The Slacker Falls Apart

Chapter Forty-One

Jiang Hansheng woke up thanks to his powerful body clock. Even after being poisoned, getting drunk, vomiting, and sleeping like the dead, that damn body clock still made him open his eyes at six-thirty.

It took only a few blinks for him to go from groggy to fully awake.

This was obviously not his bed, and the blanket smelled wrong too. Only the scent of body wash on him was familiar.

But why did he have no memory at all of last night? He only remembered finishing dinner. After dinner, then what? Then what happened?

For the first time in both his lives, Chancellor Jiang had encountered something completely beyond his control.

He had not expected something even more horrifying to be waiting for him. Because he moved too much, the person beside him became unhappy and mumbled sleepily, "Don't move..."

"..."

Jiang Hansheng fell apart. He was dumbfounded. "Don't move"? He had not misheard, had he?

He stiffly turned his head, and his entire body froze. Someone could probably whack him with a club and shatter him on the spot. As for his heartbeat, anyone unaware of the situation would probably think he was suffering from acute heart disease, his pulse racing as though it were playing Ambush from Ten Sides.

Li Wenchuan was lying right beside him. Rounding up, that meant someone suspected of being His Majesty was lying beside him... In his previous life, they had only shared a bed in some sense while hiding for their lives in caves or fleeing through all sorts of unknown temporary shelters.

So what kind of sense did it count as now?

He did not know what had happened last night, but this was clearly Li Wenchuan's room. Since when had he become so bold?

The person beside him had slightly messy hair and faint dark circles beneath his eyes, showing that he had probably not slept well last night. Yet none of that could diminish the exquisite beauty of his face. Jiang Hansheng studied him carefully and reached out, wanting to trace the contours he had thought of day and night.

Gently. Just one touch, just one.

At that moment, the sleeping beauty suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was dazed for only an instant before immediately locking onto Jiang Hansheng's trembling hand.

Without another word, he kicked him, then rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head, smoothly continuing the sleep he had yet to finish.

Actually, Li Wenchuan was not truly awake yet. His thoughts last night had been so complicated they had nearly burned out his brain. His mind had worked nonstop until dawn, and he had only fallen asleep when he could no longer hold out.

Especially when he opened his eyes and saw this irritating man, whether it was reality or a dream, he would kick him first to vent his anger.

Li Wenchuan buried himself under the blanket. Whatever. Bite me if you dare!

Jiang Hansheng was stunned. That kick woke him completely, and he sat up to tidy himself.

After leaving the room, Coo Coo had long since woken up and was searching for food in the courtyard. Seeing Jiang Hansheng emerge, she cocked her head and looked him over with her mung-bean-sized eyes before continuing to pace around and dig through the dirt for food.

Yet Jiang Hansheng found that gaze strangely unsettling, as though he had been despised by a hen.

He did not know that after turning Coo Coo into a girl, he had raised her as a son inheriting his bloodline. Otherwise, he would probably have wanted to kill himself on the spot.

It was too early. The production crew had only just started working. Unable to figure it out, Jiang Hansheng simply went for a morning run.

Country people rose early, most of them keeping the traditional schedule of working at sunrise and resting at sunset. When he passed Old Man Chen's house, the old man had just returned with a hoe over his shoulder.

Fresh soil still clung to the hoe, its earthy scent drifting through the morning air.

The newly risen sunlight was golden and dazzling, making it hard for Old Man Chen to open his eyes. He looked several times before confirming that it was that young man, then hurriedly greeted him. "Little Jiang! Out running?"

Hearing him, Jiang Hansheng changed direction and jogged in place as he approached. "Yes, exercising. Sir, you're already back from work so early?"

"I've lived this way my whole life. Mainly, I can't sit still. If I don't work for a day, I feel like all my muscles and bones stiffen up." Old Man Chen set down his hoe and smiled cheerfully. Remembering his main reason for speaking to him, he asked, "Little Jiang, are you feeling better now?"

"Hm?" Jiang Hansheng did not understand.

"Little Li didn't tell you?"

"He's not up yet." Jiang Hansheng looked completely innocent, unaware of what Li Wenchuan had gone through last night.

Old Man Chen clapped his hands. "Then he must be exhausted. Hand-Blue Mushroom poisoning is the hardest to deal with. My granddaughter was like that last year. She stubbornly thought she was a rabbit, hopping everywhere she went, and she refused to eat meals because she wanted grass instead."

Once Old Man Chen got talking, he could not stop. His thoughts wandered wherever they pleased. After speaking about his granddaughter, he started on Old Man Sun next door's son, who had suffered a toxic episode while at work and believed he was surviving in a cave. His colleagues found him desperately scratching at the office wall with his fingers and hurriedly sent him to the hospital.

"No, sir, wait. Wait, wait, wait... You said Hand-Blue Mushroom poisoning? People like us?" Jiang Hansheng suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"That's right, your kind. You're even one of the rare ones who can't remember what you did. You really kept Little Li busy last night." Old Man Chen reproached him. "Why didn't you ask before eating mushrooms? Those mushrooms were bluish-green. You'd never had them before, and you weren't curious?"

"..."

He usually ate food that others had already prepared, so he really had not cared what it was. As long as it looked edible and tasted good, that was enough.

"Little Li didn't say exactly what happened to you last night either. You should go ask him." Old Man Chen shouldered his hoe, preparing to leave. "All right, I've got things to do, so I'm heading off. You need to thank Little Li properly."

Even after Old Man Chen had gone some distance away, Jiang Hansheng could still hear him muttering, "Good thing he didn't eat much. Otherwise, where would they have found a hospital in the middle of the night?"

"..."

He had not expected last night to have been so eventful. Jiang Hansheng's feelings were complicated.

The staff who had gotten ready came over to film this big shot's morning run. More footage was never a bad thing, right?

Unexpectedly, the big shot stopped him and asked mysteriously, "Did you notice anything strange last night?"

The cameraman shook his head. "No, everything was normal."

Jiang Hansheng did not believe him. "Really nothing at all?"

The cameraman swore solemnly, "Nothing at all."

"..." Then that was strange. He had blacked out after dinner, but from the looks of it, no one besides Li Wenchuan knew something had happened to him then.

In fact, Li Wenchuan had only learned that something had happened to Jiang Hansheng after returning to the Household, but Jiang Hansheng did not know that.

The cameraman fiddled with his equipment. Seeing Jiang Hansheng so conflicted, he racked his brains over what had happened last night before hesitantly speaking up. "But last night... Teacher Jiang, your performance was very good."

"My performance?" Jiang Hansheng was puzzled. He did not even know what the production crew had arranged last night.

What did Teacher Jiang mean? The cameraman did not understand. But he immediately got it. Teacher Jiang was a people's artist. Was that called acting? That was called playing a game, merely something he did casually!

"Oh, it was the murder mystery game last night. You just gave everyone a little push, and they all got into character. The show's effect was especially good." Surely Teacher Jiang would be satisfied with that phrasing.

"Oh, that. It was nothing," Jiang Hansheng said with a smile as he fished for information, pretending that the words were on the tip of his tongue but he could not remember them. "What role did I get last night again..."

The cameraman caught on immediately. "You got a script for The Chen Prince's Residence Murder Case. Teacher, you were Prince Chen, and Li Wenchuan drew Princess Consort Chen. I never expected Li Wenchuan to be able to keep up with your acting. He performed exceptionally well."

Jiang Hansheng: ...

He seemed to be able to piece together what had happened...