Bite Your Fingertips

55th -【Serve a drink】

Trigger Warning: Blood, Brutality

Chu Yu asked in his heart, was my behavior that obvious?

He hadn’t dared look at Lu Shi’s eyes these past few days because he’d constantly felt that his eyes were like hidden vortices; a glance would make him confused and completely lose his ability to think rationally.

Like now.

Chu Yu’s heartbeat sped up a little bit, and the rate of his breathing was also chaotic. He subconsciously answered, “Did I? Why aren’t I aware of it? Hahaha—”

At that moment, the surrounding lights suddenly lit up again. The ambiguous atmosphere faded abruptly, and Chu Yu took a step back.

“Let’s… let’s go ride the Ferris wheel! It’s said that the nightscape can be viewed from there and should be pretty good. I wonder if there’s a lot of people lining up…”

Lu Shi, who had the balloon, gazed at Chu Yu with his eyes half drooping, saying nothing.

Chu Yu’s heart thumped like a drum. He raised his hand without thinking and pulled Lu Shi’s sleeve at the wrist. “S-shall we go?”

Not knowing as to what button of Lu Shi’s he hit, Chu Yu saw Lu Shi suddenly smile.

“Okay.”

There were many people lining up under the Ferris wheel, and the length of the line was almost immovable. Chu Yu held his bag in his hand and started jumping in place to gauge it visually. They would probably have to wait two or three rounds before their turn.

After standing for a while, he felt that someone around was watching them. He nudged Lu Shi with his elbow. After seeing Lu Shi bow his head, Chu Yu leaned in and whispered, “Do you feel like people are watching us?”

“I do.”

Chu Yu looked around and instantly realized that he and Lu Shi were indeed conspicuous.

He scanned to the front of where they were standing as well as to the back, the nearly ten positions he saw all turned out to be lovers! All paired up neat and tidy, making Chu Yu have a flash of illusion that today was Valentine’s Day!

Chu Yu was a little uncomfortable. He approached Lu Shi again and asked in a low voice, “Should we still line up?” He gestured. “Seems like I can see countless pink bubbles and the sweet smell of love filling the air around us!”

Lu Shi saw his appearance of switching eyeballs left and right. “Want to ride the Ferris wheel?”

“Want!”

“Mn, then we’ll stay in line.”

Both of them lined up for half an hour before finally getting into a passenger car which slowly ascended along with soft music. Chu Yu looked outside while his hands clung to the glass like he’d never seen the world before, finding it extremely novel.

“Lu Shi, have you ever been on a Ferris wheel before?”

“No.”

“Eh?” Chu Yu turned his head. “It’s also your first time today?”

After being surprised, he thought that there was nothing wrong with it.

Given the issues of Lu Shi’s family, it was perceived that that stepmother wouldn’t kindly take Lu Shi to an amusement park to ride the Ferris wheel for fun.

Now knowing that today was also Lu Shi’s first time riding on the Ferris wheel, Chu Yu opened up a bit more.

“I went to an amusement park with my classmates in junior high before. Everyone ran to have fun on the roller coasters, giant frisbee, and so on. In comparison, the Ferris wheel wasn’t as enticing so no one paired up with me. I could only compromise with reality and give up on my Ferris wheel dream!”

“That won’t happen in the future.”

Chu Yu didn’t register his meaning. “Why not?”

“I’ll accompany you.”

Hearing this sentence, Chu Yu was unresponsive for a while before he turned his head and pretended to stare attentively at the glimmering neon outside the glass.

Exiting Neverland, Chu Yu was blown by the cold wind but didn’t shrink his neck so as to maintain his image. He asked in a trembling voice, “Where do we go now? Home?”

The balloon had been given away earlier to a little girl after they came out of the park. Lu Shi now held his phone and was quickly tapping his finger on the screen.

“Shitou called for supper, should we go?”

“Supper? Go go go, I don’t feel like eating, but ingesting some heat is good too, it’s too cold today!” Chu Yu breathed into his hand then looked at Lu Shi’s hand. “Are you cold?”

