Category: Morbid Addiction (Page 8 of 11)

       It was indeed already warm in the house.

       Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan had both taken off their jackets when they entered the room. Chen Yuncheng was only wearing a white shirt, while Ning Junyan had rolled up the sleeves of his coffee colour sweater, exposing a part of his arm.

       Ning Junyan was obviously angry just now. Chen Yuncheng didn’t want to provoke him, so he subconsciously raised his hand to hold the shirt button closest to the collar and said, “I’m really not hurt.”

       Ning Junyan said, “Then what are you afraid of?”

       Yes, what was there to be afraid of? He didn’t get hurt, and they both were men anyway. They’ve bathed together for how many times he didn’t know anymore when they were a child. What was he afraid of?

       Of course, he was afraid that it would be too ambiguous and was afraid that the other party was harbouring unspoken thoughts. Chen Yuncheng knew it well, but he couldn’t say it.

       In the dim light of the bathroom, he and Ning Junyan looked at each other. Ning Junyan’s expression was very calm, and there was no extra emotion in his eyes.

       After a while, Chen Yuncheng turned his eyes away first, his eyelashes dropping slightly as he dropped his gaze to Ning Junyan’s chest and began to unbutton his buttons one by one.

       Chen Yuncheng looked thin, but he was actually very strong. When his shirt slid off his shoulders, his well-proportioned chest and abdomen were gradually revealed, and there was also a scar on his chest that had only a whitish thread-like mark left.

       At this moment, Ning Junyan raised his hand and gently touched the scar on his chest.

       Chen Yuncheng felt that the hairs on his body stood up in an instant. He forced himself not to dodge and said, “I got injured before.” Then, he turned around to show Ning Junyan his back, which was also clean and free of wounds. He put his shirt back on and buttoned it up with his head down, “Told you, I wasn’t injured.”

       Ning Junyan said, “Don’t button it up.”

       Chen Yuncheng paused when he heard his words but continued to button his buttons.

       Ning Junyan extended his hand to take down the towel he had hung up earlier and said, “The wound can’t get wet, so don’t take a shower today, I’ll wipe it for you.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked up at him and wanted to say that he could wipe it himself, but then remembered that his hands would still be covered in water.

       Ning Junyan had already turned on the hot water, wetting and wringing the towel, and looked at Chen Yuncheng.

       Chen Yuncheng took a deep breath and resigned himself to unbuttoning his shirt again. This time, he took off his shirt and placed it on the dry shelf next to him.

       Ning Junyan wiped his body with a towel. The movements were not very warm, but they were meticulous, and the skin on Chen Yuncheng’s chest flushed a thin layer of red. When Ning Junyan wiped his neck, he subconsciously tilted his head just as Ning Junyan looked down at him, and the two were so close that Chen Yuncheng couldn’t help but turn his eyes away first.

       “Pants,” Ning Junyan said to Chen Yuncheng after wiping his upper body.

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him and said, “Forget it.”

       Ning Junyan didn’t say anything.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I’m already so old. Spare me my pride.” He felt that he was almost begging Ning Junyan.

       In the end, Ning Junyan didn’t force the matter and handed him the towel after scrubbing it with hot water and wringing it out so that he could wipe it himself, and then left the bathroom.

       Chen Yuncheng felt as if his chest was still hot until he lay down on the bed, leaving the distinct touch of the hot towel wiping over it.

       Too much had happened today in one day, and after seeing Ning Junyan in the evening, his anger faded a lot to the point where he now closed his eyes in the dark and began to recall the scene where those three men had smashed his kiosk again.

       At this point, it was impossible to say how angry he was anymore, and there was just a sense of powerlessness. Now, his kiosk would definitely not be able to be sold. He could only inventory the goods, and the most suitable way was to resell anything that was still worth something and sublease the shop directly.

       Then the money he owed Ning Junyan would remain unpaid, and there was no telling when he would be able to pay it all back. Originally, he wanted to drag Zhou Yan, so the two of them would go out to work and return the money to Ning Junyan as soon as possible. But now Zhou Yan’s whereabouts were unknown, his stepfather’s case was still unfinished, and he didn’t know if Zhou Yan had anything to do with it or not.

       As he thought of this, Chen Yuncheng had to think about Ning Junyan’s attitude towards him. Ning Junyan was too obvious, and sometimes it was too much for him to handle. He asked himself if he hated Ning Junyan, and even faced with Ning Junyan’s ambiguity towards him, it was not at all as distasteful as one might expect; it was more a kind of not knowing what to do. But it was obviously impossible for him and Ning Junyan. Even if they didn’t consider their gender, their living conditions were so different. How could they keep going together?

       Just like the eldest daughter who eloped with a poor boy after the madness of love subsided, what was left was the daily life necessities, and that was the most torturous part. If it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out, and if you had to force it to work out in the future, it wouldn’t work out well.

       Chen Yuncheng rolled over and lay on his side, and pulled up the quilt a bit.

       The bed in this guest room was soft, and the surrounding area was quiet, except for the occasional car; no loud noises could be heard.

       He was still a little excited, but his body was really tired, and it pulled him into a deep sleep before too long.

       The next morning, Chen Yuncheng woke up early.

       The worst thing about living in someone else’s house was that you were not free. If you got up too early, you would be afraid that you would disturb your host; if you got up too late, you would feel that you were not polite enough.

       After Chen Yuncheng changed his clothes and came out of the guest room, he saw that the door of Ning Junyan’s room was still closed, so he went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to take a look and found that there was nothing but mineral water in it, not even an egg.

       Today, Ning Junyan was supposed to be at work, but Chen Yuncheng didn’t know what time he would leave.

       Chen Yuncheng wanted to go out to buy breakfast for Ning Junyan, but after putting on his coat, he realised that he didn’t have a key and he was afraid that the community gate guard probably wouldn’t let him in easily, so he had to give up.

       He came back to the empty dining table and sat down. He turned on his mobile phone and found that Gu Yaojia had sent him a WeChat message at about 6:00 in the morning.

       Gu Yaojia said: “I’m sorry for bothering you, Cheng ge. Qiqi was scheduled for surgery this morning. I’m afraid I have to deal with it by myself, so could I ask you to come over and take a look?”

       Chen Yuncheng could feel the cautiousness of the other party’s words, and he quickly replied: “No problem. What time does the surgery start?”

       After a few seconds, Gu Yaojia replied: “It starts at ten o’clock.”

       Chen Yuncheng replied with the word “Okay”.

       At this time, the door of Ning Junyan’s room opened. He came out of the room wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and saw Chen Yuncheng sitting in the dining room. He stopped and asked, “Have you washed yet?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I brushed my teeth.” He was still afraid to get his hands wet and did not wash his face.

       Ning Junyan said to him, “Come over and wash your face.”

       For a moment, Chen Yuncheng felt like a little child, getting up in the morning and waiting for his father to wash his face, then eating breakfast and going to school.

       This was an experience he had never had before because his father left very early, and for as long as he could remember, he and his mother were the only ones at home. Until his mother also passed away and he became the child no one wanted.

       Ning Junyan wiped his face with a wet towel.

       Chen Yuncheng took the time to ask, “What do you have for breakfast?”

       Ning Junyan paused, “I usually go to the hospital cafeteria to eat. If you want to eat, I can make it for you.”

       Chen Yuncheng asked him, “You know how to cook?”

       Ning Junyan turned on the water and scrubbed the towels, “I used to study out on my own and learned to do some of it.” Then he hung up the clean towel and said, “I can make it for you every day if you want.”

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After asking the editor, it turns out that you have to apply three business days in advance to get into V, so I have to wait a few days ……

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       Chen Yuncheng packed up simple daily necessities, brought a change of clothes and left with Ning Junyan.

       He turned off the lights in the room, pulled down the shutters and locked them. When he opened the back row door of Ning Junyan’s car and put things in, he saw a new heater box placed under the seat.

       Chen Yuncheng paused for a while, put the things away and closed the door. Then he pulled open the passenger side and got in.

       Ning Junyan had already started the car and waited until Chen Yuncheng got in, then he silently drove the car away from the curb.

       Chen Yuncheng also sat quietly for a while and asked, “Is the heater in the back for me?”

       Ning Junyan did not answer him.

       Chen Yuncheng asked again, “Are you angry?”

       Ning Junyan just glanced at him.

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly couldn’t help lowering his head and smiled. He remembered when the two were young, there was a time when Ning Junyan was also angry.

       He couldn’t even remember why Ning Junyan was angry at that time. Perhaps it was a minor matter in Chen Yuncheng’s opinion.

       Ning Junyan ignored him for the whole evening that day and was very grumpy. When the foster mother kept rambling on about them during dinner, Ning Junyan pushed his rice bowl away and stared at his godmother with a cold gaze.

       The foster mother was angry at the time, slapped the table and cursed, “What are you looking at me like that for?”

       Chen Yuncheng was startled and stretched out his hand to pull Ning Junyan under the table. When he saw that Ning Junyan didn’t respond, he kicked him lightly with his foot.

       Luckily, the foster father was in a good mood that day and said to Ning Junyan, “If you are not going to eat, get out.”

       Ning Junyan stood up and left the kitchen.

       The foster mother was still angry and cursed, “You just know how to waste food!”

       Chen Yuncheng reached out and pulled over the half bowl of rice left by Ning Junyan over and said, “I’ll eat it.”

       The foster mother pointed at him and cursed at him, “You just know how to eat! It’s better to raise pigs than raising you!”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t know whether he should eat or not for a while.

       At this time, the foster father raised his head and said, “What are you arguing about, eat quietly.”

       After that, did not say anything further and asked Chen Yuncheng to wash the dishes after she finished eating.

       When Chen Yuncheng finished washing the dishes and returned to his room, Ning Junyan was lying on his side with his back to the door and did not turn around even when he heard his voice.

       He went over and leaned over the bed, poked Ning Junyan’s back with his fingers, and said, “Don’t be angry.”

       Ning Junyan didn’t respond.

       Chen Yuncheng took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, knelt down and approached Ning Junyan. He stretched his head over Ning Junyan’s body from behind to look at his face and saw that Ning Junyan’s eyes were open as he stared at the wall coldly.

