「Chapter 4: He would remember Jiang Yu Duo’s unwarranted slash.」

Cheng Ke stood before the train station map, taking a few minutes to figure out which train he should take, and which stop he should get off to switch trains.

It was the first time in his life that he’d be taking a train, and although there was surprisingly a **** ton of people, he was lucky that he could recognize the landmark near Xu Ding’s apartment, if not he wouldn’t even know which stop he should alight at.

Following the crowd to squeeze into the train car, Cheng Ke was pressed and stuck against a pole, his stomach pinning an older woman’s hand onto the pole. Under the older woman’s “How can you be so impolite to hold onto the pole and pinning down someone else’s hand yet are unable to move away” glare, he let himself lean back, leaving the pole.

After going through long torment, the number of people getting on the train finally lessened when there was only one stop left before he had to get off.

As Cheng Ke walked out of the train station, he looked down and tugged at his clothes, two small clumps of white feathers floating in the wind past his eyes.

Only then did he realize that he had been walking around with a tear, the velvet of his down jacket was shedding, and that those two clumps were probably the last of it.

Cheng Ke pressed onto the opening, the knife wound on his waist starting to hurt again.

Cheng Ke had actually been to Xu Ding’s apartment twice, but only stayed for a while each time he dropped by. Perhaps it was because his clothes looked miserable when he went to get the key from the receptionist, which was why the receptionist hesitated and studied him for a while before giving Xu Ding a call, confirming that he was the one who was supposed to take the key.

Cheng Ke took the key and entered the house, removing his jacket and collapsed on the sofa, not wanting to move anymore.

He had lived for more than 20 years, and although he had nothing to do and didn’t achieve anything, he hadn’t needed to worry about eating and drinking and had never experienced nor thought about the concept of “not having money”.

Or perhaps it should be said that he never thought that he would be this penniless.

Now, he couldn’t even buy a bento.

****!

Although, he didn’t want to eat a bento.

He contemplated what he should do afterwards, resting for a bit before changing into one of Xu Ding’s jackets to go out and recharge his card to buy a mobile phone.

But when he thought about how his only transport choices were the bus and train, he no longer wanted to move, feeling very irritated.

What exactly happened, why did things suddenly become like this?

Cheng Ke wasn’t willing to dwell on meaningless questions, but his mind began to linger on it.

He lay dazed on the sofa until lunchtime when he slowly sat up and slowly walked to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror.

Spirit-wise, he was still alright, he wasn’t considered unprincipled, after all, he had been dealing with mental illness for the past two days.

He turned his body to the side, lifting his right arm, seeing the knife slash on his shirt. There weren’t any blood stains like he had imagined, but when he lifted his shirt again, it was then he saw the dark red slash of about two or three inches.

Cheng Ke turned on the tap, using his hand to cup water to clean his wound, wiping away the dried blood. The wound had extravasated on the inside a bit and on the surface, it was warm, not brutal at all.

Cheng Ke wasn’t one to hold grudges, but Jiang Yu Duo’s unwarranted slash, he would remember.

He would definitely find him.

Jiang Yu Duo lay on the side on his bed, laying in a bundle in front of his face was a cat that was sound asleep. Because it was too small and he wasn’t sure if he could raise it, Jiang Yu Duo never gave it a name, only calling it Miao.

Whether wandering in the crowd Miao would have a name in the end or not, at the very least, a name wasn’t what it needed, the only thing it needed was to survive.

Names.

Jiang Yu Duo had always found names to be a very mysterious thing.

When someone dies, versus a random person dying, they are completely different feelings.

A name’s purpose is most likely for proving that this person who has died, had once been alive.

His nose was a bit itchy, maybe due to the cat’s fur, but Jiang Yu Duo didn’t turn his head on time, sneezing onto the cat before his eyes.

The cat that was sleeping soundly, didn’t even have a set of reactions to being woken suddenly, and just directly jumped off the bed, crawling under the cabinet.

“You rascal,” Jiang Yu Duo rubbed his nose and turned to lay flat on the bed, closing his eyes.

Sunlight streamed in from the yard wall onto the bed, his whole face bathed in the warmth of the light. The light danced before his eyes in spots and the bright red behind the light spots.

Jiang Yu Duo lifted his hand and waved it in front of his face. As his hand blocked the sunlight, the light spots slowly disappeared, then moved, the light spots dancing around, before getting covered again……

The light spots gradually faded, the bright red background also started to darken, leaking through the color of blood.

