Zong Yuan’s temples throbbed. He quickly grabbed Jiang Shengyan’s hand, trying to swat it away from his pants. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Shengyan smiled, his voice elongated. “Didn’t you say you wanted to wipe me down?”
0046 quickly scanned the entire room. “Zong Yuan, I’ve seen everything.”
Zong Yuan immediately turned to leave, but Jiang Shengyan furrowed his brows. “Hey!”
Zong Yuan paused at the doorway to the bedroom. “Boss Jiang, I’m going to give you some advice based on conscience.”
He smirked. “Don’t just take off your clothes in front of other men.”
Jiang Shengyan’s eyes widened in shock.
What does this country bumpkin mean?
Zong Yuan walked down the dark road and asked 0046, “Did you see anything?”
“Nothing at all,” 0046 replied, frustrated to death. “The only thing is that there’s an unactivated surveillance camera in the study. I didn’t find anything else.”
Why install cameras in places where important documents and discussions might take place while leaving other areas unmonitored?
Zong Yuan took note of this and contemplated finding Chen Hongmei, all the while thinking about Jiang Shengyan.
By the time the two of them got home that night, it was completely dark. Zong Xiaomo was waiting for them at the door. “Mom, bro, why are you so late? The food is cold.”
They couldn’t move everything in one go. Zong Yuan had to make many trips back and forth. He had Chen Hongmei and Zong Xiaomo stay home to wait for him. By the time they finished, it was almost nine o’clock.
Chen Hongmei sympathetically served Zong Yuan a bowl of soup. “You’ve worked hard, my son. Make sure to rest well tomorrow.”
Zong Xiaomo bit down on his chopsticks. “Bro, I saw the tide rise by the river this afternoon. Lots of people went to catch fish and shrimp. They were really fat! Let’s go tomorrow!”
Zong Yuan’s hand trembled as he picked up his food. “Catch what?”
“Fish!”
Chen Hongmei agreed, “That sounds good! You can play and catch some fish and shrimp. If you get lucky and catch fat ones, I’ll make fish soup for you tomorrow.”
Zong Yuan tried to reason with her. “We need to thresh the grain tomorrow.”
Chen Hongmei waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine, I’ll borrow a cart from someone. We can just go with your neighbor’s wife.”
Zong Xiaomo blinked, drooling. “Mom, fried shrimp is also really delicious!”
0046 looked at Zong Yuan with pity. “Poor thing.”
Zong Yuan fell silent for a moment, then changed the subject. “Mom, do you know Aunt Lin and Uncle Wang who help out at Boss Jiang’s house?”
Chen Hongmei asked, “What are their names?”
Zong Yuan shook his head. “I don’t know, but they should be from the neighboring village.”
“Look at what you’re saying,” Chen Hongmei laughed. “With so many villages around, there’s both an East and West Village in the neighboring village. It’s strange if I can know just from what you said.”
Zong Yuan continued, “The lady surnamed Lin is in her forties, quite plump, and not very tall. Do you have any impression of her?”
Chen Hongmei thought for a moment. “I do know quite a few people with the surname Lin. There aren’t many I could know from the neighboring village, though. I can’t recall any right off the bat. Son, why are you asking this? Should I go and keep an eye out at Boss Jiang’s house?”
“Nothing,” Zong Yuan sighed. “Mom doesn’t need to go out of her way to check, just keep an eye out.”
After finishing dinner and returning to his room, Zong Yuan washed himself roughly with a basin of cold water. It was only then that he noticed the bite marks on his shoulder left by Jiang Shengyan. His pupils constricted. “0046.”
0046 replied, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
Zong Yuan slowly ran his hand over the wound on his shoulder. This mark had lingered from his previous life for a long time. “Why do the bite marks that Jiang Shengyan left on my shoulder look exactly the same as the ones that Fu Xin left back in the day? Even the position is identical.”
0046 couldn’t believe it. “That’s impossible!”
It pulled out a screenshot it had taken and compared them point by point. “Holy crap, Zong Yuan, they’re exactly the same!”
What it meant by “exactly the same” was that besides the age of the bite marks, everything else was identical.
0046 wanted to rub its eyes in disbelief. “Could it be a coincidence?”
