TA •Chapter 29

After Chen Qing hung up, Cheng Ke stood there holding the phone in a daze for quite a while before putting it back on the bedside table.

Usually, talking to Chen Qing was such a hassle that he wanted the call to end after no more than two sentences. But this time, he did not want Chen Qing to hang up.

Because once the call ended, he would have to keep facing Jiang Yuduo, still wrapped in the bedsheet, all by himself.

Jiang Yuduo should have already returned to normal. But whether he would attack again, and how terrifying the force would be if he did, Cheng Ke could not judge at all.

Actually, ever since he met Jiang Yuduo, he had occasionally felt that this guy was kind of weird. But he had never thought it through carefully. Aside from the fact that they were not close enough for him to dig that deep, there was probably also the small, unnoticed fondness he had for Jiang Yuduo.

Whether that fondness came from the person himself, or from the fact that he was going through the biggest change in his life right now, it existed objectively, in any case.

Now that he suddenly had to face a Jiang Yuduo like this, Cheng Ke abruptly felt a little lost.

He stood by the bed, looking at Jiang Yuduo, who was still lying quietly inside the bedsheet, not knowing whether he should say something, just keep watch, or open the sheet and check Jiang Yuduo’s hand.

After standing there for a while, the right side of his shoulder started to hurt a little. That was where Jiang Yuduo had bitten him before.

He walked over to the wardrobe, opened the door, and pulled out the full-length mirror inside. But after turning it toward himself, the first thing he looked at was Jiang Yuduo on the bed. Seeing that he still had not moved, he then glanced at his own shoulder. Blood had already seeped through the white T-shirt.

Jiang Yuduo had really taken that bite seriously. Cheng Ke pulled open his collar and saw three broken marks, all round, already swelling up.

But compared with the bite, the punch to his face bothered him more.

It was too obvious.

The area below the outer corner of his right eye was red and swollen, with a bruise coming up.

He sighed, shut the wardrobe, and glanced at Jiang Yuduo again before leaving the bedroom for the kitchen.

There were no ice cubes in the fridge, but there was yogurt. He took out a cup and pressed it against the corner of his eye, then did not go back to the bedroom. He sat on the sofa in the living room, staring blankly into space.

Chen Qing actually arrived pretty quickly. It was only about half an hour before the doorbell rang, but when Cheng Ke went to answer it, he still felt that time had dragged on too slowly.

"Third Brother!" Before the door was even fully open, Chen Qing’s voice squeezed through the crack. "You okay?!"

Jiang Yuduo in the bedroom did not answer.

"Ji-jia, you okay…" Once Chen Qing came in and saw Cheng Ke’s face, he froze. Then he immediately lowered his voice. "What happened to your eye? Does it hurt? Do you want to get it checked? I drove here."

"You should check on your Third…" Cheng Ke pointed toward the bedroom.

He had originally been a little worried that if Chen Qing saw Jiang Yuduo wrapped up like a Beijing-style chicken wrap, he would make a fuss. But when he turned around, he discovered that Jiang Yuduo had somehow already come out of the bedsheet and was now sitting on the edge of the bed. Aside from his hair being a little messy, everything was normal.

Cheng Ke froze.

"Third Brother?" Chen Qing walked over. "You okay?"

"I’m fine." Jiang Yuduo was supporting his left wrist with his right hand.

"His wrist is probably dislocated," Cheng Ke said, looking at Jiang Yuduo. "I just… I might have used too much force."

Chen Qing lowered his head and looked at his hand. "Dislocated?"

"Yeah." Jiang Yuduo gave a short response.

Before Cheng Ke could say they should go to a clinic and have it looked at, Jiang Yuduo had already grabbed his left hand with his right, then yanked hard.

"You!" Cheng Ke felt a sharp pain shoot through his own wrist too, and he quickly turned his head away.

He knew Jiang Yuduo was putting his dislocated wrist back in place, but the visual impact of a doctor doing it versus someone just yanking their own wrist like that was completely different.

