Chapter 79 Mistake

"He Chuan," he said.

"I'm sorry." He Chuan knew he understood.

It had been so long since the incident, so long that Feng Ran had forgotten how he felt at the time. He tried hard to recall when he saw those photos of himself in the living room, when his sister's foot was stuck in the grandmother's doorway, lowering her head and questioning him... What kind of feeling was that? Humiliation, anger, or hatred?

Feng Ran asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Why..." He Chuan muttered to himself, "I don't know."

At that time, he was old enough to go to bars, and the one Feng Ran frequented was the only gay bar in the city. No one knew that he often stalked Feng Ran during those years.

It was also around that time that he started wearing a baseball cap, and with his washed-out school uniform and dusty sneakers, no one could recognize him.

Control was not strict in those years, so he would take off his school uniform and throw it into his schoolbag before entering the house, and no one would check his identity.

Perhaps he'll never forget that scene: Feng Ran hugging a strange, heavily made-up man. A smile he'd never seen before graced his face. In one hand, he held a wine glass, in the other, a cigarette.

A life of debauchery, a life of drunkenness and debauchery.

For He Chuan at that age, this was a profound shock. He wanted to leave, but his feet felt like nails.

Feng Ran before him was unfamiliar.

He watched him kiss another stranger.

Only when someone tapped him on the shoulder did he snap out of his dream.

The paunchy man before him, his face thick with flesh, offered him a glass of murky wine.

Under the dazzling, garish lighting, his mouth stretched to his ears, layers of fat curling like waves, revealing burnt teeth.

"Little brother, you're here alone? Want a drink? I'll treat you."

A silver ring on his left ring finger gleamed with an eerie light.

Worms.

He Chuan's mind raced, his stomach nauseated. He pushed past the man and headed out into the darkness.

He squatted on the street, feeling dizzy and retching. The moonlight that day was bright, and he waited in the evening breeze until Feng Ran finished.

Perhaps it was a relief that Feng Ran didn't come home hungover. Just after midnight, he hurriedly pedaled his bicycle towards his home.

He Chuan walked home. In the evening breeze, he laughed the whole way. He wanted to laugh at his own stupidity, but also at Feng Ran's hurried and comical back. At the corner of a quiet alley, he suddenly burst into laughter, and someone pushed open the window and spat.

Later, he had a deeper secret and brought a camera into the bar.

The subject of the photo was only one person.

Feng Ran said, "Then why didn't you tell me for all these years?"

He Chuan struggled out of the deeper memories. Moonlight poured down from the shadows of the trees, connecting them into a bright field. He didn't know how many nights like this he had spent. He watched Feng Ran's back get smaller and smaller, but unfortunately, everything could not be summed up by the simple saying that things have changed and people have changed.

"Tell me, please give me alms."

Feng Ran was speechless. He wanted to say that wasn't the case. At least if he liked someone, he'd tell them. Hiding it in his

heart was just asking for trouble. He'd been all alone, in love for ages, with the other person completely unaware. "At least... not like now, where I haven't... known you for years." Feng Ran stuttered, a rare occurrence. He'd handled every suitor in the past with ease, but not this one.

This person, with him and his obsession, had such a deep connection. Every step of the way, there was always a pair of eyes watching him from the corner.

They'd watched him through so many long years, witnessed his pain and despair, and his entanglements of love and hate.

Yet, he was completely unaware.

"You knew them, you just forgot." She'd given him so many chances before—the child who'd dealt with his father, the only teenager Liu Mang had repeatedly targeted, the intern in the legal department of his first company, the young owner of a renowned silver shop in his hometown...

"I didn't mean to..."

"I know."

The two of them were at their wit's end. Unconsciously, the car had ascended the mountain. Feng Ran turned on his phone, but there was no signal.

He Chuan said, "There's almost no signal in this area, but it will be restored after we get down the mountain."

"Oh, I see."

"Have you decided to be with Shen Zhi in the future?"

"I'm not sure. Besides, even if we decide to be together now, we may not be able to stay together forever. Matters of the heart are too unpredictable." Feng Ran spoke frankly.

He Chuan said, "He likes you very much, right?"

Feng Ran often couldn't figure out the psychology of these two brothers. In the deep mountains and old forests, if He Chuan got angry and threw him down to be eaten by wild beasts, no one would know.

He said fearfully, "Well, it doesn't matter. Think about it, no matter who likes me or who I end up with, you and I will always be friends. Love is temporary, but friendship is long-lasting."

"You really have a lot of friends."

"Not many, not many..."

The car couldn't go any further up, so the two got out and hiked up the mountain. He Chuan introduced that this was actually an unpopular scenic spot, but the back mountain was not open to tourists, so there were no wolves, tigers or leopards, just a quiet forest. The relatively flat open space, with no tall trees around and bulging earthen mounds, told Feng Ran they had reached their destination.

