KC | Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Human-shaped Teddy

The rust-stained iron gate stood crookedly across the entrance of the residential complex, and the gray, old cement wall was shedding its plaster. Chen Xi walked into the complex he had lived in for 3 years, and when he climbed the stairs, his legs were shaking nonstop. He thought: if the next job could earn a bit more money, he would definitely move to a complex with an elevator.

The motion-sensor light in the pitch-black corridor was not very sensitive. It took Chen Xi coughing several times before it lit up. The soundproofing in the old building was not very good, and when Chen Xi fell asleep late at night, he was often woken by the stomping and coughing in the corridor.

This was the second complex Chen Xi had switched to. The conditions were worse than the one he had rented before, and the only advantage was that it was close to the company. Yucheng Lanhai was in the city center, and even new complex rents were over 2,000. Chen Xi often worked overtime, and he spent less time at home than at the company. He did not ask much of life, as long as the place could be lived in, so he chose the cheapest one.

Chen Xi opened the door and went inside. He accidentally stepped on the umbrella at the entrance. It had been over half a month since the last rain, and because he had been busy at the end of the quarter, he had kept forgetting to put it away. Chen Xi bent down to pick up the umbrella, but accidentally pulled at the injured spot, and the pain made him frown.

Corporate slaves did not feel tired while working, but once they got home, they were physically and mentally exhausted. Chen Xi wanted to take a shower, but there was no hot water. To save electricity, the water heater was usually cut off when he was not at home. Chen Xi plugged in the water heater and scrolled on his phone for a while,

then he took off the restrictive suit and changed into a pair of loose shorts. He lay tiredly on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, thinking: the business elites in TV dramas live in mansions, drive luxury cars, wear famous watches, designer clothes, and branded bags… but the real me lives in an old shabby little place, has no car, wears A-grade knockoffs, and cannot even afford to change bags. Why was I living so miserably?

Chen Xi took a shower and cleaned off the sticky, dried-up stuff. After leaving the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror above the sink, his body covered in red marks. Chen Xi touched the bite marks on his neck and cursed, “Human-shaped Teddy!”

His stomach growled. Chen Xi had not eaten much today and was a little hungry. He opened Meituan takeout and ordered a fried rice. Not long after finishing it, sleepiness came over him, and he fell asleep the moment he lay down.

KA had too much performance pressure, and Chen Xi often did not sleep well. He always felt like something was on his mind, and he was even more afraid of hearing his phone ring when he was resting. Once, at 1 a.m., the client suddenly came back from the dead, sent him a voice call, and after Chen Xi solved the customer’s request, he was instantly wide awake. After that, he never slept again, and that feeling was as awful as it could get. From then on, Chen Xi kept his phone in airplane mode whenever he slept.

Maybe because of yesterday’s hangover plus overwork, Chen Xi was somewhat physically drained. He slept until the sun was high in the sky, and it was very soundly. When he woke up, his mental state was a little better, but his waist and legs were still sore, and his whole body felt like it had been taken apart, soft and limp all over.

He turned off airplane mode, and WeChat popped up with a message, sent by Wang Xin from the dormitory lower bunk at university last night. Thankfully it was not a client. Chen Xi let out a quiet breath.

「王大心：I have that shitty boss who’s like a dog. Right before getting off work, he made us rearrange the DP points again. What the hell was he thinking earlier?!」

「晨曦：hhh bosses are all dogs. Deeply relatable.jpg」

Wang Xin replied instantly.

「王大心：I worked until 11 last night, I was exhausted. Good thing I’m off today.」

Wang Xin and Chen Xi had lived in the dorm together until the day they had no choice but to leave, because neither of them had found a job. In the end, neither of the jobs they did was related to their major. For money, they had no choice but to compromise with life. Chen Xi came to Lanhai to do sales, and Wang Xin worked as a supervisor in a mall.

Chen Xi, who did sales, was fine. He had statutory holidays off. The one working in the mall was the complete opposite. There were more people in the mall on holidays, and Wang Xin had never really gotten a day off. Because their work and rest schedules were different, the two of them had spent almost all 3 years since graduation communicating “online,” and only during Spring Festival could they get together.

