TA •Chapter 94

Chapter 94

The birthday spread for Jiang San-ge was just as big, just as flashy as when he came back from his "trip."

It started from noon. They ate, then the younger brothers he was closer to dragged him off for tea after they finished eating. In the afternoon they ate again, and when they were done, they went to howl songs. When they got hungry from howling, they went for barbecue.

To be honest, Cheng Ke had really never played this hard, this nonstop, before. It felt like even his brain had started boiling from all the noise. In the past, even if they had to keep eating one meal after another, it would usually be at someone’s home, where they could rest. But Jiang Yuduo’s group of brothers did not need rest at all. They just kept going from noon until midnight without stopping.

Jiang Yuduo had been in a pretty good mood the whole time. He hadn’t been impatient like before, maybe because he hadn’t seen these brothers for a few months and hadn’t gotten around to despising them yet.

After the barbecue, Dabin and the others were planning to find a place to play cards, but Jiang Yuduo waved them off. "You guys play by yourselves. I’m going back to sleep."

"I’ll drive Third Brother and Ke-ge back," Chen Qing said. "You guys can keep playing cards. When you’re done, go home and sleep. Don’t wander around outside."

"Don’t worry, Qing-ge," the group said with laughs.

Chen Qing drove them back. In the trunk was a big box, the birthday present the brothers had bought Jiang Yuduo. It had been sitting in Chen Qing’s car the whole time without being opened.

"What did they get me?" Jiang Yuduo turned back to look at the box.

"No idea. I didn’t ask. It was Dabin and the others who put it together," Chen Qing said, yawning nonstop as he drove. "They’d been discussing it for days. Everyone chipped in to buy it. I’ve got the list here, I’ll send it to you later."

"…There’s even a list?" Cheng Ke was infected by the yawn and yawned too.

"Of course. Some of them are still kids, some don’t have jobs, so we didn’t make them pay," Chen Qing said. "Anyone who contributed had to be written down."

"Oh." Cheng Ke nodded.

"Third Brother, how’s the phone I got you?" Chen Qing asked.

"Pretty good," Jiang Yuduo nodded. "Way better than my old one."

"I originally wanted to buy one just like the one Jiqia had," Chen Qing said. "So you two could use matching couple phones. But it was too expensive. Maybe next year."

"This one’s fine," Jiang Yuduo said. "You really think about everything."

"I’ll just switch to one like yours," Cheng Ke said.

"Your phone was just bought when you met us, right?" Chen Qing clicked his tongue. "I mentioned Jiqia to you, don’t put on airs. What are you putting on airs for with us? Everybody in this area already knows you’re the young master of this street."

"You guys must have done plenty of promoting," Cheng Ke said with a smile.

"We didn’t exactly advertise it on purpose, but whenever there’s a chance, we still bring it up," Chen Qing said. "You have to show off invisibly, right, Third Brother?"

Jiang Yuduo gave him a round of applause.

Back home, Jiang Yuduo still locked the door the way he always did. He stood by the window and looked out for a while. After showering, he also shut the bedroom door and put the beer cans away.

Cheng Ke was a little helpless, and faint traces of irritation had begun to rise in him. "What is this little ant trying to do, anyway?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe he just wanted to look," Jiang Yuduo said. He sat down by the bed and took his medicine carefully before swallowing it. "But if he really is going to do something, it won’t take more than ten days."

"Why?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Just my feeling," Jiang Yuduo said with a smile. "If it drags on any longer, people get numb to it."

Cheng Ke lay back on the pillow and sighed. "Those little dogs of yours, didn’t they stop making contact afterward?"

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded. "Other than Little Bricks contacting me before he killed himself, there was nothing else. We weren’t classmates, we weren’t childhood friends. We were just fighting dogs sleeping in the same den. The farther away from each other, the better."

"Do you think…" Cheng Ke hesitated. "Should we…"

"Call the police?" Jiang Yuduo lay down beside him, propping his head up with one hand as he looked at him from the side.

Cheng Ke looked at him.

"There’s no reason to call right now," Jiang Yuduo said. "He hasn’t done anything yet."

"Mm." Cheng Ke answered and touched the tip of Jiang Yuduo’s nose.

"I used to be especially afraid of calling the police," Jiang Yuduo closed his eyes. "Afraid of hospitals too."

"Mm, I know." Cheng Ke nodded. "Are you still afraid now?"

"Afraid," Jiang Yuduo said. "When they rescued us, there was a policeman. He died."

