Chapter 47

Translator: Rin    Editor: dedaign    Proofreader: Amber.es

“Boss, serve up another round of everything we ordered.” Jiang Chenming raised his hand to flag down the owner of the barbecue restaurant.

Jiang Junshen noticed that Jiang Chenming was wearing a nice shirt, with a blazer in his hand and casually asked, “You have an event today?” 

“A party at school. I was the host,” Jiang Chenming explained.

“Oh.” Jiang Junshen nodded his head and fell back into silence.

Fan Nian had always been the one who talked a lot, but today he didn’t speak. Mo Lingqiu glanced at him several times, and, from the scent of his pheromones alone, he could sense what was happening.

“Where have you been lately?”

“…Some things came up.” Fan Nian was ashamed and really couldn’t say it.

Mo Lingqiu didn’t ask any further. “Do you want to order anything else?”

“Huh?” Fan Nian froze.

“Barbecue.” Although Jiang Chenming had asked the boss to serve another round of what they ordered, Fan Nian might’ve wanted to eat something else.

After hearing food, and because he was also really hungry, Fan Nian quickly gave in and answered, “…Garlic chives.” 

“En.” When Mo Lingqiu was about to beckon over the owner, Jiang Junshen stood up from across the table and walked over to the shopkeeper to add the dishes.

Just like that, the four of them sat around the table and ate in silence. From time to time, Jiang Chenming would bring up a few topics and say a line or two about them. Mo Lingqiu and Jiang Junshen were always quiet, and didn’t contribute to the conversation. Usually, Fan Nian, who was talkative, would chime in with a couple words, but today even Fan Nian kept his mouth shut. 

“Brother, did you move out recently?” Jiang Chenming hadn’t seen Jiang Junshen appear in the house since the second half of winter break.

“En, I’m living at my own place,” Jiang Junshen said.

“Alone?” Jiang Chenming asked, cleverly setting him up.

“Me and…”

Jiang Junshen was just about to finish his answer when Fan Nian suddenly stretched out his hand between him and his brother. “I want that.”

“What?” Jiang Junshen asked.

“The skewer,” Fan Nian said, casually making something up.

Jiang Junshen silently reached out and handed the plate of skewers to Fan Nian. “Is that enough?”

“It’s enough, it’s enough.” Fan Nian didn’t want to eat the skewers; he only wanted to interrupt what Jiang Junshen had been saying. 

“Brother, is your company doing better now?” Before the winter holidays, Jiang Junshen had had a constant headache because of the company’s affairs, but, since he hadn’t returned home, Jiang Chenming hadn’t had the opportunity to ask about the situation.

“Yes, it’s already better.”

When Jiang Chenming heard this, he had a pretty good idea of what he meant. The “better” Jiang Junshen said meant that there would be no flaws to be found and that there would probably be a great development in a short period of time. 

“That’s good. Dad also asked me to give you a message.”

“What?”

“He asked you to not be too hasty.” Actually, this was something Jiang Chenmng’s father, Jiang Zhongzhen, had said during New Year’s Eve, but he was still worried and had asked Jiang Chenming to convey the message again.

“I know.”

The conversation between the two brothers sounded somewhat uninteresting to Mo Lingqiu and Fan Nian. Mo Lingqiu carefully plucked open the roasted eggplant with chopsticks and slowly ate the eggplant’s flesh in the middle.

Fan Nian, on the other hand, took half of the skewer and chewed it slowly.

When they were almost done with the barbecue, Mo Lingqiu was basically full. He put down his chopsticks and looked at Fan Nian. “Fan Nian, your mother called me.”

Fan Nian’s hand holding the chopsticks stilled abruptly. “Why did she call you?” 

“She asked me if I could introduce someone to you.” Mo Lingqiu had received a phone call, but it was at the beginning of summer. Back then, his answer had been “not yet”. And later, when he saw Jiang Junshen, he got the idea to introduce someone to Fan Nian. 

“…Haven’t you already introduced someone to me?” A trace of embarrassment flashed across Fan Nian’s face.

“Are you not single right now?” Mo Lingqiu asked again.

“En.” It wasn’t Fan Nian that answered, but Jiang Junshen who was sitting next to him. 

Fan Nian froze. After a moment, he nervously rubbed his hands together and put down the remaining half the skewer.

“That’s quite good.” Mo Lingqiu very calmly nodded his head.

Fan Nian was even more embarrassed to see that he wasn’t surprised at all. “You knew already?”

“About what?” Mo Lingqiu played dumb.

“…Nothing.” Fan Nian usually had the gift of the gab, but, at that moment, he didn’t know how to answer Mo Lingqiu’s question. 

Jiang Chenming couldn’t help but laugh next to him, but, in order to not embarrass Fan Nian, he held it back. 

The four of them finished eating and went home separately. 

Jiang Chenming saw that Mo Lingqiu had something on his mind, so he took the car keys and took the initiative to get into the driver’s seat. Mo Lingqiu shot him a grateful look and sat in the passenger seat so that he could message Fan Nian. 

Qiu: How are you two doing now?

Qiu: Have you confirmed the relationship?

Fan Nian quickly replied. His phone was obviously glued to his hand. 

My target is three hundred million: Why are you talking so much today?

My target is three hundred million: Aren’t you usually quiet?

Qiu: Answer.

Fan Nian pursed his lips and thought for a moment before he sent out what he was thinking.

My target is three hundred million: We’re dating now, okay? Didn’t you introduce him to me?

Qiu: ?

