SABA Chapter 44

Huo Shen stood by the floor-to-ceiling window. The weather was good today, bright and sunny, with a clear blue sky. Huo Shen admired the clouds, which he couldn’t quite identify, for a while…

“Not bad, right?”

The unexpected answer piqued Jiang Mingyan’s interest. He straightened up and was about to ask.

Huo Shen: “Is it like returning to four years ago?”

Jiang Mingyan was speechless. He “tsk”ed and leaned back into his office chair, looking somewhat disappointed.

“I say, can you do it? Jiang Tiao doesn’t dislike you. It’s been months. If it were a man and a woman, I could already be an uncle.”

Huo Shen ignored Jiang Mingyan’s nonsense and interrupted, “Do you think his feelings for me are romantic?”

Jiang Mingyan was choked up.

His younger brother had always been clingy to Huo Shen since childhood, caring about Huo Shen more than anyone else. But no one could quite figure out what his feelings for Huo Shen were. You could say he liked Huo Shen, but this liking was more like possession and dependence on a family member.

Huo Shen sighed, “We’ve known each other for too long.”

The friendship formed from growing up together was too deep, and the boundaries of their interaction were difficult to judge by the usual standards between friends. He met Jiang Tiao when Jiang Tiao was only five years old, and Jiang Tiao’s current attitude and behavior towards him were almost no different from when he was five or six.

No matter how blind he was, he couldn’t believe that Jiang Tiao liked him when he was five or six.

Moreover, they were both men. It wasn’t as simple as him confessing and being rejected, and then continuing their current mode of interaction as if nothing had happened.

The past four years flashed before his eyes. Jiang Tiao had finally recovered and returned to normal, and he really didn’t want to and dared not break the current state of affairs.

Jiang Mingyan was at a loss for words. He was seven years older than Jiang Tiao. When he was in his rebellious teenage years at fourteen or fifteen, Jiang Tiao was still an ignorant little kid. So compared to him, Huo Shen had played a better “brother” role in Jiang Tiao’s growth process.

Furthermore, Huo Shen had been living in their house since he was twelve. They spent time together day and night, and their relationship was even closer than his own as a brother. Judging solely by their interactions, it was impossible to distinguish what kind of feelings they had.

It was a tangled mess.

Actually, if it weren’t for the events of the past four years, Jiang Mingyan would have had no preference for who Jiang Tiao would end up with. If he finally chose Huo Shen, he would send his blessings; if he didn’t choose Huo Shen and found a girl or boy he liked, he would also feel it was great. However, what happened in the past four years was like a heavy blow. If the law didn’t forbid it, he wished he could personally knock Jiang Tiao unconscious, strip him naked, and tie him to Huo Shen’s bed! After all, marriage was a matter for parents to decide, and if parents were overseas, the older brother could also decide!

Jiang Mingyan was frustrated, “Can’t you use some means?”

Huo Shen: “For example?”

Jiang Mingyan thought for a moment, “Why don’t you find a partner to provoke him?”

Huo Shen: “……”

Jiang Mingyan: “Why are you silent?”

“Suggestions without sufficient supporting achievements are often not feasible.”

Huo Shen: “I don’t think your advice on relationship issues is very convincing.”

“?”

Jiang Mingyan was almost angered to death, yet he was speechless.

He really wanted to say, how was he lacking sufficient achievements? But the words felt meaningless as they reached his lips. Sometimes he felt that being too observant was also troublesome, like Huo Shen. It was reassuring to be his business partner; projects he was involved in never lost money. However, being his friend was not so wonderful. What was the point of seeing things too clearly? It made some words sound like he was deceiving himself.

It was easy to deceive others, but it was meaningless to deceive oneself. Jiang Mingyan shut his mouth, like a dried-up oyster with a closed shell, having nothing more to say.

Beyond the window, the sky was clear and the clouds drifted leisurely, while inside, the two men were each in a dilemma.

Friends could be friends for a lifetime, and family could be family for a lifetime, but once some things crossed the line, it was very difficult to return to how they were.

Silence spread in the office. Neither of the two men pondering had spoken.

“Ding—”

Both Huo Shen and Jiang Mingyan’s phones received a Weibo push—it was Jiang Tiao’s work Weibo account replying to and reposting the “Stars Weekend” program’s Weibo, which thanked all the guests for their participation.

Jiang Mingyan saw comments in the comment section praising Jiang Tiao and anticipating his future performance, showing a hint of relief and pride. However, before he could even smile, he saw the name of another guest, surnamed Chu, who was tagged by the program. He felt a surge of annoyance and heavily threw his phone onto his desk, “What was he thinking? His childhood dream wasn’t to be a star, so why is he still jumping around in the entertainment industry?”

Jiang Tiao’s Weibo caption was likely written by himself, with his usual lively style. Huo Shen’s eyes showed a slight smile, like sunlight reflecting on the ice of a lake. He had been looking at a few lines of text for a while. It wasn’t until Jiang Mingyan was about to lose his patience that he leisurely put away his phone.

Although Jiang Tiao had never explicitly said it, Huo Shen could probably guess.

