Why Do I Wake up as a Cheater Every Time?

Qin Yuyang was born with a golden spoon and in the eyes of outsiders, his life must’ve been full of money; partying every night, even embracing people left and right, all day long. 

But in reality, this wasn’t the case, these were assumptions made by strangers. 

It wasn’t that he couldn’t play; if he came across a social gathering that couldn’t be pushed aside, he would play along and do so harder than anyone else.

Qin Yuyang’s principle was that pornography, gambling, drugs, violence, and blood couldn’t be touched, much less those kinds of activities.

The rest depended on the situation. Either way, whether in the eyes of his elders or his peers, he was a very well-behaved person. 

All of the girls in his circle who possessed reputable family backgrounds and knew of Qin Yuyang were willing to associate with him.

Qin Yuyang dared not say whether he was as exceptional or not. Nevertheless, he had a clear conscience and had done nothing wrong to anyone, except for the mistake from last night.

“Xiao-Qiu, I’ve finished eating.” This pig who’d said he wouldn’t be able to finish, ate two large pots of food with astonishing speed. 

Su Ranqiu silently came over and gathered his bowl alongside the other two large pots of food that the pig had licked clean. Besides, the black rice bowl wasn’t necessary at all as the pig ate directly from the pots.

“Do you have any eggs?” Qin Yuyang stood up and followed Su Ranqiu into the kitchen. 

The boy was washing dishes when he almost dropped the vegetable basin in his hand. He was speechless, not to mention a period of time, it’s only been two days associating with Qin Yuyang, and Su Ranqiu felt like he was in too much pressure! 

“Yes, it’s in the box on the left.” On the surface, Su Ranqiu was still very calm.

“Oh.” Qin Yuyang grabbed two eggs and threw them into the bathwater that was being boiled.

Estimating that the eggs were almost cooked, he tried to fish them out using every possible method.

“Xiao-Qiu.”

When Su Ranqiu heard his name, he immediately stopped writing and stated with his hands on his temple, “I’m not eating, you can eat it yourself.” He was really too full! 

“They’re not for eating,” Qin Yuyang replied as he touched the hot eggs with both hands, grimacing as he placed them on the table. “You use them to roll on your face with.” After saying that, he held the two eggs up with a paper towel which kept them insulated.

“…” Su Ranqiu’s entire body stiffened.

The heated eggs on his face gave a little tingling sensation along with itching. 

“I would’ve boiled only one egg if I’d have known how small your face was. One is clearly more than enough.” Qin Yuyang realized that when he was cooking the eggs, he probably calculated it according to his own face.

“I’ll do it myself.” Su Ranqiu raised his hand to grab the egg but was immediately frightened by the hot temperature.

“No, you’re so delicate that you can’t even hold it.” Qin Yuyang relied on his thick skin, not to mention he didn’t care about his fingers which were scalded red by the heat.

After rolling the egg on Su Ranqiu’s face for about ten minutes, Qin Yuyang finally said, “Alright.” Then, while observing the fruits of his labor, he hastily knocked on the eggs, peeled off the shell and ate them. 

“…” Su Ranqiu was at a loss for words and thought, he ate them.

“Go take a bath, the water is hot,” Qin Yuyang reminded him.

Su Ranqiu’s mind suddenly blanked on the contents of the books he had reviewed before as his brain was instead filled with the appearance of Qin Yuyang eating eggs.

After taking a bath, Su Ranqiu felt that the temperature got much colder.

He took his books with him to bed, ready to read for a while.

“Here.” An ointment came flying through the air, when he looked up, the man was playing intently with his cell phone. 

“Turn the volume down.” Su Ranqiu was so speechless that he seemed to hear the cute background music of some joyous game. Very good, a man who was about 6’1 tall was busy concentrating on playing a happy-go-lucky game right in front of him.

Thus, he pulled the curtain up completely, isolating his space from the outside.

Su Ranqiu unscrewed the ointment and carefully applied it on the left side of his swollen, red face.

At about 10:00 p.m, Qin Yuyang realized his phone was running out of battery so he ended the game with an unsatisfied look. 

With nothing to play with at the moment, he finally had time to reflect on what had happened to him so far.

