Gentlemen's Friends

Chapter 27 Part 2: Eight ([-])
"...of course you know what to do and what not to do."

Zhuang Wei smiled: "You have already ruined him, what else should I be afraid of? He is like this, what I do to him, will it make a difference?"

There was silence for a long time before he said, "Zhuang Wei, please treat him kindly."

Zhuang Wei just smiled, hung up the phone, and then turned off the phone.

After letting himself be manipulated, the man looked much better now, a little blood was forced out of his face by the hot water and heat, his expression was pitifully dazed, and he lay silently on the bed.

Even if he tore him apart and ate him sadistically, he couldn't resist, and no one would know, let alone defend him.

Zhuang Wei watched for a while, covered the man with a quilt, then turned off the light, and lay down beside him.

It was raining outside all night, and in the middle of the night Qu Tongqiu seemed to be having a nightmare, shaking like he was in unbearable pain.

Zhuang Wei dug him out of the quilt and hugged him, stroking his back, listening to him sobbing as if begging for help in a low voice, but he couldn't sleep well.

When he woke up the next day, Zhuang Wei's eye circles were darkened, and his mood became more depressed due to lack of sleep, and his blood was surging.Looking down at the man curled up in his arms, he couldn't help gnashing his teeth. This is indeed a patient.

But it's not cumbersome, because he is very quiet, even the volume of moaning is very low.This man is so humble even if he is out of order.

Feeling the movement, Qu Tongqiu also woke up, opened his eyes and looked at him, his eyes were still a little confused.

Zhuang Wei was getting more and more irritable, and finally held the man down, lowered his head and bit the thin shoulder.

The man shrank back in pain, but he was only panting in fear, without any more resistance.

At this moment, it was too easy to do anything to him.Just a little rougher.

Zhuang Wei stared at him for a while, then suddenly withdrew his hand, let him go, got out of bed and left.

He couldn't continue, the helplessness of the man who almost lost the ability to resist made him suddenly lose interest.

Men have become so weak now because they have endured too much.The sadness was too heavy, even though it didn't fall on him, he could feel the shadow when he got close.

Even if the pain has nothing to do with him, and the man can't make a sound, he still seems to be able to hear the voice crying in the man's head.

He doesn't have much patience and gentleness, but he can't be too cruel at this time.

"Are you hungry? You didn't eat anything last night."

Qu Tongqiu found a safe place in a panic under the quilt, and sat there with some fear.

Zhuang Wei went to fry the eggs, heated up the milk, baked two slices of bread, put them on a plate and brought them to the bed.

"Only these, let's just order."

The frightened man still flinched a little, pressing his back tightly against the head of the bed.Zhuang Wei spread jam on the bread and handed it to his mouth, and he ate it instinctively, then milk, and then fried eggs sprinkled with pepper, whatever was fed to him, he ate nervously.

For a moment, Zhuang Wei felt like the owner was feeding the pet. The man shrunk his shoulders slightly, and the appearance of jam on the corner of his mouth was not annoying, and he was in a good mood.

After breakfast, he took Qu Tongqiu to sit on the balcony. It rained all day, but today it was sunny, the air outside was humid and fresh, and the balcony was facing the large grassland below. He only used it for the stress-relieving scenery. Rent this apartment for double the rent.

Qu Tongqiu sat in his arms, really quiet, as if he felt comfortable, leaning on his chest gradually dozed off.

He suddenly felt that it was good for the man to be so stupid.

However, the doorbell rang unceremoniously.

Zhuang Wei first took the man back to the living room and let him sit on the sofa.The strap of the nightgown was untied, Zhuang Wei thought for a while, and instead of helping him tie it, he just left it open, seeing that the teeth marks on his shoulders were still visible, and then went to open the door.After seeing the appearance of the person who came, he couldn't help being slightly taken aback.

"Mr. Zhuang," the young man under Ren Ningyuan who was delivering the goods was smiling outside the door, "Mr. Ren asked me to deliver these things."

