[It isn't a sentiment he can relate to as it's always been a simple thing for him to make friends, but it is a familiar sentiment, having heard angrier, grumpier admissions of the same sort from his brother for his whole life. Jiang Cheng had always struggled to be likable and even Lan Zhan struggled to convey himself to people. He pauses for a moment before he speaks again.]

I don't know if I ever told you this, but when we first began to get to know each other, you reminded me a lot of a man back home who was my most precious friend.

He's quiet and reserved, and he'd been brought up to uphold following the rules above all else. People respected him, but he didn't have any friends aside from his elder brother. [And he remembers how he'd seen something else in Lan Zhan right from the start, something more than just the rule enforcer. Someone who wanted friends. Someone who wanted to be understood.]

I wanted to be his friend and eventually I bothered him into it. And as I did I learned that he was kind, patient, and that his love of rules was driven by a deep desire to be just and to be good. [He turns a warm smile on Minimus.]

That friendship was the most important one I ever had back home. If there are people in your life who appreciate you for you, then that is all that matters. Hold onto them.