Lin Heyuan saw him too. He welcomed Jiang Xiao inside and shut the gate.

  He gnced back at Lin Chengyu, then looked at Jiang Xiao again, finally showing a rare gentle smile.

  “Come on in.” He took the lunchbox from Jiang Xiao’s hands and only then realized what it was. “You didn’t have to bring anything. I already have food prepared.”

  Jiang Xiao expined that he’d made the soup himself at noon, and also apologized about the fight with Lin Chengyu.

  “You don’t need to apologize,” Lin Heyuan said. “It was between the two of us. Hard to say who threw the first punch—honestly, it was mutual. We’ve never really gotten along. A fight might have been inevitable. I don’t regret it.”

  Ever since their first encounter at the market in Spring City, they hadn’t liked each other.

  Jiang Xiao found it hard to believe. In his mind, Lin Heyuan wasn’t that kind of person. He was always polite, distant with others, like a lofty flower untouched by dust—someone who’d never raise a hand to fight.

  “You…”

  “Don’t overthink it,” Lin Heyuan cut in, seeing his stunned expression. He changed the subject. “Let’s head to the study. We’ve got a stack of practice tests today, and we need to go through your error log.”

  Jiang Xiao let himself be pushed along, not pressing further. Once they were in the study, he poked his head back out to say, “Drink the soup first, it’s still warm—just right.”

  Lin Heyuan smiled. “Got it.”

  He carefully took out the soup and pced it on the desk.

  Others might think it strange that he’d gotten into a fight, but Lin Heyuan didn’t find it odd at all.

  In fact, this incident had made something clear to him.

  The fight with Lin Chengyu was impulsive on both sides. Lin was driven by jealousy and anger, while he… acted on possessiveness.

  At some point, seeing Jiang Xiao made him feel happy. He found himself watching him constantly, wanting to be near him. He started doing things he’d never done before, and everything felt more interesting with Jiang Xiao around.

  He’d never had many friends growing up. At first, he thought this was just friendship—especially since Jiang Xiao was a guy, he didn’t think much beyond that. But over time, he realized something was off.

  He wanted Jiang Xiao always by his side. Sometimes he just wanted to hug him, be even closer. When he stared into Jiang Xiao’s eyes, he felt his heart soften and sink in this strange, warm way.

  Would friends really feel this kind of intense possessiveness? This desire to go further?

  Thinking back, it was obvious. He and Lin Chengyu started cshing around New Year’s—because both of them had feelings for the same person.

  Love came with the desire to monopolize. Even if Jiang Xiao didn’t seem to like Lin Chengyu and clearly avoided him, Lin Chengyu was still persistent. Lin Heyuan always felt something had happened between them in the past that he didn’t know about, and that bothered him.

  Rivals in love fighting each other—what’s so strange about that?

  But Lin Heyuan wasn’t about to confess to Jiang Xiao now. First, it was a crucial time. Jiang Xiao was studying hard to do well in the high school entrance exam and was also busy with his small business. Distracting him now would be irresponsible. Second, Lin Heyuan wasn’t sure how Jiang Xiao really felt.

  Jiang Xiao treated him well, but that was his nature—he was kind to everyone. Like with Ye Yingying, Jiang Xiao always made sure to include him. But both he and Lin Chengyu knew Ye was harmless.

  Still, seeing how much Jiang Xiao resisted Lin Chengyu, Lin Heyuan figured confessing now might backfire. If he misjudged it and ended up like Lin Chengyu, being avoided completely—it’d be a disaster.

  He could sense there was something murky between Jiang Xiao and Lin Chengyu, but whatever it was, right now Jiang Xiao clearly liked him more.

  It was fine. He was here with Jiang Xiao now. He still had time.

  Jiang Xiao’s cooking was seriously impressive. Lin Heyuan finished the soup spoon by spoon, then went to the kitchen to grab two cups of lime soda. Jiang Xiao didn’t like things too sour, so he’d added extra honey to his.

  Jiang Xiao was lying on the desk doing homework. When he saw him come in, he said, “There’s medicated oil in my bag—our family’s used it for years, really effective. I used it all the time when I got bruised or banged up. Your injury still hasn’t healed. Let me massage it ter—it’ll feel better.”

  Massage his waist?

  For some reason, after Jiang Xiao said that, Lin Heyuan seemed to tense up. He stayed that way the whole study session, like he was strung tight.

  Afterward, he couldn’t refuse anymore and y down on the small couch in the study. Jiang Xiao kept a straight face, lifted his shirt, and gently applied the oil to the bruised spot.

  His massage technique was surprisingly good. He even took moments to quietly admire Lin Heyuan’s figure. The guy had abs—hard to tell when he was all buttoned up before.

  Thinking about it made Jiang Xiao a little sad.

  He’d been exercising more tely, but since his rebirth, his appetite improved too. He didn’t restrict himself—ate whatever he wanted. So… he’d put on a little weight.

  His belly was a bit soft now, and the abs weren’t as visible. He decided he’d do fifty extra push-ups a day from now on.

