Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Jiang Chen immediately headed towards the break room. There were three break rooms. After a moment’s thought, Jiang Chen directly opened the door of break room number two. As soon as he opened it, he saw Ling Sheng sitting on the sofa, who simultaneously looked up at him.

The moment their eyes met, without needing to say anything, Jiang Chen closed the door behind him, locked it, and quickly walked over to embrace him.

Ling Sheng was also dressed to the nines today, befitting He Xiaoyun’s engagement banquet; he couldn’t be too shabby.

They had only been apart for three days, and they still video-chatted every day, but Jiang Chen still missed him terribly. He nuzzled Ling Sheng’s neck, smelled the perfume, and frowned slightly.

It wasn’t that the scent of the perfume was unpleasant; Ling Sheng occasionally wore a bit to work. But by the time he came home in the evening, it had usually faded. After showering, the scent of the body wash also wouldn’t be very strong. Every time Jiang Chen hugged him, he would smell a hint of body wash combined with a bit of his skin’s natural scent. It was unique, and he always knew it.

But now, all he could smell was perfume.

“Don’t mess up my clothes,” Ling Sheng only let him hug him for a short while before pushing him away, telling him to let go.

Jiang Chen reluctantly released him. His brother definitely wouldn’t let him stay away for too long, but he still wanted to talk to Ling Sheng for a bit.

After he let go, Ling Sheng still helped him straighten his clothes a bit and said, “I told He Xiaoyun, and he told me to wait here, saying you would come.”

Although what He Xiaoyun had done previously annoyed Jiang Chen, thinking about it now, Jiang Chen reluctantly categorized him as an assistant, since without him stirring things up, he might not have realized Ling Sheng’s inner turmoil so quickly.

Jiang Chen hummed in agreement and then felt that they could talk via video call. Since they finally had a chance to meet in person, they shouldn’t waste it on talking. So, he leaned down to kiss him. Ling Sheng cooperated, tilting his head slightly and opening his lips to meet his kiss.

They had practiced many times and were both very familiar with how to kiss each other comfortably. Jiang Chen could manage it most of the time, only becoming more aggressive in bed, where he couldn’t restrain himself as much.

But the moment of tenderness was short-lived. Soon, a knock sounded on the door, and Jiang Jian’s cold voice rang out: “Jiang Chen.”

Jiang Chen released Ling Sheng. Ling Sheng gave him a comforting kiss before he went to open the door.

After Jiang Jian came in, he looked around and noticed that in such a large break room, there was only Ling Sheng. He turned around and closed the door again, politely extending his hand: “I am Jiang Chen’s older brother, Jiang Jian.”

Ling Sheng reached out and shook Jiang Jian’s hand.

Jiang Jian was five years older than Jiang Chen, and Ling Sheng was two years older than Jiang Jian. Since Jiang Jian knew about him and Jiang Chen, Ling Sheng was naturally more nervous around him than around ordinary people. But with his experience, his expression didn’t change, and he said, “I heard Jiang Chen say that he has always had the best relationship with his older brother.”

This wasn’t a lie, and Jiang Jian didn’t take this half-true, half-complimentary statement to heart. He still maintained his cold and distant demeanor: “My parents still don’t know about Director Ling and my younger brother, so I still hope that when you’re outside, you can be more discreet.”

Jiang Chen took a small step towards Ling Sheng, but Jiang Jian stopped him with a look. Ling Sheng didn’t mind; Jiang Jian’s words already revealed that his lack of opposition was good news. So, he said, “Xiao Chen also doesn’t like to be high-profile; he has a sense of propriety.”

Jiang Jian had spent the past few days investigating Ling Sheng’s background, including his past romantic history and even the incident where Jiang Chen publicly beat up Wu Xia. He had initially wanted to chat with Ling Sheng, but after seeing his romantic history, he felt a bit complicated and hadn’t approached Ling Sheng.

Ling Sheng was too experienced. Even He Xiaoyun had once been involved with him. This made him worry that his seemingly clever but foolish younger brother would be taken advantage of in this relationship.

They didn’t have a chance to say much before a sudden commotion erupted outside, attracting everyone’s attention. Jiang Jian pulled Jiang Chen and said, “Director Ling can rest a bit longer; we’ll go out first.”

When they returned to the hall, they saw a large stage in front of the hall, with a huge electronic screen behind it. The two protagonists had just been on this big screen when the engagement announcement was made, but now, the screen, which had been turned off, suddenly turned on.

Everyone was confused and thought something was about to be played, so they all looked at it.

At this moment, Lu Sheng frowned and said to Yan Huan, “Stay here; I’ll go take a look.”

He had just left the hall, presumably heading to the backstage control room, when a photo suddenly appeared on the screen. The photo clearly showed two people kissing.

A man in a vintage brown suit and another man in a coat were kissing. One was slightly tilting his head, and the other was slightly raising his head, grabbing the other’s collar as if wanting to push away, but also as if leaning in proactively. Their lips were pressed together, clearly showing that they were kissing.

The photo looked like it was taken in a hurry and was a bit blurry, but because the lights were too bright, it was still very clear.

The person in the vintage suit was obviously Jiang Chen. Most of his face was clearly visible. Although only half of the face of the person he was kissing was visible, it was enough to see that it was Ling Sheng.

