Don't be a Kept Man

Chapter 117: News

The cake was a bit overly sweet, which wasn't to Wen Chuo's taste. But perhaps it had been too long since he had been entrenched in the past and cannot leave, as this kind of sweetness made it so much more precious.

He turned his computer on to start editing a video, which was to teach about some mechanics in << Jue Jing >>'s beginner level. When he recorded this, he had fought in that level more than ten, fifteen times, which now allowed him to have a large selection pool to pick out the one that showed off the smoothest action.

He was very detailed, cutting and selecting each frame carefully. The clips picked had his  movements shown to be very clean, and with how rarely he got hit, most people would only see how simple it could look in the beginner level. The special effects after editing the gameplay were a bit tedious, but Wen Chuo had the rare kind of patience to pick and put each one in a perfectly curated spot.

When Bai Yang finished his meal, he went back to the restaurant to continue working. When he came back home at 9pm, Wen Chuo was still sitting in front of his computer, editing, with the lunch from this afternoon still left unfinished by his side.

Wen Chuo had been staring at the monitor, but when he heard the door open, he tilted his head over to look,

"You're back?"

Bai Yang gave a 'hmm' through the other side of the wall before going out in the hallway to pick up plastic bottles. He came back afterwards to grab the big plastic checkered bag sitting in the corner of the room that was packed full to the brim with the other plastic bottles he'd picked up to sell. In an instant, the apartment felt emptied.

The sky was glooming, and with the computer desk by the window, Wen Chuo suddenly felt a bit cold. He reached over to close the window when a sprinkle of water splashed onto his face. Reaching out with his hand, he only realized then that it was raining.

When Wen Chuo recalled that Bai Yang had already been gone for at least twenty minutes, it felt as if he was suddenly drenched in ice cold, freezing water. His heart immediately started to panic, and he stood up in a racket, preparing to head out to go find Bai Yang. But in the midst of putting on his shoes, the front door opened, and his eyes met up with Bai Yang's.

Wen Chuo held that awkward position of him putting on his shoes as he sighed in relief after seeing Bai Yang. He took off his shoes, scolding angrily,

"Can you tell me when you head out? What are you blindly running around in the night for? Are you happy if someone kidnaps you? Do you not know more than I do how many thugs are around here, in this tiny rundown town?"

Their relationship dynamic was always one strong and one weak. When Wen Chuo was angry, Bai Yang would not utter a peep. When Bai Yang was angry, Wen Chuo could only bow down his head.

The door closed, separating them from the rain that was slowly getting heavier. Little droplets of rain were still on Bai Yang's hair as he opened his hand, showing off a roll of scrunched up bills in his palm to Wen Chuo, and said only two words,

"Selling bottles."

Seeing that he hadn't run outside in fear like before, Wen Chuo's heart that had been racing finally calmed down. He pulled Bai Yang further in to the apartment as he wiped off the rain on Bai Yang's hair,

"Next time, sell them during the day. It's too dangerous at night. Alright, go shower. It's late."

The lightbulb in the living room was a bit old, and during days of rain and thunder, it would all too easily start flickering. Bai Yang had just entered the bathroom with a clean set of clothes when it suddenly dimmed outside. Following that, the faint yellow lightbulb buzzed a few times, just like the special effect in a horror film about ghosts.