Chapter 16

Qin Qingzhuo was already so drunk that he had lost all awareness of walking, relying entirely on Jiang Ji to drag him forward.

After a few steps, Jiang Ji stopped and felt the need to change the approach.

Dragging Qin Qingzhuo like this was not only slow but also laborious. Moving towards Honglu Bar, both of them would probably be exhausted.

Another issue was that Jiang Ji had to exert force to lift Qin Qingzhuo’s body upward, reducing the friction between Qin Qingzhuo’s feet and the ground, making it faster. However, in doing so, Qin Qingzhuo leaned against him, his hair itching Jiang Ji’s neck, and the moist breath on his neck felt a bit strange.

Jiang Ji straightened up, supporting Qin Qingzhuo, then bent down, his arms hooking around Qin Qingzhuo’s legs. When he stood up again, he effortlessly lifted Qin Qingzhuo.

This made things much easier. Jiang Ji quickened his pace.

Qin Qingzhuo wasn’t too heavy – he wasn’t short, standing just over 1.8 meters, but his shoulders were slightly narrow, and he had a slim waist and legs, with not much flesh on his whole body.

On the way, a drunk passerby whistled at Jiang Ji, probably mistaking him for someone picking up a drunk person. Jiang Ji ignored him.

“Nice waist,” the drunk guy got more enthusiastic, pointing at Qin Qingzhuo and giving a thumbs up, “good catch.”

When Qin Qingzhuo left home, he casually threw on a loose T-shirt. When Jiang Ji lifted him from the ground just now, the T-shirt got pushed up a bit, and now the upper body was leaning down, the fabric hanging due to gravity, revealing a narrow and tight waist.

Jiang Ji had been focused on moving forward and hadn’t noticed this detail.

Now hearing the drunk guy’s comments, he gave him a cold glance, reaching up to pull down the hanging fabric on Qin Qingzhuo’s body, covering that part of his waist.

Carrying Qin Qingzhuo was much more energy-efficient than dragging him. Jiang Ji pushed open the bar’s door, locked it, and carried him upstairs in one go.

Jiang Bei had changed from sitting cross-legged on the pool table to lying on it, still playing King of Glory on Jiang Ji’s phone.

Hearing Jiang Ji’s footsteps, she sat up, glanced at Jiang Ji as he approached, and said with some disdain, “Where did you pick up this drunk?”

“Just focus on your game,” Jiang Ji continued walking.

“Where are you going to let him sleep?” Jiangbei asked again, “The sofa?”

Jiang Ji didn’t say anything. When he walked to the sofa, his steps paused.

The sofa wasn’t very long. Usually, Jiangbei had plenty of room lying on it comfortably, but if Qin Qingzhuo were placed on it, his legs would have to curl up, which would probably feel quite cramped.

“The pool table works too,” Jiangbei said, playing her game. “Anyway, wherever he sleeps, just don’t take up my space.”

Before she finished her sentence, Jiang Ji had already carried Qin Qingzhuo into his own room.

Placing Qin Qingzhuo on the bed, Jiang Ji stood straight and looked at him.

Aren’t you quite popular? Jiang Ji thought. Now you’re being looked down upon by a little demon. Even big stars have their off days.

Qin Qingzhuo felt like the world was spinning, his brain lacking oxygen, feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit. It wasn’t until his body touched the soft bed that he felt a bit better.

He struggled to open his eyes and saw the unfamiliar and glaring incandescent light above him.

His eyelids were heavy, and his gaze moved slowly from the ceiling to his surroundings. He saw parts of this room—it was decorated simply but seemed quite tidy. He felt like he had seen this room before, but his brain was too sluggish to remember why it seemed familiar.

Where is this… a hotel?

Qin Qingzhuo remembered that he had just been on the roadside, trying to call a driver, but his phone’s battery had been drained completely due to continuous calls from Ji Chi. Suddenly feeling very tired, too tired even to stand, he had crouched down to rest for a while.

His entire face buried between his knees, overwhelming sleepiness swept over him. His consciousness was slowly eroded by alcohol, and he vaguely felt someone come over and pat him, whispering a few words in his ear.

The voice intermittently drilled into his ears: “It’s so late, why are you alone here?… It’s dangerous to be this drunk… Shall I take you home?”

He remembered wanting to push that person away with force, telling them to leave, but did he actually do it? He couldn’t remember.

After that, everything spun, and he didn’t remember anything else. He opened his eyes and found himself lying here.

