Antidote - - - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 」

Cheng Ke glared at the door that had been slammed in front of him, and suddenly he couldn’t react to whether he should say something, wait silently or turn around and leave.

“Wait.” Jiang Yu Duo’s rough voice came from inside.

“Ah.” Cheng Ke replied. Jiang Yu Duo’s actual voice wasn’t as different as it was on the phone. It seemed to be worse, was he sick?

Cheng Ke tried to clear out Jiang Yu Duo’s body image in his head and recall whether his face was pale or not.

But it was in vain, after all, it was his first time having a naked person open the door for him. The shock was a bit too much. He tried several times, but all he could see in front of him was Jiang Yu Duo’s body swaying side to side.

It even shot out a dan mu* out of nowhere (T/N: *Dan mu: comment section floating across videos or manhua.) Nice body.

Hey, get lost!

Cheng Ke frowned, he was about to take out his phone to calm his mood, when the door opened again.

Around less than five seconds ago, for a person who has wounds everywhere on his body, this speed of wearing clothes was a bit too amazing.

What the fuck?

“You!” Cheng Ke stared at Jiang Yu Duo, who still didn’t have a piece of fabric to cover his body, standing at the door.

This time was the same as before, he couldn’t see whether Jiang Yu Duo’s face was pale or not.

The first thing that caught his eye was a long scar on Jiang Yu Duo’s chest.

…How many scars does this man have on him?

Both his front and back have some.

“Putting on clothes is a little difficult,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “I just want to ask you first, you don’t fucking know how to charge your gas card?”

“No!” Cheng Ke took off his coat and put it on Jiang Yu Duo at an amazing speed,

“Fuck it, I charged it already!”

“Then what are you here for?” Jiang Yu Duo took his coat, covering his body.

“I came to see if you’re killed!” Cheng Ke can’t help but say.

“Not yet.” Jiang Yu Duo took a few steps and opened the door a little bit more,

“Come in.”

Come in, you fart, come in.

Cheng Ke didn’t have the slightest thought of coming in, and now he regretted that he was overflowing with sympathy just for it to be stimulated like this.

Even so, the neighbor’s door suddenly made noises.

Cheng Ke jumped. He then took one big step into the room, turned around and slammed the door.

If he let the neighbor see this scene, jumping into the Huang River, or even jumping into the Pacific Ocean, wouldn’t wash him off, even though the neighbor doesn’t even know him.

Jiang Yu Duo threw his clothes on the sofa, turned around, and slowly walked towards his bedroom.

This speed, compared to opening the door, then closing it and opening it again, was 5700 times slower. Cheng Ke knew that it was because the wound on Jiang Yu Duo’s thigh rubbing caused him to slow down. Even so, he still wants to give him a push.

“I thought you were Chen Qing.” Jiang Yu Duo said after finally getting to his bedroom.

“Are your ears stuffed? I said I’m Cheng Ke!” Cheng Ke sat down on the sofa, this magical reason made him not even notice that Jiang Yu Duo can use this image to meet a Chief Protector.

“I heard you,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “But I thought you were Chen Qing, okay?”

“I…” Cheng Ke wanted to say ‘Of course, I don’t understand’. He clearly heard the word ‘Cheng Ke’ and he still thought it was Chen Qing. Who can understand this way of thinking with soybeans planted in his brain?

Before finishing his sentence, a fluffy thing brushed by his hand.

Rat!

In the blink of an eye, Cheng Ke jumped off the sofa and then remembered that this must be Jiang Yu Duo’s cat.

He turned his head to look at the sofa, and indeed, the small cat was looking at him with round, scared eyes.

It was probably surprised by his lightning-fast speed.

“I’ve never seen a man this afraid of rats before.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“Afraid?” Cheng Ke turned his head and quickly moved his eyes. Jiang Yu Duo was sitting next to his bed, shirtless, with one leg in his underwear. He couldn’t help but turn around again, then pointed at Jiang Yu Duo, “Can’t you even put on these clothes?”

“Shouldn’t I put on my pants first?” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him. He suddenly narrowed his eyes, and smiled, “Do you want to see more?”

“I’m leaving.” Cheng Ke took his coat and was about to leave.

