Chapter 74
Shen Shuyu said, “I came here to check my pheromones. Dr. Yue Cheng did it for me.”
Dr. An came to a realization. “I remember now, you’re that young friend with the mutated pheromones. Are you here for a follow-up today?”
Shen Shuyu nodded and pointed at Wen Jiafei. “He and I are friends.”
Only then did Wen Jiafei withdraw his gaze. He said, “Dr. An, I’d like to ask about my mother’s condition.”
Dr. An nodded. “I just finished my rounds anyway. Come to my office.”
Wen Jiafei gave an “En” and followed Dr. An away. Shen Shuyu subconsciously wanted to follow them, but after receiving a measuring look from Wen Jiafei, he turned his steps and said, “I’ll go find my Brother Yue.”
He watched Wen Jiafei and Dr. An enter the office, then let out a heavy sigh and found a place to wait by himself.
Not long after, Wen Jiafei came out, his expression looking much better.
Shen Shuyu watched him approach and waited until he was in front of him before saying, “It looks like Auntie is recovering well.”
For once, Wen Jiafei didn’t glare at him.
The two walked downstairs side by side. At some point, the rain outside had grown heavier.
Shen Shuyu asked, “Where are you going?”
“Home to change clothes.” Wen Jiafei looked up at the gloomy, rainy sky. Public transport was only available at the hospital entrance. He glanced at the watch on his wrist—it was issued by the organizers to the contestants and would belong to them afterward.
There were still about ten minutes until the next bus.
Shen Shuyu also took a look. “I’ll drive you back.”
Wen Jiafei was just about to say no when he saw Shen Shuyu open his optical computer and call the driver over. Shen Shuyu said, “After you change, we can go to the contestant dorms together to meet up with Xuyi and Brother Mingyue.”
Wen Jiafei looked at Shen Shuyu. After a long silence, he asked, “Why?”
Shen Shuyu was busy sending a message to Shen Yisi and didn’t hear Wen Jiafei clearly. He looked up and asked, “What did you say?”
Wen Jiafei withdrew his gaze. “Nothing.”
The driver steadily delivered the two to the entrance of a notoriously impoverished slum. The environment here was noisy. Because of the rain, black rainwater flowed across the ground; even stepping lightly would cause dirty water to splash and stick to one’s pant legs.
Shen Shuyu stood under an umbrella, looking down at his own pant legs. Wen Jiafei stood aside holding another umbrella, watching him. “You can just wait for me here.”
After saying that, he held his umbrella and walked toward the entrance. Shen Shuyu was just about to lift his foot to follow when the driver called out to him. “Little Young Master, why don’t you wait in the car? I’ll go up with Mr. Wen. If he needs anything, I can help carry it.”
Aside from chauffeuring Shen Shuyu, the driver also served as a bodyguard. This slum was full of vicious characters; the moment their car stopped, he had already noticed people staring covetously from the surroundings.
Shen Shuyu said, “You stay here. It’s fine if just he and I go up. Don’t worry, there aren’t many people here who can beat me in a fight.”
The driver wanted to say more, but he saw Shen Shuyu quickly run out from under his umbrella. He didn’t care in the slightest about his feet stomping heavily into the dirty water. Covering his eyes with one hand, he shouted as he walked, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Go wait in the car.” He waved his hand as he finished speaking.
Hearing the commotion, Wen Jiafei stopped and couldn’t help looking back. Before his vision could fully focus, he saw Shen Shuyu dart under his umbrella in two or three quick steps.
Because he rushed too fast and too urgently, Shen Shuyu couldn’t brake in time and crashed straight into Wen Jiafei’s embrace. Under the small umbrella canopy, the scent of camellia pheromones instantly spread through the air.
Wen Jiafei’s body instantly tensed up. This time, the pheromones weren’t faint like they had been in the survival battle. Because they were so close, he felt as if he were wrapped in camellias.
The instigator, however, remained oblivious. He hadn’t expected Wen Jiafei to turn around suddenly and had slammed his head directly into the other’s shoulder. Even his nose hurt from the impact.
He cried out “Ouch,” raised his hand to rub his nose, and muttered, “Are your shoulders made of bricks? So hard.”
Wen Jiafei snapped back to reality and relaxed his body in a corner Shen Shuyu couldn’t see. He maintained his icy tone: “You can go back.”
