TA •Chapter 72

After finishing "breakfast," Jiang Yuduo called Chen Qing. Since they were going to "check the accounts," he told Chen Qing to drive over and bring two more people.

"Why bring people?" Cheng Ke asked.

"No idea," Jiang Yuduo said. "Cheng Yi already has an open fracture. What if he can’t swallow this and tries to pull something? It’s safer with a few people along."

"With you there, that’s enough. Whoever dares make a move gets an open fracture too." Cheng Ke smiled.

"I need both hands free," Jiang Yuduo said, looking at him. "I have to hold you down. Even with a cast on, you can still hit people. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold you by myself."

"Get lost," Cheng Ke said.

"Aren’t you usually pretty calm? You’re always worried I’ll get impulsive and beat someone so badly it’ll go wrong," Jiang Yuduo frowned. "Why were you like that yesterday?"

Cheng Ke said nothing.

"Why were you like that yesterday," Jiang Yuduo repeated.

Cheng Ke looked up at him.

"Yesterday…" Jiang Yuduo was about to repeat it again when Cheng Ke cut him off.

"He talked about you," Cheng Ke said, biting his lip. "I just exploded. I couldn’t control it."

"Talked about me…" Jiang Yuduo hesitated, then didn’t continue. "?"

"Mm. I didn’t expect him to look into you, and I don’t even know if it was true. Anyway, I just lost it. It wasn’t his place to meddle in your business." Cheng Ke picked up his phone and sent Xu Ding a message.

-You looking for me?

Jiang Yuduo lay down on the table and reached out, lightly tapping the cast on Cheng Ke’s right hand.

Cheng Ke glanced at him. "The table’s dirty."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo acknowledged it, but stayed there.

Xu Ding’s reply came back.

-Cheng Yi wants to buy that shop of yours, told me to be there

Cheng Ke had guessed Cheng Yi would probably come and buy the shop himself, cleaning up the mess for his willful useless older brother. He really was exhausting himself over it.

-Why do you have to be there?

-He said it was business, you wouldn’t understand, so I should help you

-Are you going to be there?

Xu Ding sent a voice message: "I’m not going. I’m not getting involved in your family’s business. Besides, if I do go, it’ll look like you’ve already decided he’s going to screw you over and need to be guarded against. That’s not a good look."

Cheng Ke wanted to say he had screwed me over plenty, but after a brief hesitation, he didn’t say it.

-Anything else?

-No. Also, I just wanted to remind you, don’t bite too hard. It’ll save trouble later.

-I’ll let him name his own price.

Xu Ding didn’t say anything more. After a while, he sent an address.

-I’m guessing you don’t know where the shop is

Cheng Ke laughed. He really didn’t know.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Yuduo asked from the table.

"Want to take a look at the shop?" Cheng Ke opened the map and entered the street address. "You should be able to see it on the map."

"Aren’t you going there in a bit?" Jiang Yuduo sat down beside him and looked at the screen.

"Better look first. Chen Qing’s not here yet anyway," Cheng Ke said.

The street view opened. He tapped forward little by little on the screen. He had never been to this area before. It was the new district, and it had developed fast over the past two years.

The shops on both sides of the street looked pretty decent, and the greenery was good too. At the mouth of a narrow side alley by the road hung a wooden sign with two characters on it: Afternoon.

"This is it," Cheng Ke said, pointing that way. He zoomed in on the map. You could see the narrow alley leading in. The street view photo had been taken in summer, and the end of the alley was full of green, making it look pretty large. "It’s a pretty big shop."

"Who are you selling it to?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

"Cheng Yi wants to buy it," Cheng Ke said.

"Knew it would be him," Jiang Yuduo clicked his tongue. "How much are you planning to sell it for?"

"Let him name the price," Cheng Ke said. "I’m not trying to squeeze money out of him. I just want him to know I’m not indulging him anymore."

"What if he offers you ten yuan?" Jiang Yuduo said.

"Impossible," Cheng Ke laughed. "He’ll do it perfectly."

Chen Qing drove up to the bun shop in an Audi A8. When Jiang Yuduo and Cheng Ke went out, he jumped down from the car. "Third Brother."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo responded.

"I wanted to find a better one, but the only ones I’m familiar with are the ones in the shop, and this was the one available," Chen Qing said.

"What for?" Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

"Aren’t we going to kick up a scene?" Chen Qing glanced at Cheng Ke. "We should at least drive something respectable."

"It’s to check the accounts," Jiang Yuduo sighed. "What the hell scene are we kicking up? And after you kick it up, are you buying the place?"

