The Little Merman - Chapter 31

The house that Fang Miao brought Jiang Yu to wasn't far from his company, Xingying Media.

“My brother doesn’t come here often. He’ll only come when he works overtime. I’ll also come over and stay occasionally. There’s no one here most of the time, except for the cleaning lady who comes here twice a week to tidy up the house. There’s no need to worry about meeting my brother.” Fang Miao went down to wait for Jiang Yu, then brought him up.

“Take a seat.” After entering the house, Fang Miao took two bottles of water and threw them to Jiang Yu, then got him to sit on the sofa.

Even though Qin Shen didn’t come to stay here often, the scent of the owner permeated the house. Jiang Yu sat down and observed the surroundings, then asked, “Why did you ask me out?”

Fang Miao sat down beside him and crossed his legs, then touched his chin and looked at Jiang Yu, “Did you mean what you said that day?”

Jiang Yu replied, “Which day?”

Fang Miao said, “That day at the restaurant. You said that you could tell if the woman dining with my father is speaking the truth.”

Jiang Yu hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Yup, it’s true.”

Fang Miao thought for a moment, then said, “I have a cat named Caesar.”

Jiang Yu paused for a moment before he understood what was going on. Fang Miao was testing him. He shook his head, “That’s a lie.”

Fang Miao continued, “I have a cat named Napoleon.”

Jiang Yu nodded, “Truth.”

Fang Miao: “I’ve always had better results than my brother.”

Jiang Yu replied, “Lie.”

Fang Miao asked a few more questions. They were all very private, and others wouldn’t know about it. When he saw that Jiang Yu had answered them all correctly, he couldn’t help but exclaim in awe, “Oh my! You’re fantastic, how did you manage to tell? Teach me.”

Jiang Yu smiled. This was an innate gift, he didn’t know how to teach him, even if he wanted to.

“Didn’t you not believe me the last time?” Jiang Yu pouted when he recalled what happened then.

“Hey, I believe you now.” Fang Miao slung his hand over Jiang Yu’s shoulder, then said cheerily, “With you around, it’ll be much easier to find the woman who seduced my dad.”

“That’s right, do you know how to play games? I have one that was just released overseas.” Fang Miao was a gaming fanatic. Now that the burden in his heart had dropped, he was itching to play, hence he pulled Jiang Yu downstairs.

“This is my brother’s study, and this is my gaming room.” Fang Miao pulled him into the second room on the left.

Jiang Yu hadn’t played games before, so Fang Miao had to teach him from scratch, and he couldn’t help but lament, “Oh, you killed the wrong person. Are you sure you’re a young man? How can you not know how to play games?”

“... I might not know how to play, but I’m a fast learner.” Jiang Yu didn’t give up. He familiarized himself with the controls after close to twenty minutes of playing, and he cooperated well with Fang Miao. The more he played, the more engrossed he became. For the first time, he realized that apart from TV, there was something as interesting as gaming on land.

The two men played for a while more before Fang Miao’s phone rang. It was his manager. Since they were in the midst of fighting against monsters, Fang Miao ignored the call. When they won a round, Jiang Yu wanted to use the restroom. Fang Miao pointed across the corridor, “The one right at the end, beside my brother’s room.” He then took out his phone to return his manager’s call.

When Jiang Yu came out of the washroom, the room beside him wasn’t properly shut, and Fang Miao’s phone conversation travelled out from the games room. He hesitated for a second, then lightly pushed the bedroom door open.

The room was large and clean. Jiang Yu opened the closet. There were many shirts and suits; it was clear that they all belonged to Qin Shen.

Jiang Yu’s fingers flitted across the rows of clothes. He was worried that Fang Miao might discover him, so he didn’t dare to stay for long, and simply took a quick look before closing the closet door.

Just as he closed the door to Qin Shen’s bedroom, the door to the games room opened. Fang Miao stuck his head out, “What are you doing in my brother’s room? Come here quickly, let’s continue.”

