Jiang Xiaoshuai and Guo Chengyu were up all night, fooling around until the middle of the night without sleeping.
“Tomorrow I’m definitely putting a lock on our fridge,” Jiang Xiaoshuai said.
Guo Chengyu looked at him with both love and frustration. “You might as well just put a lock on his stomach while you’re at it.”
“Right!” Jiang said angrily. “And don’t even give him the key.”
“You’re so petty,” Guo teased, rubbing his scratchy stubble against Jiang’s cheek and pretending to scold him. “He just ate a bit of your stuff, is it really that serious?”
Jiang dodged and replied, “It’s not about the food, it’s that shameless, greedy attitude of his that pisses me off! And after he takes advantage, he doesn’t even say thanks, and even screws me over in return!”
In truth, Jiang was still holding a grudge over Chi drugging him.
“Alright, alright…” Guo gently patted him. “I even gave Chi that expensive vase, what are you getting worked up over some snacks for?”
“What vase?”
Guo said, “This afternoon Chi took a liking to a vase at my place, so I just gave it to him.”
The moment Jiang heard that, he sat up straight and glared at Guo.
“How much was that vase?”
Guo thought for a moment. “I don’t quite remember, I bought it at an auction a couple of years ago, over a million, I think.”
Jiang immediately started punching and kicking him.
“You spendthrift! You just give away something worth over a million like it’s nothing? What’s next, if you’re in a good mood, are you going to give me away too?”
…
Wu Suowei had dozed for over three hours, his eyelids heavy, but even with his eyes closed his mind stayed clear. He cracked his eyes open a sliver, staring at the milky-white wallpaper opposite him, feeling inexplicably upset.
He slowly sat up, threw on some clothes, and walked out.
There were still sounds of talking and playing coming from Jiang Xiaoshuai’s room. At first Wu didn’t plan to say anything, but seeing that Jiang was still awake, he figured he should at least let them know.
Guo had somehow produced a few packs of dried tofu and was waving them in front of Jiang.
Jiang’s eyes lit up. “Hey, weren’t those dried tofu snacks stolen by Wu Suowei?”
“And now I stole them back,” Guo said.
Jiang’s handsome face lit up with undisguised glee, like he’d scored some huge victory getting his own stuff back from someone else.
Guo pinched his cheek. “Look at you, so easily pleased.”
The truth was, Guo knew this was exactly what Jiang cared about, which is why he’d lowered himself to sneak those few pieces of dried tofu out of Wu’s pocket.
Jiang said, “Just thinking about how crazy Dawei must be going when he can’t find his dried tofu makes me so happy.”
Then Guo started rubbing his head against Jiang’s stomach, making him laugh and roll around on the bed.
Wu stood at the door watching for a while, then turned and walked away instead of going in.
Jiang heard something outside and quickly pressed Guo down. “Stop messing around, I think I heard the door.”
He got up and saw that the bedroom door was ajar.
Jiang seemed to realize something and rushed out without even putting on shoes.
Just as Wu was about to step out the door, Jiang grabbed his arm.
“Dawei, where are you going?” Jiang’s face was uneasy.
Wu said calmly, “I’m going home.”
Jiang assumed Wu had overheard something and hurried to explain, “I was just messing with you earlier, you can take whatever you want here. You can stay as long as you like.”
Wu replied, “Don’t overthink it. I just can’t sleep here.”
“We were too noisy?”
“No. I just… don’t sleep well in unfamiliar beds.”
Jiang said, “You don’t sleep well? Aren’t you the type who knocks out as soon as your head hits the pillow? You stayed at my clinic for ages and I never noticed you having trouble sleeping.”
Wu smiled faintly.
“Didn’t before. Do now.”
Then he patted Jiang on the shoulder and walked out the door.