Chapter 3: Wei Teng Equals Stomachache

Xiao Fan waited in line for hot water. The smell of the instant noodles made his head swim.

The pungent chili made him feel uncomfortable all over, even before he’d taken a bite. But he couldn’t exactly throw them away in front of Wei Teng, so he frowned and forced himself to finish the brutally spicy pickled-pepper noodles.

Afterward, his stomach kept churning, and the lingering chili flavor made him frown even harder.

Wei Teng found Xiao Fan’s reaction pretty funny. The expression on his face as he ate the noodles made it look like he was swallowing knives.

The noodles were clearly burning his mouth, but he was too proud to stick out his tongue and cool it off. He just endured in silence, scowling.

In Wei Teng’s eyes, Xiao Fan suddenly became a lot more interesting.

So he’s not completely heartless. At least he finished the noodles instead of spitting them out in front of me.

Maybe he’d done it out of politeness and good manners.

Wei Teng saw Xiao Fan sitting quietly in the aisle, looking out the window. He got up and sat opposite him.

“Full? I’ve got more.”

He’d meant to tease Xiao Fan a little. As expected, the other guy frowned again, looking miserable. “No. I’m stuffed.”

“Oh, well, I’ll go eat, then.” Wei Teng flashed him a bright smile and went to get hot water, whistling as he went.

When he returned and sat down in front of Xiao Fan, the smell of instant noodles wafted toward him again. Xiao Fan couldn’t take it anymore. He turned and went back inside, leaning against his pillow.

Wei Teng, meanwhile, ate his noodles with such gusto you’d think he was enjoying some rare delicacy.

He seemed like the kind of person who was easily satisfied. Simple food and silly games could make him smile with delight. Xiao Fan thought that someone like him must be happy wherever he went. No matter how bad things got, he could always find some way to enjoy himself.

Put nicely, he was optimistic. Put less kindly, he was common and had no ambition.

Xiao Fan couldn’t figure out why he found Wei Teng so irritating.

Apart from his decent figure, there wasn’t a single thing about him Xiao Fan liked.

He smiled like a vampire, ate like a pig, shouted without an ounce of manners, and was so friendly it was annoying. He couldn’t read the room. He had no taste, and even his name was weird.

Maybe Xiao Fan couldn’t stand him because they were so different.

But the strange thing was that being around him made Xiao Fan feel something besides irritation. There was a certain ease to it, too.

Xiao Fan couldn’t work it out, so he stopped trying.

After finishing his noodles, Wei Teng picked up the cup and slurped down the broth. Then he rubbed his stomach and wore an expression of blissful satisfaction.

Xiao Fan watched him throw the trash away and shook his head helplessly.

He’d never understand this animal. Their intelligence levels were simply too different.

When Wei Teng came back, he lay down on the bed and started listening to the MP3 player Xiao Fan had left on the table.

The volume was so high that Xiao Fan could hear the music through his earbuds. It was deafening rock. Was he trying to make himself go deaf?

Xiao Fan turned to look out at the scenery. Barren hills and withered trees—nothing worth seeing. He leaned against his pillow and tried to take a nap.

Ten minutes later, Xiao Fan opened his eyes in annoyance and glared at the guy beside him, who was sleeping soundly with earbuds in. He rolled his eyes.

He’s a pig. He eats and then sleeps. How can he sleep through music that loud?

He’d finished his magazine, so he reluctantly pulled out his phone. Games? He wasn’t going to play anything that childish. Browse the internet? The signal would be terrible with the train constantly passing through tunnels.

Then he noticed the missed-message icon in the corner. He opened the message and saw that it was from Lin Wei.

“Lin Wei wishes you a happy National Day. Have a wonderful holiday.”

Another mass text. Lin Wei did this every holiday, sending one message to everyone to save time. He never bothered to write anything new, either. The message was always, “Lin Wei wishes you a happy [holiday],” the same thing year after year.

Xiao Fan knew Lin Wei was with Ye Jingwen and had no idea where they’d gone off to, so he texted back, “Where are you?”

A moment later, he got a reply.

“This is Ye Jingwen. Lin Wei’s asleep in the car. We’re by the sea. What are you up to?”

“I’m on a train. Going on a trip.”

“Oh, have fun ^_^”

Damn it. That wolf has picked up Lin Wei’s cutesy smiley face. Just looking at it makes me uncomfortable.

Xiao Fan was about to put his phone away when another message came in. It was from his cousin, Xiao Qing.

“Hey, where are you? What time do you get to Guilin?”

“Tonight.”

“How are you getting along with the person you’re traveling with?”

Xiao Fan thought that was a strange question, so he replied, “Fine.”

“When you’re away from home, you need to help each other out. Take good care of her.”

Xiao Fan looked at Wei Teng, who was sleeping like a dead pig across from him. He smiled faintly.

He doesn’t need me to take care of him. Besides, I don’t want to take care of that unlucky idiot.

“All right. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Okay, big brother. Good luck!”

They were just taking a train. What did he need good luck for?

Xiao Fan put his phone back in his bag, baffled. He didn’t know that Xiao Qing was praying for her brother and Nannan to be brought together by Yue Lao. Nannan was a good girl, even if she was a little too wolfish, a little too deep into BL, a little too absorbed in novels, and a little too scatterbrained. She and Xiao Fan would make a good match. A brooding man and a ditzy woman—a perfect combination.

Wei Teng slept until after two in the afternoon before rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

Xiao Fan politely asked, “You awake?”

Wei Teng’s face twisted in pain.

Xiao Fan’s mouth twitched, too. What? Did my asking if you were awake shock you that badly?

Wei Teng’s expression had nothing to do with surprise. He clutched his stomach, shuffled over, and crawled toward Xiao Fan.

