TA •Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Cheng Ke did not give up right away. This barren patch of land was a makeshift parking lot, and nearly every row of shops had a back door facing this way. Anyone who ran out from here only had to take a few steps to slip into the back of any shop, then walk out through the front.

Cheng Ke went back to the street in front and looked around, but he did not see those two people again. He went back into the shops and asked around one by one whether two people had come in through the back and left.

When he got to the third-to-last shop, the owner nodded. “Someone came in through the back, then left through the front. I don’t know where they went, though. But it was only one person, not two.”

“Thanks,” Cheng Ke said.

“What, got robbed?” the owner asked.

“Yeah.” Cheng Ke answered.

“There are a lot of thieves around here,” the owner said. “Most shop owners can recognize them. That one just now, I’ve never seen before.”

“…Oh, thanks.” Cheng Ke said.

“No problem. Keep an eye on your stuff, all right? Don’t think there are no thieves just because this is a building materials market. There are plenty,” the owner said.

Cheng Ke walked out of the shop and glanced at Jiang Yuduo, who was standing outside. “He ran into this shop, but the老板 didn’t see where he went.”

Jiang Yuduo did not speak.

“Even if he had seen, it wouldn’t have meant anything,” Cheng Ke sighed. “There’d still be no way to tell whether he was just passing by, or whether he was following us and then ran off.”

“When we came out after buying the cement, those two cigarettes still weren’t smoked down, and they didn’t look like they were done talking either,” Jiang Yuduo said. “I walked all the way to the farthest shop before going in, just to see whether they’d follow. There are so many lumber shops along this row. They followed me all the way there, and still didn’t go in. Only after I came out did they suddenly go into the shop.”

Cheng Ke frowned. That was indeed how it had gone.

Before, whenever Jiang Yuduo said he had seen someone, Cheng Ke had never fully believed him, because no one else besides Jiang Yuduo had seen them.

But today, these two people, or maybe one person, he had seen them, and two shop owners had confirmed it too.

“You just said,” Cheng Ke looked at Jiang Yuduo, “it wasn’t them?”

“It wasn’t.” Jiang Yuduo answered without hesitation.

“How do you know it wasn’t them?” Cheng Ke pressed.

“I know.” Jiang Yuduo’s brows were tightly knit.

Cheng Ke looked at him without saying anything.

Every time “they” appeared, Jiang Yuduo hoped Cheng Ke could see them too, and had asked more than once.

Did you see them?

No.

Didn’t see them.

Saw nothing at all.

How many times had Jiang Yuduo heard that answer?

And now, when someone finally told him they had seen them, he said that it wasn’t “them.”

Cheng Ke did not know why. If it really wasn’t “them,” then who was it, and why were they so suspicious? If it was “them,” why was Jiang Yuduo denying it?

Was it because… he had already said he was “better”?

Cheng Ke and Jiang Yuduo bought the boards and returned to the cement shop. The老板 had already called a truck for them. Once the things were loaded, the truck could take them straight back.

They could only ride in the back bed, though.

“Can this truck make it there?” Cheng Ke asked, a little worried.

“It’ll get there,” the driver said around the cigarette in his mouth. “But let’s get one thing straight first, I’m not unloading anything. I only haul it. Unloading, carrying it inside, climbing stairs, all that costs extra.”

Cheng Ke was just about to say they could pay a bit more when Jiang Yuduo was already climbing up and saying, “We can unload this little bit ourselves.”

Cheng Ke had no choice but to shut up. Anyway, they were only taking it to the door, and there wasn’t much stuff. They could always get the workers to help carry it in.

Jiang Yuduo reached out and pulled him up into the back.

“First time sitting in something like this?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Cheng Ke nodded. “First time riding in a three-wheeled cargo truck.”

“Uncomfortable?” Jiang Yuduo asked again.

“It’s not uncomfortable enough to matter,” Cheng Ke clicked his tongue. “Are you trying to mock me again?”

“No.” Jiang Yuduo smiled and glanced outside the truck.

Cheng Ke looked too, but he did not see the people from before, and he did not see anything suspicious either.

After hesitating for a bit, he asked quietly, “You said it wasn’t them… then who do you think it was?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Yuduo shook his head. “These past few days…”

“Mm?” Cheng Ke waited for him to continue.

Jiang Yuduo hesitated. “Would you be annoyed?”

“Annoyed about what?” Cheng Ke did not understand.

“If I had someone follow you,” Jiang Yuduo bit his lip, “would you be annoyed? I don’t think it was necessarily… aimed at me.”

“Me?” Cheng Ke blinked. “I don’t have any enemies either.”

“Is that so,” Jiang Yuduo narrowed his eyes. “Whether you do or not doesn’t matter. We’ll deal with it once they’re blocked in.”

