Chapter 59#
The car was parked by the roadside, the engine humming low without being turned off. The light from the dashboard reflected in Nie Xu’s eyes, like a thin layer of darkness pressing down on them.
Ji Yang felt a chill down his spine under that gaze.
Only after a beat did he realize how absurd and impractical that question had been.
He raised his hand. “Alright, treat it as my brain short-circuiting. I know you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t die for Ji Chengyi — the very words ‘die for love’ are a serious insult to your character and beliefs.”
Nie Xu pulled his gaze away and restarted the car. “It’s not that dramatic. The premise of your assumption simply couldn’t exist in the first place.”
Ji Yang muttered quietly to himself, “So confident.”
Nie Xu glanced at him calmly, sidelong. “This question should actually go to you. Why is it that for all this time, you’ve seemed to think there should be something between me and Ji Chengyi?”
“Is that so?” Ji Yang unbuckled his seatbelt, unconsciously sitting up a little straighter.
Nie Xu reached up and pressed down the rearview mirror above them. “If you want to see how guilty you look, why not look for yourself?”
Ji Yang actually did glance into the mirror.
After a few seconds, he said, “Looking like this, being envied is just destiny, right?”
Nie Xu was speechless. He said nothing for a long moment.
Ji Yang threw all the heavy things from tonight to the back of his mind, and his mood suddenly lifted. As the car passed through a bustling downtown area midway, Ji Yang claimed he was hungry and dragged Nie Xu to a night market to find food.
They were both dressed in formal suits. The moment they stepped into the food street, they attracted quite a few stares.
Ji Yang didn’t care. He grabbed Nie Xu and headed straight for a grilled seafood stall.
Seeing how familiar he seemed with the place, Nie Xu asked, “Been here before?”
“Never.” Ji Yang waved his phone. “I just asked You Li. He recommended it. You know, if you want to find good night market stalls like this, college students are the most reliable source.”
There was indeed a long queue at the stall. Most people in line were dressed casually, which meant that with the two of them at the back of the line, the person in front kept glancing back at them.
Especially Nie Xu — he was so tall, with an aura so cold and imposing that he simply did not look like someone who would ever set foot in a place like this.
Ji Yang, worried that after so many years of professional habits Nie Xu might not be comfortable in this kind of place, pointed to a nearby table. “How about you go sit down first? I’ll wait in line?”
Nie Xu glanced down at his leg.
Then he grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him straight out of the line.
“Go sit down. Tell me what you want to eat.”
Ji Yang, who had been relocated in an instant, looked left and right immediately, then hissed in a low voice: “Next time you manhandle me, can you at least give a warning? I’m a proper 178 centimeters in shoes, not some broken toy doll.”
Nie Xu looked at him. “You weigh more than sixty kilograms?”
“Are you insulting me?” Ji Yang asked.
Nie Xu: “We’d still need to factor in your 4.5-kilogram legs.”
Ji Yang: “……”
What a terrifying man. Ji Yang never wanted to stand next to him again.
Since he hadn’t ordered yet, Ji Yang asked You Li, and a string of voice messages came back from the other side.
Ji Yang opened them without the slightest guard.
You Li’s booming voice burst out all at once: “Oysters! Eat lots of them. I heard you’ve moved in with my brother’s place now. Impressive initiative! But let me advise you — take it easy, okay? Oysters are great for kidney health and boosting virility. Tonic up!”
In an instant, Ji Yang could feel stares converging from every direction, along with more than a few stifled giggles.
His face turned scarlet as he spoke into the phone: “…You Li! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“I’m doing fine!” You Li seemed to be doing something, with background noise in the voice message — probably his classmates.
Ji Yang gritted his teeth: “I will absolutely not stamp your internship certificate. Go ahead and delay your graduation.”
You Li wailed: “Don’t! I was wrong, okay?”
You Li quickly sent another message.
“If you don’t eat them yourself, bring them back for my brother, right? He’s always so busy, you know.”
