MNL Chapter 29
by VolareShen Yan’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled and said, “My place…”
“Our school also has someone participating in the geography competition you guys are preparing for. Speaking of this person—” Yan Zhe shoveled down a couple of mouthfuls of rice, then his enthusiasm waned. “Ah, never mind, I won’t mention him.”
Xu Jing paused his chopsticks. “No. 4 High School?”
“Yeah, I heard he didn’t perform well on the high school entrance exam, so he ended up there.”
The two of them: “…”
This was the first time they’d heard of someone “not performing well” and ending up at the worst school.
“Actually, I don’t have much to do with this guy. It’s just that this bastard has a sharp tongue and always spouts nonsense without rhyme or reason. He also loves to brag like crazy, which I hate the most. And he—” His voice suddenly stopped. A wave of nausea surged to his head. Yan Zhe swallowed hard, almost throwing up the food he had just eaten.
“Hmm?”
“D-Do you have water?” Yan Zhe put down his chopsticks, his face turning pale. Xu Jing pointed to the kitchen, feeling that something was wrong.
Yan Zhe supported himself on the table and stood up. He felt dizzy and lightheaded after just two steps, constantly swaying. His stomach felt like it was burning, both numb and painful. Gradually, he realized his legs were weakening, his whole body was exhausted, and the scene in front of him became blurred and distorted, finally fading into darkness.
The two people at the dining table were quietly eating when they suddenly heard a “thump” from behind, like something had hit the ground. Shen Yan and Xu Jing immediately turned around and saw Yan Zhe face down at the kitchen door, already unconscious.
* * *
7 PM.
Yan Zhe dazedly opened his eyes, unable to immediately figure out where he was. The door of the hospital room was pushed open, and he blankly watched Xu Jing walk in expressionlessly, throwing several medical reports into his lap.
Yan Zhe’s heart skipped a beat just from seeing that expression. He panicked and said, “W-What’s wrong?”
Xu Jing coldly laughed, “Congratulations, stomach cancer.”
“What the fuck?!” Yan Zhe immediately performed a carp jump, grabbing the report and skimming through it. Although he didn’t recognize many of the professional terms, in a state of extreme panic, he could still accurately catch the key words.
Acute gastroenteritis.
Yan Zhe patted his chest with lingering fear, saying, “You scared me to death! I really thought I was going to die soon.”
“The doctor said it was caused by improper diet.” Xu Jing raised an eyebrow. “What happened to you?”
“Don’t even mention it, it must be those instant noodles. I’m never eating them again.” After saying that, Yan Zhe looked around, weakly asking, “Didn’t that brother come with you?”
“Are you two close?”
“Not really.” Yan Zhe said, “Aren’t you two on pretty good terms? I’m so heavy, I thought he would have come along.”
Xu Jing didn’t reply. When he saw Yan Zhe collapse, Shen Yan had helped get him to the hospital as quickly as possible, but at the entrance, he suddenly said he had urgent business and left in a hurry.
It was obvious he didn’t want to go in.
“Take care of yourself.” Xu Jing said quietly, “I’ll go get the medicine.”
Yan Zhe: “…”
Noticing the displeased expression on the person walking away, Yan Zhe couldn’t help but click his tongue a couple of times. Even though they were both guys, why did he inexplicably feel like the old flame couldn’t compare to the new?
There weren’t many people at the hospital at this time, and Xu Jing quickly completed the procedures and got the medicine. At the corner of the corridor, he unexpectedly saw a familiar figure.
“Aunt Yu?”
Yu Qianfang, who heard the call from the front, was clearly stunned. She moved slowly, as if unwillingly, and stiffly turned around.
“It’s Xu Jing.” Yu Qianfang raised her hand and tucked the hair behind her ear, her eyes darting around, and her smile wasn’t as natural as before. She asked, “Why are you at the hospital at this time? Are you feeling unwell?”
“I’m fine, I came with a friend.” Looking at the haggard face of the woman in front of him, whose earlier actions seemed to be trying to cover up something, Xu Jing frowned and said in a low voice, “Aunt Yu, what’s wrong?”
Yu Qianfang just shook her head. “I’ve been feeling a bit of a headache lately, so I came to the hospital to get it checked out. Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.”
A phone “dinged.”
Xu Jing lowered his eyes and saw Yu Qianfang looking at her phone, her face turning pale in an instant.
“I won’t talk anymore, I… have something to do, so I’ll leave first. Take your friend home quickly after the appointment.” Yu Qianfang turned to leave, but Xu Jing wanted to say something, but was interrupted.
“The store has recently stocked up on a lot of fresh fruits. Remember to come get some when you have time. Aunt Yu will save you the best ones.”
The woman turned back and gave him a very kind smile, then jogged away. Watching that gradually disappearing figure, Xu Jing only felt very strange.
The last time he saw Yu Qianfang was during the time before registration. After that, because high school let out late, Yu Qianfang’s fruit store was already closed every time he came back, and two months quickly passed. But once during the weekend, he went to the store specifically, only to find it still closed. Afterwards, he sent a message to Yu Qianfang, and she simply said that she had been busy with family matters lately and didn’t have time to run the store. Although Xu Jing was a little suspicious, he didn’t ask too much.
