UI CH 16

Shen Ran really wanted to remind Zhao Jiyu to retract the photo immediately, but what reason could he give for asking him to do that?

He wasn’t even sure if Zhao Jiyu had done it on purpose or if it was just an oversight.

In the short time he hesitated, more than two minutes had passed, and it was too late to recall the message.

He got out of bed, tossed the instant noodle bowl into the trash, washed his hands, and when he came back, he saw that Zhao Jiyu hadn’t sent anything else.

Falling back onto the bed, he replied to a few messages from others. Zheng Mingjin asked him what time he’d be back tomorrow and if he wanted to come over for dinner.

Since his flight to Xiamen would only arrive in the evening, Shen Ran didn’t want to rush around, so he arranged to meet Zheng Mingjin in a couple of days. After catching up on the messages in his various chat groups, he intended to watch some videos before going to sleep.

But then, on the app’s homepage, he saw a trending video titled “A Male Homewrecker Fighting Another Male Homewrecker.”

The video had over 600,000 likes. He scrolled down a bit, then went back up and clicked on it.

A group of people gathered at the entrance of a bar. Two well-dressed young men were arguing with a tall man, their words crude and vulgar. After a few lines, they started pulling each other’s hair and grabbing at each other’s lower parts.

The scene made Shen Ran feel a vague pain in a certain area, and he hadn’t expected men to resort to such shameless behavior when fighting. The man standing in the middle, watching with his arms crossed and lighting a cigarette with a smug smile, was particularly off-putting. Some bystanders who couldn’t stand it any longer began to criticize him.

The video was certainly dramatic, but Shen Ran quickly lost interest and exited.

He had often come across videos related to homosexuality online. He didn’t feel uncomfortable about it but also never felt inclined to watch. However, this time felt different—this video reminded him of that night at the gay bar.

If he hadn’t run into Zhao Jiyu that night, would he have just gone home without anything happening? Or maybe he would have met someone else and had that kind of encounter with them?

The thought of those three men acting foolishly in front of the bar gave him goosebumps. Thankfully, the people around him were just of a different sexual orientation. Both Deng Feng and Ji Minglun were the type you’d never guess unless they told you. As for Zhao Jiyu—

Zhao Jiyu’s face was the kind that could easily turn someone. However, Shen Ran had never heard any rumors about him liking the same sex. The only things people said were that Zhao Jiyu was cold and difficult to pursue.

So, did Zhao Jiyu not like the opposite sex? Or was he like Deng Feng, able to be with both men and women?

Shen Ran opened the photo again. Staring at the figure reflected on the glass for a moment made his eyes hurt. He thought about dimming the screen, but his finger hesitated over the slider.

Earlier, he had been looking at the photo with the lights on. Now, with the lights off, the screen was too bright. Could it be that when Zhao Jiyu took the photo, his phone screen was already dim, so he hadn’t noticed himself in the reflection?

Thinking about it this way, the strange feeling he had about the photo started to make sense. Shen Ran was speechless for a while, considering whether to gently remind Zhao Jiyu to avoid this kind of awkward situation next time.

There wasn’t really an issue with sending the photo to him. After all, he wouldn’t leak it. But if it were sent to someone with ill intentions, who knew what might happen?

However, given their current relationship, bringing this up deliberately might seem unnatural. It was better to find a suitable opportunity to mention it.

After scrolling through his phone for a bit longer, Shen Ran went to sleep. The next morning, they gathered to visit the Terracotta Warriors, had lunch at Xianyang Airport, and by the time their plane landed at Gaoqi Airport in the evening, everyone, including Shen Ran, looked exhausted.

It was early August, and after several days of outdoor activities in the heat, even young and energetic people like them felt worn out. Deng Feng booked a minivan, and when they arrived near the school, Shen Ran got off to catch a bus. By the time he reached his neighborhood, the sky was completely dark.

For nearly a week, he hadn’t been home. As he walked up the stairs, he was thinking about getting enough rest tonight to start work tomorrow. But when he tried to unlock the door, the key wouldn’t turn. He pulled it out and tried twice more, but it still wouldn’t budge. Thinking the lock might be broken, he called his roommate, but the phone was off.