Zhuang Wei looked down at the big cardboard box and frowned: "What are these?"

"I don't know about these either," the other party smiled endearingly, helping to move things into the house, and tactfully not looking at things that shouldn't be seen, "Mr. Ren, tell me, if it's convenient for you, please go down for a while." Come on, he's waiting downstairs."

Zhuang Wei ignored him, closed the door, and hurriedly wrapped up the sneezing man tightly and held him in his arms.While blowing his nose for the man, he opened the cardboard box with his feet.What was sent was some clothes, shoes and socks, all washed and folded.

Zhuang Wei gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice, but got up, changed his clothes and went downstairs.

Ren Ningyuan's car was parked there, but he was standing outside the car. When he saw Zhuang Wei approaching, he raised his eyes, nodded and said hello: "How is he today?"

Zhuang Wei threw the box at his feet: "What do you mean by sending these junk?"

Ren Ningyuan looked down at the shirts that fell out of the box opening: "These are the ones he used to, and they are more suitable than the ones he bought again."

"He won't need it. I'll buy him a new one so I can't afford it."

Ren Ningyuan looked at him: "Zhuang Wei, you don't know him."

Zhuang Wei smiled: "I know him very well, I just got to know him very thoroughly, and he likes it very much."

Ren Ningyuan didn't speak anymore, and it took a long time before he coughed slightly: "Don't treat him like that. He is a patient. You wait for him, it will be better..."

"With you here, how can he get better?"

"I understand, I don't see him," Ren Ningyuan paused, "You too, be careful with him."

Zhuang Wei gradually became a little irritable: "Got it. I have nothing to go up. He is a fool now. I can't do it without me."

"Zhuang Wei," Ren Ningyuan called to stop him, "You know, he lives in his own world. As long as you wake him up, he will recover slowly. Go tell him, Xiao Ke misses him very much, wait When he's well, she'll come and see him."

Zhuang Wei snorted: "It's not necessary. I think he's fine now. If he wants to escape from reality, let him escape."

"He can't hide in hallucinations all his life."

Zhuang Wei smiled nonchalantly: "Why not. I feed and clothe him, and he listens to me. He can live a good life with me."

"Zhuang Wei, he is not a dog."

The fair-skinned man's face turned blue for a while, and then he smiled: "Of course, I wouldn't take care of a dog like this."

Ren Ningyuan looked at him in a long silence, and finally said: "Zhuang Wei, he has worked very hard, please, don't bully him again."

The haughty-looking man only shrugged his shoulders.

Ren Ningyuan lowered his voice: "If he doesn't get better and you don't have the patience to take care of him, please remember to tell me."

Going back to the house, he saw that the man was still there, not causing any trouble, more honest than the best pet.Zhuang Wei sat beside him, hugged him, and let him lean in his arms.

"Well, some people say, I don't know you well enough, do I?" Of course the man won't answer.

Zhuang Wei went to get a box of ice cream and fed him a little bit.The man opened his mouth, and obediently ate it bit by bit.

From being terrified at the beginning, he gradually became docile through habit.

This man's world has become very simple now, as long as there is no painful feeling, he will be very quiet, as long as it is forced, he will accept it.

This single mode of response makes Zhuang Wei feel that it is easy to manipulate and indulge.

Never had he been more harmonious and happy with him.

The Lunar New Year is approaching, and people set off fireworks one after another at night. Zhuang Wei carried the man to the balcony, and sat in the same chair to watch the fireworks.

"How do you like it?"

The man didn't respond, he was still dazed, and there was a little scratch on the corner of his mouth.

"It's beautiful, Qu Tongqiu."

The man was concentrating on his own thoughts, and his voice could not be heard at all.

"Qu Tongqiu."

"..."

"Qu Tongqiu, I..."

The man finally moved a bit, looking up at the sky because of the sound of fireworks.

