MM | Chapter 11

Falling Ill

Sheng Wang wasn’t fond of chatting on WeChat because typing was such a hassle.

For notifications like “Friend Added Successfully,” he wouldn’t even bother to open them, let alone start a conversation. With close friends, there’s no need for formalities, and with acquaintances, once you start chatting, the process is predictable—

First, you exchange a couple of emojis to warm up, then a series of small talk about recent happenings. After that, you might force some topics to seem friendly. When the conversation becomes unbearably awkward, you need a couple more emojis to politely exit.

This whole routine could take anywhere from a few minutes to half a day. He’d seen Sheng Mingyang go through it often enough to feel exhausted just watching.

It was 2:23 AM Beijing time, and only an idiot would choose to chat awkwardly at this hour.

Thinking this, Sheng Wang casually swiped away the WeChat screen and returned to his game. Maybe his concentration was disturbed, or perhaps he was getting sleepy, but within three minutes, he was defeated.

Losing interest in continuing the game but not wanting to put down his phone just yet, he aimlessly switched between apps, like an emperor on tour. After a round through his usual apps, he found himself back on WeChat.

The chat with that punctuation mark was still pinned at the top, but it was empty when he opened it.

The “emperor” lay in bed, biting his lip. After pondering for a moment, he tapped open the emoji panel. After a long search without finding anything suitable, he closed it disinterestedly and tapped the profile picture instead.

Jiang Tian’s profile was simple, with only a punctuation mark as a nickname, an original gibberish WeChat ID, and no posts in his Moments.

It was so simple it seemed like an abandoned account, and a bit dull.

Yawning, Sheng Wang was about to close the screen and sleep when his phone suddenly buzzed. The notification bar showed, “Someone has transferred you money.”

Sheng Wang: “???”

The drowsiness was jolted away by this unexpected event. He opened AliPay to check, and it wasn’t a mistake. The guy next door, up in the middle of the night, had really transferred him money.

He sat up abruptly, stared at the shared wall for a few seconds, and opened WeChat.

Canned: What are you doing?

There was a faint sound of slippers shuffling next door, probably moving from the desk to the bed.

Sheng Wang’s phone buzzed again, and another message appeared in the chat.

.: ?

Canned: Why did you suddenly transfer me money in the middle of the night?

.: Water money.

Canned: What water money?

Sheng Wang was momentarily confused, staring at the wall with a puzzled expression. The footsteps next door stopped, and it was unclear whether Jiang Tian was reading the message or just speechless.

.: The water you left on my desk.

Sheng Wang typed into the input box: It’s just a bottle of water, no need to pay me back. I…

Halfway through typing, he stopped. He suddenly realized that he and Jiang Tian weren’t that close. At school, they had only been classmates for four days and hadn’t even looked at each other properly in the first three. As for at home… it was even more awkward. From any perspective, they weren’t at the level where treating each other was a given, so paying back was expected.

Sheng Wang deleted what he had typed and replied: Oh.

Then he saw the chat box at the top showing “The other party is typing…” He changed to a cross-legged position, resting his elbow on his knee, waiting.

The other party typed for about ten seconds, then the message disappeared, and no new reply popped up in the chat box.

Canned: ?

.: ?

Staring at the two question marks, Sheng Wang felt he might be losing it, but the guy next door wasn’t much better. He rolled his eyes and typed slowly: Forget it, nothing, I’m going to sleep.

The chat box at the top showed “The other party is typing…” again.

Sheng Wang thought: If it takes forever to say nothing again, I’ll knock on your door.

After several more seconds, a new message finally appeared in the chat box.

.: Mm.

Sheng Wang wanted to punch something.

He turned the air conditioner down by three degrees to cool off, then lay back on the bed with his phone, continuing his emperor’s tour. Before sleeping, he couldn’t resist opening the neighbor’s WeChat profile and changing the remark name to “Jiang Tian.”

