Chapter 43: I Want to Kiss You

The wind fanned the flames of the bonfire higher. The sounds of singing and cheering rose and fell, swallowing Cheng Ye’s voice.

He had spoken calmly, as if discussing the weather, but every word landed in Jiang Shi’s ears like a clap of thunder.

He was so shocked he didn’t even know how to react.

A few seconds later, Cheng Ye chuckled softly. “I was just teasing you, Little Young Master.”

Jiang Shi’s hand, propped on the ground, was numb, whether from the prolonged position or something else. He pulled his hand back, avoiding Cheng Ye’s gaze, and looked down at the dancing crowd below.

“Aren’t you annoying, Cheng Ye.”

Jiang Shi watched the crowd, and Cheng Ye watched Jiang Shi. The flames danced, and the starlight twinkled.

“I am pretty annoying.”

“When you asked that, I thought you wanted to hear a different kind of answer.”

“Cheng Ye,” Jiang Shi said in a low voice, laced with a warning.

He hadn’t even realized it himself, but his bottom line with Cheng Ye had retreated again and again.

Below, someone started another song. It was the Yi language song that Jiang Shi didn’t understand. The melody was rustic and powerful, like a soaring eagle circling the banyan tree.

Cheng Ye shifted a little closer to Jiang Shi, their shoulders touching, their body heat mingling.

His expression remained calm, but his gaze held a deeper meaning as he slowly spoke a sentence in the Yi language.

Jiang Shi didn’t understand and turned to look at him.

Cheng Ye’s gaze swept across his face, slid down his neck, and disappeared into his collar.

“I said…”

He paused for a second.

“Young Master, have you ever kissed someone before?”

After saying this, Cheng Ye prepared himself to be kicked. But after waiting a few seconds without any movement from Jiang Shi, he heard him laugh instead.

“Cheng Ye, do you want to know?”

The moonlight was bright, and under it, the boy’s face was as pearly white as a gem. He looked at Cheng Ye and, from within his wide sleeve, extended a fair finger, beckoning him. “Come a little closer, and I’ll tell you.”

As if bewitched, Cheng Ye bent down towards Jiang Shi.

They were so close, so close that he could smell the fragrance coming from Jiang Shi, much stronger than the scent he had desperately sniffed from his clothes to quench his thirst.

Jiang Shi placed his hands on Cheng Ye’s shoulders. As the wind blew over their heads, his kiss landed on the corner of Cheng Ye’s lips.

The slightly cool lips mischievously refused to move an inch further, landing perfectly on the corner of his mouth. It was a light touch, gone in an instant, as brief as a dream.

Cheng Ye froze.

“Cheng Ye, I can answer your question now.”

“I hadn’t before, but I have now.”

Cheng Ye subconsciously reached out to grab Jiang Shi, but the boy slipped through his fingers like a fish, leaping off the high platform and flying into the crowd.

The firelight illuminated his face as he was pulled into the circle by Gao Xinhe.

A new round of singing began.

On the high platform, Cheng Ye stood like a statue. A delayed heat crept up his ears, extended to his neck, and even spread across his chest in a flush of red.

No matter how much information he had looked up, no matter how many brazen things he had said, in the face of a kiss as light as the wind, he was instantly and utterly defeated.

He didn’t know how much time passed before he sluggishly raised his hand, wanting to touch the corner of his mouth. But just as he was about to make contact, he pulled it back. Finally, he carefully and shyly pursed his lips.

It was sweet.

---

Once the Torch Festival was over, the summer temperatures climbed even higher. The cicadas chirped incessantly, and even the breeze was hot.

Jiang Xue bought a fan, and Jiang Shi became a homebody, holing up at home all day with the fan, not wanting to go anywhere.

He had recently become obsessed with a fruit-slicing game on his new phone.

There wasn’t much work to do in the fields. Gao Xinhe’s family had bought a television, so Jiang Xue would go to their house to watch TV with Liu Yuying when she was free, leaving the house as Jiang Shi’s domain.

He played with even more abandon.

Jiang Shi hadn’t left the house in three days, lying at home and playing games for three days straight. When Cheng Ye found him, he was still playing.

The boy was slumped in a chair, wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts. While everyone else was getting tanned, he was only getting paler from staying indoors. His hair had grown a bit longer and hadn’t been cut, making it messy and fluffy, which made his face look even smaller.

Cheng Ye was in the room, but Jiang Shi didn’t even lift his head, his eyes still fixed on the phone.

The next second, the phone was ruthlessly snatched from his hand.

Jiang Shi looked up and met Cheng Ye’s condescending gaze from above. He glared at him, displeased. “What are you doing, Cheng Ye? Give me back my phone.”

Cheng Ye glanced at the game interface on the screen and mercilessly exited and turned it off. “You’ve been staying home these past two days just to play games?”

Jiang Shi felt a little guilty, but then thought, what right did Cheng Ye have to control him? So he glared back defiantly. “It’s none of your business. It’s not like it affects you.”

“Jiang Shi,” Cheng Ye said his name, his tone cold. “The holiday is half over. How much of your homework have you done?”

Jiang Shi scratched his face, his bravado weakening. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“Heh, tomorrow…”

Cheng Ye directly pocketed the phone and, with practiced ease, lifted the pot lid to look inside. “Have you eaten lunch?”

Jiang Shi hadn’t moved from his chair since he woke up.

He said, “I’ve eaten.”

The tall young man narrowed his eyes at him, said nothing, and turned to heat up the soup and rice.

Jiang Shi got up from the chair, stretched, and stood behind Cheng Ye. “Give me back my phone.”

After not seeing him for a few days, Cheng Ye had shaved his head into a buzz cut again. His hair was stiff and prickly, and his features were just as cold and hard.

