Category: Morbid Addiction (Page 10 of 11)

Morbid Addiction

Chapter 15

August 27, 2022 / hoenimochi / 4 Comments

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 14

August 20, 2022 / hoenimochi / 1 Comment

Dozen of tables in the lobby of Fuxiang House were already vacant, but there were still five or six tables of guests still drinking.

Chen Yuncheng came down from the second floor, stood on the side of the road, turned around, and looked at Zhou Yan who was going down the stairs.

Zhou Yan’s steps were heavy. He didn’t stop until he walked all the way to Chen Yuncheng. He placed his hands in the pockets of his cotton coat, and called out, “Cheng ge.”

There were no pedestrians on the side of the road at this time. A taxi was parked not far ahead, and the driver was probably waiting for the guests.

Chen Yuncheng asked Zhou Yan, “I thought you are not working with Zhang Wenyong anymore?”

Zhou Yan lowered his head and said nothing.

Chen Yuncheng’s tone was a little irritable, “Speak.”

Zhou Yan still lowered his head and said softly, “I want to make money for my son’s operation.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him and asked, “Did Zhang Wenyong give you money? What did he ask you to do for him?”

Zhou Yan was silent for a while, then raised his head and said, “Cheng ge, don’t ask, just pretend you don’t know, okay?”

“What exactly is it?” Chen Yuncheng repeated in a serious tone.

Zhou Yan slowly shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng said, “You have been with Zhang Wenyong for a long time. Don’t you know what kind of person he is? Is his money so easy to get?”

Zhou Yan raised his hand and rubbed his face hard, “I know, but what can I do? That’s my son, I can’t watch him die!” He paused briefly, and his tone become slightly agitated, “I even discussed with Jiajia to either not treat him and wait for another one later, but no, I can’t do it.”

As he said that, he crouched down on the side of the road, and covered his face with his hands as if to hide his intense emotions.

Chen Yuncheng looked down at him: “Try to borrow it from someone else.”

Zhou Yan looked up and looked at him, “Cheng ge, you lent me all your 30,000 yuan. Who else can I borrow it from? They know if they lent their money to people like us, I can’t afford to pay it back.”

Chen Yuncheng stood quietly for a while, “So Zhang Wenyong gave you money and asked you to help him?”

Zhou Yan pursed his lips, “Cheng ge, if I don’t tell you, just pretend you don’t know. I know that the policeman surnamed Long often comes to disturb you. I don’t want to make things difficult for you in the future.”

“Paper can’t wrap the fire¹,” Chen Yuncheng bent down and put a hand on Zhou Yan’s shoulder, “Something will happen one day.”

Zhou Yan said, “Then I might as well treat my son’s illness first.”

When Chen Yuncheng was about to speak again, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that two tall figures were walking in their direction along the side of the road.

He looked up subconsciously, and by the light of the street lamp, he could clearly see the faces of the two people. It was the two X-ethnic people that Long Zhanyu asked him to help pay attention to.

Zhou Yan also noticed it, he stood up from the ground and looked at the two people as well.

At this time, there happened to be a table of eight or nine guests who came down from the first floor after dinner. These middle-aged men were all drunk, and they were making loud noises while going down the stairs.

Chen Yuncheng pretended to be distracted, and while holding Zhou Yan’s arm and pushing it away two steps, he looked at the group of middle-aged people.

Obviously, these people still hadn’t finished, and they were still talking to each other in groups by the side of the road. Some were calling for a chauffeur, and some were calling for taxis on the side of the road.

The two X-ethnic people approached and stopped between Chen Yuncheng and Zhou Yan with this group of middle-aged people.

One of them shouted in broken Chinese, “Is he upstairs?”

Chen Yuncheng saw Zhou Yan nod at the other man.

Neither of the two X-ethnic people noticed Chen Yuncheng, including the tall young man who had seen him in the bar didn’t seem to recognize Chen Yuncheng. After getting Zhou Yan’s answer, the two walked toward the stairs.

In the noisy voices beside him, Zhou Yan said to Chen Yuncheng, “Cheng ge, I have to go back.”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t ask about the two X-ethnic people, but just said, “Are you going back to Zhang Wenyong?”

Zhou Yan nodded, “It’s getting late, you go back first, and I’ll get you a taxi.” After he said that, he raised his hand to beckon to a taxi that passed by on the road.

Chen Yuncheng pressed his arm, “No need, I can go back myself.”

Zhou Yan was silent for a while, and then said, “Guan Anlin is out, he won’t trouble you, right?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “Don’t worry about me, I hope you will think about your matter again.”

Zhou Yan didn’t answer, and said, “Then I’ll go up first.” After he said that, he turned and walked towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

Chen Yuncheng watched him leave until his back disappeared, then turned around and walked along the roadside alone, towards the bus stop in front.

The bus had very few passengers by this time, so Chen Yuncheng got on and easily found a seat. He sat down with some mixed emotions and took his mobile phone out of his jacket pocket.

Chen Yuncheng subconsciously found Long Zhanyu’s mobile phone number, but he didn’t press the dial button for a long time. Finally, he backed out and found an account on WeChat that he hadn’t contacted in a long time.

This person actually had dinner with him at Fuxiang House just now, but apart from the greeting when they met, the two never talked again.

Chen Yuncheng sent him a WeChat message: “Can you help me get Guan Anlin’s phone number?”

The other party never replied.

It was not until Chen Yuncheng returned to his small kiosk and took a simple bath and lay on the bed that the other party replied with a mobile phone number, followed by another message: “Cheng ge, don’t say it me who told you.”

Chen Yuncheng was a bit amused and replied to him, “No problem, thanks.” After that, he saved the mobile phone number.

When he looked at the time, it was already past eleven o’clock in the evening, and Chen Yuncheng dialed Guan Anlin’s mobile number.

The phone rang several times before Guan Anlin picked it up, and said “hello” indifferently.

Chen Yuncheng said, “This is Chen Yuncheng.”

The phone was hung up immediately.

Chen Yuncheng listened to the busy tone on the receiver, took the phone away, glanced at their brief chat, and then made up a text message to send: “Anlin, let’s meet up sometime to talk, just the two of us.”

Guan Anlin never replied to him, and Chen Yuncheng was not surprised. He threw away his phone and pulled up the quilt, covering most of his face with only his eyes exposed. He sighed secretly and closed his eyes to sleep.

Chen Yuncheng dragged his feet and did not call Long Zhanyu, he wanted to make another trip to the hospital to visit Zhou Yan’s son.

Chen Yuncheng still brought a carton of milk and tried to scr4p3 together another thousand yuan in cash. He knew that this amount of money would not be of much use to Zhou Yan, but he really had no money left.

When he left the kiosk in the afternoon, Chen Yuncheng closed the shutter door and stood at the door of the store. He looked at his small store and suddenly thought that if the whole store was sold out, he wondered if he could get 30,000 to 40,000 yuan for it.

He didn’t know what to do, and he walked toward the subway station with the milk in his hand.

Zhou Yan worked outside during the day, and in the pediatric ward of the hospital, Zhou Yan’s girlfriend Gu Yaojia was still accompanying the child.

When Chen Yuncheng arrived, the child was being given an infusion, the needle was inserted through his scalp. The little one was lying on the hospital bed and looked very pitiful.

Gu Yaojia looked thin, with no makeup on her face, and little blood on her cheeks and lips.

Chen Yuncheng sat beside the hospital bed, looked at the child on the bed, and asked Gu Yaojia, “Do you know what work Zhou Yan is doing now?”

Gu Yaojia stood leaning against the bed and said, “He said he was selling cars.”

Chen Yuncheng asked, “Is the brokerage fee for selling used cars very high now?”

Gu Yaojia shook her head, “I don’t know either. But his boss seems to be quite nice and is willing to lend him money.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at Gu Yaojia’s expression and guessed that she didn’t know anything. When she sat for a while and was about to leave, she gave Gu Yaojia one thousand yuan.

Gu Yaojia was stunned for a while and said, “Cheng ge, I can’t ask for your money. Zhou Yan said you lent him all your savings.”

Chen Yuncheng shoved it into her hand, “Take it first, I’ll talk to Zhou Yan about it. We grew up together as brothers, when he needs help, there’s no way I’ll leave him alone.”

Gu Yaojia shrugged it off a few more times but finally accepted Chen Yuncheng’s money.

Chen Yuncheng came out of the ward and felt his phone vibrate. As he walked towards the elevator, he took out his phone to take a look, and saw that it was Ning Junyan who sent a WeChat message: “I’m back, let’s have dinner together tonight.”

He didn’t even ask Chen Yuncheng if he was free, as if it was a not-so-polite order.

But Chen Yuncheng still laughed when he saw it, and replied, “Okay.”

The author has something to say:

Why do you like someone but not want to sleep with them? Don’t you have a little sister who you are very affectionate with and like very much, do you want to sleep with her?!

What I said yesterday was mainly because I didn’t want to have too many cults or np² in the comments section, Because I don’t write that way and I don’t have that tendency, and it’s easy to quarrel in the comment area.

