IROAWTMTFL Chapter 23.2

A little after five o’clock, the door opened, and Zhuang Yiyun entered the house. He had come back earlier than usual. Yan Yan was surprised himself, and he raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhuang Yiyun coldly. Their encounter after what happened last night, and in a completely sober state, was awkward to say the least. Yet, neither of them showed it. Their auras clashed invisibly in the living room, creating a tense atmosphere.

The suitcase was too conspicuous, he couldn’t pretend not to see it even if he wanted to, and Zhuang Yiyun was momentarily stunned. His pupils contracted slightly, and he wanted to say something but didn’t. On the way back, he had thought that he shouldn’t be easily swayed by Yan Yan anymore. If Yan Yan wanted to leave, let him go. He was just a liar who only wanted a superficial sexual relationship; they shouldn’t be on the same path.

However, when he returned home and saw that Yan Yan had packed his bags, he couldn’t help feeling uneasy and regretful. He was yearning for the well behaved Yan Yan…

Zhuang Yiyun remained silent, and Yan Yan didn’t speak either. It was Zhuang Yiyun who said they needed to talk, so Yan Yan felt he was losing if he spoke first. They stood and sat in their respective positions, creating an angle that was conducive to conversation.

“I apologize for missing our appointment. But you shouldn’t have gone drinking.”

“You asked to talk, and this is what you want to say?”

Yan Yan was about to burst into laughter. Zhuang Yiyun’s stern tone and educator-like posture were almost laughable. He easily brushed off his own mistake and focused on him going out to drink?

Forget about winning or losing, Yan Yan exploded. He couldn’t help but fire off a rapid succession of words, “Get this straight, Zhuang Yiyun. Even if this was a contract marriage, I’m a legal adult at eighteen. I can drink wherever and however much I want.”

“So, where did you go to drink?” Zhuang Yiyun blurted out, it was as if the cologne from yesterday still lingered in his nose.

“I went to a gay bar. Handsome guys in the bar took turns buying me drinks, and there were pretty boys clinging to me. I got carried away, and I lost count of how much I drank. If I hadn’t drunk too much and my brain wasn’t fuzzy, do you think I would have come back to your place?”

“My place?”

“Yes, is it my place?”

Zhuang Yiyun remained silent, unsure of how to respond. He felt a pang of sadness and bitterness that was almost unbearable.

“Okay, it’s my place. Then where would you have gone instead of coming back to my place?”

“So many men are waiting for me to turn the plaque, what do you think?”

*Turning the plaque is something Emperors do when choosing which concubine/consort to sleep with that night.

“Yan Yan.” Zhuang Yiyun seemed to have reached his limit of patience, and his face became clouded with anger.

Yan Yan was now delighted when he saw Zhuang Yiyun getting angry. He continued to provoke, “What? Since you’re incapable, can’t I find someone who is?”

Zhuang Yiyun couldn’t take it anymore, and after a day apart, the two of them started arguing again.

Zhuang Yiyun asked, “Is that what you really want? Then why were you unwilling yesterday? Is it me or you who can’t handle it?”

Yan Yan fired back, “You just came at me… am I here to see a doctor or what? I’m perfectly healthy. I think there’s something wrong with you, not only are you sick, you’re also a pervert!”

As soon as Yan Yan mentioned his aggressive behavior from last night, Zhuang Yiyun deflated, and the argument became a one-sided attack by Yan Yan.

“What are you pointing at? Raising a finger to order me around? Did I say something wrong? You have mental issues! Sorry for missing our appointment, but drinking is even worse. Why are you so good at picking out the key points? No wonder you’re a top student, and I’m a slacker. You start with an apology, take the moral high ground, and then you can criticize me, right? Your apology is so insincere, does your mother know? Does your primary school teacher know? Don’t let your middle school teacher know, after all, middle school students can’t say such things. Your grammar is so flawless, did you top the Chinese exam in the college entrance examination!”

At this point, Zhuang Yiyun couldn’t find an opportunity to interject. He tried to say something several times but was ultimately silenced by Yan Yan. Yan Yan, who had unleashed his inner fury, was as fierce as a flock of geese. He chased Zhuang Yiyun out for ten kilometers.

“I’m sorry.”

Yan Yan’s angry voice abruptly stopped, and he felt so embarrassed and angry that he stood up and went to grab his suitcase. He had vented enough, so he decided to run away before Zhuang Yiyun could react.

Zhuang Yiyun subconsciously wanted to stop him, but then he thought, ‘What right do I have to stop him? Why should I stop him? What do I want to do if I stop him? What is there between us besides quarrels?’

He clearly didn’t come back to argue…

Zhuang Yiyun remained motionless. Yan Yan secretly turned around, and he saw Zhuang Yiyun sitting there with a dejected look on his face.

