Chapter 13

(Three days of cohabitation)

Instead of looking at Yang Ye, Gu Liang chose to stare ahead and give a superficial one liner: “To prevent it from getting wet, I took it off when I was washing the dishes.”

“Gu Liang, do you mind talking about it?” Yang Ye inquired.

Gu Liang: “I mind.”

Yang Ye: “……”

Half a beat later, Gu Liang tilted his head back to drink a small mouthful of wine before he met Yang Ye’s eyes.

He swallowed the wine in his mouth slowly, a trace of heated warm rising up from his stomach.

Then, he placed the wine glass back on the side table and said: “It’s only been a day since we became acquainted, we’re not familiar to that extent.”

It was only then that Yang Ye reacted— That’s true, the two of us just met today.

But this one day felt a little too long.

Yang Ye said nothing in response in the end, only raising his wine glass towards Gu Liang before he imbibed a mouthful of wine.

“You should drink slower. I’m going to sleep. See you tomorrow.”

Gu Liang waved his hand at Yang Ye, turned around and went upstairs.

* * *

In the morning of the next day, Yang Ye was the first to get out of bed.

The first thing he did was head to the kitchen to make breakfast before he went to find Gu Liang. And because he was immediately met with a roared out, “Let me sleep for another half hour” from the sleepy, hence irritated Gu Liang, Yang Ye’s only recourse was to turn to Brother Bai’s room and knock on his door.

In reality, the actor of Boss Bai was a criminal who was guilty of the most heinous crimes, and it was more than likely that his biological older brother was not some good person either.

However, whether Brother Bai had committed crimes was not something Yang Ye was certain of. Furthermore, his eyes were capable of seeing that there were only three living people in this large villa, and because he was afraid that Brother Bai would take things too hard and end up dying in his own room, he decided to knock on his door to check on him.

After a long period of time, Brother Bai trudged up to open the door with sleep heavy eyes.

Yang Ye asked him: “You didn’t eat anything yesterday, right? Come downstairs and eat some.”

While Brother Bai did hesitate briefly, he still gave a polite reply in the end. “I’ll go and wash up, give me a moment.”

Half an hour later, Brother Bai arrived downstairs to eat.

Since it was getting late, Yang Ye could not keep waiting for Gu Liang so he went to knock on his door again. “Gu Liang, wake up and eat.”

The door opened after a short beat.

Gu Liang leaned against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow as he peered at Yang Ye. Just like before, his morning irritability had not subsided completely.

Rather than the wind-jacket he wore yesterday, he had donned on a suit today. It was not negligent in the slightest; all the buttons on his shirt placket were done up, his outer jacket was fitted together seamlessly, and his hair was combed neatly, giving him the appearance of a cultured elite.

Now that he had changed his clothes, the feeling he exuded was more refreshing and Yang Ye could not help but send him a few additional glances. “Wearing Lawyer Zhang’s clothes?”

“Mn. These clothes should be the props.”

Gu Liang yawned as he followed Yang Ye to the dining room downstairs. “Speaking of which, these clothes were unexpectedly form fitting. I have some suspicions that while the drawing of character roles seem random on the surface, it might have been arranged by the system beforehand.”

“But the clothes in my room are meant for females, the measurements are too small.” Yang Ye said, “I can’t change into them at all.”

“Is that so. It might be a coincidence that I can wear Lawyer Zhang’s clothes then.”

Whatever the truth of the matter was, Gu Liang stopped pondering about it for the time being, because he ought to eat breakfast with Yang Ye first.

The variety of dishes on the dining table were quite rich.

Yang Ye had made fruit porridge and savoury Chinese crepes that were in a multitude of flavours for breakfast.

While they were eating, Brother Bai clipped up a scallion-flavoured crepe and munched into it, and tears promptly fell.

“What’s the matter? Does it taste bad?” Yang Ye was a little surprised.

“No—” Brother Bai shook his head, “I just thought of my mother. The scallion crepe you made tastes exactly like hers.”

