Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The blue-black sky pressed down diagonally, with only occasional red beams piercing the dense clouds, gradually merging into the darkness as well.

The redwood tree facing the dining hall loomed like a giant, its top invisible at a glance. The needles were fine and delicate, wrapped around layers of cones, which were knocked against the floor-to-ceiling windows by the evening breeze, making faint, drowsy sounds.

After such a vibrant scene came the suffocating atmosphere inside the house.

Nan Liujing sat at the dining table, gripping the knife and fork with extreme tension. Before him lay a dish of "shrimp and crab soldiers" made from green shrimp and crabs.

No cooking skills needed, a foolproof recipe that anyone could handle—how did Shen Gali manage to make the shrimp fragmented and dismembered, and the crabs missing limbs?

Across from him, Shen Gali had already fallen asleep on the table.

He was too tired; the entire day had been nothing but trouble. His body was exhausted, his mind scattered, his muscles limp and weak, his bones aching.

Nan Liujing's thin lips pressed tightly together, forming a sharp line.

Perfect timing—he would settle the day's accounts with him.

Nan Liujing slapped the knife and fork onto the table with a clang. Across from him, Shen Gali's fingers twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

After waking, Shen Gali stared blankly for a long time at the marks the knife and fork had made on the tablecloth. He knew Nan Liujing was at maximum anger. A face already lacking in beauty, now further marred by fury—he dared not imagine what it looked like.

Don't look, don't look. There are already too many ugly things in this world.

"Three points." Nan Liujing's voice was extremely low, his eyes dark and gloomy.

"First, I deliberately chose the simplest recipe, but you couldn't even do the simplest thing?"

"This time, it's not just because I'm useless," Shen Gali finally retorted. "The green shrimp are useless too—they couldn't learn to empty their own guts. Otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up destroying their bodies just to remove the veins."

Nan Liujing's fingertips trembled.

What a unique line of reasoning—illogical on the surface, yet it somehow made sense, leaving no room for rebuttal.

"Second point." Nan Liujing raised an eyebrow contemptuously. "Li Shu should have conveyed my words: within my line of sight, you must wear the Lolita dress. Why didn't you?"

Shen Gali had an explanation ready: "Because today is Sunday."

"So?"

"On Sundays, black and white are unlucky colors for Aquarius."

Nan Liujing frowned. "You're an Aquarius?"

Shen Gali: "No."

"Then why bring up zodiac signs?"

Shen Gali: "To find an excuse."

Nan Liujing: ...

Li Shu, listening from the side, really wanted to advise the young master to give up. In a bo3 format, their young master had already been 2-0'd; he should save himself some dignity.

"Third point." As he said this, Nan Liujing clenched his fists.

"Let's talk about the gift you swapped."

Shen Gali hummed twice, indicating he was all ears.

About time they got to the main point. Why drag it out so long? Come on, torment me until I kick the bucket.

"The Shelby Tuatara you swapped—market price forty million. That forty million is not joint marital property; it's my personal property notarized before marriage. Do you know how long your sentence will be?"

Nan Liujing's voice carried a chill, and even Li Shu, standing nearby, couldn't help but shiver.

Shen Gali calculated. Prison wouldn't do—he'd have to get up early every day to work on a sewing machine, make paradise umbrellas, attend political education—for him, that was more painful than physical torture.

"Considering our marital bond, I'll give you two options. One: go upstairs now, change into the dress obediently. Two: wait for the court's indictment."

Shen Gali: "I choose three."

Three? Where did three come from?

Nan Liujing frowned, holding back his words, waiting to see what trick Shen Gali had up his sleeve.

Shen Gali got up and went upstairs. After a long while, he came down with three items:

A sharp knife, a hot water kettle, and the swapped Shelby car key.

Li Shu & Nan Liujing: ?

Shen Gali placed the three items on the dining table and introduced them one by one:

"One: Use this knife to cut along my spine, split the skin on my back in half, slowly separate the skin from the muscle, peel it off like bat wings unfurling. I'd be dead within a day at most."

