TLSMLMMM Chapter 35

Chu Junlie had always believed that a pat on the head was the best kind of reward.

When the pads of the fingers lightly brushed past the tip of his ear, the gesture so gentle it was almost unbearable, it seemed to stir every nerve along the rim of his ear. A subtle, tingling sensation spread and amplified, like a cherry bursting between lips and teeth, sweet red flesh releasing its flavor, carrying an inexplicable and endless impulse that gathered in his mind and in his lower abdomen.

The sense of longing was instantly pushed to its peak. Chu Junlie wanted that hand to stroke along the side of his ear, his earlobe, to lift his chin, even if it only tightened around his neck, it would be the ultimate pleasure.

Si Yunyi noticed Chu Junlie swallowing dryly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He looked like some small animal startled by something new, after a brief moment of surprise, it would run back again, poking its head out, wanting to try once more.

“There’s dust,” Si Yunyi said, extending his finger to show Chu Junlie the speck he’d wiped away.

“Mr. Si, is there any more?” Chu Junlie lowered his head and leaned in closer, deliberately showing his ear and the back of his neck.

Si Yunyi bent forward to look for a moment and answered honestly, “It’s very clean.”

“Maybe it’s from today, when I went with Grandpa to look at houses,” Chu Junlie lifted his head, trying hard to hide the disappointment in his eyes. He raised his own hand and rubbed the back of his neck, the back of his hand brushing behind his ear.

“You can go take a shower,” Si Yunyi said, noticing the flush along Chu Junlie’s neck. The way he rubbed himself was forceful, as if trying to compensate for some emptiness.

“Okay, Mr. Si.” Chu Junlie stood up and obediently went to the bedroom, though he couldn’t stop touching himself. When he finally stood in front of the bathroom mirror, he saw that his neck was an unnatural shade of red.

Turning his face to the side, he saw that the back of his ear was red as well, rubbed raw by himself.

His body temperature seemed to be slowly rising. Chu Junlie didn’t know why, but his thoughts drifted back to the previous night, to the bed bathed in moonlight, and the person sleeping soundly upon it.

He wanted to kiss Mr. Si.

He wanted to hold him tightly in his arms, to kiss the graceful line of his neck, to gently bite his beautiful Adam’s apple.

He also wanted Mr. Si to touch him.

Hands and bodies pressed together inch by inch, even the lightest, dragonfly-like brush would be enough.

Liefeng hooked a chew stick out of the cabinet with his paw and gnawed through most of it, yet the person in the bathroom still hadn’t come out.

Liefeng dug out a few dog biscuits from the cabinet, eating them while keeping an ear on the sounds from the bathroom. After finishing, the sound of running water was still there.

Liefeng kept rummaging about, both ears pricked up, constantly paying attention to the bathroom.

After who knew how long, Liefeng’s belly was a bit full. With some effort, he used his paw to push the cabinet door closed, then opened the bedroom door and wandered around the room, inspecting all his territory. He played with his toys on the balcony for a while to work off the food. When he came back, the noise from the bathroom finally stopped.

Curled up in his dog bed, Liefeng watched his owner come out of the bathroom, his face still warm with color. Chu Junlie lay on the bed, eyes dark and bright as he stared at the ceiling. Seeming to think of something, he shyly pulled the blanket over his head.

Early the next morning, Si Yunyi clearly sensed that something was off with Chu Junlie. Breakfast was unusually lavish, and Chu Junlie acted as if he’d done something bad, hardly daring to look his way.

Si Yunyi said nothing, eating breakfast as usual. Following Si Yunyi’s rhythm, Chu Junlie gradually calmed down as well.

After work that day, Chu Junlie took the old man to the supermarket on the basement level of the shopping center to buy daily necessities. The old man liked a bright red basin, a red thermos, and pink pillowcases. Laughing happily, he told Chu Junlie that these were just like what he’d had when he got married back in the day.

Chu Junlie listened attentively, pushed the shopping cart to check out, and was just about to ask the cashier for bags when the old man pulled several large plastic bags out of his pocket. The two of them happily saved thirty cents.

Chu Junlie led the old man out of the supermarket. Two middle-aged men who were about to enter suddenly stopped when they saw the old man. They lowered their heads, exchanged a few words, then took their phones out of their pockets and snapped several photos of the backs of the old man and the young man.

