“Mmm.” Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting a warm glow over An Chutang’s light brown, slightly curly hair.
His naturally fair skin appeared almost translucent against his hair color and the morning light.
The docile, angel-like face took on the vivid emotions of the mortal world the moment he opened his eyes.
“My head hurts so much.” An Chutang gave his tangled hair a messy rub, sat up, and looked around in a daze at his surroundings.
After a moment of silence, he gave a sudden jolt and hurriedly asked the system, “Shibal! What time is it? Surely I haven’t slept for eighteen hours, have I?”
A heavy silence hung all around.
“We’re done for, we’re done for,” An Chutang muttered. “Shibal, I’m dead. It looks like my life points have run out, and now it’s my turn.”
He had just arrived here! He finally got a chance at rebirth, and after only a single night, he was going to bite the dust right here!
“Why didn’t I take the chance to kiss him hard a few times last night while I was drunk?”
An Chutang was grief-stricken. “I should have just clung to him shamelessly and slept with him!”
“Ahahaha! Sob, sob.”
[Stop! So noisy. I’m not dead! And you’re not going to die just yet! You still have 9 hours and 40 minutes of life points left!]
“Hic!” An Chutang abruptly cut off his crying, unable to hold back a hiccup. “Then why didn’t you say anything just now?”
[You have the nerve to ask! If it weren’t for the fact that you gave me plenty of sweet moments to ship last night, I would have just left you to fend for yourself! And I told you, my name is Qi Ba! Qi Ba! Qi Ba Qi Ba Qi Ba!]
An Chutang wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and pouted. “Wasn’t I calling you Qi Ba? So sensitive.”
The bedroom door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Li Yan had originally been harboring a burst of annoyance because this person had mistaken him for his target of affection last night, but upon hearing the crying coming from the room, he had pushed the door right open.
Their gazes met instantly, and An Chutang froze.
The scene that came into view made Li Yan’s heart tighten.
The person on the bed had fluffy, messy hair, damp eyelashes, and undried tear tracks still lingering at the corners of his eyes. He looked small and frail, making him appear utterly pitiful.
Li Yan’s Adam’s apple rolled gently, and he instinctively softened his voice, “What’s wrong? Why were you crying?”
An Chutang, however, stared fixedly at the other man’s lips, feeling his face grow warm. It was impossible to say he didn’t care, as that was his first kiss, after all.
Still, considering what he had pulled last night, while the other man still seemed to be in a relatively decent mood, he figured it was best to pretend he had blacked out from alcohol.
With that thought, An Chutang immediately put on a front of aloof dignity, stubbornly lifting his chin a fraction.
“It’s nothing, just had a nightmare. Anyway, I drank too much last night, and I don’t know if I caused you any trouble. Thanks for taking me in.”
Li Yan let out a cold chuckle, the tip of his tongue sweeping sharply across his canine teeth as he turned and walked out. “Rest assured, I’ll collect the interest on the trouble you caused little by little. Come out and eat.”
Hearing this, An Chutang scrambled up with a sense of trepidation. “Oh, coming!”
Regardless of what the other man meant, his priority was to smooth things over for now.
He really had been thoroughly drunk last night, sleeping in his clothes the entire night.
Getting up now, he remembered that he didn’t have any change of clothes, nor did he have a single cent in cash.
It looked like he would have to make a trip to the bank first.
Stepping out of the bedroom, Li Yan was sitting on the sofa. On the coffee table in front of him sat two neat bowls of white porridge, a few somewhat off-white steamed buns, and several salted duck eggs.
Perhaps because he hadn’t eaten anything since the night before, the sight of the steaming breakfast proved too much even for the usually picky An Chutang.
He walked over, took a seat, and said politely, “You know how to cook? This looks decent.”
Li Yan picked up a steamed bun and handed it to him. “They’re brought from home. I just warmed them up.”
Thinking of Li Yan’s family background, with his grandfather’s status, he probably had guards and domestic helpers assigned to cook for him.
An Chutang took the bun somewhat awkwardly and took a bite. The next instant, the fresh fragrance of mushroom and meat juice filled his mouth. “Mmm. This is delicious!”
Li Yan raised his eyelids to glance at him. Seeing the other man narrow his eyes in satisfaction, his expression softened involuntarily.
