you've finally been kicked out of your house and have come to my place to beg for food on New Year's Eve?"

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  Jian Ran: "...... what the hell, Yuan Jian Cen, is there something wrong with your eyes——"

  What a pity that Yuan Jincan didn't pay attention to him, while holding the steering wheel and preparing to drive out of the parking lot, he couldn't stop laughing excitedly: "Not seeing Fang Yu for a year, you've developed three times or what? You actually look a little taller than last time, haha ????haha, did you wear insoles?"

  Jian Ran: "Cang Cang, I'm begging you, don't lose face, okay?"

  The female driver in front said with discontent: "How did I lose face?"

  At this time, Jiang Chuan, who couldn't bear it anymore, took off the duck tongue hat on his head. In the instant when he put down the hat and revealed the azure eyes under the shadow, the person who had been staring at the rearview mirror and mocking "Fang Yu" suddenly lost their voice. Then Jiang Chuan removed his mask, and a faint smile hung on his handsome face. One second later, the man's low, magnetic voice sounded in the car: "Jian Ran, your family is indeed very interesting, but unfortunately, I'm not Fang Yu..."

  Jiang Chuan's words fell, and the car was silent for three seconds. On the fourth second, a loud "screech" sound accompanied by an emergency brake was heard, and the car that was about to leave the parking lot suddenly stopped at the side of the road. A scream came from the front row: "Jiang Chuan?!?!?!?!"

  She weakly covered her face with her hands.

  "Jiang Chuan, oh my god, it's actually Jiang Chuan, damn it!!!!!!!!! The female driver who had completely abandoned the steering wheel and struggled free from the seatbelt was now flipped over, clinging to the back of the driver's seat like a gecko, staring intently at the backseat. "I love you so much! My mom loves you too! My dad... okay, my colleagues at work also love you, especially your role as the Taoist priest in White Haired Sword Maiden... and your role as General Situ... Ahhhhhh!!! Yesterday when I was watching 'Eternal Red Beauty' and saw the part where General Situ shaved his head to become a monk, I almost cried to death! You're even more handsome than on TV, with such a great physique, so sturdy..."

  "Thank you, I'm glad you like it."

  Yuan Jincan let out another stifled gasp, his breathing quickening as he clutched at his chest: "You're coming to my house for New Year's? For real?"

  "Please drive."

  Yuan Jincan: "You're here? Let me talk to the great god for a bit, I really like Jiang Chuan, and this year's Golden Flower Festival award is truly well-deserved!"

  He heard the words and immediately showed dissatisfaction: "... I am the big star, okay? Isn't the Best Supporting Actor award more valuable than the Newcomer of the Year award? I'm more popular than him, why aren't you so excited to see me?"

  Yuan Jincan let out a loud "Aiyo" and burst into laughter, saying: "You still have the face to mention Golden Flower Festival? At the awards ceremony that time, your performance was so bad that only our moms and grandma were following you crying, while the rest of us dozen or so people almost laughed ourselves to tears!"

  "...with an innocent face, he paused for three seconds and said 'drive'."

  Jiang Chuan also smiled and followed along, saying: "Let's get in the car first, we can talk slowly when we get home. I was with him until New Year's Day, there's still plenty of time."

  The male god spoke, and there was no reason not to listen. Yuan Jincheng obediently sat back in the driver's seat, drove the car wildly back to the city, stopped the car in the garage, and rushed upstairs, leaving Jiang Chuan and others behind to carry their luggage. After a moment, Jianran awkwardly laughed: "Sorry, my sister is just not very clever..."

  "No big deal," Jiang Chuan said, "Does she have a grudge against Fang Yu?"

  "No grudges, not only no grudges, after the new year, shouldn't we get a certificate already...” Jian Yan's face was empty, “Married life should be chaotic like chickens and dogs jumping around, my grandmother is worried to death, thinking she's not someone who can live a peaceful life, afraid of bringing trouble to Fang Yu. Until I told my grandmother to rest assured that Fang Yu isn't a good person either——”

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  "Let's go, upstairs."

  Jiang Chuan: "I'll take it."

  He hastily hid and said: "No need, you're a guest, I'll get it."

  After all, it doesn't make sense for a wife to carry luggage upstairs when she goes home with her husband.