Cheng Ke looked at his closed eyes and said nothing.

"I don’t remember very clearly anymore. He was undercover or something else," Jiang Yuduo said. "I just remember him shielding me and telling me to run. He bled a lot. I was covered in his blood."

Cheng Ke rolled over and hugged him.

"The smell of hospitals makes me think of him," Jiang Yuduo said. "If it hadn’t been for me, he wouldn’t have died."

"But he was a good cop. He would have saved you no matter what," Cheng Ke said softly. "It wasn’t your fault. He died because of those people who kept the fighting dogs."

Jiang Yuduo opened his eyes. After a while, he gave a small smile and reached out to hold Cheng Ke, leaning over to rub and kiss him on the mouth and the bridge of his nose.

"Sleep," Cheng Ke said. "I’m pretty tired."

Jiang Yuduo clicked his tongue and lay flat.

Even though Jiang Yuduo had wanted to do something before sleeping, he actually fell asleep much faster than Cheng Ke. While Cheng Ke was still tossing around, there were already little snores coming from Jiang Yuduo’s side.

Half-awake, Cheng Ke scooted closer to him, rested a hand on his stomach and rubbed it, then worried he might press too hard and make it hard for him to breathe, so he moved his hand to Jiang Yuduo’s arm instead.

In the middle of the night, Cheng Ke heard a sudden crack of thunder.

The weather forecast had said there would be thunderstorms and strong winds today, but it had been completely quiet before they went to sleep. That sudden noise woke him straight out of a dream.

A flash of lightning cut through the dark, followed by another boom.

In his daze, he seemed to hear another sound mixed into the thunder.

…The sound of beer cans falling over!

When he opened his eyes, Jiang Yuduo had already sat up. As his hand moved across Cheng Ke’s field of vision, Cheng Ke saw a knife in Jiang Yuduo’s grip.

That streak of cold light instantly woke him up. He sat up hard and quickly scanned the room, but didn’t see anyone.

"What is it?" Cheng Ke asked in a very low voice.

Jiang Yuduo pointed toward the window.

Behind the curtain, four beer cans had been lined up. The two in the middle had tipped over and fallen to the floor.

"Where is he?" Cheng Ke’s nerves immediately tightened.

Outside, rain was coming down in sheets. He couldn’t hear anything clearly. Lightning kept flashing one after another, making the room alternately bright and dark. For the first time, he was facing this kind of unknown danger while wearing nothing but a pair of underwear, and panic hit him all at once.

Rain had already started outside. It felt like the raindrops were as big as a cat’s head, striking the roof and window glass with clattering sounds that made it seem as if someone was knocking on the window.

It was extremely unsettling.

Cheng Ke got out of bed and glanced again at the knife in Jiang Yuduo’s hand. In this situation, he seemed like he should also find a weapon. After all, this wasn’t just a thief sneaking into the house. It could be some dangerous person with even higher fighting ability than Jiang Yuduo.

But after looking quickly around the bed, he still couldn’t find anything that could be used as a weapon. In the end, he had no choice but to grab the teaser wand the cat had somehow played into the room earlier from the floor.

It was actually pretty sturdy. Smacking someone in the face with it should work well enough.

Jiang Yuduo stood by the window, glanced at the teaser wand in his hand, then pointed at his bedside table.

Cheng Ke sprang onto the bed, bounced once, and jumped to the other side. He pulled open the bedside drawer and saw a long, thin strong flashlight, metal, heavy in his hand. The effect if he hit someone with it should be about the same as a pipe.

He walked to the window and looked outside. Through a gap in the curtain, he could see the backyard drowned in torrential rain, with no one there.

"It could also have been the wind," Jiang Yuduo said quietly in his ear. "Those two cans were right beside the gap in the window."

"There was wind a few nights ago too," Cheng Ke said.

"I’m going to check the living room. You stay here," Jiang Yuduo said, heading toward the bedroom door.

"Together." Cheng Ke followed immediately.

Jiang Yuduo looked at him but said nothing. He walked to the door, very lightly moved the cans on the floor aside, then put his hand on the doorknob and turned it gently.

The moment he turned the knob, the door was suddenly shoved open hard from outside.

It happened too abruptly. Jiang Yuduo was still holding the knob and hadn’t even let go yet when the door slammed directly into him, smashing his face hard as well.

He staggered back a step from the impact. The knife in his hand fell to the floor, and when Cheng Ke caught him from behind, a surge of panic suddenly hit him.

