Chapter 4
The lit room was the bedroom, and a slender figure had appeared there. Wei Yuhuan couldn’t see how the other person had entered, as if in the blink of an eye, there was a person in the room… this was quite terrifying upon closer thought.
Qi Muying’s urgent questions were in his ear on the phone, naturally asking about the situation.
Wei Yuhuan didn’t have the mood to do a live broadcast for someone, he himself hadn’t figured out the situation yet. He just said, “Let me take a look, I’ll tell you later,” and hung up the phone.
He kept an eye on the person’s movements and opened the backup video, rewinding it back one minute to watch again.
One minute ago, because it was dark, all the monitors were shooting in highly exposed states.
The distorted colors and silent image suddenly gave rise to a tense and eerie feeling.
Wei Yuhuan instinctively tensed his body, staring at every frame of the screen that flashed by.
At around 8:13 pm, the monitoring balcony had a change in the image – the window in the southwest corner slowly moved open, and suddenly a person flipped in – black T-shirt, gray shorts, carrying a single-shoulder messenger bag, and wearing a blue-black brimmed hat.
The other party was agile, and the whole movement took only about four or five seconds. Wei Yuhuan didn’t see it clearly the first time, so he slowed down the speed and watched it again.
At 12:54 am, the person grabbed the window sill with both hands, and then straightened their left leg forward, bending their body slightly. The whole person jumped in effortlessly, and when they landed, the other party also crouched like a cat. The recording didn’t even pick up any loud noise.
After entering, the other party even cautiously looked outside for a moment before closing the window, leaving only a crack.
At this point, Wei Yuhuan noticed a detail. He found that the person had taken off their shoes on the balcony and came in barefoot.
No wonder he hadn’t noticed any strange footprints in the house today.
At 13:15, the other party turned on the light in the bedroom, which was the state he had just noticed for the first time.
Since it was clear that the other person didn’t appear out of nowhere and had nothing to do with ghosts, there was nothing to be afraid of.
Wei Yuhuan switched back to real-time monitoring and saw that the person had moved from the bedroom to the kitchen, and the kitchen light was on.
The camera in the kitchen was smaller and clearer, but the person still wore a hat and kept their head down, showing only a slightly pointed chin, without any facial features.
The person washed their hands in the kitchen, took out a pair of chopsticks from their shoulder bag, walked back to the dining table, and turned around, revealing a profile that was somewhat different from what Wei Yuhuan had imagined. It was surprisingly delicate?
This blurry profile piqued Wei Yuhuan’s appetite a bit, and he was waiting for the guy to take off his hat and eat. Unexpectedly, the guy sat down, took out a bottle of mineral water and two steamed buns from his shoulder bag, and then ate them leisurely with the leftover food that Wei Yuhuan had stolen a piece of meat from…making Wei Yuhuan impatiently tapping his fingers on the armrest.
It was already late spring, nearly May, and although S City was not yet covered by the heat, the temperature was beginning to rise.
Wei Yuhuan was intolerant of heat and would turn on the air conditioning once the outdoor temperature exceeded 20 degrees Celsius. When he saw that dish at the Chunjiang Flower Scenery Garden in the morning, he tasted it because he thought it looked relatively fresh, and he guessed it was made by Cong Yuan, so he didn’t mind. But now, looking at it again, he felt it was a bit unhygienic.
The indoor temperature in the room was at least 24-25 degrees Celsius. How much sodium nitrite would be produced if it was left out all day? Wouldn’t it spoil? Since this guy knew to put tomatoes in the refrigerator, why didn’t he also refrigerate this dish?
But despite the strange situation, watching the guy eat the meager meal so deliciously with two steamed buns and a bit of food made Wei Yuhuan gradually hungry too…
He scowled and called the security guard on duty, ordering him to order takeout, specifically naming Xia Man Tang’s two pounds of crayfish and two bottles of ice-cold Budweiser.
Hmph, tonight he would be having a showdown with this thief crab!
Half an hour later, Wei Yuhuan’s crayfish arrived, and the little crab in the video had finished eating.
