When Jiang Xu spoke, Shen Fangyu’s hands stilled. After a moment, he turned his head and said, “It’s settled. It’s not like I don’t have a salary. Money can always be earned again.” Then he quickly changed the subject: “Hungry? I’ll make you something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry, Shen—”
Seeing that Jiang Xu was about to bring up the house-selling issue again, Shen Fangyu hurried into the kitchen. Near the kitchen, he suddenly discovered along the wall a massive stack of braised beef instant noodles—an imposing tower fit for a supermarket display.
Jiang Xu’s voice followed him, “Shen Fangyu, listen to me—”
“Jiang Xu,” Shen Fangyu cut him off, “what is wrong with you? All instant noodles taste the same. Don’t you ever get sick of them?”
“Shen Fangyu—”
Before Jiang Xu could finish, Shen Fangyu rushed back in a few strides, gripping his shoulders. “You should sleep. Rest more, you’ll recover faster. At night the vagus nerve gets easily stimulated, you might not fall asleep later. Even if you don’t want to sleep, our daughter needs to. Early to bed, early to rise, good for the body, right? What do you want for breakfast tomorrow?”
He deployed his talent for endless chatter to its fullest, coaxing and steering Jiang Xu all the way back to the bedroom. He pressed him down onto the bed, pulled the quilt over him, and before Jiang Xu could find a chance to argue, darted out of the room and even thoughtfully closed the door behind him. Remembering the lock was broken, he braced a hand against the panel for good measure.
But his prediction was off, today Jiang Xu didn’t throw a pillow at him.
Staring at the closed door, Shen Fangyu actually blanked out for a moment. Only when his stomach growled did he snap back to himself and head toward the kitchen.
The layout of Jiang Xu’s kitchen was simple; one glance could take it all in. After exchanging a stare with the towering instant noodle stash, Shen Fangyu finally opened the refrigerator.
And so his midnight hunt led him to discover what “absolutely empty” really meant.
The fridge was spotless, pristine without even the faintest whiff of food. Shen Fangyu half-suspected that Jiang Xu had never used it since buying it. Even the display models in appliance stores weren’t this barren.
Was Jiang Xu some kind of immortal who’d abandoned mortal food?
Shen Fangyu stood there dumbfounded for a long while, triple-checking the entire house, only to confirm that aside from the instant noodle tower, there was truly nothing else edible. Finally, utterly resigned, he turned back toward that neatly stacked wall of noodles.
As they stared each other down, he could almost see those rows of braised beef noodles grinning smugly at him.
Fine.
Jiang Xu might not be hungry, but he sure was and besides… he really did need to start getting used to the life of eating instant noodles.
He pulled out two cups, stripped off the packaging, and poured in hot water with practiced ease.
The night’s commotion had interrupted his work. When he checked his inbox, students’ PPT slides had already arrived. In the time it took for the noodles to cook, Shen Fangyu skimmed their experimental progress. After a while, he couldn’t help muttering in disdain, “Fine, if your thesis is crap that’s one thing, but you can’t even make a decent PPT?”
Grumbling, he set down his tablet and carried the two steaming bowls of noodles to Jiang Xu’s bedroom door.
This time, he actually remembered to knock, except his hands were full, so he bumped the door with his knee. The lock was still broken, so with just a little force, the door creaked open on its own.
Jiang Xu, lying in bed, looked straight at him and said immediately: “Shen Fangyu, I don’t agree—”
“You’re not allowed to bring up the house.” Shen Fangyu cut him off faster than lightning. “Otherwise tomorrow I’ll go tell Professor Cui that your hand injury was from smashing a mirror yourself.”
“…” Jiang Xu was silent for a moment. “Then at least say you knocked.”
“I really did remember to knock this time.” Shen Fangyu shook the two bright red instant noodle cups in front of him. “I just didn’t have a free hand.”
As he spoke, he started walking into the room. Jiang Xu, who had just been lying calmly, abruptly sat up. “Take it out.”
“Huh?” Shen Fangyu blinked.
Jiang Xu pointed at the window. “If you dare eat instant noodles in my bedroom, you can go sleep on the street.”
“Wow, why are you so picky about these weird rules? Who spoiled you into this neat-freak habit?” Shen Fangyu muttered. “Seeing your bedroom this messy, I thought you and I were the same type.”
He swept a glance around the bedroom, ready to mock the stuffed toys that had given him nightmares all night, but suddenly realized, aside from the long-eared rabbit next to Jiang Xu, all the plush toys had vanished.
What the hell… haunted already?
“Jiang Xu,” his voice wavered slightly, “can you see the stuffed toys in this room?”
“I put them away.” Jiang Xu looked at him coolly.
Shen Fangyu: “…”
“You had nightmares last night,” Jiang Xu continued evenly. “Your sleep-talking was unbearable.”
Shen Fangyu’s temples throbbed. “And you think you don’t talk in your sleep?”
“What did I say?” Jiang Xu lifted his eyes.
“…”
Shen Fangyu recalled those five words of sleep-talk. If he repeated them out loud now, it’d be no different than insulting himself. So he focused on his nose, then his heart, and said solemnly, “I won’t argue with you.”
Jiang Xu gave him a look that clearly said, I knew you were talking nonsense. “You’re a grown man, still scared of ghosts.”
At that, Shen Fangyu’s anger shot up. Reckless and vengeful, he marched back to the dining table with both cups of noodles and didn’t leave Jiang Xu a single bite.
