Antidote - - - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 」

Cheng Ke stood there and stared at the changing numbers on the display panel, wondering what he should do.

Should he wait til Jiang Yu Duo’s left and then go down or should he take another elevator?

Should he call again or chase him down and ask what happened?

Or maybe he should just go back to his room and stay there?

Wait, no, why would he care about Jiang Yu Duo?

What could he do for a street boss capable of fighting someone by a dumpster with his head bashed in… but why would he come here?

Cheng Ke couldn’t figure it out, but he decided to stay right there and only go downstairs and get something to eat after Jiang Yu Duo had left.

The elevator numbers stopped at eight, paused, and then continued going down.

The numbers on the elevator in the next bay started changing, from nine to eight, and then continued increasing.

Cheng Ke suddenly started feeling nervous as he watched the elevator rise through the building. He was in a position where he could kick comfortably. So that if it was Jiang Yu Duo coming out the elevator, he could easily kick him back into it.

The elevator didn’t stop again and stopped directly on his floor. The door opened.

And as expected, Jiang Yu Duo walked out of the elevator.

But Cheng Ke didn’t kick him because when Jiang Yu Duo stepped out, his hand pressed against his forehead and blood seeping out, blocking his left eye, he looked twenty times worse than before.

“Are you parading ‘round the building?” Cheng Ke was speechless.

“A woman came in on the eighth floor,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “I was afraid she wouldn’t last two floors without screaming.”

“Then why…” Cheng Ke stared at his face.

“Open the door,” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him with one eye, “I need to use your first aid kit.”

“… I don’t have a first aid kit.” Cheng Ke answered.

“You do, “Jiang Yu Duo responded, “In the cabinet by the TV stand.”

Cheng Ke paused.

“I put it there.” Jiang Yu Duowaved his hand. “Hurry up, I’ve got low blood pressure.

I’ll bleed out and die in front of your door and then Chen Qing will call the police and tell them you killed me.”

Cheng Ke stayed silent and didn’t move, staring at Jiang Yu Duo’s face.

He didn’t know how big the wound on Jiang Yu Duo’s forehead was, but he could tell that Jiang Yu Duo’s palm wasn’t completely stopping flow, blood was coming out from underneath his palm.

“Why don’t you go to the hospital?” Cheng Ke gritted out, turned around and opened the door.

“Scared.” Jiang Yu Duo answered.

Cheng Ke couldn’t help but turn around to glance at Jiang Yu Duo.

“Is that weird?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

“Yes.” Cheng Ke nodded.

“And you’re afraid of mice.” Jiang Yu Duo sat down on a chair.

Cheng Ke paused in surprise. It’s true that he was afraid of mice, but how did Jiang Yu Duo know?

“Open that cabinet door,” Jiang Yu Duo pointed at the TV stand, “and bring me the first kit in there. You do know how to open the cabinet door, right?”

Cheng Ke was already bending down to open the door but sat down on a chair immediately when he heard that question. “Sorry, I don’t know.”

Jiang Yu Duo didn’t say anything but stood up to open the cabinet doors himself and took out the first aid kit.

When he moved his hand from his forehead, two drops of blood fell onto the floor.

Cheng Ke looked at the blood on Jiang Yu Duo’s face and thought the wound didn’t look like something a person could deal with on their own, but he stayed silent. He remained sitting and watched Jiang Yu Duo take out rubbing alcohol, medical tape, and even scissors, which he handled with familiar motions.

When Jiang Yu Duo took off his coat and walked towards the bathroom with the items, Cheng Ke couldn’t resist commenting, “Your wound shouldn’t touch water.”

“Yeah, I’ll use alcohol,” Jiang Yu Duo turned around to look at him, “As if you’d know what to do.”

“Why don’t you stick around and diss me some more, for at least two hours,” Cheng Ke retorted, “then you can die of blood loss.”

Jiang Yu Duo turned around and walked into the bathroom.

Considering that this apartment was now his territory, Cheng Ke followed Jiang Yu Duo to the bathroom door after a few seconds of hesitation.

