A Certain Someone ( The On1y One ) Chapter 106 – Branches

I’m Gonna Starve to Death Soon, Dr. Jiang. Won’t You Spare Me Some Food?

Zhang Chao arrived at work on the normal dot, and saw that that a certain workaholic seriously wasn’t there. More asking led to the discovery that he had taken leave, and so he was instantly a little worried. He hurriedly sent a message on WeChat to check up on him. However, he waited for nearly an hour before he got a single sentence in reply.

I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: accidentally fell asleep again just now, just saw this

Zhang Chao was a little confused. Not only did the workaholic rarely request leave from work, the frequency of him sleeping through this time was miniscule too. That particular word “again” stood out, causing him to worry more.

Zhang Chao: Are you alright?
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: I’m fine, just a little unwell
Zhang Chao: Oh, I saw that your particular leave is for personal matters. Why didn’t you ask for sick leave if you’re unwell?
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: too lazy to go to the hospital

Zhang Chao: Are you kidding me? Why aren’t you going there?
Zhang Chao: Don’t you dare treat this lightly
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: ?

Actually, Zhang Chao did have his reasons for asking this. After all, Sheng Wang used to not take sick leave even though he was running a high fever — he did eat his medicine with much self awareness though, and even put up a whole act of being picky with the components of the medicine and its side effects. Zhang Chao would be filled with annoyance every time he saw that, and would attempt to persuade earnestly “going back for a nap and skipping out a couple of those bottled ice water and that would be better than any medicine”. Sadly, the other person would not listen.
In lieu of all that, he had obediently asked for leave without him nagging away at all — how sick must he be?

Zhang Chao made up all sorts of scenarios in his head, and got increasingly worried — until the other person took a picture of the thermometer.
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: see this yet? Perfectly normal temperature, I’m really okay
Zhang Chao: Then which part of you is unwell?
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: …….
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: I sprained my ankle

Zhang Chao was about to send something else when the other person flung over three memes of bowing in a row, and then asking him: aren’t you busy today?
He wanted to say “Funnily I really am not that busy”, but the moment he said that, karma instantly came for him. He was summoned away by two emails and a phone call, and no longer had the energy for gossiping.

Sheng Wang stared at the screen for a while, made sure that there was nothing else from Zhang Chao’s end, then tossed the phone aside, getting up. He went to take the third shower he would be taking counting from yesterday night to today.
He wore loose black jogging pants, and just as he went to look for a clean T-shirt in the closet while drying his hair, he heard the door to the house open. Jiang Tian was already back.

Sheng Wang shot a glance outside of the room, and set the towel at the side as he passed by, picking a grey T-shirt. After he got the sleeves on and was now tugging the shirt down through his head, Jiang Tian had already walked in, and rested a hand on his waist.

Sheng Wang only got half the shirt on, and the muscles of his waist, exposed to thin air, tightened up subconsciously under his touch. He hurriedly pulled the shirt down, and grasped Jiang Tian’s fingers, saying, “No more no more, I don’t want to ask for leave two days in a row.”
Jiang Tian: “……I only wanted to ask if you’re feeling unwell.”
Sheng Wang silently turned back to look at him. “It wouldn’t be this spot that is unwell.”
Jiang Tian’s gaze darted down. Just as he was about to switch to a different place, Sheng Wang immediately held him down, “Fine, it’s alright, I don’t feel unwell at all. Stop moving already.”
Just as Jiang Tian was about to open his mouth again, Sheng Wang continued, “Ge.”

The moment a certain someone called out to him like that, Jiang Tian was already defeated. He really didn’t intend to do anything at all, and was so wronged that his face was entirely wooden. Yet, Sheng Wang continued line after line, not giving him any chance to speak at all; it might even be intentional, even. In the end, he could only end this with sealing up his lips.

As Sheng Wang kissed, he could feel the resentment, and melted into laughter.
Jiang Tian backed away a little, and asked, “You really feel unwell?”

Actually, it wasn’t so bad to the point of unwell — he’s just a little embarrassed. Last night, when Sheng Wang was covered in sweat, the corners of his eyes were red, the sounds that came out of him were all muffled into the pillow, he then realised: his Ge was truly someone who had taken specialised classes in clinical studies of the human body……
Despite the slight discomfort at the start, said feeling was replaced by those emotional and biological reactions later on. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have weakened at the touch in the shower afterwards and ended up going yet another round.

