When Ji Minglun came up, Jiang Lin was looking for Tang Ying's death certificate in the master bedroom next door.
The door of the master bedroom is locked all year round and is only opened when the aunt comes to clean. Ji Minglun has not entered this room for many years. The interior is still decorated the same as it was back then, and the small ornaments that Tang Ying liked in his memory have not been moved.
Jiang Lin took out the necessary information from the drawer, and without much delay, he pulled Ji Minglun out. Seeing him lock the door of the master bedroom again, Ji Minglun pulled him into his arms and advised: "If you are sad, just vent it out. I will accompany you in whatever you want to do."
Jiang Lin leaned on Ji Minglun's shoulder and hugged him tightly after hearing what he said: "I'm fine."
"Your father said something unpleasant just now," Ji Minglun asked.
"I didn't give him a chance to speak," Jiang Lin looked at the clock on the wall, his eyes following the pointer that kept moving forward, "I was the one who said all the unpleasant words, and it felt good to say them out loud."
Ji Minglun knew that he was not the type to say harsh words, and Jiang Jianchen was his only relative, so doing so would only make him more sad.
The two hugged for a while, and Jiang Lin pushed Ji Minglun first: "I'm fine, you should go help the professor."
"It's okay, I've already turned it down." Ji Minglun glanced at the living room and suggested, "Let's go eat, and then come back to my place."
Jiang Lin didn't move. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What about your parents? Should we confess to them?"
"Let's not talk about it for now," Ji Minglun said, "I think your father is such a face-conscious person that he may not take the initiative to make a big deal out of it. Let's wait and see for now."
Jiang Lin had just said a lot of angry words, but now that he had calmed down, he also felt that Jiang Jianchen would not be willing to make the matter public given his face-saving personality. He nodded, packed up a few more things, and left with Ji Minglun.
Jiang Lin spent the next two days at Ji Minglun's house.
The date to report back to school was getting closer, which meant that he and Ji Minglun would be separated soon. They had not left the house for the past two days. They either ordered takeout or Ji Minglun cooked for them. They either leaned on the sofa to watch movies and chat or got stuck in the sheets to do that thing. However, Jiang Lin rarely had a truly happy time. Most of the time, he did not have a relaxed look in his eyes.
While taking a bath together after venting their emotions again, Ji Minglun told him about the message he had received not long ago, and Deng Feng asked them when they would have time to have dinner together this week.
Jiang Lin was leaning against Ji Minglun's arms with his eyes closed. Hearing this, he lazily said, "How did you respond to him?"
"I want to ask you something," Ji Minglun poured hot water on Jiang Lin's left shoulder, "Deng Feng said Zhu Zhu and the others wanted to have dinner together."
"Will Deng Yi go?" Jiang Lin asked.
With his warm palms on his shoulders, Ji Minglun said, "Deng Feng, don't call her, lest she mess things up."
"Deng Feng really said that?"
"Well, he still knows his sister very well."
Jiang Lin opened his eyes and continued to ask, "Deng Yi hasn't looked for you in the past few days?"
Ji Minglun didn't answer, but just smiled and looked at Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin felt puzzled and asked him what he was laughing at, only to hear him say, "I thought you didn't care."
"What don't you care about?"
"I don't care whether Deng Yi will look for me."
"How could I not care?" Jiang Lin supported himself on the bathtub and sat up, looking back at Ji Minglun, "So she looked for you?"
"No," Ji Minglun adjusted the massage function button, "Deng Yi has a strong personality. I explained it to her very clearly that day at Fantawild. She should have understood it, but it will take some time."
"Then after I leave," Jiang Lin paused, took the towel next to him and began to wipe his hair, "you will be alone again."
He covered his face with a towel. Ji Minglun pulled him back into his arms. The towel he used to dry his hair was thrown back onto the edge of the bathtub. “I’m not alone anymore. Deng Feng and Shen Ran both know that I’m with you. Zhu Zhu and the others will know too when we’re having dinner.”
"And your father also knows about it. He has been quiet for the past two days, and my parents are also doing fine. This shows that your father still cares about his own face."
