Translator: Lynn
Jiang Yuduo didn’t respond to Cheng Ke’s inquiry, suspecting it was a face-saving gesture. He simply glanced at him and collected his belongings before saying, “There’s still a bag over there, can you help me with it?”
Cheng Ke picked up the bag from the ground with one hand while holding the cat in his coat with the other. He shut the door behind them and asked, “Should I lock it?”
“No, if the old lady comes in the afternoon and finds the door locked twice, she will curse,” Jiang Yuduo explained.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” Cheng Ke replied, a little surprised.
“They’ll think she’s not welcome here,” Jiang Yuduo clarified.
Cheng Ke sighed in response, “Such a difficult old lady..”
“I’ve cleaned up the house all day, yet I’m afraid if she found a spot that is not cleaned enough I’ll be scolded for 2 hours.” Jiang Yuduo sighed.
“Did Lu Qiang rent this house to you?” Cheng Ke asked.
“No, I’m not paying any rent.” Jiang Yuduo answered.
“Oh, then does the old lady come here often?” Cheng Ke replied.
“Just one every few months. Usually, when she comes, I’ll sleep outside for a few days. Now it’s a little bit troublesome because I have Meow.” Jiang Yuduo lamented.
Cheng Ke stood at the entrance of the house. “Actually, it’s a good thing to rent a house by yourself, you won’t be scolded by an old lady.”
“No,” Jiang Yuduo disagrees. Looked at the intersection and whispered, “I’m used to being scolded by the grandma who has three-and-a-half years old grandson next door.”
“What kind of weird hobbies do you have?” Cheng Ke looked at him, confused.
“You don’t understand the way of living in this world.” Jiang Yuduo muses.
Cheng Ke frowned. “Really, now? It seems like I have to die since I don’t like being scolded to live.”
Jiang Yuduo glanced at him and said, “I am different from you.”
We are different,
Cheng Ke repeated the words in his heart.
Chen Qing drove over in a Land Rover and stopped in front of them after they stood for about two minutes. He had dragged a broken three-wheeler away from the intersection to get there. “Damn!” he exclaimed. “Is that everything you’re carrying?” he asked, looking at their belongings.
“Did I say there is a lot? Why don’t you drive a pickup instead?” Jiang Yuduo asked.
“They don’t have any in-store today,” Chen Qing replied as he picked up the cat cage and put it in the trunk. “Jaeger—Ke-ge,” he addressed Cheng Ke.
“Please, just call me Jaeger-Lecoultre,” Cheng Ke requested. “And forget my name, okay?”
“Sure thing, Jaeger-ge,” Chen Qing said, gesturing for Cheng Ke to put his bag in the trunk. Cheng Ke put the bags and carried the cat into the back seat.
“San-ge, why don’t you come to my house to eat? You don’t have to buy takeouts.” Chen Qing offered.
“Don’t I always buy food?” Jiang Yuduo asked.
“Not only it’s already inconvenient for you to say in a hotel, but you also don’t need to buy takeouts too.” Chen Qing replied.
“Forget it, your mother doesn’t like me, she doesn’t even like you. I’ll stay with Cheng Ke.” Jiang Yuduo stated.
“Huh?” Chen Qing looked at Cheng Ke through the rearview mirror. “You used to clean up his house and cook for him?”
“…No way,” Cheng Ke sighed.
Upon hearing Jiang Yuduo’s plan to stay with him, Cheng Ke felt a bit uneasy, as if he had done something wrong. Jiang Yuduo, however, was unaware of Cheng Ke’s discomfort.
“Then…” Chen Qing wanted to say something, but he hesitated for a while and didn’t continue, “All right, it’s only these two days anyway.” He quickly left to return to the shop after dropping them off.
As soon as they arrived at the apartment, Cheng Ke took the cat out of his clothes. The cat was wild and restless, and its claws had left several marks on his body.
Jiang Yuduo was lost in thought, remaining silent as he entered the room and placed their belongings down. He then turned to Cheng Ke and began speaking hesitantly, “I have something to say, but please don’t be angry with me.”