The weight of the coat felt a little heavy when he held it. He looked down and found that the small cat had already hung onto the sleeve.

“Down.” Cheng Ke pulled his coat.

“You haven’t said what you…” Jiang Yu Duo didn’t know if he was talking too much.

At this point, after half of the sentence, his throat wouldn’t make a sound, “Came here for.”

“Listen to what you’re doing.” Cheng Ke sighed while shaking his coat, “You didn’t hang up the phone, but won’t say a thing. I just came by to check if something happened, and if you were dead, I could’ve called the police.”

Jiang Yu Duo didn’t say anything.

Cheng Ke had been shaking for a long time, but still, the cat wouldn’t budge. He didn’t dare to use his hands, afraid that if this cat was scared of strangers, it would scratch him.

After a while, Jiang Yu Duo from behind said: “Thank you.”

Cheng Ke turned around and saw that he had his underwear and sport shorts on.

Still shirtless, but after all, he was visually acceptable.

Cheng Ke felt a little bit startled after the sudden, sincere words of thanks.

Jiang Yu Duo slowly came over, reached his hand out to lift Meow from the coat and placed it on the sofa, and then asked, “You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

“Not yet. I was about to boil two eggs, but I didn’t expect that the stove wouldn’t work.” Cheng Ke regretted after he finished what he was saying.

Indeed, Jiang Yu Duo immediately picked up his phone on the table, entering numbers while saying, “Let’s eat together then.”

“No need.” Cheng Ke struggled to refuse, “I have something to do. I can just go out and have whatever later.”

“What thing do you have to do?” Jiang Yu Duo looked up at him.

“It’s…” Cheng Ke suddenly couldn’t come up with any good excuse. He still wasn’t used to Jiang Yu Duo’s serious attitude towards polite sentences. It was as if he tried to make everything awkward.

“What kind of thing do you have to do.” Jiang Yu Duo said with a hoarse voice. He then continued entering numbers on his phone, and said “Going to the supermarket every day. The farthest you ever reached wasn’t even out of my territory…”

“You followed me?” Cheng Ke was surprised with wide-open eyes.

“No,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “I said it already, this is my territory. A suspicious person like you? If I don’t monitor you, people will do the same as you do with me.”

Jiang Yu Duo cleared his throat and coughed twice: “Report.”

‘So suspicious.’

Chen Ke didn’t want to speak anymore.

“Da Bin,” Jiang Yu Duo said through the phone, “Could you go to Fu Luo and get two breakfast meals… I’m fine, uh, bring it over my house… It’s up to you, just take a look and buy it.”

Jiang Yu Duo finished the call, lit a cigarette, sat down, and looked at Cheng Ke face to face.

“I honestly don’t want to eat.” Cheng Ke said.

“Then you can watch me eat.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“…Do you have to be like this?” Cheng Ke couldn’t get mad anymore. Jiang Yu Duo’s ridiculousness left an impression on him.

“What?” Jiang Yu Duo lost his voice at that moment after speaking, so he could only rely on his breath and mouthing words.

“Forget it, you don’t have to say anything.” Cheng Ke signed, “Hearing you speak only makes me want to hit people.”

Jiang Yu Duo smiled, stopped talking, grabbed the cat trying to jump on the table, and placed it on his labs to cuddle.

Cheng Ke didn’t want to stare at Jiang Yu Duo’s shirtless body, but that scar of his was a bit eye catching. It was hard not to look.

After a while, he couldn’t help it and asked, “Every time you fought, were your wounds always this bad?”

“What?” Jiang Yu Duo was dumbfounded, then looked down at his chest and laughed.

“This must be the slash by a 40-meter knife.” Cheng Ke sighed, not understanding how Jiang Yu Duo could still laugh with a body covered in scars.

“In this whole area,” Jiang Yu Duo cleared his throat after laughing, but his voice was still hoarse, “Who can beat me?”

“You got a big mouth,” Cheng Ke said disdainfully, “I would almost believe it if I didn’t see your wounds.”

“These are different. No one dares to use knives with me here,” Jiang Yu Duo pinched the cigarette, grabbed a t-shirt next to him and put it on, “These were made when I was little.”

