Don't Give Your Heart to Your Nemesis - Chapter 7

“Get lost! I’m afraid of catching rabies,” Yan Ruixing hissed, wrenching his hand away and pulling his collar up to shield his neck.

In the end, Wen Xiaomian would rather strip off his own turtleneck and give it to Yan Ruixing than return that stolen button.

Yan Ruixing didn’t take the coat. Instead, he fled behind the privacy curtain. When he emerged, his collar had been crudely but firmly sewn shut with needle and thread.

Wen Xiaomian: “…”

Is all that really necessary? You feudal patriarch.

Wen Xiaomian’s gaze drifted away from the collar. The flush on Yan Ruixing’s neck had receded into a pale hue, matching the icy temperature of his face.

Tch, nothing to see here.

Yan Ruixing handed over a medical card. “Go get the medicine.”

Wen Xiaomian was amused. “I actually have to fetch this stuff myself?”

“Young Master, this is a public hospital, not one of your family’s holdings.”

“I wouldn’t mind buying the place out.”

“You can discuss that with the kids in the pediatric clinic,” Yan Ruixing said with fake sincerity. “When they’re getting shots, they have the same grand, ambitious dreams as you.”

A knock at the door interrupted them. A young man in a hoodie appeared at the entrance with a seven or eight-year-old girl.

Wen Xiaomian looked at the girl with the braided pigtails. “Is this the business partner you found for me to acquire the hospital with?”

Yan Ruixing: “…”

The young man was out of breath. “Doctor Yan, can you still see patients?”

Wen Xiaomian cut in, “Off the clock. Come back tomorrow.”

Yan Ruixing shot Wen Xiaomian a glare, ordered him to get the medicine, and ushered the two inside.

The young man set the girl down in the clinic, gave her a few quick instructions, and hurried off.

Wen Xiaomian and the young man entered the elevator one after the other.

The youth pressed the button for the first floor and frantically dialed a number. “Brother Bian, wait for me! I am almost there!”

The name sounded familiar. Wen Xiaomian scrutinized the youth; he looked like a college student, carrying a skateboard with purple headphones draped around his neck.

“Meng Ting?” Wen Xiaomian called out instinctively.

The youth looked up at the stranger who knew his name. “Who are you?”

“Damn, it really is you.”

ENT Second Clinic

Yan Ruixing finished the girl’s examination. “When is your brother coming back?”

“He said he has an emergency and has to leave for a tiny bit. Are you going off duty, Brother Xingxing?” The girl tugged at her backpack. “I will go wait for him outside.”

“Stay here. I will wait with you.”

“Thank you, Brother Xingxing!”

The girl pulled a tablet from her bag, turned the volume down, and began obediently playing Eggy Party.

The clinic door pushed open. Wen Xiaomian walked in carrying the bag of medicine, scanning the room before spotting the little sprout in the corner. “Hey, kid. Come with me.”

Both people in the room looked up.

Wen Xiaomian handed his ringing phone to the girl.

“Hello? Brother?”

Yan Ruixing turned to Wen Xiaomian. “What is going on?”

Wen Xiaomian pointed. “This kid is the sister of Bian Du’s little lover.”

Yan Ruixing: “What?”

Realizing he had said too much, Wen Xiaomian made a zipping his lips gesture. “Anyway, she is my responsibility now.”

The girl hung up, returned the phone, and turned to Yan Ruixing. “Brother Xingxing, I am going with Uncle Wen now. See you next time!”

Wen Xiaomian flicked one of her pigtails. “Who are you calling Uncle, you little brat?”

The girl tilted her head. Although she did not quite understand, she repeated herself: “Brother Xingxing, I am going with Rooster-Haired Uncle now. See you next time!”

Yan Ruixing: “…”

Pfft.

Wen Xiaomian’s face darkened. “I told you to call me Brother!”

The girl obediently obliged. “Okay, Rooster-Haired Brother.”

Wen Xiaomian’s face turned as black as a briefcase. “…”

Suppressing a laugh, Yan Ruixing mimicked the girl and waved. “Bye-bye, Rooster-Haired Brother.”

“Fine, Rooster-Haired Brother is leaving,” Wen Xiaomian said, grabbing Yan Ruixing forcefully. “But Brother Xingxing is coming, too.”

And so, in a state of total confusion, Yan Ruixing was dragged into the car.

As Wen Xiaomian buckled his seatbelt, he glanced in the rearview mirror. “Kid, what is your name?”

