Disciplinary Guidelines

On the small balcony on the second floor, Jiang Heng was only half smoked.

When the rusty iron door was pushed open, there would be an obvious creaking sound. Jiang Heng followed the sound and turned his head to meet Shang Ji Yao's eyes.

Jiang Heng looked him up and down, and found that the corners of Ji Yao's eyes were red, so he didn't say anything, and moved two steps to the side to make room for him.

Ji Yao closed the door with his backhand, walked up to him and stood still.

The sound insulation in the old town is not good, and the sightlines are not good. Everywhere you can see are high and low old houses, messy wires, and warm yellow light seeping from the wooden window frames.

The lights of every household are connected together, mixed with the smell of food that has not completely dissipated in the air, at first glance it seems that everyone in the world has a home.

Ji Yao looked across the night, bypassed the lights of thousands of houses, and finally fell into the night.

Jiang Heng didn't ask him what he was doing up here, he held a cigarette between his fingertips, and lightly flicked the ash into the abandoned sink beside him.

"Jiang Heng." Ji Yao was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "At that time, were you very disappointed in me?"

Having had skin-to-skin relatives, having treated each other sincerely, the tacit understanding of getting along and understanding each other allowed Jiang Heng to understand what Ji Yao meant without asking too much.

Jiang Heng didn't know why Ji Yao was suddenly willing to bring up this topic, but he knew that if he and Ji Yao wanted to continue like this, they would have to face these things one day.

So he seriously recalled for a moment and told the truth.

"I forgot." Jiang Heng said, "But maybe it is."

Jiang Heng couldn't remember how he felt when he learned about this incident.

Such a complex and short-lived mood became blurred with the passage of time, and when I think about it again, I can only feel a little aftertaste.

It seemed to be a working day that day. Jiang Heng was sorting out the last wave of documents and was worrying about an old document when he saw the phone on the table vibrate and a new WeChat message popped up.

At that time, the contact frequency between Jiang Heng and Ji Yao had decreased, and when he suddenly received the new news at that unstoppable time, he thought it was Ji Yao who sent it from under the nose of his parents.

He couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips, and reached out to touch the phone on the corner of the table, but after unlocking it, he found that the new news was not from Ji Yao, but from a friend.

"Is this your partner?" The message from the other party was carefully worded: "That's right, there's something I can't help but tell you—"

After this news, there was a moment of silence in the dialog box, and then a one-minute video popped up suddenly.

In the video, there is a very young girl standing beside Ji Yao, pointing to the decorations in the banquet hall and saying something to Ji Yao.

There were several middle-aged people behind the two of them. Jiang Heng had seen Ji Yao's parents at the school gate before, so he easily judged the identities of the rest from their behavior and getting along with each other.

"They've been here twice, and they've booked the Peony Garden in the wedding banquet area." The friend seemed to be hesitant to tell Jiang Heng about this, and the prompt of "the other party is typing" was fully displayed. After three or five minutes, another message was sent: "Of course, there may be a misunderstanding, I suggest you ask clearly."

At that moment, the gears in his mind stopped completely, and before he had time to adjust the emotions of "anger" and "betrayal", a thought that could be called calm flashed through his mind.

Unreasonable and expected, Jiang Heng thought.

Jiang Heng knew from a very young age that no matter how close someone is, he doesn't have to make sacrifices for himself.If someone is willing to sacrifice something for you, that's a gift, but if not, that's fine too.

People are independent individuals, and it is natural for everyone to make themselves comfortable when faced with choices.

But truth is one thing, emotion is another.

"I'm even a little jealous." Jiang Heng said: "My lover, you can do such a sacred thing with another stranger—whether they have feelings or not, at least they have this unique memory."

This kind of memory and experience belongs only to two people. No matter whether there is love between them or not, at least the mood and memory at that moment can never be covered by others.

When Jiang Heng said this, his tone was very light, and it didn't sound like there was any accusation, but Ji Yao still subconsciously clenched the cold railing in front of him, and pressed his shoulders down a very low arc.

Thinking of himself and others, Ji Yao can probably understand this, but he still feels pain when he hears Jiang Heng say it himself.

From the day they met again, perhaps Ji Yao wanted to ask him this question, now that the thorn was pulled out, he felt the pain while feeling extremely refreshed.

"So you found someone else then?" Ji Yao asked.

"En." Jiang Heng agreed quickly, and he extinguished the last third of the cigarette on the railing, and then threw the cigarette butt into the trash can at the door.

From the day he knew that Ji Yao was going to get married, Jiang Heng knew that the relationship between the two of them had come to an end.

But he couldn't bear Ji Yao.

Jiang Heng obviously can't accept a lover who is married to someone else, but he still can't say the word breakup easily.He told himself that it was over for the two of them, but for the first time in his life, reason could not completely gain the upper hand, and it was evenly matched with emotion. No one beat the other, and almost tore Jiang Heng in half.

So he made a wrong choice.

"I want to find an end to this relationship." Jiang Heng said.

Jiang Heng's bottom line is derailment and betrayal, so he originally wanted to use this desperate method to cut off the two people's retreat, and also cut off his own thoughts.

Once he really did something, he must never turn back, because once he turned back, he himself became the one who betrayed.

"Who knew that you came back that day." Jiang Heng smiled lightly and said, "Maybe this is fate."

So the back road was not broken, and Jiang Heng didn't say the word "break up". This thought has been lingering around until now, and he hasn't completely cut it off.

"If I didn't go back, would you have slept with him?" Ji Yao asked.

"I don't know." Jiang Heng said truthfully.

He himself didn't want to do that, but in the special atmosphere and special conditions that day, he might force himself to do it.

Jiang Heng is the most sensible person among them, so this kind of reason may also turn into a knife, and finally cut on himself.

"So you really haven't found anyone else in all these years?"

When Ji Yao asked this sentence, he actually already had the answer in his mind—for Jiang Heng, the answer was almost fixed.

"I didn't find it." Sure enough, Jiang Heng said: "I won't start the next relationship when I haven't forgotten the previous one. That would be unfair to the next person."

Jiang Heng is a very honest person, he is very clear about love and hate, he does not hide it, unless he does not want to answer, otherwise he will definitely tell the truth.

This kind of frankness not only made Ji Yao happy, but also made Ji Yao feel sad.

Ji Yao took a deep breath and turned to look at Jiang Heng.

Jiang Heng wore glasses today, and the silver half-rim glasses were on the bridge of his nose, making him look a little alienated.

Jiang Heng's degree of myopia is not high, and there are no obstacles in his daily life. He only wears glasses when he works for a long time.

Ji Yao sometimes felt that this was his means of self-protection.

What about today, Ji Yao thought, what is he trying to block?

He looked into Jiang Heng's eyes through thin lenses, and suddenly felt the urge to kiss him.

But Ji Yao was not dazzled by alcohol after all, he clearly knew that what stood between him and Jiang Heng was not just these few words, but also many other things.

But even so, he didn't want to do nothing.

"Jiang Heng." Ji Yao suddenly asked, "Can I give you a hug?"

"In what capacity?" Jiang Heng asked back.

"Didn't you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend? You have to rehearse in advance." Ji Yao licked his lips, his heart beating fast: "Just as a proxy boyfriend."