Chapter 56: Jiang Liannan
Such a person appearing before him instantly reminded Jiang Liannan of Chen Wuhou during his student days.
When he had first fallen for Chen Wuhou, the other man had been exactly this age.
Now, Chen Wuhou’s son was even more eye-catching than his father during student days. Just by sitting there, he drew a dozen curious looks.
Cat Ear Lounge did not have a rainbow sign out front, but since the owner was the capital’s famous gay icon, eight out of ten customers here were gay.
Li Dong had barely sat down before someone set their sights on him.
Fortunately, Jiang Liannan came out in time and kept those eager young tops and bottoms at bay for the moment.
“Don’t mention it. Give me a minute,” he said evenly. Then he glanced around and saw a swarm of bees and butterflies eyeing the son of the man he loved.
He shot them a sharp glare, thinking, these toads eyeing a swan. Want to touch the son of Chen Wuhou? Do they even know their own weight?
Normally, he was not this sharp-tongued. He was just newly heartbroken and found everyone an eyesore.
“Okay.” Li Dong behaved like someone used to attention. He sat at the bar calm and composed, as if oblivious to the stares.
He’s really pure, Jiang Liannan thought. Does he even know this is a little gay hangout?
Then he corrected himself. The kid had grown up abroad, an ABC. Of course he would not know.
“Boss, your bartending is amazing,” Li Dong praised with a small smile, speaking Chinese with a foreign inflection that gave him away the moment he opened his mouth.
He did it on purpose, of course. Still, Jiang Liannan truly was a sight while mixing a drink, all technique and flair. No wonder he was the capital’s number one.
“Little brother has such a sweet mouth.” Jiang Liannan slanted him a look and, he deliberately showed off, performing a high difficulty move as the finale. It was outrageously stylish. “Here you go. Your drink.”
“Thanks.” Li Dong took a sip and looked pleased. “Not bad at all. Exactly what I imagined.”
Propping an elbow on the bar, Jiang Liannan leaned in a little toward this exquisite little brother. “Hey, who told you about that drink?” He knew perfectly well it had likely come from the boy’s father.
“My dad. He said there’s a place in China that serves it. I just got back from overseas to start university,” Li Dong said. “Do you know Z University? That’s where I am going.” He let a look of youthful anticipation show, then shut his mouth and drank quietly.
Jiang Liannan watched without letting it show, feeling a little unhinged inside. So young, so clean. Exactly like Chen Wuhou in his student days. Another demon who would hurt people in the future.
“Z University, sure.” He sighed inwardly. “Pretty decent for the capital.” Of course, not on par with his own alma mater.
Looked like father and son were cut from the same cloth academically. Neither was scholar material.
“It’s just so-so.” Li Dong took another sip. The way he drank already had a hint of masculine edge, an easy youthfulness that did not lose its steadiness or elegance. “It’s pretty warm in here, boss,” he said, loosening his collar.
Around them, the onlookers had the same thought: f**k, where did this little demon come from?! He could be gong or shou. A flawless prize.
“It is alright.” Seeing the small gays about to lose control and swarm over to hit on Chen Can, Jiang Liannan said quickly, “If you feel warm, you can switch seats.”
Li Dong reflexively looked around, puzzled. “Huh? Why are they looking at me?”
Keep pretending. A veteran like him could read those eyes a mile away: hookups and flirtation spelled right across them.
“They are curious about you.” Complicated, he read the boy’s reaction and understood at once. The kid knew nothing about gay spaces. He did not even notice when people stared at him openly. Too pure. “Why don’t you come with me. I will find you a quiet spot.”
Then he saw the kid hesitate, a spark of caution in his eyes.
Good. People should be cautious. Do not go off with strangers.
“I think… that spot looks fine. I will go there.” Li Dong searched the room and picked a place, then stood up with his drink and walked over.
He moved slowly enough to give the uncle behind him a full view of his build and charm.
Sitting down, he had looked like he could be either gong or shou, mainly because he was so young and baby-faced.
Standing was a different story. Tall and well-built, he made the little bottoms around them go weak in the knees and drool.
My god, that is what the ideal husband looks like. They all wanted to pounce and lick him until he questioned his life.
And what was up with the bar owner?
Didn’t he have someone he loved?
Why was he trailing the new top-shelf fresh meat?
Li Dong felt Jiang Liannan following and guessed the other man was gearing up for something big.
There was a small chance it would be a sneak attack on Chen Can to blow off steam. That was not like the male lead shou though, who would not vent on the innocent.
The much bigger chance was simple frustration. He wanted to talk to the son of Chen Wuhou to soothe his lovesick heart.
Which proved Li Dong was still too young, because not long after he sat down, the male lead plopped right down beside him…
What the… why did it suddenly look like an intimate heart-to-heart?