Mentioning Jiang Jianchen ruined the atmosphere, but Ji Minglun wanted to dispel Jiang Lin's uneasiness. After all, they had faced too many problems when they first got together. In addition to the family, they were about to be separated for a year, and both of them were not feeling well. Jiang Lin suppressed his feelings and didn't mention it, but he could feel it.
Jiang Lin didn't want to talk about Jiang Jianchen. He raised his face and put his lips on Ji Minglun's jaw. Ji Minglun lowered his head to kiss him. Soon he kissed him so hard that he was gasping for breath and almost slipped into the bathtub.
Pulling his face against his shoulder, Ji Minglun glanced under the water, put his chin against his forehead and asked, "Do you want to go back to **?"
"No need," Jiang Lin hugged Ji Minglun's neck tightly, "Just hold me like this for a while."
After making an appointment with Deng Feng for dinner the night after tomorrow, they stayed indoors for the next two days. Jiang Lin coaxed Cheese for a long time before the bastard stopped chasing him out. When he went to the basement to get the car, Ji Minglun heard someone calling him, and turned around to find that Su Yan and Ji Gan had returned.
Ji Gan's parking space was some distance away from him. Su Yan was standing by the car door holding a half-height white dolphin, while Ji Gan was taking something out of the trunk.
As he walked towards them, Su Yan's eyes rested on Jiang Lin's face for a moment. Jiang Lin looked to the side uncomfortably, and Ji Minglun took the initiative to hold his hand.
Su Yan took a quick look and then looked away, smiling at Ji Minglun, "Go out?"
"Well, you two are back from your sponsored trip?"
"What kind of tour is this? We're going there to do something serious." Su Yan didn't continue to talk about this topic. He just pointed at his and Jiang Lin's hands with a meaningful look, "What are you doing?"
Ji Minglun looked at Jiang Lin and asked with a smile: "Would you like to get to know each other?"
Jiang Lin nodded, still feeling a little uncomfortable when he turned his head back, but he still took the initiative to extend his hand to Su Yan: "Hello, I'm Jiang Lin."
Su Yan held his hand with the hand that was not holding Haitun and said with a smile: "Hello, I am your neighbor across the street, Su Yan, and the one behind me is my boyfriend Ji Gan."
Jiang Lin was confused by the sudden word "boyfriend" and Ji Minglun took the initiative to explain to him: "Su Yan grew up in Los Angeles and has this personality. He just returned to China not long ago."
Jiang Lin understood. At this time, Ji Gan came over carrying two plastic bags and a suitcase. Su Yan immediately went over and took his arm, leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Ji Gan also came over and said hello.
After returning to the car, Jiang Lin asked, "Is there a big age difference between Su Yan and Ji Gan?"
"It's okay, Ji Gan is 29," Ji Minglun started the car, "It's Su Yan who looks too young. He's only one year younger than you, but he looks like a minor, right?"
Jiang Lin recalled the feeling of meeting Su Yan a few times. He was not underage, but Su Yan did not look like he had entered the society to work. On the way, Ji Minglun talked to him about Su Yan and Ji Gan. When Jiang Lin learned about the bad ideas Ji Minglun had given to Su Yan when he was chasing people, he could not help laughing. Ji Minglun reached out and held his hand: "Are you relieved now?"
"What?" Jiang Lin's smile hadn't faded yet, and Ji Minglun said again: "Jealous? Weren't you always jealous of my neighbor before?"
Jiang Lin rarely refuted and just held Ji Minglun's hand tightly: "He really has a good personality."
"Yes," Ji Minglun actually agreed, but the next moment he said, "But not as good as you. I still like you better."
Jiang Lin turned his head to look at the people around him, then turned back to the window. The smile on his lips spread out, making the neon light reflected in his eyes seem particularly moving.
The place for dinner was arranged at the izakaya where Jiang Lin was first welcomed. The address was chosen by Deng Feng, and it had a beautiful meaning, starting from here and parting from here temporarily.