As Wei Yuhuan angrily removed the head of the crayfish, sucked its juice, and ate it, he watched the guy carefully wash the dishes and his hands, then go to the balcony to collect the “iced tea T-shirt” that had been kneaded by him during the day, and return to the bedroom — finally, he took off his hat!
As he watched the intruder completely exposed under the camera, Wei Yuhuan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Before seeing the person’s face, the intruder’s dress and figure only made Wei Yuhuan think of a sleazy young man. Even after seeing a somewhat delicate profile just now, Wei Yuhuan couldn’t help but imagine the person as shifty and sneaky.
But now, Wei Yuhuan’s assumptions were completely overturned–
This… is still a child!?
Those features, more than just delicate, could easily be described as “childish”!
Combined with his hair flattened by the cap and his slightly “petite” figure even among men, he was probably less than 1.7 meters tall!
Wei Yuhuan was surprised and thought, is this child already an adult? Could he be a runaway troublemaker from some family?
Staring intently at the surveillance video, the next scene made Wei Yuhuan even more stunned!
The intruder quickly stripped naked, his T-shirt, boxers, and underwear all gone, then he wiggled into the bathroom with his little bird flapping around…
It was clear that this unmanned apartment had made him extremely relaxed and natural, without any defenses.
Once inside the bathroom, his face became even clearer as the surveillance camera was hidden behind the mirror light. The boy faced the mirror, like a high-definition video camera with its own lighting device, and every fine drop of sweat was recorded.
Long eyelashes, sharp black and white eyes, a petite and straight nose, and pale red lips all pieced together a pure and lovely doll face.
Despite the harmless appearance, his figure was far from frail.
Long and well-proportioned limbs, narrow waist and hips, thin abdominal muscles, every inch of skin highlighting the young sexiness and vitality…
At such a close range of scrutiny, Wei Yuhuan realized that this person did not look like a child, just youthful and fresh-faced, but not too old, at most twenty years old.
He first washed his dirty clothes at the sink and then walked naked into the shower, starting to rinse himself off.
At this moment, Wei Yuhuan’s mood was particularly complicated as he realized that judging someone solely based on their appearance was not enough.
And in the other party’s complete ignorance of being filmed, Wei Yuhuan, a voyeur who enjoyed watching men, had a particularly subtle instinctive reaction.
He took off his thin film gloves, stained with hot oil, and gripped the mouse. Like the first time he watched porn at the age of fifteen, he held his breath and instinctively… began to take screenshots.
In fact, the surveillance footage was already “recorded”, and Wei Yuhuan could easily find and watch it repeatedly if he wished.
But he didn’t know what he was thinking. Seeing the person on the screen standing under the shower with a relaxed expression, exuding both innocence and sexiness, and a hint of seduction amidst cuteness, he instinctively wanted to capture this moment in time. It was as if if he missed this second, he would never capture such a beautiful and appetizing image again.
After taking the screenshots, Wei Yuhuan realized his foolish behavior. He instinctively tried to find an excuse for himself – Qi Muying was still waiting to see progress, so he would send these photos later.
However, when he opened the web page of WeChat to send the message, Wei Yuhuan felt that his behavior of taking such screenshots was too lewd. Although Qi Muying was also a debauchee at heart, the two of them still maintained some sense of decency in front of each other.
Wei Yuhuan awkwardly put away the pile of inappropriate screenshots, and retrieved a proper one from the surveillance footage to send to Qi Muying, with a message attached – “The true face of the little crab.”
At this time, the child in the video had finished showering and came out. He dried himself and changed into his own Ice Red Tea T-shirt, went to the balcony to hang up his newly washed clothes, and then returned to the bedroom.
Wei Yuhuan’s gaze was like glue, following him closely.
He saw him take the robe next to the bed, spread it on the big bed, and then climbed up and sat cross-legged on it – it turned out that he wasn’t going to wear the robe, but was using it as a bedspread.
But why? Wei Yuhuan was puzzled. Did he think the bed was dirty?