Lu Shi put the phone back in his pocket and replied, “Cold.”

“I knew it.”

Chu Yu grabbed Lu Shi’s hand, placed it on his neck, pressed it snugly, and smiled. “It’s not cold anymore, right? I’ll let you experience the warmth of the world!”

The street lights shone bright, filling his eyes with starlight.

After taking a taxi to the agreed place, Chu Yu followed Lu Shi into a skewer shop.

The signboard wasn’t big and the store was even smaller. There were only a dozen tables, but business was pretty good.

As they pushed the door open, the pungent hot and spicy smell instantly dispelled the chill of the winter night.

Sharp-eyed Chu Yu saw Wei Guanglei as well as the scar on his face at a glance.

“Who gave you such a long scar as a souvenir?”

Wei Guanglei held his beer can and exaggerated his story. “I was in the shop by myself that day when an elder brother brought his little brothers over to pick a quarrel. Being a man, surely one just can’t back out, right? I lifted a random plastic stool and smashed it over. That elder brother was more ruthless than me; he broke a beer bottle, a little carelessness and the sharp glass would’ve been a matter of seeing blood. I thought to myself, this man is too fucking fierce, so I took a metal rod and went to see who’s fiercer!”

Chu Yu was taken aback after listening. “So thrilling? Was this scar made by the glass bottle?”

Lu Shi sat down beside Chu Yu. “Don’t listen to him.”

Wei Guanglei stopped talking, touched his nose, and told the truth. “Hai, this is actually from when I was repairing a car. I wasn’t paying attention so my face was scratched!”

Chu Yu laughed. “Shitou, you made up quite a wonderful story!”

Wei Guanglei patted his chest. “It’s a must! To be honest, this story of mine has already been spread, and I reckon that after a short period of time, few people would dare come to my shop to pick fights.”

Chu Yu nodded. “Quick-witted!”

Wei Guanglei had already prepared the ingredients in advance and was putting all of it into the pot. He asked Chu Yu, “Do you want soy milk or juice? What about peanut butter, plum or corn juice?”

Chu Yu thought about it. “Soy milk, soy milk is best for combating spiciness.”

Wei Guanglei beckoned to the waiter.

The waiter came over then he placed an order. Someone at the next table shouted, “We’ll also add a bottle of soy milk here, same as that beauty!”

Only after several seconds did Chu Yu understand that the “beauty” the man was referring to was himself.

He frowned.

Someone at that same table said, “Alas, say, Brother Long, you haven’t seen if they’re a man or a woman, why did you call them a beauty美女 (měinǚ): this was a very specific adjective, měi means beautiful and nǚ is woman. Brother Long (long means dragon btw) described Chu Yu as a ‘beautiful woman’?”

The man called Brother Long blushed — a gold chain hung around his neck — and said with a playful tone, “In terms of being beautiful, is it important to be a man or woman? You say, am I right or not?”

As he spoke, he eyed Chu Yu slantingly.

Chu Yu’s mentality had always been very stable. He’d been good-looking since he was a child and had seen many meaningful glances with various meanings. However, being stared like this right in front of himself made him a little sick.

Before he could give a response, Wei Guanglei slammed his chopsticks first. “This old-clam-toad who has drunk too much can’t stop quacking huh?”2I was searching hard to know what 老-蛤-蟆 is, I found this song which is related to the good for nothing 老蛤蟆 whose always drinking too much. I’m not sure if I understand the song TT Shitou you’re pitting me here… Everyone, just know that Shitou has entered trash-talking mode.

Brother Long’s wine glass knocked on the table with a ‘thud’ and his small eyes squinted. “Dogshit son of a bitch, says who?”

Wei Guanglei glanced at Lu Shi’s cold expression before answering in a harsher tone than that of the other party, “Who fucking answered is the one I’m referring to. Looking at it this way, you know quite well what you are, huh?”

