APR 53

However, the shop that appeared before their eyes was completely different from what everyone had anticipated.

In Zhong Su's impression, this place should have been a newly completed bare storefront, with the emulsion paint on the walls not yet fully dried, and the surroundings cold and deserted, lacking any liveliness.

Yet now, the storefront had been renovated into a bright and spacious Cantonese restaurant. Bright red lanterns hung high under the eaves, with customers coming and going in twos and threes. A lightbox displaying signature dishes stood by the entrance, while the aroma of food and the chatter of diners drifted out from inside.

"This is the place, nothing special. Let's just take a look and leave. I have to rush to the filming site this afternoon." Zhong Su glanced at the Cantonese restaurant, unimpressed, and reopened the car door, urging Chen Huan to get in.

He thought Chen Huan would simply look around and be done with it, but Chen Huan was clearly never one to follow the usual script.

Chen Huan lifted his eyelids, gave him a glance, and said lightly, "Coming all this way just to leave without even having a meal, how disappointing would that be?"

He bypassed Zhong Su and pushed open the glass door, walking straight into the Cantonese restaurant.

Zhong Su watched his retreating figure, frowning in confusion. What could possibly be interesting about an ordinary restaurant like this?

Zhong Su pinched his nose and followed him inside.

The greeter, seeing Chen Huan and his group enter, assumed they were customers coming to dine and approached with a bright smile to guide them to a seat: "Will you be dining? All the private rooms are full now, but there are still seats in the main hall. This way, please—"

He efficiently handed them the menu and brought over three sets of disposable bowls and chopsticks, arranging them separately.

Chen Huan had no interest in looking at the dish names on the menu and passed it to A Wei, saying, "You decide what to order."

A Wei picked up the menu and instinctively began to recite the dish names, but suddenly remembered that Zhong Su, whom he wasn't familiar with, was sitting beside him.

"Um… you," A Wei didn't know how to address Zhong Su, so he used "you" instead, looking at him, "Do you have any dietary restrictions? Like allergies to shrimp or eggs, for example."

"I can eat anything, I'm not picky," Zhong Su paused, then added, "Just don't order bitter melon."

That vegetable was too cold and bitter, and he disliked wasting food. Every time he encountered stir-fried bitter melon, he struggled to eat it, having to drink water constantly afterward to suppress the astringent, bitter taste.

A Wei selected a few milder signature dishes from the menu, such as white-cut chicken and steamed fish, along with a few vegetable dishes and a soup, and placed the order with the server. Then he stood up and busied himself pouring hot water over the bowls and chopsticks for the three of them.

Chen Huan surveyed the decor of the Cantonese restaurant, unimpressed by its unremarkable setup, and said, "Su Er wanted to spend the rest of his life in such a small place, yet he never told me."

"It's not that he didn't tell you, but you didn't like hearing about it, did you?" Zhong Su yawned; he hadn't slept more than a few hours and was still feeling sluggish. He replied casually, "He used to get upset over things like this… uh, I mean, anyway, what Xiao Zhong Ge wanted to do didn't work out in the end. The shop was taken over by someone else, so there's no need for you to care so much now about whether he mentioned it or not."

Zhong Su looked at the bustling shop and felt a sense of melancholy. Among all the storefronts introduced by the agent, he had been most optimistic about this one.

If he hadn't gone to Qiyan Island back then to avoid trouble, he probably would have taken over this shop, doing car repairs, working steadily for a few years, stabilizing the business, and living a peaceful life.

Instead of like now, reborn into a penniless young man, struggling just to survive, constantly on guard against being chased by loan sharks.

Suddenly recalling yesterday's dangerous ambush and the blade that nearly sliced his face, Zhong Su's expression remained somewhat gloomy.

To distract himself, he casually pointed toward the cashier counter of the Cantonese restaurant and said, "Originally, Xiao Zhong Ge wanted to place a display cabinet right there, specifically for modified car parts. He had even planned out how to build the cabinet and how many shelves it would have."

Coincidentally, a large liquor cabinet stood behind the cashier counter, filled with all kinds of recognizable and unrecognizable white liquors, dazzling and intoxicating just to look at.

By now, the ordered dishes had been served one after another. A Wei was picking up fish with his chopsticks to put in his bowl. Hearing Zhong Su's words, he frowned in confusion and asked, "Modifications aren't really popular anymore, are they? Can you still make money doing that?"

"Hmm, it's not popular anymore?"

"Modified cars have a lot of issues. The year before last, a bunch of reckless kids were racing on Linshui Road and rear-ended a dump truck. Those kids were shattered on the spot, beyond recognition."

A Wei said, "Because of that incident, the procedures and requirements for modifications have become very troublesome now, and it directly led to a bunch of car shops going out of business."

Zhong Su looked somewhat surprised and disappointed. He picked up a piece of green vegetable, put it in his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and muttered in a voice so low it was almost inaudible, "Things have really changed a lot. Modifications used to be very profitable. I had to pay the tall guy over three thousand just to replace an exhaust pipe."

He focused on eating, not noticing that ever since they sat down in this restaurant, Chen Huan beside him had been watching him with an unreadable expression, not even touching the dishes that had been served.

Hearing his words, Chen Huan casually tapped out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and through the faint blue smoke, quietly watched the handsome young man finish his last bite of rice.

The next second, he casually handed the half-burned cigarette to Zhong Su's lips, as naturally as if it were the most ordinary thing.

Because Chen Huan's actions were so familiar, it wasn't until Zhong Su bit the filter and the unique cool, bitter taste spread in his mouth that he suddenly realized—

Had he… exposed something?

A chill shot up his spine. Zhong Su's hairs stood on end, his brain screaming warnings, but before he could spit out the cigarette and pretend nothing had happened, his wrist was tightly grasped.