From the corner of his eye, though, he could see that Chen Qing seemed calmer than he was. Chen Qing stood in front of Jiang Yuduo without moving, just staring at the hand still straining with force.

"Better now?" After a while, Chen Qing asked.

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo stood up. "Wait downstairs for me."

Chen Qing glanced at Cheng Ke, then turned and left.

Cheng Ke felt that Jiang Yuduo wanted to say something, an explanation, or an apology.

But the two of them stood face-to-face for a full minute like that, and Jiang Yuduo still did not say a single word.

Cheng Ke also wanted to say something, but he could not get it out either.

After standing there in silence for a bit longer, Jiang Yuduo moved, turned back toward the bed, and put on his clothes, shirt and pants both.

Only then did Cheng Ke realize in shock that Jiang Yuduo had been wearing nothing but underwear the whole time. The fight must have been so intense that he had not noticed at all.

After Jiang Yuduo got dressed, he picked up his phone and tapped at it a few times. Cheng Ke heard his own phone ring once in the living room.

"I sent you Chen Qing’s number," Jiang Yuduo said, putting the phone in his pocket. "From now on… he’ll collect the rent. If anything breaks and needs fixing or replacing, you can call him."

"Oh." Cheng Ke responded.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

Cheng Ke touched the swollen corner of his eye. It hurt a little, but the rest of his body was fine. Other than his shoulder, he did not feel much of anything. He shook his head. "No."

Jiang Yuduo nodded, then stood there for two more seconds before walking past him and out of the bedroom. A moment later, the door sounded shut, and Jiang Yuduo was gone.

Cheng Ke sighed, sat down on the bed, and stared at the floor in a daze.

He should have said sorry.

After Jiang Yuduo got into the elevator, he felt a little regret.

But sorry did not seem to be useful at all.

The more serious the matter, the thinner and weaker sorry seemed.

And from childhood until now, he had probably used those three words not much more often than I believe you. He did not have the habit. He did not have the awareness.

Besides, he had already said sorry to Cheng Ke once today.

Two apologies in one day.

It sounded ridiculous, and completely insincere.

Maybe the most sincere thing he could do now was to stop showing up in Cheng Ke’s life.

Chen Qing drove up to the building, and Jiang Yuduo got into the car.

The moment the door closed, he felt in his pocket, wanting a cigarette. But the pocket was empty. It should have been left at Cheng Ke’s place.

"You should still fix that wrist, right?" Chen Qing took out his own cigarettes and lighter and handed them to him.

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo lit a cigarette. "I’ll deal with it when I get back."

"That Ji-jia’s eye okay? It looked pretty swollen to me," Chen Qing said.

"Don’t know." Jiang Yuduo frowned. "If you have time, call him and ask."

"Okay." Chen Qing started the car and drove toward the gate.

"I gave him your number," Jiang Yuduo said. "From now on, rent and stuff, you go collect it."

"Fine." Chen Qing nodded, then looked at him again. After hesitating for a few seconds, he still seemed to make up his mind and asked, "You haven’t been like this for a long time, have you? Mistaking people and all that."

"Watched a ghost movie last night," Jiang Yuduo said, opening the sunroof a crack. "Guess I got scared."

"You two are so boring. It’s either Pictionary or ghost movies," Chen Qing sighed. "Barbecue and some drinks would be way better."

Jiang Yuduo did not answer. He leaned back and looked up at the crack in the sunroof.

Chen Qing was actually quite thoughtful today. He drove him all the way home without saying anything else.

After they got inside, he helped Jiang Yuduo fix the wrist with a bandage, then went off to work.

Jiang Yuduo stood by the window and looked out through the gap in the curtain.

It had indeed been a long time. Ever since he had given Chen Qing a brutal beating a few years ago, he had never had this kind of episode again.

Maybe he really should not have watched a ghost movie.

He rarely watched ghost movies, or rather, he rarely watched movies at all.

No matter what kind of film it was, what kind of story it told, there would always be one or two points, even ones completely unrelated that he could not understand at all, that would make him remember certain details from before.