"I can’t afford it," Chen Qing said as he turned and opened the back door. "Brother Ke, sit in front. Third Brother’s driving."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo went around and got in the car.

Cheng Ke could tell Chen Qing had some opinions about him, but since Jiang Yuduo’s younger brothers were also in the car, he still gave Cheng Ke plenty of face.

"Where’s the shop?" Chen Qing asked.

"The new district." Jiang Yuduo adjusted the seat and drove off.

"Then it’ll take a while," Chen Qing said.

Cheng Ke glanced at the people in the back seat. It was still Da Bin and the ex-con face. Chen Qing was still very cautious. This matter was kept within the scope of those two people, so if anything got out, it would be easy to trace the source.

But for Chen Qing, it was probably just a matter of guarding against the whole "boyfriend" thing. For him, mental illness was nothing more than a rude insult.

He just didn’t know what Da Bin and the other one thought.

From yesterday until now, he and Jiang Yuduo had not spoken directly about that topic. He had wanted Jiang Yuduo to bring it up himself, but Jiang Yuduo didn’t seem to plan on mentioning it again.

Cheng Ke let out a soft sigh.

When they were close to the place, his phone rang. It was a landline number, vaguely familiar. When he picked up and heard Cheng Yi’s voice, he remembered it was Cheng Yi’s office number.

"Got time?" Cheng Yi’s voice came through.

As far as Cheng Ke could remember, this was the first time Cheng Yi had spoken to him without calling him brother.

"Yeah, go ahead," Cheng Ke said.

"That shop, I’m buying it back," Cheng Yi said. "Name your price."

"Just make an offer, no need to be so formal. We’re not strangers," Cheng Ke said. "If you want me to name the price, then you’ll have to wait."

"What does that mean?" Cheng Yi asked.

"I’ll be at the shop in ten minutes," Cheng Ke said.

"What are you going there for?" Cheng Yi’s tone turned stiff.

"To check the accounts," Cheng Ke said. "And to look at the shop. It’s about to be sold off, at least I should see what it looks like."

There was no sound from Cheng Yi’s end. After a long while, he spoke again. "Cheng Ke, what are you trying to do?"

"Nothing," Cheng Ke said. "Everyone knows you gave me a shop like this. I can’t even know what the place looks like?"

"I said I’d buy it!" Cheng Yi raised his voice.

"Did I say I wouldn’t sell it to you?" Cheng Ke said.

Cheng Yi was unusually emotional. That was rare. Maybe their father had found out about the shop and said something to him.

"One million," Cheng Yi said. "Don’t think you can shake any more money out of me."

"Deal." Cheng Ke hung up.

Jiang Yuduo, who was driving, turned his head to glance at him. "Cheng Yi?"

"Mm." Cheng Ke nodded. "It’s settled."

"Then are we still going to the shop?" Jiang Yuduo asked. "You said sell, he said buy, the money gets transferred to you and it’s done. It was a bullshit thing to begin with. There shouldn’t be much to check in the accounts anyway. No one even knows who the owner is."

"We’re going," Cheng Ke said. "I just want to see who the owner is."

When the car stopped at the front of the shop, Cheng Ke already knew who the owner was.

Liu Tiancheng’s car arrived almost at the same time as theirs.

"Get out," Chen Qing said, waving a hand as he got out of the car. "Keep it steady, don’t cause trouble."

Cheng Ke had reached for the door, when Chen Qing came over and opened it for him. The courtesy was given quite fully.

"Thanks." Cheng Ke got out.

Liu Tiancheng got out too. When he turned and saw Cheng Ke, a smile immediately spread across his face. "Xiao Ke! Long time no see!"

Cheng Ke said nothing.

Liu Tiancheng walked over quickly. When he saw the cast on Cheng Ke’s hand, his brows immediately knotted. "What happened to you!"

"You don’t know what happened?" Jiang Yuduo walked over.

"How would I know? It’s been ages since I’ve seen Xiao Ke," Liu Tiancheng said, recognizing Jiang Yuduo. "Oh, isn’t this the one I met last time…"

"Then keep pretending you don’t know," Jiang Yuduo cut him off.

"I…" Liu Tiancheng’s expression turned a little ugly.

"Let’s go in," Cheng Ke said, turning and walking into the alley. "Boss Liu."

Liu Tiancheng paused for two seconds before following. "Xiao Ke, look, you never really managed this shop either. There should at least be one of your own people taking care of it, so… actually, if you don’t want to run this shop, you should’ve told me earlier. I could’ve handled the transfer for you right away."

