Chapter 038 Three Sentences Fill the World-weary Villain with Hope (Part 3)
"You're dirty. Stay here. I'll get some water to wash you off."
After bringing the little black cat back to the apartment, Chen Yunli wrapped it in clothes and placed it on the bed. He rubbed its head and turned to go out.
But just as he took a step, he felt a faint pull on his sleeve, as if something was gently hooking it. He turned around and saw that it was the little black cat's claws hooked on the unfastened part of his sleeve. Its head peeked out from the folds of his clothes, its large eyes gazing at him intently.
"Meow, meow..."
The kitten let out a weak cry from its throat, and its other paw trembled as it reached up and wrapped around Chen Yunli's wrist.
Chen Yunli opened his palm, and it slipped in, its belly pressed against his palm, ironed like a hand warmer of perfect size, with only long, dense hairs spilling out from between his fingers.
"Meow——" After finding a good place to lie down, it raised its head and called out again. This time Chen Yunli understood.
"You want to come with me?"
The kitten nodded, then tilted its head and rested it on his wrist.
A warm, soft feeling beat against his pulse, a sensation no different from someone leaning against his chest. Chen Yunli slightly clenched his fingers, unable to bear to refuse.
He turned over the black cat's fur and did not find any serious external injuries. Its involuntary trembling and spasms must have other reasons.
It's not an external injury, it's an internal injury?
Chen Yunli was thinking about it when he heard the sound of a door opening and closing from the opposite house, followed by a burst of hurried footsteps and the smell of alcohol rushing in through the crack of the door.
The guy next door who tortured Chen Wenjian in the original timeline is back.
Chen Yunli's face darkened slightly. He put the kitten in his palm into his pocket, tapped its head with his fingertips to signal it not to move, and waited until the door opposite was closed before opening it and going out.
The hallway smelled even stronger, mingled with a strong, sour, rancid odor. It was utterly stinky, not much better than Garbage Alley. There was a pool of vomit in front of the opposite gatehouse; that was the source of the stench.
Chen Yunli pinched his nose with one hand and held the washbasin with the other, walking towards the public bathroom at the end of the corridor with an expressionless face.
Affordable apartments naturally do not provide each tenant with a separate bathroom. One bathroom on each floor is standard, or even the top configuration, because the landlord of this apartment at least will not cut off water and electricity at any time to save money.
It is working hours now, and most of the guests have already gone to their posts. The peak of bathroom usage has passed and there is no one inside.
The bathroom has an inner and outer compartment. Inside are three toilets, equipped with shower heads, serving as both a bathroom and a shower. Outside is the washbasin, where ten faucets are arranged in a narrow space, and there is only one dressing mirror, standing in the middle of a row of faucets.
Chen Yunli stood in front of the mirror, turned on the tap, and filled a small basin with water. The water was warm, with a slightly pungent smell of industrial water purifier that took a while to dissipate.
Amid the sound of dripping water, Chen Wenjian peeked out a pair of eyes from the edge of his pocket. The water vapor blurred the sides of the mirror, but made the vertical line in the middle appear clear and bright, just right to reflect the figure and appearance of the person in front of him, more clearly than he could see with his own eyes.
Chen Yunli in the mirror was dressed simply. His shirt, which was washed to the point of having frayed edges, was tucked into his waistband, outlining the slender and neat curve of his waist and back. His suit pants, with their soft and hanging fabric, outlined a pair of long and straight legs.
He is not strong, but definitely not thin either. It is the kind of body that everyone wants but can never be achieved through training.
He possessed a handsome face, with soft, flowing contours and a well-defined brow bone and nose bridge, offering a flawless look from every angle. His slightly deep eye sockets were symmetrical and standard in shape, with naturally upturned corners of his eyes forming an angle with his curled eyelashes. When he smiled at someone, he exuded an inexplicable affection.
Chen Wenjian looked at the person in the mirror in a trance. The face was obviously very unfamiliar. He searched through all his memories in his lifetime but could not find any trace of him. However, he just had a feeling of reunion after a long separation.
It is hard to describe and explain, just like a tangled ball of wool, which makes it itchy, but is also tangled so tightly that no matter how it fiddles with it, it cannot be untangled.
"What are you looking at?" The sound of water stopped, and Chen Yunli's voice echoed in the empty bathroom.
Chen Wenjian's gaze was so penetrating and present that it was difficult for him to pretend he didn't know.
Chen Wenjian came back to his senses and saw Chen Yunli picking up the basin and walking out. He turned his head and looked up at him. From his angle, he could just see Chen Yunli's round chin and bright lips, which was a completely different feeling than looking at him in the mirror.
"Good... Aow meow..." Chen Wenjian almost uttered human words, but fortunately he stopped himself in the end and changed it to a cat's meow, but the sincere praise was still expressed naturally.
Chen Yunli raised his eyebrows and poked its cat head with a smile.
"Thanks for the compliment."
When I returned to the room, the vomit was still on the floor opposite the door, but it had dried up. The smell in the air became increasingly sour and pungent, and a bit irritating to the eyes.
Chen Yunli quickly went into the house and locked the door, then he felt better. He put down the washbasin and went to find the communicator in the drawer and sent a message to the landlord.
——There is vomit in front of the door of the resident in room 203 on the second floor, and the stench is terrible. I hope the landlord can notify the resident to deal with it.
The communication machine is a product of Liguo Technology. It is equivalent to a castrated version of a mobile phone, with only the function of sending and receiving text messages. It is low in cost and sold very cheaply. Every Chinese has one.
