GLIHBN Chapter 4
by VolareChi Ye scoffed dismissively, shutting out all the noise coming from Chen Cheng outside the door.
Chi Ye surveyed Su Shi’s room, eventually fixing his gaze on the photo frame on the bedside table.
Chi Ye’s slender fingers picked up the frame, scrutinizing it closely.
The child in the photo looked about seven or eight years old, smiling brightly with a shallow dimple on his face – one of Su Shi’s signature features.
The woman holding Su Shi’s hand was beautiful, possessing the gentle and refined air of a well-bred lady.
The woman held a ragdoll cat in her left arm and Su Shi in her right, her smile as radiant as a flower.
Chi Ye stroked the little Su Shi in the photo with his finger, muttering to himself, “You were so cute even as a child.”
The room was as tidy as a show home, with no signs of anyone living there, indicating that Su Shi didn’t usually come back to stay.
Accompanied by the sound of “thump, thump, thump” of climbing the stairs, Chen Cheng roared before he even arrived, “Hey, Chi, if you have the guts, come out here!”
Su Shi and Chen Jingtian followed behind, Chen Jingtian calling out worriedly, “Xiao Cheng, don’t run so fast.”
“Dad, Brother, come quickly!”
Chen Jingtian glanced at Su Shi, whose face showed no particular expression, and asked, “Who is this Xiao Chi?”
Su Shi remained calm. “I told you, he’s my friend.”
“What kind of friend punches your younger brother the first time he comes to your house?”
Su Shi paused, looking at Chen Jingtian. “Dad, we haven’t even clarified what happened yet.”
“Are you saying you believe an outsider over your own brother?”
“Let’s get to the bottom of it first.”
The conversation had already been unpleasant earlier, and now this had happened. Chen Jingtian pursed his lips and said nothing more.
When Su Shi and Chen Jingtian went upstairs, they saw Chen Cheng standing at the door, while Chi Ye stood inside. Chen Cheng was fiercely cursing Chi Ye, calling him a turtle son-of-a-bitch.
Su Shi hurried over, stepping between the two. “Enough, Xiao Cheng, you’re being very rude.”
Chen Cheng was hopping mad. “Brother, he insulted me first.”
Chi Ye, like a child who had done something wrong, tugged at Su Shi’s arm. “I’m sorry, Su Shi-ge, I’ve caused you trouble.”
Chen Cheng exploded at once, raising his foot to kick Chi Ye, trying to get past Su Shi. “You bastard, you’re really good at playing the victim.”
Su Shi, blocking the kick, received it on his pants leg, leaving a footprint, and was thoroughly annoyed. “Chen Cheng, enough!”
Being called by his full name only made Chen Cheng shout even louder. “Brother, he bullied me first, he’s the real jerk.”
Su Shi shielded Chi Ye behind him. “I have eyes, I can see. Xiao Cheng, you’re still so unreasonable, you haven’t improved at all. I’m very disappointed in you.”
Chen Cheng was so upset he was on the verge of tears, and could only turn to Chen Jingtian for help. “Dad, believe me, it was him, he framed me.”
If Chen Jingtian hadn’t just witnessed Chen Cheng cursing Chi Ye to his face, he would have chosen to believe Chen Cheng. After all, protecting one’s own was what a father should do.
Seeing how protective Su Shi was of Chi Ye, Chen Jingtian could only try to mediate. “You kids are just bickering, we adults shouldn’t get involved. Xiao Cheng, stop talking, Xiao Chi is a guest.”
Chen Cheng truly felt wronged but couldn’t voice it. When Chi Ye opened the door and saw him, he’d immediately sneered, saying that someone as useless as him didn’t deserve to be Su Shi’s brother. He couldn’t take it, and that’s why he cursed Chi Ye.
“Let’s go.”
Su Shi pulled Chi Ye downstairs.
Chen Cheng followed behind, crying and shouting, “Brother, believe me!”
“Stop!” Only when Chen Jingtian spoke did Chen Cheng stop following. “Crying at the drop of a hat, where’s your manhood?”
Chen Cheng could only pout. “Does my brother hate me now?”
Chen Jingtian sighed. “You’re blood brothers, how could he hate you?”
Chen Cheng’s mood finally turned from gloomy to bright. That’s right, no matter how good that Chi Ye’s relationship with his brother was, he was still an outsider, unlike him, his brother’s own younger brother.