The next day, after Chu Junlie got off work, he went to the usual spot as always but the old man was nowhere to be seen.

Remembering that the old man had said the day before that he wanted to thoroughly clean the rented place, Chu Junlie picked up some food and headed to where the old man was staying.

The door of the small bungalow stood wide open. Inside, everything had been turned upside down. Chu Junlie crouched down and saw the shattered red thermos. The silver inner liner was broken all over the floor and there was blood on it.

Chu Junlie immediately ran out of the bungalow, asking passersby and nearby shop owners over and over if they had seen the old man. A kind-hearted convenience store owner, seeing how frantic the young man was, pointed him in a direction.

“I saw a few big, burly guys make the old man lead them to look for someone,” the shop owner said curiously. “They even said they were making him repay a debt. You’re not the one they’re looking for, are you?”

Chu Junlie’s eyes darkened. He looked in the direction the owner pointed out and recognized it as a road leading away from where he worked.

The old man had taken them elsewhere.

“Boss, please hold this for me,” Chu Junlie said, handing the food to the shop owner, then sprinted in the indicated direction.

By the busy roadway, the old man staggered along in front, leading the way. Several heavily built men followed behind him. As the number of shops and pedestrians dwindled, they began to sense something was wrong.

“You old bastard.” One man grabbed the old man by his gray-white hair. “Are you fucking lying to us? This is a new district, those residential buildings up ahead are still under construction. Where the hell are the people?!”

“It—it’s this way,” the old man said, enduring the pain, his trembling finger pointing to the side. “The young man who helped me… he works at a construction site.”

The men were half-believing, half-doubting. Seeing this, the old man begged them desperately.

“Big sirs, the one who owes you money is my son. It has nothing to do with that young man. He just pitied me and gave me a few meals. Please let him go—he’s a good kid…”

“You still know your son owes us money?!” The leader shoved the old man to the ground. “Tell me— is that young man your son’s friend? Did your son ask him to take care of you?”

Hearing this, the old man’s heart went cold. Tears streamed down his face. “My son stopped caring whether I lived or died long ago. He borrowed money from everyone around him what friends could he possibly have? That young man just pitied me for begging. Please let him go!”

“Boss, this doesn’t look like a place for begging,” one of the men suddenly realized, pointing elsewhere. “The busiest place around here is the shopping center over there. That’s where there’s leftover food. Why would this old man give that up and come beg in such a desolate place?”

The leader froze, then suddenly understood. Realizing they’d been led this far on false pretenses, he angrily kicked the old man.

“You old bastard—still lying to us!”

They grabbed the old man, thin as a scrawny chicken, and dragged him back, cursing the whole way. Seeing how slowly he shuffled along, one man ripped off the old man’s down jacket and shoved him forward.

“Freeze to death, you old bastard! You still get to wear a down jacket? Your son screwed us over and we get yelled at every day, while you’re here enjoying yourself!”

The old man trembled violently. As the shopping center grew closer and closer, he clenched his teeth and stubbornly refused to move another step.

“Now you’re pulling the same stunt as your son?” The leader kicked him down again. “Who are you pretending for?!”

The old man collapsed onto the ground, curling up, clutching his head, not making a sound.

“Get up! Keep walking!” The men’s patience was wearing thin. They no longer bothered using their hands and just kicked him. “Walking a few steps is this hard? Looking for a beating, huh?!”

A few pedestrians passed by and noticed what was happening. Seeing this, the leader grabbed the old man and dragged him toward a more secluded spot.

“Where’s that young man?”

The old man clutched his head and said nothing.

“You old—” The man lifted his foot, about to stomp down hard, when a shout suddenly rang out from the distance.

The man instinctively looked up only to see a rusty steel rebar flying straight toward him. He staggered backward, lost his balance, and fell. With a loud hum, the rebar slammed into the ground where he had just been standing, stabbing straight into the earth.

The old man hugged his head, bracing for the pain to come then suddenly heard a familiar voice, followed by the rebar embedding itself in the ground in front of him.

He froze, then looked up and saw the young man running toward them.

The youth clearly had searched many places already. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his black eyes burned like heated coals. Facing the burly men, they were filled with seething fury.