If this had been before, he would have already thought of it before opening the door. If someone was going to ambush them, the instant the door opened was the best chance. But now he had been on medication for several months. Both his reactions and his judgment would be affected, to some extent, by the drug’s side effects.

He might not be Little Ant’s match.

He was no longer a fighting dog, but Little Ant always had been.

After the bedroom door hit him, it bounced back. Jiang Yuduo didn’t rush after it to pull it open. Instead, he shoved Cheng Ke back toward the window.

Sure enough, after bouncing back, the door was kicked open again with a bang. If he had rushed over, he definitely would not have been able to dodge that.

"Go call the police," Jiang Yuduo said to Cheng Ke in a low voice. "Now."

As the door was forced open again, Little Ant charged in, very fast.

Jiang Yuduo couldn’t make out his condition very well, but he still went to meet him and kicked hard at the approximate position of his chest.

The kick landed heavily, and with Little Ant’s momentum, it made Jiang Yuduo’s leg go a little numb.

Too bad he was barefoot.

So that kick didn’t affect Little Ant much. It only slowed him down on his way toward Cheng Ke.

He jumped onto the bed and lunged at Cheng Ke.

Jiang Yuduo hooked one of his legs from behind, then smashed his elbow hard into the outside of Little Ant’s knee. Little Ant dropped to one knee on the bed.

Cheng Ke rushed over and swung the strong flashlight at Little Ant’s head.

In normal fights, he would never go for the head like this, but Little Ant looked like a desperate killer at first glance. If he didn’t fight ruthlessly, both he and Jiang Yuduo would be in danger.

The blow landed hard against the side of Little Ant’s head.

But Little Ant seemed to feel no pain at all. He only swayed once, then swung back and chopped his palm hard into Jiang Yuduo’s throat.

Jiang Yuduo had been controlling his leg and had no way to dodge, so he took the hit head-on.

When the lightning flashed outside, Cheng Ke saw a pained expression on his face.

Cheng Ke felt like he almost flew forward as he swung the flashlight down again and smashed Little Ant hard across the bridge of the nose.

He had already stopped counting his strikes. He only wanted to knock Little Ant down as fast as possible.

He had underestimated this man’s fighting ability, and he had underestimated the fear and pressure the man brought with him.

Up to now, this man hadn’t made a single sound, not even while fighting, not even a breath.

Only after his nose was hit did he show any reaction. Jiang Yuduo sprang up, also swung an arm into his throat, and sent him from the bed crashing to the floor.

Little Ant’s head hit the ground with a dull thud, but when Jiang Yuduo pounced on him, he was still conscious.

"Call the police." Jiang Yuduo repeated it again. His voice was a little hoarse as he swung a hard punch at Little Ant.

If it were someone else, that punch would have been enough to make them behave. But Little Ant seemed not to feel it. He threw a punch back at Jiang Yuduo’s temple.

Cheng Ke wanted to help, but Jiang Yuduo kept telling him to call the police, so he chose to listen. He crossed to the bed and grabbed Jiang Yuduo’s phone from close by.

Not setting a lock screen password was a very good habit. Cheng Ke quickly dialed 110.

As soon as the call connected, he rapidly reported the address. "Someone broke in to rob us. It’s very dangerous, they’re already fighting…"

After the police call was made, Jiang Yuduo, who had Little Ant pinned to the floor, seemed to have the upper hand. One hand was clamped around Little Ant’s neck, and the other picked up the knife.

"Jiang Yuduo!" Cheng Ke shouted. When he saw Jiang Yuduo raise the knife, he felt like his whole body was going weak.

Jiang Yuduo’s hand holding the knife paused, but he still brought it down hard.

By the time Cheng Ke rushed to his side, the knife had pierced through Little Ant’s upper arm and nailed his arm to the floor.

"Hold him down!" Cheng Ke didn’t even have time to feel relieved. While shouting, he sprang up and ripped the rope from the bedside, the one Jiang Yuduo had used to tie him up when his arm had been in a cast.

He wanted to tie Little Ant’s hands, but found he had nowhere to start.

Jiang Yuduo had one hand gripping the knife and the other clamped on Little Ant’s neck. Little Ant was gripping Jiang Yuduo’s wrist with one hand, trying to stop him from putting any more force into it, and it seemed he was already holding something that had injured Jiang Yuduo. Blood kept seeping out from between his fingers.

In this deadlock, any little movement might give Little Ant the chance to strike back.