Qin Qingzhuo was very drunk. In his remaining consciousness, there was hardly any rationality left, only chaotic and thick emotions.

Those emotions that would only quietly hide in his subconscious when he was sober, such as grievance, resentment, and unwillingness… now boldly attacked him from all sides, mercilessly plunging him into a state of pain and vulnerability. Along with them, there was also a crazy urge for revenge and transgression.

As alcohol spread through his body, this urge expanded rapidly, quickly occupying and dominating his brain.

He could guess why the person in front of him brought him to bed—wasn’t it to have s*x?

In the entertainment industry, casual encounters with strangers were abundant, but Qin Qingzhuo had never tried it himself. Firstly, he disdained it, and secondly, there was no need for it. From the beginning, he had never lacked suitors by his side, and later on, he had been in a long-term relationship with Ji Chi.

But now, alcohol had consumed the calm restraint he had when sober, and the crazy urge for revenge and transgression became more rampant.

Qin Qingzhuo half-opened his eyes and saw the person in front of him bending down towards him.

The lower half of this person’s face had superior lines, sharp contours, slightly thin lips, and seemed quite young—probably because the slightly downturned corners of the lips gave off a rebellious teenage vibe.

Qin Qingzhuo wanted to see the full face of this person, but his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds and couldn’t open. His line of sight was blocked by his eyelids and couldn’t move upward.

However, it didn’t matter. Qin Qingzhuo was inherently a natural aesthete, and his aesthetic experience over the years was deeply ingrained in him like instinct—a person’s upper face determined the upper limit of their attractiveness, and the lower face determined the lower limit. With the lower face of this person being superior, he shouldn’t be ugly. If he was just an object for a one-night stand, he could accept it.

With a dry and sore throat, Qin Qingzhuo hoarsely asked, “Did you bring protection?”

Seeing Qin Qingzhuo’s pale face, almost transparent, frowning with a pained expression, Jiang Ji took a pillow from the side, leaned down, and just as he was about to lift Qin Qingzhuo’s head slightly, Qin Qingzhuo suddenly whispered something softly.

He didn’t hear it clearly, and his movement paused: “What did you say?”

“Condom,” he saw Qin Qingzhuo closing his eyes, his face showing impatience.

Jiang Ji: “…”

Not hearing a response, his perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed even tighter: “If you don’t have one, don’t touch me.”

So, he took him for the cowardly corpse-picker just now. Jiang Ji stood up straight, looked down at Qin Qingzhuo from top to bottom, and couldn’t help but sneer, “Drunk like this, you think you can resist if I touch you?”

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t move, probably blacked out again.

Jiang Ji was speechless for a while. These celebrities all had the same temper—look glamorous, but rotten to the core.

Just like that Ji Chi, they were all of the same ilk.

After a few seconds, Jiang Ji bent down again, about to put a pillow behind Qin Qingzhuo’s head, when Qin Qingzhuo suddenly propped himself up, painfully stretching his neck.

Jiang Ji subconsciously moved backward, but it was too late; Qin Qingzhuo had already vomited onto his clothes.

Jiang Ji: “…”

Fine, deploying biological weapons was also a strategy.

Fortunately, Qin Qingzhuo seemed to have eaten nothing all day. After a few dry heaves, he only vomited a little alcohol.

Jiang Ji lifted his arm, pulled the collar of his shirt, took it off his head, and grabbed a clean one from the side to put on.

After finishing vomiting, Qin Qingzhuo staggered off the bed, stumbling towards the door. At this point, he was slightly more sober and realized that he had completely overestimated himself just now; he couldn’t accept this kind of thing at all.

“Where are you going?” Jiang Ji raised his hand and grabbed his arm.

In the next moment, Qin Qingzhuo swung a punch, “Get lost!”

Jiang Ji reflexively tilted his head to avoid it. The fist barely grazed the side of his face, and the airflow brushed past his ear.

Taking advantage of Jiang Ji’s dodge, Qin Qingzhuo forcefully freed his wrist. One punch missed, and another punch followed.

Despite being heavily drunk, the force behind the consecutive punches was not weak.

Fortunately, intoxicated people moved relatively slowly. Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Ji grabbed Qin Qingzhuo’s arm, frowning, “Look carefully, I’m not interested in sleeping with you.”

With a gaze clouded by intoxication and limited awareness, Qin Qingzhuo’s eyes slowly moved upward, paused for a few seconds, and the sluggish consciousness seemed to react: “…Jiang Ji?”

Jiang Ji felt the arm he held had lost strength and looked at Qin Qingzhuo, “Give me your address; I’ll take you back.”

