141: Society death
Today it started raining lightly, pitter-patter outside. The sky was gloomy, making it hard to distinguish the passage of time.
Early in the morning, Yan Zhuohua was woken up by a severe headache. With one hand pinching his temples and the other propping himself up on the bed, he slowly sat up and leaned against the headboard.
Getting drunk was indeed satisfying, but the next day's aftermath was truly agonizing. He rubbed his head for a long time without the pain easing at all, so he helplessly dropped his hands and opened his eyes to look around.
He was alone in the room. A glass of water was on the nightstand, and a note was pressed under his phone.
Yan Zhuohua first picked up the water glass and drank it clean. Leaning against the headboard, he took a few deep breaths before unhurriedly picking up the note.
"Hubby went to prepare breakfast for you. Drink water first when you wake up. Give me a call or send a message, and I'll come up. — Your loving husband."
Yan Zhuohua chuckled. He read the note several more times before placing it neatly back in its original spot and picking up his phone to send a message to Yan Qinghe.
"Awake."
After thinking for a bit, Yan Zhuohua added, "Headache, hubby."
Sure enough, less than two minutes after the message was sent, Yan Qinghe entered the room carrying a tray.
"I thought you'd sleep a bit longer. Why are you awake so early?"
"My head hurt, so I woke up."
Yan Qinghe placed the tray on the small table and brought the bowl of Hangover Soup to Yan Zhuohua's lips. "So you still know what pain feels like. I advised you, but you didn't listen and insisted on drinking so much."
"Wasn't it because Sheng Xufeng was desperately trying to get people to ply me with alcohol yesterday!"
"Stop shifting the blame. He didn't pinch your nose and pour it in. If you really didn't want to drink, who could have forced you?"
"Hey, whose side are you on?"
"I'd like to be on your side, but didn't you just refuse to listen to me last night?"
"...Stop scolding me, I know I was wrong..."
Yan Qinghe was amused by his playful words and burst into laughter, the spoonful of soup he just scooped up wobbling back into the bowl.
"Alright, I won't lecture you anymore. Hurry and drink." As he spoke, he fed him another spoonful.
Yan Zhuohua cooperated and drank two more mouthfuls, then curled his lip, suddenly refusing to drink any more no matter what.
"It tastes bad."
"I specifically asked for the recipe from my cousin to relieve headaches. You'll feel better if you lie down for a while after drinking it."
Yan Qinghe coaxed him in a low, gentle voice for a long time before he finished the bowl of hot soup with a grimace. After feeding him the Hangover Soup, Yan Qinghe tucked him in, handed him his phone, and then went back downstairs to make breakfast.
Watching him leave the room, Yan Zhuohua rolled around on the bed out of boredom for a few turns. Feeling that his head was indeed a bit better, he slowly turned on his phone.
Then he was shocked by the flood of wechat notification alerts. Yan Zhuohua suddenly had an ominous premonition. While comforting himself, he clicked into his second brother's chat page.
"Hahahahahahahaha, you're so good at acting spoiled."
? What acting spoiled? Who was acting spoiled? Yan Zhuohua was bewildered for a long time, then scrolled through the messages sent by Li Wu.
"Brother, I got drunk early yesterday, it really had nothing to do with me! I didn't do it! If you want revenge, don't splatter blood all over me."
Something's wrong. It looks like Sheng Xufeng caused trouble?
Yan Zhuohua hurriedly scrolled through Sheng Xufeng's moments. Sure enough, the latest post was a video posted at 4 AM last night. After mentally preparing himself, he clicked on the video.
The scene inside was quite familiar; one look and he knew it was the 'KTV' where they had their gathering yesterday. The footage looked like surveillance, but it was surprisingly clear, and even messy sounds could be heard.
Yan Zhuohua looked closely; the protagonists inside were actually himself and Yan Qinghe. In the video, he looked completely drunk, clinging to Yan Qinghe's body in a daze and refusing to let go.
Yan Zhuohua immediately slapped the phone down and lay back with his eyes closed. He felt he must not be awake yet.
The sound of rain hitting the leaves outside still drifted in through the half-open window. Yan Zhuohua snapped his eyes open and, refusing to believe his luck, opened the video again.
The footage had played a bit further. Currently, Yan Qinghe, who was being tightly clung to, was helplessly cupping his face as if saying something. It wasn't very clear, so one of the parties involved, Sheng Xufeng, had thoughtfully added subtitles for everyone.
"Zhuohua, let go first, okay? I can't even move."
"I don't want to! I want to hold you!"
As he spoke, Yan Zhuohua clung even closer to Yan Qinghe. Yan Qinghe's eyes were filled with smiles as he took the opportunity to hold him even tighter.
"We're going home. If you don't let go and let me get up, how am I supposed to take you home?"
The people nearby were all surrounding them, each with an excited expression watching the live version of Yan Qinghe coaxing his wife. From time to time, there were heckling screams, and faintly, Sheng Xufeng could be heard whistling, suggesting that Yan Qinghe should carry him back like a sack.
...Help!
No one came to save Yan Zhuohua, who was about to faint from shame and indignation, and the video continued to play.
"Then you carry me back." In the video, his past self was coaxed for a long time before reluctantly loosening his grip. Yan Qinghe was finally able to move; he quickly packed his things, said goodbye to Sheng Xulin and the others, and then used both hands to pick up the person in his arms in a princess carry and walked out.
The screams in the video grew even more intense. The surrounding crowd of hecklers all whipped out their phones to take photos. That rascal Sheng Xufeng was still blocking the doorway, looking smug while saying something unknown.
Then he saw himself actually wrapping his arms around Yan Qinghe's neck and leaning in, kissing Yan Qinghe for a good while in front of everyone.
The video ended there. The screen went dark, reflecting Yan Zhuohua's currently blank expression. He was no longer willing to look at the comments below.
After a long time, the phone made a notification sound and the screen automatically turned off. Yan Zhuohua came back to his senses, unlocked the phone again, and slowly but resolutely uninstalled wechat.
Sheng Xufeng, I'm going to kill you, aaaaaargh!
The light rain outside hadn't stopped. Yan Qinghe came upstairs carrying two bowls of steaming noodles. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Yan Zhuohua, who should have been playing on his phone and resting on the bed, actually sitting on the windowsill acting all profound.
"What are you doing sitting there?" Yan Qinghe set the noodles down and walked over quickly to pull him down. "The window is open. You already have a headache. What if you catch a cold from the wind?"
Yan Zhuohua didn't follow his pull to come down but continued to sit there steadily.
"Catching a cold is good! Being groggy from a cold means I don't have to face this cruel world." Yan Zhuohua looked at the wind and rain outside, murmuring sorrowful words.
"...What's wrong now?"
Yan Zhuohua slowly turned his head. "Do you love me?"
"I love you."
"Then go break Sheng Xufeng's legs for me."
"?"
Yan Qinghe didn't understand where this was coming from. What did Sheng Xufeng have to do with anything?
"Isn't he about to enter the Military Camp? How did he provoke you?"
"Don't change the subject!" Yan Zhuohua grabbed his sleeve. "Help me give him a beating."
"I can help you beat him up." Yan Qinghe pinched Yan Zhuohua's chin, his gaze quite dangerous. "But if you don't come down and keep sitting here in the wind, I might have to deal with you first."
Yan Zhuohua nimbly got down and dashed to the coffee table to eat the noodles.
Yan Qinghe, still standing there, shook his head helplessly and followed him in a few steps.