CH 5
In the Same Boat
When Qu Yihengâs brother came knocking on the door, the person in the house was lying in the bed, dazed.
After so many years, Qu Yiheng had almost no friends. He didnât make any nor was he good at it.
Hearing a knock at the door, he thought it was the landlord first.
A while ago, the old lady upstairs went out after filling the washing machine with water for laundry. As a result, there was a lot of water in the house. The landlord came to ask if the water had seeped downstairs.
He thought this was the case again.
He has been in a bit of a pickle these days, and there is something big he needs to decide.
The person outside the door was persistent, but the man inside the door stayed still.
Dou Yucong knocked on the door until his hands hurt, but didnât see any moment inside. He knew his brotherâs character too well. He wanted to stop shouting in the morning, but the person inside still didnât respond. He lost his patience and cleared his throat and shouted at the closed door, âQu Yiheng! Your own brother is here!â
When Qu Yiheng heard this, he hurriedly got out of bed.
When the door opened, Qu Yiheng frowned at Dou Yucong, who was fleeing a larger package in front of him, and asked, âWhatâs the matter?â
âFirst let me in.â Dou Yucong pushed the suitcase in his hand towards Qu Yihengâs house.
Qu Yiheng turned sideways to let him in. Dou Yucong cursed and said while taking things in the house, âIâm really convinced, is there anything good about guys these days?â
Qu Yiheng looked at him, âYouâve brought us both in, I donât know what youâre like, but I think Iâm okay.â
Dou Yucong smiled at his brother, âThatâs true.â
With three suitcases, two large school bags and a large travel bag, Qu Yiheng suspected that Dou Yucong was actually a ninja who could come out and help carry things when the time came. Otherwise how did he get all these boxes and parcels up here by himself?
âBrother, your house is so messy!â
When his parents passed away, Dou Yucong lived with Qu Yiheng for two years. Later, he fell in love and moved out. He was with this boyfriend for six years. As a result, just now when he came back from a business trip, he was surprised to find that there was a strange pair of menâs pants at home.
Dou Yucong usually looks like a coconut with a big heart, but in reality he has his own principles and boundaries, and he canât tolerate this kind of grit in his eyes.
At home, he calmly listened to his partnerâs explanation, then packed up his things and left without hesitation.
They rented the house, and they were paying half the rent until the end of the year. As he left, he was still thinking that it was lucky that their olan to buy a house together last year had not been finalized, otherwise no matter whose name was written on the property deed, the break-up would have caused a lot of trouble by now.
He came to his brotherâs house decisively, and called on the way to find out that his brother was off the phone, so he must be home.
He knew this man.
Qu Yiheng heard him complain about the mess in his house so he said casually, âThen you should clean up.â
He helped Dou Yucong take all his luggage to another room and asked him, âHave you eaten yet?â
âWhat are you eating, Iâm full of energy.â Dou Yucong really started to tidy up the house, found a garbage bag and put away all the fast food and takeaway boxes on the table, âWhy donât you ask me what happened?â
âYou said it yourself, you were thrown out of the house.â Qu Yiheng siad, âDid you got caught cheating?â
âAre you my brother?â Dou Yucong complained, âHow can you say that about your brother?â
âIâm not really your real brother.â
If there is anyone Qu Yuheng can talk to a little more and joke around a little, it is Dou Yucong.
Although they were not brothers, they had a good time after the family reorganization. A family of four was very harmonious. During that time Qu Yiheng was a lot more cheerful, but the good times did not last long.
Dou Yucong was so frustrated by his brother that he couldnât say a word, and he hummed his head to clean up the garbage.
Qu Yiheng went into the house to put away his things and changed his bedsheets, and opened the windows of the room that had been uninhabited for a long time to ventilate.
âIâd rather be like you and find a nice girl and get married,â Qu Yichang says, but Dou Yucong canât help but say that heâs like an open door in front of his brotherâs face, and he canât even look in, âBastard men break my heart. â
Itâs not that Qu Yiheng is trying to hide it from him, but they hardly ever talk about it anymore, so he doesnât feel like talking about it.
âDonât be ridiculous,â Qu Yiheng said, âyou canât go down that road.â
âHuh? Which one?â Dou Yucong flinched and found Qu Yiheng standing at the door of the room with a sullen look on his face.
Not only was Qu Yihengâs face sullen, but his voice was also cold âCheating on marriage.â
âOh, Iâm just saying, what can I do, thatâs a scourge!â Dou Yucong waved his hand, âForget it, you canât even hear me when Iâm joking with you.â
Any other joke is fine, but not this.
Qu Yiheng had loved people sincerely in the past, but in the end, the other party chose to live the so-called ânormal lifeâ, but to him, those people were no different from liars, harming others and harming themselves.
If there is one person in the world he hates the most, it is probably homosexuals who cheat on their marriage.
âWhat else do you have to eat?â Dou Yucong put the garbage he had collected at the doorstep and went to open the fridge.
There was instant noodles with roast pork, seafood-flavoured instant noodles, chicken stewed mushroom-flavoured instant noodles, and a can of Lao Gan Ma.
