As soon as Ji Shuyan got home, he noticed that two pairs of sneakers of different sizes were placed on the steps to the front door.
The smaller pair obviously belonged to Ji Yuan, while the other pair, Ji Shuyan thought, was most likely Duan Zhi’s.
His nephew Ji Yuan is a sophomore at A University. Because it is close to home, he comes back every now and then. Duan Zhi, who has the best relationship with Ji Yuan among his roommates, often comes over too.
Generally speaking, Ji Shuyan welcomes Ji Yuan’s friends over. Although he likes the quiet, Ji Yuan’s friends also know how to behave and will not disturb him too much.
But only Duan Zhi, Ji Shuyan thought, could actually come less often.
He changed his shoes and walked up the steps. Sure enough, he saw Duan Zhi and Ji Yuan sitting side by side on the sofa. Don’t know what the two were talking about, they both had computers on their laps and Ji Yuan was gesticulating with his hands wearing a white T-Shirt. The jade Guanyin around his neck that Ji Shuyan had recently bought for him was swaying with his movements.
Duan Zhi, who was leaning on the sofa with one arm and staring at Ji Yuan seriously, had a slight frown on his face. His amber eyes reflected the light like a clear spring moving faintly.
The Two young men who were naturally good-looking, sitting together was a pleasure to the eye.
But the difference is that although Ji Yuan has delicate features, he has a childish baby face. His appearance can only be described as cute and not handsome. Obviously he was in his twenties yet he was always regarded as a high school student.
Duan Zhi is different, with a height of nearly 1.9m, broad shoulders, narrow waist and long legs. He not only had a face with clear contours and deep facial features which were sharp and impeccable, but also a pair of amorous peach blossom eyes, with light coloured pupils. When he looked at people to talk, it seemed as if he was teasing them and messed people up.
All in all, a flirt.
The above all are subjective thoughts of Ji Shuyan.
It couldn’t be helped, he and Duan Zhi have always had a less than compatible aura.
He went in with the shopping bags, and two people on the sofa turned around together because of the movement.
Seeing him, Ji Yuan immediately got up from the sofa, happily jumped over, and buried his head on his shoulder, “Uncle!”
Ji Shuyan smiled and stroked Ji Yuan’s head.
Ji Yuan is said to be his nephew, but in fact, he was actually like his own son. His sister and brother-in-law died early. Ji Yuan has been with him since he lost his parents at the age of eight and can be considered to have been single-handedly brought up by him.
Part of the reason why he didn’t get married for so many years was also because of Ji Yuan. He was always afraid that others would treat Ji Yuan badly, and that Ji Yuan would feel neglected. In the end, he just left it as it is and felt that being single was fine.
Ji Shuyan patted Ji Yuan and asked him to get off his body. He looked up and saw Duan Zhi standing behind, his smile faded, “Duan Zhi is here too.”
Duan Zhi was very polite, and his smile was harmless, “I’m here to disturb Uncle Ji again.”
Ji Shuyan didn’t answer, just nodded.
Fortunately, the other two also knew his cold temper and didn’t care.
Ji Yuan said to Ji Shuyan again, “Uncle, Duan Zhi is staying at our house today.”
Ji Shuyan subconsciously raised his eyebrows, “Why?”
But then he remembered that Duan Zhi was right next to him, and immediately his face became expressionless again.
“We’re going to do a programming assignment today. It won’t be finished for a while so I let Brother Duan stay here.” Ji Yuan didn’t feel his uncle’s entanglement at all, and took it for granted. “It’ll only take twenty minutes to go to school tomorrow. It’s very close.”
Ji Shuyan didn’t speak for a moment.
He looked up at Duan Zhi, hoping that Duan Zhi could be sensible and get out of the way in an amicable manner.
But Duan Zhi had never had a tacit understanding with him and did not understand his meaning at all. Instead, he looked back at him with a smile.
Ji Shuyan had to nod, “Okay, then you guys don’t be too busy at night.”
