Chapter 12
Mrs. Luo: “Why isn’t anyone answering?”
Luo Shuxin glanced at Jiang Jian’s state. “He’s probably drunk.”
Mrs. Luo: “Any parents around?”
Luo Shuxin: “He said his mom’s nearby.”
Jiang Jian spoke up on his own, shaking his head.
“No… my mom went somewhere far away. She’s not nearby anymore.”
His tone wasn’t sad — more like a simple statement of fact.
But on the other end, Mrs. Luo went quiet for a moment.
Then she said, “Bring him home, will you? You can’t leave such a pretty boy on the street — what if someone picks him up?”
Luo Shuxin: “?”
Mrs. Luo suddenly remembered who she was talking to.
“Wait — do you even know where you are right now?”
Luo Shuxin lifted his head and calmly looked around.
Perfect. He had absolutely no idea.
Luckily, Jiang Jian spoke up before things got awkward, slurring out a nearby place name.
Then, still looking dazed, he asked, “Where are you going?”
Luo Shuxin hesitated for a second, then told him his neighborhood’s name.
Jiang Jian pointed down the road.
“Go straight down this way, past the traffic lights — there’s a bus stop. Take the bus, two stops, and get off…”
He gave perfectly clear directions from start to finish.
On the other end of the call, Mrs. Luo was silent for a long beat — then started clapping.
“Very good, son. You’ve picked up a living, breathing GPS!”
What she really wanted to say was how the hell did you manage to get lost two stops away from home, and the drunk kid’s the one giving directions? But for once, she spared her son’s pride.
After hanging up, Luo Shuxin crouched in front of Jiang Jian.
Jiang Jian blinked. “What are you doing?”
Luo Shuxin: “Carrying a drunkard.”
Jiang Jian: “I’m not drunk.”
Luo Shuxin: “Mm. Sure. I’m the drunk one. Get on.”
Jiang Jian hesitated a moment, then obediently leaned forward and climbed onto his back.
Luo Shuxin stood, adjusting his grip slightly to settle him.
As soon as he was up, Jiang Jian’s legs began to sway lazily.
Luo Shuxin: “Your legs.”
“Oh,” Jiang Jian murmured, wrapping his arms tighter around Luo Shuxin’s neck.
Luo Shuxin: “…”
He wasn’t heavy — even with the unsteady little kicks, Luo Shuxin’s steps stayed steady.
A total contrast to Shao Xing, who’d once carried Jiang Jian and nearly gave him motion sickness.
Then, out of nowhere, Jiang Jian mumbled, “What laundry detergent do you use? You smell nice.”
Luo Shuxin ignored him, but Jiang Jian rubbed his face lightly against Luo Shuxin’s back, settling into a comfortable spot like a sleepy cat.
All the way home, Jiang Jian gave directions while Luo Shuxin carried him.
Even with someone guiding him, Luo Shuxin still managed to take three wrong turns — but drunk Jiang Jian was oddly patient tonight, not a single complaint.
By the time they arrived, half an hour had passed. It was after eleven, the buses had stopped running, and Luo Shuxin had to walk the rest of the way with Jiang Jian on his back.
Thankfully, this time he didn’t miss the right building and found the correct door number.
He knocked, and within moments there was movement inside.
Mrs. Luo — clearly still in the middle of her livestream — rushed over during a break in her game to open the door.
Jiang Jian knew this was Luo Shuxin’s mother, but the moment she opened the door, his mouth acted before his brain could catch up.
His brain: Should I call her Aunt Luo? Or Sister Luo?
His mouth: “Mom—”
Mrs. Luo laughed as she took the half-conscious boy from her son.
“Oh my, that was fast! We didn’t even have time to hold the wedding yet!”
Still chuckling, she helped settle Jiang Jian onto the sofa.
“There’s honey in the kitchen, Xiao Xin — make him some honey water.”
Luo Shuxin handed her the now-cold fried chicken. Mrs. Luo skewered a piece, fed one bite to her son — and then another to Jiang Jian.
Jiang Jian, still dazed and tipsy, bit into the chicken strip that Luo Yue had handed him.
“Okay, I’m heading back to my stream,” Luo Yue said cheerfully. “Call me if anything happens.”
Luo Shuxin went to make honey water.
Jiang Jian sat on the couch staring blankly into space. It took him a long while to realize—
Wait, how had he suddenly ended up at his new deskmate’s house?
His mind felt like mush. He couldn’t figure it out. Then, as he was zoning out, a sleek black cat waddled past his feet.
Yige.
Jiang Jian bent down, scooped the cat into his arms, and started petting it rather forcefully. After a token struggle, Yige gave up and simply sprawled across his lap, resigned but comfortable.
When Luo Shuxin came back with the honey water, Jiang Jian didn’t reach for it. Instead, he tilted his head back and asked, “What’s that?”
“Poison,” Luo Shuxin said evenly.
Jiang Jian leaned forward, catlike, and gave the honey water a tentative lick. “It’s sweet.”
“All poison is sweet,” Luo Shuxin replied.
“I don’t like sweet things,” Jiang Jian muttered.
Luo Shuxin: “…”
For a moment he wanted to rub his temples—at this rate, his new seatmate’s mental age really seemed closer to three.
Luo Shuxin glanced at the cat. “Are you going to drink it or not? If you don’t, you can’t pet the cat.”
