Try Again chapter 34

A Gift for My Brother

Jiang Lin went around two malls, finally stepping outside only when all the shops were closing.

He had set his sights on that bracelet; even after checking several other brand stores, he hadn’t found anything more to his liking. He did spot a belt on a mannequin that he liked, but that belt was a pre-release for the fall/winter collection and wasn’t officially on sale yet.

After returning to the hotel room and taking a shower, he sat on the bed and opened the shopping app to continue selecting bracelets.

Ji Minglun came back close to two o’clock. Seeing the light on in the room, he thought Jiang Lin was still awake. When he entered and saw Jiang Lin sound asleep at the edge of the bed, half of his arm hanging off, and his phone dropped on the carpet by the bed, he bent down to pick it up.

Ji Minglun’s gaze lingered on Jiang Lin’s bare legs, which weren’t covered by a blanket. Regardless of the season, Jiang Lin usually wore long pajama pants, but this time he seemed to be wearing loose cotton shorts, making it easy for the shorts to ride up, revealing his black underwear.

Reminding himself not to think too much, Ji Minglun tucked Jiang Lin in with the blanket before heading to take a shower. When he came out, he turned off the light and got into bed.

….

In the morning, Deng Feng sent a notification to their travel group before sleeping, telling everyone to handle their own breakfast. Jiang Lin saw it upon waking and didn’t immediately change his clothes. After washing up, he lay back down on the bed.

They had spent the first three days outdoors, and the summer heat had drained their energy. Now lying in the air-conditioned room and looking out at the bright sunny day, even Ji Minglun didn’t feel like moving. After washing up and drinking a large bottle of mineral water, he lay back down with his phone.

Seeing Ji Minglun had opened a game, Jiang Lin nudged his leg with his foot. “What are we having for breakfast?”

“You decide. Takeout or hotel breakfast is fine,” Ji Minglun casually replied, as he received a team invite from a friend.

Jiang Lin opened the takeout app, found a highly rated Shaanxi restaurant nearby, and asked Ji Minglun if there was anything else he wanted. Ji Minglun mentioned a KFC egg tart.

After placing the order, Jiang Lin scrolled through WeChat and noticed a new message from Lu Zhe.

【How’s the trip going? Any progress?】

After agreeing to Deng Feng’s travel proposal last week, he had informed Lu Zhe. Lu Zhe had said it was an opportunity, and Jiang Lin felt the need to seize the moment, especially since there was less than a month left. But when it came time to act, he felt lost.

He and Ji Minglun shared a unique bond from growing up together, and now that their relationship had mostly been repaired, he found it even harder to discern if Ji Minglun still had feelings for him.

The night before last, when they went out for late-night snacks, he had considered confessing his feelings to Ji Minglun, fueled by the alcohol. However, each time he was about to speak, the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. That word “like” felt harder to say than anything else he had ever uttered in his life, making him realize how much courage it had taken Ji Minglun to confess to him.

Unsure how to respond to Lu Zhe’s concern, he simply grabbed his tablet and decided to write a section of his thesis while he had some time.

Unfortunately, the person sitting next to him was always distracting him. He stared at the screen for a long time without typing a single word, and just as he was about to give up, he was interrupted by a knock at the door, forcing him to get up to retrieve the food.

The first delivery was from the snack shop. He placed it on the coffee table and called for Ji Minglun to come eat. Ji Minglun was in the middle of an intense game and hadn’t responded yet when his phone rang.

“Shit,” Ji Minglun cursed under his breath. Unfortunately, he was quick to hit the answer button and had to bring the phone to his ear. “What’s up?”

“I’m awake. I’m in a game, call you back later.” He hurriedly hung up, turned his phone sideways, then annoyedly tossed it onto the bed before getting up and sitting next to Jiang Lin without even putting on slippers.

“Did you lose?”

