Chapter 64: The Clingy Childhood Sweetheart 8 p2
After taking the sobering medicine, Shu He fell asleep.
So fast that the medicine didn’t have time to take effect.
Jiang Qi also couldn’t bear to wake him up. After a while, he got some water to wipe his face and hands and feet, and then turned off the light and got into bed, and with satisfaction, he held him in his arms.
Shu He turned over in his arms and fell asleep with his arm as a pillow.
The summer vacation came unexpectedly, and Chen Jingchen was also on vacation. He would come to find Shu He for a third of the month.
For the remaining two-thirds, he was busy with announcements. Being a star was very busy, and he wanted to quit the entertainment industry every day.
Chen Jingchen had a lot of worries, from school and work, to Little He and Jiang Qi.
After the truth or dare last time, Chen Jingchen had been negative for a while, because he found that no matter what Jiang Qi said, in Little He’s eyes, it was a normal thing.
Kissing his face, confessing, in Little He’s eyes, were all jokes.
After all, they had grown up together.
Chen Jingchen had also watched Jiang Qi cling to Little He since he was little.
He remembered that in kindergarten, he had also been greedy when he saw Jiang Qi kiss Little He’s face, and thought that Little He’s face was like a freshly steamed white bun, soft and white, and if he bit the white bun, he would cry for five minutes.
At that time, Chen Jingchen had tried once, and before he could even kiss him, he was knocked to the ground by Jiang Qi like a bull, and this time, it was he who cried for five minutes.
Chen Jingchen had remembered this from childhood to now.
He couldn’t let it go, he couldn’t let it go at all!
And the matter of kissing his face, when he grew up, and like Little He, out of a fixed mindset, Chen Jingchen actually didn’t think there was anything wrong with Jiang Qi always kissing Little He’s face.
After all, the two of them had been clingy since they were little, and their relationship had always been good. Although he was very unwilling to admit it, Chen Jingchen was still very clear that although they had all grown up together, and the time they had met was not much different.
But the magnetic field between Little He and Jiang Qi was indeed more special.
He wasn’t sure if it was because of the kissing.
Until middle school, although Chen Jingchen felt that Jiang Qi’s behavior was inappropriate, but thinking that he had been like this since he was little, he didn’t think of anything else.
Until that Spring Festival, that love letter.
Everything made sense.
Chen Jingchen had been acting since he was little, and when he was older, he had switched to being a singer. He had acted in fewer plays, but he had read a lot of scripts and had seen the atmosphere of many senior actors on set.
Once the guess was out, and everything was connected, Chen Jingchen was completely sure that Jiang Qi had a crush on Little He.
Although Jiang Qi had never replied to his message alone to admit it.
But there was no need to admit it.
Chen Jingchen pondered. He had to let Little He find out about this. A person like Jiang Qi had a paranoid personality. If they got more entangled in the future, it was not certain what would happen.
Chen Jingchen took out his phone and asked Little He to meet on the weekend, at the park.
Shu He immediately agreed.
On the weekend, at nine in the morning, the weather was clear, and the two of them met at the matchmaking corner of the park.
Shu He sat on a stone pier and asked Chen Jingchen with curiosity if he had something to find him for. Chen Jingchen was thinking, brewing, and considering.
He looked as if he had something big to say, and Shu He couldn’t help but become serious. His slender back was also straight, like a green bamboo.
His round almond eyes stared at the boy.
Chen Jingchen occasionally looked up, and when he saw his bright eyes, he was stunned for a moment, and suddenly, he didn’t want to think about anything, and asked softly, “Little He, what do you think of Jiang Qi?”
Where Shu He was, of course, Jiang Qi was also there.
Jiang Qi went to buy ice cream for Shu He, and when he came back, he happened to hear this question. He was stunned for a moment, and his steps subconsciously stopped, and he stood behind the promotional sign of the matchmaking corner.
“Eh?” Shu He hadn’t expected him to ask this, and he was dazed for a moment. His attitude of treating it as a big problem suddenly collapsed like a water gate. He said “Oh” gently, and said that Jiang Qi was a good person.
Chen Jingchen: “Is there no more detailed evaluation?”
Shu He racked his brain. “Are you doing a survey?”
“…You can think of it that way.”
“Alright.” Shu He answered honestly, “Jiang Qi has a very good personality. Although he’s a little strange sometimes, I still like to play with him very much.”