Cheng Ke, sitting on the sofa, responded calmly, “Go ahead. I have a good temper.”
Jiang Yuduo took a deep breath and continued, “I see you as my friend, and it doesn’t matter to me if you like guys or girls. I don’t think it’s abnormal or anything like that.” Cheng Ke looked at him but didn’t say anything.
“That’s all,” Jiang Yuduo struggled to express himself, but it was clear that this was an important matter to him. “If you have any feelings towards me, I won’t blame you. It’s your own business after all. But I hope you can keep it to yourself and not let me feel uncomfortable.”
Cheng Ke sat there in silence, feeling neither surprised nor shocked. He wanted to get up and jump out the window. Despite his experience with liking and being liked, as well as rejection and rejection, Jiang Yuduo’s serious ultimatum-like tone hit him hard. It was the first time he felt such embarrassment and a direct blow that left him no face. This feeling was complex and impossible to define.
Cheng Ke realized that his skin was not as thick as he had thought. He lit a cigarette and asked, “San-ge, what exactly are you feeling?”
Jiang Yuduo replied, “I don’t know what it feels like to be interested in someone, but I know when someone is interested in me. What does it feel like?”
Cheng Ke was annoyed and said, “I’m not interested in you, do you understand?”
Jiang Yuduo continued to look at him and said, “I’m not a fool.”
“Get out, now,” Cheng Ke said, pointing to the door.
Jiang Yuduo hesitated, took a step towards the door, and then stopped. “Don’t be angry,” he said, “I just wanted to say…”
“I said go, now!” Cheng Ke interrupted.
Jiang Yuduo hesitated for a moment, opened the door, and walked out.
After shutting the door, Cheng Ke extinguished his cigarette, buried his head in his hands for a moment, and then ran his fingers through his hair, feeling restless. He repeated the action again, frustrated at how things had turned out.
When he lifted his head, he noticed Meow perched on the coffee table, staring at him intently.
“What are you looking at?” Cheng Ke glared at the cat. “Get lost!”
Meow paid no attention to him and remained still.
Cheng Ke looked at the untidy cat supplies for a few minutes, lost in thought. Then, he stood up, unpacked everything, and arranged them neatly.
Jiang Yuduo usually placed the cat cage and litter box next to the radiator. Cheng Ke followed suit and put the cat litter box beside the radiator. He placed the food and water bowls by the kitchen door and arranged the small towel on the cat’s bed. Finally, he put the cat toilet in the human toilet.
As he carried the cat toilet into the bathroom, he accidentally hit the door frame, causing litter to scatter all over the floor. Meow trailed behind him, unfazed by the commotion.
“I got it!” Cheng Ke turned around and shouted, “Don’t worry, you can use the toilet without litter!”
Meow remained unbothered by his outburst and calmly sat down, licking its paw.
Cheng Ke had become quite adept at sweeping the floor, managing to clean up all the cat litter in just 20 seconds. However, as he was about to dump it back into the cat toilet, he caught a glimpse of the cat watching him intently and changed his mind, throwing the litter into the trash can instead.
“Alright, come on,” he said to the cat.
Meow got up and headed to the toilet, then came out and sat down as if inspecting the job. Cheng Ke poured water into the sink, then returned to the living room and sat on the sofa. Meow quickly followed, jumping onto the sofa and laying on his lap.
“Get off to the side!” Cheng Ke picked it up and tossed it aside.
But the cat returned just as quickly and lay on his lap again. Cheng Ke tossed it away twice more, but it came back again and lay on its stomach. Sighing, Cheng Ke ignored it and lay down on the sofa, turning on the projector with the remote control.
Let’s just watch a movie.
After browsing through the set-top box for a while, Cheng Ke selected a movie at random, which appeared to be about flying into the sky, racing boats, and jumping high. However, he dozed off before the title even appeared.
