DLRAS Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Such a young life is not lived without struggle.

The rain finally stopped.

The closer they got to their destination, the more familiar the streetscape became. Chen Wengang actually realized where they were going.

Pressing the button for the 33rd floor, the elevator doors chimed open. With a one-apartment-per-floor layout, they stepped out directly into the entryway.

Huo Niansheng opened the door with his fingerprint, and an unrivaled river view rushed to meet them. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around most of the living room, offering an incredibly vast and breathtaking panorama. Chen Wengang stood still in the entryway; the soles of his shoes were caked in mud, while the camel-colored carpet inside was neat and pristine.

Huo Niansheng fetched a pair of slippers for him. Just then, a call came through on his phone.

It was Chen Xiangling calling Chen Wengang, sounding a bit panicked: “Brother, have my parents looked for you recently?”

“Don’t worry,” Chen Wengang said gently. “No, they haven’t. What’s wrong?”

“They asked me if I’ve received my internship salary yet, and it seems like they want me to hand it over to the family… I don’t know how to hide it from them anymore.”

“I advised your dad last time to leave some money for you, and he even agreed. Why would he suddenly want your salary?”

“That’s also why I’m calling you… The family might have run into some trouble. That’s my guess. A couple of days ago, I called home to ask if it was flooded. Listening to Guangzong and Yaozu, it sounded like someone was demanding my dad pay back some money. But they couldn’t explain it clearly.”

“That’s adult business, you don’t need to worry about it. Just focus on your studies. Don’t tell them where you live or where your school is.”

“Okay… Why do you sound so congested? Did you catch a cold recently?”

“A little bit, it’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, leave the rest to me; I’ll explain things to them.”

Huo Niansheng listened to him offer comfort for a long while. His patience held until the moment Chen Wengang hung up, at which point he directly carried the man to the bathroom.

Chen Wengang was pressed against the door panel: “What’s wrong? You’re not angry again, are you?”

Huo Niansheng pressed down on him with a half-smile: “What do you think?”

Chen Wengang was trapped in the small, confined space by him, the man’s scent lingering in his every breath. Now that there was finally no third person present, Huo Niansheng moved very slowly, deliberately and ambiguously rolling the hem of his shirt up little by little, all the way up past his chest.

Chen Wengang turned his head to the side, a hint of color rushing to his face, too embarrassed to look in the mirror.

Huo Niansheng tapped the spot over his heart with an index finger: “Baby, I’ve been gone for so long. I didn’t expect to come back and see you waiting for me at home in a bunny girl outfit—but I certainly never imagined seeing you at the hospital getting an IV drip while wearing another man’s clothes. Of course, I admire your bravery. But can you tell me directly: among all the people you care about, is there even a spot left for me in here?”

After saying this, however, he saw Chen Wengang frowning, looking at him in a slight daze.

This look made Huo Niansheng pause as well. “What’s wrong?”

Chen Wengang wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face in his shoulder without saying a word.

For a moment, Huo Niansheng suspected he was going to cry again. He pulled him up, but couldn’t make out any particular expression. Still, it made Huo Niansheng too afraid to tease him further. He had no choice but to hold him in his arms and pat his back: “Alright, alright… I was just teasing you, how did you take it seriously?”

Chen Wengang pulled his neck down and asked faintly by his ear, “How do you know you’re not in my heart?”

“Am I?” Huo Niansheng smiled and asked, “Are you sure?”

“You are,” Chen Wengang said. “No one is more sure than I am.” How much more sure could he be? Did he have to cut his heart open to show him?

Huo Niansheng’s eyes darkened, and he kissed him impatiently. Hand clasped over hand, they pressed against the tiles. Following suit, his back also pressed against the cold tiles, sending a quick chill up his spine that made Chen Wengang shiver involuntarily.

Huo Niansheng snapped out of it and finally stopped playing around, pulling the shirt over his head.

He paused for a second, then tossed it into the dirty laundry hamper.

He turned on the bathroom heater and wrung out a warm towel. “Don’t take a shower yet; if you wash, you might get a fever again. Just wipe down and blow-dry your hair.”

By the time Chen Wengang walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a bathrobe, Huo Niansheng was sitting on the living room sofa drinking.