And then there’s the comment about too many supporting characters. If I don’t want to see the comments on a certain role, I will ignore them

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 😀

We 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~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 13

August 13, 2022 / hoenimochi / 1 Comment

The place where they ate was at Fuxiang House, a local restaurant, and the restaurant was on the second floor along the street. The evening was the best time for the business, the lobby was full of guests when they entered, and there was a lively clamour everywhere.

Chen Yuncheng followed Zhang Wenyong through the crowd, and a waiter greeted them halfway through and took them to a private room inside.

As soon as the private room door opened, Chen Yuncheng saw six or seven people sitting around the round table. All of them were young people, two or three of whom he knew.

Everyone he knew greeted him, and some even stood up and called out “Yong ge,” then nodded to him and called, “Cheng ge.”

Zhang Wenyong sat on the main seat opposite the door and said with a smile, “Still remember your Cheng ge, eh.” As soon as Zhang Wenyong sat down, someone handed him a cigarette, and then someone took a lighter to help him light it.

Chen Yuncheng found a seat by himself and sat down.

The private room was small, with the door closed and the air conditioner on, the whole room was filled with smoke and the air was foul.

The young man that sat next to Chen Yuncheng originally knew him, but at this time he didn’t talk to him again, and didn’t even look at him.

Chen Yuncheng was still at ease, he opened his jacket to reveal the cotton shirt inside, glanced around the table, and asked, “Is Anlin here yet?”

Zhang Wenyong answered him with a cigarette in his mouth, “Don’t be in a hurry, I’ve already sent someone to pick him up.”

Chen Yuncheng calmly said, “I’m not in a hurry.”

There were five or six dishes of cold dishes on the round table, no one touched the chopsticks, everyone was smoking and chatting, and only Chen Yuncheng occasionally took a sip from the teacup in front of him, and soon drank the cup to the bottom.

No one helped him to refill his tea, and the waiter in the old restaurant was not attentive. The waiter only opened the door and asked if he should serve the food, and then never came again.

Chen Yuncheng put the empty cup back.

After waiting for about 20 minutes, the door of the private room was pushed open again, and a tall, thin young man came in from the door. The young man looked like he was in his twenties. Because of his single eyelids, his eyes were long and narrow, his nose was high, his lips were thin, and his hair was cut so short that his scalp could almost be seen.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Wenyong stood up immediately and greeted him with a smile, “Anlin, you are finally back.”

The others followed Zhang Wenyong and stood up to look at the person at the door, and Chen Yuncheng also stood up slowly.

Guan Anlin stood at the door, his eyes swept across the faces of everyone and finally stopped in front of Chen Yuncheng. He stared blankly at Chen Yuncheng for a few seconds, then walked towards Zhang Wenyong, and called out “Yong ge”, before he raised his hand and hugged him.

Zhang Wenyong patted him on the back, “You have suffered for the past two years.”

Guan Anlin didn’t speak and just shook his head.

After that, Zhang Wenyong introduced him to the young people at this table one by one. Two of whom Guan Anlin knew, while the rest were people he met for the first time.

Chen Yuncheng watched Guan Anlin shook hands with those people with a calm and indifferent expression, and felt that he didn’t look like the Guan Anlin he remembered at all.

It was not until the end that Zhang Wenyong pointed to Chen Yuncheng and said to Guan Anlin, “Chen Yuncheng, you still remember him, right?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t extend his hand, just looked at Guan Anlin earnestly, and said to him, “Anlin.”

Guan Anlin didn’t respond, and said coldly, “I don’t recognize this person anymore.”

Zhang Wenyong was smoking a cigarette with the expression of watching a good show. When he heard this, he patted Guan Anlin on the shoulder with a smile, and said, “It’s okay if you don’t recognise him. Let’s sit down to eat first, and then take your time to talk.”

Guan Anlin’s seat was opposite of Chen Yuncheng. Before he sat down, he took off his dark jacket. Inside was a tight black jumper, which completely outlined his figure. One could see that his chest and arms were all tightly muscled. These were muscles that had been developed over a long period of time doing physical work, not exaggerated but very powerful.

At this time, Zhang Wenyong called the waiter to serve hot dishes and then asked the accompanying junior to open a bottle of white wine. For a while, the whole private room was lively, and everyone was busy pouring wine and toasting.

Only Chen Yuncheng was free, no one toasted him, and no one took the initiative to talk to him.

Chen Yuncheng didn’t eat much food. He just glanced at Guan Anlin occasionally as the smoke filled the room. He wanted to chat with Guan Anlin, but he wasn’t sure if Guan Anlin wanted to chat with him.

Guan Anlin never looked at Chen Yuncheng again except for the moment he first came in.

Zhang Wenyong didn’t intend to simply let Chen Yuncheng go. When three-quarters of the meal was eaten, he suddenly said to Guan Anlin, “Anlin, you said you don’t recognize Chen Yuncheng, do you mean you don’t want to pursue the past? “

Guan Anlin probably didn’t expect Zhang Wenyong to suddenly say this. He raised his hand and placed the chopsticks in front of him neatly on the table. He asked Zhang Wenyong, “Yong ge, what do you think I should pursue?”

The whole private room was quiet and listened to them.

Zhang Wenyong had been smoking all night. He tapped his finger on the table and said, “For those of us who are out and about, the most taboo thing is not to preach about morality, don’t you think so?”

Guan Anlin didn’t speak, he was also smoking and stared at the bowl in front of him as if he was a little lost.

Zhang Wenyong didn’t care if he didn’t get an answer and continued, “At that time you went in so suddenly that we couldn’t look into many things in detail. Now I’m asking you, did someone betray you?”

He was asking Guan Anlin, but his eyes kept looking at Chen Yuncheng.

Guan Anlin raised his head and looked at Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng faced them calmly.

Zhang Wenyong said, “Anlin, don’t be afraid, you are Yong ge’s brother. If something happens, Yong ge will naturally help you out clean up those who should be cleaned up.”

Guan Anlin looked at Chen Yuncheng. After a long time, he put the cigarette between his fingers to his lips, took a slow breath, and said, “Thank you Yong ge, but there are some things I want to handle by myself.”

Zhang Wenyong was a little surprised and asked him, “Are you sure?”

Guan Anlin nodded, “I’m sure.”

Zhang Wenyong seemed unhappy, his face slumped slightly, and he leaned back on the back of the chair, but still said, “Fine, two years have passed anyway, there’s no rush.”

After he finished speaking, Chen Yuncheng said to Guan Anlin, “Anlin, can we talk?”

Guan Anlin looked at Chen Yuncheng, and before he could answer, the private room door was pushed open from the outside. Zhou Yan walked in a hurry, carrying a cold air that had not yet been dispersed, and said, “Yong ge, I’m sorry I just had something, I’m late.”

After he finished speaking, he saw Chen Yuncheng, and his whole body suddenly stopped in place.

Chen Yuncheng frowned and looked at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan said softly, “Cheng ge, I didn’t know you were here today.”

Chen Yuncheng stood up and asked Zhang Wenyong, “Yong ge, I have something to tell Zhou Yan, do you have anything else?”

Zhang Wenyong didn’t answer, just glanced at Guan Anlin.

Guan Anlin’s expression was cold.

Zhang Wenyong spread his hands, “Anlin said he wanted to handle it himself, so from now on, it’s none of my business, so help yourself.”

Only then did Zhou Yan notice Guan Anlin, with a surprised expression, “Lin ge? You are out?”

Chen Yuncheng had already walked toward Zhou Yan and said to him, “Let’s go, I have something to ask you.”

At this time, Guan Anlin called out in a cold voice, “Chen Yuncheng.”

Chen Yuncheng turned his head and said to Guan Anlin, “Anlin, I’ll find you later, we can sit down and talk slowly.”

After he said that, he took the lead and walked out of the private room. Zhou Yan immediately followed.

The author has something to say:

Although there are a few supporting roles, the process will take some words, but there is no cannon fodder.

There are many people who like Chen Yuncheng, but the only one who wants to sleep with him is Ning Junyan

Notes:

Hello~
Atm, I am setting up a goal for more chapters to be updated in kofi~ Please check my kofi if you are interested in getting more chapter to be released (〃ω〃)

For each ko-fi donated in the goal I will add another release with the same week of the kofi donation, and when the goal is completed I will add the released to 2x/week (´∀`)

I will eventually drop some extra chapters in the week every now and then though, so don’t worry~
If you are interested in donating you can head to my kofi page~

We 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~
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Check out the angst novel I co-tl with my friend here~

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 12

August 6, 2022 / hoenimochi / 5 Comments

“Are you drunk?” Chen Yuncheng asked Ning Junyan.

Ning Junyan shook his head and said, “I’m not drunk.” He finally let go of Chen Yuncheng’s hands and sat up from the bed. He got up and walked around the table to get his coat hanging by the wall.

Chen Yuncheng saw that he was really going to leave, and said, “You’ve been drinking, don’t drive.”

