Antidote - - - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Jiang Yuduo already knew that Cheng Ke was unfamiliar with chores and domestic work, but couldn’t believe he didn’t even know how to slip on a pillow case.

The bed was made neatly, the blanket set properly and folded over at the top only to reveal the blanket cover below and the bolster case laying on top of the bolster.

Jiang Yuduo silently thought Cheng Ke was a pig. How much time could slipping a blanket cover on take? Yet here was Cheng Ke showing him that he might have slept with all these separated layers after moving in.

Jiang Yuduo would occasionally feel that Cheng Ke had some rather suspicious details; A lot actually, if you counted them.. His judgment of Cheng Ke swayed left and right, as Cheng Ke more often than not, appeared to be a well-tempered moron.

Today, he decided to no longer doubt Cheng Ke. If there were any trouble, Cheng Ke would be the one with something to lose.

Besides the fight with Ba Pie, Jiang Yuduo had found another reason to move Cheng Ke outside his definition of a friend.

Sleep should be a blissful affair. Everyone tried to make themselves sleep more comfortably. Having the blanket cover wrap around one’s arms and thigh while the blanket lay haphazardly atop it was the sort of sleeping habit that showed that Cheng Ke was harmless.

Lu Qian told him many years ago that he should try trusting his friends.

This request was too hard for Jiang Yuduo. Up till now, he truly believed that very few people would bring no harm to him.

If you have to trust your friends, then you should simply make less friends.

Li Quan and Chen Qing were his friends. There were a few other selected friends that he could trust, but Jiang Yuduo no longer remembered who they were, or even whether they were male or female.

That is to say, the price to pay for trusting friends is too great.;they might not hurt you on purpose, but they could disappear from your life quietly, never to come back.

Cheng Ke might be this type of friend.

Someday, this young master*, who didn’t even know how to put on a blanket cover, would return to his life of luxury. Perhaps by winning his power struggle with his brother or perhaps by obediently caving in, and then Cheng Ke would disappear from his life.

*T/N: The original term used was “少爺”, which lends a certain tone of mockery but not too rudely. Young master implies a more aristocratic upbringing, but more often than not “少爺” can be used to mock spoiled people without relation to their social status.

And slowly, he would no longer remember this person.

“The purpose of a blanket cover is to prevent your blanket from getting dirty,” Cheng Ke said, “Is there any difference to putting it on halfway or fully? The sleeper and the blanket are separated anyway.”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable?” Jiang Yuduo closed the bedroom door.

“It is,” Cheng Ke said, “But I’m used to it now. It’s pretty convenient when washing the cover anyway, there’s no need to take it off again.”

“Oh,” Jiang Yuduo looked at him, “I was gonna teach you how to put it on, but if you aren’t even willing to take it off, then forget it.”

“You know how to?” Cheng Ke asked immediately.

“I’m not mocking you, Cheng Ke,” Jiang Yuduo sighed again, “Probably everyone knows how to do it, it’s just a matter of speed.”

“…Oh,” Cheng Ke tutted, then stood up after a moment’s thought, “Why don’t you do it for me and I’ll see if I can learn.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yuduo nodded. He rarely treats anyone this way. He wouldn’t even help Chen Qing this much. He didn’t know why, but every time he saw Cheng Ke like this, he felt sorry for him, “Actually, it’s not like I’m a pro at it either, but I definitely know more than enough to teach you.”

“No need to preface it with a disclaimer,” Cheng Ke said, “I won’t laugh even if you can’t put it on.”

Jiang Yuduo entered the bedroom and approached the bed. Cheng Ke followed and leaned against the closet, looking at him.

In reality, Jiang Yuduo found slipping on the blanket covers troublesome. It wasn’t like he was particularly good at doing it but this was the first time he was being observed while doing it. It made him feel restless.

Should he be explaining as he goes along?

“This blanket,” Jiang Yuduo folded the blanket, lifted it and handed it to Cheng Ke, “Put it aside and I’ll teach you a simple method.”