“Fuck? What do you mean, deal with it?” Cheng Ke startled.

“As long as they dare follow us here, they definitely won’t get away,” Jiang Yuduo said, then after thinking about it, added, “Don’t worry, we’ll just block them off. We won’t lay a hand on them.”

Cheng Ke did not say anything else.

As long as they dared to come, they definitely would not get away.

When Jiang Yuduo said that, he sounded absolutely certain, carrying the confidence and ruthless edge of Third Brother.

For anyone who dared set foot on his turf, he was sure he could handle them.

He had quite a few younger brothers spread across these streets. Following someone, finding someone, cornering someone, none of that was a problem. Aside from the chief protector, these younger brothers should have decent fighting power, at least in appearance most of them were the kind of obvious hoodlums you could spot at a glance.

So.

Why?

Why would Jiang Yuduo have absolutely no way to deal with “them”?

Even if it was because Jiang Yuduo himself would be hurt by “them,” so the younger brothers couldn’t corner them, it still would not make sense that they had never even seen the people themselves.

So it was just like Jiang Yuduo had admitted, then. “They” were people who existed only in Jiang Yuduo’s world, and once he was “better,” they would disappear.

But just now, when Cheng Ke asked if it was “them,” Jiang Yuduo’s answer had been “no,” not “there are no them.”

Cheng Ke looked at Jiang Yuduo’s face.

Jiang Yuduo really was not “better,” just as he had said.

“Hm?” Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

“No.” Cheng Ke did not have any other thoughts. None at all. After going in such a huge circle only to end up back where they started, with even new trouble appearing, he felt no irritation, no anger, no disappointment, nothing.

Only when Jiang Yuduo looked at him did he feel a little wistful, and a little heartache.

He reached out and lightly touched Jiang Yuduo’s face.

Jiang Yuduo quickly raised a hand and pressed his palm against Cheng Ke’s face, but before even a second passed, before Cheng Ke could even enjoy this sudden warmth, Jiang Yuduo had already flung his hand away. “Fuck, how is your hand so cold?”

“Fuck you!” Cheng Ke was speechless. “Right now not only is my hand cold, my whole fucking heart is cold!”

Jiang Yuduo clicked his tongue and took his hand again, rubbing it between both of his hands. “There, happy now? I’ve never even rubbed Chen Qing’s hands for him.”

“Am I Chen Qing?” Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo shook his head. “No, you’re…”

“Shut up,” Cheng Ke said, raising his plastered hand to point at him. “I’m warning you.”

Jiang Yuduo laughed and did not continue.

On the way back to the shop from the building materials market, Cheng Ke kept paying attention to whether anyone was following behind them. He did not know if he had caught Jiang Yuduo’s habit, but he felt a little suspicious of everything now.

“Cheng Ke,” Jiang Yuduo called out as they were nearly back at the shop, “stop looking.”

“Mm?” Cheng Ke was a little surprised. He thought he had hidden it pretty well.

“No one knew we were going there to buy things today,” Jiang Yuduo said. “If someone was tailing us, they’d start from the house or the shop and follow us over, but they might not follow us back. Anyone could tell that now that you’ve bought stuff, you have to bring it back to the shop.”

“…I wasn’t looking.” Cheng Ke immediately felt a little embarrassed.

“Get off,” Jiang Yuduo said. “We’re here.”

After the truck stopped, Cheng Ke jumped down after him, went inside to call out two workers to help, and together with Jiang Yuduo, they unloaded everything and carried it upstairs.

By now lunch was long over. They had eaten so late that neither of them was hungry at noon, so they had not eaten anything.

“Tell me how you want this done,” Jiang Yuduo said, kicking the boards on the floor. “Do you have tools?”

“Yeah. A circular saw, grinder, all that, in the room next door,” Cheng Ke said. “I’ll sketch it for you first, then you can cut out the molding wood.”

“I’ve never used a circular saw before.” Jiang Yuduo said.

“It’s fine. Or you can hold the wood for me while I cut.” Cheng Ke said.

“…You can do it?” Jiang Yuduo asked.

“No,” Cheng Ke said. “We’ll try.”

“Then I’ll do it.” Jiang Yuduo turned and went next door to get the tools.

Cheng Ke stared blankly at the pile of stuff in front of him for a while. He still had a lot of questions about what had just happened, and he could not figure it out, but Jiang Yuduo obviously had not taken it too seriously.

Not taking it too seriously did not mean not caring, or not minding. It was a state of being very confident that he could handle it, completely different from the tension he showed when facing “them.”

If that was really the difference between facing reality and facing something unreal, then from Jiang Yuduo’s reaction, he did treat them differently.

But…

Cheng Ke frowned, suddenly wanting very badly to meet that psychiatrist.

If there really was such a person.

