Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Yan Qingchi chuckled, “Then I promise you,” he said, “I’m actually not very willing to share the fruits of other people’s labor. I prefer to do my own thing, decide my own wins and losses, and bear the consequences myself. But you are more important than my preferences, so I’m willing to change for you. I’m willing to share the results of your efforts, walk with you forward, and stand by your side to support you no matter what happens.”
Jiang Mochen pressed his forehead against his, “Then thank you so much, Mrs. Jiang. However,” he whispered, “if one day you have a career you want to develop, you can tell me. I won’t confine you to Nancheng; I will let you do what you want to do.”
“That’s a matter of course.” Yan Qingchi laughed upon hearing this. “Then it’s probably quite simple. Right now, besides making good films and winning awards, what I want to do most is finish my sketchbook. When Qi Qi grows up and is past the age of liking these kinds of drawings, I’ll draw for Yan Yan. Then, when Yan Yan grows up, I’ll stop drawing. By then, I hope I’ll have a mountain of works to my name, almost upto my head.”
Jiang Mochen looked him up and down. “That’s a tough task for you. You’re not exactly short.”
Yan Qingchi thought for a moment. “If that doesn’t work, I’ll just wait until it’s half my height.”
Jiang Mochen couldn’t help but laugh. “You can’t just change that so easily.”
“Anyway, it’s all my idea, and I get to decide.”
Jiang Mochen stood up with a smile, opened a drawer, and took out a dark blue rectangular gift box. “I also prepared another gift for you. To be honest, I didn’t know if you would like the shares of Nancheng, so I made two preparations.”
Yan Qingchi raised his left hand, showing him the ring on his hand. “I always thought this was today’s gift.”
“This is an engagement ring, how can it be considered a gift?”
Yan Qingchi reached out and took the gift box from his hand. “What is it this time?”
He asked as he opened the gift box, but was stunned. Inside the gift box was a watch. Unlike the watch he had given Jiang Mochen years ago, this watch was obviously more fashionable. The blue dial had a faint, shimmering silver light, and a star-shaped sapphire was set on the surface, giving it an understated luxury.
Yan Qingchi took out the watch. “I like this, it’s very beautiful.”
Jiang Mochen took it and put it on his wrist. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Looking at it this way, my birthday this year was really worthwhile, I received so many gifts.”
Jiang Mochen looked at him with a smile, and Yan Qingchi grabbed his hand. “If you keep doing this, I’ll feel pressured when it’s your birthday this year.”
“No need.” Jiang Mochen said, “A proposal or a ring, I owe you all of that. You don’t need to give me those things. You just need to spend a simple birthday with me.”
“Such low expectations?”
“The premise is that you have to be there, and that’s not a low expectation.”
Yan Qingchi looked at him and smiled unconsciously. “I’ve been there for every single one of your birthdays in the past two years.”
“So you have to be there in the future too.”
Yan Qingchi nodded. He was in a good mood and couldn’t help but want to be intimate with Jiang Mochen. So he took his hand and kissed him.
Jiang Mochen hugged him and kissed him. The two looked at each other between kisses, their eyes filled with smiles, and then they kissed again.
Finally, rolling into bed was the most natural thing in the world. Yan Qingchi even felt that perhaps because the atmosphere was so good, neither of them wanted to end their lovemaking, holding each other for a long time before finally showering.
He lay in Jiang Mochen’s arms, talking and kissing him, feeling both cloying and comfortable. In the end, he couldn’t help but hold Jiang Mochen back, drifting off to sleep to the other’s gentle whispers.
Yan Qingchi always woke up earlier than Jiang Mochen, but when he woke up and checked the time on his phone, sure enough, it had been quite some time since sunrise. Yan Qingchi calmly accepted this fact, even sighing, “Humans are so easily corrupted.”
But so be it, he thought resignedly, “It’s only for one day anyway.” So Yan Qingchi continued to lie in Jiang Mochen’s arms with a clear conscience, looking at the ring on his hand.
When Jiang Mochen woke up in the morning and saw him still in his arms, he habitually said, “Good morning,” and then kissed him.
Yan Qingchi didn’t dodge, letting Jiang Mochen kiss him on the cheek. Jiang Mochen, taking advantage of the situation, tried to kiss him back, but Yan Qingchi quickly resisted, and Jiang Mochen held him tightly. The two playfully wrestled on the bed for a while, and finally, Jiang Mochen kissed him on the lips, but he didn’t kiss him back, only smiling and saying, “Okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”
Yan Qingchi looked at him, somewhat helpless.