Cheng Ke could only press hard on one of Little Ant’s legs and tie that leg to the bedpost.

"Why?" Jiang Yuduo asked. His voice was hoarse.

Little Ant’s face had already turned bright red from holding his breath. He stared at Jiang Yuduo and squeezed out a vicious answer through clenched teeth. "You’re all going to die."

Jiang Yuduo’s breathing clearly grew heavier, his eyes turning a little red too. "Why?"

"Competition." The two words were forced out from between Little Ant’s teeth.

Jiang Yuduo’s hand tightened abruptly.

Little Ant instantly lost even the slightest sound, his legs kicking constantly against the floor.

"Jiang Yuduo!" Cheng Ke grabbed Jiang Yuduo’s wrist and yanked hard. "Jiang Yuduo! Calm down!"

Jiang Yuduo was incredibly strong. Cheng Ke yanked twice and still couldn’t pull his hand away, but he could feel that Jiang Yuduo wasn’t continuing to apply more force.

"Ease up!" Cheng Ke cupped his face and stared into his eyes. "Jiang Yuduo! Let go a little! The police will be here any second! You just need to hold him down!"

Jiang Yuduo was breathing hard, glaring at him.

"You’re not a fighting dog! You don’t have any competition!" Cheng Ke shouted at him. "Jiang Yuduo! You’re Third Brother! You’re the boss of this area! Third Brother!"

"I know." Jiang Yuduo stared at him for two seconds, and only then did his hand finally loosen a little.

Little Ant sucked in a sharp breath, took a long time to exhale, then drew in another huge breath. He repeated that four or five times before he seemed to recover.

Although it was the middle of the night and still pouring rain, the police arrived fairly quickly.

"We’ll take care of this person." The two police officers froze when they saw the scene in the room, and one of them immediately pulled out handcuffs.

"I can’t let go." Jiang Yuduo was breathing hard.

"We’ll restrain him," the officer said. "Let go!"

"Jiang Yuduo," Cheng Ke grabbed his arm. "Hand him over to the police."

Only one second later did Cheng Ke understand why Jiang Yuduo had said he "couldn’t let go."

The moment Cheng Ke pulled him up from the floor, the moment Jiang Yuduo’s hand left Little Ant’s neck, Little Ant sprang up like he had a spring built into him and rammed his head into the police officer who had been bending over with the handcuffs in hand.

If one of his feet hadn’t still been tied to the bedpost, he might have attacked the other officer the next second.

Jiang Yuduo and Cheng Ke almost simultaneously lunged back in and forced Little Ant down again.

Little Ant struggled fiercely. When Cheng Ke and the officer pressed him down together, it felt like he was a desperate trapped beast, with astonishing explosive strength.

It was only after they had gone back to the station in the police car and the officers had helped Jiang Yuduo bandage his wound that Jiang Yuduo finally sat in the chair and let out a long breath.

"Drink some water," said one of the police officers who knew Jiang Yuduo as he walked in. "Lao San, are you okay?"

"Thank you, Uncle," Jiang Yuduo said, turning to look at the officer. "I’m fine."

The officer patted his shoulder. "Cooperate with us later and give a statement."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered, then turned his head to look at Cheng Ke.

"How is it?" Cheng Ke asked softly.

"It’s okay," Jiang Yuduo said with his brows knitted. After a moment of silence, he said very quietly, "He’s still competing."

"Yes." Cheng Ke lightly patted his back.

"Am I…" Jiang Yuduo bit his lip. "Do I look like him?"

"No," Cheng Ke reacted immediately. "It’s different."

"Really?" Jiang Yuduo didn’t seem to believe him very much.

"Different," Cheng Ke said. "He’s still stuck where he was. You’ve already gotten out."

Jiang Yuduo didn’t say anything. He lowered his head and looked at the slippers on his feet. After a very long time, he finally let out a soft sigh. "Am I wearing one of your slippers?"

"Huh?" Cheng Ke took a good five seconds to come back to himself. He looked down and saw that the slippers on Jiang Yuduo’s feet were one blue and one gray.

The gray one was Cheng Ke’s.

Cheng Ke hurriedly looked at his own feet and found that he was actually wearing Jiang Yuduo’s running shoes.

"Pretty particular, Young Master," Jiang Yuduo said. "And here you are, still finding time to put on shoes with a heel tab in a situation like this?"

Cheng Ke looked at him and suddenly couldn’t hold back his laughter.

"Fuck." Jiang Yuduo laughed too.