Ye Nanqi drank his porridge while sending a WeChat message to Wen Chen.
The agent, who had been woken up early in the morning, was in a bad mood.
【What is it? Got caught on camera hooking up with someone again?】
Ye Nanqi ignored that message and carefully organized his thoughts before typing:
【Brother Wen, suppose you had an arch-enemy whom you hadn’t seen in many years. Later, that person became your romantic rival, and you even ended up marrying him…】
This storyline was far too familiar. Wen Chen replied impatiently:
【Did you have a fight with your husband?】
Ye Nanqi: 【More or less. And then he even made me breakfast.】
Wen Chen had originally still been half asleep, but when he saw that sentence, he shot upright.
Ye Nanqi was still seriously pondering the question.
【What do you think he’s trying to imply?】
Wen Chen replied immediately:
【If that’s not love, then what is?! Your sister-in-law hardly ever makes me breakfast!】
Ye Nanqi: 【Stop pretending. When we first met, you had eight-pack abs. After getting together with your wife, those eight packs merged into one.】
Since discussing the matter with someone experienced had yielded no results, Ye Nanqi simply stopped thinking about it.
Having accepted Shen Du’s breakfast that morning, Ye Nanqi didn’t have the nerve to wander into Shen Du’s room again that evening. He obediently stayed in his own room and read his script.
Zhao Sheng’s intervention proved effective. The production team quickly called, claiming that they’d “made a mistake when checking things a few days ago,” and brought the contract with them.
This time, the role was practically guaranteed. Although filming was still some time away, it wasn’t too early to start preparing for the role.
The late autumn weather was chilly. That night, it suddenly began to rain. The pattering of raindrops outside made the house seem even quieter.
Ye Nanqi had already memorized all his lines. He was repeatedly going over a particularly suspenseful scene when the lights suddenly went out.
The room instantly plunged into darkness.
Ye Nanqi blinked, tossed aside his script, and switched on his phone’s flashlight. Using it to light his way, he left his room and knocked on Shen Du’s door.
“Your electrical system is terrible. The circuit breaker must have tripped. Where’s the breaker box? I’ll go take a look.”
He called out twice, but nobody answered.
Ye Nanqi clicked his tongue and had just turned around to leave when Shen Du’s bedroom door opened.
Ye Nanqi looked back.
“Well, well. President Shen finally acknowledges my existence.”
Shen Du’s body seemed a little stiff. He quietly told Ye Nanqi where the circuit breaker was. But when he saw Ye Nanqi about to leave, he immediately reached out and grabbed him.
Ye Nanqi asked, “What are you doing?”
It was pitch-black all around them, and Ye Nanqi couldn’t see Shen Du’s expression. He only heard him say:
“…It’s too dangerous to go check it at night. Let’s just sleep for now.”
Completely bewildered, Ye Nanqi was pulled into the room.
His gaze swept across the dark surroundings, and suddenly, enlightenment struck.
“Oh, you’re afraid of ghosts!”
Shen Du seemed somewhat embarrassed and irritated.
“I’m not afraid. Shut up.”
Ye Nanqi couldn’t help wanting to laugh. For the first time, he felt that Shen Du actually had something in common with the word cute.
His desire to tease him grew stronger and stronger. He cleared his throat and spoke in an ominous voice.
“President Shen, have you ever considered that the person you just pulled into your room might not actually be Ye Nanqi…?”
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Du’s hand immediately flew away from his as though he’d been electrocuted.
Ye Nanqi laughed so hard he nearly doubled over. He switched on his flashlight and pointed it at himself.
“It’s a person. I’m a person.”
Shen Du glared at him with a pale face.
Ye Nanqi reached out and touched Shen Du’s hand. Only then did he discover that Shen Du was so frightened his fingers had actually gone cold.
Feeling a little guilty, he pointed to the tip of his own nose.
“I’m warm. Calm down. You should go to sleep first. I’ll go check the circuit breaker.”
Shen Du lowered his eyes and grabbed Ye Nanqi’s sleeve without saying anything.
When Ye Wan and Ye Mei were little, they had both been afraid of ghosts. Whenever the power went out at home or they watched a horror movie before bed, they’d run into Ye Nanqi’s room. The three siblings would squeeze onto one bed and whisper to one another.
