TA •Chapter 54

Chapter 54

The driver got out of the car and started moving the potted greenery. Jiang Yuduo glanced into the back, and they were all big pots, much larger than the ones he had helped Lu Xi buy last time. He was about to go over and help.

He had only taken one step when he heard Lin Xu’s surprised voice. “Brother Cheng, what happened to your hand?”

Jiang Yuduo quickly estimated the timing. It had probably been about thirty seconds since Lin Xu got out of the car, and Cheng Ke’s injury was pretty noticeable. Yet it had taken him this long to see it.

Maybe he really wasn’t paying as much attention to Cheng Ke as Jiang Yuduo had thought?

But then again, that still seemed suspicious.

A normal person would spot it at a glance. Lin Xu should have seen it too, so why had he only suddenly acted surprised after such a long time, like he was just seeing it now?

He turned and looked at Lin Xu.

“I fell by accident,” Cheng Ke said. “It’s nothing. It’ll be fine in a month.”

“I once fell off a horse too,” Lin Xu said, patting his own arm. “It was awful. It made everything inconvenient.”

“It’s all right,” Cheng Ke said, shaking his hand. “Still better than breaking a leg.”

Jiang Yuduo didn’t keep listening to them chat. He went over to help the driver.

He had just taken the dolly the driver handed down when Lin Xu came over too. “Third Brother, let me.”

“Together,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Okay.” Lin Xu lifted down a pot of flowers from the back, something that looked like a money tree. The pot was huge, and it was probably pretty heavy, but Lin Xu carried it with ease.

Of course. He was a model, so he definitely worked out regularly.

Jiang Yuduo also carried a pot down and set it on the dolly.

“You unload first,” Cheng Ke said as he walked over. “I’ll pull these few pots inside.”

Jiang Yuduo really felt that Cheng Ke was just some spoiled young master with zero practical experience, the kind who thought having a car made everything easy. With the four giant pots on the dolly, there was no way they could get up the sloped entrance by the shop with only one person.

After tugging on the dolly once, Cheng Ke stopped and looked over at him. He lowered his voice. “Are the wheels broken?”

Jiang Yuduo glanced into the back. Lin Xu was still moving the pots out with the driver, and hadn’t heard Cheng Ke’s words. If he had, he probably would’ve laughed himself sick.

“These are four lumps of soil,” Jiang Yuduo also lowered his voice, pushing the dolly toward Cheng Ke with his foot. “What, you think they’re four empty flowerpots? How did you even grow up?”

“On dew, what’s your problem?” Cheng Ke tugged again, and this time the dolly moved. He dragged it toward the slope. “We elves…"

“You little fairy types, maybe. Do elves drink dew?” Jiang Yuduo cut him off. “Don’t elves eat bugs?”

Cheng Ke looked at him. After a while, he said, “Third Brother, I know why you’ve never had a girlfriend. With a brain wired like yours, infected by Chen Qing…”

“Don’t say it like that,” Jiang Yuduo said solemnly. “Chen Qing actually had several girlfriends. One of them almost married him.”

“…Oh.” Cheng Ke didn’t know what else to say, so he kept pulling the dolly while Jiang Yuduo steadied the flowerpots and the cart from behind, pushing it up onto the slope.

“But I never thought about having a girlfriend either,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Why?” Cheng Ke asked.

“No reason, I just never really thought about it,” Jiang Yuduo said. “Whenever I see some woman seeming a little interested in me, I just want to keep my distance.”

“Then why didn’t you keep your distance from me?” Cheng Ke said. “I’m probably past the stage of just being a little interested in you.”

“You’re not a woman,” Jiang Yuduo said without thinking. “Besides, you’re not the same as them.”

“Oh.” Cheng Ke nodded. “I think maybe you should think about…”

He stopped halfway through. Jiang Yuduo waited for a long time and still didn’t hear the rest, so he prodded, “Think about what?”

“Nothing,” Cheng Ke said. “You’re probably the kind of half-ripe fruit that everyone else has already ripened and sold, while you’re still blooming on the tree.”

At least Jiang Yuduo understood that. He wasn’t too satisfied with the assessment. “I’m not late to mature. I just haven’t met the right woman.”

Cheng Ke looked at him without saying anything.

“I watch porn, straight porn, all of it,” Jiang Yuduo added. “I even watch while…”

“Jerking off? What does jerking off have to do with dating?” Cheng Ke sighed. “Monkeys jerk off too. What’s there to brag about?”

