Riddled With Holes

Unit 401, entrance 4, building 3 of the Splendid Residential Complex was the apartment Tong Zhao rented. It was a small one-bedroom with a living room, and the rent was eight hundred yuan a month. The landlord was kind and had agreed to let Tong Zhao pay just one month's rent up front.

Tong Zhao turned on the living room light, helped Shu Sizhuo onto the sofa, then went to the kitchen to get him some water.

Shu Sizhuo slowly surveyed the room.

It was plain, tidy, and devoid of any human touch. It gave the impression that whoever lived there could leave at any moment.

His stomach seemed to give a real spasm of pain, and Shu Sizhuo bent over.

Tong Zhao hurried over with the water. Anxiously, he shook a stomach pill out of the bottle and held it to Shu Sizhuo's mouth. "Here, take your medicine."

Shu Sizhuo lowered his eyes to the pale, slender hand, then opened his mouth and took the pill.

Tong Zhao's fingertips felt a little warm after brushing against his lips. He withdrew his hand and rubbed his fingertips together, then brought the glass to Shu Sizhuo's lips. "Water."

Shu Sizhuo couldn't be bothered to take the glass, so he drank from it while Tong Zhao held it.

So good, just like before.

Tong Zhao said it to himself.

Seeing that Shu Sizhuo's brows were still knitted, Tong Zhao asked, "Does it still hurt a lot? Do you want to rest here for a while?"

Shu Sizhuo nodded and tipped sideways onto the sofa. Curling up, he looked at Tong Zhao. "I want to lie down for a bit. Will I be in your way?"

"No, I'll go get you a quilt."

Tong Zhao hurried to his room and brought out the quilt from his bed, but in those few dozen seconds, Shu Sizhuo had already fallen asleep.

Tong Zhao softened his footsteps, spread the quilt over Shu Sizhuo, then squatted on the floor and gazed at his face.

He was so handsome. His skin was a refined, cool pale white, and his lashes had been as thick and long as a raven's wings since childhood. The light cast their shadows across his face, lending his cold, stern features a touch of softness.

His nose was high and straight, his lips shapely and sexy.

His neck, the line of his shoulders, his Adam's apple...

Every part of him was perfect.

Tong Zhao didn't know how long he had been watching. Only when his legs began to go numb did he slowly stand and limp back to the bedroom.

As soon as he left, Shu Sizhuo opened his eyes and stared intently at his retreating figure.

Mindful of the patient with a stomachache at home, Tong Zhao got up before dawn to make congee.

He had actually woken several times during the night, and each time he had gone to the living room to check on Shu Sizhuo. Shu Sizhuo was so tall that he looked rather cramped, curled up on the not-so-large sofa.

Several times, Tong Zhao had wanted to wake him and send him to sleep on the bed in the bedroom, while he took the sofa. But Shu Sizhuo had been sleeping so soundly that Tong Zhao couldn't bear to wake him.

He just hadn't expected the man to actually sleep through the night without moving.

Tong Zhao smiled, his heart aching for him. He really wasn't the princess and the pea; he could sleep anywhere.

The millet congee gave off a delicate fragrance as Tong Zhao's tuneless humming rose and fell in Shu Sizhuo's ears.

Shu Sizhuo opened his eyes and saw Tong Zhao in the kitchen, wearing a pale yellow apron. He thought he was still dreaming.

The Tong Zhao in his dreams was just like this. He liked wearing a pale yellow apron and humming as he cooked for him.

At that moment, illusion and reality collided, making it all feel even less real. Shu Sizhuo's nose stung, and his fingers twitched uncontrollably. He gripped the sofa fabric tightly to stop them.

Tong Zhao ladled the millet congee into two small bowls, then fetched the warmed milk and poured it into a glass.

When he had finished, he turned and came out, only to discover that Shu Sizhuo was already awake.

He hurried over and leaned down slightly. "How is it? Feeling better?"

