Jiang Yu glared at Chen Zhiyan with a ferocious expression. “You damn well better wait for me.”
Chen Zhiyan nodded calmly. “I will.”
Jiang Yu’s teeth ground together audibly. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. Why did he have to share a bathroom with Chen Zhiyan? And then there was last night.
Last night had indeed been comfortable. Chen Zhiyan’s manual skills were actually quite strong. No, how could he even have such a thought? It was absolutely disgusting!
One class period passed, and Jiang Yu’s hair had become a complete mess. He leaned against the back of his chair with lifeless eyes, staring straight at the ceiling. He still felt as though he had encountered a ghost; otherwise, how could such a bizarre situation occur in this world?
During lunch, Jiang Yu clearly had a poor appetite. Looking at Chen Zhiyan sitting across from him, he reached over and snatched the chicken leg from Chen’s bowl, offering a fierce justification. “I am still growing.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he stuffed it into his mouth.
Chen Zhiyan paused for a moment. He used his fingertip to push a tissue toward Jiang Yu. His tone was flat, yet his words were infuriating. “Do not act like a hungry ghost who has just been reincarnated. It is unbecoming.”
Li Heng thought to himself: That tongue is truly poisonous.
Xu Zhile thought: These rival lovers are so damn interesting.
Jiang Yu gave a fake smile. “Come with me to Ping’an Temple this afternoon.”
“To do what?”
“To shovel manure.”
“I am not going.”
“Your refusal is invalid.”
Taking advantage of the lunch break, Jiang Yu drove Chen Zhiyan’s car to the hospital to visit Lin Jingyao. The younger man’s right leg was suspended in a cast, and he was happily eating fruit.
“Are you recovering or just rotting in bed?”
“Brother! You finally came. You have no idea how bored I have been here.” Lin Jingyao propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at Jiang Yu. “That crazy woman was so strong. When she pushed me to the ground, I could not even get back up.”
“Heh, I usually tell you to run and exercise with me, but you never go. Do you regret it now?” Jiang Yu placed a basket of fruit on the bedside table and tossed a game console to Lin Jingyao. “They say you should eat whatever part of the body you need to heal. I will go buy you some pig trotters.”
“I cannot eat things that are too greasy.”
“Fine. I was only being polite anyway.”
“Where is your father? Is he not coming to see you?”
Lin Jingyao curled his lip. “The old man was caught cheating by my mother the day before yesterday. She hung him from a tree and whipped him with a belt until midnight. Well, he is a bit better today, so he went out to play cards again. I really wish he would just close his eyes and never open them again so he could report to the King of Hell early.”
“Do not be angry. Older men are all like that. They cannot control their mouths or their legs. If they have a bit of money in their hands, they cannot wait to give it all to a mistress.”
“Is your father like that too?”
“Of course not.”
“I want to convince my mother to divorce him.”
“Go ahead and try, but she might not agree. After all, once they divorce, those mistresses will become official.” Jiang Yu lightly swung his leg, his ankle resting on his knee. “Regardless, I definitely will not be like that when I am old.”
“Brother, do you want an apple?”
“No.”
“Then help me peel one.”
Jiang Yu shook his head. “I do not know how.”
“I always eat the ones Chen Zhiyan cuts into pieces, or I just steal the ones he has already peeled.”
Lin Jingyao sighed and began peeling an orange. Seeing Jiang Yu looking over, he peeled another one for him.
After the first bite, Jiang Yu’s face wrinkled up. “It is so damn sour!”
“Is it really?”
“Then you eat the rest.”
“Okay.”
Just as Lin Jingyao reached out to take it, Jiang Yu pulled it back. A wicked idea struck him. He told Lin Jingyao that he was about to be late for class and left. Back in the classroom, he saw Chen Zhiyan and placed the orange on the desk. “Here, it is very sweet.”
Chen Zhiyan did not even look at it. He pulled out a tissue, picked up the orange with it, and threw it into the trash can.
Jiang Yu thought: Just you wait.
6:03 PM.
Jiang Yu stood beside Chen Zhiyan, looking at him with a dark expression. “Do not dawdle. Hurry up.”
“I have things to do.”
“What the hell could you possibly have to do?” Jiang Yu propped his hand on Chen Zhiyan’s desk and stared down at him, hissing through gritted teeth. “Nothing is more important than my business!”
Half an hour later.
Chen Zhiyan drove while Jiang Yu sat in the passenger seat. When they arrived at Ping’an Temple, Jiang Yu got out and left a parting threat. “If you dare leave me here alone, I will stand on your bed and pee when I get back.”
Chen Zhiyan frowned. “I would not do something so classless.”
Even though he was arch-enemies with Jiang Yu, he would not bring him all the way here and leave him stranded knowing he had no car, just for the sake of petty revenge. Furthermore, he knew Jiang Yu would definitely follow through on his threat, and Chen Zhiyan did not want to create trouble for himself.
Fearing he might violate some taboo, Jiang Yu stood at the entrance and looked up the proper procedures for offering incense. He checked things like whether to step in with his left or right foot first, how many incense sticks to light, which Buddha to worship, how much donation money to give, the proper posture for kowtowing, and how many times to bow.
Once he finally got inside, he forgot everything he had just read. He could only roughly imitate how others lit their incense and prayed. He knelt on a prayer rug with his palms pressed together, muttering a long string of words in his heart. Worried that the gods might not be listening at one specific spot, he went around and prayed to every single one.
Chen Zhiyan waited in the car for nearly twenty minutes without seeing Jiang Yu. He went inside to find him, lighting three sticks of incense himself to pray. When he reached the final statue, he saw Jiang Yu drenched in sweat. Jiang Yu’s eyes were still closed as he muttered softly to himself; Chen Zhiyan could not hear a single word.
However, looking at this specific statue, he asked.
“You came to the temple just to pray for a marriage match?”