Chapter 7: The Unyielding Distance

When they left, the rain had lessened, brushing finely and densely against their faces like a lover’s gentle kiss.

Lu Xiye opened the umbrella once more, using a completely justified reason to keep the closest possible distance between them.

His hand rested on Jiang Suifeng’s shoulder, drawing him half into an embrace. The umbrella canopy tilted slightly forward to shield their upper bodies, leaving only two pairs of long legs visible from the outside in an intimate posture.

Beneath his palm was a soft touch, and as they stepped over a puddle with a slight push of strength, he could sense the firm bone structure beneath.

Even that firmness felt sweet…

Lu Xiye couldn’t help glancing sideways at Jiang Suifeng, his nose inadvertently brushing against the youth’s cool, soft hair.

The hair was very soft, bearing a faint scent of cheap shampoo synthetic fragrance, yet it still made his nose tickle.

That tickling sensation sped straight into the depths of his heart like lightning, carrying sparks with uncontrollable momentum. Ultimately, it transformed into a fine electrical grid that wrapped around his entire heart—tightening and loosening, numbing him with electricity.

“There are a lot of delicious places in City A,” he said, his voice laced with a smile as he indulged in the ambiguity of the moment. “When you’re free, we can go eat together.”

The footsteps of the person in his arms suddenly halted. Caught off guard, the tip of Lu Xiye’s umbrella shifted forward slightly.

In an instant, raindrops fell upon Jiang Suifeng’s cheek, hair, and eyelashes—crystal clear and transparent. The dense rain mist enveloped him, making it seem as if they existed in two entirely different worlds.

The ambiguous atmosphere dissolved in an instant.

“We’ll see when there’s time,” Jiang Suifeng looked up politely. “If there is a next time, it should be my treat.”

The tip of the umbrella shifted back, wrapping him in its shelter once more.

“Alright,” Lu Xiye nodded with a smile, completely ignoring the clear rejection in his words that anyone else could have heard. He said, “It’s a deal, then.”

Jiang Suifeng raised his eyes to look at him with a faint, knowing smile, unable to understand how a polite rejection had turned into a new agreement.

Yet he said nothing, merely smiling that way as his toes dipped into the water again and he stepped forward.

Lu Xiye’s smile finally vanished, his eyes growing dark and heavy beneath the black umbrella canopy, looking bottomless.

For the remainder of the walk, he kept his hand on Jiang Suifeng’s shoulder, but he didn’t speak another word.

It wasn’t until both of them sat down inside the car that he asked, “Heading home, or to the bar?”

“The bar,” Jiang Suifeng said, then added, “Thank you.”

The corner of Lu Xiye’s lips twitched upward. He idly fiddled with his phone between his fingers for a moment before pressing the power button.

Almost the second it turned on, a ringtone cut in. He stared at the screen with an unpleased expression for a good while before picking up.

His tone was very cool, devoid of warmth, which actually gave Jiang Suifeng a familiar sense of recognition.

The car interior was quiet, allowing a sentence or two to spill out from the phone speaker.

The person called him “Xiao Ye” and asked for his help in promoting his medical device business. Jiang Suifeng deduced that the person on the other end was likely Lu Xiye’s cousin, Lu Kun—the son of his uncle Lu Chenjin.

In his past life, he had also met Lu Kun at a few banquets; he was a very dissolute man.

Back then, his family business had almost been pushed out of the market, barely managing to survive only because the older generation had built a solid reputation for their blood glucose meters.

Every time Lu Kun got drunk, he would curse Lu Xiye in public, accusing Lu Xiye of kicking them while they were down—not only refusing to help them, but delivering the most fatal blow instead.

Back then, Jiang Suifeng couldn’t stand hearing anyone speak ill of Lu Xiye. While others merely treated it as a joke, he would carry several extra glasses of wine over, making sure Lu Kun drank until he couldn’t utter another word before he could rest easy.

Jiang Suifeng withdrew his gaze from outside the window and cast a glance at Lu Xiye.

Lu Xiye’s eyes were lowered, the corner of his lips slightly raised with an expression full of casual sarcasm.

He finished the phone call very quickly, sparing his words like gold, his speech filled entirely with rejection and perfunctoriness.

After hanging up, he tossed his phone aside, casually pulled out a cigarette, and raised his hand slightly with a sideways glance: “Do you mind?”

As Jiang Suifeng nodded, he lowered his eyes and lit the cigarette.

Fine rain fell against the car window, pierced by the colorful lights outside, casting fragmented shadows across his face—mysterious and mottled…

In the flickering glow of the burning tip, he possessed an overwhelming texture, an overwhelming charm.

Then, that silhouette akin to a black-and-white film suddenly raised its eyes, meeting his gaze directly.

The corners of Jiang Suifeng’s lips flattened unconsciously, so Lu Xiye offered him a smile, raising an eyebrow as if asking a question.

Asking what, Jiang Suifeng didn’t know.

His heart throbbed heavily at that raised eyebrow, and he couldn’t help asking, “Could you give me one?”

Lu Xiye flicked the cigarette box, causing half a cigarette to pop out.

He tilted his head and laughed as if remembering something, a hint of playfulness in his smile, though his gaze seemed to hold hooks: “Aren’t you still a minor?”