       “Don’t be angry,” Chen Yuncheng stretched out his finger and poked Ning Junyan’s face.

       Ning Junyan suddenly raised his hand and grabbed his finger with such force that it wrenched Chen Yuncheng’s finger into pain.

       Chen Yuncheng shouted, “Ouch, that hurts.”

       Ning Junyan glanced at him and let go of his hand.

       Chen Yuncheng simply lay on top of Ning Junyan’s body and shouted, “Yanyan, don’t be angry with me, okay?” He didn’t wait for Ning Junyan to answer and asked again, “Did you have enough for dinner? There are still biscuits in the cupboard, do you want me to feed you?”

       Ning Junyan turned over and lay flat on the bed, reached out and grabbed Chen Yuncheng’s collar, biting him on the collarbone.

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly shouted, “Don’t bite me!” He was a little scared, afraid that Ning Junyan would really bite down hard.

       At that time, they had been together for nearly two years, and Chen Yuncheng was familiar with Ning Junyan’s character. He knew that Ning Junyan was holding back anger in his heart and couldn’t vent it. Opening his mouth to bite him was a form of a temper tantrum, and it was also to relieve the resentment in their close relationship. Chen Yuncheng was not angry, but he was just afraid that Ning Junyan won’t be able to control his strength.

       Fortunately, Ning Junyan let go after a while, leaving a clear tooth mark on Chen Yuncheng’s collarbone, with no broken skin or blood.

       Chen Yuncheng lowered his head but couldn’t see it and felt pain, so he leaned in front of Ning Junyan to let him see and said, “Look at the bite you gave me.”

       Ning Junyan watched silently for a while and tried to bite the other side of his collarbone.

       Chen Yuncheng pushed him away, rolled over and got out of bed, saying, “No more biting!” He found the slippers under the bed and put them on, went over and opened the cupboard to find the biscuits hidden inside, then came back to the bed and knelt down, saying, “Eat something first.”

       Ning Junyan lay still.

       Chen Yuncheng patiently broke the biscuits into small pieces and fed them to his mouth, “You want to eat or not?”

       Only then did Ning Junyan open his mouth, chewing the biscuits slowly.

       Chen Yuncheng fed him the biscuits at night and gave him water to drink before lying down and asking him, “You’re not angry anymore, are you?”

       Ning Junyan didn’t answer but silently reached out to hug Chen Yuncheng, buried his head on his shoulder, and closed his eyes to sleep.

       Chen Yuncheng knew that this meant that he was no longer angry.

       For Chen Yuncheng, Ning Junyan was still very easy to coax.

       After driving the car into the underground parking lot of the neighbourhood, Ning Junyan got out of the car and opened the back row door before Chen Yuncheng, and took all the things that Chen Yuncheng put in the bag out of the car.

       This was the first time Chen Yuncheng had been to where Ning Junyan lived and judging by the location and the level of the neighbourhood, he knew that the price was not cheap. However, Ning Junyan can drive an 800,000 yuan¹around $110k car, so it was not surprising that he lived in a several million yuan house.

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly remembered Ning Junyan’s parents, who had picked him up by car at the time when Ning Junyan had come to his senses and recognised his parents. The middle-aged couple obviously cared a lot about Ning Junyan, their son, and his mother even hugged him and cried. They were very well dressed and drove a car that must seem very expensive to the young Chen Yuncheng’s eyes, and took Ning Junyan to the car.

       Before he got into the car, Ning Junyan shook off his mother’s hand and ran to Chen Yuncheng to hug him tightly.

       Chen Yuncheng felt sad, but he tried to look happy as he patted Ning Junyan’s back and said, “Hurry up and go back with your mum and dad.”

       Then, Ning Junyan got pulled away from behind, although he was hugging Chen Yuncheng very hard, and Chen Yuncheng almost felt that he was about to be dragged over by Ning Junyan. He then reached out and pushed Ning Junyan, gasping slightly as he stood on the ground and watched Ning Junyan being pulled into the car.

       After the car left, Chen Yuncheng followed the police back to the police station, waiting helplessly for his future arrangements.

       They had no phone number, no mailing address, no contact details, and no expectation that they would ever meet again.

       Chen Yuncheng stood in the elevator, looking at the floor that kept skipping, and asked Ning Junyan, “Where are your parents?”

       Ning Junyan stood beside him, holding his things in his hand but never looked at him. Chen Yuncheng almost thought that Ning Junyan would not answer, and Ning Junyan said, “We don’t live together.”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded.

       The first thing Ning Junyan did when he got home was to turn on the heater.

       Chen Yuncheng looked at the whole room and felt a very masculine cleanliness and desolation. He asked, “How many rooms are there? Is it going to bother you?”

       Ning Junyan didn’t answer, walked straight inside, opened the door of a room, stood at the door and said, “This is a guest room.”

       Chen Yuncheng followed him and saw Ning Junyan put the bag on the bedside table. Then Ning Junyan took out the toothbrush and towel that Chen Yuncheng brought and left the room to go to the bathroom.

       Ning Junyan hung up the towel, put the toothbrush in the mouthwash cup, and said to Chen Yuncheng, who was standing at the door, “Take off your clothes.”

       “Huh?” Chen Yuncheng’s entire body froze.

       Ning Junyan said, “I said earlier to see if you had any injuries on your body. Now that you’re not cold anymore, you can take off your clothes.”

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The author has something to say:
If I have some story draft for the weekend, I will try to get into V²V is locked chapter or VIP chapters.

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       Long Zhanyu called out to people to leave. He got into a police car parked at the roadside, handed the keys to his colleague and sat on the passenger side himself.

       Before he left, he leaned over next to the car window and called Chen Yuncheng, “Come here.” He hooked his finger.

       Chen Yuncheng walked over and bent down to look at him through the car window.

       Long Zhanyu leaned close to Chen Yuncheng’s ear and whispered, “I will definitely catch those few people, and I will also ask someone to keep an eye on your side, and I will not give Zhang Wenyong another chance to trouble you.”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Thank you, Officer Long.”

       Long Zhanyu said again, “But you are the one who let Zhou Yan run away from me. You go and ask him to come back and surrender.”

       Chen Yuncheng was a little helpless, “I don’t know where Zhou Yan is.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “His wife and son are in the hospital now. I believe he can’t run away. You tell him that if he turns himself in, he can go to the court and asks the judge for mercy. Considering his family situation, it is not impossible to give him probation. Let him clear his head a bit and don’t get into bigger trouble.”

       When Chen Yuncheng heard Long Zhanyu’s last words, he suddenly remembered Zhou Yan’s stepfather who was beaten to death at home, and his heart beat a few times uncomfortably.

       Long Zhanyu looked at him, “What’s your expression?”

       Chen Yuncheng closed his eyes to keep his expression from looking too grave. He stood up straight from the car window and said, “Got it, Officer Long. As long as I see Zhou Yan, I will definitely persuade him.”

       Long Zhanyu nodded and asked the colleague beside him to drive.

       When Long Zhanyu left, Chen Yuncheng turned his head and saw Ning Junyan standing there expressionlessly looking at them. He hurried over and hesitantly explained, “That one just now is the officer in charge of the case.”

       Ning Junyan did not speak.

       Chen Yuncheng turned to look at the small kiosk he had been running for more than two years and could not suppress a sigh as he reached for the broom that was leaning against the corner.

       He wanted to sweep all the broken glass together, but before doing so, he squatted down and picked up the cigarettes and other things on the floor that still looked intact in their packaging.

       Ning Junyan walked in at this time, took the broom from Chen Yuncheng’s hand, grabbed his wrist and said, “Go to the hospital first.”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “No need, I’m not injured. It’s just my palm was cut by broken glass.”

       Ning Junyan said, “Show me.”

       Chen Yuncheng lowered his head and wanted to untangle the messy gauze on his hands and showed him.

       Ning Junyan said, “Also on the body”

       Chen Yuncheng stopped and looked up at him.

       Ning Junyan stopped talking, grabbed Chen Yuncheng’s hand, and personally helped him untie the gauze on his hand.

       The wound on his palm stopped bleeding, but it still looked bright red, and there were two deep wounds that looked somewhat hideous.

       Ning Junyan asked him, “Has it been disinfected?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I sprayed it with alcohol.”

       Ning Junyan let go of his hand, turned and left the store and went to the pharmacy behind the street. He bought iodophor¹ and cotton swabs. After he returned, he held Chen Yuncheng’s hand and carefully used the cotton swabs to disinfect the wound on his palm with iodophor.

       Chen Yuncheng looked down at him, but there was not much expression on his face.

       Ning Junyan wrapped his palm again with clean gauze and said, “Don’t get it wet.”

       Chen Yuncheng gave a soft “mmm”.

       Then Ning Junyan took off his coat and helped Chen Yuncheng to tidy up the store simply. The goods that hadn’t been smashed were picked up from the ground and placed on top of the counter.

       “Who did it?” Ning Junyan asked in a cold tone.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s just a few gangsters. I’ve already called the police, and the police will take care of it. Don’t worry.”

       Ning Junyan asked, “What are they up to? Is it related to Zhou Yan’s incident?”

       Chen Yuncheng leaned against the still intact counter and said, “It’s alright. It’s just that there was a little conflict before, not a big deal.”

       He was very afraid of involving Ning Junyan. Ning Junyan was not like the likes of them; it was not a big deal if they got caught and locked up for a few days. Ning Junyan was so good that he shouldn’t get involved in such things.

       After he finished tidying up the store with some difficulty, when Chen Yuncheng was about to enter the inner room, he suddenly saw a small head peeking out from the door and looking in.

       He stopped and saw that the person who was secretly peeking in the doorway was the little girl who hadn’t been seen for quite some time stealing things.

       As she saw that Chen Yuncheng had seen her, the little girl asked, “Is there any more bread?”

       The bread had a short shelf life. Chen Yuncheng didn’t open a shop two days ago and didn’t ask anyone to deliver it. He said to the little girl, “There’s no more bread, do you want biscuits?”

