Chapter 26

Ling Sheng is a very measured person, and he is originally busy with his company’s affairs. Whenever he has time, he spends it with Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen mentioned Wu Xia to Xie Kun a few times, seemingly unintentionally, but Xie Kun only said that there was nothing wrong, just like usual.

Jiang Chen didn’t dwell on Wu Xia’s matter too much. After all, who doesn’t have a past? What’s important is that Ling Sheng is with him now.

Autumn in Jiang City is always short. In October, you can still wear short sleeves during the day, but in November, the temperature drops immediately. With each autumn rain, it gets colder, and people have to wear thick coats at night. By the end of the month, some girls have already started wearing thin down jackets at night. By December, it’s estimated that they will start putting on thick padded jackets directly.

Ling Sheng’s work became busy again. He simply told Jiang Chen that he needed to resolve the plagiarism issue before the year-end summary meeting. Company executives would be attending the company’s annual meeting in January, so he didn’t have much time.

It was raining heavily that day. Jiang Chen didn’t have class, so he drove to the underground garage early to wait for Ling Sheng. He had dropped Ling Sheng off in the morning, and Ling Sheng hadn’t driven.

Ling Sheng frowned slightly after getting into the car, as if he had something on his mind.

He usually wasn’t like this about work matters. If he encountered difficulties, he would usually think about them at the company. Once he left the company, especially when he was with Jiang Chen, he wouldn’t bring too much work-related emotions to him.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Chen asked.

Ling Sheng thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth: “I feel like something has happened to Wu Xia.”

“Hmm?”

“He borrowed six thousand yuan from me last week, and he called me again just now. I feel like he wants to tell me something, but he didn’t.”

Wu Xia is a very frugal person. He doesn’t have any expensive hobbies. His upbringing and habits have taught him to avoid spending money whenever possible. The time he probably spent the most money was when he was with Ling Sheng, and even then, he was quite willing to spend, although the money wasn’t spent on himself.

Over the years, he should have saved some money, although not much, but a sum of six thousand yuan shouldn’t be something he couldn’t come up with. Moreover, Wu Xia didn’t ask him for help even when he encountered such a situation in Jing City. Why would he borrow such a sum of money from him at this time?

It’s only possible that he’s in trouble and has run out of options, which is why he’s opening his mouth to him.

Jiang Chen turned the car around and drove towards Wu Xia’s pet store.

Ling Sheng saw him change direction and turned to look at him. Jiang Chen didn’t speak, his gaze fixed on the front. The lights outside the window outlined the lines of his profile very clearly. In the silence, there was a sense of reassuring reliability.

It was already past eight o’clock, but probably because it was raining heavily, there was still some traffic on the road. Ling Sheng made two phone calls to Wu Xia, but both were turned off.

Finally, they arrived at the pet store, but the owner said that Wu Xia had left work early today, as if something was wrong, and his phone had been ringing constantly.

“Since he borrowed money from you, he’ll definitely contact you, at least to pay you back, right? When he calls you, ask him then,” Jiang Chen comforted him.

Ling Sheng had no choice but to nod in agreement. The two got into the car. Jiang Chen saw that the road indicated by the navigation was blocked in red for some reason, so he changed the route, taking a slightly longer way but avoiding the traffic, which was actually faster.

As a result, not long after the car drove out, Ling Sheng saw a familiar figure squatting under the awning of a convenience store.

“Wait!” He quickly told Jiang Chen to stop the car: “Go over there, I saw him.”

The two found a place to park. Jiang Chen held an umbrella for Ling Sheng and walked to the awning. The sound of the rain was loud, covering their footsteps. Until they got close, Wu Xia didn’t notice them at all. He was squatting there, and whether it was because he had been rained on or because the rain had drifted onto him, he was already half-wet. He was holding his knees with both hands, his head buried in his arms, and his shoulders were twitching, as if he was crying.

“Xiao Xia.” Ling Sheng called out.

Wu Xia’s figure froze for a moment, and then he slowly raised his head. His face was covered in rain or tears, and his eyes were already swollen from crying.

The moment he saw Ling Sheng, his face was filled with disbelief, and then he reacted, stood up, and suddenly pounced on Ling Sheng, hugging him tightly, as if he was hugging a lifeline.

“Sheng… Sheng-ge.”

Before he could hug him for two minutes, a pair of hands pulled him away. Then he saw Jiang Chen standing between them with a dissatisfied and wary expression: “If you have something to say, say it. Don’t be pulling and tugging.”

Only then did Wu Xia see Jiang Chen. He reacted for a while, his mouth open, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two of them, as if he understood something but couldn’t believe it, unable to say a word.

“Let’s get in the car first,” Ling Sheng said soothingly, patting Jiang Chen. Under Jiang Chen’s dissatisfied gaze, he raised his hand and touched his face, a gesture of intimacy.

Now Wu Xia didn’t understand anything.

Jiang Chen was soothed by Ling Sheng, and his tone was much better. He asked Wu Xia: “Where do you live? I’ll take you back.”

Hearing that he was going to take him back, Wu Xia seemed to have been pricked by a needle, his eyes filled with fear, and he retreated repeatedly: “No, I’m not going back. I’m fine, you guys go.”

Ling Sheng quickly noticed that something was wrong with him: “What’s wrong at home?”

Wu Xia quickly lowered his head. His hands were twisted together. He was only wearing a thin sweatshirt, and whether it was cold or fear, he felt like he was shaking.