Yang Ye: “……”

Gu Liang could not stop the corners of his mouth from curling upwards.

Once he stopped crying, Brother Bai wiped his face and placed down his bowl and chopsticks. He sighed, “Apologies, I’m already at this age…. Saying words like these must be quite funny.”

Seeing that he was in severe grief, Yang Ye and Gu Liang exchanged looks and their gazes became more solemn simultaneously.

Brother Bai spoke for his own sake, “My younger brother is called Liu Jun, and the things he’s done… you’ve all heard it. I’m called Liu Ran. I’m guilty too. I’m a doctor. The things Liu Ran did, harmed a great number of female students. Some of the girls were afraid they couldn’t graduate, other girls were afraid of destroying their repute…

“No matter what it was, because of all these varied reasons, they did not dare to report him to the police, or perhaps when they finally wanted to report him to the police, a long time had passed and their testimonies would amount to little. There was only one female student…

“She realised she had been drugged and raped, so she brought one of her undergarments into our hospital for appraisal the day after the next. When Liu Jun learned of her whereabouts, he immediately called me, asking me to help him. Despite what was said and done, I didn’t want to send my younger brother to prison, so I destroyed the undergarment that was meant to serve as evidence. I even lied that it was impossible to check for Y chromosomes once twenty-four hours had passed, and it would be of no use even if she reported it to the police. She believed me…”

In front of two strangers. Liu Ran spilled the secret he had been hiding for the latter half of his life. Although he was upset, he let out a long exhale. The hollowness that came from relieving himself of a burden emerged in his gaze, and faint self-reproach and forlornness could be perceived as well.

“We came here to pay for our sins. My younger brother committed a huge crime, and I helped him so I’m guilty by association. He drew the deceased card immediately, was forced to eat the poisoned snacks and water, and had to quietly wait for the poison to cause his death… Next round, next round might be my turn.”

Liu Ran laughed bitterly. Raising his head, he looked at Yang Ye and Gu Liang. “Have you committed a crime too? But the fact that we didn’t directly draw the deceased card or the murderer card symbolises that our crimes are comparatively smaller, is that how it is?”

“None of us know what is going on around here. An insulin that can be taken orally, feigned death medicine, white moonlight, cinnabar mole… all these items do not exist in the real world. Who the hell knows what kind of world we are in.”

Yang Ye gazed at Liu Ran, “However, only by adapting to the rules, abiding by them, and thoroughly getting to know what these rules are, can we break through the regulations and attain victory. For instance, you can eat more now and rest for the two days because we still have to go to the next scenario. It’s just that, I don’t know if…”

As he said that, Yang Ye gave a sidelong glance to Gu Liang, who was drinking his porridge small spoonful by small spoonful. He said: “I don’t know if we can meet each other in the next script.”

Gu Liang did not lift his head, only continuing to drink his porridge leisurely. It seemed like his spoon was only half filled whenever he scooped up some porridge.

After drinking a few spoonfuls of porridge, Gu Liang picked up a corn cake. Picking up a knife and fork, he first cut the cake into small triangular pieces before he sent it to his mouth slowly.

By the time Gu Liang ate two small pieces of the cake, Yang Ye had already wolfed down two rolled-up pastries.

Tch, he was way too delicate.

Yang Ye sighed with emotion in his heart again.

When Gu Liang finally finished his breakfast at his own slow pace, Liu Ran had already returned to his room to rest and Yang Ye was in the side living room making a pot of black tea.

“Black tea? Hey, I want a cup. Thanks. Let me wash the cutlery up first.” Once Gu Liang issued his request, he started to clean up the dining table.

“I’ll wash it. You can leave it there.” Yang Ye told him.

“It’s fine. Since you cooked, I should wash the dishes.”

Although Gu Liang did not know how to cook, he was quite professional when it came to washing the dishes since he managed to put everything back in order very quickly. Soon after, he made his way back to the living room to drink tea with Yang Ye.

