No One Else Will Do But You - Chapter 46

This was Jiang Mu’s first collaboration with Su Jing Feng for an overseas merger, primarily to acquire a shopping platform in the US that was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Jiang Mu’s objective was to pave the way for the Jiang Group to enter the international market.

This collaboration with Su Jing Feng was inevitable because Su Jing Feng had extensive connections in the US, and he had initiated this partnership.

Since his substitute teaching stint in the first year of high school, Su Jing Feng had gone to the US to succeed his father’s position and began forging his own path in the American market, naturally establishing a sphere of influence there.

This merger was an excellent opportunity to expand the market. Taking advantage of a vulnerable situation to maximize profit is always what businessmen like to do.

The contract was scheduled to be signed the following week when they arrived in China.

After the meeting ended.

“Jiang Mu, long time no see. It’s been four years since we last met, hasn’t it?”

Jiang Mu heard the man’s smiling voice through the receiver. “Long time no see? I don’t think so. It’s just that you haven’t seen me, isn’t it?”

“Oh? Heh, Jiang Mu, your possessiveness is truly incurable.”

“My love for Luo Luo doesn’t need a cure, does it?”

Su Jing Feng, on the American end, couldn’t help but sigh. He really couldn’t compete with this guy, who was still so young. He was mature to a degree that even Su Jing Feng found incredible.

In every aspect, Jiang Mu’s capability was truly astonishing.

“Alright, Luo Luo should be waking up soon. Let’s gather again when I return to China.”

Su Jing Feng put down his phone and raised an eyebrow. A wife slave, indeed? That description fit perfectly this time.

When Jiang Mu walked into the bedroom, he saw Shu Luo rolling around on the bed.

“Still not awake?”

Shu Luo immediately stopped his rolling, sat up with messy hair, still bleary-eyed, and looked at Jiang Mu.

Jiang Mu looked at those moisture-filled eyes, the fluttering eyelashes seeming to pluck at his heart. Unable to resist, he leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on his lips.

Shu Luo froze like a wooden chicken.

Shu Luo was still drowsy, but the kiss left him even dumber.

Jiang Mu used his hand to smooth his hair, saying softly, “Still not awake? You’ve slept for two hours. Do you need to go back to school?”

Ah, such a gentle voice…

Shu Luo was floating in a daze. This voice felt so tender. It can’t be Jiang Mu, can it?

Jiang Mu saw the dazed smile on his face and knew he was still confused, so he reached out and lightly but firmly pinched his cheek.

“Ah!” Shu Luo cried out in pain and finally opened his eyes wide. The person in front of him was indeed Jiang Mu…

“Are you awake?” Jiang Mu asked.

Shu Luo nodded, then casually rubbed his hair and stood up, messing up the hair that Jiang Mu had just tidied for him.

He stretched languidly, and just like that, he was wrapped in a hug.

Shu Luo blinked. What was happening now? Nose to nose?!

Jiang Mu looked at him, smiling. “Do you act this way in the dorm, too?”

Act this way? What way?

“My roommates are often not in the dorm. They leave early and come back late. They’re study maniacs.”

Jiang Mu tidied his clothes and pressed on his head. “I’ll take you back after dinner. I need to go to the company first.”

Shu Luo nodded, still a little stunned, because Jiang Mu had been acting quite unusually lately. Although he hadn’t explicitly confirmed his feelings, the change was remarkably fast. Sometimes, the tone of his voice when talking to him felt almost… like a dream.

“Brother, did you take the wrong medicine recently?”

This question made Jiang Mu laugh wryly. What was wrong with him?

“I feel like you’ve become a little gentler, but only a little.” Shu Luo separated his fingers to show a tiny gap.

“Yes, I took the wrong medicine. It’s an incurable condition.”

Under such focused gaze, Shu Luo felt inexplicably pressured again.

Actually, why did things evolve this way? He was still somewhat confused.

He could feel Jiang Mu’s kindness toward him, and it was different from before. The look in his eyes had become fervent, sometimes making him feel uneasy.