Shu Sizhuo looked back into his eyes, and those eyes, bright as stars, took his breath away.

It was that look.

His whole heart and all his attention were on him. He treated him so well and kept saying he liked him.

Yet it had all been a deception, every word a lie!

A sharp pain shot through Shu Sizhuo's heart, jolting him fully awake.

Yes, this person was best at disguising himself, deceiving people, and playing with their feelings.

He absolutely couldn't let himself be deceived or led around by the nose again.

Shu Sizhuo looked away. "Better. Are you making congee?"

"Yes, millet congee. It's good for your stomach. I'll bring it out for you."

The autumn morning was especially cool. From the fourth floor, they could see a yellow ginkgo tree, its leaves drifting down in the breeze.

The millet congee tasted just as he remembered, melting in his mouth. Shu Sizhuo silently ate two bowls.

A knock sounded at the door. The two looked up at each other, and Tong Zhao got up to answer it, puzzled. It was Zhang Yi'an, the young man from unit 402.

He held a plate of steamed buns and said with a smile, "Here, try the buns I made."

Tong Zhao took the plate. "You made these?"

Zhang Yi'an nodded proudly. "The ones with two sesame seeds on top are sugar buns. The ones without are meat buns."

"You're amazing!"

"Don't you know how to make buns?"

"Not really," Tong Zhao said with a sheepish smile.

"Then I'll teach you another day," Zhang Yi'an said warmly.

"Sure."

"Once you've eaten them later..." Zhang Yi'an suddenly fell silent. Looking at the person behind Tong Zhao, his expression froze. "Your... your friend?"

Tong Zhao turned and saw that Shu Sizhuo had come to stand behind him at some point. He was sizing Zhang Yi'an up with narrowed eyes, his whole bearing warning strangers to keep away.

"Yes." Tong Zhao could only smile. "My friend."

Zhang Yi'an found the way the man looked at him a little frightening and unconsciously took half a step back. "Okay, you can share the buns with your friend. See you later, Tong Zhao."

"See you."

After closing the door, Tong Zhao held the buns up in front of Shu Sizhuo. "Don't they smell good?"

Shu Sizhuo lowered his eyes and glanced at him. "Does he come looking for you often?"

"Not often." He hadn't been renting the place for long, so how could it be often?

Tong Zhao set the buns on the table. "Come have a bun, President Shu."

Shu Sizhuo hated the buns. He hated how just anyone could get close to Tong Zhao so easily.

He sat in the chair and watched Tong Zhao choose a sugar bun and take a bite, his brows rising in satisfaction.

Shu Sizhuo's fingers curled.

Tong Zhao turned his bright black eyes toward him and said indistinctly, "These are pretty good. Want to try one?"

Shu Sizhuo turned his head away in refusal. "No. You should eat less too. If you eat too many, they're hard to digest."

Tong Zhao: "..."

Shu Sizhuo planned to drop Tong Zhao off at the company first, then return to his apartment to change clothes.

Tong Zhao was riding in Shu Sizhuo's car yet again, and he felt rather embarrassed.

"We've only known each other a few days, and you've already become my driver."

Hearing the words "only known each other a few days," Shu Sizhuo gave a mocking smile. "It's all right."

Tong Zhao asked curiously, "Why don't you have a driver?"

"He's taken a few days off." Shu Sizhuo made it up on the spot.

Tong Zhao nodded in understanding. Thinking that this might really be the last time the two of them spent together, he began earnestly advising him again.

"Drink less alcohol, don't eat cold food, and have more congee. Look how miserable a stomachache makes you. You were perfectly healthy, so how did you end up ruining your stomach like this..."

"You know I was perfectly healthy before?" Shu Sizhuo suddenly asked.

Tong Zhao's heart skipped a beat. "Well... aren't people all healthy to begin with?"

"My body..." Shu Sizhuo thought for a moment, then smiled faintly. "It's been riddled with holes for a long time."