When this mam was cold, he was alluring; when he was fierce, he was perverted; and when he was downcast, he was pitiful and cute.

Yan Yan just couldn’t bring himself to be too heartless.

“Repack the computer and send it to me.”

The computer… Zhuang Yiyun suddenly looked up. Yan Yan had seen the gift in the broadcast room; Zhuang Yiyun belatedly realized this. With a flash of inspiration, he said, “Do you want the other things from the broadcast room?”

“What other things?”

Yan Yan lied shamelessly, and Zhuang Yiyun didn’t expose him, seeming to suddenly understand. The idea came to him as if he had an epiphany, so he cooperated with Yan Yan’s performance.

“The other things in the broadcast room.”

“Really? Let me see.”

Yan Yan put down his suitcase and walked towards the broadcast room, and Zhuang Yiyun got up to follow him.

He had seen them before, and they were ugly. Yan Yan couldn’t feign surprise, so he pointed to the life-sized body pillow and asked, “What’s this?”

“Your life-sized body pillow.”

Yan Yan felt happy when he heard Zhuang Yiyun say this. This iceberg straight steel man had secretly prepared a birthday gift for him, even though the gift wasn’t that great. However, he appreciated the sentiment.

Zhuang Yiyun explained, “I’ve seen many anchors with these…”

Yan Yan: “How is this me? I’m blonde.”

“I thought that was your real hair. The clothes are exactly the same as what you’ve worn before, and the height is exactly the same, 179.2. After receiving it, I measured, and it’s accurate. And…”

“Zhuang Yiyun!” Yan Yan didn’t even call him by his full name during the quarrel earlier, but now, Yan Yan roared angrily. 179.2? Who gave him permission to be so precise! He had said he was 182! Couldn’t he understand 182?

“Okay, I’ll order one with golden hair. Satisfied?” Zhuang Yiyun had a helpless look of ‘you are unreasonable but I can’t do anything about it’.

But was hair color really the issue?

“Zhuang—!”

“Don’t get upset. Birthdays should be happy. Happy Birthday.”

Yan Yan was like a balloon that had been poked by a needle, all the anger in his stomach suddenly deflated. Moreover, Zhuang Yiyun’s gentle and soothing tone made him suppress his smile with great effort.

“Ahem, today is not my birthday.”

“But it’s written on your ID.”

“That was my parent’s good deeds. They felt embarrassed about the premarital pregnancy, so they registered my birthdate as a little earlier.”

The two just been arguing fiercely moments ago, but now they had suddenly become calm. It wasn’t clear who had sat down first, but they both realized they were in a state where they could watch a movie at any moment.

“So, are we going to eat the cake?”

“Where is it?”

“In the hallway.”

“Let’s eat it. There’s no reason not to.”

Then with Yan Yan’s consent, Zhuang Yiyun brought the cake into the room. Since it wasn’t his birthday, there was no need for candles. They simply opened the cake box and ate it with two forks, chatting casually as they did. Mostly, it was Yan Yan eating, while Zhuang Yiyun only took a couple of bites.

“So, when is your birthday?” Zhuang Yiyun asked.

“The day before we met.”

“November 24th?”

“You remember that so clearly… What about you? When is your birthday?”

Zhuang Yiyun gazed at him with deep eyes and wondered if Yan Yan had never looked at their marriage certificate, which clearly stated their birthdates. Or maybe he had poor memory and was naturally not good with numbers?

“November 8th.”

“Oh.”

The two who weren’t accustomed to small talk fell silent, and the atmosphere gradually became stifling. After a while, Yan Yan stood up, followed by Zhuang Yiyun, and the two of them walked out one after the other.

“Do you want to have dinner? My treat.” Zhuang Yiyun asked when he saw Yan Yan about to lift his suitcase.

Yan Yan didn’t rush to answer. Instead, he cast his gaze toward the kitchen.

“Where are my shrimp? My peeled crab? My blue lobster?”

Saying this, Yan Yan took three or four steps and opened the kitchen door.

The shrimp in the sink were all dead. The plug of the sink wasn’t sealed properly, and it had leaked dry within a day. The crab meat had been put in the fridge but had gone bad, and he wasn’t sure if it was still edible. As for that French blue lobster… it had crawled out again and lay lifeless on the floor.

Zhuang Yiyun: “…” He felt like he had been given a public execution and whipped to death.

Yan Yan picked up the blue lobster, held it up to his eye level, and met his gaze.

“Blue Blue is dead.”

“Blue Blue?”

“Its name.”

“You were going to eat it.”

“Who said that? I bought it as a pet, what a loss!”

