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Home/ The Selfish Gene/ Chapter 56

In this way, I started living under the same roof with Ji Chenfeng. When he is at home, he always locks himself in the bedroom, doesn’t talk to me, and doesn’t eat with me. When he comes out of the bedroom, it’s often time to go to the pet hospital to work.

In such a small space, it’s really surprising that the water in the well doesn’t interfere with the water in the river to this extent. If he acted like this in the past, I would have just destroyed the house. But now, as long as I even try to talk to him, he will just take off his cochlear implant. Moreover, he gets off work really late, sometimes even works overnight, so it’s a good thing for me that I don’t have to wait for him to eat together.

Ji Chenfeng still hadn’t given me the key, so I could only order takeout and try not to leave the house as much as possible.  Fortunately, I no longer need to go out to socialize or worry about the so-called “job” like before.

However, keeping an eye on the rise and fall of the stock market every day could still be considered a day-off job from 9 to 3.

As for the sign language class. Although I successfully moved into Ji Chenfeng’s house, I still continued to take that class. Firstly, if I skip those two classes, it would be too purposeful and give people a bad impression; Secondly, this is one of the few opportunities to interact with Ji Chenfeng, and I don’t want to give it up; Thirdly, and the most important reason– I really want to learn sign language, understand Ji Chenfeng better, and get closer to him.

On Wednesday night, after the class, it was still me, Ji Chenfeng, and Meng Xueyan walking towards the subway station.

Meng Xueyan knew that I was living in the Fly City now, so she asked me how much the rent was. She said that she knew some places with cheap rent and could introduce it to me. She almost had the word “run quickly” written on her face.

“No money, I’m staying at a friend’s house.” My gaze swept over her, and I glanced at Ji Chenfeng, who seemed completely indifferent to what we were talking about.

“Is that so…” When Meng Xueyan heard that it was a friend’s house, she couldn’t say anything more.

“Then if you want to rent a house in the future, come find me.” She said with a slightly disgusted expression on her face, “I heard from my friends that Fly City is very messy. It is full of thieves and prostitutes, and the people there are so low quality.”

Fly City is indeed dirty and chaotic, with residents from all walks of life, but not all of them are thieves and prostitutes. Most of the people I have met so far, such as the old couple in the noodle shop, the chubby men in the stalls, including Yan Shanhua and Ji Chenfeng, are serious about their lives and don’t steal or rob.

I know that outsiders have a long-standing prejudice against Fly City, and I used to be the same way. I looked down upon them and despised them, but now I don’t know if I have realized that I am actually a “Fly City person”, but I don’t like to hear people criticize it.

“You guys should go first.” Ji Chenfeng happened to pass by the convenience store and walked in without saying anything like last time.

I don’t like hearing it, so will Ji Chenfeng like it?

I stared at his back and hurriedly said to Meng Xueyan on the side, “I remember I also have something to buy. You can leave first.” Without waiting for the other person to say anything, I hurriedly followed Ji Chenfeng into the convenience store.

Ji Chenfeng stood in front of the freezer and took a large bottle of oolong tea and a box of whole milk into the shopping basket. I leaned over and threw a box of instant coffee into his basket.

Life is really unpredictable. In the past, when I stayed in a hotel, I had to replace everything inside with new ones. If the coffee machine cost less than five digits, I thought it produced dishwashing water. Now let alone coffee machines, I think instant drinks are all good.

“Are you angry?” I asked tentatively, observing Ji Chenfeng’s expression.

“No.” Ji Chenfeng turned around and walked towards the bread shelf without stopping.

Shouldn’t a normal person wonder why people ask this? Answering so decisively showed that he knew exactly what I was talking about that might make him angry.

He may not be angry, but he definitely cares about it.

“She didn’t mean it. If she knew you lived in Fly City, she wouldn’t have said that.” Seeing a few puff-like things, I was a little curious, so I took one and threw it into Ji Chenfeng’s basket.

“I’m not angry with her, you don’t have to worry.” Ji Chenfeng didn’t have much reaction to my behavior of randomly putting things in his shopping basket. He took another bag of toast and a bottle of jam, and then walked towards the cashier with the basket.