Ning Junyan paused for a moment, he took out his phone and said, “I’ll call a chauffeur.”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t plan to ask him to stay. After all, he didn’t have any extra room for Ning Junyan to stay here. He just waited with Ning Junyan for more than ten minutes, and then send him off when the chauffeur arrived.

By this time, the rain had died down, falling so thinly onto the ground that the sound could barely be heard.

The young chauffeur started the car. Ning Junyan sat in the passenger seat, pressed the window down, and said to Chen Yuncheng, “I’m going on a business trip in two days.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded, not understanding why he suddenly said this to him and thought that Ning Junyan still had something to say.

Ning Junyan didn’t say anything.

Chen Yuncheng had to tell the chauffeur to drive carefully. He then stepped back two steps and stood on the street to wave them goodbye. After the driver drove away, he turned around and went back to his kiosk.

After tidying up the room, Chen Yuncheng turned off the light and lay on the bed. It was quite late, he drank a little more wine, and drowsiness surged up quickly, and he quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, after Chen Yuncheng had breakfast, he remembered to send a message to Long Zhanyu, sending the name and address of the hotel where he followed the X-ethnic people last night.

It didn’t take long before Long Zhanyu called him and said to him, “You don’t need to care about that, we can find out the address, just pay attention to whether he has contacted any local people.”

Chen Yuncheng frowned, “Officer Long, since you’ve already tracked down his address, is it difficult to keep track of who he is in contact with?”

Long Zhanyu said, “It’s not difficult, I just don’t want to alert the snake yet.”

Chen Yuncheng understood what Long Zhanyu meant, and the key issue was not with the two X ethnic people, but with the local people they might have come into contact with, who might be able to recognize the police in their jurisdiction, just like Chen Yuncheng, who had dealt with Long Zhan Yu and the others quite a lot back then.

He asked Long Zhanyu, “What are these two people doing?”

Long Zhanyu said, “Don’t pry, but as long as there is enough evidence, we will definitely arrest them. Until then, I’m afraid we’ll have to hold back a bit.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Okay.”

He was about to hang up, but Long Zhanyu suddenly stopped him and said, “I’m meeting some classmates for dinner tonight, and I’ll come by your place this afternoon to pick up two bottles of wine and a cigarette.”

Chen Yuncheng replied, “Okay, police officer.” Only then did the call really end.

Long Zhan Yu did not make Chen Yun Cheng an informant for nothing. He had taken care of Chen Yuncheng’s business a lot in the past two years. For the family reunion at New Year, the wine was taken from Chen Yuncheng’s kiosk.

After five o’clock in the afternoon, Long Zhanyu drove his private car to Chen Yuncheng to get tobacco and alcohol.

Chen Yuncheng carried two bottles of wine, put a cigarette under his arm, and sent it directly to Long Zhanyu beside the car.

Long Zhanyu did not get out of the car. With a cigarette in his mouth, he took out his wallet from the inner pocket of his jacket, took out a few hundred-yuan bills, and asked him, “How much?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Three hundred and fifty will do.” After he said that, he asked Long Zhanyu, “Do you want to put it in the trunk?”

Long Zhanyu raised his hand and pressed the door lock, and said, “Just put it on the passenger seat.”

Chen Yuncheng opened the passenger door, put two bottles of wine under the seat, and placed the cigarette directly on the seat.

Then he took the money from Long Zhanyu, smiled and said, “Just right, Officer Long.”

Long Zhanyu said “Um” and asked him, “Is business going well recently?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s okay.”

Long Zhanyu suddenly moved closer to him and said softly, “Did you know that Guan Anlin was released from prison yesterday?”

Chen Yuncheng looked at Long Zhanyu, and after a little silence, he said, “I don’t know.”

Long Zhanyu said, “If he comes to harass you, you can call the police. It is our duty to protect the citizens.”

Chen Yuncheng’s eyelashes twitched a little as he said to Long Zhan Yu, “Officer Long, smoke less.”

Long Zhanyu’s slender fingers still held the cigarette he bit with his lips.

Chen Yuncheng smiled and continued, “If you smoke too much, you will grow old quickly. It’s a pity that you have such a face.”

Long Zhanyu snorted coldly, turned his face away and said, “You don’t know good stuffs.”

Chen Yuncheng stepped out of his car, and raised his hand to help him close the door, “Officer Long, take care.”

As Long Zhanyu drove away, Chen Yun Cheng returned to his kiosk and did nothing but tidy up the containers and was thinking about what to have for dinner when another car pulled up in front of his shop.

Chen Yuncheng put down the things in his hand, and leaned against the counter to look outside.

It was a black car. After it stopped, the back door opened, and a middle-aged man in his 40s stepped out. The man was a little fat, but he was tall. He looked tall and strong, giving people a sense of oppression.

He got out of the car and walked straight toward Chen Yuncheng, showing a smile with little sincerity and said, “Yuncheng, it’s been a long time.”

“Yong ge,” Chen Yuncheng smiled back, “It’s really been a long time since I saw you.”

Zhang Wenyong went all the way to the door of the store, stopped in front of the counter, looked at Chen Yuncheng’s small kiosk, and asked, “You have some buyer here?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Not bad.”

Zhang Wenyong chuckled and smiled, looking grim, and then said, “Then the business is probably good, it’s more profitable than hanging out with the brothers, right?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s not profitable, it’s just a peace of mind.”

Zhang Wenyong’s eyes fell on his face, and he said, “You are quite stable. Have you ever thought about how well Anlin’s life has been in the past two years?”

Chen Yuncheng did not speak.

Zhang Wenyong then burst into laughter. He reached out across the counter and patted Chen Yuncheng on the shoulder, saying, “I have good news for you, Guan Anlin is out.”

Chen Yuncheng looked very calm, “Really?”

Zhang Wenyong looked at him, and stopped laughing, pretending to be surprised, “Why are you unhappy? Before he went in, he always regarded you as his best brother.”

Chen Yuncheng smiled lightly, “Of course, I’m happy for him.”

Zhang Wenyong said, “Since you are happy, don’t just talk about it, let’s go. I arranged to pick up Anlin tonight, and now I’m here to pick you up.”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer him immediately.

Zhang Wenyong put one arm on the counter and said, “What? You are not going to show some respect even when Yong ge came in person?”

“It’s not that,” Chen Yuncheng said, “Of course, I have to go to Anlin’s welcome party, Yong ge wait for a moment, I will follow you after I clean up the kiosk and close the door.”

Zhang Wenyong took two steps away from the counter, lit a cigarette and stood smoking on the side of the road. He looked at Chen Yuncheng’s dilapidated kiosk and sneered.

Chen Yuncheng turned off the TV, locked the container of tobacco and alcohol, and then went outside, standing on tiptoe and pulling down the shutter.

During this process, Zhang Wenyong kept smoking a cigarette and watched him from the side.

After he finished everything, Chen Yuncheng said to Zhang Wenyong, “Let’s go, Yong ge.”

Zhang Wenyong raised his chin towards the car door, “Get in.”

Notes:

Hello~
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Chapter 11

July 31, 2022 / hoenimochi / 0 Comments

The taxi Chen Yuncheng called came. The rain was still falling when they got back to Chen Yuncheng’s kiosk. Although it was not as bad as before, a lot of rainwater had accumulated in the low-lying areas of the ground. There were hardly any pedestrians along the way, and the shops were closed. All that was left was the annoying winter rain that misted the sky and the ground.

As he got off the car, Chen Yuncheng took two steps around Ning Junyan’s parked car and scurried under the eaves of the house, crouched down and used the key to open the door. He opened the rolling shutter to half body height, turned back to look at Ning Junyan, waited for Ning Junyan to get in first, and then he followed.

After he closed the shutter, Chen Yuncheng carried the heater into the inner room, reached out to turn on the light in the room, and first found a place to plug the heater in.

This was the first time Ning Junyan had entered Chen Yuncheng’s bedroom. He stood by the door and silently surveyed the entire room.

Chen Yuncheng stretched out his hand to him, “Go to the fire. Give me your coat, and I’ll wipe the water for you.”

When he heard this, Ning Junyan looked at Chen Yuncheng, raised his hand and slowly took off the cashmere coat on his body and handed it to Chen Yuncheng.

He was wearing a soft light grey cashmere sweater underneath, and a white shirt underneath. He unbuttoned two buttons on the collar of his shirt, rolled up his sleeves slightly to expose his wrists, and walked towards the heater.

Chen Yuncheng took a hanger to hang up Ning Junyan’s coat, and at the same time turned around and said to him, “Sit by my bed,” He then went into the bathroom and took a dry towel to wipe off the rainwater on the coat.

Ning Junyan sat down on the edge of Chen Yuncheng’s bed, glanced down at the light blue sheets, and pressed his palm against them, sliding them gently.

It was a double bed, but it was only one and a half meters wide. There was only one pillow and one quilt on the bed, and only the scent of Chen Yuncheng alone could be smelled.

A scent that was familiar to Ning Junyan.

