Chapter 40.2

The next day.

When Jiang Zhihuo opened his eyes, he saw the familiar ceiling and the light hanging above.

“………………”

He must still be half-asleep.

He closed his eyes again, counted silently to sixty, then opened them once more.

No change.

“………………”

Jiang Zhihuo stiffly turned his neck and saw that Yan Mu was still asleep.

Jiang Zhihuo: “!!!!!”

He turned back awkwardly, shouting in his head.

WTF, WTF, WTF??

What the hell happened last night?!

Why was he in Yan Mu’s house, wearing Yan Mu’s clothes, sleeping in Yan Mu’s bed???

Jiang Zhihuo struggled to recall what had happened the night before.

Yesterday, he had been in a really bad mood, but he didn’t know why. He spent the whole week trying to figure it out but got nowhere, so he used the excuse of ‘cheering up the class monitor’ to drink heavily.

A lot of drinks.

And then…

And then???

And then—nothing at all! Total blackout!

All Jiang Zhihuo could recall was realizing the class monitor couldn’t drink much—and then he started drinking on his own.

After that? Nothing. Zero. His mind had completely shut down.

Jiang Zhihuo buried his face in his hands.

If he had known, he shouldn’t have messed with alcohol.

The last time he got this drunk was just before Li Muhe left for university. Jiang Zhihuo thought he had handled it well, waking up in his bed, feeling clear-headed and refreshed. But Li-ge said otherwise. He had actually sung loudly in the middle of the street, refused help, insisted on walking along the curb, and then fell face-first into the nearest flowerbed. At one point, he crouched by a fountain, admired his reflection, and grinned like an idiot, saying, “How did I get so handsome?”

—He wanted to die. Right now. Immediately. Please.

Jiang Zhihuo remembered nothing, absolutely zero, so Li Muhe, barely able to contain his laughter, showed him a video.

Jiang Zhihuo, after watching it: “……”

Li Muhe: “I really want to know, how do you look completely fine while actually being totally drunk?”

Jiang Zhihuo also really wanted to ask himself: Why does his IQ seem to vanish along with his memory after drinking too much?

That time, Jiang Zhihuo had even been thankful he had lost his memory. Watching a video wasn’t the same as having real memories. If he had actually remembered it, he would definitely have wanted to dig a hole and bury himself every time he thought about it.

But this time, it’s a whole new situation!!!!!

Last time, if he was going to act foolish, it was just him being foolish by himself. Even if Li-ge, who knows him, witnessed it, it wouldn’t be embarrassing. But this time, he actually went into someone’s house, wore their clothes, and slept in their bed… This, this, this… there’s just no explaining it!!!

Jiang Zhihuo quietly got out of bed, gently closed the door without putting on his slippers, and dashed barefoot to the balcony to call Chang Luo.

It was just past eight, and Chang Luo was awake, lying in bed and staring blankly with his eyes open, when his phone suddenly lit up with Jiang Zhihuo’s number. He answered, “Hey?”

Huo-ge’s voice came through unusually panicked. “I’m asking you, what happened yesterday? Why am I…” Why am I at Yan Mu’s house?

He didn’t have the face to say the rest out loud.

The shock of last night was merely a thing of the past. After a good night’s sleep, Chang Luo returned to his usual slow and steady self. He said calmly, “Last night, you specifically asked for God Yan to come and get you and even threw your phone away. So I had no choice but to call him. I thought he wouldn’t show up, but to my surprise, he actually…”

Jiang Zhihuo cut him off. “You mean he actually came?!”

Chang Luo replied, “Yeah, didn’t expect you two to be so close.”

Jiang Zhihuo was speechless.

Well, that’s just great!!!

Jiang Zhihuo asked, “What happened after that?”

Chang Luo said, “Don’t know. God Yan took you away, and we left after finishing eating.”

“……” Jiang Zhihuo tried his best to keep his voice steady. “Alright, got it.”

After hanging up, he pressed his hand against his forehead.

Okay, the question of why he was at Yan Mu’s place was solved—Yan Mu had come to pick him up.