Jiang Yuduo brought the tools over and set them on the floor. “I looked at it. Feels like there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Okay, I’ll draw it for you.” Cheng Ke nodded, then picked up a piece of chalk and drew the shape of the cement mold on the floor for Jiang Yuduo, marking out the measurements as well.

“Isn’t this just a cafeteria rice-steaming tray?” Jiang Yuduo said. “Why not just buy a tray like that and pour it in?”

“…That’s not big enough.” Cheng Ke said.

“Oh.” Jiang Yuduo nodded. “Fine.”

Although Jiang Yuduo had never used a circular saw and had never done this kind of work before, he was extremely capable with his hands. The first cut he made with the board was already very precise.

“Not hard at all,” he clicked his tongue. “I could go be a carpenter.”

Cheng Ke smiled but said nothing.

“What do you think about being a carpenter?” Jiang Yuduo turned and looked at him.

“Pretty good,” Cheng Ke nodded. “Skilled carpenters are so good people have to line up to hire them.”

“Really.” Jiang Yuduo held the saw and stared at the board. After a while, he turned his head again. “There’s a carpenter living in the rental place, but I guess he’s probably not that good, or he wouldn’t be renting a place there.”

Cheng Ke looked at him. Only after a few seconds did he suddenly react. “You’re not really thinking of becoming a carpenter, are you?”

“Don’t know,” Jiang Yuduo turned off the saw, then turned around and sat down on the boards, frowning. “I just… do you think I…”

“Aren’t you always helping Lu Qian do things?” Cheng Ke asked.

“Yeah, more or less,” Jiang Yuduo said. “Her card room and the rental place, if anything comes up, she calls me. She gives me money once a month or once every two months.”

“Not a little?” Cheng Ke asked again.

“Not little. Quite a lot,” Jiang Yuduo rubbed his nose. “But… am I going to keep doing this forever? Lu Qian probably just wants to help me. If she had other people do these jobs, she wouldn’t have to pay so much.”

“Why are you suddenly thinking about this?” Cheng Ke sat down beside him, shoulder to shoulder.

“It’s not really sudden,” Jiang Yuduo thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I don’t really have any skills. When I was cutting the wood… I guess that was kind of sudden too. I can’t really explain it.”

“You want to learn something, or be able to do something, right?” Cheng Ke asked.

“Yeah,” Jiang Yuduo nodded. “My… psychiatrist asked me before, what my plans were after I got better. I couldn’t really say. Anyway, I should have some kind of plan, right?”

“Yeah, but there’s no rush,” Cheng Ke said. “Take it slow. You can talk it over with me.”

Jiang Yuduo tilted his head and looked at him.

Cheng Ke smiled.

“Smile your ass off,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Your psychiatrist,” Cheng Ke tried to ask, “is she a man or a woman?”

“A woman,” Jiang Yuduo frowned at him. “A big sis.”

“What’s her name?” Cheng Ke asked again.

A trace of hesitation flickered in Jiang Yuduo’s eyes, but he did not speak.

“Forget it,” Cheng Ke stopped himself quickly. “I…”

“Are you jealous?” Jiang Yuduo suddenly asked.

Cheng Ke choked and stared at him. “What did you say?”

“She’s in her forties,” Jiang Yuduo said. “Her kid’s already in high school.”

“What… I’m not jealous!” Cheng Ke shouted, and even he felt his voice had changed pitch a little.

Jiang Yuduo did not say anything. His eyes shifted toward the stairs.

Then Cheng Ke heard someone coming upstairs. Just as he was about to ask who it was, someone spoke from the staircase. “Brother Cheng! Third Brother!”

It was Lin Xu’s voice.

Lin Xu was on the stairs, and the two calls were loud, as if he wanted to announce his arrival in advance.

The moment Cheng Ke heard that tone, he immediately realized that the shout he had just made was probably heard by Lin Xu.

“Did the stuff get delivered?” Cheng Ke hurriedly stood up.

“Yeah,” Lin Xu came up the stairs, with a trace of awkwardness on his face. He smiled at the two of them. “The truck is outside. Three loads have been delivered, and two more trucks are about to arrive.”

“Then…” Cheng Ke also felt a bit awkward. “Should we move them now?”

“They’re already moving,” Lin Xu said. “The workers said you were upstairs, so I thought I’d come tell you where everything should be put.”

“I’ll go down right away.” Cheng Ke said.

“Okay.” Lin Xu nodded, then smiled at Jiang Yuduo as well before quickly turning and going downstairs.

“I’ll go down and take a look first,” Cheng Ke said. “You…”

“I’m sawing boards,” Jiang Yuduo picked up the circular saw. “Pretty fun.”

“Mm.” Cheng Ke patted his shoulder.

