Antidote - - - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Cheng Ke came across quite a few inquisitive people just like Jiang Yuduo, who thought of you as a pervert, yet unable to resist peering into the life of a pervert.

He was uncertain whether Jiang Yuduo thought of him as a pervert, but it was certain that he was inquisitive. However much of a big boss he was, he was still a kid in his 20s.

Cheng Ke didn’t really mind getting questions like these. So long the questions had no obvious ill intentions, he would always answer them straight. He wouldn’t bother withholding especially towards Jiang Yuduo, who expressed himself quite straightforwardly.

“Ah.” Jiang Yuduo stared at him, nodded and whispered in amazement, “There’s this too?”

“Is it very weird?” Cheng Ke replied while also keeping his voice down.

“…… Actually, not really”, Jiang Yuduo pondered and waved his hand, “Let’s not talk about this. Continue playing.”

“Nah”, Cheng Ke glimpsed at his phone, “With this progress of that novel of yours, I won’t be able to guess the answers for those at the back.”

Jiang Yuduo took the phone and gave it a few more glances: “Damn it, I’m too embarrassed to draw them too.”

Just as Cheng Ke was about to speak, Jiang Yuduo raised his index finger at him and tilted his head towards the direction of the windows.

There were sounds of footsteps outside the door, Jiang Yuduo could hear it clearly.

Rustling sounds of plastic bags could also be heard among the sounds of footsteps.

“The barbecue meat must be here.” He stood up, walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

“That’s pretty fast”, Cheng Ke said. “Thought it would take quite a while.”

“I know the owner well, he always does my orders first”. Jiang Yuduo could see the owner of the barbecue meat restaurant coming into view through the peephole.

Sounds of door knocking came after.

He opened the door and the strong aroma of the barbecue meat could instantly be smelled.

“I barbecued a bit of every kind. Give me a call if it’s not enough”, the owner handed the bag over. “Also, here’s a bottle of the liquor I brewed, told you about it the other time, have a try.”

“Sure”, Jiang Yuduo took the bag, “Charge it together in my account, no need for discounts.”

The owner smiled: “Got it, eat up.”

Jiang Yuduo closed the door, peeked into the peephole and shook the bag in front of Cheng Ke: “Can you smell it? This kind of barbecue meat is the best.”

Cheng Ke wasn’t able to judge whether barbecue meat was tasty or not through its aroma. It smelled really good though. The faint burnt smell was wrapped in cumin fragrance. He smelled it even before Jiang Yuduo received the bag and it made his stomach growl in hunger.

Jiang Yuduo was about to put the bag on the table.

“Hey hey hey”, Cheng Ke stopped him right away, “The table is full of salt!”

“I never told you to dip the food in salt”, Jiang Yuduo grabbed his hand away and put the bag on the table. “Quick, eat it while it’s warm, it won’t taste as good when it turns cold.”

Cheng Ke wasn’t a fussy person. With his current lifestyle, he was even less fussy as compared to the past. He could even use a quilt cover and a quilt interchangeably.

However, he still had a long way to go as compared to Jiang Yuduo in this path of being unfussy.

“The salt is all stuck to the bag.” He let out a sigh.

Jiang Yuduo opened and unrolled the bag: “You aren’t even going to eat the fucking bag, what are you being particular about? Hurry, eat!”

“Okay.” Cheng Ke replied.

There was a wide range of barbecue meat. Other than the different kinds of meat skewers, Cheng Ke could only tell that they were meat but nothing else more so he randomly grabbed a skewer and took a bite.

“How was it?” Jiang Yuduo asked right away, with eyes full of anticipation as if he was the one who did the barbecuing.

“Delicious!” Cheng Ke nodded. “Very savoury, what is this?”

“Tendons”, Jiang Yudao took a chicken wing, “You don’t know this?”

“Never eaten it before”, Cheng Ke finished this skewer and took one he was familiar with, probably mutton. “I’ve had it two to three times previously, it’s all regular meat like pork, beef or mutton.”

Jiang Yuduo paused and took a quick look at him: “Have you ever been in jail?”

“…… No.” Cheng Ke sighed. He didn’t know how to reply.

“Where did you eat barbecue during that two to three times?” Jiang Yuduo questioned, “At a 5-star hotel?”

“Street vendors.” Cheng Ke replied.