“What the fuck,” Jiang Yuduo was shocked. “I really didn’t see you as this kind of person, young master!”

“Neither did I see you as this kind of person, Third Brother,” Cheng Ke sighed. “Come on, let’s move the flowers. There are still so many.”

Lin Xu and the driver had already moved all the pots to the back of the car. Jiang Yuduo could just go over and carry them down directly onto the dolly.

After he had set down several pots, he was about to pull the cart away when Cheng Ke came over to help. Jiang Yuduo pointed at the cast on Cheng Ke’s arm. “Forget it.”

“I’ll do it.” Lin Xu jumped down from the car and helped Jiang Yuduo push the cart toward the shop entrance.

Jiang Yuduo actually didn’t want Lin Xu’s help. It wasn’t that he could definitely pull it up alone, but… he didn’t want Lin Xu, who still somehow made him feel a little uncomfortable, to be alone with Cheng Ke.

He and Lin Xu pulled the dolly into the shop, one in front and one behind, then unloaded the flowers one pot at a time.

“Third Brother,” Lin Xu said while they worked, “about me, are you…”

Jiang Yuduo was already irritated. As soon as he heard this gay guy suddenly start with a sentence like that, he instantly jumped to the wrong conclusion without a second’s hesitation and got startled. “What!”

“Huh?” Lin Xu was startled by his reaction too. He stood there stunned for a long moment. “What… what?”

“No,” Jiang Yuduo came back to his senses. “What were you saying?”

“…Oh.” Lin Xu paused for another two seconds before smiling. “I was saying… we’ll probably still be seeing each other often in the future.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yuduo responded.

“If Third Brother thinks I did something wrong somewhere,” Lin Xu said, “just say it directly.”

Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

“I’m a pretty direct person too,” Lin Xu said a little awkwardly under his gaze. “I get the feeling Third Brother, you’re also the kind of person who keeps everything on your face, so…”

“No,” Jiang Yuduo understood what Lin Xu meant. His last move, plus the fact that he probably hadn’t given Lin Xu a good look all day, had left Lin Xu a little lost. He kicked the dolly toward the shop door and walked after it. “I’m just like this. You don’t need to mind it. I don’t have any… objections to you.”

“Oh,” Lin Xu said. “That’s good.”

By the entrance, the driver had already unloaded all the flowers and was getting back in the car to leave.

Cheng Ke stood there shivering as he tugged at his coat, his brows knit together, looking like a boss who was hard to deal with.

Jiang Yuduo sighed. “Can’t you just go inside and stay warm? Who’s going to steal these flowers?”

“Then you guys unload them,” Cheng Ke said immediately, turning around and shrinking back into the shop.

“Third Brother, how long have you known Brother Cheng?” Lin Xu asked.

“Not that long.” Jiang Yuduo was still cautious around Lin Xu, so he didn’t give a definite answer.

“I feel like you two… are pretty familiar,” Lin Xu said. “I wouldn’t dare talk to him like that.”

Jiang Yuduo tugged at the corner of his mouth, and to make sure Lin Xu couldn’t tell that he hadn’t managed to smile, he pulled it harder.

To be honest, if he hadn’t met that useless Cheng Ke first, then judging by Cheng Ke’s demeanor when he was performing or working, he probably wouldn’t dare talk to him like that either.

“Brother Xu said you two were… friends,” Lin Xu said as he lifted another pot onto the dolly, speaking a little laboriously. “I thought it was…”

Jiang Yuduo reached out to help and set the pot straight.

“I thought you were boyfriends.” Lin Xu smiled.

Fuck.

Jiang Yuduo looked at him without saying a word.

Lin Xu’s guess suddenly made it impossible for him to tell what he was feeling right now.

Seeing that he had no reaction, Lin Xu abruptly froze too, looking at him awkwardly. “Was I right?”

“Mm?” Jiang Yuduo was startled.

“…Ah.” Lin Xu hurriedly lowered his head and dragged the dolly away with only two pots on it. “I talked too much…”

In those two seconds, Jiang Yuduo’s brain spun at least eight thousand times. Smoke was practically about to come out of his ears.

He needed to make a decision right now, immediately, about whether to let Lin Xu think he and Cheng Ke had some kind of unspeakable relationship, and how to keep Lin Xu at a safe distance from Cheng Ke.