       The little girl shook her head, “No, then.” After she said this, she turned around and was about to leave.

       Chen Yuncheng quickly stopped her, “Little missy.”

       The little girl looked back at him.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t want your money, I’ll give you the biscuits.”

       The little girl looked at him hesitantly.

       The biscuits and snacks, which are not valuable goods, did not suffer much. Chen Yuncheng said to Ning Junyan, “Help me get her a bag of biscuits.”

       Ning Junyan glanced at the counter and asked, “Which bag?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “All of them. There should be stuffed cookies, I think.”

       Ning Junyan took a bag of Oreos, walked to the entrance of the shop, reached out and handed it to the little girl.

       The little girl looked up at him but did not reach out to take it.

       Chen Yuncheng leaned over the counter, looked at them with a slight smile, and said to Ning Junyan, “Be gentle.”

       Ning Junyan half-squatted down and said to the little girl, “The boss gave this to you. Take it.” His tone sounded slightly warmer.

       The little girl finally reached out to take it. She turned her head to look at Chen Yuncheng and said, “Thank you.” Then she turned and ran away.

       Ning Junyan stood up, Chen Yuncheng was still looking at him with a smile and said to him, “Will you be gentler with your own children in the future than you are now?”

       “I won’t have children,” Ning Junyan said in a calm tone as if he was saying he hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and walked inside, “The life that I like didn’t happen.”

       The smile on Chen Yuncheng’s face suddenly froze and then warmed slightly. He thought that his face was probably red, but at that moment Ning Junyan wasn’t looking at him and didn’t notice.

       The condition of the inner room was not much better than the outside. A lot of drinks that Chen Yuncheng had piled up against the walls were knocked over and stepped on. The ground was still wet. Because the drinks had sugar in them, it was very unpleasant to step on them as they were sticky and greasy.

       Then he found that the scarf that Ning Junyan had given him that he was hanging in the room had been torn off, and it fell to the ground and stepped on it a few times.

       Chen Yuncheng walked over to pick up the scarf and said, “I’ll send it to dry cleaning tomorrow.”

       Ning Junyan followed him to his side, reached out and took the scarf and casually tossed it aside, saying, “Come and stay at my place tonight.”

       “No need,” Chen Yuncheng refused without thinking.

       Ning Junyan said, “There is no way to sleep here.”

       Chen Yuncheng turned his head and glanced at the whole room, “The bed is still good.”

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

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Let me sweep the water off the floor—”

       “I’m not discussing with you,” Ning Junyan interrupted him, his voice was soft, but his tone was heavy.

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The author has something to say:

I don’t feel like I’m writing very well today

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Notes:
Alright, this is the last update for today. I hope you all enjoy the update 🙂
I will try to update as often as before, but now I’m still not sure about managing my schedule. Hopefully, there will not be much changes on the update frequencies.

Shout out to TM because this 3rd chapter is a thanks to TM’s generous donation 🙂

---

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 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~

       That afternoon, there was a lot of commotion in the usually quiet streets of the old town, and Chen Yuncheng’s small kiosk was smashed.

       The three tall and strange young men were obviously come directly to smash things. Without saying any unnecessary words, they directly overturned the wine and cigarettes in Chen Yuncheng’s container to the ground; the glass bottles were shattered, valuable cigarettes were scattered on the ground, and the packaging was trampled to pieces.

       Chen Yuncheng struggled to fight back. He grabbed one of the youths and pressed his face hard against the broken glass on the ground. Then another person grabbed his collar from behind and lifted him away, where he sat with his palms pressed into the broken glass. At this time, someone even broke into the inner room, overturned all the goods he had stored and then stomped on them hard.

       These three people ran away after smashing the kiosk, not holding back in the slightest.

       Chen Yuncheng chased them out with a limp foot, but the three men were already gone before he could get very far. He stopped, his chest heaving violently with anger, and he couldn’t help but curse.

       The people in the shops next door heard the commotion, but no one dared to come out to meddle in their business. Only someone secretly called the police.

       The police arrived quickly. Long Zhanyu pulled the police car to the side of the road, pulled open the door and got out, and saw Chen Yuncheng sitting in front of his own kiosk, which was in a mess.

       Long Zhanyu walked over, looked down at Chen Yuncheng, and said, “What happened to your hand?”

       Chen Yuncheng’s palm was dripping with blood, and he was his nails to pick out a piece of broken glass that had been stuck into his palm, his brow furrowed tightly.

       Long Zhanyu asked him, “Do you want to go to the hospital first?”

       Chen Yuncheng looked up, and his face was a little gloomy. He shook his head and said, “No need.”

       Long Zhanyu then stopped asking him. He walked past him and went into the kiosk. He was careful not to step on the glass fragments on the ground, and after looking briefly, he stood at the door of the store and asked Chen Yuncheng, “What’s going on? Go back with us first and make a statement in the office. I’ll find someone to do the investigation now.”

       Chen Yuncheng stood up and said to Long Zhanyu, “Wait for me for a while.” After he said that, he walked along the street towards the front.

       Long Zhanyu stood there, looking at his limping figure from behind.

       Chen Yuncheng went to the pharmacy to buy gauze and alcohol. He used the alcohol spray to spray his palms a few times randomly as disinfection and wrapped them in gauze while enduring the pain.

       While doing this, he was following Long Zhanyu in the police car to the police station to make a statement.

       As Long Zhanyu was driving, he asked him, “You were also crippled?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “No, I broke it myself.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “Then you are quite unlucky.”

       Chen Yuncheng was not in the mood to argue with him and silently looked out the car window.

       When the statement was taken, Chen Yuncheng gave a complete account of what happened, “I don’t know those three people, I’ve never met them before,” he finally said.

       Long Zhanyu asked him, “Who have you offended recently? Or anyone you suspect that might be targeting you?”

       Chen Yuncheng spread his hands and saw that the gauze was soaked with blood. He slowly clasped his palms, felt the pain, and said, “I don’t know.”

       A young policeman was typing in front of the computer to record, and when he heard the words, he typed in the words “I don’t know”.

       At this time, Long Zhanyu raised his hand to indicate that he did not need to write down the following content for the time being and said to Chen Yuncheng, “Did you get hit in the head today?”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him and said nothing.

       Long Zhanyu said, “Zhang Wenyong has harassed you like this, and you still protect him? Did your brain get hit?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t have any evidence, so I don’t dare to speculate.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “It’s the police’s job to find evidence. You only need to provide clues. You can just tell us the names of all the people who have had conflicts recently, and we will investigate them one by one. Do you understand?”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer but asked Long Zhanyu, “Why did you let Zhang Wenyong out?”

       Long Zhanyu leaned on the back of the chair, clasped his arms lazily on his chest, and said, “Because of the lack of evidence, the prosecutor’s office will not arrest him even if he has detained him. He only admits that he introduced the person who modified the vehicle to the X-ethnic gang that stole the car, but now neither the person who modified the car nor your brother Zhou Yan has arrived at the case. The evidence cannot bite him, so they can only let him go first. So where the hell is Zhou Yan?”

       Chen Yuncheng lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, “I don’t know.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “Were you the one who tipped off Zhou Yan?”

       Chen Yuncheng said softly, “I want to ask him to surrender.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “Forget it, let’s get back to your case, do you suspect Zhang Wenyong of finding someone to smash your kiosk?”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded, “Yes.”

       After the statement was recorded, Chen Yuncheng stood at the entrance of the police station and saw that it was already quite late and the sky was dark.

       Long Zhanyu parked the police car in front of him, pressed down the passenger’s window, and asked him, “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

       Chen Yuncheng replied, “No need.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “Then I’ll take you back.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him for a moment, pulled open the passenger door and sat in, “Officer Long is being so kind today?”

       Long Zhanyu turned the steering wheel with a cigarette in his mouth, “The technical guys are still doing a field investigation over there to see if there’s something to mention, and by the way, I’ll go and pull a surveillance.”

       Chen Yuncheng sat quietly for a while and said, “Thanks.”

       Long Zhanyu laughed and said in a less serious tone, “It is my job to safeguard the safety and interests of the people, so what is there to thank.”

       When they returned to the store, the on-site investigation had just ended, a few fingerprints and a few bloodstains had been extracted, and the entire scene had been photographed.

       People from several nearby shops were still looking over their shoulders, and there were also pedestrians passing by who stopped to watch out of curiosity.

       Chen Yuncheng stood at the door, looked at the cigarette case soaked in wine on the ground, and slowly took a breath.

       Long Zhanyu handed him a cigarette.

       Chen Yuncheng glanced at it and said, “No need.”

       Long Zhanyu said, “Take it. You look upset.” He saw that Chen Yuncheng was wrapped in gauze, and directly put it in his mouth, and then used a lighter to help him light the fire.

       There was smoke from the corner of Chen Yuncheng’s mouth.

       Long Zhanyu also lit one for himself and said, “I’ll adjust the surveillance later. As long as they haven’t run far, we’ll definitely arrest them. However, this group of people is obviously paid for by Zhang Wenyong. Arresting them won’t bite Zhang Wenyong, let alone compensate you for the financial loss, so you should be mentally prepared.”

       Chen Yuncheng understood this in his heart, but when he heard Long Zhanyu say this, he couldn’t restrain his emotions, bit his cigarette and said vaguely, “Motherfuc…”

       He didn’t say a few words completely, and the last sound disappeared from his mouth.

       Long Zhanyu looked at him a little strangely but saw him turn his head to look at a tall man standing on the side of the road.

       When Chen Yuncheng saw Ning Junyan, he remembered that Ning Junyan had said to come to him after work. He suddenly felt a little dazed, wondering if Ning Junyan had heard him swearing. He didn’t seem to have ever cursed in front of Ning Junyan.

       Then, he took the cigarette from his mouth with his gauze-wrapped hand.

       Long Zhanyu looked at him inexplicably, then looked at Ning Jun Yan in front of him and said, “Don’t crowd around here.”

       Chen Yuncheng said quickly, “He is my friend.”

