AD Chapter 21

“Anyway, you don’t have many friends in Yunshan, do you?”

Seeing Shen Du still stunned, Qin Yi added, “We’ll talk about this later. Let’s open the gift first, I’m filming it.”

Shen Du snapped out of it. “Did you record that just now?”

“No,” Qin Yi said, glancing at the phone’s screen where [Recording: 00:01:35] was displayed, lying without even blinking. “There’s a small knife on top, go ahead and open it.”

The small knife was something Qin Yi used for his design work, white and particularly mini.

The cardboard box was large and heavy. Shen Du tried to move it with one hand, but the first attempt didn’t budge. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of gift these people would send him.

Since they hadn’t interacted much, Shen Du didn’t know them very well, but he figured their interests were likely similar, so the gift probably wouldn’t be too far off. Shen Du mentally went over the possible gifts he could expect: shoes, a basketball, a game console… He even considered ties and perfume.

He cut open the tape, and since it had been a long time since he received a gift, there was a bit of excitement in his heart. But when he opened the box, the first thing he saw was a large red-covered book — Graduate School Entrance Exam Math Real Questions.

Next to it, there were red, blue, and green-covered books: High-Frequency Exam Points for Graduate School Math, Graduate School Political Science 1000 Questions, Graduate School English… Shen Du’s smile slowly faded.

Still not giving up, he took out each book one by one. With every book he pulled out, his mood dropped a little more. When he finally pulled out the last book, Graduate School Political Science Answers, and saw there was nothing else, he seemed to lose his ability to speak, no longer knowing how to express his feelings at that moment.

A familiar scent, almost imperceptible, seemed to fill the air. It was the scent of knowledge.

“So, are you happy now?”

Happy?

Heh.

Shen Du was even more pissed off. He looked at him coldly, expressionless, his lips pressed into a straight line. He looked like he was angry, his mood clearly sour, but for some reason, Qin Yi felt that this expression from Shen Du was actually quite captivating.

It’s very spicy.

He thought he might be sick.

Qin Yi pursed his lips, “What’s wrong?”

“Qin, Yi,” Shen Du said, enunciating each word clearly.

Uh-oh, he had pissed him off. Qin Yi hurriedly turned off the video, a forced smile playing on his lips. “Hey, I’m here.”

“I’m telling you, you’ve pissed me off!”

Shen Du slammed the book he was holding back into the box, his face flushed with anger. “I don’t want this gift anymore. Whoever gave it can take it back.”

Actually, when Lu Ning and the others first suggested giving this gift, Qin Yi had already suspected it would turn out like this. But he still couldn’t resist wanting to see Shen Du get upset and helpless.

This kind of mentality was strange, just like his strange reason for wanting to be a tattoo artist.

He really enjoyed the feeling of controlling whether someone felt pleasure or pain when the needle pierced the skin.

It sounded a bit perverted.

But it was an undeniable, unchangeable truth.

His lifelong wish was to create a masterpiece on a pure, delicate skin. Using the human body as a canvas and the tattoo needle as a pen, he wanted to resonate on the same frequency as the person he was tattooing, and then… reach the climax.

But after so many years and meeting so many clients, he had never encountered that moment.

Until that day, when Shen Du appeared before him, glowing like sunlight. He could barely suppress his obsessive desire to tattoo him.

He wanted to hear his voice.

Just from one expression, Qin Yi had thought of so many things. He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. “…They were just joking, trying to make you happy.”

“This joke isn’t funny at all.”

Shen Du said expressionlessly, then glanced at him, his tone softening a bit. “What happened to your voice?”

When Qin Yi met his clear eyes, he felt a rare sense of guilt. “Nothing. Maybe I caught a cold from the air conditioner last night.”

“Then why were you fine just now?” Shen Du looked at him suspiciously, clearly not believing him.

“Maybe my body organs just woke up, and reacted to it now,” Qin Yi casually made up an excuse.

Shen Du had never heard such an explanation before. “…6.”

Whether he believed it or not, he didn’t bring it up again. Instead, he pushed the books aside, out of sight, out of mind. “Let’s just pretend I never opened this.”

