It seems I really have left a shadow on Pei Shaocheng.
The phone, tossed aside, suddenly lit up, emitting a tiny glow in the darkness. Wen Yuhan reached out and picked it up, finding it was a new email.
This email address was his personal one, not his regular work account. Wen Yuhan frowned, opened the email, and found only six simple words:
—You shouldn't have come back.
boom!
The defenses in Wen Yuhan's heart crumbled instantly upon seeing this sudden "preview".
His pupils trembled violently, and a chill ran down his spine in an instant.
Wen Yuhan instinctively wanted to delete the email, but her hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably, and a strong sense of fear rose in her eyes.
He curled up on the bed, hugging his knees and trying to shrink into a ball, breathing heavily and uncontrollably, like a fish out of water.
The next second, Wen Yuhan jumped out of bed and began frantically searching the room for cigarette boxes.
His bare feet accidentally bumped into the corner of the coffee table, but he seemed completely oblivious to the pain, continuing to rummage through drawers and cabinets with unfocused eyes.
Finally, he found the half-smoked cigarette butt that Pei Shaocheng had stubbed out earlier in the ashtray. He hurriedly and nervously put it in his mouth, grabbed the lighter next to him, but failed to light it after several attempts.
"Damn it..." Wen Yuhan bit down hard on the cigarette holder, and after a lot of effort, he finally managed to light it.
He squatted barefoot on the floor, diligently smoking the cigarette until only the filter remained.
It's him, he already knows... it must be him!
As if touched upon some extremely terrifying memory, Wen Yuhan was in a state like an antelope cornered by a hunter on the edge of a cliff, or a bee with its stinger pulled out and stuck to a car's windshield wiper.
The lights in the room suddenly came on, and the bright green vegetables, along with their plastic bags, were thrown on the ground, with a bright red tomato rolling out.
Pei Shaocheng strode over to Wen Yuhan and pulled him into his arms.
"It's alright now..."
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 27
Only when he held Wen Yuhan in his arms did Pei Shaocheng truly realize that there was indeed very little flesh left in this person's body. His thin frame seemed so fragile that it could easily break with minimal effort.
Because of the IV drip, Wen Yuhan's fever had subsided, but the cold temperature on her body was even more abnormal than her previous burning hot temperature.
He was still trembling, his ten fingers digging into Pei Shaocheng's arm, the tips of his fingers turning white. Pei Shaocheng let Wen Yuhan pinch him, holding him even tighter.
This long-awaited embrace successfully stirred the softness in Pei Shaocheng's heart. He rested his chin on Wen Yuhan's head, his voice unusually gentle, and stroked the prominent joints on Wen Yuhan's back, asking softly, "What's wrong?"
Wen Yuhan's eyes were not fully focused yet. He closed his eyes, counting Pei Shaocheng's steady heartbeats to calm his chaotic breathing, but he still could not dispel the fear that the email brought him.
He was already very cautious and low-key during his comeback, so why was he still noticed?
It was as if a huge, dark spider web was looming over his head, imperceptible to him. No matter how quietly he moved, the spider would still detect him.
Wen Yuhan slowly released his grip on Pei Shaocheng's arm and let his hands fall to his sides. He swallowed hard before lowering his eyes and whispering, "I just had a nightmare."
Upon hearing that Wen Yuhan was only dreaming, a hint of doubt flashed in Pei Shaocheng's eyes. His hand, which was stroking Wen Yuhan's back, paused for a moment, but he continued to soothe him gently.
Pei Shaocheng knew Wen Yuhan; if he didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't say it even if he were killed. Pressuring him now would only make Wen Yuhan more anxious.
He picked up the cigarette butt from the ground and threw it into the ashtray, then picked up the rolled-out tomato and put it back in the plastic bag. He said to Wen Yuhan, "It's okay, dreams are always the opposite of reality."
Wen Yuhan responded softly, then said, "Sorry for messing up your house. I'll clean it up for you."
"No need, go lie down in bed for a while longer. I'll call you when the food is ready."
"good."
Pei Shaocheng turned and headed towards the kitchen, but stopped after taking a couple of steps and asked, "What were you looking for just now?"
"TV remote control." Wen Yuhan said without looking up.
“Uh…” Pei Shaocheng pursed his lips and said in a deep voice, “All the cigarettes in the house were thrown away, and the last pack is on me.”
"Is that so... No wonder."
Pei Shaocheng sighed and went into the kitchen.
...
Dinner was light but delicious: a plate of stir-fried lettuce, a plate of stir-fried water bamboo shoots with shredded Yunnan ham, and thin noodles cooked with tomato sauce. All of these were nutritious and easy to digest.
When the two were still together, Pei Shaocheng was always in charge of cooking. Although Wen Yuhan looked like she had little appetite, she was actually very picky about food. In order to make sure Wen Yuhan ate well, Pei Shaocheng practiced his cooking skills diligently back then.
"How does it taste?" Pei Shaocheng didn't touch his chopsticks, but just watched Wen Yuhan sip the tomato soup and put some bamboo shoots into the small dish in front of him.
"It's delicious." Wen Yuhan smiled slightly. "I didn't expect your cooking skills to have improved at all."
Hearing Wen Yuhan praise him, Pei Shaocheng's mood improved. He was just about to mention that he still had some candied hawthorns he had made in the kitchen, which he would bring to Wen Yuhan in a moment, when the other party immediately said, "Thank you for your hospitality, Shaocheng. May I go home now?"
