Ji Canghai carried Ling Yunfan back to bed and pulled his wrist to check his injury.
Ling Yunfan withdrew his hand uneasily. “I’m fine.”
Ji Canghai glanced at Ling Yunfan but didn’t insist, asking, “What do you want to eat tonight?”
Ling Yunfan replied, “There are leftovers in the fridge. Let’s heat them up and not waste food.”
“Okay,” Ji Canghai agreed and left the room. Soon, the sound of clanging dishes came from the kitchen.
Ling Yunfan lay back on the bed and sighed deeply. He thought to himself that he had failed to run away again.
He had always had a strong sense of self-esteem. Leaving a message for Ji Canghai to explain his situation was already the bottom line for him in terms of saving face. If he had to confess to Ji Canghai that he was pretending to have amnesia to avoid revealing his embarrassing situation, he might as well be killed.
Since he couldn’t say it out loud, he could only continue to act.
Feeling complicated, Ling Yunfan tossed and turned on the bed for a while like pancake, and was then called out by Ji Canghai for dinner.
Both of them had their own concerns, so they ate in silence. After they were full, Ling Yunfan wanted to do the dishes, but Ji Canghai asked him to rest on the sofa in the living room.
Ji Canghai put the dishes into the dishwasher and picked up a bag of kitchen waste, saying to Ling Yunfan, “I’ll go take out the trash and bring something up from the garage.”
“Okay,” Ling Yunfan replied, peeking out from the sofa and observing the entrance carefully.
He saw Ji Canghai slide open the cover of the password lock and lightly press the center. The door opened immediately.
Damn, so this is how high-end machinery often requires only the simplest operation?
Door bro, I was wrong to blame you before!
Although he understood how to open the door now, Ling Yunfan was not ready to leave yet. After all, this was a building with one household per floor, and it would be easy to run into Ji Canghai, who had not gone far if he took the elevator now.
However, ten minutes later, Ji Canghai returned with big and small bags in his hands.
Ling Yunfan was puzzled, “What are all these for?”
Ji Canghai said, “Some essential daily necessities.” As he spoke, he opened the bag and took out items such as toothpaste, toothbrush, and towels, and put them in the bathroom.
He busied himself for a while, then walked up to Ling Yunfan and handed him a set of pajamas.
Ling Yunfan said, “Huh?”
Ji Canghai said, “I bought you a set of pajamas.”
Ling Yunfan, who had only ever had his mother buy him pajamas, trembled as he reached out to take them.
Ji Canghai said, “Take a look and see if you like it. If you don’t like it, I’ll buy another set for you.”
Ling Yunfan didn’t even look at it and said, “I like it.”
As a guest in someone else’s home, he couldn’t afford to be picky. Otherwise, he would be like a guest at a dinner party, turning the table when someone else picked up a dish, and hitting the brakes when someone else drank water.
Ji Canghai, “Open it and take a look.”
Ling Yunfan obediently opened the package and saw that it was a set of silver-gray silk pajamas. He couldn’t tell what material it was made of, but it felt smooth and soft to the touch, and he thought it would be very comfortable to wear.
“I really like it,” Ling Yunfan didn’t lie.
Ji Canghai took the pajamas back and said, “As long as you like it. I’ll wash it now and put it in the dryer. It’ll be ready to wear in half an hour. I’ll buy you a few more sets for tomorrow.”
Ling Yunfan was stunned.
Ji Canghai, if you’ve been possessed, blink your eyes.
Ji Canghai stuffed his pajamas into the washing and drying machine and returned to find Ling Yunfan sitting on the sofa in a daze.
“What are you thinking about?” Ji Canghai asked softly.
Ling Yunfan looked at Ji Canghai and hesitantly asked, “Why are you so good to me?”
Ji Canghai was taken aback for a moment.
Then he sighed and gave a helpless smile. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m your lover. Shouldn’t we take care of each other as lovers do?”
