Chapter 104: The Past
In truth, if that girl hadn’t taken the lead in publicly spreading rumors online, even if Cheng Ge wracked his brains, there would have been no way to have her sentenced for so long.
At that point, a simple “misunderstanding” or an apology might have let the matter pass. If that had happened, Cheng Ge really would have let Wen Ling handle the revenge quietly himself; otherwise, as mentioned before, it wouldn’t be satisfying.
But as it happened, that girl had taken the lead in spreading rumors online, which allowed the matter to be categorized as something serious.
Regardless, the matter was truly over. While there were lingering effects, life could be considered peaceful. Just as Cheng Ge thought life had fully entered its tracks, an unexpected problem arose.
For several days in a row, Wen Ling’s state wasn’t very good. It only happened during certain periods and wouldn’t last long.
Moreover, it was hard to say what exactly was wrong. He just seemed to always have something on his mind, brooding with worry. Sometimes, his eyes would avoid Cheng Ge’s gaze.
By now, Cheng Ge’s perception of Wen Ling’s emotional changes was very sharp. At first, he thought it was just a minor, harmless tantrum, so he didn’t ask. But even after coaxing him more, it didn’t seem to work, and Cheng Ge realized the problem might be serious.
Autumn had recently arrived, and the weather had turned cooler, especially in the mornings and evenings. This day, after Cheng Ge finished his shower, he turned off the air conditioner and switched on the small fan. He lay down in the covers and pulled the person who was closing his eyes and faking sleep into his arms. He squeezed Wen Ling’s neck and let out a very soft “Agh.”
“Who is it that isn’t asleep yet? For someone who’s asleep, why are the eyeballs under the eyelids moving back and forth?”
Wen Ling had been loving this little game lately. Once he was caught, he would smile at Cheng Ge. Cheng Ge would also curve his eyes, kiss Wen Ling’s eyelids and the corners of his eyes twice, pat Wen Ling’s back, and look into his eyes without speaking.
He wanted to wait for Wen Ling to take the initiative to tell him what was wrong.
If he asked, Wen Ling would probably say it, but he wasn’t a roundworm in Wen Ling’s stomach; he couldn’t sense something was wrong every single time. If a time came when he couldn’t perceive it and Wen Ling hadn’t learned to speak up, it would be terrible.
Wen Ling and Cheng Ge stared at each other for a long time. Wen Ling tilted his chin up to kiss Cheng Ge’s lips before burying himself back into Cheng Ge’s embrace.
After a long time, Wen Ling suddenly called Cheng Ge’s name, his voice very small and muffled.
Cheng Ge stroked Wen Ling’s head with a strong sense of reassurance. His voice was also very calm: “What is it? Tell me.”
“I don’t like girls.” This time, his voice was a bit louder.
Cheng Ge was stunned for a moment, then he let out a sigh in his heart. Was this thought of Wen Ling’s influenced by that girl’s actions?
“Xiao Wen, I don’t think we can be like that,” Cheng Ge’s voice remained very gentle. “One person’s actions shouldn’t be projected onto an entire group, and the characteristics of a group shouldn’t be absolutely transferred to an individual.”
“Have you seen those shows where humans and demons follow different paths? Perhaps many demons are bad, but there are also good demons. Perhaps many people are good, but there are also bad people. As the saying goes, isn’t the most unpredictable and terrifying thing the human heart?”
“A girl took a wrong path and did bad things, but that can’t represent all women. Girls are all very kind, delicate in thought, resilient, and brave, aren’t they?”
“Look at how bad Lin Yuchen is, yet we didn’t hate all men because of him. There are so many bad men; how can we change our standards just by changing the gender? I don’t think that’s right. What do you think?”
“I know. Mother said to protect girls,” Wen Ling’s finger traced circles on Cheng Ge’s back. “I didn’t mean it that way. I mean, I don’t like girls.”
