Chapter 24: TMS
Even after returning home, Ji Mian showed no signs of slackening in his studies.
The system helped him organize all the mistakes he made in the past two years across all subjects, listing his knowledge gaps one by one for reinforcement and review.
Ji Mian's study efficiency was already good, and with the system's assistance, his revision during this period went exceptionally smoothly.
His weakest subject was the sciences, so he spent almost six hours each day working on two sets of science mock exams to improve his speed and address any gaps in his understanding.
Moreover, the system confirmed that Ji Mian had not been a great villain in his previous life.
He could easily cheat using the system without needing to put in the effort to study. Ji Mian was not stupid; he certainly could think of this method, but he had never requested such a thing from it.
At most, he used its capabilities to assist in his studies.
Duan Zhuang came up every day to bring him food or called him down for meals. Ji Mian felt a bit embarrassed about this, after all, he was the “younger brother,” so how could he trouble his older brother with such tasks?
But it was only a slight embarrassment. The Ji Mian of the past would have been quite anxious in the face of Duan Zhuang's actions, but ever since that embrace filled with the scent of tobacco, Ji Mian suddenly felt that his older brother seemed much closer to him.
He instinctively felt he could be more intimate with Duan Zhuang.
They had silently drifted apart for almost six months, without any reason. Yet after reconciling, they were closer than ever before.
Duan Zhuang would come up every day to stay for a while, even if it was just to sit next to Ji Mian while he organized his mistakes.
In the week leading up to the exam, Duan Zhuang, like any concerned parent of a high school student, was incredibly anxious for Ji Mian. During the day, he checked on him with care, and at night, he brewed soup and tea, urging Ji Mian to go to bed early to adjust his condition.
Before going to bed at ten o'clock, he baked the large shrimp he bought from the market that morning.
Duan Zhuang’s culinary skills were honed from a young age. When he was a child, his grandfather was always surrounded by wood, while his mother, Duan Jinyan, was busy making money, tirelessly pursuing Yi Zhang’s entrepreneurial dreams.
Duan Zhuang had to cook for himself to solve the family’s dietary issues.
Later, after his grandfather and mother passed away one after another, leaving him alone, there was no longer a need to cook.
Carrying the lunchbox, he went up to the third floor and gently knocked on the door twice.
Half a minute passed, but there was no response.
Duan Zhuang looked at the tightly shut door, thinking that Ji Mian might have already fallen asleep.
Ji Mian usually stayed up until midnight, but with the exams approaching, going to bed around ten was quite normal.
After hesitating, he chose not to knock again but used his key to open the door.
Pushing the door open, he was greeted by the warm orange light emanating from inside.
It was the light of Ji Mian's desk lamp.
Not asleep yet?
Duan Zhuang frowned slightly, quietly closing the door behind him, placing the lunchbox on the wooden coffee table in the living room, and walking into Ji Mian's partially open bedroom.
As soon as he entered the room, he spotted Ji Mian’s sleeping figure sprawled on the desk under the warm light.
Duan Zhuang’s frown relaxed.
Though it was summer, Ji Mian had a good heat tolerance and hadn’t turned on the air conditioning, so he wouldn’t catch a cold. However, it would be better for him to go back to bed and rest, especially with the exams approaching.
As he approached, Duan Zhuang reached out, intending to gently tap Ji Mian’s shoulder to wake him. But halfway there, he caught sight of Ji Mian’s peaceful sleeping face on the desk and paused, silently retracting his hand.
His peripheral vision caught the thick stack of exam papers on the desk, so Duan Zhuang simply sat down on the chair beside the desk, quietly picking up a stack of papers to browse through.
He remembered the last time he looked at Ji Mian’s papers was during Ji Mian's first exam in his second year of high school, when he brought home a paper filled with red marks.
Now, the stack in his hands was filled with neatly marked red checks. Of course, there were also mistakes, but Ji Mian’s incorrect marks were at least three times smaller than the checks, making it look like a perfect paper at first glance.