“I’m alright,” the young master forcibly clung onto his pride, “It’s mostly because of my weak resolve that I asked you to stop moving about randomly.”
“What do you mean?” Jiang Tian raised an eyebrow, and lowered his head, asking, “Explain a bit, I didn’t get it.”
Sheng Wang said internally, I would be buying into your bullshit if I repeat myself.

He turned Jiang Tian around, hooked an arm around his shoulders and nudged him into the kitchen, saying, “I’m gonna starve to death soon, Dr. Jiang. Won’t you spare me some food? I’ll help you.”
Dr. Jiang — who was not well-versed in the culinary arts actually — had forgotten his own cooking level with the arm hooked around his neck, and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
“I even get to order?” Sheng Wang thought, and said, “Then I wanna eat sweet and sour ribs, stone pot frog, black pepper beef slices, fish head with chopped chili, and braised tofu with crab meat.”
Jiang Tian: “…….”

Sheng Wang stood with a sloppy posture, a hand stuck inside the pocket of his long pants, the other hand hooked onto him. He shook him as he said, “Wake up, I’m done ordering.”
Jiang Tian’s expression was indescribable. “I’m awake.”
“Then why are you so silent?” Sheng Wang suppressed his laughter.
Jiang Tian side-eyed him, saying, “Will you dare to eat it if I dare to cook it?”
Sheng Wang asked, “Does it cover sending me to the hospital?”
Jiang Tian: “I can roughly pass for having studied medicine.”
Sheng Wang: “Goodbye.”

Jiang Tian only needed to head to the laboratory in the afternoon. He took a look at the time, asking Sheng Wang, “You really want to eat those? How about we go out and eat?”
The young master’s face was completely wooden. “If you can find a restaurant where I can eat standing up, I’ll go out with you.”
“……”

Dr. Jiang silently reflected for a few seconds. Sheng Wang had already walked to the side, and dug through the fridge.
“I was just saying, that’s all. There would be something wrong if I don’t get too heaty if I seriously eat those foods.” Sheng Wang did not want to ask for consecutive leaves. He picked here and there while holding the fridge door, and then grabbed a packet. “I want to eat pasta, is this cooked here?”

Jiang Tian actually did know how to cook this.
Not only did he know how to, he even made it better than ordinary restaurants — he knew which ingredients Sheng Wang liked and disliked. The final product he adjusted it into was entirely catered to Sheng Wang.

In order to take care of the young master’s “I Am Unwell”, Jiang Tian did not bother with plating the food. The two stood by the pot with a fork each in their hands and shared the food, chatting as they ate.
However, just as they only took a couple of bites, the cat son had trotted over with its nose wrinkling. It had found a corner to tuck itself away early in the morning, and Sheng Wang had wanted to grab the cat out for some fun while he was bored waiting for the food. He somehow did not manage to find it, and now it ended up coming uninvited.

Just as Sheng Wang called out “son”, the son had reached its claws out, hugging the leg of his pants. This pair of pants was loose, and he did not tighten up with the strings after he showered, and so the cat nearly tugged his pants down.
He hurriedly tugged it, and asked Jiang Tian, “Why is it pulling at my pants?”
“It wants to eat pasta,” Jiang Tian said.
Question marks appeared all over Sheng Wang’s head. “Aren’t cats carnivores? Did it mutate under your care?”
Jiang Tian bent over, grabbing the back of the cat’s neck and setting it aside as he said, “It likes the smell of milk and cheese. Who knows where it learnt it from.”

As Sheng Wang watched him trick the cat son back to the living room, open up a can and then come back, he wanted to laugh for some reason. He then had a moment of gladness; he was glad that he didn’t pick another gift those years ago, that he found him such a cat.

Zhang Chao’s WeChat message popped up as Sheng Wang was halfway through the meal. He replied with a couple of lines involving work, and then took a picture of the spaghetti, sending it over while he’s at it. He knew the other person had in a fit of motivation found a private coach for him to work out. His meals consisted of the healthy diet the coach customised for him, the kind where he had to take pictures of and show the coach every day.

As expected, the other person replied with a long chain of censored words, saying that he had not eaten food with toppings for a long time, and got Sheng Wang to scram. So he did.

However, barely a few minutes passed before Zhang Chao asked humbly: Does it taste good?
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: it tastes delicious
Zhang Chao: You’re saying it’s delicious with that picky tongue of yours? Which restaurant is it?
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: my house
Zhang Chao: You can cook? Who are you trying to fool? There’s nothing but mineral water and the few tins of beer we brought back last time in the fridge, the hell kind of food you can cook.
I No Longer Want This Hand Of Mine: who told you that I’m the one who cooked it
Zhang Chao: ?
Zhang Chao: ……
Zhang Chao: To hell with you! I’m leaving, TTYL.