Jiang Jian froze, then clutched Yige tighter and quickly grabbed the cup with one hand. “I was kidding. Sweet things are my favorite.”
Luo Shuxin watched silently as he gulped down the entire glass in one go.
When he went to wash the cup, Jiang Jian sat motionless on the sofa, still holding the cat. After a while, he frowned toward the kitchen and asked, completely serious,
“…Why are you at my house?”
Luo Shuxin decided not to argue with a drunk.
Meanwhile, Luo Yue had taken a short break from her livestream and messaged their homeroom teacher: her son had found a drunk classmate on the street and brought him home. She asked the teacher to inform Jiang Jian’s family that he was safe and could stay the night, unless they preferred to pick him up.
The teacher replied soon after. Jiang Jian’s mother had passed away; his father often traveled for work and wasn’t home much. They’d tried contacting him but hadn’t yet received a response.
Luo Yue remembered Jiang Jian’s earlier words—
“My mom went far away. She’s not nearby.”
She sighed softly and decided on her own that the boy would stay with them for the night, asking the teacher to notify his father.
By the time her stream ended, Jiang Jian was still sitting there, holding the cat and staring off.
Her son sat cross-legged on the rug, chemistry workbook open, his pen flicking across the page. Every so often he’d pause to jot something on the scratch paper spread out on the coffee table.
“Still not asleep?” Luo Yue called. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”
Luo Shuxin looked up. “When are his parents coming?”
They hadn’t discussed it, but some things were instinctive.
It wasn’t about being unwilling or bothered—it was just that no parent would feel comfortable with their child spending the night at a stranger’s house. Both of them had assumed it would be a short stay.
Choosing her words carefully, Luo Yue didn’t mention the mother. “His dad’s away for work. Jiang Jian will stay with us tonight.”
Luo Shuxin nodded without pressing further.
“Alright, enough dawdling,” Luo Yue said. “Who’s showering first? Wash up and get to bed—it’s Monday tomorrow.”
“I’ll go first!” Jiang Jian raised his hand high.
Luo Yue chuckled and pointed at him playfully. “Alright then, Student Jiang goes first! I’ll get you a fresh towel and toothbrush.”
As Jiang Jian got up to follow her, Luo Shuxin suddenly noticed—his limp was gone. The guy was walking perfectly fine.
Jiang Jian turned back, defensive. “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” Luo Shuxin said flatly.
Immediately, Jiang Jian resumed his exaggerated limp, grumbling inwardly about Uncle Pei for forcing him into this ridiculous lie—without realizing he’d started limping on the wrong leg.
Luo Yue didn’t notice anything off. She patiently adjusted the water temperature for him, laid out a clean towel, toothbrush, underwear, and a set of her son’s spare pajamas. Before leaving, she told him, “If you need help, just call Shuxin.”
Jiang Jian nodded obediently.
It took him half an hour to finish showering. Just when it sounded like he was finally done, there was a loud clang—the sound of bottles scattering across the floor.
The bathroom door wasn’t locked. Luo Shuxin turned the handle and pushed it open.
Jiang Jian sat on the tiles in a dark-blue pajama top covered in stars, hair dripping, looking completely dazed.
When he saw Luo Shuxin enter, he immediately barked, “Why did you come in? Get out!”
He tried to get up twice, but slipped again—his bandaged leg wrap was soaked and already lying discarded beside him.
Unable to watch this train wreck any longer, Luo Shuxin simply picked him up and carried him out of the bathroom.
Jiang Jian, thinking he was being cooperative, looped his arms around Luo Shuxin’s neck. Something felt off about the situation, but he couldn’t quite figure out what.
By then, Luo Yue had already finished washing up and gone to bed.
Luo Shuxin hauled Jiang Jian into his own room, dropped him on the bed, and tossed his blanket over him in one swift motion—
This time, he wasn’t pretending. He was genuinely exasperated.
Jiang Jian poked his head out from under the blanket. “What are you doing?”
“Putting you to bed.”
“My clothes are wet.”
From when he’d slipped earlier.
Luo Shuxin: “…”
Resigned, he went to the wardrobe to fetch another set of pajamas. Meanwhile, Jiang Jian picked up Yige, who had followed them in, and cuddled the cat close again.
When Luo Shuxin went to get fresh clothes, he stood on tiptoe to reach a box on top of the wardrobe — the one that held new underwear. Judging from the way Jiang Jian had landed on his butt earlier, his clothes were probably soaked through, not just his pajamas.
Luo Shuxin wore a light-colored round-neck pajama top. As he stretched upward, the hem tightened and lifted slightly, revealing a sliver of pale skin at his waist.
Jiang Jian’s unfocused gaze lingered there for a moment. That skin was smooth and white, which only made the scar across it more striking.
There was a mark on Luo Shuxin’s lower back — not sure what had caused it — but even that brief glimpse was enough to make one’s stomach tighten.
Before Jiang Jian could process what he’d seen, Luo Shuxin had already retrieved what he needed. He handed over the new pajamas and underwear, then went back to his desk and picked up his pen again.
Jiang Jian glanced at the clothes in his hands, then at Luo Shuxin’s turned back. Like a small animal hoarding something precious, he dragged the clothes under the blanket and began to change quietly beneath it.