“Wow”, Jiang Yuduo had an exaggerated look of shock, “You’ve eaten at a street vendor?”

“Screw off”, Cheng Ke finished chewing the mutton, grabbed a skewer of some meat and took a munch. “It’s crunchy, this is delicious too.”

“Gristle”, Jiang Yuduo said. “There are grilled vegetables in that bag, have you tried it before? Wanna try?”

“No”, Cheng Ke took a stalk of broccoli, “Would it still taste good with all the moisture gone?”

“Of course”, Jiang Yuduo replied, “Wanna drink some? The owner gave us liquor, but it’s homebrewed, not sure if you’re used to it.”

“Okay.” Cheng Ke said.

Nevertheless, Jiang Yuduo took two bowls and poured in the liquor given by the owner.

The barbecue restaurant had been operating for many years now. Jiang Yuduo knew the owner for many years and always thought that he was quite a nice guy, the kind that was honest and easy to pick on.

However, according to Lu Xi, when he was younger, when these bars, nightclubs and buildings one, two, three and four did not exist, he used to be the boss of this area, someone who made the poor tremble in fear.

Very strange, Jiang Yuduo took a glance at Cheng Ke.

These so-called big bosses along the streets were only able to intimidate people like themselves. Cheng Ke may be a useless trash who was driven out of the house for being a good-for-nothing, yet there was nothing that most of these big bosses could do to him upon running into him.

Cheng Ke must have been hungry, or that he rarely had barbecue meat. With one mouthful of liquor and another mouthful of meat, he gobbled up.

“This liquor,” Cheng Ke paused and took a sip, “Tastes terrible.”

Jiang Yuduo chuckled: “Then why were you gulping it down.”

“The meat was too greasy, it’s to relieve the greasiness”, Cheng Ke downed the rest of the liquor in one gulp, “Pour me some water.”

Just as Jiang Yuduo was about to stand up to get a bowl, Cheng Ke already stood up, cleaned his hands with tissue paper, picked up the bowl and got water from the water dispenser.

“I’m used to saying that”, he drank up half a bowl of water then filled it up. After returning to the table and sitting down, he suddenly sighed, “Damn, I’m already full?”

“Duh, it’s such a big bowl, how would you have room for food after downing half a bowl of water.” Jiang Yuduo replied.

“…… I’m originally a big eater”, Cheng Ke rubbed the back of his head and asked “It won’t affect the wound healing, will it?”

“I’m never worried about these. Which wound of mine have you seen that did not heal?” Jiang Yuduo replied disdainfully.

“I said affect, not unable to heal.” Cheng Ke put down the toothpick in his hand and stared at him. “Were those wounds on your body the medals from your fights with others?”

Jiang Yuduo stayed in silence.

There were many wounds on his body, big ones and small ones. He never really counted them. In addition to those without scars, it was numerous.

He never got a question like this from anyone. His buddies, his rivals, everyone assumed that these scars were left from fights. After all, that was how he lived since the day he arrived here.

Yet Cheng Ke asked a question like that.

Jiang Yuduo squinted his eyes. Everytime he wanted to entirely believe in Cheng Ke, he would take note of these couple of details about him.

He was standing behind the curtains when Cheng Ke walked past his doorway today. Those who followed him all the way from building 3 just left five minutes ago.

Regardless of which shortcuts were taken, there was no need for Cheng Ke to pass through his house to reach that street.

Cheng Ke had stopped even before those people kicked over the rubbish bins.

Perhaps he had already realised that he was following him.

Fights would follow next.

Yet at that moment, Cheng Ke asked a question like that. It seemed like he was trying to hint that he knew that not all his wounds came from fights.

Jiang Yuduo didn’t want to have doubts about Cheng Ke because Cheng Ke…… he didn’t seem like someone who would possibly be a threat. Without considering all sorts of coincidences, being cautious against Cheng Ke would be the last thing on his mind whenever he was with Cheng Ke.

“Just a small wound.” Jiang Yuduo replied.

Cheng Ke couldn’t resist taking a look at his chest. That wound may be small but those on his back and chest weren’t exactly small wounds. Where did those wounds come about if they weren’t from fights?

“You’ve gotten into a car accident?” asked Cheng Ke.