Jiang Yu Duo abruptly opened his eyes, sitting up hastily.

Miao, who had just grabbed onto the bed sheet to climb onto the bedside, was shocked by his sudden action and fell back to the floor, crawling under the cabinet once again.

Jiang Yu Duo sat on the edge of his bed and stared, his phone ringing for what seemed like half a day before he picked it up.

“Are you going to collect the rent from the tenant in building 2 within the next two days?” Lu Qian’s voice carried hints of frustration. “The tenants on the 2nd, 4th and 5th floor of building 1, those three idiots have yet to pay up, right.”

“I think they haven’t paid since last month.” Jiang Yu Duo pulled out a cigarette.

“2nd floor hasn’t paid in the past two months, let him go if he doesn’t pay up this month!” Lu Qian said, “I took pity on them, let them stay comfortably, but oh well, who the hell will take pity on me.”

“I pity you,” Jiang Yu Duo lit the cigarette, glancing at the small alarm clock by the head of the bed, “I’ll bring someone over later to take a look.”

“You don’t have to be too fierce to the ones in the 2nd floor, can’t squeeze any money out of them if they’re dead, the kid is still young,” Lu Qian instructed, “4th and 5th floor is up to you, I’ve long been tired of those two on the 5th floor, if they can’t pay, send them packing.”

“Then just directly chase them away.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“No!” Lu Qian’s voice went higher, “You still have to take the money even if they leave!”

“Noted.” Jiang Yu Duo smiled.

“Come back for dinner later,” Lu Qian said, “I cooked a large pot of sweet and sour pork ribs, your favorite, bring some beer when you come over later.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yu Duo answered.

At around four o’clock in the afternoon, Jiang Yu Duo let Chen Qing call two people to head to building 1 together.

Buildings 1234 were all Lu Qian’s rental rooms in the city, each building had seven storeys, rent was mostly monthly cash settlement and was collected by Jiang Yu Duo.

He had been calling Lu Qian ‘Sister’ for ten years, from building 1 to building 4, he watched as they were all built.

He had been living in building 1 for a good few years, but once Lu Qian had bought the building, she let him move into the old house that he lived in now. He had been slightly reluctant when moving out.

At first, there was always a sense of sorrow in revisiting the place while he was collecting rent, but over time, the feeling disappeared. After all, visiting the place dozens of times a year, every month always had a few unpleasantries, how annoying.

“Want it hard or soft?” Chen Qing followed beside him, walking in a domineering way. Jiang Yu Duo had to avoid him, Chen Qing could have stepped on his feet eight times out of the ten steps he took.

“Be straight.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“What straight?” Chen Qing patted the steel pipe sticking out of his pant leg. “Steel pipe’s straight.”

“Move,” Jiang Yu Duo took a glance at him. In order to protect Chen Qing’s image in the eyes of their younger brothers, he worked hard to control himself from losing his temper. “Walk in a straight line. If you stick your fucking foot out in front of me again, I’ll break it for you.”

Chen Qing froze, then joked, “It’s not like you just found out today that I’ve walked with duck feet.”

“You can call this duck feet?” Jiang Yu Duo said. “What you’re doing is a leg-sweep.”

“I’m helping you build your image!” Chen Qing said. “Building image, understand?”

“Stuff it,” Jiang Yu Duo sighed, “We’re here to collect rent, not hijack.”

After half an hour, Jiang Yu Duo felt that day was probably looking more like a hijack.

“If you don’t open the door, we’ll break it!” Chen Qing knocked on 502’s door. “Open up!”

“We have the key,” Jiang Yu Duo waved his hand behind his back and a young kid from behind him placed a large bundle of keys into his hand, even picking out 502’s key. He looked at this kid in the eye, “What’s your name?”

“Calling me Da Bin will do, Third Bro.” The kid smiled.

Jiang Yu Duo nodded, taking the key to open the door.

Twisting it twice, the door lock had no reaction. It was probably locked from the inside.

“You have ten seconds to open the door,” Jiang Yu Duo tossed the key into Da Bin’s hands and felt around in his pocket, taking out an account book. He removed the two paper clips at the top, taking his time to straighten them, “When I have to open this door myself, collecting rent won’t be as easy anymore.”