But in the next second, Qin Qingzhuo’s head drooped, and his body relaxed as if in slow motion. Jiang Ji had no doubt that if he weren’t standing in front of him blocking the way, he would have fallen to the ground.

Qin Qingzhuo’s forehead heavily knocked against Jiang Ji’s shoulder, and Jiang Ji lifted his hand to support him.

He patiently waited for a while, but Qin Qingzhuo remained motionless.

Jiang Ji urged again, “Give me your address.”

Still no response.

Then he felt his shoulder seemed wet. The warm liquid seeped through the fabric onto his shoulder.

…Was Qin Qingzhuo crying?

Jiang Ji turned his face to the side, only able to see the swirl of hair on top of Qin Qingzhuo’s head, unable to see his expression.

Just a breakup, was it necessary? This thought crossed his mind again.

But he didn’t say anything more. He helped Qin Qingzhuo sit on the bed, didn’t pay any more attention to him, and went to the bathroom to grab a mop to clean the stains on the floor.

Exiting the room, he saw Jiang Bei sitting on the pool table, still playing King of Glory on his phone.

“Hurry up and go to bed,” Jiang Ji urged as he held the mop.

“I know!” Jiang Bei’s eyes remained fixed on the screen, fingers moving rapidly, paying no attention to Jiang Ji.

In the bathroom, Jiang Ji rinsed the mop and took a shower. He also took the opportunity to wash the dirty clothes.

Originally, this second floor was two mahjong rooms. When the owner of the pool hall ran away, Jiang Ji’s previous residence in the urban village was facing demolition. He was searching for a house everywhere with Jiang Bei.

The rent in Yancheng was already outrageous, and Jiang Ji was also accompanied by a little girl. To rent two rooms at a low price, he could only look for half-basement options. After Huang Ying learned about it, she rented these two rooms to Jiang Ji at a low price.

This place was not originally intended for habitation, lacking a refrigerator and washing machine. However, Jiang Ji didn’t mind. As long as there was air conditioning, it was good; otherwise, summers in Yancheng were unbearable.

Wringing the water out of the clothes, Jiang Ji hung them in the bathroom. He lifted his hand and tore off the bandage from his forehead, tossing it into the trash can. He hadn’t noticed during the shower, and the bandage had gotten wet. He looked at the wound in the mirror; it had stopped bleeding.

This minor injury was nothing to him. Usually, at most, he would dab it with hydrogen peroxide a few times to be done with it. Only someone like Qin Qingzhuo, pampered and privileged, would go to the trouble of having a doctor treat and bandage it…

However, thinking that this wound was caused by that person smashing his own guitar, Jiang Ji’s eyes darkened, and his brow furrowed again.

Calculating, he had owned that guitar for ten years. He didn’t know if it could be repaired after this damage…

When Jiang Ji came out of the bathroom, Jiang Bei was still enjoying herself.

“Is this game not over yet?” Jiang Ji looked at her.

Jiang Bei was absorbed in her game, “Stop nagging.”

“Hurry up,” Jiang Ji impatiently leaned against the door frame, waiting for her.

A few seconds later, the phone rang with the sound of “victory,” and Jiang Bei jumped off the pool table, contemptuously saying, “Trash.”

Jiang Bei walked over and casually threw her phone. She seemed to be in a good mood.

“Did you win?” Jiang Ji took the phone from her and saw the large word “Victory” on the screen. “Not easy, even elementary school kids can win.”

“MVP,” Jiang Bei said calmly.

Jiang Ji teased her intentionally, “What’s MVP?”

“You don’t understand anything,” Jiang Bei’s proud expression was evident.

Seeing her acting a little cocky, Jiang Ji found it amusing, but he didn’t show it. He urged her again, “Quickly wash up and go to bed.”

“I’ve already finished washing up. What’s the situation with that person?” Jiang Bei glanced curiously at Jiang Ji’s room.

“How about you sleep in this room tonight and ask him yourself?” Jiang Ji suggested.

“Dream on. You brought him back; you deal with it yourself.” Jiang Bei refused and went into her room.

Back in his room, Qin Qingzhuo was still sitting on the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his legs, his head hanging low, buried between his arms. His slightly long hair hung down, covering his face.

Leaning against the desk, Jiang Ji twisted open a bottle of mineral water, took a few sips, and looked at Qin Qingzhuo, asking, “Water?”

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t respond.