Ji Yang instinctively looked up at the man in front of him, and his gaze locked into Nie Xu’s deep, dark eyes.
He told You Li in a flat, even voice, “I’m going the same way as your brother.”
The other side went dead silent.
You Li, having courted his own demise, didn’t dare send any more voice messages. He typed instead: “Really???!!! Don’t scare me!!”
Ji Yang looked down. Before he could even type out the word “Really,” a hand reached in from above the phone.
Nie Xu very naturally took the phone from him, held down the voice message button, and said in a low, calm voice: “Come find me next weekend.”
Ji Yang could more or less imagine the look of utter devastation on the other end when that message came through.
When Nie Xu finished, he handed the phone back. It happened to be almost their turn to order. Nie Xu said, “Weren’t you hungry? Come order.”
The person in front of them finished and stepped aside. The stall owner was a man in his thirties, with a smile in his eyes.
“What’ll you have? Oysters?”
Ji Yang felt like he’d been struck by lightning but still couldn’t help laughing. “Boss, if you want good business, don’t joke around like that.”
The owner’s gaze drifted to the person behind him, and he chuckled too, then changed the subject: “Just getting off work?”
“That’s right.” Ji Yang looked at the ordering screen. “We were starving the whole way. Just happened to pass by — heard the recommendations.”
The owner nodded: “I could tell you two don’t look like the type who frequent places like this.”
Stereotypes.
Ji Yang: “Then what do we look like?”
The owner: “Like people who eat high-end business dinners.”
Ji Yang ordered a pile of things, deliberately avoiding oysters, then set down the ordering pen. “Well then, boss, you’re wrong. I love street stalls. No matter how much we look like business dinner types, you can’t deny that business meals taste awful and never fill you up.”
The boss laughed heartily. “Since it’s your first time here, I’ll give you two coupons. Remember to come back next time.”
Ji Yang took the two coupons.
Then something occurred to him. He turned around. “Do you want oysters? Want me to add another portion?”
Nie Xu stared at him. “What do you think?”
Ji Yang withered under that gaze and muttered silently: “I don’t dare think.”
The owner chimed in again: “You two are a great match.”
Ji Yang really wanted to say: Boss, your eye for people is truly terrible.
Nie Xu simply reached out and took the coupons and the order slip from his hand, nodded to the owner, and said to Ji Yang: “Let’s go. Go sit down.”
Ji Yang had honestly wanted to get takeout.
Because You Li had humiliated him so badly just now, he felt eyes on his back like needles.
But after thinking about it, he let it go.
The two of them sat down at a table.
The food came quickly.
Nie Xu took off his jacket, tugged at his tie and collar, pulled the towering tray of food toward himself, first placed everything that could be eaten as-is into Ji Yang’s bowl, and then started peeling shrimp.
Ji Yang was genuinely quite hungry and buried himself in eating.
Halfway through the meal, a bowl of peeled grilled shrimp appeared in front of him.
Ji Yang stared at the bowl, blank. “For me?”
“Eat. It’s late.” Nie Xu pulled a couple of paper napkins to wipe his hands. “We’ll head home after you finish.”
Seeing him say that, Ji Yang accepted it happily.
He picked up a piece of shrimp meat and had just taken a bite when he heard whispers from nearby — “Are they a couple?” “Totally are!” “He even peels his shrimp for him!” and similar murmurs.
Ji Yang looked up.
It was a few young people at the neighboring table, secretly taking photos.
Ji Yang was used to that.
But the person with him right now was Nie Xu, and Ji Yang felt a bit worried.
“What is it?” Nie Xu asked.
Ji Yang leaned forward. “Someone’s taking pictures of us. Should we just leave?”
“It’s fine,” Nie Xu said.
Ji Yang: “Aren’t you worried about people posting this online and making things up?”
“Making up what?” Nie Xu asked.