It was till nightfall that the duo reluctantly stopped. When they were taking the lift down, Fang Miao said, “Since we can work so well together, let’s play games together often in future.”

When Jiang Yu heard this, a thought crept into his mind, “We’ll play here?”

“That’s right. This place has everything, and no one will bother us here.” Fang Miao nodded, and when he looked at Jiang Yu’s expression, he asked, “Are you not willing to come here?”

Jiang Yu hastily shook his head. Of course he was willing. The fish eggs in his stomach were increasingly restless as they grew, so it would be best if he could go to a house filled with Qin Shen’s scent.

Fang Miao didn’t notice anything, he even consoled him, “Don’t be worried about meeting my brother. I’ll bring you here when he’s not around.”

The corners of Jiang Yu’s lips curled up. Fang Miao was really a good person. Just for this, he would surely help Fang Miao find the person his father was dating.

Two days later, Fang Miao asked him out again. Jiang Yu went to meet him in high spirits. This time, he used the same method - when the woman eating with Fang Hua went to the washroom, Jiang Yu pretended to be Fang Hua’s fan and asked the woman if she was Fang Hua’s girlfriend.

After finding out that she wasn’t, Fang Miao lost interest in following his father. He then dragged Jiang Yu to Qin Shen’s house to play games. However, just as they reached the house, Fang Miao received a call from his manager asking him to return to the company. Fang Miao handed the keys to Jiang Yu, then said, “Go up first. I’ll be back in a short while.” He then left Jiang Yu there and drove off.

Thus, Jiang Yu went up to Qin Shen’s house alone. The living room looked slightly different from the last time when he came. There was a watch on the coffee table, and a coat strewn on the sofa. Qin Shen had probably stayed at this place recently.

After Jiang Yu sat on the sofa for a while, he felt drowsy. The eggs were growing, and he was more sleepy than he usually was. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he shrunk into the sofa, pulled the coat to cover himself, buried his head into the sleeves of the coat, then closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Jiang Yu didn’t know how long he slept for, but he was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. He took out his phone and took a look; it was Fang Miao calling.

“Jiang Xiaoyu, are you still waiting for me?” It sounded quite noisy at Fang Miao’s end, as though he was at an event. “My event hasn’t ended yet, so I can’t make it.”

Jiang Yu gave a belated grunt in reply.

“Don’t tell me that you waited for me till you fell asleep?” Fang Miao found a quiet place, and heard the dazedness in Jiang Yu’s voice. He saw that it was already dark outside, and there was also a thunderstorm. Fang Miao felt bad; he had momentarily forgotten that he had abandoned Jiang Yu at his brother’s house, and only remembered it now. He didn’t think that Jiang Yu would continue waiting for him there.

“It’s pouring outside, and it won’t be easy to leave this late at night. If you are tired, you can stay there for a night. There’s a guest room upstairs.” Fang Miao said, as he thought how far Jiang Yu’s house was from Qin Shen’s house.

“My manager is looking for me. I’ll have to go.” Fang Miao hastily added, then ended the call. Jiang Yu loosened his grip on the phone, then reached out to grip the coat tightly, as his breathing hastened.

When he awoke, the fish eggs in his stomach started stirring again. The remnant scent on the coat could no longer comfort them. He supported himself as he stood up from the sofa, made use of the glare from his phone and quickly walked upstairs in the dark.

Using the wall as a guide, he walked towards Qin Shen’s room and pushed the door open. He didn’t even have time to think as he took off his clothes, lay on the bed and huddled into the blanket.

After a while, the stirring in his stomach finally stopped. He felt better, so he popped his head out of the blanket, listening to the raindrops falling outside the window.

It was really raining outside. He looked at the time on his phone, it was already past 8PM. If he went home now, he would only reach after 10PM if traffic was smooth. Lin Cheng had been away these few days promoting his album, and wasn’t at home. Jiang Yu rolled around in bed for a while more, and decided to accept Fang Miao’s suggestion to spend the night here.

However, he wasn’t going to sleep in the guest room, but in this room.