TA •Chapter 95

When they were finally allowed to go home after giving their statements, Cheng Ke felt as if his head had already started to go a little fuzzy. The tension he had been holding for hours suddenly loosened, and even the way he walked felt unsteady.

Jiang Yuduo looked fine enough. After all, he was the kind of person who could go several days without sleep and not even get dark circles. Right now, he was trailing along in two different slippers, one of each kind and color, walking ahead with the police officer who knew him.

"Get those people at the door out of here, will you?" the officer said. "Or else I’ll go out there in a bit and bring them in one by one to question them."

"They’ll leave right away," Jiang Yuduo said.

Once they were outside, Cheng Ke saw twenty or thirty people standing or sitting by the flower bed across the street. The moment they saw the two of them come out, they all stood up at once and came over.

"What’s going on? You called them here?" Cheng Ke asked.

"With that much noise, within half an hour at most, everyone in my circle would know," Jiang Yuduo said. "Of course they had to come keep watch."

Chen Qing was at the very front. He had probably run straight out of bed, because he was wearing only a tank top and slippers.

"What happened?" Chen Qing didn’t shout this time. He glanced at Jiang Yuduo’s hand and asked in a low voice, "I heard someone broke into the house?"

"Yeah," Jiang Yuduo said. "Tell them a thief got in, a desperate one, carrying a weapon. We almost couldn’t beat him."

Chen Qing looked at him, nodded, then turned and waved a hand. "Nothing’s wrong. A thief got in and there was a fight. A drifter, not from our area. It’s fine, go on home and sleep."

Jiang Yuduo stood where he was, and only after all the younger brothers had left did he look at Chen Qing again. "Are you going to sleep at my place?"

"I was waiting for you to tell me what happened," Chen Qing said.

"I already did," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Don’t do that with me, Third Brother," Chen Qing said. "'Tell them' sounds like an official statement."

Jiang Yuduo hesitated for a moment, then turned to Cheng Ke. "Are you hungry?"

"Let’s go eat something," Cheng Ke said, glancing down at his phone. "If we eat slowly enough, we can skip breakfast."

"Let’s go." Jiang Yuduo waved a hand.

Chen Qing knew some of what had happened when Jiang Yuduo was little, but he didn’t really know how badly those things had affected him.

"Fuck," Chen Qing said through a chicken wing, frowning. "That was way too dangerous."

"It was lucky Cheng Ke was there," Jiang Yuduo said. "Otherwise, I really might’ve had some trouble on my own."

Chen Qing looked at Cheng Ke. "You two…"

He didn’t finish. Instead, he clicked his tongue, picked up his glass and took a drink, then let out a long sigh. After that, he shook his head. "Looks like I’ll probably never get to spend the night at Third Brother’s place in this lifetime."

For a moment, Cheng Ke actually couldn’t find anything to say, so he could only awkwardly bite into a skewer of lamb.

"Go, tonight. Go tonight," Jiang Yuduo said. "If you don’t go in a bit, I’ll beat the shit out of you."

"I’m not going," Chen Qing said. "Go ahead and beat me."

Jiang Yuduo ignored him and took a sip of wine. "Did you tell the shop you were quitting?"

"Yeah," Chen Qing nodded. "I’m just waiting for your word. I’ll come work with you."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered.

"As for that guy today," Chen Qing said after eating a few bites, then stopping, "does he have any accomplices?"

"No." Jiang Yuduo said.

"Really none? Should we get a few people to go look around?" Chen Qing was still worried. "For what happened today, if we’d known even a few minutes earlier that someone was in there, then…"

"No," Jiang Yuduo cut him off immediately. "No need. Don’t get involved in this. Absolutely not."

Chen Qing looked at him. After a while, he picked up his glass and drained it in one go. "Got it. I’ll listen to Third Brother."

"It was only him. There won’t be anyone else," Jiang Yuduo said softly with a sigh. "Once this is over, it’ll really be over."

"Jijia, come have a drink," Chen Qing said, lifting his glass toward Cheng Ke. "If it weren’t for you today… You weren’t hurt, right?"

