Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 78

Blossoming

They were going to Yun City for two or three days, so Jiang Zhou thought for a moment and carried the bouquet downstairs.

When he reached the underground parking lot, Jiang Zhou ran into some company staff. He held the flowers up to shield his face like a thief, taking a long, winding route before finally getting into the car.

Shen Zhiyu watched Jiang Zhou’s little maneuver from inside the car and couldn’t help but laugh, finding him increasingly adorable and interesting.

Jiang Zhou ran into the car, slightly out of breath. Shen Zhiyu pulled out two tissues for him and teased with a smile, “With your official boyfriend around, you still sneak off to have an affair with me, CEO Jiang. You’re something else!”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Jiang Zhou glared at him, taking the tissues to wipe his sweat.

After being fed a little more, Jiang Zhou’s cheeks had gained some weight, puffing out slightly when he glared. Shen Zhiyu couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch his cheek before starting the car and driving out of the underground parking lot.

The air conditioning was on in the car, and Jiang Zhou let it blow on him for a while.

Shen Zhiyu focused on the road ahead, but seeing the time, he didn’t forget to free up a hand to adjust the air vent blades upward.

“Blowing on you for too long will make you catch a cold.”

Jiang Zhou gave a soft acknowledgment, a quiet warmth spreading through his heart.

“Do you like them?” While waiting at a red light, Shen Zhiyu spared a glance for Jiang Zhou.

The sun was setting early; it was twilight. The orange glow fell on Shen Zhiyu’s face, softening his features excessively.

His eyes were as gentle as water, making one want to weep. Jiang Zhou nodded vigorously, a sheen of moisture appearing at the corners of his eyes.

Such a wonderful person, yet he didn’t have the ability to protect him.

Jiang Zhou felt a pang of sadness, and tears fell without warning.

The restless urge of the punishment surged, not intensely, but like an undercurrent. Jiang Zhou hooked his fingers around the bracelet on his wrist and buried his face in the flowers, inhaling their scent.

The cool, elegant fragrance entered his nasal cavity, faintly lingering in his heart, quiet yet powerful.

The restlessness was slowly smoothed out and subsided.

The car drove steadily. Shen Zhiyu didn’t pay excessive attention to Jiang Zhou.

He knew that some emotions were Jiang Zhou’s alone to process; he couldn’t digest them for him.

He only needed to play the role of the guide well.

By the time they reached Yun City proper, it was already 9:30 PM.

It was Cai Zhiyang’s thirtieth birthday, and he had rented out a bar to celebrate. When the two arrived, the bar atmosphere was thick, with dazzling lights swirling ambiguously. The air was hot, mixed with alcohol and the cloying scent of perfume.

Cai Zhiyang was having a blast on the floor and had no time to attend to others.

Shen Zhiyu led Jiang Zhou through the noisy crowd and found a relatively quiet booth.

“Are you hungry?” Shen Zhiyu turned his head to ask Jiang Zhou, his arm naturally draped over the back of the sofa behind him, forming a half-circle enclosure around him.

On the way, they had only grabbed a quick bite at a rest stop. Jiang Zhou never had a large appetite, and although he had been fed more recently, his overall baseline was still small.

He shook his head, his voice low, “I’m fine.”

Shen Zhiyu didn’t seem to care about his answer; after Jiang Zhou spoke, he still went to the bar and ordered a few items.

The food arrived quickly: several delicate snacks and a generous bowl of noodles.

Shen Zhiyu pushed the noodles toward Jiang Zhou, “Eat.”

“I can’t finish it,” Jiang Zhou said, slightly troubled. He also noticed that Shen Zhiyu hadn’t ordered anything for himself.

“I know. You eat first, and if you can’t finish it, I will.”

Let Shen Zhiyu eat his leftovers?

“How can I let you do that!”

“Why not? Is there any part of you that I haven’t…” Shen Zhiyu’s eyes held a mischievous smile.

Jiang Zhou immediately reached out and covered his mouth, stopping his outrageous remark. “I’ll eat! I’ll eat right now!”

Jiang Zhou picked up the noodles and began eating. He tried to eat neatly and elegantly, not wanting Shen Zhiyu to feel like he was eating someone else’s scraps.

When he finished, only a small portion of the noodles was gone, and the presentation was still quite refined.

This person was truly obedient to a fault.

Shen Zhiyu reached over and held Jiang Zhou’s hand. “Full?”

“Mhm,” Jiang Zhou replied softly, his eyes darting around, afraid others might notice their interaction.

Shen Zhiyu used his fingertips to grip the chopsticks. Jiang Zhou immediately released them.

Shen Zhiyu picked up the pair of chopsticks Jiang Zhou had just used and, without the slightest hesitation, pulled the bowl of noodles toward himself.

Jiang Zhou urgently said, “Use a different pair of chopsticks, they’re dirty.”

“Dirty how?” Shen Zhiyu casually licked the chopsticks right in front of him.

Jiang Zhou’s eyes widened slightly, looking utterly embarrassed.

Shen Zhiyu leaned down and, using the rim of the bowl, began eating openly.

His movements while eating the noodles were not crude; they were even elegant. His chewing carried a sense of frankness, even enjoyment.

Jiang Zhou watched, his cheeks burning.

Sharing food, especially sharing someone else’s leftovers, carried an indescribable intimacy.

Shen Zhiyu was using his actions to show that anything belonging to Jiang Zhou was not considered dirty or beneath him.

This made Jiang Zhou feel more flustered than any direct words, yet he also felt a subtle, treasured flutter of being cherished.

The deafening sound waves in the bar seemed to blur into background noise. Jiang Zhou’s entire attention was captured by the man in front of him, who was so calmly eating his leftovers.