There was still no movement from inside. Jiang Yu Duo scrunched up his eyebrows with a grunt, using the two paper clips to stick it into the keyhole. His fingers gently turned a few times, unlocking the door lock.

“What the hell!” Chen Qing pushed open the door.

The scene beyond the door was quite shocking. Anyway, Chen Qing froze on the spot when he took one step in.

The tenant in 502 was a pair of lovers. The woman was very skinny, and because her makeup was thick, Jiang Yu Duo couldn’t clearly see how she looked. The man was well-built, his face sported a beard and loved to be shirtless for no reason. The area from below his neck to above his waist was covered in tattoos and whether his butt had them, he didn’t know. After all, he had never come across him *****.

The built man bared his neck while sitting on a chair facing the door, his hand holding a knife against his neck. His skinny girlfriend was sitting on the bed beside him crying.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chen Qing was shocked but didn’t forget about his image, adding on another sentence when he was done being surprised, “Fucking hell!”

“We don’t have the money you want,” the man’s voice was low and firm, “If you have the guts, come and take our lives!”

Jiang Yu Duo didn’t say a word and just took two steps in. When the man’s glare on Chen Qing shifted towards him, he pushed the man’s elbow away in one motion.

The man gave him a push and ended up in a single-arm holding-himself position, and the hand that was holding the knife against his neck had shifted. Jiang Yu Duo didn’t relax his grip on the man’s elbow, reaching over to twist the knife out of his hand.

Very relaxed.

So relaxed to the point where Jiang Yu Duo began to doubt the physique of the well-built man.

“Are your body’s muscles drawn using your mother’s eye shadow?” He passed the knife back to Chen Qing.

“This knife is real.” Chen Qing tossed around the knife in his hand.

“What do you want?!” The man jumped from the chair, feeling furious. “Still want to snatch money?!”

Jiang Yu Duo pressed the knife flat against his face, then habitually grabbing his hair and pressing it against the bed. “Do you think you’re filming a movie?”

“You……” The man struggled, wanting to get up, but immediately stopped.

Jiang Yu Duo slipped a knife out from his sleeve, not using his fingers to catch it, letting the tip of the knife to gently poke into the man’s beard.

The beard was quite thick, the knife was probably not even touching flesh, but it was enough for the man to immediately go silent.

“Pay up.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“Pay!” Chen Qing waved a hand and a few people began to ransack the place.

The girlfriend who had been crying at the side the whole time finally stopped crying, wiping away her tears. “Where would we get the money?! If we had it, would we have let you bully us like this?!”

“Who is bullying who?” Chen Qing glared at her. “Your fucking rent hasn’t been paid for two months, so who is bullying who?”

“No money!” The girlfriend kicked her legs and lay back onto the bed, screaming at Jiang Yu Duo, “If you have the guts, then sleep with me! I’ll pay with my body!”

The few people in the house were stunned.

Jiang Yu Duo was stunned for a few seconds before regaining his senses, sighing. “You fucking wish.”

Compared to the built man, this girlfriend was way more difficult to handle. While Chen Qing brought the two brothers to search the house for money, Jiang Yu Duo was constantly running circles in the house, trying to escape from the girlfriend who insisted on paying him with her body.

In the end, he couldn’t take it anymore. He picked up the skinny girlfriend and threw her onto the built man’s body, pointing at him. “Hold her well. Loosen your grip and I will castrate you.”

The man hugged his girlfriend tight.

Chen Qing rummaged through the cupboard a few times, jerking back, “Third Bro!”

Jiang Yu Duo walked over and saw that he was holding a small sealed bottle in his hand, inside was filled with what looked like tobacco.

“This guy is still a pilot.” Chen Qing said.

“Call the police.” Jiang Yu Duo said simply.

The man, who had been watching them ransacking the cupboards silently and determinedly finally exploded, swinging his girlfriend onto the bed and pouncing towards them.

Jiang Yu Duo turned around and kicked him in the chest. He was pinned by Chen Qing and Da Bin after falling to the floor, while another kid took the skinny girlfriend’s pantyhose to bind his hands tightly.

“Third Bro, Third Bro!” The man panicked, squirming on the floor, “That plaything isn’t mine, the last tenant put it there! Don’t call the police, don’t call the police!”

Jiang Yu Duo didn’t speak and glanced at Chen Qing. Chen Qing took his phone out and turned around, walking out.