Li Shu was instantly horrified, unable to help drawing in a sharp breath.

Nan Liujing's Adam's apple bobbed, his gaze suddenly turning heavy.

Did he know what he was saying?

Pointing at the hot water kettle, Shen Gali continued: "Two: Strip me naked, put me in a bathtub, continuously pour in boiling water and hot oil, then light firewood and cook me over high heat until my flesh separates from bone. This method wouldn't last me half a day."

Li Shu inexplicably felt the pain of being burned alive and rubbed his arms.

Finally, Shen Gali pointed to the car key: "Tie my head and limbs to five separate cars, floor the accelerator, and drive at maximum speed in five different directions, tearing me into five pieces. That would send me off instantly."

Shen Gali looked up lazily. "Choose."

Li Shu swallowed his saliva. He'd really studied the ten tortures thoroughly; just hearing about them made one's hair stand on end.

Nan Liujing's eyes were as calm as an ancient well. Unlike Li Shu, who had a strong emotional reaction, he stared at Shen Gali expressionlessly, his fingers lightly stroking the knife handle on the table.

This man was no simpleton.

"So you want the police to come looking for me, is that it?"

Shen Gali shook his head and said softly, "No. Even if I disappear, no one would care."

The only person who cared about him was already gone. No matter how horribly he vanished from this world, no one would know.

Hearing this, Nan Liujing felt the temperature in his fingers drop little by little.

A brief, imperceptible flicker of gloom passed through his eyes.

Shen Gali replacing Shen Lanqing in marrying him, the cripple, only proved the truth of those words: "Even if vanished, no one cares."

Nan Liujing slowly moved his hand, gripping the push rim of the wheelchair, and turned it.

Upon seeing this, Uncle Li quickly came over to help.

Shen Gali lowered his head and waited for a long time, but didn't get an answer from Nan Liujing. He asked, "Still haven't decided which one to pick?"

Nan Liujing let out a cold snort. His narrow, deep eyes were icy and sharp: "You'd better live well, so I can torture you slowly."

With that, Uncle Li pushed him upstairs.

Shen Gali looked at the three items on the table, shrugged, and also went upstairs to lie down.

Inside Nan Liujing's room.

In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, one could see a full view of the night view of Jinhai City in the distance. The lights sparkled and connected into a sea, all telling of the new era's pride.

The cigarette held between his slender fingers was just a small orange dot in the dark room, flickering on and off, the smoke curling and lingering.

Uncle Li stood respectfully to the side, wanting to speak but hesitating.

It had been a long time since the young master had touched a cigarette. The last time seemed to be on his mother's death anniversary, staring at that ugly but cute doll in the storage room, burning through an entire pack in one night.

He wasn't qualified to attend his mother's memorial service, because the outside world said that his mother was killed by his own hands.

Uncle Li sighed, about to remind Nan Liujing that smoking was unhealthy, when he heard Nan Liujing quietly ask, "Uncle Li, what are some interesting things in the world?"

Uncle Li bent down and counted them one by one: "Horseback riding, golf, art, and so on—they can all bring joy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Li quickly glanced at Nan Liujing's legs resting on the wheelchair and wanted to slap himself.

He thought Nan Liujing would definitely give him a cutting glare, but unexpectedly, Nan Liujing didn't seem to care and instead asked, "Do you think Shen Gali would find these things interesting?"

Uncle Li said "Ah," and joy swelled in his heart.

Asking this way meant that the young master really cared about Shen Gali. Even though Shen Gali had a bad reputation, as long as he could live a stable life with the young master, all that messy stuff didn't matter!

"Young master, according to Mr. Shen's physical examination report, the dopamine in his brain is quite low, which can indeed affect his mood, making him feel down or depressed. Besides medication, you could also try to find things that interest him."

Nan Liujing finally gave Uncle Li a cutting glance: "Who told you I'm trying to make him happy?"

Uncle Li: ?

Wasn't it?

"It's just to ensure he lives a bit longer, so I can torment him longer." When Nan Liujing said this, there was a hint of a smile in his tone.

