Chapter 5: An Unexpected Encounter with a Handsome Kid

For a moment, he did not even understand where this fear came from. He could only feel that his heartbeat was abnormally fast right now, his hands and feet were numb, and even his breathing was not smooth.

So dark. Too dark.

No, he hated this kind of environment so much. He could not stand it. He really could not stand it…

Gu Jingyi subconsciously bit his tongue. When his mind finally regained a sliver of clarity, he used all his strength and, with weak, unsteady steps, desperately ran toward the right cabinet door.

Bang—

The cabinet door was knocked open and bounced against the wall, producing a huge noise.

When the dim light in the room fell into his eyes, Gu Jingyi finally let out a breath of relief. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

Still shaken, he shouted without thinking, his voice carrying the sound of tears.

“Ge!!!”

“Hey!!!”

Before the person could be seen, the voice arrived first.

Shen Zechuan was still in the toilet, yet it did not delay his response to Gu Jingyi in the slightest.

The next second, the toilet door was violently kicked open from inside. The door, already on the verge of collapsing, took such a heavy blow for no reason that it almost died on the spot.

Immediately after, Gu Jingyi watched with his own eyes as Shen Zechuan, both hands holding up his waistband, strode over with a swagger that acknowledged no one, rushing toward him in a panic.

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong? Weren’t you tidying the cabinet? How did you end up on the floor?”

“Could there be some unidentified creature in the cabinet that kicked you? It’s fine, it’s fine, ge will help you beat it up in a bit!”

Gu Jingyi pursed his lips and let him, while chattering on, gently help him up.

This new big brother was good in every way, except his mouth was a bit chatterboxy. Every now and then he would spit out a few baffling words.

Seeing that Shen Zechuan was about to turn around and go beat up the cabinet, Gu Jingyi hurriedly reached out to stop him. “There’s no unidentified creature, and I wasn’t kicked down either.”

“Then what happened?” Shen Zechuan stared straight at him, his expression serious.

If Gu Jingyi had simply fallen, he would not have been this nervous.

But he had clearly heard that pitiful, helpless “ge” just now, so he always felt this matter could not be so simple.

“I…”

Gu Jingyi opened his mouth, but for a moment did not know how to explain.

He was not stupid to begin with. After calming down, he roughly understood what had caused those bodily reactions in the darkness, but he could not say it.

At least right now, he could not tell Shen Zechuan.

Under Shen Zechuan’s worried gaze, Gu Jingyi was silent for a moment, then cleared his throat and said with an innocent look, “It’s nothing. I was just in a hurry to get out of the cabinet earlier, didn’t watch my feet, and accidentally tripped.”

“Really?” Shen Zechuan said, half-believing and half-doubting. “Just that simple?”

Gu Jingyi nodded very seriously.

Shen Zechuan stared at him for a while longer. Only when Gu Jingyi was almost breaking out in cold sweat did he relax his expression and click his tongue softly.

“Then why did you scream so miserably just now? I thought something had happened.”

“Uh…” Gu Jingyi choked for a moment. “That was because… it hurt from the fall.”

The excuse he found was like a little kid acting spoiled.

After saying it, even he himself felt a little embarrassed.

Yet Shen Zechuan actually found it quite interesting. The corners of his mouth immediately lifted, and he raised a hand to pinch his cheek.

“Not bad, not bad. When you’re in pain, you still know to look for ge. Ge is very comforted.”

Gu Jingyi lowered his head slightly. Because the two of them were standing face to face at this moment, he saw Shen Zechuan’s pants at a glance.

So he forcefully held back his laughter and said softly, “Ge, your pants zipper isn’t pulled up. Your bird is about to escape.”

Shen Zechuan: “…………”

Watching his frantic movements to pull up his pants zipper, Gu Jingyi immediately could not hold it in anymore and laughed out loud.

“What are you laughing at, fart!” Shen Zechuan slapped him in embarrassment and anger. “Who do you think I forgot to zip up because of? Besides, I’m wearing underwear. The bird can’t escape!”

If he had not said that, it would have been fine, but once he did, Gu Jingyi wanted to laugh even more and simply could not stop.

“…I really give up.” Shen Zechuan also laughed along with him. “Little ingrate.”

After this little episode, the relationship between the two became a bit closer.

