Heartbeat Command - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: “Why are you following me?”

Jiang Luo posted the short video clip filmed by Gu Shiyue on all his social media platforms. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes—unintentional efforts yield unexpected results. The moment captured by accident ended up achieving an effect he hadn’t anticipated. The video was atmospheric, fresh, and full of aesthetic appeal, and it went viral with an incredibly high view count.

Even Jiang Luo’s roommates came across the video. While goofing off during class, one of them pulled out their phone and whispered to him: “Holy crap, Jiang Luo, is this you?”

Jiang Luo looked down and said quietly, “Yeah, it is.”

“Holy crap, holy crap.” His roommate kept his head down, hiding his phone under his desk, and clicked on the video to watch it again.

Jiang Luo was somewhat of a minor internet celebrity, and his roommates knew that. However, they were all outsiders to the scene and didn’t dabble in ACG culture, so seeing Jiang Luo’s video from a passerby’s perspective for the first time felt quite novel.

The roommate clicked on the comment section to take a look

A divine miracle. Is this a god? Wait, that’s not right. What is this?  It’s not wrong.  How can it be this accurate, holy crap!!!!! It’s literally Kaworu Nagisa, help me @LoveSpicyStrips Even the coldest person would smile when they see this face @momo “Don’t make that face, we will meet again.” [Crying] Such a magnificent face [Sobbing] Damn, he’s so beautiful, damn @QueenOfTheFemales …

Today was Friday, and students were inevitably restless. Many were slacking off in the last class of the afternoon. As soon as the bell rang, they were already sitting on the edge of their seats, unable to contain themselves, ready to rush out of the classroom the next second. The professor gave a helpless, wry smile, tossed the chalk aside, and said, “Alright, alright, class dismissed.”

The classroom erupted into noise instantly. Jiang Luo was sitting with a group of his roommates. After class, they suggested going out for barbecue that evening, but Jiang Luo put his backpack on and said he was going home today and wouldn’t be joining them.

Jiang Luo was from Jiangsu province, and his university was within the province. It only took a little over an hour to get home by high-speed rail. He had a younger brother named Jiang Chen, currently in his second year of high school. Today was the start of the school break, and he was heading home specifically to pick up his brother.

Jiang Chen attended a key city high school. Although they had breaks every week, students were only allowed to return home once every two weeks. Jiang Luo was like clockwork, heading home every two weeks to pick up his brother from school.

This week was the first week of the term; the school let students go after just one week, but from then on, they would only be released once every two weeks.

After arriving at the station, Jiang Luo took the subway directly to Jiang Chen’s school. At this hour, the school gate was swarming with people. Jiang Luo found a spot with a good line of sight and didn’t have to wait long before seeing his brother walk out with his backpack.

Jiang Chen was wearing a loose blue-and-white school uniform. After walking out, he stopped and instinctively scanned his surroundings. The brothers were too familiar with each other’s silhouettes; Jiang Luo raised his arm and waved, and Jiang Chen spotted him immediately.

A trace of a smile appeared on Jiang Chen’s usually expressionless face as he walked quickly toward Jiang Luo.

“Brother.” Jiang Chen had finished his voice change, and his tone was much lower than before.

Fifteen or sixteen was the prime age for a growth spurt. It had only been a week, but he seemed even taller than when Jiang Luo had last seen him, and his hair had grown out, looking a bit messy.

“Your hair grows so fast.” Jiang Chen was about the same height as Jiang Luo, nearly catching up to him. Jiang Luo rubbed his brother’s hair, making it even messier. “Haven’t seen you for a week and you’ve turned into a wild man.”

Jiang Chen let him rub it. “You’d be a wild man too if you were locked up in school for a week.”

“Think I don’t know that?” Jiang Luo’s eyes curved into smiles. “I’ve been through it; us Jiangsu students have such a hard life.”

Jiang Chen was clutching an envelope in his hand—a pink one.

“Hey? What happened to your hand?” Jiang Luo looked down and noticed abrasions on the knuckles of Jiang Chen’s right hand. They had already scabbed over. He grabbed Jiang Chen’s hand to take a look. “How did you hurt your hand?”

