TAO | Chapter 81

Wei Xiaochi didn’t know what kind of wire in his brain got crossed, but he actually lay on the bed with Jiang Zhan, seriously researching rental listings near J University.

Whether he could perform well on the college entrance exam was still totally up in the air, and whether Jiang Zhan could even get into a school near J University was an even bigger mystery.

Yet instead of talking about how to improve their grades, the two of them were seriously planning something that hadn’t even gotten its first stroke of ink.

Not only were they planning—they were really into it.

Jiang Zhan scrolled through listings on 85Tongcheng. “How about a three-bedroom, two-living-room place?”

Wei Xiaochi swallowed nervously. “Isn’t that… too big? How much would it cost?”

Jiang Zhan entered the criteria for a three-bed-two-living-room unit. The app filtered the listings and popped up a whole line of options.

The fancier ones went for over five thousand a month, mid-range ones around four thousand, and the cheapest was still three-five.

Jiang Zhan used to have no concept of money, but after a few days of part-time work with Wei Xiaochi, he’d gotten a taste of how tough earning money actually was. Silently, he switched the search to one-bedroom-one-living-room listings.

He scrolled a few half-heartedly, his finger swiping faster and faster, and then cleared his throat. “These are cheaper, but… it’s just one bedroom.”

Wei Xiaochi’s brain went boom—completely fried. He scratched at his head a couple times in panic.

Jiang Zhan repeated, “Just one bedroom.”

It took Wei Xiaochi a whole ten seconds to sluggishly respond with an “Oh.”

Jiang Zhan looked at him, all awkward and mumbly. “So with just one bedroom… how do we sleep?”

If they hadn’t already shared a bed several times, the way Jiang Zhan said this, paired with that innocent look, really would’ve made you think Young Master Jiang had no idea how sleeping arrangements worked.

Faced with this alpha’s deliberate dumb act, Wei Xiaochi’s eyes dodged his gaze, his cheeks burning hot.

Jiang Zhan nudged him with an elbow. “Say something. You—why aren’t you saying anything?”

Wei Xiaochi buried his head even lower. “I-I don’t know.”

Jiang Zhan looked obviously upset. “Then I’ll look it up online—what do two people do if there’s only one bedroom?”

Wei Xiaochi’s face turned purple-red like pig liver. He felt like if he shook his head, there’d be actual water sloshing around inside.

Why the heck were they even talking about this?! And the worst part—Jiang Zhan actually went and looked it up.

Once he got a result, he shoved the phone in front of Wei Xiaochi.

Wei Xiaochi leaned over to peek, super sneakily. But before he could even see the words clearly, Jiang Zhan asked, “What does it say?”

Wei Xiaochi’s brain was mush. He read the screen word by word: “What else can you do? Just sleep in the same room.”

Jiang Zhan immediately chimed in, “Well, if you want to, then let’s sleep in the same room.”

Wei Xiaochi: …

Clearly that was the poster’s suggestion, but somehow Jiang Zhan twisted it into Wei Xiaochi wanting to sleep together.

Sigh.

—

Jiang Zhan set the phone aside, his eyes locked on Wei Xiaochi as he slowly leaned in.

Wei Xiaochi nervously pressed his lips together. As Jiang Zhan moved closer, inch by inch, he unconsciously held his breath.

Jiang Zhan stopped less than a centimeter away, their breaths mingling. He cupped Wei Xiaochi’s face in both hands, gaze soft and full of emotion.

“You…” Jiang Zhan’s voice was dry and raspy. “You—open your mouth.”

Wei Xiaochi’s ears buzzed, his palms damp and tingling. He blinked at Jiang Zhan, totally lost.

He didn’t know much about romance. He’d never even watched that kind of video, let alone read those risqué comics or novels.

But he was eighteen, not eight. He knew what Jiang Zhan meant when he asked him to open his mouth at a moment like this.

When Wei Xiaochi got especially nervous, his brain just… derailed. Like a train jumping the tracks. He never knew how he’d react in those moments.

Jiang Zhan didn’t ask again. Seeing Wei Xiaochi all flustered like that, he couldn’t hold back—he leaned in and kissed him.

Wei Xiaochi blanked out completely, all his systems shutting down. He was like a stiff little puppet with no thought processes at all.

But when those warm lips pressed against his, he instinctively opened his mouth—

As if it were natural, as if it were right, like he was just following his heart. Just like that… he welcomed his alpha.

—

Jiang Zhan held Wei Xiaochi close, pinning him into the corner of the bed.