After his midnight snack, he cleaned up the bathroom mirror shards, confirmed the next meeting time with his students, and padded quietly back to the bedroom. By then, Jiang Xu had already turned off the lights.
Thinking he was asleep, Shen Fangyu was just about to take off his shoes and lie down on his makeshift floor bed when a quiet voice drifted from the bed: “Shen Fangyu.”
“God, don’t spook me in the middle of the night.” Shen Fangyu nearly went into cardiac arrest. He clutched his chest and looked toward Jiang Xu’s shadowy outline in the dark. “Why aren’t you asleep yet? You’ve got outpatient clinic tomorrow.”
Jiang Xu stayed quiet for a while. Only when Shen Fangyu’s eyes adjusted enough to faintly make out his expression did Jiang Xu speak.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Selling the apartment?” Shen Fangyu mimed stuffing in earplugs.
“Not selling the apartment.”
Shen Fangyu exhaled in relief.
“I asked Tang Ke. His friend said there was an issue with the journal’s review process. As for when Dr. Kenn’s paper will actually be published, it’s uncertain. He told me to prepare for the worst. And… there’s something I haven’t told you.” Jiang Xu paused. “Up until now, my visa application to go abroad still hasn’t gone through.”
“So, about your suggestion that day at the prenatal exam”—he looked at Shen Fangyu—“I think… keeping the baby probably is the best choice for now.”
Shen Fangyu froze. He hadn’t expected Jiang Xu’s words to turn in this direction.
No matter the external reasons, this was the first time Jiang Xu, who had been so resolute about terminating the pregnancy, had taken the initiative to propose giving birth.
“Everything you just said, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear.” Jiang Xu added, “Don’t even think about selling your apartment. I won’t let you bankrupt yourself for me.”
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t bring up the house again? Jiang Xu,” Shen Fangyu shook his head, “money isn’t the issue. This is what I should make up to you for.”
At that, Jiang Xu’s voice suddenly sharpened with anger, “Why are you acting like some big benefactor? Who asked you to go around selling apartments and cars? What is this, you’re Yang Xier selling herself to save her father, and I’m Huang Shiren, the evil landlord exploiting you? You’re the child’s father, and I’m not? Stop with this constant ‘compensation’ talk, and stop acting like I’m the victim and you’re the perpetrator. Shen Fangyu, I let you into my home, tolerated you wrecking two of my doors like a damn husky, not so you could come ‘make it up to me.’ Can you get your mindset straight?”
He spoke in one go, probably after rehearsing it a few times in his head, without even stopping for breath, leaving Shen Fangyu no chance to cut him off.
At last, all the words he’d been holding back burst out in one long stream.
Shen Fangyu just stared at him, stunned, unable to react for a long while.
Before, Jiang Xu would’ve just rolled his eyes or given him a deadpan look, never bothering with extra words. This was the first time Shen Fangyu had heard him fire off sentences like a machine gun, one after another, throwing barbs straight at him. He was momentarily dumbstruck.
And Jiang Xu, having finally vented all he needed to, fell silent again.
The two sat facing each other in quiet for a while. Eventually, Jiang Xu glanced at Shen Fangyu and asked, “Do you remember, back in junior year, when we represented the school at that debate competition?”
Between Jiang Xu saying he’d keep the baby and his sudden long-winded tirade, Shen Fangyu was still in a daze. He absentmindedly nodded.
“What did you say back then?” Jiang Xu reminded him.
Shen Fangyu thought hard for a long time. “Don’t remember.”
Jiang Xu: “…”
The final debate topic had been the age-old “Cooperation vs. Competition.” The opposing school drew the position that competition was more important, while A Medical University’s stance was that cooperation was more important.
The rival debaters used the fertilization process as an example: out of tens or even hundreds of millions of sperm, only the fastest, strongest one could reach the egg and develop into a fetus.
Back then, when Shen Fangyu heard this, he laughed. Standing right beside Jiang Xu, brimming with youthful pride, he told them:
“The true process of fertilization is actually one of cooperation. Countless sperm that arrive at the egg first sacrifice themselves, dissolving the corona radiata and zona pellucida layer by layer, so that the one who comes late, the lucky one, can finally reach the egg and complete fertilization.”
“The sperm that ultimately enters the egg isn’t the best, it’s the luckiest. Because only with the cooperation of countless partners was its success made possible.”
“Without cooperation,” Shen Fangyu said, “no matter how strong a competitor is, success is hard to achieve.”
The sunlight slanted in through the classroom windows during the debate, spilling across Shen Fangyu’s face and making his eyes shine brightly.
For some reason, that moment stayed in Jiang Xu’s memory for many years.
He even remembered what color clothes Shen Fangyu wore that day, remembered how he hadn’t buttoned them properly, remembered the slightly careless, roguish air he carried, the cocky smile tugging at his lips.
…And he remembered how, after saying those words to the opposing debaters, Shen Fangyu had turned his head with a smug tilt and shot him a glance.
Who would have thought that the very person who had said those words in the end would be the one to forget them.
“Shen Fangyu,” Jiang Xu looked at him, “pregnancy itself is a process of cooperation. I agreed to let you stay at my home because you said…” His eyes dropped. “You’re also the child’s father.”
“You…” For a moment there was absolute silence. Shen Fangyu seemed unable to process it. He swallowed with difficulty. “What do you mean?”
Jiang Xu lost all hope in the man’s comprehension. With a blank expression, he flipped the quilt, turned over, and lay with his back to Shen Fangyu.
“It means if you mention selling your apartment one more time, get out.”