Jiang Ji threw a new bottle over, and the mineral water landed on the bed beside Qin Qingzhuo. He didn’t say anything more, turned off the light, and went to bed.

There were no curtains on the window, and the dim streetlights outside cast faint shadows into the room.

Jiang Ji threw a bunch of keys next to Qin Qingzhuo again, “If you want to go back, go downstairs and open the door yourself.”

He closed his eyes and, after a while, heard Qin Qingzhuo stand up and leave the bedroom.

He thought Qin Qingzhuo had taken the keys to go downstairs, but then he heard the sound of water from the bathroom.

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t turn on the light. He stood in front of the sink, cupped his hands under the tap, rinsed his mouth, and washed his face a few times.

Cold water dripped down his cheeks and hair, and he could clearly hear the sound of his own breath, one after another.

He straightened up and looked at himself in the mirror. In the dim light, he could only vaguely see a pale face, like a ghost.

He found it somewhat amusing for no reason.

In the mirror, behind him, hung the clothes that Jiang Ji had washed.

He thought of how he had vomited all over Jiang Ji, which could be considered revenge.

It wasn’t really funny, but he suddenly burst into laughter.

Everything was quite ridiculous, including himself.

He laughed for quite a while. Then he heard very light footsteps behind him. He turned his head, and a slender figure was crouching at the doorway, a pair of big eyes shining faintly in the darkness. “Wow, you scared me. I thought it was a ghost.”

Hearing this, Qin Qingzhuo couldn’t stop laughing. Because he was already unsteady due to drunkenness, he had to brace himself against the sink to avoid falling.

Jiang Bei looked at him like he was crazy for a while, then turned and went back to her room.

The bedroom had poor sound insulation, and Jiang Ji could hear everything happening outside.

He heard the sound of running water from the tap, Qin Qingzhuo’s suppressed laughter, and Jiang Bei’s footsteps.

Then he heard Qin Qingzhuo come back.

Qin Qingzhuo quietly lay down next to him.

The air conditioning in the room was set very low, making the warmth of a person’s body particularly noticeable. Jiang Ji discreetly pulled his arm away.

With his eyes closed, he heard Qin Qingzhuo whisper softly, “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble too. I’m staying for one night, so I won’t say thank you.”

Jiang Ji remained silent.

He heard Qin Qingzhuo shifting around beside him, then his breathing gradually became steady, as if he had fallen asleep.

This person had cried and laughed tonight, and Jiang Ji thought he would be restless all night, but unexpectedly, he fell asleep so quickly?

Jiang Ji found it unbelievable.

He slowed his breathing, cleared his mind, and prepared to sleep.

But perhaps because he hadn’t lived with anyone before, he always felt Qin Qingzhuo’s presence next to him was particularly strong.

Maybe when the visual senses were blocked, other senses would become particularly sensitive. He smelled the scent on Qin Qingzhuo—not just the smell of alcohol, but also a very faint fragrance. It was a bit like the scent of osmanthus, mixed with some woody fragrance, faintly discernible… Going out at night and still wearing perfume?

He didn’t know how long it had been. Qin Qingzhuo, who had fallen asleep, turned over, lying on his side facing him. His slow breath brushed against Jiang Ji’s arm so lightly, as if it were an illusion.

After a while, still unable to fall asleep, Jiang Ji reached for his headphones on the pillow and put them in his ears, playing a soft piece of music.

The pure piano melody began, smoothing out the wrinkles in his emotions.

His breathing gradually became steady, and drowsiness crept in along his nerve endings.

In the moment just before falling into sleep, he suddenly recalled Qin Qingzhuo’s words that he hadn’t clearly heard before—

“Did you bring condoms?”

Jiang Ji opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. The overhead light cast a slanted shadow due to the dim streetlamp.

He realized he had a physical reaction.

Damn it, what’s this situation?

After lying down for a while, Jiang Ji got up, left the bedroom, and sat on the couch outside.

He took a cigarette from the pack, bit it, but didn’t grab a lighter.

After a moment, he took out the cigarette, skillfully twirled it between his fingers as if spinning a pen.

It took quite a while for that reaction to subside.

This reaction came out of nowhere. Could it be because he hadn’t relieved himself manually recently?

It seemed reasonable. With a series of unfortunate events happening recently, he hadn’t been in the mood for such things.

But no matter what, having a reaction to a recently heartbroken drunkard was really…

Jiang Ji lowered his head, frustratingly ran his hand through his hair.

He grabbed a cushion and tossed it, then lay down on the couch.

Well, let’s just make do with sleeping here tonight.