Emperors Smile

21

After a long time of waiting Jin Zixuan finally got a message from Jiang Yanli.

-I'm free tomorrow, do you have time to get that drink?

It brought a smile to his face, and he immediately texted her back.

-What time?

-We could go to a cute café. It's not that busy around 11pm.

-Okay, I'll pick you up.

-Alright 🤗

He melted from the inside as he sends the last text, finally after years of thinking about dating her it will finally be reality! Okay so what shall I wear tomorrow. He walked to his closet to pick out an outfit at the same thing he thought about what Yanli would be wearing so that they could match. Maybe some pastel colours? He looked around to see if he had clothes in those colours and luckly he did, pastel yellow. He smiled while looking at it, he was thinking about how tomorrow Yanli will see him in this outfit. He let a little yell out of happiness.

In the other room Jin Guangyao heard that, he was a little confused at first, but there didn't come another sound from his room, so he didn't bother checking it out. Another reason why he didn't drop by his younger brother's room is because he had somewhere to be himself. he grabbed his jacket and the other things he needed and headed out the door. Today Jin organized a fun day out with his two older friends, he could basically call them his brothers. He planned for them to go eat somewhere then they could pick out between watching a movie or going to shop. When he arrived at the meeting spot, he saw Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were already there talking to each other, he jogged a little and yelled out, "Ge!". They both turned their heads, Xichen looked at him with a smile while Mingjue had a neutral face. Guangyao stopped right in front of them, he has a wide smile on his face, 'Ready to go inside?' Xichen placed his hand on his back, 'Of course we are and are you sure you're paying?' Guangyao nodded, 'I wanted to treat you two today.'

They entered the restaurant. 'So, how is work going?', Guangyao asked them. Xichen looked at Mingjue before he answered, 'Well everything has been going well. We are making a new drink with The Lotus Pier'. Guangyao smiled, 'We were planning to collab with them as well, since my father is close with Jiang Cheng's father.' Xichen let out a little laugh, 'Maybe we can all collab on something together', he turned his head to Mingjue who was just listening to them, 'What do you think?' Mingjue took a deep breath before he answered, 'Email me.' Guangyao and Xichen laugh a little. 'I'll let my team reach out to you', Guangyao happily answered. Mingjue gave a strong nod. Xichen started reading the menu, 'What shall we have?' Guangyao shuffled a little closer to look at the same menu, 'Remember you two can just order anything, I'm paying'. Xichen looked at him, 'Are you sure? We don't mind paying', he looked at Mingjue as he said that. Mingjue sighed, 'Just let him pay, he's going to complain about it later'. Xichen smiled, 'Alright', he pointed at something on the menu, 'Do you two like this as well?'

Jin Zixuan arrived at Jiang Yanli's house.

-I'm here

-I'll be out in a second, just need to put on my shoes.

Zixuan waited for her in the car. When she walked out of the front door Jin Zixuan looked at her in awe, he felt blood rushing to his face. He immediately lowered his head and tried to calm himself down. Yanli opened the passenger seat and she spoke in a calm voice, 'Hi.' Zixuan looked up and said, 'Get in, put the address in', he didn't seem to put much emotion in the way he delivered the line. Yanli looked a little flustered since that wasn't the respond she had in mind, but with out responding she got in and typed in the address. The whole ride was silent. Zixuan was panicking internally and Yanli was a little worried that he might be upset about something, but she didn't want to ask since she was scared that might make him sadder.