With no other option, he contacted a locksmith for help. However, upon learning that he was just a tenant and not the owner, the locksmith told him to get the landlord to call instead. Frustrated, he had no choice but to send a message to his roommate on WeChat, asking him to call back as soon as he saw it.

He waited on the stairs for a long time. Hungry, tired, and growing impatient, he could smell the aroma of food drifting from other apartments. He fished a milk candy out of his backpack, unwrapped it with a crinkle, and glanced at his phone—still no reply from his roommate.

Sitting there wasn’t going to solve anything. He was just about to head to his roommate’s workplace, a KTV, to find him when he heard footsteps and voices coming from downstairs.

He stood up, ready to make way for others, but when the man and woman came up, the middle-aged man adjusted his glasses, looking at him and his suitcase with suspicion.
“Who are you?”

“I live here,” Shen Ran explained. “The lock’s broken, so I’m waiting for my friend to come back.”

“You live here?” The man’s expression turned stern.
“Then you must know Chen Kang?”

Chen Kang was Shen Ran’s roommate. He nodded.
“Are you looking for him?”

“Of course I am!” The man’s anger flared, and he strode over.

“He hasn’t paid rent for two months, and now I can’t reach him. Since you know him, tell me where he is, or I’ll call the police.”

Shen Ran opened his mouth but couldn’t keep up with what the man was saying. “What?”

Seeing Shen Ran’s bewildered expression, the man assumed he was just crashing there. He reined in his anger a bit.
“I’m not trying to make trouble for you. If you know where he is, just tell me. Otherwise, I’ll call the police, and it’ll be bad for everyone.”

“No,” Shen Ran finally snapped out of his confusion.
“I rented this place from him. I’m looking for him too. The lock’s broken, and I can’t get in. His phone is off.”

“You rented from him?” The man was speechless.
“I’m the actual landlord. What kind of room did you rent from him?”

“Please calm down.” Shen Ran raised his hands, palms facing the man in a gesture to ease the tension.
“I know he’s a sub-landlord. The issue between you two doesn’t directly involve me. I only rented this place for the summer, and I paid two months’ rent upfront.”

“Dad, don’t get so worked up. Be careful of your blood pressure,” the young woman behind the man interjected.

Shen Ran glanced at her, then back at the man.
“I signed a contract with him. I still have the transaction records. I can show you.”

Shen Ran pulled out his phone, opened the banking app, and showed the transfer record—he had indeed paid Chen Kang two months’ rent in a single transaction.

The man’s attitude finally softened a little, but his expression remained grim.
“He never gave me that money, and I had no idea he signed a sublease contract with you. I’ve been trying to reach him for days and already changed the lock.”

Holding back his frustration, Shen Ran said,
“You can’t do that. I paid my rent properly.”

“If you think it’s unfair, find him. Otherwise, I can’t help you.”
The man seemed well-prepared. He finished what he wanted to say and turned to leave with his daughter.

Shen Ran called after him twice, but the man ignored him. When the father and daughter disappeared down the stairs, Shen Ran leaned against the wall, his anger smoldering. It felt like just a spark could set him off.

What kind of mess was this?!

He kicked the tiles at the bottom of the wall, muttered a curse, and dragged his suitcase to the KTV where Chen Kang worked.

Chen Kang’s colleagues said he had quit and gone back to his hometown. When Shen Ran asked for the address, they all looked at him blankly.

Now Shen Ran fully understood—Chen Kang probably had no intention of coming back.

When he first rented the room, to save a few hundred yuan in agency fees, he didn’t go through an agent to sign the contract with Chen Kang.

All he got was a receipt stating the payment covered two months’ rent for the secondary bedroom of the apartment. Chen Kang had even shown him the rental contract he signed with the landlord.

Shen Ran thought that since he was only staying for two months, there shouldn’t be a problem. Who could’ve expected something like this to happen just a few days into the second month?

After leaving the KTV, he watched the hurried passersby making their way home. Across the street, the towering buildings remained brightly lit despite the deepening night. That feeling of utter exhaustion from half a month ago rose again, like the tide flooding in from all directions.

