He's Really So Hard to Pursue - Chapter 9

Inside the guest room, Jiang Yanci sat leisurely on the bed, legs bent, idly tapping his knees.

Having finished the hotpot and washed his hands, Jiang Yi pushed open the guest room door. “Resting now?”

Jiang Yanci stretched out his long legs. “Yeah.”

Jiang Yi pulled out two tissues and slowly wiped his fingers, drying every finger and every gap between them, leaving not a single trace of moisture.

He stood before Jiang Yanci. “How should I help?”

“How did you used to take care of Jiang Xi?” Jiang Yanci smirked, arching an eyebrow.

Jiang Yi: “Are you sure?”

Jiang Yanci tilted his chin. “Mhm. However you took care of him, that’s how you help me.”

Jiang Fang was unreliable, so Jiang Xi had practically been raised by Jiang Yi. After Jiang Yi opened this shop, Jiang Xi would come by for every little thing, more than happy to help out. He practically saw his uncle as a father, whereas his biological mother, Jiang Fang, was more like a stranger.

She didn’t care about her son; she spent every day playing mahjong and cards. When she won, she’d give her son some money; when she lost and ran out, she’d find ways to leech off the elderly. No matter how much they tried to hide money in the nooks and crannies, it was useless.

But…

Jiang Yi hooked a stool with his leg and sat down, letting out a cold snort. “Little brat.”

Jiang Yanci’s heart skipped a beat; he thought he’d heard wrong. “What did you say?”

Kicking the foot of the bed, carefully avoiding Jiang Yanci. Jiang Yi’s gaze went icy. “Do you not have hands or legs? Do I need to hold your hand and teach you step-by-step?”

Jiang Yanci: “…Is that how you raised Jiang Xi?”

Jiang Yi nodded. “Want to try something else?”

Jiang Yanci’s lip twitched, and he couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “It’s a miracle Jiang Xi managed to grow up at all.” He shook his head. “Forget it, I’ll do it myself.”

Taking off trousers wasn’t actually hard. He gave his legs a kick, and the black cargo pants slipped right off.

The moment the pants dropped, Jiang Yi’s gaze flickered. His eyes instinctively locked on for a split second, a mere heartbeat, before he immediately looked away.

With his back turned to him, Jiang Yanci’s lips curled into a half-smile, his eyes brimming with hidden amusement.

He used his left hand to tug at his short-sleeved shirt. “Give me a hand with this.”

Jiang Yi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The air in the guest room seemed to be heating up.

“It’s just a T-shirt. It’s fine if you don’t take it off.”

“That won’t do. I don’t like lying in bed wearing ‘outside’ clothes.”

Principles were meant to be kept; the outside air was full of god-knows-what, especially after a trip to the hospital. He naturally couldn’t lie directly on the bed like that.

Shua—

A blur of black fell over him. Jiang Yi covered him with the black summer duvet before turning around to help. “It’ll probably snag on your hand. Should I just cut it?”

Jiang Yanci didn’t mind. “Go ahead.”

Jiang Yi went to find scissors and cut along the shoulder seam of the right side. Thinking that since he was cutting anyway, he might as well do the left side too, the perfectly good T-shirt was instantly reduced to two pieces of fabric. With the final snip, it fell away, landing across Jiang Yanci’s waist and abdomen.

Just below the navel, the black tattoo was exposed in its entirety. Etched onto skin that was excessively white, the visual impact was staggering.

It didn’t look like a tattoo; it looked like it was meant to grow there.

Such a perfect image shouldn’t be ruined by black fabric.

Jiang Yi narrowed his eyes, his burning gaze flashing across the man’s waist. “Sleep.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Jiang Yanci: “Wait, I still need your help with something.”

Jiang Yi stopped but didn’t turn back. “What?”

If one listened closely, his tone was even colder than usual, as if he were forcibly suppressing something.

Jiang Yanci didn’t notice anything wrong at all. He tugged at the waistband of his underwear. “I want to use the bathroom before I sleep.”

Use the bathroom…

His hand was inconvenient…

He needed help.

How to help?

Jiang Yi turned around, his eyes lowered. “What? You want me to hold it for you?”

He was blunt. Jiang Yanci couldn’t help but laugh. “Manager Jiang is a craftsman; your handiwork is bound to be excellent. Help me hold it, it’ll be quick.”

Pure, unadulterated flirting. Jiang Yi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “The afternoon client is here. I’m going downstairs.”

Jiang Yanci knew when to stop. “Fine.”