“If I’m a minor, why did you give me a light the other day?” Jiang Suifeng countered.

“When I gave you a light, I didn’t know you were a minor,” Lu Xiye said. “I was just playing around with the lighter—why did you start smoking it?”

Jiang Suifeng glared at him in annoyance, his already large eyes instantly growing wider.

Lu Xiye’s smile grew cheerful: “Minors aren’t allowed to smoke, you know?”

As he spoke, he held the cigarette box closer in front of Jiang Suifeng, like bait for fishing, wanting to entice him to reach out and snatch it.

Once two people started physically tussling, their relationship and distance would become extraordinarily close.

Jiang Suifeng’s gaze was burning, looking as if he were about to move right away, yet in the end he didn’t move at all, lowering his eyes once more.

Lu Xiye narrowed his eyes.

In his past life, whenever he was around, the youth loved to look at him quietly. But in this life, he seemed particularly fond of lowering his eyes, as if wanting to hide those eyes away.

He felt a bit disappointed: “I put it right in front of you. Why didn’t you reach out?”

“That’s yours,” Jiang Suifeng said.

“Hmm?” Lu Xiye was stunned.

“That’s yours,” Jiang Suifeng repeated. “Without your permission, no one can touch it.”

The phone rang again, but Lu Xiye didn’t answer it.

He pulled the cigarette out and handed it to the youth’s lips. Jiang Suifeng opened his mouth to take it. With a click, Lu Xiye held up the flame, offering it before his lips once more.

The tip lit up, and Lu Xiye let out a laugh: “If you ask for it, I’ll give it to you. Don’t be afraid to ask.”

Jiang Suifeng looked at him sideways while Lu Xiye answered the call under his gaze.

He spoke in English with many professional technical terms; Jiang Suifeng only gathered that he was discussing monitoring data for a new drug in a laboratory.

This phone call was very long, and his tone was completely different from the previous one.

Jiang Suifeng listened quietly until the cigarette burned down to its end, at which point he instinctively raised his hand.

Lu Xiye’s breath hitched. Countless scenes from his past life flashed through his mind—every single one featuring that hand crushing a red-hot cigarette butt between its fingertips.

This had once been a recurring part of his nightmares, but later, at an unknown point, it had become his habit.

He had inherited his habit.

He wanted to reach out to stop him, but Jiang Suifeng’s movement was too natural and smooth; the cigarette butt had already been extinguished between his fingers.

He let out a breath, only then realizing he was wearing gloves.

The black leather gloves on his hands emitted a scorched smell from the heat, revealing a greyish-white lining through a tiny hole.

Jiang Suifeng also seemed a bit surprised; his brows knitted slightly as he looked at his gloves with a touch of heartache and regret, softly curling his fingers inward.

The car pulled up in front of the bar, and the rain happened to stop as well.

Jiang Suifeng made a gesture, indicating he wanted to get off first.

Lu Xiye grabbed his sleeve, quickly spoke two sentences, and hung up the phone.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Some work came up suddenly today, so I won’t be able to watch your performance.”

“It’s fine,” Jiang Suifeng said. “Please go ahead with your work.”

He said goodbye and stepped onto the stairs leading to the bar.

However, Lu Xiye quickly caught up with him, standing at the bar entrance as he stuffed a bag into his hands.

“A friend from abroad gave this to me a few days ago, but the size is one size too small. I originally wanted to throw it away, but felt it was a waste,” he smiled casually, looking a bit self-conscious: “You won’t mind it, right?”

The paper bag was a plain dark brown with no brand logos; the packaging had clearly been replaced.

Jiang Suifeng opened the paper bag and saw a padded coat inside. Even though the branding had been deliberately hidden, he still recognized it as a foreign clothing brand renowned for winter wear.

After all, the Qin family was in the garment business; in his past life, he had conducted extensive research on domestic and international clothing brands.

A padded coat like this would cost at least five figures.

He pursed his lips, feeling a bit at a loss: “I… don’t need it.”

He added, “You can return it or exchange it for another size.”

People coming and going were all looking at them. He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, as if he truly were rejecting it out of distaste.

“They bought it abroad, and this style isn’t available domestically, so it’s hard to exchange. Besides,” he smiled softly, “you might not know, but my mother is a fashion designer; I can only wear her clothes.”

Lu Xiye’s tone gradually carried a bit of fluster: “You… don’t really mind it, do you?”

Jiang Suifeng tightened his grip slightly. Just as he wanted to say something more, Lu Xiye quickly interrupted him: “Actually, I also have something I’d like to ask your help with.”

Jiang Suifeng didn’t refuse further, offering a gentle smile: “Please tell me.”

“The Lu Corporation is doing a campus survey next week. When you get the questionnaires for your school, I’ll trouble you to bring them to the bar so I can pick them up when I drop by.”

How was this asking for help? Jiang Suifeng smiled faintly, but said nothing.

It wasn’t until he entered the bar’s break room that he pulled the padded coat out of the paper bag.

The coat felt heavy—wrapped inside was a small, sealed glass jar filled to the brim with snowflake crisp nougats.

He opened the lid, took one out, and put it in his mouth. Soft, fragrant, and sweet—it was so sweet that it left him utterly at a loss.

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