TCOR CH1

Chapter 1: They Were All Criminal Reserves

Mum, how long is he going to stay…’

In the dimly lit bedroom, the owner of the other quilt had disappeared. From outside the door came the rich smell of food, the news broadcast, and Du Jingchuan’s voice, which had not faded at all, and had even been deliberately amplified.

You’re so big now, why can’t you tolerate him? He’s the only relative we have in this world, what’s wrong with letting him stay for a few days over the New Year? My aunt was probably so angry that she dropped something in her hands, making a loud ‘bang’ sound that scared me so much that I even twitched in my bed.

Of course you’re happy to let him stay if he’s not sleeping in the same room as you. I’m 17 years old and I’m going to take the university entrance exam next year. Could you please stop bothering me…’

Who is bothering you? I thought his good grades would get you free extra tuition. Nowadays, even a university student has to pay a hundred or two for extra tuition…’

Perhaps finally realising that the volume of their conversation was a little too high, my sister-in-law abruptly interrupted the conversation, and then she must have closed the sliding door that separates the dining room from the living room. The sound of their conversation suddenly became distant and indistinct.

I sat up in bed, let out a long sigh and began to fold the quilt. After folding my own quilt, I went to fold Du Jingchuan’s messy quilt.

Around 6 o’clock this morning, a serious accident happened in a residential area of the city. A man suffering from Redvein Syndrome jumped from the 23rd floor of his apartment building and hit two passers-by, killing all three on the spot…’.

As I opened the door, a report on a suicide by jumping was on the television.

Redvein syndrome is a new type of disease that was first discovered more than 20 years ago. Patients usually develop symptoms between the ages of 20 and 40, with men more susceptible than women.

When the disease strikes, people see a red thread floating in the air just above their heart, which only they can see. The skin around the heart also becomes marbled with bloody streaks. The places where the streaks have passed through are like being burned by fire, causing the person to suffer terribly.

What’s even more bizarre is that, just like the legend of the Old Moon Man who binds two people together, the red thread at the other end of the sufferer’s heart is also bound to one person.

This person will not experience any symptoms, nor will they have any perception of the Redvein Syndrome sufferer. Current medical research cannot even explain the rules or characteristics of the person at the other end of the red thread. All that is known is that the other person’s bodily fluids are the best painkillers for the Redvein Syndrome sufferer. And if you want to be cured, you need something even more precious and rare than bodily fluids – true love.

Yes, the only way to cure Redvein Syndrome is for the other person to fall in love with the sufferer. I would say it is more of a curse than a disease.

Bang!

To let my sister-in-law and the others know that I had woken up, I deliberately slammed the door, and sure enough, the conversation in the dining room came to an immediate halt.

After a while, my sister-in-law opened the door with a smile on her face: ‘Zhong Ai, you’re awake? Hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face. The buns my sister made just came out of the oven, they’re delicious, your cousin is already eating them and he’s still wondering if he should go get you.

I looked at Du Jingchuan, who was sitting at the table with a long face, eating his breakfast, and smiled. I could smell it as soon as I got up. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted those buns. The buns in our school canteen are no match for yours.

Du Jingchuan snorted as if he had a problem. My aunt’s expression froze, and she turned her head and stuffed another bun into his bowl.

Eat quickly, then go back to your room and study. You’re 17, you’ll take the college entrance exam next year, how can you eat breakfast so slowly? When your brother took the college entrance exam, he read while eating and riding the bus…’

Du Jingchuan pursed his lips, and his disdainful expression gradually turned to resentment. Suddenly, he stood up, grabbed the buns in his bowl, and walked back to his bedroom alone, slamming the door so hard that everyone in the building could hear it.

Look at that boy, he loses his temper at the slightest thing…’ my sister-in-law complained, a headache on her face. He’s had it too easy, let him experience some hardship and he’ll know fear.

I didn’t answer, I went to the bathroom.

By the way, Zhong Ai, don’t forget we’re having New Year’s Eve dinner with the Bai family next door. Their son is coming back too, I hear he’s making a fortune in Jiang City. I remember you two were always close, does he have a girlfriend in Jiang City?

