My Perfect Enemy is Finally Broke Novel - Chap 70
Ji Ran went home to get his clothes. Before going out, he picked out an off-road vehicle, thinking that whoever tried to hit this grandpa again in the future, at most, they’d see who could hit harder.
He didn’t rush back to the hospital, but made a trip to Yue Wen Wen’s family factory.
Yue Wen Wen was standing at the entrance with a safety helmet, and looked quite silly.
Stopping in front of him, Ji Ran wound down the window. “Did you bring it?”
“It’s here.” Yue Wen Wen passed a plastic bag over.
“Thanks, I’ll transfer you the money in a while.”
“No need, it’s a small matter. How’s your body?”
“There wasn’t much harm in the first place.”
Yue Wen Wen relaxed. “Do you know how to use it? There’s a manual in the box”
It’s all smoke anyway.” Ji Ran opened the bag and saw a white box.
After struggling for half a day, he finally dug it out from inside.
“That’s right, that’s how you use it.” Yue Wen Wen leaned over the window and asked, “Why’d you suddenly think of switching to e-cigarettes?”
“I’m quitting.”
Yue Wen Wen thought he’d heard a joke. “Quit? You? Why?”
“Smoking is harmful to the body.”
“…”
Ji Ran had been smoking for a decade. It wasn’t going to be easy, and it’d require some time for him to adapt. After researching, he decided to first try e-cigarettes before slowly cutting down on the frequency. Finally, he’d rely on nicotine patches… that’d be almost it.
After bidding farewell, he made a trip to his high school.
Old Xing was watching a movie on his phone in the security room. Hearing two knocks on the glass, he looked up and immediately felt a headache when he saw who it was.
“Why are you here? Old Xing let him in, not without a warning. “There are students at school today, I won’t let you in.”
Ji Ran sneered. “If I really wanted to, could you stop me?”
Heh.
Old Xing was at a loss for words. He really didn’t f*cking know how to. Climbing walls was as easy as eating for him.
“Relax, I’m not so bored today. I don’t have time to play with this bunch.” Ji Ran jiggled the black bag in his hand. “I brought you something.”
Old Xing looked over. Good lad, it was full of high quality cigarettes.
“… What are you doing? Trying to bribe me?”
“It’s for you. I’m not using it anymore, it’s just taking up space at home.”
“What do you mean not using it?”
After a few minutes, Old Xing lit one up and leaned into his chair. “That day when you said you were going to bring me some cigarettes, I thought you were just saying it for fun.”
“I do what I say.” Ji Ran watched him and also felt a craving. He took out a plastic one from the white box in his plastic bag.
“What the hell is this? Chalk?”
“E-cigar, it’s good quality.” Ji Ran scoffed. “You wouldn’t know.”
Old Xing only laughed and didn’t refute him. The world of young people was something he really didn’t know.
He’d been a security guard at this school for a long time. Many students have come and gone, but Ji Ran was the one who left the deepest impression on him. Perhaps this lad was most similar to him in his youth- but of course he wasn’t as well-off.
That was why when facing Ji Ran, he had more words to give out. “On the day of the school anniversary, did you fight with that top student again?”
Ji Ran laughed softly. “Yeah.”
“You’re doing alright, why’d you suddenly provoke him?”
“I provoked him?” Ji Ran clicked his tongue. “Old Xing, don’t look at others through tinted glasses.”
Old Xing laughed. “Do I not know you? You were always looking for trouble with him back when you were in school.”
“How’d you know?” Ji Ran narrowed his eyes. “Did he tattle to you?”
“No way. It’s because the students in his class couldn’t stand it. They came to me and told me to catch you.” Old Xing blew out the smoke and said, “I was confused. Neither of you were in the same class or grade. It was unlikely for you to fight with him, so why’d he mess with you, and why’d you insist on making trouble for him?”
The taste of e-cigarettes was very different from that of real cigarettes. Ji Ran was not used to it, so his brows were scrunched. He replied, “He didn’t mess with me, I just felt he was an eyesore.”
Alright, this answer was very bastardly.
“Childish.” Old Xing grinned, “Actually, every time I look at you two, I think of my wife and I.”
Ji Ran glanced at him unexpectedly. “What?”
When he mentioned his wife, Old Xing’s eyes became much gentler. Ji Ran was used to seeing the fierce appearance of the other party, but now he realised that Old Xing actually seemed pretty wild, with a crew cut and a beard hanging on his chin. He was obviously a small-time security guard, but he carried an inexplicable sense of the vicissitudes of life.
“My wife and I were childhood sweethearts. When we met, I was eight years old and she was seven. We went to the same school growing up… Oh, I only went to high school and then stopped because I had no money.”
