This sudden association sent a shiver down He Zhou's entire body.
When he came back to his senses, he reached out and mercilessly tore down all the photos on the wall.
Still, there was something you had to admit here.
This Qin He was just as perverted as that Ye Hongyuan.
If He Zhou didn’t stay home the entire time and deny him the opportunity to try anything, perhaps this Qin He would really install hidden cameras in Qiu Yanzhi’s house like Ye Hongyuan once did.
There were dates on the bottom left corner of the photos.
The last photo happened to be taken exactly two days ago, aka the day he and Qin He swapped bodies.
He Zhou found a storage box to put all these photos in. He then promptly shoved them in a corner.
He Zhou found a storage box, picked up all these photos and put them in the corner.
This room looked like a study.
There was a white printer by the desk.
If these photos were printed out by Qin He himself, then there were definitely originals on the laptop in front of him.
He Zhou opened the laptop. He didn’t know the password, but luckily this laptop supported fingerprint unlocking.
After He Zhou got in, he soon found the photo files inside.
He deleted them all before spending some time sussing out the email Qin He used to communicate with the secret photographer.
As expected, that secret photographer sent Qin He all the photos he took over the past two days like clockwork.
He Zhou pursued their prior communications. He discovered that Qin He had hired this person under a false name. Additionally, aside from the initial discussion over price, Qin He rarely sent any emails. He only received them for the most part.
Their relationship seemed to be a series of simple monetary transactions.
He Zhou sent the previously agreed upon amount of money stated in the contract attachment from earlier. Then he sent an email saying he wanted to terminate the contract and requested the other person to delete the original photos.
After dealing with this matter, He Zhou carefully checked the computer again. He was relieved to find nothing else of note. Only then did he turn it off.
In his mind, Qin He had become a pervert.
He Zhou tilted his head to look at the pile of photos in the corner.
He frowned.
These photos were all of Qiu Yanzhi and himself, so he couldn’t throw them away or burn them. Leaving them here for Qin He after he returned was also out of the question.
He Zhou thought for a moment. Then he called an express citywide courier to send the box to Qiu Yanzhi's apartment.
Fearing that the photos would scare Qiu Yanzhi, he also sent a message to Qiu Yanzhi in advance.
But Qiu Yanzhi didn't reply.
Maybe he’s busy with something else.
He Zhou put his phone aside and turned to look at the things on Qin He’s bookshelf.
Only a short while passed before he spotted a photo album in quite a conspicuous location.
The yellowed corners of the album seemed to indicate its age. Someone seemed to have traced the words on the cover so many times that they were no longer legible.
As expected, it was full of pictures of none other than Qiu Yanzhi.
Words couldn’t describe how fed up He Zhou was.
However, these photos didn’t seem to be taken in secret upon taking a closer look.
The Qiu Yanzhi depicted here was wearing a high school uniform. Only his upper half was shown, and shoulders could be seen to his left and right. It seemed like this was cut out from a group photo. Because the picture was enlarged so much, Qiu Yanzhi's face was somewhat blurred.
The next few pages seemed to all be photos of a similar nature. They were either ID photos, group photos, or clippings from a local newspaper of Qiu Yanzhi receiving some sort of prize on stage.
Only the last one was clearly taken in secret. It was of Qiu Yanzhi sleeping on his desk in the classroom.
And the very last page had no photos at all.
Inside the old-fashioned plastic photo holder was a single 50 cent coin.
He Zhou stared at the gleaming golden coin. A wind seemed to blow past his ears, drowning out all other sounds aside from noisy, inauthentic whispers. At the same time, images flashed by in his mind.
He shook his head and sat back on the chair. He rubbed at his temples for quite sometime before the dull pain went away.
Qiu Yanzhi suspected he might be running a fever, so he washed up and went to bed after returning from the Qiu manor.
Asleep, he dreamt of an almost unbearably hot day where the sun hung high in the sky. He was kneeling before the Qiu manor’s main entrance, his knees pressed right up against the burning asphalt. The sheer heat from above made him almost delirious. Sweat poured from every pour, rushing down past his broken skin from being thrown into the broken red wine bottles. The pain was so bad he couldn’t feel it anymore.
The temperatures only continued to rise. It was as if he had been thrown into a boiling sea, every breath a rolling boil that scalded his lungs. It was as if he had been strung up and set to roast over an open fire, the flames surrounding him devouring him piece by piece.
Devour...
Ring~
Qiu Yanzhi was violently ripped from his nightmare by his ringtone.
He looked at the ceiling somewhat dazedly as he gripped his chest and gasped for air.
When he lifted the blanket from his body, he found his pajamas soaked through with sweat.