He bought a pack of cigarettes from a nearby tobacco shop, found a bench, sat down, and lit a cigarette.

He wasn’t a smoker and rarely touched cigarettes, but at this moment, he desperately needed the embrace of nicotine.

After three cigarettes in a row, he finally managed to catch his breath and could start thinking about what to do next.

Most of his belongings were still in his dorm at school. Before this trip, for safety’s sake, he had left his laptop with Zheng Mingjin. The rental apartment only had some daily necessities and the remaining summer clothes.

The most pressing issue now was finding a place to sleep tonight.

It was clear from the landlord’s attitude that staying there wasn’t an option, and he couldn’t move back into the school dorm until the semester started.

Frustrated, he ruffled his hair, lit another cigarette, and pulled out his phone to look for a short-term rental.

After browsing through the listings on the app, the most practical option was a youth hostel. A bed was 40 yuan per night, came with bedding, and allowed immediate check-in, with access to a communal washing machine.

He chose a hostel near a convenience store. The facilities looked decent, so he proceeded with the check-in process. After signing his name, the receptionist handed him the room key and led the way.

The hostel was inside an old building, covering about a hundred square meters. Besides the small front desk, there were three bathrooms with showers and five rooms—three of which were eight-person rooms, and the other two were four-person rooms.

Shen Ran chose a four-person room. His bed was the top bunk against the right wall. The receptionist reminded him to keep his valuables safe before leaving.

He took a look around the room. It was less than ten square meters, with two bunk beds. The bed opposite his already had two guys lying down, both engrossed in mobile games. The bottom bunk of his bed was still empty.

He opened his suitcase. Fortunately, the hotel he stayed at during this trip was quite nice, providing fresh clothes daily, so he didn’t have to worry about running out of clean clothes.

After taking a hot shower, he returned to the top bunk. As soon as he lay down, he felt so exhausted that he didn’t want to open his eyes again.
He thought he’d sleep well given how tired he was, but unexpectedly, someone arrived in the bottom bunk around 2 a.m.

The person made a lot of noise unpacking, showering, and changing clothes. Shen Ran endured it for an hour until the person finally quieted down, allowing him to drift into a deep sleep.

Around seven in the morning, he was woken up again by the noise from the person on the opposite bed.
He lay in bed until nine, feeling more exhausted than if he hadn’t slept at all.

After changing clothes and going downstairs for breakfast, he headed to his shift at the convenience store. His colleague today was still Xu Tian, who, seeing his obvious dark circles, assumed he had been partying too hard. She asked him about his travel experiences and casually mentioned Zhao Jiyu coming over that night.
He listened absentmindedly.

Around noon, he received a WeChat message from Zhao Jiyu:
[You’re back?]

He replied:
[Mm.]

[Are you at work?]

[Mm.]
He sent two “Mm” characters in a row, and Zhao Jiyu didn’t say much, only asking again:
[Are you free tonight?]

[What’s up?]

[Old Wu caught a softshell turtle and some very fresh red crabs.]
Zhao Jiyu sent two photos of seafood.

When Shen Ran opened them, he saw not only the softshell turtle and red crabs but also two other types of fish with rather strange appearances.

[I planned to try out some dishes with friends tonight, but they bailed on me. I can’t finish all this by myself. Do you want to come and try some?]

Shen Ran was chewing on a dry and tough pork chop from a fast-food restaurant. After reading the message, he felt as if a grand feast of delicious seafood had appeared before his eyes.

There was no doubt about Old Wu’s cooking skills. He swallowed involuntarily, glanced at the bland vegetables and small taro in his meal box, and reminded himself not to be greedy.

Food was food, and he had always managed fine with these fast-food meals.
He opened the input method and had just typed out “No, you enjoy it yourself” when Zhao Jiyu’s next message popped up:
[There’s also the mango taro egg tart you liked last time. Old Wu switched to a different brand of taro balls this time—chewier than before.]

Zhao Jiyu was practically pressing on his weak spot.

Shen Ran struggled for a while but couldn’t resist. He deleted the unsubmitted message and retyped:
[Okay, what time?]