TA •Chapter 74

After sending a message to Xu Ding, Cheng Ke fell asleep again. For the past two days, his emotions had been all over the place, and his mind was full of things. At that moment, it felt as if he had just finished something important, passed some difficult hurdle, and his whole body had finally relaxed.

Even though Jiang Yuduo still had that issue that kept Cheng Ke from fully settling his mind, he still fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

Maybe it was because no matter how big or complicated the problems were, Jiang Yuduo was right in front of him now, by his side, carrying the title of boyfriend. Just thinking of that made him ease up.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him. After growing up this long, he had never been so desperate to build that kind of relationship with anyone, and he had never felt so satisfied because of one.

He slept deeply. When he woke up, the sunlight seeping through the curtains was already glaring. Cheng Ke checked the time. It was already three o’clock.

He lifted his arm in plaster and slowly sat up, then suddenly remembered Jiang Yuduo standing behind the curtains that morning. His nerves tightened again, and he called out, “Jiang Yuduo!”

“Here,” Jiang Yuduo’s voice came through from outside the bedroom window. “I’m in the yard.”

Cheng Ke got out of bed and walked over, pulling back the curtain. He saw that the lamp that had previously hung from the clothes-drying pole was now on the ground, and Jiang Yuduo was holding a brush, painting it.

“Wasn’t the original color fine? Why are you painting it?” Cheng Ke asked as he pushed the window open.

“It’s tung oil. It doesn’t have any color,” Jiang Yuduo said. “It should protect the wood a bit. No idea if it’ll actually work.”

“Oh.” Cheng Ke looked at him. “Have you eaten?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Yuduo set down the brush and walked over to the window.

“Damn,” Cheng Ke said, stunned. “You didn’t wait to eat with me, and you didn’t even wake me up to eat?”

“You were sleeping like you’d passed out,” Jiang Yuduo said. “I got hungry again, so I ate beef brisket and potato rice.”

“…Where’s mine?” Cheng Ke hadn’t felt hungry at all, but the moment he heard beef brisket and potato, his stomach suddenly felt hollow.

“In the thermal container,” Jiang Yuduo said as he walked into the room. “I don’t know if it’s gone cold. I’ll heat it up for you.”

“Oh.” Cheng Ke answered.

Jiang Yuduo looked perfectly normal, and his mood seemed good too. While Cheng Ke was washing up, Jiang Yuduo stayed beside him and kept talking.

“Chen Qing’s coming to pick me up in a bit. I’ll go hang around with him and then have dinner,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Mm.” Cheng Ke nodded. “Xu Ding and I are probably meeting at around four.”

“Where are you guys going?” Jiang Yuduo asked.

“He’s coming over here,” Cheng Ke said. He felt like he might be a little sensitive. When Jiang Yuduo asked that question, his heart tightened, and that day in the bar flashed through his mind, the broken glass pressed against Lin Xu’s neck. “We don’t know where we’re going yet. I’ll tell you once we decide?”

“No need.” Jiang Yuduo smiled. “This is my turf. Wherever you go, I can just ask around and find out.”

“Mm.” Cheng Ke smiled too.

When Cheng Ke was eating, Chen Qing’s car arrived. He honked from outside the window and didn’t come in to knock as he usually did.

Chen Qing was incredibly considerate and very sensible, which made Cheng Ke, who had clearly done nothing at all, feel a little awkward, as if he and Jiang Yuduo were doing something in there right now.

Jiang Yuduo was probably about the same. As if to prove that the two of them were doing nothing at the moment, the second he heard the horn, he jumped up, grabbed his jacket, and headed out, saying as he walked, “I’ll be around here with Chen Qing. If anything comes up, call me.”

“Okay.” Cheng Ke nodded.

Jiang Yuduo flew out the door.

Cheng Ke sat across from Miao and finished his meal under Miao’s watchful gaze.

“I’ll give you some canned food,” Cheng Ke said, scooping two spoonfuls into Miao’s bowl. “Don’t tell your Third Brother. He said you’ve gotten picky lately. Once you eat canned food, you won’t want cat food anymore.”

Miao ignored him, head buried in the bowl.

There was a message from Xu Ding on Cheng Ke’s phone.

– Send me the number. You’re only checking the call records, right?

Cheng Ke held the phone and hesitated for a moment before replying.

