Chapter 45

An Ning sat by the flower bed and turned on his data. The first thing that popped out on WeChat was the concert photos and videos that Xiao Pang posted in the group. He clicked on each one and was immersed in the atmosphere of the concert. He even forgot about the creepy park on the opposite side.

Qin Weihang arrived about half an hour later. He didn’t ride the R1, but called a taxi. First, he sent him a message on WeChat: I saw you, come to the side of the road.

An Ning didn’t expect Qin Weihang to come so fast. He got up and walked to the side of the road and saw a yellow taxi slowing down and stopping. He stepped forward and opened the rear door, and Qin Weihang stooped his body and scooted inside. Qin Weihang was still wearing the black down jacket with a fur-rimmed hood, gray T-shirt, and white jeans that he wore when he went out in the morning. There was just an extra black duckbill cap on him.

The moment the car door was opened, An Ning remembered that Qin Weihang took a taxi back to school with him after eating dry pot. Although he didn’t remember too much, Qin Weihang must’ve been like today—the person had to sit leaning back, his knees pressed against the front seat, burdening his long legs.

Qin Weihang’s jeans were white, with only a tiny bit of light blue, which was much whiter than the white cover of the front seat of the taxi…

As soon as he got in the car, he thanked him: “Thank you, sorry to trouble you!”

He was truly touched because such a thing had never happened to him before. It was similar to when he was in high school and was trapped at school due to the pouring rain. He was hoping to suddenly see his mother coming to give him an umbrella. The difference was that when he was in high school, he didn’t wait for his mother to bring the umbrella, but when he was in university, he waited to be picked up by his roommate. That feeling of being taken care of by others was a feeling that he can happily recall a hundred times in his heart.

In a moment of carelessness, he ended up overthinking it and got carried away. He reminded himself that this was just because Qin Weihang was too nice, and was probably a bit sympathetic towards him. If it had been Liang Shenghan and Xiao Pang instead, then he would also do the same.

Don’t think so highly of yourself, An Ning!

Qin Weihang gave an address to the driver. An Ning didn’t know which neighborhood it was. The uncle driver turned around and asked: “Is it next to Lantian County?”

Qin Weihang let out an “mhm” sound, and when An Ning looked at him, he said: “Going to the place where I live.”

When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and especially low.

An Ning was a little surprised: “You didn’t cancel the rent of that house?!”

Qin Weihang cleared his throat and said: “Rented it for a year, so I can’t return it.”

An Ning showed a distressed expression.

When Qin Weihang saw it, he couldn’t help but want to console him: I’m rich, so don’t feel distressed.

The taxi quickly drove to the bustling business district, and there was a burst of noise. They saw the brightly lit Galaxy Stadium. The concert had just ended and the dome was opened, but there were still many fans and vehicles outside. The nearby traffic lanes were crowded, and the sound of people and cars interlaced, bringing an energetic sense of security. It didn’t look like it was past midnight, but like the night had just begun.

Qin Weihang didn’t say much throughout, but just looked out of the window with his head tilted. He leaned back against the seat and leaned to the right against the window of the car. At first, An Ning was watching the stadium across from him, but then his line of focus shifted to Qin Weihang. He noticed that Qin Weihang’s black duckbill cap exposed a few strands of hair, which was a little messy. He hesitated for a long time, but thinking that Qin Weihang was such an impeccable-looking boy, he decided to let him know: “The hair is exposed here.”

Qin Weihang snapped out of his daze and looked towards him. An Ning pointed to his own temple and behind his ear, Qin Weihang sat up from the window, took off his cap, straightened his hair back with his right hand, and pressed the cap back on with his left hand.

If he had not taken off his hat, An Ning may not have noticed that Qin Weihang’s hair was a bit messy tonight. The hair on top of his head was still curled up. When he called him, Qin Weihang must’ve been in bed already. Maybe he had been asleep for a while. Or perhaps he had dozed off while in the taxi, which was why his voice was a little hoarse when he first spoke.

An Ning silently retracted his gaze. That feeling of happiness from being concerned about by a person—or rather, by the person whom he secretly has a crush on—rose up again like a tidal wave.

They got out of the car and entered the community. After walking along the main road for a while, An Ning recognized the building where Qin Weihang lived, because the black Yamaha R1 was parked downstairs.

Qin Weihang swiped the card and went in through the entrance. At this time, there were only two of them in the elevator. Qin Weihang walked into the elevator and stood in the back with his hands in his pockets, and his body was slightly loose. He did not press the floor, so An Ning coughed and asked him: “Which floor?”

Qin Weihang appeared to have snapped out of his daze; reaching out and pressing 19 with his hand.