The raindrops on the coat were wiped off, but it was still slightly damp when touched. He looked at Ning Junyan and asked, “Are you cold?”

Ning Junyan shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng said, “Then you can put it on later, it will probably dry after hanging for a while.”

Ning Junyan just said, “Okay.”

It was already 9:30 pm. Chen Yuncheng remembered what he had just said about inviting Ning Junyan to drink. He went out to the kiosk to get two bottles of beer at the counter and found some snacks to drink.

Back in the inner room, Chen Yuncheng moved the small table against the wall to the side of the bed, put beer and snacks on it, and pulled up a chair to sit opposite Ning Junyan. When he was about to open the bottle cap, Chen Yuncheng hesitated again. He said to Ning Junyan, “It’s so cold, why don’t we boil beer and drink it? Is it okay for you to drink?”

Ning Junyan didn’t answer directly, but asked, “You know how to cook?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled and said, “This is quite simple.”

Ning Junyan said, “Fine.”

Chen Yuncheng got up and found the induction cooker and a small soup pot that had not been used for a long time in the room. There was no other place to put them, and they could only be placed on the small table in front of the bed. He went outside to find red dates, wolfberry and a small bottle of rice wine. He came back and sat down at the table, opened the two bottles of beer, and poured them all into the pot that was cleaned completely.

Ning Junyan watched his movements and said, “You have everything here.”

Chen Yuncheng looked very focused, stared at the half-pot of beer in front of him and said, “Occasionally, the uncles and old ladies who live nearby also come to buy things. The nearest big supermarket is still quite far away, but it seems that a small supermarket is going to open up ahead.”

With the opening of a small supermarket, Chen Yuncheng’s small kiosk might probably be even more out of business.

Ning Junyan asked him, “What are your plans when the supermarket opens?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “If the business really can’t go on, the goods that can be returned will be returned, and I will do something else.” He hadn’t really thought about what exactly he was going to do.

The red dates and wolfberry were added, and half a bottle of rice wine was poured into it. Chen Yuncheng turned on the induction cooker, and soon the hot and humid mist evaporated. The air was filled with the scent of beer mixed with a touch of sweetness.

Chen Yuncheng stirred the pot with a spoon, and he asked Ning Junyan, “Are you busy with work?”

Ning Junyan said, “It’s okay, I’m used to it.” After speaking, he added, “There is an operation today, which starts at ten in the morning and ends at four in the afternoon.”

“That long?” Chen Yuncheng was surprised, “What if you were to have a meal in the middle?”

Ning Junyan said, “I didn’t eat. I waited until the surgery was over before eating.”

Chen Yuncheng asked, “You are standing beside the operating table all the time? Don’t you feel tired?”

Ning Junyan said, “I’m too focused to feel it.”

Chen Yuncheng gave him a thumbs up, “You doctors are amazing.”

Ning Junyan didn’t say anything and just looked at him through the steaming mist. The hands that had just undergone the surgery today were resting on the bedside relaxedly. His fingers were long and thin, and the light blue blood vessels on the back of his hands were clearly visible. Further up was the wrist protruding from the edges of the sleeves, his wrist was not very slender but looked very strong, and the prominent carpal bones were clearly visible.

When the beer was ready, Chen Yuncheng turned down the heat on the induction stove to keep it warm, took a spoon and ladled it into two glasses, then poured the peanuts and peas for the wine into a small saucer.

He first picked up the wine glass and said to Ning Junyan, “I toast to you.”

Ning Junyan also reached out and raised the cup in front of him, clinking with Chen Yuncheng, and calmly replied, “Thank you.” He put the cup to his lips and took a sip of warm and sweet beer.

The room was very quiet, and the sound of the rain outside could be heard, as well as the occasional grunt of the induction cooker heating beer.

Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan chatted as they drank.

“I was sent to school afterwards,” Chen Yuncheng said, referring to his experience after separating from Ning Junyan. “It was one of those social welfare schools that let me study until I was eighteen. But I failed to get into university, so I just came out to work, and I have done a lot of work over the years.”

He didn’t hear Ning Junyan’s response, he looked up and saw that Ning Junyan was looking at him intently, as if listening to him carefully, so he continued, “Then I met Zhou Yan. He was sent home at the time, but it seems he ran away before he graduated from high school, saying he didn’t want to stay in that home. At that time I let Zhou Yan follow me and work for someone outside.”

Ning Junyan said, “I never heard from you.”

Chen Yuncheng smiled when he heard the words, “It’s alright, it’s not like you’re the same as us.”

They both drank a lot of alcohol, but the boiled beer has a very low concentration. Both of them were sober and only slightly drunk.

Chen Yuncheng shook the small half glass of wine in the glass and said, “I remember the last time you came to me, you also said that you had an operation in the afternoon.”

Ning Junyan gave a soft “um”.

Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Do you want to relax after the surgery?”

This time, Ning Junyan took a moment before answering him, “No, it’s not relaxation.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him curiously.

Ning Junyan said, “It’s discontentment.”

“Discontentment?” Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “I don’t understand.”

Ning Junyan lay on his back on Chen Yuncheng’s bed, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and said, “A dissatisfaction after high concentration and tension, do you understand, Chen Yuncheng?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t understand.”

Ning Junyan said, “I want more.”

After saying this, Ning Junyan stopped talking. Chen Yuncheng thought he was drunk and was a little surprised that Ning Junyan was so bad at drinking.

Chen Yuncheng stood up and walked around the table to the bed, looked down at Ning Junyan, reached out to pat his face, and called out his name softly, “Ning Junyan?”

Ning Junyan suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist, opened his eyes and asked calmly, “What time is it?”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment and said, “It’s almost eleven o’clock.”

Ning Junyan said, “I should go.”

He said these words but never moved, and he didn’t release his grip on Chen Yuncheng’s hand for a long time.

The author has something to say:

I have the urge to change the label of Qiangqiang¹, I think this article may not meet many people’s definition of Qiangqiang

Notes:
Dissatisfaction?
Is it what I think it is?
Happy birthday to you~

Notes:
We 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~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 10

July 23, 2022 / hoenimochi / 0 Comments

Despite the damp and cold weather, there were still plenty of people coming out for a drink. At this time when the whole bar street was just getting busy, cars could be seen gradually filling up on the roadside with some people getting out of their cars. They were already stumbling around and drunk, but they were still walking toward the door of the bar on the street.

When Chen Yuncheng came out, the down coat was still in his hand, and the cold air hit him instantly, causing him to shiver. He let go of Ning Junyan’s hand and raised his hand to put the coat on.

Ning Junyan lowered his eyes and looked at him without saying anything.

While Chen Yuncheng was putting on his clothes, he looked around the street to find the back of the man who had left just now, leaned into Ning Junyan’s ear and said, “Let’s follow that man.”

Ning Junyan followed Chen Yuncheng’s line of sight, recognized the man who came out of the bar at a glance, and asked, “Who is that?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I’ll tell you later.” He had already put on his coat, raised his hand to pat Ning Junyan’s arm and walked towards the front.

The people in front were walking unhurriedly, and the two of them followed unhurriedly, as if they were taking a leisurely stroll after dinner.

As he walked, Ning Junyan asked him, “Aren’t you buying me a drink?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled, “Let’s drink later. It’s not like the wine would run away.”

After a while, Chen Yuncheng turned his head and asked Ning Junyan, “Why are you suddenly looking for me? Is there nothing wrong?”

Ning Junyan said, “I’m just looking for you.”

“Do you want to drink?”

“Anything you want.”

Chen Yuncheng glanced at him and said, “Then please accompany me for a walk for a little longer.”

But their walk didn’t last too long. After following the X-ethnic person in front of them for more than twenty minutes, they saw him turn into a dimly lit street and then enter a small hotel on the roadside.

Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan stopped and waited for a while before walking to the door of the hotel.

The hotel barely had a so-called lobby, just a narrow reception desk and a two-seater sofa near the glass window. It was dimly lit inside, and a young girl sat at the front desk, looking at her phone with her head down.

Ning Junyan raised his head and glanced at the hotel’s tacky signboard, looked at Chen Yuncheng, and asked him seriously, “Going in?”

Chen Yuncheng laughed, “Why go in, we are not going in.” He also glanced at the hotel sign and wrote down the name.

Ning Junyan asked him again, “Aren’t you looking for someone?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, he stretched out his hand and pulled Ning Junyan’s arm, wanting to ask him to leave with him, but as soon as he took two steps, heavy rain suddenly fell from the sky.

The heavy rain fell without any preparation, and only heard the sound of “Sha—”, and it fell overwhelmingly, instantly wetting Chen Yuncheng’s hair.

Chen Yuncheng reluctantly pulled Ning Junyan back, and they stood under the eaves of the hotel to shelter from the rain.

Both were silent for a moment and looked up at the heavy rain in the sky.

Chen Yuncheng was a little embarrassed. He asked Ning Junyan, “Did you drive?”

Ning Junyan said, “It’s parked in front of your kiosk.”

