Jiang Ye said, “Slept in my room.”
“Didn’t go next door?”
Jiang Ye instantly understood. He tilted his head, yawned lazily, and said, “Why would I go next door?”
“I saw you grab something from the grove…” As soon as Bai Chen Zhu finished speaking, Jiang Ye flicked his forehead unexpectedly.
He drew in a sharp breath of cold air, only to hear Jiang Ye tease, “Yo, got presbyopia at your age? Eyes no good—how about I steam them for soup?”
Bai Chen Zhu swatted his hand away and pressed on relentlessly. “Don’t change the subject. I saw you go into the neighboring villa to find Wang Xin Xin and the others. You even…”
Before he could finish, his shin under the table was kicked—not too light, not too heavy, enough to make Bai Chen Zhu pause.
“What are you two talking about? Up so early?” A female voice came from the stairs. Zhou Zhuo Hua came down. “I smell congee.”
“Haha, you’re late. Just this one pot, and I finished it all.” Jiang Ye crossed his arms smugly.
Zhou Zhuo Hua adjusted her glasses and gave the two an exasperated glance before rummaging in the fridge for food. “I just heard you mention the house next door and those two.”
Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes flickered. Did Zhou Zhuo Hua know about those two? Thinking this, he didn’t hold back and retaliated with a kick to Jiang Ye’s leg.
Jiang Ye’s brows darkened. Bai Chen Zhu arched his brows, meeting his gaze. Sparks seemed to fly in the air.
Zhou Zhuo Hua took ingredients into the kitchen. Her voice, muffled by the half-wall, wasn’t too clear. “That villa may be vacant, but we can’t just let people take advantage. Jiang Ye, go check on it later.”
“Hey—” Jiang Ye responded. He stomped on Bai Chen Zhu’s instep and flashed a bright smile. “No need. I saw them head down the mountain before the rain last night. Probably afraid of nowhere to hide from the rain.”
Bai Chen Zhu’s lashes trembled. He endured the pain in his foot and pieced together some info from their words.
First, Jiang Ye didn’t want Zhou Zhuo Hua to know what happened last night. Second…
Bai Chen Zhu turned to look at Jiang Ye, but his question was for Zhou Zhuo Hua. “The villa next door is also Jiang Ye’s?”
As he spoke, he sneaked an attack, slamming his elbow into Jiang Ye’s waist. The first hit landed clean, but the second was blocked by Jiang Ye’s palm.
Jiang Ye crooked a finger at him, all provocative swagger like ‘come at me.’ “What? First time realizing how loaded the young master is?”
Bai Chen Zhu said nothing, but his emotions showed plainly on his face. With his elbow restrained, he countered with a punch to Jiang Ye’s shoulder.
“Hiss!” It hurt and itched on Jiang Ye. Unable to resist teasing this ‘little butterfly,’ he said meaningfully, “You must be misunderstanding my wealth. Even footing VIP hospital bills for you for decades would be no issue.”
Bai Chen Zhu looked at him in confusion. “Who wants you to renew…”
Before he finished, realization dawned.
In the book, the original host had been sent to an expensive private hospital after that night, sustained solely by Jiang Ye’s medical bills—half-dead, no different from a breathing corpse.
Bai Chen Zhu’s heart pounded so hard it nearly surged out of his throat. His heartbeat raced as he looked at Jiang Ye, his throat bobbing slightly. “Why do I need to go to the hospital?”
Once he got his answer, Jiang Ye, having finished testing him, released his foot. Taking advantage of the moment, he punched Bai Chen Zhu back. “You forgot already, right after your fever broke? Sickly weakling—do I need to remind you how much of a pushover you are?”
Bai Chen Zhu, who had failed to probe anything and instead let a bit slip out, felt irritated. A fire smoldered in his chest. In the blink of an eye, the two traded blows back and forth under the table, each thinking they were being discreet.
Zhou Zhuo Hua came out holding a bowl of noodles, and the two immediately disentangled their hands and feet.
Bai Chen Zhu straightened his disheveled collar, breathing slightly heavily. Jiang Ye lowered his gaze and brushed off his shirt hem, his expression unchanged.
“Don’t mind me, you two.” Zhou Zhuo Hua said softly. “Fight—beat each other to death, don’t stop. If you kill each other, I’ll bury you. If one wins, I’ll applaud.”
Jiang Ye knew she meant the opposite. He put on a smiling face, but his eyes were defiant and unruly, hiding his unscrupulous nature behind a facade of feigned innocence. With perfect righteousness, he said, “Sis, this is just friendly exchange with him.”
Bai Chen Zhu nodded without speaking, looking prim and proper with a gentle and refined demeanor—like a model student who only got into fights because the guy next door, a certain Jiang, led him astray.
Keep pretending, all of you. Zhou Zhuo Hua tugged at her lips, too lazy to expose their facade.
She set the bowl on the table and sat on Jiang Ye’s other side, getting down to business. “Jiang Ye, I’ve already packed my things. I’ll leave soon. You and this…”
Her gaze circled between the two. Her cold, distant face suddenly held a hint of amusement as she borrowed Jiang Ye’s wording. “Friend,” she said. “You and your friend get along well. You’re all grown up—don’t start fights at the drop of a hat.”
Her tone was so gentle, it was like coaxing two kindergarten kids who hadn’t graduated yet. If she had them hold hands and make up, it would be even more like it.
Jiang Ye frowned and immediately sat up straight. “Leave soon?”
“There will definitely be danger where I’m going. No need for you to come along.” Zhou Zhuo Hua’s mind was made up. “The villa has food and drink—you can hold out for a while at least.”
