“Your girlfriend gave them to you?”
Zhou Ye was startled. “How do you know?”
“Just a guess.”
After glancing at the time on his phone, Xu Chi headed outside. “I’ll bring the person over to you in a couple of days. Don’t be sad. Just grow another bouquet.”
Zhou Ye followed after him. “Bring who over?”
Xu Chi: “The one who stepped on your flowers.”
Zhou Ye: “You, you already know who it is?”
Xu Chi: “Mm.”
Zhou Ye was stunned. “You, how do you know? You’re not lying to me, are you?”
Xu Chi shot him a glance. “What would I gain by lying to you?”
Zhou Ye went blank for a moment. “Nothing.”
Xu Chi: “Then that settles it. You’re the first friend I’ve made since coming here. I won’t lie to you. If someone stepped on flowers my girlfriend gave me, I’d skin them alive, let alone you. I understand.”
That one sentence struck straight at his heart.
The first friend he had ever made… Xu Chi really did treat him like a friend…
Xu Chi even empathized with him… someone actually could empathize with how he felt…
“You, you have a girlfriend?” Zhou Ye suddenly didn’t know what to say. He only felt that Xu Chi was easy to approach and gave him a very dependable feeling.
“No, but I’ll have one sooner or later. That doesn’t affect me feeling the same way you do.”
“Oh.”
“I’m leaving. The little brat is waiting.”
“Okay.”
Just before he reached the door, Xu Chi left one last line: “Remember my condition. That kid is very important to me. The rest doesn’t matter.”
“Okay.”
Xu Chi left, and Zhou Ye was still standing there in a daze. It was strange. Normally, if someone pressured him like that, he would definitely get angry, think of ways to resist, and his rebellious spirit would flare up. But after this whole exchange with Xu Chi, he surprisingly didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Even the request Xu Chi made didn’t feel forced to him… As long as he didn’t mention him and that kid, there wasn’t anything difficult about that… Who doesn’t have someone important to them…
Xu Chi got back to his room with the last second of the five minutes.
You Chumu was lying on the sofa reading a book.
The dining table had already been cleaned off.
“You washed the dishes?”
As soon as You Chumu saw Xu Chi come in, he sat up immediately. “I’m done washing them, brother.”
Xu Chi looked at the book in You Chumu’s hands…
How to Become a Considerate Person.
“…”
“Why are you reading this book?”
You Chumu: “I’ve finished all the books in brother’s cabinet. This is the last one.”
“…” Xu Chi said, “Well, you’re pretty impressive.”
“I’m going to take a shower first.”
“Okay, brother.”
When he came out, You Chumu was no longer in the living room. Xu Chi wiped his hair and walked to the bedroom door. The bedroom door was already closed. He knocked, and a voice came from inside…
“Brother, I’m going to sleep.”
Xu Chi: “Okay.” Didn’t the little brat say he didn’t sleep?
After drying his hair, Xu Chi just collapsed onto the sofa and went to sleep.
Before falling asleep, he wondered whether he should buy another bed and clean up the other room to use as a bedroom. He couldn’t keep sleeping on the sofa every day.
But then he thought it was strange. In any case, he’d be leaving soon…
…
Early the next morning, Xu Chi opened his eyes and once again met You Chumu’s bright, intense gaze.
But this time, his heartbeat was calm as usual, unlike the last time when he’d been scared half to death.
He stretched. “What time is it?”
You Chumu answered him, “Seven o’clock, brother.”
“Pretty early.” Xu Chi got up, ran a hand through his hair, and went into the bathroom to wash up. You Chumu seemed to have already finished washing up and was hanging by the door, watching him.
His face was reflected in the mirror, a pair of gray-blue eyes moving slightly… All in all, he was quite easy on the eyes.
After washing up, Xu Chi went into the kitchen to prepare something to eat. As soon as he opened the fridge…
The fridge was full.
Xu Chi was stunned. How was the fridge full? It had been empty yesterday, hadn’t it?
“How… is the fridge full?”
You Chumu was behind him, tilting his head with a smile. “I went and bought it, brother. I was afraid you’d be hungry in the morning.”
Xu Chi looked back at You Chumu, his mouth slightly open in shock. “You… what time did you get up?”
“Six o’clock, brother.”
Thinking of what happened yesterday, Xu Chi asked, “You, didn’t you say yesterday that you don’t sleep?”
You Chumu smiled and answered, “I slept yesterday.”
When he had lied to You Chumu yesterday, he had momentarily forgotten about his insomnia.
You Chumu had severe insomnia. The longest stretch he had ever gone without sleeping was a month and a half. Not sleeping itself would drive a person insane, so You Chumu had only grown more and more unhinged.
If he had been an ordinary person, he probably would have been gone already. Only You Chumu’s constitution was different from everyone else’s, so he was still alive and well.
He had to admit, seeing a fridge full of groceries put Xu Chi in a very good mood.
He took the groceries out of the fridge and took a quick look. They were all things he had bought before, all things he liked to eat.
You Chumu’s memory was really good.
“What do you want to eat?”
You Chumu: “Whatever brother eats, I’ll eat.”
Xu Chi took two tomatoes and three eggs. “Let’s make tomato egg noodles. We’ll eat these dishes at noon.”
Suddenly thinking of something, Xu Chi asked, “Where did you get the money to buy these?”
You Chumu: “Money Zhou Ye gave me.”
“…Why did Zhou Ye give you money?”
You Chumu: “I forced him to.”
“…” Xu Chi: Was there really anyone who would state something basically no different from robbery so matter-of-factly?
Xu Chi went back to the bedroom and pulled a few hundred-yuan bills out of a drawer.
The original host had no concept of money. Money could be found in almost any drawer in the house. No matter how much there was, the original host would just stuff it in casually, and when he needed to spend it, he would grab some from whichever drawer without thinking.
Most of the time, though, he spent money through his phone.
Back in the kitchen, Xu Chi handed the money to You Chumu. “This money is for you. You can buy whatever you want, but we have to spend our own money. You can’t force other people to give you money. That’s robbery, and it’s illegal. You can’t do that. Take a hundred and give it back to Zhou Ye. Apologize to him, and promise you won’t do this again.”
You Chumu stared at the money, then at Xu Chi, turned his head away, and asked in confusion, “Brother, isn’t it good that he listens to me? Why should I apologize to him? He’s afraid of me. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“…” Xu Chi was silent for a moment. “If you and he have a very good relationship, it’s fine for him to pay for you. But if you use pressure to make him pay, that’s not right. Forcing other people is illegal. You can’t do that.”
You Chumu’s eyes moved as if he were thinking. Then, as if he couldn’t accept it but was smiling anyway, he nodded. “Okay. If brother doesn’t let me do it, I won’t do it.”
Xu Chi: “…”
You Chumu held the money with both hands and lifted his eyes to look at Xu Chi. “I understand, brother. We spend our own money, not other people’s money. Brother can only spend my money, not other people’s money.”
“…” Xu Chi: ??? Was You Chumu even listening seriously? Was that really the point? Did the previous sentence and the next one have anything to do with each other? How did he even connect that?