Chapter 36: Cat’s Cradle

The memory broke off there.

Meng Weiyu reached into the snack bag. His hand stirred around inside the bag, but he did not grab a single potato chip. Curious, he looked inside, then tilted the bag toward Shen Zhoudu to show him the empty interior.

Shen Zhoudu saw his movement from the corner of his eye.

“It’s gone. I’m hungry,” Meng Weiyu told him.

“Didn’t you eat breakfast?” Shen Zhoudu could not understand why he could still be hungry. If his mental age reached the growth period, would his body keep up too?

“I didn’t eat breakfast.” Meng Weiyu gloomily shook the empty bag.

Only then did Shen Zhoudu turn his head to look at him.

“I saw that you were sleeping so deeply while leaning against me. I was afraid of waking you up, so I kept waiting. Later, I was really too hungry, so I quietly left.” Meng Weiyu was depressed to death. “This bag of potato chips was even given to me by Grandma after she ate half of it.”

Fang Yingyao had said lunch was almost ready, and in order to prevent him from finding an excuse not to eat the proper meal, she gave him the half-eaten bag of chips in her hand.

“Really?” Shen Zhoudu lowered the hand supporting his head, his tone softening uncontrollably.

“Mm.” Meng Weiyu nodded aggrievedly. Did he have any need to lie?

Shen Zhoudu looked at the road conditions and said to Lin Xiao, “There’s no rush to go home. Get off the road first and find a restaurant.”

Meng Weiyu looked at him and handed over the empty bag.

Shen Zhoudu worked hard to maintain his cold expression. Then he took the bag, folded it neatly, and stuffed it into the storage pocket on the back of the seat.

Meng Weiyu originally wanted to find an opportunity to admit to Shen Zhoudu that he had already remembered his memories from when he was twenty. However, when he thought of what Shen Zhoudu had just said—that as long as his mental age was over eighteen, he would beat him—he rationally kept silent for the time being and did not mention the matter at all.

“Ah.” After gaining three more years of memories, Meng Weiyu became even more troubled and started struggling. His body slid down from the seat, both hands placed on his stomach, his eyes blank.

While Meng Weiyu was thinking hard, one hand reached over from the side and tucked the messy hair he had rubbed out of place behind his ear.

Meng Weiyu’s eyes shifted over.

Shen Zhoudu was staring at his face intently, gently tidying his hair with his hand.

Meng Weiyu looked at Shen Zhoudu’s face. Ever since last night, there had been a feeling of betrayal in his heart: I thought you were good to me because you wanted to be lifelong best friends with me, just like I did.

Thinking of this, Meng Weiyu became furious. He suddenly raised his head and pressed down Shen Zhoudu’s palm.

Shen Zhoudu froze.

If Meng Weiyu confessed the current situation, the first thing he wanted to do was point at Shen Zhoudu’s nose and scold him: You are too disloyal as a friend.

Shen Zhoudu was glared at by him. Thinking that Meng Weiyu had caused so many things yet still dared to throw a tantrum, he immediately used the thumb that had not been completely pinned down to pinch Meng Weiyu’s face hard.

“Wah!” Meng Weiyu bounced up in pain.

“We’re about to eat. Don’t throw a tantrum.” Shen Zhoudu folded his arms with a cold face, beginning to feel that this little brat could not be blindly spoiled.

“This isn’t allowed, that isn’t allowed.” Meng Weiyu touched his own face, completely puzzled. “You and I are fundamentally incompatible.”

If Meng Weiyu represented reckless freedom and doing whatever he wanted, then Shen Zhoudu represented the laws of self-restraint and propriety. It was already a miracle that they had become friends. Spending a lifetime together was simply torture.

The twenty-year-old Meng Weiyu still could not think of the reason why he would marry Shen Zhoudu.

“Let’s divorce, find people more suitable for ourselves, and then stay good friends. How about that?” Meng Weiyu suggested with a smile. He missed the time when the two of them simply joked around. He was unwilling to hurt Shen Zhoudu in the field of feelings, which he was not good at and where he did not know how to be a proper person.

Hearing this, Shen Zhoudu nodded.

“You agree?” Meng Weiyu was unclear about what he was thinking at that moment.

Was he relieved that Shen Zhoudu could still communicate properly?

Or should he follow the indignant cry filling his heart?

“Lin Xiao, no need to go to the restaurant. Go straight home. Starve this guy to death.” Shen Zhoudu was going to fix his personality right now.

“Who are you calling ‘this guy’? Why won’t you let me eat?” Meng Weiyu lunged at him.

The two of them fought fiercely in the back seat, leaving Lin Xiao alone watching the highway exit get closer and closer. He had no choice but to interrupt their flirting and ask, “Are we going to eat now, or are we going home?”