Zhuang Wei hugged him and buried his head in the hollow of his neck.

The man only hunched his shoulders at the damp coolness on his neck.

The next day Zhuang Wei woke up very early, Qu Tongqiu was still in his arms, sleeping deeply, breathing regularly and steadily.The advantage of being stupid is that you have no worries and no insomnia.

Zhuang Wei looked at him for a while, and finally pinched his nose to wake him up.

"It's time to get up."

The man sat up and looked dependent because he was at a loss. Zhuang Wei picked out his own clothes from the closet and put them on for him. When he felt that they didn't fit, he changed them again and played with him like a doll in a dressing game.Although he is old, and his personality and appearance are not so cute, Zhuang Wei somehow does not feel bored.

I have to go to the magazine office today, and I still have some things to do before the Chinese New Year. Zhuang Wei didn't want to leave this man in the care of others, so he took him out by himself.

Anyway, he was very quiet, wrapped in Alexander McQueen's dark coat, which didn't fit him particularly well, and his hat was pulled down a bit. At most, other people thought he was withdrawn, and they couldn't see his abnormality.

When Zhuang Wei is busy, let him sit on the side, put a magazine on the table in front of him, and give him a cup of hot tea, so that his quietness will not look too strange.

When it was time to rest, Zhuang Wei looked back, only to find that the man had disappeared.

Zhuang Wei looked for it in a little panic, but fortunately, he soon saw a small corner of his coat exposed from behind the display rack.

"Qu Tongqiu?"

The man did not know when he got a Barbie doll with long black hair from the shelf. It was a sample that was used for taking photos before. .

"Qu Tongqiu."

The man didn't respond, he seemed to be sleepwalking, staying peacefully in a false peace, looking very happy.

Zhuang Wei let out a sigh of relief, sat down beside him, and put his arms around him.The man was hugged, and he was still focused on the doll, contented.

"If you want it, I'll give it to you. I'll get you a box to pack it."

He wanted to take it away from the man's hand, but the man gripped it tightly with his fingers, without making a sound, just grasping it tightly, a little panicked.

After tugging for a long time, the man still couldn't let go. Zhuang Wei gritted his teeth and cursed, "Qu Tongqiu. Don't be so stupid. This is fake."

Qu Tongqiu didn't look at him from the beginning to the end, and he couldn't hear him at all in that world.

During the confrontation, Zhuang Wei gradually felt a little cold on his body, so he let go first and wiped the sweat off the man's face: "I don't care what you see. It's not true."

The man became more docile when he held the doll, as if he had taken a reassurance, even the emptiness of helplessness disappeared, and he seemed to be filled with happiness.Zhuang Wei took him into the car, fastened his seat belt firmly, and then started the car.

The car drove outside the villa and stopped far away. A little black-haired girl in a pink princess coat stood at the door, looking around, as if waiting for something.

Zhuang Wei asked the man beside him: "Did you see it?"

The man looked at the little girl through the car window, then at the doll in his hand, and then at her, visibly confused.

Before he could see enough, a tall man came out of the door, took the little girl's hand, and led her in.

Zhuang Wei looked at the man who was happy and satisfied before, and became cruel without malice: "Qu Tongqiu."

He jerked him out of the hallucination of escape.That dim, shadow-like existence suddenly trembled.

"Qu Tongqiu, this is the truth."

After the man came back, he fell ill. It was just a natural fever caused by the cold for several days, but Zhuang Wei knew that he was in pain.There is only a moment from numbness to recovery of pain, and it is still far from the healing of the bloody wound.Although he didn't say anything about his suffering, he got blisters in his mouth after all, and even drank some water and trembled in pain.

Zhuang Wei pushed the door open with a tray and came in. The man huddled in the corner of the bed was startled and begged, "Don't, don't turn on the light..."

Zhuang Wei walked up to him in the dark and sat down, reached out and touched his face, the skin was still surprisingly hot to the touch.

"A nightmare again?"