“I, I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong at home. I just came to buy something, you don’t have to worry about me.”

His voice was full of fear and helplessness, but he still wanted to hide something desperately.

Ling Sheng looked at him for a while. Just as he was about to take off his coat and put it on him, Jiang Chen, seeing his movement, immediately took off his own coat and put it on him: “If you don’t want to go back, then let’s find a warm place to talk.”

Ling Sheng didn’t say anything and refastened his coat: “Let’s go to my place first.”

Wu Xia was still hesitating, and Ling Sheng’s tone became serious: “Wu Xia, you know I hate people lying to me the most.”

Wu Xia looked up at him, bit his lip, and nodded after a long time: “Thank you, Sheng-ge.”

They were silent all the way. Wu Xia shrank in the back seat. He was wet, probably from the rain. He tried to make the space he occupied as small as possible, not wanting to get too much of Jiang Chen’s car wet. Ling Sheng sat in the passenger seat without saying anything, and Jiang Chen focused on the road without looking at the back seat.

When they arrived, Jiang Chen drove the car directly into the underground garage, then skillfully pressed the elevator button for the floor. After entering the house, he poured a cup of hot water for Ling Sheng and Wu Xia, then asked Ling Sheng: “You ate so little tonight, should I order takeout?”

Looking at Wu Xia’s appearance, he probably hadn’t eaten anything either. Ling Sheng asked him what he wanted to eat, and Wu Xia said anything was fine, so Jiang Chen ordered takeout, not even asking Ling Sheng for the address, acting as if he was familiar with the place.

Wu Xia silently watched everything Jiang Chen did, his eyes filled with loss.

“I’ll get you one of my clothes. You’re all wet, change into some dry clothes to avoid catching a cold.” Ling Sheng took a new sweatshirt for Wu Xia. After searching for a long time but not finding any new pants, he gave him a pair of his old pants.

Wu Xia took the clothes and went to the bathroom. As soon as the door closed, Jiang Chen pulled Ling Sheng in front of him, kissed him heavily on the lips, and whispered unhappily: “I bought that shirt for you the day before yesterday.”

Ling Sheng cupped his face and smiled: “Then should I give him one I’ve worn?”

Jiang Chen rested his forehead on his forehead, thought for a while: “Never mind, give him the new one. I’ll buy you another one next time.”

Ling Sheng kissed him.

Jiang Chen hugged him, resting his head on his shoulder: “Did I perform well today? Was I mature enough?”

From the moment he saw Wu Xia today, he had been making small movements, like a dog peeing to mark his territory. Ling Sheng couldn’t see through it, so he stroked his hair: “Very good, I’ll give you a reward next time.”

Before he could ask what the reward was, the bathroom door moved, and the two separated.

When Wu Xia came out, the two were sitting side by side on the sofa, looking at Jiang Chen’s phone together, leaning close together, with a kind of intimacy that no one could interrupt.

“I chose the closest one and paid for express delivery. It’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

Wu Xia was still holding his wet clothes in his hand, standing there with his head down: “Sheng-ge, do you have a bag? I’ll put my clothes in it and take them back later.”

Ling Sheng gave him a bag. After he slowly packed his clothes, he gestured for him to sit on the single sofa.

The sofa in Ling Sheng’s house was a combination of a three-seater and a single-seater. At this time, they were sitting on the three-seater, and Wu Xia was sitting on the single-seater with his head down, wringing his hands, not daring to look at them.

“What’s going on? Tell me,” Ling Sheng went straight to the point.

Jiang Chen leaned back, didn’t say anything, and let Ling Sheng ask himself.

Wu Xia had obviously been thinking about this, but he still didn’t know how to open his mouth.

Ling Sheng considered it, and then said: “I don’t know what you’ve encountered. Since you called me today, it means that I should be able to help you. But after all, it’s your own business. If you really don’t want to say it, I won’t force you.”

Wu Xia looked up at him, then looked at Jiang Chen over there, his eyes red.

Jiang Chen turned his head away.

Ling Sheng said lightly: “He’s my boyfriend. It’s better to say something in front of him.”

Jiang Chen was a little surprised, but he had to say that it made him very happy, so he cleared his throat: “If you don’t want me to hear, I can go to the bedroom.”

Wu Xia quickly shook his head: “No, no, I just… I called Sheng-ge today, just, just to borrow some more money.”

Ling Sheng’s gaze was sharp, with scrutiny: “You just borrowed six thousand from me last week.”

“Then forget it, I won’t borrow it, it’s okay, I’m going back.” Wu Xia was a little flustered under his gaze and wanted to stand up and leave.

“Wu Xia!” Ling Sheng grabbed him.

Ling Sheng restrained his expression. When he was serious, his eyes always had a bit of sharpness. Even if there wasn’t much emotion in his tone, it still made people feel oppressed.

Wu Xia was shaking all over, but he bit his lip and didn’t say a word.

Ling Sheng’s expression softened a little: “Wu Xia, I treat you as a friend. If it’s just borrowing money, I can lend it to you again, but will that really solve the problem?”

Wu Xia’s body shook even more violently, obviously it wasn’t something that money could solve.

Ling Sheng waited for a while, but Wu Xia still didn’t speak. Ling Sheng was a little disappointed, but he still let go of his hand. The moment he let go of his hand, Wu Xia grabbed him, his fingers still trembling. The tears in his eyes kept falling, his body slightly bent, fearful and humble: “Sheng-ge… I, I really don’t know what to do.”