“How did you end up at this bar?” Jiang Liannan leaned forward slightly. It was summer, and he wore a thin silk short-sleeved shirt with a low neckline.
With a sidelong glance, Li Dong could see the whole stretch of his neck and collarbones. He thought, 35 and still this smooth and tight. Impressive.
Also, what a waste. Such good land lying fallow for a dozen years, and no one had tilled it.
“My school is nearby. I came to see what is fun around here,” he said. “I saw your bar by chance. I also kind of like cats.” He glanced around, as if wondering why the boss did not keep any.
“I like cats too.” One hand braced on the sofa, Jiang Liannan’s breath was fragrant and close. “So you are a freshman? Then you just turned legal? Do you have a girlfriend?”
Three questions in a row made Li Dong pause. “I am twenty by nominal age, and I do not have a boyfriend.” He realized what he had said and corrected himself. “I mean girlfriend.”
His old heart kicked hard. That slip of the tongue from the kid had startled him.
Could the kid be gay?
A little exciting. How was he supposed to keep himself on a leash now?
If Chen Wuhou’s son was straight like his father, so be it. If he was gay, then even if they did something, there was no guilt in it.
It really had been a slip of the tongue.
After saying “boyfriend” for over a hundred years, he was almost forgetting how to pronounce “girlfriend.”
“Then… have you dated a boyfriend before?” Jiang Liannan swallowed and asked. The little devil in his heart swelled too fast to contain.
“No. I am not sure yet whether I prefer boys or girls,” Li Dong said. Chen Can was slow to develop emotionally. Back abroad, he preferred his hobbies and was not interested in dating.
“Do you want to test it out? See whether you prefer boys or girls?” Jiang Liannan’s hand slid onto Li Dong’s knee and kneaded lightly.
He warned himself that if the boy refused, he would stop here.
“How do I test it?” Li Dong looked curious, though he shifted his knee away.
“See whether a man’s touch makes you uncomfortable.” The warning flew out of his head as Jiang Liannan inched closer.
This time he went too far. His hip pressed right against Li Dong’s thigh.
An older virgin shou, touching a strong, muscular thigh for the first time, and the taste of it made his heart go a little wobbly.
“Are you trying to hit on me?” Li Dong was secretly surprised. This shou did not play by the book. In the original, there was no scene where he flirted with Chen Can. Their relationship was simply antagonistic.
He had only advanced their first meeting a bit, yet it had morphed into this. Toxic.
He tried to parse the motive and kept circling back to two words: revenge and loneliness. Then he crossed out loneliness. A shou who had clung to a scummy gong for more than ten years did not even know what loneliness meant.
Revenge. That was the only one left.
Truly toxic. Deadly toxic.
“What do you think?” Jiang Liannan studied his profile. The kid was too pretty, taking after his father’s good looks. In the gay scene, he would be a prize people would fight over. If he did not already have someone in his heart, he might fall for this fresh young thing himself.
“Not bad.” Li Dong moved his knee back as if slowly getting used to it. “Since you look good, I do not mind you touching me,” he said. “But I am not interested in dating a gay guy. I do not like those sticky stares.”
He did not know why, but his heart suddenly blossomed at the boy’s words. He had not felt this happy in a long time. “You are really bold. Do you know who I am?”
In his younger circle, no one dared speak to him like that. Everyone kept their distance and respect.
“Who are you?” Li Dong asked.
He went speechless. He did not even dare say his name now, afraid the boy might have heard of him. “Just a nobody. You just got back from overseas. Even if I told you, you would not know.”
“Oh.” Li Dong finished his drink and set the glass down, looking like he was about to leave. “Boss, I will come back for another drink when I have time.”
“In such a rush?” Jiang Liannan tried to keep him. “I will make you one more on the house. Consider it making a friend.”
“No.” Li Dong said, “I do not hold my liquor well. I get drunk easily.” He lied without blinking.
“It is only nine. Do you have a curfew at home?” Jiang Liannan stood when he did, realizing he was half a head shorter. People said that kind of height difference suited a couple.
He had kept himself chaste for more than ten years for Chen Wuhou and had never played around.
He would also never get into Chen Wuhou’s bed in this lifetime. The thought of going with someone else made him balk. There were plenty who wanted to sleep with him, but he just felt disgusted.
“No,” Li Dong said. “No one is home tonight. I would be alone anyway.”
Mentioning Chen Wuhou was like pouring gasoline on his inner imp. Jiang Liannan had only just steadied himself and now he was spiraling again. “Do not go home. You just said I looked good,” he said. “Take me to get a room.”
Get a room… get a room…
F**k. This world’s uncle-type male lead was both bold and reckless. He knew perfectly well the person in front of him was Chen Can, son of Chen Wuhou. Someone who is supposedly off limits.
“I do not plan on sleeping with a stranger,” Li Dong said and started walking.
