Walking to the balcony, Song Qingtan dug into his cigarette case. When he looked up, he saw Jiang Zhou leaning against the railing and looking at the gathering inside.
He followed Jiang Zhou’s gaze and indeed saw the thin and small Chen Ju.
“Jiang Zhou, am I not mistaken? Is it really you?” Song Qingtan was shocked. “What about the young lady from the Liu family? You won’t start something and then abandon her, will you?”
Jiang Zhou withdrew his gaze and looked casually at the potted plant next to the pillar. He said, “It’s just a transaction.”
“Haha, I know it,” Song Qingtan replied with an expression that suggested he had expected it for a long time. “Is it to stop your old man? But why choose a man? Why not pick someone else?”
“You’re meddling too much.” Jiang Zhou raised his eyes, and the dim light was reflected in his pupils, shimmering like ripples.
“Okay, let’s not talk about it,” Song Qingtan sneered, and brought the topic back on track. “There was a minor incident that required some modifications to be made in the contract the day before yesterday.”
After Chen Ju finished eating the sushi Jiang Zhou had picked up for him, he looked around. His gaze stayed on the dessert table beside him.
Jiang Zhou won’t be back for a while, so he should have enough time to eat a small cake.
However, it’s okay to be discovered. He was just having a cake, not doing anything bad.
That being said, on the way to move the dessert table, Chen Ju behaved as if he were up to no good, cautiously looking around left and right, tiptoeing his way over there.
As soon as he picked up a small cake, he was suddenly patted on the shoulder. Chen Ju was startled, and his grip loosened. With a splat, the cake fell onto his clothes, leaving a pink trace on the white down jacket.
Unfortunately, this suit was newly bought by Jiang Zhou. He would discover that he had soiled his clothes because of sneaking a dessert… and he hadn’t even taken a bite yet.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” Song Yuan apologized sincerely. “I saw you chatting with my brother just now, so I thought I’d get to know you.”
Chen Ju didn’t listen to what the man was saying. He stared at the large pink cream stain on his clothes, looked up at the man, and asked: “Do you know where the restroom is? I need to wipe my clothes off.”
“Give me this outfit, I’ll have someone buy you a new one as a form of apology.” Song Yuan said.
Chen Ju shook his head: “You don’t need to compensate me, I’ll just clean it.”
“That won’t do. I’m not someone who takes advantage of others… Hey, where are you going?” Song Yuan hurriedly caught up with Chen Ju.
Chen Ju didn’t look back, pursing his lips and saying, “I’m going to the restroom.”
He had to wipe his clothes clean before Jiang Zhou returned.
“Alright, I’ll take you there. You’re heading in the opposite direction.” Song Yuan compromised.
Song Yuan led Chen Ju to the bathroom and leaned against the door, watching the man lean over the sink, cleaning his clothes with wet paper towels. He had a serious expression on his face, and a faint sense of familiarity rose in Song Yuan’s heart.
“Have we met before?” Song Yuan walked over to stare at Chen Ju’s face, suddenly grabbed his shoulder, and pushed his bangs away. His eyes lit up. “Chen Ju! I know it! I’m Song Yuan. Don’t you remember me?”
Chen Ju stared at the man in front of him for a while, and finally a few vague memories flashed in his mind.
“Song, Yuan?” He remembered that the previous Song Yuan was half a head shorter than himself, but now he had grown a little taller than him.
“It’s me! At the beginning, I worshipped you as the boss, and I was your younger brother for a while. I still miss those times very much now. We had fun every day!” Song Yuan said excitedly, his round eyes sparkling with delight. “Can I still call you boss now?”
Chen Ju’s cheeks turned red, and he immediately covered Song Yuan’s mouth with his hands, feeling embarrassed. “No, don’t call me that.”
The man’s hands were tainted by the sweet fragrance of the cake and the coldness of the water. It was sweet and refreshing. Song Yuan was stunned for a moment, and an imperceptible blush appeared on his cheeks.
“Okay, I won’t call you that.” Song Yuan said with a smile.
After releasing his hand, Chen Ju felt too embarrassed to meet Song Yuan’s gaze. He felt extremely regretful in his heart, wondering why he had formed cliques and played the role of a gang leader in the past. It was all because he had watched too many gangster movies back then.
