Creatures of Habit Chapter 28
The cold winter had passed, and the wild flowers outside the house were in full bloom. The weather began to enter into early summer.
Old Qin’s condition had also improved, but his body couldn’t keep up with the group’s work. In the end, he had to withdraw from the position of power. The fact that his second child and the Zhang family teamed up to pit Qin Shaocheng made the old man completely disappointed with his sons. On the other hand, Qin Shiyao, who had been elected to the board of directors after the year, lived up to the expectations and his work ability was recognized by the group. Old Qin then handed over 80% of his equity to Qin Shiyao.
Only then did the newly-appointed leader of the Qin family truly settle, and the stock prices that had been fluctuating for months became red.
After Qin Shiyao took over the group, he asked Qin Shaocheng, “Do you want to work in the group or go to the company?”
“The group.” Qin Shaocheng didn’t even have to think about it.
“Because of Jiang Yishan?”
Qin Shaocheng nodded. “He’s currently in a condition, where I can’t rest assured if he’s alone at home.”
Going to the branch office to take over the team took too much energy, and he wouldn’t be able to take care of Jiang Yishan. Moreover, Jiang Yishan’s identity was delicate. It was impossible for him to show his face in public in one or two years. Qin Shaocheng feared that his mental health would be affected if he stayed home for too long.
Qin Shiyao had expected such a result. He asked his secretary to draft Qin Shaocheng’s appointment notice. “Do you have someone you want? Now, I want to transfer one of the deputy chiefs to City C. How about Wei Feng? You’ve been working with him for more than three years.”
“He probably doesn’t want to come.” Qin Shaocheng laughed. Wei Feng wanted to start his own company. He had always been intimidated by such large family companies. “I asked him before I left, but he didn’t want to.”
“Let’s leave it empty first. You can choose after you’ve taken your post.” Qin Shiyao closed the signed document and handed it to the secretary. “I still have to tell you about Jiang Yishan’s issue. He could no longer appear in public.”
“I know.”
“You too.” Qin Shiyao glanced at him and said, “Although several of the board of directors know about Jiang Yishan, they can’t talk about it to the outside world.”
Jiang Yishan’s public image was so negative that there was no room for reversal. Qin Shaocheng, as the newly-appointed CEO of the group, having a relationship with him would have such a bad impact.
Qin Shaocheng sighed. “I know all that too.”
Qin Shiyao looked at him and knew that he was worried about Jiang Yishan and inevitably added a sentence in the end: “You have to take care of him.”
When Qin Shaocheng came home from work that evening and told Jiang Yishan about it, Jiang Yishan nodded and said, “I don’t want to be a star anymore anyway. It’s better not to show up.”
Qin Shaocheng explained. “I meant more than that.”
“I know, I know. I can’t go out during this time,” said Jiang Yishan. “My injury is not well yet, so I won’t go out. And even if I do go out, I’ll be careful not to be photographed. I’m good at hiding from the paparazzi.”
Qin Shaocheng fell silent.
Seeing Qin Shaocheng look soft for him, Jiang Yishan couldn’t help but act coquettish with him and make him like himself a little more. He put his hands on Qin Shaocheng’s shoulder and said, “I’ll obediently stay at home and get a reward, ah.”
Qin Shaocheng asked, “What do you want?” His expression looked like he simply wanted to give the whole world to Jiang Yishan.
“I want you to go straight home after work, and you must not go to dinner parties.” Jiang Yishan poked Qin Shaocheng’s chest. “I know that you’re only responsible for the group’s internal daily affairs. External affairs are not your responsibility but your brother’s.”
Qin Shaocheng put his arms around Jiang Yishan’s waist and squeezed his butt through his pants. “What else do you know?”
“I also know that you get off work at 5:30 every day, so you must be home at seven.” Jiang Yishan tilted his head. “And you finish half of your work at eleven-thirty. I can definitely call you at twelve, right?”
Qin Shaocheng was really amused by Jiang Yishan. “This seems so strict. Afraid I’ll run away?”
“I’ll just miss you.” Jiang Yishan buried his face in Qin Shaocheng’s chest. “I’ll miss you very much.”
In the past few years, he felt empty every time he was praised. The pain of being alone and having no one to share his joys really tormented him, and he felt dissatisfied with everything. In those days, he could only look back on the praise he got from Qin Shaocheng.
Only then did he understand what he had lost.
He didn’t dare go to Qin Shaocheng. He was afraid that he’d be angry, and he felt that he was way beyond his reach. He had always thought that when he became famous, he would chase him back. He didn’t expect he’d return having lost all standing and reputation.
If only he had known earlier.
Jiang Yishan felt sorry, but at the same time, extremely lucky. He had a chance to start again, and Qin Shaocheng was willing to stay with him. This time, he’ll never go wrong and lose him again.
Staying at home was actually very boring. The range of activities were fixed. Only a few things could be done each day. All the movies had been watched, and all the games had been completed. Jiang Yishan was so bored, he started learning how to write songs.
