Chapter 24

The gradually darkening twilight was left far behind by the speeding motorcycle.

The evening breeze was gentle, carrying a slight chill, which felt comfortable against the skin. Qin Qingzhuo took a deep breath.

The last time he sat behind Jiang Ji, it was rushing to meet Ji Chi in the dead of night. Apart from anxiety, there wasn’t much thought for anything else.

But now, he felt relaxed both physically and mentally, fully experiencing the joy of riding. Since breaking up with Ji Chi, he hadn’t felt this good.

He felt like chatting, so he started a conversation with Jiang Ji, “When did you write the lyrics for ‘Daytime Roar’?”

At first, Jiang Ji didn’t respond, so he was about to drop the topic. But unexpectedly, Jiang Ji answered after a while, “After the senior middle school entrance exam.”

“So early?”

“Mmh.”

Jiang Ji’s voice wasn’t too loud when he spoke, and they were both wearing helmets, so Qin Qingzhuo had to lean closer to hear.

“Your grades in the entrance exam must have been good, right?” Qin Qingzhuo asked again.

This time, Jiang Ji didn’t answer.

After a while, Qin Qingzhuo spoke again, “Jiang Ji, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I have a feeling that things will gradually get better.”

Jiang Ji kept his gaze forward, still not responding.

That indescribable feeling of fullness, sourness, and ambiguity seemed to surge in his chest again.

He tightened his grip on the motorcycle handlebars, eyes fixed ahead under the helmet visor, and slowed down the speed.

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly said.

“Hmm?” Qin Qingzhuo almost doubted if he had heard correctly.

“The match…” Jiang Ji furrowed his brows halfway through his sentence, not continuing.

He mentioned “the match,” and Qin Qingzhuo knew where this “I’m sorry” came from.

He suddenly felt like laughing. It was a bit awkward for Jiang Ji, who wasn’t even used to saying “thank you,” to say “I’m sorry.”

But he held back his laughter and teased, “You can actually say sorry?”

“It’s okay,” after a moment, Qin Qingzhuo said softly, “Jiang Ji, I forgive you.”

Several minutes later, as the motorcycle tilted slightly and entered Honglu Slope Street, the speed slowed down, eventually stopping beside the Honglu Bar.

Qin Qingzhuo got off the bike, took off his helmet, and stood to the side, looking at the narrow street.

He hadn’t noticed before, but in the twilight, Honglu Slope Street was actually quite beautiful. The trees on both sides of the old street were lush and vibrant, exuding an unadorned vitality. At the moment, the bars on the street had not yet lit up with glaring flashing lights. The dim street lamps reflected on the green leaves, making the entire alley exceptionally quiet. You could almost hear the rustling of the leaves swaying in the wind.

Jiang Ji took off his helmet and hung it on the handlebars. He pushed the motorcycle to the side of the wall and stepped on the stand with his foot. At the same time, he gripped the handlebars of the motorcycle and lifted it upwards. The bike was quite heavy, and his well-defined forearm bulged with veins from the effort.

As the motorcycle was propped up, he looked towards the alley next to the Honglu Bar. In an instant, the muscles all over his body tensed vigilantly.

The alley was dimly lit, and apart from the uneven contours of the walls, nothing else was visible. However, Jiang Ji instinctively sensed that someone was hiding there. He straightened up, his gaze towards that direction turning somewhat gloomy.

Feeling the breeze blowing in the quiet alley, Qin Qingzhuo felt comfortable. He turned around and looked at Jiang Ji, “I won’t go up…” Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Ji reached out and grabbed his wrist, then pulled him behind him, whispering, “Don’t say anything.”

Following his gaze, Qin Qingzhuo looked into the alley. The empty alley was silent, with no sign of anyone.

Jiang Ji’s voice sounded deep, “Come out.”

There was no movement in the alley, but Qin Qingzhuo instinctively felt Jiang Ji’s judgment was correct—were those debt collectors coming again?

“Not coming out, huh?” Jiang Ji’s gaze turned even darker, his tone low and oppressive, “Then hide well, preferably where I can’t see you.”

After saying that, he stared at the depths of the alley like a still pond.

A few seconds later, the shadow on the wall suddenly moved, and a man slowly emerged from behind the opposite wall—a half body of a man, to be precise.

The man wasn’t short, but he appeared somewhat hunched over, making him seem timid. He didn’t resemble the previous debt collectors who were burly and aggressive.

Qin Qingzhuo heard the man call Jiang Ji’s name, his voice very low, as if afraid to make a noise.

Jiang Ji released Qin Qingzhuo’s wrist, turned his back to him, and said, “You go to the bar first.”

Then he walked towards the man. As he approached, the man became even more timid. “I just… wanted to see you,” he stuttered.

Jiang Ji had already walked up to him, reached out, grabbed his collar, and pulled him out from behind the wall, staring into his eyes. “Did I not tell you, don’t let me see you again?”

“Jiang Ji, I just wanted to know…” The man’s words were cut off as Jiang Ji bent his knee and delivered a heavy blow to his abdomen. The man immediately doubled over in pain and struggled to continue, “Your mother, she…”

Jiang Ji released his grip on the man’s collar and grabbed a three-legged stool leaning against the wall nearby. Without waiting for the man to finish his sentence, he swung the stool forcefully at him.