  She silently added a sentence in her heart.

  Of course, Jiang Chuan didn't know that the man would be so persistent and it wouldn't be good to persuade him again. He nodded and followed him upstairs. Back at Jian Ran's home, Jiang Chuan finally understood what Jian Ran meant by "family members" - a very vague concept. The living room was filled with people, babies crying, kids fighting, adults chatting, all mixed together in a lively atmosphere.

  Jiang Chuan suddenly felt that he seemed to have a little bit understood how Jian Ran's restless personality was cultivated.

  After meeting Jiang Chuan, the family members were very enthusiastic and not at all shy. They took off his shoes and pulled him onto the sofa to sit down. Mrs. Yuan had met Jiang Chuan before, and because of the hospital's violent beating of a journalist incident, she also had a good impression of him. Now, she was chatting with Jiang Chuan nonstop. Jianran was surrounded by her younger siblings asking for gifts and couldn't get away, while also trying to listen carefully in case his mom said anything sensitive.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  "Sure enough, after just a couple of sentences, I heard Yuan Mei say: 'My son Jianran is already quite old, but he still acts like a child every day. The other day his grandmother told me that it seems like he has someone in mind, but he's too afraid to tell anyone. I heard she's from your circle, Jiang Chuan, secretly tell me who the girl is...'"

  Grandma was laughing on the side, telling people around her about how Jianran had been jumping up and down while holding the phone that day.

  Only felt a suffocating sensation.

  Yuan Jincan burst out laughing on the side: "Hahaha, did this thing grow a love gene? Auntie, you can't be serious——"

  He turned his head to take a look, and found that Jiang Chuan's lips were slightly hooked up in an expression that was simply unspeakable danger. He forced himself to say "Don't say anything, Jiang Chuan knows nothing" and then forcibly pulled the man sitting on the sofa up to drag him away. Hearing Jiang Chuan slowly say "Auntie will accompany you for a while", he almost angrily replied "Accompany my butt". Then, regardless of Yuan Mei's obstruction, he forcibly dragged Jiang Chuan into his own room on the second floor.

  All the way, without stopping, shaking off the hustle and bustle of the noise behind him.

  He came to the door of his room, one hand grasping Akakawa's wrist and the other twisting open the doorknob, hastily entering and slamming the door shut with a "bang" - only when the voices from downstairs were completely shut out did he take a deep breath, his face still pale with fear.

  There is a silence in the room.

  The room had been thoroughly cleaned before he returned, the sheets and blankets were all new, and a small cabinet was placed on the headboard, filled with various trophies and certificates - at a glance, from national awards to those that could be bought with money, they were all neatly arranged... Jiang Chuan's gaze swept over them, and a faint smile appeared in his azure eyes, he didn't know why, but he thought the black-haired young man secretly putting all sorts of awards on the headboard was quite cute.

  She withdrew her gaze, scanning the hand that was still gripping her wrist - she didn't know if it was his intense stare or what, but after he looked at her, Jian Ran suddenly seemed to react and flung off his hand. Her lips moved slightly as she said awkwardly: "Don't listen to my mom's nonsense, and don't go talking nonsense with her either, about some 'heart's desire'..."

  "Nothing?"

  "Just you wait—" Jian Ran's words trailed off as he suddenly stopped and turned his head to glance at Jiang Chuan with a sly smile, who was blushing, "Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have brought you home."

  "You've come all this way, now it's too late for regrets."

  “……”

  "Your grandma said you were laughing on the phone that day with your arms around it just like when she and your grandpa were dating."

  “…………”

  "Who's fighting?"

  “………”

  "Who's fighting?"

  "Don't ask."

  "Who?"

  He slightly moved his lips and quickly muttered a word, at this time the man slightly bent down, leaned in close to his lips, and expressionlessly said "I didn't hear clearly" —— Although there was such a spacious place in the room, two grown men were squeezed into that small space behind the door. Because of Jiang Chuan's action, Jin Yan had no choice but to retreat and stick himself onto the door. As the familiar breath enveloped him completely, his left ear heard the sound of family members talking outside the door, while his right ear was filled with Jiang Chuan's calm breathing...

  My mind is completely blank.

  I felt like I was going to die in the next second.