Chapter 28: Chapter 4- Getting Along and Making a New Friend

Chapter 4- Getting Along and Making a New Friend

Yan Changyi was startled when he was hugged all of a sudden. A pampered soft body rushed into his arms and held him tight. The boy in his arms was covered in the scent of nicotin. Yan Changyi nor smoked, neither he liked the smell of cigerrate. He scrunched his nose in automatic response. But he did not hate the smell as he thought he would, on the other hand he kind of like it. He was a bit surprised. Did he like the smell or the person from whose body the smell came?

While Yan Changyi was pondering he sensed the person in his arms withdrawing. He didn’t know why he panicked. His first subconscious reaction was to prevent the person from moving away. He hugged him back, he held him even tighter. It created an illusion of completeness in his heart. He sighed in satisfaction.

After a minute or two, Qiu Chen was finally able to step back. Yan Changyi also released him as he felt it was indeed a bit awkward to hug a stranger like this. Qiu Chen tilted his face up and looked at him haughtily, like he was not even a bit ashamed of what he just did. Unbeknownst to him, his blushing red ears exposed him. To Yan Changyi he looked like a kitten. A mischievous smile flushed passed his eyes.

“Here you two are,” Commander Xiao’s voice came, “Now the danger has passed and the Brigadier has also woken up, I think we should go back to the camp.”

Qiu Chen nodded and walked passed the two men, Yan Changyi followed him. Commander Xiao did not what happened. He just stood there confusedly. He shrugged his shoulders and signaled the soldiers to gather the goods in market.

After they loaded all the things in the van, there was little space for thirteen grown men to sit inside.

“I’ll walk,” Qiu Chen proposed. Commander Xiao was about to speak his words of disagreement when Qiu Chen said again, “What? You don’t want to? Then I must walk,” he said in a typical spoiled tone.

Commander Xiao could not say anything. This was his boss’s precious nephew, an extremely spoiled kid. What left him questioning his sanity was, what was the real face of this kid? A mature one who could confront his own bullies and lead them to submit? Or the ruthless leader who could fight hundreds of attacking zombies alone? Or this stubborn one who would not listen to anyone at any cost? He looked at Qiu Chen’s back that was moving forward to the camp.

“I’ll follow him,” Yan Changyi said as he got off the van. Commander Xiao did not say anything this time. He silently boarded the van, the soldier in the driver’s seat started the van. Within two minutes the van passed Yan Changyi and Qiu Chen one by one.

Qiu Chen saw the van pass him by. He stopped on his track and trned back.

“Why are you following me?” Qiu Chen lifted his up in the air as he asked the man.

“I am not following you, the van was crowded,” Yan Changyi replied with a slight smile. He walked up to Qiu Chen.

Qiu Chen did not say anything, he just snorted and proceeded to walk in the previous direction. Yan Changyi walked beside him this time.

After a few minutes Qiu Chen asked again, “Your ability must have been exhausted. Are you sure you can walk up to the camp?”

“My physic is still there, even without the abilities it should not be a problem,” Yan Changyi replied casually.

Qiu Chen looked at him. His face was pale. Qiu Chen was worried about him. What if he was not there at that time? What if he could not sense him? Would he die up there? Qiu Chen checked the original plot line. This was indeed the case. Yan Changyi died there. For months no one knew what happened to him. Later Wen Han and his team went to rob the market. They found the remainings of Yan Changyi. From his uniform they confirmed who he was. They took the remainings back to General Yan. For this Wen Han was always regarded as a benefactor by General Han, which helped him a lot later.

The word that caught Qiu Chen’s attention was “remeinings”. The thought of having the ‘remainings’ of this man made him scared out of his soul. He grabbed Yan Changyi’s wrist trying to feel his pulse.

Yan Changyi was just talking when suddenly a delicate hand held his wrist in a firm grip. He looked at the boy. From the moment he met him, he saw him in lonliness, in awkwardness, and being all wistfull. But the horror and no blood present in his face now, together with the cold sweat that had broken on his forehead left him speechless. He could not understand what just happened.

“All your three abilities are there, but you are too weak,” the boy said, a bit of blood returned to his face, although his face was still serious.

“Three? I had only two abilities,” Yan ChangYi saw the delicate little white palm releasing his wrist. He had had a fever awhile ago, but he did not think that it would awaken anymore ability. He had those two abilities for months.

Qiu Chen walked in front of him and opened his palm. Yan Changyi looked at his empty palm in confusion. A dull gray pill appeared on his white palm.

“Space ability? What kind of pill is this?” Yan Changyi asked casually.

“It’s not toxic. Just eat it. I won’t dare kill my uncle’s superior’s grandson,” Qiu Chen replied carelessly like the worried-to-death person awhile ago was not him.

Yan Changyi felt helpless. How could he make it clear he was not suspicious? He could only take the pill and swallow it. After the pill went down, he did not feel a change. Just as he thought, this guy tried to give him something so he did not lose his heart.