Jiang Yuduo started laughing after a while of staring. His laughter went on for some time before picking up the bowl for a mouth of liquor: “Damn.”

“Forget it. I won’t probe.” Cheng Ke uttered.

“Don’t you know?” asked Jiang Yuduo.

“…… Where am I supposed to find out from?” questioned Cheng Ke.

“You can give it a guess.” Jiang Yuduo smirked.

The smirk could be counted as a smile. Yet Cheng Ke wasn’t able to feel that this smile had anything to do with a smile.

Jiang Yuduo had always been like this since the day he met him. He couldn’t figure out the reason why he never once interacted with people like Jiang Yuduo – a big boss of the streets, always wandering along the streets, collecting rent and picking up fights. He didn’t know if people like them were always temperamental or do they treat every stranger as a threat.

“What am I supposed to guess?” Cheng Ke frowned and flicked away the salt fallen on his shirt in annoyance. “Am I supposed to fucking guess if you have been hit by a car, if you were beaten up by someone, if you’ve injured yourself from eating too much, or if you have been tortured…..”

He did not manage to finish his sentence when Jiang Yuduo suddenly kicked the table and stood up. The bowls that were empty from drinking had smashed on the table and fell on the floor. His expression became completely dark. He glared at him as though knives of ice would slash out from his eyes.

“Fuck, what do you!” Cheng Ke was provoked. Since young, even while at home, he had never once suffered from being a punching bag that involved such a ridiculous situation like the smashing of bowls and kicking of tables.

He wanted to follow suit and stand up. He didn’t care whether there were any fake big bosses with their fake underlings that were looking for him outside anymore, he just wanted to leave immediately.

Why did they have to play some fucking Draw Something game? Why did they have to eat some fucking barbecue meat and drink some fucking liquor!

But he wasn’t able to stand up swiftly.

Jiang Yuduo had kicked the table so hard that the table bumped into him which got him stuck in between the table and the chair.

“Fuck!” He let out a curse.

Jiang Yuduo glanced at him, stretched out his hand to pull the edge of the table and dragged it away.

Cheng Ke got up abruptly, lifted the chair and flung it to the side then grabbed his jacket from the sofa and went towards the door, opened the door and left.

“Cheng Ke!” Jiang Yuduo called for him from behind.

“Stop yelling at your father! If I speak to you one more fucking time I’ll be your son!”

Cheng Ke growled and walked out of the corridor without turning his head.

[T/N: “你爹“ (your father) is a common term used to refer to oneself, it is used to assert dominance on the other party in a conversation. The context was because Cheng Ke was mad at Jiang Yuduo for yelling at him, he was telling himself & Jiang Yuduo that if he speaks to him one more time, he’s going to be the son instead.]

The phone vibrated twice.

He took out and gave it a glance.

It’s the second event reminder.

Rent payment.

“Fuck you!” Cheng Ke clenched his teeth. He was boiling with anger that the wound on the back of his head hurted.

It was extremely cold outside, the north wind was blowing hard. After two gusts of wind, his head felt numb and he quickly wore his jacket and hat.

Just as he raised his arm, a huge pile of white cotton fluttered past his eyes. His eyes followed it for a while until the cotton disappeared into the darkness of the night. It took him a while to react before giving the jacket sleeve a glance.

What kind of fucked up quality was this!

Piece of trash!

At the area on his sleeve where his arm was injured, there was a huge hole which tore from outside-in. It looked like a hole from rubbing on the ground for ten minutes.

In a short span of about two seconds, another pile of white cotton fluttered out.

He pinched his sleeve. The cotton in this section was gone and only two thick cloths were left.

Cheng Ke could not find any words to describe his feelings at this moment. He did not understand why he was so furious. Through this cold wind, he could even smell cumin burning from his flames of anger.

With a kick, Cheng Ke felt as though Jiang Yuduo’s unpleasant attitude just now had turned all his kindness and affection towards this man into awkwardness and his wishful thinking.

He felt exactly like a dog that would wag its tail at everyone as if its life depended on it after losing its cardboard box at the corner of the street.

He had always been seen by his family as a good-for-nothing. He used to think that he had nothing to lose and that pride probably didn’t really matter as long as he could live as he wanted.

Now it seemed like he didn’t understand himself well enough.

He vented all his agitation and fury on this hole that wasn’t even caused by the rubbing on the ground but got worn out by friction.