Outside the window, the sky had already darkened. The post-rain sky felt incredibly vast. No lights were turned on inside. The long sofa faced the floor-to-ceiling windows squarely, and the dark carpet absorbed all reflections. At the edge of the carpet stood an astronomical telescope, its lens pointed at the sky outside.

Huo Niansheng held a glass with only a shallow layer of liquid remaining.

Chen Wengang walked over and called out to him, “Why are you drinking now?”

Huo Niansheng turned around and reached a hand out to him: “Come here.”

Chen Wengang’s hand was taken, and he sat in his lap. Huo Niansheng held him, tilted his head back to finish the drink, and pushed the glass onto the small side table.

Chen Wengang followed his gaze outside. The floor-to-ceiling windows were like an immersive movie screen; the scattered lights of the distant city merged into a sea of stars. Deep, faint, and hazy. That sea seemed to flow backward into the sky, imbued with a sense of profound mystery that made one dizzy if they stared too long. And they were like a lonely boat, drifting with the current in the cold, silent water, having only each other.

When Huo Niansheng looked down again, Chen Wengang’s gaze had returned to his face.

The silvery moonlight and the boundless sea of stars were now poured into his eyes, as he quietly gazed at Huo Niansheng.

Huo Niansheng couldn’t resist reaching out to trace the contours of his face and eyes, suddenly feeling the effects of the alcohol. He really was a bit drunk.

He bit Chen Wengang’s ear and asked, “Do you like this apartment?”

Chen Wengang asked back, “Do you live here often?”

Huo Niansheng moved his hand down to his waist, sliding it suggestively, his voice dropping very low: “When I first bought this place, what I liked was the natural light and the scenery. But after living here a while, I stopped paying attention to it. I just felt that living alone was a bit empty… The space is too large; it’s not good.”

“That’s easy to solve…” Chen Wengang leaned back against his ear, his breath tickling Huo Niansheng. “I’ll spend some money and gift Young Master Huo a truckload of money trees, fill every corner… Wishing the boss continuous promotions and great fortune.” After speaking, he laughed in his arms.

Huo Niansheng also chuckled and grabbed him. The two rolled around on the sofa once, tumbling together onto the floor. The world spun; their hips and legs bumped together, chest pressed against chest. Huo Niansheng pinned him down, and Chen Wengang laughed, pushing him: “Stop messing around, you’re too heavy, get up.”

Moist lips brushed against his temple: “How long has it been since we did it?”

Chen Wengang looked back at him tenderly: “I’ve always given you opportunities.”

Huo Niansheng kissed him. “Come here, sleep with me. I drove 500 kilometers taking shifts with Old Li.”

The two went to the master bedroom and slept neck-to-neck on the large bed.

Huo Niansheng originally thought Chen Wengang might struggle sleeping in a new bed, but he didn’t. He curled up in Huo Niansheng’s arms, his breathing entirely peaceful.

When he opened his eyes again, Huo Niansheng didn’t know how many hours he had slept. The clock on the nightstand had stopped, and his arms were empty.

The blankets beside him were a mess.

He paused for a moment, got out of bed, and heard some noises coming from outside.

Walking out, he found Chen Wengang in the dining room, sitting by the kitchen island with his back to him. In the dark, Huo Niansheng looked at his silhouette and inexplicably felt a profound loneliness, along with an unnameable sorrow. Chen Wengang held a mug in his hands, staring out at the galaxy of stars for a long time.

Huo Niansheng walked over, wanting to hold him. “Why are you up?”

Hearing his footsteps, Chen Wengang withdrew his gaze, slightly lowered his head, and imperceptibly turned his face away.

Reaching the front of him, by the light from the window, Huo Niansheng suddenly saw his face clearly.

With his nose bridge as the dividing line, the right side of his face, from his forehead down to his neck, was uneven. The skin tissue was covered in crisscrossing, unhealed scars of black and red.

Common sense dictated this looked like some kind of chemical burn.

However, Huo Niansheng didn’t feel shocked or horrified, because this was a truth he already knew. His heart ached immensely, but the more it hurt, the less he could show it. Because the person in front of him was in even more pain, and even more terrified. He had to be the calm one.

Huo Niansheng put a smile on his face, acting as if nothing was wrong. “If you keep staying up late like this, your wounds won’t heal easily.”

