After the Young Master’s Death, He was Kissed by His Mortal Enemy! (BL) - Chapter 13

“I wasn’t crying.”

“Sure, you weren’t crying. Our little Ran-Ran was just letting some drool leak from the corners of his eyes, that’s all.”

Shen Ran was thunderstruck by the words “our little Ran-Ran.” His hand, still wiping away tears, trembled three times. He had to remind himself that it was just a casual, in-the-moment nickname to force himself to calm down.

After flipping through the photo album, it was nearly dinner time.

Shen Ran had no mind for conversation at the dinner table. Every time he looked at his parents, he couldn’t help but think of the photo album that abruptly ended when he was five.

Fortunately, he had brought Cheng Yi to pose as his “boyfriend.” While Shen Ran remained silent, Cheng Yi took over as the talkative one, skillfully navigating conversation with Shen Xianming and Fu Sijie.

It all came across naturally, without raising suspicion.

By the end of the meal, Shen Xianming and Fu Sijie were thoroughly convinced that Cheng Yi was truly Shen Ran’s boyfriend.

In their eyes, Cheng Yi was much like Shen Ran himself—a young entrepreneur, ambitious and diligent, who treated Shen Ran well.

Someone harmless, without any particular cunning.

When they left the Shen household, Cheng Yi was once again the one driving.

But Shen Ran, sitting in the passenger seat, looked even more dejected than before.

Resting his chin on one hand, he stared gloomily out the window, sighing heavily every two minutes.

As they waited at the third traffic light, Cheng Yi finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“All right, ever since you looked at that album, you’ve had that same miserable face. Someone who doesn’t know better might think I bullied you. What an injustice for me.”

“You didn’t bully me.” Shen Ran sighed deeply again. “I’m just upset. Sigh—”

“It’s not worth getting so worked up over something like this.”

“You call this ‘something like this’? This is a huge deal,” Shen Ran muttered. “No, it’s more than huge. It feels like the sky is about to collapse!”

Cheng Yi leaned over and rummaged through the back seat for a while, rustling around.

Before the light turned green, he tossed something into Shen Ran’s lap.

Shen Ran looked down and saw a bag of soda crackers.

“Even if the sky collapses, you still need to eat,” Cheng Yi said, eyes back on the road. “You barely ate at dinner. Have some of these to fill your stomach. No matter how bad things get, you can’t starve yourself to death.”

“…Oh.”

He couldn’t eat now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be hungry later.

Shen Ran quietly stuffed the crackers into his pocket, not noticing that a phone slipped out and landed on the seat.

The car stopped in front of Shen Ran’s apartment building.

Lost in thought, Shen Ran busied himself unfastening the seatbelt and getting out of the car, completely forgetting to say goodbye to Cheng Yi.

Just as he pressed the elevator button, Cheng Yi’s voice called out behind him, “Shen Ran, hold up.”

“Hm?”

Shen Ran turned around, startled to find Cheng Yi standing right behind him.

“Things aren’t fully settled yet. Don’t fall into despair just yet.”

“They’re not fully settled, but it’s almost certain—eight or nine out of ten,” Shen Ran sighed deeply. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

Cheng Yi shrugged. “If you can’t sleep, come find me.”

Shen Ran curled his lip. Find Cheng Yi? He didn’t even know where Cheng Yi lived. No way he was going to drag himself out in the middle of the night.

“Come on, don’t look so gloomy.”

Suddenly, Cheng Yi cupped Shen Ran’s face in both hands and kneaded it like dough, not holding back at all. His tone, however, was surprisingly gentle:

“Give me a smile. I’ll get someone to look into your family’s situation. Stop brooding alone and shedding little pearls of grief at home. Deal?”

His heart skipped a beat, and his cheeks grew warm.

If he really smiled now, wouldn’t that give himself away?

So Shen Ran bared his teeth at him instead.

“Tch, baring your teeth counts too, I guess. I’ll just pretend I was playing with a puppy.”

Seeing Shen Ran’s mood lift slightly, Cheng Yi’s usual sharp tongue made a comeback.

“All right, I’m off—oh, right, you left your phone in my car.”

He knocked Shen Ran on the head and held out a phone. “Here, take it.”

Whoa! Shen Ran was amazed. Had he really been so out of it that he left his phone in Cheng Yi’s car?

“Thanks… Wait a second.”

Just before taking the phone, Shen Ran instinctively patted his own pocket.

…Hold on, wasn’t his phone still right there?

Since his phone was safely in his pocket… then the one in Cheng Yi’s hand…?

Startled, Shen Ran snapped his head up and looked at the phone Cheng Yi was holding—and instantly recognized it.

That familiar golden phone case, those familiar expensive diamonds set into it…

The car had been dimly lit earlier, and Cheng Yi hadn’t looked closely at the phone on the passenger seat before chasing after him.

Now, in the bright hallway, it was clear. Cheng Yi raised a brow.

“This phone of yours… your taste is just as bizarre as ever.”

Aaaaahhhhhh!

Forget about whether it’s tacky or not—this phone is seriously wrong!

By all logic, this phone shouldn’t exist at this point in time!

I can’t let Cheng Yi find out!

Ignoring Cheng Yi’s ridicule about his taste, Shen Ran shot up like a startled rabbit, snatching the phone from Cheng Yi’s hand at lightning speed and stuffing it back into his pocket.

“I—I—I’ve got something to do, I’m heading upstairs now! Thanks for today—seriously, I will treat you to a proper meal sometime! I promise, I’ll treat you to dinner!!!”

Just then, the elevator doors opened. Shen Ran darted inside, hit the button for his floor, and frantically mashed the “close door” button—all in one smooth, desperate motion. He didn’t even dare to meet Cheng Yi’s eyes.

Cheng Yi stood with his hands in his pockets, watching Shen Ran disappear from view. After a long moment, he chuckled softly, “He really is strange.”

All the things he had done—it wasn’t just for Shen Ran’s thanks… or even for a meal.

What he wanted was…

Inside the Elevator

Clutching the phone, Shen Ran glanced around nervously, then instinctively looked up at the elevator’s security camera. Still jittery, he rummaged through his pocket—and somehow pulled out another phone.

Now holding one phone in each hand, Shen Ran looked left, then right, then muttered in disbelief, “This is insane… absolutely insane!”

Yes, he should’ve only had one phone. But now, he had two.

The phone from his pocket was just a regular one—the latest model from Pineapple this year.

But the one Cheng Yi handed him… it was next year’s model!

It hadn’t even been released yet—but here it was, in his hand!

And that golden case, that massive glittering diamond—it was exactly the custom design he planned to buy and attach to his phone next year! How could it possibly exist now?!

Everything was completely messed up!

Shen Ran wracked his brain, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

…Maybe this was because, back when he was still in his spirit form, Cheng Yi had thrown his phone into the cremation furnace—and somehow, it burned into his possession?