Jiang Yi: “What do you want for dinner? I’ll have Xiao Zhao prepare it early.”

Jiang Yanci chuckled softly and remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Yi opened the door. “Still haven’t decided?”

“You decide. As long as I’m eating with you, anything is fine.” Jiang Yanci was truly a bit tired. After the morning drama, having woken up early, been to the hospital, and gotten a cast, it was time for a nap. He was genuinely sleepy.

Jiang Yi plugged in his phone to charge and placed it on the nightstand. “Call me if you need help.”

Jiang Yanci raised a listless eyebrow. “Got it. Thanks.”

Jiang Yi turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Jiang Yanci lay back. Remembering he had a score to settle, he dialed a number. “You grandson!”

Qu Yehui didn’t say anything; he just laughed for two full minutes. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me, the great matchmaker? How was it? Were you moved the moment you saw Jiang Yi come to pick you up?”

“Moved my ass. My hand is ruined again,” Jiang Yanci sneered.

Qu Yehui went silent for three seconds before exploding. “I’ll fuck his ancestors! What happened this time? Was it the man or the woman who hit you?”

Qu Yehui hated Jiang Yanci’s family and felt they didn’t deserve to be called parents, referring to them simply as “the man” and “the woman.” “So when Jiang Yi arrived…”

“I had just gotten hurt, and he took me to the hospital.” Holding the phone was inconvenient, so he switched to speaker and tossed it aside. “My younger brother—same parents, very close bloodline, met less than ten times since he was born—is starting kindergarten. They want a better school district house.”

Hearing the sarcasm, Qu Yehui said: “A school district house for kindergarten? The area around that apartment has decent schools. How much better do they want?”

“The ‘school district’ is a lie; the goal is that place downtown. Probably a wedding house for the little brat. Once they move in, the next step is pressuring me to transfer the title.” Jiang Yanci knew their playbook inside out.

Qu Yehui asked, “Where are you now? I’ll come find you.”

“At Jiang Yi’s.” Hearing that, Jiang Yanci sounded disgusted. “What are you coming here for? If you show up, he’ll have an excuse to let you take me away. I’m staying perfectly fine at my man’s place; don’t come causing trouble.”

Qu Yehui shouted on the other end, “Transfer me some money as thanks! If not for me, would you have been ‘Hero Saves Hero’ by Jiang Yi?”

That was the truth. Jiang Yanci generously transferred a four-digit sum.

Having achieved his goal, Qu Yehui was satisfied. He said a few more words about ignoring the family before hanging up.

Jiang Yanci didn’t bother with him. He noticed two unread messages; he glanced at the contents with a cold expression and didn’t plan to reply.

He fell into a deep sleep and stayed out for a long time. When he woke up, his head throbbed slightly. It was dark outside, past six o’clock.

【Jiang Yi: Are you awake?】

The message popped up just then.

Jiang Yanci clicked it and sent a voice note: “Just woke up.”

A few seconds later, footsteps drew near and stopped at the door. A knock followed. “Noodles for dinner. Come downstairs.”

Jiang Yanci rolled out of bed. He went to the bathroom first to settle his personal business; one hand was doable, though using his left was awkward.

He was a bit slow, making Jiang Yi wait quite a while.

The moment he opened the door, he said, “You’d better help me tonight. Being one-handed is too inconvenient.”

Jiang Yi ignored the comment. Looking at his bare upper body, he paused slightly. “Aren’t you going to put some clothes on?”

“Can’t get into them, and they’re hard to take off. It’s summer anyway; might as well stay like this.” Jiang Yanci walked toward the stairs, but his footsteps suddenly stopped. “Is Xiao Zhao off work?”

“She is,” Jiang Yi nodded.

Relieved, Jiang Yanci strode down the stairs.

And then… he came face-to-face with a man turning around from the sofa.

“Holy shit!” the man exclaimed in shock, looking at Jiang Yi in disbelief. “You’re hiding a man upstairs?!”

His eyes darted ambiguously between the two of them. “Tsk. Reached the stage where you’re comfortable walking downstairs shirtless… when did you two hook up? I thought you were planning to be a celibate monk for life; didn’t think I’d see the day. Hi there, I’m Jiang Yi’s friend, Qin Zhao.”

Jiang Yanci adapted quickly. “Hello. Jiang Yanci.”

Jiang Yanci adapted quickly: “Hello, I’m Jiang Yanci.”

Jiang Yi, expressionless, handed over a large, loose-fitting shirt: “Put this on.”

