Chapter 63
The next morning, Shen He went back to his dormitory to retrieve the old books and miscellaneous items he had left behind. Pushing open the door, his bed was still piled with those things, even more cluttered than before, with several takeout boxes added.
All three roommates were there. The one who was playing games saw him and smirked, "You're back? I thought you got your bonus and didn't want to live in this shabby dorm anymore."
Shen He ignored him and walked to the table to start looking through his books. His seat was also piled with his roommate's clutter: cigarette boxes, snacks, BYTs, and all sorts of other things.
"Hey, I've put all your books away." The man's voice was clearly sarcastic. "After all, you're a professional player, a rising god in the Rift. Who knows if you'll ever come back?"
The other two roommates chuckled softly.
Shen He stopped what he was doing, turned around and looked at them: "Where's the book?"
"Under the cabinet." One of them gestured with his chin. "Find it yourself, the other things are there too."
Shen He walked over, squatted down, and opened the cabinet. Inside, a jumble of things were piled up, with his books at the very bottom. Several of them were deformed, and the edges of the pages were stained with some kind of dirt.
He took out the books one by one, moving very slowly, and seemed quite disgusted.
"Hey Chenhe," another person suddenly spoke up, drawing out the words, "You said you were pretty good at playing professionally, so why are you back to studying? Did something go wrong with your team?"
Shen He stood up and looked at him without saying a word.
"I saw online that you only played for a year before quitting. There must be a reason. Tell us about it," the man continued, his tone becoming increasingly mocking. "Weren't you on good terms with that jungler before? What happened? Did you fall out?"
"I knew it! Our dorm had a professional gamer, what an honor!" another person chimed in. "And what happened? He was just doing all that flirting and promotion, played for a year and then came back, and now he has to be roommates with people like us who you look down on."
Shen He turned around and stared at the man.
The man was still smiling, but his smile gradually froze because Shen He's eyes were too cold.
"Are you done talking?" Shen He asked coldly.
"I..." The man opened his mouth.
Shen He stepped forward, grabbed the man's collar, and pulled him up from the chair. The man screamed and tried to struggle, but Shen He was much stronger than he had imagined. He was slammed against the wall with a thud, and then Shen He held him down so he couldn't move.
"I just look down on you." Shen He's voice was low, but the two people standing next to him heard it.
"I was too lazy to talk before, and I still am now. You'd better not bother me."
The man's face turned bright red. He wanted to say something, but Shen He held him down firmly, and he could only make muffled sounds.
The other two roommates stood up, one of them tentatively saying, "Chenhe, what are you doing? Let go!"
Shen He glanced at them, his eyes showing no anger, only a chilling disgust.
"Did you hear me clearly?"
The man nodded frantically.
Shen He then looked at the other two people, who lowered their heads and didn't dare to speak.
Shenhe released his grip, and the man immediately clutched his neck and coughed, retreating to the bedside with fear and resentment in his eyes.
Shen He packed his small belongings into his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out. As he passed the person, the other person instinctively shrank back, and the entire dormitory was eerily quiet.
Shen He stopped and turned his head: "Clean up my bed and table by tomorrow night."
The door slammed shut, leaving the three roommates staring at each other in bewilderment.
When he got downstairs, Shen He's phone rang. It was Chen Yuchuan calling. He glanced at it and hung up.
Chen Yuchuan sent another message: "Baby, are you up? Is your dorm ready?"
At 3 p.m., Shen He finished dealing with school matters and was so hungry he felt dizzy. He bought some daily necessities, returned to his apartment to eat a bowl of instant noodles, and then cleaned up.
The doorbell rang suddenly. He looked out through the peephole and saw Chen Yuchuan standing outside the door with his hands in his pockets and no expression on his face.
Shen He frowned and opened the door: "How did you know I lived here?"
"I asked," Chen Yuchuan said matter-of-factly.
Shen He stared at him for a few seconds, knowing that he must have had someone investigate, and didn't say anything more. He just took the keys and his phone, closed the door, and said, "Let's go."
Where to?
"Have a meal."
Shen He led Chen Yuchuan toward the back gate of the school, where there were many stalls selling all sorts of things. At this time, there weren't many students, and it looked a bit deserted.
Shen He stopped in front of a noodle stall, ordered a bowl of instant noodles with lots of side dishes and three eggs. The owner, a middle-aged man, looked up and saw him, his eyes lighting up: "Little Shen's back? It's been so long!"
Shen He smiled and said, "Yes, I'm back to continue my studies."
The boss joked with him, "I heard you won some game world championship. Now you don't have to come here to do hard labor anymore."