Cheng Ke was surprised, but said nothing, Even for Jiang Yu Duo, putting clothes on with one hand was a little hard, and after quite some time, he was still struggling. Ever since he hurt his arm, he ripped his clothes every time he tried to wear and remove them. He didn’t know how he did it yesterday.

“Come and help me out a little bit.” Jiang Yu Duo said while looking at Cheng Ke.

“Are your eyes still working?”

Cheng Ke, who had been staring at him in a daze, frowned, got up, grabbed his hand and helped him pull his t-shirt down. “How do you wear clothes while no one’s around?”

“If you don’t want to be a good human being,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “I can wear it myself.”

Cheng Ke paused for a moment, grabbed his hand and helped him put on the shirt.

“I’m not a good human being.”

“Are you that three and a half year old boy who lived next to me, and was in the same class..” Jiang Yu Duo wanted to ask, but his throat would not cooperate. The last half of the sentence couldn’t be heard.

“Did you catch a cold?” Cheng Ke asked, “Why don’t you go to the hospital?”

Jiang Yu Duo struggled to put his t-shirt on. “Not going.”

“I’m not going to the hospital.”

Even thinking about it made him feel like throwing up.

Going once to have his cast put on his leg already gave him nightmares. He didn’t go when changing his bandage either, he just asked someone from the community clinic near his house to do that.

After putting on his clothes, he stared at Cheng Ke a few more times. Seeing that Cheng Ke had no intention of leaving, he then lit a cigarette again.

“Look at you, smoking this much…” Cheng Ke said, “I guess I might have to take a hoarse voice course.”

Jiang Yu Duo was about to speak, when suddenly he saw a shadow moving outside the window from the corner of his eyes. He stood up abruptly, raised his index finger to Cheng Ke, telling him not to speak, and then quietly moved to the window in two steps to look out from the curtains.

There were a lot of people outside. Today was Saturday, so people who had rested more only started going out now.

Jiang Yu Duo quickly moved his eyes further, only to see a shadow rushing on the opposite pavement.

It was this pavement again.

Twice already.

After that, he slowly left the window, Cheng Ke asked in a low voice, “Your leg, the cast is there for decoration right?”

“No.” Jiang Yu Duo sat down, jumping two steps earlier made his leg ache. It was not that serious. It could’ve been removed today, but he didn’t want to ask.

Having the cast on made him feel at ease. It wasn’t easy to get hurt again after getting injured.

…Getting hit by the filing cabinet doesn’t count.

Da Bin’s voice came from the outside: “Third Bro, I’m here.”

“Uhm.” Jiang Yu Duo answered. Da Bin is the smartest of his underlings. He was the only one who would let him know he was coming when going through the window.

Before he could stand up, Cheng Ke already did so and went up to open the door.

“Brother Ke?” Da Bin greeted Chen Ke with a bit of surprise, “I thought Third Bro was going to eat both of these.”

“What did you get?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

Da Bin paused when he heard his voice, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t and placed the bag on the table, “I bought a little bit of everything that seemed good. It’s not separated equally, just two bags.”

“No problem.” Jiang Yu Duo drew money from his wallet and gave it to him.

“Third Bro, this is too much.” Da Bin said.

“Then, just give the money back?” Jiang Yu Duo asked, “Or just give your code and let me scan it.”

(T/N: He’s referring to scan-to-pay here.)

“That’s too bad,” Da Bin smiled, “I’ll take it, and will buy you some midnight snacks next time.”

“Do you want to eat some?” Jian Yu Duo asked.

“Nah,” Da Bin said, “I can eat with Qing later. I’m inspecting his store today.”

“Then hurry up and go.” Jiang Yu Duo waved his hand.

After Da Bin left, Jiang Yu Duo sat down next to the table and looked at Cheng Ke, who was looking at the cat playing with the plastic bag next to him: “Eat. Do you need me to spoon feed you?”

“Does this cat have a name?” Cheng Ke sat in front of him

“Meow.” He opened the bag, took out the food boxes. They were steaming hot and looked nice.

Cheng Ke looked at him silently.

“Its name is Meow.” He had to explain it again.

“…Ah.” Cheng Ke nodded, “This is the name of the cat.”*

“The name ‘Meow Meow’ can be easily mistaken for other cats.” Jiang Yu Duo pushed a Liu Sha Bao* in front of him, “Compared to other places, this restaurants’

buns are smaller, but they taste better. Have some.”

