SABA Chapter 3

“Why?” Jiang Tiao was very confused.

Jiang Tiao was thoroughly teased, but his friends were too many. Jiang Tiao couldn’t outtalk six people with his one mouth. In the end, he decided to just go with it and changed his nickname to [Super Invincible Cute Tiao Tiao Little Treasure].

His friends all said they couldn’t stand it, they really couldn’t stand it.

Heh, Jiang Tiao, who had triumphed on the path of shamelessness, was full of vigor and high spirits.

This is called walking on others’ paths and leaving no path for others to walk on!

Jiang Tiao admired his achievement. The more he looked at it, the more he liked this nickname. He casually took a screenshot intending to send it to Huo Shen, then he was horrified to discover that he was no longer Huo Shen’s WeChat friend???!!!

Jiang Tiao leaped up straight from the bed, pushed open Huo Shen’s door, and accused him with heartbroken indignation: “I’m not your little treasure anymore? Do you have other dogs outside? You actually deleted me?! How could you delete me!!!!”

Huo Shen’s shirt was still on, but two buttons were undone. He seemed to be in a meeting, but the person he was meeting with was likely someone he was close to.

“Wow~ Huo, is that Jiang? Let me see, let me see!”

The voice came from the speaker, in English, with an exceptionally exaggerated and excited tone.

Huo Shen knew well the person speaking was prone to indiscretion. He said, “I’ll talk about the rest another day,” and ignored the other person’s excited babbling, hanging up the video conference.

The moment the video conference ended, Jiang Tiao caught a glimpse of the person’s appearance: a handsome mixed-race man with blond hair and blue eyes.

“Who is that?” Jiang Tiao felt a little awkward. Huo Shen had friends he didn’t know at all, and they seemed to be quite close.

Huo Shen: “A doctor, specializing in brain research. I previously invested in several research projects at their institute, and he was reporting the progress of the project research to me.”

Huo Shen’s room and Jiang Tiao’s room had similar layouts, both being suites with the bedroom and bathroom inside and the study outside. However, Huo Shen’s room had more books, while Jiang Tiao had a wall full of Lego and figurines.

Jiang Tiao said, “Oh.” “You even invested in this. When did you become interested in these things?”

Huo Shen paused, then skirted the main issue: “It was a few years ago. What did you want me for?”

It was only when Huo Shen asked that Jiang Tiao remembered. He jumped up from the sofa, held up his phone displaying WeChat to Huo Shen, and said angrily and heartbrokenly: “You actually deleted me!!!!!!! ”

No matter how many exclamation marks there were, it couldn’t express Jiang Tiao’s current mood. Huo Shen actually deleted him, this was simply a great insult to their deep friendship!

Huo Shen chuckled twice, took out his own phone, found Jiang Tiao in WeChat, and sent an emoji in front of Jiang Tiao.

A bright red exclamation mark.

[The other party has enabled friend verification. You are not yet friends with him/her.]

“?????????”

Jiang Tiao found it unbelievable.

“How could I delete you as a friend? Back then, during truth or dare with classmates, I’d rather drink three glasses of bitter melon juice than delete you as a friend!”

You know, his most hated food was bitter melon!

Huo Shen’s expression softened slightly: “Who knows. Besides, you not only deleted me, but you also deleted your brother.”

“???????????????????”

Jiang Tiao was even more shocked, his mouth forming an ‘O’ shape.

He didn’t believe it! This was not something he would do!

Jiang Tiao quickly scrolled through his WeChat list and finally, to his sorrow, found that Huo Shen was telling the truth!!

“Did you two do something to betray me?” Jiang Tiao huddled pitifully in the corner of the sofa. “Like, you want to sell my kidney to give to your significant other?”

Huo Shen chuckled with amusement: “What do you think?”

Jiang Tiao whimpered, extremely dejected, feeling like Sun Wukong being driven out of the door by Patriarch Bodhi, homeless, with even the ahoge on his head drooping.

“Why is this happening to me?!”

Huo Shen sighed, walked over, and patted Jiang Tiao’s head: “Maybe you’re entering your rebellious phase.”

“Even if it’s a rebellious phase, I would only delete my brother, not you!” Jiang Tiao obediently let Huo Shen pat his head, having a very clear understanding of his own personality.

Huo Shen smiled: “It’s all in the past. Just add each other back. What friends haven’t had any arguments?”

That’s right, friends who haven’t had any arguments aren’t true friends. Jiang Tiao tentatively accepted Huo Shen’s explanation.

“Then I’ll add you back!” Jiang Tiao’s spirits were restored. “And then you refuse me a few times, so we’ll be even.”

Huo Shen: “Never mind, you add me. When you add me back, we’ll be even.”

“No,” Jiang Tiao’s attitude was firm.

Huo Shen: “I can’t refuse you.”

Jiang Tiao was uncharacteristically speechless. His bright eyes, like stars, darted around, and then he suddenly smiled: “Then I’ll do it, and it’ll count as you having refused.”

A moment later, Huo Shen took back his phone.