He didn’t sleep for long, though. When he woke up, the movie was still playing, and it seemed to be nearing its end. He should have been able to sleep through until the evening, but he was abruptly awakened by a sense of suffocation. Meow had sneaked up and lay on his chest while he was sleeping.
Thankfully, he hadn’t been watching a horror movie, or he would have surely had a nightmare. He sat up and checked the time. He had missed lunch, and it was almost time for afternoon tea. As he pondered what to eat, he noticed the cat food. Since Meow had been following him all day, he wondered if the cat was hungry too.
He wondered how many meals a day a cat should have and how much it should eat per meal. Should he feed it canned food for every meal?
Cheng Ke was clueless about cat food and took out his phone to search for information, but eventually gave up and tossed the phone aside.
He figured giving Meow a little food won’t hurt and scooped some out of the bag. Meow quickly dove into the bowl and began chomping on the kibbles, but in a more aggressive manner than Cheng Ke had ever seen before.
“Is that how Big Inch taught you to eat?” Cheng Ke questioned the kitten, “You’re a bit savage, aren’t you, Small Inch?” As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Ke’s mood shifted towards irritability again.
He stood up and gulped down a glass of water. Only two hours had passed since he had driven Jiang Yuduo away, and the embarrassment and shame still lingered in his mind. Jiang Yuduo’s solemn words echoed in his head, leaving him restless and uncomfortable.
However, every time he looked at Meow, thoughts of Jiang Yuduo would come flooding back. It was not a lewd sensation, but rather a scorching, excruciating agony that one would feel in a public humiliation.
For a while, Cheng Ke’s emotions fluctuated between embarrassment, depression, and anger towards himself for being foolish.
He was fully aware that Jiang Yuduo was straight and had no romantic interest in him, yet he couldn’t control his temper around him.
What a waste!
At 4 o’clock, Cheng Ke felt very hungry. Although he usually skipped lunch, today he probably exhausted himself due to his embarrassing situation earlier.
He ordered takeout and walked to the window, hoping for the delivery person to arrive soon. Although it wasn’t snowing, the wind was still strong outside. Cheng Ke admired the delivery person’s hard work in this weather and always gave a little tip, although he was afraid of being impolite.
He briefly considered getting a can of yogurt instead of a full meal but decided against it, thinking it was inappropriate for his little brother to drink yogurt in the cold weather.
While lost in thought, he suddenly saw a delivery boy speeding on a motorcycle.
That was fast!
Before he could confirm if the delivery was for him, he saw someone else coming out of the building to collect the food. It wasn’t surprising for other people to order takeout, but to his surprise, the person collecting the food was Jiang Yuduo!
Cheng Ke opened the window, leaned out, and stared at Jiang Yuduo in disbelief.
It was an incredible coincidence. Cheng Ke couldn’t identify Jiang Yuduo from his cap, but he recognized his coat. It was the same coat that he had seen Jiang Yuduo wearing when he kicked him out of his apartment just a few hours ago. Now, Jiang Yuduo was downstairs, and he had intercepted Cheng Ke’s takeaway order.
Cheng Ke was taken aback for a moment. He quickly turned on his phone and checked the order status, which showed that the delivery boy had just entered the store. To his surprise, it wasn’t his order; it was what Jiang Yuduo had ordered.
He rushed to the window and saw that the delivery boy had already left, and Jiang Yuduo was nowhere to be seen. Cheng Ke stood there for a long time, trying to make sense of what just happened. He felt a mix of confusion, shock, and disbelief.
He sat on the sofa, lost in thought. Why did Jiang Yuduo come back? Did he leave and come back? Was it because he thought someone was going to hurt him? But even if that was the case, Jiang Yuduo had nothing to do with it!
Because… he regarded Cheng Ke as a friend.
When Jiang Yuduo said this, he spoke with the same seriousness as when he told Cheng Ke to hold back. “I see you as a friend, so I’ll protect you, but even as friends, I can’t tolerate you wearing your feelings for me on your sleeve,” he stated.