Although Wei Yuhuan remembered that he and Cong Yuan hadn’t changed the bed sheets on that bed after their passionate night half a year ago, the bedroom had good lighting, faced south with no obstructions, and in winter, the sunlight would shine on most of the bed. Any odor should have dissipated by now!
The phone buzzed, and it was Qi Muying replying – “Are you kidding me? Which gay forum did you get these screenshots from?”
Wei Yuhuan smiled and boasted, “I knew you wouldn’t believe it. I didn’t expect this little crab to look so unique.”
Qi Muying: “Oh, really? He looks so innocent! So how do you plan to deal with him?”
This sentence left Wei Yuhuan at a loss. He had originally planned to wait for the person to be captured on the surveillance footage before calling security and having them catch him off guard, then taking him to the police station for the night, and finally charging him for theft. He could then move in with peace of mind, with the surveillance footage serving as a means of protection against any further mischief from the thief.
But now, imagining the look of panic and fear in the child’s dark, sparkling eyes as he was apprehended, Wei Yuhuan began to feel a twinge of sympathy.
He decided to wait a little longer and let the boy sleep peacefully for another night, before having the security team apprehend him early the next morning.
Meanwhile, the person on the screen had already bent down and pulled out a stack of papers from his bag, and was now sitting on the bed, reading them intently.
Wei Yuhuan continued to eat his crawfish, drink his beer, and watch the surveillance footage.
The person on the screen didn’t do anything else for several minutes, but remained focused on reading the papers, as though studying for an exam.
This piqued Wei Yuhuan’s curiosity even further. In his experience, someone who was willing to break into someone else’s home was usually a lowlife who excelled at everything from drinking, gambling, and womanizing, to swindling, kidnapping, and theft. He never would have guessed that this person looked like a neighbor’s little brother who was preparing for an exam.
Looking at the child occasionally scratching his head and frowning, Wei Yuhuan found him absolutely adorable.
Half an hour later, Wei Yuhuan finished eating, washed his hands and mouth, poured himself a cup of tea, and returned to his computer.
The child was still reading, but had changed positions and was now lying on his stomach, with a stuffed animal propped up against his leg. Wei Yuhuan’s heart skipped a beat as he watched the child’s firm and slender legs curl up.
Having nothing else to do, Wei Yuhuan continued to watch the surveillance footage for his own amusement, all the while thinking to himself that if it weren’t for the fact that this child had some entertainment value, he would have had him arrested and thrown into jail!
It was already ten o’clock, and the little boy was yawning repeatedly, changing positions several times. Wei Yuhuan guessed that he couldn’t stay awake any longer, so he carelessly folded the stack of papers and stuffed it into his bag, turned off the light, and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over himself.
As the room plunged into darkness, Wei Yuhuan’s heart sank with it, feeling a sense of emptiness and loneliness.
It was a strange feeling to have, but Wei Yuhuan didn’t have time to analyze his own thoughts, as he suddenly noticed that the little boy was still scrolling through his phone, emitting a faint glow in the dark.
He was taken aback at first, but then burst into laughter. So the child was still on his phone, even curled up in bed!
These days, even the old ladies and men sweeping the streets had smartphones, so it wasn’t surprising that a child would have one too.
Wei Yuhuan’s mood improved a little as he propped his chin on his hand, gawking at the child’s face, which was now glowing white in the phone light.
Wei Yuhuan quickly stood up and shrugged his sore shoulders, annoyed with himself for spending the entire night watching the silent video. Wasn’t he supposed to be catching crabs?
He had slept in the office overnight and woke up the next day at ten in the morning. His jet lag had not completely worn off, and he felt a throbbing pain in his temples. He had completely forgotten about his plan to catch the guy from yesterday.
He went downstairs to check the surveillance camera and saw that the guy from the bedroom was long gone. Surprisingly, Wei Yuhuan didn’t feel any sense of urgency. He glanced at the black T-shirt hanging on the balcony and smiled lightly.
This feeling of confidence, of having the upper hand, was like watching prey in a cage, knowing that it could never escape from his grasp. He would wait and observe, for there was plenty of time ahead.