Pei Shaocheng's face darkened instantly.
"No."
Wen Yuhan seemed to have anticipated Pei Shaocheng's refusal, so she didn't argue further. She simply put down her chopsticks, pushed the remaining soup noodles forward a bit, and said, "I'm full."
Pei Shaocheng frowned as he looked at the half-full bowl of noodles: "You need to eat more when you're sick."
"Shao Cheng, I have work tonight."
Pei Shaocheng slammed his chopsticks on the table with a "thud," and his gaze toward Wen Yuhan once again revealed a hint of hidden anger.
"Wen Yuhan, is it so hard to spend one night with me?"
Wen Yuhan didn't reply, her eyes lowered as if she was thinking about something.
Just when Pei Shaocheng thought Wen Yuhan had tacitly agreed to stay for the night, Wen Yuhan asked Pei Shaocheng softly and calmly:
Is it what I think?
Pei Shaocheng was slightly taken aback, and then he saw Wen Yuhan get up and start unbuttoning his shirt.
Wen Yuhan: "Okay, I'm going to take a shower now."
Pei Shaocheng was instantly enraged.
The implication was that Pei Shaocheng was asking if he planned to demand the previously promised payment that night.
"Wen Yuhan!" Pei Shaocheng swept the water glass in front of him onto the floor, grabbed Wen Yuhan's arm, and forcefully pushed him back into his seat. "What do you think of me, Pei Shaocheng? An animal?!"
Wen Yuhan sat motionless, staring at the water stains on the table, her tone remaining calm:
"Since it's not what I thought, then there's no need to stay. To be honest, I'm a light sleeper and can't sleep in a different place."
These words were quite damaging to Pei Shaocheng. Of course, he knew that Wen Yuhan was a light sleeper and had trouble sleeping in different beds, but they had clearly shared a bed before. Back then, Wen Yuhan would sigh and laugh to herself, "It's so strange, Pei Shaocheng, I can only fall asleep when I'm next to you."
Now, Pei Shaocheng remembers every word Wen Yuhan said in the past, but the other party has completely forgotten it.
For him, he was no longer the one who could put his mind at ease and sleep peacefully.
So, Pei Shaocheng sneered and said something he would never have said years ago:
“No problem, I have plenty of sleeping pills here. If one isn’t enough, take two.”
After saying this, Pei Shaocheng clearly saw a hint of self-mockery in Wen Yuhan's eyes.
Wen Yuhan was silent for a moment, then nodded and smiled: "Well, that's good."
Neither of them spoke after that, and the atmosphere became eerily oppressive, dropping to freezing point.
Wen Yuhan bent down and picked up the shards of the glass one by one, throwing them into the trash can, while Pei Shaocheng sat at the table, silently watching him.
“Shao Cheng…” Wen Yuhan broke the damned silence as she picked up shards of glass, her head bowed. “Why did you have to do this?”
Pei Shaocheng remained silent.
Wen Yuhan continued, "You know me: selfish, cold-hearted, profit-driven... In this world, nothing else matters to me except for acting."
Pei Shaocheng clenched his fists tightly, his body enveloped in a gloomy and intimidating aura.
Wen Yuhan continued speaking as if oblivious, "Your persistence will only lead to a repeat of the same old story." His hair fell down, obscuring his eyes, revealing only a slight upturn at the corner of his lips. "Even I can't bear to keep lying to you anymore, so why don't you understand?"
Wen Yuhan picked up the last piece of glass and sighed, "Or are you not satisfied and want to do it again? If so, I can certainly consider accompanying you. But the premise is that you know your place and don't prevent me from interacting with other people."
"It's like watching a play; anyone who buys a ticket has the right to participate. There's no such thing as a perpetual one-on-one situation."
Pei Shaocheng suddenly stood up, interrupting Wen Yuhan, and said, "There are hawthorns in the kitchen, I'll go get them for you."
After speaking, he quickly went into the kitchen and brought the plate of carefully pitted and sugar-soaked hawthorns to Wen Yuhan.
Pei Shaocheng: "Eat."
“Shao Cheng…” Wen Yuhan probed Pei Shao Cheng’s lifeless gaze, “Did you even understand what I was saying?”
"Eat!" Pei Shaocheng suddenly shouted, forcibly grabbing Wen Yuhan's chin, prying open his mouth, and stuffing the hawthorn into Wen Yuhan's mouth.
"Pei...uh!"
Wen Yuhan tried to turn her face away in discomfort and struggled to get up. But Pei Shaocheng was completely ruthless this time, his face grim and he didn't say a word, but his movements were extremely forceful.
Before Wen Yuhan could swallow the previous hawthorn, he pressed his chin with his thumb, forcing Wen Yuhan to open his mouth and accept the hawthorn that he forced into his mouth.
"Still want to say something... Hmm? Wen Yuhan... Continue?"
Pei Shaocheng stuffed hawthorns into Wen Yuhan's mouth one by one, asking repeatedly as if possessed, "Do you like it... How does it taste? Swallow it... Swallow it!"
Wen Yuhan finally couldn't take it anymore and pushed Pei Shaocheng away with all her might.
The hawthorns were spilled on the ground, their sugar stains everywhere, forming transparent, sticky threads...
Taking advantage of Pei Shaocheng's distraction, Wen Yuhan turned and ran into the restroom...
A note from the author:
Hawthorn: Thanks for the invitation. I was terrified when I heard a dog barking wildly. As a hawthorn, what did I do wrong?
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!