After settling everything, Lu Qian’s third phone call came through, Jiang Yu Duo sighed. “I shouldn’t have called her sister at first, should have called her mom.”

“Sister Qian is going to hit you.” Chen Qing laughed.

“How is it?” Lu Qian asked on the other end of the phone.

“I’m coming over to eat now,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “Everything has been settled.”

“Have you punched him?!” Lu Qian’s voice was raised, “Doing these things in my house! Bitch!”

“Punched.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“That’s enough, you better hurry over, just come over directly, I’ve already bought the beer.” Lu Qian said.

“Mm.” Jiang Yu Duo answered, hanging up the call.

“I’ll go over to eat too.” Chen Qing looked at him.

“You bring those two to dinner,” Jiang Yu Duo took out his wallet from his pocket, “They had a hard day today, tomorrow we still have two houses.”

“I have money here.” Chen Qing pressed onto his hand.

“Take it,” Jiang Yu Duo frowned, “You’re so poor, you’d want to rob a scavenger.”

“…… Jaeger-LeCoultre[1] was also a scavenger,” Chen Qing took the card that he passed over, “Wearing a watch that cost few hundred thousand…… But still, you’re capable, you said you’d take that watch, and you got it.”

“I didn’t say I wanted to take his watch,” Jiang Yu Duo gritted his teeth, “Scram.”

Lu Qian’s newly bought house was quite big, only she and her four Alaskan Malamutes lived there.

When Jiang Yu Duo entered the door, Lu Qian already had the dishes laid out and placed six tools, with one still empty.

“Stay further away from me.” Jiang Yu Duo sat down and pointed at the dogs sitting on both sides.

The two dogs moved to the side very cooperatively.

“Do you still have to go tomorrow? You only settled that one house on the 5th floor today?” Lu Qian scooped him a bowl of soup and also had the beer poured.

“Mm.” Jiang Yu Duo nodded.

“Accompany me in the morning to hand in the money for the house.” Lu Qian said.

“Buying again?” Jiang Yu Duo glanced at her, “Don’t you already have an empty one.”

“That’s for renting out, you should go to the agency again in these two days,” Lu Qian picked a piece of the pork ribs for him, “Anyway it’s been furnished, just put it up, rent it, sell it, it’s all fine.”

“Mm,” Jiang Yu Duo, “That is a good location.”

“You tell the agent, don’t rent to just anyone, find someone clean and reasonable,” Lu Qian frowned, “I don’t wish for someone like those on the 5th floor today to enter that house.”

“Then you won’t be able to rent out that house of yours.” Jiang Yu Duo laughed.

When Cheng Ke meditated in Xu Ding’s house for the third day, Liu Tian Cheng’s phone call came through.

Cheng Ke stared at the phone; it rang for nearly 30 seconds before he picked it up. “Hello.”

“Where are you?” Liu Tian Cheng asked at the start, “How is it?’

“Bridge opening,” Cheng Ke said, “Just picked up half a box of leftovers.”

Liu Tian Cheng laughed. “Come on, you weren’t even officially disowned, if you ask your father for money, you won’t have a lack of money on your hands.”

Cheng Ke laughed, but didn’t speak.

“Where are you though? I’ll pick you up in a bit, tonight I’ll call them over to give you a surprise.” Liu Tian Cheng said.

“Have you asked Cheng Yi?” Cheng Ke yawned, “Without his approval, this surprise can’t be done anyway.”

“You, if you say it like that, then it won’t have any meaning anymore,” Liu Tian Cheng laughed dryly twice, his laughter had hints of awkwardness, “I really didn’t hear the phone ring that day, afterwards, when I called back it didn’t go through.”

“I didn’t bring my phone when I left the house, borrowed someone else’s to call,” Cheng Ke didn’t want to put Liu Tian Cheng on a spot, “You guys have fun on your own tonight, I’m not going anymore.”

“Don’t be like that, if you’re not there, us having fun will have no meaning.” Liu Tian Cheng said.

Cheng Ke sighed gently. “I’m really not going anymore, I still have to find a place to stay, these few days have been busy and tiring, we’ll talk about it again in future.”

“That…… is fine, I guess you’re quite busy. Getting started on the shop is a lot of work.” Liu Tian Cheng said.

Shop? Cheng Ke froze, not speaking.

