Author: hoenimochi (Page 70 of 95)

MTL and currently learning HSK

Chapter 5

       Three days after our first fight, I sent him a message and he didn’t reply. I deliberately asked him to have dinner together, but he replied in spite, I’m sorry, I need to go to class.

       On the last day, my short-lived guilt had passed. I already calmed down and was angry at his attitude, so I sent him a message saying, You’re on a roll, aren’t you?

       He didn’t reply.

       I said, Fine, let’s not talk about it anymore.

       I will eat by myself.

       Then I turned on Do Not Disturb and plugged in my headphones and deliberately walked to the restaurant on the East Campus.

       I thought I was doing him a favour.

       It was not easy for same-sex couples to get around the country, and if he ever got fed up and wanted to leave, I could at least let him do so without any worries.

       There was a huge lake in the school. At night, there were singers playing the guitar by the lake, couples sitting side by side on stone benches holding hands, and old people walking out with grandchildren or pets.

       I found an empty stone bench to sit on.

       It was still a little cold by the lake at night, and I rubbed the tip of my nose when the wind brushed my nose and sneezed.

       I rubbed my arms and thought to myself, It doesn’t matter, it’s not like the East School cafeteria tastes any different than the West School cafeteria.

       Xie Chenmin was simply childish.

       I was just reminding him, it was not like I didn’t trust him.

       If I could, I would borrow a handcuff from the police academy next door, lock one hand and throw the key into the lake, so he would never be able to unlock it.

       But then I couldn’t.

       I felt torn too, I was afraid that one day we would both get hurt. However, I was also afraid that I would not be able to give up if we really separate.

       I knew he felt the same way.

       But this idiot chose to vent his temper in such a stupid way for a pissed-off kid to vent his temper.

       I calmed down by the lake for a while and finally glanced at my phone.

       There was a 99+ from Xie Chenmin alone.

       And his roommate was calling me too.

       He had sent countless “I’m sorry” all by himself. Plus the countless “I was wrong” messages from his roommate—followed by one: Min ge just stole our mobile phone.

       He asked me where I was, and he went to the three or four restaurants on the west campus, but he couldn’t find me.

       He said he was a jerk and he didn’t mean to ignore me.

       He said he was sorry.

       Until finally, Please come back to me.

       I think I might have spoken too strongly and made him misunderstand something.

       I called his roommate first, and his roommate told me in a hurry.

       Lin ge, just meet Min ge, he’s been looking for you since noon like he’s going crazy.

       Where are you?

       I said, I am by the lake near your dormitory.

       When they thought of Xie Chenmin who ran all over campus and didn’t even have time to go back to his dorm halfway through, his roommates sent a three-line ellipsis, saying, they feel sorry for Min ge.

       ……

       I liked a cold and uneventful life, and an information explosion was a disaster in my opinion.

       But this guy with light all over his body broke in, and my life has never been in the ordinary.

       It seemed that I turned out to be reluctant to settle for blandness as long as I had a chance to burn.

       I read through his ninety-nine plus one, and he sent a dozen more during the period.

       I replied, I was by the lake.

       It’s a bit cold.

       His frantic messages stopped. I guess he was running.

       Until the sweaty, panting fool appeared in front of me again and hugged me, his kept heart pounding against his hot chest nonstop.

       A thought occurred to me.

       I felt this one could actually go on.

       He was the kind of person who was capable of holding the hot scalding straw in his hand sincerely, even if he had seen the thousands of winds and clouds outside, the vast scenery, and even if he was afraid of rumours and prejudice.

       He was the kind of person that he would show his soft, imperfection side to the straw, that he was afraid of, but on the outside, he was indestructible and invincible.

       I felt, that it was time to stop wondering if we would ever be apart.

       Why should I care about what the outside world sees? It was the same now, it was the same before.

       At that time, there were still many people of all shapes and sizes and eyes with all kinds of colours at the lake. I wrapped my arms around Xie Chenmin’s neck and bit his lips which were still breathing heavily.

       I said, I’ll never say those words again, I’m sorry.

       Xie Chenmin buried his panting head in the side of my neck like a big dog, as if he had been scared, and said sullenly, I don’t blame you, really.

       I said, En.

       I’m not a childish prankster.

       ……

       On the third day of my death, Xie Chenmin slept in my room with Zhaocai in his arms.

       On the fourth day, he took a leave of absence.

       I thought it might be because yesterday’s bout of vomiting had hurt his stomach.

       I watched him sit up slowly from my side, bowed his back, buried his head in his knees, and sat alone on the bed for a long time.

       Until Zhaocai also woke up, he raised his head and stuck his tongue out at him, and then with a loud “yelp” it was pulled by Xie Chenmin and used as a cushion.

       Zhaocai’s big head tilted.

       ……

       I stroked his back and said, Who told you to drink so much?

       He said, I am happy that Senior had graduated.

       I was silent for a moment and said, No need to pretend.

       He looked up at me with his aggrieved puppy eyes, and he said, I am not happy.

       I patted the puppy’s head.

       There were wine stains on Xie Chenmin’s shirt, and it pressed close to my chest.

       He said, You must do well there alone, and when I graduate, I will find you.

       I said, Aren’t you going to attend postgraduate school?

       Although it was not a famous major in our school, the employment rate for Computer Science majors was very high, and I felt like I was not suitable for research. After I was contracted by a well-developed Internet company in China, I didn’t think about the postgraduate entrance examination.

       But Xie Chenmin’s major was different.

       With our school’s reputation, he could have the opportunity to have an unattainable management position directly after finishing his postgraduate studies.

       He said, I’ll study. I will go to your city to study.

       I said, There are no good schools for Industry and Commerce there.

       He said, But there’s you there.

       I said, Lovely words have no effect on me.

       He said, Do you want me to stay alone in an empty room?

       I said seriously, Xie Chenmin, you are not a child anymore, you have to look at your life responsibly.

       I didn’t give him a chance to speak, and said, I just want you to take the exam and then become an executive in a good company, later I’ll spend your money and say goodbye to programming, okay?

       He didn’t even seem to think for a second before he said, Alright, if that’s what you said.

       It took me a long time before I wondered if he had planned this conversation long ago.

       This guy had been trying to get me out of the fvcking computer language, and he had asked me, Choose, which do you prefer, coding or me?

       I said, You.

       When he was happy, he would put his head on the pillow and show me the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas recorded in the memo on his mobile phone.

       He would talk about them one by one like a tour guide and say, When we get married, we will travel all these places one by one.

       I waited for him to finish and finally asked, Have you finished, dear boyfriend? I want to code.

       Xie Chenmin’s biggest rival in love was the computer. His least favourite places were bars and internet cafes.

       ……

       Manager Xie got up from the bed, greeted Zhaocai, dragged his stomach that was broken from drinking last night, and held a copy of ‘Programming from Beginner to Master’.

       Then he went to the internet cafe.

       I remember a time when the school had server room maintenance, and just before the final exam in college, my computer hung up.

       Fate was simply playing tricks on me.

       But at that time, Xie Chenmin’s amazing connections helped a lot.

       He asked the owner of the Internet cafe next to the school to reserve a quiet place for me. Every two hours, a cup of hot water would be served.

       I even counted the time because the boss was acting so weird.

       Then as I typed, the reflection of Xie Chen Min’s handsome head would appear on the screen.

       He whispered, Honey, dinner is ready.

       Then I got kicked out of the internet cafe.

       ……

       The punks with colourful hair probably thought there was something wrong with him.

       I also felt that way a little bit too.

       If you could be a master from a beginner in one book, then why did I waste four years at university?

       He spent a day going through the book from cover to cover, and I didn’t know if he understand it.

       But I knew that the long, long-winded but barely feasible code he wrote was definitely not something that could be done in a day.

       It turned out that the books he bought in college didn’t all serve as pillows for sleeping.

       He stared for a long time at the final line that read ‘Would you like to’ for a long, long time.

       Finally, he picked up his clothes and left.

       He did not execute.

       I also know it won’t work.

       There was no compiler1source code compiler on the computer in the internet cafe.

       ……

       He said he was going to surprise me and that he was going to use his rival to surprise me at the wedding.

       I was wondering what love rival.

       And he said nothing.

       ……

       Do you think there really were people like Granny Meng in the world?

       It was probably made up by some people who wanted someone would hand over a bowl of hot soup when they died and were hungry and cold. So when they drank it, they would forget everything… At least the last proof that they belonged to this world was piping hot.

       I was dead for five days and have yet to see the person who gave me the soup.

       Legend has it that people could only stay on earth for seven days after they die.

       I followed him every day and maybe touched him on my first seven days.

       No one could see my soul though.

       Xie Chenmin continued to ask for leave, and he went to his mother’s place.


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Chapter 4

       We got together.

       When a person had been alone for so long, and that person met another person, they would crave extra warmth inside that was different from their own.

       I didn’t feel it was any different from usual.

       Except for the first few weeks.

       Sometimes he would wake up early the next day, bring soy milk and doughnuts to my dormitory, give me a good morning kiss after staying up late, and say something he thought was romantic.

       Sometimes the two of us would be walking along and unconsciously bump into a glimpse of the sun’s afterglow that rendered the scenery on the horizon, and we would hold hands on a whim as if there was no one else around.

       Sometimes he would bow his head and kiss me at night, in the midst of a starry river of cyclists, under the cover of the darkness where the streetlights could not shine.

       Or we would go out for the weekend and get a room, two young ignorant and impulsive people, tossing and turning in a way that was unprecedentedly pleasurable and exciting.

       For some reason, our top and bottom positions had somehow acquiesced from the start.

       I finally felt strange and asked him why.

       He said that he had read countless bad books and he was ready to graduate. He answered it rhetorically, Senior, do you understand?

       I was silent for a while and said, I don’t understand.

       As a biological method for reproduction, according to theory, this should be natural to human beings

       My brain might have been assimilated by the computer.

       But I didn’t think I could come to understand it in the end. I couldn’t let go of my moral principle.

       Still, a graduate, was this what the average thick-skinned person would say?

       ……

       Later, when the initial novelty wore off, these ridiculous romances petered out.

       Because of too many classes and activities, he really didn’t have time to come to see me. He was teased by his roommates, Is your rut period over, Min ge?

       ……

       He said that he still loves me, and tried his best to describe the love he wanted to give me with his poor vocabulary. He said that it was different from the vigorous one he started with, but he wanted a kind of love that was able to love each other through the storms for the rest of his life.

       We spend time together as usual, and sometimes the wild chatter falls off a bit.

       I said, You know how hard this road is.

       He said, I know, as long as you are not afraid.

       I said, It’s you that I’m afraid of.

       Xie Chenmin was so good, and it was precisely because he was so good that I have never met someone like him before. So I was terribly afraid of losing him.

       Xie Chenmin was like a wolf cub with its head upright in a den, and he had yet to see the real boundless and unknown world.

       While I was like a heating straw he found in a cave. When he sees the outside and finds that the straw couldn’t shield him from discrimination, cold eyes and prejudice, he would probably throw it away.

       But what I fear most is not that he will throw me away, but that he will be unable to run away irresponsibly because of some oath he made when he was young and frivolous, and that he would only grow disgusted and bored.

       He said, I won’t.

       I said, Life is long, and you can never be sure how long your no will last.

       He looked at me and said, Chu, believe in me, and I will keep it for as long as you believe in me.

       I said, Okay.

       The stupidest thing was that I added, If you ever get tired of me, feel free to talk to me, and I won’t dwell on it.

       It was only three days later that I regretted that I shouldn’t have said that.

       For the first time since we were together, he and I had a cold war for three days.

       ……

       It was said that there was no such thing as a heart in the air, let alone heartache.

       But seeing that Xie Chenmin went looking for a new love on the first day after my funeral, a part of my heart, which I didn’t know what to call it, seemed to be cut by a thousand knives.

       Little by little, it stung.

       I had been separated from him for more than a month before the car accident.

       Before this, I always felt that some stubborn and subtle estrangement gradually formed between us, which we did not know or let each other know.

       Just let the rust, and it would gradually become a hidden problem as it accumulated over the years.

       We’ve been together for more than eight years.

       He told me in the early years that he would marry me within ten years.

       The deadline was coming to an end, and he finally had a good talk with me.

       In the past many months, we always quarrelled with each other when we talked. We thought that we were right and did not apologize, and got along nonchalantly.

       That day, it snowed like it hadn’t in years in the city we were in.

       He had been away on business for four days. I checked the weather forecast on my phone, and it said that the city he was in had long since been blocked by heavy snow.

       My WeChat message history with him was still from four days ago, and I sent him a message saying;

       Is it cold over there? Put on more clothes.

       Don’t turn on the air conditioning too much, it’s easy to get cold when you go out.

       Prepare some medicine, don’t wait until you have a headache and fever to wail around for medicine.

       It was snowing heavily that day, obscuring the roadside lights for a while, and the reflection was like stars in the sky falling bits by bits.

       He didn’t get back to me.

       I waited for a while, turned off my phone screen and went to sleep.

       The next day the world was already wrapped up, the first thing I did when I got up was to open WeChat, and he replied to me.

       He said, Chu, can we get married?

       The message was delivered at one o’clock in the morning.

       I sat up from the bed and stared at the words in a daze, and suddenly felt my eyes burning up.

       My fingers stayed on the keyboard for a long time, and my thoughts travelled to the ends of the earth until the mobile phone alarm sounded at seven o’clock, with the melody I used to look at him through, Head Above Water.

       Only then did my attention return to my phone and I said, Okay.

       When he came back, he said that he had obtained the visa and that he would take me to Norway to get a marriage license by the end of the week.

       When he came back, he was panting and breathing hot air with snow falling on his suit. When he entered the house, the warm air was blown and turned the snow into water stains on his suits.

       It was like that idiot in the tracksuit who ran from East Campus to the front of my dorm.

       He said that he missed the latest subway, and the road was blocked by snow, so he had run back halfway.

       I scolded him, Why are you in a hurry, it won’t take you more than a few minutes to wait for the next one.

       He said he didn’t want to wait at all and was confused.

       He took a small box out of his inside jacket pocket and my heart skipped a bit when I saw the packaging.

       He got down on one knee.

       He said, Chu, I didn’t know what you liked, so I bought the most expensive one with my entire fortune.

       We would probably live on the dirt next month.

       I said, It’s not like I can tell the difference between these things. You could go to the kiosk and buy a 50-cent pair of kids’ toys and they all look the same to me.

       He said, Can you be romantic?

       I said, Is this the first day you met me?

       He said, Well.

       He put the ring on me with his own hands and said, Me and my mom… No, it was our mom, she said she couldn’t stop me and that I could do whatever I wanted. But I’ll have to take you to meet her someday.

       I said, En.

       And added, I’m sorry.

       He said, It’s okay.

       My family had opposed me for eight years and regarded Xie Chenmin as a vicious person.

       My mother was a very gentle person with almost no temper. Unlike my father who has great hopes for his son, she didn’t say anything against me when I switched departments in a fit of anger.

       I still remembered the day she came to our school without telling me, and dragged her rheumatic legs all the way to our school. Before I could call out “Mom” in surprise, she grabbed Xie Chen Min’s wrist and almost knelt down to him, trembling and begging.

       “Please, let xiao Chu go, I have only one son… I beg you.”

       I saw that the expression on Xie Chenmin’s face was a mixture of surprise and bewilderment, so much so that the hand that wanted to help her froze in the air.

       And my father even never looked him in the eye.

       I felt that he was a man with high self-esteem and that he would have to put up with bad words from all sides when he came back with me.

       I owed him an apology for a long time.

       ……

       We went to get tailored suits together, and he found an old craftsman who stubbornly refused to keep pace with the rapid progress of the times. We went to the store and felt that time had slowed down.

       He asked us in Norwegian if were partners.

       He said, Well, we’ve been together for almost ten years.

       The old man smiled and said, I wish you happiness.

       It was only later that he told me about it. At that time, I raised my head and asked him what the old man was saying. He leaned down and said to me that he praised me that your wife was really beautiful.

       I kicked him in the old-time suit shop in a foreign country.

       ……

       Xie Chenmin said to the girl very earnestly, You are very beautiful.

       The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed his arm with the half-exposed waves of her breasts.