【Friend Request】

Jiang Tiao: 【Do you know which letter of the alphabet makes the most mistakes?】

You rejected the friend request and sent [What is it?]

Jiang Tiao: 【M!】

You rejected the friend request and sent [Why?]

Jiang Tiao: 【Because M(I’m) sorry. T.T】

Huo Shen smiled and shook his head, accepting the request.

Jiang Tiao happily changed Huo Shen’s contact name. He looked at it for a long time, feeling something was missing. He tilted his head to think and then, on impulse, pinned it to the top.

Yeah, that looks much better!

Jiang Tiao was satisfied.

“Did we not chat on WeChat at all for these four years? Why is the last chat on your phone still from four years ago?”

Huo Shen glanced at his phone. It was on his 20th birthday, when Jiang Tiao sent him a message: [I’ve arrived, just got off the plane, probably about another hour to get there~ [Spin] [Spin]]

“We didn’t chat much. I didn’t save them, I deleted them all.”

Jiang Tiao was surprised and was about to comment.

Huo Shen: “Since you don’t remember anyway, I’ll just pretend those four years didn’t exist. That way, we can be equal.”

That made sense. Good brothers should value equality. Having an extra four years of memories could indeed lead to many problems.

“Hooray! Then let’s pretend those four years in between didn’t happen!”

Huo Shen smiled dotingly, and patted Jiang Tiao’s head again, cherishing him as if he had found something lost: “Mhm, okay.”

…

However, Huo Shen’s peace of mind didn’t last long. It was almost bedtime, and he was about to wash up when he saw Jiang Tiao hugging a happily smiling Snoopy plush toy on his bed.

“I don’t want to sleep alone today!”

Huo Shen was wearing a black shirt, perhaps about to wash up, so he had rolled up one sleeve halfway. He stood by the bed, both annoyed and amused: “You’re not alone, you have your Snoopy.”

Jiang Tiao hugged Snoopy and rolled around on the bed, like a child throwing a tantrum: “I don’t care, I don’t care, I want to sleep here tonight anyway.”

Jiang Tiao was wearing loose short sleeves and shorts at home. As he rolled, his fair waist was revealed. Huo Shen looked away, trying his best to focus his gaze above his neck.

“You can’t,” Huo Shen’s attitude was firm. “Go back to your own room.”

Jiang Tiao said with a very resentful tone, “You just said you wouldn’t refuse me, but then you changed your mind and didn’t want to sleep with me. You liar, you liar!”

Huo Shen had a headache. He pressed down on Jiang Tiao, who was still rolling, for fear that he would hurt the wound on his forehead.

“I can agree to anything else for you, but this matter is non-negotiable. Hurry back to your room.”

“Why?” Jiang Tiao was very confused. “We’ve slept together since we were little, we’ve slept together for many years.”

“Cough cough—” Huo Shen almost choked to death. “Speak properly!”

Jiang Tiao was bewildered, feeling that there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Huo Shen: “You were still in elementary school then, only about ten years old. How old are you now?”

“Seventeen,” Jiang Tiao replied indignantly. “I’m still ten-something now!”

Huo Shen: “Then you’re seventeen, not seven.”

“We’re both guys, what’s the big deal!” Jiang Tiao was very confused, thinking Huo Shen was utterly unreasonable. “Ancient people at forty or fifty years old would still have late-night talks, and Emperor Taizong of Tang often invited his ministers to sleep in the Liangyi Palace with him for all-night conversations!”

Huo Shen was not persuaded at all: “Your brother will be back in a few days. Ask him to sleep with you.”

“I’d rather not,” Jiang Tiao shivered, goosebumps appearing on his skin. “Ever since I wet the bed on my brother’s bed when I was three, he hasn’t let me into his room since.”

Huo Shen couldn’t help but laugh.

Jiang Tiao lay on the bed looking at Huo Shen. He hadn’t looked carefully before, but now he realized that four years had left quite a few marks on Huo Shen’s face. His features had become sharper and more defined, especially his jawline. The whole person seemed to have transformed from a boy to a man.

Huo Shen: “Why are you staring at me?”

Jiang Tiao pretended to have starry eyes: “I just feel like you’re even more handsome than before!”

Huo Shen smiled, pushed away Jiang Tiao’s approaching head: “It’s no use flattering me.”

Jiang Tiao drooped his head, looking as pathetic as could be: “Why? Don’t you like me anymore?”

Damn it, Huo Shen sighed. “Because domineering CEOs have neurodegenerative diseases. I’m used to sleeping alone. If someone is next to me, I can’t sleep. Do you want to see the dark circles under my eyes tomorrow?”

Jiang Tiao thought about it and felt that he really couldn’t bear it.

“Okay,” he said, hugging Snoopy and shuffling to the door in his slippers. As he closed the door, he poked his head back in, holding onto the doorframe.

“Do you know what a piece of glass says when it falls from a building?”

Huo Shen: “What?”

Jiang Tiao: “It says: ‘Goodnight, I’m shattered (sleeping)~'”

Huo Shen looked at the closed door, sat on the bed where Jiang Tiao had just rolled, and smiled, pinching his temples.

…