At that time, Shenhe had just left home. He didn't know anything and was confused about everything. He was almost out of money. Just then, he saw that the boss was recruiting part-time workers, so he came here to work for a while. The boss was a very nice person and took good care of him.
Shen He joked, "It's not about doing hard labor, it's mainly to eat the noodles you make for free."
Chen Yuchuan, who was standing to the side, moved his eyes slightly upon hearing this.
"However you consider it a free meal, the noodles are considered your earnings from your labor," the boss said cheerfully. "Back then, everyone else was slacking off, but you were working hard. I told you then that a kid like you could succeed at anything, and look, you won the world championship."
The two chatted casually. Chen Yuchuan stood still, suddenly realizing that since their reunion, Shen He had become much more carefree in his daily life, no longer as picky and spoiled as before. He thought this was what Shen He meant by growing up, but that wasn't actually the case.
He had always thought that Shen He was only doing part-time jobs to buy figurines or game skins, a way for rich kids to experience life. His parents couldn't just abandon him, so Shen He had to completely sever ties with them. For the past two years, he had been supporting himself, including playing professionally, not out of interest or to prove anything, but simply because he needed money.
Chen Yuchuan suddenly felt a tightness in his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. He shouldn't have been afraid to come to Shen He just because of Zhou Wen's unverified words.
He should have had someone keep an eye on Chenhe every day, watching what he ate, what he did, whether he was doing well, whether anyone was bullying him, and whether he was well-fed and clothed. But it's too late to say anything now; this self-blame will haunt him forever.
The owner put the cooked noodles into a large bowl. Shen He took it and looked at Chen Yuchuan, whose brows were furrowed and who seemed to be thinking about something.
Shenhe sighed and kicked him with her foot: "You can choose what you want to eat."
"Your friend?" The boss glanced at Chen Yuchuan.
"Um."
I'll round it down for both of you.
Chen Yuchuan followed Shen He and ordered some instant noodles at random. The two of them sat down by the roadside with their instant noodles. Shen He picked up his chopsticks, took a big bite of noodles, and then broke an egg. The yolk flowed into the soup, and he stirred it, eating with great focus.
Chen Yuchuan looked at him, and after a while, he picked up his chopsticks and took a bite.
The taste was much better than he had imagined. The noodles were cooked to a perfect chewy texture, the vegetables were crisp, the meat slices had a slightly charred aroma, and the egg was half-cooked, with the yolk mixed into the soup, making the whole bowl of noodles thicker. He ate a few more bites and suddenly remembered the instant noodles he had made for Shen He.
Even though the cooking methods seemed the same, his ingredients were better—more meat, even the eggs were handpicked by his aunt, and he even checked recipes—but his cooking just didn't taste good. The noodles were overcooked, the vegetables were mushy, and the eggs were overcooked; the yolks were dry when you poked them open.
But Shen He had a smile in his eyes, ate very slowly, and looked very satisfied. He even said, "It's pretty good, much better than what I cook myself. I didn't expect my brother to have such a good life."
Chen Yuchuan now realized that it was a lie.
“Baby,” Chen Yuchuan suddenly said.
Shen He raised his eyes, still chewing noodles.
Chen Yuchuan reached out and grabbed Shen He's hand, which was resting on the table, his voice hoarse: "I was wrong."
Shen He swallowed the noodles in his mouth, looked at him and sighed: "You're not wrong, it's just that our views are different."
Chen Yuchuan was silent for a few seconds, his Adam's apple bobbing: "I was really wrong, I wasn't thinking straight."
"You're doing this for my own good, and I'm the one who didn't appreciate it." Chen Yuchuan paused. "I just can't bear to part with you. Please forgive me this time."
Shen He stared at him without saying a word.
"I should do what I'm supposed to do," Chen Yuchuan continued, his eyes serious. "I'll take care of things at home, plan my future, and then come back to you."
Shen He withdrew his hand and continued eating his noodles. Chen Yuchuan looked at him, his heart pounding: "You... baby, please don't be angry with me anymore, okay?"
"Um."
"and you--"
“I’m not angry anymore.” Shen He interrupted him, picked up a large piece of bean curd skin and threw it into his bowl. “Putting aside our romantic relationship, we are friends, we are brothers.”
Chen Yuchuan stared blankly at the piece of bean curd skin. A long time ago, he ate a few extra bites of bean curd skin while having dinner with Shen He. Shen He thought he liked it and remembered it to this day.
“I know you can do nothing but enjoy life,” Shen He continued. “Your relatives and brothers all live extravagantly, indulging in whatever they want, but you are different from them.”
“I knew before that you thought they were dirty and that you hated their decadent lifestyle, which is why I met you at that school.”
Chen Yuchuan stared at him, his chest tightening.
