Chapter 57: Cheng Ge, I was scared to death
Cheng Ge’s gaze collided directly with Wen Ling’s bewildered eyes. Wen Ling not causing harm to society was his bottom line.
“…I-I’m sorry Cheng Ge, I was wrong.”
“I really know I was wrong…” Wen Ling’s voice was full of self-blame and helplessness, tears precariously welling up in his eyes.
Cheng Ge couldn’t help but freeze. He was a bit fierce just now, but it wasn’t to the extent of making Wen Ling cry, right?
Although Wen Ling was prone to crying, it seemed he had sufficient reasons every time. He had just seriously warned him a few sentences; it definitely shouldn’t have made Wen Ling cry.
Wen Ling’s tears fell, but he didn’t seek Cheng Ge’s comfort or an embrace. Instead, he grabbed his own clothes in a panic, apologizing continuously.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know before… I’m sorry, Cheng Ge…”
He just wanted Cheng Ge to stay with him forever. He really didn’t know how to keep a person, and he thought that was the best way. He didn’t care about the pain, so he thought Cheng Ge didn’t care either.
But Cheng Ge told him, taught him the difference between livestock and humans, the difference between dead things and living things.
Cheng Ge was treating him very sincerely and gently.
Therefore, Wen Ling also began to fear pain, would feel unhappy, would throw tantrums, and at the same time, feared Cheng Ge being in pain, feared Cheng Ge being unhappy.
Wen Ling wasn’t someone who liked to reminisce. If there was anything for him to recall, it was all the intimate times between him and Cheng Ge.
But Cheng Ge’s words today made Wen Ling suddenly remember and realize that he used to be very bad to Cheng Ge. He had done so many terrible things to Cheng Ge. To Cheng Ge, he was a bad person. He was simply too bad.
Cheng Ge was a very good person, and what he hated the most were bad people.
Wen Ling didn’t know what he should do…
Hearing Wen Ling say he didn’t know before, Cheng Ge thought he meant he didn’t know those things were illegal before. He secretly worried about Wen Ling’s weak legal awareness, but then felt that for someone who grew up like Wen Ling, knowing nothing seemed reasonable.
“I was wrong, Cheng Ge. I really won’t be like that anymore in the future… Don’t ignore me, d-don’t abandon me…”
Wen Ling could let Cheng Ge return all those injuries, but he absolutely could not accept Cheng Ge’s coldness and abandonment.
“What do you mean abandon or not? You’re not my property,” Cheng Ge saw Wen Ling suppressing his cries until he could barely catch his breath, his heart clenching into a knot. “Aiya, stop crying, I won’t ignore you.”
“Just don’t do it again and it’ll be fine.”
If Cheng Ge were still holding a grudge against Wen Ling, Wen Ling would already be in the police station right now, let alone crying here.
Wen Ling couldn’t wipe his tears clean. Finally, he looked at Cheng Ge with tear-blurred eyes, his tone choking with sobs: “Really? Don’t abandon me…”
Cheng Ge really couldn’t stand seeing Wen Ling looking so insecure and wronged right now. “Mn, mn, mn, stop crying. If your eyes are swollen tomorrow, I’ll ignore you.”
Wen Ling opened his mouth in surprise, disbelief written all over his face, yet he tried very hard to open his eyes wide and tilt his head up, not daring to shed another tear.
Silly and pitiful.
Cheng Ge took a tissue and wiped the person’s tears clean, finishing his sentence: “For 0.1 seconds.”
It took a long time for Wen Ling to slowly blink twice. His mouth flattened, and with a muffled “Wu,” he threw himself into Cheng Ge’s arms, his tone choking again: “Cheng Ge, I was scared to death.”
In those short ten-odd seconds, his brain had already fantasized about a thousand bizarre folk remedies to reduce eye swelling.
Cheng Ge felt awkward. “Hey, hey, hey, there are people around, there are people, bro…”
“There’s clearly no one.” Although he muttered this, Wen Ling had already released Cheng Ge, digesting his emotions on his own.
Cheng Ge handed Wen Ling a tissue. His voice was very mild, carrying a soothing tone: “Don’t get involved in this matter. I can handle it. Haven’t you taken me as your brother? I have to protect you.”
“I’m very loyal.”
Wen Ling’s wet eyelashes trembled. His heart felt as if a sun had been stuffed into it, warming him until he was burning.
“…Brother.” Wen Ling murmured absentmindedly.
