The word “family” kept haunting Mo Lingqiu’s mind. He slowly realised that Jiang Chenming’s family situation might actually be rather complicated—which might’ve been the reason why he had never been told about it.
Perhaps Shihao Garden was his own property, or, maybe, his family had bought it for him so he could live there.
The car weaved through the suburb roads to the highway, flying the whole way. Half an hour later, it was driven into the mountains, where it went over a hill to reach a large grassland area. As they drove further ahead, they could see a villa far away that didn’t look small.
Mo Lingqiu had lived in City A for such a long time, but he never knew that a place like this existed here. Still, he was expressionless and didn’t show his amazement on his face.
The driver quickly pulled the car up into a parking space in front of the villa. Only then did Mo Lingqiu realise its scale. How is this a villa? Isn’t it a palace? It was exaggeratingly big.
Jiang Junshen put away his tablet. His door opened without him lifting a finger—someone had come to open it for him.
Mo Lingqiu stepped out of the car and saw a man wearing a tuxedo speaking seriously with Jiang Junshen, saying words that were very hard to believe.
“Eldest young master, welcome home.”
“Where’s Chenming?” Jiang Junshen asked, expressionless, handing the tablet over to the man.
“Little young master has gone to the company for a meeting.”
“En,” Jiang Junshen answered. He walked straight towards the villa’s front door.
Mo Lingqiu silently followed him; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to ask, it was just that he really didn’t know what to say.
After walking into the large living room, Jiang Junshen pointed to an unoccupied white leather sofa and gestured for Mo Lingqiu to sit down. “Sit for a while.”
“…Thank you.” Mo Lingqiu, still keeping quiet, hesitated for a moment before he sat down in the corner of the sofa.
Jiang Junshen personally walked to the tea set to make a pot of Longjing before sitting down across from Mo Lingqiu.
Soon someone brought Mo Lingqiu a cup of hot tea, but he didn’t drink it. Instead, he carefully observed the interior’s structure, thinking about how he should react if something really happened later.
Jiang Junshen noticed that he was uncomfortable, so he reminded him, “Don’t be too formal. Just treat this place as your own home.”
Of course, Mo Lingqiu didn’t dare to treat this place as his own home. Although his own family was well-off, he was only from an ordinary, highly intellectual family; where would he have ever seen a scene full of such wealthy people?
“Chenming went to the company for a meeting. It should be a while before he returns.”
“Okay.” Mo Lingqiu tightly clenched his hands together and didn’t say much.
About ten minutes passed. A new person pushed a food cart into the living room, bringing the two of them a delicate breakfast. Mo Lingqiu’s appetite was small, so he only ate two handmade cookies.
After that, three long hours passed. Jiang Junshen sat in one place on the sofa without moving. Without having to look at him, Mo Lingqiu knew that he was busy working.
Mo Lingqiu’s body was becoming stiff from all the sitting, but he couldn’t move until he heard movement outside the door, a familiar voice echoing into his ear.
Mo Lingqiu twisted his head and watched Jiang Chenming quickly enter the room, rushing straight towards him. He was immediately held tight in his arms.
“Teacher Mo, I’m sorry. I’ve been too busy these past few days. I fell asleep every day after work and didn’t contact you.” Jiang Chenming had missed Mo Lingqiu too much. He hugged him with great force, as if he was trying to rub Mo Lingqiu into his bones.
Mo Lingqiu was thin-skinned, especially now while he was still in front of Jiang Chenming’s brother. He didn’t dare say too much. “…It’s okay.”
Jiang Chenming kissed his cheeks. “Teacher Mo, are you busy lately? If you have nothing else to do, why don’t you stay here?”
Mo Lingqiu looked at Jiang Junshen, who was still sitting silently on the sofa, and then looked at his lover. “It would be the same as staying back home.”
“It’s okay. Just stay here and share a room with me.” Jiang Chenming had already been planning ahead when he had asked his brother to pick up Mo Lingqiu earlier.
“Remember to tell Mom and Dad,” Jiang Junshen reminded him. Since his task of bringing Mo Lingqiu over was complete, he put away his tablet and stood up.
“Okay. Thanks, brother.” Jiang Chenming held Mo Lingqiu’s hand, not at all willing to let go.
Jiang Junshen gave them a deep look before he turned around and went upstairs, quickly disappearing from Mo Lingqiu’s sight.
Jiang Chenming glanced at the barely touched food on the coffee table, and, a little worried, asked, “Teacher Mo, have you had breakfast yet?”
“I’ve eaten.” It was almost eleven o’clock—even if he was hungry, it was past breakfast time. Luckily, he had eaten two cookies in the morning to prevent himself from getting hungry.
“That’s good, then.” Jiang Chenming took him by the hand and led him outside. “I’ll take you for a stroll.”
“En.” Mo Lingqiu was anxious to go outside; the house’s interior was so vast that it seemed too empty, giving off an unrealistic feeling.
Jiang Chenming took him for a walk along the path to the courtyard. He even put an extra jacket on him, afraid that Mo Lingqiu would be scared of the cold.
“This is our home. My parents live here and so does my brother.” Jiang Chenming explained, “My family used to be in the wine business, and was developing abroad. Then we returned to China to develop. My father continued the wine business and my mother began to work in foreign trade—cosmetics, daily necessities, clothing, and so on. My brother made his own independent business outside; he opened an entertainment company and a public relations company.”
Mo Lingqiu felt that this was a bit too much information as he listened. Jiang Chenming’s family situation was much bigger than he had imagined.