"No." Cheng Ke picked up his glass and clinked it against his.

"Keep an eye on that hand of yours. The doctor said if you injure it again, it’ll really be a problem." Chen Qing said.

"Mm, I’m holding it like it’s made of glass every day," Cheng Ke said with a smile, and drank his wine.

Chen Qing drove them home. After Jiang Yuduo got out of the car, he opened the driver’s door and hauled Chen Qing out.

"Come on, come on," Jiang Yuduo said, dragging him by the arm toward the stairwell. "It’s almost dawn anyway, so you might as well sleep at my place."

"Third Brother!" Chen Qing struggled with all his strength. "Please, just let me go. I only said it casually…"

"I’m going to beat you," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Then beat me," Chen Qing said, still struggling.

Jiang Yuduo let him go, then slapped his arm. "Get back there, now."

Chen Qing turned and sprinted back to the car in a flash.

Only after watching the car turn the corner did Jiang Yuduo lower his head and go into the stairwell.

Cheng Ke opened the door, but Miao didn’t come out to greet them.

"Where’s Miao?" he asked, looking around the apartment.

"Probably under the sofa, or under the cabinet, or in a drawer," Jiang Yuduo said as he sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette. "She’s too timid. With all that noise just now…"

Cheng Ke scooped some canned food into Miao’s bowl, poured a glass of water, and sat down beside Jiang Yuduo.

The moment Chen Qing’s car started up, Jiang Yuduo seemed to sink down all at once. The strength he had been holding up in front of Chen Qing and the others vanished immediately.

Cheng Ke could see the fingers holding the cigarette trembling. Even the smoke rising up wasn’t straight. It wavered in a short, rippling line before shaking apart.

Ever since the day Little Ant appeared, he had brought Jiang Yuduo unease. And today, when Little Ant showed his bloodshot eyes and looked like he wanted to kill someone, Cheng Ke still felt a lingering fear just thinking about it. For Jiang Yuduo, the impact had to be even greater.

"Want some water?" Cheng Ke held the glass out to him.

Jiang Yuduo took it and tipped his head back to drink it all in one go, then let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Go sleep for a while," Cheng Ke said. "You’ve been running around all night."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo took a drag from his cigarette. "I’m tired and sleepy right now. I don’t usually get like this."

"This really was… too big," Cheng Ke said.

"I just wanted to see Little Ant again. They didn’t let me," Jiang Yuduo said. "But… I probably won’t get another chance to see him."

"Better not to see him," Cheng Ke said, taking Jiang Yuduo’s hand and rubbing it on his own leg. "Do you want to say something to him?"

"I wanted to ask him," Jiang Yuduo said, leaning back on the sofa and looking up at the light overhead, "what kind of competition he was in, and what kind of result he wanted?"

"Would knowing that make you feel better?" Cheng Ke asked. "You could ask Sister Luo or Doctor Chen. They’ve both had some contact with those kids from back then."

"I think I can guess," Jiang Yuduo said. "Back then, I just hoped the competition would end quickly. Once it ended, I wouldn’t be so scared. But there was always another competition."

"Mm." Cheng Ke answered.

"Back then, I kept thinking," Jiang Yuduo turned his head and looked at him, "if all the other puppies died, would I not have to compete with them anymore?"

Cheng Ke froze. Suddenly, he felt a chill creep up his back.

"In our competition, nobody dies," Jiang Yuduo said softly, his brows knit. "If you fall down and can’t get back up, that counts as the end. So the opponent is always there, and the competition never ends."

"You think Little Ant… thought the same way, right?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Yeah," Jiang Yuduo said, the corner of his mouth twitching. "If we all died, then he wouldn’t have another opponent."

Cheng Ke reached out and touched his face. "Maybe that’s how it was. But… your competition has already ended. From the day you decided to go into the hospital, you didn’t have a competition anymore."

"I do," Jiang Yuduo said. "I still have an opponent."

"Who?" Cheng Ke felt uneasy.

Jiang Yuduo smiled. "Myself."