It’s not that I want to know, it’s his mother who asked me. She said her son Bai Qixuan called home and suddenly said he wanted to bring someone home for dinner, but he didn’t say whether it was a man or a woman, a friend or a girlfriend…’

You’re making a fuss over nothing. Friends have their own way of being entertained and girlfriends have their own way of being entertained. You young people really don’t understand your parents’ hearts…’

There are three members of the Du family. My cousin is rebellious and disobedient. He doesn’t listen to my aunt much in his daily life. My uncle works hard to earn money and comes home late at night. He treats my aunt like a servant and doesn’t listen to her. The only person my auntie can talk to is my cousin’s mother, Aunt Han, who lives across the street. When I come back, I’ll add another person to the list.

I’m not sure. We haven’t been in touch recently,’ I said, holding back a mouthful of foam.

Bai Qixuan is five years older than I am. My parents had died, and I was living with my younger sister-in-law when he turned 18, having just finished his college entrance exams.

It was so hot that summer that the mosquitoes had disappeared. I went out to take out the rubbish and was locked out by Du Jingchuan. No matter how hard I banged on the door, there was no sound from inside. I knew Du Jingchuan would never open the door, so I gave up fighting and sat down on the floor.

I sat in the corridor for an hour or two, sweating all over. Then the door next door suddenly opened and Bai Qixuan pushed his way out.

He froze for a moment when he saw me, then ignored me and went downstairs. Ten minutes later, he returned with a delivery box in his arms. When he opened the door with his key, he asked me, ‘Are you the boy next door?

I looked up at him and said, ‘Sort of.

He laughed and said, ‘What do you mean, ‘sort of’?

‘I’m just staying with them.

So why don’t you go in? Don’t you have a key?

I hugged my knees and looked at the concrete floor. After a while I said, ‘My cousin won’t open the door.

He sounded as if he had just realised and let out an ‘oh’. “The ugly boy next door is your cousin?

I glanced quickly at the closed door beside me and whispered, “Don’t say that, or he’ll hear and make trouble again.

The bigger the smile on his lips, the more he slipped aside to let me in and said, ‘Come in and wait, it’s so hot outside.

The room was cool. I remember every detail of that day: his smile, his words, and the bottle of salt water he took out of the fridge.

Children who don’t get enough love from within are forced to seek it from without. This is how most white moons in cheesy novels are born, so I can say that my love for Bai Qixuan was caused by a lack of love, but it was also inevitable.

In the years that followed, I looked forward to the summer and winter holidays, to Bai Qixuan coming home from school and spending a few days with him.

Gender became less important, and loving him became the only happy thing I could do in my days living under someone else’s roof.

Knowing that he went to university in Jiang City and would most likely develop his career there, I also applied to Jiang City.

But when I started university, he happened to be abroad as an exchange student, and we missed each other. Later, when he returned to China, he was busy with his internship, and it was only when I saw him again towards the end of my first year, more than six months ago, that I finally worked up the courage to ask him out for dinner.

Perhaps it was teenage recklessness, or… I mistakenly believed that those careless touches, sweet words and smiles were encouragement for me. Anyway, I confessed.

Of course, it ended badly.

The combination of the noisy cicadas outside, the fizzy salt water soda, the cool air conditioning and Bai Qixuan was supposed to be one of the few bright spots in my life after my parents died, but that day it cast a shadow over everything.

Even though Bai Qixuan said he would continue to treat me like a younger brother and that there would be no discrimination, how could I have the face to keep running up to him and calling him ‘brother’?

After that day, I didn’t take the initiative to contact him again, although he did ask me out a few times, but always with his friends. I don’t know what he thought. Pretending nothing had happened was even worse than rejecting me outright and calling me a pervert.

At least… I wouldn’t have been so hopeful if I thought I could get something from him.

At 5.30 pm the four of us left the house on time. There was an empty seat in the car, so we took Bai Qixuan’s mother with us.

Auntie Han sat between Du Jingchuan and me, acting as a good barrier and buffer, so I didn’t have to worry about any ‘accidental’ physical contact from the other party the whole way.