Being stared down by the dead lobster and Yan Yan, Zhuang Yiyun felt like a tenant farmer oppressed by a landlord, and in the face of the landlord’s groundless accusations, he helplessly lowered his proud and unyielding head.

“Okay, I’ll buy you a bigger one.” Zhuang Yiyun despised himself as he played along the act.

“I want a fiercer one.”

“Okay, let the lobsters fight at the market first.”

“Haha.”

After two rounds of acting, he managed to achieve a smile +1 and a dinner opportunity +1. Zhuang Yiyun’s mood was inexplicably content when he scanned the QR code for payment, so much so that he didn’t understand it himself.

Yan Yan, who had conquered the situation, was also very satisfied. No one mentioned where they were going next, but Yan Yan still got into Zhuang Yiyun’s car and went back home with him. Once they got home, Yan Yan immediately opened his suitcase and began searching for pajamas, so Zhuang Yiyun instinctively moved the suitcase back to the guest bedroom.

The tranquility after the storm lasted only until Yan Yan finished showering and saw Zhuang Yiyun carrying the life-sized body pillow out of the broadcast room. He gripped the door handle with one hand and effortlessly held the head of the human-shaped pillow with the other, fully displaying how much taller he was.

——’The height is exactly the same as yours…’

Yan Yan didn’t care about drying his hair anymore, and asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m ordering a new one.”

“179.2?” Yan Yan gritted his teeth, feeling that he had humiliated himself by asking this question.

Zhuang Yiyun nodded.

“I don’t want it! Girly stuff, who would want this kind of thing!” With a bang, Yan Yan slammed the door of the guest bedroom mercilessly, expressing his disdain for the pillow.

‘Was he angry again?’ Zhuang Yiyun wondered. ‘He obviously complained about the hair color, why was he rejecting it entirely?’ He had learned from his colleagues, researched the live streaming room ecology on Cool Cat platform, and chosen a gift that appealed to Yan Yan. So, what was the problem? Dr. Zhuang, who had an IQ of 200, couldn’t figure it out.

Moody little liar. But what about him, he knew Yan Yan was a little liar, but he was still coaxing him? The “girly” body pillow, which was now deemed too hot to handle and had been rejected by the little liar, should have been thrown away. But this kind of private order was not easy to throw casually. Even though it was just a custom-made item based on a manga character without a real person’s photo, he still brought the pillow into his study.

Yan Yan was so furious that his head hurt. He couldn’t sleep, and all he saw was Zhuang Yiyun’s face, with each word criticizing his height of 179.2. Even when he slept with his head covered, he was still mad. As he turned and tossed in bed, he couldn’t help but think, ‘I want to grow taller!’

At midnight, Yan Yan, who was unable to sleep due to anger, got out of bed, went to the fridge, and opened a bottle of milk, muttering curses like “bastard” and leaving no doubt about who he was cursing.

In the study, Zhuang Yiyun heard the commotion. Although he couldn’t see or hear clearly from behind the wall, he stopped working and paid attention to what was happening outside. Due to the problems discovered during yesterday’s experiment, the entire team was busy, and he had left work early today to have a “talk” with Yan Yan. Now he had to catch up on his work late at night. But why wasn’t Yan Yan sleeping?

Yan Yan’s footsteps quickly disappeared at the entrance to the guest bedroom. The place fell silent again, and Zhuang Yiyun refocused on his work. However, this lasted for only about half an hour. Yan Yan came out again, his footsteps sometimes light and sometimes heavy, and after a while, there was a crash as if something had fallen to the ground.

Yan Yan leaned over the cabinet, and the medicine box had fallen to the ground. He reached out to grab it, but his legs went weak, and he fell to his knees. Seeing his knees about to hit the floor, a pair of hands grabbed him, and he was lifted into an embrace.

The living room had only a dim light on, and under the dim light, his face was deathly pale, with cold sweat on his forehead. Zhuang Yiyun held him, and felt that he was shivering all over.

“Where does it hurt?”

“My stomach…”

Zhuang Yiyun immediately helped him sit on the sofa, and he used three fingers to press and probe his abdomen in a professional manner, asking, “Is it painful here? What about here?”

“Ah, it hurts!”

“Did you eat something when you came out earlier?”

“Eat something? No way!” Yan Yan didn’t expect to be found out and hurriedly denied it. He certainly wouldn’t admit that he had drunk milk in the middle of the night to grow taller due to anger!

“How many times have you had diarrhea?” Zhuang Yiyun’s face remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t heard his words at all.

“Tw… No, none at all!”

Feeling as if he were on his deathbed and in terrible pain, Yan Yan’s voice became increasingly high-pitched, and he quickly regained his muddled thoughts. “Twice.”

Zhuang Yiyun turned around and squatted in front of him, “I think it’s acute gastroenteritis. Let’s go to the hospital.”

