He’s So Sweet After Class

Mo Lingqiu followed Jiang Chenming down from the second floor, carrying two boxes of gifts in his hands, carefully taking each step, afraid that he might do something wrong and displease Jiang Chenming’s parents. 

“Mom, Dad. This is Mo Lingqiu.” Jiang Chenming was afraid that the room full of Alpha pheromones would affect Mo Lingqiu—and that he would be nervous—so he pulled him in a little closer. 

Mo Lingqiu bowed and solemnly greeted, “Uncle and Aunt, nice to meet you. I’m Mo Lingqiu.”

Chen Shan and Jiang Zhongzhen looked at each other, seeing satisfaction reflected in the other’s eyes. 

“Hello. You’ve been taking such good care of our son.” Jiang Zhongzhen extended his hand.

Mo Lingqiu froze. He shifted the gift into one of his hands and used the other to shake Jiang Zhongzhen’s hand before passing the gift over. “This is for the two of you. I hope you like it.” 

“Aiyo, you’re too polite.” Chen Shan took it with a smile.

“As I should be.” Mo Lingqiu’s expression wasn’t showing much, but he was actually really nervous in his heart. 

Jiang Chenming once again held him around his shoulders. “Mom and Dad, Teacher Mo will stay here tonight.”

“Sure. Should I tidy up a guest room or will you be staying in one room together?” Chen Shan handed her things to the housekeeper.

“It’s fine if we share the same room.” Jiang Chenming flashed Mo Lingqiu a reassuring smile. 

“Okay.” There was nothing for Chen Chan to disagree with; they were in a proper relationship, and the marking had already happened. If things went well, Mo Lingqiu would enter their family in the future. There was nothing wrong with them sharing the same room. 

“Is dinner ready? We’ll eat together if it’s ready.” Chen Shan looked at the housekeeper.

The housekeeper half bowed. “Madam, Young Master said he wanted to be the one to cook tonight, so dinner is not yet ready.”

“You want to cook?” Chen Shan was surprised.

“Yes. It just so happens that you are all here tonight, Mom and Dad.” Jiang Chenming smiled. “Teacher Mo, come help me prepare dinner.”

Mo Lingqiu froze before quickly responding, “Okay.”

With that, Jiang Chenming took Mo Lingqiu into the kitchen, leaving Chen Shan and the others in the living room to deal with their own matters. 

“Is it okay for me to come in like this?” Mo Lingqiu stole a glance at the living room, still a little worried.

“You’re fine. You’ll definitely be uncomfortable if you sit out there alone. If my parents want to talk to you, let’s do it later at the dinner table.” Jiang Chenming was ill at ease letting Mo Lingqiu deal with his family out there alone. 

“En.” Mo Lingqiu nodded and finally helped him cook.

Their actions were relatively quick and the dishes had even already been taken care of, so all the cooking equipment was basically ready to be used. Soon, the originally empty table was filled with delicious looking dishes.

Jiang Chenming pointed to some of them and said, “These are the dishes made by Teacher Mo. You guys give it a taste. If they’re good, save some for me.”

Chen Shan gave him a slanted glance. “Are you so afraid that I’ll eat all of it?”

“Yes.” Jiang Chenming was really honest.

Chen Shan helplessly shook her head. After sitting down, she raised her chopsticks and tasted Mo Lingqiu’s dish. “Delicious!”

Jiang Zhongzhen didn’t talk a lot, but he still asked, “It’s delicious?” 

“Yes. Try it.”

Jiang Zhongzhen picked up a portion of it with his chopsticks. It really didn’t taste that bad. “Well, it is indeed good.”

“I’m glad that you like it.” Mo Lingqiu followed Jiang Chenming and sat down.

“Is Teacher Mo usually busy with work?” Chen Shan asked.

“You can call me Mo Lingqiu. Usually work is fine. I’m not very busy.” Mo Lingqiu had always been rather restrained in front of his elders, so he didn’t eat much.