"Su Er, long time no see." Chen Huan's eyes curved into a smile, his sharp shark-like teeth exposed without restraint, revealing his excitement. "Don't you have anything to say to me?" His fingertips pressed eagerly against the red mole, so hard it almost left red marks on the wrist.

Zhong Su's heart sank completely. It was over. Chen Huan had recognized him.

Just when he least wanted to be recognized, the lie had burst like a thin soap bubble at the slightest touch.

"Chen Huan, calm down first, let me explain."

"I'm listening."

Chen Huan's straightforward response, however, left Zhong Su speechless, choked with words.

A Wei had only started working for Chen Huan in the past two years. At this moment, he looked utterly bewildered, glancing back and forth between the two, unable to decipher the cryptic exchange.

"Let's go back to my place. We need to talk this through." Chen Huan spoke quickly, pulling Zhong Su to his feet and leading him toward his car. He called out to A Wei, "Let's go."

Seeing the murderous look on Chen Huan's face as he dragged Zhong Su along, A Wei didn't dare say a word. He set down his half-eaten meal and went to start the car.

Zhong Su had a splitting headache. There was no doubt about it, Chen Huan was a wolf cub that devoured people without leaving a single bone behind. That look in his eyes just now was all too familiar, blazing with an intensity that seemed ready to pounce and tear into him.

As the car started moving, Zhong Su kept wondering what he should say to Chen Huan in this situation. Should he admit outright, "Yes, I am Zhong Su. I died and came back to life"? Or should he confess, "Actually, I wasn't planning to acknowledge you. Let's just pretend I'm still dead?"

No matter what he said, it felt wrong. Chen Huan's reaction had completely caught him off guard. He couldn't even tell whether the other man was angry, excited, or consumed by some sharper, more intense emotion.

"Listen, I understand this is hard to believe. I felt the same way when I first woke up. All I remember is the day I died…" Zhong Su tentatively began, only to be gently interrupted by Chen Huan.

"Shh, no rush." Chen Huan's lips curved into a faint smile. He hadn't let go of Zhong Su's hand for a single moment. Instead, he took it a step further, shifting from gripping his wrist to intertwining their fingers in an intimate gesture. "Su Er, you can take your time explaining once we're home. No matter what you say, no matter how absurd, I'll believe you."

With the person he thought he'd lost forever now beside him, Chen Huan was surprisingly quiet.

He stubbornly played with Zhong Su's fingers, straightening each slender digit one by one before curling them back into his palm.

He squeezed until the knuckles turned pale, his eyes simmering with an emotion too intense, like he wanted to hurt, to chew Zhong Su down to the bone, to swallow him whole and merge them into one.

It was bloody, dark, and yet dazzlingly brilliant.

The silver-gray luxury car sped all the way back to Yangang, stopping in the driveway before the hillside villa.

Chen Huan didn't even bother with A Wei. He opened the door, got out, and pulled Zhong Su straight into the house.

Bang!

The front door slammed shut, startling Zhong Su and stirring up all the wariness he had long harbored toward Chen Huan.

"You said we were going to talk. Why lock the door again…?" Before he could finish, Chen Huan pressed him down by the shoulders onto a high stool at the home bar.

"It's fine. I won't hurt you again. Let's have a drink first. We'll talk after." As if trying to calm himself, Chen Huan opened a bottle of liquor, poured a glass of whiskey, and pushed it toward Zhong Su. Then he poured himself a full glass and downed it in one go.

Zhong Su couldn't bring himself to drink. Watching Chen Huan's Adam's apple bob as he gulped down glass after glass, his heart pounded faster and faster in his chest.

This setup didn't look like something he could easily talk his way out of.

"When did you 'come back to life'?" Chen Huan set down his glass and leaned in close to Zhong Su, their proximity so intimate they could almost hear each other's heartbeats. He focused intently, tracing the contours of Zhong Su's brows and lashes inch by inch, his calloused fingers making Zhong Su's skin prickle. "Hmm? Su Er."

His gaze was like that of someone who had recovered a priceless treasure, yet also like someone staring down prey. It sent chills down Zhong Su's spine.

Zhong Su forcefully suppressed the urge to swat away his hand, his voice strained taut as a straight line: "Just on September 10th."

"After I woke up, I wanted to go back to the old house to find you, but unfortunately, you had already moved away. Then a series of things happened, and by chance, I ended up in your territory, saw you, and then…" He paused, "was when you smashed my head with an ashtray."

Hearing this familiar date of mourning, Chen Huan's movements froze. His hand moved along Zhong Su's jaw and brow bone, up to the wound on the back of his head, fingertips gently tracing the edges of the scab as if afraid of hurting Zhong Su. He said, "I went too far. I should have believed you at the time."

Zhong Su tried to push Chen Huan's hand away but couldn't.

His expression was calm, yet it inexplicably made one's heart feel heavy.

"I also know it was just a misunderstanding, and I'm not bringing this up now to dwell on the past," Zhong Su said, attempting to brush off Chen Huan's hand but failing.

Chen Huan smiled, his sharp teeth biting his lip as he let out a breath: "That won't do, Su Er. You can't just brush it off so lightly."

"Come, this is where you were hurt, right?" Chen Huan took his hand and placed it over the same spot on the back of his own head.

Fingers slipped into his hair, the coarse strands of Chen Huan's hair pricking Zhong Su's palm.

Chen Huan's dark, shadowed eyes gazed at Zhong Su, speaking in the most natural tone something terrifying: "Su Er, you can leave me with the same wound. You can make me hurt just like you did."

[Come, I'll hand you the knife, give you the power to take revenge, let you carve out my flesh and blood.]