“Are you very sleepy?” An Ning couldn’t help but ask.

“… Ah?” Qin Weihang replied somewhat sluggishly, then he finally opened his eyes at him and said, “No.”

That widening of his eyes to prove that he wasn’t sleepy was too cute, An Ning thought with a pounding heart. He was unable to contain the smile on his face.

The elevator doors were mirrored, so when Qin Weihang saw him smile, he lowered his head and also smiled with embarrassment.

Two people just smiled silently and knowingly at each other, waiting until the elevator door opened with a ding.

As soon as Qin Weihang opened the door, An Ning couldn’t help but look curiously into the room from behind him. The room was completely dark. Qin Weihang pressed the switch by the door and the light in the entryway came on.

It was a one bedroom and one living room layout. The entrance was in the living room, and it was facing the opposite of the balcony. The space was quite open, and the decoration style of the house was relatively simple.

Qin Weihang opened the shoe cabinet and gave him a pair of white slippers. An Ning bent over to change his shoes and said “Excuse me” and walked in.

Qin Weihang turned on the light in the living room, and it was only then that An Ning saw a big bear plushie* lying on the sofa, a Top Gear magazine spread out on the bear’s back, and two comic books on the corner of the sofa.

[*TN: The term used here was lying bear(pa pa xiong), so it’s one of those plushies that lies on their stomach.]

Qin Weihang saw the mess on the sofa and coughed: “Sofa…”

An Ning immediately said: “I’ll sleep on the sofa!”

Qin Weihang was amused and nodded: “Sure.” He walked over to the sofa and put away the comics, throwing it under the coffee table. Then he picked up the huge bear, looked around, and finally let the bear lie on the coffee table.

When he put the bear down, he patted the bear lightly on the back, but he couldn’t escape An Ning’s gaze.

He didn’t know when it started, but even a random little gesture made by Qin Weihang will attract him.

Holding a clean towel given by Qin Weihang, An Ning took a quick shower in the bathroom. As soon as the body wash was squeezed in the palm of his hand, it immediately had a familiar scent. He only squeezed a little and gave up. It was only just one day, so it was not necessary to scrub with the body wash. If he applied the body wash now, then his imagination would run wild, and he would just be taking advantage of Qin Weihang. Maybe his imagination would run wild the whole night—he can’t.

After taking a shower, he mopped the floor dry, opened the door, and saw that Qin Weihang had changed out of the down jacket, wearing only the gray T-shirt. He was sitting on the sofa with his back hunched. In his hands was an opened comic book, which he was flipping through without stopping.

He was really not afraid of the cold, An Ning thought. After another look, he saw the light of the air-con was on. So he had already turned on the air-con…

Qin Weihang saw him come out, put down the comic and stood up: “I don’t have any extra toothbrushes here.” He walked over and An Ning gave way to him. Qin Weihang walked into the bathroom and opened the cabinet behind the mirror, grabbed a small bottle and gave it to him, and said, “You can just use mouthwash.”

An Ning has never used mouthwash before. He took it and looked down at the instructions carefully, and then nodded to himself. The sink did not have Qin Weihang’s cup on it, which was natural because Qin Weihang doesn’t use one. An Ning asked, “Do you have paper cups?”

“No.” Qin Weihang leaned against the door with his arms crossed and said, “I don’t have guests coming here, so I only have a cup for me to drink water.”

“Oh, then I won’t use one!” An Ning said hurriedly. After that, he turned on the faucet, lowered his head, and took a sip of water.

Qin Weihang did not expect such a solution. He wanted to laugh but held back.

I usually drink from that faucet, do you not realize that? He thought to himself, you might as well use my cup for drinking water, top student.

This was how An Ning fell asleep peacefully in a place several kilometers away from the school that night. While he was lying down on the sofa, Qin Weihang came over and asked him from above: “Is it cold?”

“It’s not cold at all,” An Ning said. “The quilt at the dorm is not as thick as this one.” This quilt was light and warm. He hasn’t fallen asleep yet, but he has a hunch that he will sleep well. He turned his head and glanced at the air-con beside the sofa, then said, “I think the air-con can be turned off.”

Qin Weihang simply said: “Okay.”

He turned off the air-con and walked off, but then stopped and looked back at the person on the sofa. In the end, he leaned over and picked up the bear lying on the coffee table, then placed it lightly on An Ning, and said:

“A companion.”

After that, the light in the living room was turned off. An Ning lay on his back in the darkness, his arm stretched out unconsciously, and he gently wrapped his hand around the back of the bear. The bear pressed against him while the low and gentle ‘A companion’ reverberated in his ears. His heart was beating so fast that it was about to explode.