Jian Yunxian was so angry that he couldn't utter a single word, not expecting him to admit it so quickly and with such a terrible attitude. He was usually so quick-witted.
Yi Heye laughed and deliberately showed him his collarbone: "How is it? Does it look good?"
The two had been completely honest with each other until now, and Jian Yunxian hadn't felt there was anything he couldn't see. But now that Yi Heye had deliberately exposed the nail to him, he felt like his eyes were being pricked and hurt terribly.
Enraged, he reached out and roughly buttoned up his shirt, sealing away the two unsightly black nails.
It took Jian Yunxian a while to catch her breath, suppressing her anger as she asked, "...Who told you to hit him?"
Yi Heye almost blurted out that it was no one else, that he just wanted to hit him, but looking at his exasperated appearance, he suddenly felt that this was not fun at all.
So he slowly straightened his collar, carefully placing the two nails as if they were precious treasures, before raising an eyebrow and smiling slightly at Jian Yunxian: "What does this have to do with you?"
These words finally made Jian Yunxian lose her composure.
Yi Heye watched as the expression that had been sealed by his idol image for so many years cracked open, revealing an extremely rare and complex emotion, like a perfect sculpture cracking open to reveal the most authentic heart hidden beneath the artificial texture.
Yi Heye leaned against him, arms crossed, enjoying his powerless anger—he felt that Jian Yunxian didn't need to pay too much attention to his facial expressions; such natural expressions of genuine emotion added a rare touch of entertainment value.
But this guy seemed a bit too angry, so angry that Yi Heye began to reflect on whether his joke had gone too far.
He was just thinking about whether to say something to salvage the situation when he heard the person ask, "Does it hurt?"
This person was clearly so angry that he was about to freeze up, but he suppressed all his emotions and the first thing he asked was if it hurt.
Yi Heye was stunned for a moment—to be honest, it didn't hurt at all, but looking at his expression, Yi Heye lied again as if possessed.
"It hurts," he said, "...but I like it."
Upon hearing this, Jian Yunxian's breath caught in his throat. He frowned and stared at Yi Heye, a mist rising from his warm, emerald-green eyes.
Yi Heye saw that his eyes were red with anger. The next second, the guy suddenly pounced over, unbuttoned his collar, and bit him hard on the right shoulder.
"Damn! Hiss...!"
The bite was so hard that Yi Heye felt his two canine teeth were driven directly into his flesh.
He struggled to push the guy away, and when he looked down, he saw a ring of bright red teeth marks and two small holes that were bleeding.
"You fucking...!" Yi Heye looked up at Jian Yunxian in disbelief. "Are you sick in the head?!"
This bite injured Yi Heye, but it also calmed Jian Yunxian down. He licked his lips, a smile playing on his lips: "Does it hurt?"
"It hurts!" Yi Heye accused him angrily, "How could it not hurt when you fucking used so much force?!"
Jian Yunxian laughed again: "Isn't that exactly what you like?"
Damn. This guy is way too vengeful.
Yi Heye looked at the ring of teeth marks on his right shoulder, then at the two nails on his left—they were like a competition, each trying to be symmetrical.
While Yi Heye was looking down at his injuries, Jian Yunxian had already quickly tidied himself up, looking ramrod straight, and was preparing to withdraw from the battle.
He straightened his tie, put on the gold-rimmed glasses that Yi Heye had knocked off, and turned around.
Just as Yi Heye was about to get up and drag that guy back, he saw a big, white little cloud hopping and skipping over from the other end of the alley. It first ran to his leg and rubbed against him affectionately, then snuggled back to Jian Yunxian's side, looking at him happily.
He suddenly remembered reading in a parenting book that adults should not argue or fight in front of children, as it would have a negative impact on the children's physical and mental health.
So, out of consideration for Xiaoyunduo, who is over twenty years old, Yi Heye decided to temporarily cease hostilities.
Jian Yunxian took the lead on Xiaoyunduo's leash, turned around and walked towards the alley entrance without looking back. Yi Heye leaned against the wall, staring at the father and son's receding figures.
Finally, he took out a cigarette from his pocket, but before he could put it in his mouth, he heard Jian Yunxian say, "Don't go that way."
Where are you going? Yi Heye looked up, but before he could ask, the guy's figure had already disappeared around the street corner.
Yi Heye took a few steps as a token gesture, then peeked out and saw the network of alleyways leading in all directions, so he stopped searching in vain.
This time he wasn't in a hurry—because they knew they would meet again.
Yi Heye checked again to make sure there was nothing on his clothes before slowly strolling back into the sunlight, cigarette dangling from his lips and hands in his pockets.
After the confrontation, Yi Heye felt that in addition to losing his worldly desires, he also gained a sense of world-weariness and detachment.
He was slightly hunched over, his eyes tired and unfocused. The noise around him reached his ears, but was bounced back by his closed-off mind.
He walked back to the makeshift stage, following his muscle memory, and stared blankly at the empty square for several seconds before realizing that the performance was over.
The performance was over, Xiao Daji had finished her act, and all the audience members had left.
After Yi Heye reached these three conclusions, his mind went blank again—
...What am I doing here again?
He stood frozen in place for a long time, and just as his brain was trying to start functioning again, he heard laughter and noise coming from the alley entrance.
He turned his head and saw about seven or eight men laughing and joking as they walked out of the alley.
They were all flushed and satisfied. Some were pulling up their pants, some had their zippers open, and some were just pulling on their shorts as they walked. Yi Heye, who had just finished, clearly knew what had happened.
This was none of his business, but just as he was about to leave, he saw a man holding a bloodstained artificial fox tail.
Yi Heye recognized the tail at a glance, and his broken brain reconnected in an instant.