“This,” Jiang Yuduo said, planting his foot on the dolly and looking at Lin Xu, who had turned back around. “I don’t get to decide.”

“…Oh.” Lin Xu nodded.

After all the flowerpots had been carried inside and stacked in the back room, Cheng Ke and Lin Xu ran back and forth several times to plan where each plant should go, waiting until the workers came in a few days to set everything up slowly.

Jiang Yuduo sat upstairs watching the tile setter work.

He had no idea where different kinds or shapes of greenery should go, or what kind of effect they would create. None of the things related to beauty or art were something he could help with, and he couldn’t keep trailing around behind Cheng Ke all the time either. The only thing he could do was watch the tile setter, see whether the lines were straight and whether the grout lines were uneven. That, at least, he could tell.

“These young people nowadays, one more promising than the next. Look at you guys,” the worker said as he set the tiles, sounding sentimental. “This shop turned out so well. It must have cost a lot to invest in, huh? So capable. My son isn’t like that. He doesn’t want to learn anything, just loafs around all day. We’ve got a house renting out at home, and I even asked him to go collect the rent, but he still wouldn’t…”

Jiang Yuduo listened and felt a little uncomfortable.

This shop had nothing to do with him. He was just there waiting for someone.

He was probably only a little better than the worker’s son. He collected rent every month, had to make several trips… but it wasn’t even rent for something that belonged to him…

“Then I’ll go first,” Lin Xu said as he came down from the third floor, talking to Cheng Ke. “If there’s anything you need help with, Brother Cheng, just say so. I pitched in on the renovation at Brother Xu’s place too, so if you need anything for the soft furnishings later, just tell me and I’ll go find it.”

“Sure. Thanks for your trouble.” Cheng Ke said.

“Third Brother,” Lin Xu came over to Jiang Yuduo’s side. “I’m heading out first. You guys keep busy.”

“Oh, take care.” Jiang Yuduo responded. He didn’t know what else he should say next, so he kept watching the worker lay the tiles.

Cheng Ke escorted Lin Xu downstairs, and he didn’t come back up for a long time. Jiang Yuduo started feeling uneasy, got up, and stood by the window to look down.

There was no one at the shop entrance. Cheng Ke and Lin Xu were both gone.

Jiang Yuduo was suddenly seized by panic. He turned and ran downstairs. From the second floor to the first, he jumped the whole staircase in one go. The shop’s ceiling height was much taller than that of an ordinary residential building, and when he landed, he rolled half a circle with the momentum. Just as he put a hand on the floor and tried to get up, he found someone standing right in front of him.

“Holy shit!” Cheng Ke yelled, clutching a paper bag. “Who the fuck are you trying to scare to death?”

Jiang Yuduo felt like his eyeballs could have shot lasers. Even though he had startled Cheng Ke again, the moment he saw Cheng Ke was fine, he still let out a breath of relief and stood up.

He couldn’t let Cheng Ke worry again. He had to come up with a reasonable explanation for what he’d just done, right this second.

After hesitating for a second, he looked at Cheng Ke and asked, “Was it handsome?”

Cheng Ke stared at him. After a long while, he finally said, “Fuck your uncle.”

Jiang Yuduo glanced at the paper bag in his hand. “Where did you go?”

“There’s a fruit supermarket across the street!” Cheng Ke walked upstairs. “I went to buy some tangerines! I come back and you hit me with some heart-attack-level cool move! Hurry up, just call three-year-old you ‘Grandpa,’ because even calling you ‘Uncle’ doesn’t show how old you are anymore.”

Jiang Yuduo smiled without saying anything.

Cheng Ke took the tangerines out of the paper bag and handed a few to each of the workers who were busy on site, then walked over to Jiang Yuduo, who was sitting by a small table on the side, and set the rest beside his hand. “Want some?”

“Mm.” Jiang Yuduo took one and slowly peeled it with his head lowered.

Cheng Ke sat down too, picked one up, and squeezed it in his hand while watching Jiang Yuduo.

After the shock wore off, he thought of what Jiang Yuduo had asked earlier, “Was it handsome?”

It was.

Jiang Yuduo had long arms and long legs. When he leaped down from that corner on the second floor, his movements were so graceful and loose that for an instant he looked like he was about to fly.

Very handsome.

That kind of handsomeness was different from when he was being vicious, different from when he was fighting, different from when he was just Third Brother.

