Chapter 32
It turns out that while a person’s personality might undergo subtle changes over time, their reactions at crucial moments often remain the same.
One ordinary weekend during the second semester of his first year of high school, while Jian Wu was doing homework with Song Shuci as usual, Song Shuci suddenly stopped and said: “I like someone.”
At that time, Jian Wu immediately dropped his homework and guessed every girl he knew who had interacted with Song Shuci. Seeing that none of his guesses were correct, he waved his hand dejectedly and said he wouldn’t guess anymore. Song Shuci coaxed him: “Ask me again, I’ll tell you directly this time.”
So Jian Wu asked him suspiciously: “Who do you like?”
Song Shuci smiled and said: “You.”
Jian Wu was so shocked that he jumped three feet high, then grabbed Song Shuci’s hand and made him touch his Adam’s apple: “Ge, if I’m not mistaken… I’m a boy.”
Just like now, his expression changed for half a minute, then he inexplicably took out his phone and scrolled for a while, brainstorming for at least five minutes, before finally saying with a subtle expression: “Song Shuci, if I’m not mistaken… we broke up.”
“Mm, I know.”
Song Shuci answered like this twelve years ago, and he still answered like this twelve years later.
Twelve years ago, Jian Wu was instantly petrified. Twelve years later, Jian Wu looked at Song Shuci, opened his mouth, and chose to change the subject.
“How about we talk about the apartment first,” he suggested.
“Okay,” Song Shuci went along with it, pretending nothing had happened, “As you wish.”
Jian Wu cleared his throat, appearing calm, and introduced the two rooms in front of them: “These are the bedrooms, the one on the left is mine, the one on the right is yours.”
Song Shuci opened the door and glanced inside. The bedroom had a typical layout: a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk.
“Neither bedroom has a balcony, this apartment is small, only one balcony,” Jian Wu pointed to the one next to the living room, “You can dry your clothes there.”
“The fridge, washing machine, and such are all shared. I clean them regularly. The fridge is divided into two shelves per person, top and bottom. Lou Xi has already taken his things, the empty spaces are yours. The same goes for the snack shelf over there, but we usually share snacks, so it’s not strictly divided.”
“We used to split the utilities equally, but if you’re not staying here long-term, we can discuss it again.”
“Also,” he handed the key ring to Song Shuci, speaking in a business-like manner, “The larger one is for the main door, the smaller one is for your room. I also have a key to your room, but I won’t go in unless it’s a safety issue. There’s a surveillance camera in the living room, you can check it if you’re worried.”
“Of course, if you can’t accept this and want to break the contract, you can,” Jian Wu said, “I’m not as heartless as you, considering we’re exes, you don’t have to pay the penalty.”
“I accept.”
Jian Wu’s long speech was cut short by Song Shuci’s decisive “I accept.” He froze for a moment, then nodded slightly, speechless: “Okay.”
Song Shuci smiled and followed him for a few steps. After a while, as if remembering something, he frowned slightly.
Jian Wu immediately knew what he wanted to say from his expression and quickly said before he could speak: “Wait–”
He walked to the cabinet by the entrance, knocked on the wooden panel, and seeing Song Shuci looking over, opened the cabinet and took out a fire extinguisher: “Fire blanket, fire extinguisher, fire mask, I have them all, feel free to check. You can’t say I’m not fire safety conscious this time.”
Song Shuci looked at his slightly smug expression and couldn’t help but chuckle, “Okay, I won’t.”
When they were renting an apartment in City A, Song Shuci spent a long time researching and buying fire safety equipment. Jian Wu thought he was being overly meticulous, and Song Shuci gave him a three-hour lecture on fire safety.
“Why are you so proactive this time?” Song Shuci asked.
“Because I can’t stand your nagging,” Jian Wu replied casually, then realized his words were quite inappropriate.
As expected, Song Shuci immediately caught the slip-up, raising an eyebrow: “What, were you expecting me to come live here?”
Jian Wu was speechless, wanting to explain that he had been nagged so much by Song Shuci about this before that he subconsciously bought these things after buying the apartment, and every time he bought something, he had PTSD flashbacks, as if he could hear Song Shuci chanting in his ear.
But luckily, his brain was faster than his mouth this time, and he didn’t say it.
He could guess that if he did, Song Shuci would definitely say he couldn’t let go of the past and was still thinking about him.
So he remained silent.
Seeing Jian Wu didn’t respond for a while, Song Shuci didn’t continue the topic. He looked around the apartment, which wasn’t spacious but cozy enough, and suddenly asked: “Is this your apartment?”
“Didn’t you sign the contract with me?” Jian Wu said, “Didn’t Lou Xi show you a copy of my purchase contract?”
“No.”
Jian Wu suddenly felt that asking Lou Xi to handle the rental was a very questionable decision.
“I can show it to you if you want,” Jian Wu said, “Anyway, don’t worry about this issue.”