Jiang Chen paused for two seconds and said, “Fell during P.E. class while running.”

“How do you fall just from running?” Jiang Luo frowned.

“Running too fast.” Jiang Chen pulled his hand back, paused for a moment, and added, “Got a leg cramp.”

“Did you take your calcium tablets? If not, I bet you skipped them again.” Jiang Chen had hated drinking milk since he was little and disliked all dairy products.

“I took them,” Jiang Chen said.

“You have to take them every day.”

“Mm, I know.”

Jiang Luo looked at the envelope in his hand and asked with a smile, “What’s this?”

Jiang Chen looked down at it and said, “A letter.”

“And it’s pink, too,” Jiang Luo’s lips curled up. “A love letter, I assume.”

“Don’t know. Probably.” A girl had handed it to him in the hallway after class and ran off before he could even see her face clearly.

Both brothers were handsome. Once Jiang Chen passed through puberty, his looks really started to show, and he had received love letters frequently since starting high school.

As he spoke, Jiang Chen tore open the envelope and scanned the contents. It wasn’t long, and the words expressed admiration; it was clearly a love letter. He read it from start to finish as a gesture of respect, then tossed it into a nearby trash can.

“Let’s go, brother.” Jiang Chen hitched his backpack strap up.

“You read it and then just tossed it? Why’d you bother reading it at all?” Jiang Luo chuckled. “I thought you were interested in her.”

Jiang Chen looked cold on the surface, but he was actually a bit of a natural airhead—a quiet, well-behaved kid.

“If I don’t read it, it’s disrespectful to her,” Jiang Chen said.

Jiang Luo was amused. “And tossing it right after reading it is respectful?”

Jiang Chen explained very seriously, “We don’t have that much space at home to store these letters.”

Jiang Luo had experienced this himself, so he understood.

Jiang Chen looked at his brother and exposed him: “You’ve received plenty too, but I’ve never seen you keep them properly.”

Jiang Luo spouted nonsense: “I’ve kept them, of course. I just didn’t let you see.”

“Liar.”

Jiang Luo let out a chortle and ruffled his hair: “Look at this mess. I’ll take you to get a haircut tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

Jiang Luo took out his phone to call a ride but received a call from his uncle before he could enter the address.

“Hey, Luoluo, are you back today?”

“Yes, I’m here to pick up Xiaochen.”

“You’ve picked him up, right? Come over for dinner today. Your aunt cooked quite a few dishes; bring Xiaochen along with you.”

Jiang Luo glanced at Jiang Chen and mouthed: Uncle wants us to go over for dinner.

Jiang Chen’s brow furrowed, and he turned his face away, saying, “Don’t want to go.”

Luckily, they were surrounded by people and the noise was deafening; his uncle on the other end didn’t hear him.

Jiang Luo didn’t want to go either, and he always respected Jiang Chen’s wishes. He made up an excuse to decline: “Uncle, Xiaochen and I are eating out today. He told me he wanted barbecue, and I’ve already booked a table. Tell Auntie we won’t be coming over.”

His uncle always played dumb, knowing full well the brothers didn’t want to eat there, and didn’t force the issue. He laughed and said, “Alright then. Be careful on the road, you two. Don’t be home too late after dinner.”

“Mm, okay.”

Jiang Luo hung up. Jiang Chen was still looking away, his face a bit sullen. Jiang Luo put an arm around his neck and said with a smile, “Alright, stop scowling. We aren’t going to their house to eat.”

Jiang Chen nodded: “Mm.”

“You’re getting harder to hide your feelings as you get older, Jiang Xiaochen,” Jiang Luo poked his cheek. “We have to at least keep up appearances, otherwise Auntie will have more to say later.”

Jiang Chen said expressionlessly, “Annoyed by those twins.”

“Me too,” Jiang Luo said.

Jiang Luo’s father passed away early, before the brothers had any memory of him, and their mother had raised them alone. The year Jiang Luo was in tenth grade, his mother fell ill—it was an acute illness that struck suddenly, leaving no chance for effective treatment. She passed away, and Jiang Chen was still in elementary school then.

They didn’t have many relatives; their closest blood relative was this uncle, their father’s own brother.

