Big Brother / Da Ge / The Unknown

Chapter 52

By the time Wei Zhiyuan emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of fried rice, Wei Qian was already fast asleep on the sofa.

Wei Zhiyuan's breath stopped along with his footsteps.

The large bowl in his palms began to heat up, yet his hands felt numb, devoid of sensation.

Wei Qian's body shrunk into a small corner of the soft sofa cushions. His crossed legs were still raised, one hand resting feebly on the remote control, the other hand lying limply across his chest. His head leaned against the back of the sofa, almost entirely hidden within the collar of his clothes. His complexion was pallid, with fine cracks and chapped skin on his dry lips. The rise and fall of his chest were barely perceptible.

... He looked dead.

Wei Zhiyuan felt his heart skip a beat.

In his broad but undiscriminating reading, he had come across many stories about turning living people into specimens. He used to regard them as mere curiosities, never taking them to heart. But in this moment, a similar thought struck him like a lightning bolt, shattering his dilapidated spiritual world.

What if that person... could never speak again, could never open their eyes, could never see anyone again...

Wei Zhiyuan felt there must be some criminal gene deep within his bones. He began to walk forward uncontrollably, slowly approaching the unconscious Wei Qian, his gaze fixed on him as if possessed.

The elderly Grandma Song was already asleep, and little Chosen One hadn't finished his evening study session.

Closer... even closer.

Close enough to hear Wei Qian's soft, steady breaths, to see his unmoving eyelashes.

Just then, an unforeseen sadness surged in Wei Zhiyuan's heart, like a sudden burst dam flooding through his cold murderous intent congested within his organs. He heard the rushing sound of tidal waves crashing down, then after a while, he struggled to discern the simple and plain heartbeat submerged under the water's surface. It was a sentence...

Why did he look so thin?

The imagined resentment and the living, breathing individuals tore apart Wei Zhiyuan's love and desires.

They pierced his heart, then clung to each other in a deathly embrace, finally converging into a near-desperate clarity.

Only the deeply ingrained emotions could overcome the inherent biases. Wei Zhiyuan knew he could never feel such emotions again in his lifetime.

Finally, he set down his bowl, curled his fingertips, reddened from the heat, and gently nudged Wei Qian, bending down to softly say, "Brother, wake up."

...Wake up, I can hardly bear it anymore, please look at me, I'm willing to sacrifice everything for you, body and soul.

Nothing happened afterward. After Wei Qian was awakened, he quickly devoured a large bowl of fried rice at lightning speed, probably not even bothering to chew, just swallowing it down. Then he staggered to pick up his suitcase and returned to his room. As expected, he saw the mischief San Pang had done—someone who could freely enter his room and still engage in such boring antics was not someone he wanted to associate with.

Wei Qian didn't like to speculate about the people around him, let alone ponder what San Pang meant by this. He just felt that the fat guy was so idle that it was annoying, and he cursed, "Damn fatty."

Then he tore off the packaging and threw it away, glanced at the lighter, couldn't see its worth, casually stuffed it into the drawer, finally flipped over Feng Ning's photo, found a corner, and stuffed it there.