Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Three days later, Ling Sheng was brought to the Jiang family’s residence. Jiang’s father didn’t even bother to come out of the study to see him. Jiang Jian led Ling Sheng up to the third floor and knocked on the door.

“Jiang Chen, the person you wanted to see is here.”

The door was quickly pulled open, causing a gust of wind. The moment Jiang Chen saw Ling Sheng, his eyes filled with elation. He reached out and pulled him inside, not even thanking Jiang Jian before slamming the door shut.

Jiang Jian rolled his eyes in exasperation and walked away.

Inside the room, Jiang Chen pinned Ling Sheng against the door and began kissing him. The worry and longing of the past few days finally found an outlet, erupting in a torrent. He couldn’t even utter a word, only kiss, more forcefully, more passionately.

After what felt like an eternity, the two finally separated. Jiang Chen hugged him tightly, panting as he said, “Are you okay? Did my dad do anything? Don’t believe what you read online. Wait for me, I’ll find a way, okay?”

For the past twenty years, his life had been smooth sailing. Even the most intense arguments with his father ended with his father’s compromise. He had always felt that his life was under his control, but after this incident, he realized how limited his options were, how little he could control, leaving him trapped and helpless.

Ling Sheng stroked his head, his tone much calmer, “I’m fine.”

But his gaze meticulously scanned his forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheeks, lips, chin, carefully and lovingly caressing the back of his head. “You’ve lost weight.”

He hadn’t been eating or sleeping well for the past month, and had even gone on a three-day hunger strike. Only in the last two days had he started eating normally. Of course, he had lost weight.

Jiang Chen’s eyes welled up as he buried his head in Ling Sheng’s shoulder.

After hugging for a while, they finally sat on the bed. Jiang Chen then had the presence of mind to ask, “How did you convince my mom to let you see me?”

“Wasn’t it because of your hunger strike?” Ling Sheng hooked his chin, a smile in his voice. “Your mother couldn’t bear to watch you starve to death.”

“If a hunger strike could make them compromise, I’d starve myself for a few more days.” Jiang Chen wrapped his arms around his waist, not wanting to leave him for even a moment. “That photo was taken because of me. If it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t have had a handle on you, and things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

Ling Sheng held him without a word.

Jiang Chen had a vague premonition, and just then, Ling Sheng said softly, “I promised your mother, we’re breaking up.”

“No breaking up!” Jiang Chen didn’t even want to know the reason. A huge wave of panic felt like a rope had been around his neck. The knot had been tied long ago, and now Ling Sheng was finally pulling on the rope, instantly tightening it, taking away all his breath. The feeling of suffocation was so intense that his mind went blank. He could only hug him tighter, shouting, “I’m not breaking up, I’d rather die!”

“Listen to me.”

“I won’t listen!”

“Calm down a bit.”

“I don’t want to calm down! I don’t want to hear any reasons or excuses. I don’t accept it. I won’t break up with you, no matter what you say, absolutely not!”

Jiang Chen didn’t even want to look at his face. He clung to him as if he were grasping at the last straw, afraid that if he let go, he would leave him without hesitation, like he had left others.

He knew that if he left, he wouldn’t come back.

“Be good.” Ling Sheng’s tone became a little serious. Jiang Chen hugged him tightly for another minute before slowly letting go, but he kept his head down, not looking at him, his whole body as if he were about to shatter.

“Am I really useless? You can blame me, you can hit me, you can scold me. I’ll go clarify those rumors right now. I confessed, I chased you, I kissed you, it was all me. Anything, just don’t break up, please, don’t break up.” Jiang Chen grabbed his arm, his voice trembling, tears uncontrollably streaming down his face, choking with regret.

Ling Sheng felt his neck getting wet. His heart ached as if someone was carving pieces of flesh from him with a knife, but he couldn’t show it in front of Jiang Chen, otherwise it would only force Jiang Chen to take more drastic actions.

He reached out and lifted his chin, without a trace of blame, just gently said, “Who chased who, who kissed who, it doesn’t matter now.”

No one cared about these things. The audience was excited only because of the drama. What had happened before didn’t matter. Calming this farce was the most important thing for the future.