Duan Zhuang looked at those tiny incorrect marks, a smile flickering in his eyes.
Turning over another page, Duan Zhuang suddenly realized that he didn’t know Ji Mian’s current ranking in school.
The last time Ji Mian reported his grades to him was last year, when he mentioned that he had made it into the top 100 of his grade.
Duan Zhuang remembered he had coldly replied with just a "hmm." Because of his deliberate distance, Ji Mian had rarely come home since then, and he hadn't mentioned his ranking or grades again.
Thinking of this, the smile in Duan Zhuang's eyes faded.
Putting the test papers back on the table, he turned his head to look at Ji Mian.
The person sleeping soundly on the exam papers had even breathing, his head resting on the backs of his crossed hands. He looked well-behaved, with fluffy light brown short hair, resembling a cat sleeping with its paws tucked under its body.
A strand of hair had fallen across Ji Mian’s eye, seemingly ready to disturb his peaceful sleep.
Duan Zhuang paused for a moment. After a few seconds, he raised his hand and gently brushed the strand of hair aside with his index finger. His knuckles accidentally brushed against Ji Mian’s cheek, but it didn’t wake him.
“...”
— He sleeps deeply, even a touch won’t wake him. For some reason, this thought popped into Duan Zhuang's mind.
He didn’t pull his hand back. Almost unconsciously, he rubbed Ji Mian’s cheek with the pad of his finger. The soft warmth beneath his fingertip sent a shiver down his spine.
His finger slowly traced along the outline of Ji Mian’s face, sliding downwards until it reached his soft lips.
His fingertip paused on Ji Mian’s lips.
After a moment, Duan Zhuang came to his senses and realized what he was doing. Frowning in self-disgust, he was about to pull away.
But Ji Mian’s lips, which his fingers were touching, parted slightly, as if trying to take his finger in.
Duan Zhuang's breath hitched. Suddenly, he felt a bit dizzy, unsure if this was reality or if he was in one of those unspeakably filthy dreams.
But the parted lips uttered a sound: "Brother?"
Duan Zhuang’s fingertips trembled, and he looked up to meet a pair of bright eyes filled with faint confusion.
He jerked his hand away, feeling panicked for the first time in his life. He stood up instinctively to distance himself from Ji Mian, but his legs got tangled with the chair behind him. He lost his balance, falling backward, and hit his head on the floor with a "thud."
“Hiss… damn.” Even Duan Zhuang was dazed by the sharp blow to his head.
Ji Mian was already awake. Seeing this, he immediately got up to help him.
Gripping Duan Zhuang’s hand tightly, Ji Mian pulled him up with some force.
Duan Zhuang, being pulled up by him, managed to sit back on the chair that had tripped him.
His head was still spinning, so he rested his forehead on Ji Mian’s shoulder to recover.
He didn’t lift his head and didn’t have the face to.
Duan Zhuang had no idea how to face Ji Mian at that moment. He just hoped Ji Mian’s “innocence” would kick in and that he wouldn’t understand the unsavory implication of what had just happened.
“Brother, are you okay?”
“…Hmm.”
Ji Mian looked at the man resting on his shoulder. His body rose and fell slightly with each breath, like a resting beast. Even in a hunched posture, it was clear that Duan Zhuang had a tall and athletic build, with a strong and well-defined back. His muscles were beautifully toned and fluid.
Maybe it was because of the summer heat, but Duan Zhuang's body was very warm. The skin on Ji Mian’s shoulder, where Duan Zhuang was leaning, seemed to absorb that heat, making him feel warm too.
Ji Mian’s lips pressed together uneasily.
He hadn’t forgotten—Duan Zhuang had just… touched his lips with his fingers.
Even now, the part of his lips where Duan Zhuang had touched still had a strange sensation.
Ji Mian blinked slowly, slightly dazed: What was his brother doing just now?!
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