Before coming, Jiang Lin thought it was just a simple meal, but he didn't expect that the box had been decorated with ribbons and balloons by Zhu Zhu and others, and the atmosphere was warm and romantic.
Several employees in the store were present tonight, sitting around the table on the tatami. Seeing Ji Minglun holding Jiang Lin's hand, everyone was a little surprised, but Ji Minglun's sexual orientation was not a secret in the store, so no one had a very obvious reaction. Zhu Zhu even took the initiative to stand up and put a bouquet of flowers into Jiang Lin's arms. Deng Feng's expression was also very natural. When he clinked glasses with Jiang Lin, he did not mention the unpleasant things in the past, but only said some words of blessing for the future.
Shen Ran arrived when we were halfway through the meal.
He sat next to Deng Feng with the cake in his hand. Deng Feng asked him why he was so late, but he didn't say anything. But when Deng Feng took the cake box and found that it was not the one he ordered, but a cake customized by another higher-end hotel, he asked, "Why didn't you pick up the one I ordered?"
"I took it," Shen Ran said in an annoyed tone, "but it was knocked over by a blind creature."
"Then there's no need to buy something so expensive." Deng Feng knew the actual situation of Shen Ran's family. As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Ran paused while holding the chopsticks and asked, "Is it expensive?"
The packaging of the cake box was simple and cool, and Shen Ran didn't recognize the brand so he didn't notice it. Before Deng Feng could answer, Ji Minglun on the opposite side glanced over first. Shen Ran glanced at him and turned his head away.
Ji Minglun didn't interrupt, turned back and continued to look at Jiang Lin.
After the meal, everyone put candles on the cake, lit it, and turned off the lights in the box.
This cake was made of red wine ice cream, and was shaped like two black and white swans embracing each other. Both the appearance and the ingredients were excellent, and the atmosphere was especially good under the dim candlelight. Shen Ran was also stunned when he saw the cake, and Tang Yang smiled and said that Shen Ran was really good at choosing, and asked him if he had already known about Ji Minglun and Jiang Lin's affairs and chose this one.
Jiang Lin had eaten this brand of cake before, and remembered that it was quite expensive. Although he felt a little embarrassed, he still smiled and thanked Shen Ran, who looked even more embarrassed than him. After everyone had shared the cake, Ji Minglun called Shen Ran downstairs while he was paying the bill, and asked how much the cake cost to him.
"Don't give me any more," Shen Ran said gloomily, "It was paid for by others. I didn't pay for it."
"This cake is not cheap, are you sure you don't want me to pay for it?"
Ji Minglun had already guessed who bought the cake. Shen Ran didn't want to admit it in front of him, but he felt it would be strange to continue denying it. But the most important thing was that he had nothing to admit.
Shen Ran put his hands in his sweatpants pockets, looked towards the door and said, "It's okay, I can handle it myself. Just consider it as a gift for Jiang Lin to practice."
After leaving the izakaya, everyone was still not satisfied, so they went to a nearby KTV and rented a private room to continue singing and drinking. The whole party lasted until almost three o'clock.
Jiang Lin laughed frequently tonight. He had never had such a happy party in the past year. Although he was in the store for a short time, everyone treated him very kindly. He was not good at expressing himself, so he could only respond to everyone's kindness by drinking. Ji Minglun advised him to drink less at first, but later he saw that he was really happy, so he did not stop him.
In the second half of the night, Jiang Lin fell asleep leaning on the sofa. When leaving, Ji Minglun carried him on his back, said goodbye to everyone one by one, sat in the back seat, and asked the designated driver to drive the car back.
Jiang Lin slept soundly after getting drunk, and did not sit up until noon the next day, rubbing his aching head. There was no one around him when he got up, and he thought Ji Minglun was in the kitchen. He walked to the living room and saw that the house was quiet, with only Cheese running to his feet and rubbing his calves.
He picked up his phone to call Ji Minglun, and after unlocking it he saw the WeChat message Ji Minglun had sent him in the morning.
[Your dad asked me to go out and chat. Send me a message when you wake up. There’s soy milk and shrimp dumplings heating up in the pot. Remember to get up and eat first.]