Chapter 30: We Should Discuss Tonight’s Sleeping Arrangements

On the screen, the two sat pressed close together, their shoulders touching. The ears sprouting from the tops of their heads looked utterly real, as if they had actually grown straight out of their skulls.

“Why does it look so good?” Ning Shuang asked. Taking advantage of the moment when Ji Huaizhi was lost in a daze, he snapped a photo, printed it out, and handed it over.

Ji Huaizhi glanced at the photo once before lifting his gaze to Ning Shuang’s face.

Warm light filtered down from overhead, enveloping Ning Shuang completely. It bathed him in a gentle glow of golden warmth, making him seem as if he naturally gave off light.

Ning Shuang bowed his head and used a tool to laminate the photo. “All set. Let’s take a few more.”

He tapped the electronic screen a few times, and a countdown timer appeared on it.

Snap. Snap.

…

Finally, Ning Shuang pocketed the photos with satisfaction and urged Ji Huaizhi along. “Come on, let’s go. It’s getting late—we should head home.”

Ji Huaizhi opened the door and stepped out first. Then he turned back and extended his right hand to Ning Shuang. Ning Shuang stared at the hand right in front of him, his heart skipping a beat.

“Ning Shuang?” When Ning Shuang remained standing on the photo booth platform without descending, Ji Huaizhi looked up at him and called out.

Ning Shuang gripped the door frame as he came down the steps. He waved his hand dismissively. “No need, no need. I can walk just fine on my own.”

Ji Huaizhi withdrew his hand and glanced at his palm. Then, his expression calm as ever, he picked up the shopping bag from up ahead and walked out of the mall alongside Ning Shuang.

It was just past four o’clock, but the sky was already darkening. Thick, heavy clouds pressed together overhead—no telling when the rain might start.

Once they were on the bus,

Ning Shuang pulled out the freshly printed photos and showed them to Ji Huaizhi. “We’ve got eight in total. Take a look—any you like?”

Ji Huaizhi accepted the photos and examined each one carefully. In the end, he pulled out two where Ning Shuang dominated most of the frame.

“Just these two. You keep the rest,” Ji Huaizhi said.

Ning Shuang didn’t even check which ones Ji Huaizhi had chosen. He tucked the remaining photos into his pocket and continued, “Last time Lu Yuyang and I went out to have some fun, we took photos too—the ones from the frame you accidentally broke that day. We snapped those while we were out playing.”

“He complained that the mall photo booths weren’t good enough, so he dragged me off to his family photographer for a few shots. I figured they really wouldn’t turn out well, but they actually look pretty nice, right?”

Ji Huaizhi’s gaze darkened further. He stared at Ning Shuang’s cheerful expression, pursed his lips, and abruptly asked, “Why bring up that friend of yours again? You two seem awfully close…”

There was a low, almost plaintive note to his voice, but Ning Shuang didn’t pick up on it. He assumed Ji Huaizhi was simply asking about their friendship.

“Yeah, we’re on good terms,” Ning Shuang replied with a nod. “We’re in the same class, after all. At the start of the semester, he was late for our major professor’s lecture. I covered for him, and after that, we hit it off.”

“He’s super loyal, too—really good to me.” Though when it came to romance, he wasn’t exactly serious. Ning Shuang had barely memorized the name of his current girlfriend when the guy showed up with a new one to introduce.

“Ahem…” Ji Huaizhi suddenly curled his hand against his lips and coughed a few times.

Ning Shuang quickly reached past him to seal the bus window shut. “Did the breeze chill you?”

“Maybe. I’m feeling a little off.” Ji Huaizhi had discovered that Ning Shuang always bought this excuse. Whenever he didn’t want to hear Ning Shuang talking about someone else, this was his go-to way to shift the topic.

Ning Shuang fished a bottle of mineral water from the shopping bag, twisted off the cap, and passed it over. “Here, have some water. Next time we head out, you should wear a bit more.”