"Thanks," Cheng Ke said.

The shop really was quite good, with a kind of winding path leading into a secluded place. It had excellent privacy, and the style was elegant too. A lot of work had clearly gone into the renovation.

At this hour, there weren’t many people in the shop. A server came up, and when he saw it was Liu Tiancheng, he immediately bent at the waist. "Liu…"

"This is Boss Cheng," Liu Tiancheng interrupted him. "President Cheng’s older brother."

"Boss Cheng." The server immediately greeted Cheng Ke.

"Sit over there?" Liu Tiancheng pointed to a pebble path on the right. "That side is more…"

"No need to sit," Cheng Ke said as he walked farther in, planning to take one look around and leave. "I’ll just look around and go. I still have things to do."

"Come on, we haven’t seen each other in so long," Liu Tiancheng followed him. "We should at least have a proper talk. I already had a table reserved."

"Forget it. Pack it up and take it home for me," Cheng Ke said.

"Xiao Ke, that’s not very considerate of you," Liu Tiancheng sighed. "You and Xiao Yi have some misunderstanding. We friends…"

"You friends," Cheng Ke looked at him, "which one of you was ever considerate?"

Liu Tiancheng looked a little awkward and frowned.

"Fine, I’m leaving." Cheng Ke suddenly felt there was no point. Seeing Liu Tiancheng made him remember too many things from the past, those friends who had eaten, drunk, and played with him every day and looked so close, making him once again feel how pointless his old life had been.

"Hey, sit a while longer before you go," Liu Tiancheng blocked him. "I know you said some harsh things to Xiao Yi, but there’s no need for that, okay? You’re really not going back home anymore?"

Cheng Ke said nothing. Jiang Yuduo came over and pushed Liu Tiancheng’s arm aside. "Move."

"Cheng Yi may come over," Cheng Ke said once he got back in the car. "Liu Tiancheng probably wanted me to wait for him."

"What’s he coming over for?" Jiang Yuduo started the car.

"To pay, or to beat me up." Cheng Ke said. "Drive."

"Didn’t you say you wanted to see who the owner was?" Chen Qing said. "We still haven’t seen him."

"The owner was that Liu just now, wasn’t he," Da Bin said. "Qing-ge."

"…Oh? Oh!" Chen Qing froze. After freezing, he turned and glared at Da Bin with all the lack of dignity in the world. "You’re the smartest one, huh."

"I was just guessing." Da Bin smiled.

"You call that guessing? You only had to look at the setup, it had to be him. If he wasn’t the owner, how could he suddenly show up now?" Chen Qing said. "He must’ve gotten the消息 and come over."

"Makes sense." Da Bin nodded.

Chen Qing sighed. "Makes sense my ass. You’re the one who’s best at talking."

Da Bin smiled without saying anything.

They hadn’t driven far when, before they’d even left the side road, a car turned out from the intersection ahead, then made a U-turn and stopped by the roadside in front of them.

Before Cheng Ke could say anything, Jiang Yuduo had already stepped on the brakes with a frown. "It’s Cheng Yi’s car."

Cheng Ke froze and turned to look at him.

"I remember the license plate," Jiang Yuduo said.

"What, did he block us in?" Chen Qing asked from the back.

"No idea what he’s here for," Jiang Yuduo opened the car door. "Cheng Ke, don’t get out."

Cheng Ke sat in the passenger seat without moving, lowering the window halfway.

The front door of the other car opened. Cheng Yi got out, his foot in a cast. The driver came down and handed him a crutch, but Cheng Yi waved it away and limped over instead.

The driver and another man Cheng Ke had never seen stayed on either side of him.

They were probably newly hired bodyguards, in case Jiang Yuduo stepped on him again.

"This motherfucker is an open fracture?" Jiang Yuduo said.

When Cheng Yi reached the front of the car, Da Bin went over and blocked him.

Cheng Yi looked at Cheng Ke. "What, is this how you do business now?"

Da Bin turned his head.

Cheng Ke signaled to him, and Da Bin stepped aside. Cheng Yi walked over and slapped a hand against the car window. "Your money."

Cheng Ke saw a bank card pressed against the window by his hand and smiled. "My money, your card?"

"Your card," Cheng Yi said. "The first money you ever made from sand painting, you put it into this card and gave it to Mom, remember?"

Cheng Ke narrowed his eyes a little. Cheng Yi’s words poked at him in a way that made him uncomfortable.