  The massage didn’t hurt—it felt pretty nice. But with Jiang Xiao’s hand pressed against his bare skin, Lin Heyuan was stiff as a board, blushing slightly, facing the wall and not daring to look. He only rexed once it was done, turning to face him.

  And then he saw Jiang Xiao had lifted his own shirt and was staring at his waist.

  “It’s really not that bad,” Jiang Xiao said, worried about his figure. “Maybe I should add twenty more pull-ups too? What do you think, Lin Heyuan?”

  In his past life, Jiang Xiao had fallen hard for Lin Chengyu. Aside from that failed love, he’d always thought of himself as pretty straight. Otherwise, why would he have chased Lin Qingyu like an idiot in middle school?

  His waist just had a bit of softness, still slim overall. The lines were clean and lean—flexible and smooth.

  Lin Heyuan: “…”

  He stared for a while, then reached over and tugged Jiang Xiao’s shirt down, fingers trembling slightly.

  “It’s… it’s fine,” he coughed, stumbling over his words, which was rare. “Whatever you want. It’s all fine.”

  Jiang Xiao didn’t think anything of it. He patted his stomach and packed up to go home and cook dinner. As expected, he ran into Lin Chengyu again on the way.

  After that real fight, Lin Chengyu had given up on ambushing Lin Heyuan. He realized he’d underestimated the guy.

  More importantly, with Jiang Xiao’s current attitude, even a minor injury to Lin Heyuan would make Jiang Xiao connect it back to him. If he kept targeting Lin Heyuan and it made Jiang Xiao unhappy, it’d be self-defeating.

  His family needed to arrange that school transfer as soon as possible, or Jiang Xiao really might be taken away.

  He’d repyed the thought of tearing Lin Heyuan to shreds over and over in his head. But the moment he saw Jiang Xiao walking out, half of his anger just vanished.

  He didn’t know why he was so pathetic—just seeing him made him happy, even if he was coming out of someone else’s house.

  Jiang Xiao looked at him with mixed feelings too.

  Lin Heyuan had admitted it was a mutual fight—not as one-sided as he’d assumed. Maybe he had wronged Lin Chengyu a bit.

  As he approached, Lin Chengyu followed. His eyes had this pitiful look, like he’d been waiting forever.

  “You’ve already lived one whole life,” Jiang Xiao sighed. “Why are you still so hot-headed and childish…”

  He looked at Lin Chengyu and trailed off, words escaping him.

  “Xiaoxiao…”

  Jiang Xiao stared at him. “Don’t mess with the people around me anymore. Lin Heyuan got hurt because of you. I already feel bad enough.”

  Lin Chengyu didn’t argue—he lowered his head and sincerely apologized.

  But Jiang Xiao still smelled faintly of medicated oil, even after washing his hands. The bitter scent was unmistakable—like a traditional medicine shop.

  Lin Chengyu knew that scent. That oil had been a staple in his life for years.

  If it was just something given to Lin Heyuan, why was the scent lingering so heavily on Jiang Xiao?

  The thought made his heart ache. Jiang Xiao must’ve personally helped him.

  He pulled Jiang Xiao back, not letting him leave.

  “I’m more injured than he is,” he said. “And I’m still not healed. Lin Heyuan…”

  He wanted to tattle more, but realized it was pointless. So he shut his mouth and just stared, looking as pitiful as possible.

  Not only did he have bruises from the fight, but the construction site work had left his body covered in bumps and scrapes—there wasn’t a single unmarked patch of skin.

  Jiang Xiao tried to shake him off a few times but couldn’t. And he couldn’t just let it go either.

  “Don’t you have medicine at home? Why are you pying dumb?”

  “It’s not as good as yours,” Lin Chengyu replied. And Jiang Xiao actually knew how to massage—his bruises had faded fast. Not that he expected Jiang Xiao to treat him again now, but still—he wanted something.

  “Xiaoxiao…”

  Jiang Xiao: “Quit acting cute—that stuff doesn’t work on me.”

  Lin Chengyu was a year younger than him. When he used to like him, being a bit softer was considered flirtation. Now, Jiang Xiao had developed a strong immunity to that. But if this matter wasn’t resolved, it felt like things couldn’t go back to how they were.

  However, Lin Chengyu was being stubborn—holding on to him and refusing to let go no matter what. Hitting or kicking didn’t work. After repeatedly being entangled for a while, and seeing that he might not even make it home on time, Jiang Xiao weighed his options and shoved the remaining half bottle of medicinal oil into his hands.

  “Apply it yourself. Where did you learn this clingy behavior from?” he said, then added a few more sentences in a much firmer tone, “From now on! You are not! Allowed! To bully! Lin Heyuan!”

  Lin Chengyu: He was obviously the one who schemed against me!

  But he only dared to think this to himself. In front of Jiang Xiao, he still had to show restraint.

  Author’s Note: Xiao Lin has had a breakthrough.

  At this time, Empress Lin, who had been relegated to the cold pace, was feeling quite indignant.