Zong Yuan touched the deep bite mark, feelings swirling in his eyes, finally settling into contemplation. “I’m going to find Jiang Shengyan tomorrow.”
0046 responded, “Then I’ll ask the headquarters.”
The next morning, Jiang Shengyan was abruptly woken up. “What the hell, which idiot is singing so early in the morning?”
Aunt Lin wasn’t there, as he had requested last night. Uncle Wang had already installed the refrigerator and air conditioning. They prepared a whole day’s worth of meals at once. Outside the door, some idiot was singing “On the Moon”, driving President Jiang to the brink of rage.
Jiang Shengyan angrily opened the door. “Who the hell is singing so early in the morning?”
Zong Yuan, bringing in the kids to help sing, smiled brightly at Jiang Shengyan, his gaze flitting over him. “Good morning, Boss Jiang.”
Jiang Shengyan, with his messy hair, wore pajama pants with one leg hiked up to his calf. He had red marks on his face from sleeping. He squinted against Zong Yuan’s bright smile. “What ‘good morning’? The sky is still just a dull gray.”
Zong Yuan had rarely smiled genuinely at Jiang Shengyan, but today he was generous. “Boss Jiang, I’m really troubled about something.”
Jiang Shengyan suppressed his anger. “Go ahead.”
Jiang Shengyan thought to himself that he was only giving Zong Yuan face because he was handsome; otherwise, he would have been dragged out and dealt with long ago.
Zong Yuan looked at Jiang Shengyan. “Come over here.”
“Why should I go over?” Jiang Shengyan grumbled, but he went over anyway, visibly impatient. “Just say it.”
Zong Yuan couldn’t see a hint of Fu Xin in him; Jiang Shengyan and Fu Xin seemed like two extremes. Yet, in some aspects, there were inexplicable shared traits.
He leaned closer to Jiang Shengyan’s ear and spoke, the warmth of his breath brushing against Jiang Shengyan’s ear in a teasing manner. “Jiang Shengyan, don’t you have a little black spot on your left butt cheek?”
Jiang Shengyan’s eyes widened, his cheeks and neck flushing crimson in an instant. He clenched his fists, his chest heaving with anger. “Damn you, did you spy on me while I was showering?”
Yesterday, when he asked Zong Yuan to help him dry off, Zong Yuan didn’t do it and instead chose to spy on him while he showered.
With that reaction, there was no need for a response.
Zong Yuan’s feelings were complicated; he couldn’t quite identify what he felt, but the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but rise, as if he were sharing a little secret. “I dreamed it,” he said, giving Jiang Shengyan a meaningful glance. Jiang Shengyan felt as if he were completely exposed under Zong Yuan’s gaze as if he were wearing no clothes. “Boss Jiang, I’ve had quite a few interesting dreams; do you want to hear about them?”
Jiang Shengyan thought to himself, I’m not interested in hearing you talk about your dreams, but what slipped out of his mouth, tinged with annoyance yet entirely obedient, were two words: “You talk.”
Zong Yuan suddenly chuckled softly, playfully teasing Jiang Shengyan. “What to do? I suddenly forgot the contents of the dream.”
Jiang Shengyan, just waking from sleep: “…”
Damn it.
Zong Xiaomo called out to Zong Yuan from not far away. “Brother, are you done yet?”
Zong Yuan replied, “I’ll be right there.”
He looked at Jiang Shengyan. “Boss Jiang, we’re going fishing today. Are you coming?”
You’re afraid of fish, so why are you going? Jiang Shengyan suppressed his question, being contrary. “I’m not going. Do you think I want to see you make a fool of yourself?”
Zong Xiaomo, growing impatient, ran over directly. “Hello, Boss Jiang! Brother, hurry up. If you’re late, Er Ya and the others will stop you.”
Jiang Shengyan frowned. “Who are Er Ya and the others?”
Zong Yuan replied casually, “A few girls who are interested in me.”
Jiang Shengyan scoffed. “Pretty impressive, huh? Quite a few of them.” He turned to walk back into the room, but Zong Yuan instinctively grabbed his wrist. “Are you going back to get some sleep?”
“Damn it.” Jiang Shengyan shook off his hand, his demeanor aggressive and expression fierce. “Just wait for me to change my clothes. I want to see which blind idiots would have their eyes on you.”
