Chapter 47: Why do you like feeding me so much?
On the way back, Diandian started crying again, partly because the day was over and partly because she couldn’t bear to let Chen Wengang leave.
Chen Wengang had been paired with these two little sisters with congenital heart disease for two years longer than Sister Huang. The children had a sort of imprinting complex, but Tongtong was relatively strong, whereas Diandian’s emotional needs were exceptionally high. Every time Chen Wengang left the orphanage, he had to make a point of saying goodbye to her specifically.
“I remember one time, he left in a hurry and forgot to say goodbye. She cried all the way until midnight,” Sister Huang recalled. “He had to be called back in the middle of the night.” They were afraid she would cry so hard her emotions would trigger a medical episode.
At the entrance of the Home of Love, the two little ones clutched their bears and went through a difficult farewell before the group headed to Lu Chenlong’s house.
Before getting out of the car, Lu Chenlong suddenly tossed Chen Wengang a key. “By the way, that tenant of yours moved out.”
“Oh, okay,” Chen Wengang caught it. “Thanks.”
“They didn’t even last two days. Those debt collectors sang outside in the courtyard for a whole night, and by Friday, they had called a moving company.”
Lu Chenlong clearly didn’t mind watching the drama unfold, and Chen Wengang smiled: “I’ll go take a look now.”
“You definitely should check to see if anything is missing. I specifically warned them that they couldn’t take any furniture that didn’t belong to them.”
Huo Niansheng focused on the steering wheel, not interrupting their chat.
Nowadays, more and more people owned cars, but parking facilities couldn’t keep up, so the areas outside the old alleyways were always congested. Huo Niansheng went a bit further to find a parking spot, while Lu Chenlong took his brother and walked ahead with Chen Wengang.
The two brothers entered their house, and Chen Wengang took a few more steps to arrive at his own front door.
But he found that even with the key, he couldn’t get in. The old-fashioned wooden door had a decorative ring knocker, and aside from the security lock, a heavy padlock had been added.
A moment’s thought made it clear: the tenant had probably done it on purpose to cause him trouble.
Huo Niansheng quickly caught up, let out a scoffing laugh upon seeing the situation, looked around, and picked up half a brick.
With two loud clangs, before Chen Wengang could even see his movements clearly, the hasp was easily smashed off.
With a creak, Huo Niansheng pushed the door open: “Let’s take a tour and see what your house looks like.”
Outside in the yard and inside the house, it had indeed been swept clean.
Because of Lu Chenlong’s warning not to touch the furniture, they only left behind those few pieces of old Manchurian ash wood furniture. Not a single appliance remained; even the range hood in the kitchen, the water heater, and the air conditioner had been uninstalled and taken away, or perhaps sold.
They had been used for many years, or perhaps his uncle’s family had added them later. Second-hand goods weren’t worth much, so Chen Wengang didn’t take it to heart.
However, without the air conditioner, the interior was stiflingly hot. Just standing in the room caused layers of sweat to break out.
To get some air, Chen Wengang walked around, throwing all the doors and windows wide open, trying his best to create some cross-ventilation. He then fumbled for the switch and turned on the overhead light. The light had been used for a long time and glowed feebly; beneath the lampshade gathered a layer of black specks, likely the corpses of bugs.
Huo Niansheng stood at the doorway watching his actions, his face revealing no particular expression.
There were no tables or chairs in the room. After a moment, Huo Niansheng seemed to come alive; he walked inside a few steps and began observing the layout of the house. Walking into the bedroom, the only thing left that could barely be sat on was a bed frame, though the slatted base was still intact.
“Old as it is, furniture from the past is quite sturdy,” Huo Niansheng evaluated. “Well, is anything missing?”
“Probably not, this seems to be it,” Chen Wengang said softly. “In the past, people hired carpenters to make furniture when they got married.”
He looked a bit puzzled, or perhaps lost, seemingly trying to match the sight before him with the small home in his memory.
There was also an attic above. The stairs leading up were made of sheet metal; stepping on them produced loud clangs. They were completely rusted, with not a speck of paint remaining.
The walls hadn’t been painted in years and were heavily mottled, covered in scratches and peeling paint. The pitch-black patches looked like sores.
Some tenant’s child had carved “1+2=3”, but the scratches near the doorframe were made by Chen Wengang himself.
“These are my height marks.” He finally smiled.
“How old were you at this height?” Huo Niansheng crouched down to look.
Chen Wengang shot him a guarded glance: “I can’t tell you.”
Huo Niansheng laughed loudly. He looked around like a professional and pointed to a corner to show him: “The wall here is damp. A water pipe inside probably burst. You should get a worker to fix the waterproofing later.”
“Okay.”
“Then this wall needs to be repainted, and a new layer of putty applied… Do you want to fix it up and rent it out again?”
“I won’t rent it out anymore. It doesn’t bring in much money anyway. I’ll keep it; maybe one day I’ll live here myself.”