       Ning Junyan’s eyes fell on his hand, then turned his head to look inside the kiosk again, and with a calm expression, “What’s wrong?”

       Chen Yuncheng was suddenly a little nervous. He raised his hand to grab Ning Junyan’s arm but found that his fingers were still holding the cigarette he hadn’t finished smoking, so he threw it aside and gently squeezed Ning Junyan’s sleeve with his fingers, and said, “It’s nothing, don’t worry.”

---

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       Chen Yuncheng was eager to know more about this murder case, but he had to go today. He had no one he was familiar with in this small county, and no one would reveal to him the situation of the investigation at the present; whether any property had been stolen, and whether any fingerprints had been found. He guessed that the police must have investigated the monitoring of the gate of the community for the past two or three days, but he did not know whether Zhou Yan had come back.

       Ning Junyan was still the one who was driving on the way back, and Chen Yuncheng was very quiet all the way. He didn’t sleep because he couldn’t sleep at all and spent most of his time looking out of the car window quietly.

       Ning Junyan parked the car in the service area and went to the mini-mart to buy two bottles of water. As he stood next to the car drinking, he asked Chen Yuncheng, “You have so little faith in Zhou Yan?”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t feel thirsty. He just unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, and suddenly stopped in surprise when he heard Ning Junyan’s words.

       Ning Junyan’s bottle of water was taken out of the freezer, and the bottle was covered with a layer of mist. He said, “What are you worried about? Do you think Zhou Yan may have done it? He came back and asked his stepfather for money, and when he refused to give it, he picked up something in the living room and knocked someone to death in his anger?”

       “No,” Chen Yuncheng said, “Zhou Yan is not such a person. You don’t know him.”

       Ning Junyan said, “I didn’t know him at all. Since you know him well and don’t think he did it, there’s nothing to worry about.”

       Chen Yuncheng raised his head and took a sip of water, and then said, “I know, I just don’t feel very good.” No matter what the real cause of Mr Qi’s death was, after witnessing all this, Chen Yuncheng felt very uncomfortable.

       Ning Junyan seemed to understand what he meant and did not talk to him again after that.

       They were delayed by making a statement at the police station, and it was past nine o’clock in the evening when they returned to Chongfeng City.

       Ning Junyan parked the car on the street outside Chen Yuncheng’s kiosk. When Chen Yuncheng got off the car, he asked Ning Junyan, “Would you like to go in for a rest?”

       They had dinner about three hours ago. After that, Ning Junyan drove all the way without stopping. The water Ning Junyan had bought before getting off the highway had all been drunk. Now Chen Yuncheng was not only tired but also began to feel thirsty. He thought that Ning Junyan needed a break as well.

       Ning Junyan didn’t say much, took the car key and got out of the car with Chen Yuncheng.

       He opened the shutter halfway and entered, Chen Yuncheng first felt a chill in the room. As Ning Junyan went to the bathroom, he hesitated and considered boiling a pot of hot water to drink.

       When Ning Junyan came out, Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Sit for a while. The water is about to boil.”

       Ning Junyan said, “No, I’ll drink cold water.”

       Chen Yuncheng went to the kiosk outside to get a bottle of mineral water, and when he came back, he saw Ning Junyan playing with his heater.

       “It’s broken,” Chen Yuncheng said.

       Ning Junyan turned to look at him, “Why is it broken?”

       Chen Yuncheng handed him the water, “It suddenly stopped heating up. Maybe there’s a faulty wire.”

       Ning Junyan took the water and didn’t rush to drink it. He squatted down and fiddled with the heater and found that it really didn’t work. He stood up and said, “I’ll go buy a new one.”

       Chen Yuncheng saw that he was going outside and grabbed him, “Where are you going to buy one so late?”

       Ning Junyan said, “There will be somewhere open.”

       In such a big city, there were always supermarkets or household good store that was still open.

       Chen Yuncheng grabbed him and wouldn’t let go, “No need, it’s only for one night, I’ll go buy a new one tomorrow.”

       Ning Junyan still insisted, “I’ll go and have a look.”

       He headed outside with Chen Yuncheng still holding his arm. The palm of Chen Yuncheng’s hand slipped down from the smooth surface of the down jacket until he grabbed Ning Jungyan’s wrist and then pulled him again, “It’s really not necessary, I’m not that afraid of the cold.” For a moment, Chen Yuncheng felt that Ning Junyan was no different from the stupid boy who couldn’t turn his head, and began to coax him unconsciously, “Isn’t your down jacket still here? You can lend it to me for another day, so I won’t be cold if I put it on at night.”

       Ning Junyan looked down at Chen Yuncheng’s hand that was holding his.

       Chen Yuncheng hesitated for a while, but he still didn’t let go. Instead, he took Ning Junyan’s hand and walked to the side of the bed, pressed his shoulder to make him sit down, and said, “Sit here and drink your water. Go back and rest early. You have to work tomorrow.”

       Ning Junyan didn’t insist any longer. He unscrewed the mineral water in his hand, raised his head and gulped half a bottle of water. When he got up, he said, “I’ll come over after getting off work tomorrow.”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded.

       The next morning, Chen Yuncheng waited until the dry cleaner across the street opened and sent Ning Junyan’s down jacket to be cleaned first.

       When the young lady working in the dry cleaner was looking for the cleaning label of the clothes, Chen Yuncheng was a little worried and asked, “Can it be laundered?”

       The little girl registered in the computer and said, “Of course, the down jacket can be laundered.”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t know what brand it is. I’m afraid it’s too expensive if anything happens if it is laundered. Please take a closer look.”

       The young lady rolled her eyes and said, “It can be washed. It won’t be damaged.” She then printed out a return slip for Chen Yuncheng to pick up the clothes and carried Ning Junyan’s down jacket inside.

       Chen Yuncheng returned to the kiosk and opened the shutter door to start the business. The owner of the lottery shop next door saw him open the door and even came over to chat with him for a while, smoking a cigarette before slowly returning to his shop.

       All morning, business was still slow.

       Chen Yuncheng’s sprained foot wasn’t completely healed, so he didn’t go anywhere. He planned to wait for Ning Junyan to come over after getting off work and ask Ning Junyan to accompany him to the hospital to talk to Gu Yaojia.

       Taking advantage of the lack of customers, he began to take inventory of the store’s goods. He never gave up the idea of selling the small kiosk. If no one took over, he planned to return the rest of the goods to the supplier and sublease the kiosk.

       He didn’t make much money by opening this shop. He used to be indifferent to the before, and he simply wanted to have peace of mind. Now that he owed Ning Junyan so much money, he really didn’t plan to drag it on for several years or more. Even if it was a courier or a take-out delivery, it was always better to work harder and earn more money.

       Chen Yuncheng was calculating in his mind. He originally took a pen and recorded the inventory in the store on a blank notebook. After walking for a while, he regained his senses and suddenly found that he had written Ning Junyan’s name on it.

       He was flustered at first and quickly smeared Ning Junyan’s name with a pen. When it was turned into a black ball, he thought about what he was doing. The reason why he had unconsciously written Ning Junyan’s name was simply that he had just been thinking about the money he owed Ning Junyan

       He moved his foot and felt the pain in his left ankle. Suddenly, he wondered whether Ning Junyan was the best person to him in the world? Why was he so nice to him? He was always afraid of owing people’s favour. If someone treated him well, he would like to pay it back with all his heart, but could he really afford to pay back what Ning Junyan wanted?

       Chen Yuncheng was caught up in his thoughts when his phone on the counter vibrated twice, and he received two messages almost simultaneously. One from Long Zhanyu asking him: “Have you found Zhou Yan?” The other was from Guan Anlin, that said: “Zhang Wenyong was released, I think he might want to get you in trouble.”

       He read the two messages and was about to ask Long Zhanyu why Zhang Wenyong could be released when three people suddenly appeared at the door of the store, blocking the light in front of Chen Yuncheng.

---

Notes:
I looked up the take-out delivery wage, and it says you could get around $300-900 per month. It’s not a bad deal I think.

Sorry for the non-existent update for a month.
I just lost my little sister at the start of this November, and honestly, translating and updating is the last thing I could think of. I gave some notifications in discord, but I’m not sure if everyone is in our discord. So I apologized to those who were waiting for the updates enthusiastically. I will try to keep regular updates, however, but with the loss of my little sister, my schedule will not be as flexible as before. So I apologize in advance because I might do sporadic updates after this.

Hope you are all well, and be sure to go and do checkups every once in a while 🙂

---

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 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~

       Li Yanping asked Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan to follow her home. As she walked through the neighbourhood garden, she said, “My husband is not Zhou Yan’s biological father.”

       Chen Yuncheng was not very surprised; he had started to feel strange from the moment he heard that the male owner of the house was surnamed Qi. As he thought of the Zhou Yan that ran away from home at a very young age and was later sent back by the police only to leave home alone again. It was probably precisely because he had never felt that this home was his own.

       Li Yanping walked into the unit building, and the pace of climbing the stairs was slow, showing her age. She said, “So don’t mention any children or medical treatment. My husband won’t give money, and he has no money.”

       “Then what about you?” Ning Junyan, who was walking behind Chen Yuncheng, suddenly spoke in an emotionless tone, “Is Zhou Yan not your biological son?”

       Li Yanping stopped and looked back at them, “I worked odd jobs outside as a shopkeeper for someone a few years ago, but I’ve been out of work for the past two years. Where do I get the money?” Her tone was full of sadness, and after she finished, she turned around and continued walking slowly upstairs.

       For the next two flights of stairs, Li Yanping kept talking, “It’s not that I didn’t give him enough to eat and didn’t let him study, but it was he himself who didn’t study and wanted to go out to work. I also want him to be promising and earn money to let me enjoy happiness with him instead of me having to worry about getting money for his children’s medical care when I’m old…”

       Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan didn’t speak, and Li Yanping didn’t know whether the talk was for them or herself.

       On the third floor, Li Yanping took the key from her trouser pocket and opened the door.

       Chen Yuncheng stood behind her and saw the door open. It was very quiet inside, and it didn’t look like someone at home.

