Chapter 73.2

Qu Xiao ordered a gin and tonic.

Jiang Zhihuo prepared the ingredients.

This drink was easy to make, and the steps were straightforward. Fill a glass with ice cubes, let the fog settle, then squeeze in some lime juice. Next, pour in the gin and tonic water. Complete it with a mint leaf for decoration.

Wen Da hadn’t ordered anything, so Jiang Zhihuo also made him a gin and tonic, just with less gin and lower alcohol content.

“In a good mood today?” Qu Xiao had been watching Shin for a while. With people constantly coming and going, he was the closest and could see the clearest.

“Mhm, not bad.” Jiang Zhihuo replied offhandedly.

A customer leaned against the bar as Jiang Zhihuo worked on mixing a new drink.

Wen Da took a sip of his drink and asked, “Something good happen?”

Jiang Zhihuo handed the finished drink to the customer, then looked down with a cold, distant expression and asked an unrelated question, “Are you close with Yan-ge?”

Wen Da slapped the table. “Of course we are! If we weren’t, would you come ask us about his white moonlight?!”

Qu Xiao added, “Oh yeah, how did you two end up fixing that whole thing??”

How else could it be settled?

Turns out he was the white moonlight all along. No matter how it said, it sounded ridiculously dramatic.

Might as well toast himself with a Bloody Mary full of dog blood¹[T/N: This phrase uses “狗血” (gǒuxuè), literally “dog blood,” a slang term meaning something overly dramatic, cheesy, or cliché, often in a negative or mocking sense.].

Things had become too complicated to explain just yet, and Jiang Zhihuo had no intention of sorting it out now. Maintaining his cold-faced attitude, he asked again, “So you two know him pretty well?”

Qu Xiao: “Obviously! Tell me, what’s going on between you two?”

Wen Da also urged, “You’re the one asking, are you planning something? Hurry up and say it, or I’ll get mad if you don’t.”

Those two questions were well asked.

As for what exactly was going on between them, Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t quite put it into words.

It wasn’t particularly hard to define. Everything was already in place. All that was missing was a confession, a sense of ceremony.

He had originally come tonight intending to resign and, while he was at it, be honest about the character he had been maintaining.

But in a moment of impulsiveness in the changing room, he took a big step forward, held hands, and even kissed. And now, there was something much more important in front of him; thus, resigning and dropping the act could wait.

After cleaning up the bar counter, Jiang Zhihuo leaned forward slowly in front of Qu Xiao and Wen Da, supporting his elbows on the counter. He asked simply and straightforwardly, “If I were to confess, what type would Yan-ge prefer?”

Both Wen Da and Qu Xiao paused mid-sip, the liquor stuck in their throats as they were suddenly choked by surprise.

Wen Da: “You’re going to confess?!”

Qu Xiao: “No wonder you’ve been in a good mood tonight?!”

Wen Da: “What made you change your mind? Did Young Master Yan do something that moved you?”

Qu Xiao: “I’m curious too. What do you two usually talk about? Has Young Master Yan ever given you anything? Has he confessed?”

“I’m the one asking first.” Jiang Zhihuo interrupted in time to stop the two from firing questions one after another.

It was still most effective to use the cold persona. After so many years of dealing with Yan Mu’s aloofness, Wen Da and Qu Xiao had developed a reflexive habit of backing off.

With a cool glance from Jiang Zhihuo, the two instantly dropped their questions and started offering advice.

“That’s the car trunk confession style!” Wen Da said. “Line up only Porsches in convoy; pack the trunks with balloons, flowers, and twinkling starlights. The moment you open them, it looks so grand that no girl could resist, right?”

“…….” Jiang Zhihuo replied, “Are they into your car or your flowers?”

Wen Da: “……”

“You’re hopeless, single all your life for eighteen straight years.” When it came to chasing girls, Qu Xiao never hesitated to put in the effort, playing the love guide and offering suggestions with ease, “It has to be a surprise. Prepare one birthday gift for each year from age one to eighteen, then give them to him all at once, and he’ll be crying and hugging you within minutes.”

Jiang Zhihuo rolled his eyes silently, thinking that if he recorded those words and played them for Yan-ge, Yan-ge would quickly strangle them.

“So? What do you think?” Qu Xiao asked eagerly.

“……” Jiang Zhihuo looked for a gentler way to say it, “It’s a bit tacky.”

Simply a bunch of useless nonsense.

Wen Da and Qu Xiao appeared helpless.

How would they know how to confess to Young Master Yan?

Young Master Yan was utterly unaffected by that kind of thing; no confession had ever succeeded.

Yan Mu finally managed to chase someone for once, and they were eager to gossip, yet they ended up being asked by the very person involved how to confess instead?

Does he even need to confess at this point?!

Just go up and kiss him, that’s it!!

However, since Shin was the one asking, it clearly showed he was someone who cared about doing it with proper ceremony.

Done joking, Wen Da began suggesting serious advice. “Then you’ll have to wait. If you want something with a ceremony, your best chance is a holiday. After New Year’s, the only fitting time to confess is Valentine’s Day?”

Qu Xiao nodded. “I agree. Wait a little longer.”

It made sense, but Jiang Zhihuo frowned slightly.

—Wait.

That word again.

If he wanted a proper sense of ceremony, then he could only wait.

However, he had already waited enough.

He waited for the case to close, to break away from Li Hao, and to accept the truth that Qin Mu was Yan Mu.

Does he still have to wait now?

Wait for Valentine’s Day? Wait for the national competition to end? Wait until the college entrance exam? Wait until they were sure they’d end up in the same city?