When he was paying the bill, I followed him. I originally thought that since I lived in his house, I would be the one to pay for the items. As soon as I took out my phone, a call came through. When I looked at it, it was Zheng Jieyuan.

I haven’t seen him since New Year’s Eve, and it’s been roughly four months. I knew from Tang Bian that he had approached me, but for various reasons, I never replied to his phone call— he asked me for help, but I couldn’t; He asked me to reminisce about the past, but my identity was embarrassing.

We are no longer in the same circle. If he doesn’t come to me, I won’t contact him again. But if he calls me… I won’t hang up on him.

“Hello?” I turned sideways and answered the phone.

“Damn, it got through? Sang Nian, is it you? You finally answered my call!” Zheng Jieyuan seemed to be drunk, speaking with a loud tongue and a tone that seemed to want to cry.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Sang Nian, I miss you so much! You don’t know how I’ve been living these days. Where are you? Come and find me quickly… I can’t do without you…” He seemed quite drunk, but not to the point where he completely lost consciousness, and he could still smoothly report his address.

Looking at the family planning shelf in front of the checkout counter, my fingertips passed by one by one before finally stopping on “Ultra Thin 001”. I took a box and threw it into the shopping basket that was being checked out. The cashier instinctively glanced at me and then at Ji Chenfeng.

“This will be billed separately.” Ji Chenfeng threw the little red box out without mercy.

This guy……

“I know, I’ll be there right away.” After hanging up the phone, I pushed the red box to the cashier and asked, “How much is it?”

After paying the bill, I stuffed the small box directly into my pants pocket without asking for a bag. When I looked back, I saw that Ji Chenfeng had already walked out the door.

“Teacher Ji!” I chased him out the door, and knowing that he didn’t like me touching him, I especially tugged at the shopping bag. “I need to go out for a while and wanted to let you know.”

He stopped and didn’t continue moving forward.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“My friend asked me to go find him at some bar. I should be back before twelve o’clock.”

It’s almost ten o’clock now. Half an hour to go there and half an hour to come back. There is not much time left for Zheng Jieyuan.

“Bar?”

I nodded: “Yes.”

“Friend?”

“Yes.” I nodded again.

Ji Chenfeng thought for a while and set up access control: “I won’t leave the door open after eleven-thirty.”

Just half an hour… I will have to get up as soon as my butt gets hot from sitting.

I wanted to bargain with him, but when I saw his pitch black eyes, I felt a chill in my heart and suppressed the words that came to my lips.

Just half an hour…

I took a deep breath and said, “Okay.”

Ji Chenfeng took the subway home, and I took a taxi directly to Zheng Jieyuan’s place.

That is a bar about the same size as the Taotie Noodle House. Apart from Zheng Jieyuan, there are also two pairs of customers in the store, both talking and laughing. Only Zheng Jieyuan seemed to have a deep grudge, with two plates of small dishes and a huge bottle of sake in front of him. His face was red and his eyes were blurred after drinking.

“You’re here.”

As soon as he saw me, he held my hand and asked me to sit down and drink with him. After I said I quit drinking, he immediately lowered his eyebrows, looking like an abandoned dog.

It’s quite pitiful.

“You are different.” He raised the wine glass to his lips and tilted his head slightly, saying, “It seems… something has changed.”

“What has changed?” I am indeed thinner than before.

“You’ve changed back to… the Sang Nian from before.” He burped. “You used to be like this before. Although you looked down on everyone, you wouldn’t lose your temper. Later, you were always gloomy, and I was a little afraid of you…”

I was stunned— it turned out that this was what had changed.

“How are things going at home?”

“Don’t mention it.” Zheng Jieyuan shook his arm, “I don’t know why my family suddenly owed billions in debt. My dad never told me anything. He said he would find a solution, but then ran away, leaving a mess behind. I went to ask my mother for help, but then I saw Lu Sui wearing a bathrobe and opening the door. I couldn’t even borrow a penny and even got into a fight with him.”

Zheng Jieyuan’s life is full of dog blood.

“Your mother is single and rich. She is free to find as many people as she wants. You should be more open-minded.” I advised him.