Jiang Yuduo had many different states, like a crystal chandelier.

It looked a bit tacky, but every refracted shard of color from it still made people think it was beautiful.

“Here.” Jiang Yuduo finished peeling one and handed it over. “Stop squeezing the one in your hand. Isn’t it all crushed now?”

“How could it be?” Cheng Ke squeezed the tangerine. “If you squeeze it like this, it loosens up a little and becomes easier to peel.”

“Is peeling a tangerine that hard for you? Isn’t it hard to just peel it normally?” Jiang Yuduo took the tangerine from his hand and put the peeled one into his. “No wonder your kind of elves have gone extinct.”

Cheng Ke froze for a moment before remembering that line, and then he laughed for half a day. “I’m finding out that you’re really petty. You remember one sentence forever.”

“Mm. Not just grudges, either. I can remember things for a long time, like that floa…” Jiang Yuduo was halfway through when he cleared his throat and lowered his head to start peeling the tangerine.

Cheng Ke smiled without saying anything and slowly ate his tangerine.

The worker was still very fast. Cheng Ke ordered a few takeout meals for lunch, and after they finished eating, it only took about an hour for the rest of the tiles to be laid.

“I’m telling you, boss, just check it. If there’s even one piece that’s not right, I’ll knock it all out and redo it for you.” The worker was very confident as he packed up his things.

Cheng Ke stood in front of the finished wall tiles and inspected them very carefully, even reaching out to touch them.

Jiang Yuduo found that Cheng Ke was very clear about certain things. Cheng Ke had gotten quite familiar with these workers over the morning, and the workers really had done meticulous work, so they were bold enough to make that guarantee. If it had been him, he probably wouldn’t have checked so carefully.

But Cheng Ke didn’t cut corners at all. Even the smile on his face was gone. After the worker had packed up and squatted nearby waiting for a long time, Cheng Ke finally turned around and nodded. “The workmanship is really good.”

“I told you so. You won’t find a flaw in it.” The worker lifted his chin.

“If any of my friends need tiles laid in the future, I’ll definitely recommend you.” Cheng Ke smiled.

After the workers left, Jiang Yuduo helped Cheng Ke tidy up the building materials that were stacked all over the shop, upstairs and down, and took inventory at the same time.

“You’re really meticulous when you do things,” Jiang Yuduo couldn’t help saying as he watched Cheng Ke record the materials on his phone.

“Before, it was all been Brother Xu Ding busying himself. I didn’t really manage much,” Cheng Ke said. “Now it’s almost the end. I can’t afford to mess up at my own hands.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yuduo nodded.

“Help me close all the doors and windows,” Cheng Ke said, looking at him. “Then we can leave. We’ll put the luggage back at home first, then go to the mall.”

“Why?” Jiang Yuduo asked.

“To buy some things,” Cheng Ke said. “Going to Chen Qing’s house for a New Year’s meal, are we supposed to go empty-handed?”

“…I’ve always gone empty-handed,” Jiang Yuduo said, stunned. “His mom still gives me a red envelope.”

Cheng Ke sighed. “You and Chen Qing aren’t as close as he and you are.”

“You’re my friend,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Cheng Ke waved him off.

After they hauled the luggage back, Jiang Yuduo helped him tidy up a bit and took the clothes out to hang them in the wardrobe.

“Time… is still enough,” Cheng Ke said, looking at his phone beside him. “You…”

“I know.” Jiang Yuduo glanced at the mess of things piled on Cheng Ke’s bed. “I said yesterday that I’d come make the bed, and you didn’t want me to. Now I still have to do it anyway.”

Cheng Ke clicked his tongue.

Making a bed wasn’t hard, but a bed that Cheng Ke had rolled all over became a little more troublesome to straighten out than usual. After Jiang Yuduo struggled for a while and finally got it done, he tossed the covered quilt onto the bed. “Done.”

“Wow,” Cheng Ke said with a laugh. “Did your temper flare up?”

“No,” Jiang Yuduo sighed. “I just admire that you managed to roll everything into that state in one night.”

“When I sleep alone, I’m especially wild,” Cheng Ke said. “An eight-foot bed should be slept on in a full eight-foot spread.”

“I sleep very honestly,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Seems like it,” Cheng Ke recalled. “You only turn over once in a whole night?”

“Mm,” Jiang Yuduo nodded. “I can even not turn over at all.”

