Chapter 31: Lovers
The moment his hand was wrapped tight, Wen Ling felt like a ship lost in the fog that had suddenly found its direction, being pushed forward securely.
It was a singular sensation; a warm current seemed to flow slowly through his heart, the heat swelling within his chest.
He liked this feeling.
[Conquest value +1%, current conquest value 70%]
The crosswalk was short, and they crossed it quickly. When they reached the entrance of the supermarket, their hands were still joined.
Cheng Ge didn’t feel much joy at this unexpected surprise. It felt like using someone else’s pain for his own benefit. A subconscious act of kindness, once assigned the purpose of raising conquest values, seemed to lose its purity.
But Cheng Ge reflectedāhadn’t everything heād done from the start been for the conquest value? Even if there were times he genuinely wanted what was best for Wen Ling, the ultimate goal was the same. So what was the point of distinguishing between them? What was the point of acting high and mighty?
Thinking this, Cheng Ge let go of his hand as if completing a task.
Wen Ling stopped in his tracks, his gaze lingering on his own hand and then on Cheng Ge’s back for a moment. Without waiting for Cheng Ge to turn around and remind him, he caught up in two or three steps.
There were a few scattered employees by the shelves. Seeing customers approach, one asked politely, “Do you need help finding anything?”
“No need to trouble yourself, we’ll just look around.”
“Alright.”
They walked to the appliance section first. “Let’s buy another hairdryer. You only have two back there.”
“Okay.”
Cheng Ge wanted to buy a small pot to cook things occasionally, but not knowing if the original host’s roommates would mind someone cooking in the dorm, he decided against it.
They walked to the daily necessities aisle. Cheng Ge muttered to himself as he walked, “Suitcase and toiletries are all there. Do we need to buy toilet paper?”
“There’s a lot in the storage room.”
“Then a kettle?” Cheng Ge denied his own suggestion immediately after asking. “There should be hot water right outside the dorm, no need to waste money.”
“Eh, do you have a thermos?”
“No.”
“Then let’s buy one.”
“What for?”
“To drink water,” Cheng Ge assumed Wen Ling’s common sense was so lacking he didn’t even know the function of a thermos, so he explained, “Just as the name implies, it keeps heat. When winter comes, you won’t have to worry about the water getting cold so fast.”
Wen Ling wasn’t an idiot. He couldn’t understand why Cheng Ge was spouting so much nonsense to him. “Why should I be afraid of the water getting cold?”
“Huh?” Cheng Ge blinked. “Drinking cold water is bad for the stomach. Didn’t I tell you before? What if your stomach hurts again?”
After a moment of silence, Wen Ling curved his eyes at him. “Mn.”
Mn what? Cheng Ge didn’t understand. What was Wen Ling “Mn-ing” about?
But Cheng Ge didn’t dare ask if the guy had something wrong with his brain, so he just smiled politely at Wen Ling and continued browsing.
After walking through the entire supermarket and buying some odds and ends, they only filled one shopping bag.
Cheng Ge paid the bill, picked up the bag, and left the supermarket with Wen Ling.
“What are you looking at?” Waiting for the traffic light, Cheng Ge noticed Wen Ling’s gaze drifting over the passersby coming and going.
“Observing.”
Cheng Ge found that interesting. “Observing what?”
“Holding hands.” Wen Ling lifted his chin, gesturing for Cheng Ge to look at a young couple holding hands.
Cheng Ge: “?”
Before he could figure it out, the light turned green. Subconsciously, Cheng Ge grabbed Wen Ling’s elbow and walked quickly to the other side of the road.
Probably because Wen Ling had said the words “holding hands” beforehand, Cheng Ge realized with a delayed reaction that dragging the person across the road seemed to count as holding hands with Wen Ling too.
But the objects of Wen Ling’s observation were a young couple. what were he and Wen Ling? It felt weird.
A strange emotion rose in Cheng Ge’s heart. He wanted to let go, but Wen Ling gripped his hand back.
Wen Ling’s hand was very fair, the knuckles distinct, but excessively thin and not very large; it was a bit of a struggle for him to fully grasp Cheng Ge’s larger hand.
“You can hold hands even when not crossing the road,” Wen Ling said.
So Wen Ling was observing and researching this.
Cheng Ge felt his hand becoming a bit hot from the grip and coughed lightly. “But they are a couple.”
“We are too.”
Cheng Ge’s brain felt like it exploded instantly. “!?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Do you know what a couple is?”
“Two people who like each other being together.”
For a moment, Cheng Ge didn’t know what to be surprised about first. What did he mean he and Wen Ling were a couple? Didn’t the little lunatic just purely have possessiveness over the identity of “Cheng Ge”?
What was this about two people being together? He wasn’t the original host, and Wen Ling hadn’t even discovered he was a Cheng Ge with a different core. What was Wen Ling talking about, two people being together? What was this about liking each other?
But he couldn’t say any of this to Wen Ling. In the end, he could only come up with a lame rebuttal: “But the couples you saw are opposite sexes.”
“Can’t same-sex people do it?”
“Of course nā” Cheng Ge’s sentence halted. He felt he couldn’t answer like that.
Two people who love each other can be together. They don’t have to be opposite sexes.
If he told Wen Ling that same-sex couples couldn’t exist just to refute him, that would be discrimination against same-sex lovers and would further twist Wen Ling’s values.
But he and Wen Ling didn’t love each other. He was just acting, and Wen Ling was driven purely by possessiveness, not like. Yet, the little lunatic thought that was “like.” What should he say?
After hesitating for a moment, Cheng Ge felt that no matter what, Wen Ling had made progress. At least he observed things and knew how to use evidence to reason with him, rather than pressing a small knife against his leg and ordering him to hold hands. He should give some encouragement.
Besides, it was just holding hands, right? What hadn’t they done? What was there to be awkward about!?
“…Actually, that works too.” Cheng Ge took Wen Ling’s hand again. Being grabbed was really uncomfortable; he couldn’t understand why Wen Ling liked being held.
Cheng Ge secretly observed Wen Ling’s profile, noting that he looked quite happy and proud.
A short walk away was the snack street. It wasn’t yet time for school or work to let out, so the crowd wasn’t large.
Because he ate little as a child, Cheng Ge had always craved food from snack streets, not to mention he hadn’t eaten it for almost two months. He tugged at Wen Ling’s hand. “Want to buy some food for lunch?”
“Mn.”
The two picked a bit of this and a bit of that, finally sitting down in front of a stall selling beef offal. Snacks covered the table.
After eating it all, Cheng Ge felt the taste was not bad; it could rival the snack street near his old university.
” I feel like it was pretty delicious,” Cheng Ge muttered to himself.
But Wen Ling said, “But I think the rice you cook is more delicious.”
Cheng Ge’s hand holding the skewer paused. “?”
He couldn’t tell if Wen Ling was sucking up to him or telling the truth. It should be the latter; if he was sucking up, that would be too OOC (Out of Character).
He didn’t expect Wen Ling to have moments of sweet-talking. It made him a little embarrassed. “Thanks for the praise.”
After eating, Cheng Ge felt refreshed all over. His mind went blank for a bit, then he thought about where to go play next.
“Want to go to the arcade?” He had been a few times with classmates before. Aside from being a bit loud, it was okay.
Wen Ling frowned. “Too loud.”
“Then want to go play basketball? There seems to be a gymnasium nearby.” Cheng Ge hadn’t played basketball in a long time; his hands were itching.
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