“I haven’t seen you since high school graduation. What have you been doing these past few years?” Song Yuan asked curiously. “You’ve even gotten involved with Zhou Ge.”
Song Yuan didn’t know about Chen Ju’s pursuit of Jiang Zhou. He only knew that there was a period of time when Chen couldn’t be found and would rush home right after school.
“No, I didn’t do anything.” Chen Ju didn’t want to talk about this topic. So, he walked to the tissue dispenser, took out a few dry tissues, and dabbed away the water stains to make it less visible.
“Chen Ge~ Can I call you that instead of ‘boss’?” Song Yuan walked up to Chen Ju, smiling brightly. He deliberately bumped Chen Ju’s shoulder with his arm and sighed. “I haven’t seen you for a few years, Chen Ge. Why did you shrink a size?”
Chen Ju felt a bit angry and stood aside. He didn’t like others commenting on his size.
“It’s because you’ve grown too tall.” He whispered.
“It must be that Chen Ge has become too thin and didn’t catch up with proper nutrition, that’s why you didn’t grow taller. Come on, I’ll treat Chen Ge to something delicious!” Song Yuan hooked his arm to Chen Ju’s.
Chen Ju’s body tensed up, wanting to push Song Yuan away, but Song Yuan’s strength was so great that he couldn’t break free at all.
“No, I, I’m going back.” Chen Ju pursed his lips and said. If he didn’t go back soon, and Jiang Zhou returned without seeing him, he would be angry.
“Okay, then let’s continue to eat some small cakes~” Song Yuan changed his mind as soon as he wanted to. Without waiting for Chen Ju to respond, he happily linked his arms with him and walked towards the banquet.
Chen Ju was completely dragged along. But, thinking about getting back quickly. On the way, he caught a glimpse of their reflection in the aluminum mirror on the wall, and he inexplicably had the feeling of two girls holding hands and strolling down the street.
Seeing that Jiang Zhou hadn’t come back yet, Chen Ju breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the air conditioning here was fully turned on and the water stains on his clothes should soon be invisible.
“Chen Ge, ah~” When Chen Ju turned his head, he saw a piece of cake pressed against his lips. Song Yuan stared at him with a bright smile, and said enthusiastically, “This cake is very delicious!”
Chen Ju wanted to refuse, but meeting Song Yuan’s sparkling eyes, the words couldn’t come out of his mouth.
“Just take a bite~” Song Yuan looked at Chen Ju anxiously.
There were people all around and some had already noticed their interaction. The back of Chen Ju’s ears grew hot. So he stepped forward bravely, opened his mouth, and took a small bite of the cake.
The sweetness of the cream spread to the tip of his tongue, and all the previous worries and embarrassments just disappeared. Chen Ju squinted his eyes contentedly. It was really delicious. He hadn’t eaten such a tasty cake for a long time.
Song Yuan stared at Chen Ju’s face, and the smile on his face gradually faded. He stretched out his hand: “Chen Ge, you have cream on your mouth.”
“Ah, where?” Chen Ju came back to his senses and was just about to wipe his mouth when he suddenly felt a tightening sensation around his neck as he was pulled backwards.
Jiang Zhou is USING him?? And going playing with another girl as well? Give me a moment y’all, I have to find my baseball bat–
I swear, Song Yuan is honestly a better match for our Chen Ju 🙄✋
Wait for me. Wait for me. grabs pitchforks 😠
That mf is upto no good😡
I want to start a fight, this man does not deserve the Mc regardless of how he was treated years ago by him. I want the romance not this angst!
this bitch doesn’t even deserve to be in the novel anyways!
Song yuan is so so so much suitable for our baby than jiang zhou
I know that the mf and chen ju are eventually gonna end up together 😡 but I can even give petition to read a fluffy story between song yuan nd chen ju. I bet it would be so good😭😔
Song Yuan is such a golden retriever! He’s literally a comfort person for someone as broke as Chen Ju. They’re so cute QAQ
Jiang zhou stop being a scumbag and star5 appreciating chen ju or else a certain someone will definitely steal him from you 🙄 hoping song yuan will keep interacting with chen ju and be his friend in need ><
” two girls holding hands and strolling down the street ” haha 😂 it was cute. Song yuan is a cutie pie.😁
I prefer li qing(?) Or whoever the kind bro was 😭
I’m starting to think that everyone has a small crush on our Little Orange 👀