Orange Storm chapter 63
Love Letters
Boyfriend.
Starting from today, Fang Xing was no longer the “kid” or “little brother” in Jiang Zhijin’s mouth, or the “my son” during jokes. He was now the “boyfriend” Jiang Zhijin had just called him a moment ago.
On the way back, he felt a bit dizzy, his heartbeat intensified, one after another. His mind seemed unable to hold anything, just repeating the phrase, “So… I’m together with Jiang Zhijin now?”
Perhaps everything had gone too smoothly, and he even felt a bit unreal.
The road downhill was dark and slippery. Jiang Zhijin drove a bit slowly, and it was past 8 o’clock when they reached indoors; the night had fallen. Jiang Zhijin glanced at Fang Xing.
“I’ll drop you off first, then head to Cloud Seven. Is that okay?”
“I—” Fang Xing snapped out of it, hesitated for a moment, and remained silent.
Tonight was Christmas, and Cloud Seven should be busy. Fang Xing knew he probably wouldn’t be of much help if he went, and Jiang Zhijin would be distracted. But now, he kind of wanted to stay with Jiang Zhijin.
Clearly, it hadn’t felt like a big deal when they were apart before. Jiang Zhijin was at Cloud Seven, and he was at home studying… But today was different.
Today, he had just confessed to Jiang Zhijin, and Jiang Zhijin had just accepted his confession. He even called him his boyfriend. In any case, Fang Xing was a bit reluctant to be apart from Jiang Zhijin.
During this time of hesitation, Jiang Zhijin chuckled softly.
“Just say whatever you want.” Jiang Zhijin drove while stealing a glance at Fang Xing. “Don’t feel like going back, right?”
“…Kind of.” Fang Xing said.
Jiang Zhijin smiled and then said, “It might seem cruel if I say no, but Fang Xing, you haven’t reviewed your studies all afternoon. The college entrance exam is not far away.”
Being a boyfriend also means being responsible for academic counseling. Jiang Zhijin even admired himself a bit.
Fang Xing replied, “Yeah, less than two hundred days—”
“162 days,” Jiang Zhijin interjected.
“…” Fang Xing immediately turned to look at him. Jiang Zhijin smiled and said, “I’m keeping track for you.”
Fang Xing remained silent for a while. Finally, he leaned back, exhaled a long breath with a smile.
It was really not easy, Jiang Zhijin.
“Alright—I haven’t memorized today’s vocabulary yet.”
Being able to remember his vocabulary at this time surprised even Jiang Zhijin. During the interval when waiting for a red light, he turned his head to look at Fang Xing and, holding back his laughter, said, “You’re really obedient, Xiao Xing.”
Fang Xing glanced at him, and Jiang Zhijin quickly changed his words, “You’re really obedient, Fang Xing.”
Jiang Zhijin looked at his expression and laughed all the way. In the end, he dropped Fang Xing off at the entrance of the residential area. When Fang Xing got out of the car, Jiang Zhijin spoke, “I’ll probably be back late tonight. Keep an eye on the time and rest if needed.”
“Got it.” Fang Xing didn’t leave, looking at Jiang Zhijin through the car window. “Drive slowly.”
“Sure.” Jiang Zhijin’s eyes carried a smile. “Go inside.”
When he arrived at Cloud Seven, he realized that the bouquet was still in the car. He didn’t want to leave the flowers there but hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to bring them into Cloud Seven.
There were quite a few people in Cloud Seven. Gu Xun and Zhou Hong were waiting at the table to take orders. Jiang Zhijin placed the flowers behind the bar, cleaned up the recently vacated tables, and delivered drinks to two more tables. When it finally calmed down a bit, he had a chance to take a breather.
“How about finding a few more people? Three isn’t quite enough,” Jiang Zhijin suggested.
“Okay, it’s only for this period anyway. If we really recruit, hiring hourly part-timers would be better,” Gu Xun said as he walked towards the bar, glancing at the bouquet.
“What’s going on? Is this a bouquet?” Gu Xun took a look at Jiang Zhijin and joked, “Did you get married today?”
Jiang Zhijin unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and took a sip, replying, “It’s from Fang Xing.”
“Oh, is it Father’s Day today?”
Gu Xun casually made up a story and then suddenly turned to Jiang Zhijin, with a growing smile on his face, looking quite mysterious.
“What’s happening?”
“What do you mean what’s happening?”
“Don’t pretend to be clueless,” Gu Xun said.
Jiang Zhijin laughed for a while before answering, “He confessed, I agreed, just that.”
“…Fang Xing is quite bold, worthy of being the cool guy,” Gu Xun looked at Jiang Zhijin, first chuckling, then continued, “But you actually agreed. I thought you would need some time to think about it.”
“I’m still contemplating now.” Jiang Zhijin paused for a moment, then smiled and said, “Maybe it was a moment of impulse. I just felt, why not date him? Anyway… we’ll take it step by step, and deal with the future when it comes.”
Every moment of Fang Xing’s confession accumulated in Jiang Zhijin’s heart until tonight when Fang Xing gave him a bouquet of flowers, turning that accumulation into a moment of impulse.
Worst case scenario, if something really happened, Jiang Zhijin believed he could handle it before Fang Xing had to face any unpleasant aspects directly. Or even worse, it was also possible that the two of them might not reach the point of facing those issues.