The result of his thinking was, “…What is there to think about?” Qin Yuyang thought heartlessly, at least he was still alive.

Within the limited range of choices presented, he’d just have to take care of himself.

If his family knew about his situation, they’d have reacted the same way and would’ve expected him to not miss his family too much. 

It would be good to have some fun in life and his family would be glad too.

“Can you make some space?” Qin Yuyang opened the quilt and laid inside with his buttocks arched.

Su Ranqiu put down the book and moved further inside with an unpleasant face. “If you come any closer, I’ll put up a wall.” The bed was big enough for two people, but the problem was that Qin Yuyang alone was the size of two.

“This bed is way too small.” Qin Yuyang complained as he laid in his thin underwear, soon the blanket was warmed.

“Turn off the light.” Su Ranqiu ordered as the other man hadn’t turned it off before lying down.

So Qin Yuyang got up once more and went to the door to flip the switch. 

Sunday, the next morning.

Su Ranqiu didn’t have to attend school today nor go to work part-time so he slept an hour more than usual. He was in a pleasant mood thinking about not having to squeeze inside the crowded bus.

He ate red bean toast bought by Qin Yuyang and the new millet porridge for breakfast.

“Do you have the right charger for this?” Qin Yuyang ate breakfast and when he became free, he finally tossed out his phone that was out of battery.

“No.” Su Ranqiu had finished eating earlier than him and was currently reading a book. 

“Then lend me your cell phone, I want to play.” Qin Yuyang glanced at the phone on the table and vowed, “I’ll only use it to play a game, I won’t invade your privacy.”

Su Ranqiu wanted to say no, but despite moving his lips, he said nothing.

Qin Yuyang felt nothing wrong and replied, “Thanks.” Then he picked up the phone and unlocked the screen lock with a well-known method, but he found no Happy Fun in Su Ranqiu’s phone, instead, there was only King of Glory.

It was a game he had never played before, but it looked entertaining so he decided to check it out.

An hour later, Su Ranqiu’s phone rang.

Qin Yuyang was stunned for a moment before he returned the cell phone to Su Ranqiu. “Someone called you.”

Su Ranqiu was also briefly surprised because generally, few people called him unless it was for money. Except his month’s loan had been paid back and the money owed to the family had also been returned.

“Zhikai?” Su Ranqiu didn’t expect it to be him. “What’s the matter?”

Xi Zhikai was Su Ranqiu’s classmate and former roommate. They both had shared a dorm room before. “Ranqiu, what’s the matter with you? Why did you suddenly fall from king status to silver? Did your account get stolen?”

“…” Su Ranqiu paused and slowly turned his head to look at Qin Yuyang. 

“…” Qin Yuyang quickly stood up and ran at the speed of light.

“Why are you so cheap!?” Su Ranqiu held up his slippers to chase after him, wishing he could slaughter Qin Yuyang on the spot. That was the account he was going to sell!

Qin Yuyang rushed out the door and yelled as he walked down the corridor, “I’m going to buy a charger so you calm down in the meantime.” Then he ran far away while protecting his head with his hands.

Su Ranqiu stopped chasing and while panting, he threw his slippers to the ground.

“Ranqiu.”

He’d forgotten to cut the call. Su Ranqiu gasped and lied, “It’s fine, a bear-like child stole my phone to play the game.”

“Fuck, I feel bad for you.” Xi Zhikai advised, “If that bear child steals your phone again, beat him to death next time.”

Qin Yuyang — the bear-like child — escaped to the cell phone store where he spent 140 yuan1 on a fake version of Apple’s mobile charger.

“Xiao-Qiu, open the door.” 

Su Ranqiu opened the door and saw Qin Yuyang standing with vegetables and fruits in both hands, his mood somehow calmed down a little.

“What’s your phone number?” Qin Yuyang walked in and said, “I’ve bought a new sim card so let’s exchange numbers.” 

Su Ranqiu put away the groceries and reluctantly gave his phone number to him.

“Okay, saved.” Qin Yuyang apologized shamelessly, “Sorry about your game, I’ll help you level up once I’ve practiced my skills.”

Su Ranqiu replied angrily, “No, I’ll do it myself.” If the rank was lost, it would cost him a whole 300 yuan2. He felt heartache just from thinking about it.