– Come out now. I’m up. Nothing to do.

He had agreed to meet Xu Ding at four. Cheng Ke sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV for background noise.

Checking Jiang Yuduo’s call records made him feel vaguely guilty and uneasy. He had never done this kind of thing, and he had always looked down on people who did.

But now, conflicted and anxious, he wanted desperately to find the psychiatrist Jiang Yuduo had mentioned.

Jiang Yuduo would not easily tell him anything else. If Cheng Ke wanted to know, he had to find a way on his own. He didn’t have Cheng Yi’s kind of ability to dig into Jiang Yuduo’s life, and if he wasn’t going to look for this Dr. Luo, then he couldn’t very well go ask Cheng Yi.

No one knew how much Cheng Yi had found out about Jiang Yuduo. Cheng Ke prayed that he had only uncovered the mental health issue. Whoever found out about Jiang Yuduo’s childhood, even just hearing about it, would feel like that alone was already a kind of harm.

As for what Cheng Ke was doing now, he didn’t dare think too deeply about what Jiang Yuduo’s reaction would be if he found out.

Xu Ding had originally wanted to take him to a newly opened restaurant and maybe see if there was anything worth using as a reference, but Cheng Ke didn’t agree. He still chose a Western restaurant on Jiang Yuduo’s turf.

After they sat down, Xu Ding didn’t waste time circling around. He smiled and asked first, “Did the money come through?”

“They transferred it straight to a card,” Cheng Ke said with a smile. “So he didn’t tell those people?”

“He probably told Tiancheng and the others,” Xu Ding said after taking a sip of coffee. “He didn’t tell me.”

“He didn’t tell you?” Cheng Ke was surprised. Although Xu Ding wasn’t especially close to Liu Tiancheng and the others, he usually knew a fair amount about past incidents.

“Probably because he felt I didn’t give him face,” Xu Ding said. “But the fact that you brought people over, caused a huge scene at the company, and beat him into the hospital… everybody knows about that.”

Cheng Ke smiled.

“Will it affect your business with Liu Tiancheng and the others?” Cheng Ke asked.

“No. He’s a very practical person,” Xu Ding said. “Besides, we don’t have much cooperation now anyway.”

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to ask,” Cheng Ke said after thinking for a moment. “Why do you…”

“Help you this much?” Xu Ding smiled.

“Mm.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“I’m also a very practical person,” Xu Ding said. “I don’t really get a chance to work with Xiao Yi, but if one day you go back home, it’ll be much easier for me to work with you, and the chances will be much greater too.”

“I…” Cheng Ke smiled. Xu Ding’s honesty made him feel a lot better, but he also felt that maybe Xu Ding had backed the wrong horse. “I probably won’t be going back there anymore, let alone getting involved in business. Aren’t you taking a loss?”

“Not a loss. Even if it’s just making one more friend,” Xu Ding said, “you’re much better than Xiao Yi.”

Cheng Ke smiled and took a sip of coffee.

“You want to check the call records?” Xu Ding asked.

Cheng Ke paused. He stared at the cup for a while before nodding. “I only have his ID number and phone number. Can you check it?”

“How far back do you want?” Xu Ding asked.

“Within the last two months,” Cheng Ke said.

“That should be fine, but only incoming and outgoing calls,” Xu Ding said. “I may not be able to get anything else. I don’t have as many connections as Xiao Yi.”

Cheng Ke glanced at him. “He told you that too?”

“How could he not?” Xu Ding frowned. It was clear he was somewhat put off by what Cheng Yi had done.

Cheng Ke let out a soft sigh.

“Is it already better?” Xu Ding asked. “Usually you can’t tell there’s anything wrong with Third Brother.”

“I don’t know,” Cheng Ke said with knitted brows. “Actually, I just want to…”

“You’re checking Third Brother’s call records, right?” Xu Ding looked at him.

“Mm.” Cheng Ke looked back at him. “But he can’t know about this.”

“He won’t hear it from me,” Xu Ding said. “Send me the number. I’ll help you check as soon as possible.”

“Okay.” Cheng Ke took out his phone and scrolled through the album. He had previously taken a photo of Jiang Yuduo’s ID card from the contract.

Xu Ding was still very measured and didn’t ask who Cheng Ke wanted to find in Jiang Yuduo’s call records.

“Should I send it to you?” Cheng Ke asked.

