Wang Jiankang, who was in his early forties, had been the head of the Department for International Academic Exchanges at Huzhou University. Due to work reasons, he had a very broad network and often went out with non-university people for business dinners. Xie Qingcheng had met him a handful of times and found him very irritating. Subsequently, he went out of his way to avoid Wang Jiankang, so at most, he could only say that he "knew" him and not that he was familiar with him.
"I don't believe in the supernatural. His death very likely has something to do with Cheng Kang Psychiatric Hospital." Xie Qingcheng took another sip of tea and said mildly, "Chances are, it's linked to the matter of Jiang Lanpei as well."
He Yu turned to get a glimpse of the broadcast tower. "The Cheng Kang incident has created quite the disturbance. This probably isn't as simple as just one psychiatric hospital."
Xie Qingcheng didn't need He Yu to point this out.
The perpetrators had the ability to take over the university's broadcasting tower, unlawfully force all devices within the transmission range to play the same video, and even steal photos from the police's investigation while the case was under such high security. At this rate, the chief of Huzhou City's Bureau of Public Safety was likely going to require an emergency trip to the hospital's department of cardiology.
To pull something like this off, with such clear provocation? The sheer hubris of the person standing behind the scenes was obvious.
Furthermore, this matter involved Huzhou University, where Xie Xue was currently working… As Xie Qingcheng thought this over, his head began to hurt. Without thinking, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, but after glancing at He Yu and realizing that he'd probably take issue with it again, he ended up stepping onto the balcony.
He Yu turned around when he heard the soft click of a lighter behind him, and he saw the faint flare of the flame against the dark of night.
Xie Qingcheng held the lighter to the cigarette, and the soft glow highlighted the defined contours of his face and the length of his lashes, gilding him in a gentle veneer of deep crimson. Then he put away the lighter, and all that remained was the cigarette's flickering glow.
Just like a firefly.
Xie Qingcheng smoked the entire cigarette. Then he coughed softly as he returned from the balcony and closed the sliding glass door behind him.
"I'm gonna make a late-night snack." He still felt rather agitated and figured it would be difficult to fall asleep tonight, so they might as well eat something as they stayed up to see what happened. He asked He Yu, "Do you want anything?"
"Caviar and sea urchin sashimi."
"Fuck off."
"…Anything's fine."
With that, Xie Qingcheng went to the kitchen.
He was very deft and neat when he cooked, as if he were performing surgery—everything was in its right place, clean and tidy. As the sound of the range hood came on, He Yu looked down at his cell phone.
His WeChat messages had exploded.
They were mostly from his classmates' group chats, all of which were about the events that had transpired tonight. There probably wasn't a single person at Huzhou University who would get a wink of sleep tonight. Even if they stayed obediently with their friends and classmates inside the dorms, everyone's eyes were glued to the videos on their phones.
"Just who is Z anyway?"
"Z must stand for the target's surname. Thank goodness I'm named Xu—I'll be fine."
"Waahhhh, fucking hell, save me! My surname is Zhang!"
"It's okay, mine is Zhao. I've never disliked my name so much before. I won't be able to sleep either."
There were even some dumbasses who had spontaneously created group chats for classmates whose surnames began with Z and L, saying that they could huddle together for warmth and comfort each other.
Someone else pointed out, "If 'drop the hanky' starts playing again, that will definitely mean that the target has been murdered. My entire dorm is watching that 'drop the hanky' video, it's so scary…"
The incident had also reached the top of the news feed. However, when He Yu tried to open the article, the browser only showed that the content had already been deleted by the original poster—the internet police were probably working overtime to remove the relevant messages. He Yu could understand why—the situation had spun out of control, and there were no answers to be had. How would the next step ultimately unfold? What were the underlying stakes? Who was involved? Nothing was clear. The authorities couldn't allow such news to spread so quickly, as it could very easily result in the unchecked dissemination of rumors and large-scale panic.
He Yu had a family chat group, but no one ever really talked in there. He had good reason to suspect that his parents and younger brother had their own chat group with only the three of them. Either way, a lunatic like him would always be an outsider excluded from their family. But with an incident like this taking place at Huzhou University, Lü Zhishu had nevertheless sent a message to the chat group: "Your dad told me what's going on. Let us know when you get home with Doctor Xie."
He Yu: "We're at the dorm."
He Jiwei: "Send a picture."
He Yu sighed. They thought he might be lying and were just asking so they could keep tabs on him.