Seeing Ji Minglun’s expression, Jiang Lin could guess the answer. Ji Minglun looked at him with exasperation, took a big bite of the meat sandwich, and after swallowing, said, “I almost made a comeback.”

Jiang Lin couldn’t help but laugh. “Who called?”

“Deng Yi.” Ji Minglun took the spicy soup Jiang Lin handed him, blowing on it before drinking two mouthfuls.

“Isn’t it hot?” Jiang Lin asked. Ji Minglun shook his head and passed the spicy soup back to him. “It tastes pretty good. You should try it.”

Looking at the half-set soup in the bowl, Jiang Lin took a sip from Ji Minglun’s position and then wiped his mouth with a tissue. “Not bad. You eat it.”

Ji Minglun observed his reaction, but before he could figure it out, there was another knock at the door.

“It should be the KFC egg tarts.”

Jiang Lin went to open the door. The delivery guy outside was rummaging through the thermal bag for the order. Jiang Lin bent over to confirm the items, unaware that a figure had emerged from the elevator not far away. The figure quickly halted, paused for a moment, then returned to the elevator, which was almost closing.

“Please confirm: two egg tarts and two iced lattes,” the delivery guy said.

Jiang Lin accepted the food and receipt, thanked the delivery guy, and closed the door. The delivery guy approached the elevator, noticing that the door was still open, and a girl was pressing the open button with a displeased expression.

Hurrying to the door of the room earlier, Deng Yi glanced at the room number.

7019, it was indeed Ji Minglun’s room. So why was Jiang Lin standing at the door in pajamas and accepting takeout?

Recalling Jiang Lin’s slightly messy hair and his wearing slippers, Deng Yi suddenly thought, could it be that Jiang Lin had been staying in the same room as Ji Minglun these past few days?

With this thought, her expression darkened further, especially when considering Ji Minglun’s sexual orientation. She quickly walked to the door of room 7003 at the other end, knocked for a while, but didn’t hear anyone respond. She called Shen Ran, who answered, but the background noise was a bit chaotic.

Learning that Shen Ran was having breakfast outside, she asked if Jiang Lin was in the room, saying she needed to borrow a charger.

Shen Ran, not suspecting anything, said Jiang Lin should be sleeping and told her not to go up and to borrow from someone else instead.

After hanging up, Deng Yi took several deep breaths to calm down.

Could it be that Jiang Lin was indeed sleeping when Shen Ran left and then later went to Ji Minglun’s room?

Perhaps Jiang Lin was just having breakfast with Ji Minglun.

These past few days, Jiang Lin had clearly been getting closer to Deng Feng. Last night while playing billiards, she had privately asked Deng Feng if he had developed feelings for Jiang Lin, but Deng Feng neither confirmed nor denied it, only asking her not to say such things. Jiang Lin had also not shown any coldness or distance toward Deng Feng, so she had no reason to suspect Jiang Lin and Ji Minglun.

After convincing herself, she went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. However, for the rest of the day, she was not in the mood to have fun and kept secretly observing the interactions between Ji Minglun and Jiang Lin.

That day’s schedule was to go to the Ocean Polar Park. Unlike the previous days spent outdoors in high temperatures, most of that day would be in air-conditioned environments, and everyone seemed relaxed. Perhaps because they were in public, the two didn’t have any obvious contact; she only noticed a few exchanges of glances, but they were quickly averted.

Shi Xiaomin noticed that she was distracted and pulled her aside during the afternoon break to ask what was wrong. Deng Yi wanted to ask Shi Xiaomin for her thoughts but was embarrassed to speak up, so she held back and thought to observe more. However, upon returning to the hotel that evening, she found Jiang Lin had entered Ji Minglun’s room.

She waited outside until two in the morning but didn’t see him come out. The next morning, she went to the fire exit to wait. At eight o’clock, Jiang Lin indeed dressed neatly and left the room, followed by Ji Minglun.