Next, all that was left was to figure out why he had Yan Mu pick him up, why he wore Yan Mu’s clothes, and why the hell he slept next to him.

Jiang Zhihuo took a long, deep breath.

No problem, he could explain this.

Jiang Zhihuo! You can do it!

Having mentally prepared himself and rehearsed what he would say, he turned around, ready to face Yan Mu. He saw him leaning against the French windows, just waking up. His eyes were half-closed, and a chilling aura surrounded him.

“Morning,” Yan Mu said first.

Jiang Zhihuo let out an awkward laugh. “Hahaha… good morning… I got drunk last night…”

As he spoke, his voice got softer and softer with Yan Mu’s deep gaze staring at him, holding way too much meaning. Jiang Zhihuo realized he was in the wrong and didn’t even bother guessing what those eyes meant. He timidly grabbed the clothes hanging on the balcony and said, “I’ll go now.”

Wait.” Just as he was about to leave, Yan Mu called him back, turned to the entryway, grabbed a pair of slippers, and set them down by Jiang Zhihuo’s feet. “Put these on.”

Only then did Jiang Zhihuo notice he had hurried out and didn’t even wear any slippers.

“Thanks!” He put on the slippers and quickly ran off.

He went to the bathroom to change, and when he came out, Yan Mu was already back in the room, leaning against the headboard with a pillow behind his back and one leg crossed over the other.

Jiang Zhihuo tiptoed over to the bedside table to put the folded clothes from last night down, then tried to sneak out of the room. As he walked past the desk, he couldn’t help but glance at the open test paper lying there…

Just one glance that felt like it lasted forever.

His mind exploded, and he froze in place.

The competition test paper had neat handwriting. Even though it just outlined the answers, each problem was explained clearly enough that adding more detail would easily get full marks.

Top students liked this way of writing because it trained their thinking, was quick, and saved time. There was nothing surprising about that.

The! Point! Was!

The handwriting on the paper clearly wasn’t Yan Mu’s; it was his—Jiang Zhihuo’s.

It was his!!!

He was a struggling student who could barely get 33 on a midterm and still had the whole class cheering. How could he write such clear and logical answers for the competition?

Yes, why???

Jiang Zhihuo’s face was covered in cold sweat.

Being noticed by Yan Mu was one thing, but exposing oneself was a whole different matter!

He slowly turned his head and realized that Yan Mu was staring right back at him.

Jiang Zhihuo spoke first, “Wait, I can explain!”

His mind raced, and in an instant, he came up with such a wild excuse that even he wouldn’t believe it. “This is my second personality! It only shows up when I’m drunk! I was totally sober yesterday, right? If I did something weird, just blame my second personality, not me!”

Yan Mu didn’t say anything, just asked, “What’s the name of your second personality?”

“Jiang Zhou.” Jiang Zhihuo quickly made up a name. As soon as he finished speaking, he wanted to slip away. He didn’t care whether Yan Mu believed it or not; judging from his expression, he clearly didn’t. Shifting the blame, he said, “If you need something, go find him; don’t look for me. I’m leaving. Goodbye, friend.”

Yan Mu grabbed Jiang Zhihuo’s wrist and didn’t ask about the second personality. Instead, he said, “When did you get the inhibitor shot yesterday?”

“Maybe around mid-afternoon,” Jiang Zhihuo answered. “No worries, there’s still time! I’ll leave now.”

Yan Mu let go and stood up, rolling up his sleeves. “Since there’s time, have breakfast before you go.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “?”

Yan-ge is acting kind of weird today?

He just zoned out and followed Yan Mu to the kitchen. There were a few basic ingredients in the fridge. Usually, when he didn’t feel like eating at the canteen or ordering takeout, he would cook for himself.

Yan Mu made a bowl of noodles with shrimp, scallops, and some lettuce, topped it with a fried egg, and sprinkled on some green onions. It was simple, but it looked really appetizing.

Jiang Zhihuo stared at the bowl, then looked at Yan Mu sitting across from him. “?”