Before their mother passed, she entrusted the boys to their uncle and gave him a sum of money from their family as compensation for taking care of the two children. After she passed, their uncle had them stay at his house for a while. Jiang Luo was in high school and lived at the dormitory, so only Jiang Chen lived with their uncle.

The uncle had children of his own—a pair of twins, two years younger than Jiang Chen. They were noisy, mischievous, and loved to bully people. Their uncle was weak-willed and had no say at home; basically, their aunt called all the shots. Taking care of three kids, it was inevitable there would be favoritism. Jiang Chen, having a naturally reserved personality, didn’t tell Jiang Luo when he was unhappy.

Eventually, Jiang Luo realized it and took the initiative to move back home. Their aunt was thrilled—she felt relieved to have shed a burden. The two adults took the money but didn’t pay much attention to the kids, only having them come over for meals.

Jiang Luo stopped living at the dormitory after that. During the years Jiang Chen transitioned from elementary to middle school, Jiang Luo was essentially raising him. Jiang Luo was still a kid himself, yet he was already playing the role of a parent.

“Let’s go, let’s go eat barbecue,” Jiang Luo patted the back of Jiang Chen’s head.

“Don’t want to eat out,” Jiang Chen said. “I want to eat at home.”

Jiang Luo laughed: “Eat what at home? Eat my cooking?”

Jiang Luo wasn’t a good cook. He had been cooking for Jiang Chen since high school, but after all these years, he hadn’t improved; it was still terrible. He always felt that cooking required talent, and he certainly didn’t have it.

Jiang Chen nodded: “Mm.”

“Fine, let’s go to the supermarket and buy groceries. I’ll call a Didi.”

Jiang Chen knew that if it were just Jiang Luo, he definitely wouldn’t have called a car.

Their mother had left them some savings, but because of living expenses, most of it had been used up over the past few years. While the brothers weren’t poor enough to struggle for survival, the family lacked a stable source of income, so they lived quite frugally.

After Jiang Luo started university, he worked several jobs and would transfer whatever money he had to Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen knew how hard his brother had worked these past few years.

“It’ll be really congested at this hour. Let’s take the subway,” Jiang Chen said.

“True,” Jiang Luo nodded. “Let’s go.”

The brothers took the subway to a supermarket near their home and bought the vegetables Jiang Chen loved. No matter how good the raw ingredients were, it was a waste if Jiang Luo was the one cooking. Jiang Luo took the lead in the kitchen, and Jiang Chen helped him out, though Jiang Chen had also wanted to cook a meal for his brother—it was just a pity that his cooking was even worse than his brother’s.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, Jiang Chen asked his brother: “Brother, why don’t I do it?”

Jiang Luo was afraid of his brother having a “flash of inspiration” regarding cooking, and flatly refused: “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

Jiang Chen pursed his lips.

“My cooking is at least swallowable, and I won’t blow up the kitchen. If you do it… the risk is too high.”

Jiang Luo’s dishes looked decent, but the taste was a mystery. He felt quite confident today: “Try it.”

“Mm.” Jiang Chen picked up a chopstick full of shredded potatoes with vinegar.

Jiang Luo watched him expectantly: “How is the taste?”

“Good,” Jiang Chen said while chewing.

“Really?” Jiang Luo felt he was on a roll again. He immediately shoved a mouthful of potatoes into his mouth, but after chewing twice, his teeth stopped moving.

Jiang Chen picked up another bite of potatoes, chewing happily, looking at him with clear eyes.

Jiang Luo chewed a couple of times, trying to swallow it, only to find he couldn’t. It was both incredibly sour and incredibly salty; he felt like the clump of potatoes was beating up his mouth.

Jiang Luo turned his head and spat the potatoes into the trash can next to him.

Jiang Chen scolded him: “Don’t waste food.”

“I knew I couldn’t trust your nonsense,” Jiang Luo laughed and took a drink of water. “And to think I had just ignited the hope of becoming a chef.”

“If you work at it, you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t say that; I might take you seriously.”