「晨曦：Want to grab a meal together tonight?」

「王大心：Ah, you’re not working?」

「晨曦：Taking annual leave.」

「王大心：What’s wrong?」

「晨曦：I got bitten by a dog.」

「王大心：……」

「王大心：Is it contagious?」

「晨曦：……」

3 minutes later, –

「王大心：I checked, rabies isn’t contagious, 5 p.m. at the old place tonight?」

「晨曦：……Okay.」

Since old friends were meeting, they would definitely have to drink at night. He should eat something light at noon first to pad his stomach. Chen Xi opened Meituan takeout, claimed a big red envelope, ordered buns and congee, and because of the amount he was short by a little, he added a few more buns to hit the minimum for a discount, thinking: after this meal, I’ll put it in the fridge, and tomorrow it can still be breakfast and lunch.

Chen Xi touched his forehead. The fever had basically gone down. After eating, he had some strength in his body, washed his face, and started tidying the room.

The floor was so dirty that even stepping on it would leave shoe prints. Various clothes were piled up on the sofa, one piece not washed, another looking like it had been washed. Chen Xi hugged a pile of clean and dirty clothes and opened the washing machine, only to find there was still a pile inside that he had washed a few days ago but not hung up. The damp clothes stuffy inside the machine gave off an unpleasant smell.

Fine, looks like everything had to be washed again.

While Chen Xi let the washing machine wash the clothes, he swept and mopped the floor. By the time he finished, the clothes were also done. A small room had the benefit of being easy to clean, and it was tidied up in just a few quick moves. Chen Xi looked at the slightly neater room, and his mood improved a little too. He thought: this was the kind of room normal people lived in, this was the kind of life that should exist.

After tidying up the room, he opened a job-search app. Several competing media companies had looked at his resume and actively invited him for interviews. Chen Xi made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Since it was a rare day off, he wanted to sleep enough and make up for all the sleep he had missed these past days.

Chen Xi picked a relatively new-looking top from the wardrobe, grabbed a pair of pants without wrinkles, put them on, and went out.

Although this complex was a bit old, it was indeed convenient in terms of transportation because it was in the city center. The subway was right at the entrance. Chen Xi took the subway for two stops and came to the place where the two of them usually met, Zhang Ji Chuan Dao.

Wang Xin had not arrived yet. Chen Xi found a seat by the window and scrolled on his phone, subconsciously opening Enterprise WeChat.

Unread +1

「王爽：Not coming after all?」

Chen Xi just left the message lit up without opening it, because opening it would show “read,” and “read but not replied” was very rude. Chen Xi thought this was the shittiest function in Enterprise WeChat.

There was movement at the entrance. A tall young man in sportswear, looking dusty from the road, pushed the door open and came in. Chen Xi waved at him, and the young man walked toward Chen Xi’s seat.

“Bro, long time no see, why have you gotten thinner?”

Chen Xi’s smile was stiff, and he thought: I really did become more “shou”.

“It’s been hot lately, I haven’t really been eating well. I specially took a break this time to come eat something good with you.” Chen Xi pushed the menu toward Wang Xin.

Wang Xin was not polite either. He took the pen and marked up the menu in a flurry, ordering all the dishes the two of them usually liked.

Zhang Ji Chuan Dao had a lot of dishes, served food quickly, and tasted good. On holidays, people usually had to wait for a table. Today there were not that many people, and all the dishes came out in less than fifteen minutes.

“How did you still get bitten by a dog?” Wang Xin said while eating skewers. “Where were you bitten, is it serious, did the person who let the dog loose pay up?”

Chen Xi choked badly on the tendon and was speechless from Wang Xin’s fatal triple question.

He had been bitten on the butt, it was pretty serious, he did not pay me, and even the money for the bedsheet he ruined when checking out was paid by me.

“Just…” Chen Xi took a sip of wine, sorted out his thoughts, and picked the important parts to say, “I was just bit in a daze. That dog, and the people in that dog’s family, were pretty hard to deal with.”