“We’re going together.” Jiang Ye left no room for argument.
We? Bai Chen Zhu had a bad premonition. He turned silently to leave, but as soon as his butt left the chair, Jiang Ye— as if he had eyes in the back of his head—quickly grabbed the back of his shirt.
The force was so strong it pulled Bai Chen Zhu backward, making him fall back into the chair.
Jiang Ye hooked the corner of his lip, gripping the shirt’s hem tightly. “See, my friend says he wants to go too. He’s so excited he can’t sit still.”
“I’m not going.” Bai Chen Zhu twisted to pry at Jiang Ye’s wrist. He didn’t even know where they were going.
But Jiang Ye refused to let go, and both had great strength. In the struggle, he tore a small piece of fabric from the small of Bai Chen Zhu’s back.
Zhou Zhuo Hua silently shifted her gaze away and took two bites of her bland clear noodle soup.
Bai Chen Zhu twisted his head to look at his ruined shirt, his face darkening like storm clouds gathering.
Jiang Ye twirled the scrap of cloth on his fingertip, tossed it aside casually, and quirked his lips maliciously. “If you don’t go, then go naked. I guarantee I won’t leave you even a pair of underwear in the house.”
A vein throbbed on Bai Chen Zhu’s forehead. He did something incredibly stupid that he would regret countless times in the future.
He walked behind Jiang Ye’s chair and said coldly, “Take it off.”
As if he’d misheard, Jiang Ye froze and looked up at the man behind him. “Take off what?”
Revenge was a dish best served immediately. Bai Chen Zhu reached out directly, trying to forcibly strip off Jiang Ye’s eye-searing beachy floral shirt.
But how could Jiang Ye let someone strip his clothes?—even if it was just an outer shirt. It wasn’t very harmful, but extremely insulting.
So Bai Chen Zhu only got it halfway before Jiang Ye stopped him. Somehow, the two ended up in a standoff, which turned into a physical clash. They tugged back and forth on the jacket like a tug-of-war.
In the scuffle, they rolled onto the floor. Hurt the enemy by a thousand, damage oneself by eight hundred. The sound of ripping fabric echoed in the kitchen, mixed with the occasional thud of fists on flesh and the clatter of chairs kicked over by accident. Neither could hope to come out unscathed.
Amid the noisy background, Zhou Zhuo Hua ate her noodles without changing expression. Their movements were so vigorous that her bowl shook, soup sloshing around, and her chair got bumped now and then.
Zhou Zhuo Hua swallowed her last bite of noodles and elegantly picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth. “Maybe I need to remind you two that there’s a lady present.”
The commotion behind her quieted. Without turning to look, Zhou Zhuo Hua sighed wearily. “You can go back to your rooms, close the door, and take your time. I promise not to disturb. Of course, if you tear each other’s clothes to shreds, I can kindly provide one floral skirt each.”
She held her empty bowl and walked away without glancing sideways, leaving the two—snapped back to reality—in their awkward position, staring at each other.
As Bai Chen Zhu stared at Zhou Zhuo Hua’s retreating back, lost in thought, Jiang Ye—who had him pinned underneath—suddenly counterattacked. He pinned Bai Chen Zhu’s wrists above his head, reversing their positions in an instant.
Jiang Ye looked down at the man beneath him, his handsome face full of aggression. “You really won’t come with me?”
Bai Chen Zhu slanted a glance at him and turned his head away in refusal. “No.”
Jiang Ye leaned down, his gaze originally fixed on Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes. But when the other looked away, Jiang Ye unexpectedly caught sight of a stretch of fair neck, with a sharp jawline where every contour was perfectly sculpted, as if carved by heaven.
After a long moment, Jiang Ye slowly withdrew his hand and lightly touched Bai Chen Zhu’s earring. “Last night, you didn’t see wrong.”
Bai Chen Zhu whipped his head back to look at him.
Seeing this reaction, Jiang Ye narrowed his eyes and chuckled to himself. “Very curious about what’s going on, right? Worried that something strange is wrong with your body?”
Bai Chen Zhu stared at him with a grim face, saying nothing.
“It’s not a disease—pretty unbelievable, huh? If you want to know more, like whether it’ll get worse later or how to treat and recover… Mr. Bai, you’ll need to show some sincerity first. Why should I tell you otherwise?” Jiang Ye had already stood up, straightened his clothes, and extended a hand toward him—the meaning obvious.
After weighing it, Bai Chen Zhu reached out and grasped his palm. Jiang Ye’s body temperature was much higher than his; the heat made Bai Chen Zhu reflexively want to pull back the moment they touched, but Jiang Ye gripped it firmly and pulled him up with one hand.
Jiang Ye hooked his lip, looking fully in control. “Let’s go. I’ll compensate you with a shirt.”
“Not one of your kind.”
Jiang Ye paused mid-step, grinding his back teeth, and turned with a glare. “What did you say?”
Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes shone with blatant disdain, mixed with a barely perceptible amusement. Without changing expression, he repeated, “No flapping moth outfits in garish colors.”
Flapping moth outfit in garish colors? Jiang Ye looked down at his white tank top and floral shirt.
“Fine.” Jiang Ye said word by word. “I’ll go get you a flowery skirt right now.”
Bai Chen Zhu remained unmoved, even giving Jiang Ye a meaningful look.
Jiang Ye’s scalp tingled for a moment. Before he could ask, Bai Chen Zhu stated matter-of-factly and nonchalantly, “You’re such a pervert.”
Jiang Ye: …Fuck!