Saying something like he was very loyal just to comfort someone was already embarrassing enough for Cheng Ge. He didn’t expect Wen Ling to suddenly call him ‘brother,’ making Cheng Ge feel even more awkward.
“Alright, alright, you have to pay attention to your words and actions from now on, got it?”
“Mn.”
“We won’t attack unless attacked, but don’t let yourself get bullied either, got it?”
“Okay.”
“Remember not to do illegal things anymore, otherwise, I’ll send you to the police station and let you eat prison food.”
“…Mn.”
“Alright,” Cheng Ge saw the person’s eyelids drooping, his head lowered slightly, looking very guilty like he knew he was wrong.
But Cheng Ge figured out that Wen Ling’s feelings were mostly grievance, so his heart softened. He pinched the back of Wen Ling’s neck: “Let’s go, time to eat.”
When the two arrived at the cafeteria, it was already past peak hours, and the foot traffic was relatively small. Cheng Ge and Wen Ling ordered their most frequently eaten self-serve dishes.
Cheng Ge noticed that Wen Ling would be relatively quiet when eating.
At first, he thought it was because Wen Ling was used to the rule of not speaking during meals. But then he recalled that if it was just him and Wen Ling eating, this guy wasn’t necessarily quiet either, chattering away.
Wen Ling’s current silence seemed more like it was out of discomfort.
Cheng Ge felt he had an epiphany. He asked Wen Ling, “Do you dislike eating in the cafeteria?”
“No.” Wen Ling answered quickly. If he didn’t eat in the cafeteria, he wouldn’t be able to eat with Cheng Ge.
“No?” Cheng Ge didn’t believe it. Having spent so much time with Wen Ling, he wouldn’t fail to distinguish between Wen Ling’s expressions of liking and disliking something.
“Mn, mn!”
Cheng Ge’s gaze moved from the food to Wen Ling’s lowered eyelashes, retracting it a moment later. “Is it because there are too many people?”
Feeling a bit guilty, Wen Ling blinked rapidly twice and admitted, “…Mn.”
Cheng Ge found Wen Ling’s reaction very vivid. He couldn’t hold back a short, lazy laugh. “Then what made you choose to eat in the cafeteria?”
Wen Ling pursed his lips. “…Because I wanted you to accompany me to eat.”
“I wanted to eat together with Cheng Ge,” Wen Ling emphasized.
Cheng Ge felt somewhat helpless. Wen Ling always seemed to have a one-track mind, missing a screw or two.
He didn’t know how that guy equated “eating in the cafeteria” with “eating with Cheng Ge.”
“Actually, we could pack it up or order takeout and find a place with fewer people to eat,” Cheng Ge said.
“We can do that?” Wen Ling’s eyes sparkled.
“We can, but not recently. Recently, you have to stay in places with lots of people, especially when I’m not around.”
That video could only make Lin Yuchen have some reservations, but it couldn’t guarantee that Lin Yuchen wouldn’t act out of desperation and commit crimes against the wind.
001 said there were problems behind Lin Yuchen’s entire family. If investigated, it would definitely cause the Lin family to fall. This was already the best outcome Cheng Ge could exchange his points for.
It was just that there were too many conflicts of interest and unstable factors involved in these matters. Investigating required time, so he had to ensure Wen Ling’s safety during this period.
“Okay.” Wen Ling didn’t ask further and agreed. He was now starting to really look forward to the time when only he and Cheng Ge were together. Waiting a bit was fine.
After finishing classes in the afternoon and returning to the dorm, Wen Ling returned the washed clothes to Cheng Ge and asked Cheng Ge for a new set.
Cheng Ge noticed his clothes seemed to have been stretched a bit. He didn’t usually see Wen Ling wearing them. He wondered if Wen Ling was using his clothes as pajamas.
…Pajamas it is then.
Cheng Ge found another set of clothes with softer material and gave them to Wen Ling, completely unaware that his well-intentioned efforts were being used by Wen Ling on the big bear.
Wen Ling had slept very well last night. Cheng Ge thought Wen Ling’s insomnia problem had already been alleviated, but found out that it hadn’t at all.
Although Wen Ling didn’t have nightmares as much anymore, and the conquest value wouldn’t plummet in the middle of the night, Cheng Ge knew Wen Ling still couldn’t sleep well. It could be seen from the frequency of the guy sending him messages in the middle of the night.
Wen Ling had found a bunch of very cute meme stickers from somewhere, grabbing the time around one or two in the morning to bombard Cheng Ge with messages.
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