Chapter 130
After school that afternoon, Shen Shuyu walked with Wen Jiafei toward the school gate. As soon as they stepped out, they saw Shen Xili standing there.
Shen Shuyu thought for a moment and asked, “Are you guys going home together now?”
Wen Jiafei and Shen Xili lived opposite each other, and their part-time job schedules were similar, so going home together was normal.
Wen Jiafei said, “My mom said to ask him to come over for dinner too.”
Shen Xili had helped out quite a bit during the days Wen Yue returned, plus Wen Yue had watched the Survival War videos over the past two days and knew quite a bit about Shen Xili. So, knowing Shen Shuyu was visiting, she had Wen Jiafei invite Shen Xili along.
Shen Xili paused for a moment when he saw Shen Shuyu. After the two walked over, Wen Jiafei said, “Let’s go.”
Shen Shuyu and Shen Xili exchanged a glance. Both tacitly looked away, flanking Wen Jiafei on the left and right.
Wen Jiafei was silent for a while. He felt the atmosphere between these two was a bit strange today, but he wasn’t one to probe deeply. He pursed his lips and walked quietly.
The three arrived at Wen Jiafei’s home in this strange silence. Shen Xili went to his own home first to drop off his things. Shen Shuyu entered the room. Wen Jiafei’s home looked much warmer now compared to when they first signed the contract. There were flowers everywhere, and a cat tree stood against the wall. Meimei was lying on it, squinting its eyes and swaying its tail lazily.
Shen Shuyu walked over. Before he even reached it, Meimei opened its eyes, let out a soft meow at Shen Shuyu, climbed down from the cat tree, and rubbed affectionately against his leg.
Shen Shuyu squatted down and gave it a stroke, then turned to ask, “Where’s Auntie?”
Just as he spoke, the door to the master bedroom opened, and Wen Yue walked out smiling.
Shen Shuyu stood up. “Auntie.”
Wen Yue said, “Shuyu is here.”
Shen Shuyu went up to greet her. “Auntie, your complexion looks really good lately.”
Wen Yue said, “Yes, I’ve even gained some weight.”
Wen Jiafei put his things away, greeted Wen Yue, and went into the kitchen. Wen Yue had slowly prepared some simple ingredients in the afternoon.
She could only do light housework for now; Wen Jiafei handled the rest when he returned or before he left.
Shen Shuyu picked up the cat. “Auntie, you feed it so well. It’s only been two days, but it looks much rounder than before.”
Wen Yue smiled. “It can eat. It eats until it’s round and rolling every day.”
She looked around the house and asked in confusion, “Where’s Xili? Hasn’t he come back yet?”
“Oh, he went to his place to drop off his things. He’ll be over soon,” Shen Shuyu explained. He held the cat with one hand and scratched its chin with the other; Meimei was purring comfortably.
Wen Yue ushered Shen Shuyu to sit on the sofa. They chatted for a while, and Wen Yue suddenly remembered something. “I bought a small cake today. Sit tight, I’ll go get it.”
Shen Shuyu said okay. Soon, Wen Yue brought the cake over. “I bought it from the bakery at the entrance of the residential complex. Their cake is delicious. Try it quickly. When Auntie gets better later, I’ll bake cakes for you guys personally.”
After speaking, she glanced at the door again and muttered, “Why hasn’t Xili come yet?”
Shen Shuyu looked at his watch. Shen Xili said he was just dropping off a bag, but ten minutes had already passed and he still hadn’t arrived.
He thought for a moment and said to Wen Yue, “It’s okay, Auntie. I’ll go call him. Maybe something delayed him.”
Shen Shuyu stood up and walked toward the door. He opened it and found the opposite door was slightly ajar. Perplexed, Shen Shuyu walked over, pushed the door open, and called out from the doorway, “Shen Xili?”
No answer.
Shen Shuyu’s eyelid twitched. He became alert, lightened his footsteps, and walked in.
Shen Xili’s home was well-lit. He walked into the living room but saw no one.
Strange. The door is open, where did the person go?
Could he be in the bedroom?