At the crucial moment, Meng Weiyu gained the upper hand. He pressed Shen Zhoudu down against the seat cushion, covered his mouth with one hand, preventing him from speaking, then clearly instructed Lin Xiao, “Go eat.”

Hearing the answer, Lin Xiao immediately drove off the highway.

Meng Weiyu sat on Shen Zhoudu’s waist, both hands firmly pressing down on his mouth. He watched as Shen Zhoudu struggled desperately. The upper half of his body was completely unable to move, and his long legs had no room to stretch out in the narrow space, so they could only kick uselessly.

Excited light appeared in Meng Weiyu’s eyes, lighting up his black pupils. His messy, fine hair fell downward along with his lowered head.

“Young Master, Mr. Shen.” After leaving the highway, Lin Xiao finally encountered a red light. He stepped on the brake and turned back to look at them awkwardly. “You can’t do this kind of thing on the road. If you’re in a hurry, I can find a hotel.”

“What would we go to a hotel for?” Meng Weiyu found it funny. “So I can whip him for a whole day until he’s in so much pain he begs me to sign the divorce agreement?”

“This…” Lin Xiao did not dare casually comment on the games between the two of them.

Meng Weiyu had originally been using his body weight and technique to suppress Shen Zhoudu, and he had long expected that sooner or later, he would be flipped over by Shen Zhoudu.

But unexpectedly, while he was chatting with Lin Xiao, Shen Zhoudu stopped resisting.

“Hm?” Meng Weiyu found it strange. He understood Shen Zhoudu too well. Compared with him, this person’s rebellious nature was only greater, not less. Shen Zhoudu was always arrogant, conceited, and loved to win. How could he suddenly become silent?

Meng Weiyu narrowed his eyes warily. His gaze moved away from Lin Xiao and turned to the person beneath him.

Shen Zhoudu’s glasses had slid down a little. His light brown hair was scattered over his face. Perhaps because Meng Weiyu had covered the lower half of his face with his hands for too long, causing him difficulty breathing, or perhaps because of some other reason.

An inexplicable flush appeared on his face. His face was turned to the side, wanting to avoid Meng Weiyu’s scrutiny, yet his eyes involuntarily turned upward.

Their eyes met.

“What are you doing…” Meng Weiyu was not frightened by him. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and, with considerable investigative spirit, lowered his head and leaned closer to look at him.

In just three years, the pure high school boy had completely learned bad things.

Shen Zhoudu pointed at the hand covering his mouth.

“Oh.” Meng Weiyu lowered his head. After ensuring that he had covered Shen Zhoudu’s mouth tightly, he lowered his head and kissed the back of his own hand.

Shen Zhoudu’s eyes widened. Then he completely revealed an expression of defeat.

“Hahaha.” Meng Weiyu lay on his chest and laughed wickedly.

Shen Zhoudu was clearly the one who had surrendered, yet he was unwilling to face that fact.

At the restaurant, he silently picked food for Meng Weiyu, handed him drinks, cut his steak, and did everything, but he refused to say a single word to Meng Weiyu.

“Hey.” Meng Weiyu found it funny.

Shen Zhoudu was cutting the steak forcefully.

“That’s why I suggested you go find a partner with a conscience.” Meng Weiyu was clearly thinking for his sake, and not just making this suggestion to get rid of him.

“I don’t like people with consciences.” Shen Zhoudu did not raise his head.

Meng Weiyu said, “Your insult is so dirty.”

The exhausting matter of meeting the family finally came to an end.

Not long after Meng Weiyu returned home, he received Ning Wu’s belated message of concern.

Meng Weiyu summarized the situation: The dining table was overturned, there was an argument, and Shen Zhoudu dragged me away without even eating.

Ning Wu: Wonderful. What a pity I couldn’t watch the situation unfold on-site this time.

Meng Weiyu: If you come over now, there’s still drama to watch.

Ning Wu: What?

Meng Weiyu: Shen Zhoudu dumped me and locked himself in his room to sulk.

Ning Wu: Looks like your grandmother and grandfather’s skills are still intact. They can even make Shen Zhoudu angry enough to shut himself in.

Meng Weiyu: No, because of me.

Ning Wu: …I’m very relieved that you can honestly admit it.

Meng Weiyu spread his hands. After returning home, he had wanted to coax Shen Zhoudu a little, but Shen Zhoudu said nothing and slammed the door into the room, refusing to communicate with him.

During university, the two of them had also argued. Shen Zhoudu hated directly clashing with Meng Weiyu, so whenever he and Meng Weiyu became unhappy with each other, he would immediately turn around and run away.