“Is that a branch skill of sleeping while standing?” Cheng Ke asked casually.

Right after he asked, he felt it might not have been appropriate. He was just about to quickly change the subject when Jiang Yuduo smiled. “I guess so. If there’s time someday… I’ll tell you about it.”

“Tell me what?” Cheng Ke froze.

“Things from when I was little,” Jiang Yuduo said.

Cheng Ke looked at him. After a very long time, he nodded. “Okay.”

“Let’s go,” Jiang Yuduo walked toward the door. “To the mall.”

“First go to the wholesale market,” Cheng Ke called after him.

“Not the mall?” Jiang Yuduo turned back. “Why the downgrade? Look down on our Chen Qing?”

“To buy a coat,” Cheng Ke pointed at the coat on his body. “Something like the one you’re wearing. I’ve been looking for one and can’t find it.”

“That wholesale market isn’t on this side. Are you obsessive-compulsive or something?” Jiang Yuduo sighed. “This coat I bought last year. We might not even find it there now.”

“It’s a little bit that,” Cheng Ke said. “It just feels like yours is thick and warm, but not heavy.”

“Then…” Jiang Yuduo hesitated and took off his coat. “This one…”

“Thanks!” Cheng Ke took it immediately.

“Sell it to you for a hundred bucks,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Fuck!” Cheng Ke laughed. “Are you even human?”

Jiang Yuduo smiled without saying anything.

“Wear mine,” Cheng Ke said, taking off the coat he was wearing and handing it over. “This one isn’t especially warm, but it’s pretty light. Anyway, you don’t fear the cold.”

“Fine.” Jiang Yuduo put it on.

Cheng Ke reached into the pockets of Jiang Yuduo’s coat. He knew there was a knife in them, but after he reached inside, he found nothing there.

“You didn’t bring a knife?” Cheng Ke sounded surprised.

“Didn’t bring one today. It’s a holiday,” Jiang Yuduo said. “No fighting.”

Cheng Ke’s coat really wasn’t very warm. Jiang Yuduo felt like Cheng Ke had probably bought it because it looked good. Aside from looking good, it didn’t have many other advantages.

But the clothes smelled nice. It seemed like Cheng Ke’s wardrobe had switched to a different perfume. The current scent carried a hint of grass, and he quite liked it.

After they got into the taxi, he tugged at the collar and smelled it again.

“No way,” Cheng Ke asked in a low voice, “does it smell? I just put it on today.”

“No,” Jiang Yuduo said a little awkwardly. “I was just smelling it. Did you change your perfume?”

“You’ve got a good nose,” Cheng Ke said. “This one’s about the same as the one before. I can barely tell.”

“That’s because your nose is blocked. It’s pretty obvious,” Jiang Yuduo sniffed again. “Do you have rhinitis?”

“Get lost.” Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo smiled and turned to look out the window.

When he rode in a car, he habitually liked to look outside. It wasn’t that he was watching the scenery. He just felt safer when he could clearly see the world outside.

“Hey, I want to ask you something,” Cheng Ke said as he leaned close to him, speaking softly by his ear.

“What is it?” Jiang Yuduo asked.

“Lin Xu,” Cheng Ke cleared his throat. “Did you say something to him today?”

“Huh?” Jiang Yuduo was first stunned, then immediately remembered. He hadn’t felt anything unusual when he said it at the time, but now that he thought back on it, he was suddenly flooded with shame. He faltered for a long time and didn’t know how to answer. “I just… he asked me, asked if you were my… boyfriend…”

He said the last two words very softly, so awkwardly that even his hair seemed like it was about to knot up.

“And then you told him to ask me?” Cheng Ke said.

“I just said it casually…” Jiang Yuduo was halfway through when he suddenly became alarmed. “Fuck, did he go ask you?”

“Mm.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“Then you… fuck!” Jiang Yuduo felt his face burning. “This is fucking… I’m fucking convinced… then you, how did you tell him?”

“I said no,” Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo froze and looked at him. After a long while, he suddenly raised his voice. “Oh! Oh!”

Cheng Ke narrowed his eyes. “Oh what?”

“It means I got it,” Jiang Yuduo said, feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, and looked away.

This was fucking embarrassing.

Was Lin Xu an idiot?

How could he really go and ask about something like that!

“The feeling you’re giving me right now,” Cheng Ke said, “is that I should have said yes?”

Jiang Yuduo suddenly whipped his head back around.