“All right.” Ji Huaizhi could sense the sincerity in Ning Shuang’s concern. The corners of his lips curved up ever so slightly, and his mood lifted considerably.

As long as Ning Shuang refrained from mentioning others when it was just the two of them, Ji Huaizhi was content no matter what.

Once the bus reached their stop, Ning Shuang grew more and more uneasy the closer they got to home.

“Ji Huaizhi, I’ve got this bad feeling,” he said, raising his free hand to rub at his chest.

Ji Huaizhi sounded worried. “Are you unwell?”

“Not exactly. I just have a hunch that Ning Dundun caused some trouble at home.” Ning Shuang quickened his pace.

The instant he flung open the door, the trashed house he’d imagined—with everything in ruins—failed to materialize.

All his belongings sat quietly in their proper places.

He glanced at the dog bed in the living room…

Where was Ning Dundun?!!

Ning Shuang dropped what he was carrying and hurried into the living room. “Ning Dundun?! Ning Dundun?”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” The barks echoed from upstairs, drawing nearer by the second. Ning Dundun came bounding down in a frenzy of excitement.

Drenched from head to tail, it launched itself straight at Ning Shuang.

The creature looked like it had just been hauled out of a river. Ning Shuang grabbed a fistful of its sodden fur and wrung it out—a good half-bowl’s worth of water splattered across the floor.

“The kitchen’s fine,” Ji Huaizhi said as he emerged from it.

Ning Shuang’s heart lurched.

Ning Dundun had come from upstairs.

Which meant the water on it had come from upstairs too?

He abandoned Ning Dundun and bolted up the stairs. At the landing, he spotted Ji Huaizhi’s bedroom door standing wide open—along with the bathroom door.

Trickles of water trailed from the bathroom into Ji Huaizhi’s room.

Ning Shuang felt faint.

No—he couldn’t pass out yet.

He still had to make amends on behalf of his wayward offspring.

Ning Shuang tiptoed around the puddles and reached Ji Huaizhi’s bedroom door.

He peeked inside. Nothing irreplaceable appeared damaged. The tidy bed was a disaster now, to be sure—but worse, water had pooled atop it nearly to the point of overflowing.

Ning Shuang drew in a sharp breath.

Ji Huaizhi, who had followed him up, stood at his back. “What’s the matter?” he asked curiously.

Ning Shuang whirled around and clapped a hand over Ji Huaizhi’s eyes.

“What’s going on?” Ji Huaizhi reflexively seized Ning Shuang’s wrist but left the hand in place over his eyes.

Ning Shuang gave a wry smile. “Don’t look.”

“Is something wrong in there?” Ji Huaizhi’s voice remained perfectly even.

Ning Shuang replied, “It’s an eyesore.”

“Hm?”

“Most unseemly.”

“What?”

“A disaster zone.”

“Did Ning Dundun mess with my things?” His tone stayed utterly serene, devoid of anger.

“It’s my fault for not raising it properly,” Ning Shuang said. “Don’t hold it against me too…”

Ji Huaizhi’s lips quirked upward. “All right.”

Bolstered by that promise, Ning Shuang reluctantly lowered his hand. Ji Huaizhi tilted his head to peer into the room.

The bed looked as if it had weathered a hurricane, leaving even Ji Huaizhi momentarily taken aback. He glanced at Ning Shuang, who averted his eyes in guilt, then at Ning Dundun trotting up behind them. The creature squatted obediently in place, tongue lolling, wearing a cheeky grin.

“Uh, let’s head in first and check for any valuables that got ruined,” Ning Shuang said. He felt as if he were undergoing death by a thousand cuts.

Ji Huaizhi nodded. “All right.”

They had barely stepped inside when Ning Shuang gave up trying to dodge the water pooling on the floor. This unfilial creature had left its old man no path to survival.

Ji Huaizhi glanced around the room before approaching the wardrobe—though he made no move to open it.

Ning Shuang came over. “See if anything inside the wardrobe got damaged?”