“I am Sun Muwan, a first-grade student in Class 6 at Dongyu Experimental Primary School. I am the leader of Group Three and the sports commissary. Rooster-Haired Brother can also call me Da Zhuang. Oh, and my brother Meng Ting is the best bowl-rider skateboarder in the world. His board is as fast as a spaceship!”

Wen Xiaomian did not care for her credentials. He noted casually, “Your surname is Sun, but your brother’s is Meng?”

Sun Muwan grew anxious and desperately explained that her brother took their mother’s name while she took their father’s, but they had the same mom and were real siblings.

Wen Xiaomian did not grasp the little girl’s sensitivity. He said offhandedly, “You do not need to give me your whole family tree.”

Sun Muwan snapped back, “You were the one who asked!”

Wen Xiaomian: “…”

Yan Ruixing sat in the passenger seat, listening to them bicker and chuckling to himself.

Sun Muwan asked, “Rooster-Haired Brother, when is my brother coming to pick me up?”

“Being a third wheel is rude. Today, Rooster-Haired Brother is taking you to dinner and then home.”

Sun Muwan blinked. “Did my brother get a girlfriend?”

“Little girl, do not be so rigid about gender.”

Yan Ruixing nudged him, signaling him with his eyes not to talk nonsense.

Wen Xiaomian gave an OK sign and changed the subject. “Da Zhuang, what do you want to eat?”

“Pizza Hut.”

Wen Xiaomian muttered, “What is even good there?” as he started the car. “Rooster-Haired Brother will take you to get authentic Italian pizza.”

But Sun Muwan did not want authentic Italian pizza. She countered, “Rooster-Haired Brother, have you ever had the Durian Bobo Pizza at Pizza Hut?”

Wen Xiaomian had zero interest in fast food. “No.”

“Then if you have not had it, how can you say it tastes bad?”

Effectively silenced, Wen Xiaomian stopped arguing and drove them to Pizza Hut.

A Dinner for Three

Pizza and cakes soon covered the table.

Sun Muwan ate happily, looking first at Yan Ruixing on her left, who was coldly swirling his water glass, and then at Wen Xiaomian across from her, who was sulkily chewing a fry.

“Brothers, why are you not eating?” Sun Muwan asked, her mouth greasy. “Is the pizza not in a shape you like? You are grownups; how can you be such picky eaters?”

Yan Ruixing glanced at the bursting durian topping and explained from a scientific perspective: “The sugar content of one slice of pizza is roughly equal to an adult’s daily carbohydrate requirement. Excessive sugar intake not only increases metabolic burden and damages oral health but also leads to endocrine disorders and cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure.”

Sun Muwan did not understand and was not moved. She took another giant bite and turned to Wen Xiaomian. “Is Rooster-Haired Brother afraid of that, too?”

Wen Xiaomian was not that fastidious. He poked at the crust with a fork. “Eating this kind of junk scrap is no different from chewing on the sole of a shoe.”

A layer of frost formed on Yan Ruixing’s face. “If you do not want to eat, leave. Why be a buzzkill?”

“And you, mumbling like a fake intellectual with your grand theories, who are you looking down on?”

“I am merely stating objective science. I was not criticizing anyone or being judgmental.”

Wen Xiaomian snorted. “You have an answer for everything. Why do you not go save the planet then?”

“You, mmph!”

“I, mmph!”

The two arguing mouths were suddenly stuffed with slices of pizza. To prevent them from spitting the food out, Sun Muwan gave the slices an extra shove. “Stop fighting! The pizza will not taste good if it gets cold!”

Warm, caramelized sweetness filled their mouths with a smooth, creamy texture. Sugar triggers dopamine, bringing a sense of pleasure.

Yan Ruixing looked up. Wen Xiaomian had already finished one piece and was reaching for another. “It is okay. Better than a shoe sole.”

Yan Ruixing said nothing and took a bite.

Sun Muwan passed over some cake. “Brother Xingxing, this strawberry mousse is super delicious!”

Yan Ruixing looked at the cream, his mind screaming about the astronomical sugar content, but the sweet aroma hit his nose.

He took a spoonful.

As Yan Ruixing ate the cake bite by bite, the rhythmic pulse on Wen Xiaomian’s wrist grew stronger; it was a physiological feedback of a good mood.

Clearly he loves sweets, yet he acts all pretentious about healthy living.