       Li Yanping put down the travel bag she was carrying, stood at the door with one hand on the shoe cabinet to change her shoes, and called at the same time, “Old Qi?”

       No one responded.

       Chen Yuncheng had not been invited and did not follow her in immediately, while Ning Junyan was standing outside the door waiting, seemingly not wanting to enter her house.

       Li Yanping changed her slippers, placed the boots she had worn home on the shoe rack, walked inside, and shouted again, “Old Qi?”

       There was still no response.

       Then Chen Yuncheng saw Li Yanping’s back suddenly freeze, and at the same time heard her let out a shrill and ear-piercing scream, and then Li Yanping’s whole body slid to the ground. Chen Yuncheng didn’t care whether he could change his shoes or not. He rushed up and supported Li Yanping from behind.

       Li Yanping was originally a plump middle-aged woman. She lost her whole body strength and fell to the ground when she fainted. Chen Yuncheng used a lot of strength to fully support her to the point he squatted and kneeled on the ground. At this time, his vision was completely blocked by the sofa, and he didn’t know what had happened.

       Ning Junyan, who was originally standing behind Chen Yuncheng, walked in and stopped when he saw the scene in the living room.

       Chen Yuncheng looked up at him, “What’s wrong?” At the same time, he helped Li Yanping to get up with difficulty, trying to help her to lie down on the sofa.

       Ning Junyan suddenly stretched out his hand to cover Chen Yuncheng’s eyes and asked in his ear, “Are you someone that’s easily scared?”

       Chen Yuncheng was in shock, “What?”

       Ning Junyan said, “There’s a man in the living room who looks like he’s dead.”

       Chen Yuncheng felt a chill behind him for a moment, but he said, “I’m not afraid. You help me get her to the sofa.”

       Ning Junyan said softly, “En, don’t be afraid.” Then he let go of the hand covering his eyes and walked over to him and lifted Li Yanping up with him.

       Chen Yuncheng held Li Yanping’s arm, and when he and Ning Junyan lifted her onto the sofa one after another, he couldn’t help turning his head to look at the middle of the living room. There was a man lying there, motionless, with bloodstains spreading from the back of his head, which seemed to have almost solidified.

       Li Yanping was put on the sofa and still did not wake up.

       Ning Junyan stood up and walked towards the middle of the living room.

       Chen Yuncheng grabbed his hand subconsciously. His face turned pale with panic, and said, “Don’t go.”

       Ning Junyan said, “I’ll take a look. Don’t touch him, and you should call the police immediately.”

       Only then did Chen Yuncheng react. He hurriedly took out his mobile phone and called the police.

       Ning Junyan was obviously much calmer than Chen Yuncheng. He walked to the person lying on his stomach in the living room, squatted down as usual, didn’t do anything, just calmly looked at the side of his face, looked at the wound on the back of his head, and then said to Chen Yuncheng, “This person may be Zhou Yan’s stepfather.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him.

       Ning Junyan raised his head and gestured to a photo frame placed on the TV cabinet. Inside was a photo of Li Yanping and her husband, Mr. Qi.

       Chen Yuncheng looked at the photo, and a very bad and terrifying thought came to his mind.

       Ning Junyan stood up and returned to Chen Yuncheng’s side, “We’d better wait outside and not touch anything in the house.”

       Chen Yuncheng glanced at Li Yanping who fainted on the sofa, “What about her?”

       Ning Junyan said, “Go knock on the door next door and see if you can settle her there temporarily. We will wait for the police to come.”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded.

       They knocked on the door of the older sister next door and settled Li Yanping who had fainted. Li Yanping who woke up in the meantime bawled her eyes out and lay on the sofa of the older sister’s house next door, not even having the strength to stand up.

       When the older sister heard that something had happened there, she was so scared that she hid in the house with Li Yanping with the door half closed.

       Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan didn’t leave, they just waited in the stairwell.

       Ning Junyan stood against the wall, while Chen Yuncheng said with a pale face, “I want to sit for a while.” After he said that, he sat down on the steps of the stairs.

       “Where do you think Zhou Yan will go?” Chen Yuncheng raised his head and looked at Ning Junyan.

       Ning Junyan didn’t answer. He was silent for a while, then bent down and put his palm on Chen Yuncheng’s head, and said, “Don’t think about things that are not confirmed.”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded, “Maybe it was a thief.”

       They waited less than ten minutes before the police arrived.

       Neither Chen Yuncheng nor Ning Junyan ever entered the house again. Because of Li Yanping’s emotional breakdown, the two of them were first invited to the police station to take notes.

       The two stayed in two rooms, answering the police’s questions separately.

       Chen Yuncheng explained their identities, the purpose of coming here, and the exact circumstances of discovering the bodies.

       The police were obviously concerned about Zhou Yan’s existence, “You said Zhou Yan came back to look for his parents?”

       Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “I don’t know, I’m looking for him too.”

       The policeman asked, “Then why did you come all the way here? Are you sure he’s coming back? Or did you hear someone say he was coming back?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I’m not sure, but I’m very anxious to find him, his son is about to have an operation, and his wife is worried about him, so I had to make this trip even if it might be for nothing.”

       The police asked again, “Does he have a conflict with his stepfather?”

       Chen Yuncheng said: “I don’t know. He never mentioned his family, and this is the first time I met his parents.”

       The statement was taken in great detail. When Chen Yuncheng came out after almost half an hour, he saw that Ning Junyan was already waiting for him outside.

       Ning Junyan was not like Chen Yuncheng. He knew less about Zhou Yan. This trip was purely to accompany Chen Yuncheng. The police asked some simple questions, mainly about how the crime scene was discovered, and after reading his ID card and work permit, they let him leave.

       When the police sent them out of the county public security bureau, Chen Yuncheng’s face still didn’t look too good. He was standing by the roadside in a daze.

       Ning Junyan didn’t urge him to leave but just reached out and held his hand and felt his fingers cold.

       Chen Yuncheng was a little slow to react and glanced at him.

       Ning Junyan suddenly unzipped his down jacket, took off the down jacket and hung it on his arm, and then went to take off Chen Yuncheng’s down jacket.

       Chen Yuncheng bowed his head along with Ning Junyan’s movement and asked absent-mindedly, “What’s wrong?”

       Ning Junyan took off Chen Yuncheng’s down jacket and then gave him his own to change into, carefully pulling up the zip.

       The warmth instantly hit him, Ning Junyan’s down jacket was obviously much thicker and carried Ning Junyan’s body heat, wrapping Chen Yuncheng tightly, which caused Chen Yuncheng to come back to his senses as he said, “I don’t need it.”

       Ning Junyan had already put Chen Yun Cheng’s feather-thin clothes onto himself, then reached into the pocket of the clothes Chen Yun Cheng was wearing and fished out his car keys, saying, “Let’s go.”

---

Notes:
Totally didn’t see that coming

---

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 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~

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t bring a change of clothes with him, so he simply showered and came out of the bathroom wearing the same clothes he had worn during the day. However, since the temperature in the room was almost 20 degrees, he didn’t wear a sweater and only wore autumn clothes¹ on top.

       When Chen Yuncheng came back and sat beside the bed, Ning Junyan took some medicine and rubbed the medicine on his sprained foot.

       Chen Yuncheng said quickly, “I’ll do it myself.”

       Ning Junyan squatted in front of him, just looked up at him silently, didn’t say anything, and naturally didn’t give him the medicine in his hand.

       The bruising medicine was in the form of a paste, and Ning Jun Yan squeezed some into his palm before saying, “Pull up your trouser some more.”

       Chen Yuncheng was still wearing long jeans, so he pulled the trousers up to expose his ankles completely.

       Ning Junyan spread the ointment in the palms of both hands and wrapped his warm hands around Chen Yuncheng’s ankle at the same time.

       At that moment, Chen Yuncheng could feel that the temperature of his palm was really high, and the sticky ointment seemed to melt away instantly, sticking to his skin and drilling down the pores.

       There was no superfluous expression on Ning Junyan’s face. He pressed his hands against Chen Yuncheng’s ankle for a short time without moving, and only after a while did he gradually rub the ointment away with a very gentle force.

       Chen Yuncheng felt a little pain, but it wasn’t very painful because Ning Junyan had a good grasp of his strength, and the ointment was too slippery after applying it, like putting a layer of oil on his feet, it was slightly cold at first, and then it started to heat up again.

       Ning Junyan rubbed him gently for four or five minutes. When he released his hand, he held Chen Yuncheng’s ankle and placed his foot on the edge of the bed, then stood up from the edge of the bed.

       Chen Yuncheng had one foot on the floor with his slippers on, and the other foot on the edge of the bed unconsciously leaned back slightly, raised his head to look at Ning Junyan.

       Ning Junyan’s hands were full of ointment. He glanced at Chen Yuncheng and said, “Your face is very red.”

       Only then did Chen Yuncheng suddenly feel his cheeks burning.

       Ning Junyan walked towards the bathroom and said as he walked, “Open the window a little later. The room may be too stuffy.”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Okay.” Then he lay on the bed on his back and took a deep breath.

       That night, they opened the window a little, and the heating in the room was not as effective. The temperature was slightly lower, but it made people feel more comfortable sleeping.

       Chen Yuncheng felt that he slept too much during the day, so he began to lose sleep at night. He lay in bed for a long time without falling asleep.

       On the bed next to him, Ning Junyan didn’t make a sound, and Chen Yuncheng didn’t know if he had fallen asleep. As he thought about it, they hadn’t slept in the same room for many years. They had slept in the same bed for four years. Why did it feel so strange now?

       Chen Yuncheng had a lot of thoughts on his mind, which piled up and made him think for a long time in the unfamiliar hotel room before he drifted off to sleep until late at night.

       The next morning, Chen Yuncheng woke up when the sky was slightly bright. He took a look at the time on his mobile phone, it was almost eight in the morning.

       He put the phone back under the pillow and turned to look at the bed next door. Ning Junyan still maintained a quiet sleeping position, and his eyes were closed as if he had not woken up.

       Chen Yuncheng lifted the quilt and got out of bed. The moment he stepped on the ground, he felt that his left ankle still hurt, but it didn’t seem to be as swollen as last night.