Ji Yang thought for a moment. “Like, ‘Secret Identity of the Jianyuan Boss Revealed’ or something?”
Nie Xu: “It won’t happen.”
He said it so casually, but Ji Yang believed him — if he said it wouldn’t happen, it truly wouldn’t be allowed to happen.
When they finished eating and left, Ji Yang passed by the neighboring table.
Some of them still had their phones pointed at him.
Ji Yang caught them off guard by suddenly bending down and leaning close, a smile curling his lips. “You can take pictures, but no making things up online, okay?”
The other person’s face turned bright red.
They waved their hands frantically. “N-no, we won’t!”
Ji Yang straightened up and left with Nie Xu.
As a result, when Ji Yang saw the night market photos online, only two hours had passed since they had appeared at the night market.
He had just finished showering and hadn’t even gotten into bed yet.
The photos clearly weren’t posted by the neighboring table — they were obviously from some other passerby.
Compared to the closer photos, the ones online were taken when they were still in line, estimated to be about ten-plus meters away.
So the photos were full-body shots.
Both of them were captured in profile.
Ji Yang had never known — from a passerby’s perspective, the way Nie Xu looked at him was so gentle.
Passerby’s caption: Two high-quality CP spotted at the night market! They’re both seriously gorgeous. The tall one looks at the other with so much tenderness — everyone, ship them!
Before Ji Yang’s anti-fans arrived on the scene, things were pretty normal.
【There’s no clear face shot, is there? But even in profile you can tell. Honestly, they stand out way too much at a night market.】
Passerby: Didn’t dare take close-ups. The gentleness I mentioned only applies to the guy in front of him. But honestly, that man gives off a stay-away-from-me vibe. He lifted the other guy by the collar so easily, and his words were pretty sharp too. I was standing not too far and heard everything, hahaha.
【Definitely not staged. There are so many fakes these days. Would ordinary people in full suits ever go to a night market?】
Passerby: Probably not staged. I heard them tell the owner they just got off work. The really pretty one said he was hungry, and that’s why they came.
【Sharp-tongued? Even if they’re really a couple, could it last?】
Passerby: Maybe not, but I genuinely felt the atmosphere between them was something special.
At this point, Ji Yang’s own anti-fans caught wind and moved in — no one quite knew how they’d tracked it down — and the comment section descended into chaos.
【Isn’t this the young master I’ve been ‘cloud-raising’ all along? The elusive dragon who shows his head but never his tail!】
【The fan group was just talking about this and I didn’t believe it. I checked — it really is him. I’m done. People are constantly chasing updates, and that new assistant of his complains she can’t even catch him to film anything.】
【Miss passerby, don’t be scared — we just wanted to ask when he’s going to livestream again.】
【Isn’t the real question the man beside him? Is he dating someone?】
【As expected — men and women in love are all the same. Career and everything else might as well be clouds.】
【Dating? Before, people online were saying the Ji brothers were fighting over one man.】
【Just fooling around, nothing serious.】
【The young manor dates this kind of guy now? His leg isn’t great either — can he even keep up?】
【So, this is a new flame?】
Ji Yang was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone with intense focus. As he read, he was nearly laughed into anger by this crowd.
“Who’s the old flame?”
The words came from behind him without warning, and at the same time a drop of water fell on the back of his neck. A shiver ran down Ji Yang’s nape.
Slowly, he turned around to find Nie Xu, bent over and looking at his phone while drying his hair.
“When did you get here?” Ji Yang asked slowly.
Nie Xu: “About the time you stared at the comment saying you can’t keep up, for at least a full minute.”
Ji Yang instantly covered his phone.
He protested: “Didn’t you say it wouldn’t happen?”
Nie Xu: “I said the normal, ordinary person’s reaction wouldn’t be to zero in on Jianyuan.”
Ji Yang: “……”
So he was going to be told he was inadequate and get posted online — he deserved that too?
Ji Yang decided he was never setting foot on that street again.
That street was absolutely cursed!