Chapter 3 - 2#

Seeing that he was still unmoved, the bar owner got a little anxious and signaled for the most beautiful boy to go up and light his cigarette. The boy was also straightforward, reaching out to take a Chunghwa cigarette, lighting it in his own mouth, and then shyly leaning over to ask, “Brother Jin, want one?”

Jin Yan was too lazy to pay attention to him, but suddenly glanced up and was instantly stunned.

The boy didn’t know what was wrong and asked, “—Brother Jin?”

Jin Yan felt a bit dazed, his mind in a chaotic mess, not knowing what he was thinking. He seemed to feel a bit of sadness, and within that sadness, a bitter absurdity.

—This boy’s appearance was exactly like Jiang Qin when he was young!

“Brother Jin?” The boy was stuck in a dilemma and asked awkwardly, “What’s wrong, is there something on my face?”

“…What’s your name?”

“I… my name is Wen Wen,” the boy quickly added, “You can also call me Wenwen.”

Jin Yan nodded silently, took the cigarette, took a drag, and said, “—You stay.”

Wenwen’s eyebrows moved, and his expression revealed sheer joy. He happily skewered a piece of watermelon with a toothpick and brought it to Jin Yan’s mouth.

His attentive manner was completely different from Jiang Qin. Jiang Qin always gave people a feeling of being in control of everything yet remaining calm and collected, knowing everything but saying nothing. If you made a mistake, he would silently correct it, neither blaming nor getting angry, cold but never losing his temper. Jin Yan had lived with him for so many years but could never figure him out.

This was what Jin Yan hated most about him.

When he had nothing to do, he also pondered, if Jiang Qin could be proactive, attentive, and tender like others, what kind of scene would that be? However, no matter how he pondered, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like for someone as high and mighty as Jiang Qin to lower himself.

Sometimes he felt fierce, thinking he should be rough with Jiang Qin, but other times he felt Jiang Qin should be just like this, otherwise, he wouldn’t be the Jiang Qin he had kept in his heart for over a decade.

Jin Yan looked through the smoke at the noisy luxury private room and suddenly felt very sentimental.

“Is something on Brother Jin’s mind?” Wenwen asked cautiously. “If you find it annoying, how about I drink a couple of glasses with you?”

This kid had the ability to observe people’s expressions, but he was just too bad at talking. Jin Yan found it funny and asked back, “What do you think I’m annoyed about?”

Wenwen said embarrassedly, “How could I guess the thoughts of a noble person like you? It must be big business matters.”

“Hmm, wrong.”

“Then… is it about your circle of friends? I see the bosses coming and going here have a lot of interpersonal relationships. Good with this one today, good with that one tomorrow. Their calculations are shrewder than anything. If it were me, I definitely couldn’t handle it.”

“Also wrong.”

Wenwen said awkwardly, “Then I don’t know. Brother Jin, don’t blame me. I have little experience, and the boss often scolds me too.”

Jin Yan smiled and sighed deeply, “—Having little experience is good!”

This remark came out of nowhere and was impossible to follow up on. Wenwen could only smile apologetically and sit by the side. Suddenly, he heard him ask again, “How old are you this year?”

“Oh, just turned seventeen after the New Year, but I just look young. The boss said if a new customer asks, say sixteen, but since you are an old friend of our boss, I’ll tell you the truth.”

“Why aren’t you in school?”

Wenwen said familiarly, “Family is poor, so sometimes I come out to work part-time. Brother Jin, if you think I’m good, give me a bit more tip. Next time if you come again, I’ll keep my schedule open just to wait for you.”

Jin Yan was amused by him, but that smile was very brief.

Wenwen chatted with him for a few sentences and became less reserved. He plucked up the courage to ask, “Brother Jin, you paused for a moment when you saw me just now. Is there something wrong with my face?”

Jin Yan turned his head to look at him and said lightly, “You are very good.”

“Oh—I was thinking you usually see so many stars, maybe your standards are particularly high, and it’s possible you wouldn’t look favorably on me. Gave me a big scare!”

Jin Yan’s expression was complex. After a long while, he said, “Just based on facial features, you are already quite good. Many actors aren’t as good-looking as you.”

Hearing this, Wenwen was even happier. He leaned in a bit closer, almost sticking to Jin Yan’s arm, and asked, “Then does Brother Jin like me?”

It would have been fine if he hadn’t asked this, but as soon as he did, Jin Yan’s face changed.

He had only liked one person in his life, and that person was Jiang Qin.

That year, Jiang Qin was sixteen, from a wealthy family with good upbringing, both parents highly educated intellectuals, and he himself was a top student in school. Using the term “favored son of heaven” to describe him was not an exaggeration at all. Don’t look at Li Meng now with his standard rich second-generation style, forcing Jin Yan to use luxury cars to pick him up and drop him off at school at every turn; compared to Jiang Qin’s spoiled manner back then, he was still far behind.

That was the peak of Jiang Qin’s life, but the bleak trough of Jin Yan’s.

If he hadn’t followed Jin Yan when Jin Yan was most destitute back then, with Jiang Qin’s IQ capable of reciting a thousand digits of pi backwards and the family heritage of generations of scholars, he would definitely be more than just an ordinary accountant now.

In the first thirty years of Jin Yan’s life, the most profitable thing was his liking for Jiang Qin. Even if Jiang Qin found him an eyesore now and was making a fuss about breaking up, it was definitely not the turn of an outsider to dilute his liking for Jiang Qin!

Seeing the man’s face turn cold, Wenwen felt a bit scared. Before he could say anything, he saw Jin Yan stand up and say lightly, “I’m going to the restroom. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Brother… Brother Jin…”

Jin Yan strode out of the private room. As he went out, he casually pressed his cigarette out on a floating stone sculpture in the corridor, his movement so fierce that Wenwen, who had chased after him, was startled.

However, just at this moment, the door of the opposite private room opened, and Jiang Qin walked out with several male and female colleagues in suits. The two groups instantly came face to face!

Jin Yan’s footsteps paused: “Jiang…”

Jiang Qin’s brows frowned slightly, his gaze shifting from Jin Yan to Wenwen behind him. He looked expressionlessly for a few seconds, then turned around without a word and walked away.

Jin Yan froze on the spot.

“Vinson, do you know him?” A young beauty in a professional skirt suit quickly chased after him, asking with a smile, “Why do I feel that person looks familiar? He was still looking at you.”

“You saw wrong.”

Jiang Qin habitually reached out to adjust his glasses, only remembering halfway that his glasses were completely ruined and thrown into the trash can. However, he didn’t put his hand down but instead rubbed the center of his brows. In that instant, his fingernails dug deep into his skin, the pain sending a shiver through his brain.

The beauty asked with concern, “Why not get contact lenses? I have a friend who is an optometry expert. How about I introduce you?”

Jiang Qin shook his head while still rubbing his brows.

“No,” he said, “I’ve worn frames for too many years. I’m used to them.”