Wen Xiaomian bit into his pizza and rotated his wrist. “What are you acting for?”

Yan Ruixing continued with his cake. “If you are done eating, go chat with the security guard at the gate.”

“In your dreams.” Wen Xiaomian smirked and snatched a piece of Yan Ruixing’s cake. “I am staying right here to annoy you.”

Within five minutes, they were bickering again. The tension was so high it looked like a battle of durian pizza versus strawberry mousse was about to erupt on their faces.

Sun Muwan looked left and right, jumping excitedly. “Brothers, you are just like Judy and Nick!”

Wen Xiaomian: “Who?”

“From Zootopia!” Sun Muwan bounced around, looking like she wanted to join the fray. “Brother Xingxing is like Judy the bunny, and Rooster-Haired Brother is like Nick the fox.”

“Do not give him that much credit,” Yan Ruixing said, wiping a smudge of cream from his nose. “He is just an annoying dog.”

Wen Xiaomian wiped ketchup from his chin. “If bunnies were like him, the species would have gone extinct long ago.”

“But you look even more like them when you fight!” Sun Muwan licked her ice cream, her round eyes darting between them. “Are you guys a couple, too?”

Wen Xiaomian: “We are both guys!”

Sun Muwan pouted. “But you just said not to be so rigid about gender.”

Wen Xiaomian: “…”

Wen Xiaomian had lost the battle. Yan Ruixing took over. “First, we are not a couple. Second, Judy and Nick are not a couple; they are just partners who support each other.”

“Then you are partners who support each other!”

They answered in unison: “No!”

“Then you are a couple!”

Yan Ruixing: “…” Wen Xiaomian: “…”

Determined not to be associated with each other, the two declared a temporary ceasefire. They did not even look at one another until the meal was over.

The Cinema and the Long Night

After leaving the restaurant, Sun Muwan coaxed them into a movie theater to watch Zootopia 2.

Halfway through, while Sun Muwan was engrossed, Wen Xiaomian yawned. He turned his head to find Yan Ruixing’s eyes closed.

Wen Xiaomian: “…”

Good thing he is not on a date with a girl. If he were, she would be throwing a tantrum by now.

Only someone as kind-hearted and handsome as me would let you sleep.

Using the dim light of the theater, Wen Xiaomian compared the size of a popcorn kernel to Yan Ruixing’s nostril. He rummaged through the bucket, finally finding a kernel of the perfect dimensions. He pinched the small piece and leaned over stealthily toward the neighboring seat.

“If you dare stick that in there, I will leave a scalpel in your brain.”

“…”

Wen Xiaomian tossed the popcorn into his own mouth. “Are your eyelids just for show?” How could he tell with his eyes closed?

Yan Ruixing opened his eyes. “Your dog scent was bothering me.”

“Tch.” Wen Xiaomian chewed his popcorn. “A scheming fox pretending to be a dog’s nose, always crowding into the mud pit, mmph?!”

Yan Ruixing grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it into Wen Xiaomian’s mouth. “Watch the movie and shut your mud-pit dog mouth!”

When the movie ended, they drove Sun Muwan home.

Yan Ruixing drove while Wen Xiaomian sat in the back playing games with the girl. The car moved smoothly, the two of them playing intensely, punctuated by the girl’s laughter.

Yan Ruixing glanced in the rearview mirror. His gaze shifted from Sun Muwan to Wen Xiaomian. The usually impatient man was suddenly patient, actually willing to play games with a little girl.

After watching for a moment, Yan Ruixing realized something was wrong. He quickly looked away and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Too much sugar. The dopamine is making even this dog look decent.

They pulled up to Sun Muwan’s house. After she waved goodbye, Yan Ruixing moved back to the passenger seat and buckled up.

Noticing the route was wrong, he turned off his phone screen. “If you are going home, please drop me off at the curb.”

Wen Xiaomian was driving in the opposite direction of Yan Ruixing’s home, but it was not the way to the Wen family estate either.

“It is a long night; it would be a waste to go home.” Wen Xiaomian tapped the steering wheel, his tone mischievous and teasing. “I want to cherish this beautiful time, to spend a long night in our own little world.”

Yan Ruixing could not be bothered with his nonsense. “What exactly do you want?”

In truth, Wen Xiaomian had not planned anything until he was asked. But then, a sudden inspiration hit him. He lowered his voice meaningfully.

“I want to go to a place we both hate, and then…”

“Torment each other.”