(T/N: Liu Shabao is a custard bao that’s made with salted egg yolks.)

“I’ll take two,” Cheng Ke said, “I can’t eat that much.”

“These aren’t even as big as my balls.” Jiang Yu Duo said, “You’re going to have two only?” Cheng Ke’s hand stopped midair while holding the bun, after several seconds he raised his eyes to look at him. “Can you not talk like that while we’re eating?”

“What’s wrong with you,” Jiang Yu Duo looked at Liu Sha Bao and thought about it and said, “It isn’t as big as a ping-pong ball either.”

“I don’t want to eat anymore.” Cheng Ke said.

“Then have something else.” Jiang Yu Duo pulled the Liu Sha Bao from him, and then pushed a plate of Char Siu* over, “These also taste good.”

(T/N: Char Siu is a flavored roasted meat.) Cheng Ke picked a piece of Char Siu.

When Jiang Yu Duo took a Liu Sha Bao to eat, he immediately asked, “Are you thinking about eating balls now?”

Jiang Yu Duo’s hand stopped mid-air, and looked at Cheng Ke.

Cheng Ke took a bite of Char Siu: “I have heard of this dish before, is it from Fu Lou?”

“I don’t know.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“What?” Cheng Ke looked at him.

“You,” Jiang Yu Duo leaned on the table and toward him, lowered his voice: “You can eat your own balls? You’re amazing, young master.”

Even though Jiang Yu Duo had fought Cheng Ke once before and knew this person must have practiced martial arts, to be honest, judging from the usual Cheng Ke, his combat skills looked very weak. He sometimes forgot that he himself was beaten up by Cheng Ke till he got black eyes.

When Cheng Ke grabbed his hair at a speed he couldn’t see clearly and slammed his head on the table, he suddenly remembered that this man was capable of fighting and was quite strong.

“I treated you to breakfast,” Jiang Yu Duo struggled to move and instead looked at the box of chicken feet in front of him, “And you treat me like this?”

“Did I need you to treat me?” Cheng Ke was still pressing his head down without letting go.

“But you didn’t leave either.” Jiang Yu Duo said, “If you wanted to go, how could I stop you with me like this?”

“The fuck?” Cheng Ke was surprised.

Cheng Ke loosened his hands. When Jiang Yu Duo raised his head, Cheng Ke had already stood up and walked to the door while putting on his coat.

“Aiya!” Jiang Yu Duo sighed. He actually didn’t want to make Cheng Ke mad, especially when he made a special, heart-warming trip to see if he was dead.

It was just that they were not on the same page when they were talking. He always thought that he was only not on the same page with Chen Qing. He didn’t expect it to be the same with Cheng Ke.

He stood up and reached out his hand to pull Cheng Ke. Although he didn’t fully believe that Cheng Ke’s presence here had no purpose, he still wanted to maintain a friendly relationship. If there was something wrong, it would be easier for him.

It was probably because he stood up too quickly and he did not sleep well, but he then was about to hit the table with his head. The moment he stood up, everything went blurry in the blink of an eye, and he became very dizzy.

When Cheng Ke turned his head around, Jiang Yu Duo staggered two steps toward him, blankly with dazed eyes. He reflexively helped Jiang Yu Duo before he hit a chair.

“What’s wrong?” Cheng Ke frowned and asked.

“Stood up too quickly.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

Cheng Ke was about to let go, but then he saw that Jiang Yu Duo’s forehead was filled with sweat. When he turned around to leave, there wasn’t any bead-size sweat, and only several seconds had passed…

“Didn’t you stand up too quickly?” Cheng Ke suddenly became nervous, “Have a seat first!”

Jiang Yu Duo staggeringly walked toward the sofa, Cheng Ke took his arm and half-dragged him there.

“Call for Chen Qing.” Jiang Yu Duo’s throat became hoarser, “Not going to the hospital.”

“What?” Cheng Ke couldn’t hear him clearly.

“Chen Qing.” Jiang Yu Duo frowned, looking very uncomfortable.

“Got it.” Cheng Ke touched the back of his neck and felt sweat on his whole palm.

Wiping his hand on Jiang Yu Duo’s t-shirt, he knew it was not a fever because of his cool skin.