As he headed for the stairs, Jiang Yuduo called after him again. “That day, you said…”

“What?” Cheng Ke turned back.

“You said you were going to tell Lin Xu…” Jiang Yuduo thought for a moment, then stepped on the board. “Never mind.”

It took Cheng Ke a while to remember, and then he immediately felt like laughing.

He walked over to Jiang Yuduo, bent down, and whispered in his ear, “No need to tell him. He already knows.”

Jiang Yuduo snapped his head around. “Knows what? How does he know?”

“Things like this,” Cheng Ke sighed, “there really aren’t many people as slow as you.”

The whole afternoon, Cheng Ke and Lin Xu stayed busy, placing all the tables, chairs, and cabinets they had brought in according to the design plan. The shop immediately looked much more complete.

After they were done, Lin Xu did not stay long. He said he still had to settle the bill and left together with the truck.

Cheng Ke checked the time. For several hours now, Jiang Yuduo had been up on the terrace, and it felt like he had not come down at all.

He hurried upstairs and called out, “Jiang Yuduo?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Yuduo answered in a cheerful voice.

Cheng Ke let out a breath. It seemed that with Lin Xu here this time, Jiang Yuduo had not felt unhappy at all.

“How’s it going?” Cheng Ke walked over and was a little surprised to find that Jiang Yuduo had already finished cutting the anti-corrosion boards for the bench, and had even nailed one piece into place. “Damn, you’re good. I didn’t even tell you what I wanted it to look like, did I?”

“Didn’t you have drawings?” Jiang Yuduo pointed at the design sketches he had set aside. “I just made it according to those. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Right.” Cheng Ke said.

“How is it!” Jiang Yuduo said a little proudly, kicking the board and turning to look at him.

“Awesome.” Cheng Ke smiled.

“I calculated it. There’s still extra wood,” Jiang Yuduo said. “I can make something else too.”

“Make what?” Cheng Ke leaned against the wall. He really liked Jiang Yuduo like this, with no tension, no wariness, and no gloom, just looking like a stupid little guy in his early twenties.

“I saw a lamp at the mall that day. It was made of wood nailed together, with a big round light in the middle,” Jiang Yuduo said. “There were a lot of round holes in the wood. When you turned it on, it cast a lot of circular spots of light.”

“Mm.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“I wanted to buy that for your birthday, you’re an artist,” Jiang Yuduo said. “It was pretty artistic…”

“Third Brother.” Cheng Ke cut him off.

“What?” Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

“What do you mean, what? What else could I mean? You ruined the surprise!” Cheng Ke glared at him. “I told you not to tell me what you were going to give me!”

“Oh.” Jiang Yuduo blinked.

“Oh your ass?” Cheng Ke said.

“No, wait,” Jiang Yuduo thought for a moment, then quickly tried to comfort him. “It’s fine. I wasn’t planning to give you that lamp anymore. I’m not giving it.”

“…Oh.” Cheng Ke looked at him.

“I’ll make it myself…” Jiang Yuduo pointed at the boards, but halfway through he stopped and glanced at him.

Cheng Ke sighed, then laughed again. “You’re going to make one yourself, right?”

Jiang Yuduo said nothing.

“Making one yourself is better than buying it,” Cheng Ke said. “I like the things you make.”

“There’s still surprise,” Jiang Yuduo thought for a while, then slapped his own palm. “You don’t know what I’m going to make it into, right?”

“Yeah.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“What if I can’t make it, right?” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Fuck you!” Cheng Ke laughed in exasperation. “If you can’t make it, how is that still a surprise!”

“It still counts,” Jiang Yuduo said. “If I can’t make it, then I’ll just go buy that lamp from the mall and give it to you instead.”

“…Get lost!” Cheng Ke shouted with a laugh.

“There will be a surprise,” Jiang Yuduo added for emphasis.

“Got it,” Cheng Ke laughed for a while, then stared at him for a long time. “Jiang Yuduo.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yuduo answered.

“Come here and let me hug you.” Cheng Ke opened his left arm.

Jiang Yuduo frowned, first glancing around the room toward the stairs, then looking back out over the terrace. Only then did he walk over to him.

“You really know how to kill the mood,” Cheng Ke sighed, reaching out to wrap him in his arms.

“I’m just not used to it,” Jiang Yuduo hugged him back. “In all these years, I’ve never done something like this in broad daylight with so many people around.”

“Be specific about what kind of thing you mean,” Cheng Ke said. “Don’t make it sound like I screwed you in the street.”

Jiang Yuduo made no sound.

After a long while, he finally spoke very softly. “How… do you screw?”

That question made Cheng Ke freeze.

Before he could decide whether to answer or play dead, Jiang Yuduo clicked his tongue again. “Actually, I can pretty much guess… forget it, don’t say it. That’s kind of awkward.”