Jiang Yu Duo didn’t shut the door and stood in front of the mirror with his back towards Cheng Ke. He stripped off his T-shirt with one swift movement and tossed it aside.

Cheng Ke didn’t even see his body clearly before the scars on his body rendered him incapable of thought.

Several huge scars crisscrossed Jiang Yu Duo’s back, one of which spanned from his shoulder to his waist in shocking fashion.

“What?” Jiang Yu Duo twisted the cap off the alcohol and poured it directly onto his forehead.

“Noth- …fuck ow.” Cheng Ke’s forehead throbbed in sympathy but Jiang Yu Duo’s expression remained calm, as if he was just pouring water.

Jiang Yu Duo’s motions were rough and brusque. He cleaned the wound, poured power over it, stuck on gauze and medicine tape. He performed every step not only as if it were someone else’s head but also an enemy’s.

After rapidly taking care of the wounds, Jiang Yu Duo turned on the faucet and cleaned the blood from his face and body. Then he grabbed a towel from the rack and rubbed himself dry.

That’s my damn face towel!

Cheng Ke looked at him and had nothing to say. He walked stiffly back to the living room, sat down on the sofa, and lit a cigarette.

He needed to calm his nerves.

When Jiang Yu Duo came out of the bathroom, he was wearing a T-shirt again. As he was putting the first aid kit back into the cabinet, Cheng Ke cleared his throat and remarked, “Don’t put that there. Take it with you.”

Jiang Yu Duo looked at him as if he had no idea what Cheng Ke was saying.

“You’ve already rented this place to me,” Cheng Ke said, “it’s not right for you to keep your stuff here. If I weren’t home today, would you have just opened the door and come in?”

“Yes.” Jiang Yu Duo agreed. His face, which had been expressionless till now, finally changed a bit, though Cheng Ke was surprised at his ability to show embarrassment.

“I followed our rental agreement and didn’t change locks,” Cheng Ke said, “shouldn’t you also respect your tenant?”

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Yu Duo apologized. “I was in a hurry and this was the closest, so I came here.”

Cheng Ke held a cigarette in his mouth. He had been prepared for a fight, verbally if not physically, but now that Jiang Yu Duo apologized so earnestly, he felt like he just stepped on air. He didn’t know what to say in response.

“I’m leaving.” Jiang Yu Duo announced, put on his coat, and walked towards the door carrying the first aid kit.

“Oh.” Jiang Yu Duo responded and then called him back after thinking of something,

“Hey.”

“Yeah?” Jiang Yu Duo turned around.

“I’m wondering, is…” Cheng Ke pointed towards the kitchen, “is that gas stove functional?”

“It’s not just functional, it’s brand new.” Jiang Yu Duo replied.

“It… won’t turn on.” Cheng Ke explained.

Jiang Yu Duo put down the first aid kit and walked into the kitchen. Then he called out from the kitchen, “Come here and show me how you turn it on.”

Cheng Ke put out the cigarette and followed him into the kitchen. “Can’t you just do it yourself to find out?”

“No, I want to see.” Jiang Yu Duo said. “How do you do it? The new water heater won’t heat water, the new gas stove won’t turn on.”

Cheng Ke hesitated and then turned the gas valve.

Jiang Yu Duo hummed in agreement.

Cheng Ke then reached out and twisted the knob on the gas stove.

It made the same clicking sound.

“See.” Cheng Ke pointed at the stove.

Jiang Yu Duo took a deep breath and then exhaled. Then he grabbed Cheng Ke’s hand and before Cheng Ke could remove his hand, it was placed on the knob.

Cheng Ke’s brows wrinkled. “You could just tell me…”

Jiang Yu Duo grabbed his hand and pressed down without a word, “Now do you get it?”

Cheng Ke felt the knob depress.

“Twist.” Jiang Yu Duo commanded.

Cheng Ke twisted.

Three clicks and then a whoosh.

Flames shot out from the burner. Two rings of blue tinted flames.

“Is your personal ID real?” Jiang Yu Duo asked as he walked out of the kitchen.

“What do you mean?” Cheng Ke turned off the stove.

