Translator: Lynn
As Cheng Ke waited for the elevator, the coldness of the night seeped into his bones, making his muscles ache. With only one elevator operational at night, he wondered if it would be empty or if someone from above would step out. Minutes ticked by before the elevator finally arrived, but it continued up to the 10th floor without stopping.
“Fuck,” Cheng Ke muttered, attempting to jump up and down to warm himself, but he couldn’t move properly, feeling like a stiff wooden stake on tiptoes.
Jiang Yuduo unzipped his coat, but Cheng Ke understanding what he meant immediately interjected. “No need!”
Jiang Yuduo hesitated, then zipped his coat again.
Jiang Yuduo put his left hand in his pocket, leaned towards him, and squeezed him to the side with his elbow: “Stand to the side.”
Cheng Ke felt a little helpless, and took two steps to the side, Staring at Jiang Yuduo’s hand, he was afraid of his habit of holding a knife when he disagreed with each other. The elevator door opened, and Cheng Ke saw Jiang Yuduo raise his hand slightly.
A little girl walked out, and Cheng Ke recognized her from the 15th floor. She appeared to be on a phone call, likely leaving for something urgent. Upon seeing Jiang Yuduo, the girl was taken aback and jumped back.
Despite his unapproachable demeanor, if there were really a dangerous person, Jiang Yuduo would have won in terms of sheer intimidation from the start.
The little girl turned and saw Cheng Ke again, visibly relieved. Cheng Ke smiled in return and the girl asked, surprised, “Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m freezing,” Cheng Ke replied as he followed Jiang Yuduo into the elevator, “I’m about to die.”
The girl beamed, “You should dress like me, then you won’t be cold.” She ran off with a smile, looking happy.
As they waited, a car pulled up at the corridor entrance and a young man jumped out. The little girl ran to him, hugging him passionately, and they continued kissing until the elevator doors closed.
Cheng Ke leaned against the car wall, watching the floor numbers, and muttered, “Outrageous.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Yuduo standing silently, facing the elevator door.
Baffled and annoyed, Cheng Ke pushed Jiang Yuduo away when the elevator doors opened on their floor, rushing out ahead of him. He glanced back at Jiang Yuduo, who remained in the elevator as if protesting.
Jiang Yuduo stood still as the elevator doors started to close.
Should he hold it open?
Cheng Ke was stunned. He was no pushover.
Just as he was about to curse, Jiang Yuduo stretched out his hand, holding the doors open as he stepped out.
Despite the cold weather outside, Cheng Ke didn’t feel much until he entered the warm room and sneezed ten times in the bathroom.
“Damn it,” he muttered as he washed his face and felt a bit shaken. “I’m out of oxygen from the sneeze.”
Jiang Yuduo suggested, “Drink some ginger syrup. I checked online and it’s good for colds and can prevent them.”
Cheng Ke replied, “Do I have ginger here? No. I have brown sugar here? No.”
Jiang Yuduo hesitated for a moment before pulling out a bag of items from his coat pocket. “Here’s ginger and brown sugar,” he said, with Meow following him as he climbed up on his legs.
Cheng Ke looked at the bag in surprise and asked, “Where did it come from?”
“When I went back to get the cat this morning, I got it from the kitchen.” Jiang Yuduo explained.
Cheng Ke stared at him, speechless.
Perhaps Jiang Yuduo had brought the ginger and brown sugar over to cook and drink, but he was unceremoniously kicked out upon arrival, and so the ingredients had remained untouched until now.
“I’ll cook it,” Cheng Ke offered, standing up. Although he couldn’t help but remember the shameful incident where he had accidentally burned his lover, he genuinely felt guilty and wanted to make things right. “Did you have to work all night? You must be exhausted… how many hours has it been?”
“No, I was in the security room before, listening to the guard’s stories,” Jiang Yuduo replied as he took off his coat.
Cheng Ke didn’t know how to respond. He grabbed the bag of ginger and sugar and made his way to the kitchen. He paused, “How many times a day do you feed Meow? I’ve given it three small fish throughout the day and canned food twice.”
“More or less the same,” Jiang Yuduo shrugged as he picked up the cat clinging to his pant leg and tossed it onto the sofa.
“Retake your temperature,” Cheng Ke reminded him, “Let’s start by boiling the ginger syrup.”
“Sure thing,” Jiang Yuduo agreed with a nod.
The ginger syrup that Cheng Ke wanted was a simple drink made by boiling ginger and sugar in water. Although it was meant to prevent and treat diseases, taste was not a priority. Cheng Ke peered into the bag and saw three pieces of ginger and four reddish-brown strips, which he guessed was brown sugar. He hesitated before trying a small piece of the sugar.
!
Delicious!
Very good and sweet.
