After eating the hot noodles, Chen Ju nestled on the sofa for less than two hours before being awakened by the alarm clock.
In order not to wake up Li Qing, he fumbled in the dark, tiptoed to change his clothes, closed the door, and walked into the cold night.
Fortunately, Li Qing lived close to the bar. It took him only ten minutes to walk there. Otherwise, this late at night with no buses, he really didn’t know how to get there.
It’s time to buy a second-hand bicycle, Chen Ju muttered to himself. He breathed into his palms, rubbing them to generate some warmth, but it was blown away by the night wind in the blink of an eye.
After cleaning, it was already past 6:00 in the morning. In three hours, I had to report to the mall security office. Afraid of disturbing Li Qing, he didn’t return to his residence. Instead, he found a wind-shielded corner near the mall, leaned against the wall, and slept for a while.
The dreams seemed like a foggy mist in the mountains. Everything was so vague and unreal.
Suddenly, a chaotic and noisy sound emerged. Among them, someone cried. It was a woman, and her shrill cries pierced his eardrums.
“Please don’t hurt my child…”
“Little Orange, run! Run quickly!”
“…Little Orange, mom is sorry for you. Mom will take you away from here, we won’t feel pain anymore…”
“Mom … Mom … Don’t …” Chen Ju frowned in pain, murmured, and finally woke up from his dream.
He opened his eyes blankly and looked around aimlessly. Half of his consciousness was in reality, while the other half remained in the dream. The tearful face of the woman formed a projection printed on his retina, as if the dream was reflected in reality.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Chen Ju stretched out his hand, but the phantom of the woman disappeared like a punctured balloon.
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One thing that made Chen Ju very happy was that they provided lunch here. Each bento box contained two vegetarian dishes and one meat dish, and the rice could be refilled. Chen Ju ate two large bowls of rice in one go, leaving his stomach bulging.
Uncle Wu with a square face and big belly joked: “We thought you were a little chick, but turns out eat more than us!”
“Young man, you need to eat more to grow!” Uncle Liu said with a smile.
Compared to the indifferent atmosphere of the bar, Chen Ju preferred the cheerful uncles in the security room. So, after finishing the night shift and coming to work the day shift, he didn’t feel tired. On the contrary, he felt warm in his heart.
In front of the hotel, a black car was parked by the roadside with the window rolled down. A handsome man was leaning against the driver’s seat, his slender fingers holding a cigarette gently flickering off the ash outside the car window. He then raised it again and brought the cigarette tip to his lips. After a moment, a puff of white smoke rose slowly from his lips.
The man’s gaze stopped in the rearview mirror. In the clean and shiny mirror, a man wearing a white padded jacket was running in this direction.
He took the last drag of his cigarette, then pinched the butt and extinguished it in the ashtray. He raised his eyes and looked out the window.
Chen Ju leaned over, gasping heavily with his hands on his knees. Clouds of white mist escaped his mouth, covering the lenses on the bridge of his nose with a white layer, which soon evaporated into the cold air.
Seeing Jiang Zhou, Chen Ju quickly took off his glasses and put them in the eyeglass cloth in his pocket.
“I’m sorry, I’m late. The car was delayed, so I arrived later.” Chen Ju apologized, feeling embarrassed.
Jiang Zhou sat in the car, half of his face hidden in the dimness, making it difficult to see his expression clearly. Chen Ju’s heart rose to his throat, as Jiang Zhou had always been punctual. Being over half an hour late like this, he must be very angry.
Chen Ju gritted his teeth, stretched out his palm to the window, and said bravely, “How about you hit me?”
Jiang Zhou’s expression finally changed. He turned his head and shifted his gaze from Chen Ju’s face to his palm.
Just when Chen Ju thought Jiang Zhou was really going to strike him, Jiang Zhou looked away and said coldly: “After all these years, you are still so childish.”
Chen Ju’s cheeks flushed, and he silently withdrew his hand. If he didn’t hit him, he wouldn’t hit him. There was no need for such words, right? After all, it was just because he was angry.
If it was such a childish thing, why did Jiang Zhou hit the palm of his hand before? And it hurt every time.
Following Jiang Zhou, they entered the hotel. Chen Ju couldn’t help looking around. This was the first time he had entered such a high-end hotel. Standing at the door were uniformed attendants. Upon seeing Jiang Zhou, they bowed respectfully, opening the door high enough for two people.
As the door opened, a luxurious and extravagant scene came into view. Champagne glasses were held by men and women dressed in suits and dresses. They stood together in small groups, chatting with smiles on their faces.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, everyone looked over at the same time. Chen Ju was still in a daze when his hand was grabbed, and a force pulled him aside.
In a low voice, Jiang Zhou commanded, “Hold onto me.”. It startled Chen Ju, and he quickly took hold of Jiang Zhou’s arm, lowered his head, and walked beside Jiang Zhou.
“Young Master Jiang, long time no see.”
A lot of people greeted them and approached Jiang Zhou warmly. Jiang Zhou greeted these people with a smile, showing no trace of the indifference he had outside the door.
“Is this Young Master Jiang’s friend? This is the first time I’ve seen you?” A man with triangular eyes brought the topic to Chen Ju, his eyes darting around as he assessed him.
Suddenly all eyes fell on Chen Ju. Chen Ju became nervous, not knowing what expression to make. He straightened his back and tightly clutched Jiang Zhou’s sleeve.
“Well,” Jiang Zhou’s other hand rested on Chen Ju’s hand. He patted it lightly, lowered his eyes, and a gentle smile flashed in his gaze. “A very good friend.”
Seeing Jiang Zhou’s expression and behaviour, everyone roughly guessed what this “friend” meant. They saw through it without explicitly mentioning it. Having a same-sex partner was not a big deal in this circle; everyone was accustomed to it.
It was just that Jiang Zhou actually brought a same-sex partner to such a formal occasion, making them wonder what he really wanted to do.
The strange eyes fell on his body, like heavy boulders pressing on his chest. Chen Ju felt like he was going to be out of breath, experiencing that familiar feeling of suffocation once again. It was like a cold poisonous snake, spewing its venom from deep within his heart, gradually coiling around his body, tightening its grip more and more, squeezing tighter and tighter.
“Are you uncomfortable?” Jiang Zhou wrapped his arm around Chen Ju’s waist and whispered lowly into his ear.
Chen Ju woke up in shock. He was currently cooperating with Jiang Zhou in acting, so he had to pull himself together and not mess things up anymore.
“I’m fine.” Chen Ju raised his head, forcing a faint smile. His fair face was pale without a trace of blood, and he secretly tightened his grip, his nails digging into his palm. The tingling pain cleared his mind.
Jiang Zhou stared at Chen Ju for a few seconds, his lips curling into a smile. He reached out to ruffle Chen Ju’s hair and said to those in front of him: “Sorry, he’s not feeling well. I’ll take him to rest for a while. You guys continue.”
Jiang Zhou you really need to speak your mind! Chen Ju will only suffer more from you! 😭
Jiang zhou…………i hate u
Did jiang zhou not even tell chen ju about where they’re going etc 😑 man gotta learn to communicate better…
I need JZ to suffer…. a lot….
Thank you for the chapter!!
Sigh, he knows he’s hurting chen ju right? He better be groveling later on
I’m so glad that the uncles are being friendly and nice to Chen Ju, I hope Little Orange makes more friends 🫶💕💕💕