He Chuan pulled a large woven bag from the trunk, unsealed it, and scattered paper money all over the floor.

He then took out some wine and looked at Feng Ran.

Feng Ran said, "You're going to drive back, right? I'll do it."

He filled glass after glass of wine and offered it to everyone. The spicy taste burned through his throat and into his stomach; it was 60% alcohol.

He Chuan was talking to his grandfather, but Feng Ran avoided him, unable to hear anything. Morning light descended on the dark forest, the only light from the flashing headlights illuminating the dim world.

He turned on his phone, but it was almost dead and still had no signal.

He tried to walk to higher ground and connect to a weak signal, but his arm went numb as he gradually received messages: messages from his sister and some from unfamiliar numbers.

But there was no message from Chen Zhi.

Feng Ran wondered, was he tired of their ambiguous game and was this his sign of giving up?

So quickly?

On the way home, with no internet and no electricity, he felt drowsy.

He Chuan asked, "You can drink quite well?"

"You should know this." Feng Ran opened his eyes, "He Chuan, what are your plans for the future? Where are you moving to?"

"I'm going back to my hometown."

"You..." Feng Ran was a little surprised.

"Not necessarily." He Chuan changed the subject.

Feng Ran looked at him, then at the wine in his hand. Thinking of Chen Zhi again, he felt unconsciously depressed and drank the rest.

Before getting on the highway, Feng Ran wanted to vomit, and his consciousness was not very clear at this time. He Chuan stopped the car, and he squatted on the side of the road to relieve himself for a long time.

When he came back, he staggered for two or three steps.

A layer of snow screen was added in front of his eyes, and he could not see anything clearly.

"You are drunk...you will be drunk too." Someone whispered.

Feng Ran lay on the man's body, hazily wondering how he could be drunk.

He said, "No. Who said I was drunk?"

Something flashed before his eyes: "What number is this?"

Wasn't this just teasing a kindergartener? Feng Ran was a little annoyed: "Two! I said I wasn't drunk."

"Three. Who am I?"

"Chen Zhi."

Feng Ran was pleased with himself, feeling his answer was fluent.

The man said nothing and refused to pull him in. He left him at the car door and walked straight to the other end to get in.

Feng Ran stumbled back into the car and said, "Can I take a nap?"

"Sure."

"Just ten minutes," Feng Ran said. "Let me drink after I wake up."

"Okay."

Shen Zhi often didn't let him drink. He had a theory that if too much alcohol was broken down in the body at once, it would affect his body.

But a nap before drinking would solve that problem.

It seemed dark. He pulled at the quilt and felt that the bed was a little too cramped today. The quilt was a little thin, and he couldn't stretch out. But the person next to him was far away from him.

This bed was strange.

He said, "Do you want a goodnight kiss?"

Shen Zhi lay on the other side without moving.

"Let's have one." Feng Ran said, then leaned over and took him into his arms.

The moment they touched, Shen Zhi suddenly hugged him tightly. His fingers were rough, Feng Ran thought, these were a pair of hands holding a paintbrush... hands... moving down...

lost consciousness...

When they arrived in Jiang City, Feng Ran was still asleep. He Chuan drove for five hours and took a break in the middle, but it was a drop in the bucket. Now he was extremely tired. Feng Ran

's phone suddenly rang. It was placed between them, just charged and turned on. He Chuan freed his hand to pick it up, and Shen Yuan's loud shout came from the other side.

"Where are you! Where are you! I called you twenty times. Where on earth have you been? Why didn't you answer?"

He Chuan frowned and said, "He's asleep. What's the matter with you?"

Shen Yuan: "You..." He suddenly realized whose voice it was, "It's you! You were with him. You both yesterday and today..."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Something happened to Shen Zhi!" Shen Yuan's voice trembled. He used up all his strength and roared with gritted teeth, "Come to the Central Hospital, right now. I must kill you!"

He Chuan reached out and pushed Feng Ran. After a while, Feng Ran woke up slowly and asked with a frown, "Where are we?"

"Jiang City."

Feng Ran felt uncomfortable all over. He drank too much last night and his head, stomach and bladder hurt.

He said for a long time, "Can you stop for a while? I'm going to the bathroom."

He Chuan said, "Where are you going?"

"Then... let's go home first..." "

Are you sober?"

"Awake."

"Really?" He Chuan was unsure.

"Yeah, I have a headache. I need to go back and have a nap. It's not comfortable to sleep in the car."

"Let me tell you something first." He Chuan suddenly became serious.

Feng Ran opened his eyes, and He Chuan's car just stopped steadily.

Central Hospital?

Feng Ran hesitated and said, "Why are you in the hospital?"

He Chuan said, "Chen Zhi..."

Feng Ran could never have imagined that after just two days, when he saw Chen Zhi again, the scene would be like this.