Jiang Cheng lay on his bed alone at dawn. He snuggled his hands into his blanket, placing them stably between his chest and stomach.
Fatty still slept in the living room outside the bedroom. The key difference was Jiang Cheng didn’t close the bedroom door.
Fatty was really scared. He tossed and turned on the couch. In the end, he moved the couch to the bedroom door. That way, once he opened his eyes, he could see Jiang Cheng inside the room. However, this scared Jiang Cheng instead. Once he turned his head, he could see a giant head outside his bedroom door and, sometimes, a wide pair of eyes staring at him. Thankfully, Jiang Cheng didn’t pay Fatty much attention. His breathing evened out, and he fell asleep.
Seeing how soundly Jiang Cheng slept, Fatty felt safer. Or rather, he felt safer whenever he was around Jiang Cheng. Fatty’s eyelids started to droop, and his consciousness blurred.
In the morning, a strange sound woken up the sleeping Fatty. He turned around, and several seconds later, he opened his heavy lids. In his eyes, Jiang Cheng in the bedroom was gone. The sleepiness vanished. Fatty sat up instantly.
The sound came from downstairs.
Moments later, Fatty found Jiang Cheng downstairs. The latter was moving the cabinets that held the patient’s records. Fatty astutely went to help. “Doctor,” Fatty applied force, and he said, “You can leave jobs to me. You don’t need to do it yourself.”
After that, Fatty went to use the bathroom and then rushed into the kitchen to prepare Jiang Cheng’s breakfast. Fatty woke up late, so he only prepared two simple bowls of cereal and a glass of milk. Worried that he lacked nutrients, he boiled two eggs for Jiang Cheng. After Jiang Cheng ate everything, Fatty felt much better.
“Then, Doctor, you should rest.” Fatty carried the dishes to wash them in the kitchen. The first thing Fatty did when he came downstairs was to boil the water and pour the hot water into the pink Peppa the Pig thermos Jiang Cheng often used. Therefore, Jiang Cheng could brew himself a cup of coffee as he rested. He picked up the coffee cup and took a sip. He enjoyed the flavour of the cheap, readymade coffee exploding on his tongue.
“Fatty,” Jiang Cheng suddenly asked, “What day is it today?”
Fatty’s voice travelled through the sound of dishes and water. “Doctor, it’s Friday.”
“Is it the end of the month?”
“Doctor, you have such a good memory!”
This was what Jiang Cheng admired about Fatty the most. Even though he was cowardly, he was adaptable. As long as he didn’t die, he would wake up to be a brand-new Fatty.
Fatty shouted from the kitchen, “Doctor, do you want to have sweet and sour fish or fish stew for lunch? I’m going to start prepping now!”
Jiang Cheng took another sip of the coffee and answered, “Sweet and sour. Fish stew uses too many ingredients.”
Fatty took out the fish he had bought the day before from the fridge. Fatty prepared the fish and washed his hands until they didn’t smell of fish anymore before he left the kitchen and approached Jiang Cheng. He sat down on the couch opposite Jiang Cheng obediently. He didn’t say anything. He placed his hands on his knees and stared at Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng toyed with his phone and then put it down. Then, he closed his eyes as if to think.
Fatty licked his lips. The nervousness in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.
“I didn’t get the mission reward.” Jiang Cheng lifted his eyes and said, “Someone left the door before I did.”
Fatty blinked with incredulity.
“Also,” Jiang Cheng placed his hands behind his head. “I encountered a familiar face this time.”
Fatty blinked, “Was it that innocent girl, Chen Xiaomeng?”
This time, it was Jiang Cheng’s turn to frown. “How did you know that?” He thought about the theory of brain waves they shared yesterday. Could it be that the nightmare realm had sent brain waves to Fatty…
“Doctor, we’ve only experienced two missions.” Fatty knew Jiang Cheng had misunderstood him, so he said awkwardly, “Other than the two of us, the only survivor is Chen Xiaomeng.”
“Doctor, that is not important. Quick. Tell me more about the mission,” Fatty urged with curiosity. At the same time, he filled up Jiang Cheng’s cup.
Jiang Cheng didn’t disappoint and filled him in. It was to be said that Jiang Cheng was a talented storyteller. The already interesting story became an epic tale. Of course, he was the only main character. Plus, in his story, there were three women who fought for his attention. Fatty was a rapt audience.
When Jiang Cheng mentioned the part where he moved the mine that the villagers had set up for them, Fatty had to praise, “No wonder Doctor is an orphan. How could a normal person think of something like that?”
Jiang Cheng tutted and gave Fatty a side-eye.
Fatty instantly explained himself, “Doctor, I mean to say that you were very clever.” He had to coax Jiang Cheng for a long time before the story continued. Furthermore, Fatty promised that he’d add more dishes for lunch as an apology to Jiang Cheng.
When he heard Asumu’s story, Fatty was silent. His eyes even turned red. He had a lot of compliments for Asumu. When he heard that the ghost murdered Asumu, his pity for the female ghost dropped.
“Then again,” Fatty commented, “This woman called Lee Lu is very impressive. She managed to trick you and Chen Xiaomeng and set up so many things to kill you.”
Of course, Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng also fought among themselves. However, there were not many people who could pull one over them.
At this point, Fatty narrowed his eyes. He bounced over to Jiang Cheng and asked in a wicked smile, “Doctor, I have a question.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at him, signalling him to continue.
Fatty swallowed. His cheeks reddened from excitement, “When you spent the night alone with Chen Xiaomeng… did nothing happen?”