By Zephyria 
Early in the morning.
Jing Mian had just come downstairs when he heard the faint sound of running water from the kitchen, accompanied by the crisp rhythm of a knife chopping on a cutting board, lively and bustling.
Rubbing his eyes, he instinctively called out, “Mr. Ren?”
“MianMian, you’re awake?”
It was Aunt Yu’s voice.
“Breakfast will take a little longer. I didn’t expect you to be up so early.”
The woman shook the water off her hands and wiped them on her apron, smiling. “Kids your age usually love sleeping in. How come our MianMian keeps such a regular schedule? Such a good boy.”
Jing Mian froze slightly.
He rarely received such unreserved affection and praise as if he were a child. The young man pursed his lips, unsure how to react.
After a moment, he explained, “It’s the holidays now. If I don’t stay up too late for training or streaming, I can wake up early.”
At this point, Jing Mian subtly paused.
It suddenly occurred to him that he had overlooked another possibility, when he and Mr. Ren fulfilled their marital duties.
In those cases, there was no way he could get up the next day, no matter what.
Jing Mian’s ears slowly turned red.
But for now, at least, he didn’t have to worry about that.
After all, he and his husband hadn’t done it in a long time.
Jing Mian thought that the man probably truly saw marital intimacy as an obligation between spouses, something to be fulfilled only when necessary. And right now, there seemed to be no reason for them to fulfill that obligation.
So, whether in the near future or the foreseeable days ahead, he could maintain this kind of regular and punctual routine.
Unable to hold back, Jing Mian asked, “Where is Mr. Ren?”
Aunt Yu poured the chopped century eggs and minced meat into the steaming porridge and replied, “He had some work commitments today and left early in the morning.”
“Worried you wouldn’t eat properly, Xiao Ren called me before leaving.”
The woman tidied the cutting board and said with a smile, “I didn’t have anything to do today, so I came over to make you breakfast, tidy up a bit, and water the plants.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
After a brief pause, Jing Mian silently found the watering can and bent down to water the little elm tree.
Aunt Yu placed the cooked porridge on the dining table, setting it on a small mat. Beside it were fried dough sticks, shrimp-scrambled eggs, nutty broccolini, and juicy little steamed buns filled with braised pork.
Jing Mian swallowed and said, “This is so lavish.”
“Aside from the buns, everything else was prepared in advance by Xiao Ren.” The woman recalled, “Last time, I brought some buns over, and Xiao Ren said you really liked them, you ate several.”
Jing Mian stiffened.
He hadn’t said anything back then, yet Mr. Ren had noticed.
And remembered.
He took a bite of the juicy bun, the rich sauce spreading across his taste buds—flavorful but not greasy at all.
Beside him, the woman said softly, “Don’t think I’m just doing housework now. I actually ran a bun shop for several years. Now that I’m older, I can’t keep up, but back then, business was great…”
Jing Mian listened quietly, the warm steam misting his eyes. He squinted slightly, his limbs and fingertips tingling with warmth.
“Today is Qixi Festival, you know.”
Jing Mian froze. “Qixi?”
“Yes.” Aunt Yu adjusted her reading glasses and glanced at her phone’s WeChat. “My daughter told me. She said she won’t be home for dinner tonight, she’s going on a date with her boyfriend.”
Jing Mian nodded and lowered his gaze to sip his porridge.
Unable to resist, Aunt Yu asked, “Aren’t you and Xiao Ren going out today?”
Jing Mian paused, then shook his head.
He and Mr. Ren had never celebrated such holidays before.
Perhaps the difference between married couples and young lovers was their lack of attention to specific romantic occasions.
Mr. Ren had to attend an evening event, while the ME. Club was undergoing electrical maintenance these two days, allowing the young man to take a brief day off and sleep in.
After having breakfast with the auntie, Jing Mian helped clear the dishes.
Taking his laptop and putting on a mask, Jing Mian opened Glory on the sofa and unexpectedly started his livestream several hours earlier than usual, surprising his fans.
The barrage of comments flowed endlessly:
【So early today!!】
【Wuwu, this single soul stuck in the dorm has no date, only Sheep’s livestream to comfort my heart】
【MianMian, aren’t you celebrating the holiday today?】
【Shocked】
【Shocked +1】
【Why is MianMian still at Brother’s house today?】
Jing Mian moved his mouse while waiting for the interface to load. Glancing at the comments, he softly replied, “Brother has something to do today, so I’m… helping look after the house.”