He took off his jacket and slammed it hard on the ground.

Screw you!

Cheng Ke just started walking when he heard a sound coming from the back.

Through the wind, it sounded like footsteps yet also like the rolling of stones on the ground.

He quickly turned his head back at the thought that someone on this street could be looking for him for revenge.

There was no one behind. Yet he saw Jiang Yuduo who had somehow rushed out of the house that was running towards the street across.

Cheng Ke was caught off guard. He thought that if he were to see Jiang Yuduo now, it would be because Jiang Yuduo came out to have a fight with him. Yet Jiang Yuduo was heading towards the street across.

What in the world happened?

Cheng Ke suddenly felt a bit chilly.

“Go back!” Jiang Yuduo pointed at him immediately, “Don’t come out!”

“What?” Cheng Ke was bewildered.

Footsteps were heard from behind. He could hear it clearly this time and turned around immediately. He saw a few people rushing towards him and recognised the one at the front.

It’s Da Bin.

“Third Bro!” Da Bin shouted.

“You guys stay here!” Jiang Yuduo yelled and dashed into the passageway diagonally across.

Da Bin hesitated, slowed down his footsteps but did not stop. The few underlings that followed him were looking towards the direction of the passageway.

“What’s going on?” a confused Cheng Ke asked, “Why are you guys here?”

“It might be those people from before”, Da Bin explained. “Third Bro told us to keep a lookout around here, in case you get targeted when you leave.”

Cheng Ke glared at him without a word.

“We just saw two”, Da Bin pointed behind him, “When we received Third Bro’s call for us to escort you……”

Cheng Ke did not wait for him to finish speaking before turning and running towards the passageway across.

“Brother Ke! Third Bro doesn’t allow us to go over! He wants you to go back!” Da Bin shouted slightly anxiously from the back.

“He’s going to tell you to eat shit! Since you’re so obedient, why don’t you fucking let me see you eat it!” Cheng Ke disregarded him and ran towards the street across.

It was worth mentioning that Jiang Yuduo was pretty well-respected by these underlings. If they were asked to patrol the streets, escort someone or even stay still, they would do it even in such cold weather.

At a single command, Da Bin and these underlings had arrived passageways but they didn’t dare to go in.

Cheng Ke ran into the passageway but there was no one.

This passageway is a path before the two buildings. It was very narrow and only people or electric bikes could pass through. Even tricycles would find it hard to pass through much less for someone to hide along the sides.

“Jiang Yuduo!” Cheng Ke shouted.

No one answered.

“Third!” Cheng Ke walked forward with quick steps and called out again. He pondered and followed up with another “Third Bro!”, worried that addressing Jiang Yuduo as Third would cause him to lose his face as a big boss.

Still, no one answered. There was only silence.

Suddenly Cheng Ke felt a little scared.

A few more steps ahead and it would be the end of the passageway. It would lead to another side street. Looking at it from here, there were dim street lights and no one’s on the street.

But at the corner over there……

Cheng Ke saw a shadow on the ground at the end of the passageway.

“Jiang Yuduo!” He subconsciously yelled and tried to dig something out of his pocket to use a weapon.

He dug it twice before realising that he didn’t even have his jacket on, how else would he even have a pocket?

The owner of the shadow appeared from the corner: “Who told you to fucking come here!”

It’s Jiang Yuduo.

Cheng Ke heaved a huge sigh of relief.

Cluttered footsteps were heard from behind, then came Da Bin’s voice: “Third Bro!

Are you alright!”

“I’ll deal with you guys tomorrow”. Jiang Yuduo pointed at him.

Da Bin remained silent.

“Hurry up”, Jiang Yuduo reassured. “It’s all good now, go back to sleep.”

“There are still about two more nearby, do you want us to……” another underling spoke cautiously.

“Just go back when I told you to”, Jiang Yuduo interrupted impatiently, “I told you guys to keep a lookout, to watch. To watch. Understand? Use your eyes! Not your hands! Who fucking told you to get into fights?”

“Third……” that person wanted to continue speaking but received a pat from Da Bin.

“We’ll go back then, Third Bro.” Da Bin announced.

“Get going.” Jiang Yuduo waved.

The few of them left with Da Bin.