Cheng Ke let out a sigh. He wasn’t sure how Jiang Yuduo defined friendship, as he felt it was unlikely that anyone would act this way towards just an ordinary friend. To Cheng Ke, Jiang Yuduo’s behavior merely provided him with the opportunity to indulge in wild fantasies.
The phone interrupted his thoughts, and he picked it up. It was his order that had arrived. Cheng Ke peered through the peephole before opening the door, ensuring that it was the delivery person. He had ordered a twice-cooked pork rice bowl. Cheng Ke enjoyed eating twice-cooked pork, especially when mixed with the soup, which he savored.
In shock, Cheng Ke stared at the clearly defined rice and vegetables in his lunch box and picked at them with his chopsticks twice.
“Damn it!” he cursed.
How is this even considered a rice bowl? A Donburi without soup is an insult to diners!
Cheng Ke, who had already been unhappy all afternoon, was now at the height of his unhappiness. He slammed his chopsticks on the table and flopped back onto the sofa.
Screw whoever wants to eat it!
The security guards had a lot to say, and they talked incessantly. Jiang Yuduo sat in the security room, listening intently to their childhood stories, from kindergarten to elementary school, and then onto junior high school after eating.
Another person might have found it annoying, but Jiang Yuduo found it fascinating. Kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school were life experiences that most people, even street gangsters, would have, but he was completely blank.
Listening to these long-winded narratives made him feel as if he was slowly experiencing other people’s lives, a little dazed, a little envious, and he also felt safe.
So many people are out in the world, no matter how unfortunate they think they are, they are still living their lives.
He finds comfort in listening to the mundane and everyday conversations of people, just like how he enjoys hearing his grandmother or Lu Qiang’s mother scolding him. It’s a sense of familiarity that is universal and relatable.
Cheng Ke slept on the sofa until evening, awakening to the pangs of hunger. In his dream, he was rejected from three restaurants for being penniless. After washing his face, he fed his cat and watched as it devoured the food greedily. He stopped after giving it two scoops, thinking that he shouldn’t overfeed someone else’s pet.
He then noticed Jiang Yuduo and the security guards outside practicing military boxing. Cheng Ke found it strange but didn’t dwell on it for long as he was too preoccupied with his own anger over the unsatisfactory lunch. His stomach churned with frustration, prompting him to close the curtains.
As Cheng Ke stared at the curtains for a prolonged period, he realized that the root cause of the problem might lie with him. Everyone seemed to get along with Jiang Yuduo except for him, and he couldn’t seem to find common ground with him, even when he had no ill intentions.
Jiang Yuduo’s words echoed in his mind, “I’m not like you,” making him wonder who he was like.
To avoid standing by the window and looking out, Cheng Ke refrained from ordering a takeaway. Instead, he boiled water and prepared himself a bowl of instant noodles. He settled on the living room couch and started watching a movie.
When Xu Ding called, Cheng Ke felt a sense of relief.
Despite the fact that Xu Ding’s call was only regarding their upcoming video shoot and a few work-related details, it was still a much-needed interruption to his monotonous day.
“I have something else to discuss with you tomorrow,” Xu Ding said.
“What is it?” Cheng Ke inquired.
“My friend and I are opening a themed restaurant,” Xu Ding explained. “It’s going to be a sand-themed establishment.”
“Huh?” Cheng Ke paused the movie he was watching.
“Would you be interested in coming over and helping out?” Xu Ding asked. “The restaurant is still under construction, so you can take a look around. As the art director, you can occasionally invite people to perform, or even perform yourself. What do you think?”
“Do you really think I can do it?” Cheng Ke asked, sensing that there was more to the request than met the eye. If all they needed was someone to take a look around and occasionally perform, Xu Ding wouldn’t have mentioned it while the restaurant was still being decorated.
“I have no doubt that you’re the perfect fit for the job,” Xu Ding replied with a smile.
“Don’t do this just to help me out,” Cheng Ke cautioned. “I don’t want to owe you a big favor.”