“My wife’s family was very rich. If there were no policies in place at that time, I would not have had the opportunity to go to school with her.”
Ji Ran crossed his legs and interrupted him, “Get to the point, don’t be silly. Besides, Qin Man and I are not childhood sweethearts, so don’t get us wrong.”
“It’s all the same. You’ve known each other since junior high school.” Old Xing laughed, “My wife was very cute, had a good temper, good character, and good academic performance. There were forty boys in our class. Thirty-eight liked her. But I was just like you, a scumbag.”
Ji Ran said, “Scram, you scum. Don’t drag me into the water.”
After being interrupted again, Old Xing said in a tone of displeasure, “Do you want to listen or not?”
Ji Ran clicked his tongue and stopped talking.
“I was one of those thirty-eight people. But apart from being good-looking, I had nothing else. I didn’t study, and liked to fight. Even if you thought with your toes, it was clear that she wouldn’t like me.” Old Xing took a drag on his cigarette and said with a smile, “But I liked her, I liked her very much. The first time I saw her, I wanted to marry her.”
“Others wrote love letters and confessed to her, but none of them were successful. No matter how handsome or high-achieving they were, she never looked at them twice. My wife was very demanding.”
“I didn’t dare confess my feelings at the time, but I wanted to get close to her, so I did a bastard thing.”
Ji Ran glanced at him, “You couldn’t have…”
“No, what are you thinking about? How is it possible?” Old Xing stopped his thoughts, “…I would bully her every day to gain a sense of presence.”
“I would pull on her pigtails, hide her rubber bands, and put fake cockroaches in her school bag… She cried every time, but she wouldn’t tell the teacher. Finally, one time, she couldn’t help it anymore and came to me and asked me why I always bullied her. Her eyes were red, just like a rabbit.”
“I said I hated her, and she cried even harder. My heart almost stopped.”
“I feel like I was really naive at that time. I thought to myself… she doesn’t like me, and since we will part ways after graduation, isn’t it better to make her hate me, so that she will remember me in the future?”
Ji Ran was fascinated, and asked after a while, “So how did you get together?”
“When she graduated, she confessed to me and said she didn’t want to leave any regrets from her youth. Do you know what it means for a pie to drop from the sky? This is it.”
Old Xing smiled lightly, “We dated for four years. She was studying abroad, while I worked hard to make money just so I could fly over to see her. Her family was well-off, and it took a long time for us to get married. On her wedding day, she invited her sisters from high school. They all asked her why she married someone like me, and they also recounted my many shortcomings. Not only was she not moved, but she almost got into a fight because she defended me. She is really… a very stupid girl.”
Perhaps he had held it in for too long. Old Xing talked a lot intermittently. The more he went on, the weaker his smile became. By the end, his eyes were red.
“Her disease was hereditary and without a cure. I closed the company for her, and because of this, even got into a big fight with her. It was our first fight since we got married… The words she said the most before leaving was for me to find someone else.”
Old Xing covered his eyes, “In my whole life, my biggest regret is that I didn’t get together with her sooner so that I could dote on her earlier.”
Ji Ran was speechless for a while, and when the bell rang for the end of school, he stood up and patted the other man on the shoulder.
On the way to the hospital, Ji Ran was in a daze and almost ran a red light.
After arriving safely, he sat in the driver’s seat and pinched his eyebrows.
It seemed that this period of time was not suitable for driving.
Arriving at the ward, he glanced inside. Qin Man was sitting on the hospital bed, watching an anti-Japanese drama on TV with the other patients.
He suddenly remembered how Qin Man was covered in blood when they were in the car accident.
The moment he closed his eyes, Ji Ran even thought he was dead.
In the ambulance, he was actually not only thinking about how he should account for this to Qin Man’s parents. He was more afraid.
This was the person he had been chasing for half his life. In the past, even after graduation, he would go round and round to inquire about Qin Man’s current situation. He couldn’t help but feel flustered at the thought that this person might be gone.
When the news of Qin Man’s bankruptcy came out, others congratulated him. He was smiling, but kept drinking one cup after another. Not only was he not as delighted as he expected, he actually felt stuffy.
So when he saw Qin Man at the bar, his first reaction was to hand over his bank card.
Then, under Qin Man’s surprised gaze, he spat out those harsh words about saving him.
On the hospital bed, Qin Man seemed to sense something and looked towards the door. Because of his neck, he almost turned his whole body towards that side.
When he met Ji Ran’s eyes, the corners of his originally tense lips seemed to relax and rose into a smile.
“You’re late. Lunch time has passed.”