【So well-behaved wuwu】
【What about hubby, little one?】
【Calling out MianMian’s husband here, how could you not take our baby out for Qixi Festival?】
【Exactly!!】
【Spread the word, MianMian’s husband is no good】
【MianMian’s husband is no good】
【MianMian’s husband is no good】+1
【MianMian’s husband is no good】+2
……
【MianMian’s husband is no good】+42
Watching the neat and spectacular formation of comments scroll by, Jing Mian’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. Flustered, he averted his gaze and quietly adjusted his headset.
Today’s livestream didn’t go smoothly.
An unprecedented three losses out of eight matches.
After closing the stream, Jing Mian set the laptop on the coffee table. Grabbing a pillow, he watched the warm sunlight outside the floor-to-ceiling windows gradually sink toward the horizon, nearing sunset.
Lying on the sofa, Jing Mian stared at the sky for a while.
Soon, drowsiness overtook him.
Time always seemed to drag when alone, but sleep made it pass quickly.
By the time the sky had darkened completely, Jing Mian was abruptly awakened by the ringing of his phone.
Lifting his hand, he fumbled for his phone and answered.
Seeing the caller ID in advance, Jing Mian’s eyelashes fluttered as he softly called out, “Husband.”
His voice was slightly hoarse, laced with a sleepy softness.
—The unmistakable tone of someone who’d just woken up but was pretending to be composed.
“Were you asleep?”
The man’s familiar voice came through the receiver.
“Mm…” Jing Mian glanced at the time on his phone, still early, and asked, “Are you coming back soon?”
“No.”
Mr. Ren fell silent for two seconds before speaking. “Are you free tonight?”
Jing Mian: “?”
Still not fully awake, Jing Mian took a few seconds before answering softly, “Yes.”
He added, “The club’s under maintenance, so I don’t have training tonight.”
Mr. Ren said, “I’ll pick you up later.”
“Okay.”
Jing Mian set down his phone.
Curling up on the sofa, he dozed off again. Before long, a corner of the pillow was gently grasped. Blinking groggily, Jing Mian remembered the earlier phone call and suddenly a rather absurd thought surfaced.
The young man abruptly sat up.
Mr. Ren…
Could he be planning to celebrate Qixi Festival with him?
“As expected of the hottest luxury brand right now. Their new campaign slogan is ‘First Choice.’”
“Not only does it fit the holiday, but creative video challenges have already started trending online.”
“Brother Ren, your endorsement short video has already surpassed two million likes.” Yu Nian quietly took the man’s coat and handed it to a staff member. “According to the rehearsal, you just need to stay in the audience seats for about ten more minutes to let the cameras sweep over you.”
After sitting down, Yu Nian knew his shift was nearly over.
“Today is Qixi Festival.”
Yu Nian said with a smile, “Brother Ren, tonight’s schedule and business engagements have all been deliberately cleared.”
Ren Xingwan looked at him: “Why cleared?”
Yu Nian hesitated, then asked, “Aren’t you and Mr. Jing… going out tonight?”
The man didn’t speak.
The silence seemed to serve as an answer.
After what felt like a long time, Mr. Ren asked, “What do people usually do when they go out?”
Yu Nian quietly held his breath, so after being married for over half a year, this couple still hadn’t properly celebrated a holiday together!?
He thought for a moment and listed some examples: “Like dining out, watching movies, ice skating, karaoke… Brother Ren, I can’t think of too many specifics right now, but it’s best to choose activities based on shared interests.”
Of course, there was one thing he deliberately omitted.
—Making love.
On such holidays, hotels and inns naturally thrived.
Yu Nian added, “The important thing is to use the romantic atmosphere of the holiday to express your feelings.”
Mr. Ren’s attention seemed to linger on the latter part: “Express feelings?”
“Yes,” Yu Nian nodded. “Like confessing your love.”
This time, the man’s silence lasted even longer than before.
In this strange quiet, Yu Nian snapped back to reality, a wave of surprise washing over him. He couldn’t help but tentatively ask, “You and Mr. Jing… haven’t talked about this before?”
“No.”
Yu Nian slightly held his breath. “Mr. Jing hasn’t confessed to you either?”
……
The man was tall and handsome, the light and shadows tracing the contours of his profile. When the camera seemingly swept past him unintentionally, Mr. Ren remained expressionless, merely glancing sideways as if discussing serious work matters with his assistant. He said, “Do words spoken half-asleep count?”
Hmm…?
Yu Nian replied, “Of course they count.”
After a moment’s thought, he added, “Being half-asleep means it comes from the subconscious. Words from the subconscious often reflect one’s truest feelings.”