“Perhaps he wants to see if he can recover his memory through familiar things. Also, he wants to improve his reputation online and not cause you trouble.”

Jiang Tiao’s online reputation had been very poor before, known in the entertainment industry as a “resource hog” with scandals flying everywhere. Although those comments didn’t affect his mood, he worried that one day his company’s competitors might use them. He was afraid of affecting his family’s company stock price and also causing unnecessary trouble for Jiang Mingyan’s work.

“It’s actually similar to why he chose to major in finance after college.”

Jiang Tiao wasn’t very interested in business and company matters. He chose finance simply because if anything were to happen one day, he could help him or Jiang Mingyan.

Jiang Mingyan fell silent.

After a while, he opened a contract, “Forget it, let’s make money.”

With such a foolish younger brother, who knew how much money he would have to spend in the future.

Huo Shen had invested in brain research projects in various countries over the years, like a generous giver—regardless of whether it could cure Jiang Tiao’s condition, the progress of neuroscience in the future would definitely have Huo Shen’s contributions.

As for him, he was forced to get involved in the Chu family’s internal struggles, having to send money to both sides—fighting on both fronts, spending his money, and often getting frustrated—it was incredibly unfair.

Jiang Mingyan organized the parts he had marked on the “Mineral Resource Reserves Report.” They had previously cooperated to obtain the development and operation rights of a mine in Africa, and they were currently in the early stages of preparation for mining.

“I will have people perfect the management and extraction plan based on the issues raised in today’s meeting. Then, you will need to adjust the edge computing and intelligent scheduling system based on the final version.”

That was expected. Huo Shen replied with a “Hmm.”

Jiang Mingyan looked at the project construction plan in his hand and sighed, “If only relationship matters were as simple as making money.”

Orderly and methodical.

Huo Shen, for once, didn’t object. He finished the tea in his cup, “I’m leaving, I need to go back to the company first.”

“Oh, right. For this project’s follow-up, I’ll find someone specialized to be in charge. They’ll contact your side directly then.”

Jiang Mingyan was stunned and then reacted, “Whoa, it’s not easy. You’re not going personally this time?”

Who was it who had been going abroad frequently like self-exile all these years, wishing to handle everything personally, dedicating themselves to work almost every single day of the year?

Huo Shen looked at the boundless azure sky, his eyes rippling with a smile that seemed to clear after a storm.

……

On the other side of the city, Chu Qingchao was explaining Huo Shen’s vengeful methods and decisive, iron-fisted style in the business world over the years to Jiang Tiao. However, after listening, Jiang Tiao only had one question: “What you’re saying is that Huo Shen has spent most of his time abroad these past few years?”

Chu Qingchao admired Jiang Tiao’s ability to grasp the main point.

Jiang Tiao: “But I’ve spent most of my time in the country these past few years, haven’t I?”

Chu Qingchao: “……”

Jiang Tiao: “Did we have a falling out over something?”

He had said so much about Huo Shen’s business dealings just to change the subject. Chu Qingchao silently “tsk”ed in his heart. He looked at Jiang Tiao silently for a long time, then suddenly decided not to heed Jiang Mingyan’s instructions. He leaned back leisurely, “Why do you think that?”

Jiang Tiao looked at Chu Qingchao’s meaningful expression, and the words that had been so natural got stuck in his throat.

Yes, why?

Chu Qingchao: “Even very good friends, as they grow up, will have their own things to be busy with. Why would you think that if you’re not in the same place often, it’s definitely because you’ve had a falling out?”

“Look at Chu Yanhao and Cheng Jun. They also grew up together and are very good friends. Cheng Jun went abroad to study, and Chu Yanhao is also in the country.”

Finally, someone was willing to discuss this issue with him instead of thinking he was being strange! It really was better to talk to Chu Qingchao about heartfelt matters; his brother and people like Chu Yanhao were unreliable!

Jiang Tiao recounted to Chu Qingchao the incident where Nie Jin had invited Huo Shen to a dating reality show. He analyzed his own inner thoughts earnestly and frankly, “I thought my thoughts were very strange at the time because if Sister Jin had invited Chu Yanhao and the others, I wouldn’t have had this kind of mindset. I was reflecting on it at the time, wondering if my feelings for Huo Shen were somewhat abnormal. But when I thought about how you and my brother interact, I felt that these emotions between friends might also be normal?”

“……”

Chu Qingchao looked at Jiang Tiao’s exceptionally sincere eyes and silently closed his mouth.

“Look at you and my brother; you are also very good friends. But whether it was when he was studying abroad or working later, you never stayed too far apart, always choosing to stay within a distance where one could immediately reach the other if something happened. Moreover, although they didn’t express it very obviously, I feel like they both looked down on the partners the other found, no matter who they found…”

Jiang Tiao didn’t know why Chu Qingchao fell silent as he spoke.

“Brother Qingchao, do you think there’s any difference between my feelings for Huo Shen and your feelings for my brother?”

Chu Qingchao looked at the genuine confusion and bewilderment in Jiang Tiao’s eyes, opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it… After a moment, “Let’s eat. We have to go back to filming in the afternoon.”

Jiang Tiao: “?”

……