LRAPTC Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Substitute (1)

Shen Jue entered, the room was empty, Ji Yuanan was nowhere to be seen. Shen Jue placed the suitcase in the bedroom, pondered for a moment, but still didn’t take anything out. He went downstairs, and Ji Yuanan emerged from the flower bushes in the courtyard, holding his phone.

Ji Yuanan was on the phone. He was wearing warm-toned home clothes, his whole being bathed in sunlight, warm and pleasant, it was a scene very suitable for a photograph. At this moment, Shen Jue finally understood why Ji Yuanan could become the darling of the media. He had a beautiful appearance that was no less than a film and television actor, simply standing there was pleasing to the eye enough.

Shen Jue suddenly became a little curious about what Ji Yuanan himself thought of those virtual and real reports on the internet.

The painting-like Ji Yuanan finally moved, he hung up the phone and walked towards the living room, meeting Shen Jue’s eyes who was holding onto the handrail of the stairs. He said something to Shen Jue, Shen Jue couldn’t hear it clearly, he could only barely discern that it seemed to be welcoming him home.

Shen Jue showed a confused expression, Ji Yuanan took a few steps forward and repeated: “Welcome home.”

Ji Yuanan called this place home.

Hearing this sentence, Shen Jue was in a daze for a moment, he hadn’t had the concept of home for a long time. Ji Yuanan quickly noticed Shen Jue’s somewhat downcast emotions and proactively asked: “What’s wrong? You look like you’re not in a good mood.”

“It’s just that I resigned,” Shen Jue came back to his senses, placing his hands on the handrail of the stairs, nonchalantly answering Ji Yuanan.

“Do you want to come to my company?” Ji Yuanan pondered for a moment and invited Shen Jue.

Ji Yuanan’s expression was too serious, Shen Jue laughed and said, “Wow. Is this the CEO personally coming to poach someone? I thought you would say something like ‘Then I’ll take care of you’,” Ji Yuanan didn’t speak, Shen Jue continued, “Okay, I’m just kidding, but thank you for your kindness, but I don’t know what to do next, I want to rest first. When I figure it out, if the situation allows, I’ll give your company priority.”

Ji Yuanan didn’t dwell on it too much and changed the subject: “My mother just called, she said she wants us to go back for a meal today.”

“Don’t be nervous, you just need to treat them like your own parents.” When getting out of the car, Ji Yuanan leaned close to Shen Jue’s ear and said quietly to him.

Ji Yuanan was too close, the heat of his breath hit Shen Jue’s ear, Shen Jue’s movements became even stiffer, not knowing what kind of expression to make. He absentmindedly thought that perhaps his restraint was too obvious, even the Ji Yuanan next to him noticed it, so he said something to comfort him. But he never knew how to interact naturally with parents.

His hand had been gently held by Ji Yuanan since getting out of the car and hadn’t been released for a moment. The two were very close, Shen Jue smelled the faint fragrance on Ji Yuanan, gradually calming his somewhat anxious heart.

Only then did he have time to look around. The entire house was located in a remote suburb, surrounded by all kinds of flowers and plants, a white dove was perched on the fountain, Shen Jue felt like he had accidentally entered a garden. Ji Yuanan pulled him past these various plants and opened the door.

“Brother! You’re finally back.” Ji Yuxin spoke first, her words filled with unrestrained joy, she stopped in front of Ji Yuanan and smiled at Ji Yuanan.

“This is my younger sister, Ji Yuxin,” Ji Yuanan softly introduced to Shen Jue.

“Hello,” Shen Jue smiled.

Ji Yuxin turned her gaze to Shen Jue, her smile gradually fading. Before she could speak, Ji’s mother said from the side: “Yuxin, quickly step aside and let your brother and his partner come in and sit down before catching up.”

“Oh,” Ji Yuxin responded softly, looking very unwilling, but she obediently walked away.

“Mom, I brought Shen Jue back.” It was the first time Shen Jue had heard such an intimate address from Ji Yuanan’s mouth, he couldn’t help but be stunned. Before he could react, Ji Yuanan pulled him to Ji’s mother.

Ji’s mother smiled happily and asked them to sit down, so Ji Yuanan sat down next to Shen Jue. Shen Jue always felt that the two’s behavior was too intimate, but given that they were now at Ji Yuanan’s house, and he had promised to cooperate with Ji Yuanan, he had to acquiesce to Ji Yuanan’s familiar way of calling his name and accept Ji Yuanan’s constant closeness to his body.

“Where did Dad go?”

Ji’s mother looked up at the stairs, “He should still be busy in the study, don’t worry about him, let’s chat ourselves, we’ll call him when it’s time to eat.” She turned back and asked, “What are your plans next? Where do you two plan to go for your honeymoon…”

“Mom.” Seeing that his mother was about to keep talking, Ji Yuanan quickly interrupted her, “We haven’t figured it out yet, Shen Jue has been a bit busy with work recently, we plan to wait a while, when things aren’t so busy.”

Shen Jue, who had just confessed to Ji Yuanan that he had resigned this morning, silently listened to Ji Yuanan’s nonsense, didn’t plan to expose him, but smiled and echoed: “Yuanan and I both feel that it’s better to talk when we’re free.” Shen Jue deliberately used a more intimate address, making it seem like the two had a good relationship.