But Yu Qianfang’s image has always been dignified and proper. It was rare for her to be as flustered as she was today. Those few strands of loose hair left a clear impression in Xu Jing’s mind. He felt that he must find a time to ask her clearly.
Yan Zhe fainted because of electrolyte imbalance leading to insufficient blood supply to the brain. Fortunately, he was young and in good physical condition, so there wasn’t anything seriously wrong, but the doctor still gave him a good scolding when he came to examine him. Yan Zhe, who was a towering 1.85 meters tall, could only droop his head and listen at this time.
Xu Jing laboriously took him home. Because several restaurants had been found to have substandard food quality recently, few people chose to eat out now. When he went back, only a few scattered stores were open on the street.
They hadn’t eaten much dinner at all when Yan Zhe fainted. Xu Jing was too lazy to go home and bother, so he found a Mala Tang place nearby.
As soon as the waitress saw someone coming in at the door, she immediately perked up and stood up enthusiastically. “Hello, what would you like to order?” Then, she noticed Xu Jing’s hesitation and quickly gave a sincere smile, saying, “Our store’s ingredients are all purchased on the same day, and there will never be any stale ones. And we use only top-grade rapeseed oil, so you can rest assured.”
Xu Jing hummed, but he wasn’t actually thinking about that at all.
The waitress smiled and handed him a tray, pointing to the cabinet-style refrigerator and saying, “That’s where you get the food.”
Ten minutes later, Xu Jing looked down at what he had taken. The tray was piled high, because it was originally only enough for one person, but he had stubbornly taken twice as much.
“Handsome guy, is there a problem?”
Xu Jing remained motionless, holding the tray. The waitress in the back watched with trepidation, afraid that something had gone wrong.
His hand went up and then down. In the end, he didn’t put the food back and turned to the front desk to pay.
“Make two portions.”
“Okay.” The waitress swallowed and carefully examined Xu Jing’s expression, then said worriedly, “Is everything really okay? If there is, I hope you can tell us as soon as possible.”
“It’s fine.”
Then why are you making that face?
The waitress couldn’t help but complain in her heart, but on her face, she could only maintain a smile.
“What kind of flavors do you want?”
Xu Jing thought for a moment and replied, “Don’t put any spice in either of them.”
The waitress nodded. “Please wait a moment.”
Because there weren’t many customers, the food was made quickly. More than ten minutes later, Xu Jing looked at the two steaming bowls of Mala Tang in front of him and fell into deep thought.
It wasn’t until he entered the apartment elevator that Xu Jing realized how foolish his behavior had been just now. If Shen Yan was hungry, he could just order takeout or cook. Now, without even asking, he had inexplicably brought a portion. Would the other party think he was very concerned about him?
When Xu Jing thought about things, he always had some small movements that he didn’t even notice himself. Now, the thin string of the bag had been wrapped around several times, loosened and tightened, tightened and loosened, messing it up over and over again.
The sound of the elevator doors opening came to his ears, forcing him to face the decision he had to make. Two seconds ago, Xu Jing was still hesitating between knocking on 602’s door and throwing the other late-night snack into the trash can. But as soon as he stepped out, he looked up and saw someone standing in front of the corridor window.
Shen Yan was wearing casual loungewear, with one hand in his pocket, looking ahead. His posture was still casual and upright, without any extra expressions or movements, quietly looking out the window. Although the warm lights behind him illuminated the ground, he seemed to be shrouded in the dark night outside, adding a bit of shadow to his whole person.
“What are you doing here?” Xu Jing was clearly a little surprised.
The person in front remained unmoved, only replying, “The room is stuffy, I came out for some fresh air.”
The reason sounded reasonable at the time, but after thinking about it roughly, you would find that there was a problem.
Shen Yan slowly turned around and said in a calm tone, “How is your friend?”
“He’s fine, just ordinary acute gastroenteritis.” Xu Jing paused and added, “He brought it on himself recently, it has nothing to do with you.”
“Hmm.” Shen Yan took a few steps forward and said casually, “I thought I had poisoned him.”
Xu Jing, taking it as a joke, didn’t think too much and just casually asked, “Would you?”
“I don’t have any grudges against him, so of course not, but if it were someone else.” Shen Yan’s eyes darkened slightly, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. “Then it’s hard to say.”
Eye contact.
The “someone else” was clearly alluding to something. Xu Jing’s eyebrows quickly furrowed, and the other party noticed what he was holding in his hand at the same moment.
The bright gaze directly locked onto his hand. The late-night snack he was holding felt like a hot potato, and he regretted his impulse even more.
Should I just throw it away, or say it’s a buy-one-get-one-free, Xu Jing thought expressionlessly, as if that would reduce the awkwardness and embarrassment that was about to drown him.
“I…”
The made-up reason hadn’t even had time to be said before it was interrupted by the person in front of him. Shen Yan said decisively, “Come on.”
Xu Jing was stunned and looked at him in confusion. “Come on what?”
Shen Yan’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled and said, “My place.”
Xu Jing: “…”
This person was really self-aware.