Without thinking, he reached for the door. In the next instant, Ji Huaizhi’s cool fingers closed around his wrist. A chill voice sounded from right beside him. “It’s fine. No water in front of the wardrobe—it never got that far.”

“Oh,” Ning Shuang said. He hadn’t given it a second thought. He nodded and pulled his hand back. “Got it. I looked around too—just the bed got soaked by Ning Dundun.”

“Changing the sheets will do the trick. No need to blame yourself.” Ji Huaizhi could hear the guilt in Ning Shuang’s voice and soothed him gently.

That only made Ning Shuang feel worse.

He ducked his head and scratched the back of his neck. “This is probably… more serious than that. Sheets won’t cut it.”

Puzzled, Ji Huaizhi approached the bed. He lifted the quilt, pressed down on the mattress, and watched as water soaked his hand. At once, he understood what Ning Shuang meant by “more serious.”

He turned to Ning Shuang, who looked ready to drop to his knees.

What a miserable fate, Ning Shuang thought.

“I never imagined Ning Dundun would just… do this out of nowhere today,” he said, scrambling for an explanation. “Normally when we’re out, it never even goes upstairs!”

Ji Huaizhi replied with perfect understanding. “It’s no trouble.”

“We should haul the quilt and sheets out to dry first. The mattress will need…”

Ning Shuang hurried to the bedside, tugged Ji Huaizhi by the wrist over to the desk, and sat him down. “I’ll handle it,” he volunteered. “You just take it easy.”

Then he returned to the bedside, grabbed the duvet cover and bedsheet, and took them to the bathroom next door to wash. When he came back to the room, Ji Huaizhi had already hauled the blankets and mattress topper out to the balcony to dry in the sun. The only thing left was the bare mattress, lying all forlorn on the bed frame.

The dog, at least… but it couldn’t have caused this much chaos, right…

“Woof!” Speak of the devil. Ning Shuang turned around and spotted Ning Dundun at the door, grinning cheekily. It was squatting obediently in the doorway, its expression smug, as if seeking praise.

He couldn’t stand it anymore. Ning Shuang was determined to give it a stern talking-to. But Ji Huaizhi walked up behind him and said gently, “Let’s blow-dry its fur first. It’d be bad if it caught a cold.”

Oh, right. If Ning Dundun got sick, Ning Shuang would be the one footing the bill.

Ning Shuang suppressed his anger and forced a bright smile for Ji Huaizhi. “Sure, I’ll go dry it off. Tonight, we’re having dog meat hotpot.”

He’d only said it in anger, but it made Ji Huaizhi chuckle.

The two of them blow-dried Ning Dundun’s fur together.

Then they teamed up to drag the mattress out to the balcony. By the time they’d scrubbed the water stains off the floor, it was nearly seven in the evening.

Ning Shuang was exhausted, too beat to move.

He sprawled on the sofa, scrolling through the food delivery app. He was just about to ask Ji Huaizhi what he wanted for dinner when he placed the order—a sofa blanket suddenly draped over his legs.

Ning Shuang lowered the hand holding his phone and tilted his head up to look at the man beside him. Ji Huaizhi had come over without him noticing.

“You’re here?” Ning Shuang smiled in greeting. “Let’s get takeout for dinner. What do you feel like eating?”

Ji Huaizhi settled into the empty spot at the head of the sofa and took the phone Ning Shuang offered him. He scrolled through it casually for a moment before handing it back. “Anything’s fine. Or should I make dinner?”

“No way!” Ning Shuang pushed himself upright on the sofa. “You’ve already done so much, and it’s all because of Ning Dundun…”

He pointed at Ning Dundun, who was dozing by the coffee table, and went on. “Because of it, you had to handle all that. We should rest together. It’d make me feel guilty if you cooked dinner while I just lounged here.”

Startled by the sudden mention of its name, Ning Dundun abruptly lifted its head and stared blankly at the two people in front of it.

Ji Huaizhi’s lips curved into a faint smile. “All right. But before that, shouldn’t we discuss tonight’s sleeping arrangements?”