And ghost movies were even more direct, fear.

No matter what kind of fear it was, fear was fear.

Once fear was truly stirred up, even if he kept telling himself it was not real, it would no longer work.

Even after Cheng Ke walked up in front of him, he was still submerged in that fear.

You are a dog. Right now you’re a puppy, and later you’ll be a big dog.

Do you have a name? The name was given by me, so of course I can take it away too.

Squat down! Stand up! Squat down! Stand up! Run! Run! Run!

Don’t close your eyes, don’t look anywhere else, watch your opponent!

You only have one chance to strike. If he doesn’t go down, you will. Don’t give him a chance to get back up…

At any time, in any place, an opponent could appear.

…

Jiang Yuduo stood by the window the whole time, watching the light outside change from gray and dim to brighter and brighter, then become blinding, then gradually fade again, until it turned into a hazy yellow.

He did not see any suspicious figures. He did not hear any suspicious sounds.

Maybe he had become dull. It had been too long since he had left that kind of life, and the sharpness that could only be maintained under high-intensity, high-pressure training was slowly fading away.

"It’s fine now. You’re all safe from now on. You’re all safe. No one will hurt you anymore, no one will ever hurt you again."

Someone had said that to him.

But he could not remember who it was.

He only knew that he could not trust anyone who tried to be nice to him. Any behavior that made you let your guard down was only the prelude to the next attack.

But he had believed those words. He had believed them very seriously.

Because that was what he had always been waiting for.

It was just a pity.

After so many years, he still could not shake those people, those memories, or those injuries.

Just like back then, not too heavy, not fatal, but very painful.

The only change was that he no longer spoke about the past to anyone, and he would never tell anyone who they were. No one would believe him, and he did not want to be treated like a lunatic.

A car pulled up outside the window and stopped there, honking once.

It was Chen Qing.

Jiang Yuduo went over and opened the door.

"I got a few dishes from Tingfulou," Chen Qing said, carrying two bags into the house. "All of them are what you usually like."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded.

"I’m turning on the light, okay?" Chen Qing asked, his hand on the switch.

"Go ahead." Jiang Yuduo sat down by the table.

Chen Qing turned on the light and came over to help him take everything out, lining the food up on the table. "Eat. I’m heading home first."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo responded.

Most of the time, Chen Qing was an idiot, but in situations like this, he handled things very well, always leaving him enough time to be alone.

"Rent for Building Three tomorrow," Chen Qing said. "Am I going too?"

"I’ll go." Jiang Yuduo said. The rent at Cheng Ke’s place could be collected by Chen Qing, but for this side, he had to go in person. He did not want Lu Xi to get any ideas.

"Okay." Chen Qing poured him a glass of water, then opened the door and left.

Jiang Yuduo had no appetite. Even though he could smell how good the dishes were, and they were all things he usually liked, he still had no appetite.

But he still picked up his chopsticks and finished every bite of the meal.

In the end, he even burped.

The phone was ringing in the living room. Cheng Ke stood in front of the gas stove, staring at the pot on it, completely unwilling to answer.

He was already frustrated out of his mind, with half a stomach of fire to go with it. At first, he thought boiling a pot of plain congee would be easy, but after an hour, all he had made was a pot of rice soaked in hot water.

Today he finally felt that not having a rice cooker in the kitchen was really inconvenient, even though he had lived here this long and only cooked congee once.

He should have just ordered takeout. He had really overestimated his own cooking.

By the time the phone rang a second time, he finally turned around and went to the living room to take a look. To his surprise, the call was from Chen Qing.

He answered. "Hello?"

"Ji-ge," Chen Qing’s voice came through. "Have you eaten yet?"

Cheng Ke was too exhausted to correct this new name, and just answered, "Not yet. I’m making something."

"You’re cooking?" Chen Qing sounded very shocked. "Is that really safe?"

Cheng Ke said nothing. He did not know whether Chen Qing thought he might blow up the kitchen or poison himself.

"Should I bring you some?" Chen Qing asked. "I just went to Tingfulou and bought food, got some for Third Brother too, and there’s extra."