       She said seductively, Thank you handsome guy for the compliment.

       He smiled and said inexplicably, But not as pretty as my wife.

       I saw the girl’s face darken and the corners of her mouth twitched.

       I thought, if I had a face it would be black 80% of the time too.

       The girl asked, What do you mean?

       Xie Chenmin didn’t say anything, leaned forward and said to the driver, Stop in front.

       The luxurious car stopped at a place where the roadside and the lights were dim and desolate. Xie Chenmin got out of the car under the girl’s shocked eyes, walked to the front and told the driver of the car an address.

       It was the girl’s home.

       Send her back, he said, and send me a location confirmation when you arrived.

       The girl must have thought that he was a human trafficker just now. When she recovered from her fear, I saw Xie Chenmin give her a business card and said, My contact details, give me a call when you arrived safely.

       Also, love yourself a little.

       Then he walked along the road by himself.

       The girl took the business card and was stunned for a long time until the driver politely said, Miss, if there is nothing else, I will start driving.

       Only then did the girl come to her senses, and while sitting in the car, she was cursing the psycho while tearing the business card to shreds.

       ……

       I felt a sense of desolation.

       I wanted to say sorry, but I hated myself for not being able to speak.

       Xie Chenmin took the earphones and walked back along the road by himself.

       He opened the door, crouched down and tightly hugged Zhaocai who was wagging its tail, then ran to the bathroom and vomited in the dark.

       He was a very poor drinker, and he had not practised for a long time.

       He had probably thrown up all over his belly and while nausea hadn’t passed, he was dry heaving.

       I saw him with a splitting headache and a cold bath on full blast, standing up shakily and holding his hands on the sink.

       I wanted to go up and scold him and kick him.

       Why wasn’t this fvcking bastard taking his health seriously?

       I felt that if I had a body, my tears might not listen to me, but I couldn’t shed them now, and the air and his body were bathed in bitterly cold water. It was as if I’m the one crying.

       Zhaocai probably heard his uncomfortable voice, whimpering and picking at the bathroom door, while at the same time staring at the black silhouette without blinking.

       He came out of the bathroom.

       Aside from looking a little weak, he wiped his wet hair, his expression was as usual as he said hoarsely, What are you screaming for, I will feed you in a moment.

       I couldn’t see his eyes under his thick, dripping fringes.

       No one carried a wedding ring around for fun.

       And no one flaunting a wedding ring would go to a bar either.

       He knew that the soul of the diamond was empty, and he probably needed some more stimulation to let him know that he was holding on tightly so the illusion of the soul was still there.

       What was I doing just now? Doubting him.

       Sorry.

       Xie Chenmin.

       I’m the one who left you alone, and I can’t believe I’m still blaming you.

       I really miss you, Xie Chenmin.

       I want to come back.

       I’m sorry, I’m sorry……

       He squatted down, and when he came to pour dog food for Zhaocai, I saw Zhaocai arched up to him and licked the corners of his eyes hidden under his fringes.

       It was somewhat red.

       I tried my best to pass my broken soul to Zhaocai, beyond the roughness of half a lifetime and the numbing shade that clouded his eyes, holding him hard with force.

       ……

       How could I forget?

       That day when Xie Chenmin put a ring on my finger.

       He made love to me in a bedroom that hadn’t smelled like two people in a long time, indignantly and carefully, as if he was venting a kind of obsessive grievance.

       When I was exhausted, I thought I heard him whisper in my ear.

       I thought you were tired of me.

       I was scared to death that I didn’t dare talk to you again, and I regretted every word that annoyed you for a long time.

       I thought it’s fine if you don’t want to, I don’t want you to be unhappy with me.

       But I…I can’t.

       I don’t know why, but I can’t do without you.

       He said.

       On the last night of my business trip, I went to the bar and saw that there was a young man at the bar who was very similar to you.

       There was a mole under the middle and lower part of the eye. He has a cold temperament and likes to purse his lips when he smiles.

       I was a little drunk.

       He helped me to the suite and asked me if I wanted to try it with him.

       I almost did something wrong.

       But my phone rang.

       It had snowed so hard here that day, you said, telling me to wear more clothes, to take care of myself and not to get cold.

       I went to the bathroom of the bar to splash myself awake and slapped myself a lot.

       I guess I really was an asshole.

       Why did I forget that it was snowing on your side of the world, that I forgot to tell you to take care of yourself and dress up, that I didn’t even say a word to you?

       I’m sorry.

       I didn’t know you were still thinking about me and I was especially happy.

       I still love you very, very much.

       Even if you annoy me in the future, let me stay by your side.

       I was on the verge of deep sleep and thought these were dreams, so I just responded vaguely.

       It turned out to be real.

       Our hidden problems that had been building up for years were only there because we each thought we would get tired of each other and were afraid that the other one would abandon us.

       We probably need a wedding.

       Only when the two people’s fetters and entanglements were engraved in black and white could we truly feel at ease.


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Chapter 3

       Later, he bought me a notebook1computer notebook.

       At the time, it was one of the best-configured ones.

       I heard that his family was relatively well-off. I was only from a middle-class family, and to buy a computer of that price would have required my parents to save up three or four months’ salary.

       But even if he was the son of the richest man who was in incognito, I couldn’t ask him for such valuable things for nothing. Moreover, he was not the one who should be responsible for the loss of the computer.

       I insisted. He said, Okay, but you can keep the computer first and return the money whenever you want.

       I just remember that I had saved money for a long time, and on the day I saved enough, I gave him the money, and he confessed to me.

       The development of computers changed rapidly, but I used the notebook for the last three years of university and the first two years of my working life.

       Xie Chenmin once asked me abruptly, why I didn’t change it, and if it was because he had given it to me that I couldn’t throw it away.

       I said because it was too expensive.

       After I had squeezed all its worth out of it, the computer sat in my drawer gathering dust.

       ……

       Xie Chenmin turned down a pointless dinner party tonight and said he wanted to go home early in the evening.

       The beautiful female colleague joked, What’s the matter? Is there someone waiting at home?

       He smiled without saying a word, and just waved the ring on his hand.

       I saw that the girl’s smile stiffened a bit. No one told her why Manager Xie had a wedding ring on his hand.

       He said, My spouse is waiting for me.

       But no one was waiting for him at home except a dog, and he didn’t come home.

       He went to the bar.

       I saw him sitting alone in a white shirt, his shadow stretched long by the flashing neon lights, but unable to dye its blackness.

       I saw many people coming and going around him. Everyone here was wearing a smiling mask, and often hiding not a heart but an obvious purpose underneath the false face.

       Xie Chenmin said that he didn’t like this kind of place because he didn’t like such people.

       I watched him chatting and laughing, ordering a 12-year-old Chivas Regal for every beautiful woman that sat next to him, and then watched them leave for various reasons.

       He even allowed someone to hook their arms around his shoulders or said something enticing and sweet.

       I didn’t know what to feel, I seemed to be like a third wheel.

       I was already a third wheel.

       A blob of unnecessary additional conscious air in the world.

       Before the girl took his arm, she glanced at the ring on his hand with a qualm. Perhaps as she thought of what kind of excitement the two were pursuing, the uncomfortable expression turned into a smile.

       Xie Chenmin called for a reserved car and asked the girl where she lived. He let her hold him and got into the car.

       So that’s how it was.

       Why bother, I shouldn’t be more sentimental.

       This man at least made me believe in the dream of holding hands with someone and seeing them for the rest of my life, so I should be satisfied, why bother with reality?

       But why didn’t you tell me?

       I would not say no anyway. It was like agreeing to you a risky and brave beginning without thinking about the consequences.

       ……

       His roommate said that Xie Chenmin stayed with me longer than with them. At 11 pm straight, they rushed back calmly with the scolding of the dormitory aunt.

       They blamed me for corrupting their Min ge, and condemned me to treat them to dinner as compensation.

       How could they blame me for that? I didn’t ask him to do it.

       As soon as teacher Cheng gave out homework, almost all my nights after 7 pm were given to the evening study first.

       Sometimes when I didn’t have time to eat, I would give him a call, and after wiring the money to him, I would get an exclusive takeaway meal that didn’t require an errand fee.

       As if the delivery guy didn’t have to study at night, he would not leave after delivering the meal, but would stay next to me and boast about the awesome new computer he had bought me, or look at the code on the screen, and sometimes ask a few questions in a studious manner.

       Sometimes he’d ask me a few questions, like “What’s this thing?” and “What are you doing?”

       I answered him seriously, and he played with his phone seriously.

       I said, You can go ahead if you have something to do.

       He said, I am quite free.

       I said, I am interfering with your open mic game.

       He said, It’s okay, I’ll teach you how to play together.

       I said, Get lost.

       Then he would go and buy a couple of cokes and come back and continue to sit next to me.

       Sometimes we talked endlessly about anything. Or he would tell me stories about him and his mom, and I learned that she was a single parent.

       Occasionally he taught me how to play mobile games, and after I deliberately dragged him down a rank, this situation never happened again.

       He said I was the most rigid senior he had ever met and that my university life was all about studying.

       ……

       So it made sense for me to drag on doing my homework until that late.

       Every time I closed my computer, the time was 20:50. All the bicycles outside to grab were all covered, so I asked him from the East Campus if he was okay.

       He said, I’m okay, I’ll send Senior a message when I get back to the dormitory.

       I went back, clicked on the voice with the little red dot, and could usually hear his panting background voice mixed with the scolding of the dormitory aunty.

       I didn’t know why, but I was happy to hear him being scolded.

       I always laughed without realising it.

       A few girls in my class asked me why this handsome little brother was so infatuated.

       I said probably because the unpaid money for the computer was still in my hand.

       ……

       I didn’t know exactly when I became dependent on his on-call takeaway.

       Sometimes if he didn’t text me for a day, I would click on that little green icon and take a look.

       He would take a video and send me a voice message if he had nothing to do. He talked with so much fun that it made you couldn’t help but laugh. Then I would click to listen and laugh again.

       He usually filmed the little daily routines in the dorm, and he lived like he was at home everywhere he went. His three very close roommates would greet me when they met me on the road, and said, “Hello, senior”.

       Later, it became “Hello, Lin ge”, they said because Xie Chenmin warned them that he was the only one who could call me Senior.

       They started a group chat without Xie Chenmin and dragged me into it, and then they complained every day that this Min ge was a sick person.

       I couldn’t help laughing all the time—originally, people around me were always teasing me that I couldn’t have this kind of expression.

       I probably just haven’t met such funny people.

       ……

       The girl said, What kind of fun does a handsome guy do?

       He laughed, Driving2it’s a dirty joke of sending(driving) your seeds(semen) everywhere. ahead.

       The girl laughed too, Handsome guy, stop acting, you came out to do something novel behind your wife’s back, but you still mind this.

       He spun the diamond ring on his hand and let the girl wrap her arms around his waist as he said, Do you have experience?

       The girl said, Yes, I have.

       He said, Are you not afraid of getting sick?

       The girl froze for a moment as if it was the first time she had heard someone so blatantly lay out the obscure and difficult words, and wondered, Why do you ask that, you don’t have one, do you?

       He shook his head and said faintly, I don’t.

       The girl said, How do you know?

       He said, I checked.

       The girl burst out laughing, and the flashy city lights almost turned into phantoms through the car window, reflected on her pretty face.

       She said, What are you doing checking this out for nothing? Something is fishy.

       Xie Chenmin just laughed.

       …………

       His roommate said that he had gone to the pub yesterday and hadn’t come back all night and asked me if I knew where Min ge had gone.

       I was still in class when I glanced at my phone inadvertently and caught a glimpse of this message.

       I was surprised and immediately got back to them.

       I said, I don’t know, yesterday was fine.

       I looked through the message records with him and yesterday ended with him addressing me in one line—Senior.

       Nothing more.

       I was not surprised, he was often like this. When I asked him what was wrong, he was always talking about trivial things like the weather was fine today.

       They told me that Xie Chenmin had a fight with someone yesterday.

       I asked, Why?

       His roommate said that he was listening to a presentation on mental health education for university students yesterday and the main speaker mentioned homosexuality.

       I didn’t know why the eyelids twitch slightly, then I asked, What happened then?

       The teacher holds a neutral attitude and advises students with this tendency to protect themselves.

       The teacher was very open-minded and objective, but such a sensitive subject was bound to attract some sharp comments.

       His roommate said that a few boys were whispering underneath, that homosexuals were perverts and that men and men were a disgusting sorry of an excuse for their parents and so on, and let Xie Chenmin hear them.

       I had six dots inside me3his heart felt like ……

       I was the kind of person who was very slow to the eyes and opinions of the outside world. Even if others pointed at my nose and called me stupid, as long as I knew who I am in my heart, I wouldn’t care for even a second.

       His roommate said that he felt that Min ge had that tendency.

       I could not laugh or cry, and asked, How do you feel about it?

       They said Min ge was being too good to me. Only those who lived in the same dormitory knew that Min ge hung up the words “Senior Lin Chu” on his lips every day and even bought back a bunch of tutorials on C, JAVA and Python that he couldn’t understand, telling them that he would definitely get them a sister-in-law who knew programming and that people who knew this stuff were really great.

       They also joked that then Min ge would be alone for life.

       They didn’t think anything of it at first, but the boys in the class were whispering that they were embarrassed by Xie Chenmin’s bland words, and they mentioned me.

       They said, Come on Xie Chenmin, why pretend to be an objective passerby? It’s not like we don’t know that you’re gay with that guy from the computer science department.

       Then afterwards Xie Chenmin was on fire.

       They said it wasn’t that they were being unrighteous and bad-mouthing their brother, but they really thought that Xie Chenmin was interested in me.

       I didn’t know what I felt in my heart, it was a bit like I was choked when swallowing my heartbeat, and a piece of flesh and blood jumped up and down in my throat.

       I was not surprised, but inexplicably felt very nervous.

       I said, Okay, I’ll go and find him.

       I found a valid reason and sent a message.

       Xie Chenmin, come to the third floor of restaurant number four, I’ll pay you back for the computer.

       After three minutes, he said, OK.

       When I arrived he was buying milk tea. Two large cups with ice.

       Restaurant number four was almost empty around ten in the morning, so we went to the lounge bar in the corner to sit.

       It was the most luxuriously decorated of all the restaurants on campus, so it wasn’t a bad place for a young couple to go out on a date.

       He handed me a cup of milk tea, sat opposite, plugged in a straw, and said, Is transferring money directly from WeChat to Alipay no good?

       I said, What were you doing at the bar yesterday?

       The pearls in his milk tea were stuck in the straw.

       He was silent for a moment and continued to finish the sip and said, Going to play.

       I said, You told me you didn’t like that kind of place.

       He said, I just went to see and drink some wine, and I didn’t chat with anyone. Besides, bars are not synonymous with illegal places. It’s okay for young people to relax there. You, a backward veteran cadre, need to reform your thinking.

       I asked why.

       He said, I said I was just going to have a look and a drink.

       The ice and pearls in the milk tea were moving because of me, and I asked directly, Are you interested in me?

       Xie Chenmin said, Senior, you are going to die of narcissism.

       I looked at him with his head bowed as he absently shook the milk tea with a straw and said, Can you look at others when you talk?

       He said, I’m listening, I’m just a little suspicious that she put fewer pearls for me.

       I interrupted him, Xie Chenmin.

       He said, En.

       I didn’t continue to say anything, I took out a large amount of cash, which was rarely seen nowadays from my schoolbag, pushed it to him, and said, I’m still used to paying in cash for large amounts of money, I’m really sorry, I thought I should really reform my thinking.

       He looked at the pile of money and stopped shaking the straw.

       I said, I’ll send the remainder to your Alipay, all right, I’m good with it.

       I got up and threw down the words, I’m leaving.

       He called out to me, as he usually does, and called me back with a ‘Senior’.

       I said, The weather is fine today. What else can I do for you?

       Xie Chenmin said, I really just went to have a drink, nothing else.

       I sat down angrily, rested my hands on the sides of the table and said, You really don’t know what I’m asking you?

       Xie Chenmin said, I know.

       Before I could say anything else, he confessed himself and said, I dreamt that I gave myself away to you Senior, and I woke up feeling it.

       The six dots I had in my mind were multiplied by two.