"…If you put it that way, then sure," Cheng Ke thought it over. "You…"

"Isn’t that super corny?" Jiang Yuduo said. "Very literary, my opponent is myself, that kind of thing."

Cheng Ke looked at him. After a while, he clicked his tongue. "Are you actually pretty proud of that conclusion?"

"Mm. Isn’t it very philosophical?" Jiang Yuduo raised an eyebrow.

Cheng Ke nodded. "Yeah."

"Hypocrite," Jiang Yuduo clicked his tongue. "That’s just as cheesy as saying you’re the main character in your own story."

Cheng Ke laughed. "That depends on what kind of thing it is, doesn’t it?"

"I’m going to win," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Mm." Cheng Ke leaned over and kissed the corner of his lips.

Jiang Yuduo seemed to say it very easily, and he did seem to look fairly relaxed. But once they were in bed, Cheng Ke could tell that he was not as relaxed as he looked.

After all, the smoke had been wavering in ripples. It wasn’t something he could get over that quickly.

After Cheng Ke lay down, Jiang Yuduo immediately turned over and wrapped his arms around him. He didn’t let go even by the time they’d slept past noon the next day.

Cheng Ke had already been awake for half an hour, and Jiang Yuduo was still asleep. He didn’t dare move. It was rare for Jiang Yuduo to sleep this deeply without having a nightmare, so he wanted him to sleep a little longer.

But after keeping that same position for nearly an hour, he started to feel like he couldn’t take it anymore. His entire back was going numb. At first it was sore, then it went numb until he couldn’t feel it at all.

Miao, who had vanished for most of the day, came out from under the wardrobe, jumped to the foot of the bed, and raised one paw warily as she watched the two of them.

"Miao," Cheng Ke called her very softly. "It’s fine now."

Miao just looked at him and didn’t move.

"Go step on your Third Brother’s face once," Cheng Ke said. "I’m about to die."

On one hand, he wanted Jiang Yuduo to keep sleeping. On the other hand, he really couldn’t keep holding this position, so caught in that conflict, he decided to entrust this heavy responsibility to Miao.

Jiang Yuduo was woken by Miao stepping on him, not by Cheng Ke.

Miao wasn’t very cooperative. She was already not a cooperative cat to begin with, and after being startled earlier, she was even less willing to cooperate. She just sat at the foot of the bed without moving.

Just as Cheng Ke was about to push Jiang Yuduo away, Jiang Yuduo’s phone on the nightstand rang.

Thank goodness!

Thank goodness for this unknown caller!

In his ear, Jiang Yuduo let out a very unwilling, very irritated hum as he started to wake up.

Cheng Ke finally let out a breath.

"Answer it," Jiang Yuduo muttered.

"Mm." Cheng Ke gently pushed him aside, reached over to pick up the phone, and glanced at it. "It’s Sister Luo. Did the police contact her because they found out about Little Ant’s record?"

Jiang Yuduo opened his eyes.

"You take it," Cheng Ke said.

"Oh." Jiang Yuduo took the phone, hesitated for a moment, then answered it. "Sister Luo… Mm, yes, it’s… Little Ant… I’m fine…"

Cheng Ke got out of bed. He hadn’t planned to listen to the call. Jiang Yuduo wanted to win, and for things like this, he should handle them himself and make his own decisions as much as possible.

He got dressed, scooped up Miao, and walked out of the bedroom.

In the living room, there was still the large cardboard box Da Bin and the others had sent yesterday. It still hadn’t been opened.

The box was pretty heavy. When they had carried it down from the car, even with Chen Qing and the others helping, it hadn’t felt light. No one knew what on earth was inside.

After Cheng Ke finished washing up and came out, Jiang Yuduo was still on the phone with Sister Luo. He hesitated for a moment, grabbed a pair of scissors, and walked to the bedroom doorway. He signaled to Jiang Yuduo that he wanted to open the box.

Jiang Yuduo nodded, and his expression probably meant he found it a little strange that Cheng Ke still needed to ask.

Cheng Ke walked over to the box and cut through the tape with the scissors.