“I’d be helping you out even if it was just an ordinary restaurant,” Xu Ding assured him. “But for this project, I’m begging you for your assistance.”
“Alright,” Cheng Ke said after a moment’s thought. “Let’s discuss the details tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Xu Ding responded to Cheng Ke’s agreement to help with the restaurant. “By the way, if it’s convenient tomorrow, ask San-ge to come with me. I said it last time. Invite him to your performance.”
Cheng Ke was confused. “Is this a performance tomorrow?” he asked.
“It’s not,” Xu Ding said dismissively. “Making a video is more interesting than just performing. But it’s okay if it’s inconvenient for you.”
Cheng Ke didn’t want Xu Ding to suspect anything. “What’s the inconvenience?” he asked. “Tell him to go together.”
“Then I’ll call him later,” Xu Ding said. “I’ll send a car to pick you up tomorrow.”
After hanging up the phone, Cheng Ke let out a soft sigh. Once the movie ended, he got up and walked to the window. The security guard on duty downstairs was likely changing shifts now. Would Jiang Yuduo, who was familiar with him, be able to stay in the security room next time?
He wondered if Jiang Yuduo was still downstairs. After waiting for a few minutes, he saw Jiang Yuduo walking out of the building with the security guard. The guard waved goodbye and headed towards the security dormitory in the community. Jiang Yuduo didn’t go back inside the building. Instead, he stood in the open space for a while, walked slowly toward the back of the building, and eventually emerged from the building. Cheng Ke controlled himself and closed the curtains before returning to the sofa and sitting down. After watching the movie, he went to the window again and saw that Jiang Yuduo was no longer downstairs. He looked around but saw no one.
Just as Cheng Ke was about to wind down for the night, Jiang Yuduo emerged from the corridor, pacing around the open space before breaking into a jog. Watching him disappear into the small garden, circle around the back of the building, and reappear on the other side, Cheng Ke wondered if Jiang Yuduo was going for a night run. The chilly temperature made Cheng Ke question the logic of it all. Suddenly, he felt like a waste and undeserving of any friends, despite having someone like Jiang Yuduo stand by him all these years. It was then that Cheng Ke remembered that Jiang Yuduo was sick with a fever. The guilt and annoyance washed over him, causing him to question whether he truly cared about his friend’s well-being.
Determined to do something, Cheng Ke rushed out of the door without even grabbing a coat, only remembering his keys as the elevator doors closed. He dismissed his oversight, telling himself it would only be for a moment.
As he exited the elevator, the disheveled appearance of his clothing startled the security guard who exclaimed, “Mr. Cheng! What’s the matter? What’s the matter!”
Cheng Ke waved him off, “It’s okay! I’ll be back in a minute!”
Feeling the cold as he made his way to the small garden where Jiang Yuduo had disappeared, Cheng Ke used the simplest method to get his friend’s attention, yelling out, “Jiang Yuduo!”
Two seconds later, Jiang Yuduo appeared, startled by the sudden call, “What’s wrong?”
As Jiang Yuduo pulled his arm, Cheng Ke was thrown into the corner between the pillar and the wall next to him. The movement was so swift that Cheng Ke couldn’t comprehend how he was thrown over.
When he regained his senses, Jiang Yuduo had already pulled out a knife from his pocket.
Cheng Ke was startled and quickly grabbed the hand holding the knife with his left hand, saying “I’m fine! I came down to look for you!”
Jiang Yuduo scanned the area before turning his head and asking, “Looking for me?”
Cheng Ke furrowed his brows and touched his forehead, “Your fever hasn’t subsided yet?”
“Come up,” Cheng Ke turned around and walked towards the building.
Jiang Yuduo remained rooted to the spot.
Cheng Ke looked back at him and said in a low voice, “Come up!”
Jiang Yuduo hesitated for a couple of seconds before following him.
Translator notes
Alright, this week I’ll be posting 3 chapters to get my 10 chapter releases target! Happy reading ^^Support me on ko-fi for faster releases ^^