After ten minutes of walking Yan Changyi suddenly broke into cold sweat. He felt like his whole body was crumbling down, thousands of ants biting down on his bonemarrows. Even the ability fever he had did not hurt this much. He should have suspected that the boy poisoned him but his instinct told him that was not the case. He stopped and clenched his fist trying to endure the pain.

Qiu Chen saw his man enduring immense pain all by himself, his palm bleeding from his nails dugging into the flesh. He stepped ahead and held his hand. He softly unclenched his fist and insterted his own hand into the bigger tanned hand. He used his other hand to wipe off the sweat from his forehead. After wiping off the sweat, Qiu Chen held Yan Changyi’s head with his free hand and pulled it onto his shoulder while whispering in a soft tone, “Bear with me, it will be okay in a while. Lean on me, I am here with you. You can do it. Bear it for a few minuets, it will go away. Believe me, it will be okay.”

Yan Changyi was in pain, he could not hold on anymore. At this time he felt someone’s soft fingers pulling on his fingers and inserting themselves inside his own palm. He subconsciously stopped clenching in the fear of hurting the hand inside his hand. He felt that someone was wiping his sweat with utmost care and pulling his head to rest on a warm shoulder. He heard a voice saying that everything would be okay, the voice said that he can rely on him, the person actually coaxing him. His all life he was taught to be strong, this was the first time he was being coaxed. He wanted to depend on the person, believe in him with his heart and soul. He nudged his head to find a more comfortable position.

After enduring for a few more minutes, the pain went away. Yan Changyi recovered his sense. He found himself embracing Qiu Chen while Qiu Chen coaxing him. When he understood what was going on, he felt ashamed of himself. He felt like he can’t face the youth anymore. He lost all his integrity.

But the said youth was still speaking softly, “Are you okay now? Does it hurt anymore?” His voice was like he was handling a baby.

Yan Changyi felt more and more ashamed. He stood up staright and said in a pretentious firm tone, “I am okay now. Sorry for bothering you.”

Qiu Chen controlled his laughter with great difficulty. He looked at him lightly, “You seem to be okay. Let’s explore your new ability. Of course I can understand if you don’t want to it in front of me.” With saying that he turned around.

“No….You..You can see,” Yan Changyi tried his best not to sound panicked. He did not want the youth to leave him on his own. He wanted him to be part of his life. This sudden thought startled him.

Qiu Chen turend to look at him as if saying, “Really? Show me!”

Yan Changyi pointed at the certain place and tried to force out something that was neither ice nor some weird metallic fire. The place he was pointing at happened to be a large rock. The pitiful rock bursted into thousands of pieces with a strike of thunderbolt.

“Wow! Thunder ability!” Qiu Chen jumped with a pleasant surprise, “Break some more!”

Yan Changyi abode by him and broke some more rocks here and there. Qiu Chen was laughing like a child who got candy. He beckoned Yan Changyi to sit beside him. Yan Changyi was also a bit tired, so he came and sat down.

“Hungry?” Without waiting for any answer Qiu Chen brought out some snacks from his space and gave it to Yan Changyi. This man never liked junk food. So what he took out was some light flavoured cakes.

Yan Changyi took the cakes. He was not deliberately polite. He shared the food with Qiu Chen. The two collectively forgot about returning to the camp.

“May I call you Brother Changyi?” Qiu Chen asked.

“You may. But what should I call you? A-Quan? Xiao Quan? QuanQuan?” Yan Changyi asked in a teasing tone.

Qiu Chen pondered over it seriously, “Not A-Quan, for sure. QuanQuan seems too girly. You can call me Xiao Quan.”

Yan Changyi did not expect him to be so serious about such a simple thing. He laughed out loud. He didn’t know after how many days he laughed so freely. He ruffled Qiu Chen’s hair. “We should go, they might be worried about us.”

Qiu Chen agreed with him. So, in less than 30 minutes of walking they arrived at the camp. Commander Xiao was wondering what might take forty minutes’ travel to extend to one and a half hours. But he decided not to deal with one overbearing lord and one wistful young master; he already had enough things to worry about. As a result, when the two late ‘condemned-by-the-commander’ people arrived, they found everyone busy. The soldiers were on alert, patrolling around, having little talk among themselves. The people without ability were either cooking or doing some small chores. Some sat in a group chatting among theselves. The whole environment was relaxed with aroma of food in the air.

Yan Changyi bid farewell to Qiu Chen and went to Commander Xiao’s tent. Qiu Chen started roaming around in the camp after seeing him off.

A quite boy sitting alone caught Qiu Chen’s attention. It was Ruan Li. He was an orphan and was same age as Wen Quan. After Wen Han joined the base they came into contact with this boy. By that time An Zi already died in a zombie attack. So, even tho Wen Quan joined the base, he had no family there. One day Wen Quan saw Ruan Li sitting alone under a tree. Although he was always alone, this time was different. There was a rare feast going on in the base. But Ruan Li, like him, was an unwanted presence. Wen Quan noticed that the boy did not even have any food. So he shared his portion with him. This created friendship between them. They got to know each other quite well. After the original owner’s death, only Ruan Li managed to summon all his courage and questioned Jian Lin and Wen Han. But what he brought upon himself was the torture Wen Quan used to go through. The boy could not hold on, he killed himself within six months.