But what Song Shuci was thinking about clearly wasn’t the ownership issue, but: “Where did you get so much money?”
Hearing Song Shuci speak to him in this scrutinizing and distrustful tone again, Jian Wu’s heart, which had been fluttering because of the “for you,” suddenly sank.
He said curtly: “None of your business.”
“Where did you go these past few years,” Song Shuci, clearly not noticing his displeasure, continued to ask, “Were you always in City B?”
Jian Wu paused before saying: “No.”
“How much did this apartment cost?” Song Shuci’s expression became slightly serious, “You didn’t do anything illegal or harmful to your health to get the money, did you?”
Jian Wu didn’t expect him to think in this direction and couldn’t help but roll his eyes: “Sold a kidney, removed half a lung, cut out half my heart, are you satisfied now?”
Song Shuci frowned slightly: “Can you speak properly?”
Jian Wu snorted coldly: “Isn’t that what you meant?”
The affiliated middle and elementary schools of B Medical University only admitted children of faculty and staff, so the nearby apartments didn’t have the added value of being in a school district. Plus, he bought a second-hand apartment, and it wasn’t big, so it wasn’t actually that expensive.
His salary before returning to City B was decent, and he had saved over 200,000 yuan in three years, enough for a down payment.
But Song Shuci always thought of him as a child, not believing he could achieve anything on his own.
Jian Wu said defiantly: “To be honest, I just came back from selling my organs. This Jian Wu you see now has no heart or liver, only the water that entered my brain when I fell for you.”
“Jian Wu!”
Jian Wu ignored him. He turned and went back to the kitchen, brought the dishes he hadn’t had time to put on the coffee table, served himself a bowl of rice, pulled a cushion to sit between the sofa and the coffee table — his coffee table was a bit low, uncomfortable to sit on from the sofa, so he simply sat on the floor.
He turned on the TV, put on a variety show, leaned back, and picked up his bowl.
“I’m eating, suit yourself.”
“Oh right,” he took a few bites, looked at Song Shuci, and added, “I didn’t prepare any food for you, figure out your own dinner.”
Song Shuci looked at the full table of dishes and asked: “Can you finish all this by yourself?”
Jian Wu didn’t even look at him: “If I can’t finish it, I’ll put it in the fridge and eat it tomorrow.”
Song Shuci stood there in silence for a while. After a moment of stubborn silence, Song Shuci finally spoke, trying to ease the tension: “Did you order takeout and reheat it?”
—This attempt at easing the tension was worse than not saying anything.
“Are you blind to the pots and pans in the kitchen sink?” Jian Wu said with a deadpan expression.
Song Shuci still didn’t believe him: “You can cook?”
Jian Wu was completely speechless.
In Song Shuci’s eyes, he was probably always the little kid who had followed him around since the age of three, completely incapable of taking care of himself.
Perhaps he had felt a twinge of guilt just now, thinking he should invite Song Shuci to eat with him, since he had cooked enough for two and couldn’t finish it all by himself.
But now, the guilt was completely gone.
So what if he came here for him? He had already moved on from this relationship.
He ate his dinner and watched TV, listening to Song Shuci wash the dishes, then open his fridge: “Do you have any vegetables? I’ll just make something simple.”
“Sure, but there’s a charge.”
“…” Song Shuci asked, “How much?”
“Two yuan per tomato, one yuan per cucumber, 1.2 yuan per egg, I’ll give you the scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili for free. There’s some meat in the freezer, I’ll charge you twenty for that, but it’ll take a while to thaw. I suggest you just make scrambled eggs with tomatoes and sliced cucumbers.”
Although he spoke quickly, the prices he quoted were reasonable, and his fluent explanation seemed practiced.
He looked at Jian Wu: “You really can cook?”
Jian Wu didn’t even bother to look at him.
After about fifteen minutes of clanging from the kitchen, Song Shuci also came to the living room with his two dishes.
“I served you a bowl of rice, I’ll add it to your bill later.”
“Okay.” Jian Wu glanced at the scrambled eggs with tomatoes and sliced cucumbers Song Shuci had made, following his suggestions.
“After all these years,” he couldn’t help but say, “Haven’t your cooking skills improved at all?”
Song Shuci, inexplicably attacked, retorted: “You haven’t even tried it.”
“I don’t need to try it to know, it looks exactly the same as when we were renting in City A. Song Shuci,” he asked curiously, “Didn’t you feel bad eating this kind of food all these years in America?”
If nutrient paste ever became a thing, it would definitely be Song Shuci’s first choice.
Song Shuci’s ego was bruised: “Is my cooking that bad?”
Jian Wu pursed his lips: “What do you think?”
“Didn’t you used to say my cooking was quite good?”
“That was before,” Jian Wu said, “We were a couple then, I was afraid of hurting your feelings. Now that we’re broken up, I don’t care anymore.”