There were exactly four people at Brother Long’s table who slapped the table and stood up, all of them appearing sturdy and fierce.

Seeing that Wei Guanglei’s trio were seemingly all students, Brother Long grinned and stared at Chu Yu. “Let this beauty come over to gently and nicely serve these Geges a glass to drink and today’s matter will come to an end! Otherwise—”

Before Brother Long could finish his hooting, a plastic chair ruthlessly slammed towards him before finally landing on the table. It crashed onto the pot with a ‘clang’, causing chili oil to splatter everywhere and the flames to sizzle.

Lu Shi stood up and inclined his face, his temples were entirely cold and hostile. “Say that again?”

The people eating next to them saw the commotion and started fleeing.

His face having been smashed by the plastic stool, the skin on Brother Long’s cheekbones broke and bled. Being smashed in the face roused his anger. He picked up a beer bottle and set his hand to the task.

Less than a minute later, the stunned Chu Yu realized that both sides had started fighting.

Knowing that his fighting strength was nonexistent, he quickly found a corner and stood there without causing trouble. Looking around, he found that Wei Guanglei had grabbed his ordered can of beer that he hadn’t opened yet and weighed it in his hand. He thought that it felt okay, so he aimed it at someone.

Chu Yu thought it was pretty accurate. The smash was targeted accurately and left a big bump on Brother Long’s forehead. If it didn’t turn green tomorrow, then it’d be purple.

Wei Guanglei was used to fighting with Lu Shi. He knew that the man named Brother Long had accurately poked Lu Shi’s lung pipeWhen water/saliva goes into the wrong pipe, we choke. Similarly, when Lu Shi’s Chu Yu is involved, hell is ushered in., so he didn’t think it’d be anything proper tonight.

He circled two people to get them done himself while Brother Long and the previous one involved in the dialogue were thrown to Lu Shi to be solved.

Lu Shi had learned standard martial arts before, and later on in Qingchuan Road, he practiced his fighting skills with high frequency through continuous fights. Orthodox methods were added to the standard; however quick or ferocious, it would come.Orthodox methods such as street fighting or brutal types were added to Lu Shi’s systematic skills. What quick? What ferocious? Just say it and Lu Shi would show it.

He roughly kicked the person involved in the earlier dialogue to the ground to the point that he couldn’t get up. Lu Shi’s five fingers clutched Brother Long’s nape firmly and pressed the person’s head on the table with a ‘bang’.

The fumes from the boiling hot oil in the pot made one’s eyes hurt.

The hostility that had been suppressed for many days ran free as the space between his brows converged tightly.

Lu Shi lifted Brother Long’s head by the hollow on the back of his neck using his fingers and slammed him on the table again with another ‘bang’.

In an instant, nosebleeds came out due to the collision.

Brother Long glared at Lu Shi with his red eyes as the sharp pain in the back of his neck made him unable to utter anything.

He didn’t expect this person to look tall and thin yet have such a cruel hand! When his and Lu Shi’s gazes met, fear suddenly rushed forth in his heart.

Lu Shi stepped on the stool with one foot and stared at the wretched Brother Long with blood all over his face and his cheek pressed on the table. With an indifferent expression, he said slowly, “What did you say just now? Say it again.”

His voice wasn’t happy nor angry, but it made people tremble.

Brother Long’s teeth were stained with blood foam so his mouth was filled with the taste of blood.

He was afraid to say it, but he also didn’t dare disobey, so he repeated with difficulty, “L-let… come over, serve Gege a glass to drink— ah!”

With a ‘puchi’, no one saw clearly, but Lu Shi had already pierced a broken plastic chopstick into Brother Long’s hand valley point.

Blood spilled out and dripped onto the ground.

The surrounding area became quiet in a split second. Even Wei Guanglei was startled by Lu Shi’s actions and didn’t know how to react.

Only the wheezing sound of Brother Long gasping and his muffled groans of pain could be heard.

“Serve a drink, huh gege?”