“Since my brother did it alone, there was no one to inherit the family business, so I was pushed to fill in.” Jiang Chenming smiled helplessly. “But I’m currently planning to expand my family’s business into sporting goods, and some sports event planning. After all, my major is in this area.”
“En,” Mo Lingqiu said, giving a bland enough response after thinking about it.
Jiang Chenming froze, smiling. “Teacher Mo, the house over there in Shihao was left to me by my grandfather. He used to be a soldier and, after he passed away, a lot of his things were left to me. But, although that house is in my name, in the future, when my career is doing better, we can still go out and buy a new one.”
When Mo Lingqiu heard this, his footsteps stopped. “I also have a house. The money can be kept for other purposes.”
“Okay.” Jiang Chenming liked how calm and sensible Mo Lingqiu was. He held his hand even tighter. “I was worried that you would be angry that I didn’t send you a message all those days. It’s great to see that you’re not angry.”
“I am angry,” Mo Lingqiu said, very bluntly expressing his thoughts for the first time.
Jiang Chenming froze. After a moment, he hurried to try to please him. “I’ll cook tonight. Tell me what you want to eat.”
“…Okay.” Mo Lingqiu had come in a hurry; he was empty-handed. He already had a hunch that he might have to meet Jiang Chenming’s parents, so he was still a little worried in his heart. “I want to go out and buy something.”
“Buy what?”
“A meeting gift,” Mo Lingqiu said frankly. “Your parents…”
“I already prepared it, don’t worry.” After Jiang Chenming got the idea to bring Mo Lingqiu over to stay for a while during winter holidays, he already started making preparations.
Mo Lingqiu finally understood that this person had probably been thinking about this for a long time. “I’ll pay you back later.”
“No need to pay me back.” Jiang Chenming moved closer to Mo Lingqiu. “Kiss me?”
Compared to what Jiang Chenming had done, it wasn’t too much for him to ask for a kiss. Mo Lingqiu understood that, so he didn’t say no. Instead, he blushed and drew nearer.
Jiang Chenming had earned the chance to see Mo Lingqiu take the initiative—he definitely wouldn’t let it go. He bit Mo Lingqiu’s lower lip, clasped the back of his head, and deepened the kiss.
They walked outside for a while longer. Mo Lingqiu realised, looking from this lush green grass field all the way to the end of the hill, that all of the land was the Jiang family’s private property. They could no longer be described as just wealthy.
When they returned to the villa in time for lunch, the long table in the dining room was already set up with delicate creamy pasta and various snacks.
Jiang Chenming pulled Mo Lingqiu to sit down and eat. Mo Lingqiu was concerned about Jiang Junshen’s presence and asked, in a low voice, “Don’t you need to go call your brother?”
“He prefers to eat alone in the study room. He’s always been like this, so don’t worry about him,” Jiang Chenming explained, giving Mo Lingqiu a chicken wing.
“Oh.” Mo Lingqiu said no more and buried his head in his food.
In the afternoon, Jiang Chenming was worried that Mo Lingqiu would be uncomfortable staying alone in the house, so he decided to stay with him. He changed his in-person meeting to an online video conference.
Mo Lingqiu sat in a corner that wouldn’t show up on camera and read a book. From time to time, he looked up to watch Jiang Chenming seriously conduct his meeting.
This Jiang Chenming and the Jiang Chenming he knew were worlds apart. The one in front of him now was serious, earnest, quick-thinking, and spoke with reason. The video meeting lasted for four hours. Mo Lingqiu was impressed by Jiang Chenming; his image in Mo Lingqiu’s heart immediately became more grand.
He was more of a mature man than an ordinary university student.
When the video session ended and the sky had darkened, a sudden movement downstairs caught Mo Lingqiu’s attention, making him look up in confusion.
Jiang Chenming looked at the time. “It should be my parents coming back.”
“Th-the stuff.” Mo Lingqiu suddenly tensed up. He stood up, expression rigid.
Jiang Chenming felt like laughing, seeing how anxious Mo Lingqiu was. He took out two gift boxes from the cabinet. “Teacher Mo, don’t be nervous. My parents will definitely like you a lot.”
“This is…”
“Wine and tea. Two of my parents’ favourite things,” Jiang Chenming said, gently patting his hand. “I’ll go check things out first.”
Mo Lingqiu nodded and stood still, afraid that the people downstairs could hear his movements.
Jiang Chenming opened the door and stepped out. He walked around the corridor and saw that his parents had indeed returned; they were in the living room downstairs and had just taken off their coats.
Jiang Chenming’s father, Jiang Zhongzhen, raised his head and saw his youngest son standing in the second floor’s corridor. “Did you not go to the company this afternoon?”
Jiang Chenming gave an honest account. “I had a video conference at home.”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhongzhen nodded his head and didn’t pursue the matter.
Jiang Junshen came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. “Teacher Mo came over.”
Before Jiang Chenming could give an explanation, his brother spoke for him. His spine immediately tensed up. “He’s in my room. I’ll call him out.”
“Just in time. Call him out so we can have a look.” Jiang Chenming’s mother, Chen Shan, had a smile on her face.
“Mom and Dad, you guys hold back your pheromones a little longer. He…” Jiang Chenming was worried that this room full of Alphas would make Mo Lingqiu uneasy.
“We know.” Chen Shan looked gentle and pretty, but she was actually a very powerful female Alpha. Both she and Jiang Zhongzhen worked together to make their businesses stronger.
Jiang Chenming turned around and walked back into the room. “Teacher Mo, can you come out? Let’s go downstairs and talk.”
“…Okay.” Mo Lingqiu, who had been in the room listening to the movement outside, took a deep breath and followed Jiang Chenming out of the room.