“Okay.” Cheng Ke took the blanket and placed it on the table.

“First…” Jiang Yuduo only saw the blanket cover properly after the blanket was taken away. It was a tangled mess. “You flattened the blanket neatly just to hide this mess, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Cheng Ke answered truthfully, “It can’t be unknotted anymore.”

“How is that possible?” Jiang Yuduo sighed. He grabbed the cover and shook it.

The cover twisted up.

He shook it again.

And again.

The cover was still tangled.

Jiang Yuduo had no choice but to search around, before turning his head, “How did you even sleep? Where are the corners?”

“How would I know?” Cheng Ke sighed, ”Probably rolled inside somewhere.”

Cheng Ke started to get worked up, but he kept his patience and bent down to look for the corners.

Eventually he felt his way to one of the corners, which he grabbed quickly to shake but to no avail.

He decided to give up and pull around the bundle till he found the opening of the cover.

The instant he saw the opening he said with contempt to Cheng Ke, “Couldn’t you at least zip the cover up! Having the blanket half in, half out! Are you a pig!?”

He grabbed the opening with both hands and shook the cover violently, “This can be sorted out…”

On hearing a ripping sound, he halted.

The house was quiet.

After a moment, he peered at the blanket cover. The opening ripped along the seams to the front.

“Did you just,” Cheng Ke cleared his throat, “Rip my blanket cover?”

Jiang Yuduo turned his head, “Yes. I’ll pay you back.”

Cheng Ke didn’t speak. Unable to hold it in, he leaned against the closet and started laughing like crazy.

“Do you have a needle and thread?” Jiang Yuduo said, having lost face.

“What,” Cheng Ke stopped laughing out of surprise, “You know how to sew too?”

“I’ve sewed clothing before, but never blanket covers,” Jiang Yuduo frowned, “Should be about the same.”

“No, I don’t,” Cheng Ke started laughing again as he opened the closet and took out another blanket cover, “Come, tear this one too.”

“Fuck off,” Jiang Yuduo took the blanket.

He realised that Cheng Ke’s blanket cover had probably never been flattened from the day it was first used; so no, regardless of if it was washed, folded, and taken again from the closet, it would always be a crumpled mess.

“You probably don’t know how to fold your clothes too, right?” Jiang Yuduo placed the spare blanket on the bed and slowly located the four corners.”

“I do, but I hang all my clothes,” Cheng Ke said, “I’ve never folded them before.”

Jiang Yuduo didn’t really believe this answer, but he left at that as he had to focus his attention on not tearing this blanket cover too.

Speaking of which, this blanket cover’s quality wasn’t even that good either. The young master probably didn’t know how to pick a good one.

With the blanket cover finally sorted out, Jiang Yuduo laid it flat onto the bed and heaved a sigh of relief.

“Look, flip the cover over first and lay it flat,” He gestured to Cheng Ke, “Then lay the blanket on top and arrange it.”

“Isn’t that just what I did?” Cheng Ke carried the blanket over and laid it on the bed as Jiang Yuduo had done.

“Shut it, this is just the first step,” Jiang Yuduo said. Perfume wafted up to his face when Cheng Ke plopped the blanket down. “You spray perfume on it too?”

“Only on the blanket. It helps me sleep better.”

“To hide some kind of smell?

“You’ve done something like this before?” Cheng Ke narrowed his brows.

“No,” Jiang Yuduo said, “I air out my blanket every so often. I bet you don’t since you spray perfume onto it…”

“You son of a bitch, smell it, why don’t you!” Cheng Ke grabbed Jiang Yuduo’s head and shoved it to the blanket, “Do you smell anything!?”

Jiang Yuduo didn’t speak and stood still for two seconds after being forced down.

“It’s equally fragr-” Cheng Ke released his hand, but before he could finish his sentence, Jiang Yuduo abruptly straightened and whipped his arm back.

Cheng Ke’s hand was gripped before he could pull it back.With a twist and a pull, he felt a sharp pain on his shoulder before he could respond.