“Hey, do not go.” He really did not want to let this chance go. Opportunities like this do not come twice. “You should know someone like me is hard to find.” He was the city’s acknowledged ideal lover. “And I am a first-timer. Do you not want my first time?” That was a big temptation. Did the kid even get it?
Li Dong was speechless. Was he really going to pay a “tax” on his first day in this world?
“What are you hesitating for? I am not in the mood every day,” Jiang Liannan pressed. Spoiled from childhood, he rarely met resistance. Outside of losing to Chen Wuhou, life had always gone smoothly. He was not used to being refused.
You could hear it in the way he talked. A bona fide princess.
Li Dong was silent again. He could not understand how someone so much like a princess could be so devoted to a scummy gong. Was his brain waterlogged?
“Then why are you in the mood today?” Li Dong decided if the shou told the truth, he would treat him gently.
“No reason.” Arms folded, he said, “You look better than the others, and I do not mind you.” Unlike the men who lined up to climb into his bed with only pistoning on their minds. How disgusting.
“One more question, if you do not mind. How old are you?” If he did not answer honestly, Li Dong would flip him on the spot.
“25. Only a few years older than you.”
Li Dong wanted to kneel to this thick-skinned man. Fifteen years older, and he called it a few.
“Then think carefully. Are you sure?” He offered one last chance to back out. Once they crossed the line, there was no going back.
“Sure, I guess.” Jiang Liannan said with some hesitation. When push came to shove, he actually felt like retreating a bit.
“Okay. I accept your invitation.” Li Dong took his hand, one hand in his pocket, and walked forward.
“Hey…” He struggled a little. He did not know why he was wavering, a tangle of regret and uncertainty.
They emerged from the bar’s corner hand in hand, looking very intimate. A low ripple went through the room. The boss had bagged the fresh meat. No, no, it was the fresh meat who had bagged the boss with someone in his heart.
Everyone knew the capital’s number one never played. He was an alpine flower to be admired from afar.
Who was this fresh meat who could lead the boss out of the bar like they were off to a wild night?
Just imagining it was enough to spin out thirty thousand words of steamy fic. So jealous, ugh.
Li Dong had just returned and did not have a Chinese driver’s license. He had come by taxi. Holding the fibbing uncle’s hand, he walked out. “I just got back, so no license yet. Mind if we hail a cab to get a room?”
“!!” He minded a lot. Being so casual for the first time, Jiang Liannan’s heart wasn’t very happy. “Let’s walk. I don’t want to take a taxi.” He looked up at the tallest building. He didn’t speak.
“All right, I’ll hold your hand and walk,” Li Dong said. Having been a person of many years, he knew what little shous were thinking even with his eyes closed. Nothing more than wanting to be valued, wanting to be pampered, best to be treasured in someone’s palm.
But damn it, if you wanted to be pampered, then f*cking please brighten your eyes.
Stop digging through the trash for men.
If you pick a scummy gong who is rotten from head to toe, do not be surprised when you are not cherished. If you get tortured to death, you had it coming.
Beside him, the uncle was oblivious to the savage rant.
He felt quite good, actually. He even liked the feeling of walking hand in hand down a bustling street.
If he only looked at the fresh meat’s back and not his face, he could almost trick himself into believing he was holding Chen Wuhou’s hand.
At that name that hurt him to the bone, he was shocked to discover something. Since meeting this boy who was fifteen years younger, the pain of heartbreak had dulled. He was no longer a walking corpse.
That sudden discovery was a little terrifying. He twitched his hand in Li Dong’s grip. Really, gripping so tightly, not even giving a chance to regret.
All that waffling earlier must have been fake. Maybe he had even lied about never dating.
“What are you thinking? Do not space out. Watch the road.” Li Dong’s voice was low as he let go of his hand and slipped an arm around his shoulders instead.
The uncle was half a head shorter, slim and long-limbed. He fit under his arm perfectly.
“What are you doing?” Fooling around in the middle of the street. People would talk again. Damn gays.
“What is wrong with helping you cross the road?” Li Dong ignored his squirming and held that slightly meaty shoulder tight. The feel surprised him. For someone who looked so slim, he had real substance.
“I am not a child. I do not need you to lead me.” He rolled his eyes, but his body settled obediently against Li Dong’s solid chest. It felt strangely comfortable, in a way he could not name.
“Oh.” Li Dong loosened a bit when he heard that. Then fell silent. Because once he let go, the uncle still leaned into him. He did not move away… he did not move away at all.
So much for loving a scummy gong for life without wavering.
They had known each other less than two hours yet actively seducing to get a room and clinging without letting go. Li Dong was beginning to doubt the original novel.
Author’s Note:
Morning. Dong-ge just arrived and already has to “pay taxes.” Let us pity him for three seconds.
[Thanks for the nutrient solution, babes. It works great, very smooth!]
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