Of course he remembered. He also remembered the disdainful, disappointed look on their father’s face at the time.

Mom had taken this card and kept it all along. Cheng Ke didn’t know how Cheng Yi had gotten it, but he didn’t want to ask. Cheng Yi using this card to give him money was nothing more than a way to provoke him, to remind him that many, many years ago, their father had already been disappointed in him.

"The password hasn’t been changed," Cheng Yi pushed the card through the window. "No one remembers the password."

Cheng Ke lowered the window and took the card, then casually put it into the glove compartment. "Want to call Dad again and tell him I don’t have an open fracture, just a hairline one?" Cheng Yi said with a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.

"I’ll check it and get back to you later," Cheng Ke said. "Take care of your injury."

"You don’t need to get back to me," Cheng Yi looked at him. "I hope you do what you say. From this point on, you and this family will have nothing to do with each other, and there will be no more contact. Do what you say."

Cheng Yi spoke each word clearly, his voice icy and hard. In his eyes was nothing but hatred.

Honestly, seeing Cheng Yi this emotionally exposed, without the slightest attempt to hide it, surprised Cheng Ke. He knew Cheng Yi wanted to drive him away, but he didn’t know the real reason, and he hadn’t expected Cheng Yi to be this desperate about it.

"What I should do, I’ll do," Cheng Ke said, looking at him.

"Don’t feed me bullshit!" Cheng Yi grabbed the window frame and leaned in closer, shouting in a low voice, "I want you to disappear! I want you to never appear in front of Dad again!"

Cheng Ke said nothing.

"I don’t want to hear your name again!" Cheng Yi’s voice rose bit by bit. "I don’t want to see a trace of you in this house again! I don’t want it when I’m trying my hardest to do everything right, and Dad is always thinking about what Cheng Ke would do if it were him! Do you understand!"

Cheng Ke looked at the slightly red rims of his eyes and still said nothing.

What Cheng Yi had just said shocked him a little.

"You’re a waste, Cheng Ke. You’re a waste. You were destined to disappoint Dad for the rest of your life, and you’ll never satisfy him," Cheng Yi gritted out. "So please disappear. Please never show up again for the rest of your life!"

"No one knows what Dad is thinking," Cheng Ke said. "Aren’t you overthinking it?"

"I’m not overthinking at all!" Cheng Yi’s voice was getting hoarse. "I can feel it! I’ve been able to feel it all these years! I can feel it every day!"

Cheng Ke frowned.

Cheng Yi suddenly reached out and grabbed his collar, gripping it very tightly. Cheng Ke immediately felt like he couldn’t breathe.

"I wish you had never been born!" Cheng Yi yelled at him, small flecks of light flashing in his red eyes. "The thing I wanted least was a brother!"

Cheng Ke tried to pry his hand off, but failed. Just as he was about to use more force, a knife came around from behind Cheng Yi’s neck and lightly pressed against his throat.

Cheng Yi froze at once.

"What are you doing! What the hell are you doing!" Cheng Yi’s driver and bodyguard rushed over, but none of them dared come close.

Cheng Ke felt that the man probably wasn’t a bodyguard. He reacted far too slowly compared with Jiang Yuduo.

"Let go of him," Jiang Yuduo said.

"You still think you’re really some kind of boss?" Cheng Yi’s state recovered in an instant. All the emotion in his eyes vanished. He smiled. "If I don’t let go, are you going to kill me?"

"Yes," Jiang Yuduo said. "I don’t have to pay for killing people."

Cheng Yi froze.

Jiang Yuduo leaned close to his ear and said softly, "You know, I’m mentally ill."

"Third Brother." Cheng Ke came back to himself and called Jiang Yuduo.

"Let go of him." Jiang Yuduo said.

After two seconds, Cheng Yi let go of Cheng Ke’s collar.

Jiang Yuduo withdrew the knife and stared at him.

"Take your money," Cheng Yi stepped back two paces. "Remember what you said, and remember what I said."

Cheng Yi’s car drove away. Cheng Ke leaned back against the seat and let out a long breath. His mind was a tangled mess, aching and swollen.

"You okay?" Jiang Yuduo opened the car door and leaned halfway in.

"Kiss me," Cheng Ke said.

"…Now?" Jiang Yuduo froze.

"Now, in the next second," Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo looked back at Chen Qing and the others standing behind him. Then he turned back, bit his lip, and lowered his head to kiss Cheng Ke on the mouth.

"Holy shit!" Chen Qing shouted, turning around together with Da Bin and the other one.