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Jingyi is dressed in his most formal Lan robes, layer upon pristine layer. He’s also bouncing from foot to foot, half dancing, as if he’s about to enter a boxing match. A boxing match in the middle of the Lan lecture hall would probably be frowned upon, Jiang Cheng thinks. But it would be entertaining.
“I can’t believe I’m nervous about this!” Jingyi says with a cheerful grimace. “Soulmate! Cheng-ge! Tell me I’m going to do great! Tell me I’m going to crush my thesis defense!
Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes and claps a hand on Jingyi’s shoulder, then gives him a shake. “You’re asking me? To reassure you? That’s ridiculous,” he says. “You know you’re prepared. And if you aren’t, then it’s your own fault!”
Jingyi rolls his eyes. “Really encouraging and supportive, ge. Thanks a lot. I can’t believe I invited you.”
“Well it’s not like I was going to miss it!” Jiang Cheng snaps.
The thesis defense is—long. Long and very formal. Apparently, in earlier generations, Gusu University scholars had to demonstrate their prowess in a night hunt as part of the examination. Jiang Cheng wonders if Jingyi would have preferred to demonstrate that he can subdue a giant snake yaoguai instead of presenting his research on technical cultivation and cloud computing. Doubtless it would have been more interesting to watch. Jiang Cheng truly doesn’t understand a word of what’s happening. But for Jingyi, he’ll show up and listen.
He watches the bright, animated expressions on Jingyi’s face as he talks, the bursts of enthusiasm, coupled with calm explanations. He can tell the Lan elders and other advisors are taking Jingyi seriously. Whenever someone asks him a pointed question, he just smiles bigger. His enthusiasm is infectious. Jingyi ends his presentation with a formal bow, deep and elegant, but smiling in a way that’s appropriate but still very Jingyi.
If they don’t pass him through and grant him the degree, Jiang Cheng is going to burn Cloud Recesses down himself.
“Hey,” Jiang Cheng says to his brother afterward, gripping his arm a little too tight. They’re leaning on the railing overlooking the pristine, white gravel courtyard outside the scholar’s hall. “He did okay. He did okay, right?”
Wei Wuxian raises his eyebrows, then waggles them evilly. “What, were you worried about your precious soulmate? Does someone have a little crush?”
“Stop it,” he mutters.
“Nah,” Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “I don’t think I will. Oh, and he absolutely passed the defense. One of the best I’ve seen.”
Jiang Cheng looks over at his brother, his irrepressibly obnoxious, shockingly brilliant brother, who came here, to the strictest of the cultivation clans, and made a life and home for himself in the midst of it. They’ve both found their places in the world—different than everyone expected, certainly but theirs. He knows that Jingyi will find his place, too. If there’s anything he’s learned about his soulmate, it’s that he has the determination to see it through.
“He’s gonna take the scholarly world by storm, isn’t he?” Jiang Cheng says thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian says, grinning. “Yeah, he is.”