When he came to his senses, he was already on the ground.

“What are you doing!?” Cheng Ke yelled.

Jiang Yuduo only panted and looked at him with his head lowered.

Cheng Ke noticed his red eyes, felt a sudden chill, and hurriedly yelled, “Dude!”

Jiang Yuduo stopped, and as if only just realising Cheng Ke was on the ground, came over to hoist him up slowly by the arms.

“Don’t move yet,” Jiang Yuduo said without releasing his grip, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No,” Cheng Ke said, “I landed ass-first.”

“…Oh,” Jiang Yuduo released his hand, and took a while before saying, “I- I was caught by surprise and acted on reflex.”

“Yeah.” Cheng Ke rubbed his painful elbows which had slammed against the ground.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Cheng Ke didn’t understand why he had such an overreaction, but everyone had buttons that nobody should push, and Cheng Ke had been slightly out of line with what he did.

“There’s no smell.”

“What?”

“The blanket doesn’t stink.”

“Of course,” Cheng Ke looked at him, “I spread it out on the balcony to air it out just a few days ago.”

“On the ground?” Jiang Yuduo asked.

“Oh,” Cheng Ke replied.

“Take two chairs and drape the blanket on top. That way you keep it clean while it’s airing out.”

“Oh.” Cheng Ke said again.

After this ridiculous exchange, Jiang Yuduo cleared his throat and returned by the bed to ruffle the messy blanket, “Look, from opposite the opening, roll it inwards together with the cover.”

“Okay,” Cheng Ke approached quickly to roll the blanket together, “What’s this for?”

Jiang Yuduo only spoke after rolling the blanket to the top, “Now take these two corners and pull them out from the opening.”

Cheng Ke imitated him and reached inside the opening with his hand to grab the rolled up blanket from within. On seeing the cover on the right side up as he pulled, he understood immediately, “Damn, and then if you continue pulling the blanket you’d have the whole cover wrapped around it, right!”

“That’s right,” Jiang Yuduo nodded, “Smart of you to realize.”

The blanket was sorted out and flattened on the bed neatly. Cheng Ke took the corners and shook them, the sense of achievement flowing into him, “I didn’t know blankets could be inserted in this way.”

“I learnt it from watching an online video,” Jiang Yuduo, “Just last month.”

Cheng Ke smiled.

“Your..uhm.. torn…” Jiang Yuduo hesitated, “Let me take it back to fix it.”

“No need,” Cheng Ke said, “This cover’s been used a bunch of times already, it’s about time to throw it away.”

Jiang Yuduo looked at him quietly.

Cheng Ke didn’t speak either, and opened the sliding door to the balcony. Opening the window just a crack, he lit a cigarette. He didn’t know how many times blanket covers were normally used before being thrown away. It couldn’t be that one threw them away only at the point where they were torn… but even so, that blanket was already torn.

Jiang Yuduo followed and stood beside him.

Cheng Ke handed him the packet, and he took out a cigarette to light it. He looked outside the window.

“You… When you were young,” Cheng Ke examined the scar on his face, “Did you live alone?”

“No,” Jiang Yuduo said, “I lived together with a few others.”

“Oh, I thought you lived alone ever since you were young, and so learnt how to do everything,” Cheng Ke nodded.

“I probably only started living alone when I was ten.”

“Ten is considered young.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Yuduo eyed him, “I had to grow up fast.”

Cheng Ke fell silent.

“What about you?” Jiang Yuduo asked, “Were you always bullied by your younger brother?”

“Not exactly,” Cheng Ke smiled, “I would play alone. My dad built a small shed in our garden. It was super small, so Cheng Yi didn’t like it. I usually read inside.”

“That’s pretty nice,” Jiang Yuduo said, “Must have felt safe.”

“It wasn’t safe,” Cheng Ke’s smile faded, “Cheng Yi got a dog later on. My dad let the dog have it and said he would build me another one. He never did.”

“ Who would have thought that the young master of a rich household would have to deal with such indignities. ” Jiang Yuduo sighed.