He got up and pulled open the door to the kitchen. "Xie Qingcheng, my dad wants me to take a picture of you."
Xie Qingcheng frowned. "I'll just call him later."
He Yu was hoping he'd say that, as he didn't want to respond to this "loving family" chat group anymore either. He tossed his phone aside and walked up to Xie Qingcheng, who was currently making noodles; it smelled quite good.
"What're you doing coming in here?"
"Watching you cook. I wanna learn a bit."
So Xie Qingcheng didn't chase him out. He was just about to make two fried eggs, but it was only after he cracked the eggs into the frying pan with one hand that he realized, distracted as he was, he'd forgotten to put on an apron.
Though he knew how to cook, he hated smelling like grease and smoke—but he had to keep an eye on the eggs, so he tilted his head slightly and said to He Yu, "Do me a favor. Bring me the apron and help me put it on."
He Yu was beyond words. He really had become Xie Qingcheng's little secretary.
"What're you looking at? Don't just stand there—hurry up."
There was nothing He Yu could do but go and fetch the apron from behind the door. He could tell it wasn't Xie Xue's at a glance—it was a very clean and simple apron, probably one that Xie Xue kept around for Xie Qingcheng.
"How do you tie this thing?"
"…You've really never done a day of work in your life."
"It's not that I don't know how to tie it—I've worn one before—but I've never tied it for someone else."
"Figure it out yourself."
He Yu worked it out after a moment. This wasn't a difficult task, so he walked up to Xie Qingcheng and wrapped the apron around him.
While tying it, He Yu once again noticed how narrow Xie Qingcheng's waist was. It had only been a detached observation before, but this time, he was winding the apron strings around his waist and even tying a knot behind his back.
He Yu was a bit taller than Xie Qingcheng, so with Xie Qingcheng standing in front of the stove and He Yu standing behind him, He Yu was able to gaze down at Xie Qingcheng as he carefully tied the apron strings. When He Yu looked back up, his eyes fell on Xie Qingcheng's bent neck.
It was pale, nearly translucent porcelain in color.
There was a tiny crimson mole on the back of his neck, off to the side.
He Yu had never looked at Xie Qingcheng's neck from this angle before. When he was younger, he hadn't been as tall as Xie Qingcheng, so he couldn't see it, and after they met again, he never had the opportunity to carefully examine the nape of Xie Qingcheng's neck. Thus, only now did he discover that Xie Qingcheng's neck was quite beautiful. Instinctively, he said, "Xie Qingcheng, there's a mole on the side of your neck."
After a pause, he added, "It's red."
His voice was very close, and his face was all but pressed up against Xie Qingcheng's neck.
Xie Qingcheng's masculine instincts made him feel a bit threatened, so he whipped his head around without warning.
Dumb straight guys were really fucking dumb.
Under these circumstances, he'd turned back solely because of his male sense of territoriality. He wanted to confirm his safety and create some distance.
But this idiot straight guy hadn't considered, given the proximity of He Yu's voice—not to mention his hands, which were at his waist helping him tie his apron—just how little distance there was between them right now. He Yu's mouth brushed against the side of Xie Qingcheng's ear, and because neither of them reacted in time, his warm lips even touched Xie Qingcheng's cheek.
The contact was as light as a dragonfly skimming over water, yet as awkward as a raging prairie fire.
What a predicament.
Silence engulfed the room.
The side of the ear was an extremely sensitive spot for most people, and Xie Qingcheng was no exception. The contact was brief, but for just a moment, he felt that low, hot breath unique to boys and the pressure and sense of aggression from the intensely hormonal young man behind him. Xie Qingcheng coldly pushed at He Yu's chest, shoving him away.
Both their faces darkened. They stared at each other, but neither knew what to say.
I'm sorry?
But Xie Qingcheng had turned his head of his own accord. There was no chance that He Yu would apologize, and even less of a chance that Xie Qingcheng would do the same.
What are you doing?
…It was so obvious it didn't even merit a question. This was just a tragic coincidence caused by a straight man's idiocy.
They regarded each other awkwardly for a while until, suddenly, a strange smell came from the frying pan.
He Yu snapped back to his senses. "It's burning, it's burning!"
Xie Qingcheng immediately turned back around, and sure enough, the eggs had already turned black on one side…
Since he first started frying eggs at the age of eight, Xie Qingcheng had never once burnt one. It really was his unlucky day.
Suppressing his anger, Xie Qingcheng moved the frying pan aside before turning to He Yu. "What are you doing standing in here? Get out."
