My ass, my rules!

The question kept bothering Cheng Yue until he finished the rush and took a break. He accidentally tapped into his chat with Ji Huaijin, and finally got his answer.

"I'm Cheng Yue."

Those few words stared him right in the face. There was no need to guess anymore.

On that messaging app, once you changed the greeting when adding a friend, it became the default for the next request.

He hadn't noticed at the time, leaving that loophole wide open.

He'd planned to delete the guy after sending his location. Now the guy knew his name, and he'd received what sounded suspiciously like a threat. He couldn't even delete him anymore.

After all, he could run, but he couldn't hide.

Unless he quit.

Cheng Yue was actually considering it, but he had no idea that, as far as Ji Huaijin was concerned, the moment he dared to run would be the moment Ji Huaijin put his connections on display.

It all depended on whether he wanted to.

At eight thirty that evening, the rush finally died down. Before Cheng Yue could even sit, someone knocked on the duty room door.

Seeing the delivery bag the person outside was holding through the window, Cheng Yue said with practiced ease, "Food delivery? You can come in, but your bike can't."

He'd just finished drinking some water and felt a little warm, so he took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair.

The delivery guy looked up and was hit full in the face by how handsome he was. He froze, then hurriedly said, "Phone number ending in 7783, surname Cheng. Is that you?"

"Huh?" Cheng Yue nodded. "Yeah. What's up?"

"Then I've got the right person. Here's your delivery."

Cheng Yue looked utterly baffled. He hadn't ordered any food.

The delivery guy was in a hurry to get to his next order. After confirming the customer's details, he shoved the bag into Cheng Yue's hands, hopped on his electric scooter, and took off.

"Hey, wait... Damn, he's fast."

Before he could finish speaking, the little scooter was already out of sight.

Cheng Yue held the bag in bewilderment. Just as he was about to open it, his phone chimed.

"I ordered you some congee. Don't throw the ointment away again. Remember to apply it. There's a little cushion too, so you'll be more comfortable sitting down."

It looked very thoughtful, but every item was actually a subtle reminder to Cheng Yue that his ass had only just suffered an ordeal.

The bag instantly felt like it was burning his hand. With his ears growing hot, Cheng Yue angrily moved to toss it aside.

What a hypocrite, pretending to care after what you did! Mind your own business. My ass, my rules!

Perhaps guessing he wouldn't appreciate it, Ji Huaijin sent another message.

"Thank you very much for your help today. It's just a small token of my appreciation. I hope you won't turn it down."

So you get to play both the bad guy and the good guy, huh?

Ji Huaijin was very good at taking a step back to move forward. The moment the other person grew uncomfortable, he retreated behind the boundary, demonstrating that he knew where to draw the line.

In the end, Cheng Yue didn't make things harder for himself. Besides the congee, there were a few small shumai, all in single-person portions. It was just enough to fill him up.

On an early spring night, there were hardly any people around after ten. After everything he'd been put through the night before, exhaustion still weighed on his body. Cheng Yue sat at the desk with his forehead propped on one hand, drifting toward sleep.

Their middle shift ran from four in the afternoon until midnight. His coworker arrived on time to take over, and Cheng Yue handed things over, gathered his belongings, said goodbye, and turned to leave.

"Hey, you forgot your stuff!"

Cheng Yue was already dead tired, and the bag his coworker held out only made his head hurt more. He wanted to tell him to just throw it away, but after hesitating for a few seconds, he took it.

Back in the changing room, he tossed it into his locker and locked it securely. Out of sight, out of mind. He changed, stuck both hands in his pockets, and headed home unburdened.

He rented a two-bedroom apartment with a living room in the high-tech district. It wasn't big; he was only after some peace and quiet.

The residents here were all office workers, and overtime was the norm. Cheng Yue had lived here for three years since graduating from college, yet he'd barely even seen the neighbors on his floor.

It was so quiet that he had reason to suspect no one actually lived next door.

Cheng Yue slept practically the entire way home. The taxi driver had to wake him when they arrived. He blearily took the elevator up, opened his door, stumbled home, and collapsed into bed, sleeping like the dead.

A sore throat woke him. Northern China's heating was famous: coming home felt like stepping into summer. The downside was how dry it was.

Cheng Yue fished out his phone and checked the time. Five in the morning, and it wasn't light yet. He got up, took a bottle of water from the fridge and drained it, switched on the humidifier, then ducked into the bathroom to take the shower he'd skipped when he got home.

He changed into loungewear and slipped back into his dreams.

His ability to fall asleep in seconds often left his buddies practically drooling with envy.

When Qi Su called, Cheng Yue was still dreaming that the debt collector who'd brutalized his ass was chasing him relentlessly, scaring him into running for his life.

"If you'd taken any longer to answer, I would've called the cops."

Cheng Yue kept his eyes closed, his voice hoarse. "Need something?"

A distinct ache spread through his body. Could sensations from a dream really carry over into reality?

Qi Su's voice was alarmingly loud. "Holy shit! Don't tell me you just woke up?"

It was one in the afternoon. He'd already been at work for hours.

Cheng Yue rolled into a different sleeping position and, in a rather good mood, rubbed it in. "If you hadn't bothered me, I could've slept another three hours."

Sure enough, a wage slave who'd toiled all morning couldn't bear to hear something like that.

"Could you have a little humanity?!"

Qi Su wished he could reach through the internet and punch him. "Can't you share some of that sleep with me?"

"No!"

Already picturing the ugly look of jealousy on his buddy's face, Cheng Yue felt thoroughly satisfied. He threw off the covers and stretched. "If you've got something to say, say it. You think internet service is free?"

The apartment had been stuffy for days. Phone in hand, Cheng Yue went to the window and opened it to air the place out.

"So, uh..." Qi Su lowered his voice. "Fang Zhiyou contacted me this morning. Said he couldn't get through to you and asked for your address."

Cold air crowded through the opening, washing over him in a chill. Cheng Yue stood at the window, looking down at the ground below, his eyes unreadable. "Did you give it to him?"

"Of course not! Would I give it to him without your okay?"

Actually, Fang Zhiyou had started calling an hour after Cheng Yue sent the breakup message, and he was still calling that morning, along with sending a nonstop stream of messages.

Cheng Yue ignored all of them. It wasn't that he was avoiding the issue; he simply didn't know what to say.

Things had come to this. Nothing he said would make any difference.

Perhaps they hadn't been together long enough, and their feelings hadn't run deep enough to make Cheng Yue storm up to him and demand to know why.

Parting on good terms and leaving each other alone was the last bit of dignity they could offer each other.

Qi Su was still waiting on the other end. "Just tell me what you want to do. I have to get back to work."

Cheng Yue turned toward the living room and gave a brief answer. "Don't."

He hadn't given him his address while they were dating. Why would he give it to him after they broke up?

Perhaps because he was in a bad mood, everything he looked at irritated him. Cheng Yue changed his sheets and duvet cover, then stuffed them into the washing machine with his dirty clothes.

Then he quickly washed up and went to the kitchen to make a bowl of pumpkin and millet congee, with two custard buns on the side.

He might not have much experience, but he had common sense. He knew not to eat anything too spicy or greasy after sex.

Of course, he'd originally learned all this so he could take care of his future boyfriend. Who would've thought!

One wrong step, a lifetime of regret!

Seething, Cheng Yue bit the head off a pig-shaped bun, with all the ferocity of someone chewing a certain man's flesh.