Cai Zhiyang finished a round of partying and retreated, sweating profusely, walking toward their booth.

“Brother Yu, CEO Jiang! You made it.”

Cai Zhiyang glanced at the remnants on the table. “Finished eating? Want to go up and play?”

“Sounds good,” Shen Zhiyu said, smiling, his eyes sparkling. He pulled Jiang Zhou up from the sofa with an air of non-negotiation. “Come on, big brother will take you to play something fun.”

Jiang Zhou instinctively backed away. “I—I can’t.”

His wrist was firmly clasped by Shen Zhiyu’s fingers, and a warm breath tickled Jiang Zhou’s ear. “Jiang Zhou, you absolutely can. You hooked me the very first time.”

Jiang Zhou looked at him in surprise.

So he really had seen his performance at Diqian Bar.

Shen Zhiyu reached out and began undoing the buttons of his shirt, revealing a beautiful, pale line of his waist.

Jiang Zhou’s cheeks flushed. “I…”

“Are you scared to be with me?” Shen Zhiyu asked.

Jiang Zhou nodded honestly.

Shen Zhiyu pulled two hats from seemingly nowhere, putting one on himself and firmly placing the other on Jiang Zhou’s head, covering most of his face.

“Is this better?”

Cai Zhiyang whistled from the side. “CEO Jiang, alright! I can’t wait to see your performance.”

“I…” Jiang Zhou’s voice was swallowed by the noise.

Shen Zhiyu led him onto the stage, bringing him to the turntables. “Let’s play a set, thank you.”

The original DJ tactfully stepped aside.

Shen Zhiyu leaned against the mixing console beside them. He placed Jiang Zhou’s hand on the DJ table, leaning in close, practically whispering into Jiang Zhou’s ear, his breath hot. “Don’t be afraid, just play. I’ve got your back.”

Jiang Zhou’s fingertips touched the cold buttons, trembling slightly.

The music paused, and the bar’s spotlight hit him. Everyone below looked at him in unison.

Jiang Zhou took a deep breath, almost closing his eyes, and pressed a play button with a shaky finger.

The melody burst out, but due to his nervousness, the rhythm was half a beat slow, misaligned with the background drumbeat, sounding abrupt.

Jiang Zhou immediately pulled his hand back, his cheeks instantly burning. He grew even more nervous, wanting to flee immediately.

But almost in the same instant, Shen Zhiyu, standing beside him, moved. His fingers flew across the mixing console, executing a precise pull-back that instantly synchronized the melody Jiang Zhou had released to the correct beat.

At the same time, his other hand quickly spun an effects knob, layering a vintage rhythm over the music. The initial mistake was cleverly transformed into a unique, intentional flavor.

Shen Zhiyu glanced over, curving his lips into a smile for Jiang Zhou, his eyes full of trust and encouragement. “A’Zhou, come on, keep going!”

His gaze gave Jiang Zhou encouragement, smoothing out the last trace of panic deep within him.

With Shen Zhiyu there, he could tolerate all his mistakes, giving him the courage to reach higher.

The rhythmic movements and mixing techniques he had once obsessively studied because of Shen Zhiyu, buried deep in his heart, surfaced little by little in his mind.

Jiang Zhou attempted to place his hand on the vinyl. He started with a simple scratch, rotating his wrist. The control of force wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than the first time.

The moment the scratching sound began, Shen Zhiyu’s fingers simultaneously tapped out a dense, ornate, fragmented drumbeat on his side of the equipment, perfectly catching the scratch.

A silent synergy grew wildly between them. Tension and panic gradually receded.

Jiang Zhou’s fingers quickly swept across the equalizer, precisely boosting the high frequencies, making a vocal sample sound ethereal and prominent. Then, he swiftly and boldly cut out the original powerful main drumbeat, introducing a highly melodic electronic sound effect during the one-second rhythmic void.

Shen Zhiyu’s method of cooperation changed accordingly.

When Jiang Zhou boosted the high frequencies, he immediately strengthened the low-frequency thickness for support. The moment Jiang Zhou cut the drumbeat, he instantly supplemented it with a deeper, more impactful kick drum, instantly pushing that ethereal moment toward a more explosive climax.

Their eyes occasionally met in the flashing lights. No words were needed; their fingertips danced on their respective equipment, yet they seemed guided by an invisible thread.

Melody, rhythm, and sound effects flowed, exchanged, and collided under their fingertips. The music became extremely layered and impactful, building momentum, and the atmosphere was completely ignited.

The crowd below went wild. Cheers permeated the bar, and the beams of light were colorful and dazzling.

Fine sweat beaded on Jiang Zhou’s forehead, with a few strands of black hair sticking to it. Below his open collar, his collarbones subtly appeared and disappeared with his movements.

He was completely immersed in the music, his body moving naturally and sensually. That pale, slender waistline was exposed under the dazzling lights during a large turning movement, tight and flexible, before instantly disappearing back into the shadow.

Shen Zhiyu watched Jiang Zhou like this, the pride and heat in his eyes almost turning tangible.

His cooperation became bolder and more aggressive, as if he wanted to draw out all the light from the person on stage and present it for everyone to see.

For the final climax, the two exchanged a look, reaching a silent consensus.

Jiang Zhou abruptly pushed the main melody fader to the top, while simultaneously performing an extremely difficult, rapid brake-and-spin on the vinyl.

Shen Zhiyu simultaneously cut off all auxiliary tracks, leaving only the most raw and heavy kick drum. As Jiang Zhou executed the spin, he used extreme filtering and distortion processing to transform it into a massive roar that tore through the entire noisy venue.

The moment the sound exploded, all the lights suddenly went out.

In the darkness, lips with a scorching temperature pressed down precisely.