He quickly ran towards the alley. A man brushed past him, and seeing his hurried manner, joked with a smile, "The person hasn't run away yet. If you go now, you can still catch them while they're still alive."
Yi Heye's first reaction was to grab that guy and beat him up, but he knew that beating them up now would be pointless. His first priority was to check on the guy's condition.
He quickly slipped into the dark alley, and as he was about to reach the end, a foul, fishy stench hit him.
Yi Heye frowned in disgust—he knew what this smell was like; with seven or eight men gathered together, the sensory stimulation was amplified seven or eight times.
He struggled to hold back his vomiting, took two more steps forward, and then heard a weak and painful breath.
He already knew who was lying there, but as soon as he turned the corner, Yi Heye stopped in his tracks.
In a filthy corner, Little Daji lay naked on her back on the ground, her limbs twisted as if broken, in a bizarre, wide-open position.
Her face was covered in a large, mixed mess of liquids—blood, and many other indescribable substances—smeared everywhere, making it impossible for Yi Heye to see her expression.
Beneath her was a pool of crimson blood, and of her nine tails, only four or five remained, scattered like withered reeds.
She was like a fox that had been scalded in boiling water, its skin peeled off, leaving only a bloody skeleton.
Her naked body was covered with a thick layer of coins, banknotes, and jewelry.
On top of the pile of money was a cheap watch, illuminated by a small beam of light piercing the gap between the buildings, reflecting a very limited circle of light. That hazy layer of light was like a thin blanket, wrapping her fragile body inside.
If Yi Heye hadn't seen that she was still breathing, he would have found it hard to believe that she was still alive.
He quickly called an ambulance, then knelt down beside her to check on her condition.
"...I'm fine." Little Daji looked at the sky and sighed softly, "...Don't call an ambulance, it's too expensive, I can't afford it."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be alright, Yi Heye said, "I'll pay for you."
At worst, I can just get reimbursed when I get back.
"I'm sure I won't spend any money," Little Daji breathed a sigh of relief. She shifted her legs restlessly, and the banknotes that had been covering her toes slipped down, revealing her festering private parts.
Although he didn't have those worldly desires and his sexual orientation didn't match up, out of politeness, Yi Heye still turned away and didn't look at her.
After sitting with his back turned for a while, Yi Heye felt it wasn't right to just sit there, so he asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Little Daji lay in the pile of money, glanced at his unnatural back, smiled, and said with difficulty, "It's okay, it's alright, this is my job."
Yi Heye felt a little uncomfortable listening to this. He wasn't good at finding topics to chat about, but he was afraid that Xiao Daji would pass away as soon as she closed her eyes, so he could only try to find some topics to cheer her up.
After thinking it over, he realized he knew too little about the girl, so he could only ask, "Are you having some difficulties right now?"
"Hmm," said Little Daji, "Sister Qin has been arrested, and I have nowhere to go..."
Yi Heye glanced at her, then frowned and turned away, unable to bear looking at her: "...Why don't you find a proper job? You're still so young, you could easily find a factory job, there's no need to ruin yourself like this."
"But this is the only way to make money quickly," Little Daji laughed helplessly. "If I don't save enough money, I'm doomed."
Yi Heye sensed something was amiss and asked, "What do you mean? Do you owe money?"
“I owe a lot of money from surgery and have been on the credit blacklist for a long time,” Xiao Daji said with a bitter smile. “Because of what happened to Sister Qin, I have a criminal record. Last month, the government gave me an ultimatum: if I can’t pay off my debts in time, I will be sent to Zone E.”
Little Daji asked, "Being sent to a place like that is worse than death, right?"
Author's Note:
Meow: First, set a temporary marker.
Chapter 136, number 136
Area E, it's Area E again.
Whether it was due to the Bader-Meinhof effect or because this hidden place had actually been quietly becoming active recently, Yi Heye felt that the frequency with which he heard this word lately was abnormally high.
Yi Heye's intuition was never wrong, but Xiao Daji's heavy breathing made it impossible for him to concentrate on any problem.
To him, the body before him had transcended all sexual connotations; it was merely a shell stained with suffering and pain—he still had to do something to help her before the ambulance arrived.
Because he didn't know exactly what kind of injury she had suffered, Yi Heye didn't dare to treat her rashly. He ran to the unmanned convenience store next door to buy her a bottle of water and a towel to prop her head up.
Little Daji had a really good attitude. She just lay on the ground, unable to move, and smiled at him, saying, "...Won't your boyfriend mind?"
Yi Heye has low emotional intelligence and limited speaking skills. He found the question utterly absurd: "How could that be? I have absolutely no interest in you."
Little Daji then remembered: "Oh... I forgot you're a lesbian..."
Although it was indeed true, these words sounded extremely awkward to Yi Heye.
Little Daji took a sip of water and sighed, "It's unbelievable that someone can become so completely gay. You know, I've slept with a lot of gay men... Are you actually not very good at it...?"
……Oh shit.
Yi Heye felt inexplicably insulted.
He instinctively wanted to stuff the bottle cap into Xiao Daji's mouth, but out of consideration for public morality and basic human ethics, he restrained himself from this impulse.
Whatever happens, happens; he doesn't care about this guy's life or death at all now!
After sulking for a while, Yi Heye finally managed to get to the finish line after a long pause: "...He's not my boyfriend!"
Little Daji raised her eyes, and having probably seen this situation many times before, she didn't ask any more questions.
After a long while, she felt as if she was about to lose consciousness, so she quickly opened her eyes and casually started a conversation to clear her head: "Thank you, you are such a kind person."
Yi Heye was used to being a cold-hearted passerby, and this adjective, which was completely contrary to his self-image, made him feel extremely unnatural.