After the girls fell asleep, their father would tiptoe into the room and carefully carry the two sisters back to their own beds.
Later, their father died in a car accident. Ye Mei… had jumped to her death after being falsely accused, and Ye Wan had lost her sight.
Ye Nanqi stared at the hand clutching his sleeve and suddenly felt his heart soften.
He patted Shen Du’s hand and led him to lie down on the bed. His voice became gentler.
“Fine. I won’t leave.”
Shen Du was evidently still not entirely reassured. Every so often, he would open his eyes to check whether Ye Nanqi was still there. After this happened several times, Ye Nanqi wordlessly moved closer and covered Shen Du’s eyes with his hand.
“Go to sleep properly.”
Shen Du had long eyelashes. Every time he blinked, they brushed against Ye Nanqi’s palm, making it itch. Ye Nanqi almost felt like pressing his hand down hard over Shen Du’s eyes.
Fortunately, Shen Du seemed to have finally relaxed. Before long, he fell asleep.
Ye Nanqi had originally intended to return to his own room. But when he discovered that Shen Du was still holding onto the corner of his clothes, he sighed.
Since he’d already brought things this far, he might as well see it through.
He put aside his thoughts and closed his eyes.
The next morning, Shen Du got up particularly early. By the time Ye Nanqi woke at seven, he had already left the house.
He’d left a sticky note telling Ye Nanqi not to bother with the circuit breaker because it had already been fixed.
Ye Nanqi thought that, for once, Shen Du was actually feeling embarrassed about something.
His fear of ghosts was practically becoming an illness.
Now that the two of them weren’t divorced and had no choice but to live together, a power outage at night was one thing. But what if Ye Nanqi moved out? Would Shen Du be frightened to death living alone?
Out of gratitude for Shen Du’s daily breakfast provisions, Ye Nanqi spent the entire morning thinking about a way to help him overcome his fear.
Since he couldn’t see Shen Du during the day, Ye Nanqi could only visit his room that evening.
When Shen Du returned from work and saw Ye Nanqi sitting on his bed, he unexpectedly experienced a strange sense of Here he comes again.
He glanced at the book in Ye Nanqi’s hands and asked helplessly, “What are you trying to do?”
Knowing Ye Nanqi’s usual antics, he couldn’t help wondering whether it was another ghost story.
Ye Nanqi asked, “I heard from Auntie that you went to university overseas. Did you fail your final exams every single year?”
As he spoke, he displayed the books he’d brought along.
Being and Nothingness, Dialectics of Nature, Philosophical Notebooks, and Materialism and Empirio-Criticism.
Shen Du: “…”
Ye Nanqi continued, “Ghosts don’t exist. They’re merely illusory impressions projected by consciousness into the brain. You can read up on the subject and learn more about it.”
Shen Du: “…”
Ye Nanqi was a little displeased.
“What’s with that expression? I was a scholarship student every single year.”
“A scholarship student who prepares to eat sweet fermented-rice soup dumplings when he has a stomachache,” Shen Du said. “When you’re done, go learn some basic common sense first.”
Ye Nanqi replied, “Common sense tells me that ghosts don’t exist.”
The two stared silently at each other for a moment.
In the next instant, Shen Du bent down, picked Ye Nanqi up, opened the bedroom door, and threw him out.
Ye Nanqi: “Fuck you!”
His good intentions had been mistaken for ill intentions, and he’d even been thrown out of the room.
Ye Nanqi was furious. He stopped hanging around Shen Du and unilaterally declared a cold war.
Fortunately, Wen Chen found him another job, so he didn’t have to stay home reading scripts until he grew moldy.
After a long period of work, the end of the month arrived in the blink of an eye.
The weather had turned colder, and Shen’s mother called Ye Nanqi and Shen Du home.
Recently, she and Ye Nanqi’s mother had become obsessed with knitting scarves. They’d knitted several for Shen’s father, then made one for each of the two young men. Still thinking that wasn’t enough, they’d even given a scarf to the dog they’d recently adopted.
Ye Nanqi was actually quite happy that Shen’s mother was keeping his own mother company with these activities.