       He said, I thought it was a little weird because I had a girlfriend in high school.

       I said, Then you might be a bi.

       He said, I’m not kidding, Senior.

       Both of us fell silent as I put in my milk tea straw and started to drink slowly.

       He broke the silence and said abruptly, I like you Lin Chu, do you want to try it with me?

       I didn’t answer and just continued drinking milk tea.

       After not getting an actual answer for a long time, his heart seemed to grey out inch by inch. He smiled and sighed, and said, Oh my, why should I say it.

       I also suddenly said, How can I say yes if you don’t say anything.

       He widened his eyes and looked at me in amazement.

       I said, In the future, if there is anything to say to me, just tell me directly. No need to cover it up, have I rejected you for anything?

       He said, You said no to my computer.

       I said, Get lost.

       ……

       That day, we kissed on the third floor of restaurant number four and we were so focused that we spilt the milk tea on the table. We impulsively and youthfully practised the first attempt countless times.

       The next day he told me, Let’s do it, Senior. I went to the hospital specifically to check, I do not have a sexually transmitted disease, and will not infect you.

       And thinking he was romantic, he went on to add principally, I’ll sleep with you alone from now on, donate blood to a regular hospital, no tattoos or tattoos, and take care of myself.

       My heart went from six dots multiplied by three.

       Could it be that this guy was a fool?

       He told their roommates about being with me that day, and the three of them were supportive, except for the fact that they thought Min ge was a little too fast.

       They had planned to form a group to go out for kebabs that day.

       Everyone in the group posted a cheer for the seniors and Lin ge loves kidneys plus some facial emojis packs.

       Me, six dots by four.

       This was not a bunch of fools.

       These were really birds of a feather flocking together.

       ……

       We were in his dorm starting at 9 pm and tossing and turning for more than an hour. I was in so much pain the first time that I shed a few tears midway through and let him block the corners of my eyes and kiss away the tears.

       Still young and inexhaustible, we made his sheets and bedding wrinkled and dirty.

       He stayed in my body and won’t go. When he fell down and came to rest, he said to me, Senior, don’t just try this, let’s be together also, okay?

       I said, I have never rejected you.

       And added a sentence, Except for the computer.


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Chapter 2

       Zhaocai ignored him.

       Not eating any of the dog food, it ran to my room and nestled into a little fluffy ball on my bed, hunched its head under the quilt to seize my scent. A practical protest against Xie Chenmin’s pretense of not understanding his words.

       ……

       Our house has two bedrooms, which were reserved for us to calm down after a conflict.

       I was often working on codes day and night, and he was often mad about it.

       This man expressed himself in a roundabout way. He said that the sound of me staying up late typing on the keyboard was disturbing his sleep.

       I know he actually wanted me to rest early, but what he said undoubtedly put me on the wrong side.

       In fact, in order not to disturb him, I turned the brightness of the screen to the lowest level and moved as gently and slowly as I could. As a result, I felt my eyes were deteriorating and my efficiency was as fast as a turtle.

       He said he didn’t want me to stay in the cold living room all the time to work, but at the same time he thought I was disturbing his sleep by his side, and to be honest I was a bit offended.

       But I didn’t get angry, just turned off the computer and said “Oh”, then moved the machine to my bedroom.

       I was up until midnight when he came over to me.

       He gently put a glass of hot milk on my table, rubbed his fingers for a long time, and said sorry to me.

       I didn’t have time to pay attention to him.

       He just lay beside me or some other place, just like Zhaocai, who had nothing to do, quietly browsing Weibo or playing games.

       It just so happened that after I finished the crucial step of debugging, he handed me something funny he saw and I had to stop after I laughed.

       He tried to pretend that he wasn’t sleepy and that he was in good spirits.

       It was often two or three in the morning by the time I pulled myself out of my concentration.

       After that, whenever I came home to work, he would do what he did the first time, consistently and repeatedly.

       This was a very cunning trick.

       Because I didn’t want him to stay up so late.

       And I couldn’t kick him out and say that he was annoying me. To be reasonable, he stayed quietly beside me and didn’t affect me at all.

       If I had to say something about the outcome, it was that I would look at the watch.

       And turned off the computer at eleven o’clock.

       Never put off work that could be done during the day until the evening. With the level of hard work I did in the company during the day led my colleagues to think that my college entrance examination was not over yet.

       ……

       We would argue about trivial things like this.

       Just as he blamed me for forgetting to remind the store not to put chili peppers when ordering takeout, and about the mobile phone that was always on Do Not Disturb mode. I blamed him for leaving the air conditioning on at night and blowing until he woke up in the morning, and being annoyed that I would have to give him a call to confirm every time I arrived at the office.

       Friends and colleagues who could accept us often joke about how on earth did we both get this far, generating electricity for love?

       We also didn’t know why.

       Maybe it was because, well, only the two of us know. As soon as I ate spicy foods, my tonsils become inflamed, and it hurts so much that I couldn’t even speak.

       He sends me daily WeChats to remind me what medication to take, what the weather was like and whether I should bring an umbrella or add clothes, what the traffic conditions were like, which egg and soy milk on the road was greener and healthier, which I often couldn’t see because my phone was in Do Not Disturb mode.

       Only the two of us know that he occasionally got migraines and couldn’t stay out in the cold for too long.  For my convenience, he chose a house far away from his company, and he was usually still driving when I arrived.

       We both know that, so without asking for any reason, we had come together like this.

       ……

       Xie Chenmin turned on the bedroom light, and Zhaocai, who was curled up and shivering in the dark, dared to raise its head.

       Although it was afraid, it still had to protest. Zhaocai has a strong personality and was very stubborn.

       The bed quilt was lifted, and Zhaocai stood up unexpectedly. It saw Xie Chenmin burrowing under the covers and wrapping himself up tightly.

       Zhaocai stared at him.

       He said, Aren’t you capable of not being afraid anymore? Go, turn off the lights.

       Zhaocai didn’t understand and tilted his head at him.

       With its cleverness, it seemed to hear something irreversible in Xie Chenmin’s tone.

       So the little guy lost its temper, clawed Xie Chenmin’s back, and licked the back of his neck.

       Because there was the smell of two masters here, Zhaocai finally felt a little more at ease and nestled beside him to sink into a dream.

       The lights were on all night.

       ……

       Zhaocai once owned a cat, a little kitten whose name was cruelly decided by Xie Chenmin, called Xie Jinbao.

       With Zhaocai’s previous experience, I wasn’t surprised by how the name Jinbao appeared.

       The shame of it was that he even made a custom-made pet name tag, “Zhaocai Jinbao1Zhaocai means wealth, while Jinbao roughly means jewel/precious“, which were hung around their necks to show off how badly the owner named them.

       ……

       Jinbao was an orange cat with the ear that stood up that I found on the street. A tiny little bundle of misery that felt like it was going to die.

       But it was so alert that it was squealing with its last breath when I picked it up.

       When it was just brought home, Zhaocai’s big face was often scratched.

       But when Jinbao got a bit older, he started to become clingy. Jinbao was closer to one dog than to the two owners.

       In Zhaocai’s mind, everyone was on equal footing, but Jinbao might be slightly higher. Because when Jinbao came to grab its food, Zhaocai would quietly let the kitten and wag its tail to wait for the kitten to finish eating, but Xie Chenmin couldn’t even pick Zhaocai up while it was eating.

       The hierarchy in Jinbao’s mind was very critical, from top to bottom was probably Zhaocai, me, cat climbing frame and cat food, dog food, and Xie Chenmin.

       Xie Chenmin position was not as good as a eskimo dog and a cat climbing frame.

       In order to improve his presence, he often deliberately took Zhaocai in his arms to keep him warm while Jinbao nestled on my lap, licking its paws.

       But Zhaocai didn’t want to snuggle with him, and its eyes would cling pathetically to the kitten licking its paws gracefully, and whimpered.

       Jinbao ignored Zhaocai, because Zhaocai’s big tongue was so wet that half a day spent licking its fur was for nothing.

       So Zhaocai barked even more emotionally.

       I couldn’t bear to hear it and persuade Xie Chenmin, Can’t you let it go?

       ……

       If you saw Zhaocai, Jinbao must be nearby.

       The big dog and the kitten were always waiting together for Xie Chenmin and me to come home. Zhaocai was not afraid of the dark, and Jinbao was not afraid of getting lost.

       As days passed by, in the end, there was only one dog left.

       ……

       Zhaocai’s kitten had been gone for a long time.

       It was probably because of the congenital heart disease shared by its kin.

       Jinbao didn’t live long, and when he left, he was still in the warm bay surrounded by the big dog.

       Zhaocai probably thought that Jinbao had not woken up and delayed getting up for a while longer than usual until I went over to them both with Xie Chenmin. Zhaocai was still lying on his back, panting with its tongue out and wagging its tail at him and me, and prodding the little thing in his arms with his white dog head.

       I took Jinbao in my arms.

       Zhaocai never saw its kitten again.

       ……

       I wondered if the big dog dreamt about his kittens when he sleeps? Would he forget everything and continue to lick his orange fur and then get scratched in his dreams?

       It would, I think.

       ……

       It was probably dreaming and Zhaocai was up a bit later than usual. When he woke up, breakfast was in its bowl and the master had gone to work.

       Xie Chenmin still went to work as usual.

       I followed him into the car, got stucked in traffic, parked his car, squeezed into the crowd, and got on the elevator to the upper floors.

       He still used to listen to the weather forecast and the traffic situation in the car, which only the elderly were keen on nowadays. Then, in his free time in traffic, he habitually edited a message, and copied and paste it into the send message box.

       I saw him startled for a moment when his finger stopped at the send button, then he deleted the words one by one, turned off the radio, and put the phone away.

       He found the parking space and still couldn’t resist dialing my number, which he could memorize without having to find my contact.

       I just found out that the name of the contact he gave me was “Cold and Handsome Wife”.

       I wanted to kick him and put the keyboard across his neck to force him to change the nickname, but I couldn’t.

       I couldn’t even curse “Xie Chenmin, fvck you”.

       The phone’s dial ring sounded. He got on the elevator and rose to mid-air, only to hang up because no one answered.

       Usually when I didn’t answer his calls, he would bombard me with messages, but today he put down his phone in an orderly manner.

       He was very popular with female colleagues in the company, as I could guess.

       A handsome and talented unmarried manager was a very dangerous combination to be placed in a group of the opposite sex.

       I watched him socializing skillfully, laughing skillfully, jokingly calling out “Do me a favour, handsome guy, and pretty lady,” skillfully agreeing or backing out from an invitation.

       Suddenly a wave of sadness and frustration clogged my entire chest.

       The man was a very contradictory creature.

       I didn’t want him to feel depressed and heartbroken because of my death, but after I saw him as normal as ever, without many ups and downs in his expression, I also felt very sad.

       Xie Chenmin, are you fvcking heartless?

       I am dead and you will never see me again.

       I want you to be able to see me…………

       I will miss you.

       ……

       For an optimist, it was impossible to talk about missing someone who you could talk to by making a phone call and sending a WeChat.

       But that day I was taking a programming class and he sent a message.

       He said, Senior, I miss you.

       I saw it in a split second, but he withdrew in a split second2it might be the unsent message features where you can unsent your message so the other person couldn’t see it..

       I said, Take advantage to study more on your own while you don’t have classes. Don’t just hang out in the dorm with a group of people playing truth or dare.

       He sent back a string of ellipses, and the conversation ended.

       He ran from the east campus to the west campus in the evening, and said breathlessly, Do you want to go for a BBQ together?

       I just had a shower and he was sweaty.

       I said, Sharing bicycles is good.

       He told me that he had signed up for the long-distance running for the House Games and was practicing recently.

       I said, You really do have nothing to do.

       He said, Because I lost the Truth or Dare, the class committee signed me up.

       The penalty for the dare was to send a message to the first of the nearest contacts, addressing it plus I miss you, which could not be withdrawn until the other party sees it.

       The first contact at that time was not me, but a boy of the same level as him, and he was dead set on not sending it.

       So he was given the elegant name of ‘Straight Man of Steel’ by a group of people

       He didn’t tell me about it, I only found it out later.

       ……

       That day, I went out with him on a tandem to have a BBQ he invited me to and said to me, Senior, go watch my game.

       I said, Long distance races are boring.

       He said, Then you take your computer to code.

       I looked up at him.

       He said, I just want you to be there, it doesn’t matter if you watch me or not, I feel motivated that way.

       I asked why.

       He said, The Male God of the Planning Department is going to support me, I felt the honour.

       ……

       I took a leave of absence from my student council activities and rode my bicycle to the East Campus gym with my computer on my shoulder.

       In the middle of cheering and lively crowds, I put on headphones and tapped my keyboard in a refreshing and refined way.

       This drew a lot of surprised looks.

       I felt that it was about time, so I looked up at the track and noticed that Xie Chenmin had been watching me.

       When I met his eyes, he began to laugh, gestured to me, and mouthed to me, “Senior, come down!”

       At that moment, my headphones were playing Avril Lavigne’s new song since her return to the music industry.

       As I looked over at him, she sang “God keep my head above water3Head Above Water – Avril Lavigne.”

       I was not a person who could be touched by a scene, but I was in a trance for a moment.

       For a moment I lost my breath for no reason.

       He said, If I’m the first, you give me a surprise.

       I said, Why should I have to surprise you when you’ve forced me here?

       He said, Because I am awesome and dashing.

       I went back to code, and he said that it was useless for me to beg for mercy later.

       Not gonna listen, not gonna listen to what the bastard is saying.4

       ……

       But I still couldn’t bear to give up this awesome and dashing bastard.

       I was a person who sometimes could get a bit emotional and get worked up and forget about everything.

       The gymnasium was an easy place to get excited about.

       I couldn’t resist throwing my computer aside, squeezing through the crowd, and sprinting down to track three behind the finish line.

       Then I opened my arms wide.

       Xie Chenmin from track three was the first to be surrounded by cheers and applause.

       His breathing was rough, and when he rushed over, his breath hit me in the ear as he said, “Senior.”

       The long red ribbon of victory was sandwiched between the two of us and crossed the track.

       I got close to his beating heart and said, “Get up and walk around, be careful of sudden death5might refer to sudden heart attack because the heart is beating too fast.”

       I had a very deep impression of that day.

       Mainly because I lost my computer afterward.


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Chapter 1

       I once heard the oath of the youth who did not know the height of the sky.

       He said, I will love you for the rest of my life.

       I asked, How are you going to love?

       He said, If you arrive at Naihe Bridge, don’t rush to drink the soup, wait for me to go over, and stubbornly kiss you in front of Granny Meng1Naihe Bridge is a place where people must pass through reincarnation in Chinese folk mythology. There will be an elderly female deity called Granny Meng by the Naihe Bridge who will give each ghost a bowl of soup to forget the memory of the past life.

       That would be a kiss longer than a lifetime.

       I said, How do you know I’ll go before you.

       He jokingly said, You’ve been staying up late and typing codes all day long. Your liver has probably dried up, you would probably die earlier than me.

       Then the brief oath ended when I kicked him off the computer desk.

       If he had dared to do so, probably Granny Meng would not have let us both have a good birth, and he would cry if we were reborn as a cat and a dog who have to procreate differently.

       ……

       The city was a pit of the merciful poisonous pot, allowing the weaker bugs to languish in a small corner, without having to see and participate in the essential natural selection.

       I was an ordinary programmer with no talent, and I thought a corner like this would be enough. Not busy, not idle, but I could still smack a little bit of happiness that even ordinary people deserved to have.

       I thought I was ordinary enough to be able to meet him for a lifetime, I thought I was ordinary enough to work until I retired, and I thought I was so ordinary that the odds were one in a million that I would be separated from him.

       I thought I was so ordinary that death was far away from me.

       At least I had gone as far as to plan to hold his hands for a lifetime and watch after all the life I’ve been through left in the memo book afterward.

       But I died before our wedding.

       ……

       I shouldn’t have believed in fictional nonsense.

       In fact, death was very painful, although it was only for a very short moment, the pain at that moment was piercing.

       The remaining pain was so vivid that I forgot that I was dead.

       Until I saw him standing in front of my grave with a black umbrella, silent like he was just another statue.