They arrived at the café where things luckily went smoother than the car ride. Zixuan spoke first, 'You want to get multiple and then share or get once each?' Yanli looked at him, 'We can share.' 'Cool, pick things you would like to try', he grabbed a menu for her and him. She took it from him and responded with a little thank you. While they were looking at the menu's Zixuan would look up from time to time at Yanli. She leaned a bit forward, 'Does this seem nice?' He didn't look at it, but he did answer with, 'If you like it get it.' She had a little smile on her face, 'Alright.' They order multiple delicious things. 'Mmmh, it's so yummy', Yanli looked at Zixuan to see what he thought of it. He nodded, 'It's good.' She laughed a little, 'You have some cream left on you face'. He wanted to wipe it off, but before he could Yanli already grabbed a tissue and wiped it off his cheek. A bright red colour spread over his face; he quickly turned his face away. 'T- thanks.' 'You should eat carefully.' 'Yes, but it was just so good, that I couldn't pay attention', he moved his eyes to look at Yanli. 'Well continue to eat it then, we wouldn't want it to go to waste.' 'Y- yes', he calmed himself down and went back for another bite. Before Yanli when to get another piece, she asked him about how the project was going, where both of their families are working on. 'My brother is taking care of that; I could ask him for you?' She lightly shook her head, 'I was just curious, but if you don't know that's fine.' 'How's A-Cheng?' Yanli's eyes lit up, he's asking about her little brother which makes her very happy, 'He's doing well, busy with work, but everything is going smooth', she let out a little laugh. 'That's good. And how is...Wei Wuxian, A-Xian?' He wasn't sure if he was allowed to call him that, since he and Wei didn't have the best relationship. 'A-Xian has a sleep-over! I'm so happy he made more friends.' 'With whom?'. 'Uhm, I'm not sure if you know his personality, but the youngest nephew of Lan Qiren, from The Cloud Recesses Bar.' Zixuan had a thinking look on his face, 'What was his name again. I know his brother's, but not his.' 'It's Lan Wangji.' 'Wangji! Right, that was it. Didn't they go to school together? I remember his pocking fun at Lan.' Yanli was confused, since she wasn't in the same year as them. 'Really! Lan was always alone in the study hall or either being a teacher's pet, and Wei didn't like that to much or he got in trouble for a different reason, and they would sometimes clash together for god knows what.' Yanli still had a look of confusion on her face. 'I-I'm not lying I promise!' She nodded, 'I can see that, it's just that I can't believe he would forget about that.' 'Did he bonk his head or something?' She shrugged, 'I'll ask about it.' Zixuan sighed, 'I hope I haven't unlocked something bad.' She laughed, 'Ow nothing to worry about him and A-Cheng have been very busy, so they didn't have much time to recollect their old memories.' '...Or it's trauma?' 'You think?' 'Well, it could be anything.' 'I'll be gentle about it then.' He nodded, 'Let me know how it went.'

After Mingjue, Xichen and Guangyao finished eating they went on a walk. 'So, are we going to buy something?' Guangyao asked the two of them. Xichen smiled, 'Are you going to pay that for us as well?' He looked at him, 'Depends on the price.' Xichen chuckled, 'We can pay for our own things this time.' Guangyao smiled at him. 'We can go to the mall', Mingjue said. Guangyao nodded, 'Good idea, did you two come with a car?' 'We drove together in my car', Xichen answered. 'Okay I'll see you two there then, I parked somewhere over there', he waved his hand in the air. Xichen chuckled again, 'Alright. They drove separately to the mall. When they arrived they headed to a clothing shop. 'You always need to buy new cloths', Guangyao whined, he shook Mingjue's arm a bit. 'Stop working out so much, you're already big enough!' Mingjue let out a cocky laugh, 'Ha! Try and catch up to me you shrimp!'. Xichen smiled as he looked at his friends. Mingjue walked to a suit he liked and Guangyao followed him while holding onto his arm, 'Do you like that?'. Mingjue nodded, 'Not sure if it comes in my size'. 'Want me to ask someone?' 'I can do that myself.' 'But what if I'm faster.' Xichen put his chin on Guangyao's head, 'I think I'm the fasted here.' Guangyao looked up, then turned around, 'Bet?' Xichen laughed, 'later later.' Mingjue turned around to go ask the person working there for a bigger suit size, but before he left the words that Xichen and Guangyao would never ever forget left his mouth, 'You two would both fail a race to a 2-year-old', and he calmly walked away. Guangyao and Xichen looked terribly offended. 'I'm gonna kill him', Guangyao said with out hesitation. Xichen placed his hand on his shoulder, 'not yet, not yet. And even if we do lose to a 2-year-old! I'll be on the second place', after he said that he quickly walked after Mingjue. Guangyao looked with an open mouth at Xichen while he walked away, 'I'm killing you next!' Xichen put an arm around Mingjue and smiled at the remark. Mingjue turned his head a little, 'Ow no I'm so scared of the person who would lose to a two-year-old!' and he turned his head back. 'Hu! What are friends!' Xichen and Mingjue laughed to themselves as they heard Guangyao freak out.