Behind the horizontal promotional sign, Jiang Qi’s ears turned red. He had only heard the word “like.”
“As for his shortcomings, he likes to kiss my face too much. I think I’m too old for that, but he won’t listen.”
Shu He pouted. “I only asked once, and he looked as if I was disgusted with him. I couldn’t say anything.”
Chen Jingchen: “…Yes, Jiang Qi is really too much in this regard. He’s been kissing you since he was little, and he’s still kissing you now. I’ve never even kissed you—I don’t mean that. I mean, he’s always kissing you. What if it delays your dating?”
“Or, if you want to date someone in the future, can Jiang Qi stop himself?”
Shu He hadn’t thought of these things.
The more Chen Jingchen spoke, the clearer his reasoning became. “Yes, this question is very important. In the future, when you’re in a relationship, Jiang Qi, as your friend since childhood, it’s hard to say that he won’t cross the line.”
“…” Jiang Qi almost crushed the ice cream in his hand.
He endured it until the veins on the back of his hand were bulging, and only then did he resist the urge to crush the ice cream that Shu He liked to eat and smash it on this dead kid’s head.
He had tested him before, and this time, he was even trying to drive a wedge between him and Little He. Jiang Qi’s dark eyes were filled with a gloomy ruthlessness, and he gritted his teeth and continued to listen.
His heart started to beat faster.
Shu He’s clear, soft voice had a hint of hesitation and confusion. “I probably won’t date.”
Chen Jingchen was stunned for a moment.
“What do you mean?”
Jiang Qi was also stunned.
“I haven’t thought about these things,” Shu He said in a small voice. “I haven’t thought about dating, and I probably won’t in the future.”
Chen Jingchen didn’t quite understand what he meant. “What if you meet someone you like?”
“Probably not.” Shu He fiddled with his fingers, his voice even smaller, and a little awkward. “My standards are very high. My parents even said that this standard is not okay.”
Chen Jingchen: “What standard?”
Jiang Qi lowered his eyes and listened.
Not human.
Shu He blinked, not daring to say these words.
When he was growing up, his parents had asked him what type of person he liked. Influenced by his upbringing, Shu He didn’t really want to find a person, but wanted to find a monster like his parents.
But his parents said he was a human.
Humans had to find humans. It was not okay to find a monster.
What could Shu He do?
This was just the purest thought of a little human who could not become a monster. In fact, he himself had not thought much about these questions.
Shu He stammered and couldn’t answer.
Jiang Qi lowered his eyes in disappointment.
Was the abstract ideal type in that yearbook real?
Chen Jingchen really wanted to know what the standard was, but Shu He didn’t seem to want to say. He could only give up. After a moment of silence, Chen Jingchen spoke again. “What if Jiang Qi is in a relationship?”
Shu He: “Then let him be. But he seems to have a hard time finding someone.”
“Why?”
The protagonists in the plot were all single.
At the beginning, the system had told Shu He that all these protagonists were destined to be alone, and their lifelong achievement was their career.
Seeing that Shu He seemed to have a hard time answering, Chen Jingchen suddenly asked, “Then what if he’s in a relationship with you?”
“Me?”
Shu He’s eyes widened in a daze. Jiang Qi looked down at the melting ice cream, wavering between going out and not going out.
“He likes you,” Chen Jingchen said in one breath. “Do you remember? He confessed to you last year.”
Shu He: “…That was a truth or dare.”
“He chose ‘truth,’ so that answer was the truth,” Chen Jingchen said. “I’m very sure. Little He, don’t you believe me? Look at which peer would always kiss their friend’s face? Would you kiss Jiang Qi like that?”
“…”
Shu He cautiously lowered his head.
He seemed to be very embarrassed, his pale cheeks puffed out, and he let out a soft sound, saying he would. Sometimes, when he was happy, he would also kiss Jiang Qi’s face.
It had been like this since he was little. What was wrong with that?
Chen Jingchen: “…”
He had been careless.
Jiang Qi’s lips curved.
His heart was settled. He directly took the melting ice cream and walked out, not even looking at the shocked Chen Jingchen, and gently brought the melting ice cream to Shu He’s lips. Shu He took a bite, and then took it himself, and complained that he was so slow.
Jiang Qi: “I’m sorry, baby. I saw someone arguing on the way and couldn’t help but listen for a while.”