“Oh? He came on his own!” The leader sneered, having his men help him up and brushing dirt off his pants.

“You’re that old bastard’s son’s friend, right?” He walked up to Chu Junlie. “So where’s his son now?”

Hearing this, the old man suddenly reacted. He clutched one man’s leg and looked desperately at the young man.

“Xiao Chu, run! Run!”

“Run my ass.” The leader laughed disdainfully. “With this many of us, you think he can get away? Besides, even if the monk runs, the temple can’t.”

“I bet you work right here, huh?” He pointed at the shopping center nearby. “I’ll give you two choices. Either you tell us where that old bastard’s son is, or today you and this old bastard each leave behind one finger. I’ll take them back as proof. How about it?”

Chu Junlie looked at the old man, then at the down jacket in the man’s hand. Without a word, he stepped forward and pulled the rebar out of the ground.

“Xiao Chu, don’t do something stupid…” The old man looked at him in despair. The next moment, Chu Junlie swung the rebar.

The leader was completely caught off guard. The rebar smashed into his face with a sharp whooshing sound. His vision spun, his head ringing. Only after a long moment did he realize he had been knocked to the ground.

Seeing their boss get hit, the other men immediately rushed in. Chu Junlie remained expressionless. He tilted his head to dodge an incoming blow, raised his hand to catch the punch mid-air, saw the flash of panic on the man’s face and then tightened his grip and twisted hard.

The sound of bone cracking rang out.

The man’s scream was piercing. Chu Junlie tossed the rebar aside, looked at the others charging at him, slowly rolled his neck and wrists, and assumed a fighting stance, his gaze cold and razor-sharp.

The old man stared blankly, watching the youth move with speed and ferocity. A punch rose from low to high, landing squarely on one man’s chin. Several bloodied teeth flew out instantly.

The young man’s strength was terrifying. He followed with a slanted whipping kick, vicious and heavy, cutting through the air with a sharp crack as it smashed into the man’s face.

The two-hundred-plus-pound man flew backward, blood pouring from his nose, completely motionless.

The old man rubbed his eyes, only then convinced that what he was seeing wasn’t an illusion.

A flash of light caught his eye. He turned and saw someone had pulled out a knife and was stabbing toward Chu Junlie’s back.

“Xiao Chu!” the old man screamed.

Chu Junlie spun instantly. One hand blocked the knife-wielding arm, the other grabbed the man’s shoulder and twisted the arm aside.

The shoulder lock forced the man to bend over. Chu Junlie drove his knee up hard into the man’s abdomen. The man vomited sour liquid and released the knife. As it fell, Chu Junlie pinned the man’s shoulder, seized his arm, and yanked violently, dislocating the joint.

The man’s scream echoed through the empty space. The leader looked on as his men either lay unconscious or writhed on the ground in agony.

Watching the young man walk toward him, the leader’s voice began to shake.

“Y–you don’t come any closer. I’ve got people above me. They won’t let you off, you—”

“Which hand hit him just now?” Chu Junlie asked coldly, pointing at the old man sitting nearby.

“I—I didn’t—I…” Before the man could finish, Chu Junlie turned, picked up the rebar, and walked back step by step, measuring the distance. He planted his foot on the man’s fingers bracing against the ground.

Lowering his eyes, expression calm, Chu Junlie tightened his grip on the rebar, angled it slightly and drove it down.

Blood splattered instantly. The man’s scream tore through the open space. Chu Junlie glanced at the fallen knife, picked it up, and walked over again.

“Which foot kicked him?”

“I—I—help! Help!” Tears streamed down the man’s face as he screamed desperately, hoping someone would hear.

Unfortunately, they had chosen a very good spot.

“You’re right-handed. Then it must’ve been the right foot.” Chu Junlie looked down at the man’s flailing legs, gripping the knife as if playing some game of precision. His eyes were utterly calm. After a brief pause, he chose—and stabbed down.

A direct hit.

The man passed out from the pain, falling silent.

“Xiao Chu! Xiao Chu!” the old man shouted anxiously.

Chu Junlie looked up only then realizing the old man wasn’t trying to stop him. That shout carried more panic than anything else.

The panic of being discovered.

Following the old man’s gaze, Chu Junlie looked over coldly—yet the moment he saw the witnesses, the expression on his face collapsed instantly.