       He originally wanted to go to the bathroom, but when he looked at Ning Junyan in the bed opposite, he suddenly felt that from this angle, when he slept with his eyes closed, it was very similar to when he was a child. At that time, they both slept together, and sometimes Chen Yuncheng woke up face to face with Ning Junyan, so close that he could feel Ning Junyan’s breath, but neither of them resented the other.

       At that moment, Chen Yuncheng found some of the warmth of his childhood in his memories. He squatted down beside Ning Junyan’s bed, tilted his head to look at his sleeping face, couldn’t help smiling, and called him softly, “Yanyan?”

       Ning Junyan didn’t respond.

       Chen Yuncheng felt a little amused. He stood up and planned to leave, but at this moment, the person on the bed suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist. He lowered his head and saw Ning Junyan lying on the bed, opening his eyes and looking at him.

       “What did you call me just now?” Ning Junyan asked him.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Yanyan?” After speaking, he quickly explained, “I just suddenly remembered that I didn’t know your name at that time and had been calling you that.”

       “Well,” Ning Junyan said, “Say it once more.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him and didn’t speak.

       Ning Junyan was very persistent, “Say it again.”

       Chen Yuncheng was not too sure and spoke softly, “Yanyan?”

       Ning Junyan said, “En, I’m here.” Then he let go of Chen Yuncheng’s hand and pulled up the quilt to cover half of his face.

       They ate breakfast directly at the hotel.

       Today, whether or not Zhou Yan and his parents could be found, Chen Yuncheng didn’t plan to stay, so he checked out of the room after breakfast, and the two of them drove out of the hotel.

       It was almost ten o’clock in the morning when he returned to the community where Zhou Yan’s parents lived. Chen Yuncheng went upstairs and knocked on the door with a sprained foot. There was still no response from the house, so he and Ning Junyan came out again to the entrance of the neighbourhood.

       There were a few chairs outside the gatekeeper’s room. Chen Yuncheng spoke to the gatekeeper and asked him if he could sit for a while.

       The uncle nodded generously.

       Chen Yuncheng immediately said to Ning Junyan, “Sit down for a while.”

       Ning Junyan sat down on a chair while Chen Yuncheng was standing by the gatekeeper’s room window, chatting with the gatekeeper.

       He said they were waiting for the lady Li they were looking for yesterday.

       The gatekeeper uncle propped his head on one hand and leaned over the table by the window and said. He then said, “I was beginning to think you were some kind of debt collector.”

       Chen Yuncheng smiled and said, “Do I look like a debt collector?”

       The gatekeeper uncle said, “There are no rules on what the debt collector must look like. It’s hard to say whether you look like it or not. Anyway, I don’t think the young man you’re with looks like one anyway.”

       Chen Yuncheng glanced at Ning Junyan and said with a slight smile, “He really doesn’t look like it. He’s a doctor.”

       The gatekeeper uncle clapped his hands, “Right, I told you he was so good-looking. Why should he collect debts? He could be a celebrity. It’s good to be a doctor too, doctors make money.”

       Chen Yuncheng joked with him, “So you think I’m not good-looking enough?”

       The uncle said, “I didn’t say it, you are also good-looking, but you don’t have his manners.”

       “What kind of manners?” Chen Yuncheng asked.

       The uncle thought about it and said, “I can’t tell.”

       Chen Yuncheng understood what the uncle gatekeeper meant in his heart. He himself had grown up lonely and poor and had grown up at the bottom of society, and naturally, he didn’t have some of Ning Junyan’s manners. No matter whether his face was good-looking or not, in the eyes of others, he looked like a gangster, and he would be regarded as a debt collector under such circumstances.

       He was a little at loss.

       At this time, the uncle patted his shoulder, pointed to a woman who was walking along the street with a travel bag and said, “That’s the lady Li you’re looking for.”

       Chen Yuncheng raised his head and saw that the woman was in her forties or fifties, wearing a long down jacket with a floral pattern, and her short hair was curled in small curls. From a distance, he could indeed find some traces of Zhou Yan’s resemblance to her face.

       “Wait for me,” Chen Yuncheng said to Ning Junyan. He walked towards the woman, stopped in front of her, and said as gently as possible, “Hello, Auntie, my name is Chen Yuncheng, I am Zhou Yan’s friend.”

       The woman’s eyes widened at once. The woman’s surname was Li, and her name was Li Yanping. She was indeed Zhou Yan’s mother.

       She was very vigilant about the appearance of Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan, and kept repeating, “Zhou Yan has not been back for a long time.”

       Ning Junyan stood beside him and didn’t speak. Chen Yuncheng patiently said to her, “Have you been out of contact?”

       Li Yanping shook her head, “He ran out when he was in his teens. What kind of contact is there? He didn’t call back.”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Has he come back to find you recently?”

       “No, no,” Li Yanping, carrying her bag, wanted to bypass them and continue walking towards the neighbourhood, seemingly not wanting to continue the conversation.

       Chen Yuncheng said to her, “Do you know that he has a child? The child is in the hospital now. I think he may come back to ask you for help.”

       Li Yanping stopped and said subconsciously, “I don’t have any money either.”

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly felt sad. He looked at Li Yanping and didn’t speak for a while.

       Ning Junyan looked at Chen Yuncheng’s profile silently and then said to Li Yanping: “I don’t need money from you. I just want to know if he has come back to look for you. I know you’ve been away from home recently. Can you ask Zhou Yan’s father if he’s seen him?”

       Li Yanping looked embarrassed.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “We’ll leave immediately after we ask.”

       Li Yanping said, “He should be at home now. You come with me.”

---

Notes:
Did I mention before that the Yan in Yanyan and Yan in Ning Junyan were written in a different Chinese character, but both have the same pinyin. I honestly dunno if I should really differentiate them two or just let it be….

---

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       Chen Yuncheng didn’t know if it was his own psychological effect, but when he came out of the shop after the mutton soup in the evening, he really felt that his whole body was getting warm, so he left his down jacket open and unzipped the whole time.

       Ning Junyan also opened his jacket. He walked beside Chen Yuncheng, and even if he didn’t speak, he still had a strong sense of presence.

       It was neither too early nor too late. Chen Yuncheng was reluctant to go back to the hotel and stayed in the same room with Ning Junyan. He said, “I’ll go to Zhou Yan’s house again.” If his father was working or had something else to do in the afternoon, he should probably be back by evening.

       Ning Junyan said, “As you wish.”

       They took a walk to the neighbourhood where Zhou Yan’s parents lived. Although it was already dark, the gate of the neighbourhood was still half-open, allowing anyone to come and go as they pleased.

       There were not many people walking in winter, and there were not many pedestrians in the neighbourhood. The area of ​​this neighbourhood was not large, and the greenery was even more pitiful. There was only a dilapidated small garden in the middle of several buildings and a dozen trees planted around the garden. There were very few street lamps in the garden, but only a few, separated by a long distance from each other, and a large part of the garden was hidden in the darkness.

       Instead of going upstairs, they stood downstairs in the unit and looked up.

       The window of the house they visited in the afternoon was still off at this time, it didn’t look like someone had come back, and the window next to it should also belong to the same house. At this time, it was blocked by trees, and there was no light coming through from Chen Yuncheng’s line of sight.

       A little undeterred, Chen Yuncheng stepped on the concrete fence of the flower bed, took a few steps forward and finally found a suitable angle. When he saw that the window was still pitch black, he sighed secretly and said, “There is still no one there.”

       After he said that, Chen Yuncheng jumped down from the flower bed. His right foot landed on the ground while his left foot happened to step on a broken brick near the flower bed, the brick slid a little and his foot twisted with it.

       He couldn’t help but let out a low, muffled grunt.

       Ning Junyan turned to look at him, “What’s wrong?”

       Chen Yuncheng felt really stupid. He really didn’t want to appear so stupid in front of Ning Junyan, and said, “Nothing, I think I stepped on a brick.”

       Ning Junyan had already walked in front of him, the light was too dark, and no one could see if there was a brick on the ground. Ning Junyan just stretched out his foot, looking for something to kick away, and then asked him, “Twisted it?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Well, it’s not serious.”

       Ning Jun extended his hand to hold his arm and asked, “Do you want to take a look first?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s fine, it’s not very painful. It’s not convenient here. Let’s look at it when we get back.”

       Ning Junyan said, “Okay.” But he didn’t let go.

       Chen Yuncheng tried to take a step and found that although it was painful. He could walk, but he didn’t dare to put more force on his left foot. He said to Ning Junyan, “I can walk.”

       Ning Junyan slowly let go of his hand and asked him, “Do you need me to carry you?”

       Chen Yuncheng immediately refused, “Of course not, it’s not that bad.”

       He limped out of the neighbourhood with Ning Junyan, called a taxi with his mobile phone, and did not insist on walking back to the hotel.

       When they returned to the room, Chen Yuncheng felt that his ankle seemed to be more swollen than before. He wasn’t sure, so he sat down beside the bed and wanted to take off his shoes to have a look.

       Ning Junyan turned on the heater in the room, stood by the bed, took off his jacket and threw it on the bed, then squatted in front of Chen Yuncheng, holding the ankle of his sprained foot.

       Chen Yuncheng was taken aback, and a conditioned reflex forced him to retract his feet. He had been wearing sneakers all day today, and he was still wearing cotton socks on his feet. Although he looked clean, he really didn’t want to stick his foot out in front of Ning Junyan like this.

       Ning Junyan didn’t seem to care at all. When Chen Yuncheng retracted his foot, he slightly released his hand as if he didn’t want to grab his sprained ankle. However, Ning Jungyang held Chen Yuncheng’s foot again, and Chen Yuncheng couldn’t pull it out again if he tried.

       “Let me see,” Ning Junyan’s tone was low and calm as he looked up at Chen Yuncheng, “Can’t the doctor take a look?”

       Chen Yuncheng looked down at him, pursed his lips, and said, “I’ll go wash it first.”

       Ning Junyan lowered his eyes to look at his feet and said, “No need.” Then he took off Chen Yuncheng’s socks directly.