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.
Ji Yuan promised, “Yes, we promise not to make trouble.”
Ji Shuyan went back upstairs and changed into his home clothes. When he came downstairs, he found that Duan Zhi and Ji Yuan were no longer in the living room.
He found them in the kitchen, both standing in front of the counter.
He knocked on the kitchen door to show his presence, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, Duan Zhi is preparing dinner,” Ji Yuan replied, “He’s doing it today.”
Only then did Ji Shuyan notice that Duan Zhi had a potato in his hand and was peeling it.
He didn’t expect Duan Zhi to cook, so he walked over and watched for a while.
Duan Zhi skillfully beat eggs, cut vegetables, chopped meat, and boiled soup. Fast and organized, it can be seen at a glance that he is experienced.
Ji Shuyan couldn’t help but look Duan Zhi up and down a few times.
He remembered that Duan Zhi’s family was very good. He was also an eldest young master who grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth. He thought that Duan Zhi would be someone who couldn’t distinguish between five grains or move his four limbs1, but he didn’t expect him to be quite down to earth.
Ji Yuan also looked amazed, “Brother Duan, I’ve known you for over a year but I didn’t know you were so good at cooking.”
Duan Zhi lowered his head, “After living outside for a while in high school, I just learnt.”
Ji Yuan looked eager to try and wanted to intervene, but he was pushed out by Duan Zhi.
“Go out and have some snacks,” Duan Zhi said, “You don’t know how to cook. You’ll burn yourself and will have to ask Uncle Ji to treat you.”
Ji Shuyan also said, “Go out.”
But he himself folded up his sleeves to help. He is the host, it wouldn’t be nice to let the guest cook alone.
He smoothly took a basket of cabbage next to him and washed it carefully under running water. Out of doctor’s caution, he even washed the vegetables several times.
Duan Zhi did not pretend to let Ji Shuyan go out, instead he cooperated with him tacitly, one cooking and one washing vegetables, in an orderly manner2.
Two people stood in a not small kitchen, but there was no communication, only the sound of pots and pans colliding.
After a while, Duan Zhi stared at the potato pancakes spinning in the oven and whispered, “Uncle Ji, Thank you for what happened last time, I didn’t get the chance to tell you face to face.”
Ji Shuyan‘s action of wiping his hands paused, and he suddenly glanced at Duan Zhi’s hand, there was a faint scar that had healed a long time ago.
He knew what Duan Zhi was talking about.
Their Ji family runs a private hospital. Last month, when he was about to get off work, he saw a familiar face in the hospital. Duan Zhi was sitting on a chair with one of his arms injured, his blood was staining the gauze red but he still didn’t care.
Ji Shuyan didn’t walk over, he casually stopped a passing nurse and asked, “Why is the person over there injured?”
The nurse was also getting old. She sighed, shook her head and said, “What else, young people fight and get into the hospital, I guess it is jealousy again.”
“But the other side seems to be even worse,” the nurse thought about it, and complained again, “Broke their heads and needed stitches. Nowadays, students are really reckless.”
Ji Shuyan glanced sideways at Duan Zhi for a few moments but was not too surprised, because it really seemed like something Duan Zhi would do.
He watched him silently from the side for a while. Even if Duan Zhi was not seriously injured, he should still be in pain, but he was still calmly looking down and playing with his phone, as if it was not him who was hurt.
On the contrary, the delicate and gentle eighteen or nineteen year old boy who stood next to Duan Zhi with red eyes looked even more uncomfortable than the wounded Duan Zhi.
Ji Shuyan looked at him for a while but didn’t say anything nor did he specifically go to Duan Zhi to express his concern. He just told the nurse to open a single room for Duan Zhi to rest and waive the medical expenses.
He didn’t expect Duan Zhi to remember his favour. It didn’t take much effort. If Duan Zhi didn’t mention it, he would have forgotten it.