“I heard this from someone else, but didn’t Cheng Yi give the shop that he bought for fun to you?” Liu Tian Cheng said, “Deal with it first, although it is a bit small, it has already been set up. Once you’ve familiarized yourself for a few days, you won’t have to manage it in future……”

“Ah.” Cheng Yi answered.

Liu Tian Cheng also did not continue to speak, so the two casually exchanged a few sentences before ending the call.

Cheng Ke sat up, staring at the tree outside the window for a long time.

Whatever Liu Tian Cheng was saying, he was only starting to have some reaction to it now.

Cheng Yi probably paid it clear, but didn’t manage it at all after buying it, except for occasionally going over it with a few of his friends to have a chat. Not once did Cheng Ke go there, he didn’t even know what its exact address was, but suddenly it has now become his?

The point is that no one actually said that this shop would be given to him.

Cheng Ke didn’t know where Liu Tian Cheng had heard this from, but thought that after living with Cheng Yi for more than 20 years, he still could not see through him until now.

A chill suddenly went down his spine.

Xu Ding came back after midnight, when he opened the door and stepped into the house, Cheng Ke was still lying on the sofa, staring at the television. Whatever it was playing, he didn’t even know.

After Xu Ding entered the house, the two of them had a shock.

“It’s midnight, you’re not sleeping?” Xu Ding stared at him in shock.

“You scared me,” Cheng Ke sat up, “I thought a burglar had broken in.”

“There’s nothing to steal in this house,” Xu Ding laughed, “What’s more, if a burglar had really broken in, it wouldn’t be a problem to deal with one or two of you.”

“You’re not going home?” Cheng Ke asked.

“I came over to see how you were doing first,” Xu Ding said, “Yesterday, I found out you fell out with your family after Liu Tian Cheng gave me a call.”

“You told him that I’m here at your place?” Cheng Ke asked again hurriedly.

“No,” Xu Ding tossed his luggage and jacket towards the floor, poured a cup of water and sat beside him, “I felt that things weren’t so simple, so I didn’t say.”

“Thanks.” Cheng Ke let out a sigh.

“Did you fall out with your father or with Little Yi?” Xu Ding glanced at him.

“All the same.” Cheng Ke responded.

“If there’s anything you need help with, you can just tell me.” Xu Ding didn’t ask any further.

“I’ll look after the house for the next two days,” Cheng Ke leaned back into the sofa, “I’ll stay here for a few more days.”

“Which one do you wish to buy?” Xu Ding asked.

Cheng Ke looked him in the eye. “Rent.”

“Oh,” Xu Ding laughed, “Want me to help you ask around?”

Cheng Ke hesitated for a few seconds before shaking his head. “No need, I’ll settle it myself, I’m fine.”

“That’s ok, I’ll go take a shower,” Xu Ding said, “I’ll go home later.”

“Don’t,” Cheng Ke momentarily felt embarrassed, “It’s past midnight, you’ll sleep on the bed, for the next few days I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Xu Ding stood up and looked at him. “You……”

You what?

Xu Ding didn’t continue speaking, and Cheng Ke didn’t continue asking too.

He just felt that these friends, no matter if they were close or not, they all probably thought that he was pretty useless, even something as simple as renting a place, Xu Ding had to habitually ask if he wanted any help.

Cheng Ke is a person who couldn’t even do something like rent a house properly.

“You bought the things in the bathroom?” Xu Ding walked around shirtless after showering, asking as he dried his hair and walked out.

“Ah, yes.” Cheng Ke scanned his body with his eyes, quickly returning his gaze to the television.

He and Xu Ding weren’t considered to be very close, they didn’t usually hang out. When he first met Xu Ding, it was because Xu Ding found him from Liu Tian Cheng, asking him to help film a sand painting video.

“What if I just rent this house to you?” Xu Ding stated.

“Can’t afford it,” Cheng Ke said. “Too high class.”

Xu Ding laughed hard. “I’m still not really used to hearing you say that.”

“Don’t you worry,” Cheng Ke said. “I won’t get used to living here.”

“That’s fine.” Xu Ding nodded, entering the bedroom.

Cheng Ke continued staring at the television. He didn’t want to stay at Xu Ding’s place for too long. Not only were they not close, he was also not willing to drag Xu Ding into his own family’s broken business.

He stared at the real estate agent’s number on his phone. He’ll go take a look at the houses tomorrow.

Talking about Cheng Ke, referencing the watch he wore (the Jaeger-LeCoultre)

...To be continue... ...

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