Chapter 24
Shen Yan originally thought the afternoon would feel long, as he couldn’t imagine how the two of them would pass the time in this 20-square-meter space, excluding the bedroom.
However, when he finally looked up from his phone, the room was nearly dark, and it was almost six o’clock.
He turned to look at Su Yunzhe, who was still in the same position as before, focused intently on the computer screen. Strands of hair fell onto his forehead, and the light illuminated his face, which showed no sign of awareness of the time passing.
Shen Yan got up and went to the balcony to collect Su Yunzhe’s T-shirt. After returning, he turned on the lights and walked over to him. “The shirt’s dry.”
Su Yunzhe glanced at him, took the shirt, and quickly put it on. “Is there something to eat? I’m a bit hungry!” He then redirected his attention back to his work.
This left Shen Yan a bit stumped.
At this hour, it was indeed time to prepare dinner.
Normally, he would just cook instant noodles for himself, but since Su Yunzhe was a guest, he couldn’t be too casual about it.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to make dumplings.
Earlier, when he was helping his grandmother wash vegetables, she had mentioned that Su Yunzhe really liked the dumplings she made.
Given that his grandmother had prepared those dumplings for Su Yunzhe, it was fortunate they ended up in Shen Yan’s hands, solving his immediate dilemma.
However, Shen Yan had never actually boiled dumplings before. After bringing a pot of water to a boil and adding the dumplings, he found himself fretting over whether they were cooked or not.
Finally, he had no choice but to grab his phone and look it up online, discovering that the water needed to boil three times and that the dumplings would float when done.
After some effort following the online tutorial to fish the dumplings out, he turned to take them out to Su Yunzhe, only to realize that Su Yunzhe had been leaning against the door watching him for who knows how long.
With a suppressed smile, it was obvious he had seen Shen Yan’s earlier clueless antics.
Feeling embarrassed, Shen Yan cleared his throat. “Um… didn’t you say you were hungry, President Su? Let’s eat.” He handed the plate over to Su Yunzhe.
Su Yunzhe’s gaze flicked between his face and the plate, ultimately swallowing the teasing remark that had almost escaped his lips, before taking the dumplings and heading out.
Shen Yan prepared a bit of shrimp and crab sauce, mixed up two dipping sauces, and brought them out as well.
Though he was not good at cooking, he was particularly skilled at mixing sauces; in the past, his friends would always ask him to do it when they went out for hotpot.
His expertise in this area was largely learned through experience.
Su Yunzhe clearly appreciated the sauces, as Shen Yan noticed he was dipping quite often.
Moreover, he must have been genuinely hungry, as he quickly polished off an entire plate of dumplings with little effort.
Just as Shen Yan was considering cooking more, Su Yunzhe stood up. “I’m done eating. I have plans with someone else, so I’ll head out first.” With that, he started walking toward the door.
Shen Yan was a bit surprised, but considering Su Yunzhe had been so busy that afternoon, he understood he was likely still occupied with work. He quickly got up to see him out. “Drive safely, President Su.”
Su Yunzhe had already changed his shoes and waved at him as he headed downstairs.
Shen Yan watched him turn the corner before closing the door and sitting back down to continue eating.
Although Su Yunzhe had finished all the dumplings, he genuinely didn’t like eating raw seafood and had barely touched the shrimp and crab sauce, which Shen Yan particularly enjoyed.
While Su Yunzhe was around, Shen Yan had to be mindful of his image, but now, he had no such reservations and dove right in, eating with his hands.
After finishing, he cleaned up the living room and kitchen, took a shower, and went to bed.
Before sleeping, he checked WeChat and noticed that Shen Jiaqi had sent him another friend request, which he, of course, declined again.
In the following days, Su Yunzhe didn’t reach out to him.
This suited Shen Yan just fine; he didn’t want to go out in the heat. He stayed home, typing up his drafts or playing games to pass the time, feeling like he had returned to simpler days—carefree and very comfortable.
Little did he know, this pleasant routine was shattered just a couple of days later by a large mouse.
That night, he didn’t sleep well. In a hazy half-sleep, he sensed something moving by his bed, startling him awake. In the darkness, he saw a dark shape scurry under his bed, accompanied by a series of squeaks.
He quickly turned on the light and began rummaging through his belongings to catch the mouse.
Though he was trying to catch it, he was still somewhat scared and only dared to wield a broom, swinging it around to try to scare the mouse away.
However, the mouse seemed to have found a perfect hiding spot and didn’t come out at all.
He had no choice but to do a major clean-up in the middle of the night, almost emptying the entire bedroom. The large gray mouse had nowhere to hide and quickly scurried up the wall to the window and disappeared with a swift motion.
Shen Yan hurried over and shut the window tightly, fearing that Mr. Mouse might make a return visit.
After all that commotion, it was nearly dawn. He continued putting everything he had taken out back into the bedroom, and as he was tidying up and preparing to take a shower, he discovered the original owner’s old phone had somehow fallen out from somewhere. The screen was lit up, indicating that it had just powered on.
He was a bit surprised.
He had splurged on a new phone initially because the old one had stopped working during its escape, and he wasn’t sure if it had been damaged from a fall or something else, so he planned to throw it away. However, he decided to keep it tucked away in a corner since it was one of the few possessions the original owner had left.
Unexpectedly, it had somehow repaired itself.
Could it have been water damage that prevented it from turning on before?
He paused for a moment, then the startup animation ended, followed by a barrage of WeChat message notifications that made the phone freeze.
Shen Yan walked over to pick up the phone and saw that the screen was stuck with over ninety-nine unread messages and notifications from both WeChat and regular texts.
Most of them were probably from Duan Yang and the Shen family, he thought.
Once the phone caught up, he opened WeChat and intended to log out when he noticed that the person who had messaged him the most was someone named Chen Rongbiao.
