(Four)

The fat man first drove Cui Yongle to the headquarters of Qingdeng, and then parked his car in front of the supermarket in the community.

"I'll call the glasses down, let's buy them together," the fat man said.

Wen Su nodded: "I'll take Zhou Ziqiu in first. You two can buy whatever you see, and I'll take care of it."

"become."

Pushing a shopping cart from the supermarket entrance, Wen Su headed straight for the raw meat section, buying large pieces of lamb chops, chicken wings, and other meats. He also bought a lot of seafood. In no time, the shopping cart was piled high with items.

At this moment, Fatty and Glasses also pushed a shopping cart over, and the four of them bought a lot of vegetables at the supermarket. Wen Su also bought a box of yogurt for Zhou Ziqiu to drink.

As he entered the code to open the door, Wen Su glanced at the fat man and the man with glasses: "During my absence these past few days, I hope you two haven't messed up the house, have you?"

The fat man quickly shook his head: "Of course, I made sure to tidy up before I left today."

Since the fat man said so, Wen Su turned his gaze back, reached out and opened the door. Zhou Ziqiu stood to the side, and what came into view was the modern white-dominated interior decoration. A large white sofa in the center of the living room occupied most of his vision. The French windows of the balcony were slightly open, and the beige curtains moved with the wind. Sunlight shone into the room, and a sunflower was growing well.

"Come in."

Fatty and Glasses entered the house first, and skillfully took out slippers to change into. Wen Su took a brand new pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet next to him and placed them in front of Zhou Ziqiu.

"You live together?"

Zhou Ziqiu bent down to change his shoes, asking curiously as he did so.

"no."

Wen Su responded, and after Zhou Ziqiu changed his shoes, he led him to the sofa and asked him to sit down. He took out a carton of yogurt from the large and small packages he had just bought at the supermarket, inserted a straw, and handed it to Zhou Ziqiu.

"Thank you." Zhou Ziqiu took the yogurt, took a small sip, and looked around the house. Judging from the living room and the kitchen not far away, the house was very clean, but it looked somewhat empty. Apart from some necessary furniture and daily necessities, there was nothing special.

The fat man who was packing the groceries he bought at the supermarket into the freezer overheard their conversation and added loudly, "I live next door to Glasses."

"Hmm?" Zhou Ziqiu was a little curious. Why did Wen Su ask the fat man that question at the door earlier?

Noticing Zhou Ziqiu's gaze, Wen Su stood up and sighed helplessly: "They live next door, but they like to come here. They even come to eat here, and they always make a mess of my place."

Both the man with glasses and the fat man chuckled.

"If that's the case, then why don't you live together?" Zhou Ziqiu asked.

"Sigh." The fat man sighed. "The eldest brother didn't want to live with others, so he specifically rented two apartments when he was looking at houses."

"Rent?" Zhou Ziqiu was surprised. Would a rented house be so well-decorated?

"It was originally rented, but it was later bought."

Upon hearing this, the fat man exclaimed, "Damn it! Boss, what did you buy?! You've been doing something big behind our backs!"

"What a disgrace." Wen Su scoffed, walked to the kitchen, and rolled up his sleeves to prepare the ribs. Zhou Ziqiu, who happened to be bored, got up from the sofa and walked to Wen Su's side. Just as he was about to offer to help Wen Su, he saw something that left him speechless—

"Wensu."

Zhou Ziqiu spoke in a solemn tone, his gaze falling on the dagger in Wen Su's hand. He watched helplessly as Wen Su used this precious blade, which could cut through bones like mud, to chop ribs. The last time Wen Su did this was when he was scaling fish in Changnan Village.

"Is it really okay for you to use your knife like that?"

"Hmm?" Wen Su raised the dagger and examined it for a long time before replying, "No way? Isn't that how it's used?"

Zhou Ziqiu was somewhat helpless. He wanted Wen Su to realize what a rare treasure the dagger in his hand was, but Wen Su threw him a bundle of vegetables, interrupting his speech before he could even begin.

"oh."

Zhou Ziqiu responded, carried the vegetables to the sink, and turned on the tap to wash them.

Wen Su watched Zhou Ziqiu's figure and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Boss, boss, Glasses and I are going to pick up Chairman Cui!"

About two hours later, the fat man, seeing that it was almost time, sat on the sofa and called out to Wen Su.

"Okay, go ahead."

Wen Su responded, and a few minutes later the door slammed shut.

"How's it going?"

Zhou Ziqiu wiped his hands and walked to Wen Su's side. He and Wen Su divided the work: he was in charge of washing the vegetables, and Wen Su was in charge of chopping and cooking. During this time, Zhou Ziqiu saw Wen Su skillfully flipping the wok and couldn't help but want to try it himself. However, he accidentally flipped all the vegetables in the pot onto the cooking counter and was "invited" by Wen Su to the living room.

"Want to try some?"

Wen Su took a piece of sweet and sour pork rib from the pot with his chopsticks and handed it to Zhou Ziqiu. Without thinking, Zhou Ziqiu opened his mouth and bit into the rib. The sweet and sour taste made Zhou Ziqiu very happy. He snatched the chopsticks from Wen Su's hand, took another piece from the pot, and fed it to Wen Su. Before he had even swallowed the meat in his mouth, he spoke in a slightly slurred and sticky voice: "Delicious!"