“You’re twenty-seven years old.” Jiang Yu Duo picked up the first aid kit again and walked towards the door. “Does someone take off your clothes for you when you go bed?”

“Fuck you.” Cheng Ke glared at him.

“All the user manuals for the electronics are in the TV stand’s drawer.” Jiang Yu Duo opened the door. “If you don’t know how to use it, read them.”

Cheng Ke kept quiet.

Jiang Yu Duo walked out and closed the door.

He shut the door quietly, much more civilized than Chen Qing.

Cheng Ke sat back down on the sofa and lit another cigarette. He stared at the drawer on the TV stand for a long time.

When Jiang Yu Duo returned home, there was an Audi with its engine left running.

According to his past experiences, Chen Qing was probably the one in the driver’s seat.

He was right. When he was just a few meters away, the car door opened, and Chen Qing jumped out from it and dashed in front of him in just a few strides.

“What happened?” Chen Qing stared at the gauze on his forehead. “Who did this?

Fuck! Who did this?”

“I didn’t see.” Jiang Yu Duo answered.

“Where’d you meet them?” Chen Qing asked, “Why didn’t you call me?”

“By the side street,” Jiang Yu Duo furrowed his brow, “I didn’t see who it was.”

“Is it serious?” Chen Qing asked.

“No.” Jiang Yu Duo walked towards the lobby. “Park the car in a parking space.

Leave it here and someone will complain. Watch Mrs. Wang throw a pot down again and your salary this month is going straight to the car repair shop.”

Chen Qing went to park the car. Jiang Yu Duo walked into the room and checked in the mirror to see if the gauze was on properly.

When he was applying the gauze earlier, Cheng Ke kept staring at him from behind and he felt self-conscious. At that time, all he wanted to do was leave immediately and so he slapped the gauze on haphazardly.

“Do you need to go to the hospital for the wounds?” Chen Qing parked the car and came back in, putting a bag of unidentified stuff on the table. “What got you?”

“A brick.” Jiang Yu Duo walked to the table. “Or a knife.”

“… Third bro,” Chen Qing looked at him, “The two are not alike at all.”

“I didn’t see the person. The first hit hurt so much that it winded me.” Jiang Yu Duo sighed, “They got me damned hard.”

“It’s been so many years,” Chen Qing kicked the table. “They keep haunting you and we have no idea what they want. Do you have any idea what they want?”

“No clue.” Jiang Yu Duo said, “probably for me to suffer for eternity.”

“Fuck.” Chen Qing thought for a while and then got closer to examine the gauze.

“Did you go to the hospital? This doesn’t look like it’s from the hospital. A shitty job, where’d you get it taken care of?”

“Cheng Ke’s, I did it myself.” Jiang Yu Duo opened the bag and the scent of beef jerky greeted him. “This is damned considerate of you.”

“My aunt brought it over. This is most of it.” Chen Qing said. “Should last you a while.”

“Your mom didn’t beat you for this?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

“She doesn’t like these hard to eat things.” Chen Qing looked at him, “You really went to Mr. Jaeger’s to get bandaged? What’d you tell him?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Yu Duo chewed on a piece of jerky. “I was afraid of bleeding more and having someone call the police. As if I’m not in enough trouble.”

“With your shitty blood clotting abilities,” Chen Qing mused, “you must have been covered with blood by the time you got there.”

“It wasn’t so bad. I pressed down really hard, with maybe 80% of my strength.” Jiang Yu Duo said, “I was surprised by him and let go, so that’s when the blood came out.”

Chen Qing said in surprise, “You weren’t thinking of just sneaking in to take care of the wounds, were you?”

Jiang Yu Duo sighed, “I thought he wouldn’t be home that day. The realtor said he was an artist. I didn’t think artists would be this idle, staying home instead of going to work in his studio.”

“To be honest, Third Bro,” Chen Qing looked at him for a while and then sighed too,

“you were inappropriate this time.”

Jiang Yu Duo stayed quiet but nodded his head.

It’s rare for Chen Qing to be this clearheaded. He was very touched.

Barging over there like that today really wasn’t a smart move. It could almost be a home invasion. And even if Cheng Ke really wasn’t a bad guy…

“He must be on lookout now.” Chen Qing continued. “It’ll be a lot harder for us to sneak in and find clues.”