Qiu: Something’s wrong.

Mo Lingqiu intuitively thought that things could never be so simple. Fan Nian was his only friend, so he was eager to know what happened.

Fan Nian smacked his lips. Mo Lingqiu was much more sensitive than he thought; he thought that he would be very oblivious to this kind of thing.

When he was about to send a message back to Mo Lingqiu, Jiang Junshen suddenly spoke up from where he was driving. “What’s wrong?”

“…Mo Lingqiu asked me about us.”

“Tell him the truth.”

“…Oh.” Fan Nian very obediently informed Mo Lingqiu about his relationship with Jiang Junshen.

My target is three hundred million: I know him from high school. After you introduced the two of us to each other, we solved a little misunderstanding and got together.

My target is three hundred million: Also, I’ve been marked.

My target is three hundred million: It’s a permanent mark. 

Mo Lingqiu was shocked. When he smelled the pheromones on Fan Nian at first, he simply thought it was a temporary mark. He never thought that the two had reached permanent marking level after only seeing each other for less than a month.  

When Mo Lingqiu suddenly thought about the effects of permanent marking, he asked the question in his mind with some uncertainty.

Qiu: You… those contraceptive measures…

My target is three hundred million: …

Fan Nian’s face showed a cornered expression. Now he really didn’t know how to answer.

Jiang Junshen looked at him again and asked a second time, “What’s wrong?”

“…He asked me about contraception.”

“Didn’t use it.” Jiang Junshen’s face was expressionless as he precisely answered. 

Fan Nian blushed and stared at him. “How can I say that?”

“Tell the truth, or I could help you?” Jiang Junshen slowed down the car and looked at Fan Nian with an expression that was somewhat gentle.

It was the expression that Fan Nian couldn’t handle the most. Those eyes were simply too mushy. He pursed his lips and replied to Mo Lingqiu. 

My target is three hundred million: No…

Mo Lingqiu, who had been waiting for a reply, was dumbfounded when he saw the message. If he remembered correctly, if one didn’t use contraceptives during the heat period, the probability of pregnancy could go up to 95 percent.

Mo Lingqiu thought about it, typed a sentence in the dialogue box and deleted it, deleted and typed it again, and changed it several times before finally sending it.

Qiu: So have you gotten a checkup yet?

My target is three hundred million: !!!

My target is three hundred million: ！！！

My target is three hundred million: No!!! Not checking！！！

Mo Lingqiu stared at his screen full of exclamation marks and didn’t know what to say. He also didn’t know if Fan Nian was afraid or he really didn’t intend to check.

Qiu: Oh.

Qiu: Congratulations in advance.

My target is three hundred million: ????

My target is three hundred million: Don’t always focus on me. You should also hurry up.

Qiu: No rush.

With two simple and clear words, Mo Lingqiu directly closed the conversation. He didn’t reply to anything Fan Nian sent after. 

After sending many messages and not receiving any replies, Fan Nian stared at his inactive phone and, after a long moment, threw his phone into the compartment with great anger. 

“What’s wrong?” This was the third time today that Jiang Junshen had asked.

Fan Nian pouted. “He told me to take a test.”

“A pregnancy test?” Jiang Junshen’s tone suddenly changed, no longer so flat.

“…What else?” Fan Nian unconsciously put his hand on his flat belly. “I definitely won’t be pregnant.”

When he said this, he felt somewhat confident and yet not really confident at the same time. 

“…You’ll get pregnant.” Jiang Junshen’s voice slowly became gentle. “Even if you don’t believe in me, you have to believe in yourself.”

The pheromone compatibility rate between him and Jiang Junshen was too low. In fact, the relative probability of pregnancy was definitely reduced.

When he’d agreed to Jiang Junshen’s request for a permanent marking during his heat, he hadn’t thought about getting pregnant because he didn’t have any confidence in himself. Now, when Mo Lingqiu asked, it was inevitable that he would feel melancholic and disappointed, but he also had a vague sense of hope. 

On the other side of the screen, Mo Lingqiu watched the messages pop up in the chat box continuously until they suddenly stopped. He turned off his phone and silently leaned back into the chair. 

Jiang Chenming noticed his mood change and asked, “How was the conversation with Dr. Fan?”

“He got together with your brother.”

“I sensed it. The smell on his body.”

“They’ve marked each other permanently,” Mo Lingqiu added.

Jiang Chenming froze, surprised for just a moment. “Is that so?” 

“…Aren’t you shocked?” Mo Lingqiu was puzzled to see Jiang Chenming’s calm reaction.

“En… I thought it was a temporary mark, but it’s not surprising that it’s a permanent mark.” Jiang Chenming understood Jiang Junshen’s character. “Like I said before, my brother is a bit paranoid when it comes to certain things. If he really knew Dr. Fan before and liked him, then, as long as he’s found out Dr. Fan’s feelings, he would definitely ask for a marking with a huge probability of directly taking action.”

“Oh,” Mo Lingqiu responded indifferently, unable to articulate how he was feeling.

Jiang Chenming parked the car in the downstairs parking space and looked back at Mo Lingqiu. “Teacher Mo.”

“What?” Mo Lingqiu didn’t look at Jiang Chenming.

“Are you also expecting me to be more assertive and directly force it on you?” Jiang Chenming lifted his hand and gently rubbed Mo Lingqiu’s lower lip with his thumb.

Mo Lingqiu was dumbfounded by his bold statement. After a moment, he slapped his hand away. “You’re thinking too much!”