“That’s good too,” Xu Jin nodded in agreement, “It’s still better to wait until you’re free.”

While they were talking, the food had already been placed on the table, Ji Yuanan took the initiative to get up and said, “I’ll go upstairs and call Dad down.”

With one less person next to him, the space suddenly became wider, Xu Jin stepped forward and grasped Shen Jue’s left hand, the presence of the wedding ring was even stronger. Shen Jue didn’t have much experience in spending time alone with elders, he could only awkwardly look at Xu Jin and smile.

During the meal, Ji Yuanan would give Shen Jue food from time to time, and every time this happened, Shen Jue would feel a trace of malicious gaze from somewhere, fleeting, Shen Jue didn’t know why, so he didn’t care.

After the meal, Xu Jin took Shen Jue to visit Ji Yuanan’s bedroom, the room’s arrangement hadn’t changed, it still maintained the way it was before the owner left. Shen Jue glanced around and finally stopped at the photo frame standing on the desk.

Shen Jue walked forward, the Ji Yuanan in the photo was still young, his eyebrows and eyes vaguely showing the shadow of his current self, he was wearing black overalls, wearing a cat ear headband, smiling at the camera.

“Yuanan was probably only ten years old at that time,” Xu Jin also came over, looking at the photo in Shen Jue’s hand with a nostalgic expression, as if she was immersed in some memories, and then continued after a while: “I remember this photo was taken at an amusement park.”

Behind the young Ji Yuanan, the amusement facilities being partially blocked could be seen, Xu Jin suddenly thought of something, “Right, I remember Yuanan also has a special photo album, do you want to take a look?”

There was really no reason to refuse, Shen Jue was intrigued by this photo and wanted to see the former Ji Yuanan as well.

Xu Jin found the thick photo album, Ji Yuanan’s appearance from childhood to adulthood was inside, Shen Jue opened it, and the young Ji Yuanan came into view. Shen Jue continued to flip through, Ji Yuanan’s age gradually increased, his expression became more and more monotonous, and the number of photos from the same period also decreased. Shen Jue stopped at one of the pages, which contained a full-body photo of Ji Yuanan playing the piano with his head down.

Xu Jin, who was next to him, noticed Shen Jue’s actions and recalled, “At that time, Yuanan suddenly told me that the person he liked could play the piano, so he pestered me saying that he wanted to learn as well.”

It was difficult for Shen Jue to imagine Ji Yuanan being clingy, nor did he think that Ji Yuanan was this kind of person, willing to learn something he wasn’t good at for the person he liked. He could say that he knew nothing about Ji Yuanan, and for a moment, knowing Ji Yuanan’s secret deeds, he felt a little strange. He suppressed his emotions and continued to flip through.

“Shen Jue, I still have some things to do, so you can just wander around by yourself first.”

“It’s okay, you go ahead and do your work,” Shen Jue watched Xu Jin leave before shifting his attention back to the photo album. Seeing the end, Ji Yuanan and Ji Yuxin stood on either side, Ji Yuanan’s expression was already the same as those pictures on the internet now.

Shen Jue put the photo album back in its place, didn’t linger, and went downstairs as well.

Downstairs, Ji Yuanan was playing chess with his father, he was supporting his chin with his hand, watching the chess game, looking like he was racking his brains. Shen Jue suddenly remembered the Ji Yuanan in the photo, lowered his eyes and looked at the black and white piano keys in front of him, the sunlight shining through the window on his profile, illuminating Ji Yuanan brightly.

Not wanting to disturb the father and son, Shen Jue walked towards the outside of the house. He stared at the sky for a while, the sky gradually darkened, and the lights in the house suddenly turned on. Shen Jue stood in an open space, the wind picked up, and the broken hair on his forehead fluttered in the wind. Shen Jue slowly squatted down.

Far away from the crowd, Shen Jue could finally relax, he lowered his eyes and looked at the ring that fit perfectly with his hand, the light was too dark, such a small thing was easy to lose, he still gave up the idea of taking it off to play with.

The plants were shaking in the wind, he randomly chose one and started counting the number of leaves, but unfortunately, he had just started when he was interrupted, a shadow suddenly appeared beside him, Shen Jue turned his head and saw Ji Yuxin looking at him with a calm face, completely different from the smiling girl he had seen in the group photo before.

They looked at each other for a while, Ji Yuxin had no intention of speaking first, so Shen Jue had to get up and ask her first: “Is there something you want to say to me?”

Ji Yuxin still didn’t seem to have any lively expressions, and the words she said were also inexplicable, she said to Shen Jue: “My brother already has someone he likes.”

I know, and the person your brother likes can also play the piano, Shen Jue silently added for her in his heart, unconsciously using a tone to coax a child and asked: “Yeah. And then?”

Ji Yuxin’s expression finally changed a little, with a bit of disbelief, as if she had heard some unreasonable and outrageous answer. She didn’t believe that Shen Jue’s expression didn’t change much after hearing this sentence, so she had to continue to stimulate him with words: “That person is not you.”

Without any impact, Shen Jue was still as usual.

“I’ve seen photos of my brother’s loved one before, you do look very similar to him,” Ji Yuxin paused for a moment and still said it: “But you’re just a substitute.”