       He didn’t even buy a new set of suits. I personally went with him to the old suit shop where the doorplate was overlaid by the years to get it custom made.

       I saw my parents throw their umbrellas and grab onto his collar as if they were losing their minds, and the groom’s Hardanger embroidery2Hardanger embroidery or “Hardangersøm” is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave linen or cloth, using counted thread and drawn thread work techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery. was grasped until it twisted.

       My parents never agreed to our marriage from beginning to end, and no one knew how much effort it had taken for me to bring him to meet them.

       Now those efforts had gone to waste, and my tombstone erected under the rain. It turned out that I followed to be with him, and I died.

       It didn’t make sense at all. I died in a car accident and it had nothing to do with being with him.

       But you couldn’t force a parent who had just lost a son to be calm and rational, and it probably took all their strength just to grab the only culprit they had to pour out their grief, anger, and hatred with their thin, bony arms.

       Except for me, all the people that were present here were pitiful.

       I couldn’t see his expression, only his long and lonely back in the curtain of rain.

       I could guess he was saying sorry.

       ……

       I couldn’t touch anything. The difference between me and the air was probably that I still have some consciousness.

       However, the numbness left by the excruciating pain that washed away my nerves didn’t dissipate for days. I couldn’t remember my name and his name.

       He stayed at the funeral site under the rain, and by the time the cleaning staff arrived, he had probably already cleaned up everything he could.

       The staff called his name, “We are sorry that our lateness has caused you unnecessary trouble, and we are also saddened by the passing of your loved one, so we would exempt you from part of the funeral expenses, Mr. Xie Chenmin.”

       ……

       I remembered.

       My name was Lin Chu, and his name was Xie Chenmin.

       I was wearing my Student Council Supervision Departement’s badge and went to clean up the mess of students fighting over a game on an indoor basketball court when I met an enthusiastic student who took the initiative to help clean up the mess.

       I said, “Hello, fellow student, thank you for your support for the work of the school’s student council. In order to give you some encouragement, we would like to give a notice of praise at the official online bulletin. What’s your name?”

       He smiled and said, “Xie Chenmin, Business Administration Class 1, Year 19.”

       I slowly lowered my head and scrolled through the announcements on my phone—it was written on the front side that, according to the students on the scene, the student who deliberately provoked the dispute with words was mainly one person, the captain of the basketball team of Business Administration Class 1, Year 19, Xie Chenmin.

       That’s probably how the three words were pronounced, and it was unlikely for this class to coincidentally have two identical names.

       After the fight, he actually stayed here calmly and helped the student council clean up the mess in the booth. This was the first time it happened during my two years as an officer.

       But what I would remember about him was what he said when he pointed his fingers at me after he had been reprimanded and meekly admitted his mistake—”Don’t forget, you officers are going to give me notice for praise, I took a recording of it.”

       I was scolded by the head of the department for this.

       All in all, at first sight, he did not leave me with any glimpse of a good impression.

       ……

       I remembered now.

       I tried to call out his name again, but nothing came out.

       I was dead. The greatest mercy God could give me was that my soul remained on earth and could still watch over him. There was no reason why I should have the five organ senses and sixth senses of a normal human being.

       He returned home. If it could be called home at all.

       We raised an american eskimo3 and he named it Lin Zhaocai.

       I couldn’t understand why he had to use my surname, and a name in earthy tones4the dog’s name Lin(Wood/Forest), Zhaocai(inviting wealth/success) while the colour of the dog is white, but he had been calling it that way for five years.

       Zhaocai hurriedly wagged its tail and came over to meet him. Zhaocai had to climb on his lap to get a pat before it would come down, and then stood there and continued to wag its unflattering tail, looking in the direction of the door.

       It was waiting for me.

       It thought the only way to welcome the homeowner was to get two pats on the head.

       Probably because it hadn’t waited yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that, it was persistent this time. It was tilting its head towards the door and resting its head on its paws as it waited for me.

       Xie Chenmin went alone from the living room to the bedroom, the bathroom to the kitchen. The lights in the room were shining alternately in the dark city night, but Zhaocai was still lying there motionless.

       He put on his slippers, came over and handed Zhaocai its personal rice bowl, and said, “Zhaocai, stop looking, let’s eat.”

       Zhaocai looked up at him, and the light gave its puzzled obsidian eyes a few twinkling stars.

       It whimpered miserably.

       It seemed to be asking him—what about the other person, why did he disappear, where did he go, and you pissed him off again, didn’t you?

       Xie Chenmin still didn’t say anything, and he didn’t deliberately think deeply about what a barking dog was trying to convey.

       Zhaocai was afraid that he would not understand, so he stood up and barked a few more times.

       He knew that Zhaocai was afraid of the dark, so he put his hand on the switch of the door light.

       He said, “If you don’t eat, I’ll turn off the lights.”

       ……

       “If you don’t eat, I’ll unplug the power.”

       This was one of the most frequent things he said to me in college.

       For a coder, facing a pile of unsaved code and a man with his hand on the power plug was a miserable and inhuman nightmare.

       Xie Chenmin gave me this nightmare every day.

       As I traced the nightmare back to its source, I had to question myself every day, why did I continue to be responsible for Xie Chenmin’s follow-up affairs in order to atone for my past sins?

       He told me that he didn’t do it on purpose, but that the opposite party was always playing dirty tricks and injuring their teammates by playing fouls that somehow still followed the rules, so he was angry.

       Only the devil would believe his bullshit.

       ……

       Business Administration was a famous major in our university. Countless top students had smashed their heads and squeezed to get admitted here.

       Following my parents’ compulsive wishes, I entered this promising major and then transferred to the department with the first rank in the major.

       There was a ‘phoenix tail5meaning that the major is not the worst, may better than nothing, but is not wanted by majority‘ major that every prestigious school has.

       For our university, it was Computer Science.

       My father was so angry that he bought a plane ticket and came over that day.

       ……

       He, the handsome guy who was flashing his shiny management department ID was still haunting me who was one year older and in a different department from him.

       He said he admired me as a senior.

       I was munching on the meal he had brought for me and was thinking that his taste was too heavy.

       He said that he had no ideals, and thought that people with ideals were amazing. So he thought my story of bravely changing departments was really awesome.

       I chewed down meals that were salty enough to separate the walls of my body.

       I couldn’t tell him that I didn’t really have any aspirations and that I had actually switched departments to let my parents know how amazing I am.

       And that I could also decide on my own life.

       ……


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Chapter 93

       The next day, he continued with Tian Chong to check the warehouse.

       Today’s Tian Chong looks much more serious than yesterday.

       Originally, their warehouse department and these warehouse managers below were very familiar with each other, but when Li Zhenruo arrived here, they just followed him obediently and didn’t say anything more to the person in charge.

       The warehouse here was larger, and the number of inbound and outbound shipments was also considerable. It was already dark in the afternoon when things were over.

       Tian Chong’s cell phone rang suddenly, and when he saw it was an unfamiliar phone number, he answered it strangely.

       It turned out to be a calm man’s voice, “Are you Tian Chong from the warehouse department?”

       Tian Chong heard the other party’s tone was like that of the company’s superior, and quickly responded with a suitable attitude, “I am. To whom I am speaking?”

       The person on the other end of the phone said, “I’m Luo Fei, please let Jason answer the phone. His phone is off.”

       When Tian Chong heard the name Luo Fei, he was stunned for a moment, and then he reacted with a jolt, and quickly said, “Yes, yes, Mr. Luo, just a moment.”

       He hurriedly handed the phone to Li Zhenruo, and mouthed nervously, “Big Boss!”

       Li Zhenruo took it and gave a somewhat lazy “hello”.

       Luo Fei asked him, “Why isn’t it on?”

       Li Zhenruo took out his mobile phone and found that it had run out of battery some time ago.

       Luo Fei said, “I’ll give you the address and we’ll have dinner tonight.”

       Li Zhenruo’s tone was full of suspicion, “You’re inviting me to dinner?”

       Luo Fei said, “And with xiao Feng, coming?”

       Li Zhenruo thought for a moment, “There’s also Li Zhenran, right?”

       Luo Fei just laughed.

       Li Zhenruo said helplessly, “Did you take money from him?”

       Luo Fei still laughed with an unknown meaning.

       Li Zhenruo finally asked Luo Fei to give him the address, and then hung up the phone.

       He returned the phone to Tian Chong, and Li Zhenruo asked the driver to drop him off at a convenient place in the city for a taxi, and then sent Tian Chong straight back to the office.

       Until Li Zhenruo got out of the car, Tian Chong was still holding his phone and trying to recall. He asked the driver, “Have you heard of Li Zhenran? I think the name sounds familiar.”

       The driver said casually, “Isn’t it the second son of Yunlin, who is very close to our big boss.”

       Tian Chong’s eyes widened, “It’s him! Thought so!”

       Li Zhenruo was so young, and Luo Fei valued him as soon as he came to the company. Everyone was guessing that the young man must have a backup. Now it seemed that he was not wrong.

       He took a taxi to the western restaurant that Luo Fei told him about, but Li Zhenruo suddenly felt a little grimy before entering.

       The warehouse was on the outskirts of the city, where the environment was open and windy, and Li Zhenruo felt that his hair was dusty.

       So he went to the bathroom first, changed into a clean and decent suit from the cubicle, and walked towards the restaurant.

       Luo Fei and Feng Junyuan were sitting in a comfortable corner of the restaurant, and when they saw Li Zhenruo from a distance, Feng Junyuan raised a hand to greet him.

       Li Zhenruo sat down and asked, “Where’s Li Zhenran?”

       Luo Fei said, “Do you miss him so much?”

       Li Zhenruo was a little tired, yawned and didn’t bother to pay attention to him, and said, “We’re not waiting for him? Can I order now?”

       Feng Junyuan got up from Luo Fei’s side, sat beside Li Zhenruo, and reached out to touch his head.

       Li Zhenruo knew that several of his master’s family regarded him as a cat, and he was used to their intimate actions, so he did not reject it, and reached out to hug him, “Xiao Feng.”

       Feng Junyuan also hugged him, stroking his hair while trying to kiss his forehead, but Luo Fei pulled him back.

       Luo Fei said, “Stop it.”

       Li Zhenruo whispered to Feng Junyuan, “You refuse to tell me, but I think I still know what Luo Fei is?”

       Feng Junyuan looked at him in surprise, “Really?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “He’s a rabbit, right?”

       Feng Junyuan still looked surprised, “Is he a rabbit?”

       Luo Fei looked at them coldly, picked up the fork on the table and pointed at Li Zhenruo, “I’m deducting your bonus.”

       Li Zhenran came a little late, sat down and said, “Sorry, there is a delay.”

       When he saw that his expression was not too relaxed, Li Zhenruo couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

       Li Zhenran picked up the water glass and took a sip of water, “Dad is not feeling well. I took him to the hospital in the afternoon, and I will visit him later in the evening.”

       Luo Fei asked, “Is everything alright?”

       Li Zhenran said, “It’s nothing, it’s an old age problem, it’s repeated.”

       Li Zhenruo recalled the last time he saw Li Jianglin, his body seemed to be gradually improving.

       Li Zhentai’s death was definitely a blow to Li Jianglin, however, it also gave him complete closure. After that, Li Jianglin’s body was actually recovering slowly, but it was impossible to return to its original state.

       Li Zhenruo just didn’t expect that he would suddenly be admitted to the hospital at this time.

       The Li family always had a family doctor and a caretaker living at home. The fact that he was taken to the hospital was probably because the situation was a bit serious.

       Li Zhenran was in a hurry to eat.

       After he ate, he stretched his arms around Li Zhenruo’s shoulders, kissed him on the cheek, and said, “I have to go to the hospital, let Luo Fei take you home.”

       Li Zhenruo didn’t think anything was wrong, he just reached out and grabbed Li Zhenran’s arm and said, “I’ll go with you.”

       “You’re coming?” Li Zhenran asked him.

       Li Zhenruo said, “Well, I want to go and see.”

       Li Zhenran hesitated for a while, and finally said, “Let’s go together then.”

       Li Zhenruo was still more or less concerned about Li Jianglin. His biological mother had passed away, and he had never met the so-called biological father. He probably didn’t even know his existence in this world, and Li Zhenruo also never thought that that person was his father.

       He felt indifferent to the brothers, and the only one who could be regarded as a family was probably Li Jianglin.

       Although in the last days of his life, Li Jianglin gave up on him. However, like Li Zhentai, even if he was betrayed by Li Jianglin, Li Jianglin did not completely give up on him. Li Zhenruo couldn’t help thinking later that if he didn’t die, maybe one day he might come back to Li’s house and continue to be Li Jianglin’s son.

       This was just a delusion, and by now Li Zhenruo had stopped thinking about it.

       He just wanted to see Li Jianglin.

       If Li Jianglin passed away one day, he might not be able to accompany him to the end by his side. Now, while he was still there, he could see him as much as he wanted.

       On the way to the hospital, Li Zhenran did not ask him the question, If you are not Li Zhenruo, why are you going to see Li Jianglin?

       Li Zhenruo thought of a good answer, but it was useless.

       Li Zhenran just asked him, “Are you tired today?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “I’m okay. How is your father?”

       Li Zhenran replied, “Old people’s problem, you know how it is. Let’s go and have a look.”

       They drove to the hospital, and Li Zhenruo followed Li Zhenran to the VIP ward where Li Jianglin was.

       As he opened the door, Li Zhenruo found that Zhu Kai was inside.

       Zhu Kai was sitting at the bedside watching Li Jianglin, but when he heard the movement, he turned to look at them. After seeing Li Zhenruo, he was a little surprised, “Why are you here?”

       The Li family hadn’t seen Li Zhenruo for a long time, and when they asked Li Zhenran, he didn’t say anything. Everyone thought they were quarrelling.

       Li Zhenran just said, “He came to see Dad.”

       Zhu Kai then stood up, “Then come and sit, I’ll go out and buy a pack of cigarettes.”

       After that, Zhu Kai walked outside.

       Li Zhenran and Li Zhenruo walked to the hospital bed and sat down.

       Li Jianglin seemed to be asleep, and his breathing was a bit cloudy and heavy.

       “Dad,” Li Zhenran called to him softly.

       As a result, Li Jianglin slowly opened his eyes, looked at him for a while, then looked at Li Zhenruo and said, “You are here.”

       “Mr. Li,” Li Zhenruo called.

       Li Jianglin said, “You don’t need to call me that, just call me Uncle Li.”

       Li Zhenruo did not speak.

       Li Jianglin’s voice was weak, “I thought you and Zhenran had a fight.”

       Li Zhenruo heard the words and smiled lightly, “Yes, I had a fight with him.”

       Li Jianglin sighed, “Life is only a few decades, so young people don’t know how to cherish it. It’s no big deal to let it pass.”

       Li Zhenruo said, “Aren’t you against it?”

       Li Jianglin’s eyes were a little cloudy, “If my opposition was useful, I would naturally oppose it to the end. But this son, I don’t even know him well enough myself, and I don’t think my opposition will be useful. Since you must be together, then it’s up to you.”

       “Dad,” Li Zhenran called to him softly.

       Li Jianglin said, “I have done a lot of things before, and now I don’t know if I should regret it, but I know very well that regret is the most useless thing because it’s irredeemable. In this case, before some things reach a dead end, it’s better to turn back as soon as you can.”

       Although he was talking about Li Zhenruo and Li Zhenran, Li Jianglin was more like speaking to his past self.

       At this moment, Li Zhenruo suddenly wondered if he remembered Zhu Yun.

       What happened between him and Zhu Yun back then, and why Zhu Yun gave birth to Zhu Kai with someone else, Li Zhenruo may have a hard time knowing the truth by now. And Li Zhenruo didn’t want to know the truth so much. Sometimes it’s not necessarily a bad thing for parents to maintain the best image in their minds for their children.

       After talking so much, Li Jianglin seemed a little tired. He closed his eyes and only his heavy breathing could be heard inside the quiet ward.

       “Zhenran,” Li Jianglin said suddenly again.

       “Dad?”

       Li Jianglin said, “Take care of yourself and keep an eye on the third child. You both are the only two children I have left.”

       Li Zhenran said, “I will.”