Qiu Yanzhi wiped the sweat off his forehead before glancing at his phone.
It was He Zhou.
Qiu Yanzhi inexplicably felt at ease. He picked up the phone and answered the call. “...Hey.”
and connected: "...hello."
He Zhou frowned at the nasally tone of his voice. “You were sleeping?”
"En."
He Zhou glanced at the time. It wasn’t even 10:00 pm yet. “Why so early today? Do you not feel well?”
"Yeah, a bit." Qiu Yanzhi said, "I think I have a fever."
"Did you take your temperature?"
Qiu Yanzhi soon felt cold without the blanket. He wrapped himself up again. “Nope. We don’t have a thermometer at home and I don’t want to go buy one.”
"The thermometer is in the medical kit in your nightstand." He Zhou replied, "I bought a new one some time ago."
Qiu Yanzhi took out the medical kit. There really was a new thermometer inside.
He was running a mild fever of 37.4 degrees. Qiu Yanzhi took some medicine at He Zhou's request.
Not long after he drank the medicine, there was a knock on the door.
Qiu Yanzhi said to He Zhou, "I’ll be right back. Someone’s knocking on the door.”
"It should be the express courier I just sent you." He Zhou said.
When Qiu Yanzhi opened the door, there was indeed an express courier outside.
He signed his name and received a storage box in return. Qiu Yanzhi was a bit curious, he asked He Zhou while attempting to open the box, "What's inside?"
"Don't open it." He Zhou said, "It’ll scare you."
Qiu Yanzhi paused. He obediently let the box be, setting it down on a nearby table. “What is it? Why would it scare me?"
He Zhou hesitated for a moment before admitting, "It's something I found in Qin He's house."
"Something about me?" Qiu Yanzhi asked.
He Zhou: "En. It's some photos."
Qiu Yanzhi froze for a moment, his past memories overwhelming him for an instant. “...Could it be the photos he took of me as a child? He took a lot. Actually, I’ve always known.”
"No." He Zhou said, "These photos were taken recently."
Qiu Yanzhi: "...In secret?"
"En."
Qiu Yanzhi was silent for a moment. Then he touched the lid of the box again. “Can I look now that I know what’s inside?”
There was no response from He Zhou's end.
Qiu Yanzhi called out to him, "He Zhou?"
Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.
This sudden association sent a shiver down He Zhou's entire body.
When he came back to his senses, he reached out and mercilessly tore down all the photos on the wall.
Still, there was something you had to admit here.
This Qin He was just as perverted as that Ye Hongyuan.
If He Zhou didn’t stay home the entire time and deny him the opportunity to try anything, perhaps this Qin He would really install hidden cameras in Qiu Yanzhi’s house like Ye Hongyuan once did.
There were dates on the bottom left corner of the photos.
The last photo happened to be taken exactly two days ago, aka the day he and Qin He swapped bodies.
He Zhou found a storage box to put all these photos in. He then promptly shoved them in a corner.
He Zhou found a storage box, picked up all these photos and put them in the corner.
This room looked like a study.
There was a white printer by the desk.
If these photos were printed out by Qin He himself, then there were definitely originals on the laptop in front of him.
He Zhou opened the laptop. He didn’t know the password, but luckily this laptop supported fingerprint unlocking.
After He Zhou got in, he soon found the photo files inside.
He deleted them all before spending some time sussing out the email Qin He used to communicate with the secret photographer.
As expected, that secret photographer sent Qin He all the photos he took over the past two days like clockwork.
He Zhou pursued their prior communications. He discovered that Qin He had hired this person under a false name. Additionally, aside from the initial discussion over price, Qin He rarely sent any emails. He only received them for the most part.
Their relationship seemed to be a series of simple monetary transactions.
He Zhou sent the previously agreed upon amount of money stated in the contract attachment from earlier. Then he sent an email saying he wanted to terminate the contract and requested the other person to delete the original photos.
After dealing with this matter, He Zhou carefully checked the computer again. He was relieved to find nothing else of note. Only then did he turn it off.
In his mind, Qin He had become a pervert.
He Zhou tilted his head to look at the pile of photos in the corner.
He frowned.
These photos were all of Qiu Yanzhi and himself, so he couldn’t throw them away or burn them. Leaving them here for Qin He after he returned was also out of the question.
He Zhou thought for a moment. Then he called an express citywide courier to send the box to Qiu Yanzhi's apartment.
Fearing that the photos would scare Qiu Yanzhi, he also sent a message to Qiu Yanzhi in advance.
But Qiu Yanzhi didn't reply.
Maybe he’s busy with something else.