Jiang Chen had been like this since he was little—no matter what Jiang Luo cooked for him, he’d say it was good. It wasn’t just to be polite; he genuinely liked Jiang Luo’s cooking. Perhaps this was the indulgence of a younger brother. Jiang Luo sometimes wondered if his cooking was so bad it had made Jiang Chen’s sense of taste go numb.

After dinner, Jiang Chen took the initiative to do the dishes. He was currently going through a growth spurt, and he had eaten most of the food Jiang Luo cooked, having a surprising appetite. Jiang Luo thought it tasted awful and hadn’t eaten much, and since he’d bought snacks at the supermarket, he curled up on the sofa to eat them while Jiang Chen did the dishes.

Jiang Chen finished the dishes and walked out of the kitchen, shaking his two wet hands. Jiang Luo called out lazily: “Jiang Xiaochen.”

“What?” Jiang Chen wiped his hands with a tissue, his gaze shifting toward him.

“Come play,” Jiang Luo turned on the TV.

“I’m not playing, I have homework to do,” Jiang Chen said, walking toward the study.

Jiang Luo sat up from the sofa: “It’s only Friday, kid.”

“If I finish today, I can play tomorrow and the day after,” Jiang Chen said as he opened the door and entered the room. Turning his head back, he said, “You play by yourself; don’t bother me.”

This kid had been like this since childhood—terrifyingly self-disciplined.

Jiang Luo nodded: “Copy that, copy that.”

Jiang Luo munched on potato chips, “crunch, crunch,” when his phone buzzed twice. It was Cheng Jiashu. Since his brother wouldn’t play with him, someone else would. Cheng Jiashu called him to play games. He had originally wanted to start a five-player team, but they were one person short.

“Who’s going to pull in another person?” Cheng Jiashu asked over the team voice chat.

Jiang Luo scanned his list and found a familiar avatar online: Xiang Qin, the senior he’d met on the subway that day. He had added him on WeChat, and Xiang Qin played this game too, so he was on Jiang Luo’s list.

Since they were short a person, Jiang Luo tried inviting him.

Three seconds later, there was one more person in the team.

“Huh?” Xiang Qin’s voice came over the speaker. “A five-player squad.”

“Hello, Senior.” Jiang Luo greeted him.

Gu Shiyue was sitting across from Xiang Qin. Hearing the familiar voice coming from the phone, he lifted his eyelids and glanced at him.

“Hello, Junior.” Xiang Qin smiled.

“We’re short a person for our squad, do you want to play?” Jiang Luo asked him.

“Sure, I’ve got nothing going on anyway.”

Gu Shiyue and Xiang Qin were out hiking with a group today—the same group from the previous hike. They had booked a farmhouse stay on the mountain, planning to spend the night there and watch the sunrise from the summit tomorrow morning.

At the moment, the group was eating barbecue in the outdoor courtyard. Xiang Qin had just drunk several cans of beer and needed to use the restroom after playing two rounds of games. The others were playing cards, leaving only Gu Shiyue free. He handed his phone to Gu Shiyue: “Take my place for a bit, I’m going to the restroom.”

Gu Shiyue didn’t take it. Xiang Qin said, “Tsk,” and added: “I really can’t hold it anymore, Boss.”

Gu Shiyue didn’t play games, and he didn’t even lift his eyelids: “I don’t know how.”

“Just play safely (don’t push); you don’t have to engage with anyone. I’ll be back in a second.”

Gu Shiyue took the phone and scanned the interface. Xiang Qin was playing the jungler role. Gu Shiyue stood in place and operated the skills a few times to get a feel for them.

“Just farm the jungle monsters.” It was Jiang Luo’s voice.

Jiang Luo had recognized Gu Shiyue’s voice the moment it came through the phone. Afraid he wouldn’t know what to do, he gave him a special reminder.

Gu Shiyue gave an “Mn” and used the skill keys to attack the jungle monsters. Jiang Luo was playing support. He had been supporting Cheng Jiashu, but after the jungler changed, he followed the jungler instead. He followed Gu Shiyue wherever he went, like a little tagalong.

After Gu Shiyue finished clearing a wave of jungle monsters, he asked casually: “Why are you following me?”

The clear, youthful voice came through the phone: “To protect you.”