Qin Yi didn’t say anything. He tucked his phone away and turned to leave, his movements small. Shen Du saw him and thought, this guy acts like a thief in his own house. “Where are you going?”

Qin Yi paused, didn’t turn around, and didn’t look back.

“Going to take a shower.”

“You just showered.”

“I sweated, need to shower again.” Qin Yi lifted his foot and walked toward the bathroom.

The air conditioning in the living room was at a comfortable temperature, and even staying still felt a little cold. To sweat in this environment was quite a talent. Shen Du couldn’t help but think that this guy probably had a lot of internal heat.

The set of graduate exam books eventually ended up in Shen Du’s hands.

But after he took them, he just shoved them into a corner to gather dust. First, he wasn’t in his third year of college yet, so he didn’t need them. Second, his grades weren’t great, and as long as he could graduate smoothly, he wasn’t going to contribute any more garbage to academia.

More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Shen Du took some of the cat food that Shen Yuanyuan loved to feed the two stray cats. When he saw that the cats had gained a little weight, he suddenly realized how much time had passed since he had been at the tattoo shop.

It seemed like he had gotten used to waking up early for work every day. Occasionally, he played a few rounds of games with Xiang Nan, made afternoon tea for Niao Niao and the others, learned Ba Duan Jin from Master Xia, but most of the time, he stayed in Qin Yi’s studio helping him out.

He thought he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, but when he counted the days, time had passed quickly.

Now, the raccoon cat no longer ignored him as it did in the beginning, but still didn’t let him touch it. As soon as he reached out his hand, it ran away, and he couldn’t touch it at all.

It was still the calico cat that was easier to handle.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to take you home, but my brother here still has someone to answer to.”

He had to get past Qin Yi first.

At least for now, it seemed like Qin Yi didn’t like pets, and Shen Du wasn’t sure if Qin Yi would allow a pet to be in his house.

Moreover…

“Your brother doesn’t want to come with me either,” Shen Du said to the calico cat.

The two cats clearly had a deep bond, and Shen Du couldn’t bring himself to separate them.

“Never mind, it’s fine. This way, you two are freer.”

Today was Saturday, and Qin Yi wasn’t around. The cats had eaten, but he hadn’t. He had woken up late and felt a bit dizzy. Fortunately, there was a bench nearby. He sat down to rest for a bit, and when the dizziness passed, he got up and headed back.

There were many food stalls across from the neighborhood, and the smell was delicious. Shen Du went to the same place he and Qin Yi had eaten last time and ordered a bowl of noodles.

The sun had already set, but the sky was still bright. The park wasn’t far from here, and at this time, many people were out for a walk, making it quite lively.

The restaurant was crowded, and Shen Du had to wait a while for his order.

However, just as he was about to eat, a blue sports car suddenly stopped in front of him.

And honked the horn at him.

What the hell.

Shen Du ignored it and continued eating. Then, the passenger window suddenly rolled down, and a head popped out. “Hey, little brother, eating?”

Shen Du, who was about to take a bite, was confused. “…?”

The driver, Fang Zhaoyi, also leaned over and whistled. “Looks pretty good.”

Shen Du swallowed the noodles in his mouth, a bit surprised. “Lu Ning?”

And Fang Zhaoyi. How did they end up here?

“Little brother, long time no see. Why didn’t you add me on WeChat? Is it because of that gift?” Lu Ning brought up the topic again.

…He had been upset at the time, which was why he didn’t add them immediately. But after that, Qin Yi never mentioned it again, and he certainly wasn’t going to bring it up himself.

“You guys came here for what?”

Were they looking for Qin Yi?

But Qin Yi wasn’t here.

“We’re here to pick you up.”

Fang Zhaoyi rested his head on his hand and smiled at him cheerfully. “Oh, how pitiful, eating noodles alone here. It must be so boring, huh? Want to go out and have some fun with the big brothers?”

“Don’t mind him, this kid just has a big mouth, no ill intentions,” Lu Ning said. “We just finished up and were planning to go for a drive. We passed by here and thought we’d pick you up, but didn’t expect to see you eating here. Have you ever seen the night view of Yunshan? How about it, want to go?”

Fang Zhaoyi also asked, “Yeah, wanna go?”