“Oh, right,” An Chutang said, his voice slightly muffled around his food. “Can you take me to the bank later? I lost my things, so I want to withdraw some money first and buy a few changes of clothes.
Oh, and it’d be best if I could buy a bigger bed. That bed of yours is a bit small, and I’m a restless sleeper, so who knows, I might fall off one of these days.”
Li Yan put down his bowl and chopsticks and leaned back. “Is Young Master An planning to sponge off me now? Do you know what I do for a living?”
With that, he leaned forward, closing the distance to An Chutang, his tone turning dangerous, “Aren’t you afraid I might kill you and take your valuables?”
An Chutang wasn’t afraid of his threats, because thanks to the system, he had already figured out Li Yan’s background inside and out.
Yet, being this close to the man’s striking face, he couldn’t help but marvel at him all over again.
How could someone be this handsome? Every single feature suited his tastes, right down to this taciturn personality that hit the bullseye of his preferences.
An Chutang gave a light cough, terrified that an overly explicit expression might scare the guy off. After all, this was the late 1970s, and surely very few people could accept being gay.
“I trust you. It was love at first sight with you, you know. I’m all alone in the world, so you wouldn’t kick me out, would you?”
He looked completely sincere. “Just let me stay here. After losing my things once, I always feel unsafe being outside alone. I can pay you rent!
Besides, aren’t we going into business together? I believe that with my capital and your connections and capability, we’ll carve out our own empire sooner or later.”
Li Yan’s gaze darkened. This guy really had no filter, as a single rebellious remark like that could get him investigated if the wrong person heard it.
Li Yan pulled back, changing the subject as he asked with casual probing, “If you’re living with me, does your partner know?”
“Huh?” An Chutang’s face filled with question marks.
Suddenly, scenes from the night before flashed through his mind. Tsk, tsk.
If he told the guy right now that he didn’t have a partner at all and had just been acting like a hooligan, would Li Yan immediately toss him out like a psycho?
His plan to bend the guy would have to be a gradual process, and acting like buddies for now might give him a better opening.
If Li Yan thought he had a partner, maybe he wouldn’t be so on guard during their interactions.
Thinking of this, he even felt a bit proud of his own cleverness!
An Chutang waved a hand dismissively and said vaguely, “Oh, that’s just sad history, let’s not bring it up.”
Li Yan looked as though he hadn’t expected such an answer, fixing him with a deep, meaningful stare.
An Chutang started burying his head in his food, feeling a bit guilty since he couldn’t remember anything from last night anyway.
“Bang, bang, bang! Yan-ge! Open up!”
Li Guangtao’s voice rang out from outside the door, perfectly breaking the strange atmosphere between the two.
Li Yan went to open the door, and today, only Li Guangtao had come.
Seeing the two of them eating, Li Guangtao greeted them warmly, “Morning, Young Master An.”
He walked closer to the table and picked up a bun. “These are Aunt Zhang’s buns, right? I knew you’d have good food here, Yan-ge.”
With that, he took a huge bite. “Aunt Zhang’s cooking is top-notch. There are still several days left before the end of the month, and my family’s meat coupons are already gone. I’ll have to go trade for some over at West Alley later.”
Li Yan set down his bowl and chopsticks. “I have a few catties left here, so you can take some later.”
“Thanks, Yan-ge!” Li Guangtao wolfed down the rest of the bun in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and turned to An Chutang. “Where does Young Master An want to check out later? I’ve cleared my whole day for you.”
An Chutang looked at Li Yan. “Brother Li, please don’t call me Young Master An. Just call me Xiao Tang. I want to go to the bank to withdraw some money first, then head to the department store. Is Li Yan going too?”
Hearing mention of the bank, Li Guangtao recalled the five million yuan the other man had mentioned last night. He forcefully suppressed the urge to ask more, terrified that pressing further would scare the guy off.
“Of course! Yan-ge just quit his job and doesn’t have much going on right now anyway. We’ll all go, right, Yan-ge?”
Li Yan silently looked at An Chutang until a flash of anxiety appeared in the other’s eyes before he finally replied indifferently, “Hurry up and finish eating, then we’re heading out.”
(Life Countdown: 9 hours 10 minutes)