Jiang Chen was shaken by this “doesn’t matter,” his heart felt like it had been thrown into a pot of oil. He was afraid that he would say that he didn’t matter either in the next second.

He felt extremely guilty and afraid, “I caused the trouble, but you’re the one bearing the consequences. They’re all targeting you. I’ll go talk to my dad, I’ll find a way to solve it. I’ll listen to you from now on. It’s all my fault, I’m useless, please, don’t break up, Ling Sheng, please…”

If Ling Sheng really didn’t want him anymore, he couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t listened to him, that’s why the photo was taken. He was the one who caused the trouble, but his family was forcing him to this point. But no matter what, he couldn’t let go, absolutely not!

Ling Sheng saw the light in his eyes about to shatter. He sighed, hugged him, and gently rubbed his ear with his lips, “Who said you’re useless? The only bargaining chip I had when negotiating with your mother was how much you like me.”

Facts proved that his bargaining chip was indeed enough.

Otherwise, with the Jiang family’s strength, they had plenty of ways to force him into a dead end. What’s more, his reputation was already ruined like this. Jiang’s father didn’t even need to do much, just add fuel to the fire, and he could force him to his death without lifting a finger. But they still cared about Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen’s eyelashes trembled, and he finally had a little courage to look at him.

Ling Sheng touched his face, a faint smile on his lips, his gaze gentle and focused. “Say sorry to your auntie for me. My tone might not have been good when I was talking to her, but it had to be that way. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have relented.”

Hearing this, Jiang Chen felt that things seemed to be turning around, not the way he had thought. “Relented? What relented?”

Jiang’s father was determined to force him to leave. He had to show an attitude that he would never give up, re-anchor, in order to have the opportunity to negotiate for more conditions.

At first, Jiang’s mother obviously came with the intention of letting him leave on his own, and even thought about the aftermath and work for him. Under the current circumstances, He’s evidently unwilling to give up such a large development project for the sake of someone like him. But Jiang’s father would not budge, making cooperation difficult to continue. After all, they weren’t without other options besides He’s.

It was also impossible for him to make He Xiaoyun look bad because of him, so leaving Eternity was inevitable.

Ling Sheng didn’t have much to say about this. Being able to leave with dignity without being held accountable was already the best result. But on Jiang Chen’s side, he couldn’t just give up like this. So he made it clear to Jiang’s mother that he would not abandon Jiang Chen and leave. No matter what conditions they offered, unless Jiang Chen didn’t want him anymore.

Jiang’s mother went back and told him the result yesterday. Before Jiang Chen graduated with his master’s degree, they could not be together, could not meet, could not contact each other. If after three years, to be exact, three and a half years, the Jiang family would no longer interfere in their affairs.

“That’s still three and a half years!” Jiang Chen obviously disagreed with this result.

In fact, Ling Sheng was very grateful that the Jiang family was reasonable. If they used unreasonable means, they would have plenty of ways to deal with him. He also thought of the reasons Jiang’s mother used to persuade Jiang’s father.

Three years, in today’s fast-paced lifestyle, there were plenty of relationships that ended in three months. In a situation of not hearing or seeing each other, who could guarantee that a relationship would not change after three years?

Things had reached this point, it was already very ugly. Everyone wanted to end this farce as soon as possible. The Jiang family knew better than anyone how stubborn Jiang Chen was. Seeing that Jiang Chen wouldn’t budge, and knowing that they wanted to sacrifice Ling Sheng, Jiang Chen was even more determined to fight to the death. They didn’t want to go too far, and if they really forced Jiang Chen into a dead end, as long as they could separate now, they might not need to say anything after three years, and they would naturally separate.

He knew that three years was a long time, but this was already Jiang’s father’s biggest concession. Moreover, he didn’t want Jiang Chen to be caught between himself and his family.

He had no way out, so he had to agree.

Ling Sheng smiled and looked him up and down again, saying, “But judging from your mother’s tone… what else did you do besides the hunger strike?”