Chen Wengang sat there indifferently, still staring at the mug in his hand, not speaking or paying any attention to him.

Yet Huo Niansheng knew that beneath that apathetic shell lay a terrified soul—lost, frightened, and utterly exhausted. His frail back seemed unable to bear any more; he had no one beside him to rely on, and he couldn’t see where tomorrow was.

Such a young life—it wasn’t that he hadn’t fought hard to live, but then, it came to a screeching halt, and all his brilliance was extinguished in an instant.

Huo Niansheng hugged him quietly, stroking his back, like comforting a frightened child.

Only an incomparably cold fury flowed in his chest. He was just about to grasp something: Zheng Yucheng, and also—

“…Niansheng!”

Huo Niansheng jolted awake. Chen Wengang was holding his hand tightly, and the bedside lamp was on.

He opened his eyes and met Chen Wengang’s worried gaze. “Were you having a nightmare?”

It took Huo Niansheng a long moment to regain control of his limbs. He raised his hand and touched the face in front of him.

The skin under his hand was warm. Smooth, delicate, and flawless. It hadn’t experienced any terrifying ordeals. Huo Niansheng let out a breath and sat up, only then realizing he was drenched in a cold sweat. He nearly shivered.

Looking at him, Chen Wengang only felt that Huo Niansheng’s expression was unfathomable, as he examined him with a slightly unfamiliar gaze.

This made him feel a bit uneasy. He reached out to feel the other man’s forehead. “Are you feeling unwell? Did I pass it on to you?”

“What did you just call me?” Huo Niansheng’s voice carried the hoarseness of waking from a dream. “Say it again.”

“Say what again?” Chen Wengang was confused. “Niansheng? Huo Niansheng?”

Huo Niansheng rolled over and, without any room for argument, pinned him beneath him. “I want you.”

“Now?”

Before Chen Wengang could resist, his bathrobe was forcefully pulled open.

He was caught entirely off guard, and his lack of resistance was taken as silent consent. Chen Wengang simply gave up struggling and accepted his fate of being ravaged. However, Huo Niansheng only used his eyes to strictly examine every inch of his body. For a moment, Chen Wengang felt like he had become a teddy bear, being flipped over and inspected inside and out. He didn’t even know what Huo Niansheng was looking for—whether a button had fallen off or a seam had come undone.

Finally, Huo Niansheng shook off the nightmare. He made Chen Wengang lie on top of his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist, holding him close.

Trapped against his chest, Chen Wengang remained utterly bewildered. “We’re not doing it? What exactly is wrong with you?”

Huo Niansheng answered a completely different question, chatting with him: “Speaking of which, back when you were in school, did anyone ever bully you?”

Chen Wengang thought about it. “I guess so. More or less.”

“What did they do to you?”

“Calling me nicknames, hiding my homework, stealing my things, framing me…”

“Do you still remember who they were?”

“What are you going to do? It was all resolved back then…” Chen Wengang looked at him suspiciously, not wanting to cause trouble. “Look at me, I’m perfectly fine. It’s not like I’m an idiot who just lets people bully me. There’s nothing worth holding a grudge over until now.”

Huo Niansheng took in every subtle nuance of his expression, tentatively believed him a little, and put him down. “Mm, go to sleep.”

The clock dial on the nightstand pointed to three in the morning. It was still early before dawn; they could sleep for a few more hours.

Chen Wengang suddenly sat up and looked for his phone. “Almost forgot. Remember to remind me tomorrow to ask for a leave of absence from the company.”

Huo Niansheng watched lazily as he set an alarm. “A notice has already been issued. Classes and work are suspended in most areas of the city.”

Chen Wengang snuggled back into his arms. “I still have to confirm with my manager…” he mumbled, closing his eyes again, his voice fading.

After a long time, Huo Niansheng checked his forehead, then couldn’t resist looking at his face again. The person beside him had fallen asleep. He slowly slid down a bit, then suddenly sat up again, grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and typed the words “precognitive dream” into the search bar.

The phone screen reflected two fluorescent white spots in his eyes. He browsed for a while, but it was all baseless nonsense.

Huo Niansheng laughed at himself, put the phone back, turned off the bedside lamp, rolled over, and tightly held the person in his arms.

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