Whose body is this? Who died? (Part 1)

The day after returning from Houcheng, Zhou Ziqiu gave Wen Su a few days off, not only to let Wen Su rest well, but also to help him quickly adjust his state. That night, after returning to Yuange, he suddenly discovered a good way to delay the collapse. Although it would be a bit painful, it worked very well.

In the morning, Zhou Ziqiu opened the shop as usual, only to bump into the owner of the snack shop next door. The owner was shocked and looked at Zhou Ziqiu, asking, "You're back?"

Zhou Ziqiu nodded: "I came back not long ago."

"Oh, oh." The boss responded twice, then looked Zhou Ziqiu up and down, and asked in confusion, "Why have you lost weight? You don't look well either. You need to take better care of yourself."

Zhou Ziqiu's transformation was dramatic in the eyes of his boss, who hadn't seen him for a long time. Just as parents can immediately see the changes in their children returning from afar, Zhou Ziqiu's complexion was much paler, his face was so thin that there was almost no flesh left, and his lips were bloodless. It wasn't frightening, but it made people feel sorry for him. So the boss went back into the house and packed up the food he had made that morning and delivered it to Zhou Ziqiu.

He smiled helplessly and agreed.

However, Wen Su's arrival half an hour later surprised Zhou Ziqiu slightly, because Wen Su's change was more obvious than his own. He asked with a worried look, "Didn't I give you a holiday? Why aren't you resting properly?"

Today is only the second day of the holiday, and Wen Su has already come over. Not to mention, his complexion is not much better than Zhou Ziqiu's. The dark circles under his eyes make people wonder how long he hasn't slept.

Wen Su closed his eyes and pressed his Jingming acupoint. He hadn't slept for the past two days. He didn't even have enough time to search for and study materials, let alone sleep. He thought he could hold on, but after two days without sleep, he was starting to feel the strain. His mind was foggy, and his voice was hoarse and barely audible when he spoke: "I'm fine."

"How can you say you're alright?" Zhou Ziqiu saw Wen Su sway and quickly caught him. However, he was much smaller than Wen Su, so it was a bit difficult for him to support him. But Wen Su quickly regained his balance and let go of Zhou Ziqiu.

"I'm really fine," Wen Su insisted stubbornly.

"Don't worry about me being alright." Zhou Ziqiu interrupted him, took his hand and led him upstairs. "Get some sleep here first, then we'll talk about being alright."

"..."

Wen Su was passively dragged upstairs and forcefully pressed onto the small bed in the second-floor bedroom, where he chuckled a few times in a hoarse voice.

"You go to sleep, I'll go downstairs."

The soft, warm bedding still carried the boy's sweet scent, like shampoo. The sweet smell made Wen Su feel drowsy, and he no longer refused: "Okay."

Zhou Ziqiu gave him a feigned fierce look: "I'll be upstairs in an hour. If you're not asleep, you'll be in for a surprise."

Wen Su chuckled: "Okay."

Zhou Ziqiu locked the bedroom door before leaving, so Wen Su wouldn't be able to leave until he slept tonight.

Lying alone in Zhou Ziqiu's bedroom, Wen Su couldn't fall asleep again. He sat up from the bed and looked around at the furnishings. The overly simple furnishings and monotonous color scheme made it clear at a glance how boring the owner of this room's life was.

Wen Su stopped his random thoughts and was about to lie down on the bed when the glaring black substance in the trash can next to the bed caught his attention again. He leaned down slightly, picked up the clean side of the black object from the trash can and took it out—it was a piece of toilet paper, most of which was stained black by the black liquid.

His fingers curled slightly, and after glancing at the tissue, he threw it back into the trash can. He collapsed onto the bed, completely unable to fall asleep, his mind racing through the information he had seen over the past two days.

So when Zhou Ziqiu went upstairs again after an hour, he and Wen Su stared at each other.

Zhou Ziqiu's eyebrows immediately rose, and he stood by the bed with his arms crossed: "Wen—Su—"

Wen Su didn't expect Zhou Ziqiu to actually come looking for him an hour later. He was caught red-handed, and a rare hint of embarrassment appeared on his face: "I'm about to go to sleep."

"Wen Su." Zhou Ziqiu called out again in a deep voice, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at Wen Su, "What exactly is on your mind?"

"I..."

Wen Su opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

“You can tell me, the wisdom of two people is always better than the reckless thinking of one person, right?” Zhou Ziqiu said earnestly, he was really afraid that Wen Su would ruin his health if he continued like this.

Wen Su reached up and rubbed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then finally spoke: "I—"

"Recently, I met someone, and my eyes keep involuntarily drawn to him. I really want to look at him. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Seeing him smile makes me feel good, but seeing him cry makes me feel terrible and I don't know what to do."