The two of them were wrapped around each other, chest to chest, feeling each other’s strong, pounding heartbeats.

Wei Xiaochi’s lips tingled with heat. When Jiang Zhan finally let go, he gasped for breath, hot air fanning from his nose.

Jiang Zhan kissed the corner of his eye once, then again.

It was like he had a chest full of love, and the moment he saw Wei Xiaochi, it overflowed. He couldn’t help but want to kiss him, hug him, stick to him like he was coated in superglue.

He pulled Wei Xiaochi into his arms, finally content, resting his cheek on Wei Xiaochi’s shoulder and soaking up all that intimacy.

Even the air felt sticky and warm, filled with tender feelings.

Wei Xiaochi’s fingers twitched, then slowly lifted to hug Jiang Zhan back.

Hugging him… hugging this moment.

—

They stayed like that for a long time before Wei Xiaochi softly asked again, “Do you want me to tutor you… so we can go to college together?”

Jiang Zhan rubbed his chin on Wei Xiaochi’s shoulder, his voice a little clingy, “Mmhm. Yeah.”

After answering, Jiang Zhan looked back at him. “Then… should we rent a one-bedroom apartment?”

That was basically a disguised invitation to move in together.

Wei Xiaochi clutched at his pajama hem and dazedly nodded. “If you can get into a university near J University, then… we can book one.”

With Jiang Zhan’s current grades, aiming for J University in a single year was a long shot—very long. Wei Xiaochi didn’t have that kind of confidence.

But if he really studied hard this year, getting into a decent second-tier university was still within reach.

Seeing Wei Xiaochi agree, Jiang Zhan happily hugged him and stole a few more kisses. Then he got right back to browsing listings.

Jiang Zhan had so many dreams about their future. Looking at apartments satisfied all those wild thoughts in his head.

He wanted a place that belonged to both of them. He wanted them to have a long, long life together.

—

Jiang Zhan was super picky and hard to please. He flipped through every one-bedroom apartment listing on the app, nitpicking as he narrowed it down to two that were at least passable.

When he looked down to show Wei Xiaochi, he realized… the guy had fallen asleep at some point.

One cheek was nestled into a fluffy velvet pillow, and the soft glow from the lamp lit up the other side of his face, casting a beautiful arc of light across his nose.

At that moment, this Omega looked unbelievably soft.

Jiang Zhan felt utterly bewitched and gently kissed his eyelid.

It wasn’t a deep sleep, though. The second he touched him, Wei Xiaochi woke up.

He’d only opened his eyes a crack when a hand suddenly covered them, and another arm wrapped around his waist, dragging him back onto the bed.

Jiang Zhan pulled the blanket over both of them and growled in his ear, “Sleep. No waking up.”

Wei Xiaochi hesitated for a bit but eventually closed his eyes again and obediently lay in Jiang Zhan’s arms.

Jiang Zhan snuggled up behind him and gave the back of his bandaged neck a gentle kiss.

The bite on Wei Xiaochi’s neck wasn’t actually that bad, but for some reason, Jiang Zhan insisted on wrapping it with three layers of bandage.

Wei Xiaochi didn’t fight him on it. Honestly, with his personality, he’d never even think to argue.

Jiang Zhan turned off the lights but kept his hand over Wei Xiaochi’s eyes. “Asleep yet?”

After being messed with like that, Wei Xiaochi wasn’t falling asleep that fast. He answered honestly, “Not yet.”

Jiang Zhan asked, “Last time I went to your place, why didn’t you tell me that wasn’t your biological mom?”

Wei Xiaochi didn’t know how to answer—not because he didn’t want to, but because he honestly didn’t know what to say. He just didn’t want Jiang Zhan to know about all the chaos in his family.

Probably because… it was too embarrassing.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have pride. It was just that most of the time, he didn’t have a place to put it.

Jiang Zhan let go of his eyes and leaned forward to look at him. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Wei Xiaochi pressed his lips together silently. “I don’t know how to say it.”

He couldn’t explain the way he felt, but Jiang Zhan completely misunderstood. He thought Wei Xiaochi didn’t know how to tell him that it wasn’t his birth mom.

Thinking about it, it kind of made sense. I mean, what could you even say in front of a stepmom? “That’s not my real mom”?

After leaving Wei Xiaochi’s house that day, Jiang Zhan hadn’t asked any more questions. So “I don’t know how to say it” actually sounded pretty reasonable.

Jiang Zhan said, “In that case, we’ll still have to go visit your mom sometimes, right? Is she remarried?”

He naturally included Wei Xiaochi in the we—we’ll have to visit your mom.