It is said that high-end communication devices capable of voice and video calls have been developed, but they are expensive and only circulate among wealthy people, and are out of reach for the working class.
The landlord of the apartment is a man in his thirties. He used to be a gambler and a desperado. He built this apartment with the money he won from gambling to support his life of food and clothing. He values this apartment as much as his parents and brothers.
If you were to ask who the guy next door is most afraid of here, it would definitely be the landlord. After all, he defaulted on his rent in the first month he moved in and was hung up and beaten to death by the landlord. This level of educational effect is enough to make his fear of the landlord deep in his bones and unforgettable.
Shortly after Chen Yunli sent the message, the landlord replied: I will notify you right away.
He put away the communicator and listened attentively to the noise on the other side - there were snoring sounds coming one after another, and he was sleeping very soundly, probably so he couldn't hear the message prompts on the communicator.
Good, he's going to get beaten again.
Chen Yunli smiled, rolled up his sleeves, found soap and a new towel, and washed Chen Wenjian's body.
The temperature of tap water is a bit low for humans, but it is just right for cats.
Chen Wenjian lowered his head and sniffed all over his body, frowning at the stench he had picked up in the garbage alley. He gently pressed the towel that Chen Yunli extended with his little paw, endured the pain in his body, and dived into the basin, sinking his whole body into the water, leaving only half of his head above the water.
Chen Yunli was happy: "It's rare to find a cat that is not afraid of water and doesn't hate taking a bath."
As he spoke, he also reached in and gently rubbed and stroked along the direction of Chen Wenjian's hair movement, cleaning away the dust and debris hidden in the hair.
Chen Wenjian was a little bit guilty at first, worried that he would see through her if she didn't behave like his "Mimi". But when she saw his actions, she immediately felt relieved.
It’s okay, I can still act for a while.
Thinking of this, it rolled in the basin to shake off the dirt attached to the surface of its skin.
After a simple rinse, the water had turned completely black. Chen Yunli simply picked up the basin and the cat and went to the bathroom to give it a shower with the shower head.
Chen Yunli rubbed soap all over Chen Wenjian's body, from the back of his neck to his back and then to his belly, rubbing it up and down to produce snow-white... gray-black foam, and even rubbed its slender tail and four paws repeatedly to clean them.
He pinched Chen Wenjian's paw and rubbed it gently. The little pad was clean of dirt and became soft and white. He couldn't help but rubbed it for a while longer.
Warm, cool, and delicate water flowed out from the shower head. Chen Yunli placed one hand on Chen Wenjian's back, and the water flowed through his fingers again, gently washing away the foam and dirt on his body.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Chen Wenjian felt that the pain in his body had eased a lot, as if it had been smoothed out by the gentle water flow and Chen Yunli's soft fingertips, and no longer screamed as sharply as before, stabbing him fiercely from time to time.
"Meow..." It lowered its head and rubbed Chen Yunli's fingers.
After taking a bath, Chen Wenjian's fur was wet and stuck to his skin. The fur ball, which was not big to begin with, had become even smaller, and it leaned skinny against Chen Yunli's palm.
Chen Yunli's eyes were dazed, and he suddenly recalled the scene when he first met another Chen Wenjian. At that time, he was also covered with bruises. It was really... so similar.
Not getting a response, Chen Wenjian looked up cautiously and saw him staring at him blankly, his eyes empty and distant, as if he was looking through them at something else.
It immediately thought of "Mimi" and suddenly felt a strong sense of uneasiness and faint jealousy. Even though it had already made it clear that it was acting, when it was really mistaken for another cat, unwillingness still occupied its heart.
"Meow!"
Chen Wenjian bit Chen Yunli lightly, leaving two neat teeth marks on his wrist, right next to his throbbing veins, as if making a mark.
A slight stinging in his hand interrupted Chen Yunli's thoughts. He pressed his fingertips against Chen Wenjian's head and rubbed it gently: "Why are you biting me? Are you hungry?"
He was not angry. After all, Chen Wenjian did not use much force. He changed a dry towel, wrapped the cat in it and wiped the water stains off its fur. Then he carried the basin in one hand and held the cat in the other hand as he left the bathroom.
Just as he entered the corridor, Chen Yunli heard the sound of a key turning in the door lock. He looked up and saw that the sound came from Room 203 - a man with medium-length black hair and a gray-blue casual suit was standing next to the vomit with a frown on his face, opening the door with the key with a look of disgust.
"Xu Bai, wake up."
The smell in the house was not much better than outside. The man did not go in, but raised his hand and knocked on the door frame three times.
"If you don't get up and clean up what you made, I'll tear your head off and use it as a mop."
His voice was neither high nor low, and had a lazy texture, like discussing lunch dishes with a friend at the street corner, with a hint of impatience.
Hearing this voice, Xu Bai, who was sleeping like a dead pig, woke up instantly, crawled under the bed, and knelt in front of the man: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I'm wrong..."
This muscle memory-like reflex stunned Chen Yunli, but the man seemed accustomed to it. He waved his hand and immediately turned off the sound.
Xu Bai swallowed and followed the direction of the man's finger to see the pool of vomit at the door. His face turned pale and he repeatedly promised that he would clean it up immediately, then crawled towards the bathroom.
Chen Yunli dodged his drunken body and hid Chen Wenjian behind him. At the same time, the man turned around and looked over here, making contact with Chen Yunli.
After a second of eye contact, Chen Yunli was stunned, and the man nodded to him and went down the stairs.
Looking at the man's back, two faces appeared in front of Chen Yunli's eyes. One of them was from the previous audit world. They were exactly the same and could overlap perfectly.
"Ning... Bufan?"
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