Sometimes Meng Weiyu knew that he had done something wrong and wanted to apologize properly, but Shen Zhoudu ran so fast that he was simply not someone a pampered young master like Meng Weiyu could catch up with.

After that, Shen Zhoudu would not reply to his messages. He would pretend that he had completely disappeared. Within five days, he would reappear before him as if nothing had happened, as though there had never been any awkwardness between them.

Meng Weiyu really wanted to tell him: Don’t handle conflicts like this.

Unfortunately, between the two of them, the person even worse at handling conflict was clearly Meng Weiyu.

The first time they argued, Meng Weiyu had already thought their relationship was over. Filled with grief and anger, he smashed everything on the table.

When Shen Zhoudu appeared in front of him again as if nothing had happened, he remembered that at the time, he had cried messily.

Meng Weiyu did not know how to handle broken interpersonal relationships. Shen Zhoudu liked to deceive himself to preserve the completeness of the relationship.

Early the next morning, it was a workday. When Meng Weiyu opened his eyes, he had already slept until noon.

“Meow-ow, meow-ow, meow-ow.” The willful little cat repeatedly scratched at the door, waking the person inside.

With messy hair, Meng Weiyu opened the door.

A little while later, wearing loose and comfortable clothes, he went downstairs while holding the little cat.

“Young Master.” Uncle Wang had long started preparing food.

“Uncle Wang.” Meng Weiyu picked up the sliced fruit on the table and casually stuffed it into his mouth. “Make something Shen Zhoudu likes for him tonight.”

Thinking carefully, Shen Zhoudu had not eaten properly these past few days.

“Young Master Shen asked me to pass along a message.” Uncle Wang knew very well that the two of them must have quarreled, so he spoke especially carefully. “He won’t eat at home tonight. You can eat by yourself when it’s time.”

Meng Weiyu’s movements paused.

At dinner that night, Uncle Wang teased the cat on the side, while Meng Weiyu sat alone. The table was filled with things he liked to eat.

Uncle Wang used the cat teaser wand to make Xueci run back and forth. The movement of his hand suddenly slowed slightly because he turned his head and secretly looked at Meng Weiyu.

Meng Weiyu was eating with a fierce expression.

“You’d better have the guts not to come back to sleep tonight!” His expression looked like he was about to go kill someone in the next second.

Uncle Wang smiled bitterly.

Meng Weiyu prepared to lie in wait for Shen Zhoudu that night. He played games on the living room sofa.

Time passed second by second. Meng Weiyu’s body had not recovered. He was already easily tired, and after playing games for most of the day, his eyes grew tired. His head nodded little by little, and in the end, he could not help lying down on the sofa to rest for a bit.

“Zzz.” Not long after lying down, Meng Weiyu fell asleep.

The sofa was spacious, but using it as a bed was still too forced. One of his hands hung down, while the other rested on his stomach. In his sleep, he habitually turned to the side.

Just as he was about to fall, a hand reached out and caught him.

Shen Zhoudu, who had just returned home and had not even had time to change his clothes, carried him back to his room.

The next day, because Meng Weiyu had gone to sleep early the night before, he actually woke up early in the morning.

He had always liked staying in bed, but this time, he glanced at the time shown on his phone and immediately sprang up. He hurried downstairs, preparing to intercept Shen Zhoudu.

He pushed open the guest room door, but it was empty. The person had long run away.

“Ah!” Meng Weiyu yelled angrily. Then he kicked off his shoes and directly lay down on Shen Zhoudu’s bed.

His eyes stared at the ceiling, completely lifeless.

“You clearly know I’m bored at home alone! And you still dare play disappearance!” Meng Weiyu rolled around on his bed. “I know I speak without thinking and said too much. At least give me a chance to apologize!”

Clearly, the two of them lived in the same house, yet Meng Weiyu did not see Shen Zhoudu for five days straight. If it were not for the fact that the clothes Uncle Wang hung out to dry every day included Shen Zhoudu’s clothes, Meng Weiyu would have thought he simply had not returned home at all.

How exactly did he do it?

On Friday night, the time happened to reach eight o’clock.

“Click.”

The person in the living room could clearly hear the sound of the door opening.

Shen Zhoudu came back from outside as if nothing had happened.

The moment he entered, he saw a familiar back sitting on the living room sofa. That person was moving around, seemingly doing something.

“Meow.” Xueci was drinking from the automatic water dispenser. When it saw Shen Zhoudu, it raised its head and called out, welcoming him back.

Although Meng Weiyu had not run into Shen Zhoudu for five days, this late-sleeping cat, on the other hand, had greeted Shen Zhoudu every day before going to sleep.