Chen Yuncheng asked, “Why didn’t you drive over?”

Ning Junyan turned to look at him, “Aren’t you going to buy me a drink? How can I drive?”

Chen Yuncheng was speechless for a moment. But even if Ning Junyan had driven over, it was still over twenty minutes away from here to the bar. It was raining so hard and they didn’t have an umbrella, so they definitely couldn’t walk over to get the car.

At this time, a middle-aged man dodges his way along the street, and his hair was almost soaked. He ran to the hotel door and headed inside.

The front of the hotel was not big, so Ning Junyan and Chen Yuncheng had to move back to make way for him.

When the middle-aged man entered, he kept looking back and forth at the two of them with strange eyes.

Chen Yuncheng smiled at him, but Ning Junyan looked indifferent and didn’t even look at him, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable at all.

The middle-aged man went in.

Chen Yuncheng said to Ning Junyan, “I’ll get a taxi.” He took out his mobile phone, opened the taxi app, and saw that it was the peak time for using a car and that a queue was expected to take more than ten minutes for the car to arrive.

Ning Junyan looked ahead with a blank expression, the cashmere coat on his body was drenched in rainwater, and there were still raindrops that were constantly blown to their front by the wind.

Chen Yuncheng peeked at him from the side and suddenly felt that Ning Junyan today was out of tune with this kind of place. He felt sorry for him to hide from the rain with him at the entrance of such a small hotel, so he said, “Why don’t we go in.”

Ning Junyan turned his head and was silent for a while before asking, “Do you want to open a room?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “No need, the car will arrive in more than ten minutes. It shouldn’t matter if we sit on the sofa for a while.”

Before Ning Junyan could answer him, he turned around and pushed open the glass door of the hotel and walked in.

The hotel lobby was too small that almost as soon as he entered he was already standing in front of the front desk.

The young girl who had been burying her head and devoted herself to watching Korean dramas raised her head and asked subconsciously, “Do you want to open the room?”

After she asked, she looked at Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan with surprised expressions. It wasn’t that it was strange for two men to open a room, but when she looked at Ning Junyan, she didn’t think he was someone who stayed in such a small hotel.

Chen Yuncheng said with a natural attitude, “We’re waiting for the car.”

The girl didn’t understand the situation either, so she just nodded blankly and watched the two of them walk to the sofa and sit down.

The two-seater sofa was quite narrow, so the two of them were close together when they sat down.

Chen Yuncheng saw the fine water droplets on Ning Junyan’s clothes and took out a pack of tissues from his pocket. He had been carrying this pack of tissues all day, and it looked crumpled and not very clean.

When he saw Ning Junyan looking down, he quickly said, “It’s clean inside.” He took out a sheet and handed it to Ning Junyan, and said, “Wipe the water off your body.”

Ning Junyan extended his hand and took it, but did not do anything else.

When Chen Yuncheng saw it, he pulled out another tissue to help him wipe the rain off his shoulders and front.

Ning Junyan lowered his eyes and looked at Chen Yuncheng’s actions.

After a while, Chen Yuncheng threw the soaked tissue into the bin not far away and said to Ning Junyan, “It’ll do.”

Ning Junyan obviously didn’t care what his clothes would look like. He just turned his head and glanced at the heavy rain that showed no sign of stopping outside, and asked, “Are we still going to drink?”

Chen Yuncheng was looking down at his phone, and he said with a smile, “Do you want to go back to the bar?”

Ning Junyan said, “Somewhere quieter.”

When Chen Yuncheng saw that the car would arrive in a few minutes, he thought about it and said, “Then why don’t we go back to my kiosk and I’ll buy you a drink, I have a beer there.” After he said that, Chen Yuncheng felt that it was not quite right. The last time he invited Ning Junyan to dinner was also in his kiosk, and the food was very simple, so he added, “You can go to a bar if you want, let’s change to a quiet one.”

Ning Junyan said, “Let’s go to your place.”

Chen Yuncheng smiled, “Okay.”

Notes:
We 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~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 9

July 16, 2022 / hoenimochi / 1 Comment

From that day onwards, the rain continued to fall for several days in a row.

Apart from a few familiar customers who came to buy cigarettes every day, Chen Yuncheng’s kiosk did not do much business. The rain made him restless, and he couldn’t even watch the TV very much. He spent much of his time leaning on the counter, looking out at the cold, damp street.

The rain stopped by the end of the day, but the streets outside were still very deserted. No one was seen passing by for a long time, and because of the gloomy weather. The sky darkened earlier than usual, and no light was visible before eight o’clock.

Chen Yuncheng came out of the kiosk, stood for a while under the dim street lights, closed the store door, and walked outside against the dry ground under the eaves.

After walking for more than 20 minutes, Chen Yuncheng turned into a gleaming street with many bars, each with its own dazzlingly lit sign. At night, the business was lively, and this was the gathering area for the X-ethnic people.

Chen Yuncheng entered a familiar bar. Even though it was said to be familiar, he hadn’t been here for quite a long time. When he entered the bar, he found that most of the waiters had changed into unfamiliar faces, except for the owner, who was still the same.

The bar owner’s wife was also a part of the X-ethnic people, but she was dressed no different from the local Han people. She sat at the bar and noticed someone approaching as she looked up and saw it was Chen Yuncheng.

She flashed a smile at Chen Yuncheng, “Long time no see.” There was a subtle accent to the Chinese language she used that could not be detected unless one listened closely.

Chen Yuncheng walked over and sat down in front of the bar, and said, “Yeah, long time no see.”

The owner’s name was Namu. She looked like she was in her late twenties and early thirties. Her bar had been here for some years and Chen Yuncheng guessed she must be in her thirties, but never asked her.

Namu said to Chen Yuncheng, “Why are you alone?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled and said, “Are single customers not welcome now?”

Namu smiled and said, “You haven’t been here for a long time. I thought you got married.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I’m not married. I just opened a shop, and I’ve been watching the shop at night, so I don’t have time to come out.”

Namu didn’t continue to ask, but just asked him, “What would you like to drink?”

Chen Yuncheng said casually, “A beer.”

Namu turned around to pour a beer.

Chen Yuncheng also turned around and glanced around the bar. It wasn’t too late and there weren’t too many customers in the bar at this time of night, so he could almost see all of them at once.

He didn’t expect to find the two people that Long Zhanyu said easily. In fact, he wasn’t too keen on helping Long Zhan Yu find them. He knew that Long Zhanyu used him as an informant, but he didn’t like Long Zhanyu’s almost sort of coercive attitude. It was his duty as a citizen to report crimes, but it was not his responsibility as an ordinary citizen to find the suspects. So he could help if he wanted to, but if not, there was nothing Long Zhan Yu could do about it.

Chen Yuncheng picked up the beer mug in front of him and took a sip. When he put down the beer mug, he suddenly felt a little warm, so he reached out and unzipped the down jacket and took it off.

He placed the jacket on the back of the chair, and Chen Yuncheng took the phone out of his pocket. He saw a WeChat message from Ning Junyan with only a word that asked him, “Where?”

Ning Junyan hadn’t contacted him for several days, and Chen Yuncheng didn’t know why Ning Junyan suddenly remembered him today. Chen Yuncheng stared at the message for a while and replied, “Where are you?”

Unexpectedly, Ning Junyan sent him a photo, and Chen Yuncheng was a little surprised to find that it was the closed shutter door of his kiosk.

“Why did you come all of a sudden?” Chen Yuncheng typed one after another, “I’m drinking at a bar, come over and I’ll buy you a drink.”

After sending these two lines, Chen Yuncheng then sent his location over.

Ning Junyan replied quickly, “Okay.”

Until he put the phone on the bar, Chen Yuncheng still felt surprised. He didn’t understand why Ning Junyan came to look for him without greeting him in advance. It was also so late, and he didn’t know why Ning Junyan was looking for him. Did he want to have a chat?

Namu had already returned to the inside of the bar counter. She was standing in front of Chen Yuncheng, with one hand resting on her face as she chatted with Chen Yuncheng, her perfume emitting a light scent.

She asked Chen Yuncheng, “Why are you still single?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled, “You want to introduce me to a girlfriend?”

Namu actually responded seriously, “I know a few good girls, all of them are from the X ethnicity. Would you like to meet them?”

Chen Yuncheng put his fingers on the cold glass outer wall of the wine glass and smiled, “Girls look down on me a lot. I have no money.”

Namu said, “We X-ethnic people are different, our girls are not so snobbish, and they are all about feelings. You are so handsome, so there will definitely be girls who like you.”

Chen Yuncheng said with a smile, “The men of your X-ethnic people are all tall and have deep facial features. I’m not really that handsome in comparison, I guess.”

Namu smiled back as she said, “I think you are handsome.”

Perhaps because it was not his mother tongue, Chen Yuncheng often felt that Namu was very direct in her words when she communicated, and there were not so many euphemisms and pedantry.