Lu Shi spoke word for word clearly while squeezing the chopstick in his left hand and thrusting it deep.

Brother Long’s back trembled slightly, he dared not move.

Lu Shi turned the chopstick slowly, his apathetic expression making onlookers shudder.

Chu Yu was his possession residing in his softest place, he wouldn’t allow anyone to look, not even a glance.

More and more blood could be seen gushing out of the bloody hole on Brother Long’s hand valley point until a small puddle accumulated on the ground, but Lu Shi didn’t have the slightest intention of stopping.

Wei Guanglei wanted to come forward and persuade him, but seeing Lu Shi’s profile, he felt a chill erupt from the bottom of his heart.

Chu Yu, who’d been standing quietly, moved.

He took a few steps forward, approached, and noticed that there was some blood on the wrist of Lu Shi’s left hand which was holding the chopstick. He pulled out a tissue from the side and carefully wiped it clean for Lu Shi.

Then he stretched out his hand, gently grasped Lu Shi’s wrist, and whispered, “Lu Shi, let go, it smells horrible.”

As if an icicle had plunged into warm water, all of Lu Shi’s indifference and sharpness were suppressed.

He released his hand, stood upright, and with his thin eyelids hanging down, he asked Chu Yu in a low voice, “Not afraid?”

Chu Yu knew what he was questioning. “Not afraid.”

Lu Shi tore off a wet wipe and meticulously wiped his hands clean, not even leaving out the seams between his fingers.

After making sure it was clean, Lu Shi threw away the wet wipe and walked out.

When Chu Yu followed, Wei Guanglei didn’t rush along with them.

He squatted down and fished out Brother Long’s wallet, which contained a wad of money. After counting several bills, Wei Guanglei handed it to the boss with a grin, showing off his white teeth. “Compensation fee.”

The boss had seen a lot of things so he accepted the money without saying much.

Chu Yu stood on the side of the road and sneezed when the cold wind blew.

He habitually hid beside Lu Shi. He then wrinkled his nose and complained, “The smell of blood just now was too stinky, I almost fainted!”

Lu Shi saw his grumbling, finicky appearance. He touched the other’s lips with his index finger. “Bite?”

He asked, but didn’t wait for Chu Yu to answer, instead putting his finger directly into Chu Yu’s mouth.

Chu Yu didn’t refuse. He bit into it and restrainedly swallowed two mouthfuls of blood.

How comfortable.

Pushing Lu Shi’s finger out with the tip of his tongue, Chu Yu raised his eyes to look at him.

When he was watching the exciting fight scene earlier, his heart was fine, but now it suddenly started bouncing up.

Completely different from the fight, Chu Yu could see the faint tenderness in Lu Shi’s deep black eyes.

He licked his lips and recalled what Lu Shi had said when he grasped that man’s neck and stuck his chopstick into said man’s hand valley point.

Chu Yu inexplicably said in a low voice, “Gege, I-I’ll be serving you drinks from now on.”

He thought Lu Shi didn’t hear him clearly, but unexpectedly, Lu Shi lowered his eyes, softly stroked the corner of his mouth with his fingers, and replied in a husky voice, “Okay.”

The author has something to say: Here’s a coconut shaped into a heart ~

• 1美女 (měinǚ): this was a very specific adjective, měi means beautiful and nǚ is woman. Brother Long (long means dragon btw) described Chu Yu as a ‘beautiful woman’
• 2I was searching hard to know what 老-蛤-蟆 is, I found this song which is related to the good for nothing 老蛤蟆 whose always drinking too much. I’m not sure if I understand the song TT Shitou you’re pitting me here… Everyone, just know that Shitou has entered trash-talking mode.
• 3When water/saliva goes into the wrong pipe, we choke. Similarly, when Lu Shi’s Chu Yu is involved, hell is ushered in.
• 4Orthodox methods such as street fighting or brutal types were added to Lu Shi’s systematic skills. What quick? What ferocious? Just say it and Lu Shi would show it.