After he finished speaking, he took out a moist kitchen towelette and, with a chilly expression, wiped the side of his ear and his cheek where He Yu's lips had touched him.
He Yu was speechless.
An accidental brush of the lips like this was different from the scene he had acted out earlier as an intentional prank.
He Yu also felt a bit uneasy, so he bowed his head and left without another word. Returning to the living room, he felt discomfort settle in his heart—the look in Xie Qingcheng's eyes, his obvious distaste and scorn, had been much too cold.
He Yu didn't like this feeling at all.
Xie Qingcheng had held him in check ever since he was young. When He Yu met Xie Qingcheng again as a university student, he had sought to slowly remedy the psychological shadows Xie Qingcheng had cast since his childhood, going so far as to take charge on multiple occasions as the instigator of their interactions.
But because of that look in Xie Qingcheng's eyes just now, He Yu found himself instantaneously plunged back into his memories. Xie Qingcheng was still Xie Qingcheng; he would still use that dagger-like gaze to coolly and scathingly look down on He Yu's entire being.
In reality, Xie Qingcheng still occupied a position of absolute dominance.
Just as He Yu was grappling with these thoughts, a phone suddenly rang.
Thoroughly distracted, and assuming that it was He Jiwei calling back after running out of patience, He Yu picked up the call without thinking.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Xie-ge, I just got back to my phone after finishing my assignment and saw that something happened near your school. Ge, hang tight for a bit. I'm coming over right now. I'm pretty worried about you…"
He Yu held the phone a little further away from himself—he abruptly realized that he had accidentally grabbed the wrong phone and picked up Xie Qingcheng's call.
The caller ID showed that it was someone named "Chen Man." Based on his voice, he sounded like a flustered and impatient young man. And with the word "ge" spilling out every time he opened his mouth, his manner of speech was easygoing and intimate.
He Yu and Chen Man had met before—the two of them had eaten dinner with Xie Qingcheng in the dining hall and chatted for quite a while. But unfortunately, neither of them had introduced themselves by name back then. A decent amount of time had passed since, too, and voices always sounded slightly distorted over the phone. Thus, neither of them managed to identify the other through the call.
For some reason, He Yu felt rather uncomfortable. He glanced at Xie Qingcheng, who was still in the kitchen, cleaning the pan to fry two more eggs. Then he got up and walked out onto the balcony.
"Ge, why aren't you saying anything? You…"
He Yu pulled the balcony door shut and asked with utmost politeness, "May I ask who's speaking?"
"Huh? You're not Xie-ge?" The other man sounded dumbfounded. "Who are you?"
"I'm Doctor Xie's friend."
"Oh. Then can you get my ge to pick up the phone?"
He Yu smiled, but his voice grew colder as he said, "I don't believe Xie Qingcheng has a younger brother. What kind of relative are you? I've never heard him mention you before."
Chen Man paused. He wasn't stupid—he could tell that the other person was nitpicking on purpose. Officer Chen was a policeman, after all. He was always the one interrogating others; he had never encountered someone with the gall to come up to him and begin grilling him straight away instead.
Not to mention, upon listening more closely, it sounded like the other person was a young man around his own age. Staying with Xie Qingcheng at this hour after something like this had just happened—who could this young boy be? Chen Man couldn't think of anyone right now, having forgotten the person he'd gotten along with so well over the course of their shared meal.
He became guarded and suspicious toward He Yu. "And who are you? Which friend? Xie-ge doesn't have very many friends—I'm pretty sure I know all of them."
He Yu smiled as he looked out at the scarlet broadcasting tower, its light making his pupils seem rather distant. There was no need for him to introduce himself, but still he said, "I'm He Yu."
"He's never mentioned you to me before."
He Yu's expression remained unchanged. He gazed at the tower as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He suddenly realized that his and Xie Qingcheng's social circles didn't overlap very much.
This Chen guy…
"He Yu, what's going on?" The sliding door behind him was abruptly pulled open by Xie Qingcheng.
"…A call came for you. I picked it up by accident."
"Who is it?" Xie Qingcheng asked.
"Chen Man."
The moment Xie Qingcheng heard the name, he went over and took the phone from He Yu. Then he turned around and went back inside the apartment to take the call.
He Yu watched him in silence, rooted in place.
Xie Qingcheng was an indifferent person, not inclined to express interest or concern toward other people. Other than Xie Xue, there was pretty much no one who could get his undivided attention. But this Chen Man seemed to be an exception.
Inexplicably, He Yu began to feel even more unwell.