       Chen Yuncheng felt his rough, warm palm slide across his feet, and it tickled him instantly, but he couldn’t avoid it. Ning Junyan’s expression was very serious, and there was no extra movement when he held his feet. If he were avoiding it, it would look ambiguous instead.

       It was just that when Ning Junyan turned his feet to take a closer look at his ankles, the touch of his fingers touching the soles of his feet was too unbearable that he was a little nervous, so much so that his heart beat faster along with it.

       The heating started to work, and the temperature of the room gradually increased. Chen Yuncheng was still wearing his down jacket and hadn’t had time to take it off, and a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead.

       Ning Junyan squeezed his ankle, turned his foot, then raised his head and asked, “Does it hurts a lot?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s fine. It’s bearable.”

       Ning Junyan nodded, “The bones didn’t get hurt, but the swelling is quite bad, and it might be difficult to walk for a short time.”

       Chen Yuncheng said to him, “It’s okay, I can endure it.”

       Ning Junyan watched him silently for a while, then gently put his feet on the shoes on the ground and said, “There is no need to endure in front of me.”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t expect to hear such a sentence suddenly, and he was a little startled.

       Ning Junyan said, “Just like at that time no one could beat you in front of me, now as long as you are in front of me, you don’t have to endure anything. Just tell me if it hurts.”

       Chen Yuncheng stared at him in a daze and didn’t say anything for a long time.

       Ning Junyan stood up and said, “I’m going to buy medicine for you and buy the toothbrush and towel for tonight on the way. Do you need anything else?”

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly came back to his senses and said, “Nothing more.”

       Ning Junyan nodded, washed his hands in the bathroom, returned to the bed, picked up his coat and room key, and walked outside.

       Chen Yuncheng heard the soft sound of the door closing, but he was still sitting beside the bed, thinking about Ning Junyan’s sentences repeatedly in his head.

       After a while, he remembered that he should take off his jacket, stood up and limped into the bathroom, wanting to take a shower first.

       As he walked into the bathroom, Chen Yuncheng remembered that he didn’t bring anything and he had to wait for Ning Junyan to buy new towels, so he limped back to the bed and sat down, not wanting to watch TV anymore, Chen Yuncheng sat on the bed He turned his head and stared at the dark sky outside the window in a daze.

       Ning Junyan went out for more than 20 minutes and came back to the hotel from outside. He brought two plastic bags, one containing daily necessities bought in the supermarket and the other containing the medicine for bruises bought for Chen Yuncheng.

       Chen Yuncheng got up from the bed, took the towel and toothbrush, walked to the bathroom, and said, “I’ll take a shower first.”

       Ning Junyan stood there watching him limping, raised his hand to take off his jacket, and asked at the same time, “Do you want me to help?”

       “No!” Chen Yuncheng replied immediately. Chen Yuncheng immediately replied as he went into the bathroom and hesitated for a moment after closing the door, and locked the door from the inside.

---

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       When the older sister next door closed the door, Chen Yuncheng looked at Ning Junyan and said, “It may take another day.”

       Ning Junyan just replied, “Okay.”

       Chen Yuncheng felt terribly sorry. As he went down the stairs, he said, “I wanted to go back today, but I’ll have to delay you for another day.”

       Ning Junyan said, “It doesn’t matter, I have a day off tomorrow too.” After they had silently descended the stairs, Ning Junyan said again, “It’s not a waste.”

       Chen Yuncheng held back from turning back to look at him.

       It was only after three o’clock in the afternoon when they came out of the neighbourhood.

       Chen Yuncheng stood by the side of the street in a bit of a daze, not knowing where to go. This was an ordinary small county town with no tourist spots around and nothing special in the city. He didn’t know how to spend the rest of the time with Ning Junyan.

       Ning Junyan waited quietly for a while, then said, “Why don’t you go find a hotel and rest first?”

       Chen Yuncheng hesitated a little and said, “Alright.”

       When they got back to the car, Chen Yuncheng took his mobile phone to find a better hotel nearby. The most expensive hotel he could find in the small county was only about three hundred yuan a night.

       He handed the phone to Ning Junyan and asked, “How is this place?”

       Ning Junyan just glanced at it, and Chen Yuncheng even suspected that he didn’t see it clearly at all before hearing him say, “Sure, show me the way.”

       The hotel was better than what Chen Yuncheng imagined. Although it was not too big, at least it looked new and had a large parking lot.

       When it was time to get a room, Chen Yuncheng was a little hesitant. He asked Ning Junyan, “Should I get two rooms?”

       Ning Junyan asked him, “Why? No double room¹is a room for two persons with a bed. Tho in this case I feel like the double room is actually a room with a twin bed?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I’m afraid you won’t have a good rest.” He was a little worried that Ning Junyan was not used to living in a room with others.

       Ning Junyan said, “No need, just take a normal double room.”

       So Chen Yuncheng took his ID card and went to open a room.

       The environment of the hotel room was also good; at least it looked clean. After Chen Yuncheng entered, he first opened the window to blow away the dreary air in the room, and then he asked Ning Junyan, “Which bed do you sleep on?”

       Ning Junyan sat beside the bed by the door and said, “Whichever you want.”

       Chen Yuncheng just lay down on the bed by the window. He didn’t take off his shoes. He stretched his feet out of the bed and stretched his arms over his head. He exhaled a long breath and said, “You could use some sleep for a while.”

       Ning Junyan gave a soft “um”.

       Chen Yuncheng thought Ning Junyan was sleepy, so he didn’t speak anymore. So he closed his eyes and fell asleep by himself.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t sleep for too long, but he slept soundly. When he woke up, he was a little dazed. He stared at the ceiling for a while before remembering that he was in a hotel room.

       He raised his head and glanced at the bed next to him, only to find that Ning Junyan was not sleeping but sat beside the bed and looked at him silently. He didn’t even look away when he noticed that he was awake, just calmly said, “Are you awake?”

       Chen Yuncheng woke up instantly. He sat up from the bed, raised his hand to ruffle his messy hair, and asked, “Have you been awake for a long time?”

       Ning Junyan said, “I didn’t sleep.”

       Chen Yuncheng took out his mobile phone and checked the time. He calculated that he had slept for about 40 minutes and then asked Ning Junyan, “Then what are you doing? Why don’t you turn on the TV to watch?”

       Ning Junyan replied, “I don’t like watching TV.”

       The lights in the room were not turned on, and by this time in the afternoon, the light was already a bit gloomy.

       Chen Yuncheng got up and said, “I’m going to the bathroom.” When he finished saying that, he had already walked towards the bathroom and closed the door from the inside. After a short hesitation, he locked the door again.

       He leaned in front of the sink, raised his hands to cover his face, rubbed lightly, and didn’t move his hands away after that.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t want to admit it. He was a little scared when he woke up and saw Ning Junyan’s eyes. He didn’t know what he was afraid of. Perhaps because he was still a bit confused at the moment he woke up. Anyway, his heart skipped a beat unconsciously. Then he talked incoherently with Ning Junyan for a bit and hurriedly made an excuse to hide in.

       After a while, Chen Yuncheng calmed himself down. He opened the bathroom door, went out, and asked Ning Junyan in a natural tone, “Do you want to go out for a walk?”

       Ning Junyan got up from the bed and said, “Sure.”

       They left the hotel on foot. The county town was not big, and it took only 20 minutes to walk from the hotel to the neighbourhood where Zhou Yan’s parents lived. Although there was not much to see, the small town had its own atmosphere. The small town naturally had the smell of food being cooked in the air. The liveliest streets in the city come alive at the beginning of the day when the lights come on, and the streets are lit up by starbursts.

       The dinner was a treat from Chen Yuncheng. He found a well-known local mutton soup on the internet, which was very suitable for cold winters.

       There was no menu in the shop, and the two men sat down while the boss lady stood by with a book and pen to give them their orders.

       “How about a catty of meat and a catty of other stuffs?” The boss lady helped to arrange it for them skillfully.

       Chen Yuncheng replied, “Okay.”

       The boss lady said again, “Would you like a plate of stir-fried lamb liver?”

       Chen Yuncheng glanced at Ning Junyan and replied, “Yes, I’ll take it.”

       The boss lady took a pen and wrote it down, and said at the same time, “In addition to the vegetable dishes delivered, it might be enough for you two boys. But if it is not enough, you can add more meat.”

       Chen Yuncheng heard her outspoken and straightforward voice, so he smiled and said, “Okay.”

       The boss lady put away the pen, turned around and went to the kitchen. After a while, she held the bottom of the pot full of milky white mutton soup and put it on the table for them. While calling for the waiter to help start the fire, she said to them, “Young men, eat more mutton for good health and energy.”

       Chen Yuncheng could not speak for an instant and could not help but look at Ning Junyan’s expression.

       Ning Junyan was very calm. For the first time, he struck up a conversation with the boss lady and asked, “Is that so?”

       The boss lady probably looked at them because they were good-looking and looked at Ning Junyan twice more in particular and said, “Are you from out of town?”

       Ning Junyan said, “From Chongfeng.”

       The boss lady nodded, “Judging from the accent, it seemed that you’re not from here. Mutton is our speciality here. Our mutton doesn’t really smell²Raw Mutton meat has more of a pungent smell with a definite aged gamey scent on the nose., and it is especially suitable for soup. If you can drink more mutton soup, you will not feel cold all winter.”

       Ning Junyan smiled lightly and said, “Okay.”

       After the boss lady had enough talk, she went to take the food order for the new table of guests.

       Chen Yuncheng watched in silence as the soup in the pot began to gradually tumble and bubble, and felt a little complicated.

       When Ning Junyan saw the soup boiling, he picked up the spoon and took the initiative to help Chen Yuncheng put the mutton soup into his bowl.

       Chen Yuncheng came back to his senses, raised his hand to grab the spoon, and said, “I’ll do it.”

       Ning Junyan easily avoided it and insisted on ladling the soup into Chen Yuncheng’s bowl, saying, “You can drink a little more.”

       Chen Yuncheng laughed to ease the embarrassment and said, “I’m in good health too.”