After returning to the Shen family home with Shen Du, he generously praised both mothers for their excellent handiwork. His compliments made the two women laugh happily.
The housekeeper poked her head out of the kitchen.
“The food will be ready soon.”
Only then did Shen’s mother remember that her husband was still in the study. She went upstairs to call him.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ye Nanqi sat down beside his mother.
Ye’s mother seemed to recall something. Her smile gradually faded, and she spoke softly.
“I knitted one for Wanwan and… your sister too. Take them over when you have time.”
As she spoke, she lowered her eyes. Her expression was calm, as though it didn’t matter to her.
Ye Mei’s death anniversary was approaching.
Ye Nanqi silently nodded.
His mother sighed. Then, turning her head and spotting Shen Du, she beckoned him over.
Shen Du was always very courteous in front of Ye Nanqi’s mother. He sat down beside her and asked with a smile,
“Mom, what’s the matter?”
Ye’s mother smiled, took his hand, then took Ye Nanqi’s hand and placed it in Shen Du’s palm.
“When you two were little, you were always getting into terrible fights whenever you were together. Who would’ve thought you’d end up together now?”
Shen Du and Ye Nanqi exchanged glances. Both felt a little awkward.
Ye’s mother hadn’t noticed and continued, “You’re a good boy. I feel completely at ease entrusting Nan Nan to you.”
Ye Nanqi felt rather wronged inwardly.
Mom, you don’t know. Not long ago, he threw me right out of his bedroom.
Just then, Shen’s mother and Shen’s father came downstairs. Hearing Ye’s mother’s words, they smiled.
“It’s been so many years already. Nanqi, do you still remember why the two of you used to fight so terribly when you were little?”
Ye Nanqi shook his head in confusion.
Shen’s mother burst into laughter.
“Because you took a lollipop and gave it to Shen Du, saying, ‘Little girl, you’re so cute. Will you be my bride?’”
Ye Nanqi stared at Shen Du in disbelief.
The latter clearly remembered the incident. His expression turned distinctly unfriendly.
Shen’s father added insult to injury.
“And you kept chasing after him for ages! Hahahaha!”
Ye Nanqi: “…”
I must have been blind back then.
Ye’s mother smiled and patted his head.
“Go help the housekeeper bring the dishes out of the kitchen.”
Ye Nanqi obediently got up to help. When he turned around, he discovered that while he was away, his mother had been whispering something to Shen Du.
His heart immediately grew sour with jealousy.
He decided that tonight, he would tell Shen Du a few ghost stories.
After dinner, when they returned to their room, Ye Nanqi finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity.
“What did my mother say to you?”
Shen Du glanced at him.
“Come closer.”
Ye Nanqi leaned toward him.
Shen Du lowered his voice and whispered into his ear.
“It’s a secret.”
Ye Nanqi: “…”
Ye Nanqi smiled.
“Baby Shen, would you like a bedtime story? I just found a few fresh ghost stories.”
Shen Du replied indifferently, “You can try.”
How could Ye Nanqi possibly be intimidated by a threat like that?
He immediately began.
“There was a man who got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Just as he arrived, suddenly…”
Before he could finish speaking, everything in front of him abruptly went dark.
Ye Nanqi’s eyes widened slightly. The sensation of another pair of lips covering his own traveled through his nerves and into his brain.
For an instant, his mind went completely blank. All that remained was the soft, warm sensation.
Shen Du quickly released Ye Nanqi. His expression was somewhat unnatural.
He’d only intended to stop Ye Nanqi from speaking. But when he saw those lips opening and closing, something in his brain apparently malfunctioned, and he’d lowered his head and kissed him.
After quickly regaining control of his expression, Shen Du cleared his throat.
“If you say another word, I’ll continue.”
Ye Nanqi’s expression remained blank for quite some time.
Then he suddenly remembered his carefully cultivated seductive little troublemaker persona and immediately snapped back to his senses.
But the moment his lips moved, that sensation seemed to return, making his scalp tingle.
Damn it.
Ye Nanqi shot Shen Du a cool glance, pressed his lips together, and walked into the bathroom.
He thought resentfully:
Why hadn’t that power outage scared you to death that night?