Gu Jingyi had wanted to continue tidying the cabinet, but Shen Zechuan forcibly pressed him onto the wooden board bed, using the excuse that it was too late and they still had to go out to collect scraps tomorrow, and told him to prepare for sleep.

He had originally thought he would most likely have insomnia. To keep Shen Zechuan from worrying, he even deliberately closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, but in the end he really did fall asleep.

“This kid, falls asleep so fast.”

Shen Zechuan smiled, and casually tucked in the blanket for him. “Good night. I hope you have a good dream tonight.”

Early the next morning, as soon as Gu Jingyi opened his eyes, he saw Shen Zechuan gnawing on a steamed bun, eating incredibly fast.

“Awake?” Shen Zechuan looked at him. “Get up, wash your face and brush your teeth, eat a steamed bun. We need to hurry out and get to work.”

“Those scavengers are already starting to fight over things now. We have to work hard too. We can’t be outdone by them, or we won’t even be able to eat steamed buns.”

The anxiety in his tone did not seem fake at all. Gu Jingyi scrambled to his feet, came to the yard, and simply washed his face with cold water. When he looked up, he saw the towel, tooth mug, and toothbrush placed beside him.

They looked a little old, but very clean. The towel even still carried a faint scent of soap.

Shen Zechuan had probably prepared them for him in advance.

Gu Jingyi smiled faintly, then quickened his movements.

He was not someone who ate without working, and he definitely could not hold them back. Even if it was collecting scraps, he would work hard.

Before this, Gu Jingyi had never imagined that the first job of his life would actually be collecting discarded items, and several times he almost could not keep up with Shen Zechuan’s pace.

“Ge!” he finally could not help shouting. “Do you still want a younger brother or not?”

“Yes, yes, yes, of course I do!”

Shen Zechuan quickly walked back, his face full of guilt. “Sorry, Xiao Yi. Before, I was used to running around alone. I didn’t control my speed well all of a sudden. You’re exhausted, right? Let’s find a place to rest for a while.”

Gu Jingyi took a deep breath, calmed himself, and shook his head. “It’s fine. I still have strength. Let’s keep going.”

“No, let’s leave it here for today.” Shen Zechuan said, “The sun is almost setting. Let’s rest for a bit, then sell these things, and then go buy steamed buns to eat.”

Gu Jingyi silently opened the sack in his hand and took a look. He frowned slightly. “But we don’t seem to have picked up anything valuable today. It’s all bottles and cardboard.”

“Mm, it’s fine.” Shen Zechuan comforted him. “It’s normal for good things to be rare. As long as we can sell a little for money every day, that’s enough.”

With that, he combined their two sacks, roughly calculated how much they could sell for, and finally let out a barely audible sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Jingyi quickly asked.

Shen Zechuan said lightly, “Today I also gained a house.”

“Hm?” Gu Jingyi did not understand. “What house? Where did the house come from?”

Shen Zechuan sighed. “My broken defenses.”

Gu Jingyi: “…………”

“Ge, it’s fine. Look at it from another angle. Collecting scraps is a lot like doing business. There are times when you make money and times when you lose money. Today’s earnings are low, so tomorrow we’ll just work harder.”

Shen Zechuan naturally understood this reasoning, but after hearing it he still raised an eyebrow, somewhat intrigued, and asked, “Xiao Yi, you even understand business matters?”

Gu Jingyi paused, then gave an “mm.” “I heard my parents talk about it before, so I know a little.”

Shen Zechuan nodded, then patted his shoulder. “Let’s go. We’ll go sell these scraps.”

They walked shoulder to shoulder toward the scrap station. When they passed a small park, a stick suddenly flew straight toward Gu Jingyi.

Shen Zechuan yanked him back quick as lightning, and Gu Jingyi barely dodged it.

If Shen Zechuan had been even one second slower, today his head would have gained at least a big bump.

“Tsk tsk tsk, it actually didn’t hit. What a miss.”

Hearing this, Shen Zechuan’s face immediately darkened. He bent down, picked up the wooden stick, and walked toward the park.

“Ge! Don’t fight…”

Gu Jingyi hurriedly followed, but still could not stop him.

The owner of that stick was blocking the entrance of the small park. From the look of it, these five people were probably a group.

In addition, Gu Jingyi also noticed that a very handsome boy was standing in the corner, looking at him with eyes full of vigilance.