He put down his wine glass and said angrily: “I don’t understand! That fucking bastard actually used to call me brother. I treated him as a brother, but he wants to be my father! Fuck him!”

He was filled with righteous indignation and couldn’t control his voice, which attracted many glances from other people in the bar.

I quickly comforted him: “Alright, it’s okay. I’ll help you beat him up next time I see him.”

Zheng Jieyuan’s tense muscles relaxed, he sighed deeply and looked at me, “But I’m still better than you. I’ve heard about your family. Your father has severed the father-son relationship with you. What happened? Weren’t you engaged before? Your father should be very happy to be able to marry into the Gu family. “

My hand patting his back paused upon hearing this. It seems that outsiders only know one thing but not the other. Sang Zhengbai hid his “family scandal” quite well.

Although I am not his biological child, he still raised me. I thought I didn’t look like him, but I still did. Due to the stubbornness and arrogance in my bones, I would rather have my teeth knocked out and swallow blood than be laughed at by others. It’s almost the same as Sang Zhengbai.

“Gu Ying and I were fake.” Now, I have nothing to hide, so I confessed to Zheng Jieyuan, “I like men.”

He blinked, not really understanding, but then he finally came to his senses. His eyes widened, and his whole face showed deep shock.

“Do you like… like men?” He murmured to himself as if he was dreaming, “No wonder Gu Ying went abroad to relax… No, wait, you guys are fake, so what’s wrong with her… She must be hiding from her parents on purpose. No, do you like men?” He confirmed with me again and again, “I have known you for so many years, and you have only had girlfriends. Are you sure you like men?”

To be precise, I don’t like men, it’s only Ji Chenfeng. But these are not important to Zheng Jieyuan. It is enough for him to know that what I like now is a man and that I am gay.

It’s up to him to decide whether he wants to stay friends with me or not.

“I went to bed with a man, and I let him…” I thought about it, but couldn’t find the right words. In the end, I could only lean into Zheng Jieyuan’s ear and whisper those two explosive and impactful words.

“Fuck!” Zheng Jieyuan covered his ears and distanced himself from me. He realized that he screamed too loudly and quickly covered his mouth with his other hand.

I nodded to show that he understood correctly: “That’s right.”

I listened to Zheng Jieyuan vomiting a lot of bitter words one-sidedly, until it became difficult for him to even pronounce anything.

Time was almost up, so I found the boss to pay the bill and helped him get into the taxi.

I originally wanted to send him back, but when I thought about how his family owed billions, could that house still be his? And since he’s so drunk, it’s hard to leave him alone. It won’t matter if others get drunk, but when he is drunk, he can be tied up and taken to the mountains to get a tattoo. After hesitating for a moment, I still reported the address of Fly City to the driver.

It’s almost 11:30 when I got back. Just let Zheng Jieyuan stay with me in the living room for one night, and then let him go tomorrow.

Although I had a good idea, I still couldn’t help but feel nervous when I finally climbed up the stairs with Zheng Jieyuan and stopped in front of the blue iron door.

Putting Zheng Jieyuan on the small round stool in the corridor, I knocked on the door and waited anxiously for Ji Chenfeng to open the door.

There were footsteps at the door. After a while, the iron door opened, but only about twenty centimeters. Ji Chenfeng turned around and entered the house again.

“You are three minutes late. I won’t wait for you next time.”

I hurriedly opened the door and called him hastily: “Wait!”

He looked back at me with a bit of confusion in his eyes.

I stepped aside and let him see Zheng Jieyuan leaning on the small table behind me, like a puddle of mudd.

“Can he stay with me tonight? I’ll ask him to keep his voice down so as not to disturb you.”

Ji Chenfeng’s eyes gradually became strange. He looked at Zheng Jieyuan, who was drunk and unconscious. For a long time, he just kept standing there like a stone statue.

It wasn’t until I called him again that he spoke in a calm tone: “Do you think of this place as a hotel?” His eyes quickly swept over my face, “If you want to have fun, go somewhere else. Don’t dirty my house.”

After speaking, he walked towards the bedroom, but after taking two steps, he suddenly paused and walked back, closing the door in front of me.

Looking for fun? With whom, Zheng Jieyuan?  ?

What kind of disgusting association is this?

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