Qin Yuyang negotiated, “Your skills are better than mine so why don’t you help me?”

Su Ranqiu resisted the impulse to slap him. He glared at him and exclaimed, “Weren’t you going to make money? Why are you playing games? You don’t think your current situation is bad enough?”

“Or are you just fooling around because you don’t seriously believe I’ll kick you out of my house?” 

“When you’re done playing you’ll just go back to leech off of your parents, right?” 

“I’ve already found a way to make money, I’m just waiting for a message,” Qin Yuyang explained. Grabbing his phone that was charging, he downloaded the game and asked, “Say, what’s the password of the wifi next door?”

Su Ranqiu turned his head, “I don’t know.”

“Liar,” Qin Yuyang looked at him with narrowed eyes, “I saw your phone was connected to it, you know.”

Finally, in order to read his book peacefully, Su Ranqiu painfully sold the neighbours wifi password. 

“What kind of job?” Su Ranqiu asked casually. 

“It’s a job that makes a lot of money.” Qin Yuyang held a little tomato in his mouth and mumbled, “If it goes well, the financier will pay me two million.” 

Su Ranqiu widened his eyes and also took a small tomato to eat. “What is it exactly?”

Qin Yuyang was on the fence on how to answer such an inquiry so he muddled the words, “Selling oneself.”

“Cough cough…” Su Ranqiu immediately choked on the tomatoes in his mouth.

“Just kidding.” Qin Yuyang replied with an innocent face, “Is it possible for someone like me to sell myself? What are you so excited about?”

“…”

At 12 a.m, Huang Mao got through to Qin Yuyang’s new number, “Good morning Xiao-Yu, it’s Huang Mao, are you up?”

Qin Yuyang looked out the window at the sun high in the sky and thought, is he stupid or does he think I’m stupid?

“Speak.”

“I’ve made an appointment for 8 p.m tonight  at the 206.” Huang Mao confirmed, “How about it, is it okay?”

Qin Yuyang readily agreed, “Your Ting-Ge is really anxious.”

Huang Mao laughed twice and said nothing. 

“Then it’s settled.” Qin Yuyang planned, “At 7 in the evening, you’ll pick me up from the same milk tea shop as last time.” 

Huang Mao asked doubtfully, “Aren’t we having dinner together?” 7 p.m was too late, there wouldn’t be any time left for dinner with Qin Yuyang.

“What’s the hurry? I’ll eat with you after winning the match,” Qin Yuyang said with conviction. 

“Alright…” Huang Mao hung up the phone while touching his nose.

Su Ranqiu vaguely heard the word “win” so he immediately rushed out of the kitchen with a knife. He frowned and asked, “Are you going to gamble? Huh?”

“Hmm?” Qin Yuyang looked back and said confidently, “It’s a legitimate race. Do you understand racing?” He explained for a long time and it took him quite a bit of effort to get out of the situation by saying, “The kitchen knife is very sharp, be careful not to cut your hand.”

Hearing that it was a car race, Su Ranqiu breathed a sigh of relief. “Anyway, don’t gamble okay?” He recalled some bad memories so his face was ugly as he warned, “If you get involved in gambling, there’s no way I’m letting you in the house.” After saying that he turned and went back to the kitchen. 

Qin Yuyang was stunned on the spot. He remembered a night two years ago when he was out racing until late. His parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents; the entire family were waiting in the living room and said to him who’d just entered the door, “Don’t you ever touch a car again, otherwise don’t think of coming back.”

His family members had never requested anything from him except that he never touch a car ever again.

Since then he stayed very obedient and hadn’t touched any car for two years.

“When are you going?” Su Ranqiu finished getting things done in the kitchen and came out to inquire once again.

Qin Yuyang answered, “This evening at 7 p.m.” 

“I’ll go with you,” Su Ranqiu said something very unexpected. 

“You’re coming too?” Qin Yuyang raised his eyebrows as he panicked and said reluctantly, “Are you doubting me… I’m really not going to gamble…”

“If not, then what are you worried about?” Su Ranqiu rebutted with a grin on his face. 

Qin Yuyang silently thought to himself, it’s over, he’s really doubting me. The feeling of being supervised truly sucked.

~ $20 USD

~ $42 USD