âIâm done.â Dou Yucong went into the bathroom, washed his hands and said, âCome on, letâs go downstairs and buy groceries.â
âYou go,â Qu Yiheng said, ready to go back lying down and thinking about life, âIâve got things to do.â
âWhatâs the matter with you? Youâre like a corpse at home, donât say a word, letâs go out and get some air.â Dou Yucong dragged him outside, âBy the way, is your phone still on? I suspect you bought it just to show off your wealth.â
âI donât have anything to show off, Iâm just too lazy to turn it on.â He said, âNo oneâs looking for me anyway.â
âThatâs a very chilling thing to say, brother!â
After being forced by Dou Yucong, Qu Yiheng finally left the house.
The two of them, one 6â7â³ and the other 6â8â³, stood together and Dou Yucong looked like Qu Yihengâs brother.
Dou Yucong lives a delicate life. As long as he goes out, even if just buys a dish, he has to clean up smoothly. Even though today is the day he broke up, the day he was betrayed by his bastard boyfriend, the day he left his love nest after six years, he is still dressed handsomely, not like a man in his thirties, but like a chic young guy in his early twenties.
On the other hand, Qu Yiheng, who was just lying on a bed and was picked up straight away, could not look any better. A simple T-shirt, a pair of light grey knee-length casual shorts, and a pair of slippers on his feet, he really looked like an old man out for a walk.
Dou Yucong said, âWhy donât you get your hair cut when itâs long? Do all you artists have to wear pigtails?â
âIâm too lazy to go.â Qu Yiheng added, âIâm not an artist either.â
Dou Yucong laughed and raised a hand to his brotherâs shoulder, âIn my heart, my brother is the most talented artist, sooner or later he will be famous!â
Every time Dou Yucong says this, Qu Yiheng feels a little bit bad.
He didnât expect his name to go down in history, but at least he had to make a difference.
He was known for his excellence at the Art Academy, and during his four years there, or rather until two or three years after he left the Academy of Arts, the name Qu Yiheng was often mentioned.
But that was many years ago. Qu Yiheng suspects that his creative career has been going downhill ever since he left the school, and that his creative career was just like his love life, a new waterloo every day.
Now he doesnât want that anymore, he just wants to make sure that his life is at least of good quality, that he doesnât eat one meal after another, and that he doesnât lose his next one.
The two of them went to the supermarket and bought a lot of things, but Dou Yucong was richer than his brother, so he took him to the supermarket and put everything he saw in the trolley, asking him like a child, âDo you want chocolate? Do you want chips? Have you ever had this wine? Letâs buy two bottles.â
Qu Yiheng followed behind him and said, âYou should buy less.â
âThat wonât work,â Dou Yucong said, âWe havenât seen each other for a long time. I missed you. Letâs have a drink tonight, or else youâll say I went outside and drank too much and got drunk with someone else, rather than with you.â
Qu Yiheng frowned and slapped him on the back, âNonsense all day long.â
Dou Yucong laughed and apologised repeatedly.
The two brothers returned home with a pile of stuff and Dou Yucong volunteered to cook for them, so Qu Yiheng didnât bother to be polite.
âWhy donât you turn on your mobile phone, in case someone really wants to see you?â
Qu Yiheng knew that no one was looking for him, as it was not the deadline for the publisher and the editor would not call him for help.
Itâs funny, but when it comes to the time of emergency, all the publishers love to call him. It seems that they all know he is short of money and will not refuse.
As Dou Yucong got busy in the kitchen, Qu Yiheng went to the bathroom to wash his face and then went back to his bedroom.
His mobile phone had been lying on the bedside table for three days and he had not turned it on for three days.
After a momentâs hesitation, he took it and laid it down on the bed, grabbed a panda doll that Dou Yucong had given him last time he was here and held it in his arms, pressing the switch on button.
Before, Dou Yucong had said that he had bought the phone to show off his wealth, but in fact he had been using this broken phone for five years considerably and the boot speed is much slower.
The phone was turned on, but it took a while for various software to start.
He opened WeChat to see what the âFifth Secondary School Class 13â had been talking about lately.
But after opening WeChat, he didnât bother to read the group messages because he received a friend request.
In the âLast 3 daysâ section, Yao Zhanâs name appeared.
For a moment, Qu Yihengâs heart felt like it was being squeezed by a hand, and his whole body tensed up.
Looking at the name, he unconsciously recalled the hidden corners of his youth and the âyouthful farewell ceremonyâ they had at the hotel at noon that day.
âHey thereâs no sugar at home!â Dou Yucong suddenly poked his head in and saw his brother putting down his phone in panic, wondering, âWhat are you doing?â
âNothing.â Qu Yiheng got up, âIâll go buy it.â
âAh, then go ahead, I canât have roast pork without sugar.â Dou Yucong told him, âjust go downstairs to the convenience store, and buy it. Hurry up, Iâm in a hurry to cook here!â
Lao Gan Ma
âLao Gan maâ or âOld Godmotherâ is a popular brand of chili sauces made in china. Thereâs saying in china that âWherever there are chinese people, thereâs is Lao Gan Maâ