Yan Yan didn’t move.

“Come up.” Zhuang Yiyun patted his shoulder.

“Are you going to carry me?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want to go to the hospital…”

“Hold on.” Zhuang Yiyun directly grabbed his hands, placed them on his shoulders, and with a little effort, lifted him up. Yan Yan was taken by surprise and let out a cry as he was suddenly lifted off the ground. He tilted backward, but Zhuang Yiyun steadied him.

“I’m not going, I don’t want to go… Zhuang Yiyun, can’t I just take some medicine?”

As if he was about to cry, Yan Yan kept pulling on Zhuang Yiyun’s clothes, rubbing his head against Zhuang Yiyun’s ear, trying to stop him. Zhuang Yiyun turned his head slightly to avoid his touch, but Yan Yan followed suit. Frustrated by his actions, Zhuang Yiyun had no choice but to stop and ask him why.

Yan Yan hesitated, and Zhuang Yiyun’s ear was wet from his rubbing. He was in so much pain that he was sweating but didn’t want to go to the hospital? Ignoring what he said, Zhuang Yiyun opened the door.

“Ah, Zhuang gege, I don’t want to be given an enema! Wuuu, I won’t go to the hospital.”

Zhuang Yiyun: “…”

Being reminded of last night’s absurdity, hearing him call out “gege” again when he needed something, it took him a while to suppress his emotions.

“If it’s just acute gastroenteritis without other gastrointestinal issues, there’s no need for such an examination and treatment.”

“Really?”

Zhuang Yiyun turned to look at him, and noticed his eyelashes were glistening with tears. He could curse with great vigor and deceive without guilt, yet a single word from him made Yan Yan act like this – how could someone be so wild, so bad, and yet so fragile?

“Really.”

With permission granted, Zhuang Yiyun took the little ancestor who had made himself sick to the hospital. At 1 a.m., Zhuang Yiyun, who had not slept for a full forty hours, sat in the emergency room with Yan Yan, answering the doctor’s questions.

“Abdominal pain, diarrhea twice, profuse sweating. He drank quite a bit last night, had seafood for dinner, and also had some cake. What did you eat later tonight?” Zhuang Yiyun looked at Yan Yan, his gaze seemingly calm but exerting an invisible pressure that made Yan Yan not dare to hide anything.

“Milk, I drank milk.”

Thinking back to the sounds he had heard in the study, Zhuang Yiyun realized what that noise was and asked, “Was it cold?”

“C-cold…” Yan Yan was completely weakened.

“How much did you drink?”

“500?”

Zhuang Yiyun was both furious and concerned. He wanted to scold him for not taking care of his own body, but when he saw his pitiful appearance, the words remained unsaid.

The doctor, on the other hand, had no reservations and said right away, “Even the best person can’t withstand such reckless behavior. Young man, you’re risking your life. If you hadn’t come to the hospital in time, you could have been severely dehydrated overnight. What’s wrong with young people these days, thinking they have iron stomachs and eating so recklessly…”

Yan Yan’s head hung lower and lower. The doctor seemed inclined to continue his lecture, but Zhuang Yiyun suddenly interrupted him, “We ran out of water at home. It wasn’t intentional on his part. Please prescribe the medication first; he’s in a lot of pain.”

After finally getting Yan Yan on an IV, the abdominal pain eased somewhat after one bag, but Yan Yan still had to make several trips to the restroom, which left him weak. It wasn’t until 4 a.m. that he stabilized. Zhuang Yiyun fetched a blanket from the car to cover him, and the two of them fell asleep one after the other on the chairs in the observation room. The person on the left had their head leaning left, and the person on the right had their head leaning right, forming an inverted figure, with neither of them touching each other.

At 7 a.m., Zhuang Yiyun’s alarm went off, reminding him that Yan Yan’s IV was almost finished. According to the prescription, Yan Yan still had two more bags to go, likely taking until late morning. So, Zhuang Yiyun got up and went outside to send a message to Ke Mingcheng, requesting time off. He was the team leader of Group Six, and the overall responsibility for management fell under the Center’s Chief Operating Officer, Ke Mingcheng.

Ke Mingcheng had just woken up when he saw a message saying that the perennial workaholic, Zhuang Yiyun, was requesting time off, so he made a call right away.

“What happened?”

“Yan Yan is in the hospital.”

Ke Mingcheng had a habit of first drinking a glass of water to clear his head after waking up. Because he had just woken up and was till groggy, he asked without thinking: “Alcohol poisoning?”

“What did you say?” Zhuang Yiyun furrowed his brow. Ke Mingcheng wasn’t familiar with Yan Yan, so why would he immediately assume it was alcohol poisoning? That wasn’t a common ailment among young students.