Taking Part in a Survival Game with My Brother

Jiang Yanzhou leaned close to her ear, his breath scorching, as though he wanted to engulf her entirely in flames.

Lu Yang closed her eyes, letting everything flow naturally.

Thin clouds drifted across the sky, and under the moonlight, the faint blue veins on his hand, propped up on the bed, combined strength and beauty.

Jiang Yanzhou clasped her hand and pressed it against the pillow. His voice sounded somewhat muffled: “I need to go back to Holsten.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Suddenly, Jiang Yanzhou gripped her ankle and applied some pressure, bringing her back to consciousness.

“Aren’t you going to keep me here? Aren’t you afraid I won’t come back once I leave?”

Lu Yang saw his lightly upturned corner of the eye up close, a dangerous glint in his eyes. She said, “I believe you’ll come back.” Jiang Yanzhou chuckled lightly, “Do you trust me that much?”

Lu Yang replied firmly, “I trust Jiang Yanzhou.”

In her heart, he had always been him, not anyone’s appendage, without any labels or identities.

She was Lu Yang, and he was Jiang Yanzhou.

Suddenly, Jiang Yanzhou accelerated, and with a dangerously seductive tone, he chuckled near her ear, “You are spoiling me more and more.”

Unable to calm down for a while, she could only soften and lean against his embrace.

After a long arc of silence, Lu Yang opened her eyes. Her black pupils rippled like clear lake waters. “When will you go back?”

“This Friday,” he said.

“But isn’t your birthday next Tuesday? Can’t you stay until after celebrating it?”

“It’s fine, it’s just a birthday.” It was his birthday, not hers; there was no need to make a big deal out of it. “How about we celebrate it now?”

“Now?”

‘Yes.”

Lu Yang took a lighter from the drawer and, with a snap, a cluster of orange flames burst forth, reflecting in both of their eyes.

“There’s no cake, so make do with this and make a wish.”

Jiang Yanzhou played along, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I wish that Lu Yang loves me.”

“I’m already in love with you. Make another wish.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Yanzhou thought, if there were really gods in this world, then they must reside in the girl before him.

All his desires stemmed from her.

On their first New Year’s together, they threw coins into a wishing well. He silently wished, “I hope the girl by my side will like me, and if that’s too difficult, then I hope she’ll always shine brightly.”

Later on, she still shone brightly, and she also came to love him.

This New Year’s, he silently wished that she would love him.

And now, she had made his dream come true.

As the flames extinguished, the room sank into darkness.

Lu Yang gazed at him and said with absolute clarity, “Jiang Yanzhou, I love you.”

In her understanding, love took root in the heart, born with the bones, an unbreakable promise once spoken, not a mere fleeting feeling.

In that moment, Jiang Yanzhou’s ears were filled with the frenzy of his pounding heart, more intense and agitated than ever before.

“Lu Yang, I love only you.”

He declared with resolute strength, “In our love, we have the final say.”

In the pitch-black surroundings, a bitter-sweet emotion arose in Lu Yang’s heart.

So this was how he felt when she had intended to leave before.

He had been waiting for her for a long time.

Caught off guard, a mist clouded Lu Yang’s vision, and warm tears welled up, eager to overflow.

Jiang Yanzhou gently raised his gaze, and he was met with a pair of teary eyes. For a moment, his heart felt burdened, as if a mountain lay upon it, aching.

His large hands cradled her face, gently wiping away the tears with his fingertips. “Why are you crying? Did I hurt you just now?”

Lu Yang’s breathing was tinged with a quiver, and her words caught in her throat, struggling to find their way out.

Jiang Yanzhou held her tightly, his arm firmly wrapped around her.

“Don’t cry; I never wanted to make you cry.”

His voice was tender, like the wind that blew through the forest after the rain, like the clouds of the evening sky.

Lu Yang cried even harder and said with a choked voice, “Don’t talk…”

Jiang Yanzhou became even more anxious, but all he could do was remain silent. However, he knew very well that she was willing to speak to him, and that meant she needed him.