He didn’t answer Jiang Shi’s question, only saying, “After you eat, bring your homework and come with me to my place.”

Jiang Shi refused without thinking. “I’m not going. Your house is hot as hell.”

“I bought a fan.”

“…”

Even if he had, Jiang Shi didn’t want to go. It was obvious Cheng Ye wanted to watch over him while he did his homework, but Jiang Shi wanted to play games.

He said, “I really won’t play anymore. Give me back my phone, and I’ll definitely do my homework tomorrow.”

Cheng Ye quickly heated up the dishes Jiang Xue had cooked. He put the food on a plate, his tone calm.

“Jiang Shi, do I look like I’m negotiating with you?”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Jiang Shi kicked him. “Cheng Ye, is this your attitude when you talk to me?”

His foot hurt from the kick, but Cheng Ye didn’t move an inch. He calmly picked out a pair of chopsticks and stuffed them into Jiang Shi’s hand. “My attitude isn’t good, but Little Young Master, if I begged you, would you come with me?”

“…”

Obviously, Jiang Shi would only take a mile if given an inch.

Cheng Ye looked at his pouting face, a hint of a smile in his eyes that was quickly suppressed.

“Eat. I’ll go pack your homework for you.”

Jiang Shi couldn’t eat a single bite. Even his own mother didn’t control him, so what right did Cheng Ye have? Besides, he had kissed him a few days ago, and now he was talking to him with this kind of attitude…

He slammed his chopsticks on the table. “I’m not eating! What right do you have to control me? Give me back my phone!”

“Don’t even think about it,” Cheng Ye’s voice came from Jiang Shi’s room. “You’re not getting your phone back until you finish your homework.”

Jiang Shi raised his voice. “Cheng Ye, I’m not going with you!”

“Little Young Master, instead of wasting energy arguing with me, you’d be better off eating more. We’re starting with the physics worksheets later. Save some energy for crying then.”

“…”

“I hate you!” Jiang Shi said.

“Mm.”

Mm my ass!

Even though Jiang Shi was very unwilling, after eating, he was still carried away by Cheng Ye like a little chick.

The young man’s hand clamped onto the back of his neck. Jiang Shi struggled and kicked him again. “You don’t like me at all. You don’t care about my feelings one bit. I would have rather kissed a pig that day than kiss you.”

Cheng Ye tightened his grip. “Jiang Shi.”

Jiang Shi shrank his neck and glared at him. “What?”

The next second, a sun hat was placed on his head, blocking the刺stinging sunlight. Cheng Ye’s voice sounded lazy.

“You’re right, I don’t like you. If I liked you, I should just let you play as much as you want. You wouldn’t have to study, just play games every day, and I’d serve you good food and drinks.”

“Then when you can’t get into university and can’t find a job, I’ll just keep you. Lock you up in a big house where you can’t go anywhere, for me alone to fuck.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Though the words were crude, the logic wasn’t entirely wrong. But Cheng Ye’s words were all about fucking.

Cheng Ye pushed the brim of the baseball cap up, revealing Jiang Shi’s eyes, and looked down to meet his gaze.

“Would you be willing, Young Master?”

Jiang Shi didn’t speak, so Cheng Ye continued, “Don’t kiss a pig anymore. I’m better to kiss than a pig.”

“…”

Not only was Cheng Ye shameless, he was also thick-skinned.

And so, Jiang Shi was disciplined into studying. When Gao Xinhe’s mother found out, she packed Gao Xinhe over as well.

Under the cherry tree, Jiang Shi and Gao Xinhe sat facing each other at a table.

Gao Xinhe looked at Jiang Shi and sighed mournfully. “Little cousin…”

Jiang Shi looked at the worksheet in front of him and also sighed mournfully. “Big cousin…”

Cheng Ye placed a plate of sliced watermelon between them. “Get to it. I’ll check in half an hour.”

It was absolutely insane.

Jiang Shi was forced to study like this for several days. All he saw when he opened and closed his eyes were math and physics. Forget his phone; he had almost forgotten about the brief kiss on the night of the Torch Festival.

His relationship with Cheng Ye didn’t seem to have changed from before. Many times, he wanted to ask Cheng Ye what their relationship was, but when the words reached his lips, seeing Cheng Ye’s normal face, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Forget it… it would make him seem too eager.

On this day, after Gao Xinhe finished studying and left with his books, Jiang Shi was also planning to leave but was stopped by Cheng Ye.

He had Jiang Shi sit in front of the second-hand computer he had found. He spread his arms, propping them on the table, encircling him, and leaned down.

“I met several computer science students on a forum. I provided the money, and they provided the skills. We designed a game.”

Jiang Shi leaned back, the top of his head brushing against Cheng Ye’s chin. “You’ve been busy with this all this time?”

“Pretty much.”

Cheng Ye took the mouse, found the familiar icon on the desktop, and clicked it.

The computer was very laggy, and it took a while for the screen to load.

Cheng Ye’s breath fell on Jiang Shi’s shoulder. “Try it.”

With the little money Cheng Ye had, plus a few university students who hadn’t graduated yet, the thing they made could only be described as very crude.

But it was this crude game that was the culmination of their future and their dreams.

Jiang Shi tried playing it. Setting aside Cheng Ye’s incredibly laggy computer, its playability was higher than the fruit-slicing game that had engrossed him for days.

“It’s just so-so.”

He gave a very “objective” evaluation.

Cheng Ye chuckled, turned Jiang Shi around, chair and all. He maintained his leaning posture, looking down at Jiang Shi.

“It’s currently in the final testing phase. If all goes well, it can be released soon.”

“Young Master…” He bent down, leaning closer to Jiang Shi. “Want to celebrate with me?”

Jiang Shi’s hands, resting at his sides, tightened. “How do we celebrate?”

“I want to kiss you.”