Hearing his response, Ling Yunfan looked even more confused.
Ji Canghai sat down next to Ling Yunfan, unbuttoned his shirt collar, exhaled to relax himself a little, then turned his head slightly and looked at Ling Yunfan. “How much do you remember about our past?”
Ling Yunfan looked guilty, looked at the floor, clenched his hands together, and smiled dryly, “I don’t remember anything.”
“Do you want me to tell you?” Ji Canghai asked, “The things you’ve forgotten about our past.”
Ling Yunfan didn’t know what Ji Canghai meant, and paused for a moment before saying, “Oh, okay.”
Ji Canghai got up and walked into the kitchen, poured himself half a glass of whiskey with ice, poured a cup of hot water for Ling Yunfan and handed it to him, then sat back on the sofa. Ji Canghai looked straight ahead, thought for a moment, and slowly said, “The first time we met was when I was twelve years old, and I was very different from who I am now, so I’ve always wanted to ask you, what was your first impression of me? Unfortunately, you’ve forgotten it all.”
Ling Yunfan remained silent.
He lowered his head and looked at the transparent water cup in his hand. The water surface was rippling, and the hot steam was permeating, the temperature couldn’t be ignored as it spread in his palm.
Ling Yunfan hadn’t forgotten.
He remembered very clearly the first time he met Ji Canghai.
The Ji Canghai in middle school and the Ji Canghai now were really two different people.
The first time Ling Yunfan saw Ji Canghai was in the teacher’s office in his first year of middle school.
That day, as the class monitor, Ji Canghai helped the math teacher place the collected homework on his desk.
When he placed the stack of homework on the desk, another teacher sitting across from the math teacher asked the small and skinny-looking boy, “Have they really not been bullying you?”
The boy was at least half a head shorter than Ling Yunfan, with slightly long hair and thick bangs that covered his eyes, making him look gloomy. His school uniform was too big for him, like a sack, with the sleeves covering his hands and the pant legs piled up on his shoes, making him look awkward.
The boy looked down at his toes and shook his head.
The teacher said with a sigh, “If you are being bullied, you must tell the teacher, you know that?”
The boy replied in a barely audible voice, “…it’s just teasing.”
The teacher sighed again, “I see, you can go back now.”
The boy turned around and walked out of the office without lifting his head once.
While the math teacher directed Ling Yunfan to sort out the homework, he asked the other teacher, “Is that your class monitor, Ji Canghai?”
“Yes,” the teacher sighed, “as you know, we have some unruly students in our class. This kid is being bullied by them every day, but he doesn’t dare to say anything.”
The math teacher asked, “Did you tell his parents?”
The teacher replied, “Yes, but his mother doesn’t care about him.”
The math teacher asked, “What about his father?”
The teacher said, “I haven’t seen him…”
The math teacher lamented, “It’s really troublesome. When parents don’t care, there’s nothing we teachers can do even if we have the power.”
Ling Yunfan said, “Teacher, I’m done with the homework.”
“Thank you, you worked hard,” the math teacher replied. “You can go back to your class now.”
Ling Yunfan put down the sleeves he had rolled up to work and walked out of the teacher’s office. Just then, he saw the skinny boy he had just seen entering the classroom of Class One, with his head down with heavy steps.
Soon after, the noisy sound of teasing and laughter emanated from Class One.
Ling Yunfan stood in the hallway, trying to look into the classroom of Class One, but the bell ringing abruptly made him startle, and he hurried back to his own class.
After school, Ling Yunfan asked his friends curiously about Class One.
“Oh, Class One,” his friend replied, “they have several bullies there who are always lurking in the hallway and bullying people.”
“Don’t the teachers do anything about it?” Ling Yunfan asked.
“In front of the teachers, they act like angels,” his friend said. “I heard the teachers even called their parents, but they’re not afraid of anything. It’s useless.”
Ling Yunfan thought of the skinny boy he had seen in the office today and frowned, feeling uncomfortable.