Jiang Chenming gave him some food, and didn’t interrupt. He sat next to him, listening to them talk.

“How did you and Chenming meet?”

“…It was a minor accident.” Mo Lingqiu couldn’t say that he had gone into heat when they had met the first time—that was too embarrassing. 

“I met him during a night jog,” Jiang Chenming said, helping him answer. “Mom, don’t you know? The thing about my and Teacher Mo’s pheromone compatibility?” 

“Yes, your brother told us about it.” Chen Shan nodded. “We actually don’t care that much about pheromone compatibility. You see, Zhong Zhen and I are both Alphas.”

“Yes.” Mo Lingqiu held his chopsticks and didn’t dare to move.

“The most important thing is to like each other, to be suitable for each other. But, of course, high pheromone compatibility is definitely a good thing.” Chen Shan smiled. “Don’t be too nervous; we’re not those stereotypical parents.” 

“En.” Mo Lingqiu still didn’t move his chopsticks.

“Lingqiu eat more.” Jiang Zhongzhen gave Mo Lingqiu a piece of chicken foot.

“Thank you, Uncle.” Mo Lingqiu was flattered.

“Lingqiu, what do your parents do?”

Mo Lingqiu finally realised that Chen Shan was in charge of the interrogation, with Jiang Zhongzhen and Jiang Junshen at the side, probably watching his demeanor and attitude. 

“My parents work at the Research Institute.”

“Research Institute?”

“Yes, the National Pheromone Research Institute.”

“That’s impressive.” A trace of surprise flashed across Chen Shan’s face. “No wonder they could bring up such a smart kid like you.”

“…Thank you for the compliment, Auntie,” Mo Lingqiu sensibly said. 

“Teacher Mo, you’re older than our Chenming, right?”

“En, four years older.”

“It’s good that you’re older; you can only control him if you’re older. My son can be stubborn sometimes. We can’t control him,” Jiang Zhonzhen said, making a rare remark. 

Jiang Chenming didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. “What part of me is uncontrollable?”

“All aspects.” Chen Shan said, also giving her own comment.

Jiang Chenming, who thought he had always been well-behaved and obedient, could only concede. “Fine, fine, whatever you two say is right. So, do you want to compliment my cooking?”

Chen Shan had only been eating Mo Lingqiu’s cooking, and had never tasted Jiang Chenming’s. She picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and tasted it. “Not bad. Your cooking skills have improved.”

“Haah. As expected, when your daughter-in-law comes into our family, I’m not your son anymore.” Jiang Chenming put on a heartbroken expression, before quickly looking happy in the next second. “But Teacher Mo is my partner, and, in the future, no matter how good Teacher Mo’s cooking is, I’m the only one who can eat it every day.” 

Chen Shan raised her eyebrows. “What?”

Mo Lingqiu elbowed Jiang Chenming. “No, there will be more chances to cook for Auntie and Uncle in the future.”

“Look at Teacher Mo, then look at yourself.”

While the four of them were chatting quite lively, Jiang Junshen had been sitting there without speaking. 

When Mo Lingqiu noticed, he was a little worried that Jiang Junshen hadn’t joined in because he might not actually like him, but, since he only came today to show his face, he didn’t have the right to ask anything. 

Jiang Chenming noticed his gaze, moved closer to his ear, and whispered, “My brother is just like that. Let him be.”

Mo Lingqiu lifted his head. “It’s alright?”

“It’s nothing. His personality is even colder than yours,” Jiang Chenming said. However, he knew that the two of them were completely different when it came down to it. Mo Lingqiu was the cold outside, but warm inside type. Jiang Junshen, on the other hand, was cold both inside and out; not only was he boring, but he was also very stubborn. 

Mo Lingqiu didn’t ask about Jiang Junshen anymore. He ate something to prevent himself from getting hungry, and soon the dinner was over.

Jiang Chenming and Mo Lingqiu cleaned up the table together. When they went into the kitchen they chatted between themselves, heads close. 