My, Jiang City really does take care of its people. I haven’t seen Zhong Ai for a long time, and she’s become even more beautiful. Auntie Han reached up and pinched my face. “This face is so tender, it looks like it could burst into tears.

It’s not Jiang City that nurtures people, it’s my aunt who’s been feeding me well and fattening me up for the past two days,’ I said with a smile, letting her pinch and rub my face.

Look, what a talker! Aunt Han patted her sister-in-law on the passenger seat. She’s much better than our young master. That boy is so annoying, he doesn’t even answer when you ask him anything. He’s all grown up, won’t talk about his girlfriend, won’t get married and says he won’t think about it until he’s thirty.

My aunt tilted her head slightly, a look of curiosity on her face. ‘So you really didn’t bring back a girlfriend today?

My lips tightened unconsciously and the hand on my knee curled up slightly. I knew I wasn’t qualified, and wasn’t supposed to be, but I prayed for a negative answer anyway.

Who knows,’ Aunt Han sighed, ‘he said no, so he’s not.

There were a dozen people in a large private room, mostly relatives of the Bai family. Bai Qixuan had personally gone to the airport to pick up his friend and then gone to the hotel. Although he told us not to wait, no one in the group moved their chopsticks.

All they could do at the table was chat, as they couldn’t eat. There were restrictions on talking about celebrities and politics, so not enough people were being entertained, and the group began to talk about current events that had happened recently.

Have you seen the news today? There was a jumper with Redvein Syndrome in our town who ended up killing two people. What a threat! I think he was deliberately trying to take revenge on society. It’s just like the guy who ran someone over with his car. said an aunt from the Bai family.

I know, I saw the news this morning when I was making buns. The sister-in-law shook her head in disgust. He hurt people while he was alive, and he’ll hurt people after he dies. The government should lock up all sick people. What’s the point of letting them out?

Last time, a sick person locked up the ‘antidote’ for himself. When the person was rescued, he had been sucked dry. It was terrible…’

The talk of death and imprisonment was just the right kind of excitement to pique Du Jingchuan’s interest. He joined in the conversation with his elders, which was rare.

Isn’t it said that there is only one antidote to Redvein Syndrome? When someone dies, the Redvein Syndrome patient becomes more and more poisoned and can never be cured. What kind of person would be so stupid as to do this? Doesn’t he know he’s going to die too?

Internationally, the person tied to the Redvein Syndrome patient is called ‘Cure’, which is also the name of the medicine. In China, however, it has become two more commonly understood words – antidote.

Just as the control tower always knows where the plane is, the Redvein Syndrome patient can sense where their ‘cure’ is from the moment they get sick.

Because of this one-way locating ability, many bad things have happened in the past, leading to persistent discrimination and prejudice against Redvein Syndrome patients in society. Later, governments from various countries joined together to set up an international organisation, the Redvein Monitoring Bureau, to study and monitor Redvein Syndrome patients, and also to set up a body fluid bank, similar to a bone marrow bank.

If the antidote happens to be in the library, a life-saving body fluid can be administered to the patient. However, the request is not always approved. The antidote sounds like an object, but it is a living person who can change their mind, be scared and even request protective isolation.

Patients with Redvein Syndrome cannot bear the pain and have committed suicide, which has become commonplace in the last two years. It is said that we should take care of their mental health and treat them with due respect and understanding. However, because it is the rarest of the rare diseases, it is only symbolically championed each time and there has been no substantive change.

I have a friend at the Control Bureau who told me that different body fluids have different effects. Blood is the best, followed by semen… Coughing is something else, like saliva, sweat, tears, etc. If you’ve never tried the best and suddenly come into contact with the ‘antidote’ of blood, it’s easy to lose control,’ Bai Qixuan’s father said.

He paused strangely, and I think he must have looked at Du Jingchuan’s face and suddenly realised that the other person was a minor, and swallowed some of the terms related to the reproductive system.

Fortunately, once a diagnosis is confirmed, the Control Bureau will forcefully inform the patient’s company and community. Otherwise, who could bear to live in constant fear…’ As my sister-in-law spoke, the waiter outside happened to bring someone in.

“…These are all criminal reserves. After she had finished speaking, the two people behind the waiter also happened to come through the door.