Gu Liang spied at the hanging clock in the living room as he yawned. “Ah? It’s only nine o’ clock. I was wondering why I was so sleepy. Thankfully, there’s black tea.”

“Nine is considered early? Do you not have to work for the most part?” Yang Ye asked him.

Gu Liang drank his black tea and said: “My usual is ten o’ clock, or I go to work in the afternoon and then work deep into the night.”

Yang Ye looked at him curiously.

Gu Liang seemed to think of something as he explained: “I tend to eat slower only because my stomach isn’t the best.”

“And yet you’re drinking tea?”

“It’s fine. Your brew is rather light.”

Influenced by Gu Liang, Yang Ye leaned back against the sofa as he yawned. “There’s no visible branding on this black tea but the taste tells of its high quality. There’s tea and wine, we don’t lack in food, clothing and other basic necessities. All in all, the system seems rather magnanimous. It’s just a pity that all our electronic devices were confiscated and we are completely bereft of entertainment. I could disregard that, but I can’t even work out because there’s no place to do so. Originally, I was intending to go out of the compound for a run. But when I opened the window and threw a cup out this morning to test it, the cup was immediately blown away by a tornado.”

When he heard that, Gu Laing turned his head to look out of the ceiling to floor windows. He could vaguely see the courtyard outside, but apart from the green pastures that were in close proximity, anything further out was indistinct.

This entire world seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog, just like how it was difficult to descry the true appearance of this strange game.

“So tell me, what should we do for the next three day of our cohabitation life?” Yang Ye draped one arm over the sofa and stared at Gu Liang.

“Who’s cohabiting with you?” Gu Liang said placidly.

Yang Ye grinned. “Boss Bai is already dead. Am I not allowed to graze at your old pastures?”

“Are you really trying to be Girlfriend Huang?” Gu Liang raised an eyebrow, “Go and change your gender then.”

Yang Ye: “Your manner of speech is seriously too harsh.”

“You just learned that?” said Gu Liang with a quiet tone.

Yang Ye let out a sigh.

— Forget it, you have a hard mouth. But I know you’re actually a very gentle person.

You care about others and you care about me. Even if that wasn’t the case, you would never confine yourself away.

After finishing his tea, Gu Liang did not laze on the sofa like he usually would. Instead, he stood up and started searching the entire space.

Yang Ye noticed that he was taking some items and keeping it on his person, and he was essentially preparing to bring them back to his room.

“What are you doing?” Yang Ye asked.

Gu Liang responded: “Bringing some tools with me. Who knows what kind of setting the next script might have, what if it’s a desert island where we have to seek our survival? I ought to prepare some food, water, and basic necessities.”

“Yeah. Good idea. I’ll bring some too.”

“I’m calling dibs on the fruit knife in the kitchen. Don’t snatch it.”

“Hm? Don’t play with knives, be careful or you’ll hurt yourself. You’re pampered and delicate.”

“……?”

“Isn’t that the impression your pink scarf gives people?”

“… Give me back my scarf.”

“Sure. I’ll return it to you after it’s washed. Are you still going to help me apply the ointment?”

“Didn’t you say it was a minor injury? Apply it yourself.”

Gu Liang’s face turned black. Yang Ye was amused. “Hey, don’t be angry. I’ll make something delicious for you in the afternoon?”

When Yang Ye finished speaking those words, the cold faced Gu Liang finally revealed a contemplative and hesitant expression.

Ten seconds later, his thinking concluded. Gu Liang looked at Yang Ye. “Is there steak? Do you know how to make steak with potatoes?”

“I do. Braised with soy sauce?”

“Mn.”

“Sure, just wait for it. I’ll make it in a while.”

“Thanks.”

As he watched Gu Liang walk upstairs, Yang Ye made a new summary for him— Gu “sharp-tongued but soft-hearted · likes pink · eats delicately · likes eating steak” Liang.