However, when he tried to break off a piece to eat, he found that the candy was quite strong and he couldn’t break it with his hands. Despite this, Cheng Ke was feeling a bit hungry after skipping dinner in a fit of anger earlier, and the brown sugar had reawakened his appetite. After a brief hesitation, he decided to take a bite of the sugar.
Satisfied with the taste, Cheng Ke took another bite but stopped midway when he noticed Jiang Yuduo standing at the kitchen door, watching him.
Cheng Ke’s words were slurred as he spoke with a lump of brown sugar still in his mouth, “Damn, didn’t you say anything?”
Jiang Yuduo responded, “You can eat all of that. This candy is quite sweet, and it doesn’t cost as much as four yuan.”
Cheng Ke felt embarrassed and quickly swallowed the sugar in his mouth. He grabbed the pot to fetch water, saying, “I just tasted it…I’m a little hungry.”
“Why didn’t you eat after you ordered takeaway?” Jiang Yuduo asked.
“It wasn’t tasty,” Cheng Ke replied.
“But the chopsticks are all clean,” Jiang Yuduo said, “Don’t you know it’s not good?”
“When there’s no soup in the dish, it doesn’t appeal to me,” Cheng Ke explained. He washed the ginger from the bag and threw it into the pot with a few pieces of brown sugar. “I like a little soup that can be mixed with rice…”
Jiang Yuduo interrupted him in shock, “Is that how you cook it?”
Cheng Ke looked confused and asked, “Isn’t it ginger syrup?”
Jiang Yuduo walked into the kitchen, washed his hands, and took the ginger from the pot. “This has to be chopped up,” he said.
Cheng Ke asked, “Why?”
“If you don’t cut it, you won’t get the taste,” Jiang Yuduo explained. “It will be useless if you drink it.”
“But wouldn’t it be a mouthful of ginger foam if it’s chopped up? I won’t drink it,” Cheng Ke objected.
Jiang Yuduo gave Cheng Ke a quick glance before placing the ginger on the chopping board and picking up the knife. Without warning, he struck the ginger with the blade, causing Cheng Ke to nearly drop the pot he was holding. “What are you doing?” he exclaimed.
Jiang Yuduo proceeded to add a chunk of ginger to the pot. “Oh,” Cheng Ke said, putting the pot back on the stove. “Just one piece?”
“If you put it all in, the smell will be too strong, I can’t stand it.” Jiang Yuduo replied.
“But you still brought three of them,” Cheng Ke remarked as he turned on the gas stove.
“The more, the better. That’s why I took three pieces,” Jiang Yuduo said before his phone started ringing. “Just cook it, and I’ll answer the phone… It’s Xu Ding,” he said, checking the caller ID.
“Take it,” Cheng Ke said.
Jiang Yuduo picked up the phone: “Hello?”
As Cheng Ke observed Jiang Yuduo’s unwell appearance, he surmised that he might still have a fever. To alleviate it, he decided to add the two remaining pieces of ginger into the pot. He mimicked Jiang Yuduo’s actions and slapped the ginger with two knives. However, Jiang Yuduo was taken aback by Cheng Ke’s sudden action.
“Who would drink this?” Jiang Yuduo winced in pain, pointing to the pot after finishing his phone call.
“You, especially since you have a fever,” Cheng Ke responded. “Why did Xu Ding call you?”
“He wants me to watch your sand painting video tomorrow. He said it’d be interesting,” Jiang Yuduo replied.
“Okay, let’s go together,” Cheng Ke nodded. “It’s really fun.”
“Is it okay for me to come along?” Jiang Yuduo asked. “It’s different from the show, will it cause any trouble?”
Cheng Ke leaned against the wall and looked at him. “If it’s not suitable for you, then don’t come. You used to go wherever I went, didn’t you?”
Jiang Yuduo remained silent.
“If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. Xu Ding is just asking. If you don’t want to go, I’ll tell him.” Cheng Ke said.
“I’ll go.” Jiang Yuduo interjected.
Cheng Ke spoke up after a long pause, carefully choosing his words: “Jiang Yuduo.”
Jiang Yuduo answered with a simple “Hmm.”
“I don’t understand why you do this,” Cheng Ke continued, “Why do you care so much about every friend, or give people the impression that you do…”
Jiang Yuduo looked at him, as if confused.
“I don’t have regular friends like you, and I wouldn’t do this with regular friends,” Cheng Ke said, meeting Jiang Yuduo’s gaze. “I can’t deny that I have feelings for you, after all…”
He glanced up and down at Jiang Yuduo: “I find you…very attractive.”
Jiang Yuduo opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something.
“Fuck, don’t say anything about pretty cutie anymore. Say that to me then you’ll have to drink this pot of ginger syrup with your fucking face,” Cheng Ke said.