But now that Duan Zhi mentioned it himself, Ji Shuyan wiped his hands and couldn’t help but say a few more words, “It was nothing, don’t take it to heart. It’s okay for you young people to go to bars for a while but don’t fight all the time. It’s not good for you or others.”
He looked at Duan Zhi from behind the silver-framed glasses with a pair of cold and beautiful eyes. The ends of his eyes were slightly upturned, and when he looked at people, it felt like he was stroking the tip of their heart with a feather, making them itch.
In fact, he doesn’t like to point fingers at other people’s lives. It’s not uncommon for young people to be impulsive, and he doesn’t have the energy to manage all of them personally.
But Duan Zhi is Ji Yuan’s best friend after all. The first time he saw Duan Zhi, he was fighting. This time it was because of a fight. As Ji Yuan’s parent, he still hoped that Duan Zhi would cause less trouble, so as to avoid bringing disaster to Ji Yuan for no reason oneday3.
Although Ji Shuyan spoke with restraint, Duan Zhi still vaguely felt that his reputation seemed to have dropped again.
Duan Zhi himself was quite helpless.
He doesn’t say that everyone loves blooming flowers, but since his childhood to adulthood, he has always been regarded as the moon and stars. From peers to teachers, as long as he wants, he can please anyone.
He didn’t know what was wrong but Ji Shuyan was the only one who looked at him with a wary look from the first meeting.
But to say Ji Shuyan’s attitude towards him was bad, it was impossible. Ji Shuyan has always been polite to him. He never stopped Ji Yuan from interacting with him, nor did he ever speak ill of him to Ji Yuan behind his back.
It is very contradictory, but also a little cute, like a Persian cat guarding its territory. It is arrogant and disdains people, but it will never show its claws for no reason.
Duan Zhi thought for a moment, and explained, “I don’t fight with people because of anger. The last time I fought, it was because someone deliberately hired thugs to make trouble at my friend’s store due to business competition and even beat the waiter at the store. I just happened to be on the scene before it started. Also, I didn’t lose the fight, I was sneaked up on.”
He couldn’t hold back after speaking, and added, “We also called the police later.”
He is disciplined and law-abiding, okay? He is not the punk who is always fighting and causing trouble in Ji Shuyan’s imagination.
Ji Shuyan looked him up and down, and felt that this explanation was barely credible.
“Then call the police sooner next time,” He stood on tiptoe and took a mug from the cabinet. “If something happens, let the police deal with it. If you students make a fuss, it will be you guys who will suffer.”
Duan Zhi smiled and responded with a good temper, “You’re right.”
Duan Zhi’s craftsmanship was surprisingly good.
Ji Shuyan only made stir fried cabbage and stewed beef. Spanish potato pancakes4, shrimp and tomato tofu soup, and winter melon pork rib soup were all made by Duan Zhi alone.
Ji Shuyan doesn’t know if it’s his illusion, but at first glance, they all seem to be what he likes to eat.
It must be a coincidence, Ji Shuyan thought. After all, Ji Yuan had a good time eating them.
However, after drinking two bowls of pork ribs soup, he touched his stomach contentedly, and felt that Duan Zhi was not without merit.
It was not a loss to let him stay here.
After dinner, the three of them went their separate ways.
Ji Shuyan was studying a patient’s case in the study. He was so focused that he forgot the time. When he looked up again, the water in his mug was completely cold.
It had been three hours since he entered the study.
He stretched, picked up the mug, and prepared to go downstairs to warm up some milk.
When he got to the kitchen, he found that Duan Zhi was also there, holding the health pot and cooking something.
Duan Zhi noticed him and asked, “Are you here for tea too?”
Ji Shuyan glanced forward and found that there was fruit tea in the pot. He immediately stretched out the teacup, “Well, I want a cup too.”
While waiting for the fruit tea to be brewed, Ji Shuyan suddenly remembered the problem of sleeping at night.