Su Shi didn’t let go of Chi Ye’s hand until they reached the car.
The hand that had been released hung limply at Chi Ye’s side, as he softly called out, “Su Shi-ge.”
“Chen Cheng is spoiled rotten, don’t mind him.”
Chi Ye showed an apologetic expression. “But I caused trouble between you and your brother. Should I go back and apologize to him?”
“No need, he really is being unreasonable. He probably can’t stand to see me treating others well, thinking I should only be good to him.”
Su Shi laughed twice, a cold laugh.
For some reason, Chi Ye sensed the word “desolation” from it.
The two got into the car, and Su Shi drove Chi Ye home.
This little interlude didn’t create any distance between them.
Su Shi’s house was decorated with many different kinds of strip lights. At night, the house glowed with dazzling light, like another little world standing apart from the darkness.
Chi Ye was looking at the shoes in Su Shi’s shoe cabinet, Su Shi accompanying him and introducing the origin of each pair. After a while, he said, “I’m going to take a shower, you can play here for a bit.”
“Okay.”
Su Shi’s habit was to shower as soon as he got home. After spending some time with Chi Ye, he felt sticky and uncomfortable.
Su Shi went into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and rinsed himself thoroughly from head to toe.
Chen Cheng, only a month younger than Su Shi’s younger sister Su Qing, was born to Chen Jingtian and a woman outside of the marriage.
Before the age of nine, Su Shi thought he was the happiest child in the world. His parents were loving, their marriage as passionate as day one, and they showered him with affection.
Chen Jingtian was an live-in son-in-law, and all the property belonged to Su Shi’s maternal grandparents. Su Zhi was a pampered young lady who devoted herself to her husband and children after marriage. Chen Jingtian was especially good to his wife and children, and his grandparents-in-law entrusted all their assets to Chen Jingtian to manage.
Later, his maternal grandparents passed away one after the other due to illness. In the same year, Su Zhi became pregnant with her second child, only to discover, when she was about to give birth, that Chen Jingtian had another woman outside, and that her child was about the same age as the one in her belly.
The young lady had never experienced hardship before. In a fit of anger, she went into premature labor and suffered a difficult delivery, dying from a massive hemorrhage, leaving behind only a daughter who lost her mother at birth.
Chen Jingtian thought Su Shi didn’t know these inner details, but in reality, Su Shi knew everything.
Over the years, in order to maintain a reputation as a devoted man, Chen Jingtian had not remarried.
When Chen Cheng was three years old, Chen Jingtian brought him home.
Chen Cheng was a spitting image of Chen Jingtian. Chen Jingtian lowered his age by a year, claiming that he had gotten drunk after Su Zhi’s death and had a child with someone, asking Su Shi to rest assured that he would only ever have Su Zhi as his wife.
Su Shi only found it laughable at the time, silently watching Chen Jingtian act, acting out marital affection, acting out fatherly affection.
Su Shi was only a teenager at the time and had no choice but to agree to let Chen Cheng into the house.
Chen Jingtian controlled all of the Su family’s assets, and Su Shi had no power to stop him. If he didn’t let Chen Cheng in, it would only create discord between father and son.
Chen Cheng was especially attached to Su Shi, chasing after him all day, calling “Brother, brother.” Su Shi was particularly indulgent towards Chen Cheng, indulging him to the point of being lawless.
Turning off the shower, his thoughts were interrupted. Every time he recalled the past, Su Shi felt a piercing pain in his heart.
His beautiful mother was buried deep underground at a young age, full of unwillingness and resentment.
Su Shi was determined to take back everything.
He had to play the part of a good son, a good brother, not fighting, not grabbing, drifting through life.
Heh, in this world, you need acting skills.
When he was about to get dressed, Su Shi realized that he hadn’t brought his pajamas in with him. Thinking that Chi Ye should still be outside, he couldn’t very well go out naked, so he opened a crack in the door and called out, “Chi Ye, help me get some clothes.”
Chi Ye quickly responded, “Okay.”
Su Shi continued to intermittently rinse himself with hot water.
Chi Ye walked into Su Shi’s walk-in closet, his eyes tracing over the neatly categorized clothes. He pulled open one of the drawers, inside which were neatly arranged rows of underwear, briefs, boxer briefs, and thongs.
Chi Ye picked up one of the thongs with barely any fabric, his gaze turning deep and profound.