“I’m not going to say that.” Jiang Yuduo said.
“Then you can talk after I finish talking.” Cheng Ke said.
“En.” Jiang Yuduo nodded.
“For me, your 24-hour guard status is not ordinary for a friend,” Cheng Ke didn’t intend to make it too complicated, “If you want me to hold back so that you don’t feel it, don’t give me a chance where I can’t hold back.”
“…Huh?” Jiang Yuduo looked at him in confusion.
“Except for being normal friends,” Cheng Ke said, “if you’re not going to tell me why, stay away from me.”
“I’m just…” Jiang Yuduo frowned.
“I know, you are afraid that I will be in danger,” Cheng Ke said, “But whether I am in danger has nothing to do with you, and you don’t have to protect me to this extent. You are doing things beyond the scope of friends in my concept. Do you understand this?”
Jiang Yu looked at him, his expression returned to confusion.
“If you continue to be like this, I will assume that you have thoughts about me.” Cheng Ke said.
“What?” Jiang Yuduo was shocked
“Okay, I’m done,” Cheng Ke glanced at the bubbling sugar water, and could already smell the strong smell of ginger, “Go and rest for a while, have you finished taking your temperature?”
Jiang Yuduo looked down He patted himself again, and the thermometer fell out from the corner of his clothes. But before the thermometer hit the ground, Jiang Yuduo had already bent down to catch it.
“Godly reflex.” Cheng Ke said.
“38…37.” Jiang Yuduo said looking at the thermometer.
“There is no difference between 38 and 37,” Cheng Ke said, “Your fever hasn’t subsided at all.”
Jiang Yuduo shook the thermometer and clamped it again.
“What did you want to say?” Cheng Ke asked.
Jiang Yuduo thought about it for a long time: “…I forgot.”
Cheng Ke turned around and looked at the syrup in the pot: “Is this ready to drink after boiling?”
“Yes.” Jiang Yuduo replied.
“Go out and rest.” Cheng Ke said.
Hearing that, Jiang Yuduo turned and left the kitchen, he let out a long sigh of relief while supporting the desk. After the sugar water boiled, Cheng Ke filled it out into two bowls and brought it to the living room. Jiang Yuduo sat on the sofa and fell asleep with his head up. But the sound of the bowl clinking gently on the table made Jiang Yuduo open his eyes.
“Okay, one bowl each.” Cheng Ke said.
Jiang Yuduo got up and sat down at the table, and then the two of them stared at the bowl of ginger-flavored syrup in front of them together.
Jiang Yuduo commented, “I’ve never seen brown sugar water with such a dark color before.”
“Don’t worry about the color, as long as it can make you sweat,” Cheng Ke responded. “Are you afraid of getting fat?”
“I should have just asked for a glass of fresh ginger milk,” Jiang Yuduo regretted.
“Drink it quickly!” Cheng Ke urged. “I’m so tired that I want to sleep.”
“How can I drink it quickly?” Jiang Yuduo sighed and picked up the bowl, blowing on it.
After a couple of minutes of drinking, Cheng Ke put the bowl down and said, “I won’t drink it. I don’t have a fever, so it’s all yours.”
Jiang Yuduo asked, “Did the three pieces of ginger go to waste?”
Cheng Ke didn’t say anything, just stared at him.
Jiang Yuduo took two slow sips and furrowed his brows.
“Keep drinking,” Cheng Ke encouraged.
Jiang Yuduo managed to finish the bowl of ginger syrup despite the discomfort on his face, and Cheng Ke noticed the thin layer of sweat on his forehead and nose.
“It’s working, you’re sweating,” Cheng Ke pushed his bowl towards him, “Drink this too.”
Jiang Yuduo sighed, picked up the bowl, and reluctantly drank it as well.
After they finished drinking, Cheng Ke checked the time and went to the bathroom to wash up. He had a video shoot the next day and didn’t want to be in a bad state due to lack of sleep.
When he came out, he found Jiang Yuduo had fallen asleep on the sofa again. Cheng Ke shook his head and went to get bedding to cover him up. He wrapped the quilt around Jiang Yuduo and placed Meow next to his face.
Jiang Yuduo woke up slightly confused, “Huh?”
“Go to sleep,” Cheng Ke pushed him down on the pillow and warned, “Don’t get up at night. If you dare to get up, I will make you sleep with my hands.”
“Impossible,” Jiang Yuduo challenged, “You can’t beat me.”
“Shut up and go to sleep!” Cheng Ke ordered.
Jiang Yuduo shut his eyes and hugged Meow, while Cheng Ke retired to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. As he lay on the bed, he released a deep breath. Jiang Yuduo had made his point quite clearly, and while he wasn’t sure if Jiang Yuduo had grasped the message yet, he felt a sense of relief. However, he couldn’t help replaying the conversation in his mind several times, fearing that he had said something improper.