Shen Shuyu looked at the bedroom door, which also had a crack open. Maybe he was changing clothes. He pursed his lips and raised his voice again, “Shen Xili? Auntie is calling us to eat cake. Are you ready?”
No response.
“Shen Xili?”
The uneasiness in Shen Shuyu’s heart magnified. He thought about turning back to get Wen Jiafei, but then he heard the sound of glass shattering in the bedroom. Disregarding everything else, he immediately turned and rushed in, pushing the bedroom door open.
The curtains in the bedroom blocked most of the light. Shen Shuyu saw the bed was messy. He walked quickly to the other side and found Shen Xili lying on the floor, curled up in pain. The veins on the back of his hands bulged from the agony.
“Shen Xili!”
Shen Shuyu hurried to his side, wanting to help him up but not knowing where to start. He could only ask, “Shen Xili, are you conscious right now?”
Shen Xili opened his eyes. His forehead hair was soaked with sweat, and his eyes were somewhat unfocused. It seemed to take him a long while to recognize the person asking him.
“Why… why did you, come in?”
His voice was hoarse, as if he had used a tremendous amount of effort just to get those words out.
Watching his painful state, Shen Shuyu frowned uncontrollably. This current state overlapped with the dream Shen Shuyu had.
The black bug…
Shen Shuyu’s gaze landed on his chest. Shen Xili’s palm was also pressed against his heart, sweat soaking through the fabric.
He pursed his lips and said, “Sorry.”
Shen Xili’s brain was processing information extremely slowly right now. He didn’t know why Shen Shuyu was apologizing. He stared at him blankly with unfocused eyes.
Then, he felt the hand clutching his chest being pried away. Before he could look down, his shirt hem was pulled up from the bottom, roughly rolled up to below his collarbone, revealing his lean waist.
“You…” He wanted to ask what Shen Shuyu was doing, but the torture had drained him of strength.
Shen Shuyu frowned slightly, staring intently at Shen Xili’s chest. Sure enough, under that patch of skin on his chest, something seemed to be slowly wriggling. The speed was much slower than what he saw in his dream, but even this made Shen Xili look like he had died once over. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like later when the thing wriggled rapidly.
Shen Shuyu asked, “Do you have nutrient solution at home?”
Perhaps Shen Shuyu’s behavior was too bizarre, shocking Shen Xili into a clearer state of mind. Lying on the floor, Shen Xili said briefly, “Refrigerator.”
Shen Shuyu immediately stood up and dashed to the kitchen. He remembered in the dream, after he forced about half a tube of nutrient solution into Shen Xili, the other felt much better. It was very likely that the growth of the black bug required nutrients; when it couldn’t find nutrients, it would suck them from the human body. Nutrient solutions were potent and common items in the interstellar world, containing far more nutrients than the human body.
Shen Shuyu grabbed a tube of nutrient solution from the fridge and ran back to the master bedroom quickly. Shen Xili’s condition had improved slightly; he had climbed up, supporting himself on the edge of the bed with one hand. His clothes were straightened out, but he still looked like he had just been fished out of water.
Shen Shuyu walked over quickly, knelt on one knee, and brought the nutrient solution to his lips. “Drink it.”
Shen Xili glanced at him but opened his mouth and drank the solution down.
Miraculously, the pain in his chest really seemed to alleviate. After the nutrient solution was finished, Shen Shuyu raised his hand to stroke his back and asked, “Feeling better?”
Shen Xili rested his forehead against the edge of the bed. Instead of answering Shen Shuyu’s question, he asked hoarsely, “Why did you come?”
“Auntie called us to eat cake. Since you didn’t come over for so long, I came to check. I didn’t expect to find you like this.” Shen Shuyu simply sat on the floor as well. “How is it now? Better?”
Shen Xili lifted his head to look at Shen Shuyu. His face was pale and bloodless at the moment, but he didn’t look as tormented as he had at first.
He should be much better.
Shen Shuyu breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to speak, he was suddenly grabbed by the collar by Shen Xili and yanked forward violently. His center of gravity shifted, and he almost crashed into Shen Xili’s chin.
He steadied himself and was about to speak when he looked up and met a pair of unfathomable eyes.
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