       Li Jianglin added, “Do whatever you want to do, there is no need to wait until you regret it in the future.”

       Li Zhenran heard the words and turned to look at Li Zhenruo.

       Li Zhenruo said softly, “Uncle Li, have a good rest.”

       Li Jianglin fell asleep, and Li Zhenran sent Li Zhenruo away.

       After coming out of the ward, Li Zhenruo said, “You don’t need to send me off, just stay with him for a while.”

       As soon as he finished speaking, he heard footsteps approaching slowly across the corridor, and turned to see that it was Li Zhenzi.

       They all had jobs during the day and were only slightly free at night after work, so they took this opportunity to spend time with Li Jianglin.

       Li Zhenzi was probably the only person who didn’t know his own relationship with Li Jianglin yet, but it was actually pretty good. At least Li Jianglin had a son who was truly devoted to him.

       When he saw Li Zhenruo, Li Zhenzi’s eyes widened, “Why did you come?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “I’m here to visit Mr. Li.”

       Li Zhenzi looked at him, “I heard that you resigned from my second brother and went to Luo Fei’s place?”

       Li Zhenruo took a deep breath and said without haste, “A fine birds choose wood to perch1A talented person is free to choose his own boss, is there a problem?”

       As he heard this, Li Zhenzi raised his hand to bump against Li Zhenran, “Second brother, your little lover said that you are rotten wood.” Then he glanced at Li Zhenran with a meaningful look.

       Li Zhenran let out a laugh, “Whether it’s rotten or not is something he’ll only know after he tries it.”

       Li Zhenruo was not in the mood to tell erotic jokes to the two brothers, so he yawned tiredly again and said, “I’ll go first.”

       Li Zhenran said to him, “I’ll see you off.”

       Li Zhenruo replied, “No need,” he waved his hand, turned and left without looking back.

       Although he didn’t look back, Li Zhenruo still heard Li Zhenzi and Li Zhenran said, “Second brother, if he played hard to get to you like this, are you really going to take the bait?”

       Li Zhenran seemed to laugh without saying a word.

       Li Zhenzi said again, “Don’t be afraid of him, you can also hang him for a few days too.”

       Li Zhenruo didn’t hear the latter words, because he had already entered the elevator and watched the elevator door slowly closing. The only thought in Li Zhenruo’s heart was: let’s see if you really dare to do that.

       He knew that Li Zhenran would not dare now.

       On the third day, there was a delay in the company, so the trip to the last warehouse was arranged on the fourth day.

       With the experience of the previous two days, Li Zhenruo and Tian Chong set off early this morning and even they also ate two buns for breakfast in the car.

       After looking at the information about the last warehouse, Li Zhenruo closed his eyes and fell asleep when he saw that they were still far away from the destination.

       Although they started early in the morning, they were stuck on the way out of the city for more than an hour. When they arrived at the destination, it was almost ten o’clock in the morning.

       The head of the warehouse greeted them, asked them if they had breakfast, and invited them to the office to sit down and have two cups of tea first.

       Li Zhenruo refused outright and said, “Let’s just start straight away, otherwise I’m afraid we won’t be able to go back until the inspection is over today.”

       The person in charge had no choice but to take Li Zhenruo and the others to the warehouse and also took out all the prepared materials.

       This warehouse was the largest of the three warehouses because the distance was relatively far. In fact, Li Zhenruo had already prepared that he would not be able to complete the work within a day, and might not be able to go back until tomorrow.

       The person in charge had been with Li Zhenruo all the time. He probably wanted to get close to him, but Li Zhenruo was not very interested and concentrated on checking all the inbound and outbound orders.

       He had the company’s inbound and outbound records in his hand and needed to check them against the ones here to see if there were any discrepancies.

       After lunch, Li Zhenruo felt a little stuffy and really tired, so he came out for a walk.

       He walked around the warehouse and found it strange that there were nine warehouses recorded here, but he only saw eight in total in this area. Where was the last one?

       He came back and asked Tian Chong, “Have you counted all the warehouses?”

       Tian Chong said, “Yes, there are three warehouses left.”

       Li Zhenruo asked him, “I remember that there are nine warehouses in the file, but why are there only eight here?”

       Tian Chong froze, “Aren’t there only eight?”

       He thought about it for a while, went to open the file and said, “Oh, there are really nine.”

       In the afternoon, Li Zhenruo asked the person in charge of the warehouse.

       Hearing the words, the person in charge said: “The ninth warehouse is a little far from here. It is an old warehouse, so the environment is not good and the moisture resistance is not very good. I applied for renovation, and it is empty now.”

       “Empty?” Li Zhenruo asked.

       The person in charge said, “Yes, it’s already fenced off and it’s not convenient to go in, the warehouse is really not up to standard, so it’s out of use for renovation.”

       Li Zhenruo nodded and asked Tian Chong, “Does your warehousing department know?”

       Tian Chong frowned and thought about it, “It seems that this year this side has reported that it needs to be renovated.”

       Li Zhenruo then asked the person in charge, “Has the construction started?”

       The person in charge said, “Not yet. Isn’t it New Year’s Eve soon? The fencing has just been done this month, and the construction will start after the New Year.”

       Li Zhenruo replied, “That’s good.”

       After that, he didn’t ask about the warehouse again, and since the fence was being built in preparation for the construction, he did not let Tian Chong personally go over to see it.

       In the afternoon, Li Zhenruo’s work speed slowed down a bit.

       Tian Chong finished his work and came back to him to help him.

       Li Zhenruo said, “It’s okay, I’m sure I won’t be able to finish today, let’s continue tomorrow.”

       Tian Chong was a little surprised, “Are you going here again tomorrow?”

       Li Zhenruo thought for a while, “Instead of wasting time on the road, why not stay over here today?”

       “Stay over…” Tian Chong’s tone was obviously unhappy.

       The person in charge of the warehouse was enthusiastic to keep them, “Then stay here, I will immediately ask someone to book a hotel downtown, and let’s have dinner there. I know a restaurant that cooked cold-water fish very well.”

       Li Zhenruo looked up at him, smiled and said, “No need to be so polite, it’s a waste of time to go downtown. Find a room for us here tonight.”

       “Huh?” This time Tian Chong was completely dumbfounded, “Here?”

       There were usually people on duty in the warehouse here. Of course, it was not impossible to find a bed to sleep in, but the conditions must be terrible. Tian Chong was not a rich young master, but he was a big city office worker. He followed to conduct random warehouse department inspections, and this time the warehouse couldn’t take good care of them. And today he didn’t know what the assistant want to do, unexpectedly asked to stay in the warehouse.

       The person in charge was obviously a little stunned. He quickly said, “There is no one here, the conditions are too poor, and the weather has been cold these two days. You should be careful or you’ll freeze at night, so let’s go to the hotel.”

       Tian Chong then whispered, “Yes.”

       Li Zhenruo said, “It doesn’t matter, just stay here and buy two thick quilts while it’s still early. I’m really tired today, and I don’t even want to take the car.”

       The person in charge was still embarrassed and looked toward Tian Chong.

       Tian Chong didn’t want to stay here very much, but he couldn’t speak out against Li Zhenruo directly, so he could only whisper to the person in charge to see if he could persuade Li Zhenruo again.

       As a result, Tian Chong still failed to persuade Li Zhenruo and had to stay in the warehouse at night.

       The person in charge could only pack a room for the small office building on the third floor and built two steel wire beds. The bedding was brand new, clean and soft.

       Li Zhenruo refused to go to the city to eat dinner, so the person in charge asked someone to make some and went to buy a few dishes back. They made a banquet directly at the side of the warehouse. The food wasn’t great, but the wine was good.

       The person in charge personally accompanied him and planned to stay here at night.

       Li Zhenruo did not want to drink, he excused himself from all of them on the pretext that he was allergic to alcohol, but later on, he could not avoid it, so he drank a glass and pretended to be drunk, and directly fell on the table.

       As a result, Tian Chong dealt with the people in the warehouse by himself. He was drunk, and after being sent to the room, he lay on the bed directly.

       After simply washing his face with hot water, Li Zhenruo was lying on the bed, when he heard Tian Chong beside him mumbling.

       Tian Chong was probably also delirious, and he kept complaining that he couldn’t stand this place, the environment was too bad.

       Li Zhenruo smiled when he heard the words, and lay on the bed with his clothes closed and his eyes closed.

       There were still people coming and going outside, someone was talking in a low voice, and a headlight shone down from the third floor. Even if the light was not turned on in this room, it was still bright.

       Li Zhenruo always felt that there was something wrong with the last warehouse.

       According to the person in charge, they reported to the company two months ago to apply for funds to repair. Last month, the company approved the funds in place, and this month began to build the fence and there did not seem to be any problems.

       But Li Zhenruo remembered clearly that in May, a batch of goods was originally sent to the warehouse here, but it was sent to the other warehouse because the inventory capacity was insufficient. However, since May, there has been no record of inbound and outbound shipments from that warehouse.

       Did the warehouse have a problem long ago and the person in charge never reported it so it was left idle, or was the warehouse being used for something else that they didn’t want the company to know about?

       If it were the old Li Zhenruo, he would definitely report the situation here directly to Luo Fei and let Luo Fei handle it at his own discretion.

       But now he felt that he was perfectly capable of checking out the warehouse first, and so when he handed in this report to Luo Fei, it would be really beautiful.

       It was still early, so Li Zhenruo covered himself with the blanket and planned to sleep until four or five o’clock in the morning when people were most soundly asleep and most unprepared.

       In the end, Li Zhenruo himself did not expect that something happened before he slept in the middle of the night.

       This small building in the warehouse had three floors. He didn’t know where the accident happened. In the middle of the night, Li Zhenruo heard a commotion outside, and there was a burning smell in the air. Someone shouted from outside, “Fire!”

       The small building was built in a rudimentary manner. It was originally a temporary structure and had been used since then. The materials were flammable, and the fire control was not enough. He didn’t know where the flames came from. The wind was strong in the suburbs, and it suddenly burst into flames at once.

       Li Zhenruo was not afraid of fire, but Tian Chong still sleeping in the room.

       He lifted the quilt and got up, walked to Tian Chong’s bed and patted his face, “Get up! It’s on fire!”

       Tian Chong had been drinking and was completely asleep, snoring loudly. When Li Zhenruo covered his face, he barely managed to silence his snoring, but as soon as he removed his hand, he started snoring again.

       The fire didn’t seem to be under control, and the people outside began to shout: “It’s on fire! Get up!” Among them, Li Zhenruo also heard voices interspersed with those calling his and Tian Chong’s names.

       Li Zhenruo couldn’t bear it anymore, and slapped Tian Chong in the face, “There’s a fire! Do you want to die?”

       Tian Chong finally opened his eyes, but he was still in a trance, “What’s wrong?”

       Li Zhenruo had no choice but to drag him out of the bed and ran out with his arms on his shoulders.

       Tian Chong was taller than him, and it was very difficult for Li Zhenruo to walk with him. Fortunately, he was strong enough to drag such a big man down from the third floor.

       At this time, Tian Chong gradually came to his senses, and when the cold wind blew on his face, he looked at the firelight reflected in his eyes, and his voice trembled, “A fire?”

       Li Zhenruo said angrily, “Yeah, are you going to die in it? Idiot!”

       After dragging Tian Chong out of the small building, Li Zhenruo looked back and saw that the fire was even more vigorous.

       The person in charge was desperately calling for people to put out the fire. There were warehouses nearby. If the fire was too big and set the nearby warehouses on fire, it would be really bad.

       However, Li Zhenruo remembered another thing. All their documents were still left in the room just now. So he threw Tian Chong to the ground, and Li Zhenruo turned around to go upstairs again.

       Tian Chong was so frightened that he sobered up from all the alcohol in his body. He grabbed Li Zhenruo’s hand and said, “Are you crazy? Why are you going back?”

       Li Zhenruo didn’t bother to talk to him and kicked him in the shoulder to drive him away, then turned and ran upstairs.

       Tian Chong covered his shoulders, and the whole person was stunned.

       The fire in the small building was getting bigger and bigger, but fortunately, it had not spread.

       All staff guarding the warehouse were dispatched to put out the fire with high-pressure water cannons and fire extinguishers.

       Despite this, after Li Zhenruo returned to the room to pack up the documents and put them in the handbag, the fire spread outside the door.

       Li Zhenruo had no choice but to go to the window and shout to Tian Chong, “Catch it!”

       Tian Chong hurried up to catch the handbag that Li Zhenruo had thrown down and then crawled away hurriedly because of the heat. He shouted to the upstairs, “Come down quickly!”

       Li Zhenruo stepped back from the window without hurrying, turned into a cat shape from an angle that could not be seen outside, and quickly slipped out of the window.

       Just when he jumped out of the small building, the fire was temporarily suppressed. When he saw that the fire was getting weaker and weaker, Li Zhenruo turned and ran towards the low hillside there.

       He had seen the geographic map of this warehouse. Behind this hillside was the last warehouse. Now people were gathered to put off the fire, and Li Zhenruo planned to take this opportunity to go and have a look.

       Not long after he ran to the hillside, he suddenly heard a loud noise behind him. He quickly stopped and looked back. He found that the small building where the fire had slowed down had become ablaze again, and it was very likely that something like a gas tank had exploded.

       After a little hesitation, Li Zhenruo still followed the established route.

       At this time, Tian Chong was completely dumbfounded, because he had never seen Li Zhenruo come out from inside, and thought that Li Zhenruo was still inside.

       The impact of the explosion forced them to withdraw a long way, and then they hastily picked up the fire-fighting equipment and went back to fight the fire.

       Fortunately, there was still some distance to the surrounding warehouses, and there were no other combustibles materials nearby. If the small building continued to burn like this, even if it burned to ashes, it should not have affected the nearby warehouses.

       But even so, everyone was desperately trying to put out the fire.

       Tian Chong stood alone with his briefcase in his arms. He had never seen this kind of battle. More importantly, it seemed that something had happened to Assistant Li, and if Assistant Li hadn’t saved him, he could have run out with the papers long ago.

       “Ah—” Tian Chong let out a miserable scream.

       When he screamed, Li Zhenruo was still running all the way. The distance of the warehouse was indeed a bit far. It took him about ten minutes to run all the way, and when he arrived near the warehouse, he found that it had indeed been fenced off.

       Jumping on the low wall, Li Zhenruo looked up in the dark. The door of the warehouse was a steel door, which could not be opened without a key if it was tightly closed. There were walls on all sides, and only a high place had an exhaust fan window for ventilation.

       Li Zhenruo glanced at the duty room in the corner of the warehouse, where the lights were on, and someone was standing at the door looking towards the small building that was on fire but had no intention of going there.

       Since it was an empty warehouse, why did they have to arrange for someone to be on duty, and why did the person not go to help even if he knew that the building was on fire?

       Li Zhenruo was more certain that there must be something in this warehouse.

       He took a deep breath and jumped up towards the wall, using his claws to climb up the wall in a single leap. Fortunately, the walls of the warehouse were still made of cement instead of metal. So Li Zhenruo used his claws to grip them firmly and followed the method Xia Hongshen had taught him to mobilise his whole body’s spiritual energy and climbed up to the exhaust fan vent at the top in one fell swoop without stopping.

       The exhaust fan was not turned on at this time, so Li Zhenruo used his claws to bend one of the fan blades and got in without any problems.

       Li Zhenruo stood at the window and looked in, and saw that the warehouse was not empty, but there were many large plastic buckets, and there was an unspeakable smell in the air.

       He climbed on the wall and slid down. Li Zhenruo jumped on a plastic bucket and opened the lid, and saw that it was filled with liquid, and the smell was pungent. It should be some poisonous liquid.

       Li Zhenruo jumped off the edge of the bucket, and he jumped onto another plastic bucket, and when he opened it, it was still the same thing.

       He opened more than a dozen barrels, which were basically liquid and semi-crystalline, emitting the same strong, pungent smell.

       There were so many stored in this warehouse, which add up to at least ten tons. It should be that the person in charge of the warehouse had privately collected money from others to store it for others, and the company had no records at all. This warehouse was also not certified to store toxic and chemical substances.