He was so preoccupied with it that he ended up dreaming about it throughout the night, delivering the speech to an invisible audience and waking himself up several times. The next morning, Jiang Yuduo remarked that Cheng Ke had been talking in his sleep, causing Cheng Ke to panic.
“What did I say?” he asked nervously.
“I couldn’t make it out clearly through the door, you were murmuring,” Jiang Yuduo replied. “Do you often talk in your sleep?”
Cheng Ke felt that he might have given a speech, given that Jiang Yuduo could hear him through the door. “I don’t know, it was probably the first time,” he replied before heading to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuduo checked his phone and saw that the breakfast would arrive in approximately 20 minutes. “I bought some youtiao and soy milk, okay?” he called to Cheng Ke in the bathroom before walking over to the window to look downstairs.
Last night, Cheng Ke yelled loudly in his sleep and said some strange things.
“A lot of things can’t be done as you want!” he exclaimed.
“I just want to know! Why do cats shed hair!” he asked.
“How much should I eat for a meal! What twice-cooked pork!” he muttered.
He also muttered poems.
Jiang Yuduo found it amusing but didn’t want to embarrass Cheng Ke by telling him. The tone when he recites poems is quite good. He even wonders why Cheng Ke talks about cats shedding hair. He glanced at Meow, and the cat is full of fluff, almost like a ball. It should be not in its shedding period though…
Later, Cheng Ke messaged Xu Ding when he would arrive.
“Clean up and go out in 20 minutes,” Cheng Ke said, and then asked, “Do you still have a fever?”
“No, I’ve been sweating all night. I just got up and took a shower,” Jiang Yuduo replied, eyeing the sofa quilt with concern. “The quilt needs to be washed.”
“Okay, wash it when you come back today. In the meantime, change to another one. You can use the quilt on the bed,” Cheng Ke suggested.
Jiang Yuduo was surprised, “Don’t you know how to cover the quilt?”
Cheng Ke was not pleased, “Do you want me to cover your dirty quilt?”
“Okay,” Jiang Yuduo nodded and then asked, “Is Xu Ding driving over later?”
“Yeah, he just received the model,” Cheng Ke answered.
“Model?” Jiang Yuduo was stunned momentarily, “Do sand paintings still need models? Draw on models?”
“…What are you thinking?” Cheng Ke laughed.
“Why do you want a model?” Jiang Yuduo didn’t really understand it but thought it was quite unusual.
“Hey,” Cheng Ke looked at him, “Your idea is excellent, but it may not be easy to express…” Jiang
Yuduo waited for Cheng Ke to continue, but Cheng Ke’s eyes had already drifted away as if thinking. When Xu Ding’s car arrived downstairs, Jiang Yuduo and Cheng Ke just got out of the elevator.
“Have you had breakfast?” Xu Ding was sitting in the cab, opened the window, and greeted them.
“We did.” Cheng Ke opened the car door and enter the car.
“Brother Cheng.” The person sitting in the co-pilot turned around.
“This is Lin Xu, today’s model,” Xu Ding introduced, “This is Cheng Ke, you know him. This is his friend, Jiang Yuduo, you can call him San-ge.”
“San-ge.” Lin Xu continued, greeted Jiang Yuduo, and smiled.
“Yes.” Jiang Yuduo responded. When he saw Lin Xu’s face clearly, he was a little surprised. This was probably the most handsome person he had ever seen in real life when he grew up. Sure enough, the model looked different from ordinary people.
After sitting in the car, Xu Ding passed a few pages of paper to Cheng Ke: “You can look at the details that were not settled that day, mainly the places where you interacted with Lin Xu.”
“Yes.” Cheng Ke took it.
“Please take care of me, Cheng Ge. I haven’t taken jobs of this kind before,” Lin Xu said, “It’s mostly for prints.”
“Had Xu Ding seen your photo? You look familiar.”
“Maybe,” Xu Ding smiled, “I have a lot of photos of models.”
“I have an impression of handsome ones.” Cheng Ke lowered his head and began to read the paper on the content.
Jiang Yuduo turned his head to look at Cheng Ke. I don’t know if this Lin Xu counts… but he is indeed handsome, Cheng Ke even glanced at Lin Xu several times and it was obvious.
But, to be honest, he admires Cheng Ke a little bit. He can say, “I think you look familiar,” which is as cliche as “Have we met somewhere?” Even someone like him, who has never chased girls, understands. Maybe it’s because Cheng Ke didn’t grin at all. When he stated these words, Jiang Yuduo felt inexplicably smothered, and he couldn’t look at the person who had been speaking in his sleep all night, and he couldn’t even boil the ginger syrup and realize the two were the same person.
Support me on ko-fi for faster releases ^^