He was born a pure singer. His level in writing songs was average, but there was only one thing he could do. Qin Shaocheng saw Jiang Yishan’s music score in his room and, in less than two days, he had immediately found someone to install a set of equipment at home. He didn’t understand pop music either, so he privately asked someone to look over the music score.
When Qin Shiyao knew, he said, “It’s impossible for Jiang Yishan to make a comeback.”
“I know, I wasn’t having that idea.” Qin Shaocheng met his brother’s questioning look and sighed. “I’m afraid he feels anxious at home.”
Qin Shiyao looked like he had completely given up. “Rivers and mountains are easy to change; a man’s character, much harder.”
“Xiao Shan wouldn’t…”
“I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about you.” Qin Shiyao deeply looked at Qin Shaocheng.
Qin Shaocheng was speechless.
When he arrived home, Jiang Yishan pulled him to the recording room and made him sit on a soft stool. Watching Jiang Yishan happily making him listen to the small section of music he had written today, Qin Shaocheng still couldn’t stop thinking of being good to him.
The next day, he asked Fa Xiao to come to the club where he had met Jiang Yishan. After talking about the schedule, he contacted Jiang Yishan’s former assistant. Assistant Xiao Zhang was currently working as a clerk in the Qin family. Although his salary wasn’t as high as when he was an assistant, it was fortunately stable and had a fixed working time. After listening to Qin Shaocheng’s idea, he clapped his chest and made sure that someone could set up the site.
After everything was ready, Qin Shaocheng took Jiang Yishan to the venue.
Jiang Yishan recognized the place as soon as he got out of the car. Entering the hall of the club, there was no one but him and Qin Shaocheng. He jumped onto Qin Shaocheng’s back, put his arms around his neck and said, “Do you want to hear me sing?” He was then worried. “I don’t have a good voice now.”
The bass wouldn’t go down, and the treble wouldn’t rise. With a bit of skill, the voice would vibrate in the air.
“Sing whatever you want.” Qin Shaocheng walked up to the stage with Jiang Yishan on his back. “I’ll watch you perform.”
Jiang Yishan wasn’t convinced. “Turns out you only want to look at my face.”
Qin Shaocheng smiled at him and didn’t speak.
Jiang Yishan couldn’t bear Qin Shaocheng’s affectionate eyes. He whined then sat on the center of the stage. He looked up at the spotlights on the ceiling and said, “It feels like I haven’t been under the lights for a long time.”
There was a loud noise at the door. It seemed that many people were coming, but their eager voices were kept low. Jiang Yishan curiously looked over, and was completely stunned when he saw assistant Xiao Zhang bringing in several fan jiejie’s [1] from his former support group.
He looked at Qin Shaocheng.
Qin Shaocheng looked at him tenderly.
The xiao [2] jiejie’s were very excited when they saw Jiang Yishan, but remembering what the assistant had just said, they all looked at Jiang Yishan with eager eyes.
Jiang Yishan was a little flustered. “Long time no see. Is there a fan meeting today?”
As soon as he spoke, the xiao jiejie’s exploded.
“Jiang Jiang [3], how are you these days?”
“Brother Zhang said you had a car accident. Is this true?”
“In your Instagram photo, you had a haircut because of the stitches ah! So distressing ah!”
“Jiang Jiang must be aggrieved from all the wrongs he’s been subjected to!”
“Brother Zhang contacted us before and said there was a meet-and-greet. Rest assured that we’re all old ladies here. We won’t tell anyone.”
“You can also be at ease, because when we came, we handed our cameras and cellphones to brother Zhang for safekeeping.”
“The old ladies know.”
Jiang Yishan was a little embarrassed. “I’m doing pretty well. Before, I made you guys worry. The things that happened to me this time…” He glanced at Qin Shaocheng. “It’s a bit inconvenient for me to explain too clearly, but I didn’t do any of those things.”
Before this one xiao jiejie came, she was very angry. She also vaguely learned some things from Assistant Zhang.The other jiejie’s scrambled to ask Jiang Yishan a lot of questions, but none of them were related to this incident.
The xiao jiejie was unable to hold herself back. She raised her hand weakly and pointed to Qin Shaocheng who was sitting not far away. She asked, “Jiang Jiang, the one beside you is…”
Jiang Yishan blushed on the stage for the first time. He looked at Qin Shaosheng and nervously picked up the microphone. “He is…”
A clever xiao jiejie revealed it. “Your husband?”
Everyone suddenly laughed out loud. Qin Shaocheng also bowed his head and smiled.
Jiang Yishan looked at her face, and after a while, he smiled and said, “He is my Santa Claus.”
[End of main story. Now all that’s left are the 5 extras~]
Translator’s Notes
1 Means older sister, but can be used to refer to an older woman who is not necessarily blood-related. Return ▲
2 Literally means small, little or young. But it can also be added to a name/noun as an affectionate way of calling it. Return ▲
3 Not a typo, they really call him Jiang Jiang. It sounds cutesy. Return ▲
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