He Zhou put his phone aside and turned to look at the things on Qin He’s bookshelf.
Only a short while passed before he spotted a photo album in quite a conspicuous location.
The yellowed corners of the album seemed to indicate its age. Someone seemed to have traced the words on the cover so many times that they were no longer legible.
As expected, it was full of pictures of none other than Qiu Yanzhi.
Words couldn’t describe how fed up He Zhou was.
However, these photos didn’t seem to be taken in secret upon taking a closer look.
The Qiu Yanzhi depicted here was wearing a high school uniform. Only his upper half was shown, and shoulders could be seen to his left and right. It seemed like this was cut out from a group photo. Because the picture was enlarged so much, Qiu Yanzhi's face was somewhat blurred.
The next few pages seemed to all be photos of a similar nature. They were either ID photos, group photos, or clippings from a local newspaper of Qiu Yanzhi receiving some sort of prize on stage.
Only the last one was clearly taken in secret. It was of Qiu Yanzhi sleeping on his desk in the classroom.
And the very last page had no photos at all.
Inside the old-fashioned plastic photo holder was a single 50 cent coin.
He Zhou stared at the gleaming golden coin. A wind seemed to blow past his ears, drowning out all other sounds aside from noisy, inauthentic whispers. At the same time, images flashed by in his mind.
He shook his head and sat back on the chair. He rubbed at his temples for quite sometime before the dull pain went away.
Qiu Yanzhi suspected he might be running a fever, so he washed up and went to bed after returning from the Qiu manor.
Asleep, he dreamt of an almost unbearably hot day where the sun hung high in the sky. He was kneeling before the Qiu manor’s main entrance, his knees pressed right up against the burning asphalt. The sheer heat from above made him almost delirious. Sweat poured from every pour, rushing down past his broken skin from being thrown into the broken red wine bottles. The pain was so bad he couldn’t feel it anymore.
The temperatures only continued to rise. It was as if he had been thrown into a boiling sea, every breath a rolling boil that scalded his lungs. It was as if he had been strung up and set to roast over an open fire, the flames surrounding him devouring him piece by piece.
Devour...
Ring~
Qiu Yanzhi was violently ripped from his nightmare by his ringtone.
He looked at the ceiling somewhat dazedly as he gripped his chest and gasped for air.
When he lifted the blanket from his body, he found his pajamas soaked through with sweat.
Qiu Yanzhi wiped the sweat off his forehead before glancing at his phone.
It was He Zhou.
Qiu Yanzhi inexplicably felt at ease. He picked up the phone and answered the call. “...Hey.”
and connected: "...hello."
He Zhou frowned at the nasally tone of his voice. “You were sleeping?”
"En."
He Zhou glanced at the time. It wasn’t even 10:00 pm yet. “Why so early today? Do you not feel well?”
"Yeah, a bit." Qiu Yanzhi said, "I think I have a fever."
"Did you take your temperature?"
Qiu Yanzhi soon felt cold without the blanket. He wrapped himself up again. “Nope. We don’t have a thermometer at home and I don’t want to go buy one.”
"The thermometer is in the medical kit in your nightstand." He Zhou replied, "I bought a new one some time ago."
Qiu Yanzhi took out the medical kit. There really was a new thermometer inside.
He was running a mild fever of 37.4 degrees. Qiu Yanzhi took some medicine at He Zhou's request.
Not long after he drank the medicine, there was a knock on the door.
Qiu Yanzhi said to He Zhou, "I’ll be right back. Someone’s knocking on the door.”
"It should be the express courier I just sent you." He Zhou said.
When Qiu Yanzhi opened the door, there was indeed an express courier outside.
He signed his name and received a storage box in return. Qiu Yanzhi was a bit curious, he asked He Zhou while attempting to open the box, "What's inside?"
"Don't open it." He Zhou said, "It’ll scare you."
Qiu Yanzhi paused. He obediently let the box be, setting it down on a nearby table. “What is it? Why would it scare me?"
He Zhou hesitated for a moment before admitting, "It's something I found in Qin He's house."
"Something about me?" Qiu Yanzhi asked.
He Zhou: "En. It's some photos."
Qiu Yanzhi froze for a moment, his past memories overwhelming him for an instant. “...Could it be the photos he took of me as a child? He took a lot. Actually, I’ve always known.”
"No." He Zhou said, "These photos were taken recently."
Qiu Yanzhi: "...In secret?"
"En."
Qiu Yanzhi was silent for a moment. Then he touched the lid of the box again. “Can I look now that I know what’s inside?”
There was no response from He Zhou's end.
Qiu Yanzhi called out to him, "He Zhou?"
Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.