Although thinking this way sounded a bit pessimistic… Jiang Zhijin needed to consider every possibility.
But for now, he didn’t regret his impulsive decision.
Because he genuinely liked Fang Xing.
After finishing the vocabulary and solving more questions, Fang Xing realized it was past 1 a.m., and Jiang Zhijin still hadn’t returned.
He was probably busy tonight.
Fang Xing stretched his neck a bit, pulled out a chapter of a math paper, and just as he finished the multiple-choice questions, his phone rang – a WeChat message from Jiang Zhijin.
Jiang Zhijin: “Still awake?”
Fang Xing: “Yes.”
Jiang Zhijin: “Wait for me.”
Fang Xing smiled: “Okay.”
After a while, Jiang Zhijin sent another message: “I’ll still be late, go to sleep first.”
A few seconds later, another one came.
“If you’re still awake when I get back, you’re in trouble, got it?”
Knowing Fang Xing’s personality, even though he had mentioned that he might return late, Fang Xing would probably wait. But during holidays like this, the bar wouldn’t close before two or three in the morning, and Jiang Zhijin was a bit worried. So, he sent another message.
…This guy is really fierce, worthy of being Jiang Ge.
Oh, no, now he’s my boyfriend.
Fang Xing smiled as he read Jiang Zhijin’s messages for a while. Eventually, he put down his pen and replied to Jiang Zhijin.
“I got it.”
Fang Xing didn’t know when Jiang Zhijin came back, but the next morning, when Jiang Zhijin woke up, it was already noon. Opening the bedroom door, he said to Fang Xing, “Morning.”
It was almost noon, and he had already finished simulating a test paper…
Fang Xing followed along with a nod, “Morning.”
After lunch, Jiang Zhijin didn’t go out again and just played mobile games in the living room. Fang Xing, having rested for half an hour after lunch, went to the bathroom to wash his face, trying to wake himself up.
Originally, he had planned to do two sets of questions in the afternoon. But with Jiang Zhijin in the living room, he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should go sit next to him to study.
Even though he had always studied alone in his room before, Fang Xing now felt a bit like staying close to Jiang Zhijin… The sound of the game didn’t bother him, but suddenly moving to study right next to Jiang Zhijin would seem too deliberate.
Probably, he had stood at the door for too long, and Jiang Zhijin, who was lying on the sofa playing with his phone, looked over at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Preparing to solve two sets of questions… It’s a bit stuffy in the room.” Fang Xing said.
“Oh.” Jiang Zhijin nodded, then said, “Take it out and do it here.”
Fang Xing instantly felt relieved, went back to the room to get his backpack, and took out his exercise book and paper and sat down on the floor. He used a cushion to support himself, sitting against the back of the sofa, almost the same as when he was at the desk. Jiang Zhijin, who was playing with his phone on the sofa, was just a step away. If he tilted his head slightly, Fang Xing could see his appearance.
Tang Yuan was wandering around Fang Xing, occasionally “meowing” curiously. Jiang Zhijin gestured and called out its name.
“Come here, don’t bother your brother.”
Tang Yuan immediately jumped onto the sofa and crawled next to Jiang Zhijin. Fang Xing smiled, lowered his head, and began to seriously work on the exercises.
Jiang Zhijin switched his phone to silent mode, played a few rounds of games, and finally gave up on a difficult level. He put down his phone and looked at Fang Xing, who was working on the exercises.
Fang Xing kept his head slightly down, his gaze fixed on the exercise book, and his pen never stopped moving. Perhaps encountering some difficult parts, he would occasionally furrow his brows slightly. At this moment, the pen in his hand would swiftly spin a few times before landing steadily in his hand.
Very focused, and very… handsome.
Jiang Zhijin smiled, withdrawing his gaze.
Once you focus, time will pass quickly. Fang Xing completed two sets of questions, did some stretching in place, and glanced at his backpack.
To get what he needed, he would have to stand up and walk a few steps next to Jiang Zhijin.
As soon as he raised his head, Jiang Zhijin noticed, turned his head to look at Fang Xing, and asked, “What do you need?”
“Answers, for the questions.” When he responded, he suddenly didn’t feel like getting up. He leaned back against the sofa, giving himself a few seconds to rest.
“It’s in the backpack, a blue-covered booklet, looks similar to the one I’m using.”
Jiang Zhijin took Fang Xing’s backpack, listened to Fang Xing’s description while flipping through the book. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped.
“Found it?” Fang Xing asked.
“…No, but I want to ask.” Jiang Zhijin turned to look at Fang Xing, a smile playing on his lips.
“Since you asked me to find it, wouldn’t it be considered invading a teenager’s privacy?”
Fang Xing felt something was off and straightened up a bit, looking at Jiang Zhijin, “It wouldn’t—what do you mean?”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhijin nodded with a smile, then pulled out a stack of colorful things from Fang Xing’s backpack.
“Can I ask what these are?”
It was a stack of envelopes, pink, red, blue, and even some folded into heart shapes…
These were the love letters that girls in his class had placed on his desk on Christmas Eve, forgotten to deal with.
“The girls in your school… are quite artistic.” Jiang Zhijin laughed and looked at Fang Xing.