His head buzzed, his heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, and Ruan Bei almost died on the spot.
His eyes widened, his face drained of color, his mouth was half-open, a scream stuck in his throat, but he was momentarily speechless due to extreme fear, only emitting weak whimpers like a frightened small animal.
"Xiao Bei, what's wrong with you...?"
Ruan Bei's ears were filled with a deafening roar. Before his mind could even process what was happening, his legs, which had been feeling weak, had already taken off in a flash, disappearing from sight and leaving the old man's voice far behind.
The old man peered curiously out the window and muttered, "Nobody's here. Why is this child so startled..."
Terrified, Ruan Bei ran straight to his home. Home was always a place that gave him a sense of security, even though his old iron gate couldn't stop anything and unlike the Lu family, he didn't have bodyguards or vicious guard dogs. As long as he was at home, his heart was at peace.
The tallest buildings in the old residential area are only seven stories high. The Ruan family lives on the third floor. Ruan Bei takes advantage of his long legs, leaping three steps at a time, and can climb half a floor in just a few steps. He arrives at his doorstep in no time.
His hands trembled as he reached for his keys. The old building had poor sound insulation; he could hear the sound of a television and children talking in a high-pitched voice from his neighbor's apartment across the hall.
Various sounds intertwined, like a hallucination mixed with the terrifying footsteps.
Ghosts shouldn't make any footsteps. Ruan Bei's thoughts were in chaos, his hair stood on end, and a layer of cold sweat seeped out on his back. He kept switching the keychain in his hand, his fingers stiff and unresponsive.
"Is Xiao Bei back?"
Footsteps approached from inside the house, as if they had heard him running upstairs. His mother walked towards the door, ready to open it for him.
Ruan Bei jolted awake, his muddled mind instantly clearing.
I can't go home!
His mother is at home; he can't bring the ghost home, he can't let it harm his family...
He gripped the keys, turned, and ran upstairs.
He dared not go downstairs; the ghost was following him and he didn't know where it was now. He didn't dare look back either, so he could only run upstairs.
He went up to the fourth floor, found the right key in his keychain, and opened the door to his apartment. Ruan Bei rushed inside, reached for the light switch with one hand, and closed the door behind him with the other.
The house was empty. The sofas and chairs in the living room were covered with dust covers. After standing quietly against the wall for a while and not hearing any strange noises, Ruan Bei relaxed his tense nerves and body and breathed a sigh of relief.
The sudden ringing of his cell phone startled him. He took out his phone and saw it was his mother.
Ruan Bei's heart tightened, and she quickly answered the phone: "Mom, what's wrong?"
On the phone, Ruan's mother asked, "Are you home yet? I just heard a noise outside the door and thought it was you coming back. But when I opened the door, there was no one there. I called your father and he said you left a long time ago. Where did you go?"
"I……"
Ruan Bei looked around, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Mom, I want to stay upstairs tonight."
"Upstairs? Kunkun's back?"
Upstairs was the home of his childhood friend Qin Gu. When he was little, he couldn't read all the characters and would call out "Sleepy" to Qin Gu.
In addition, Qin Gu was not in good health at the time, and always seemed listless and drowsy, so he ignored all advice and insisted on calling him that.
Fortunately, Qin Gu had a good temper and didn't get angry with him. When he called out to Kunkun, Kunkun responded and smiled as he gave him candy and cookies.
Later, the adults in both families got used to it and started calling it that too.
Qin Gu was raised by his maternal grandfather. Grandpa He stroked Ruan Bei's head and said, "This nickname sounds gentle. Xiao Bei is a smart child."
Little Ruanbei just smiled foolishly, sticking close to Qin Gu and calling out "Kunkun" repeatedly to coax him into eating snacks.
His first baby tooth fell out while he was eating nougat given to him by Qin Gu. He was so scared that he cried loudly, and Qin Gu was at a loss for what to do with his little tooth.
Ruan Bei snapped out of his reverie, unaware that a smile had unconsciously crept onto his face.
"No...no."
He only came upstairs because he knew no one was home at the Qin family's house.
"Then what were you doing upstairs all by yourself?" Mrs. Ruan asked.
Ruan Bei stammered for a long time, unable to find a suitable excuse, and finally managed to say, "I... I miss him, so I'll stay upstairs tonight."
Mrs. Ruan: "...Alright, do you want me to bring you a blanket upstairs? Do you want to come down for dinner?"
Ruan Bei shook his head, then realized that his mother couldn't see him, and hurriedly said on the phone, "No need, I can tidy up myself. I just ate noodles at Dad's shop, I'm not very hungry, so I won't eat tonight."
“It’s just in time that Kunkun should be back soon. I’ll come up tomorrow, and we can clean and tidy up together,” said Mrs. Ruan.
Qin Gu was in poor health when he was a child. His maternal grandfather used some connections to send him to an old friend to learn martial arts, and he would go there for one or two months every year.
Later, Qin Gu's health did improve. Although he still looked lazy, because he was tall, thin, and pale, he didn't look strong at all. But when the two of them went to the swimming pool, he saw the smooth and firm muscles on Qin Gu's body, which made him extremely envious.
After Grandpa He passed away from illness a few years ago, Qin Gu started eating at his house every year. He and Qin Gu were the best of friends, and the two families were very close. In his parents' eyes, Qin Gu was like half a son to them.
In his previous life, Qin Gu returned more than half a month later than usual that year, saying that something had happened on his master's side that delayed him.
Then he left again after a short while, in a hurry, and never came back.
He couldn't reach him, the phone was unreachable, and he couldn't contact his master either. Ruan Bei was also embroiled in trouble.