“My dad was already pretty disappointed with me by then,” Cheng Ke stretched his back, “If Cheng Yi wanted a kennel, Dad would have made him one immediately, but he had to compete with me. What a pain.”

“You shouldn’t have given in,” Jiang Yuduo said. “If you concede once, there will be a next time, and a next, and soon no one will notice you anymore.”

Cheng Ke looked at him in silence.

“Don’t even concede once, no matter what,” Jiang Yuduo’s face looked blank, “But…”

“What is it?” Cheng Ke whispered.

“Who would you like to have noticed you?” Jiang Yuduo said, “I didn’t know who I wanted to notice me.”

Cheng Ke snuffed out his cigarette, and fell silent. After a while, he asked, “Did you live in an orphanage when you were young?”

“No,” Jiang Yuduo shook his head, “I lived at home.”

“With your parents?” Cheng Ke asked carefully.

“Yeah, I called them parents,” Jiang Yuduo unexpectedly did answer his question, “With a few other mutts.”

Cheng Ke thought it sounded wrong, “Mutts?”

“Mutts like me.” Jiang Yuduo said.

Cheng Ke was startled. When he was about to ask more, Jiang Yuduo raised his index finger, “Stop your questions, they’ll look for you if you know too much.”

Without waiting for Cheng Ke’s reply, Jiang Yuduo snuffed out his cigarette on the windowsill and returned to the room.

Cheng Ke looked at the black mark on the windowsill, and didn’t know whether to think about what Jiang Yuduo just said, or to tell him off for snuffing out the cigarette on the windowsill when there was an ashtray right beside it.

“I didn’t see the ashtray.” Jiang Yuduo’s voice called out from behind.

“Ack!” Cheng Ke jumped in surprise and looked back.

Jiang Yuduo stuck his head out from the sliding door, “I only saw the ashtray after I rubbed out the cigarette head.”

“…It’s fine,” Cheng Ke said, “It can scrubbed it off.”

“No it can’t, that’s a plaster wall. It’s neither painted over nor tiled with porcelain,” Jiang Yuduo said, “Actually, I’ve always snuffed the cigarette heads at the windowsill…”

Cheng Ke pushed the window further open to look at the outer edge of the windowsill to see a neat line of black marks.

“Your handiwork?” He turned his head back.

“Yep,” Jiang Yuduo smiled.

“Are you trying to piss me off?”

“No, just letting you know.”

“…Okay, I understand.” Cheng Ke nodded.

Jiang Yuduo closed the door and headed to the living room.

Cheng Ke didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and paced around the balcony for a while. He couldn’t stop himself from rubbing at the mark with his hand.

It really wouldn’t come off.

He sighed and headed back inside.

Jiang Yuduo was sitting on the sofa looking at his phone.

He washed his hands and returned to the living room to turn on the television.

“You’re still gonna watch TV?”

“The house seems hollow without any sound.” He sat on the other end of the sofa.

“It’s hollow with sound when you can’t hear the words properly.” Jiang Yuduo continued looking at his phone.

“Are you still reading that thigh porno*?”

*T/N: This refers to chapter 19 when Jiang Yuduo was reading an ebook that mentions “snowy-white thighs”.

“I gave up on it,” Jiang Yuduo said, “I’m reading something else now, but there are some things I can’t understand.”

“The vocabulary?” Cheng Ke was a bit surprised, but suddenly remembered that based on Jiang Yuduo’s ‘childhood’, he might not have had a proper education.

“No. This one says that one day, the third dimension disappeared into emptiness,” Jiang Yuduo said, “Leaving behind that little bit of two dimension* left.”

T/N: “Three dimensional world” refers to the real world, and “two dimensional world” is an endearing term used by otakus to refer to their anime waifus and culture as if it were interactable as a real thing.

“Oh,” Cheng Ke nodded, “What about people like me who don’t use the internet?”

“Probably faded into emptiness.”

Cheng Ke laughed, “Shit, scary.”