       No wonder it was covered up for fear of them coming to investigate, and the warehouse was fenced off on the pretext of renovation before a routine inspection at the end of the year. There was a fire in the small building over there, and the person in charge of the warehouse must be very nervous. If the fire could not be put out and spread to the warehouse, he might not be able to cover up the things he stored here.

       Li Zhenruo knew everything he wanted to know, and he didn’t plan to interfere with the rest. Meanwhile, he would report it to Luo Fei and let Luo Fei handle it.

       He went back out through the small window he had just tumbled through and leaned over the window to look towards the small building over there.

       If he had been standing below, he would not have been able to see anything across the short hill, but from here he could see clearly that there were no more flames, and he guessed that the fire had been put down.

       But doing the math, it had been almost an hour since he had run this way, and although there had been an explosion, with adequate fire-fighting equipment, the fire in the small building should have been extinguished.

       He walked over there in a hurry, but he didn’t expect that Tian Chong had long thought that he had died in the explosion.

       When Li Zhenruo walked to the side of the small building, he saw that the whole building was dark and the open flame had disappeared, but everyone still dared not stop and was still spraying water into the building with a high-pressure water gun.

       Tian Chong sat on the ground with his briefcase in his arms and almost cried out in grief.

       Only then did Li Zhenruo realize that Tian Chong never saw him come out, probably thought he was dead. This misunderstanding became a big one, and Li Zhenruo turned around and planned to find a place where no one was around to change back into a human form.

       Unexpectedly, the two cars stopped in front of the small building one after the other, and the brakes rubbed against the ground, making a loud noise.

       It was Luo Fei who opened the door of the car in front, but Li Zhenran got in and out of the car behind.

       Li Zhenruo was stunned and stopped.

       Luo Fei hurried forward and asked Tian Chong, “Where’s Jason?”

       Tian Chong cried and looked towards the small building, “He went back to get the documents, and then the gas tank exploded.”

       Luo Fei didn’t have time to react when he heard the words, and Li Zhenran had already run past him towards the stairs.

       “You come back!” Luo Fei felt keen, “He is not dead!”

       Li Zhenran said, “I know, I’m just going to make sure.”

       The open fire in the building was extinguished, but the temperature inside was still very high, and there was no telling which corner of the unseen spark would reignite. Li Zhenran ran inside without hesitation. Just as his front foot went up the stairs, a floorboard of the building at the back fell off, nearly hitting him on the head.

       Li Zhenruo only felt that his heart almost jumped out at that moment, and there was no time to have any thoughts, and his body had already rushed out on its own.

       He was faster than Li Zhenran, and when he reached Li Zhenran’s feet, the other party had just finished a flight of stairs.

       Li Zhenruo climbed his legs and ran directly into his arms, and was hugged by him.

       Seeing the cat rushing into his arms, Li Zhenran immediately understood, turned and ran downstairs.

       As a result, when they went down two flights of stairs, another board fell off.

       Li Zhenruo subconsciously wanted to climb on top of Li Zhenran’s head to help him block, but Li Zhenran held him firmly in his arms and completely protected him.

       In the blink of an eye, the board fell but didn’t hit them, and fell to the side. Outside, Luo Fei stood in front of the stairs and said loudly, “Don’t come out yet!”

       Li Zhenruo thought that Li Zhenran would definitely not be able to escape.

       Only then did he realize that there was a very powerful demon out there and Luo Fei would not just watch anything happen to them.

       Li Zhenran hugged Li Zhenruo, his footsteps were fast and steady. He left the two-story building but still held him tightly in his arms and refused to let go at all.

       Li Zhenruo stretched his body with difficulty, put his paws on his chest, stretched out his tongue and licked Li Zhenran’s lower jaw, then saw the black marks on his face and licked his face again, trying to lick the marks clean.

       Li Zhenran gently stroked the top of Li Zhenruo’s head and said, “It’s alright.”

       Li Zhenruo felt that his tone was full of fear, and this sentence was probably comforting himself, not Li Zhenruo.

       Tian Chong lay on the ground and began to cry, “I’m sorry, he was trying to save me!”

       Luo Fei looked at him, “He’s not dead, don’t cry.”

       Xu Shengwen, who came with Luo Fei, began to hurriedly handle the follow-up work.

       As soon as they received Tian Chong’s call, they hurried over. Normally, it would take more than two hours to drive, but it was squeezed to one hour. However, Li Zhenran still felt that he was late.

       If it was true that Li Zhenruo had not come out as Tian Chong had said, then nothing could be undone if he came over now.

       Luo Fei saw that Li Zhenran had been staring at the cat in his arms, touched the top of the cat’s head repeatedly, and the kitten had been licking Li Zhenran’s face to comfort him, so he said, “You guys first get in the car and have a rest.”

       Li Zhenran nodded and hugged Li Zhenruo into the car.

       The driver was not in the car at this time. He got out and went to watch the action.

       As soon as Li Zhenruo got in the car, he changed back into a human form. He reached out and hugged Li Zhenran, “I’m fine.”

       Li Zhenran didn’t speak, just hugged him tightly, buried his face in his shoulder, and breathed deeply and slowly.

       Li Zhenruo suddenly remembered that time on the rooftop, he deliberately lied to Li Zhenran, making Li Zhenran think he was reincarnated. At that time, he wondered if Li Zhenran would jump down from upstairs and follow him, but Li Zhenran did nothing.

       When he thought about it now, Li Zhenruo found that he was really stupid. If Li Zhenran jumped off at that time, he would probably live in pain forever and couldn’t extricate himself. Even if he were to die one day, he hoped that Li Zhenran would be able to live happily and find someone he could love and fall in love again.

       Li Zhenruo felt a bit emotional. When the floor fell just now, he really thought Li Zhenran would be smashed to death there.

       Compared with the dread of death, living apart was probably a waste of one’s life.

       He wanted proof, and if Li Zhenran couldn’t prove it with his life, what better proof could there be in this world?

       There would be a day when Li Zhenran could prove that he will love him all his life and that he would be willing to throw away his life, but Li Zhenruo would probably be left with nothing but remorse.

       Li Zhenruo said in Li Zhenran’s ear at this time, “I forgive you.”

       Li Zhenran suddenly raised his head.

       Li Zhenruo felt that there seemed to be some wet marks on his shoulders, but when he wanted to look down, Li Zhenran squeezed his chin and kissed his lips heavily.

       He didn’t have the strength to resist at all, and Li Zhenran had already overwhelmed him in the back seat of the car. The hot kiss was about to drown him in an instant.

       Li Zhenruo fell on his back and suddenly found a person standing outside the car window.

       He looked back and up and saw Tian Chong standing outside, looking at them with a terrified expression.

       So he quickly patted Li Zhenran’s shoulder.

       Li Zhenran looked up but did not stop kissing him. Instead, he pulled away Li Zhenruo’s clothes and put a hand in.

       When doing this action, Tian Chong found that Li Zhenran was staring at him fiercely, and then he was wholly startled for a while, and then he quickly turned to avoid them.

       Only then did Li Zhenran’s movements become gentle, and the frenzied kisses turned into light kisses one after another, and the atmosphere became warmer.

       When Luo Fei came over, Li Zhenruo got up and pulled up his clothes and said to him, “I found something. There is a warehouse here that was misappropriated by the person in charge to store poisoned items. I suggest you call the police.”

       Luo Fei heard the words with a solemn expression and nodded, “I will handle it.”

       After speaking, Luo Fei turned his head and looked at the chaotic environment around him. He said to Li Zhenran, “Thank you for your hard work. I will handle the finishing work here. Let the driver take you to the city to open a room and have a good rest. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

       Li Zhenran replied, “Okay.”

       Luo Fei patted the door and said to Li Zhenruo, “Good job.”

       Li Zhenruo gave him a thumbs up and smiled.

       As Luo Fei walked away, he called Li Zhenran’s driver to come and drive.

       Originally Luo Fei meant to go to the nearest urban area to rest, but Li Zhenran asked the driver to drive directly home.

       After going through so many things in one night, Li Zhenruo’s mind was still very awake, and there was no sleepiness at all, while Li Zhenran was relaxed after being so tense that he fell asleep on Li Zhenruo’s lap soon after the car had been driven.

       Li Zhenruo had been stroking his hair gently and looked out of the car window.

       When they came, they were rushing all the way. On the way back, the driver drove a lot more slowly. When they returned to the city, the driver asked Li Zhenruo softly where he was going.

       Li Zhenruo said, “To his apartment.”

       At this time, it was inconvenient to go back to Li’s house and woke up Wang Ma and the others.

       Before they know it, the sky in the east had turned white.

       When the driver drove downstairs to the apartment, the first rays of the sun shone through the front window of the car in the morning, and the winter sun fell gently on them with an almost imperceptible warmth.

       When Li Zhenruo lowered his head, his hair was plated with a soft golden colour by the sun. He kissed Li Zhenran’s forehead and said, “We’re home, let’s go back.”


The author has something to say:

The story is over, I’ve spent all day today on this and I’m almost dead. I used to be foolish enough to think that all readers would like to see me keep writing and don’t stop, even if it’s a little slower, it doesn’t matter, but only yesterday did I find out that there are readers who are just waiting to see an ending.

So I did what I promised yesterday, and there will be a silly and sweet episode next, but I won’t guarantee daily updates (I never do!). I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that, but I’ll keep it light anyway. Unknowingly, it has been serialized for three months. I wish you all a happy life^_^


Notes:
It feels hella long right?? Ahahaha (ㅍ▽ㅍ)
There are 6 cute side stories after this that I can hopefully release as soon as possible!


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Chapter 15

       Chen Yuncheng walked all the way to the elevator, stopped and did not rush to press the elevator. He sent Ning Junyan a WeChat message: “Are you still at work?”

       Ning Junyan quickly replied: “Yes.”

       Chen Yuncheng typed: “Where is your office? Let me pick you up from work.” Then he raised his head and couldn’t help but smile.

       This was the first time Chen Yuncheng had been to Ning Junyan’s office.

       Ning Junyan was not there at the moment and had only left him the password to open the door, and told him to go to his office to rest first.

       Before he came, Chen Yuncheng was still a little nervous, afraid that someone would stop him, and he couldn’t explain why he was here well. It turned out that finding Ning Junyan’s office doorplate was easier than expected, perhaps because the hospital was already too crowded with people, and no doctor or nurse who passed by cared who he was.

       Ning Junyan’s office was not big, with a desk, a sofa, a wardrobe and bookcase, and a small refrigerator.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t touch anything of his stuff and just walked to the front of the bookcase. He looked at it and saw that it was full of medical books, many of which were in English.

       At that moment, Chen Yuncheng really felt the gap between the two people after being separated from Ning Junyan for more than ten years.

       In fact, if he thought about it carefully, there had been a gap between the two since childhood, but at that time Ning Junyan was not in his right mind, so Chen Yuncheng couldn’t feel it. He ran around outside with Ning Junyan every day and felt that he had a silly follower.

       The foster father didn’t like Ning Junyan very much, since Chen Yuncheng wouldn’t bring back more money to the family than he would have if he was taking Ning Junyan out.

       Perhaps at that time, the foster father had thought about sending Ning Junyan away, but then Ning Junyan was still there. Chen Yuncheng would think later that perhaps because Ning Junyan was a fool, no one wanted to buy a fool to raise him back, so the foster father had no choice but to keep him. Anyway, Chen Yuncheng was quite happy to have another person around to play with.

       The little Ning Junyan was very obedient, although he only listened to Chen Yuncheng’s words. He was supposed to be a spoilt child, since he did not know how to do anything in life, and Chen Yuncheng even had to wash his clothes for him.

       When Chen Yuncheng took a large basin to wash clothes in the yard, Ning Junyan squatted beside him and watched him. When Chen Yuncheng finished washing, Ning Junyan would run the water to help him clean his clothes together.

       At this time, they were often scolded. The foster mother would stand at the door to scold them whenever she heard the water rattling too long from her room.

       Ning Junyan had always ignored it, but Chen Yuncheng would quickly turn off the water at this time, carelessly washed the clothes twice and hung them. They were wearing old clothes that looked dirty no matter how clean they were.

       When he returned to his room at night and closed the door, Chen Yuncheng felt the most relaxed.

       He would turn on a lamp and read comic books on the bed. He rented the comic books outside, and secretly put a ten yuan deposit with the owner. After he finished reading one, he would go to change with another.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t even go to elementary school at that time, so he didn’t know many characters. He liked to read comic books because he could see pictures even if he couldn’t read. But Ning Junyan was different. Although he didn’t even know his own name, he knew a lot of words, at least those in comic books.

       So when Chen Yuncheng was reading comics, Ning Junyan lay beside him and read with him, taught him the characters he didn’t know and taught him pinyin and stroke order.

       Once, Chen Yuncheng borrowed a comic back, and when he opened it at night, he found out that it was not a teenage action comic but a girl’s romance comic. He was so disinterested but thought that he had better finish reading it after spending all the money, so he plopped down on the bed with Ning Junyan and flipped through page after page.

       In the end, there were many scenes of the heroine and the heroine making out in the comic.

       Chen Yuncheng was still too young to know what was going on in the world, so he only knew that they were making out, but he didn’t know exactly what was going on. The comic was quite subtle, so he was curious and turned to Ning Junyan and asked, “Can you have a baby like that?”

       There was hardly any expression on Ning Junyan’s face as he stared at the cartoon and said, “I don’t know.”

       Chen Yuncheng was curious, “If a man and a woman lie on the same bed and kiss and hug, they will have a child, why don’t foster father and foster mother have one?”

       Ning Junyan folded his arms under his chin and said, “I don’t know.”

       Chen Yuncheng felt bored, he closed the comic and said, “It doesn’t look good, let’s stop reading it.”

       Ning Junyan said, “Oh.”

       Chen Yuncheng turned over and lay on his back on the bed, quietly listening to the sound of the TV coming from the foster father’s room next door. After a while, he felt an itch in his heart while thinking about the pictures in the comics. He turned his head to look at Ning Junyan, “Did you choose the comic today?”

       Ning Junyan who was also lying on his back at this time, replied, “No.”

       Chen Yuncheng got the urge to tease him and said, “It’s you.”

       Ning Junyan turned his dark eyes to look at him, and said softly, “It’s me.”

       Chen Yuncheng smiled and sat up. He reached out and pulled out the comic book from under the pillow and flipping it open to cover Ning Junyan’s face.

       Ning Junyan extended his hand and tried to lift it up.

       Chen Yuncheng grabbed his hand and didn’t let him touch the comic book, so Ning Junyan didn’t move, and kept lying on his back with the book covering his face.

       After a long time, Chen Yuncheng still remembered some of the pictures in that comic, but he and Ning Junyan never rented a girl’s comic to read again.

       Chen Yuncheng waited for more than ten minutes inside Ning Junyan’s office, but he still hadn’t returned.

       Chen Yuncheng did not rush him and just sat on the sofa quietly playing with his phone. The office was well heated and it didn’t take long for Chen Yuncheng to feel a little sleepy, so he put his phone aside, tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

       He didn’t expect that he would fall asleep, and he slept for a long time. When he woke up again, he had a brief blank, unable to remember where he was.

       That was until he opened his eyes and saw Ning Junyan sitting across from him.

       Ning Junyan had taken off his jacket and was sitting behind his desk, looking at Chen Yuncheng all the time. When he saw him open his eyes, he said, “You’re awake?”

       Chen Yuncheng still felt dazed from his sleep, and his arms were a bit numb after maintaining a fixed position on the sofa for a long time, so he first sat up, yawned, and then asked, “When did you come back?”

       Ning Junyan said, “I just came back not long ago.”

       Chen Yuncheng couldn’t help rubbing his eyes and asked him, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

       Ning Junyan didn’t answer, and just asked, “Still sleepy?”

       Chen Yuncheng smiled, “How long do I have to sleep then?”

       Ning Junyan said, “It’s okay, I can wait for you.”

       Chen Yuncheng glanced at him.

       Ning Junyan looked very calm, and his tone of voice was also very flat that people could not feel his emotions, and sometimes could not understand what he was trying to say.

       Chen Yuncheng stood up, pulled his wrinkled jacket, and said, “No, I’m already hungry, let’s go have dinner.”

       Ning Junyan nodded and stood up too. He reached for the coat hanging on the hanger.