What are you talking about? Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Sorry to keep you waiting. Bai Qixuan, who had entered first, had a warm smile on his face. He took off his jacket and naturally draped it over the back of the chair next to me.

I felt mixed emotions when I noticed his intention to sit next to me – for a gay man suffering from unrequited love for a straight man, this kind of distance is really a test of psychological quality.

I’m not an actor, and the moment I looked up, my emotions were completely exposed. Bai Qixuan read me like an open book, and he paused for a moment before putting his hand back on his jacket.

It’s not important, we were just talking. Qixuan, introduce your friend. My aunt’s smile was so wide that her eyebrows were hidden, and her voice was a little softer.

I had just focused all my attention on Bai Qixuan and only now did I look at the person behind him. I froze for a moment when I saw him, and I could see why my sister-in-law looked the way she did.

Bai Qixuan had brought home a man, a very tall man, even taller than Bai Qixuan, who was 185 cm tall.

The other person was wearing a sharp black coat with a turtleneck jumper of the same colour underneath. Apart from the silver-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, he was clean and simple, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and was strikingly handsome.

In every sense of the word. Bai Qixuan was already considered handsome, but standing next to the other person, he looked quite ordinary. It was the first time I had met someone in real life who looked as good as a model dummy.

This is a senior I met while studying abroad. His name is Shen Wunian, he’s two years older than me and he recently returned to China. He doesn’t have any family in the country, and I felt sorry for him spending the New Year alone, so I invited him…’ Bai Qixuan said. Bai Qixuan said, picking up his clothes and changing seats.

I will sit at the head of the table, the guest will sit inside. He made a ‘please’ gesture and let Shen Wunian sit next to me.

I felt vaguely lost and relieved at the same time.

Thank you for letting me…’

Accompanied by a deep, slightly hoarse male voice, a unique cold scent drifted over.

The cold dominated, and the scent was only a small part of it, but it had a strong sense of presence. It was a very faint and very sweet scent. If I had to describe it, it would be like… the smell left behind by a bouquet of flowers brushing against the hem of your clothes on a wet, cold, rainy night.

Bai Qixuan gave Shen Wunian a brief introduction to the people at the table. When it came to me, he said, ‘This is the younger brother I told you about.

He mentioned me to Shen Wunian?

How did he do that? Why did he mention me?

Because of Bai Qixuan’s simple sentence, a brainstorming session started in my head, and I temporarily lost control of my body. When I came back to my senses, I had unconsciously extended my hand to Shen Wunian.

Hello, my name is Zhong Ai.

Shen Wunian looked down at my hand and didn’t move for a while.

I was a little ashamed and embarrassed. I was about to pull it back when I saw him slowly raise his arm.

Nice to meet you.

He was tall and his hands were big, and when he shook mine it was as if he was wrapping my whole hand in his.

His breath was clearly cold, but his hand was unexpectedly very hot, even a little hot. The heat transferred to me, making me feel a little uncomfortable, and I let go of his hand first.

The long, slender fingertips traced the back of my hand, leaving a distinct, burning mark. Without moving, I pulled my hand away and rubbed the skin, trying to dissipate the heat.

The banquet table was set, and this time the elders had a specific goal in mind. They kept bringing the conversation back to Bai Qixuan and Shen Wunian, asking about life abroad, work situations and the usual clichés, and began to show concern for the two men’s romantic lives.

Bai Qixuan simply ignored the topic and changed the subject: “Uncle, are you still going fishing? You look even darker than the last time I saw you.

Aunt Han looked at him with a disappointed expression, “Don’t interrupt! It’s only natural to get married, have a career and children. What’s there to avoid? Right, Shen?

Shen Wunian, who had raised his glass to drink, was suddenly called upon. He raised his eyebrows slightly and put down his glass: ‘Well… having a family, a career and children is indeed the most normal thing in the world. He glanced at Bai Qixuan beside him, who was at a loss for words, and smiled, “But Qixuan is still young, so there’s no rush. I’m a bit older than Qixuan, so why don’t you take care of me first and help me find someone? Your judgement is definitely better than mine.

