Gege, My Ass

"Are you sure?" Nian asked him again to confirm, only to receive a disbelieving gasp from Jin Jiuchi.

The man put a hand on his chest with a wounded look, "Nian'er, how can you doubt me so?!"

Seeing that Jin Jiuchi was being his dramatic and annoying self, Nian'er had the urge to roll his eyes again. He swore, if he spent more time with this man, his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets from the amount of rolling they did. Instead of playing along, he told the man seriously, "Don't tell anyone about this. Do you hear me?"

Jin Jiuchi blinked in surprise, not expecting that the jade doll would say something like that. "Oooh…" he drawled out with a provoking smirk. "Is this Nian'er being a bad kid? Don't tell anyone? What if something happens to her later? Hmm?"

The jade doll shot him a vicious glare. "If you want to tell her, then go ahead. It's none of my business."

Jin Jiuchi threw his head back and laughed out loud. One second he was advising Jin Jiuchi, then the next second he turned around and pretended as if it had nothing to do with him? How could Nian'er be so fun to tease? "Okay, okay I know…" a hint of sly cruelty flashed through his silver eyes. "Don't worry, Nian'er. Even though I look like this, I know how to differentiate between friend and foe. I didn't tell you everything last night. Actually, aside from the stinky stench of men, she also smells of blood and decay. Like a rotten fish." Jin Jiuchi wrinkled his nose in distaste when he recalled that. The food in this place was good, too bad there were so many awful smells mixing in the air.

Nian stared at him blankly, "Rotten fish…"

"Uh-huh, it smells so bad that I'm going to puke." Jin Jiuchi made a gesture of retching, but when he saw that Nian did not show any reaction whatsoever, he ended up sulking instead. Why was the jade doll so hard to impress? Jin Jiuchi had told him so many things, but all he got was a stupefied look. How devastating!

Jin Jiuchi huffed. "What? Don't believe me?"

Nian blinked as though snapping back to his senses, then he shook his head. "Then, can you tell me about another person?" he asked tentatively.

As soon as Jin Jiuchi heard that, his entire person instantly brightened up as if gorgeous flowers were blooming all around him, even the tip of his hair radiated happiness. He smiled so wide that his eyes turned crescents. However, what came out of his mouth sounded so annoying that Nian had the urge to punch him on the face. "Oooh, Nian'er~ you're starting to trust me, aren't you?"

Nian felt his ears heating up and he gritted out angrily, "Do you want to tell me or not?!" As much as it pained him to admit it, Jin Jiuchi had been nothing but sincere and candid to him. Even though he was quite a weirdo and possibly a crazy pervert who did not act according to common sense, deep down Nian could tell that… he was not a bad person.

At least, compared to everyone else here, Jin Jiuchi could be considered the easiest to read – even though times and times again he kept being taken aback by the absurdity of this man's flawed logic.

"I will. Of course, I will!" Jin Jiuchi laughed and sent him a teasing wink. "Who does Nian'er want to know? Gege will tell you everything!"

"Gege, my ass…" Nian grumbled, but he still stepped forward to tug on Jin Jiuchi's wrist, pulling the man down so he could whisper into his ear.

***

Instead of rooms, there was only a vast circular space on the sixth floor. Sundries, large wooden tables and chairs were messily stacked on the corner.

The sunlight was the strongest here – even though it was just a faint ray compared to normal – illuminating every dusty crook and corner and the tiny particles floating in midair. Somehow, the low ceiling gave people a sense of oppression, it was as if they were standing on top of a mountain where the oxygen became thin.

The first thing Jin Jiuchi did once he stepped on the sixth floor was to look at the glass roof in the middle where he had sensed the source of the cryptic gaze last night. But in the daylight, everything looked normal and all he could see was a small piece of overcast sky with little clouds drifting by.

Huh? It seemed like… he could only sense it at night?

"What are you looking at?" Nian asked while following his line of sight, only to frown when he saw nothing unusual.

Jin Jiuchi shook his head, "I can't really describe it now. Let me ask you again later."