After leaning against the glass door of the fire escape for a long time, Deng Yi ended a call from Shi Xiaomin with her thumb while holding her phone. It felt like several clusters of air were expanding and pressing against her chest, making it hard for her to breathe, and that scene kept swirling in her mind.

Just before the door opened, Jiang Lin turned around to put on the baseball cap that Ji Minglun handed him. Ji Minglun helped him adjust the little braid at the back of his head, wearing an expression of tenderness that Deng Yi had never seen before.

After hanging up on Shi Xiaomin, Deng Feng called her, but she still didn’t answer until Ji Minglun called.

They were going to the Terracotta Army Museum that morning, and they had to return to Xiamen after lunch. To facilitate transfers, Deng Feng had arranged a business car in advance, and everyone’s luggage was placed in the car. When Ji Minglun called, everyone was gathered in the lobby preparing to check out, except Deng Yi, who was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing this call that she both longed for and dreaded, Deng Yi felt extremely conflicted, but she couldn’t bring herself to hang up. After answering, she said she would come down right away.

About ten minutes later, Deng Yi dragged her suitcase out of the elevator. The others were already in the business car, with only Deng Feng and Ji Minglun standing by the front desk talking. When he saw her coming, Deng Feng immediately walked over, took her suitcase, and asked, “Where have you been? You know today’s schedule is tight.”

Deng Yi didn’t respond and shot a glance at Ji Minglun before walking outside. Deng Feng didn’t bother to ask further. He went to the front desk to check out her room, while Ji Minglun followed her into the car.

This business car was more spacious than the one they took before. Except for Shi Xiaomin and Wang Shi sitting together, everyone else was seated separately.

Deng Yi walked to the last empty row. Shi Xiaomin didn’t sit with Wang Shi anymore and sat down beside her, quietly asking where she had been and why her expression looked so bad.

Watching Ji Minglun take a seat in a single seat, Deng Yi said “It’s nothing,” leaned her head against the headrest, and closed her eyes. Soon after, Deng Feng got in, and Deng Yi opened her eyes again. Deng Feng first spoke to the driver for a few moments, and after the car started, he turned around and chose to sit next to Jiang Lin.

On the way, Deng Feng chatted casually with Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin was particularly looking forward to that day’s schedule; before coming to Xi’an, he had watched some related introductions and videos about the Terracotta Army, and Deng Feng happened to bring up this topic, so their conversation was much more lively than before.

Throughout the tour, Deng Feng stayed by Jiang Lin’s side. Occasionally, Jiang Lin would glance at Ji Minglun, but unlike previous days, Ji Minglun didn’t look back. Whenever Jiang Lin looked, Ji Minglun was either focused on the exhibits or chatting with Shen Ran. Instead, it was Shen Ran who met his gaze several times.

Jiang Lin felt something was off but assumed Ji Minglun, like Shen Ran, was just absorbed in the exhibit and didn’t think much of it. Since several of the lines took longer than expected, the group left the site and headed straight to the airport in the business car, grabbing lunch at the airport restaurant.

During lunch, Deng Feng put a soup dumpling on Deng Yi’s plate and softly asked if she was feeling down. Deng Yi’s expression looked like she wanted to say something but held back. Perhaps because everyone else was at the table, Deng Yi shook her head and simply said she was tired.

Touring in the heat for several days was tiring, so Deng Feng didn’t press further. After the meal, everyone sat at the boarding gate together. Deng Feng wanted to smoke, but Ji Minglun and Shen Ran didn’t want to move. Only Wang Shi went with him to the smoking area near the restroom.

Shi Xiaomin was beside Deng Yi, scrolling through Douyin and laughing occasionally, which annoyed Deng Yi. She wanted to take out her headphones from her bag, but when she connected them via Bluetooth, she found they were out of battery. She grabbed the backpack next to her, intending to use Deng Feng’s headphones. As soon as she opened the zipper, she saw a beautifully packaged small handbag.