Cheng Ge was a bit dazed. He spent a long time processing this before it suddenly dawned on him. He asked, “You mean your sexual orientation isn’t toward women?”
Wen Ling fell silent for two seconds as if thinking, then nodded. “Mm.”
“I don’t like anyone else. I only like you. Only you.”
Cheng Ge didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, finding it strange that Wen Ling would worry for so many days over such a matter. He instinctively held Wen Ling a bit tighter. “I know! If we’re already like this and I thought you liked girls, wouldn’t I be the one who’s sick in the head?”
“As long as Cheng Ge knows,” Wen Ling emphasized: “I only like Cheng Ge.”
This “warning,” which always carried a clingy flavor, was especially endearing. “Okay, okay. I also only like Xiao Wen.”
The two of them huddled together and closed their eyes. Late in the night, Cheng Ge felt that Wen Ling had fallen into a deep sleep and felt relieved. He fell into a deep sleep while holding him, only to wake up in the middle of the night.
Wen Ling’s body was burning hot, and his entire person was curled into a tight ball. His breathing was short and rapid, and he was letting out whimpering sounds of fear, which made Cheng Ge’s heart ache terribly.
No wonder. No wonder Cheng Ge had been feeling a bit panicked, always sensing that something bad was going to happen.
“Wen Ling?”
“Xiao Wen? Xiao Wen?” Cheng Ge shook Wen Ling’s body and patted him several times, but to no effect. The person seemed unable to wake up, only capable of suppressed crying.
In this situation, he was likely having a nightmare that was hard to endure. It had been quite a while since Wen Ling had a nightmare, let alone one that could make him whimper like this.
No matter how Cheng Ge tried to coax him, it didn’t work. He was also afraid of causing some after-effects by forcing him to wake up. He had no choice but to exchange an upgraded prop with 001 and enter the dream.
In the past when he entered dreams, Little Wen Ling always made Cheng Ge search hard for him. But this time, Wen Ling was standing right in front of him, naked and bloodied.
The situation this time was too different from before. Cheng Ge’s eyes widened, and he stared at the stinging scene before him for ten seconds, unable to react.
Waves of sharp pain and nausea washed over him—those were all Wen Ling’s perceptions.
The lights in the room were very bright, shining on the boy. Cheng Ge’s gaze was pinned there.
Little Wen Ling was naked and tied to an iron frame. His body was covered in blood-stained scars. His skin was so white, and the blood was so red.
It hurt.
Those exceptionally beautiful glassy eyes held no light at all. They were numb and cold, utterly dim.
Standing in front of Little Wen Ling was a woman in high heels, holding a whip with blood on it.
Cheng Ge’s body shook uncontrollably. He didn’t know if it was Wen Ling shaking or himself; perhaps it was both.
“Wen Ling…”
Cheng Ge’s footsteps were unsteady as he knelt on the ground and embraced Little Wen Ling—an empty embrace.
Clearly, no one could touch each other, yet Cheng Ge felt that Wen Ling didn’t seem to tremble as much. It was as if this embrace truly existed. The pain and nausea transmitted to Cheng Ge’s body seemed to lessen significantly.
“…Baby.”
It hurt so much. The body hurt, and the heart hurt even more.
“Child, your skin is so white.” It was that woman’s voice.
That wave of nausea surged up again. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting—it was a visceral revulsion from the heart.
Terror, fear, and overwhelming nausea flooded into Cheng Ge’s body all at once.
Every inch of skin that was touched felt as if it had been smeared with foul-smelling nasal mucus. Goosebumps instantly covered his entire body.
Cheng Ge tightly closed his eyes and hugged Little Wen Ling, his hands passing through Wen Ling’s body.
“Ugh…”
Cheng Ge was suddenly startled awake. He rolled over and fell to the floor, running toward the bathroom in a stumbling, disheveled mess.
On the bed, Wen Ling, who had been closing his eyes tightly, also suddenly opened them. His gaze was fixed on Cheng Ge’s staggering and frantic back.
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