“I went to meet an old friend.” Ji Ran avoided his gaze.
Qin Man noticed that his mood was not right, and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” Ji Ran said, “Your smile is really ugly.”
In the afternoon, the nurse came to change Qin Man’s dressing.
Qin Man wanted to drive Ji Ran out, but Ji Ran didn’t leave. He took a seat beside him and watched the nurse remove the bandage.
Under the bandage was an unsightly wound. Although there was no bleeding, there were still traces of stitches.
Ji Ran felt choked, and asked the nurse, “Will these wounds leave scars?”
The nurse said, “If it recovers properly, it won’t.”
Ji Ran asked, “What if it doesn’t recover properly?”
“…”
“Is there any surgery to remove scars now? Can scars of this level be removed?”
The nurse said awkwardly, “I’m also not sure about that.”
Qin Man laughed, “I’m not a girl, it doesn’t matter if there are scars. It’ll just add to my appeal.”
Ji Ran pursed his lips and stopped talking.
In the evening, after the two of them had dinner, Qin Man said, “Go back, don’t sleep here at night. This bed is too uncomfortable.”
Ji Ran packed away the leftovers. “It’s just for a few days, I’m not that delicate.”
“No, go back.”
Ji Ran paused and asked, “Can’t bear to watch me sleep on those iron bars?”
Not expecting him to say this, Qin Man raised his eyebrows: “I really can’t…”
“Then you will have to suffer a little and make room for me.”
After leaving these words behind, Ji Ran walked out of the ward with the trash.
Qin Man was left sitting alone on the hospital bed, with a rare look of confusion, not understanding what he meant.
But he soon understood.
At night, the curtains around the hospital bed were tightly drawn. Ji Ran laid on his side and slept next to him. The smell of soap from his body lingered on the tips of both their noses, smelling fresh and clean.
In order to allow him to lie flat and avoid crushing his arms, Ji Ran’s sleeping area was very small and uncomfortable at first glance, but Qin Man was not willing to drive him away.
“Yesterday, the nurse gave me your wallet.” It was late at night, but neither of them were asleep. Surrounded by other people snoring, Ji Ran suddenly spoke up.
Qin Man opened his eyes, “Hmm?”
“I accidentally opened it and saw…the note inside.”
Ji Ran licked his lips and asked him, “Why is that note with you?”
“You saw it?” Qin Man asked, “I saw it in the trash can and thought the penmanship looked good, so I picked it up.”
Ji Ran thought it was funny, and looked at his side profile, “And stored it in your wallet?”
Qin Man didn’t blush at all, “Yeah.”
“You’re like a pervert.” Ji Ran whispered, “The kind of pervert who stalks others.”
Qin Man said frankly, “I am indeed.”
“…”
“Think about it. When you were fighting with someone in the alley in your second year of high school, how could the police find that alley so quickly when it was so remote and hardly anyone used it?”
“…”
“However, no matter how abnormal I am, you provoked me yourself.” Qin Man said confidently, “If you didn’t pick on me, how could I pester you?”
“…”
Realising that he might have said too much, Qin Man looked at him and waited for a while, but received no response.
“No way.” Qin Man laughed, “did I scare you?”
“It was because you got into fights too frequently during that period that I was worried about you, so I followed you… I didn’t really mean to do anything to you.”
“Qin Man.” Ji Ran suddenly interrupted him.
“Hm?”
He felt the person beside him leaned closer, and then carefully rested his forehead on his shoulder.
“Where’s the ring from before?” Ji Ran asked.
Qin Man was slightly startled, “What?”
“The ring you wanted to give me on Chen An’s birthday.” Ji Ran paused, “Where did it go?”
“It’s at home. What’s wrong?”
“Give it to me.”
“…”
Qin Man felt that this brace around his neck was really annoying.
He resisted the urge to look at Ji Ran and joked, “Why do you want it all of a sudden?”
“Weren’t you going to give it to me?”
There was no way to get the ring now. Qin Man said teasingly, “That was before, I kept it for so many months, its significance has changed. It is now a token of my love, it can’t be given to just anyone.”
There was silence again.
After waiting for a while, Qin Man decided not to tease him anymore, “Wait for us to leave the hospital…”
“Give it to me.”
“…”
Qin Man was stunned and waited with bated breath for a while. He asked with a hoarse voice, “Do you understand what this means?”
“I know.” Ji Ran responded quickly and firmly.
He repeated again, “Give it to me. I will wear it.”
At two o’clock in the morning, the ward was full of other people snoring.
Two grown men squeezed into a small hospital bed, both their hearts beating so fast that it felt as if it could catch up with the sound of rain outside.