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly said, “Do you remember when we rented the wrong comic book and rented a girl’s comic book when we were young?”

       Ning Junyan said, “Well, Bewitching Treasures.”

       “What?” Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment.

       Ning Junyan said indifferently, “The title of that comic.”

       Chen Yuncheng stood there a little dazed, “Really?” He couldn’t remember the name of the comic anymore, if it was really the name, why did he get it wrong then?

       When he was still in a daze, Ning Junyan suddenly approached, raised his hand and hung a soft scarf around his neck.

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him in surprise.

       Ning Junyan just said, “Let’s go, let’s eat.”


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Chapter 11

       Suo Yang said, “Mr Jiang and that boy are quite suitable.”

       Shen Huiming looked back before going out. The drunk and crying guy was still hugging the innocent Jiang Tongyan in a deadly hug.

       He smiled and said, “I didn’t think you could joke about it.”

       When the two came out, Suo Yang took a deep breath of fresh air and said with a smile, “I’m serious.”

       Shen Huiming knew too well what kind of people Jiang Tongyan liked. It was more or less someone like Suo Yang, but no matter what, it would not be someone a little crazy.

       But he just smiled and looked at Suo Yang, and didn’t say anything to refute.

       “I think it’s quite interesting,” Suo Yang stood on the side of the road and raised his hand to rub his somewhat sore neck, “When two people with completely different personalities get together, their life will be turned upside down.”

       Shen Huiming wasn’t sure if Suo Yang had something to say. It would take a lot of work to understand what this person and this person were saying.

       “It’s true that a life that’s hardly changes can feel boring,” Shen Huiming said, “So, trying to accept new friends, trying to do things that you never thought you would do before, is a way to relax.”

       Suo Yang laughed, “It could also be a new burden.”

       “Are you…” Shen Huiming paused just in time.

       He originally wanted to ask Suo Yang if he was afraid of change, but he suddenly realized that people like Suo Yang would not like the word ‘afraid’.

       He changed his words and asked Suo Yang, “Are you very resistant to change?”

       Suo Yang looked at him and smiled, and asked, “Mr. Shen, do you have any cigarettes?”

       Shen Huiming didn’t expect him to smoke, so he took out his cigarette case and handed it to him.

       Suo Yang skillfully lit the cigarette, took a puff, then closed his eyes and slowly exhaled the smoke.

       He had indeed drank a little too much today.

       Suo Yang was not very addicted to smoking, especially when he was either at work or at home. He felt that both places were not suitable. He used to have a few cigarettes a day when he was in school, but he gradually quit since he started working.

       Shen Huiming quietly stood beside him smoking a cigarette, watching Suo Yang’s profile become ambiguous under the orange street light.

       He remembered Jiang Tongyan’s words—I don’t believe you don’t have that in mind about him.

       How could he not?

       Shen Huiming just looked at him like that. He was a little restless and ready to create some trouble.

       In this regard, the man’s body had always been honest.

       But after all, Shen Huiming was not the kind of man who would easily get aroused, and his curiosity about Suo Yang was not just a desire for a physical adventure.

       He also took a deep breath and suppressed his desire.

       Zhou Mo’s alcohol was too strong, and Suo Yang felt a little dizzy as he leaned against the wall and smoked with his eyes closed.

       He didn’t say anything, just tried to keep himself sober and decent.

       When he finished smoking a cigarette, Suo Yang opened his eyes and said, “I’m really sorry, I suddenly remembered I have something to do. I have to go first.”

       Although Suo Yang didn’t say it, Shen Huiming could tell that he was a little drunk.

      People who often pushed glasses and changed glasses on the wine table could actually tell who was drunk to what extent at a glance. No matter how steady Suo Yang was at this moment and how clear his words were, his hazy eyes and slowed speech had completely exposed him.

       Shen Huiming didn’t expose him. When dealing with a person like Suo Yang, if you acted too much like ‘you understood’, it would make them more resistant.

       Sometimes it was not half bad to feign ignorance.

       “Okay,” Shen Huiming said, “Do you want me to pass the message to Zhou Mo?”

       “I’ll call him later.” Suo Yang walked towards the side of the road, “Then I’ll go first.”

       Shen Huiming followed him diagonally behind and raised his hand to help him call for a taxi.

       Suo Yang felt dizzy, a state of real drunkenness that he would have at most once or twice in a few years.

       And he was well aware that this state would only become more and more obvious. He couldn’t handle such a strong drink. If he wanted to keep his attitude, the best way is to escape as soon as possible.

       That being said, it seemed to be somewhat useless.

       But even as a deserter1it refers to how Suo Yang is trying to run away from the place, Suo Yang didn’t want to lose his dignity in front of others.

       When the taxi arrived, he reached for the door and missed the handle.

       He panicked for a moment, hurriedly calmed down, and forced the door open.

       Shen Huiming saw his actions, but he didn’t say a word. He just said to the driver as the other party sat firmly in the car, “Please take care of this.”

       Then he turned back and whispered in Suo Yang’s ear, “Be safe and send me a message when you get home.”

       Suo Yang smiled at him, “Goodbye, Mr. Shen.”

       Shen Huiming helped him close the car door and stood there watching the car disappear into the night.

       He lit another cigarette, recalling what Suo Yang looked like just now.

       It was very arousing, it was the feeling of being tickled by a cat’s whiskers.

       Suo Yang, on one hand, made him feel as if he was as fresh as a mountain forest, tall and straight as a green bamboo, and on the other hand, it made him feel like he was a poppy blooming in the middle of the night, gorgeous and attractive.

       He thought of the ‘The Flowers of Evil2Les Fleur Du Mal’, the torch of Satan, a gift of nature.

       It was an unpredictable spiritual turmoil.

       Shen Huiming waited outside, and the wind was blowing, knowing what he was waiting for.

       Suo Yang forced his way to the house, and the moment he entered the door, he slumped on the chair in the hallway.

       He leaned against the wall for a breath, raised his hand and rubbed his temples vigorously.

       He really couldn’t drink with Zhou Mo, the guy was getting scarier and scarier.

       He had just sent a message to Zhou Mo on the way,  telling the other party that he had left beforehand because he had something to do and that he would treat him another day as an apology.

       Zhou Mo didn’t reply, he was probably making trouble.

       Suo Yang felt light-headed and it felt like his whole body was out of control.

       He leaned against the corner, his eyes closed, and his breath was burning hot.

       It had been a long time since he drank like this. The wine had melted into his blood, burning him like dry grass that had been set on fire.

       The phone suddenly rang, loudly.

       Suo Yang frowned and fumbled, finally taking out the phone that kept making noises from his pocket with a shaking hand.

       He picked it up without looking, swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and tried to make his voice sound the same as usual.

       “Hello.” Suo Yang said.

       Standing on the side of the road with a cigarette between his fingers, Shen Huiming asked softly, “Home yet?”

       His voice pierced into Suo Yang’s ears like electricity, causing him to shiver.

       He suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the dark and empty home, and replied calmly, “Well, I just got inside.”

       Shen Huiming chuckled, “That’s good, have a good rest, take care of yourself, and see you another day if there’s a chance.”

       Shen Huiming’s voice was like a wisp of smoke, swirling around Suo Yang, making him dizzy.

       “Suo Yang?”

       “Oh, okay.” Suo Yang lost his concentration. He realized that he had revealed a flaw, “See you some other time, good night.”

       He didn’t dare to listen to the other party’s words much longer, the man’s slightly husky voice turned into a gentle ribbon that tightly strangled his throat in his silent home.

       Something was killing him.

       When Suo Yang put down his phone, he thought: Maybe I should take a cold shower.


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Thanks to the little angel who voted or irrigated nutrient solution for me during 2020-04-16 08:27:01~2020-04-17 07:53:45~

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Chapter 92

       In fact, up until now, Li Zhenruo had always felt that the Li Zhenran he used to know was the real Li Zhenran.

       There was some indifference, some carelessness.

       Of course, Li Zhenran could be gentle and enthusiastic, but that was just what he wanted to show him. Perhaps behind his gentleness and enthusiasm, he had been observing his every move with a calm attitude.

       However, he was willing to be gentle and warm to him, which also shows that he thought of him in his heart, and was not afraid to change and disguise himself to cater to his want.

       After he pulled himself away from the frenzy of love, Li Zhenruo found that he was getting to know Li Zhenran better and better as a person.

       He couldn’t control Li Zhenran, and of course, he certainly didn’t have to. However, he didn’t think he should be easily controlled by Li Zhenran, and that they should love each other with mutual respect.

       Well, Li Zhenran had already noticed his way of thinking, so Li Zhenran would give him the respect he wanted.

       But Li Zhenruo couldn’t help but wonder, if everything was just a play acted by Li Zhenran, could Li Zhenran’s love for him and this play lasted a lifetime? What if one day he stopped loving him?

       As he thought of this, Li Zhenruo began to scorn himself. Forget it, it didn’t matter if he didn’t love him. Who can’t live without whom? If Li Zhenran didn’t love him anymore, he would just leave and follow his master to cultivate into an immortal. There were countless beautiful men and women to eat and drink with, who needs him?

       It was just that Li Zhenruo didn’t take into account that his master had become an immortal, yet he was still squatting in the dilapidated school dormitory, eating cheap cat food and canned cat food every day and drooling over his goodies.

       When he arrived at the company, Xu Shengwen, who was sitting across from the office, gave him a wink and smiled meaningfully.

       Li Zhenruo couldn’t figure out what his wink meant, so he remained silent and did not respond.

       After Luo Fei came, he called Li Zhenruo into the office and asked him, “How did it go last night? The tail didn’t show, did it?”

       Li Zhenruo always felt that Luo Fei’s tone had a bit of ridicule in it. He said, “No, thank you boss for your concern.”

       “Well,” Luo Fei tapped his fingers on the table, “You know, Second Young Master Li is our big customer, and there will be a lot of business dealings in the future. Since he thinks highly of you, you can be considered to be in charge of welcoming him in the future.”

       Li Zhenruo looked at Luo Fei, and suddenly got closer across his large desk, “Boss, your tail is falling out.”

       Luo Fei leaned back on the office chair, and a smile slowly spread from the corner of his mouth, “My tail, do you know what it is?”

       “What is it?” Li Zhenruo asked curiously.

       Luo Fei smiled and told him, “My tail is very cute, I won’t show it to you.”

       Li Zhenruo’s eyes widened.

       Luo Fei reached out and picked up a stack of documents on the table, “Since you are so curious and energetic, I will hand you an important task. Here are the three warehouses located in this city. Inspect them all within this week and submit a report to me with specific warehouse problems and corrective measures. Have Shengwen arrange a driver for you, and someone from the warehousing department will accompany you. Any questions?”

       Li Zhenruo heard the words, got up and took the information in Luo Fei’s hand, and replied, “No problem.”

       Luo Fei said, “What I want is not a walk-through inspection, but a serious inspection and report. Do you understand?”

       Li Zhenruo replied, “Understood.”

       Luo Fei then waved his hand, “Get out.”

       Li Zhenruo turned around and walked to the door, stopped halfway, turned around and asked Luo Fei, “Boss, are you a rabbit?”

       Isn’t a rabbit’s tail cute?

       When he heard this, Luo Fei a little inscrutably at his words.

       Li Zhenruo asked again, “When you and xiao Feng got into the car, did you intentionally show your tail for him to pinch?”

       Luo Fei spoke slowly this time, smiled and replied to him, “fvck off.”

       Xu Shengwen called Li Zhenruo and arranged a driver for him, and the staff from the warehouse department who were responsible for contacting and accompanying him were also in place.

       Li Zhenruo went to the parking lot with the documents, and when he walked to the car arranged by the company, he saw a tall young man standing in front of the car door.

       The man was still holding a stack of documents in his hand, and when he looked up at Li Zhenruo, all the documents slid to the ground at once, and he squatted down to pick them up clumsily.

       Li Zhenruo walked over to help him pick it up and then handed it to him.

       The man stretched out his hand, “Hello Assistant Li, I’m Tian Chong1田冲 from the Warehouse Department.”

       Li Zhenruo took his hand and repeated, “Padding2Padding is also Tian Chong(填充)?”

       Tian Chong explained a little embarrassedly, “Tian of the pastoral sky3Tian Yuan, and Chong of rushing forward Linghu4Linghu Chong.”

       Li Zhenruo smiled, “Hello, just call me Jason.”

       Tian Chong also smiled.

       The two got into the car and sat side by side in the back seat to sort out their trip these days.

       If things went well, it would take about a day for them to complete one of the warehouse inspections. The first two were on the outskirts of the city, and it was only a one to two hours drive. Because those were not in the same direction, they didn’t plan to finish the inspection in one day.

       The last one was a little further away, but it was also in this city, and it takes less than three hours from the time they went out of town, so he planned to leave it for the last day.

       Li Zhenruo said to Tian Chong, “You are more expert in this area, so when the time comes, I may need to ask you for advice on many things.”

       Tian Chong hurriedly said, “Assistant Li is too modest.”

       Li Zhenruo smiled.

       Then both fell silent.

       This Tian Chong didn’t look like he was in his thirties. Li Zhenruo didn’t know how he usually worked, but now he seemed to be a little sloppy.

       As they arrived at the warehouse in the morning, they began to inspect item by item according to the inspection clause.

       The warehouse had received a notification long ago, and the person in charge had prepared the materials in a neat manner and put the inbound and outbound orders as well as the relevant systems and procedures placed together in front of Li Zhenruo.

       Tian Chong went with the administrator to check the storage of the goods and whether the fireproof and waterproof measures in the warehouse were in place.

       It was the first time that Luo Fei handed over important work to Li Zhenruo. Of course, Li Zhenruo would not do it perfunctorily and would really check carefully everything one by one, causing the person in charge of the warehouse to sweat on his forehead.

       The workload was larger than Li Zhenruo expected. By noon, they had only finished half of the inspection. The warehouse manager asked them if they would like to go to a nearby restaurant for lunch, but Li Zhenruo refused.

       Li Zhenruo said, “Let’s eat a boxed lunch, it’s a waste of time to eat outside.”

       The person in charge still wanted to invite them, but when he saw Li Zhenruo’s firm attitude, he could only arrange a lunch box for them.

       While they ate, Li Zhenruo’s cell phone rang. He saw that it was Li Zhenran who was calling, so he walked to the corner with the lunch box to answer the phone.

       “What?” Li Zhenruo asked.

       Li Zhenran asked him, “Did you eat properly?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “What do you think?”

       Li Zhenran said, “I heard that Luo Fei had you work in the field.”

       Li Zhenruo replied, “Well, to inspect the warehouse at the end of the year.”

       Li Zhenran said to him, “Keep yourself warm and eat on time.”

       Li Zhenruo was silent for a while and said to him, “Why are you so considerate?”

       Li Zhenran said “hmm”, as if he didn’t understand what he meant.

       Li Zhenruo said, “You are not that considerate, so why do you have to pretend to be so considerate?”

       When he heard this, Li Zhenran responded, “This is quite interesting, what kind of person do you think I am?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “Cold-blooded.”

       “Am I cold-blooded?”

       “At least not as gentle and warm as you have shown.”

       Li Zhenran laughed, “That’s because I want to be gentle and warm with you, is there a problem with that?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “I’m not Li Zhenruo, you’ve got the wrong person.”

       After he said that, he hung up the phone. He found that he couldn’t answer Li Zhenran’s questions well, and whatever doubts he had, Li Zhenran was able to defuse them in the end and he became speechless.

       In fact, he was not Li Zhenran’s opponent from beginning to end. He was still too naive. In the past, he thought that the Li family would be his possession in the end.

       He was the mantis that stalked the cicada and was unaware of the oriole bird behind5to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger. The bird let the mantis jump and planned to wait for it to jump high enough to move its head to peck and eat the mantis.

       After he hung up the phone, Li Zhenruo ate the lunch box. He then threw the empty lunch box into the trash can, turned and walked towards the warehouse.

       Tian Chong was sitting on the chair with his back to him. At this time, he was holding a lunch box in one hand and was calling someone with a mobile phone in the other hand.

       Li Zhenruo heard him say, “It’s the new assistant to the big boss. He looks like a college student and looks like a freshman.”