He thought about it seriously, if he really wanted to get married, he didn’t mind whether the other party was from Han or X people, but he didn’t want Namu to introduce him to girls. He sometimes felt a bit lonely on his own but was not desperate to start a family, and what exactly he wanted in the future was something Chen Yuncheng himself had not yet considered.

Namu chatted with him for a while and then left.

Chen Yuncheng glanced at the time. It had been ten minutes since Ning Junyan sent him a message. If Ning Junyan drove from his store, he should have arrived long ago.

He put down his phone and glanced around the bar subconsciously.

This time, Chen Yuncheng saw a tall man come out from the direction of the bathroom. He was walking alone to a seat against the wall of the bar and sat down and hold his mobile phone to talk to someone on the phone.

Even if the bar was dimly lit, Chen Yuncheng could still see the person’s appearance clearly. It was one of the X-ethnic people who Long Zhanyu had shown him the photo.

Chen Yuncheng picked up his mobile phone, secretly took a photo of the man, and sent it directly to Long Zhanyu.

Long Zhanyu immediately dialled his number and asked him, “Where?”

Chen Yuncheng said the name and address of the bar.

Long Zhanyu asked again, “Is he alone?”

Chen Yuncheng gave a soft “En.”

Long Zhanyu said, “Don’t alarm him, see if he has any contact with any local people later.”

Then Chen Yuncheng made another “En” and hung up the phone.

After a few minutes, Ning Junyan pushed open the door of the bar and walked in.

Chen Yuncheng had his back to the door, but when he felt the cold wind blowing in from the door, he saw Namu in the bar suddenly looking up, so he turned his head to follow suit and saw Ning Junyan wearing a black cashmere coat.

Ning Junyan’s appearance was too conspicuous. When he came in, many guests in the bar glanced at him, including the X-ethnic person who was leaning against the wall.

The man had just finished the phone call, and when he looked up and saw Ning Junyan, no one knew what he was thinking. The man suddenly got up and walked towards the door.

Chen Yuncheng saw him pass by Ning Junyan. Ning Junyan also saw Chen Yuncheng and was walking toward him.

“I’ll transfer the drink money to you by WeChat,” Chen Yuncheng said to Namu. He took the beer mug and drank the last sip of beer in it, grabbed his down jacket and got up, and walked over to meet Ning Junyan.

At this time, the X-ethnic person had already left the bar.

Chen Yuncheng walked up to Ning Junyan, and before Ning Junyan spoke, he grabbed Ning Junyan’s wrist and pulled him out, and whispered in his ear, “Follow me.”

Ning Junyan glanced down at his wrist and walked out of the bar behind Chen Yuncheng.

Notes:
I started to translate something else in meantime~
Check the novel out here~
But dw, I already prepared a lot of MA to not miss any weekly update~

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~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 8

July 9, 2022 / hoenimochi / 2 Comments

TL:Hoenimochi
TLC: Hoenibean

By the end of the day, Chen Yuncheng had not stolen anything else. Perhaps it was because the day was too hot, and he couldn’t keep his energy up. After lunch, he took Ning Junyan around for a while and found a shaded place under the overpass to lie down and sleep.

At first, Ning Junyan squatted down beside him, Chen Yuncheng looked up at him and asked, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Ning Junyan shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng said, “Sleep for a while, it’s too hot.”

Ning Junyan did not have the intention to lie down.

Chen Yuncheng narrowed his eyes for a while and opened them again, he said to him, “Then can you sit down and let me rest on your lap?”

Ning Junyan looked down at him.

Chen Yuncheng said, “If you don’t want to, forget it.”

In the end, Ning Junyan still sat down.

Chen Yuncheng rested his head on Ning Junyan’s lap and comfortably closed his eyes, “I’m going to sleep.”

He slept for the whole afternoon, woke up halfway and didn’t bother to get up, only opening his eyes to peek at Ning Junyan.

Ning Junyan sat by the flower terrace and looked into the distance with a calm expression. If he didn’t say anything, no one would probably be able to tell that he was a dumb boy who couldn’t even remember his own name.

Chen Yuncheng changed his posture, a little afraid that Ning Junyan might get tired of sitting and push him away. He waited nervously for a while to find that Ning Junyan did not respond, and then went back to sleep with confidence.

When the sun went down, it was finally not so hot anymore.

Chen Yuncheng found ten dollars left in his pocket. He looked at Ning Junyan and said, “Let’s go back.”

Ning Junyan nodded.

Chen Yuncheng said, “With only ten yuan, we won’t have any dinner to eat when we go back.”

Ning Junyan did not speak.

Chen Yuncheng was shorter than him, so he stood on tiptoe close to his ear, and whispered, “But we can use the ten dollars to buy dinner secretly, and make sure to not let our foster parents know about it.” After he said this, he saw that Ning Junyan did not respond and asked again, “Do you understand?”

Ning Junyan nodded this time and said, “I understand.”

Chen Yuncheng went to buy two guokui¹stewed meat and shared them with Ning Junyan. Although the guokui was not big, it was stuffed with semi-fat marinated meat, and the oily marinade seeped down into the pastry, making them very satisfying for the two teenagers to eat.

On the way back, Chen Yuncheng found a public toilet and washed his face with clean water next to the sink. After washing, he called Ning Junyan over, wiped his mouth and chin with his wet hands a few times and leaned closer. After smelling it, he felt that there was no smell, so he asked Ning Junyan, “Do you still smell braised pork on me?”

Ning Junyan raised his hand to wipe the water on his face, and when he heard the words, he sniffed Chen Yuncheng’s lips like a puppy and then shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng wiped the water off his clothes and said, “Let’s go then.”

When he got back to the yard, their foster father and foster mother had already started to eat dinner. The two of them came back empty-handed and naturally had nothing to eat.

Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan stood at the door of the kitchen. Their foster father sat at the table while peeling peanuts and drinking. When he heard Chen Yuncheng’s words, he raised his head and looked at them.

Their foster mother didn’t say anything.

Their foster father said to Ning Junyan, “Get out first.”

Ning Junyan didn’t respond.

Their foster father reached out and pointed at him, “I’m talking to you, idiot!”

Chen Yuncheng reached out and pushed Ning Junyan. He pushed him out of the kitchen.

The foster father then said to Chen Yuncheng, “Come over here and kneel down.”

Chen Yuncheng walked over and knelt down near the dining table.

After that, no one talked to him. His foster father drank and ate his food, while his foster mother finished her meal and started washing the pots, pans and dishes.

After his foster father finished eating, he stepped on the stool beside him with one foot, looked at Chen Yuncheng and said, “Chen Yuncheng, you are becoming more and more disobedient.”

Chen Yuncheng lowered his head and didn’t dare to speak.

His foster mother cleaned the table and said without looking up, “You’re becoming less honest as you get older.”

His foster father said, “Do you know how your foster mother and I adopted so many children, but how you were the only one left alone in the end?”

Chen Yuncheng looked at the floor silently.

His foster father continued, “Because you are different from them. We raised you as our own son, and in the future, you will have to provide for your foster parents, do you know that?”

Chen Yuncheng replied in a low voice, “I know.”

His foster mother suddenly threw the rag in her hand onto the table, “You’re an orphan, if we hadn’t taken you in, you would have starved to death outside! Don’t you know how much food you’ve eaten at home over the past few years? Two years ago, you were a good boy, you were able to earn money when you went out, but now you’ve learned to cheat and play tricks?”

His foster father raised his hand and waved it, motioning her to stop talking, and said to her, “Yuncheng is still a good boy, we just need to say a few words.” Then he said to Chen Yuncheng, “Think about it. And that silly boy outside, just forget it if you can’t teach him, I’ll send him away. Don’t let him hold you back.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

Their foster father spread out his hand towards their foster mother, “Where are the biscuits you bought?”

His foster mother looked at him for a moment, grumbled and opened the cupboard, fished out a letter of biscuits from inside and put it in the palm of his foster father’s hand.

His foster father handed it to Chen Yuncheng, “Take it, it’s for you alone.”

Chen Yuncheng took it and said, “Thank you foster father, thank you foster mother.”

His foster father waved his hand, “Get out.”

Chen Yuncheng stood up and walked out of the kitchen very quietly. When he reached the door, his foster mother suddenly stopped him and said to him, “It’s so hot, if you want to take a bath, use cold water, don’t waste the gas.”

“Okay,” Chen Yuncheng replied and left the kitchen.

When he came out of the yard, he found that Ning Junyan was still squatting by the wall. He was not in the mood to speak and went back to the room by himself.

Ning Junyan followed him after a while.

Chen Yuncheng sat beside the bed, glanced at the biscuits on the bedside table, and said, “Are you hungry, Yanyan?”

Ning Junyan shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng stood up, took the biscuits to the wardrobe and hid them, saying, “Then eat them later.”

After he hid the biscuits, he went back to the bed and sat down. He lay down again after a while and reached out to grab the quilt to cover his face.

***

Ning Junyan appeared suddenly that day and left after a meal. He did not contact Chen Yuncheng for several days.

But those memories of the past poured in like a tide. Even though Chen Yuncheng was reluctant to think about it, he couldn’t help but recall many things at that time.