He showed no mercy, adopting a reckless posture. The stool struck the man’s already hunched back heavily, causing one of the flimsy legs to snap instantly. But Jiang Ji showed no intention of stopping; he continued swinging the broken stool at the man’s back.

Qin Qingzhuo had no doubt that if Jiang Ji continued like this, the man would be beaten to death.

Seeing this, he hurried over and reached out to stop Jiang Ji’s arm, which was about to swing down again. “Jiang Ji!”

Consumed by anger, Jiang Ji instinctively shook off Qin Qingzhuo’s hand with force.

The next moment, Qin Qingzhuo’s hand hit the rough wall nearby, and the sudden pain caught him off guard, making him grunt.

This grunt quickly cooled Jiang Ji’s anger. He stopped his actions and turned to look at the injury on Qin Qingzhuo’s hand.

He tossed the broken stool in his hand, and as it hit the ground, it fell apart completely. Then he walked over and kicked the man’s hunched back, saying coldly, “Get lost. If you care about your pathetic life, don’t let me see you again.”

After saying that, he ignored the man, grabbed Qin Qingzhuo’s hand, and walked towards the direction of the bar.

Although Jiang Ji had always shown disdain for everyone, this time, Qin Qingzhuo could feel that Jiang Ji’s emotions were completely different from before. It wasn’t a simple dislike or rejection; it was hatred filled with rage and hostility.

This feeling seemed to have occurred once before… Qin Qingzhuo recalled Jiang Ji’s birthday, when he walked into the second floor full of hostility, his hand injured.

As they reached the motorcycle, Qin Qingzhuo glanced back. The man was standing against the wall, still watching their direction.

His back was hunched, seemingly enduring the pain, looking pitiful and pathetic.

Qin Qingzhuo looked at Jiang Ji. “Jiang Ji, about that person…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Ji interrupted him, “How’s your hand?”

“It’s nothing,” realizing that Jiang Ji didn’t want to talk about that person, Qin Qingzhuo raised his injured hand. “Just scraped it against the wall.”

In the dim light, Jiang Ji saw a smear of blood on the side of Qin Qingzhuo’s hand.

Qin Qingzhuo already had fair skin, so the bloodstain on his hand looked particularly stark. Jiang Ji furrowed his brows.

“Let’s go,” he reached out to push the motorcycle, “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No need,” Qin Qingzhuo rotated his wrist, “just a minor skin injury, no need to go to the hospital.”

Jiang Ji remained silent, pushing the motorcycle and turning it around.

Seeing that he didn’t change his mind, Qin Qingzhuo raised his hand to stop him, “Jiang Ji, really no need. You should have hydrogen peroxide here, right? Disinfecting it will be enough.”

Jiang Ji looked at him, “Aren’t you quite delicate?”

Qin Qingzhuo could only look at him somewhat helplessly.

“Then let’s go upstairs.” Jiang Ji didn’t insist anymore, propped up the motorcycle again, and walked towards the bar with Qin Qingzhuo.

The second floor was pitch-black, and Jiang Ji raised his hand to turn on the lights.

“Your sister hasn’t come back yet?” Qin Qingzhuo asked.

“She’ll be back late,” Jiang Ji walked towards his room, “You can sit on the sofa for now.”

Qin Qingzhuo walked to the sofa and sat down. After a while, Jiang Ji came out carrying a first aid kit.

Qin Qingzhuo watched as he squatted down beside him, one knee against the floor, opened the first aid kit containing hydrogen peroxide, iodine, tweezers, cotton balls, gauze, and tape.

Was it because he often got injured that he had such a complete set of supplies? Qin Qingzhuo watched as Jiang Ji skillfully took out what he needed.

Just as he was about to reach for the hydrogen peroxide, Jiang Ji had no intention of handing it to him. Instead, he said briefly, “Hand.”

Qin Qingzhuo let his left hand, which was not injured, drop down. He then extended his right hand, which was injured, towards Jiang Ji.

With one hand holding Qin Qingzhuo’s wrist, the other using tweezers to hold a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide, Jiang Ji gently applied it to the bleeding wound.

The hydrogen peroxide was cool, and Jiang Ji’s hand was also cool. Qin Qingzhuo looked at Jiang Ji who was crouched beside him, treating his wound with his eyes downcast. Jiang Ji’s long and dark eyelashes, covering those deep black pupils, gave an almost gentle illusion, in stark contrast to the aggressive Jiang Ji just a few minutes ago.

Qin Qingzhuo noticed a dark scar on the back of his hand, likely the mark left by the wound on his hand that day, his birthday.

Watching Jiang Ji discard the cotton ball and pick up the gauze to wrap his hand, Qin Qingzhuo whispered, “Jiang Ji.”

Jiang Ji didn’t look up and just let out a “hmm”.

“On your birthday, were you late because of that person too?” Qin Qingzhuo asked.

Jiang Ji’s movements paused for a moment. Without saying a word, he continued to bandage Qin Qingzhuo’s wound.

After finishing the bandaging, he packed the items into the first aid kit, took it back to his room, and when he came out again, he was holding the old guitar. He looked at Qin Qingzhuo, “Let’s go.”

TN:

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