“My stomach hurts…”

His voice was pitiful, and his eyes even more so. He grabbed Xiao Fan’s arm. “Man, do you have any medicine?”

He looks like a junkie going through withdrawal. Xiao Fan glanced at the person curled up on the bed. “Do you have a stomach condition?” His voice softened without him realizing it.

“Damn, I’m so annoyed. If my mom had named me Wei Shu, my stomach might’ve been fine. Why’d she have to call me Wei Teng? My stomach’s been a wreck since I was a kid!”

He seemed to have found a little strength. His voice grew louder, and he clenched his teeth in frustration. It was kind of amusing.

Wei Teng. It was a funny name, but easy to remember.

“Hey, can you get my medicine for me? I can’t even straighten up.”

With his face twisted up like that, Xiao Fan suddenly felt sure he’d imagined the pitiful look from a moment earlier.

“Where’s your medicine?”

“In that big suitcase.” Wei Teng seemed to be in a lot of pain. He lay flat on the bed and propped a pillow under his stomach.

Xiao Fan nodded and climbed the ladder to pull down the suitcase. Then he heard Wei Teng say, “Unzip it. It’s in the outer pocket, in a bottle.”

Xiao Fan opened the suitcase as instructed and was startled by the jumble of things inside. What kind of random junk did he pack? Binoculars? An umbrella? A pile of clothes and shoes… It’s quite a collection.

As he marveled at the contents, he found the bottle of medicine.

“Could you get me some hot water?”

Xiao Fan went to get it, then brought the water and medicine over to Wei Teng.

He’d never taken care of someone like this before. And the person being taken care of acted as if it were only natural. Wei Teng accepted the cup without a word and started blowing on it furiously to cool it down.

Watching him take his medicine was oddly entertaining.

First he stuck out his tongue to test the water. Once it was cool enough, he popped the pill into his mouth, took a sip of water, tilted his head back, and swallowed. Then he took another sip, gulped it down, took another, and swallowed slowly. At the end, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

The whole routine flowed seamlessly. Xiao Fan wanted to laugh.

He couldn’t understand how this peculiar creature could look so content while taking medicine. When he finished, he let out a long breath as if he’d just completed some great task, then flopped down on the bed like a dead fish.

This is my bed, isn’t it? You crawled over here and forgot to crawl back? And now you’re leaning on me like we’re old friends.

Xiao Fan laughed helplessly. Since meeting Wei Teng, he’d frowned and smiled far more often than usual.

Wei Teng lay on the bed all afternoon, cursing nonstop. Mostly he cursed his stomach and complained about the awful name his parents had given him.

Then he fell asleep again, his mouth opening and closing as he breathed, like a fish washed up on the beach.

Xiao Fan gently shifted the pillow Wei Teng had tucked beneath his stomach so he’d be more comfortable. He hadn’t planned to look after him, but sleeping face down with the pillow under his stomach had arched Wei Teng’s back and stuck his backside up in the air. It was really quite an undignified sight.

Xiao Fan sat across from him and studied him for a while.

His dark golden hair wasn’t combed neatly. Some of it stuck up in the wrong direction, like a little hedgehog.

Too conspicuous.

Looking more closely at his face, Xiao Fan saw that Wei Teng had fairly pale skin and delicate features. His nose was cute, and his lips were full and red. Each feature looked fine on its own, but all together, somehow, they seemed almost cartoonish. They made Xiao Fan want to laugh.

Ignore the cactus-like hair, and Wei Teng could almost pass for a well-behaved, scholarly young man. But then he’d fill every sentence with “damn it,” laugh with his whole mouth wide open, and ruin the impression completely.

Still, imagining him shyly lowering his head and smiling made Xiao Fan break out in goose bumps. Wei Teng only knew how to laugh out loud. He had no idea what restraint was, let alone dignity.

A delicate face, outrageous hair and clothes, a terrifying smile, a mouth that never stopped moving, and an energetic voice. They ought to have made for a bizarre combination, but somehow everything about Wei Teng seemed completely natural.

Wei Teng really was a strange guy.

Xiao Fan couldn’t stand him, but he couldn’t exactly say, “I hate your smile, I hate you sharing food with me, and I hate how friendly you are,” either.

Since he couldn’t find a good reason to be angry, he was mostly just helpless around him.

They still had the rest of the trip to spend together. And their tickets were couples’ tickets. Xiao Fan couldn’t shake the feeling that something about the whole thing was a little suspicious.

It was nearly evening when Wei Teng finally rubbed his eyes and sat up. He grabbed Xiao Fan’s wrist, checked his watch, and let go.

You really have no sense of personal space.

Xiao Fan watched this guy, who always seemed to think he was close with everyone. Wei Teng still hadn’t quite woken up. He kept rubbing his eyes.

After a long pause, Wei Teng suddenly said, “Damn, it’s already six. I slept that long?”

Xiao Fan said nothing. Wei Teng kept muttering to himself.

“Time for dinner. Hey, do you want anything? We get to Guilin tonight, so how about we go get Guilin rice noodles together?” Wei Teng moved beside Xiao Fan and draped an arm over his shoulder like they were old friends. “You hungry?”

Xiao Fan glanced at his hand. Wei Teng didn’t move it. If anything, he patted Xiao Fan’s shoulder lightly.

“I’ll have some cookies first. I’m pretty hungry. Help yourself to anything you want. I’d better finish all that food before we get off.”

With that, he pulled out a packet of cookies and bit it open, smiling as he chewed.

Hadn’t this guy been clutching his stomach and cursing just a little while ago?

He’d forgotten the pain as soon as it stopped. Now he was eating random snacks again. He really was asking for trouble.