The sweat on the man's head was cold to the touch.

"Whatever you dream about, just say it when you feel uncomfortable."

"……Myself……"

"Ok?"

"I dreamed... when I was in college... he was sitting there..."

"..."

"I have a lot to say to him..."

"..."

"I want to tell him something..."

The only serious love he ever had was the wife who loved him, the little daughter who entrusted all his father's love, and Ren Ningyuan.

With these, no matter what kind of life, he worked hard to get through it.Life is so hard, but he is full of courage and hope to live because of them.

Suddenly, a male voice whispered in his ear, "It's all a lie to you."

Like a nightmare of falling off a cliff, he woke up in a cold sweat and a frightened heartbeat.

But reality is a nightmare.

Zhuang Wei patted his head and brushed away his sweaty hair.

"Qu Tongqiu, it's too late, no one can go back to the past. But your life is not over yet, don't worry about it."

indeed.He was only in his thirties, and he could live the same number of years. It seemed that he still had an infinite future, with infinite possibilities.

It's just that his best and most important time is gone.

In his dream, he wanted to live again, to go back to the ten years he had been trampled by lies, and to remind that stupid little fat man of many things.When I woke up, there was only a little tear under the high fever.

"Let's have porridge, add some lotus leaves." Zhuang Wei took a cold towel and wiped his face to ease the heat. "If you dare to touch meat, please tell me."

Qu Tongqiu leaned against the head of the bed and barely sat up, like a rag that had been worn out, wrinkled and old, worthless.

"Don't try to hold the bowl. Just open your mouth."

The man swallowed some warm porridge in silence, his movements were sluggish due to the pain in his mouth, and he said softly, "Thank you."

Zhuang Wei was a little embarrassed. He knew that men remembered those things in the past. Compared with the dirty things he did to him, two bowls of porridge and a handful of pills were not even half-kind, but he only said: "I'm just doing my best to be a classmate."

The man was quiet for a while, and whispered: "I should leave tomorrow."

Zhuang Wei looked at him: "Where are you going?"

The man didn't say a word, and after a while he said, "I... I'll go back to my hometown."

Although he didn't say it, Zhuang Wei also felt the weak signal of "as long as it's not here".He couldn't stay here any longer, he was like a sheep that only ate grass stalks to fill his belly, but here was a carnivorous world.He is not someone's friend or relative, he is just food.

"Are you trying to escape?"

The man didn't respond.Making fun of him for being a coward wasn't much of a thrill compared to what he was going through.

"It doesn't matter if you don't seek justice from Ren Ningyuan?"

He no longer expects "justice".Even if Ren Ningyuan is willing to compensate him, he can't return what ruined him.Maybe there will be some damages, which is how the rich often settle their bills.

"It doesn't matter if you leave your daughter with him?"

The man trembled slightly: "It's not my daughter..."

"Even if it wasn't born by you, are you really willing?"

"..."

The man's eyes were red and he looked more and more pitiful. Zhuang Wei unbuttoned his neckline and suddenly became a little irritable.

"Let's put it this way, your daughter doesn't know anything, and she's still waiting for you to go back for the New Year. If you don't care, then pretend I didn't say it. If you don't want her, then I can help you."

"..."

"Ningyuan, I'll talk about it for you. If it doesn't work, we'll see you in court and leave it to me, so you don't have to worry about it."

The man tried his best to restrain himself, but his tensed shoulders still wavered.Zhuang Wei looked at his reddish neck protruding from the back of his collar: "You take Qu Ke with you, and you don't want to stay in T City. If you want, go abroad. I will make the procedures easier."

"..."

"You can start over in a foreign country. Don't you want to start from scratch? I have plenty of accommodation, and I will help you contact schools and jobs. You don't need to worry about life."

"..."

"Just live in peace, and no one will bother you again."

The man's chest was heaving violently, and Zhuang Wei knew how tempting he was just by looking at the trembling of his fingers.

(End of this chapter)