At first, Guo Chengyu was driving quite steadily, but suddenly a car shot out at the intersection. Luckily he reacted in time, or else they would’ve collided.
Just as he was about to curse, he noticed the license plate looked familiar.
Wu Suowei quickly reversed, parked at the roadside, and ran straight toward Guo’s car.
Jiang Xiaoshuai was in the car too.
Looking at Wu’s ferocious expression, Guo thought to himself, Is he here to ask for news, or to kill someone?
Before Guo even finished parking, Wu was already at the window, firing questions.
“Well? How is it? How’s it going?”
After parking, Guo rolled down the window and looked at him.
“Didn’t I tell you to wait at the office? What are you doing out here?”
Wiping sweat from his brow, Wu said, “I was worried something might happen to you on the way.”
“What could possibly happen?” Jiang couldn’t help but chuckle.
Wu, looking dead serious, replied, “If I hadn’t shown up, at that intersection, at that critical moment, you would’ve already crashed into another car! Luckily it was me, luckily I reacted fast. Otherwise you’d be stuck there all afternoon!”
Guo ground his teeth. “If you hadn’t shown up, there wouldn’t have been another car at all!”
“Alright, alright!” Wu cut him off impatiently. “Just tell me already, what’s the situation?”
Guo said, “Can we at least go somewhere quieter? You think this is the kind of thing we can talk about in the middle of the street?”
But Wu clung to him. “Just give me the gist of it first, then we can go. Otherwise I can’t even drive straight.”
“He’s doing fine,” Guo said. “Satisfied?”
Finally Wu managed a faint smile but shamelessly pressed, “Just a little more detail. Just a bit.”
Jiang, watching from the side, couldn’t take it anymore. He patted Guo on the shoulder. “How about this — I’ll drive his car, and you two can talk on the way.”
“Good, good!”
Before Jiang could even get out, Wu had already jumped into the backseat.
“Come sit up front,” Guo said.
“Why?”
“Easier to talk.”
Not wanting to waste time, Wu climbed straight from the backseat to the passenger seat.
“Alright, spill.”
Guo started the car and calmly told Wu about Chi’s situation, then also explained what they had planned next, asking for his input.
“You’d better go to Chi’s parents’ place and show your support. His dad’s position is sensitive — better to keep him out of this if possible.”
Wu nodded. “Got it.”
After a short silence, Guo added, “Chi asked me to bring you a message.”
Wu’s heart pounded, his face heating up.
“What message?”
Guo leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“This.”
After kissing him, Guo even smacked his lips, not as smooth as Jiang, and kept his eyes on the road. But when he stole a glance sideways, he caught Jiang witnessing the whole scene.
Fuck! How did this end up with a kiss?!
Jiang quietly slowed down and merged behind them.
Afterward, Guo glanced in the rearview mirror and muttered, “Wasn’t Shuai-shuai driving alongside us? Why can’t I see his car anymore?”
No sooner had he said that than there was a loud bang from the rear.
261
In the end, Wu and Guo’s conversation finished at a car dealership.
The whole time, Jiang sat silently off to the side, fiddling with his fingers. He didn’t join the discussion, nor did he seem upset, he maintained a graceful demeanor, as though the car crash really was just an accident.
Afterward, Wu got a phone call and quickly drove off in his repaired car to return to the office.
Once Wu left, Jiang’s face darkened in an instant. He kicked over a chair, stood up, and stormed out in anger.
“Shuai-shuai, listen, about earlier—” Guo began.
“I did it on purpose,” Jiang interrupted.
Guo frowned. “I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about what you saw in the car. There’s a story behind it, I didn’t just get horny for no reason.”
Jiang feigned ignorance. “What did I see in the car?”
“You’re really gonna play it like that?” Guo jabbed his finger at Jiang’s forehead.
Jiang responded with a powerful punch to Guo’s stomach.
Guo bared his teeth, feeling both fond and impatient, wanting to explain the misunderstanding quickly.
“Here’s the thing: Chi asked me to pass along a kiss to Wu. I was just conveying his feelings, I personally had no ulterior motives.”
But before he could finish, Jiang blew up. “So you’re saying Chi kissed you in the detention center?”
Guo’s mouth twitched. What kind of logic is that?!
“There was a pane of glass between us! How could he kiss me? He just asked me to kiss Wu on his behalf and begged me to take care of him in the meantime.”
“Oh? He asked you to kiss him?” Jiang looked even more skeptical. “Who are you trying to fool? With how jealous Chi is, you think he’d allow you to kiss Wu? He’d have killed you!”
Hearing that, Guo suddenly realized something.