"No need, no need," Cheng Ke said quickly. "I’ve already finished."

"Weren’t you just saying you were still making it?" Chen Qing said.

"Yeah, it’s done now." Cheng Ke answered.

"…Oh, that was fast," Chen Qing said. "So, I’m just asking, that injury of yours, how is it? Is your vision affected?"

Actually, the punch had not hit his eye, but Cheng Ke still blinked unconsciously and looked around before answering, "It’s fine."

"Maybe you should go to the hospital and get it checked," Chen Qing said worriedly. "In this kind of situation… Third Brother’s hands are definitely heavy."

When Chen Qing mentioned Jiang Yuduo, Cheng Ke paused. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, "Why don’t you bring the food over anyway?"

"Huh?" Chen Qing froze.

"I’ve got wine here," Cheng Ke said. "Let’s eat together."

It took Chen Qing a long time before he finally said, "What are you planning?"

"…What could I possibly be planning?" Cheng Ke said.

Chen Qing was silent again for a while before he finally spoke. "Fine. I’m coming over now."

Cheng Ke poured out half the water from that pot of rice soaked in hot water, then put the pot back on the stove and kept cooking it. Maybe if he boiled all the water away, he would still get a pot of plain rice?

But the very first thing Chen Qing said after coming over shattered that dream.

"You really are a rich young master," Chen Qing sighed as he turned off the heat. "Even if you kneel before it, it still won’t turn back into rice."

"Oh." Cheng Ke sighed too.

"I’ve got rice, three boxes of it," Chen Qing said. "Enough for you."

A little frustrated, Cheng Ke took a few plates into the living room and poured the food Chen Qing had brought into them.

"So particular," Chen Qing sat down. "Isn’t it the same to eat from the takeout boxes?"

"Looks better." Cheng Ke put a bottle of red wine on the table. "Can you drink this? I don’t have baijiu here."

"Same thing." Chen Qing poured two glasses. "If I drink the white stuff, I won’t dare drive afterward."

"…You also can’t drive after this." Cheng Ke looked at him.

"Doesn’t matter." Chen Qing said. "If you count the years when I used to drive without a license, I’m already a veteran behind the wheel."

"That’s drunk driving." Cheng Ke held his cup down.

"Fuck," Chen Qing looked at him. After a long while, he waved a hand. "Fine, fine. I won’t drink, okay?"

"You could drink and just take a cab home," Cheng Ke said. "Then come back tomorrow to get the car."

Chen Qing did not answer. He seemed to be in a fierce internal struggle, wanting to drink, but not wanting to make a special trip tomorrow to pick up the car.

"How about this," Cheng Ke said after thinking for a moment. "Give me the address, and I’ll drive it over for you tomorrow."

After all, inviting Chen Qing over today was not just about drinking and eating.

"That works!" Chen Qing slapped his thigh in delight. Afterward, he looked at Cheng Ke again. "You’ve got a license?"

"I got my A2 license." Cheng Ke said.

"Fuck, why did you get a heavy truck license?" Chen Qing was very shocked.

"Fun." Cheng Ke said.

"That does sound pretty fun…" Chen Qing took out the car keys and put them on the table. "Be careful driving. This car belongs to a client, and it was just repainted yesterday."

"Mm." Cheng Ke nodded.

Chen Qing took his cup, drank a mouthful of wine, and bit into a rib with a crunch.

Cheng Ke was just thinking about how to bring it up without seeming too abrupt when Chen Qing looked at him and smiled. "Actually, I know why you called me over today."

"Mm?" Cheng Ke glanced at him.

"If you weren’t trying to ask about Third Brother," Chen Qing said, "you’d never invite me to your place for dinner in this lifetime."

"Don’t say it so absolutely." Cheng Ke said.

"That’s exactly how absolute it is," Chen Qing said. "I don’t mean anything else. It’s just that you and I aren’t the same kind of people. You don’t say it out loud because you’ve got manners, but in your heart, you definitely look down on me. You’re the same with Third Brother. You’re not the same kind of people."