Jiang Yuduo really wasn’t the type to care about surprise or no surprise, and there was no need for two people to open a gift together… Cheng Ke actually had a little urge to open it together, but at the moment, the thought that Jiang Yuduo was on the phone with Sister Luo and might be talking about his condition made him restless. He needed to do something to distract himself.

Besides, he really was curious what kind of birthday present a bunch of hooligans would give their boss.

After slicing the tape open in a few quick motions, Cheng Ke opened the box, and then froze.

"What is it?" Jiang Yuduo asked as he came out of the bedroom.

"You finished the call?" Cheng Ke looked back at him.

"Mm," Jiang Yuduo nodded. "What the hell did they send me?"

"A, a…" Cheng Ke had originally wanted to ask how things went with Sister Luo first, but the gift in the box really shocked him. "A Miao?"

"What?" Jiang Yuduo also froze for a second, then walked over beside him and looked into the box. "Fuck!"

After the two of them tore the box open together and saw it clearly, they realized that inside, strapped onto a wooden stand, was indeed a half-person-height lucky cat.

After the initial shock, Cheng Ke leaned against the table and laughed for a while. "Did Da Bin and the others know you were opening a shop?"

Jiang Yuduo crouched in front of the lucky cat and stared at it. "It’s just a milk tea shop. Do they really need to send something this big? Where the hell are we even supposed to put it?"

"Put it by the wall," Cheng Ke said with a laugh. "That’s how people usually do it. It’s just not this… big."

"Fine then. We haven’t even found the storefront yet," Jiang Yuduo said, patting the lucky cat on the head. "Should you… no, I should do it myself. Should I call Xu Ding? Ask whether he has connections and can get us into a mall? Is it appropriate if I call him?"

"What’s inappropriate about it?" Cheng Ke said. "He’s a really nice person. If he can help, he definitely will."

"I’m a little nervous," Jiang Yuduo said, taking out his phone to look at it. "I… I’ve never asked anyone to help me with anything serious before."

"Then call him later," Cheng Ke said. "Think about how you’re going to say it first."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded.

Miao jumped down from the sofa and circled carefully around the lucky cat, studying it.

"This is your sister," Jiang Yuduo said. "Say hello to your sister."

"Why is it a sister?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Just… said it casually. The whole place is full of men. How boring is that? Wouldn’t it be better to have a lucky girl cat?" Jiang Yuduo said.

Cheng Ke laughed. "That’s pretty good."

Jiang Yuduo crouched there and teased Miao for a while, then turned to look at him. "The police went to ask Sister Luo about the situation."

"Really," Cheng Ke said, a little startled. "That fast?"

"Little Ant has priors. Once they checked, they found him right away," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Priors?" Cheng Ke was surprised. He walked over and crouched beside him. "What priors?"

"He stabbed someone," Jiang Yuduo said. "As for who he stabbed, and whether it had anything to do with Little Dog, Sister Luo didn’t go into detail with me. She just asked about his situation here with me. I think she wanted to see how I was doing."

"How are you doing?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Pretty good," Jiang Yuduo said. "My head’s a little messy, but… I’m okay."

Cheng Ke relaxed a little and patted his head.

"I’m actually… a little scared," Jiang Yuduo said with a frown. "But with you next to me, I feel more at ease."

"I’ll always be next to you," Cheng Ke said immediately.

"Then…" Jiang Yuduo rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed. "I don’t really want to keep bringing it up, but… um… sorghum liquor…"

"What?" Cheng Ke looked at him.

"You promised, right?" Jiang Yuduo said.

"I promised," Cheng Ke sighed. "Go on, what else do you want? Just give me five years’ worth first, and we’ll get a notebook and write it all down, one by one, and check them off."

"Sorghum liquor, Miao fur scarf…" Jiang Yuduo started counting immediately.

"Wait!" Cheng Ke shouted. "What scarf?"

Jiang Yuduo grabbed Miao, poked his fingers into Miao’s fur, pulled out a big handful, and rubbed it together. "This. To knit a scarf."

Cheng Ke felt like he had just dug himself a hole. After a long while, he finally stiffly answered, "Oh."