Chapter 10: Contacting Chen Jiadong

Chapter 10 Contacting Chen Jiadong

Shen Lanxue's ears burned, the flush spreading down to his neck, turning a deep red. He didn't answer, clenching his jaw as he finished lathering Lu Hechi with body wash.

"Rinse yourself off."

He blurted out those words, pulled open the bathroom door, and walked out.

With a clatter, the door slammed shut.

Shen Lanxue leaned his back against the door, trying to calm his racing heart.

"..."

Lu Hechi pushed his wet black hair back from his forehead, water streaming down his body, quickly rinsing off the suds.

He glanced down.

Then couldn't help but slap his face twice.

What the hell, he'd almost gotten hard.

Lu Hechi took his sweet time, staying in the bathroom for twenty minutes before opening the door.

Steam poured out.

Lu Hechi looked up, his eyes dark and intense, his gaze fixed on the man in a black silk robe lounging on the bed.

Shen Lanxue was leaning against the headboard, one long leg stretched out, the other bent, with a book resting on his thigh.

He was looking down, a sliver of neck exposed.

Lu Hechi immediately noticed the extra pillow on the bed.

"Finished showering?"

Hearing the movement, Shen Lanxue closed the book and looked over at him.

"Yeah."

Lu Hechi had towel-dried his hair; the ends were still damp, but it was mostly dry.

He pulled back the covers, sat down, and turned to ask, "You tired?"

Shen Lanxue shook his head. "Not really."

"Bro, before..." Lu Hechi opened his mouth, wanting to ask how they'd been intimate in the past.

But Shen Lanxue caught the word "before," his eyes narrowing as he looked over, looking a bit wary.

Lu Hechi had worked up the nerve to ask, but that one glance made him lose his nerve.

He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Never mind, it's nothing."

"Let's get some sleep."

Shen Lanxue paused, then suddenly said, "I got Chen Jiadong's phone number for you."

Lu Hechi hadn't expected it to be this quick, and the excitement in his eyes was unmistakable.

"I'll text it to you." Shen Lanxue asked, "Want me to set up a meeting with him?"

Lu Hechi shook his head, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Shen Lanxue's hand. "No, that's okay." He said seriously, "Thank you, brother."

He was truly grateful to the other man—grateful for staying with him at the hospital, for picking him up when he was discharged, for helping him get Chen Jiadong's number.

For someone who'd lost his memory, all of this felt like a godsend.

Shen Lanxue's hand was held in his grasp, his eyes crinkling in a smile. "No need to thank me. We're family."

Lu Hechi smiled too. "Yeah, we're family."

The next morning, Lu Hechi woke up to find Shen Lanxue still in his arms, fast asleep.

The room was dim, with just a faint sliver of light filtering in—enough to see Shen Lanxue's face.

Lu Hechi couldn't help holding his breath, his dark eyes fixed on him.

He traced from Shen Lanxue's forehead down to the bridge of his nose, then to his lips, and finally couldn't resist counting his thick lashes.

This was the first time Lu Hechi had woken up to find Shen Lanxue still there.

The light outside the window slowly grew brighter.

By the time the sun was up, Shen Lanxue's eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.

His hazy eyes met Lu Hechi's.

Shen Lanxue startled.

His heart lurched, and he jerked back.

Lu Hechi chuckled, reaching out to pinch Shen Lanxue's cheek. "Bro, why are you like a scared kitten?"

So cute. Ridiculously cute.

By now Shen Lanxue was fully awake, and remembering his earlier reaction, he felt embarrassed.

He turned his head away silently, not saying a word.

He picked up his phone and tapped the screen to check the time.

It was only 7:30 a.m.

Lu Hechi watched him get out of bed without a word, head into the bathroom, close the door, and start washing up.

But no matter how he looked at it, his movements seemed a little flustered.

Lu Hechi was afraid that if he laughed, Shen Lanxue would just hide in the bathroom and refuse to come out, so he held it in for a while.

Only after his emotions had settled did he get out of bed, slip on his slippers, and head to the bathroom too.

"..."

At 12 noon sharp, Lu Hechi sat cross-legged on the sofa in the big living room downstairs, staring at the phone number Shen Lanxue had sent him.

This was Chen Jiadong's number.

He didn't hesitate and dialed the number. The phone rang three times, then someone hung up.

Lu Hechi tapped the screen and called again. This time, it was picked up at the very last second before it would've gone to voicemail.

"Who is this?" The voice on the other end belonged to a young guy, and it was noisy in the background.

Lu Hechi remembered Chen Jiadong's voice—it was a crisp, clear, youthful sound. He furrowed his brow and asked, "Hello, I'm looking for Chen Jiadong. I'm his friend."

The other end went quiet for about four or five seconds. Lu Hechi could hear the guy whisper over the phone:

"Chen-ge, it's for you. He says he's your friend."

There was some rustling, and then someone else got on the line.

"Hello, which one of my friends is this?" Chen Jiadong's voice came through the receiver, with that familiar tone.

"Chen Jiadong!" Lu Hechi knew it was him right away. "I DM'd you on Douyin. Did you see it?"

There was a pause on the other end. "Who is this? A stalker fan?"

"Stalker fan? What the hell is that supposed to be?" Lu Hechi was taken aback. "You can't even recognize my voice?"

"Are you still my bro or what?!"

There was a sudden silence for a few seconds.

Chen Jiadong paused, sounding unsure. "Lu Hechi?"

Lu Hechi snorted. "Guess you passed the test."

It was loud on Chen Jiadong's end. He seemed to be walking while holding his phone, and after a bit, it got quieter.

"What do you need from me?" he asked calmly.

Lu Hechi said, "What's that supposed to mean? Can't I hit you up just because?"

Chen Jiadong let out a soft laugh, his tone a little sarcastic: "What did your folks say back then? You forgot already?"

Lu Hechi was confused. Their families lived near each other, and their parents got along well.

They were always over at each other's houses, crashing for meals or even spending the night.

Lu Hechi had no idea what he was talking about.

"...I—" His brain was like a tangled mess of yarn, tied in knots, and he just couldn't wrap his head around it. "What did my parents say?"

Lu Hechi explained, "I got hit by a car a few days ago, and now I've got amnesia. I can only remember stuff from before I turned 18."

"Can you tell me—did they chew you out or something? I'll head back to Qingcheng and apologize to Lu Yongjun and his wife for them."

Suddenly, there was no sound from Chen Jiadong's end.

"Dongzi, why'd you go quiet?" Lu Hechi asked, puzzled.

"Don't call me that." After saying this, he paused for another two seconds. "It wasn't Uncle Lu or Auntie Su who scolded me. Anyway, don't contact me again."

With that, he hung up.

Lu Hechi listened to the "beep, beep" tone coming from the phone, completely stunned.

He simply couldn't understand—Chen Jiadong first said his parents had scolded him, but then said they hadn't.

Wasn't that contradictory?

Did he have two sets of parents or something?

What a joke.