Asking for Ning Junyan and Zhou Yan to have dinner together was just a casual remark, but now he had the urge and seriously wanted to contact the two of them for a reunion.

It had been raining since the morning and the temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees again. Chen Yuncheng got up after a long sleep, opened the shutters of the store and saw that the street was deserted with very few pedestrians.

A tattered looking white Jetta was parked on the side of the street. Long Zhanyu opened the car door, got out of the car and walked into the store.

Chen Yuncheng stood up and showed a warm smile, “Officer Long, here to buy cigarettes?”

Long Zhanyu didn’t answer him, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket, lowered his head to fiddle with it for a while, put it on the counter, and asked Chen Yuncheng, “Have you seen these two people?”

When Chen Yuncheng heard the words, he lowered his head to look and saw what looked like repeated footage of a surveillance video. On the screen, the faces of the two tall young men were clearly photographed. The two people had the same characteristics, a high nose bridge, curly hair, and dark skin, not like Han² people.

“X-ethnic people³?” Chen Yuncheng asked subconsciously.

Long Zhanyu ran his finger across the screen before the phone went black and said, “Seen them before?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head.

Long Zhanyu took back the phone and said, “Then help me to keep an eye to see who is in contact with these two people.”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned when he heard his words and asked Long Zhanyu, “How am I going to keep an eye out? I don’t know these two people at all, and I’m here every day watching the shop. How can I get in touch with these people?”

Long Zhanyu took out a cigarette and bit it between his lips. He then just looked at Chen Yuncheng without speaking.

Chen Yuncheng had no choice but to reach out and grab a lighter to help him light a cigarette.

Long Zhanyu seemed a little careless, “You can look for your former friends, maybe there are some who know them.”

Chen Yuncheng said softly, “Officer, don’t play with me. Do you already have a clue? Who are these two people? Who exactly are they related to? Zhang Wenyong?”

Long Zhanyu didn’t answer, but said, “Do you know that your brother is getting out of prison?”

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~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 7

July 3, 2022 / hoenimochi / 2 Comments

TL:Hoenimochi
TLC: Hoenibean

The little girl took two loaves and left.

Ning Junyan also stood up at this time. He said to Chen Yuncheng, “I’ll leave first.”

“Leaving already?” Chen Yuncheng was habitually polite, “Sit a while longer, I’ll go get you a glass of water.”

Ning Junyan said to him, “No need.”

Chen Yuncheng no longer insisted, he came out from the counter, sent Ning Junyan out, and kept watching him as he got into the car.

The passenger window slid down and Chen Yuncheng bowed beside the window, saying to him, “We’ll get together more often when we have the chance.”

This was originally a polite remark, and Chen Yuncheng didn’t mean much when he said it, but unexpectedly Ning Junyan asked him, “Really?”

Chen Yuncheng laughed when he heard the words, “Of course, it’s for real. I think it’s fate that we know each other.”

Ning Junyan didn’t speak and just looked at him.

Chen Yuncheng said, “By the way, do you still remember Zhou Yan?”

Ning Junyan lowered his eyes. He seemed to think for a moment, before then saying, “I don’t remember.”

Chen Yuncheng smiled and said, “It’s normal that you don’t remember. Next time when we have the chance to have dinner together, maybe you’ll recall.”

Ning Junyan said, “Maybe.”

Chen Yuncheng backed away from the car and waved to him, “Take care.”

Ning Junyan drove the car forward and soon merged into the crowded traffic.

Chen Yuncheng was still standing on the side of the road, looking at the direction his car was leaving. After a while, he turned his head to look at the other side of the intersection. He saw that the girl who bought bread just now was still standing at the intersection.

It was winter now. Although there were still a lot of cars on the street at this time, there were already very few pedestrians. The girl stood at the intersection for a while, and when the green light came on, she crossed the road with two or three other people and then continued to move forward, disappearing from Chen Yuncheng’s sight.

Only then did Chen Yuncheng turn around and go back to the store. He pulled down the rolling shutter halfway, went back to the counter, turned on the TV that was just turned off, and used the remote control to switch channels aimlessly. His mind was not on the TV show, he kept thinking of that little girl and then of Ning Junyan.

At ten years old, Ning Junyan was already quite old. Their foster father would not normally bring back a child of that age, as he will not be able to control him.

But Chen Yuncheng thought that there might be something wrong with Ning Junyan’s head because he didn’t even know what his name was.

“Don’t you know what your name is?”

At that time, Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan were both squatting under the tree by the roadside, looking at the people passing by. There was a university in front of them. At noon and in the afternoon, many students would come out of the school gate in groups of three or five and cross the road to eat street snacks across the street.

It was noon at this time and there were many people. The sun was too hot, and Chen Yuncheng hid under the tree. He didn’t want to move.

Ning Junyan squatted beside him silently.

Early that morning, their foster father asked Chen Yuncheng to bring Ning Junyan out and asked Chen Yuncheng to teach him how to work and make money.

“If you guys don’t make money, I’m not just going tofeed you free of charge am I?” Their foster father wore a white vest and ate breakfast with one foot on a chair, taking a sip of greasy noodle soup, putting the bowl down and starting to lecture, “The usual rules, no income today, no dinner.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded and brought Ning Junyan out when he went out.

The morning was unproductive, they had walked all the way near the university. The sun was too fierce towards noon so Chen Yuncheng found a shade to hide under.

Ning Junyan followed him and squatted down beside him.

Chen Yuncheng was lazy, he asked Ning Junyan, “Are you mute? What’s your name?”

After a while, Ning Junyan shook his head.

“Don’t you know what your name is?”

Ning Junyan still shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng said, “What’s wrong with you?”

Ning Junyan’s short hair was in a mess, still maintaining the look Chen Yuncheng had cut out for him with scissors.

Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Can you speak then? Do you want to copy me and try? My name is Chen Yuncheng.”

Ning Junyan looked at him.

Chen Yuncheng repeated, “Chen Yuncheng.”

Ning Junyan spoke suddenly and said vaguely, “Yanyan…”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned, he said, “What did you say?” Then he was a little happy, “So you are not mute?”

There was no expression on Ning Junyan’s face. He looked forward and said, “My name is Yanyan.”

“Which Yan¹?” Chen Yuncheng asked after him.

Ning Junyan shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng didn’t know why. For the longest time, he thought that Ning Junyan’s name was Yanyan. However, Ning Junyan didn’t explain clearly at that time.

“Yanyan²?” Looking at it from the side, Ning Junyan’s eyelashes were very long and dropped slightly, and under the upturned nose were light-coloured lips. The ten-year-old boy still has some androgynous childishness, but Chen Yuncheng felt that he was already very good-looking. Chen Yuncheng tried to remind him more, “Do you still remember your family?”

Ning Junyan’s eyelashes trembled, but he didn’t answer the question.

Chen Yuncheng glanced at the pedestrians passing by on the street, leaned close to Ning Junyan’s ear and whispered, “If you can find out how to go home, go back by yourself.”

Ning Junyan turned his head to look at him.

Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “I won’t tell our foster parents.”

After a long delay, Ning Junyan said, “I don’t know, my head hurts.”

Chen Yuncheng made a soft “ah”, and remembered the injury on Ning Junyan’s head. He stood up, touched the swollen part of Ning Junyan’s scalp with his fingers, and asked, “Does it hurt here?”

Ning Junyan visibly retracted his neck but didn’t cry out in pain.

Chen Yuncheng retracted his hands, wiped the sweat from his hands on his trousers, squatted back, and said, “So you’re not dumb, did you hit your head?”

There was no way for Ning Junyan to answer this question.

Chen Yuncheng cupped Ning Junyan’s face in his hands and sighed. He felt that he couldn’t help Ning Junyan.

After a while, Chen Yuncheng heard Ning Junyan’s stomach growl, he turned his head and asked him, “Are you hungry?”

Ning Junyan did not respond.

Chen Yuncheng stood up and said to Ning Junyan, “Wait for me here.” He walked towards the intersection in front of him, his small figure squeezed into the crowd waiting to cross the street.

In front of Chen Yuncheng, a girl with an umbrella put her mobile phone in her jacket pocket. He could easily take it out as long as he stretched out his hand; in front of him, a middle-aged man seemed to have money in his pocket. He couldn’t see how much it was, but either way, his whole pocket was bulging.

At the moment when the red light turned green, the crowd was chaotic as they walked forward. Instead of stealing the phone, Chen Yuncheng touched the middle-aged man’s pocket. He changed his direction and took a few steps to retreat to the periphery of the crowd, before then mixing in with the crowd coming from the opposite side and walking back.

He noticed that someone was looking at him, and the person behind him should have noticed that he had stolen some money, but no one alerted the middle-aged man.

Chen Yuncheng quickly walked back to Ning Junyan, pulled him up from the ground, and said, “Go.”

The two of them hid by the wall far away from the intersection. Chen Yuncheng took out the money and saw a handful of loose change in his hand, it was only about twenty yuan after counting.

