Chapter 3184: Toon Tree Lane: Bitter Summer 26

When they left the police station, Chenshu kept an eye out, having Jin Chen wait for him a moment by the car. Jin Chen was spacing out, obediently nodded, his gaze following his brother.

Chenshu saw Zhang Guo still inside talking with Xu Hong; the two stood close, Zhang Guo's hand resting on Xu Hong's shoulder, as if comforting her. Chenshu withdrew his gaze and asked Zhang Yue, "Why didn't your uncle come? I saw Kai Le's attire—his family doesn't look poor."

Zhang Yue sniffed, today he'd also been given quite a fright: "Uncle's been dead for many years."

Grandpa's side has been rumoring…rumoring that the aunt was kept by a big boss outside, but the elder aunt has always lived at Grandpa's house, and Grandpa doesn't let outsiders gossip.

After saying that, she lifted her eyes to glance at Chenshu, biting her lip, "Chenshu bro, my brother… is he okay?"

Chenshu curled his lips, "I'll take him to get breakfast; you go fetch your mother back, don't let her stand alone at the police station gate."

Zhang Yue nodded and trotted back.

Chenshu returned to Jin Chen's side, took his hand, hailed a taxi, and didn't forget to message Wen An, who was still gathering material in Lingcheng: "Help me look into a few things."

Chenshu put down his phone, turned his head and tightened his grip on Jin Chen's hand—Jin Chen's hand was cold, knuckles distinct, feeling in his palm like a dry twig ready to snap.

Hungry? Want to grab a bowl of noodles first?

Jin Chen turned his head to look at him, his complexion pale yet bewitchingly beautiful; his dark eyes slowly lifted, revealing a fragility that made Chenshu's heart ache.

"It's fine, brother." Jin Chen said, familiarity flickering in his eyes, "I still have you."

The next instant, Jin Chen lowered his eyes, "I really do have a mental illness. Brother didn't believe it before, but now…"

Before he could finish, Chenshu cupped his face.

"I know."

Jin Chen stared for two seconds, then let out a soft ah, as if something inside him collapsed—those hidden, even he feared twisted possessive desires surged up, clogging his throat, wanting to swallow them back, but there were too many, filling his chest so he couldn't breathe.

Jin Chen succumbed to the deepest, hottest desire within him, wanting to make Chenshu his alone, no matter the cost.

He looked at Chenshu and whispered, "So… if you don't want me either, I'll go kill myself."

He deliberately laid out his twisted thoughts in the open, even feeling himself despicable.

But Chenshu only pinched his cheeks, squeezing the flesh till it bulged slightly, and said, "Say that again?"

Jin Chen, his face being pinched, his lips slightly pouted, looked a bit ridiculous; his muffled voice tried to retreat, "…Oh."

"I'm hungry; after breakfast, brother, come with me to buy a new computer."

"All right." Chenshu released his hand, then gently rubbed the pinched cheek, soft and tender, "After we go back, move in with me."

The driver in the front seat: "……"

The person pulled out of the police station was indeed extraordinary—scared the living daylights out of someone!

——

Jin Chen moved into Chenshu's home.

His luggage consisted of a change of clothes, many books, Jin Chen's many odd collections, plus the potted plants on the balcony.

He stood in Chenshu's living room holding the potted plant, glanced around the already familiar space, placed them on the balcony side by side with those few pots of pothos.

It didn't take many trips to finish moving; Zhang Guo and Xiu Mei hadn't returned yet, likely still dealing with Kai Le's detention.

Jin Chen locked Chenshu's door, hung the key chain on the hook beside the door, and suddenly felt a sigh of relief—a strange feeling, as though merely moving next door felt like crossing a wide river to reach an entirely different shore.

By the time he finished, it was already afternoon.

Jin Chen sat on the sofa, placed his new laptop on his knees, logged in and found a new message from the netizen who had messaged him the night before, with an attached file.

Jin Chen glanced over it roughly, his expression gradually turning subtle.

The invitation to the industry autumn summit, hosted by Didu University's Data Science Research Center, was aimed at domestic young scholars and practitioners with independent research achievements in the algorithm field; the invitee's name was clearly written on the invitation—Jin Chen.

Jin Chen replied with a question mark.

The other side then launched into the professor's usual spiel again, but this time, perhaps to win Jin Chen's belief, they also sent over a fairly formal invitation video.

In the video, a man in his sixties with gold-rimmed glasses, his chest badge prominently showing Didu University Data Science College's Jin Feng.

The old man smiled warmly in the video, adding at the end, "I know your situation is special; you don't need to meet too many people. Earlier you took on jobs from that paid forum, already gaining a bit of fame—I might as well be half your teacher, so don't think I'm a scammer anymore!"

Jin Chen instantly felt solemn respect.

Turns out the old man really is a professor. My apologies, my apologies.

He replied to the message, no longer just those few simple words as before, typing a few extra characters, sounding more respectful.

Moreover, seeing that the summit's training site was in Didu—a city Chenshu might return to—Jin Chen unusually did not outright refuse.

Seeing his reply, Old Professor Jin Feng coaxed again: "You can think it over some more; there's still plenty of time."

Jin Chen stared at that message for a while, about to reply, when he suddenly sensed Youyou's presence approaching from behind.

"Xiao Chen…"

Chenshu's voice sounded in his ear, drawn out with meaning.

Jin Chen jumped, turned his head, and saw Chenshu standing behind him, eyes narrowed as he looked at him.

"Who were you chatting with?" Chenshu straddled Jin Chen's legs, arms around his neck, "I've called you to eat twice already."

Jin Chen snapped the laptop shut, nervously swallowed, sat rigid, the tips of his ears visibly reddening, his eyes fixed on the closed screen as if praying it would sprout legs and run away.

Chenshu: "……?"

He alertly cupped Jin Chen's face, eyebrows slightly raised, "Just moved in together and you've got secrets? Are you gonna turn into a big pig's trotter?"

Jin Chen blinked: "…What pig's trotter?"

"'It means you've got outside secrets, maybe even some other scumbag.' Chenshu feigned a sigh, let go, putting on a hurt look, 'Sigh…'"

Startled, Jin Chen bolted upright, solemn enough to read a statement: "No, I only like my brother."

Chenshu tilted his head slightly, then leaned in to kiss Jin Chen's lips, giving him a glance after, sticky-sweet, his brows teasing, "Be good, Xiao Chen, you won't keep secrets from me, right?"

Jin Chen, dazed from the kiss, didn't bother sorting out what was still undecided, just spilled everything.

He opened Professor Jin Feng's invitation and video, handed them to Chenshu, "This is it."

Chenshu watched it from start to finish, also viewed Professor Jin Feng's video, even clicked into his homepage to verify his identity, and found it surprising.

"He really is a professor at Didu University, fairly well-known in the data science field."

Jin Chen nodded slightly, "It's surprising."

"You can think about it again." Chenshu said, fingertips playing with the edge of the white pearl on his earlobe, "Don't be disturbed by any factors, just see if you want to go."

This answer put Jin Chen at ease, meaning the choice was in his own hands, not being pushed by any external force.

Jin Chen solemnly answered, "Hmm."

Outside the window, the afternoon cicada chirring grew increasingly sparse, and the breeze finally turned cool.

Summer is really coming to an end.