“It’s nice to be empty, you’re nowhere and everywhere,” Jiang Yuduo, “I don’t quite understand it. I think I prefer Chinese fantasy*.”

*T/N: Previously translated as deity cultivation in chapter 20, the actual term is 修仙, which is a fictional idea of Taoist enlightenment to become a “fairy” of sorts. The genre mixes concepts of martial arts, hermit living in the mountains, and supernatural element that has nothing to do with ghosts or Chinese alchemy, which are other Chinese fiction genres.

“How about a movie?” Cheng Ke asked.

Jiang Yuduo put down his phone and considered it, “Okay.”

Cheng Ke took the remote for the projector before hesitating, “Just to let you know, a few screws were drilled to install the projector. You can fill in the holes when it’s taken down.”

Jiang Yuduo looked at him for a while before saying, “You even installed a projector?”

“Yeah.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“Weren’t you kicked out of the house?” Jiang Yuduo was puzzled, “Where the fucking hell did you find such money to squander?”

“Can’t you be more civil?” Cheng Ke asked.

“Where the fucking heck did you find such money to squander?”

“Your definition of civil needs revising,” Cheng Ke muttered.

“Where the…” Jiang Yuduo continued.

“I have savings.” Cheng Ke interrupted.

“You seriously have savings? I thought your money was from Xu Ding’s charity,” Jiang Yuduo said, “Going by standard procedure, shouldn’t your credit card have been frozen?”

“Third Bro, we live under the rule of law. An account isn’t frozen just because someone wants it to be,” Cheng Ke looked at him, “It’s not Chinese fantasy you like reading about, but oppressive tycoons, isn’t it?

Cheng Ke laughed and waved his hand, “Let’s watch the movie.”

“I have a classic saved here,” Cheng Ke took out his phone and poked at the screen. “After I changed phones, I downloaded it again just to watch it when I have nothing else to do. You might not have seen it, since you’re so young.”

“Sure, let’s watch that classic.”

“Okay, give me a moment.” Cheng Ke turned on the projector and connected it to his phone, before opening the video folder on his phone.

As he scrolled through his files, Jiang Yuduo, who was scrutinizing the projector beside him, said, “I thought you’d have saved up some porn, didn’t you say that you watch it?”

Cheng Ke looked over, “What? You wanna see?”

“No!” Jiang Yuduo’s face was full of horror, “I was just saying!”

Cheng Ke tutted and clicked the file.

To feel like he was really watching a movie, he had set up a stereo, but had no chance to use it previously.It sounded okay when the video had started playing, but the video quality was so bad because of how old it was.

He stood up to turn off the lights in the living room.

“Why is the music…” Jiang Yuduo said with a voice full of tension, “so…sca-”

Before he could finish, the movie title plastered the screen.

“Fuck! It’s A Wicked Ghost*!” Jiang Yuduo howled.

*T/N: A 1999 Hong Kong Horror Film

“You know it?” Cheng Ke sat back onto the sofa, “This counts as a classic, no? Every time I watch it, I…”

“Yes, it’s scary as fuck, shit,” Jiang Yuduo said has he shimmied his way over to Cheng Ke’s side till he was squeezed right up next to him, “Fuck…fuck…”

“Are you kidding me,” Cheng Ke smirked, “That scary?”

“Why can’t I be scared?” Jiang Yuduo said, displeased.

“Sure you can.” Cheng Ke smiled as he nodded, gave a thought, and lowered his voice, “Actually I get pissed scared too every time I watch it.”

“Then why are you still watching it?” Jiang Yuduo glared at him.

“Cheng Ke whispered, “Cause you’re here, with two people it’s not so…”

“Fucking shit! Shit! It’s starting!” Jiang Yuduo turned his head towards the screen.

The duo nervously watched the screen. Eventually Jiang Yuduo laughed suddenly, “Dammit, this is embarrassing.”

“If you get scared later, don’t grab me suddenly,” Cheng Ke said, “I will yell at you.”

Jiang Yuduo nodded, “You too.”