“He already got his revenge.”
Jiang narrowed his eyes. “What revenge?”
Guo said, “You remember a few days ago when we schemed to have Wang Zhen call and make them misunderstand each other? Chi must have figured it out! So he had me kiss Wu to mess with us, to get his revenge!”
Jiang stared at him for a long moment, then his lips curved into a stiff smile.
“I’d rather let him win than let you off so easy!”
With that, he turned and marched out.
Just as Guo reached out to grab him, Jiang turned back and said, “From now until Chi gets out, I’m staying with Dawei.”
Guo ground his teeth silently. That old fox Chi, even locked up, he still manages to pull this shit!
262
Guo added, “Actually, if Chi’s dad handled this, it would go much smoother. He’d just have to sacrifice his dignity a little.”
Without even thinking, Wu said, “We can’t let his dad get involved. If anything backfires and harms his career, Chi would be the disgrace of the family!”
Guo said, “Honestly, I think just aiming for a lighter sentence is enough, lower risk, less burden. In Chi’s situation, he might get sentenced to a year or two but actually only serve three to five months. And the detention center isn’t that bad. He just needs to tough it out.”
Chi could endure it, Wu couldn’t. He couldn’t stand even three to five days, let alone months.
“Alright. We’ll go with that number. I’ll trouble you to make a few more trips,” Wu said firmly.
Jiang Xiaoshuai sat not far away. Hearing Wu say that, he felt really uncomfortable. He wanted to chime in and persuade Wu not to be so stubborn, but then he remembered what Wu had said to him that night and forced himself to hold back.
Guo continued, “Also, you need to send a gift to the prosecutor’s office. Doesn’t have to be as much, but enough to make it acceptable.”
Wu’s heart sank, after emptying his private stash, he was basically broke.
“Having trouble with the money?” Guo asked. “If so, just say the word, I can transfer it right away.”
Wu flatly refused. “You’ve already been running around and worrying for days. Don’t trouble yourself with the money too!”
Hearing that, Guo immediately understood what Wu meant. Sure enough, just like Jiang, determined to keep a clear boundary between him and Chi.
With that thought, Guo’s eyes drifted to Jiang.
“Shuai-shuai.”
Jiang pretended to be watching a video, ignoring him.
Guo strode over, pulled off Jiang’s earphones, and put them on himself.
“What the hell?” Jiang snapped, trying to grab them back.
Guo teased, “How come there’s no sound in these?”
Jiang insisted, “I just turned it off!”
Guo glanced at the screen and saw the obvious mute symbol. He shot Jiang a mocking look.
“Watching a silent film?”
Jiang’s face flushed with embarrassment. “What’s it to you? I like it this way!”
“Come home with me,” Guo coaxed.
Jiang ignored him and kept staring out the window, sulking.
Guo tried again. “Stop being such an eyesore here. They’ve got enough on their plate without you making it worse. What can you even do here? You can’t cook, you break the dishes, waste their food and detergent, no wonder no one wants you around. They’re being polite by not kicking you out and here you are shamelessly clinging on!”
Jiang exploded, roaring at the top of his lungs. “Get lost!”
Satisfied to see Jiang finally snap, Guo headed for the door.
Before leaving, he said to Wu, “I left the stuff by the door. Sorry for the trouble these days.”
The implication was clear: Jiang belonged to him, and here he was just a guest, so treat him as such. On the surface polite, underneath a bit of revenge, while also drawing a line between Wu and Jiang.
Not one of these four had a big enough heart.
After Guo left, Wu brought the stuff inside, some new clothes and skincare products, all of Jiang’s favorite brands. There was even a portable mini fridge full of Jiang’s favorite dishes and canned delicacies, all handmade by Guo himself.
“Look how good he is to you,” Wu said.
Truthfully, Jiang had already forgiven Guo. He just wanted an excuse to keep Wu company a little longer and to make Guo focus more on Chi’s situation.
Wu took out some of the food and heated it up, deliberately setting it on the coffee table and eating it in front of Jiang.
“This is really good,” Wu smacked his lips. “Same old craftsmanship, same old flavor. You really don’t want a bite?”
Jiang snorted. “I’ve been sick of it for ages.”
“Alright then, don’t mind if I do.”
Wu picked up a piece of cartilage and crunched it noisily.
Jiang clenched his jaw but eventually gave in, sulking as he shuffled over.
Later, Jiang realized that Wu had only eaten a single rib the whole time, he hadn’t really had an appetite. Jiang regretted it then, thinking: If I’d held out just a little longer, maybe he would’ve eaten more.