"Brother Yang! Little brother! Over here!" Tang Ye caught sight of them and waved energetically.

Right now, he and Xinxin were busy sweeping the dirty floor with a broom that looked older than a century. Meanwhile, Sister Hong and Surnamed Zhi were wiping the tables and chairs – no, to be exact it was only Zhi who worked whereas Sister Hong sat on the chair while giving out one command after another just like the evil stepmother of Cinderella.

Walking toward them, Jin Jiuchi rolled up his sleeves to show a pair of toned and beautifully muscular arms. "I'm here! What should I help with?" Then to the jade doll, he said, "Nian'er should just stay aside and watch me work, okay?"

How could he let someone as ethereal and delicate as Nian'er work hard labor? What if Nian'er's small soft hands became callused after this? Jin Jiuchi's heart ached at the mere thought of it. Anything beautiful and fragile had to be cherished and for that, Jin Jiuchi was prepared to work hard for Nian's behalf as well. Either way, he was the (self-acclaimed) big brother so it was only right for him to take his little brother's burden!

Jin Jiuchi secretly patted himself on the back. He went to drag a chair and wiped the dirty surface with the provided rag cloth. Then he placed the chair behind the jade doll and beamed, "Have a seat, Nian'er!"

Surprisingly, no one objected to this preferential treatment, even Sister Hong merely turned her head away with a harrumph. Perhaps because they thought it would be too low of them to force a child to work or perhaps they were afraid that Nian would mess things up instead. Whatever it was, odds ended up working in Nian's favor and he could once again escape the responsibility of having to work menial labor.

This was the main reason why he liked to stay in this form. Aside from how easily he could make people lower their guard around him, he would also be given lighter tasks like the women's.

But to clearly exempt him from work and readily take on the burden on his behalf… Jin Jiuchi was the first person to do it.

Nian sat down on the wooden chair with a complicated look. He watched as Jin Jiuchi showed a look of utter satisfaction, then went to join Tang Ye and Xinxin to sweep the floor. Thanks to his rolled-up sleeves, Nian could see the way his biceps and back muscles flexed charmingly when he moved, the way droplets of sweat trailed down his cheeks before rolling down his sharp jaws to leave a glistening trail behind, the way he lifted his shirt to wipe it away and as a result, showed a glimpse of perfectly sculptured abs akin to a delectable piece of chocolate… and his hands, those large veiny hands that held onto the broom like it was a fragile neck…

He had to admit, this man sure was gorgeous in a rough and aggressive way.

Nian swallowed hard, but then when his gaze moved to the person Jin Jiuchi was talking to, he instantly snapped back to his senses and a gloomy look obscured his purple eyes.

.

"Hmm?" Jin Jiuchi turned to him in surprise. "You want to know about him?"

Startled by their sudden proximity, Nian took a step backward and nodded with the most casual look he could muster, "Do you know anything?"

"Of course…" A sly grin spread across Jin Jiuchi's face, making him look all the more devilish like the God of Trickster who delighted to see the world in chaos. "Tang Ye, huh? His scent is second only to Sister Hong. Not so repulsive, but still unpleasant nonetheless. Do you want to know what he smells like, Nian'er?"

A sharp gleam flashed through Jin Jiuchi's silver eyes. "Liar," he whispered in a low voice that only both of them could hear. "He smells like an utter liar."

———

A/N: Winner annoucement!

Congratulations to Jerzer, heaven_falling, ThatAnimeeLoverr, Bunny_s_sweet_chim, Kyen_Syr, tangerine_boy, Firefly9116, Yumi_Lynh, and ArcaneMag! ^^ For heaven, bunny, and kyen (because I already know how to contact the others *cough*) please reach out to me through discord delanasiwarka#1490 or instagram delanasiwarka, so I can send the redeem codes to you!

Also, I'm sorry for those who aren't chosen QAQ but fret not, delana will randomly drop redeem codes in this book once in a while. If you're fast (because the redeem codes are only available for the first 10 users) then you will definitely be able to grab it!

Again, thank you so much for being here with me <3<3<3