"..." Zhou Ziqiu did not interrupt Wen Su. In fact, he was a little shocked. From Wen Su's description, it was not hard to guess that he had met someone he liked. He did not expect that Wen Su would be troubled by love. In the past, he had never seen Xie Xingzhou fall in love with anyone. Wen Su did not seem like the kind of person who would be interested in anyone. He originally thought that Xie Xingzhou would be a bachelor for two lifetimes.

Wen Su paused for a moment before continuing, "But, but I suddenly learned that he may be leaving soon. I want to keep him here, but I don't know how."

After speaking, Wen Su opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Ziqiu by the bedside.

Now was the right time to speak. Zhou Ziqiu thought for a moment and asked, "Why did she leave you?"

"It's not leaving me, it's leaving this world."

So it turned out she was seriously ill. Zhou Ziqiu nodded in understanding, feeling a little sad for Wen Su. He didn't understand love, but just by reading stories and novels, he could tell how painful it would be for the other person to die. He sighed, "Then let's treat her well while she's still here, so that she can leave without regrets."

Wen Su turned his gaze to the ceiling, disagreeing with Zhou Ziqiu's words: "No..."

"Huh?" Zhou Ziqiu didn't hear Wen Su's words clearly.

"It's nothing." Wen Su shook his head, reached out and pulled the blanket up to him so that he could smell Zhou Ziqiu's sweet scent more clearly. "Thank you. I've thought things through a lot now. I think I can go to sleep."

"That's good." Zhou Ziqiu breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and said, "Then I won't bother you anymore. Go to sleep, but I'll come to see you again in an hour."

Wen Su smiled and responded.

After Zhou Ziqiu left the room, Wen Su closed his eyes.

impossible.

Leaving without regrets? Impossible. He wouldn't allow him to leave, not even if he wanted to.

......

At 2 p.m., Zhou Ziqiu heard footsteps coming and going upstairs. Knowing that Wen Su had woken up, he took the food he had bought and went upstairs: "Go wash up and come eat when you're done."

After a good night's sleep, Wen Su's complexion improved significantly, and the dark circles under his eyes faded somewhat. He nodded in agreement.

When he finished washing up and came out, he saw Zhou Ziqiu talking on the phone. When Zhou Ziqiu saw him come out, he nodded to him and gestured for him to sit down at the table and have a meal.

Wen Su walked to the table and sat down. Zhou Ziqiu had just heated the food in the microwave, so it was still warm. Wen Su picked up the bowl and started eating heartily, while listening intently to Zhou Ziqiu's voice on the phone.

It's Cui Yongle.

"Xiao Qiu, I've sent someone to make arrangements in Xiqi. They'll let me know immediately if anything happens, but nothing has happened recently."

"good."

"Hey, how have you been lately?"

"not bad."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ziqiu looked at Wen Su and said, "You eat first, I'm going downstairs to get busy."

"Um."

Wen Su nodded in agreement.

Not long after Wen Su sat back down at the front desk, he also came down from upstairs. Today was not a weekend, so there weren't many people on the street and the shop was quiet. Wen Su then casually leaned against the front desk and watched Zhou Ziqiu type on the keyboard.

"Any messages from the backend?"

Wen Su asked.

Zhou Ziqiu shook his head, his gaze fixed on the screen: "Nothing special."

It was all the same as usual: some people expressed gratitude, others asked questions. For example, some people kept dreaming about their classmates, some people said that things in their homes had mysteriously changed position, and some people heard noises coming from nearby schools late at night. They were all ordinary things. Even the person who said there were noises coming from the school late at night later messaged him saying it was a misunderstanding. He could only remotely guide them on what to do from the back end.

"oh."

Wen Su straightened up from the front desk and went to sit by the door to bask in the sun.

However, it is always best not to jump to conclusions. A few days later, when Zhou Ziqiu was browsing the backend as usual, he received a message from the person who had asked him a few days earlier about his recurring dreams of his classmates. The message said that the method Zhou Ziqiu had taught him was not working and that he could still dream about them.

Upon seeing the message, Zhou Ziqiu frowned. Wen Su, who was next to him, noticed Zhou Ziqiu's expression and also moved closer to look at the screen.

"I dreamt about my classmate... was he alive or dead?"

According to Zhou Gong's Dream Interpretation, dreaming of one's classmates represents the longing one feels for them, which is a good thing. It indicates that the dreamer's efforts will be rewarded or that the dreamer's social skills will become stronger. Therefore, Zhou Ziqiu only gave him a blessing spell at that time.

But judging from the messages this person sent, he is clearly afraid of his classmates.

Zhou Ziqiu's fingers twitched slightly, and he sent Wen Su's question to that person. A moment later, that person quickly replied. Upon seeing the message, Zhou Ziqiu and Wen Su exchanged a glance.

"They...they're all dead..."

18:58:13