       Ning Junyan only said, “Is that so?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Otherwise, what do you think? Do I look like I’m weak?”

       Ning Junyan said, “You can’t tell by looking.” After saying that, he quickly added, “But I don’t think you are.”

       In an instant, Chen Yuncheng felt the suffocating feeling that he had in the afternoon.

       Ning Junyan said gently, “Yuncheng, drink the soup first.”

       Chen Yuncheng picked up the bowl, took a sip, and said, “It’s hot.”

       Ning Junyan still said to him gently and seriously, “Then let it cool for a while, I’ll remind you later not to let it get too cold.”

---

The author has something to say:

How can a hotel in a small county only have one room of double bed left? Am I an author with little life experience?

It’s not easy for me to catch up with today’s update.

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Notes:
Okay, watching while sleeping is kinda creepy ngl
What is this? A parody of tw*light? (⚆_⚆)
Also thanks for the coffee? I received a coffee but idk for what novel, so I’m gonna put the notice here and on laws of love too~ If you are a fan of Morbid Addiction please reply my ko-fi message :’) I want to grant you some advanced chapter~

---

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 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~

       Zhou Yan’s hometown was a small county town near mountains and rivers. The county town was surrounded by mountains behind it and a large river flowing slowly in front of it.

       A few tall buildings could be seen along the way just as soon as they exited the highway, and as the car gradually drove towards the depths of the county town, most of the old buildings with a height of six or seven storeys could be seen.

       They hadn’t had lunch yet.

       Ning Junyan asked Chen Yuncheng, “What would you like to eat?”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer. He felt that he could eat anything, even if he had a bowl of noodles in a small noodle restaurant by the roadside, it didn’t matter, but he felt that it was too random and somewhat wrong to Ning Junyan.

       “I’ll eat whatever you want,” Chen Yuncheng finally said to Ning Junyan.

       Ning Junyan nodded. He slowed down and drove forward on the streets of the county town until he saw a well-decorated Chinese restaurant on the side of the road. He found a place to park the car and got out of the car with Chen Yuncheng to eat.

       It was already past lunchtime, and there were obviously no customers in the restaurant, yet Ning Junyan still asked for a private room and sat at a small round table with Chen Yuncheng to eat.

       “There are no small private rooms,” Ning Junyan said.

       Chen Yuncheng rinsed the tableware with tea water¹the tea water is usually provided free by the restaurant and Yuncheng may just want to make sure the tableware is clean and said, “This kind of Chinese restaurant generally doesn’t usually have a private room for two people.”

       When putting the cleaned tableware and chopsticks on the table, Chen Yuncheng originally wanted to tell Ning Junyan that it must be hard for him to accompany him on this trip. However, before he could say anything, he was afraid that Ning Junyan would say something back to him that he wouldn’t be able to answer. So in the end he just gave up.

       The dishes for lunch were ordered by Ning Junyan alone, a soup and three other dishes with meat and vegetables.

       When the waiter brought the soup, Chen Yuncheng picked up the soup bowl in front of Ning Junyan and helped him fill it up. Ning Junyan kept his eyes on him and said softly, “Thank you.”

       Chen Yuncheng had to say, “You’re welcome.”

       After they finished eating, Chen Yuncheng asked the waiter to settle the bill, but the waiter told him that Ning Junyan had already settled the bill after ordering.

       Chen Yuncheng felt a sense of powerlessness of having nowhere to move. When they came out of the restaurant, Chen Yuncheng stood on the side of the road and asked Ning Junyan, “Do you think I’m poor, that you didn’t regard me as an equal brother?”

       Ning Junyan held the car key in his hand and wanted to pick up the car. When he heard Chen Yuncheng’s question, he turned to look at him and asked, “Why do you say that?”

       Chen Yuncheng felt that he was being a bit unreasonable. He wouldn’t have minded these things in the past, and he wouldn’t have said them despite the awkwardness of the atmosphere, but he had been in a mess for the past two days, half because of Zhou Yan and the other half because of Ning Junyan. He couldn’t help but say, “You came so far with me to find Zhou Yan, and you didn’t even let me invite you for a meal? Do you think I can’t even afford to spend this amount of money?”

       Ning Junyan’s expression was calm, and he replied, “I didn’t think about it that much. If you want to treat me to a meal, you can do it tonight.”

       Chen Yuncheng was a little stunned by what he said and then said, “I’m sorry.”

       Ning Junyan said, “Does it really matter?”

       It didn’t really matter, and Chen Yuncheng didn’t know exactly what was going through his head. He laughed at himself and said, “It doesn’t matter, don’t pay attention to me. I’m in a bit of a mess.”

       Ning Junyan asked him, “Is it because of Zhou Yan?”

       Chen Yuncheng glanced at him and nodded without saying that it was also because of him.

       Ning Junyan suddenly said, “You didn’t even think of looking for me when I left.”

       Chen Yuncheng froze for a moment. At first, he didn’t react to Ning Junyan that said at the time he had left, and then he thought that maybe it was the year they got separated, and Chen Yuncheng was standing by, watching as Ning Junyan’s parents took him away.

       Ning Junyan didn’t seem to need his answer, turned around and walked towards the parking place before he spoke, “I’ll get the car.”

       Chen Yuncheng had somehow lost his temper with Ning Junyan and had been feeling bad about it. So after they got into the car again, he spoke in a gentler voice to the other party.

       He found the address on Zhou Yan’s ID card and showed it to Ning Junyan, “Can you navigate here?”

       Ning Junyan said, “I’ll try.”

       It was the first time they had both come to this county, and they relied entirely on their mobile phone navigation to find their way.

       Zhou Yan’s household registration address was in an old district courtyard on an old street in the county town. The car couldn’t drive in, so they could only park the car on the nearby street and walk over.

       The neighbourhood didn’t have any access control, only a lazy old man sitting in the guard room watching TV.

       The address on Zhou Yan’s ID card was detailed to the unit and house number. Chen Yuncheng went straight to the doorman, showed him Zhou Yan’s ID card, and asked him if he recognized this person.

       The old man touched a pair of old-fashioned reading glasses on the table and set them on the bridge of his nose, looked at the ID card photo carefully, shook his head and said, “I don’t remember, but this address is really here.”

       Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Then do you recognize this family?”

       The old man looked at it carefully for a while and didn’t answer directly. He raised his head to look at Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan and asked, “Who are you?”

       Chen Yuncheng said to him, “This Zhou Yan is a friend of ours. He returned to his hometown some time ago and could not be contacted. His son is sick again, so we came to find him.”

       The old man said “oh” without any intention to press further and said, “I don’t know if this family is his family, but there are two couples living at this address; the male’s surname is Qi, the female’s surname is Li, and there is no surnamed Zhou. “

       Ning Junyan asked, “How old are they?”

       The old man said, “Almost fifty.”

       Chen Yuncheng thanked the old man, walked into the neighbourhood with Ning Junyan, and planned to go to the family’s home and ask them in person.

       “Have you met Zhou Yan’s parents?” Ning Junyan asked.

       Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “He was sent back to his hometown by the police, and I haven’t seen his family.” And too many years had passed, and even if he had seen them when he was young, Chen Yuncheng probably didn’t remember what they looked like.

       “He has a bad relationship with his family,” Chen Yuncheng said slowly, “He never talked to me about his parents.”

       Ning Junyan was silent and did not speak.

       The neighbourhood was not big, there were four old buildings in it. Chen Yuncheng found the unit building where Zhou Yan’s household was registered, went up to the third floor with Ning Junyan, and knocked on the door lightly after seeing the house number.

       He wanted his appearance as unobtrusive as possible, at least to not scare Zhou Yan’s family.

       The building was really old, the white walls and ceilings in the corridor had turned grey with dirt residue, and broken cobwebs could be seen in the corners.

       Ning Junyan stood behind Chen Yuncheng, and neither of them was short. In the narrow and cramped stairwell, nothing but dimness and a sense of oppression could be felt.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t hear any movement in the room, so he knocked on the door twice with a little more force.

       While waiting for a response, he turned his head to look at Ning Junyan, “Could they have gone to work? If you’re less than fifty years old, you probably haven’t retired yet, right?”

       “Today is Saturday,” Ning Junyan told him.

       Chen Yuncheng was not sure, “What about working overtime?”

       Ning Junyan sidled past him to approach the door of the room and raised his hand to knock hard, “Maybe they just didn’t hear it.”

       There was still no response from the room, but the resident next door heard the sound, opened the door a crack, and looked out vigilantly.

       “Hello,” Chen Yuncheng asked before the older sister next door close the door, “Is this family at home?”

       The older sister looked at him first, and then Ning Junyan, perhaps because she thought they didn’t look like bad people, so she replied, “Li jie went back to her parent’s house last week. I don’t know if Qi ge is here.”

       Chen Yuncheng asked again, “Did you know that they have a son?”

       The older sister frowned when she was asked, and after a while, she suddenly said, “You mean Zhou Yan?”

       Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan looked at each other.

       The older sister said, “Zhou Yan went out to work for many years and never came back.”

       “Have you not seen him recently?” Chen Yuncheng asked.

       The older sister shook her head, “I haven’t seen him since he left. It’s been many years.”

       Chen Yuncheng thought about it and asked her, “Then do you know when Zhou Yan’s mother will be back? Or when is his father expected to be home?”

       The older sister still shook her head, “I don’t know.” After she finished speaking, she was about to close the door.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t give up and asked quickly, “Then do you have the contact information of their family? Can you help me ask?”

       The older sister didn’t seem very happy.

       Chen Yuncheng said, “Please, jiejie.”

       The older sister looked at him carefully and asked, “Who are you guys?”

       Chen Yuncheng repeated what he said to the doorman.

       The older sister listened and said, “The little one is sick, huh?” She seemed hesitant, “Then wait.” She took out her mobile phone and sent a WeChat message. After waiting for a reply after a few seconds, she raised her head and said to Chen Yuncheng, “Li jie said she will be back tomorrow morning, so why don’t you come over tomorrow morning?”

       Chen Yuncheng instantly smiled and said, “Thank you.”

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