Jiang Yu Duo raised his head and looked at Chen Qing.

“Right?” Chen Qing asked.

“If I weren’t afraid of bursting my damn wounds open,” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him,

“I’d have dunk you in the toilet for a good drink.”

“Third Bro,” Chen Qing said with resignation, “can’t you talk nicely for once?”

“Not possible.” Jiang Yu Duo clapped him on the shoulders. “Get out of my sight in the next three seconds or I’ll spurt blood on you.”

“I’m going. I was just coming by to drop off the beef jerky for you, I gotta bring the car back to the shop.” Chen Qing walked quickly towards the door but paused after a few steps, “Isn’t beef bad for your wounds?”

“Fuck off.” Jiang Yu Duo took a bite of the beef jerky.

“There’s a bag of cat food under there.” Chen Qing said. “Don’t let it eat human food. Too much salt causes it to shed and that’s annoying.”

“Would you just go?” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him.

Chen Qing dashed out.

Jiang Yu Duo stood by the table and slowly finished chewing the piece of beef jerky.

Then he dug out the bag of cat food from the bottom and shook it at the cat who’s been staring at him. “Want some?”

The cat mewed once, loudly and clearly.

Jiang Yu Duo shook some kibble out into its bowl and the cat went over to sniff at it.

Then it backed off a few steps as if disgusted, looked up at him, and mewed again.

“Eat it or not.” Jiang Yu Duo pointed at its nose. “You’re just a stray, you can’t be picky.”

The cat turned to look at the bowl but refused to eat. It didn’t move and stared at it stubbornly.

Jiang Yu Duo ignored it and laid down on the sofa.

His head throbbed and he had no idea if was a concussion. He closed his eyes and pressed against the gauze. The wound still hurt; a dull constant pain interrupted by sharp bursts of agony. It was a complicated type of pain.

What happened today was probably due to him being distracted.

He hadn’t been in the best of moods when he walked out of building 1. Maybe it was due to him not sleeping well the night before, but any little thing caused him to overthink. And when you get in a certain mood, it’s hard to get rid of it, so he hadn’t even noticed when the person behind him had started following him.

He saw no warning, heard no sounds, and saw nobody.

There was pain, and then a deep darkness.

Very pathetic.

The last time he had been this pathetic was two years ago… no, the last time he had fallen so low would be the fight with Cheng Ke by the dumpsters.

He opened his eyes and saw the cat was still on a hunger strike in front of the bowl.

“Hurry up and eat. When you get fatter, I’m going to send you to Chen Qing to make hotpot…. Have you had hotpot? It’s delicious. The kind of yummy that makes you hungry just thinking about it.”

Cheng Ke used a wet wipe to clean up the two drops of Jiang Yu Duo’s blood on the floor. He wasn’t a neat freak, but when he saw the dark dust on the wet wipe in addition to the blood, he was a bit shocked.

The floor had looked quite clean, who’d have thought it was so dirty!

But then again, this had been empty before. Jiang Yu Duo hadn’t taken off his shoes when he came in and he probably came here quiet often when he was badly injured.

Now that Cheng Ke thought about it, there was probably dust everywhere.

He tried to swipe test on the desk. Dusty. The chair’s already been sat clean. The headboard? Dusty.

There didn’t seem to be dust on the sofa, but it was cloth.

Cheng Ke went around the room several times. With his skills, it would take him a couple of days to clean all of this.

He thought about it seriously for a while in the kitchen and then took the keys and left.

Screw cleaning up.

Time for food.

It wasn’t quite time to eat yet and Cheng Ke wandered around the neighborhood for a while without finding any appealing places. In the end he went to the street where he fought with Jiang Yu Duo.

After all, he used to come here quite often. He was used to the bustle and the crowds. He had been in a constant state of anxiety these past days and wanted to get close to anything familiar.

Even if this place had some not-so-pleasant memories.

There was a Starbucks ahead of him. Cheng Ke decided to sit there for a while and eat something.