“Fuck you.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“It’s your sweat. Should I wipe it on me then?” Cheng Ke turned around to grab Jiang Yu Duo’s cell phone on the table.

On the phone screen was a photo of Meow, whose name was unique. It was taken quite well, with its small hairy face shining under the sunlight.

Cheng Ke wasn’t just in the mood to take a closer look. Opening the call log, he didn’t see Chen Qing’s name, but the first thing that caught his eye was ‘Cheng-Intellectually Handicapped-Ke’.

“Fuck.” Cheng Ke cussed and continued to scroll down, “Is it Tian Wang Gai Di Hu?”

(T/N: It is quite difficult to translate this bit to English, but it’s similar to “bro” or

“Life-long bro” in English)

“Mm.” Jiang Yu Duo answered while frowning.

Cheng Ke called Tian Wang Gai Di Hu, after a few rings the other side picked up.

“Third Brother.”

“It’s me, Cheng Ke,” Cheng Ke said. Chen Qing was quiet. He probably couldn’t respond. Cheng Ke added, “Jaeger-LeCoultre.”

“Ah!” Chen Qing was shocked, “Why do you have his phone?”

Cheng Ke glanced at Jiang Yu Duo: “I’m at Jiang Yu Duo place, he seems…”

“What did you do!” Chen Qing suddenly roared.

“I didn’t do anything, he might…” Cheng Ke frowned, but was interrupted mid-sentence by Chen Qing again.

“If you didn’t do anything, then why is his phone at your place?!” Chen Qing shouted.

“I- fuck it!” Cheng Ke got mad, “I came over to mess with him. You better come here right now because if you’re late, I’ll stab him to death.”

Chen Qing went quiet, leaving Cheng Ke to wonder if he was retrieving his IQ. After several seconds, he finally stopped shouting. He panted as if he had just finished running: “What’s wrong with him?”

“He got dizzy and his voice is hoarse.” Cheng Ke said.

“I’m coming right away,” Chen Qing said, “Don’t bring him to the hospital. Don’t bring him to the hospital. I repeat: Do not bring him to the hospital. He’ll get dizzy again if he goes to the hospital.”

“Understood. What should I do now?” Cheng Ke asked.

“Nothing, just watch him. He’ll only be dizzy for a little while- an old illness. Sister Qian guessed that he might have a few issues, but I don’t know since he hasn’t seen a doctor,” As Chen Qing ran to the car, Cheng Ke heard the sound of wind in the background, “I’ll be there soon. I’ll drive over. ”

Cheng Ke couldn’t understand a thing he said. He could only tell him “Be careful.”

After he hung up, Cheng Ke leaned on the table, dazed. He then picked up a chair, set it down near the sofa and sat down. Looking at Jiang Yu Duo lying on the sofa, he asked, “Want a drink?”

“No.” Jiang Yu Duo closed his eyes.

“Ah.” Cheng Ke cleared his throat and didn’t know what he should do. He hadn’t been in this situation before. If anyone ever got this sick, they wouldn’t ever try to stay home. The most he could do is pace back and forth while watching doctors and nurses do their tasks.

But being quiet like this seemed a little careless, and he felt awkward since he actually came here to fight Jiang Yu Duo.

“Want to eat anything?” Cheng Ke tried to ask.

Jiang Yu Duo didn’t say anything and sighed softly. After a while, he said, “You don’t have to try to say anything. When you’re dizzy, can you still eat food?”

“Can’t eat.” Cheng Ke answered honestly.

“Then just shut up.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

Cheng Ke didn’t want to get mad at a sick person. He didn’t say a word, but he felt just a little frightened watching the sweat on Jiang Yu Duo’s forehead dripping down. He pulled the towel on the sofa and wiped the sweat on Jiang Yu Duo’s forehead.

“The fuck, I used this to wipe the cat.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

Chen Ke looked at Meow beside him and couldn’t help but be happy. It would be rude to laugh out loud in that situation so he held it in. “My bad.”

Jiang Yu Duo twitched the corner of his mouth smiling at Cheng Ke’s antics.

After smiling, he said: “I’m not going to the hospital.”

“Umm. I know.” Cheng Ke looked at him.

解药

(Antidote)

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