Lu Yang hugged Jiang Yanzhou’s neck, unable to count how many times she had cried in front of him. Only this time, her tears were truly for him. Flashes of past memories passed through her mind like a galloping horse.

She couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

On the day Jiang Yanzhou returned to Holsten, Lu Yang didn’t go to see him off.

The sky was a blend of molten gold, and sunlight streamed into the corridors of Janiex Hospital. He Kongqing held a medical case file, his gaze drifting far away until he spotted a girl in a white coat.

Lu Yang stood quietly by the window, the fragmented light casting delicate patterns on her features, like a piece of pristine jade that would remain stunning regardless of how much time passed or how gentle the passing days were.

Her gaze shifted to the outside, the towering phoenix trees, their branches and leaves lush. The wind suddenly rose, rustling the leaves and bringing to her mind a poem of lovesickness and separation:

Phoenix trees, midnight rain, silent suffering of parted lovers.

But there was no rain at midnight; there was only a flight at 1 0’clock in the afternoon.

She began missing him.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and Lu Yang looked at the caller ID before hesitantly answering the call.

Airport announcements and the man’s breathing mixed together.

“Lu Yang.”

The familiar voice made her heart tremble.

Lu Yang lowered her eyes, paused for two seconds, and then replied with a slow “Mmm.”

Jiang Yanzhou’s amber eyes glimmered with a smile, and the corner of his cool mouth slightly lifted. “The flight is at 1 0’clock in the afternoon.”

Lu Yang responded simply with a monosyllabic “Mmm.”

“Getting ready to board now.”

Jiang Yanzhou held the phone in his left hand, a ring on his ring finger placed there by Lu Yang herself.

1217 km from Cloud City to Holsten.

2 hours of flight time.

If they really wanted to meet, they could see each other at least once a week.

He really wanted to see her.

No need to restrain himself.

If he wanted to see her, he would.

Jiang Yanzhou said, “See you tomorrow.”

Lu Yang looked at the skull pendant on her bracelet and calmly replied, ‘We just saw each other this morning. How about next month?”

Jiang Yanzhou was amused and exasperated, “Lu Yang, if I say next month, does that mean I have to wait until next year?” “How did you know…” she feigned surprise.

Jiang Yanzhou was at a loss for words.

At this moment, he really wanted to playfully bite her for asking something she already knew.

Lu Yang smiled with joy, her laughter echoing melodiously, “All right. See you tomorrow. Go ahead and board now.”

After ending the call, it didn’t take long for a figure wearing a mask to approach her.

Seeing Lu Yang looking over, Lu Mingyu waved at her, “Yangyang, I’ve come to pick you up for the family reunion dinner!”

Today marked the thirtieth anniversary of Ning Qingyun and Lu Chen’s marriage, and Yin Hua was coming over for a family dinner to celebrate.

Their family’s holidays were a bit different from others’. They didn’t gather for the Mid-Autumn Festival; instead, they celebrated their anniversary.

Lu Yang put her phone in her pocket, raised her eyes, her eyes bright, and replied, “Sure.”

After getting in the car, Lu Mingyu sought his sister’s approval before turning on the car’s music system and playing the familiar song “Winter’s Gift.”

Lu Mingyu controlled the steering wheel as the car emerged from the underground parking lot. He glanced at Lu Yang and raised an eyebrow, “Yangyang, I suddenly remembered a joke.”

“What joke?”

“A person pointed to an empty seat and said to a foreigner, ‘There’s someone here.’ But the foreigner thought it was haunted.”

Lu Yang’s eyebrows curved slightly, her obsidian-like eyes narrowing slightly as she genuinely laughed from the heart.

On the way home, everything was bathed in radiant white light. The sun hung high between two tall buildings, round and somewhat dazzling.

As the car entered the highway, Lu Yang looked up, and ahead was the brilliant daylight.

Looking forward to the upcoming family dinner, everything along the way seemed sweet..