“I’ll just write it down,” Xu Ding said, noting Jiang Yuduo’s ID number on his phone. “Is the phone number the one he gave me before?”

“I don’t know. It should be. Check it.” Cheng Ke opened the contacts and pulled up Jiang Yuduo’s number.

He had never changed the name after saving it the first time, so it was still “Jiang Brain Not Normal.” Xu Ding laughed when he saw it. “This is it.”

Cheng Ke looked at the name and hesitated about whether to change it.

Back when he had saved Jiang Yuduo under that name, he had truly never imagined that one day, the name would become reality.

His finger hovered over the screen for a long time, but in the end he decided not to change it and put the phone back in his pocket.

“I’ll get a friend to check it now. This is easy to look into,” Xu Ding said. “I figure it’ll be about done after dinner.”

“Mm.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“You just said… you don’t know if Third Brother is better?” Xu Ding asked.

“Mm, I don’t know.” Cheng Ke said.

“Does he take medicine?” Xu Ding asked again.

Cheng Ke thought about it. “I’ve never seen him take any.”

“People with this kind of… usually have to take medication to control it, right?” Xu Ding asked cautiously, lowering his voice.

“Probably,” Cheng Ke said, frowning. “But I really have never seen him take medicine. Still, we didn’t live together, so maybe he did and I just didn’t know.”

“Oh.” Xu Ding was quiet for a moment. “I probably shouldn’t ask, but if I don’t ask, I won’t feel at ease.”

“Go ahead.” Cheng Ke smiled.

“With his current condition, if you’re with him…” Xu Ding lowered his voice even more. “Would there be danger?”

Cheng Ke instantly remembered the scene from last night, Jiang Yuduo pressing his hand against the back of the sofa, and that averted gaze.

“Not for now.” Cheng Ke said.

“Mm.” Xu Ding nodded. “Want to talk about the opening? Boss Cheng?”

“This isn’t my shop.” Cheng Ke laughed.

“You’ll definitely have to spend a lot of effort managing it on a daily basis,” Xu Ding said. “It’s only right to call you boss.”

“So far, most of the work has been done by you,” Cheng Ke said. “I’ve only helped out.”

“After the opening, it’ll all be yours,” Xu Ding said. “I’ve arranged a lot of things for myself this year, so I may not have much time on this side. You figure it out.”

“Third Brother,” Chen Qing said as he skillfully peeled a crayfish, frowning, “seriously, you really don’t treat me like a friend at all.”

“How am I not treating you like a friend? If I didn’t treat you like a friend,” Jiang Yuduo said, picking up a crayfish and crunching into it, “would I have put up with your brain for so many years?”

“If it weren’t for Cheng Yi telling me about you and Jijia, when were you planning to tell me?” Chen Qing looked at him.

Jiang Yuduo didn’t answer.

“Speechless, huh!” Chen Qing put the peeled crayfish into the bowl with obvious displeasure. After a pause, he suddenly looked up. “Fuck, it wouldn’t be fake, would it? You two are pretending to be a couple just to piss Cheng Yi off?”

“What’s the logic in pretending to be a couple just to piss Cheng Yi off?” Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

“…So it’s real?” Chen Qing sighed and kept peeling crayfish.

Chen Qing’s crayfish-peeling skills could be called godlike. His speed and quality were both top-tier among this kind of operation. Even while they were talking, he had already peeled seven or eight.

“Mm.” Jiang Yuduo moved fast and snatched the bowl in front of him, eating all the crayfish meat in one go.

When he set the bowl back down in front of Chen Qing, Chen Qing was still frozen there, holding a crayfish in his hand and staring in shock.

“I have to say, this place really does taste good,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“I…” Chen Qing stared at him. After a long while, he finally said, “I only really take you as a friend, okay? Otherwise I’d have dumped this whole pot of chili oil on your head.”

“I’ve never seen anyone eat like you, so slow and dragged out. Forget it, don’t be mad. I’ll peel them for you,” Jiang Yuduo said, picking one up and slowly starting to peel it. “A whole pot of chili oil on my head? You really overestimate yourself.”

“Not necessarily,” Chen Qing said stubbornly. “I’m not good at fighting, but my brain still works pretty well.”

Jiang Yuduo put the peeled crayfish into his bowl. “What kind of thick skin did you use to say that?”