Jiang Mochen held him in his arms and asked, “Are you hungry?”
Yan Qingchi shook his head.
“Then let’s lie down for a while longer, and then go downstairs for breakfast.”
“There’s no breakfast, it’s lunch.”
“Lunch is good too,” Jiang Mochen said.
Yan Qingchi pinched his cheek. “Yeah, you’re lucky you even have anything to eat.”
Jiang Mochen bit his lip. “If I don’t have anything to eat, I’ll eat you.”
Yan Qingchi laughed. “Then you’re in trouble. I’m only serving for a limited time. After nightfall, I’m not serving anymore.”
“You’re right here in my arms, how can you not serve me?”
Yan Qingchi nodded. “I’ll let you see me, but you can’t have me.”
“So cruel? Can you bear to do that?” Jiang Mochen asked him.
Yan Qingchi looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then truthfully said, “Okay, I do feel a little reluctant.”
Jiang Mochen had only asked him as a follow-up question, but he hadn’t expected such an answer. He instantly felt that he had some inappropriate thoughts. So he coughed and asked in a low voice, “What should I do? I feel like I want to go up the mountain again?”
Yan Qingchi’s eyes widened. “No, you don’t want to.”
“No, I really want to, I’m even itching to.”
As Jiang Mochen spoke, he pulled the blanket over them and pinned him down. Yan Qingchi smiled helplessly, “Jiang Mochen, are you crazy? Are you a teddy bear that has come to life?”
“Don’t you know whether I am or not?” Jiang Mochen said in a low voice.
Yan Qingchi felt that he was probably like Fan Jin[1] who had passed the imperial examination, so he went crazy with joy and actually did it with him again in broad daylight. And he actually cooperated with him and went up the mountain again!
Yan Qingchi felt that he was already teetering on the edge of depravity and couldn’t be pulled back. The only saving grace was that even if Jiang Mochen was going mad with joy, he would remember to use a condom. Congratulations! At least there was no need to worry about him getting pregnant again out of nowhere.
Jiang Mochen massaged Yan Qingchi’s lower back while talking to him on the bed. Their conversations always ranged through the most unrelated topics. Right now they were being affectionate, exchanging kisses and sweet words, but then they started bickering, eventually even engaging in a word-chain game.
Yan Qingchi yawned, “I’m hungry.”
“Then let’s go downstairs to eat.”
Yan Qingchi nodded. “Any plans for today?”
“What kind of plans do you want?”
“What plans have you made?” Yan Qingchi asked him.
Jiang Mochen shook his head. “It was my mistake. I only planned for one day. Next year, for your birthday and our proposal anniversary, I’ll plan three days of plans for you, each day different.”
“So what about today?”
“How about I sing you a song?” Jiang Mochen asked him.
“A love song?” Yan Qingchi thought for a moment. He didn’t think he’d really heard Jiang Mochen sing much, except for that time they sang “Come On, Friends!” together.
“If you want to hear it,” Jiang Mochen replied.
Yan Qingchi nodded, “Okay, then I want to hear the kind where you love me to death, and can’t live without me.”
Jiang Mochen: “…”
“Or I’m the light of your life, your only one, your faith!”
“Come on, Yan Qingchi, go wash up and change your clothes first.”
“You go first, I’ll lie down for a while.”
Jiang Mochen sat up, “Sigh, now I understand why they say the spring night is too short and the sun rises too high, and from then on the emperor doesn’t hold court in the morning.”
Yan Qingchi patted his back, “Wake up, the Qing Dynasty is over.”
Jiang Mochen looked back at him, “It’s okay, I love beauty more than the country.”
Yan Qingchi raised an eyebrow, “Then I’m doomed, I like career-oriented men, not love-struck men.”
Jiang Mochen: “…That hurts, I’m leaving.”
Yan Qingchi chuckled, “Go on then.”
When Jiang Mochen came back from the bathroom, he saw Yan Qingchi wearing pajamas leaning against the bed, with earphones in, listening to something and laughing non-stop.
“What are you listening to? You seem so happy.”
Yan Qingchi looked up at him. “Guess.”
“A crosstalk performance?”
Yan Qingchi shook his head.
Jiang Mochen asked curiously, “What is it?”
Yan Qingchi looked at him. “You want to know?”
“I didn’t really care before, but now that you mention it, I’m actually curious.”
“Then you’d better be prepared.”