People in the audience might not recognize Ling Sheng, but most had seen Jiang Chen. After a two- or three-second silence, the hall suddenly became noisy, with gasps and discussions filling the air.

“Isn’t that the youngest son of the Jiang family?”

“He’s gay? My daughter mentioned him to me; I didn’t expect him to be gay.”

“Isn’t this He Xiaoyun’s engagement banquet? What is he doing?”

This was a photo taken of them in the parking lot during their date at the Zhiyin cruise.

Jiang Chen’s expression instantly changed.

The screen was only on for less than five minutes before it was turned off, but those five minutes were enough for everyone present to clearly see the photo, to clearly see the two protagonists in the photo.

At this moment, a waiter came over and said to Jiang Chen, “Are you Mr. Jiang Chen?”

Jiang Chen nodded, and the waiter said, “Director Lu wants you to come over.”

“I want to go too,” Yan Huan quickly said.

The waiter didn’t seem surprised and said, “Okay, Director Lu said that Mr. Yan can come along if he wants.”

Jiang Chen was about to follow him when Jiang Jian came over and grabbed him: “Where are you going?”

Jiang Chen didn’t know why this was happening, but Lu Sheng obviously knew something: “Brother, Lu Sheng wants me to go over; it should be about the photo. I’ll tell you about it when I get back.”

But Jiang Jian’s trust in him had obviously plummeted because of him and Ling Sheng. And he noticed that someone was also leading the way for Ling Sheng, so he said, “I’ll go with you.”

At this moment, Jiang’s father and mother were also searching the room for their two sons. Jiang Chen hurriedly said, “Brother, I’ll go see what’s going on first. Go check on Mom and Dad first.”

The gazes of everyone in the room were shifting back and forth between them, and even those who were used to being watched felt extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable at this moment. Jiang Jian, seeing that Jiang’s father was so angry that he was about to flip the table, had no choice but to let go of him first: “Take your phone.”

They were taken to an office backstage. Not only was Lu Sheng there, but He Xiaoyun was as well. He Xiaoyun was accompanied by a tall and very handsome young man, Xia Chi, the younger brother of tonight’s female lead, Xia Wan. However, his attention was different from theirs. Everyone else was looking at a computer, but his gaze was fixed on He Xiaoyun.

And in the corner, two bodyguards were holding down someone in a hotel uniform, whose mouth was stuffed with something, and he could only look at them in terror.

Jiang Chen didn’t have time to pay attention to him. He looked directly at Lu Sheng. Lu Sheng handed a USB drive to the person next to him.

That person inserted the USB drive into the computer, opened it, and there was nothing else inside, only a photo. Jiang Chen and Ling Sheng knew it when they only saw the thumbnail.

This was the very photo that had been projected onto the banquet hall screen.

Jiang Chen’s gaze shifted to the person being held down by the bodyguards in the corner: “He did it?”

Lu Sheng nodded slightly, his voice calm and cold: “Instigated by someone, 50,000 for posting a photo.”

Someone deliberately wanted to reveal Jiang Chen and Ling Sheng’s relationship at He Xiaoyun’s engagement banquet!

“Where did the photo come from?!” Ling Sheng asked sharply.

Spending 50,000 to reveal their relationship? What’s the benefit?

Almost everyone in the room was thinking about this question, but He Xiaoyun was obviously the first to think of the reason: the development project He Xiaoyun had recently obtained was facilitated by the Jiang family.

Although it had passed through layers of screening and review, and the contract was in the final stages of review, it was perfectly timed to leverage He Xiaoyun and Xia’s marriage to create momentum, signing the contract after the engagement banquet.

But if Jiang Chen and Ling Sheng’s relationship was exposed at this time, and Ling Sheng was an employee of He’s company, a friend of He Xiaoyun, and they might even know that Ling Sheng was He Xiaoyun’s ex-boyfriend—after all, since He Xiaoyun came to Jiang City, his attitude toward Ling Sheng was obvious to almost all Eternity employees—Ling Sheng could receive so much special attention from Director He, possibly because of old feelings, or possibly because of something else.

Then people would suspect what He’s company relied on to obtain this project.

Everyone had the strength, but so many equally matched competitors were kicked out, and He’s company was able to win this project.

Even if both parties were open and honest, able to withstand another investigation and review, the signing would inevitably be postponed. Without the contract signed, there would naturally be more opportunities to take advantage of.

If that was the goal, they would definitely have more actions to follow.

Ling Sheng immediately thought of this point in He Xiaoyun’s slowly furrowing brows.

If it was just coming out, it might be okay. After all, people can slowly understand, and feelings can be cultivated. But if it was linked to interests, especially huge interests, things would become complicated.

Lu Sheng obviously thought of it too. He asked Jiang Chen, “Is there any possibility of other photos being taken, or other leverage?”

Jiang Chen couldn’t answer. He and Ling Sheng had actually been very careful outside, but that’s how couples in love are. They can’t help but stick together at all times. They had kissed in the movie theater, kissed in the corners of the school walls, kissed in Jiang beach Park, kissed on the deck of the Zhiyin cruise… Now, looking back, every corner they thought was empty might have been spied on.

He looked at Ling Sheng, whose face was as white as a sheet. Ling Sheng didn’t look at him. He was just staring at the photo on the computer, not moving.