After things calmed down a bit, he tried every means to find Qin Gu's whereabouts, fearing that something had happened to him, but he still had no news.
On the eve of his twentieth birthday, he received a package containing a piece of jade and a letter.
Ruan Bei recognized it at a glance; it was the jade pendant that Qin Gu had carried since childhood, never taking it off even when bathing.
The letter contained only a few lines of text, and the handwriting was hasty.
In his letter, Qin Gu instructed him to wear the jade and wait for his return.
He didn't get to see Qin Gu again, nor did he get to see his childhood sweetheart one last time before he lost his life at the Lu family's house.
If he could do it all over again, he would know what kind of misfortune his family would suffer and how to avoid it, but he truly had no idea what had happened to Qin Gu.
He only knew that Qin Gu had a master, but he didn't know who it was. He had inquired about his martial arts skills and even learned a few moves from him, but he didn't know where he learned them.
These matters can only be discussed slowly after Qin Gu arrives.
Ruan Bei didn't know if the ghost following him would still be with him tomorrow, so he could only vaguely reply, "Let's talk about it tomorrow. The sun isn't very strong these days, so it's not convenient to wash and dry things."
"That makes sense, then let's wait a bit longer."
After persuading his mother with a few words, Ruan Bei put away his phone. The room was quiet. He hadn't felt it when people were talking, but now that he was alone, he felt a little scared.
He hesitated for a moment, glancing at the door behind him, but didn't dare to peek through the peephole. He then pretended nothing had happened and walked toward Qin Gu's room.
The Qin family's layout was the same as his, with three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, but none of the three bedrooms were very large.
One of them was Grandpa He's room. After the old man passed away, Qin Gu kept the room.
The remaining two rooms are Ruan Bei's bedroom and his father's study. Grandpa He can write beautiful calligraphy, and Ruan Bei and his sister Ruan Xi even learned from him for a while when they were young.
Ruan Bei had often stayed in Qin Gu's room, and was as familiar with it as if it were his own. However, including his previous life, he had not been there for seven years, and a feeling of familiarity mixed with strangeness washed over him.
Upon entering, there was a large desk directly in front of him, with two chairs placed somewhat crampedly in front of it. For a long time, he and Qin Gu would sit at this desk, head to head, doing their homework and reading comics.
Next to the desk was a semi-cabinet-style bookcase, neatly storing various books bearing the marks of time. In the empty compartment on the top shelf were several small models, which he had given to Qin Gu and which the two of them had assembled together.
The bookcase faces an old-fashioned wooden double bed covered with light-colored sheets. There are peeling and mottled stickers on the wooden shelf at the head of the bed. When Ruan Bei's fingers touch it, long-forgotten memories eagerly surge from the depths of his mind.
Two little boys vaguely appeared before his eyes, one with a round face and round eyes and delicate features, and the other with pale lips that seemed to have some imperfections, but both were pretty and good-looking children.
The two boys huddled together, picking out their favorite stickers, gesturing back and forth, and sticking one on each side of their sleeping area.
A smile unconsciously spread across Ruan Bei's face. This was his past, his childhood and adolescence, ordinary yet full of joy, and thinking about it only brought him happiness.
The Lu family looked down on his family for being poor. Qin Shen, Lu Sibai's childhood friend, was afraid that he would try to take advantage of him. He warned him more than once not to have any illusions about him and not to think that he could compare with Lu Sibai.
Ruan Bei was really confused at the time. It wasn't until he arrived at the Lu family that he learned that there were boys who liked boys.
Lu Sibai and Qin Shen seemed like a couple. He only felt that he had broadened his horizons and had no other thoughts. He certainly wouldn't have any thoughts about Qin Shen, whom he didn't know at all and who had a very bad attitude towards him.
But every time Qin Shen looked at him with such disgust, it was as if he was constantly on guard against Qin Shen pouncing on him and doing something to him.
Ruan Bei felt very wronged. Not only did he not like Qin Shen, but he also hated him. Even if he really liked a boy, wasn't his own childhood sweetheart better?
Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind, and afterwards Ruan Bei would feel guilty, feeling that he had tainted the pure brotherhood between him and Qin Gu.
Ruan Bei thought that since he wouldn't be returning to the Lu family in this life, Lu Sibai had countless admirers. Without him as a common enemy, would they start tearing each other apart?
If so, he would be very happy, after all, he had suffered too many losses at the hands of those annoying guys, who all bullied him under the guise of avenging Lu Sibai. He himself did not know what grudge he had against Lu Sibai.
Ultimately, he was bound to have bad luck whenever he was with Lu Sibai. He wanted to avoid her, but somehow he kept running into this or that person.
I thought about some unpleasant things, but looking at my surroundings, my mood slowly returned to normal.
The narrow, familiar space gave him a strong sense of security. Ruan Bei easily found clean sheets to change into, and then took out the quilt from the closet.
While washing up in the bathroom, Ruan Bei made a special phone call to his mother. He chatted idly while quickly finishing his wash, then ran back to his bedroom as if escaping, and buried himself in the covers.
Author's Note:
Qin Shen: Don't touch me, I don't like you.
Ruanbei: Are you sick?
P.S.: My best friend named me the seme.
Me: I want a name that resembles that of a powerful Taoist master.
Best friend: Qin Gu?
Me: Sure! My nickname will be Kunkun, because I'm so talented that I was prone to losing my soul when I was young and often fell into a deep sleep. I'll use my name to calm my soul. You're so smart, kid!
Friend: ...Whatever makes you happy :)
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