“Xueci,” Shen Zhoudu called it.

“Meow meow meow!” Xueci ran over.

Just as Meng Weiyu said, this cat was too much like a dog.

Holding Xueci, Shen Zhoudu walked toward Meng Weiyu and asked as if nothing had happened, “What are you doing?”

Hearing his voice, Meng Weiyu expressionlessly raised the thing in his hand.

Shen Zhoudu widened his eyes.

From that collection cabinet full of toys, Meng Weiyu had found a rope and was currently…

“Cat’s cradle?” Based on the shape of the rope in his hands, Shen Zhoudu guessed what he was doing.

Expressionless, Meng Weiyu took a deep breath. However, the veins on his forehead were especially obvious.

Shen Zhoudu felt that if he were beaten flying in the next instant, it would completely fit his guesses and the direction of the atmosphere.

“I’m learning how to tie knots.” After Meng Weiyu breathed out, he revealed a smile that could topple all living beings.

Shen Zhoudu looked at him.

“There’s no helping it. I’m too bored at home.” Meng Weiyu held the rope. There was a tutorial on his phone, and he followed the tutorial to turn the rope over. He was clearly working hard, but his movements looked exactly like playing cat’s cradle, with a clumsy feeling. “So I found something to do.”

His tone was so calm it was as if he were truly playing cat’s cradle.

Shen Zhoudu tried reaching out toward him.

“Hm?” Meng Weiyu simply handed the rope to him.

“What do you want to tie?” Shen Zhoudu asked.

Meng Weiyu glanced at his phone and said, “Hands.”

“Then, hands.” Shen Zhoudu asked him for his hands.

Meng Weiyu obediently stretched both hands toward him.

“Mm…” Shen Zhoudu revealed a thoughtful expression and recalled the method Meng Weiyu had used in the past. “The rope needs to be folded in half first. Wrap it around like this, then like this…”

As Shen Zhoudu explained, he demonstrated. In the end, he used the rope to tie Meng Weiyu’s hands together.

“Hehe, amazing.” Meng Weiyu smiled as he lifted his wrists, which could not move, upward so they blocked his own line of sight, and looked directly at Shen Zhoudu.

“Mm.” Shen Zhoudu stared at Meng Weiyu, whose hands were tied, and his heartbeat instantly sped up. It was so loud that he could hear it in his own ears.

He had one crazy thought.

If he was destined to be unable to obtain the current Meng Weiyu’s heart, then could he… tie up his hands and feet and obtain his person instead?

Meng Weiyu pulled his hands outward hard and discovered that his hands truly could not break free of the rope. His eyes revealed amazement.

While his gaze shifted away, Shen Zhoudu stared fixedly at his face.

“Untie it. I learned it.” Meng Weiyu was a clever student. He smiled and raised both hands toward Shen Zhoudu again.

Expressionless, Shen Zhoudu lowered his head and carefully untied the rope for him with the hand wearing the watch.

“Whoa.” Meng Weiyu was like a child coming into contact with something fresh and interesting for the first time. He said excitedly, “It’s my turn. I want to play too!”

Shen Zhoudu turned around and said, “Wait a moment.”

“What are we waiting for?” Meng Weiyu revealed a gloomy gaze.

Shen Zhoudu removed his watch and placed it on the sofa beside him before returning.

“Hehe.” Meng Weiyu raised his head and smiled brightly.

“Don’t use too much force. Don’t tie it too tightly.” Shen Zhoudu stood behind the sofa and sighed as if accepting his fate. He knew very well Meng Weiyu’s current skill level, but he still willingly handed both hands to him.

“Hehe.” Meng Weiyu followed Shen Zhoudu’s earlier teaching and slowly sorted out the rope. Even just tying one knot, he undid and redid it two or three times.

Seeing this, Shen Zhoudu sighed even more silently.

He mourned for himself in advance.

“Fold it in half first, fold it in half…” Meng Weiyu held the rope and uselessly wrapped it around Shen Zhoudu’s hands.

Shen Zhoudu simply let him play and shifted his gaze elsewhere.

Meng Weiyu glanced at him with a smile. Then, with a few swift movements, he quickly tied the rope and pulled hard.

“Hiss.” A sharp pain came from his wrists. Shen Zhoudu looked down in shock.

Meng Weiyu’s other hand was gripping the other end of the rope. With a forceful tug, he pulled Shen Zhoudu, who had been standing higher up, toward him.

Shen Zhoudu froze, and his tie swayed in the air.

“I finally caught you. Now I’m going to hang you on the balcony for execution!” The smile on Meng Weiyu’s face vanished instantly, revealing the vicious face of a villain. He had plotted this for a long time, and now the moment of education had finally arrived.