This definitely had traces to follow.

During the first half of the third year of high school, two weeks before the mock exams, the school allowed students to choose their own location for evening self-study. During those two weeks, he ate and slept in the same space as Jiang Mu every day. That wasn’t the main point. The point was that once, during a nap, he felt someone kissing his forehead.

He opened his eyes slightly and saw it was Jiang Mu.

At that time, he wasn’t particularly resistant; in fact, he felt it was nothing. It was probably from that point on that he began to notice all of Jiang Mu’s actions and glances toward him.

It was definitely different!

He tried to test the theory with someone else, Zhang Feiyang, under the guise of relaxing and playing basketball before the exams.

However, he noticed that Jiang Mu looked at Zhang Feiyang normally, without any special feeling.

Jiang Mu would never actively approach others, never affectionately rub anyone else’s head, never thoughtfully deliver food to them, and never casually allow others to call him ‘Brother,’ nor would he let himself casually call others ‘Brother.’

During that time, he often skipped class and went to the rooftop of the teaching building.

Jiang Mu found him there.

“Brother, you treat me differently from others. Do you like me?”

Shu Luo was completely unaware of the magnitude of the turmoil this single sentence caused within Jiang Mu’s heart.

Jiang Mu’s silence was mostly an admission.

Shu Luo’s inner world was fighting a war at that time. Oh my god, his admired friend liked him?! Is Jiang Mu gay?! And he wasn’t even rejecting it?! He was the one who was messed up first!

However, this matter didn’t affect the College Entrance Exam, which he successfully completed.

It seemed that the two had entered a subtle stagnation period, neither getting closer nor pulling away, as if both were intelligently giving each other time to think about how to resolve the situation.

Shu Luo called Su Jing Feng. Su Jing Feng was already in the US, but they often kept in touch. Su Jing Feng was like a teacher and friend to him—someone who could provide guidance.

“Heh, you finally figured it out? It wasn’t easy waiting for you to grow up. Jiang Mu must have been miserable.”

Shu Luo was surprised. “You knew?!” Did Jiang Mu tell him? But that’s impossible. They had always been antagonistic.

“Me too, I naturally could tell.”

Me too? What too?! Was he also gay?!

Shu Luo felt his world was becoming fantastical. Was this real? Why were two excellent men gay? This isn’t scientific!

“I could tell as early as when Jiang Mu first took you to the riverside. He’s truly deeply infatuated.”

“…” Jiang Mu was playing at secret love at such a young age instead of studying well?! And he was the object of his secret affection.

He had once regarded Jiang Mu as the salvation of his life, starting from when he helped him wash his feet, but he never thought things would evolve into the present situation.

“Shu Luo, can’t you accept it? But I feel that you aren’t repulsed, so congratulations on joining the club.”

“…” Congratulations on what? What’s so great about this?

Mr. Su on the west coast of the continent had also harbored some fleeting hopes. He did have different feelings for Shu Luo, but the age gap between them was simply too large.

“Shu Luo, now it’s up to you. My advice is, of course, to resolve it yourself, because I can’t help you. If you were heterosexual, you would naturally be very repulsed, but you chose to hesitate. So, think about it yourself. Anyway, you’re on vacation now, so you have plenty of time. After all, you’re both still young, aren’t you?”

Sigh.

In the end, he could only hang up the phone and gaze out the window gloomily. The window wasn’t even open; the curtains were tightly drawn.

He felt an unfounded gloom in his heart.

What should he do? He didn’t know!

It was truly the end of the line after Su Jing Feng. If he asked anyone else, things would definitely be ruined. This question was not something everyone could accept. Even he, a conservative Chinese person, felt depressed. It’s all Jiang Mu, this foreigner’s fault!

And so, his confusion lasted for over half a month. During family dinners, he always consciously avoided Jiang Mu’s gaze.

Shu Luo’s mother thought the two of them had quarreled, but Shu Luo dismissed her with the excuse of a “transition period.”

Transition period?

That was close to the truth. This was indeed a transition period.