Cheng Ke followed Jiang Yuduo through the passageway and arrived back at his doorstep. Along the way, a few heads stuck out from their windows for a peek and whispers could be heard.

“Aren’t you cold?” Jiang Yuduo turned around and asked.

“Huh……” That was when Cheng Ke realised that his teeth were chattering noisily.

Immediately, he thought of going back to get his jacket. However, two steps later, he noticed that the place where his jacket was thrown was empty and not even a single trace of cotton was left.

“Where is my jacket?” He exclaimed.

“Someone must have picked it up, Jiang Yuduo replied. “It’s such a good jacket, furthermore, you’ve walked away. Someone would’ve taken it even if you were standing nearby.”

“Good my ass, there was a huge hole in it”, Cheng Ke got angry at the thought of that hole.

“Just patch it” Jiang Yuduo told him. “Don’t you assume that there are no poor people in this area just because you used to live a high life hanging out in bars or nightclubs on the high streets.

Cheng Ke did not reply, he could not even speak. He felt that his teeth were almost frozen, so much so that they couldn’t even chatter.

He really admired Jiang Yuduo’s cold tolerance. He was minimally wearing a thin wool sweater but Jiang Yuduo only wore a long sleeve T-shirt.

Yet he was striding without even wincing.

“Let’s go back to my place first.” said Jiang Yuduo.

Cheng Ke followed him in silence. A gust of wind blew past when they were crossing the road. He wanted to push Jiang Yuduo twice because he was walking too slowly.

After entering the house, he was in a daze for a couple of minutes before snapping out of it.

“Were there any valuable things in your jacket?” Jiang Yuduo poured a bowl or liquor and gave it to him.

“No”, Cheng Ke felt the phone in his pants pocket, “I only have a phone and a pack of cigarettes on me, nothing else more.”

Jiang Yuduo nodded and took a beef skewer. Just after taking a bite, he turned around swiftly, “Just the phone and cigarettes? You didn’t fucking bring your key again?”

“I brought it!” Cheng Ke was stunned. He quickly patted the pocket of his pants several times. Nothing in there. He put his hand in and rummaged through. It was empty.

“Where is it?” Jiang Yuduo quickly took out his phone and glanced at the time. “It’s already fucking 12AM! Where am I supposed to get your key!”

“I really had the key”. Feeling worn out, Cheng Ke sat on the chair. “The key was in the pocket of the jacket.”

“I’ll give you a key chain to hang it on your neck”, Jiang Yuduo walked towards the door. “Or you can write a report tomorrow to apply to change it to a fingerprint door lock.”

“Where are you going?” Cheng Ke questioned.

“I’ll help you to look for the key”, Jiang Yuduo offered. “I’ll go get it back from those few clothes scavengers. However, I have to let you know in advance that you won’t be able to get the jackett back. Consider it as helping the poor.”

“Mm.” sighed Cheng Ke.

He noticed a reddish spot from the corner of his eyes when Jiang Yuduo passed by.

“You……” Cheng Ke turned his head around and grabbed Jiang Yuduo’s arm.

“Where did you get hurt?”

There was a trail of blood residue flowing out from Jiang Yuduo’s sleeve on the back of his arm.

“Just a scratch.” Jiang Yuduo retracted his arm.

“Forget about the key”, Cheng Ke stood up, looked at him up and down, “Where were you hurt?”

“Hey”, Jiang Yuduo tugged his sleeve up, a small cut could be seen on his forearm.

“It isn’t much, it just looks scary.”

Cheng Ke took a look at the wound. It did not resemble a knife wound. The edges of the wound were irregular, as if it was forcefully slit by something blunt.

He couldn’t figure out what had caused this “scratch”.

“At least stop the bleeding first”, Cheng Ke said. “If you are going to go out like this, no one would even dare to tell you that they’ve picked up the key.”

“Such a bother.” Jiang Yuduo frowned as he turned back, headed towards the kitchen and turned on the tap to rinse the wound under running water.

Cheng Ke was absolutely speechless. He didn’t want to continue speaking. One more word and he would sound like an old lady.

The sound of running water from the kitchen continued for a long time. Cheng Ke tilted his head for a glance.

Jiang Yuduo was still standing in front of the basin. His arm was under the running tap. Cheng Ke could not see his face, but he could see that his arm was shaking terribly.

解药

(Antidote)

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