Compared to Bai Qixuan’s evasive answer, Shen Wunian’s response was textbook tactful. The group of elders were so pleased with his answer that they immediately gave him their word that he would be single next year and have a baby the year after.

Little Shen, we’ll take you seriously if you say that.

What kind of person do you like? It’s good for us to know, so we can help you keep an eye out.

Could he be a little older than you?

Shen Wunian thought for a moment and then gave a serious answer: ‘I like… someone who is obedient and younger than me…’

‘Slim… with fair skin…’

Damn, fair and slim!

I tilted my face slightly, and while I was complaining about Shen Wunian in my mind, I looked past him to take a look at Bai Qixuan. We said goodbye today, and I don’t know when I’ll see him again. The truth is, the less you see, the less you know.

I know I look pitiful and pathetic now, like a dog licker, but after so many years of having a secret crush on Bai Qixuan and worrying about his every move, it has become a habit that is not easy to break.

I had been spying for quite a while, and when I was afraid that someone might notice something was wrong, I sighed inwardly, pulled my gaze away, and didn’t want to, but instead I locked eyes with Shen Wunian. His eyes were half closed under the lenses, hiding half of his pupils. His eyelashes cast a shadow under his eyes, hiding all emotion and making him look unusually cold.

I was startled and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. When I looked back, he had already looked away, laughing with the others as usual, looking no different.

I think he just accidentally made eye contact. My heart was still pounding, so I let out a small sigh and gradually calmed down. After that, I didn’t let it bother me.

When I finished eating, I left the table to go to the toilet, and on my way back I passed through the hotel lobby. There were a few tables for four scattered around, and on a day like today they were all empty, so I could look outside and see Shen Wunian standing in the snow, smoking a cigarette.

It was snowing quite heavily outside, and large snowflakes were falling on his black coat and in his hair. However, it was as if he was unaware of this, and he continued to stand calmly in the snow, smoking.

After hesitating for a while, I asked the receptionist for an umbrella and went out into the snow.

Aren’t you cold?’ I asked, stopping next to Shen Wunian.

The cold air hit my exposed skin. In a moment my face went numb and my hands tingled.

The man had a cigarette between his fingers. I turned to look at him when I heard his voice and noticed that he wasn’t wearing his glasses. The snowflakes were melting with his body temperature, soaking the tips of his hair and his skin. When he took off his glasses, he no longer had the scholarly air that his glasses had given him, and his overly sharp and delicate eyebrows and eyes were completely exposed, making him even more aggressive.

I’m not cold,’ he said, lifting the corners of his lips, a puff of white smoke slowly escaping from his mouth as he spoke, ‘it’s too hot in there.

The waves of smoke came rushing towards me, and the sweet, overpowering smell hit my face, making it hard for me to breathe.

I thought the floral scent on him was perfume, but I didn’t realise it was the fading smell of smoke.

Trying not to frown, I handed him the umbrella, “It’s cold, you take the umbrella, I’ll go home first.

He looked down at the handle of the umbrella, didn’t pick it up and took a silver portable ashtray out of his breast pocket and extinguished the cigarette butt directly into it.

Let’s walk back together,’ he said, taking my hand and holding the handle of the umbrella, hugging me naturally, and walking with me towards the hotel.

By the time I regained my senses after the short walk of ten metres, the large palm of his hand that had covered the back of my hand had disappeared, and the warmth that had radiated from his shoulder had also dissipated.

Do people who have grown up abroad all get on so well together, regardless of physical contact between people of the same sex?

I shook the water from the umbrella, thinking quietly, and then saw Shen Wunian at the door. Having brushed the snowflakes from his shoulders and head, he took the glasses out of his pocket and put them back on. I couldn’t help but ask, ‘Aren’t you nearsighted?

‘It’s just a prop,’ he said, pushing open the door and motioning for me to go first.

‘Prop?’ I squeezed past him and asked curiously, ‘What prop?

Standing so close to him, the scent of his body flooded my nostrils again. If the first time I smelled it was like flowers blowing in the breeze, now it was like holding a blooming flower in my arms.

Let me think… Shen Wunian smiled, not sure if it was true or not, and said, ‘It’s a kind of prop to make people think I’m a good person.