Chen Yuncheng said to Ning Junyan, “Go eat first.”

Ning Junyan stared at the money in his hand and gave a “hmm” as a reply.

Notes:
The chapter this week can be published because of bean’s help (T⌓T)
Ah, also I received some ko-fi again after so long tho! Idk if it’s for garfield or morbid addiction’s. But I’m really grateful for the kofi ( ˃̣̣̥o˂̣̣̥ )
The past few weeks I was too busy to even upload chapters properly (most of garfield’s chapter was already scheduled a month ago). I got a new side job and it’s a bit exhausting because I couldn’t find the right balance yet, not only that this weekend I have to go on a 7AM flight and returned on a 10PM flight(on the same day) on Saturday and half passed out for the rest of Sunday. I’m really sorry about the very late update for morbid addiction’s chapter (ಥ﹏ಥ)
Sorry for the long rant, lol

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~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 6

June 26, 2022 / hoenimochi / 2 Comments

Ning Junyan had an operation in the afternoon. It was only when it was time to suture that he left the operating table, took off his blood-stained gloves and left the operating room.

In the corridor outside the operating room, Ning Junyan met a familiar doctor, nodded calmly, and walked toward the dressing room.

After he took a shower and changed clothes, Ning Junyan put on a white coat over his shirt, buttoned up while walking toward the elevator, and went back to the department office.

There was a private small refrigerator in his office, and there were only a few bottles of mineral water when he opened the refrigerator. He took a bottle, turned around and sat on the office chair. He unscrewed the bottle cap, raised his head and took a gulp.

He had the habit of drinking ice water all year round, and he couldn’t remember when he developed it.

After he drank the water, Ning Junyan sat on the chair and looked to the front indifferently. His slender fingers still had a warm touch, which was the touch of human flesh and blood through gloves, making him subconsciously rub his fingertips lightly.

The air conditioner was hot, and the hot water in the shower was also hot. Only the mineral water in his hand was still cold. He drank the last sip of water left at the bottom of the bottle and picked up the phone on the table.

It was almost six o’clock now.

It was at this time that Chen Yuncheng received a WeChat message from Ning Junyan, “Have you eaten yet?”

At that time, he was still watching an unfinished ball game and there was an inexplicable feeling that was interrupted, and he replied, “No.”

Ning Junyan immediately sent another message, “Wait for me.”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to reply, and put the phone aside. It just so happened that the ball game on the TV was over. He stood up in the middle of the narrow counter, leaned on the counter and looked outside, but he didn’t see Ning Junyan’s Land Rover. So he sat back again, picked up the phone and replied, “Sure, I’ll buy you dinner.”

After waiting for more than 40 minutes, Ning Junyan parked his Land Rover in front of Chen Yuncheng’s small kiosk, opened the door and got off.

Chen Yuncheng stood up from the chair and greeted him at the counter with a smile, “Coming in?”

Ning Junyan replied only one word, “En.”

Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Sit down for a while.”

There was also a wooden stool in the store, just outside the counter, Ning Junyan sat down on the stool and looked up at Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Do you smoke?”

Ning Junyan shook his head.

Chen Yuncheng asked again, “Just got off work?”

Ning Junyan replied, “Yes.”

Today, Ning Junyan wore a down jacket. Chen Yuncheng didn’t know what brand it was but only thought the model was nice, and it looked very thick. His down jacket was open, and he wore only a thin white shirt inside, and he didn’t seem to feel cold.

Chen Yuncheng leaned on the counter and said to him, “You didn’t tell me earlier that you are free today, so I can’t prepare in advance.”

Ning Junyan heard the words and asked, “Are you busy?”

There were only the two of them in the store, and no other customers were seen. Chen Yuncheng’s TV was always on, and it didn’t look like he was busy.

However, Chen Yuncheng smiled without changing his expression, and said, “I was quite busy in the afternoon, cleaning up this month’s bills.”

Ning Junyan nodded and asked again, “Are you done now?”

“I’m done,” Chen Yuncheng said, “What do you want to eat? I’ll treat you tonight.” After he finished speaking, he secretly prayed that Ning Junyan would never want to go to the high-end restaurant that night.

In the end, Ning Junyan said, “Anything is fine.”

Chen Yuncheng thought about it seriously, and said, “Why don’t you just eat here, I’ll go buy some food and come back, I also have a beer here, you can drink some wine.” He looked at Ning Junyan, wondering if the other party would mind.

Ning Junyan replied, “Okay.”

Chen Yuncheng went to a restaurant he frequented across the street and ordered a few dishes. He and Ning Junyan were inside the store and sat face to face at the counter for dinner.

Ning Junyan didn’t drink in the end, because he wanted to drive, and Chen Yuncheng only opened himself a bottle of beer.

“The taro chicken in this store is delicious,” Chen Yuncheng picked up a piece of taro with chopsticks and put it in his bowl, “I just don’t know if you’re used to eating it.”

“I’m used to eating everything,” Ning Junyan’s tone didn’t waver when he said this sentence.

Chen Yuncheng glanced at him subconsciously, hesitated for a while but still didn’t mention the past. It was just that he later found cucumbers in the side dish of taro chicken, and he was a little dazed, and asked Ning Junyan, “Are you still not eating cucumber?”

Ning Junyan looked up at him for a while before saying, “Do you remember?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled, “I still have a little impression,” he looked at Ning Junyan, “You can give me everything you don’t want to eat.”

This sentence was what he said to Ning Junyan when he was a child. He even remembered that when they were eating, Ning Junyan picked up the cucumbers in the bowl and threw them on the table because he didn’t eat cucumbers. The foster father that sat next to him raised his hand and gave Ning Junyan a slap in the face, and said grimly, “Pick it up and eat it.”

Chen Yuncheng held the chopsticks in one hand and the bowl in the other and didn’t dare to move. He peeked at Ning Junyan and saw that half of Ning Junyan’s face was quickly swollen, but he didn’t mean to be disobedient, so he stretched out his chopsticks and picked up the cucumber on the table and ate it.

“I like to eat cucumbers,” he said.

The foster father’s shrivelled mouth chewed on the rice and hummed, but said nothing.

Chen Yuncheng breathed a sigh of relief, then sneaked close to Ning Junyan’s ear and said to him, “You can give me whatever you don’t want to eat.”

At that time, Ning Junyan just glanced at him calmly.

Looking back now, Chen Yuncheng no longer felt the nervousness and anger he felt at the time, and he could even laugh.

Ning Junyan looked at him and suddenly asked, “Do you want whatever I give you?”

Chen Yuncheng wasn’t quite sure what his question meant, “What?”

Ning Junyan said, “It’s nothing, let’s eat.”

It was past eight o’clock in the evening after dinner.

Chen Yuncheng wiped the glass on the counter with a wet wipe, and at the same time peeked at Ning Junyan. He wanted to know if Ning Junyan had any intention of leaving.

Ning Junyan obviously did not.

Chen Yuncheng had to continue to find topics to chat with him, and asked him, “Why do you suddenly think of asking me for dinner today?”

Ning Junyan’s eyes kept falling on him, looking at his fingers holding the wet wipes, and said, “There is an operation in the afternoon.”

“Huh?” Chen Yuncheng didn’t understand what he meant.

Ning Junyan’s answer seemed to have nothing to do with his question, “It’s more troublesome.”

Chen Yuncheng asked, “Is it going well?”

Ning Junyan nodded.

Chen Yuncheng said, “That’s good.”

“Doing the surgery ……,” Ning Junyan said, “Requires a lot of concentration.”

Chen Yuncheng followed his words and said, “Yeah, that definitely requires full attention.”

Ning Junyan lowered his head and looked at his hand. He held the fingers of his right hand with his left hand. The fingertips recalled the touch of fresh blood, and said in a slightly colder tone, “I want to vent after that.”

Chen Yuncheng stopped cleaning the glass and leaned on the counter, “How d you want to vent?”

Ning Junyan raised his head to look at him but did not answer the question.

For some reason, the look in Ning Junyan’s eyes made Chen Yuncheng a little uncomfortable at that moment. Just when he was about to say something, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice from outside the store.

A little girl looked up at him and said, “I want to buy some bread.”

Chen Yuncheng’s store had the kind of bread that was sealed in plastic packaging and had a shelf life of two or three days.

He looked over the counter and found that the little girl outside was the girl he had seen stealing at the intersection before, and the cotton coat she was wearing had not been changed for many days.

Chen Yuncheng reached out and took a piece of bread and asked her, “This one?”

The girl nodded.

Chen Yuncheng handed it to her, “Let me treat you this.”

The girl was stunned for a moment, reached out to take it, and then said, “Then I’ll buy another one myself.”

Chen Yuncheng laughed when he heard the words, “Okay.”

Notes:
So the foster mother and father are actually 干妈 and 干爸 in Chinese which could also mean adoptive mother and father, and some may translate it as godmother and godfather.. But I settled on foster mother and father since the kiddos are not willingly given by their own biological parents for these people to raise

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