Editor: Sammy
Proofreader: Bubbles
The old-fashioned street lights were dim. Small posters for certificate engravings, locksmiths, and Chinese medicine were pasted around metal pillars, the papers yellowing due to being exposed to the elements. On a dusty-gray concrete wall, the 'Harmonious Neighborhood' poster no longer stuck properly and was being whipped around by the wind.
Entering from a low gate, there was a narrow alley and a staircase with green painted railings that were almost falling off. A sound-activated light was triggered and lit up with a yellow-orange glow.
Chu Yu was confused and scanned his surroundings with half-opened eyes. He asked with a soft voice, "Where are we going?"
"My place."
They stopped in front of a door. Lu Shi held him in his arms with one hand while unlocking the door with the key in the other.
Chu Yu's brain turned slowly for he'd just sucked blood and his whole body was weak. It wasn't until he heard the bang of the door closing that he realized he'd arrived at Lu Shi's home.
The lights turned on.
It was neat, clean, and empty.
Chu Yu looked at the indoor furnishings, feeling a little cold.
Apart from necessary furniture, there were no other decorations in the house.
In the narrow living room, the walls were whitewashed, and there was just a wooden table and a two-seat sofa- it was spotless. The bedroom door was open, and through it he could see numerous stacks of exercise books and study materials on top of an old-fashioned desk.
Chu Yu wasn't someone who restrained himself from living life pleasurably. He was accustomed to decorating the place where he lived exquisitely, warmly, and comfortably. Carpets would cover the floors and beautiful paintings must be hung on the white walls. There were not only books on the shelves, but also all kinds of ornaments and gadgets. As for his desk, lots of small things would be scattered around. Finally, green plants would always be incorporated into the room to add life and greenery.
Sitting on the sofa, Chu Yu held a glass of water given to him by Lu Shi. Suddenly, there was an existence like Lu Shi's who practically silenced every feeling of indulging in the enjoyment of material desire.
Just like an ascetic monk, abandoning everything around oneself that might shake the mind.
He remembered that Zhu Zhifei once mentioned that Lu Shi had moved to Qingchuan Road by himself during summer vacation more than a year ago.
And this place was his mother's house.
"Chu Yu."
Chu Yu raised his head and replied without thinking, "Here."
A smile appeared in Lu Shi's eyes.
"You sit here and finish drinking the water, I'll go take a shower."
Chu Yu held the glass of water and nodded. "Okay."
After Lu Shi finished speaking, he turned and walked to the bathroom.
While walking, he crossed his arms, pulled the fabric of his black t-shirt up, and took it off.
His figure was slim, but after removing his top, one could see tight muscles with extremely defined lines. His black trousers wrapped around his long legs while the waistband hugged his strong yet thin waist and set off his cold white complexion, making it very eye-catching.
Chu Yu couldn't look away.
He even forgot to drink the water.
As if knowing Chu Yu was watching him, Lu Shi inclined his body to the side. "How long do you intend to watch?" The ending tone rose slightly, carrying a hint of ambiguity.
Seeing Chu Yu stare at him without responding, Lu Shi left another sentence, "Focus on drinking water."
Then he walked into the bathroom.
When Lu Shi came out of the bathroom with his hair still damp from taking a shower, Chu Yu had already fallen asleep while leaning on the sofa.
His head was askew, his breathing even, and his hair fell naturally, covering his eyebrows.
The glass had been emptied and was loosely held by both hands.
October had arrived, so the temperature had begun to drop and the chilled night made him curl up a little for fear of the cold.
Lu Shi stood there for a while.
He discovered that even though there was another person's breathing in the house, it wasn't as repulsive as he'd imagined.
As he approached, Lu Shi didn't try to wake Chu Yu up, but instead bent down and lifted him.
Very light.
Putting the person on the bed in the bedroom, Lu Shi took out a thin, cleanly washed quilt from the cabinet and covered Chu Yu with it.
Turning the light off, Lu Shi lay beside Chu Yu and closed his eyes to sleep.
Chu Yu had a dream.
The whole world's hour hand seemed to have been pushed back and every second stretched infinitely.
In the closed conference room, he stood on the spot and watched his mother's eyebrows gradually frown. Her eyes were full of impatience as she stated, "I've long since completely given up on you."
The syllables of each word were dragged out very long.
Until finally, they turned into sharp needles with frosty edges.
The scene changed. When he was a child, he escaped his tutoring classes and quietly fled to the garden to see the ants. He also picked a flower, intending to give it to his mother.
Turning around, he saw Shi Yaling standing on the lawn, instructing, "Except for etiquette, there is no need to arrange other courses for Chu Yu in the future."
He wasn't aware of anything at all, passing the flower in his hand to Shi Yaling and smiling. "Mama, for you-"
"Chu Yu, I've completely given up on you."
The flower in his hand rapidly withered and scattered like ashes. He panicked. "Mom, why did you give up on me?"
As soon as the scene changed again, his sister Chu Xi walked over. "Mom only cares about those who are useful to her, as for everyone else, she's stingy when spending any energy and attention on them. Chu Yu, don't you understand?"
I understand.
I understand now.
Waking from his dream, Chu Yu shut his eyes, feeling as if he were covered in a layer of sweat while his forehead had a slight chill. His temples throbbed and were uncomfortable. He also had a few heart palpitations from when he'd woken up.
He opened his eyes and his field of view was pitch black, without any light.
He found something was amiss.
The bed was hard, the thin quilt covering his body was soft, and it gave off a familiar, clean smell.
