Chapter 9: The Incompetent and Malicious Ex-Boyfriend (9)
The primetime soap opera didn’t end until 10:30 PM.
Shen Ci let out a yawn. “I’m going to sleep.”
Ming Yanzhou stood up as well. “Brother Shen, isn’t Ye Qi coming back?”
“He’s working the night shift.”
Ye Qi hadn’t told Shen Ci that he was working at a bar; he only said he found a part-time job in the evening.
By the time Ye Qi returned, it was almost 4:00 AM.
With a daily salary of 5,000, he had 4,923 left after subtracting the taxi fare.
After entering, he turned on the warm light in the foyer.
When he saw Ming Yanzhou’s shoes while changing his own, he froze for a second. Once he realized what it meant, the exhaustion on his face vanished, replaced by an icy coldness.
His sinister gaze swept over Shen Ci’s shoes next to Ming Yanzhou’s. With a frozen face, he placed his own shoes right between the two pairs.
After entering the house, he didn’t go to shower immediately as he usually did. Instead, he sat on the sofa and pulled out a cigarette pack.
However, when he went to light it, his hand seemed to tremble; it took two tries to get it lit.
After taking a deep drag, his gaze fell heavily on Shen Ci’s room, as if trying to see the person inside through the closed door.
Why did Ah Ci bring Ming Yanzhou back again?
Are they sleeping in the same bed?
Did Ah Ci take a liking to that face? Does he want to change his affections?
The more Ye Qi thought, the darker his expression became. Even the hand holding the cigarette began to tremble slightly.
He sat there until the cigarette was finished. Ultimately, Ye Qi couldn’t restrain the various suspicions in his heart and walked to Shen Ci’s door.
He reached out and gently twisted the doorknob.
The door was locked from the inside.
The gloom in Ye Qi’s eyes deepened. His mind inevitably began to fantasize: were they hugging each other? Would Ah Ci “reward” Ming Yanzhou the same way he treated him…?
After a moment of silence, Ye Qi turned and took his keys out of his bag, very quietly unlocking Shen Ci’s door.
Guided by the faint light of his phone screen, Ye Qi entered the room.
He walked all the way to Shen Ci’s bedside. When he saw that Shen Ci was alone in bed, his heart finally settled.
His gaze fell on Shen Ci’s sleeping face, his eyes filled with a manic possessiveness.
Shen Ci belonged to him. No one could take him away. And Shen Ci shouldn’t even think about dumping him. He wanted to be with Shen Ci for a lifetime.
After standing quietly at the head of the bed watching Shen Ci for a few minutes, Ye Qi’s gaze fell on the hand exposed outside the covers.
A trace of sickly obsession flashed in his eyes.
It was this hand—the one that would use a whip to strike him, and afterward, would gently stroke the wounds on his body…
He slowly crouched down, gently pulled Shen Ci’s hand toward him, and finally, devoutly kissed Shen Ci’s fingertips.
…
It was fortunate that Shen Ci was a deep sleeper. If he had suddenly woken up to find someone crouching by his bed kissing his hand, he would have been scared to death, wouldn’t he?
After showering, Ye Qi took his clean underwear to the balcony.
When he saw that unfamiliar dark gray pair next to Shen Ci’s, the anger that had finally subsided flared up again.
He shoved those underwear aside and hung his own right next to Shen Ci’s.
He hadn’t liked Ming Yanzhou from the first moment he saw him. That face was too superior, and he was younger than him, which gave him an inexplicable sense of crisis. And now, the guy was living in their house…
Although Ye Qi had no evidence, his sixth sense told him that this Ming Yanzhou was no good.
The next day, when Ming Yanzhou woke up, Ye Qi was already sitting on the sofa.
Ye Qi hadn’t slept all night; he wanted to meet Ming Yanzhou and see what kind of “ghost” he was.
“Ye… Ye Qi, good morning,” Ming Yanzhou greeted Ye Qi politely.
Ye Qi’s gaze swept over Ming Yanzhou. After two seconds, he slowly nodded. “Morning. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Pretty well.” Of course, Ming Yanzhou hadn’t actually slept well.
He had never slept on such a small bed. Whenever he turned over, it felt like he might fall to the floor if he moved too much. He had to keep his legs slightly curled, and it was very hard…
However, to be close to Shen Ci, it wasn’t unbearable.
“I see you’re not that old. Working outside alone, your parents must be worried, right?”
Ming Yanzhou repeated the same story he told Shen Ci to Ye Qi, and even mentioned that Shen Ci was letting him stay at the house for the next two months.
Ye Qi’s hands at his sides suddenly clenched into fists, his nails digging hard into the soft flesh of his palms, trying to use the pain to keep himself clear-headed.
He looked at Ming Yanzhou’s face, his expression unchanged, but in his heart, he cursed: What a bitch.
Was he showing off to him?
The sound of a door opening drew their attention. Shen Ci came out of his room.
He froze for a moment when he saw Ye Qi sitting on the sofa.
“Why are you up so early?”
Ye Qi stood up and walked over, naturally hooking his arm around Shen Ci’s.
Shen Ci’s body stiffened. His reflex was to pull his arm away, but Ye Qi held him firm.
“Ah Ci, what’s wrong?” A faint blush rose on Ye Qi’s cheeks as he looked at Shen Ci with affectionate eyes.
Shen Ci: “…”
[Shen Ci’s Internal Monologue: I should be asking you that! Why are you acting so flirtatious first thing in the morning?]
Suppressing the urge to yank his arm back, Shen Ci forced a dry smile. “Nothing. Why are you up so early?”
“I didn’t see you all day yesterday. I missed you.”
“Didn’t we see each other yesterday morning?”
Ye Qi frowned slightly. “We didn’t see each other last night.” After saying that, he shook Shen Ci’s arm coquettishly. “Why didn’t you tell me you let Xiao Ming stay here? I was startled when I saw him this morning…”
“Weren’t you out yesterday? Xiao Ming had no place to stay, so I let him crash here for two months. He’ll leave once school starts.”
Ye Qi stared intently at Shen Ci. Seeing that his expression was natural, his heart relaxed slightly.
Beside them, Ming Yanzhou watched Ye Qi holding Shen Ci’s arm, and his heart felt like it had eaten a lemon—sour and bitter.
But he didn’t even have the right to be jealous. That was the official boyfriend.
However—thinking about how the two of them didn’t live together, Ming Yanzhou was puzzled and curious, but he secretly felt relieved.
Perhaps their relationship wasn’t as good as he imagined.
After finishing a day’s work, Shen Ci and Ming Yanzhou returned to find that Ye Qi was still not home.
Once they finished dinner, Shen Ci leaned against the sofa as usual to watch that dogblood primetime drama. After Ming Yanzhou finished cleaning up, he sat down next to Shen Ci.
They had just finished one episode when the System suddenly spoke.
[System: Host, please head to Zunyan immediately…]
Well, work has arrived.
Shen Ci needed to go and mess up Ye Qi’s part-time job.
He stood up from the sofa. “Xiao Ming, I’m going out for a bit.”
Ming Yanzhou looked at Shen Ci. “Brother Shen, where are you going so late?”
“I have some business.” After speaking, Shen Ci went into his room to change.
He rummaged through his closet and finally found a set of slightly more formal clothes. After all, he was going to a high-end bar; he couldn’t just wear a tank top and boxers. He was worried the security wouldn’t let him in.
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