Shen Du hesitated, wanting to refuse, but then heard Lu Ning say, “Lao Qin and the others are coming up behind us, they’ll be here soon.”

Just as he finished speaking, a yellow sports car slowly stopped behind them. Zheng Qing smiled and nodded at him through the windshield. Cheng Qi was sitting next to him, playing a game on his phone.

“Yo, they’re here,” Lu Ning turned and said. “We’ll go first, leave the rest to Lao Qin.”

The engine roared to life, and just like that, they were off. Before the tail of the car disappeared, a silver sports car stopped where Fang Zhaoyi’s car had been. The window rolled down, and Shen Du saw Qin Yi.

Qin Yi had seemed very busy this week, rarely at the shop during the day, though he would come back at night, eat, and leave again. Once, he even left right after dinner was ready.

For the past few days, breakfast had been from a nearby tea shop. Shen Du even wondered if Qin Yi hadn’t gone home at night and had rushed back early the next morning.

But after thinking about it, he felt that was unlikely—it would be too much trouble, what for? He couldn’t possibly be doing it just to bring him breakfast…

“Are you done eating?” Qin Yi asked him.

Shen Du snapped back to reality. “Not yet, still a little left. Were you waiting for me?”

Qin Yi didn’t say anything. He got out of the car and sat across from Shen Du, remaining silent for a while. Shen Du had ordered a bowl of cold dessert, but now it seemed there wasn’t time to eat it. He pushed the bowl forward. “Want some?”

Only after asking did he remember that Qin Yi probably didn’t like these kinds of desserts. Just as he was about to say “never mind,” he saw Qin Yi pick up a spoon, stir the brown sugar on top, and then take a bite.

It seemed like it was his first time trying it. At first, he furrowed his brows, clearly not used to it, but he didn’t say anything or spit it out—he just swallowed it.

Shen Du opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.

They couldn’t stay here too long, so both of them ate faster. Since Shen Du hadn’t had the cold dessert, he asked the shopkeeper to buy him a bottle of ice-cold cola before leaving.

No guy doesn’t like cars. Shen Du was no exception. He buckled his seatbelt and looked around. “They’ve been gone for so long. Do you think we can catch up?”

Qin Yi didn’t respond. Shen Du turned to look at him, thinking he hadn’t heard. Just as he was about to ask again, the car had already left the small square, and around the corner, two cars—one blue and one yellow—were parked. It was Zheng Qing and Fang Zhaoyi.

Qin Yi drove up next to Fang Zhaoyi, and the three cars honked their horns at each other.

Whoosh—

Qin Yi opened the convertible top.

The other two cars did the same. Lu Ning lowered his sunglasses, stood up, and leaned against the windshield, his hair flying in the evening breeze. “Hey, guys, how about a race?”

“Sure,” Cheng Qi asked from the other car. “How do you want to race?”

“It’s too crowded here. Let’s go to the outer ring road, pick a destination, and see who gets there first. How about it?”

“I’m good with that,” Fang Zhaoyi said.

Lu Ning turned to look at Shen Du. “How about you, any objections?”

Shen Du had just opened a bottle of cola and, hearing them talk about racing, felt awkward holding it. He wasn’t sure whether to keep it or put it down.

“I’m already in the car. Does it matter if I disagree?”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhaoyi turned and grinned at him. “So, you’re putting your life in Lao Qin’s hands, huh?”

Shen Du thought it wasn’t that serious, but then he heard Zheng Qing, smiling, say, “Little brother, you might not know, but Lao Qin is the worst driver among all of us.”

No way, right??

He’d ridden with Qin Yi before, and he drove pretty steadily.

Zheng Qing gave off a gentle, mature vibe, and Shen Du trusted his words.

So, he turned to look at Qin Yi again.

Catching his gaze, Qin Yi met his eyes. “Don’t listen to their nonsense.”

Before Shen Du could relax, he heard Qin Yi panting and adding, “But I do drive pretty aggressively.”

Shen Du: “??”

The evening breeze blew, dispersing the last traces of heat in the air. Lu Ning and Fang Zhaoyi were laughing and talking about something. As dusk fell, the streetlights suddenly turned on. Qin Yi called to him, “Shen Du.”

“Are you willing to put your life in my hands?”