The latest message was from last night: “Bro, what’s going on? Can you at least give me a sign that you’re still alive?”
Chen Rongbiao?
Shen Yan remembered that Chen Rongbiao was one of the few good friends of the original owner, who was quite overweight, if he recalled correctly.
The original book didn’t mention him much, except that whenever the original owner was deeply hurt by Duan Yang, he would go to Chen Rongbiao to drink and chat.
Right, wasn’t he selling barbecue?
As Shen Yan reminisced about the original text, he scrolled through the messages. Chen Rongbiao had sent him hundreds of texts over the past week, starting with inquiries about where he had been, speculating whether Duan Yang had done something to him, expressing anger at Duan Yang, and then in the last couple of days, just sending late-night messages to check if he was safe.
Reading through them, Shen Yan felt a surge of emotion.
It wasn’t easy to find someone in this world who simply cared about confirming his well-being.
After a moment’s thought, he decided to reply: “I’m fine, don’t worry.”
Once he sent the message, he felt a little regretful.
Even though Duan Yang and the Shen family had ruled him out as a suspect, they definitely hadn’t given up on finding him. He worried that using his old social account might lead to trouble.
As he pondered this, he prepared to log out of WeChat, but Chen Rongbiao’s call came through before he could do so.
His fingers moved quicker than his brain, and he answered the call. Immediately, a frantic and clumsy voice came through: “Shen Yan? Shen Yan? Is that you? Say something!”
Shen Yan couldn’t help but smile a bit, reverting to his normal tone. “It’s me. Biaozi, thanks for caring so much.”
On the other end, Chen Rongbiao exploded with emotion, shouting, “You scared the hell out of me! You suddenly went off the grid, and I thought that bastard Duan Yang had secretly killed you. What the hell is going on?”
As he continued, his voice grew softer, and Shen Yan could even detect a hint of tears in it.
Suddenly, Shen Yan felt a wave of guilt wash over him.
He had been so focused on escaping the original owner’s fate and cutting ties with the past that he had forgotten there were still people who genuinely cared about him.
“I’m sorry, it’s my fault. Some things happened, and I didn’t get the chance to tell you. But I’m really okay, so don’t worry.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment, then Chen Rongbiao huffed, clearly annoyed. “You think you can brush me off with just ‘sorry’? Do you know how close I was to going after Duan Yang with a knife? Was it him…”
“No worries. He didn’t do anything to me. I just wanted to get a divorce, and he wouldn’t agree, so I ran away from his place to avoid being found. That’s why I haven’t logged into WeChat for a while.”
Shen Yan knew that Chen Rongbiao was genuinely worried about him, so he decided to be honest.
Chen Rongbiao paused, surprised. “Bro, you finally opened your eyes and saw him for the bastard he is?”
Shen Yan chuckled. “Yeah, I see it now.”
“I told you so, but you wouldn’t listen. It’s never too late to see it now. Where are you staying now? Why don’t you just come live with me? Duan Yang and the others wouldn’t know I know you, so they can’t find you here.”
Shen Yan smiled. “Thanks, but I’ve already found a place to stay, so I won’t trouble you.”
“Alright, but you don’t have any money on hand, do you? I’ll transfer some to you for now.”
Without waiting for Shen Yan to refuse, he threw in, “I haven’t slept all night; I’m exhausted, so I’ll hang up now.”
Then the call ended.
Shortly after, Shen Yan received Chen Rongbiao’s transfer on WeChat—a total of fifty thousand.
There was also a message: “Use this for now. If it’s not enough, let me know. And take care; don’t go disappearing on me again. Next time, I’ll just call the police!”
Shen Yan bit his lip and smiled gently, replying, “I’m craving your grilled lamb skewers. See you tonight.”
He admitted he was moved; he often made irrational decisions during moments like these.
But it didn’t matter. Duan Yang or the Shen family didn’t know he had a friend like Chen Rongbiao.
So, he figured it wouldn’t be a problem to meet a friend and enjoy a barbecue.
He ended up sleeping the whole day and, by evening, pulled out the outfit Duan Yang had prepared for him last time, changing into a normal T-shirt and shorts before heading out.
As he entered the subway, he received a message from Su Yunzhe: “Are you coming for the barbecue?”
Although Shen Yan thought Su Yunzhe was quite good at grilling and that eating barbecue on Su Yunzhe’s rooftop was an amazing experience, he couldn’t go tonight.
So, he replied: “Thanks, President Su, but I’m busy tonight. Can we do it another time?”
Su Yunzhe: “No extensions!”
Shen Yan smiled, knowing Su Yunzhe was just joking.
Chen Rongbiao’s barbecue stall wasn’t far from where Shen Yan lived—just five subway stops away.
Once he exited the station, he followed the navigation to find a bustling street filled with various food stalls.
He eventually spotted “A Biao BBQ” at the back of the market. From a distance, he could see a hefty man, easily weighing around two hundred pounds, standing in front of the barbecue stall. With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he expertly brushed oil and sprinkled salt over the skewers, his movements fluid and practiced.
That had to be Chen Rongbiao, right?
The moment Chen Rongbiao saw him, he immediately put down the skewers and rushed over. “You finally… Hey! Teacher Qin is here! Come on in, come on in. Are you bringing friends today?”
Shen Yan was about to greet him back when he noticed Chen Rongbiao suddenly glance behind him and politely call another customer.
Shen Yan turned around, only to quickly spin back, his heart racing.
What the hell!
Qin Mofeng and Su Yunzhe!
Why did he have to run into them now?
What should he do? What should he do? What should he do?
Shen Yan was anxiously racking his brain, wanting to claw at the walls in frustration when he heard Qin Mofeng’s uncertain voice from behind him, “Miss…Yan?”