Song Shuci was speechless, unable to say anything for a long time. After a while, he said, his tone neutral: “You’re much more honest now.”
Jian Wu glanced at him, stood up, put away the leftovers, washed his bowl, wiped his hands, sat back down at the coffee table, opened his phone, and said: “Transfer the money.”
“Just add me on WeChat,” Song Shuci said, “Scanning the QR code is too troublesome, and we might need to transfer money more often in the future.”
“I don’t find it troublesome.”
Song Shuci looked at him for a while and sighed helplessly.
“I apologize,” he suddenly said.
Jian Wu froze and heard Song Shuci say: “I shouldn’t have doubted your ability to buy an apartment or cook. I was just worried about you. I know you’re not happy when I say that, I won’t say it again.”
“You…” Jian Wu stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
“Jian Wu,” Song Shuci rubbed the bridge of his nose, “You’ve really changed a lot these past four years. You’re right, I shouldn’t look at you with my old perspective. I’m just used to it sometimes, I can’t help it, I don’t mean any harm. If you’re uncomfortable, just like you don’t like my cooking, just say it.”
As everyone knew, people with high offense and low defense were most vulnerable to their opponent’s sudden understanding. Jian Wu was speechless, frozen in place, at a loss for words.
“So can you add me now?” Song Shuci looked at him, his dark eyes clear and bright.
If Jian Wu’s eyes were large, bright, and sparkling, then Song Shuci’s were clearly the type that absorbed light. His pupils were very dark, so dark that one’s reflection would appear particularly clear in them.
Jian Wu, looking at his own reflection in Song Shuci’s eyes, as if he had been sucked into those pupils, took out his phone before he could even react.
By the time he realized it, Song Shuci was already in his latest list of friends.
Fuck.
He turned his head away, avoiding Song Shuci’s gaze, refusing to make eye contact. And, in a fit of pique, he changed his chat background with Song Shuci — a photo of Song Shuci wearing a pink dress when he was young.
This photo was taken when they were both in elementary school.
At that time, the two children had a small argument, the specifics of which no one could remember. They only heard from the adults that Jian Wu had cried and said, “I hate Gege,” “I don’t want Gege, I want a younger sister.”
However, Gege clearly couldn’t disappear, and Jian Yu had no plans to give birth to another child. Even if she did, it wouldn’t be in time.
So, in the end, the two families conspired and bought a pink dress, making Song Shuci wear it to apologize to Jian Wu.
In the end, Song Shuci, awkwardly tugging at the ruffles of the skirt, his chin held high, apologized to Jian Wu, both embarrassed and sulky.
The adults, enjoying the scene, also coaxed him, saying, “Meimei is here, don’t cry anymore.” And little Jian Wu, playing along, smiled as soon as he saw Song Shuci, tears still clinging to his eyelashes.
This scene was also captured by Song Shuci’s mother, developed into a photo, and placed in both families’ photo albums.
Song Shuci, looking at the chat background Jian Wu had set, gritted his teeth, his usually calm face showing a hint of annoyance: “Why do you have this photo on your phone?”
Jian Wu, finally avenged for the baby photos, said: “Open the album, take out your phone, click to take a photo, that’s how.”
Song Shuci: “…Change it.” He said with a stern face.
“Dream on.”
Jian Wu sat cross-legged on the floor cushion, leaning against the sofa, peeling sunflower seeds. He usually didn’t like eating sunflower seeds one by one, preferring to peel a whole bowl and eat them in one go.
“Are you going to change it or not?” Song Shuci issued his final ultimatum.
Jian Wu ignored him: “I said I’m not changing it.”
Song Shuci turned his head away and angrily ate his sliced cucumbers. For some reason, Song Shuci, who had never thought his cooking was bad, suddenly felt his culinary skills were indeed quite average.
Jian Wu finished peeling a small bowl of sunflower seeds and was about to eat them when he suddenly received a transfer from Song Shuci.
He was very satisfied with his surrender, clapped his hands, and picked up his phone to accept the transfer.
However, just as he took his hand off the bowl, Song Shuci suddenly grabbed it and ate all his sunflower seeds in one go.
“Song Shuci!” Jian Wu stared, dumbfounded, unable to react.
By the time he finally untangled his legs and stood up, Song Shuci had already run back to his room.
Jian Wu, his legs numb, hobbled after him and knocked on his door. Song Shuci quickly locked it from the inside.
“That’s for not changing the background,” Song Shuci taunted from inside.
Jian Wu tried to open the door but couldn’t. He wanted to punch the door in frustration, but remembering it was his own door, he retracted his hand and yelled angrily: “Song Shuci, you bastard!”
[T/N: Hello, this is the translator. From now on, one coin-locked chapter will be unlocked every Tuesday and Friday at 8:00 PM. Thank you for reading and supporting the story and Dobynovels!]