“I was too harsh with my words that day,” Shen He said softly. “But I really think that if you’re going to study, you should study hard. Don’t end up only half-understanding what you’re learning and reading, having problems with even basic communication, and just idly hanging out with me for a few years. That would be even worse than continuing to play games or go pro.”
Chen Yuchuan's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and after a long while, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "It's my problem."
Shen He looked up at him, her tone serious: "If you weren't my boyfriend, I wouldn't argue with you, and I wouldn't say these things to you. What you want to do is none of my business, but now that we're together, we have to talk about these things."
“I’ve heard you talk about your family, and you say everything is yours, which I believe. But you need to have the ability to make others afraid to mess with you.”
"As for whether you want those things or not, how you handle them is your own business, based on your own will, not for me. You don't want to get or give up things because of me, do you understand?"
Chen Yuchuan clenched his fists tightly, and after a long silence, he finally spoke: "I understand."
Shen He didn't say anything more, just nodded and continued eating his noodles.
After they finished eating, they walked back, with Chen Yuchuan beside him. After a while, he asked, "Can I sit at your place for a bit?"
Seeing his cautious demeanor, Shen He wanted to laugh, but considering that they hadn't fully reconciled, he simply nodded.
The room where Chenhe was buried was still a bit messy; the suitcases were still unopened, and there was a layer of dust on the table.
"I'm not done cleaning yet." Shen He took off his coat and hung it behind the door. "Please, make yourself at home."
Shen He squatted down and began to tidy up the large amount of scattered trash. Chen Yuchuan glanced at it, then turned around and went to the balcony to get a wet rag.
"What are you doing?" Shen He looked up at him.
"Wipe the table," Chen Yuchuan said, his hands moving without stopping as he vigorously wiped away the accumulated grease on the table.
Shen He looked at him for a few seconds, said nothing, and continued tidying up.
After wiping the table, Chen Yuchuan went to wipe the wardrobe and the glass.
Shen He had intended to tidy up the bedroom first, but seeing him sweating profusely, he turned to get a mop. Chen Yuchuan quickly snatched the mop away, saying, "I'll do it."
As darkness fell, the house was transformed; the tables and windows were clean, and the floor shone brightly.
Both of them were exhausted. They took a quick shower and lay down on the bed. The bed was a bit hard, and they could feel the springs pressing against their backs. Chen Yuchuan turned to his side, took Chen He's hand, and stroked the back of his hand with his fingertips.
"How did I do this time? Am I a good boyfriend?"
Shen He's lips curled up slightly: "That's good."
Chen Yuchuan sensed the pleasure in his tone, breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and hugged him: "This bed board is too hard, do you want to change to a better one?"
"Don't bother. It's much better than the hard bed in the dorm."
"Are the beds in the dorm hard?" Chen Yuchuan had never lived in a student dormitory before. In his imagination, the dormitories of such prestigious universities should be bright and luxurious.
"It's alright," Shen He said. "You'll get used to it."
"Then why don't you stay in the dormitory anymore?"
Shen He was silent for a few seconds: "It's too noisy. I get annoyed just seeing people."
Remembering something, Chen Yuchuan didn't ask any more questions and naturally changed the subject: "I'll go back tomorrow to deal with VLG first, and then take care of things at my place."
Shen He patted his arm: "I'll trust you one last time."
Chen Yuchuan smiled and hugged him tighter: "Don't worry, I've really listened this time and learned my lesson."
Shenhe nodded and then reminded him, "Remember to take good care of the little snake and the little fish."
“Why are you so worried about them?” Chen Yuchuan bit him, “You don’t even let me take care of myself.”
Shen He chuckled: "I originally planned to take them over once I had settled them in, because you seem like an unreliable person."
Chen Yuchuan was speechless: "What is this? A custody battle?"
Shen He found this argument interesting and couldn't help but ask, "If we really break up in the future, who will own these two snakes?"
Chen Yuchuan couldn't hold back any longer. He flipped over and pinned him down, his eyes turning dangerous: "Break up? Do you believe I'll fucking you right now? So you'll never be able to say those words again."
Shen He now truly felt that Chen Yuchuan had lost his mind. The way he spoke was no different from the brainless protagonists in those corny short dramas and corny novels. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at him: "...Can you please read less domineering male protagonist novels? I'm getting cringeworthy from you every day."
"..." Chen Yuchuan also felt that Shen He seemed to have something wrong with his brain. He was a typical atmosphere destroyer, conversation killer, love talk killer, and lust extinguisher.
He lowered his head and bit Chenhe's lips, his voice lingering in the kiss: "I feel like your mouth is sick, you can't say nice things, let me kiss you a few more times to treat it."
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