Yan Mu said, “I only know how to cook noodles, so just make do with that.”

Jiang Zhihuo picked up his chopsticks cautiously, his hand shaking.

Is Yan Mu okay? Is he trying to poison me with that bowl of noodles or something?

Jiang Zhihuo quietly repeated “Rule of law, rule of law” in his mind twice, then slurped down a mouthful under Yan Mu’s gaze.

Not bad!

Yan Mu quietly watched him.

Jiang Zhihuo took another bite, looked up, locked eyes with Yan Mu, and his hand shook again.

Being stared at like that while eating made him really uncomfortable; the chopsticks felt way too heavy, so he just put them down.

Jiang Zhihuo said, “Yesterday… uh, I had some drinks. I know my drinking isn’t the best. Honestly, I can’t even remember what happened, but I really wasn’t trying to mess with you or take your ‘white moonlight’ spot, so please don’t get the wrong idea! About the test paper, um…”

Jiang Zhihuo was lost for words, so he gave an awkward smile and kept rambling, “You can talk to my second personality. Want me to call him out for you?”

“Jiang Zhou?”

“Mhm…mhm!”

“Which ‘Zhou’?” Yan Mu asked.

“The ‘Zhou’ from ‘Qingzhou¹T/N: The Zhou that means light boat, which is the same Zhou as Yun Zhou’s name‘,'” Jiang Zhihuo replied.

Jiang Zhihuo heard Yan Mu chuckle softly but couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm or not. It didn’t matter though, because a moment later, Yan Mu got up and made him a cup of honey water, placing it right in front of him.

Jiang Zhihuo: “?”

He just couldn’t hold it in any longer: “Hey, you’re acting a bit strange today, aren’t you?”

Look, if you want to roast me or pick a fight, just say it. But cooking noodles, making honey water, and giving me those strange looks? What’s going on with that?

“Really?” Yan Mu didn’t seem to notice at all.

Jiang Zhihuo ignored him and focused on eating. He was really hungry, after all. Once he finished, he washed his bowl, dried his hands, and said, “I’m heading out.”

Yan Mu: “Mhm.”

It was Sunday, and a bunch of kids were running around and playing in the neighborhood garden, making lots of noise and having a great time.

Yan Mu walked Jiang Zhihuo down the stairs and then kept following him all the way to the community gate.

Jiang Zhihuo just couldn’t figure out what this rich young master was trying to do; following him like a shadow from behind was really creepy.

The last time Yan Mu followed him was when they were in the isolation classroom, trying to provoke Feng Zhi into acting. He saw everything but stayed silent, just insisting on being there. So what was causing this strange mood? Did he find out something again?

Near the gate, Jiang Zhihuo was at his wit’s end. He turned around and said, “What do you really want? Just ask your question, and I’ll answer if I can, but please stop following me!”

Yan Mu looked at him seriously and asked, “Why do you call yourself ‘Shin’?”

Jiang Zhihuo twitched his mouth slightly.

Why is it this question again?

Jiang Zhihuo: “Why do you need to know? You’ve already asked three times.”

Yan Mu: “Tell me.” It was only three words, but his unclear expression made it feel extremely intense and commanding.

“Is the answer really that important?” Jiang Zhihuo asked.

Yan Mu: “Yes.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “Why is it important?”

Yan Mu wouldn’t let him avoid it. “Now it’s my turn to ask you.”

“Alright.” Jiang Zhihuo shrugged, then lowered his gaze, resting his right hand on his left shoulder.

It was a subconscious move, but Yan Mu noticed it.

He knew there was a tattoo there.

Jiang Zhihuo lifted his head again, sunlight streaming down, and his eyes shining brightly.

He said one sentence.

When he heard the answer, Yan Mu’s fingers clenched tighter, using all his willpower to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing the person in front of him.

Because Jiang Zhihuo said, “It’s a person’s name.”

Serious and solemn.

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The author has something to say:

Xiao Huo has been exposed; please reward some nutrients (starry eyes)

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  T/N: The Zhou that means light boat, which is the same Zhou as Yun Zhou’s name