Uncle Li: Yeah, right.

"Go arrange it." Nan Liujing turned his wheelchair. "I'm going to sleep."

Night fell.

Shen Gali lay on his soft, comfortable little bed, eyes closed, trying to fall asleep.

*

He felt like he had forgotten something very important, but after thinking it over, he couldn't figure out what.

Don't torment yourself. Sleep.

Until a roar pierced the silent night sky, fierce and sudden.

"Shen Gali—! Look what you've done!"

Shen Gali heard it and wanted to pretend he didn't, but Uncle Li rushed past his room and yanked him out of bed.

They arrived at Nan Liujing's bedroom.

Uncle Li quickly turned on the bedside lamp. The orange light was dim, only revealing Nan Liujing's tall figure propped up on the bed, sitting against the headboard and rubbing his temples.

But the crab hanging on the front of his pajamas was far too conspicuous...

Shen Gali finally remembered the important thing he had forgotten.

It was the crab.

Nan Liujing waved his hand at him impatiently: "Get it off quickly."

The crab, thinking it had defied fate, had sneaked through the kitchen, then used the wheelchair ramp up the stairs to the third-floor bedroom, where it found the sleeping Nan Liujing. It urgently needed a warm place to soothe its wounded heart.

Its two pincers tightly clamped onto Nan Liujing's pajama front, hanging from his chest.

Shen Gali took off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, approached Nan Liujing, and reached out to grab the crab.

Since the crab had made it to the third floor, it proved it wasn't an ordinary crab—it was a future warrior crab. So it made a nimble dodge, evading Shen Gali's hand, and started a mountain-climbing journey along the muscular contours of Nan Liujing's pectoral muscles.

Thus, Shen Gali's hand pressed directly onto Nan Liujing's chest.

It was a firmness completely unlike his own.

"What are you doing?" Nan Liujing slapped his hand away.

The crab had already taken the opportunity to climb from the two great mountains on his chest down to the ridged abdomen, crossing peaks and valleys until it reached between his legs. Finally tired, it perched on a black reef, leaning against a lighthouse to take in the view.

Shen Gali could clearly feel Nan Liujing's breath caught.

"Don't worry, it's just leaning on the lighthouse," Shen Gali said slowly, leaning over, his face gradually getting closer to the crab, his hands raised and ready at any moment.

Hearing this, in the dimness, a faint blush rose to Nan Liujing's cheeks.

Lighthouse... From now on, every lighthouse in the world needs a new name.

He turned away, annoyed: "Hurry up."

Shen Gali nodded, his hands slowly approaching, and then he pounced—

He tightly grabbed something that felt like a crab and said to Uncle Li, "Got it! Uncle Li, hurry up and get a bowl."

The moment he said that, the crab, with its two large pincers raised, strolled past his thigh.

Shen Gali: ...

Nan Liujing: ...

Uncle Li: Hey!

Uncle Li lunged over like lightning and caught the crab off guard. His old face reddened, and he cleared his throat: "I'll go take care of the crab now. You two get some rest early."

With that, he backed out of the room smirking like Tom from Tom and Jerry, even thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

It was a long time before Shen Gali moved his hands away, kneeling beside Nan Liujing with his head lowered: "The lighthouse is at battle-damage level... It's fine, it's not like you'll be using it anyway."

It's. Not. Like. You'll. Be. Using. It. Anyway.

Nan Liujing turned his head to look out the window, his Adam's apple sliding, only showing half his profile: "Get out."

Without another word, Shen Gali stood up and left.

Once outside the door, he slowly extended his hand, recalling the extent to which his fingers had spread when he had grasped the lighthouse just now.

After some gesturing, looking at his wide-spread fingers, his face drooped.

He hated this world. Why, as fellow men, did they have to be graded and ranked in this regard?

Inside the room, Nan Liujing remained in his previous posture. After a long while, his fingers suddenly clenched, and a clear pallor appeared on his knuckles.

"Shen Gali, do you really think this matter will be dropped so easily?"