Qiu Chen looked at him admiration and pity. Ruan Li was extremely genius. He could help the base more than any ability user could. But those fools of people killed him. And this boy also, valued friendship better than life. Qiu Chen sighed, he decided to make friends with him first. He would repay him at the place of the original owner.

“May I sit here?” Qiu Chen asked Ruan Li.

Ruan Li looked at him defensively, but scooted away a bit. He looked at Qiu Chen just onece before he bowed his head even lower, he seemed to be afraid of him. Qiu Chen understood what was happening. As a person without ability and with slight autism, he was often bullied by others. He was afraid of making eye contact.

Qiu Chen did not force him either. He sat there quietly. He started playing with his powers. He created a ring of fire, then inserted a string of water through it and created another ring out of water. He tried to detouch both fire and water from his hands to let them fly by themselves.

“You can not. Fire will be extinguished. Gravity,” a low awkward voice sounded beside Qiu Chen.

Qiu Chen looked at Ruan Li. Ruan Li was looking at his hands. “Can you explain? I don’t understand these things,” Qiu Chen made his tone as soft as he could.

Ruan Li looked at him again as to confirm if he was making fun of him or not, but looked down instantly. After a moment of hesitation he said again, “Water has weight. If it is not controlled, it will fall on the ground. Fire was lit by ability, it will continue to burn. But it has no weight. So, when water falls, it will pull the fire down with it, but will extinguish it at the same time.”

Ruan Li looked up at Qiu Chen stealthily as if to check if he is angry. Qiu Chen felt distressed. Who knew how much hardship Ruan Li had to go through as an autistic person to be afraid to this point. He was extremely knowledgable. It was clear that he was brought up by responsible parents who knew how to treat children like him. His scared persona must have been created after his parents’ death.

“Wow! You know so many things! Will you tell me?” Qiu Chen cheered.

Although Ruan Li was different from others, he was extremely sensitive to people’s emotions. He could feel that Qiu Chen was being genuine. He blushed hard and nodded somewhat hesitantly. Qiu Chen laughed.

“I am Wen Quan. Ler’s be friends from now on!” Qiu Chen said in a happy tone.

“Ruan Li. Friends.” Ruan Li replied keeping his head down.

“Young Master Wen, the dinner is ready,” a soldier called from distance.

Qiu Chen nodded in acknowledgement. He turned his head to Ruan Li, “Let’s go eat dinner.”

Ruan Li froze in place. His disagreement with the idea was visible from his stiff posture. Qiu Chen saw that he was terrified. He did not put any pressure on him.

After a few moments Ruan Li saw the person who was so good to him a few minutes ago walking away. He lowered his head so much that his head was almost touching his knees.These days no one talked to him. He was the first one. Now even he was not willing to sit with him. Ruan Li felt extremely sad. His eyes that he kept down filled with water.

“Here, see if you like it.” Wen Quan’s voice came from above his head. Ruan Li lifted his chin abruptly. The teardrop he was trying to hold in, fell down.

Qiu Chen was startled. He did not expect the boy crying. He hurriedly put the plates down. He tried to find a kerchief to wipe his face, but could not find any. He used the back of his hand to wipe off the tears. Qiu Chen was afraid that Ruan Li would avoid him, but he did not.

“Why are you crying? Has someone said something? I just went there for a moment!” he looked left and right to see if anyone was near.

“You……did not leave?” Ruan Li asked hesitantly, his pure round eyes looking at Qiu Chen pitifully.

Qiu Chen was attacked by his beautiful gray eyes. His heart melted in a puddle. “Why would I? I just went there to bring food for you and me. I wanted to eat together with you,” Qiu Chen explained gently.

Ruan Li was a very simple person. When he heard that Qiu Chen did not intend to leave but went to bring food, he became happy. The new friend he made even wanted to eat with him. Thinking this he laughed.

Seeing his innocent laughter Qiu Chen suffered from another “cuteness attack”. He also laughed.

As a result, when Yan Changyi came to find him after calling his grandfather and explaining everything to him, he saw two teenagers sitting together, laughing and eating. His face turned dark. Of course what he saw was a very normal thing, but he felt sour in his heart. He wanted to go there and snatch the boy. He did not want to allow him to laugh with anyone else. But he could not do so, the boy should be happy and laughing all the time. He couldn’t be so selfish that he ruins the boy’s happiness.

All the thoughts came into his mind surprised him for the nth time. He was always a person with a calm mind. This was the first time he was having such chaotic thoughts. Though he was inexperienced, he was no fool. He could feel that he was falling for the boy. He never thought he would like a same-sex person. But to him, it only felt natural. But the youth’s lovely and likeable persona made him insecure. He felt lack of self confidence like never before.

Author has something to say:

Rain: Only you would think that he’s likable, you damn love-brain!

Ruan Li: *raising his hand to veto to Rain*

Uncle An: *Looking for suitable arms to kill Rain*

The Love-brain fool: I did not hear you.

A/N: sorry for late update.