Although their house is a two-story villa, there were not many rooms when planning. Apart from his and Ji Yuan’s bedroom and the study room, there was only a small guest bedroom on the second floor.
But the guest bedroom was being used as a store room by the housekeeping aunt. It was full of things and needed to be cleaned up to live in.
Ji Shuyan glanced at Duan Zhi, “Where are you going to stay at night? I forgot that there are too many things in our guest bedroom. So, you may not be able to stay there.”
He looked down at the time. At this point, it was a bit inhumane for Duan Zhi to go out again, and he was really anxious for a while.
Unexpectedly, Duan Zhi replied as a matter of course, “I’ll just live with Ji Yuan.”
Click.
Ji Shuyan heard the sound of his reason bursting out.
He looked at Duan Zhi in disbelief, “How can you sleep with Ji Yuan? He only has one bed.”
Duan Zhi felt even stranger than him, “Is there any problem with us sleeping on the same bed? We are both boys, and we are also roommates in the dormitory. There is nothing inconvenient.”
There is a big problem.
Ji Shuyan didn’t speak for a while. He stared at the pot of fruit tea with his arms crossed, but his mind began to spin rapidly.
If other boys sleep with Ji Yuan, he will definitely not think so much, but Duan Zhi can’t.
In the past six months he has been in contact with Duan Zhi, he has long noticed that the people chasing Duan Zhi included both men and women. The last time Duan Zhi was in the hospital, he was accompanied by a pitiful little boy who looked at Duan Zhi with tears in his eyes. At first glance, their relationship is unclear.
All things considered, it can be seen that he bends both ways.
Ji Yuan is pure and simple. Now that Duan Zhi wants to sleep in the same room with Ji Yuan, how is it any different than putting a sheep in the mouth of a tiger.
Ji Shuyan was still struggling when he heard Duan Zhi’s cell phone ring.
Duan Zhi answered it. His finger touched the voice icon, and the sound was played directly.
The opposite side sounded noisy like a bar, and a male voice that sounded like a male duck5 asked, “Brother Duan, are you coming to Nanxiang today? We have a lot of handsome men here today, I’ll protect you…”
Before he could finish speaking, he was hung up by Duan Zhi.
There was a dead silence in the kitchen.
Duan Zhi silently stuffed the phone into his pocket and glanced at Ji Shuyan, “I can explain…”
Ji Shuyan raised his hand, “Don’t explain, it doesn’t matter.”
He pushed his glasses and said as calmly as possible, “I just remembered that my room is quite big, and the sofa inside can also be converted into a bed. You can sleep with me. I will sleep on the sofa.”
In short, don’t even think about sleeping in Ji Yuan’s room.
Translator’s notes
- 四体不勤, 五谷不分 (sì tǐ bù qín , wǔ gǔ bù fēn) – never move your four limbs, can’t distinguish the five crops (idiom); living as a parasite.
- 井井有条 (jǐng jǐng yǒu tiáo) – everything clear and orderly (idiom); neat and tidy.
- There is a phrase here which is almost 殃及池鱼 (the first letter is different) – Paralysis of the pool of fish (metaphor); suffer harm for no reason.
- Tortilla de patatas
- Male duck in Chinese usually means male prostitute. I think that’s what they were going for there.
Thank you for the chapter. 😘
Ohoho ji shuyan actually dug a pit for himself by inviting duan zhi to sleep together with him lmaoo
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
I don’t know how I feel about this lol. But we will see!
Thanks for the chapter <3
his reputation is so freakin down in his crush’s eyes lol🤭
Oooh, thank You very much for picking this nice novel up! ✧⁺⸜(●′▾‵●)⸝⁺✧ It’s another one from my reading list~ Can’t wait for the new chapter! 《《o(≧◇≦)o》》Thank You and take care! ❤
This character made me reread synopsis, lol
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
It was a pleasant surprise to see that the story is from the shou’sPOV 🤩. Nice start!! ty for the translation 💐
💜💜💜💜