The man seemed to ponder this for a long while before suddenly speaking:
“Then he has mentioned it.”
“Just in the car, when he wasn’t fully conscious.”
Yu Nian was slightly stunned. Naturally, he didn’t dare ask exactly how “not fully conscious” that situation had been. Instead, sensing the conversation was heading in a positive direction, he said, “That still counts.”
“Did Mr. Jing directly say he likes you?”
“No.”
Ren Xingwan paused for a few seconds. “He said, ‘I like Brother.'”
This time, the camera lingered on the audience seats, focusing on Mr. Ren’s face before slowly panning away.
Yu Nian couldn’t discern the nuanced emotions behind those words.
He asked, “Brother is…?”
Ren Xingwan: “Me.”
Tsk tsk.
Look at this young couple, married for such a short time, yet already using sweet nicknames like “Brother.” Yu Nian was practically blinded by their sweetness. “Congratulations, Brother Ren.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he caught the man’s expression and faintly realized…
…he might have congratulated too soon.
“You’ve seen my old photos.”
Mr. Ren spoke, but his words seemed unrelated to their current conversation. “How different do I look now compared to then?”
Yu Nian suddenly recalled the stunning beauty from that photo, the materials and a single photo he and Chen Ke had found together, which had led to a mix-up where they mistakenly identified the former Brother Ren as Dawn.
Not quite understanding, Yu Nian wasn’t as quick witted or eloquent as Chen Ke, whose words always put listeners at ease. He could only answer honestly, “Indeed… they don’t seem alike.”
“I’ve changed a lot since back then.”
“The person in that photo,” Ren Xingwan’s magnetic voice remained eerily calm, betraying no emotion, “was Jing Mian’s brother.”
Yu Nian still seemed a bit confused. He carefully replied, “Even though he didn’t say ‘husband,’ Mr. Jing was still referring to you. You are his brother, after all.”
“He never saw me as a brother.”
Under Yu Nian’s slightly bewildered gaze, the man fell silent for a long moment before speaking again, “After we got married, he always called me ‘Husband.'”
“Only when I reminded him would he change how he addressed me.”
Yu Nian swallowed quietly.
He didn’t dare slack off, being married himself, he felt obligated to help his artist and boss, Brother Ren, with his troubles. But the current situation was becoming increasingly perplexing. “At the time… did you ask first? Did you ask Mr. Jing whether he liked ‘Brother’ or ‘Husband’ better?”
“……”
In truth, the word “brother” hadn’t even been mentioned.
“I asked him whether he liked ‘Husband’ or something else.” The man’s thin lips pressed together slightly, not dwelling on the memory, as if it were still vivid. “At the time, MianMian wasn’t fully conscious. He answered irrelevantly, bypassing the two options I gave, and said he liked ‘Brother.'”
Ren Xingwan’s gaze remained fixed, his figure elegant yet cold, his voice low:
“So, he doesn’t like ‘Husband.'”
…
Yu Nian inhaled softly.
Suddenly, he understood what was going on.
—Given the current situation…
Was President Ren… jealous of himself?
An unconscious slip of truth, the one and only time Mr. Jing had ever spoken about his feelings, and what came out wasn’t a declaration of love for Brother Ren himself.
But for “Brother.”
Marrying someone he had adored as a child, only for that person to change drastically as an adult, perhaps, in Mr. Jing’s eyes, this marriage was nothing more than a barely acceptable arrangement.
To think that the other’s motivation for marrying might have been to seek traces of the past in him, for the person standing here now, that would indeed be torment.
And this kind of scenario was rare, almost unheard of, in typical business marriages.
Just how deep must his love be, for an omnipotent god to nitpick over every shred of affection?
—Refusing to yield even a sliver.
Even if that person was his past self.
“……”
Yu Nian pressed his lips together and silently thumped his chest.
This is too much. Too much.
Who could understand?
What kind of secretly jealous of himself, marriage before love fluff is this?!
The pure romance warrior clutched his chest tightly!!
Yu Nian asked, “Have you ever expressed your feelings to Mr. Jing?”
“No.”
Up until now… not even once?
Yu Nian felt like he was using up all the emotional intelligence he’d accumulated over twenty-plus years. He tentatively suggested, “Rather than trying to understand Mr. Jing’s feelings, perhaps it’s equally important to let him know how you feel.”
……
The air grew still.
Dust drifted slowly, shimmering under the stage lights. The audience seats grew quieter as the commotion on stage continued.
Mr. Ren seemed to ponder for a long time before finally speaking. “I should tell him.”