“Can’t I even complain a little?” Shen Shuyu put down his hand. The tip of his nose was rubbed red, and his eyes were a bit moist—it really did hurt.
Wen Jiafei didn’t speak. Holding the umbrella, he turned around and continued walking inward, though this time he slowed his pace slightly.
Shen Shuyu followed. The umbrella wasn’t big, so their shoulders bumped against each other. Shen Shuyu looked left and right. “Is this place far from the school?”
“One hour by public transport,” Wen Jiafei replied indifferently.
“Then wouldn’t you have to get up very early in the morning?” Shen Shuyu thought about it; Wen Jiafei almost always arrived right on the dot. The distance was likely the biggest reason.
Wen Jiafei turned into a mute gourd again.
Shen Shuyu said, “We’re partners who fought side by side, after all. Why are you always like this, answering one sentence and holding back the next? Are we good friends or not?”
Wen Jiafei seemed to hear something amusing, and the corners of his mouth hooked up. Shen Shuyu naturally caught it, but before he could say anything, he heard Wen Jiafei ask, “Good friends? Since when is the Little Young Master willing to make friends with people from the slums? I remember the Little Young Master once said that someone like me doesn’t even count as a human being.”
Crap.
Did the original owner actually say something so explosive?
But on second thought, which of the original owner’s actions didn’t step on everyone’s landmines? It wasn’t surprising he’d say something like that.
Shen Shuyu pursed his lips. His brain spun rapidly before he said, “I’ve turned over a new leaf, okay?”
Wen Jiafei glanced at him sideways and said in a low voice, “With this speed of ‘turning over a new leaf,’ people who didn’t know better would think you’d been replaced by a different person.”
A flash of wariness crossed Shen Shuyu’s face, but he reacted quickly. “I suddenly had an epiphany, is that not allowed?”
Wen Jiafei ignored him again.
Now Shen Shuyu didn’t dare say anything more. He turned his head to the side, looking at the scenery outside the umbrella.
He had been transmigrated for so long but hadn’t really gone anywhere. Apart from the time Feng Xing invited him out to see the world, he mostly went back and forth between home and school. He had even only visited Shen Yisi’s company once.
The buildings in the slum were tall and dilapidated, each one squeezed tightly against the next. It had looked reasonably bright outside just a moment ago, but entering here, it felt incomparably damp and oppressive.
Under some eaves, there were people dressed in ragged clothes sheltering from the rain.
Shen Shuyu said, “Wen Jiafei, you look completely different from them.”
The people here looked weary and dull, rushing about just to survive.
But Wen Jiafei was different.
Although he knew Wen Jiafei was also rushing about for Wen Yue’s medical bills and living expenses—working and studying at the same time was by no means easy—there was no sense of lifelessness about him.
Instead, he was full of vitality, like he was holding a breath, just waiting for an opportunity to break out of this cage and shackles.
Wen Jiafei lowered his eyes slightly, watching the Little Young Master looking around. He replied, “I’m no different from them.”
Shen Shuyu turned to look at him. Wen Jiafei showed no expression; he seemed unwilling to say more to Shen Shuyu.
Shen Shuyu pouted, silently denying it in his heart: Different. You’ve always been different.
Wen Jiafei’s home was in the deepest part of the slum, where sunlight rarely reached all year round. It was even more dilapidated and damp. It was fine outside, where only a few households had lights on, but here, almost every home had their lights on. The light from each household shone through narrow glass windows, illuminating the surroundings slightly.
Wen Jiafei led him to a main door and used his fingerprint to unlock it. Shen Shuyu said, “I thought we could just walk right in.”
Coincidentally, a man wearing a high-slit skirt was standing behind them.
The man in the high-slit skirt laughed. Shen Shuyu looked back at him, not understanding what he was laughing at.
The man raised an eyebrow with flirtatious charm. “One look and I can tell you’re a wealthy little young master from the outside. There are too many homeless people here. If we didn’t have keycards, nobody would know if you died inside your apartment.”
After saying that, he looked at Wen Jiafei and blew a rogue whistle at him. “Yo, the little handsome guy is back. Is this Omega your partner?”
Shen Shuyu was just about to explain when Wen Jiafei grabbed him by the back of his collar and hauled him up the stairs.
Confused, Shen Shuyu stumbled a few steps while being dragged. He asked, “What are you doing?”
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