“You’re still okay, right? My parents aren’t as scary as you thought?” Jiang Chenming asked.

“Yeah.” After a day, although Mo Lingqiu was still uncomfortable, the panic he felt at the beginning had disappeared.

“They’re quite nice to talk to, but since they’re more career-oriented, they usually control me very strictly when it comes to business,” Jiang Chenming explained. “I never told you about my family before because I was afraid that you would be troubled.” 

“I’m still okay.”

“So it proves that my decision was still right.” Jiang Chenming winked at him. “About my brother…”

The kitchen door was suddenly pushed open and Jiang Chenming’s voice came to an abrupt halt. Jiang Junshen walked straight up to the coffee machine and poured a lot of coffee beans into it.

Jiang Chenming frowned. “Ge, don’t always drink coffee in the middle of the night.”

“I still have things to do.” Jiang Junshen was used to working overtime. Even if he wasn’t at the company, he would still work overtime at home. He would make coffee at midnight and stay up until three or four o’clock. Sometimes he would stay up for two or three days consecutively—he was a really hard worker. 

“Why not just assign them to your subordinates?” Jiang Chenming was really baffled. If this went on, not to even mention the company, his brother would collapse. 

“No. The company has been a bit chaotic recently.” Jiang Junshen rubbed his brow, obviously recalling a troubling matter.

Mo Lingqiu glanced at Jiang Chenming, considering whether to leave the room or not. After all, the two brothers were talking about the company’s problems. 

Jiang Chenming shot him a reassuring look and continued talking to Jiang Junshen. “It’s okay to tell me if you need help. If you don’t want to tell our parents about it then that’s okay, too.”

“En.” Jiang Junshen nodded, but he obviously didn’t intend to tell anyone.

Jiang Junshen grew up with such a dull and paranoid personality. No doubt his super high IQ had led to his avoidant personality, and he hardly liked to communicate too deeply with other people, even including his own family. 

Jiang Chenming was silent, knowing that he couldn’t persuade him. Finally, he said, “Ge, take care of yourself.” 

“En,” Jiang Junshen said before falling into silence. Not long after, he walked out, coffee in hand. 

Mo Lingqiu sensed that Jiang Chenming was a bit upset and tried to comfort him. “Your brother seems to have listened.”

“I know.” Jiang Chenming sighed. “In my opinion, his company isn’t that stable. Because the early development went too fast, there are a lot of vulnerabilities. It’s not his own problem, it’s just that some people under him have bad intentions.” 

“It’s normal. Situations like that exist in every company,” Mo Lingqiu said, “but if a good business wants to stand firm, it has to experience survival of the fittest. Once it overcomes that, everything will be fine.”

“That’s right.” Jiang Chenming breathed a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, Teacher Mo is here to comfort me.”

Mo Lingqiu blushed. “…I’m telling the truth.”

“Hmm.” Jiang Chenming smiled and nodded. He put the clean empty plates in his hands into the cabinet and then wrapped his arms around Mo Lingqiu’s shoulders, exchanging a kiss with him. “Teacher Mo, in the future I’ll be down to earth and I won’t let you worry.”

Mo Lingqiu pursed his lips. A moment later, he asked, “Are you implying something about your brother?”

Jiang Chenming didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “Not at all. I’m flirting with you.”

“…En.” Mo Lingqiu turned his head away.

“As for my brother, he’s under too much pressure. I’ll try to help him share the burden for the time being.” 

“How old is your brother?”

“Two years older than you. Thirty-one.”

“Still not married?”

“No, he doesn’t seem very fond of anyone. But I’ve heard from people who are quite familiar with him that he seemed to have liked someone when he was studying. It probably didn’t work out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be like this.” 

Mo Lingqiu hummed for a while, not speaking. 

“Teacher Mo, what are you thinking? You’re not allowed to think my brother is up to par, okay?” Jiang Chenming suddenly sensed a crisis. 

“No.” Mo Lingqiu quickly shook his head. “It just feels like he would be the type Fan Nian likes, with that face.”