The logo on the outside of the bag was from a luxury brand, which puzzled her. When she opened the box, she instantly turned to look in Jiang Lin’s direction.

A couple of nights ago, Jiang Lin had chosen this bracelet. At the time, when they ran into him, Jiang Lin seemed embarrassed. When asked why he didn’t buy it if he liked it, Jiang Lin vaguely replied that he hadn’t made up his mind.

Now the bracelet was in Deng Feng’s bag. From what she knew of Deng Feng, he wasn’t someone who wore accessories, so Jiang Lin must have bought it for him. Did Jiang Lin buy it later because they had seen him?

If that were true, being able to gift such an expensive bracelet suggested their relationship was progressing faster than she had thought.

But what was going on with Jiang Lin and Ji Minglun?

Was he getting involved with both Ji Minglun and Deng Feng?

Clenching the handbag tightly, Deng Yi couldn’t wait for Deng Feng to return. She grabbed her bag and headed for the smoking area.

Wang Shi was on the phone. When Deng Yi arrived, only Deng Feng was smoking. Seeing her bring over her bag, Deng Feng was puzzled. Then she bluntly asked, “Is the bracelet in your bag from Jiang Lin?”

Opening the zipper and taking a glance, Deng Feng asked in return, “Why are you going through my bag?”

“I was looking for headphones when I saw it,” Deng Yi was already anxious and didn’t hold back her voice as she asked again, “Did he give it to you?”

Deng Feng found it strange, but Deng Yi’s raised voice attracted the attention of two men nearby who were smoking, as well as Wang Shi, who was still on the phone. Worried that Wang Shi might overhear and spread it around, Deng Feng threw his cigarette into the ashtray and impatiently said, “Didn’t I tell you not to meddle in this? And don’t spread it around.”

Not giving Deng Yi a chance to ask again, Deng Feng grabbed his bag and walked away. Deng Yi, shaking with anger, noticed that Wang Shi was still staring at her cluelessly, so she went into the nearby women’s restroom to calm down. She didn’t return to her seat until Shi Xiaomin called her to board the plane.

On the way back, everyone was seated close together, and it was the perfect time for an afternoon nap. Everyone leaned back in their seats and dozed off. After landing, Shi Xiaomin and Wang Shi walked off together, while the others took a taxi back to the city.

Shen Ran and Jiang Lin lived in the opposite direction, so they took the first available taxi. Deng Feng told them to take it easy on the road, and then the car drove off.

From the time they got into the car at the airport, Ji Minglun hadn’t said a word. He just wore his earphones, listening to music and looking out the window. Deng Feng was busy replying to messages on his phone. Deng Yi glanced at them from time to time. When they arrived at Ji Minglun’s apartment, Deng Yi got out of the car as well, saying she had something to tell Ji Minglun, and asked Deng Feng to go ahead.

Once the car had driven off, Ji Minglun looked at her and asked, “What do you want to say?”

Deng Yi had been holding it in throughout the entire trip and couldn’t contain it any longer. Now, with no one around, she lost her patience and asked directly, “During this trip, you and Jiang Lin shared the same room the entire time. Are you two together?”

Ji Minglun hadn’t expected Deng Yi to figure it out, but he didn’t deny it: “My room was bigger, so I let him stay there. What are you thinking?”

Deng Yi obviously didn’t believe him. Seeing that Ji Minglun was about to leave with a neutral expression, she took two steps forward, blocking his way. “Even if what you’re saying is true, let me tell you something: Jiang Lin has feelings for my brother now. If you’re not involved with him, fine. But if you have feelings for him, you’d better think it through.”

Unlocking her phone, Deng Yi handed it to Ji Minglun.

On the screen was a short video, just a few seconds long, showing the bracelet in Deng Feng’s bag. In the background, the announcement from Takasaki Airport could be heard.

“This was in my brother’s bag. I filmed it in case you wouldn’t believe me. Jiang Lin gave it to him.”