Chatting with someone who uses a punctuation mark as a name was a hundred times more irritating than talking to him in person.

The next morning, Sheng Wang was awakened by the cold.

After a night of 18-degree air conditioning, the young master had a headache and a stuffy nose. He sneezed four times in a row, his hair sticking up messily, his nose red, and sat dazed on the bed for five minutes before spitting fiercely towards the wall.

Unusually, he voluntarily put on his school uniform, turned off the blaring phone alarm, grabbed a couple of tissues, and headed downstairs.

Sheng Mingyang’s business had hit a small snag, so he hadn’t returned from his trip yet. But early in the morning, the house was surprisingly lively.

Sheng Wang leaned over the second floor to look down—

Auntie Sun, the housekeeper, had come early today. She was wearing gloves and following Jiang Ou in and out of the kitchen, occasionally chatting briefly. Sheng Wang listened for a bit; it seemed Auntie Sun was teaching Jiang Ou how to make something.

Jiang Tian was standing by the sofa, packing his papers and pencil case into his bag.

Just as Sheng Wang was about to step down the stairs, there was a clatter from the kitchen, and something broke. Then Jiang Ou let out a low “ow.”

“Oh dear, quickly rinse it with cold water,” Auntie Sun’s voice came through, “It’s very hot. You rinse it first, and I’ll get some ointment.”

Jiang Tian dropped his bag and strode into the kitchen. From Sheng Wang’s angle, he could see his half-turned back.

He heard Jiang Tian ask, “Did it blister?”

Jiang Ou laughed and said, “Not that bad, just brushed it without noticing. I’m not used to doing this. Auntie Sun reminded me not to touch it with my hands, but I got distracted and forgot.”

“Why are you suddenly making this?” Jiang Tian asked curiously.

“It’s not sudden, just casually mentioned it to your mom before, that Xiao Wang loves this. In the past—” Auntie Sun hurried over with a small round can, saying, “Here, apply some of this. It’s very effective. I always carry it with me, and it works wonders on burns.”

While applying the ointment to Jiang Ou, she whispered, “His mom used to make this for him all the time when he was little. Sister Ou said she wanted to learn.”

Jiang Ou felt a bit embarrassed and said, “I’m not very good at this, a bit hard to learn.”

Sheng Wang paused his steps down the stairs, pulled back, and stood at the top, feeling a bit dazed. In that moment, his emotions were complex, and he couldn’t quite describe the feeling.

The bedroom door behind him was open, letting out the cold air that had accumulated overnight, wrapping around him from behind. Suddenly, he felt a bit empty.

Then Jiang Tian’s voice came from downstairs, “Why learn from others?”

Auntie Sun’s words seemed to have hit a nerve, and his tone sounded cold and stubborn.

Jiang Ou was taken aback, “Huh?”

“I said—” Jiang Tian’s brows furrowed, and his shoulder and back muscles tensed. Even from the side, you could sense his displeasure.

After those two words, he paused, his fingers at his side clenching and making a cracking sound, showing some irritation.

After a moment, he said, “Forget it, I’m going to school.”

Jiang Ou patted his shoulder, a bit sheepishly. Then she turned to Auntie Sun and winked, trying to ease the awkwardness.

Jiang Tian lowered his eyes, walked briskly to the sofa, grabbed his bag, and headed for the door.

While changing his shoes, he glanced over at the stairs, and his movements paused.

Sheng Wang stood there in his jacket, the oversized school uniform draped over his white T-shirt, with rolled-up sleeves creating empty folds, highlighting the unique tall and thin frame of a growing teenager.

Jiang Tian looked at him for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, his lips pressed into a straight line.

The next second, he stood up, grabbed his bag, and went straight out the door.

The weather in this city in August was unpredictable, with lightning flashing a few times before a torrential downpour. Sheng Wang heard the faint rumble of thunder outside and rubbed his nose as he walked down the stairs, feeling like he was about to get sick again.