Speaking of this, Jiang Chen’s eyes darted left and right, feeling that he had finally recovered a bit of his previous energy. He didn’t want to mention it, but he saw Ling Sheng’s expression, as if he knew everything. In this situation, he didn’t dare to lie to him.

His phone and all electronic devices were confiscated. Xu Peiya had come and told him about Ling Sheng’s situation. He knew that Ling Sheng was being forced to the point where he couldn’t even go home, his job was in jeopardy, and he might even face lawsuits and huge compensation. All of this had his father’s behind-the-scenes machinations, and might even be his father’s doing. He couldn’t sit still any longer.

“Jumped out of the window twice, broke down a door once, and took advantage of my brother’s visit to injure a bodyguard and run away. I even twisted my brother’s hand when he tried to stop me.”

He even injured a bodyguard. In the end, he was pinned down by the bodyguard and given a severe beating with a belt by his father. He still didn’t repent.

His father scolded him for being an ungrateful wretch, for being useless, and said that he had wasted his education. He might as well raise a good-for-nothing rather than an ungrateful wretch who ate his food and turned against him.

But he just wouldn’t give in, either beat him to death, starve him to death, or he wouldn’t let Ling Sheng suffer in his place, let alone let him go.

In the end, his mother couldn’t stand it anymore, saying that it was impossible to keep him locked up forever. If he was kept locked up like this, would he still go to school? Would he still take the postgraduate entrance examination? He couldn’t just watch him waste away at home.

His father hated that he was so hopeless and helpless, saying that as long as he was around, he would never let Ling Sheng enter the Jiang family. Then, from a week ago until now, he had ignored him.

“Then your brother is really pitiful.” Ling Sheng said.

Jiang Jian actually knew about their affairs relatively early, and had always been in a neutral state. He had even said a lot of good things about Jiang Chen after the incident, but was inexplicably injured by Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen was not in the mood to think about his brother right now. He leaned over again and hugged Ling Sheng, thinking that since they were going to be separated for three years, he wished he could leave with Ling Sheng now. “Three years is too long. I’ll talk to my dad, one year, no, can we change it to half a year? Or can you let me contact you? Three years is too long, I can’t wait, I can’t stand it.”

He really didn’t have a sense of security. It was so difficult for him to get to this point, to make Ling Sheng completely open up to him. They were already about to choose their house, but at this time, he was told that they had to separate for so long.

He had no confidence, he was afraid that Ling Sheng would fall in love with someone else.

“Do you not have confidence in me, or do you not have confidence in yourself?” Ling Sheng stroked his back, saying softly.

Jiang Chen was silent for a while. He didn’t have the courage to tell Ling Sheng what he was thinking, so he could only hesitate and say uneasily, “Three years is too long, I can’t wait.”

Ling Sheng looked at him, as if he could understand all his feelings. He had been preparing himself mentally since he received the phone call yesterday, so that he could maintain a semblance of calm on the surface now. If he panicked, if he doubted, Jiang Chen would only be more uneasy.

“Then just consider it me waiting for you, waiting for you to grow up, waiting for you to graduate, I’ll wait for you.”

In Ling Sheng’s firm and all-encompassing tone, Jiang Chen finally regained a little confidence. He hesitated, and finally, under Ling Sheng’s gentle and focused gaze, he revealed the unease in his heart: “Will you meet someone you like more?”

“No.”

“Are you so sure?”

“I’m sure.”

In his unwavering and firm answer, Jiang Chen finally felt settled. But thinking of the three years that were about to separate them, he felt that every second from now on became exceptionally long. After a long time, he only used a joking tone to say: “Then are you so sure that I’ll still like you after three years?”

Ling Sheng looked at him, his tone so calm that it seemed like there were no waves, as if everything had been decided: “Yeah, you’re so popular, there must be a lot of people who like you.”

Jiang Chen even wanted to open his mouth to say that he was just joking, wanted to make a promise, but Ling Sheng seemed to see through him. He smiled, like countless times in the past, pinched his chin, gently shook it, his voice deep but extremely gentle: “If you still love me then, we’ll continue to be together. If you don’t love me anymore, then I’ll chase you and make you fall in love with me again.”