Wang Xin said indignantly, “Huh? You can’t just let him bite you for nothing, right!”

Chen Xi sighed. “What else could I do, that dog was pretty fierce, I couldn’t bite it back either.”

“Fuck, if you don’t bite it back, at least stab it a couple times, knock it down. Damn it, if I was the one bitten, I’d fucking eat that dog alive!”

Chen Xi pressed a hand to his forehead and thought: I really did “eat him alive,” but the one who got stabbed was me.

The chicken wing in his mouth tasted like nothing. Chen Xi bit hard on the bone to suck out the flavor, imagining that bone was Lin Yiran’s, biting until it crackled.

Wang Xin was big and broad and well-built, and he ate so fast it could kick up a wind. By the time Chen Xi had only eaten three lamb skewers, the meat skewers were gone. Wang Xin called the waiter to add more dishes, and also ordered two portions of fried instant noodles. The two of them poured wine into their glasses and drank cup after cup.

After three rounds of drinking, they had almost finished talking about life, and inevitably brought up work.

“Bro, how are things with your boss?” Chen Xi had previously told Wang Xin that he kind of liked his boss, but his boss was already married, and he was pretty troubled about it.

Chen Xi downed the wine in his glass in one gulp and spoke briefly and clearly, “We slept together.”

“Huh?” Wang Xin thought he had heard wrong. When Chen Xi was in college, he had not even held hands with a girl. How had he suddenly slept with a “married woman”?

Wang Xin wanted to ask: when did it happen? Which of you was the one who took the initiative? Does her family know?

But he could not bear to poke at Chen Xi’s spine, and he also could not stay silent, so he chose his words carefully and said, “C-congratulations on getting laid!”

“Pfft” Chen Xi sprayed out the wine in his mouth.

“We drank too much after the gathering, and then did that stuff while drunk,” Chen Xi explained. “He was the one who insisted on it… I, I wasn’t willing.”

Wang Xin let out a breath, thinking: good, at least my brother’s character isn’t a problem.

But after a moment, he carefully thought about the loopholes in Chen Xi’s words. Could you really let yourself go when drunk? Why was I still clear-headed after drinking too much? You two couldn’t have just done it directly at the restaurant, you’d definitely have needed to get a room, right? Since you said you were drunk, how could you still have soberly gotten a room? If she insisted, you could have refused. If you really didn’t want to, you wouldn’t even have had a reaction…

Most importantly, you like her, so why would you think she forced you, instead of you seducing her?

Wang Xin was embarrassed to ask that in such detail, so he carefully spoke in as tactful a way as possible, “Bro, is there a possibility that when you weren’t fully conscious, you were the one who actively seduced her?”

Chen Xi froze.

Lin Yiran often appeared in Chen Xi’s colored dreams, but Chen Xi did not know whether he had called Lin Yiran’s name in his sleep. If he had… then it was bad.

Lin Yiran had said, “I called his name in bed, touched him, and seduced him.” Could it be true?

He has a wife, I am his subordinate, we have too many overlaps in work, I am not a suitable 419 partner, he has no reason to do it with me, unless I was the one seducing him!

I got drunk and, in my sleep, unconsciously seduced him.

I was the one who seduced him first, and only then did he do it with me.

Damn it, you really do reap what you sow.

Chen Xi lowered his eyes. “That possibility does exist. But I really… really didn’t mean to do that.”

Wang Xin looked at Chen Xi, wanting to say something but stopping himself. Chen Xi had already heard too many things from Wang Xin today that made him “suddenly enlightened,” so he was not afraid of hearing anything especially weird from him anymore.

Chen Xi said calmly, “What else do you want to ask?”

Wang Xin swallowed and, after thinking it over several times, kindly reminded him, “Rabies can be spread through that stuff, you…”

“Fuck!” Chen Xi slapped the table and stood up abruptly.

That human-shaped Teddy wasn’t wearing a condom, don’t let him have any disease or I’ll be done for.