—By the time Jiang Zhihuo pondered this question, he already had the answer in his heart.

There would always be things to wait for. Once one thing was over, another would suddenly appear.

If he could reach out and hold someone’s hand in a moment of impulse or pin them to the wall and kiss them in a moment of impulse—

Then, if he wanted to do something, he should do it.

I saw a flower shop on the street today, so I want to confess.

I want to confess today that I’m searching all over the city for a flower shop.

It was the same feeling.

Jiang Zhihuo ended the conversation there, unhooked his shift badge without hesitation, and told Qu Xiao and Wen Da, “I’m heading out first.”

With that, he strode quickly toward the changing room.

He moved so fast, like a gust of wind. Qu Xiao and Wen Da were still stunned when Jiang Zhihuo reappeared before them, already transformed. “My phone’s dead. Can you lend me some cash for now?”

*

The classroom was stuffy, and during the break, Yan Mu leaned against the wall in the corridor to get some air.

The meeting mainly explained the new direction of the upcoming competition. They also distributed an exam paper to participants, including Yan Mu, for them to complete and review on the spot.

After the two-hour exam, it was already past nine when Yan Mu sent a message to Jiang Zhihuo.

He scrolled up. None of his previous messages had been answered. Jiang Zhihuo was likely working at the moment and couldn’t respond.

At first, Yan Mu didn’t give it much thought. They always gave each other space, replied when there was time, and answered when they saw it. That was how they’d always gotten along.

But it was nearly eleven o’clock when the exam paper review finally finished, and the competition team let everyone go, yet Jiang Zhihuo still hadn’t replied to a single message.

When he tried calling, all he got was a mechanical female voice saying the phone had been turned off.

Yan Mu then reached out to Qu Xiao, who had just left the bar. Slightly drunk, Qu Xiao and Wen Da were wandering down a winter street to sober up.

Answering the call, Qu Xiao asked, “What’s the matter, Young Master Yan?”

“Xiao Zhou… where’s Shin?”

“He left quite a while ago, probably an hour back.” Wen Da snatched the phone and complained, “We were talking just fine, then something urgent came up, and he dashed straight out.”

Yan Mu’s chest suddenly tightened.

He hadn’t forgotten what happened at the clubhouse—that image of clothes and hands stained with blood, that brutal stab. Only thinking about how much it must have hurt made him ache all over again.

“Where did he go?” Yan Mu asked urgently.

“He didn’t say anything.” Wen Da wasn’t stupid enough to ruin the surprise by revealing that Shin was planning a confession. That sort of thing was for the couple alone. Their role was to enjoy the gossip from the sidelines.

Wen Da: “Probably went out to buy something. His phone was dead, and he even borrowed money from us.”

It was only that his phone had run out of battery.

Yan Mu let out a breath of relief. “Okay.”

He walked into the residential complex and looked up from the downstairs area. The balcony light wasn’t on. Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t returned yet.

But soon, Yan Mu realized he might have been a bit hasty. If Jiang Zhihuo had returned, his phone would have been charging by now. There should have been some sign by this point.

Yan Mu didn’t want to go upstairs. He decided to wait downstairs, even though the outcome would’ve been the same regardless of where he stayed.

The residential complex was quiet after eleven, with no one on the walking routes.

Yan Mu sat alone on a stone bench.

It didn’t feel good, just like before.

Different scenes began to overlap in his mind.

Couldn’t find him, couldn’t reach him, didn’t know where he was.

And yet, before they parted, there were hugs and holding hands, walking out the door together. He had even said, Yan-ge, I’ll be waiting for you to come back.

—Just like back then.

He had said he was scared, that he didn’t dare to think back. It was all true.

It was only because they ran into Yun Xiaoxu and those words were spoken that the night felt especially sentimental, yet no matter the moment, the feeling of a chunk of his heart being gouged out was something he could no longer bear.

“Yan-ge?”

It was Jiang Zhihuo’s voice.

Yan Mu raised his head.

Jiang Zhihuo stood under the streetlight, holding a bouquet of flowers in his arms.

The boy and the flowers were equally captivating.

It had been a little late when he left Xiang Yao, and most of the flower shops were already closed. But Jiang Zhihuo wanted to buy them. Once the thought “I don’t want to wait anymore” appeared in his mind, there was no stopping it.

His mind was solely focused on seeing Yan-ge, buying a bouquet, giving it to him, appearing a bit more confident and decisive, and telling him not to wait any longer and that they should start a relationship.

Jiang Zhihuo searched for a long time before finally finding a flower shop run by a family of three, all sitting at a table wrapping fresh blooms.

A young child waddled out on small legs, handed the flowers to Jiang Zhihuo, then peeked from behind the bouquet and said sweetly, “Gege, you’re truly handsome. Your confession will surely succeed!”

The flowers in his hands couldn’t be hidden, but it didn’t matter. He was going to show them to Yan Mu anyway. He just hadn’t expected to run into him downstairs.

Jiang Zhihuo held the bouquet out toward him. “Yan-ge, I…”

Before he could say anything, Yan Mu stood up, opened his arms, and pulled him into a tight embrace.

The author has something to say:

P.S. The steps for making a gin and tonic were sourced from Baidu.

The confession happened! It’s the end of the month, please send me some nutrients!!

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  [T/N: This phrase uses “狗血” (gǒuxuè), literally “dog blood,” a slang term meaning something overly dramatic, cheesy, or cliché, often in a negative or mocking sense.]