This person insisted on asking, and then got pissed off enough to leave after he asked. Sheng Wang let out a cold laugh.
“Who’re you laughing at?” Jiang Tian asked.
“Zhang Chao,” Sheng Wang said, “that colleague of mine.”

Speaking of which, he then recalled something, and pulled down the previous chat record, showing them to Jiang Tian. “This morning he kept asking me which part of me is unwell, and forced me to say that I sprained my ankle.”
After complaining, he turned off the screen on his phone and tossed it back inside his pants pocket. He twirled another forkful of pasta, and just as he delivered it into his mouth, he heard his Ge suddenly speak, “You can actually rest for a week if you sprained your ankles.”
Sheng Wang’s hand, which was holding the fork, stilled. He looked up at Jiang Tian.
He suspected that his Ge was being a pervert, but he had no proof.

The days of two people and a cat were too carefree, causing one to accidentally lose track of time. Jiang Tian only realised that it was near the end of the year when he dug out his phone one day and checked it after leaving the laboratory.

Chinese New Year this year was rather early — January 25th. Jiang Ou and Old Man Ding were supposed to return at that time initially, and make it just in time for the Spring Festival. Unexpectedly, an incident abruptly cut in, and disrupted the original plan.

On the 17th, Jiang Tian suddenly received a phone call. The person who spoke was female. The moment the other person spoke, she asked, “Are you Mr. Ji’s family member?”
He had honestly heard “Mr. Ji”, this particular form of address, so rarely to the point that he nearly didn’t react properly for a split second. The other person continued in the few seconds he paused, saying, “The current state of his health isn’t so good right now, and he can’t really walk or talk properly. So he got me to help him make this phone call.”

Jiang Tian frowned, and swallowed back down the “I don’t know him”.
Zhao Xi had informed him, as early as the start of last year, that something was wrong with Ji Huanyu’s body and that he was already hospitalised.

Back then, Du Cheng didn’t hold on with the brain cancer for too long, and his breathing stopped in a day in the winter break. Apparently, on the final day itself, the hospital had tried to persuade Ji Huanyu to bring him home; most patients want to return back to their roots when they are on the deathbed. However, Du Cheng’s old home had been long gone — he had lived in both Beijing and Shanghai for a while, and then stayed for many years overseas. He had travelled to many places, but not a single one was the one where he could lie down and leave. In the end, it was the hospital bed where he reached his final breath.

However, at that time, Jiang Tian’s and Sheng Wang’s side was already caught up in a mess. No matter if it’s Sheng Mingyang or Jiang Ou, nobody had the spare time to keep an ear out for Du Cheng. By the time they finally knew, the passage of time had altered everything.

There was no longer any movement on Ji Huanyu’s end after Du Cheng’s death. Reportedly, he had been extremely disheartened for a long period of time, nobody knew if it was because he had completely ruined the life of the ex-wife he had once liked, or if it was because his lover had passed. If it’s the former, he had always been selfish, and did not have the conscience to feel that. If it’s the latter, his heart was never that entirely into it.
Let alone other people, not even he himself knew clearly why.

In any case, in that period of time, he did all sorts of things, like a puddle of mud. The consequence was the bunch of diseases he contracted, and then he fainted one day. By the time he woke up, he could no longer walk. Neither could he speak all that clearly.

He wasn’t short of money at all, and could support long-term medical fees. There was even a nurse who would help him left and right. Yet, what he wanted most the entire life was his face; he couldn’t stand spending his days like this at all. So as other people were able to recover a little after going for physiotherapy and medical treatment, he was unable to at all. Vitality and energy was disappearing from his body at a rate visible to the naked eye — a mere year and a little more, he was already in a terrible state.

The nurse said, “He said he wanted to see you once again, he felt that he owes you quite a lot. He still has some properties and money, and there isn’t anyone else he could leave them to.”

It was snowing in Beijing again. Jiang Tian listened to these words as he stood downstairs, and was quiet for a while with furrowed brows. “I don’t need it, tell him to find someone else to give them to.”

Despite that being what he said, the Saturday three days later, he still made a trip to the hospital — he heard that Jiang Ou had returned in advance.

TO BE CONTINUED.