Yan Qingchi said, unplugging his earphones and pressing play. Jiang Mochen heard his familiar voice coming from the phone, “What I can give, as long as it’s not excessive, I’m willing to give. So, if I can’t give, then you’d better not even dream about it.”
Jiang Mochen was stunned for a moment, almost instantly reacting, and reached out to grab Yan Qingchi’s phone. Yan Qingchi rolled off the bed, pointed at him, and said, “What are you doing? Isn’t this what you wanted to hear?”
Jiang Mochen never expected that he would be listening to this, and he was both amused and exasperated. He went around the bed to grab it, “You even recorded this, turn it off.”
Yan Qingchi swayed in place, “I won’t.”
Jiang Mochen had no choice but to walk closer to him and reach for his phone. Yan Qingchi continued playing while dodging, “I won’t easily fall in love with anyone, so after marriage, I might, no, I should, I probably won’t like you that much…”
Jiang Mochen felt that this was probably what they called public execution, and turned his head away in shame, not wanting to listen anymore. He never expected that Yan Qingchi had recorded their conversation when they first met, and even more unexpectedly, he was now playing it back in front of him.
He was somewhat amused and exasperated. “Do you really have to remind me of this embarrassing past?”
“I just wanted to tell you that you can’t just make empty promises. See, they’ve backfired.” Yan Qingchi looked at him seriously and said, “I, Jiang Mochen, don’t easily fall for anyone. I won’t like you. You’d better know your place.” Then he looked at Jiang Mochen. “—So true!”
Jiang Mochen couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you very proud of yourself?”
“Shouldn’t I be proud? See, I never make empty promises like that.”
“Yes, you’re so smart. You even recorded it.”
“Well, we had just met, so I had to be careful.”
Jiang Mochen couldn’t help but sigh. “I thought you were a little white rabbit back then, but you’re actually a little fox.”
“Come on, do you think I didn’t know? You didn’t think I was a little white rabbit back then. You clearly thought I was stupid.”
“Well, I also thought you were adorably stupid.” Jiang Mochen tried to salvage the situation.
“Didn’t you think I’m all looks and looked down on me?”
“Nonsense! Don’t you know what you’re like? How could I look down on you? I was captivated by you from the first moment I saw you!” Jiang Mochen completely disregarded whether he had any conscience left and fully demonstrated his survival instinct.
Yan Qingchi nodded leisurely, “Really?”
“Of course!”
“Mr. Jiang, doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
“Not only doesn’t it hurt, it’s practically jumping around wanting to confess its love to you.”
Yan Qingchi laughed heartily, looking at Jiang Mochen, “You’re really too outstanding, the epitome of talent, you win, you’ve successfully rewritten history.”
Jiang Mochen walked over, took his phone, looked at the audio files inside, and smiled helplessly, “You actually saved it on your phone.”
“This is a VIP exclusive spot, other files only deserve to be on my hard drive, only your audio is qualified to appear on my phone.”
“Then shouldn’t I feel very honored, I, a distinguished member?”
“Yes, look, you don’t even need to recharge, I’m crowning you for free, only you in the whole world have this treatment, one of a kind.”
“Then I really have to thank you.”
“You’re welcome, we’re not so formal, it’s only right.”
Jiang Mochen couldn’t help but laugh, hugging him, “You’re such a clever little devil.”
Yan Qingchi smiled.
Jiang Mochen lowered his head to kiss him, but Yan Qingchi reached out and covered his mouth. “I haven’t brushed my teeth.”
“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Jiang Mochen said, removing his hand and kissing him.
Yan Qingchi, mindful of not having brushed his teeth, was unusually reserved and didn’t return the kiss. Jiang Mochen gently kissed him, looking at him tenderly between kisses. “Do you like me?” he asked.
Yan Qingchi smiled and nodded. “Yes.”
“I like you even more,” Jiang Mochen said.
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[1] Fan Jin is a famous fictional character from the Qing dynasty satirical novel The Scholars (Rulin Waishi) by Wu Jingzi. He represents the extreme obsession, poverty, and psychological toll experienced by traditional scholars who spent decades trying to pass China’s grueling imperial examination system to achieve social mobility and status. Fan Jin took the imperial exams repeatedly for over 30 years, finally passing the provincial-level exam (juren) at the age of 54. Having lived in extreme poverty and suffered constant mockery from his abusive father-in-law, the sudden shock and overwhelming joy of passing caused Fan Jin to temporarily lose his mind.
