In the homestay, Zhu Tong was lying on the bed looking up at the ceiling, his eyes were dull, and his face was hopeless.
He can’t sleep.
He’s actually losing sleep!
Didn’t he fall asleep on the sofa last night!
He took out his mobile phone and looked at it. It’s currently 12 AM. He subconsciously opened WeChat. There were a lot of important newsflashes, but none of the news he wanted to see.
He turned off his phone in despair and continued to stare at the ceiling in a daze.
How could he fall asleep?
Zhu Tong has heard before that some people have the problem of “recognizing their bed”. If they are used to sleeping in one bed, they will not be able to sleep in other beds. In the same manner, some people have the problem of “recognizing people”.
Does he have this problem?
Who does he recognize? Shao Ming? But they never slept together, not in the same bed!
And how long did he live together with Shao Ming? Not that long, right?
Zhu Tong closed his eyes, trying to brew drowsiness while his thoughts went everywhere. His consciousness was chaotic, making a war between his biological clock and his mind. He was thinking about problems and his math homework, but he also desperately wanted to sleep. He’s tired, but his body refuses to fall asleep.
In the end, he closed his eyes but still stayed up until dawn. He received a “wake up” call from Shao Ming at 6 AM as promised.
Although this phone call was as useless as yesterday, Zhu Tong strangely felt a sense of relief that he could fall asleep peacefully.
The challenging part is that time doesn’t allow him to sleep.
Zhu Tong could only get up groggy, and when he went out after washing up, he found that Shao Ming was already waiting for him outside the homestay.
“You…”
He was jolted awake, fully surprised. “When did you come back?”
Shao Ming smiled and said, “Just arrived.”
Zhu Tong turned to look at the direction of the school.
He remembered that Shao Ming’s home was in the opposite direction from the homestay. Even if he came here, he should have gone directly to the school. How could he come to the homestay first?
He looked at the school, and then at Shao Ming, “How are you…”
“I’m used to going to school with you, so I don’t feel comfortable alone.” Shao Ming said with a thin smile.
Zhu Tong: “…”
His heart moved slightly, as if he had been tickled by a cat’s paw.
He felt that way too.
He’s used to being together. After getting up today, he felt very uncomfortable.
He moved his lips involuntarily, but before he could speak, Shao Ming had already put his arms around him and said, “Let’s go, if you are late, you will be punished by standing outside.”
When Shao Ming took his shoulder, the back of his hand gently rubbed his face.
So cold.
Zhu Tong was excited for a moment and couldn’t help tilting his head.
‘Is he telling the truth that he’s just arrived? If that’s the case, why is his hand so cold?’
But Shao Ming was already looking ahead, the corners of his lips were slightly raised, and he seemed to be in a good mood.
Zhu Tong paused and asked, “Is Auntie okay?”
Shao Ming replied, “She’s okay.”
“You…” Zhu Tong said hesitantly, “When did you get home last night?”
Shao Ming thought for a while, “About 11 PM, what’s wrong?”
Zhu Tong: “Are you going back there tonight?”
“Yup.” Shao Ming leaned towards him and whispered, “Why? You can’t bear that?”
“…”
“No.” Zhu Tong subconsciously denied.
Why would he not bear letting Shao Ming go back to see his family?
But he… really felt that way.
He tilted his head to look at Shao Ming, “Can you send me a message after you get home today?”
Shao Ming paused slightly: “…why?”
Why…
Zhu Tong lingered on that for a while. Shao Ming does not have the obligation to report to him when he gets home, right?
He was dumbfounded for a moment. Shao Ming then approached him and asked, “Are you worried about me?”
“…”
Worried?
Probably?
Since Qiu Shaoping appeared, Shao Ming’s state has been quite worrying.
Zhu Tong was a bit taken aback by his question, then he realized: he didn’t fall asleep last night because he was worried about Shao Ming?
He didn’t say anything about his insomnia. He nodded and said, “A little bit.”
Shao Ming added, “Why don’t you call me if you’re worried about me?”
Zhu Tong said, “I’m afraid to disturb you talking to Auntie.”
Shao Ming: “…”
He’s really sweet and loving.
Shao Ming smiled. “Then do you know why I didn’t send you a message?”
Zhu Tong: “Why?”
“Because I’m afraid I’ll miss you.”
“…”
Zhu Tong looked at him with a complicated expression.
He thought, ‘How could this person say such flirtatious words to me so naturally?’
Is this also a form of self-protection?
Because he doesn’t want people to know what’s on his mind?
Zhu Tong felt a mixture of helplessness and distress.
Seeing that he didn’t look at the road, Shao Ming added, “Okay, it’s my fault, I’ve made you worry, don’t worry, it won’t happen in the future.”
“…”
Before Zhu Tong had time to think about what “it won’t happen in the future” implies, his body was turned around by someone.
“It’s time to go to school, you need to see ahead, Young Master.”
Zhu Tong: “…”
As the morning class approached, there was a surging crowd at the school gate. What he wanted to ask could only be swallowed temporarily.
Then he didn’t find a chance to speak again.
After a few days of choir practice in the class, the formal rehearsal began. The original chaotic demonic screeching turned into a coordinated demonic screeching. The damage to his eardrums increased exponentially. In the end, Zhu Tong used the cotton earplugs that Shao Ming offered him last time.
Another day passed. After Shao Ming didn’t go back to the homestay at night, he didn’t go back even at noon the next day.
If he hadn’t had lunch with him before leaving, Zhu Tong would have wondered if he had been rejected by him.
…why does he use the word “rejected”?
In a small restaurant opposite the homestay, Zhu Tong had finished his meal and was sipping his soup.
