After the Soul-Guarding Lamp spat him out, Shen Wei had been comatose for an entire week. That whole time, Zhao Yunlan had stayed by his side, not even stepping away long enough to change clothes. But the moment Shen Wei woke up, Zhao Yunlan had immediately begun acting as though they were complete strangers, to the point of running away from home to avoid him.
Now, just as Shen Wei was about to say something, Zhao Yunlan’s end-of-the-workday alarm rang. Zhao Yunlan grabbed his coat and bag and headed for the door. “You’ll have to excuse me. I’m finished for the day.”
Grabbing his wrist, Shen Wei called out, “…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Zhao Yunlan glanced at him. “Sorry for what? Deception? Or deception? Or maybe deception?”
Shen Wei was silent.
Off to one side, Daqing pretended to lick his paws. His eyes shone with excitement as he watched the drama unfold.
Zhao Yunlan tried and failed to pull his wrist from Shen Wei’s grasp. “If there’s anything else you need, just spit it out. I have a date at a hotel after work.”
Shen Wei’s grip tightened. He’d always been quick to act but slow to speak; after trying for a while, he only managed to repeat, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, all right?” Zhao Yunlan snorted. “If apologies could fix things, why would we need the police? Why are you still hanging on to me? Do you want a salute and a handshake from Mr. Policeman or something?”
“Oho—!” Daqing spoke up, drawing out his words. “Rushing off to a hotel room…” Shen Wei skewered him with a look, and the cat hurriedly meowed out the rest. “…is something he wouldn’t dare do even if you lent him a whole other spine.”
Zhao Yunlan kept his mouth shut. This treacherous little shit!
By that point, the members of the criminal investigation unit across the hall had finished slowly gathering up their things and were ready to leave. Lin Jing was the first to cross the threshold. Confronted with this scene, he froze for a moment before saying, “Oh, hello, Shen-laoshi. Here to ambush him after work? Excellent timing!”
Behind him, Chu Shuzhi clapped. “Perfect timing! High technical scores!”
Zhu Hong rattled off a hotel name and room number without looking up from the novel she was reading on her phone. “I also think ambushing him at night is a good idea. It’s possible to compensate for emotional disharmony with physical intimacy.”
In under twenty days, this girl’s worldview seemed to have been shattered only for her to somehow cultivate a fascinating frame of mind that included the motto, “Loving someone means wanting to see him get railed.”
Guo Changcheng was the last to come out. Locking the door, he politely said, “Hello, Shen-laoshi.” Then, somewhat out of character, he continued despite not knowing the situation. “Don’t be mad anymore, Director Zhao. When Shen-laoshi was still injured, you were worried out of your mind, right? You didn’t even leave his bedside to rest.”
All of his seniors looked back at him. As he gazed at them in confusion, they gave him a collective thumbs-up.
The utterly bewildered Guo Changcheng was unaware that he had offended his boss and was now facing an entire year of workplace bullying.
Zhao Yunlan still said nothing. These treacherous little shits!
In the blink of an eye, everyone dispersed. Only Daqing was left, daringly hanging back in hopes of seeing how things would unfold. But then lao-Li, who always got off work late, came in carrying a lunchbox. Even from a distance, the smell of dried fish filled the hallway. As lao-Li approached, Daqing swore, then circled Shen Wei’s feet. “My lord, please give me a place to stay!”
Shen Wei took the key to Zhao Yunlan’s apartment from his pocket and hung it on the cat’s collar. Like a rocket shot from a bow, Daqing, despite his bulk, bolted out the hallway window and ran off.
Lao-Li saw this from a distance. Giving Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan a helpless nod, he bent down and set the lunchbox by the door to the criminal investigation unit. “Tell Daqing to heat it up first before eating it tomorrow,” he told Zhao Yunlan.
Having learned about Daqing and lao-Li’s complicated past, Zhao Yunlan no longer knew how to face this person who had mistreated his cat in his absence. He just gave a blank-faced nod.
“It won’t be crispy anymore,” lao-Li sighed. A little forlorn, he left.
Finally it was only the two of them left in the hallway, illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun.
It was a while before Shen Wei quietly said, “You still won’t forgive me?”
Zhao Yunlan looked away.
Slowly, Shen Wei released his hand. “Kunlun, I… I’ll do anything you want.
The thing was, Zhao Yunlan wasn’t really trying to get anything out of the situation. He couldn’t bear to hit or yell at Shen Wei, but he also couldn’t just let it go. Instead, he’d resorted to throwing a tantrum and running away from home.
He was passive aggression incarnate as he responded, “What are you saying, mister? Like I told you, I somehow got amnesia; I have to check my ID for my own name. Don’t try to take advantage of my condition and trick me.”
Shen Wei’s lips were a little pale. Zhao Yunlan turned to leave, determined not to look back. But before he could even take a step, there was a noise behind him. He spun back around and saw Shen Wei kneeling on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Zhao Yunlan leaned over to pull him up. “What the hell is your problem? Get up!”
Shen Wei said nothing.
“Get up!” Zhao Yunlan demanded.
Shen Wei remained silent.
Finally, unable to get him to move, Zhao Yunlan plopped down on the floor beside him.
After a while, he poked Shen Wei. “Hey, it’s practically sunset. The night shift’s about to come out. Won’t that be embarrassing for you, Lord Emissary?”
Almost under his breath, Shen Wei said, “Didn’t you say you couldn’t remember me?”
Zhao Yunlan huffed. “Yeah, who are you again?”
Shen Wei seized his hand in an iron grip, unwilling to budge.
After another stretch of silence, Zhao Yunlan said, “If Shennong hadn’t had mercy and let my divine spirit out just before the Four Pillars were established, what would’ve happened to me? I would’ve forgotten everything once I woke up, just like everyone else, right? I never would’ve known that someone like you existed in the world. I guess everything related to you would’ve vanished too, right? And there I’d be, just wondering who had cleaned up my kitchen.”
Shen Wei carefully glanced at him.
Zhao Yunlan sighed. “Shen Wei, all I really want to ask is this: How cruel is that heart of yours?”
Tentatively, Shen Wei reached out. When Zhao Yunlan didn’t pull away, he inched closer, putting his arms around him. Millions of explanations seemed to come to mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice any of them. He didn’t want to mention them at all. Lips by Zhao Yunlan’s ear, he said, for the third time, “I’m sorry. It was wrong of me.”
It was as though, no matter how much pain Shen Wei was in, he felt no need to say a word about it—and could accept the blame regardless of what the truth was.
The scrap of fury lingering in Zhao Yunlan’s heart guttered and died. Nothing of it remained, not even ash. His heart just felt a little sore.
Still wrapped in Shen Wei’s arms, Zhao Yunlan helped him up. They walked outside, guided by the setting sun.
Shen Wei followed Zhao Yunlan. In a quiet voice filled with hope, he asked, “Going home?”
“Hotel,” Zhao Yunlan answered.
The light left Shen Wei’s eyes as he stopped dead in his tracks.
Zhao Yunlan sighed, then said a bit harshly, “I already paid for the room. Can’t I stay another night?”
Completely lost, Shen Wei blinked and stared at him.
“Besides,” Zhao Yunlan finished, “I didn’t say you couldn’t come with me.”