Cheng Ke did not say anything.

"But you won’t look down on him," Chen Qing said. "He’s different from us. Strictly speaking, he’s not the same kind of person either. He just happened to run into it by accident."

Cheng Ke smiled. Chen Qing was not stupid all the time.

"So just say it straight. No need to beat around the bush. People like us on the streets, we say things plainly," Chen Qing said. "But whether I can answer what you want to ask, I can’t guarantee."

"Does Jiang Yuduo always do this?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Do what? Suddenly hit people?" Chen Qing frowned. "Didn’t I say it already? He hasn’t done this in years. Before, he only hit me once."

"He hit you?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Mm." Chen Qing nodded. "That day, I don’t know what he was thinking. I thought he was playing with his phone, so I walked over and patted him on the shoulder. Then I got hit. But after a few blows, he stopped."

Cheng Ke thought of the way Jiang Yuduo’s arm had slammed into the mattress today. If there had not been that opening…

"Why did he… do that?" Cheng Ke asked again.

Chen Qing looked at him, said nothing, and kept his head down eating.

"I got beaten up by him first thing this morning," Cheng Ke said. "I should at least know why, right?"

"What’s there to ask why for?" Chen Qing sighed. "He’s always on edge. If he doesn’t stay tense, what if he misses some danger? If he gets too nervous, he’ll just end up hurting the wrong person."

Cheng Ke did not say anything. Chen Qing’s explanation did not sound unreasonable at all, but he still felt like that was definitely not the whole story.

"What danger could there be?" Cheng Ke asked. "Is it related to what happened when he was a kid?"

Chen Qing looked up. "He told you about what happened when he was a kid?"

"He mentioned a few things," Cheng Ke said. "Not in much detail."

Chen Qing stared at him for a while. "Then I can’t say too much either."

"Do you know a lot?" Cheng Ke asked again.

"I’ve known him for who knows how many years," Chen Qing said. "I’ve known him since he first came here."

Cheng Ke filled his cup with wine. "Then when he was a kid…"

"I won’t tell you," Chen Qing said. "Really, don’t ask me. I won’t say a single word."

Cheng Ke sighed. After a while, he asked again, "Then who are ‘they’? Does he think someone’s following him?"

"Think?" Chen Qing frowned. "What do you mean, think? That’s just how it is!"

Cheng Ke froze.

So there really were people following Jiang Yuduo?

He had always thought Jiang Yuduo was not quite normal on this matter. Had he been wrong?

"Have you ever seen them?" Cheng Ke asked. "The people following him?"

Chen Qing looked at him, then picked up another rib. As he chewed, he seemed to be deep in thought. Only after he swallowed did he say, "No."

Cheng Ke froze again.

"You know me too. I’m not suited for this kind of thing," Chen Qing said. "Without Third Brother, I’d have been beaten up who knows how many times. I can’t detect danger at all."

"You’ve never seen anyone following him," Cheng Ke said, "then why do you believe someone’s following him?"

"Are you stupid?" Chen Qing stared at him.

"…Probably," Cheng Ke said helplessly at Chen Qing’s conclusion.

"The injuries on him! Can’t you see them?" Chen Qing kept glaring at him. "Every time he senses something’s wrong, he gets hurt! Haven’t you seen it? Who else in this area would dare to keep pestering him like that? And how many people could just casually hurt him like that?"

Cheng Ke was silent for a while. "When he gets hurt, have you seen it?"

"Nonsense, of course I’ve seen it," Chen Qing said.

"Have you seen him getting hurt by the people following him?" Cheng Ke asked again.

"No." Chen Qing sounded a little impatient. "I already said I’ve never seen those people… Wait, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I’m trying to say is…" Cheng Ke gritted his teeth. "Does Jiang Yuduo have some kind of mental problem?"

"What the fuck?" Chen Qing stared at him. After a long while, he slammed his chopsticks down. "I think you’re the one with a fucking mental illness! And it’s not a mild one, either!"