"...Um."

Wen Su's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. He bit the meat he was holding with his chopsticks and swallowed it in a few bites. Despite his excellent cooking skills, he found the food tasteless to him.

Unaware of Wen Su's unusual behavior, Zhou Ziqiu moved the plate that had already been set aside to the dining table in the living room. But just as he was about to pick up the third plate, Wen Su suddenly called out to him.

"...Little beauty."

"Hmm?" Zhou Ziqiu turned around in response.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Wen Su couldn't find the right words to say. After he had been thinking about it for a long time, he finally managed to organize his thoughts: "Are you going to move in with me?"

"Huh?" Zhou Ziqiu didn't understand what Wen Su was saying for a moment. "What? Where do you live?"

Wen Su suddenly didn't know what to say. The courage he had finally mustered up disappeared again. He stammered and explained, "Well, the environment where you are isn't very good either. I can—I mean, if you come over, I can take care of you, I can cook for you—and stuff like that, um."

"You mean this?" Zhou Ziqiu didn't notice Wen Su's tension. He smiled and said, "Of course, I'd love to eat your cooking every day, but let's wait until everything is settled."

If I'm still alive after everything is resolved.

Wen Su didn't understand Zhou Ziqiu's implication, but his eyes lit up and he quickly replied, "Okay."

A moment later, Cui Yongle, Fatty, and Glasses returned. Fatty and Glasses were carrying large bags of snacks again. Wen Su happened to see this when he came out with a plate and raised his eyebrows: "Not eating?"

The fat man chuckled and said, "Of course not, we'll eat after we finish our meal."

As soon as Cui Yongle entered the house, he smelled the aroma of food wafting through the room. After changing into slippers, he couldn't wait to sit down at the dining table. After picking up a piece of braised pork, he was completely won over by its rich yet not greasy taste: "Holy crap, Wen Su, your cooking skills are so good!"

"Of course, our boss's cooking is superb." The fat man served rice to the five people, and then the five of them sat down at the table and started eating together.

Around 8 p.m., Zhou Ziqiu and Cui Yongle said goodbye and left Wen Su's house.

In the darkness, Cui Yongle walked beside Zhou Ziqiu, praising Wen Su incessantly. But after a few words, he suddenly realized that Zhou Ziqiu hadn't uttered a word since they came downstairs. He turned to look at him and was startled: "Xiao Qiu!"

"Hmm?" Zhou Ziqiu covered his nose and responded sullenly when he heard Cui Yongle calling him.

Cui Yongle stared in disbelief as drops of black blood dripped from Zhou Ziqiu's hands onto the ground, staining even his clothes.

"You..." Before Cui Yongle could finish speaking, he swiftly caught Zhou Ziqiu, who was staggering. Zhou Ziqiu also leaned against a nearby lamppost. Under the warm yellow light, the black blood on the ground was painful to the eyes. Even Cui Yongle felt a tightness in his chest, and his voice became tinged with sadness: "Is it really over after all?"

Zhou Ziqiu smiled weakly and took the tissue from Cui Yongle: "Let's go first, Wen Su can see us from here."

Cui Yongle turned around in response and found that he could indeed see Wen Su's balcony on the tenth floor from his position, but he did not see anyone on the balcony with the lights on when he turned around.

Even so, this was not a place to stay for long. Cui Yongle, with a solemn expression, helped Zhou Ziqiu leave.

Just three minutes after the two left, a man rushed to the spot where they had been standing, but he could no longer see the two men. Only the black blood on the ground silently revealed what had just happened.

His face was gloomy, his lips were pursed, he bent down and probed the pool of blood on the ground, and after a long while he let out a cold laugh, full of sarcasm.

"Have you been enduring this all along?"

In the car, Zhou Ziqiu leaned back and rested for a while before recovering. Cui Yongle had no way to deal with Zhou Ziqiu. Using a yang-gathering magic artifact on him would hurt him, while using a yin-gathering talisman on him might make him feel even worse, because the surging yin energy and evil energy on his body were the source of his discomfort. Now that he saw that his complexion had improved a lot, Cui Yongle breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hmm." Zhou Ziqiu's voice was extremely weak. "It will scare them."

Cui Yongle sighed: "So how much time do you have left...?" Probably not much.

"We'll see how things go, maybe soon." Zhou Ziqiu closed his eyes and leaned against the window. Pain was still churning inside him, as if countless people were tearing at his flesh. Even the wound on his neck was aching.

For no apparent reason, he wanted to smell the incense on Wen Su's body.

That smell really calmed his mind.

Cui Yongle's face was somewhat pale. He raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, silently started the car, and drove away.

After a long while, Zhou Ziqiu spoke again, his words sounding like murmurs or a plea.

"I want to see more of the boats, I..." I couldn't bear to leave.

“Then live on.” Cui Yongle’s voice was slightly choked. “Didn’t that person say that the person you’re waiting for will save you? Wen Su will save you.”

"Alright." Zhou Ziqiu curled the corners of his lips. "Live on."

18:58:10