Huo Niansheng smiled as if he had heard something amusing. “You still want to move back here?”
Just as he said this, the already darkening sky suddenly plunged into blackness, as if the power had been cut.
Outside, a cacophony of pitter-patter erupted, raindrops falling with lightning speed, instantly soaking the concrete ground in the courtyard. This was a rainstorm unpredicted by the weather forecast, leaving no time to react; it fell so fast it seemed the heavens were directly dumping a basin of water.
Chen Wengang didn’t speak. He walked to the door and looked out at the rain.
A slight dampness, mixed with the lingering summer heat, blew inwards against his face.
Naturally, they didn’t have an umbrella. The sudden downpour trapped the two of them inside the house.
Compared to the Zheng residence, using a fairy-tale analogy, the gap between this house and that one was like the difference between a king’s palace and a fisherman’s hut.
But it wasn’t unlivable.
Chen Wengang leaned against the doorframe, calculating in his mind whether to gut it and completely renovate it. After so many years, the plumbing and wiring had aged; redoing the hard furnishings would be best. But he also considered that the old street might be demolished for redevelopment in a few years, meaning even the best renovation would be money down the drain.
Or, just as Huo Niansheng suggested, he could just do some waterproofing, paint the walls white, and make do for a few more years.
Huo Niansheng also walked over, leaning against the opposite doorframe, his deep, appraising gaze fixed on Chen Wengang’s face.
With his long arms and legs, he deliberately stretched a leg over to the other side, blocking Chen Wengang inside the doorway.
“Why are you in a bad mood… I misspoke earlier. This is your home, right?”
“No, I was just thinking that this house is pretty run-down. It’s twenty years old, after all. Maybe I should just leave it and wait for demolition.”
“The government has been pushing for municipal construction and urban renewal these past few years. Redeveloping this street is only a matter of time. There have been rumors since last year.”
“Is that so?” Chen Wengang wasn’t surprised, but still pretended he hadn’t heard of it.
“But complete demolition isn’t a certainty,” Huo Niansheng said. “Li Hongqiong’s family deals closely with the government and has targeted many old city renovation projects in recent years. As far as I know, they lean towards preserving Jincheng’s early fishing village aesthetic to create a tourist attraction and boost tourism. She’s been preaching this concept everywhere and even did a TV interview about it. You can ask her about it later.”
The Zheng, Huo, Li, and He families were all veteran shipping magnates. The difference was that some clung to the glory of the Shipping King era, while others sought change amidst economic transition. The Zheng and He families still maintained shipping as their core business, whereas the Huo and Li families, starting from the previous generation, had successively shifted their development strategies, gradually investing their capital into real estate and mining. Today, the Huo family had already completed their transition ashore, and the Li family was in the process of doing so.
In his previous life, the Li Group hadn’t participated in the development of Jiangchao Street. If things were as Huo Niansheng described, perhaps this street would take on a different appearance. It might relate to strategy, or perhaps they participated in the land auction but failed. He could chat with Li Hongqiong about it if he got the chance.
But all this fierce competition and shifting tides among the wealthy families had nothing to do with Chen Wengang.
Zheng Yucheng, Huo Niansheng, or Li Hongqiong were all important figures on this stage; he was not.
The rain continued to pour, raging freely with no intention of stopping.
Huo Niansheng wasn’t in a hurry either, leisurely killing time here with his little lover.
He pointed here and there, helping Chen Wengang brainstorm ideas on how to remodel this old house. The outer corners of Huo Niansheng’s peach-blossom eyes tilted upwards; when he wasn’t being genuine, they always carried a hint of a half-smile containing an unspeakable disdain. But Chen Wengang didn’t mind.
Listening to him, Chen Wengang switched sides, leaning against the same doorframe as Huo Niansheng and resting his head on his shoulder.
The way he clung to him reminded Huo Niansheng of how those little brats had clung to him earlier. He even felt a strange sense of empathy, understanding the thrill of being relied upon. He suddenly leaned in and asked teasingly, “You like leaning on me like this too?”
Chen Wengang was about to pull back, but Huo Niansheng pressed him back in place: “It’s fine, I like it too.”
The main gate banged loudly. Chen Wengang was slightly startled and stood up straight to look outside.
A young man ran in through the doorway—it was Lu Chenlong, wearing a raincoat and clutching a large black umbrella under his arm. Rainwater flowed across the ground; he had swapped his sneakers for flip-flops and was fighting against the suction of the wet ground, looking as if he were trekking through mud.
“Don’t know if this rain is going to stop, and I figured you didn’t have an umbrella.” Lu Chenlong entered the house. “Oh, President Huo is still here too.”
“Thanks.” Chen Wengang took the umbrella. “I’ll return it next time I go to your place.”
