At night, on the little bed, they began their usual routine of kicking and shoving each other.
No idea why, back when they used to share this same little bed at the clinic, they slept harmoniously. But now that each of them had someone, cramming onto the same bed again led to all-out chaos.
They’d cuddle tight before falling asleep, all smiles, and then in the middle of the night it was a free-for-all: fighting over the blanket, climbing on each other, random kicks. On nights when the air conditioning was blasting, by morning the whole blanket would be on the floor as they both fought for it. When they didn’t turn on the AC, by morning they were both drenched in sweat under both blankets.
So, both of them caught a bit of a cold these past two days.
On top of that, Wu noticed that Jiang had become restless at night, tossing and turning, sighing long and often talking in his sleep like a little kid. Every time Wu turned to face him, he saw a little curl of hair against the door and Jiang frowning like he’d been wronged.
All signs pointed to Jiang missing Guo Chengyu, though he never said it. Maybe he was worried about leaving Wu alone, or maybe he still held a grudge about Guo kissing Wu that time. Either way, Wu could sense Jiang was kind of suppressing himself.
So Wu secretly sent Guo a message.
And then, steeled himself to kick Jiang off the bed five times.
The first time, Jiang climbed back up with a laugh and kept sleeping.
The second time, he climbed back up muttering and went back to sleep.
The third time he started to get annoyed and warned Wu to watch it.
The fourth time he lost it and cursed loudly.
By the fifth time, he stormed out and slammed the door.
And right outside the window was Guo’s car, what reason did he have not to go?
The next day, Wu went to work as usual.
After Jiang had been “purified” through a round of sex, he was full of energy, strutting around all smug in the afternoon. When he went out with Guo to take care of some things, they confirmed that Chi would be released soon. Pleased, Jiang decided to take advantage of Chi’s absence to bully Wu a little more.
So the two troublemakers headed over to mess up Wu’s business.
Jiang only realized when he got there, Wu really wasn’t exaggerating. He truly had the ability to attract women! Such a tiny stall, yet surrounded by layers of female customers, many of whom had clearly come back multiple times while pretending to be surprised. Clearly Wu didn’t need a shill, this crowd was shilling for free.
Jiang squeezed to the front, pretending not to know Wu.
“Hey, big bro, you can blow anything?”
Wu put on an act. “As long as you’re paying, no matter how complicated, I can blow it.”
“How much to blow a Yao Ming?”
Wu replied earnestly, “One hundred.”
“And a Guo Jingming?”
“Fifty.”
Jiang suppressed his laugh. “So you charge by the height, huh?”
That line immediately drew laughter from the crowd.
Jiang continued, “Blow me a Yao Ming!”
So Wu picked up a piece of sugar and really blew a little human figure. But he miscalculated the amount of sugar, aiming for a tall, strong figure, it came out with thin arms and legs.
When he handed it over, Jiang scowled.
“Oh, come on! I paid for a Yao Ming and ended up with a Guo Jingming! You’re ripping me off! I’ve seen shady vendors before but never one as shady as you!”
Wu shot him a look like please, stop already.
But Jiang raised his voice even louder.
“Come look, everyone! Never seen such a shameless vendor! I asked for a Yao Ming and he blew me a Guo Jingming, who scams people like this?!”
The crowd burst out laughing.
Wu glanced at Guo for help.
But then Jiang also looked at Guo and deliberately asked, “Hey, big bro, you be the judge, is this Yao Ming or Guo Jingming?”
Guo Chengyu stood at the edge of the crowd, smoking, watching Jiang Xiaoshuai clown around while grinning, looking every bit the accomplice to the mischief.
Wu Suowei could only say, “Fine, I’ll blow you another one.”
So this time, Wu tore off a big chunk of sugar, blew a solid, sturdy sugar figurine, and handed it to Jiang.
“Happy now?”
But the moment it reached Jiang’s hand, he squished it flat.
“Hey, isn’t this still Guo Jingming?” Jiang cried out dramatically.
Wu ground his teeth. You little… enough already!
But Jiang kept at it, turning to the onlookers. “You all heard him just now, right? He said Yao Ming is a hundred, Guo Jingming is fifty, and now he’s giving me a Guo Jingming and still wants a hundred from me! Tell me, isn’t that a scam?”
Wu placed both sugar figures in front of Jiang.
“Even if they’re both Guo Jingming, together they’re still worth a hundred!”
Jiang stacked the two sugar figures on top of each other and came up with an even sharper line:
“Even stacked, these two still aren’t as tall as one Yao Ming!”
That line had a few people in the crowd laughing so hard they doubled over.
Wu was so mad he started laughing too. He waved Jiang off and said, “Go, go, go, stop messing with me already. Get lost!”
“Hey, how can you curse at me?” Jiang jeered even louder. “Look at this, everyone, what an arrogant vendor! Can’t even blow something decent and now he’s cussing me out!”
Wu simply ignored him, turning instead to ask a girl nearby, “What would you like me to blow?”
But before the girl could even speak, Jiang shouted again.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Just because you’re handsome you can ignore me?”
At that, Guo Chengyu stubbed out his cigarette, smiling faintly as he stepped into the crowd and finally dragged the troublemaking Jiang away.
Once Jiang was in the car, he even rolled down the window and flashed Wu a mischievous grin.