Gossip was human nature.
Shu He said “Oh” with understanding. At this time, Chen Jingchen finally reacted, and stood up with a “whoosh,” and stared at Jiang Qi and blurted out, “Why are you here too?!”
Jiang Qi glanced at him indifferently. “Is the park your family’s? Can’t I come?”
“…”
Damn it.
He had definitely heard!
Shu He’s pink tongue licked the cold ice cream, and he slowly stood up, and said innocently that Jiang Qi wanted to come with him.
Chen Jingchen was annoyed. It was his fault for not telling Little He that he wanted to talk alone. Jiang Qi had been clinging to Little He since he was little. How could he not have followed in such a situation?
All of this had happened too suddenly. Chen Jingchen had no preparation at all. His mind was in a mess, and he just wanted to escape this socially awkward place as soon as possible. Chen Jingchen’s eyes darted around, and with a tense expression, he said he was leaving first.
After speaking, he slipped away faster than anyone else, and in the end, he was even running. His back looked socially awkward, and he soon disappeared from sight.
Shu He said “Oh” in a daze. Jiang Qi stood by the side, as if he hadn’t noticed Chen Jingchen’s abnormality, and lowered his eyes to look at the half-eaten ice cream, and said he wanted to eat too.
Shu He came back to his senses.
He opened his mouth and ate the half-eaten ball in one bite, and then with difficulty, he puffed out his cheeks, and his wet, red lips mumbled some words, saying that there was only a cone left, did he want it?
Jiang Qi smiled, and looked at him with concentration and said, “I want it.”
“Here.”
After taking the cone, Jiang Qi finished it in a few bites, and then the two of them walked home together under the sun. Shu He was so cold from the half-eaten ice cream that his cheeks were a little cool. He rubbed them with his hands, and after a while, he said in a daze, “Little Chen doesn’t seem happy. He just said a lot to me.”
“Mm.” Jiang Qi lowered his head and stepped on his shadow. “Baby, I’m not dating.”
Shu He said what a coincidence, he wasn’t dating either.
“Kissing on the cheek is okay,” Jiang Qi said again, not hiding the fact that he had actually heard the conversation. As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Shu He’s pale profile. “Chen Jingchen doesn’t have a friend he can kiss on the cheek. That’s his problem. But I do, and you do too.”
Shu He said with trust, “That’s right, but you can’t always kiss me.”
Jiang Qi mumbled, “I don’t always kiss you, right? Sometimes it’s only once every two days.”
Shu He walked in front of him, and went to catch the butterfly in front of him, his voice crisp. “But sometimes you do it several times a day!”
“If you average it out, it’s not that many times, baby.”
Shu He ignored him.
He caught the butterfly, and the flower butterfly stayed in his palm, gently flapping its wings, with no intention of flying away.
“I’m not dating, and you’re not dating. In the future, we’ll succeed in our careers together and grow old together.”
Jiang Qi walked over.
Shu He nodded randomly, and then carefully shushed him, and handed him his hand to show him the flower butterfly in his palm. Jiang Qi pretended to lower his head and said it was beautiful, but in fact, his peripheral vision was always on the boy in front of him, whose eyes were curved and who looked very happy.
He was so happy just from catching a butterfly.
So good, how can he be so easy to coax?
The flower butterfly was finally let go.
The raised palm released it, and the butterfly flapped its wings and stayed, and it circled on Shu He’s way home for a long time before it left.
—
The weather had been very hot during this period, so besides the day he was asked out by Chen Jingchen, Shu He had been staying at home and not going out much.
He was leaning against Jiang Qi, playing a game.
When he struggled to reach for the milk on the table, Shu He saw a very familiar person.
He opened his eyes in confusion. Not far away, a young man with a full head of red hair, who looked to be seventeen or eighteen, was carefully wiping a vase, for fear of breaking it. He was a temporary cleaner for the Shu family.
So familiar.
To figure it out, Shu He looked for a long time.
The hand that was reaching for the milk had unconsciously fallen on the sofa. Jiang Qi turned his head, and seeing that he couldn’t reach it and was unwilling to get up, he leaned over and got it for him.
When he handed it over, Jiang Qi noticed Shu He’s engrossed expression, paused, and followed his line of sight to the other side.
A red-haired man.
He didn’t know what was so attractive.