The first time Sui Yi saw Jiang Shen, he was curled up on the ground, protecting his new schoolbag. He thought, When people are about to die, maybe they really do see the gods.
It was his third year of middle school. Because of his stutter, his classmates had surrounded him and were beating him up.
The noise faded. Jiang Shen crouched in front of him and patted his cheek. "Hey, kid. Can you get up?"
Sui Yi gazed at his dazzling, carefree smile, struggled to raise a hand, and grabbed his wrist.
When they met again, Jiang Shen had become the heir to the Chenjiang Group.
Sui Yi had been his secret boyfriend for four years.
Until Jiang Shen said, "I'm getting married next month, but nothing between us will change."
Sui Yi thought he'd hit his head, but decided to show some compassion for the intellectually challenged. "I'm only offering you one option."
"Sui Yi." Jiang Shen looked at him with a sneer, his beautiful, almond-shaped eyes filled with contempt. "What makes you think you have the standing to bargain with me?"
Fine.
Under the cover of night, Sui Yi packed up and left before dawn.
He didn't slap him.
He couldn't win in a fight.
Later
Jiang Shen spent an entire afternoon waiting in the biggest plaza in the capital. The sun was fierce that day, even fiercer than when Sun Wukong borrowed the Plantain Fan from his sister-in-law.
Salt-stinging sweat ran into his eyes. Jiang Shen saw the man beside Sui Yi straightening his tie. He was handsome and refined, with features uncannily like Jiang Shen's, even the beauty mark at the corner of his eye in the same place.
Jiang Shen had seen that man before, in the middle-school group photo Sui Yi treasured most.
Under the man's mocking, appraising gaze, Jiang Shen grabbed Sui Yi by the wrist and forced his lips into a smile. "Xiao Yi, say something. Don't ignore me..." The young master had finally learned how to humble himself. "Please."
Extra:
Jiang Shen stared gravely at the zero-mark test paper that Sui Yi's classmates had maliciously swapped in for his.
"This... this isn't..." Sui Yi tried to explain. The truth was, he was a good student.
But then
"Keep it up," Jiang Shen said, laughing as he ruffled Sui Yi's hair. "Your big brother likes kids whose grades are as bad as mine."
Sui Yi opened his mouth, said nothing, and nodded.
He was the best-looking person Sui Yi had ever seen.
This story is also known as: "The Furnace's Out, It's Not Burning Anymore. Drag It Back and Bury It!"
A groveling ex arc, one-on-one, happy ending.
The bottom's main job is as a psychologist, and his side gig is fortune-telling (not really).
The title is tentative and might change.
Theme: Be kind to your neighbors.