“I’ll show you something,” Chen Qing said, leaning back. “Then you’ll know what kind of skin I used. The thinnest kind.”

Jiang Yuduo didn’t say anything. His hands kept moving as he gave Chen Qing a glance.

Chen Qing took out a USB drive from his pocket and set it on the table. “You know what’s in here?”

“Porn,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“If it were porn, I’d just save it on my phone. Why would I bring a USB drive for that?” Chen Qing said while eating. “Besides, now that you’ve gotten together with Jijia, the porn I watch isn’t exactly suitable for you anymore.”

The moment Jiang Yuduo heard that, a feeling he couldn’t quite name welled up inside him.

Awkward, uncomfortable, awkward, and faintly something else beneath it.

“Shut up.” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Let me play it for you. It’s on my phone too,” Chen Qing said. He plugged in his headphones, put one earbud in himself, and handed the other to Jiang Yuduo. “Listen and you’ll get it.”

Jiang Yuduo sighed and took the earbud, putting it in his ear. “Play it.”

Chen Qing tapped at his phone, then looked up at him.

Two seconds later, a man’s voice suddenly burst out through the earphones, roaring, “I don’t want to hear your name again! I don’t want to see any trace of you in this house again!”

Jiang Yuduo jerked his head up and looked at Chen Qing in surprise. “You recorded it?”

“I recorded three segments,” Chen Qing said, pulling out the earbud. “Pretty much the whole thing.”

“Fuck,” Jiang Yuduo said after hearing that segment. He pulled out the earbud too. “Why did you record this?”

“Just in case it comes in handy. That bastard usually acts like a person, all elite and proper,” Chen Qing said. “But behind people’s backs, he doesn’t do a single decent thing. I don’t know what use this has, but I recorded it anyway. Take it. If he comes looking for trouble again, just throw this in front of his dad. Tell me, can’t that kill him?”

Jiang Yuduo looked at Chen Qing. “Have I been underestimating you all along?”

“How about that!” Chen Qing slapped the table in pride. “Third Brother, just tell me, how well did I do?”

“Awesome.” Jiang Yuduo picked up the USB drive, looked at it, and put it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

“But let me say this first, I didn’t do this for Jijia,” Chen Qing said. “I just really can’t stand the sight of him right now. I want to curse him out, but then I feel like he’s actually a pretty good guy. If I don’t curse him out, then every time I think about you two… man, I get so embarrassed…”

“Watch your wording, damn it.” Jiang Yuduo pointed at him.

“Forget I said anything.” Chen Qing waved a hand. “Anyway, I did this for you. Every time I remember what he said in the office that day, I just get pissed.”

Jiang Yuduo didn’t say anything. He topped up the wine in Chen Qing’s cup, clinked it against his, and took a sip.

Mentally ill.

That phrase still stabbed at him like a needle whenever he thought of it now. It didn’t hurt much, but it made his heart jolt.

After finishing dinner with Chen Qing and heading back out onto the street, Chen Qing dragged him to the mall. Recently, Chen Qing’s mother had gotten obsessed with knitting sweaters, and he had to stop by the mall on the way to buy more yarn.

On the way to the mall, Jiang Yuduo didn’t look back once. He kept his eyes fixed on the road in front of him.

But he knew that as long as he turned around, he would be able to see the people behind him.

There had been one when they entered the restaurant, behind a car parked across the street. When they came out of the restaurant, there were two, still behind that same car.

Inside the mall, when Chen Qing talked to him, he barely heard a thing. He couldn’t focus on what Chen Qing was saying. His ears were full of noise, and his eyes were full of people.

He wanted to ignore it, but he could feel more and more clearly that someone was watching him.

“Want to come sit at my place for a bit?” Chen Qing asked.

“I’m going home to sleep,” Jiang Yuduo said.

“Fine,” Chen Qing said. “After I digest the whole thing about you and Jijia over the next couple of days, I’ll treat you two to dinner.”

“I’ll treat you.” Jiang Yuduo said.

Before Chen Qing could say anything else, he patted Chen Qing’s shoulder and turned to leave quickly.

When he reached the intersection, he didn’t head toward home. Instead, he turned the other way.

He had to shake off the people behind him. He couldn’t bring them back home. Cheng Ke was at his place, and he couldn’t let Cheng Ke find out… that they were still there.