       …

       “Well, the new officer takes office, and the inspection is very strict. I can’t interfere at the side, and it’s just a routine inspection at the end of the year.”

       …

       “I wonder what the relationship with the boss is, so delicate looking, could he be a little white face6gigolo? Hehe.”

       Li Zhenruo felt a little funny, he walked behind Tian Chong, bent down in his ear and asked, “Am I that delicate? Would you like to touch?”

       Tian Chong was startled and turned around as his phone slipped out of his ear.

       Li Zhenruo caught it, opened the pocket of Tian Chong’s down jacket, put it in, and said, “Let’s continue to work after eating, okay?”

       Tian Chong nodded blankly, “Okay.”

       After spending a day in this warehouse, it was already dark when they returned.

       The driver pulled into the underground parking lot.

       Li Zhenruo and Tian Chong packed up and got off the car, and entered the elevator together.

       Li Zhenruo pressed the top floor, while Tian Chong pressed the first floor.

       “Not going up?” Li Zhenruo asked.

       Tian Chong said, “I’m not going up at this late hour, it’s the same material tomorrow anyway, I’m going straight back.”

       Li Zhenruo smiled and said, “Alright.”

       Tian Chong then asked, “Assistant Li still wants to go back to the office?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “The boss is waiting for me to go back to report on the situation, and he is paying more attention to this inspection than you think.”

       Tian Chong was stunned for a while. As he saw that the elevator had opened to the first floor, he then reached out and closed the door and pressed the floor of the storage department.

       “Not going back?” Li Zhenruo asked strangely.

       Tian Chong said, “I just remembered something, I’d better go back to the office first to sort out today’s materials.”

       Li Zhenruo smiled, “That’s fine.”

       He went back to the office, but in fact, Luo Fei didn’t stay and wait for him. He was probably on a date with Feng Junyuan.

       Li Zhenruo sorted the documents by himself, went to the bathroom to look in the mirror, and found that the corners of his brows and eyes were a little tired. In fact, he also worked overtime before, but at that time he was the one who was sitting in the office making decisions. Li Jianglin always agreed with many of his views and would arrange for the people below him to implement them.

       In the days when he was still in Yunlin, Li Jianglin always sat in the first position. As long as Li Jianglin agreed with his opinion, the people below him would not come out to oppose it. So it was different from later when Li Zhenran was in charge of Yunlin alone.

       Li Zhenran probably worked much harder than him.

       After he packed up, Li Zhenruo encountered Tian Chong coming out of another elevator when he took the elevator to the first floor. The two of them greeted one another and walked outside together.

       The heater was on in the company building, and as soon as he walked out of the door, a chill hit his face, and Li Zhenruo subconsciously closed his collar.

       At this time, he saw a car parked in front of him, and Li Zhenran was standing by the door and looking in his direction.

       Li Zhenruo paused, walked in the direction of Li Zhenran, and asked, “Why are you here?”

       Li Zhenran said, “I’m waiting for you to have dinner.”

       Li Zhenruo asked him, “How do you know I haven’t left yet?” He subconsciously wanted to take a look at his phone, suspecting that Li Zhenran had tracked him.

       Li Zhenran said, “I didn’t track you. I called Luo Fei. He said that the driver just sent you back to the company.”

       Next to him, Tian Chong looked at the car behind Li Zhenran and then at Li Zhenran, not recognizing who it was, he said to Li Zhenruo, “You have friends coming? I’ll go first then.”

       Li Zhenruo nodded, “See you tomorrow.”

       Tian Chong waved his hand and turned away.

       Li Zhenran looked at his tall back and asked, “Who?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “Company colleagues.”

       “He looks very handsome,” Li Zhenran said.

       Li Zhenruo heard the words and said to him, “Do you like him? Would you like to introduce him to you?”

       Li Zhenran said, “Unfortunately, he’s not my type.”

       Li Zhenran asked the driver to drive the car away first and accompanied Li Zhenruo for a walk back slowly.

       The two walked side by side, occasionally the back of their hands touched, and Li Zhenruo noticed that Li Zhenran’s hands were cold.

       He couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been standing outside for a long time?”

       Li Zhenran said, “Not long.”

       Li Zhenruo wanted to say that his hands were cold, but after he thought about it, he didn’t say it.

       At this time, Li Zhenran suddenly grabbed his hand, Li Zhenruo wanted to break away subconsciously, but Li Zhenran held his hand and put it in his jacket pocket.

       The pocket was very warm, with the heat of Li Zhenran’s body.

       Li Zhenruo broke free and failed to break free, and said, “Others will think we are perverted.”

       Li Zhenran said, “It doesn’t matter to me what others think.”

       Dinner was eaten in a small restaurant next to Li Zhenruo’s residence.

       Inside the restaurant, the glass doors were closed and the smell of food and warm heat filled the room. Two people sat by the window, drinking mutton soup and eating steamed vegetables.

       After dinner, Li Zhenran asked him, “Want to watch a movie?”

       Li Zhenruo looked at him, “Who wants to watch a movie with you!”

       Li Zhenran seemed a little distressed, “Then what should I invite you to do?”

       “Nothing,” Li Zhenruo called the boss to settle the bill, “I need to go back to organize the materials and start writing the report.”

       Li Zhenran said, “Luo Fei is really mean.”

       Speaking of Luo Fei, Li Zhenruo suddenly thought of one thing. He approached Li Zhenran and asked in a low voice, “Do you know what Luo Fei is?”

       “What is Luo Fei?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “Luo Fei is not a human, do you know?”

       Li Zhenran frowned slightly, “Then what is he?”

       Li Zhenruo said mysteriously, “I suspect he is a rabbit.”

       Li Zhenran looked at him suspiciously.

       Li Zhenruo said, “He said that his tail is very cute.”

       When he heard this, Li Zhenran’s expression suddenly became meaningful.

       Li Zhenruo said with a smile, “I know what you’re thinking.”

       Li Zhenran suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand, “You really know me well.”

       Li Zhenruo pulled his hand back, “Who has time to understand you.”

       After he paid the bill, he pushed open the door of the restaurant and went out. There was another cold wind outside.

       Li Zhenran accompanied Li Zhenruo to the place where he lived and sent him to the front of the house. When he saw Li Zhenruo open the door, Li Zhenran asked him, “Aren’t you going to invite me over to sit?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “I said I had to write a report.”

       Li Zhenran lowered his head and thought for a while.

       “What?” Li Zhenruo couldn’t help but ask him.

       Li Zhenran said, “It’s nothing, can’t you see that I’m courting you?”

       Li Zhenruo laughed out loud at once, “Do you want to play a young boy or girl who is at the beginning of love?”

       Li Zhenran wasn’t angry, he said, “Isn’t the process of courting just to make you feel my love for you? Dinner, a movie, shopping, what else do you think? I can do it all for you.”

       Li Zhenruo leaned back against the door, “You’ve moved on so quickly? You don’t want Li Zhenruo anymore?”

       Li Zhenran stretched out his hand and pinched his earlobe, then leaned closer to his ear and said, “I have never moved on, from beginning to end I have only loved you, only you, I am yours, body and soul.”

       After he stood up straight, Li Zhenran found that Li Zhenruo’s ears had turned red.

       Li Zhenruo was a little dazed and had not recovered from the shock of Li Zhenran’s affectionate confession just now.

       Li Zhenran said, “I’m leaving, take your time with your work and take care of your health.”

       At night, Li Zhenruo was wrapped in a quilt and used a laptop to write a report, but the inside of his head was a little messy.

       After he was wrapped up for a while, he felt a little hot. He raised his hand and touched his face, and found that his cheeks were hot. After he stopped to think for a while, Li Zhenruo felt that it might be because of the bowl of mutton soup that night that he was feeling hot now.

       But he had been single for a long time, so even if he was hot to death, no one would come to relieve him.

       Li Zhenruo wondered idly, should he keep Li Zhenran? Anyway, he himself no longer had integrity. As he thought of this, he immediately rejected it again in his head. He had long since picked up the integrity, and sex without love was something he did not need at all.

       But actually, there was still love for Li Zhenran. Perhaps it would be best if he could sleep with him, open his eyes, get up, and get dressed without looking back and talk to him in a cold tone, “You can go now.”

       Or to just leave, threw two hundred dollars on the bedside table, and told him, “That’s all you’re worth.”

       While thinking about it, Li Zhenruo found himself even more parched and had better have no choice but to put his hand inside the quilt.

       He kept his hands outside, it was extremely cold at this time, and when he touched them, Li Zhenruo couldn’t help shivering from head to toe, and then sighed.


The author has something to say:

There will be another one later, hahahahaha


Support the author by buying author other works and/or giving some jades here~
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Chapter 91

       The car was quiet, and neither of them spoke for a while.

       Li Zhenruo felt a little stuffy and couldn’t help opening the car window, but the cold air outside rushed in, causing his throat to hurt a little after he took a quick breath.

       The driver who drove the car did not look sideways, waiting for the red light and lined up in a regular manner, driving in no hurry.

       Li Zhenruo saw the bright red decorations in the shopping mall outside and suddenly realized that it was almost Chinese New Year.

       “Can I ask you a question?” Li Zhenran said suddenly at this moment.

       Li Zhenruo didn’t look back, his forehead almost pressed against the glass, he said, “Go ask.”

       Li Zhenran asked him, “If Zhenruo was still around, how do you think he would accept me again?”

       Li Zhenruo had no way to answer this question. The thing with romance, is if everyone could fall in love and pursue someone regardless of everything, and just leave when they no longer felt love, then why would there be so many sad and tactful love songs, and moving love stories?

       From that day on the rooftop, Li Zhenruo felt that Li Zhenran probably didn’t fully believe what had happened. Today’s verbal test made him more certain of his judgment.

       Since Li Zhenran didn’t believe it anymore, it was pointless for him to work hard to act. All he could do was not compromise so easily. He didn’t want Li Zhenran to think that his deception would be harmless to him in the end and that everything would disappear after a little coaxing, and he didn’t want there to be another deception between them.

       Li Zhenruo said, “If he’s no longer afraid of you lying to him, he’ll probably be able to accept you.”

       When Li Zhenran heard this answer, he was silent for a moment and asked, “If I give Yunlin to him, do you think he will believe me?”

       Li Zhenruo said without hesitation, “He didn’t need it.”

       Li Zhenran sighed, “Then what does he need now?”

       Li Zhenruo did not answer him.

       However, Li Zhenran didn’t need his answer, and continued, “Actually, I know.”

       “You know?”

       Li Zhenran said, “What he needs is respect, a re-establishment of a relationship of mutual trust.”

       Li Zhenruo looked a little dazed, “Re-establish?”

       Li Zhenran smiled at him a little, “Didn’t you say that, he said he loved me. I don’t think we’re really over, I think we’ll have a chance to start over.”

       Li Zhenruo heard the words, lowered his head and said, “Then bless you.”

       Li Zhenran asked the driver to take Li Zhenruo home. When he arrived downstairs in the community, Li Zhenran asked him, “Aren’t you going to invite me up?”

       Li Zhenruo stood in front of the car door and turned to look at him, “It’s too late, I won’t delay your rest. Mr. Li, thank you for taking me home.”

       Li Zhenran stood beside the car door, put one hand above the car door, and waved to him, “Good night, go to bed early.”

       Li Zhenruo turned around and went upstairs. After feeling the blow of the cold wind, he seemed to be sobered a lot. After he returned home and took a bath, Li Zhenruo put the towel on his head and sat on the sofa to read a book.

       In fact, he couldn’t quite get into the book, his head was still a bit dizzy and he was still thinking about Li Zhenran’s matters in his head.

       Before he went to bed, Li Zhenruo went to the window to draw the curtains. When he looked downstairs, he noticed that there was a car parked downstairs, and it was the same car that Li Zhenran had just sent him back in.

       The car hadn’t left yet, and Li Zhenran had not left either. Although he couldn’t see clearly from a distance, Li Zhenruo noticed that a person sitting beside the flower bed was smoking.

       Li Zhenruo was stunned for a moment, then took out his mobile phone and called Li Zhenran.

       The call was quickly connected, and Li Zhenran’s deep voice sounded, “You haven’t slept yet?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “If you don’t go back to sleep, the driver has to sleep too, right?”

       Li Zhenran gently laughed, “I just want to stay closer to you. Alright, I’ll go back now, you rest early.”

       After he said that, Li Zhenran hung up the phone, got up, walked over and got into the car.

       Li Zhenruo stood by the window and kept watching his car leave. He knew that Li Zhenran’s words were deliberately said to him. Li Zhenran was a terrible person. He knew what words were the most touching, but Li Zhenruo couldn’t tell whether it was the truth or not.

       But even if it was a lie, Li Zhenruo had to admit that he was moved.

       Early the next morning, when Li Zhenruo was still sleeping in the cat’s bed, he was woken up by the doorbell. He struggled to get up from the bed and walked slowly to the door before realizing that he was still a cat, so he changed to the form of an adult. He opened the door and asked, “Who is it?”

       The person standing outside the door was Li Zhenran.

       Li Zhenruo scratched his head, “What are you doing so early?”

       Li Zhenran raised the bag in his hand, “Breakfast for you.”

       Li Zhenruo frowned at him, “Why did you buy me breakfast?”

       Li Zhenran had walked in, “I told you, this is the body of the person I love the most and don’t want to see him starve and lose weight.”

       Li Zhenruo stood by the door, reached out and rubbed his eyes while closing the door, and said, “Did you eat breakfast on time yourself? You look like you’ve lost weight only recently.”

       Li Zhenran smiled and put breakfast on the dining table, “I eat on time, I lost weight just because I caught a cold some time ago.”

       “Cold?”

       Li Zhenran said: “It was raining outside that day, and then I got a cold when I went back.”

       Li Zhenruo didn’t speak and sat down beside the dining table.

       Li Zhenran smiled, “Do you feel sorry?”

       Li Zhenruo yawned, “Why should I feel sorry for you, the person who felt sorry for you is no longer there, and he was so angry with you that he reincarnated.”

       Li Zhenran still smiled, but he said, “I’m sorry.”

       Li Zhenruo did not respond.

       At this time, Li Zhenran turned his head and glanced at the cat bed on the ground next to him. There was still a lot of cat hair in it. He said, “You sleep here?”

       Li Zhenruo didn’t want to admit that he bought a cat bed to sleep in because she was lazy, but silently took out the soy milk and steamed buns, habitually stuck a straw into the soy milk cup, and took a sip.

       Li Zhenran sat across from him and looked at him.

       Li Zhenruo saw that there was something else in his pocket, so he reached out and turned it over, but it turned out that there was a can of fish inside, and it was the brand he used to love.

       “I brought it from home,” Li Zhenran said, “Zhenruo liked to eat it before.”

       Li Zhenruo didn’t want to be so polite to him, so he brought the can over and said, “Thank you.”

       Li Zhenran looked at the whole room and asked, “No toilet?”

       Li Zhenruo looked up, “It’s inside.”

       Li Zhenran said, “I said cat toilet.”

       Li Zhenruo bit the bun in his mouth and gave him a cold look, “I don’t need that.”

       Li Zhenran said, “Isn’t it inconvenient to go to the toilet in the middle of the night?”

       Li Zhenruo was too lazy to answer him.

       When he saw that Li Zhenruo had finished his breakfast, Li Zhenran stood up and said, “I’m going to work.”

       Li Zhenruo also stood up, and when he followed Li Zhenran to the door, he did not expect Li Zhenran to suddenly turn around and hold his shoulder with his hand, and his head came close.

       Li Zhenruo raised his hand to block it subconsciously, and Li Zhenran put his head on Li Zhenruo’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Come back.”

       After he said that, Li Zhenran let him go and left.


The author has something to say:

Huh? How come there’s only 2,000 words? I thought it was 3,000 words! I can’t stand it!


Notes:
Hello! HoH is going to release an anniversary event~
Please head to our discord channel to see more announcement and maybe joining our first ever nitro GA 😀


Support the author by buying author other works and/or giving some jades here~
(note that there are several guides to maneuver in gongzicp or you can just google translate the page. Payment can be made with Apple pay method)

We now finally have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here

Check out bean’s new novel here!
and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
Check out the other hoeni’s work here~
Check out the angst novel I co-tl with my friend here~

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

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