Huo Niansheng had already stepped back inside, clearing a path in the doorway. Lu Chenlong stared at him, then after a moment, looked away and let out a masking cough. During the day, Chen Wengang had brought this person along, and the atmosphere between the two of them was indescribably ambiguous, leading him to his own suspicions. It was Lu Chenlong’s first time meeting him, and not knowing whether this person brought good or ill fortune, he could only maintain basic politeness.
From under his raincoat, Lu Chenlong produced a plastic bag: “Granny Zhou’s sweet soup. She gave me two portions—one for Xiao Bao, and this one is yours.”
“Ah,” Chen Wengang took it. “You didn’t have to, you should keep it for yourself.”
“Her shop is right next door; it’s not like I can’t eat it every day if I want to.” Lu Chenlong glanced at Huo Niansheng again. “Sorry, I didn’t expect President Huo to be here, so I only brought one spoon inside… You guys can share it. I have a kid at home, I’m heading back first.”
With that, he didn’t linger, splashing through the water as he trekked back.
Chen Wengang unwrapped the packaging, and Huo Niansheng leaned his head over: “What is it?”
The small plastic bowl held black sesame paste, dark and richly aromatic. Chen Wengang handed the bowl to him and dug around the bottom of the bag for the spoon.
The small spoon was also disposable. He tore off the clear plastic wrapping: “We’ll have to make do.”
Huo Niansheng took the spoon as well, studying the thick bowl of sesame paste. He stirred it, scooped up a mouthful, and fed it to Chen Wengang as if testing it. Only then did he take a bite himself. It was still piping hot, fragrant and smooth, sweet but not cloying, bringing a comforting sweetness all the way from the tongue to the stomach.
Chen Wengang had a discerning palate and could taste that it had been ground using a pestle and mortar. The sesame paste sold in Granny Zhou’s shop wasn’t made this way anymore; grinding a batch took over an hour, and the old lady simply didn’t have the stamina for it. Cooking it occasionally was a special treat reserved only for her own people.
“Nowadays everyone uses food processors to grind sesame; you can’t get this handmade flavor… You eat, don’t give it all to me.”
Huo Niansheng only took two bites, then fed him spoon after spoon, focusing entirely on feeding him: “Mm, I’ve tasted it.”
Finally, after scraping the bottom of the bowl, the spoon touched Chen Wengang’s lips again.
Chen Wengang hesitated for a second, then opened his mouth, accepting his feeding.
Huo Niansheng broke into a brilliant smile, holding the empty bowl. He leaned in and tasted the sweetness on his lips: “The flavor really is different… What’s wrong?”
The lighting masked the blush on Chen Wengang’s face, but a smile slowly seeped out: “Why do you like feeding me so much?”
Did there need to be a reason?
Huo Niansheng thought he was too skinny. Stripped of his clothes, the lines from his workouts were visible, with a thin layer of muscle stretched over his bones, looking sleek and solid. But a bit more flesh wouldn’t hurt. At his height, he couldn’t afford to be excessively thin, otherwise, he would look frail and insubstantial.
Sometimes, Huo Niansheng didn’t realize that he harbored an inexplicable tenderness toward Chen Wengang.
With the Lu family’s umbrella, the two returned to the car. Huo Niansheng held the umbrella handle with one hand and kept the other tightly wrapped around him. He opened the car door, and Chen Wengang got into the passenger seat before Huo Niansheng entered the driver’s side. In the brief moment of closing the umbrella and shutting the door, half of his body was still hit by the misty rain.
The interior of the commercial van was spacious, like an ark, isolating a safe, cool space amidst the torrential rain.
The driving was very steady. On the way, Chen Wengang couldn’t resist nodding off, a fine layer of sweat on his forehead.
Huo Niansheng turned his head and saw him unconsciously furrowing his brows, not knowing what he was dreaming about.
Even when the car stopped, Huo Niansheng didn’t wake him. He rested his arms on the steering wheel, reached out, and turned the air conditioning temperature up two degrees.
Chen Wengang was in a daze, feeling as if he were back in the mid-levels villa of his past life. A figure holding a bowl spoke in a very relaxed tone:
“The medicine you’re taking has side effects; it’s normal to have no appetite… Just take a bite, hurry, or do you really want me to feed you?”
Chen Wengang frowned at the other person: “I told you to just leave it there… I’ll eat it later.”
Huo Niansheng dragged a chair over to his side, holding the bowl of porridge, and actually scooped up a spoonful: “I’ll feed you, alright?”
Chen Wengang looked at him helplessly, finally opened his mouth, and swallowed it. After half a bowl went down, he rushed to throw it up. The doctor had said it wasn’t just the medication irritating his stomach, but also psychogenic anorexia. Huo Niansheng followed him in, sat on the edge of the bathtub, said nothing, and reached out to pat his back.
As he patted, the force suddenly grew heavy. Chen Wengang’s head dropped, and he jolted awake.