The store looked mostly empty. After paying for his order, he suddenly realized that he’d been conscious of the price for the first time ever. Of course, he had looked at prices before, but he had never felt like the price was anything than a number before. This sensation immediately pulled him out of the sense of familiarity.

Cheng Ke found a sofa in a corner and sat down. He sipped his coffee and then took out his phone. Although he looked at it for a long time, he had no idea what to do with it, so he slipped it back into his pocket.

Maybe because he had been constantly on alert, but he fell asleep just like that, leaning against the couch, despite having slept till afternoon.

The coffee was cold by the time he woke up.

Cheng Ke had to give it to himself. He stood up and left.

He couldn’t figure out why he could fall asleep anywhere, but it was a good nap since he could now find a place to eat dinner.

Since he hadn’t had good food in the past few days, his stomach grumbled at anything that smelled delicious. He decided on the hotpot store called Old Pier just up the street. He often went there with Liu Tiancheng in the past.

He frowned thinking of Liu Tiancheng.

They’d been friends for so many years and in the end, it was Xu Ding, someone he only knew for the past two or three years in passing, that ended up being more reliable.

He took out his phone and sent Xu Ding a message.

Want to get together tomorrow?

I have to go out of town tomorrow, today?

Xu Ding replied quickly.

Cheng Ke paused, looked at the time on the phone, and then responded to Xu Ding.

Old Pier.

Be there in 30 minutes.

Cheng Ke smiled. Sometimes it felt nice to have someone you could call out for a meal.

But when he arrived at Old Pier, he stopped feeling sentimental. He spotted people approaching from the other side and they arrived at the store the same time as him.

It was too late for Cheng Ke to turn around and leave because Cheng Yi called out

“Older brother.”

Cheng Ke looked at him and twitched his lips but remained silent. He looked at Liu Tiancheng, his old friend of many years, and the other friends he used to hang around with, standing next to Cheng Yi. There seemed to be nothing he could say.

This was the kind of awkward you couldn’t hide. He didn’t have Cheng Yi’s ability to pretend nothing happened. Cheng Ke couldn’t squeeze out a “what a coincidence”.

“Oh Ke, what a coincidence!” Liu Tiancheng walked up to him, all smiles. “Want to join us?”

“I… already ate.” Cheng Ke said.

“No way, it’s too early for dinner.” Cheng Yi said.

Cheng Ke looked at him in silence.

“Older brother,” Cheng Yi smiled at him warmly with a hint of appeasement, “eat with us.”

“That’s alright.” Cheng Ke said.

“Hey, you,” Liu Tiancheng whispered, “won’t you be considerate towards your younger brother?”

Consideration can go to hell.

Cheng Ke looked at his younger brother. His reputation had been smashed to bits and pieces by the dumpster. Nobody gave him respect, so he didn’t feel the need to give anyone else respect.

“Older brother,” Cheng Yi took a few steps towards him, “why don’t we…”

“Move.” Someone said from beside them.

Cheng Ke took a step back, but the person suddenly stepped between him and Cheng Yi.

Cheng Ke took one glance at the person.

….

Someone who’s just had their head bashed in, is out for spicy hot pot?

“Eating?” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him.

“Uh, Yes. “Cheng Ke cleared his throat. “You too?”

“Ah” Jiang Yu Duo looked behind him.

Cheng Ke looked back to see a few youngsters behind Jiang Yu Duo. More accurately, these were young hooligans that were one 911 call away from jail.

Complex emotions flashed across Cheng Yi’s face.

Cheng Ke could understand. Right now, Jiang Yu Duo with a bloodied gauze on his forehead and several underlings behind him, looked like the stereotypical gang boss. He was someone that Cheng Yi would never mix with in his life.

Jiang Yu Duo turned to look at Cheng Yi, and then turned back to Cheng Ke. He hesitated for a few seconds and then asked, “Want to go in, together?”

“Hmm?” Cheng Ke looked at him and then nodded quickly in agreement. “Sure.”

Jiang Yu Duo reached out a hand and moved the confused looking Liu Tiancheng aside. “Move.”

Cheng Ke followed after him into the restaurant.

解药

(Antidote)

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