Luo Suo sat opposite him, looked at the direction Shao Ming had just left, and wondered, “What is Ming-ge doing?”
Zhu Tong shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Luo Suo: “…”
Then why is he so calm?
He paused for a while and asked, “That person… how is he doing these two days?”
Zhu Tong paused when he drank the soup. After he swallowed it, he replied, “Still recovering from his injury. Since his rib is fractured, he won’t be able to leave the hospital in a short time.”
Luo Suo breathed a sigh of relief.
In the past two days after returning from the milk tea shop, they tacitly did not mention this matter in front of Shao Ming, but they all remembered it in their hearts.
Luo Suo was silent for a while, “My uncle told me that in this situation, if Qiu Shaoping does not take any further action, it will be difficult to send him back to jail.”
“…”
Zhu Tong knew that.
According to the law, if a criminal retaliates against their victim within five years after release, it constitutes a repeat offense under the criminal law and will be subject to severe punishment.
However, it is difficult to say where the “retaliation” stipulated by law entails.
To what extent does verbal extremism constitute retaliation?
If arrests are not made, how long can the police’s “protection” last?
The delicious fish soup in the bowl suddenly became tasteless. Zhu Tong’s eyes darkened, and he whispered, “It is difficult to send him back to jail. But it’s not difficult to send him to hospital, right?”
Luo Suo was stunned. “What?”
Zhu Tong looked up and said, “Do you think if I keep him lying in the hospital, pay medical expenses on time, he might one day be unable to bear it and leave on his own?”
Luo Suo was stunned by his rhetorics. His mouth gaped, unable to say a word.
Luo Suo was just an ordinary high school student. Although he gained a lot of knowledge with Shao Ming, he never thought that such an operation would be possible.
Keep him in the hospital all the time? How to do that?
Like dealing with Yuan Shaozhou, beating him back when he got discharged from the hospital? To what extent?
Luo Suo suddenly discovered that this young man, while looking frail, was actually quite ruthless.
Zhu Tong was already immersed in his own thoughts.
Suddenly his phone rang. He took it out, looked at it, and pressed to answer.
“Uncle Liu.”
“Young Master, where are you now?”
Zhu Tong looked at the homestay opposite through the glass window of the restaurant, “I’m eating in a restaurant and I’ll be back in a while.”
On the phone, Uncle Liu was obviously relieved, and his tone was still a little serious. “Young Master, you better hurry back, I got a call from the hospital just now. The man you asked me to watch is gone. Somehow, he managed to get rid of everyone’s watch. He ran away and we don’t know where he’s going.”
Zhu Tong’s expression changed suddenly.
Luo Suo also became nervous, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Zhu Tong said, “Qiu Shaoping ran away.”
“How…?”
Isn’t his rib still fractured? How did he run away again?
Even with fractured ribs, he had such determination?
Luo Suo eyes’ widened. “Ming-ge just went out… nothing happened to him, right?”
Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Tong had already stood up, “Uncle Liu, you locate my cell phone and follow me.”
“Wait, Young Master, where are you going?!”
The exasperated voice on the phone was cut off.
Zhu Tong said to the system in his brain: ‘Do you know where Shao Ming is now?’
The system directly displayed a map showing the location of the White Moonlight.
Zhu Tong glanced at the location, turned and left.
“Hey, wait for me…”
Luo Suo was busy scanning the QR code to pay the bill. When he left the restaurant, he had already walked quite far away, so he quickly chased after him.
Zhu Tong followed the shortest route indicated by the system.
He didn’t have time to think about how abnormal Shao Ming was in the past two days. Shao Ming went out alone this afternoon without saying anything, but he didn’t pay much attention since Qiu Shaoping was still in the hospital.
But why did it happen when Qiu Shaoping sneaked away from the hospital?
What on earth did he want to do with his injury? He actually ran away despite not recovering?
Why did Shao Ming go out alone?
How can it be so coincidental?
Opposite the Xinxin Plaza, at the entrance of a small cafe, a man in a suit and leather shoes stood opposite a young man, carrying a briefcase. He looked at the small cafe next to him with a bit of restrained disgust on his face.
When Zhu Tong arrived, Shao Ming was talking to the posh-looking man. He breathed a sigh of relief, but then, he suddenly saw a man emerge from behind the taller Pixiu statue next to the cafe. He wore a chest strap for fixing fractures.
He had a grim face, a sullen look, with a fruit knife in his hand.
He was well aware of the principle that one shouldn’t shout loudly during a surprise attack. He thrust the fruit knife straight into Shao Ming’s lower back.
Zhu Tong’s pupils shrank. He didn’t know where his strength came from, but he rushed forward towards Shao Ming at a fast speed.
Shao Ming seemed to have sensed something, and was about to turn around to avoid the attack, but he was slammed by something.
Thanks to the impact, he only had time to pull the person in front of him, and kicked the other at the same time.
The fruit knife, coming straight at him, was kicked off its trajectory. However, the person holding the knife seemed determined. He swung the knife back and forcefully cut it across the back of the person in front of Shao Ming, leaving a bloody trail in the air.
“Young Master!”
Uncle Liu, who arrived late, witnessed this scene. His eyes were instantly bloodshot and bulging.
Qiu Shaoping saw that the knife had slashed the wrong person. Regardless of the pain in his chest, he wanted to pounce again with red eyes, but was kicked three meters away by Uncle Liu, who finally arrived.
Zhu Tong felt warm liquid seeping out from his back. When he registered the pain, he bit his lips tightly to prevent himself from screaming.
Shao Ming supported the youths in his arms. His limbs felt stiff and cold.
In the moment when the bloody streak crossed before his eyes, a certain invisible boundary that he had persistently upheld shattered. The youth, who collided into his arms, was the one who did it.
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