Surviving the night without being frightened awake relied entirely on one’s own resilience to shock.
In an effort to keep his dolls, Jiang Yu rummaged through them until he found a flat-billed duck. “You are not blind, are you?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then look. Is this one not the cutest?”
“It is the ugliest.”
Because this was Chen Zhiyan’s room, Jiang Yu had no decision-making power. Moreover, these bizarre dolls were hard to find. Fearing Chen Zhiyan might throw them away where they could never be recovered, he had no choice but to put them back in the room next door, leaving only one or two by his pillow.
Chen Zhiyan’s face darkened. “If you get scared at night,”
“I will not get scared,” Jiang Yu promised, patting his chest. “It is absolutely impossible for me to be scared.”
“Do not be so certain. Be careful not to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“Regardless, I will not be scared.”
“Fine.”
8:30 PM
Chen Zhiyan went to the gym to run. Jiang Yu, having eaten a bit too much, was lying on the sofa rubbing his stomach when he suddenly sat up.
Damn. Chen Zhiyan is such a competitive overachiever. He already has an eight-pack, and he is still training? Does he want others to live?
Wait, maybe Chen Zhiyan is using exercise as an excuse to,
Thinking of this, Jiang Yu grabbed his phone and rushed to the third floor. Seeing Chen Yingan training as well, he thought to himself: It truly runs in the family. Like father, like son; both are overachievers.
“Xiao Bao.”
“Uncle Chen.”
“Do you want to join us?”
“No thanks, I just came up to see Chen Zhiyan.”
Since Chen Yingan was there, Jiang Yu felt relieved. He walked a circle inside, gave Chen Zhiyan the middle finger, and went back downstairs to continue rubbing his stomach with his eyes closed.
As he rubbed, all sorts of lingering thoughts emerged. His fingers toyed with the drawstring at his waist, his emotions shifting until the mood was finally right. Just as the string came loose, Chen Zhiyan walked in. He hurriedly tied it back, nearly creating a dead knot in his nervousness.
Seeing Jiang Yu’s face so red, Chen Zhiyan stepped closer. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Yu turned his head away. “What do you mean ‘what am I doing’? I am not doing anything!”
“You look very guilty.”
“What is there to be guilty about while lying on a sofa rubbing my stomach!” Jiang Yu yelled. He looked at Chen Zhiyan, saw he was covered in sweat, and pinched his nose in disgust.
“It better be.”
After washing his hands, Chen Zhiyan took his pajamas to the bathroom.
Jiang Yu covered his face and rolled around on the sofa, feeling that he had just made a fool of himself. A few seconds later, he peeked through his fingers at the closed bathroom door, straining his ears for any sound. Once he heard the water running, he ran to the other bathroom, filled the tub, stripped, and lay down to enjoy himself. However, almost immediately, he heard Chen Zhiyan coming out.
He can really endure it. It has been how many days now?
Feeling stifled, Jiang Yu scrubbed himself again with orange-scented body wash, jumped into bed, and wrapped himself tightly in the quilt from head to toe.
Chen Zhiyan stopped typing and glanced at him. “Did you not already wash?”
“So what? What grandson made a rule saying I cannot wash a second time?”
Chen Zhiyan closed his laptop and spoke in a stern, educational tone. “Jiang Yu, I am speaking to you nicely. Do not exhaust my patience.”
“I just wanted to wash a second time.”
“That is better.”
Jiang Yu thought that he sounded like he was praising a dog. He stuck his foot out and lightly kicked Chen Zhiyan’s leg. “Turn off the light. I want to sleep.”
Chen Zhiyan pulled his leg back so Jiang Yu could not reach, got off the bed to put his laptop on the desk, and brought over a tube of ointment. “Do you still want to apply this?”
“Are you addicted to looking at me?”
The light went out.
Chen Zhiyan lay on the far left, leaving a large distance between them. Hearing a rustling sound, Chen Zhiyan opened his eyes to see Jiang Yu clutching those two dolls and creeping toward his side of the bed.
“Jiang Yu.”
“Ah, holy shit!”
“Go back to sleep. Or do you want another slap?”
Jiang Yu, who had failed to scare Chen Zhiyan and was instead scared by him, rolled back to his original spot. He tossed the dolls at the head of the bed and lay on his side hugging a pillow, his leg draped over it.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, he opened his eyes and locked gaze with the scarred doll. His heart nearly stopped. Instinctively, he grabbed the doll and threw it. The doll flew in a parabola and landed squarely on Chen Zhiyan’s face.
“Grandmother’s, that scared the hell out of me.” Jiang Yu’s chest heaved as he panted, the image still fresh in his mind. The moonlight made the surroundings look so eerie that his hair was standing on end.
Chen Zhiyan turned on the light and threw both dolls into the trash.
Once the room was bright, Jiang Yu was not afraid anymore. He even said, “Do not throw them away. They were expensive.”
“If you ever dare to buy something like this again, I will break your hands.”
The light went out again. Jiang Yu suddenly felt scared once more and could not fall asleep for an hour. He rolled over to Chen Zhiyan’s bed with his pillow and covered himself with Chen Zhiyan’s quilt. Drowsiness finally hit him. A split second before falling asleep, he thought: Chen Zhiyan really does have a strong aura; he can even block nightmares.
It started raining during the night. When Chen Zhiyan woke up, he turned up the air conditioning. Looking at Jiang Yu in his arms, he pushed him away expressionlessly. However, within two minutes, Jiang Yu clung to him again, even using him as a pillow.
That warm little face pressed against his shoulder made Chen Zhiyan very uncomfortable. He grabbed Jiang Yu’s hair to pull him away, causing the latter to whimper unconsciously about the pain.
What a strange sound.
The rain continued for two days. On Friday, Jiang Yu took the morning off; he had a bit of a cold and a stuffed nose.
They slept together, so why did Chen Zhiyan not catch a cold? And why was there never a quilt on him the next morning? It always ended up on Chen Zhiyan’s bed. He must be trying to frame me to cover up his own crimes.
How hateful. He has learned to be so wicked.
Jiang Yu still had not carried out his plan to get back at Chen Zhiyan. He directly stuffed the lace-edged underwear back into the drawer and took out the original pairs, hiding them in his own room. Looking at the sizes, he was green with envy.
Why is this man so well-built? He clearly looks so hollow.
And it has been so many days, why has he not, Wait, Chen Zhiyan is not home!
Jiang Yu gathered his clothes and went to the bathroom. Standing under the shower, he found the tiles too cold, so he draped a towel over his shoulders as he leaned back. His fingers tightened occasionally as he scrubbed. His black hair was completely soaked, the water sliding past his face to gather at his jaw before dripping to the floor, creating tiny ripples. The water was very hot, so his breathing remained hurried even after he tried to calm it.
Exiting the bathroom, Jiang Yu tossed a towel over his head. His phone screen lit up with a message from Li Heng: Brother Jiang, someone confessed to Brother Chen.
Jiang Yu’s pale fingers began typing with a defiant attitude.
J: Why would someone confess to him? What is so good about him? A dead fish face and dead fish eyes. Talking to him makes you feel disgusted for three years.
Li Heng: That is just your personal bias. Brother Chen is tall, has a great body, and looks like he stepped out of a manga. People chasing him could wrap around the sports field several times. Men and women alike.
J: What do you mean? A guy confessed to Chen Zhiyan?