Chapter 32: You Came at Just the Right Time
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“Second Brother!”
Jiang Muyue turned around in surprise. Hu Feng never came in when she was administering acupuncture to herself, so what—
The next second, someone snatched the silver needles from her hand.
A figure threw himself onto Jiang Muqing on the bed and burst into tears. “Second Brother! Why didn’t you tell me you were living like this at home? Second Brother! I’m getting you out of here right now!”
Jiang Muqing reached out and smeared the mud on his hands onto Jiang Yinuo’s clothes. “No, get off me first.”
“No! If I get off, she’ll keep sticking needles in you! Ugh…”
Jiang Yinuo rolled his eyes and went limp, flopping onto him.
Jiang Muqing: “…”
Even if you lie on top of me, she can still stick the needles in.
Jiang Muyue hauled Jiang Yinuo off and tossed him onto the small sofa nearby. She looked him over several times. “This is your third brother, right? The one who’s a celebrity?”
Seeing the way Jiang Yinuo was being treated, Jiang Muqing felt somewhat uncomfortable and turned his face away. “Yes. Didn’t you already see him in the livestream last night?”
Jiang Muyue nodded. What she had seen last night was a photograph of Jiang Yinuo. He had looked like a handsome young man, but seeing him in the flesh was another matter entirely.
Now that she looked at him properly, the boy really was suited to being a celebrity. That little face…
Wait…
She turned around and cast a teasing glance at the man on the bed.
Jiang Muqing shuddered. “Wh-what are you going to do?”
“Little Qing…”
Jiang Muyue took out a fresh needle and walked toward him step by step. Catching hold of Jiang Muqing as he tried to retreat, she swiftly inserted a needle.
“So you watched my livestream last night… Look at you. There’s no need to be embarrassed just because you watched. The two of us can livestream together today…”
Jiang Muqing gripped the bedsheet tightly, bracing himself for excruciating pain. Yet after several needles had been inserted, he felt hardly anything—only a slight itch.
The needles didn’t hurt today?
Jiang Muqing found himself almost unaccustomed to it.
Jiang Muyue quickly inserted several more needles, then removed them one by one when enough time had passed.
“All done. Get yourself cleaned up. I’ll go out and eat first.”
She put away the silver needles and walked to the door, but then turned back and nudged Jiang Yinuo’s foot with hers. “Wake up. It’s time to eat.”
“Huh? Eat?”
Jiang Yinuo slowly came to. The moment he saw Jiang Muyue standing before him, he woke up completely and nearly screamed.
Remembering the scene just before he had passed out, he instinctively covered his neck and stared at her in terror.
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“Little Nuo, good, you’re awake. Help your big brother get ready, then come eat.”
The friendly smile Jiang Muyue believed she was wearing looked, in Jiang Yinuo’s eyes, exactly like the smile of someone about to kill him.
He shrank back onto the sofa and only let out a sigh of relief after the bedroom door closed.
Jiang Yinuo’s gaze fell on Jiang Muqing lying on the bed. There was still dirt on the other man’s clothes. He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, his shirt was somewhat disheveled, and a thin sheen of sweat still clung to his forehead…
“Second Brother, are you all right?”
He staggered to his feet and slowly made his way over. By the time he reached him, tears were already streaming down his face. With a thud, he dropped to his knees.
“Second Brother… It’s all my fault for failing to protect you… That’s why you were… you were violated…”
Sniffling, he said solemnly, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell Sister Xiaoling about this! You have to stay strong! Ah!”
Jiang Yinuo caught the pillow Jiang Muqing hurled at him and looked deeply aggrieved. “Second Brother, why did you throw that at me?”
Jiang Muqing gritted his teeth. “What exactly is going on in that head of yours? She was only administering acupuncture to me!”
“Acupuncture?”
Only then did Jiang Yinuo seem to understand. Right—when he had pushed open the door, that girl had been holding needles and was about to stick them into Second Brother.
So he had misunderstood!
“Second Brother, that’s wonderful! Your innocence is intact. You haven’t betrayed Sister Xiaoling!”
Jiang Muqing shoved him away with an expression of disgust. “Enough.”
“Oh.” Jiang Yinuo stepped back and watched him put on his trousers, one question after another rising in his mind.
“Second Brother, who is she? Why did I see you livestreaming with her? How does she know acupuncture? Is she a doctor? How can she make people pass out with needles? Will your leg be better soon? Why did you move downstairs? I saw Hu Hu burning things in the yard. Can’t our family afford the water and electricity bills anymore? Are we burning firewood now?”
Jiang Muqing was silent for a moment before uttering a few words. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Huh?”
Jiang Yinuo did not understand.
But he understood very soon.
By the time he pushed Jiang Muqing out, the dining table was already laden with food.
“Nuo, you’re finally back!”
Hu Hu hurried over like an old friend, draped an arm around his shoulders, and whispered, “Nuo, can you give me two autographed photos later? My buddy’s girlfriend is a fan of yours!”
Jiang Yinuo smiled brightly. “Sure! How many do you want?”
Hu Hu held up one hand and waved it in front of him.
“Five, right?”
“No. Would fifty be all right?”
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Jiang Yinuo: “…”
Buddy, are you serious?
He wasn’t even sure he still had five hundred fans.
“What are you all waiting for? Eat!” Jiang Muyue urged, already lifting her bowl in eager anticipation.
Hu Feng spoke up. “That’s right, everyone, eat while it’s hot.”
Most of what Hu Feng had prepared that day consisted of meat dishes, which suited Jiang Muyue perfectly.
Jiang Yinuo looked at his second brother, then at Hu Feng, then at Jiang Muyue. Who exactly was this woman? Why was she staying for a meal in their home?
And judging from the situation before him, this was clearly his family’s house, yet it looked more like hers.
She did not seem like a guest at all. If anything, she looked like the owner.
“Uncle Hu, this Beggar’s Chicken is delicious!”
Jiang Muyue tore off both drumsticks. After thinking for a few seconds, she reluctantly placed one of them in Jiang Muqing’s bowl.
“Here. Like cures like!”
Jiang Muqing stared at the large drumstick in his bowl, stunned. Only after a long while did he recover. “Thank you…”
Jiang Yinuo glanced at the juicy drumstick in his second brother’s bowl, swallowed, and edged his own plate closer.
He had no idea why he was doing it. His body had simply moved on instinct.
Jiang Muyue looked up and met Jiang Yinuo’s watery eyes.
He looked exactly like that little stray puppy she had encountered when she was young…
Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Muyue stuffed the drumstick into her own mouth and tossed the chicken’s rear end into his bowl.
Jiang Yinuo: “…”
Was this fair?
Fine, she didn’t have to give him a drumstick, but she could have given him a wing—or at least the neck. Why give him the chicken’s rear end? Was his own backside flat?
Jiang Yinuo was about to lose his temper, but Hu Hu stopped him.
“Nuo, calm down, calm down!”
Meeting Hu Hu’s gaze, Jiang Yinuo finally remembered that this woman was the kind of person who could stick needles into people.
And his second brother still needed her acupuncture for his leg. He really couldn’t afford to offend her.
He easily talked himself out of it. “Forget it. I’m not going to argue with a woman. I won’t eat.”
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