Jiang Yanci didn’t care: “It’s fine, it’s too much trouble putting it on just to take it off again…”

“Put it on.” Jiang Yi’s brow furrowed slightly as he walked up to him. “Raise your arm.”

Jiang Yanci pressed his tongue against his cheek. “Fine, if Boss Jiang says wear it, I’ll wear it. But you have to remember. If you’re the one putting it on me, you have to be the one to take it off.”

Jiang Yi didn’t respond to that; he simply lightened his movements to help him into the shirt. “Tomato and egg noodles. There’s mushroom sauce, do you want some?”

Jiang Yanci nodded. “I do.”

Qin Zhao stood to the side, watching the whole scene. He rubbed his chin, thinking who would have thought!

Even this guy has his moments of being caught.

He had paraded around shirtless in front of Jiang Yi plenty of times; when had Jiang Yi ever forced him to put clothes on?

Jiang Yanci was too lazy to dress because of his hand, but Qin Zhao had seen it. This fellow had specifically gone back to his room to find a wide-cut shirt so Jiang Yanci could slide into it without even having to lift his arm.

Look at that; he’s even helping him with the buttons now.

What a closeted freak.

With possessiveness this strong, why hasn’t he just made a move already?

Since Jiang Yanci’s hand was inconvenient, Jiang Yi didn’t give him chopsticks; he set him up with a fork.

But even with a fork, he ate very slowly.

He really liked the flavor of the tomato and egg noodles, especially that mushroom sauce—you could find large chunks of mushroom in it, and the rich, savory sauce was delicious when tossed with the noodles.

The more delicious the noodles were, the less effort Jiang Yanci put into eating them.

Qin Zhao quickly finished his bowl. “I haven’t seen you cook since we graduated college. I really missed the noodles you used to make in the dorm.”

“Jiang Yi’s cooking is that good?” Jiang Yanci looked full of interest.

Qin Zhao leaned back against his chair. “Excellent. You’re in for a treat in the future.”

Jiang Yanci slowly ate a few strands of noodles and let out a soft, dissatisfied “tsk.”

While Qin Zhao was talking, Jiang Yi hadn’t looked up. Hearing the “tsk,” he raised his head: “What is it?”

Jiang Yanci set the fork down. “Eating is just so inconvenient.”

“You guys have finished a whole bowl, and my noodles haven’t even gone down yet.”

The hint in his words was practically a neon sign.

Qin Zhao watched the show with great relish, his teasing gaze never wavering.

Suddenly, he got kicked in the shin. He barked out a curse and glared at Jiang Yi across the table: “What the hell was that for?”

“Are you finished?” Jiang Yi asked.

Qin Zhao: “I’m finished.”

Jiang Yi pointed toward the door. “Then why aren’t you getting lost?”

Qin Zhao: “…I don’t really feel like getting lost, is that okay?”

Jiang Yi remained expressionless and unsympathetic: “Get lost.”

Qin Zhao rose slowly, taking his sweet time and looking back every three steps.

The moment he stepped out of the shop, the automatic rolling shutter dropped right behind him.

Qin Zhao: “…Jiang Yi, I’ll fuck your ancestors!”

It almost took off the back of his head.

Inside, Jiang Yanci waited.

Jiang Yi pushed his own noodles aside, rolled up his sleeves, moved to a closer seat, and took a pair of clean chopsticks to re-toss the noodles that were starting to clump. He picked up a mouthful and brought it to Jiang Yanci’s lips.

Jiang Yanci was satisfied; he opened his mouth wide and took a big bite.

Before he could even swallow, there was a crisp click.

The two followed the sound and saw Qin Zhao crouching by the window, holding up his phone.

The latter didn’t realize he’d been spotted and waved his phone arrogantly: “You two take your time eating, one strand at a time, no rush. I won’t disturb you anymore!”

With that, he vanished at top speed.

Jiang Yanci crossed his legs. “Jiang-ge, your reputation is about to go down the drain.”

Jiang Yi picked up another mouthful. “It’s fine. He still has to fall into my hands.”

Jiang Yanci: “What?”

Jiang Yi: “He wants a piece done on his chest.”

Then, with an air of righteous solemnity, he added: “I plan to take several photos of him wearing nothing but his boxers while I’m tattooing him.”

Jiang Yanci: “…”

Jiang Yi continued: “And we won’t be limited to him just lying flat. At that time, you can give me some pointers like enchanting poses, sexy poses—we’ll get a few of all of them for Qin Zhao.”

Jiang Yanci: “…”

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