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.”
The author has something to say:
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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