Chapter 47#
The Drenched Puppy#
The rain gradually grew heavier.
The visiting time was only half an hour. Jian Yunchen was forced to leave the sanatorium before he could hear any more of Jian Xin’s curses.
The driver had already left. Standing at the hospital entrance, he watched the passing cars, a slight sense of bewilderment rising in his heart.
Over these years, Jian Yunchen had been very busy—busy studying, busy skipping evening self-study to work part-time, busy cleaning up Jian Jinbao’s messes, and busy searching for Jian Xin’s figure in various dim alleys.
There was never enough time.
But now, standing at the intersection, he suddenly didn’t know where to go.
He began to walk slowly along the main road. He didn’t know how long he walked; he only vaguely sensed that the streetlights had come on.
When he looked up at the lights, only a faint glimmer remained at the edge of the ink-blue sky. The moon hung above, gazing at Jian Yunchen from afar.
It started to rain.
A cool drizzle fell on his face and slowly slid down. He reached out his hand, but caught nothing.
He found an abandoned bus stop and sat by the roadside, quietly waiting for the rain to stop.
As the night deepened, the rain intensified.
The wind blew the drizzle, and no part of Jian Yunchen was spared from being soaked to the bone.
There were no missed calls on his phone, only three messages from Jiang Yunhan. He didn’t look at them and instead dialed Qin Mu’s number.
“Hello?” A lazy voice broke the silence of the rainy night.
Jian Yunchen remained silent. Raindrops hit the phone screen, and as the cold clothes clung to his body, his temperature began to drop, and he started to shiver uncontrollably.
Qin Mu paused for a moment, then followed up: “Where are you?”
Jian Yunchen didn’t know.
Qin Mu didn’t force him to answer. “Send me your location. I’ll come pick you up.”
On the road, cars passed one after another. Jian Yunchen sat there blankly, silently counting the number of passing vehicles.
When he reached the 28th car, a vehicle stopped in front of him.
Qin Mu had arrived.
As usual, he was driving that conspicuous red car. In the boundless darkness, it burned like a ball of fire, bringing its own warmth.
Qin Mu got out of the car, holding a black umbrella. In just a few steps, the umbrella firmly shielded the top of Jian Yunchen’s head.
He looked up.
His hair was wet and plastered to his cheeks, and raindrops hung from his eyelashes. He looked pitiful and bedraggled, but his expression was cold, and his eyes held nothing but indifference.
Without a word, Qin Mu ruffled his hair and chuckled softly, “Like a drenched puppy.”
Jian Yunchen’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and the water droplets fell.
The drenched puppy was picked up and taken home by Qin Mu.
By the time Jian Yunchen finished his shower and came out, it was already late at night. Qin Mu hadn’t returned to the bedroom; he was standing in the kitchen cooking instant noodles.
With his skills, only instant noodles were barely edible.
Before the shower, Qin Mu had tossed him a set of clothes: a pure black silk shirt and gray pajama pants.
Jian Yunchen was oblivious, parading around in his clothes. The loose collar revealed a section of his collarbone, the sleeves were rolled up several times, and the pant legs were bunched up at his ankles.
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow slightly and brought two bowls of noodles—which looked somewhat complicated—to the table.
They didn’t go to the dining table. Instead, they ate at the coffee table in the living room. The lights in the living room weren’t on, and only a bit of light filtered in from the kitchen. The two of them sat on the floor, fully engrossed in a movie.
Outside, the rain beat against the windows, but the house was very warm. The central air conditioning was on year-round. After a bowl of hot soup, Jian Yunchen felt warm from the inside out.
After eating, they were in no hurry to clean up. Jian Yunchen wrapped himself in a blanket and curled up on the sofa.
Qin Mu didn’t go upstairs either; he sat beside him and began watching the movie.
Before he knew it, Jian Yunchen was leaning in his arms. A warm and comfortable environment makes it too easy for one to sink in. He was all too familiar with the scent on Qin Mu. In this environment, his sensitive nerves began to relax.
All his defenses failed at this moment, crumbling away.
“Qin Mu.” A slightly raspy voice called his name softly, carrying a deep exhaustion.
Qin Mu lifted his eyelids and gave a soft hum in response. One hand rested behind Jian Yunchen’s shoulder, fiddling with the tassels of the blanket draped over him.
The movie played on. The story took place in medieval Italy. The female lead was a daughter of a noble house, while the male lead was merely the son of a stableman. He was urging the female lead to elope with him. As she hesitated, the two had already begun to argue.
The light from the screen shifted across Jian Yunchen’s face. On the screen was their intense argument; outside the screen, Jian Yunchen was strangely quiet.
He finally began to speak: “The drug last time… I gave it to myself.”
Qin Mu looked down at him. Jian Yunchen was curled up beside him, as languid as a cat about to fall asleep. He even wondered if Jian Yunchen was already talking in his sleep.
“Only by being tied to you could I return to the Jiang family.”
“But you were unwilling, so I could only do that. I lied to you, I used you.”
“I’m sorry.”
After saying this, he seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Before Qin Mu could respond, he continued:
“You asked me before why I showed up at Jiang Yunhan’s birthday party.”
“I wanted to see how he would spend it.”
“I wasn’t envious; I was just a little curious.”
“I hate him very much,” Jian Yunchen said suddenly.
“He’s always smiling, gentle and kind. Even toward me, this younger brother who appeared out of nowhere, he is the same as always.”
He suddenly let out a soft laugh. “I’ve warned him, I’ve threatened him, and I’ve never hidden my hatred for him. But he still approaches me as always, afraid that I’ll be unhappy, afraid that I’ll be angry.”
“For someone like him, it’s truly hard for anyone not to like him.”
“So, you like him too.”
“But I hate him, I really do.”
The argument between the male and female leads had passed. The female lead hid in her room, crying secretly. The screen became dark and oppressive. At dawn, the male lead gazed at the location of her window, turned, and walked toward the distance.
Jian Yunchen felt a bit cold and wrapped the blanket a little tighter.
“Qin Mu…” he asked softly, “If I were Jiang Yunhan, would everything be different?”
Would he not be the existence that could only be brought into the world because Jian Xin knelt on the ground crying and begging?
Would he not have to hide, and go through all of this?
Would he not have to… go to hell?
Qin Mu’s movements froze. The pure white tassels slipped from his hand. He raised his arm and pressed down on Jian Yunchen’s head.
“You are Jian Yunchen.”
His tone was still somewhat lazy, but at this moment, it felt tender.
Jian Yunchen froze, and following the movement, he pressed completely into Qin Mu’s embrace.
The heartbeat coming from right next to his ear seemed to serve as proof of the answer.
“You don’t need to be gentle and kind, nor do you need to be liked by so many people.”
“Jian Yunchen, you don’t need to envy him.”
Qin Mu’s gaze fell on the television screen, his deep voice ringing out softly: “What are you afraid of?”
Jian Yunchen didn’t answer.
“Have you achieved your goal?”
“Is this enough?”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t let a single person off. I would make everyone pay the price they deserve. In this gamble of fate, no one is innocent. If someone has enjoyed the benefits, then they must bear the cost of your anger.”
“You can fail anyone.”
“But you cannot fail yourself.”