"Had a nightmare?"
The soft, husky voice was right beside his ear and very low, with a trace of displeasure from being awakened.
Chu Yu's breathing was sluggish as he tilted his head towards the source of the sound. Not quite sure, he questioned, "...Lu Shi?"
"Hm."
Lu Shi seemed to have turned sideways, and he asked again, "What dream did you have?"
Chu Yu didn't want to explain it.
In the darkness, a finger touched the tip of his nose and then moved under his eyes to wipe their moist ends.
Sensing the warmth carried by the fingertips, Chu Yu shrank slightly, feeling as if he was scalded by sparks.
Lu Shi's voice was very soft.
"I heard you calling your mother, asking her why she gave up on you, and you cried."
He really was a little crying bag.
His most difficult feeling to reveal was exposed without fanfare.
Lu Shi was like a sword or long spear which used its sharp blade to tear open the bloodiest wound, not giving Chu Yu the slightest chance to dodge or take a breath.
Chu Yu didn't speak.
He lay on his side, with his legs bent and curled up- an insecure posture.
After a long time, Chu Yu softly said, "You're laughing at me in your heart, aren't you? For being so engrossed and dedicating myself to wasting so much time doing useless work."
"I thought that if I proved to her I was great, I could change her perception of me. But the truth is that she'd already aloofly pronounced her sentence long before I'd realized it and completely abandoned me. She'd never look at me again."
He suppressed his voice, bewildered and mocking himself.
"But as for me, I believed myself infallible and insisted on doing my best, racing headfirst into the south wall. I knocked my head until it bled, and only then did I wake up and see reality clearly."
"I'm such a joke, truly ridiculous."
"Don't you think I'm ridiculous?"
Lu Shi asked him, "Remember what I told you?"
No matter what the result is, you're not allowed to cry.
In the darkness, Lu Shi's voice was like an ice spring slamming against his eardrums.
"Since you've set a goal and are willing to see it through, you must recognize the risks involved. There are some things you can't do, but if you do your best, you can achieve your desired goal."
Lu Shi paused, then spoke with his voice deep as the abyss, "Get an answer and an ending, after all, when walking on a dark road, no matter what you do, the exit is far-fetched. That hopeless feeling of frailty is better."
Chu Yu felt that Lu Shi seemed to be talking about himself.
This was the first time he heard Lu Shi use this kind of tone.
He didn't dare ask much more.
Chu Yu instinctively realized that this was Lu Shi's forbidden territory and no one was allowed to step into it.
Turning over and lying flat on the bed, Chu Yu stared at the ceiling, faintly seeing the outline of the ceiling lamp.
His chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath.
"Actually, this matter isn't a big deal, it's not a big deal, right?"
"Yeah."
"I thought compared to being given up, it'd be harder for you to accept that you suddenly became a monster who needs to consume human blood."
Chu Yu was strangely comforted.
That's right, I have to rely on drinking blood to survive. What else could be a deal bigger than that?
He hadn't had a good night's sleep during this period, so he temporarily convinced himself. Chu Yu yawned.
He wrapped the thin quilt tightly around himself and soon fell asleep dazedly.
Early the next morning, before noise downstairs arose, Wei Guanglei knocked on the door of Lu Shi's house.
After a while, the door opened and Lu Shi stood at the front, irritation suppressed in between his brows.
Knowing he'd get annoyed when getting out of bed, Wei Guanglei quickly showed what he was holding in his hand. "My mother boiled this soup for an entire night, and it's especially fragrant. She told me to deliver it to you immediately so that you don't miss this piping hot delicacy!"
Lu Shi stepped aside.
Wei Guanglei walked in. "You-"
As soon as he uttered a word, he was interrupted by Lu Shi. "Don't talk."
"Huh?" Wei Guanglei didn't understand and thought that his Lu-Ge's symptoms of not being a morning person were getting more and more serious.
Lu Shi felt too lazy to explain so he pointed towards the bedroom.
Wei Guanglei was baffled. He took two steps over and glanced past the door.
On the bed, there was a bulge and a boy was sunken in a soft pillow, half of his face exposed. He was wrapped tightly inside a quilt, sleeping soundly.
It was Chu Yu.
Beautiful people looked good even when they were fast asleep, Wei Guanglei pondered. If this scene was filled and casually thrown onto TV, it was estimated that it could be used to advertise mattresses, pillows, and so on.
He just wanted to ask Lu Shi how the young master sleeping here came to be when his retreating line of sight suddenly froze.
"Fuck me."
Wei Guanglei silently cursed.
His eyes had stopped on Chu Yu's exposed hand.
Those very white fingers were holding a piece of clothing, a gray one.
When all was taken into account, Lu Shi didn't have a lot of clothes to change into.
Wei Guanglei clearly remembered that his Lu-Ge owned two 100% cotton grey t-shirts. They bought them together and were used by Lu Shi as pajamas.
Currently, one of them - hanging on the balcony to dry - was being blown to and fro by the wind.
The other one was what Chu Yu was clutching in his arms to sleep.
Looking back at the white T-shirt Lu Shi was wearing, a bit of an idea popped up in Wei Guanglei's mind, but it wasn't that vivid.
Moving over, Wei Guanglei lowered his voice and carefully asked Lu Shi, "Lu-Ge, what the Young Master is clutching in his hand seems to be your shirt?"
"Hm."
Lu Shi's expression was indifferent and he was restraining his temper from not quite yet being awake.
"He fell asleep while holding onto my shirt and wouldn't let go, so I just took it off and gave it to him."