IBPAODWABS Ch77

The time for the college entrance examination is getting closer every day. Ji Shu visited grandma Shen in the ward. Grandma took a mobile phone and called Shen Chi’s name. When she walked out of the ward, Mrs. Shen’s eyes flashed with disgust. .

“Your grandma will not live long.”

Mrs Shen’s voice fluctuated, Ji Shu knew that his mother did not like Shen Chi, and even dissatisfied with Grandma Shen, he did not dare to mention Grandma Shen. He walked out of the depressed hospital with his head down.

In order to prove that he is not like Shen Chi who can only play games, he studied with Yan University as the goal. At first, he made a mistake and couldn’t sleep well at night, but later it often took three or four o’clock in the morning to fall asleep during the day. Unable to concentrate.

Ji Shu felt tired, but he was unwilling to return to that poor and run-down town, and he didn’t understand how he could bear it before.

*

Shen Chi is getting used to living alone. The road to the border city is far away. He can only go to the hospital to see his grandma once a month during follow-up visits. However, since he taught his grandma to use a smartphone, he has video calls with grandma every day.

Grandma doesn’t know how to use a smartphone. Every time she connects to the video with the help of a nurse, the speed is very slow. She even thinks he lives on the phone and complains about why he can’t come out. He can only coax my grandma next time. ‌ He brought sweets, and the old woman with a bad memory would smile.

However, the grandma in the video is getting weaker and weaker. Every day, she is thinner than the previous day, and her memory is worse. She repeats the past and asks him to make shredded pork with sauce: “We must grow well when you are still young.”

He hung his head and hummed.

He will listen to grandma’s words for a long time. He will be admitted to Yan , buy a house , and live with his grandma. It would be better if his brother is there.

He thought that the days would continue like this, until Mrs. Shen’s indifferent face appeared on the sky screen: “She passed away yesterday. What can you keep? Don’t bother us again.”

The young man stood there immediately, not knowing what he was feeling, his heart seemed to be held by one hand, and the pain made him breathless. That hand dragged him into the dark bottom of the sea, swallowing countless sea water. .

It turned out that when he was really sad, he couldn’t cry. He squeezed the small bag of sugar in his hands blankly. He could no longer bring sugar to her and could not even see her one last time.

He stood there for a long time, dialed a call, and the phone was still unanswered. The young man’s voice asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

“I will change slowly. I will cook by myself, read by myself, and take care of myself . You don’t need to spend much time on me.”

“If the things I have done bother you, you don’t need to hide from me. I will only treat you as my brother in the future.”

“Grandma passed away, I’m the only one left.” His eye sockets slowly turned red, “I was admitted to Yan University, I’ll even buy you a house, You can’t leave me alone.”

There was a long silence on the phone, and the thinly-dressed teenager trembled, and asked the question that he had been afraid to ask: “Brother, don’t you want me anymore?”

But there was no response.

The boy finally turned off his phone hopelessly, moved out of Yan Xue Xiao’s house, moved back to his rental house, locked himself in a small room, and retracted into a dark corner.

There was no light in the dark room, like when he was abandoned at the railway station, he sat alone in a chair with his luggage box, and he couldn’t wait for the person to pick him up.

He was immersed in the gloom and did nothing. He stayed quietly alone, but when he closed his eyes, he heard his grandma facing him: “Xiao Chi must grow well.”

His eyes slightly wet, the illusion of young and middle-aged hand gently touched his head, like the moon light into dead branches and stagnant water, he gently fished him out from the dark bottom.

*

United States, New York.

Marble wall clocks are placed at both ends of the restaurant. The fish on the table is from Riviera, and the wine is sourced from wine cellars from all over the world by the restaurant’s sommelier. Today, this one is made in Burgundy .

“I won’t talk about official business today.” Zheng An, who is used to the domestic wine table, apparently doesn’t like the low-degree side wine, and pushed a glass of vodka to the other side, “Talk after drinking.”

A young man with a mixed-race face spoke in unskilled Chinese: “His body cannot drink strong alcohol.”

“Why can’t young people drink alcohol?” Zheng An sighed dissatisfied:”It is the lofty philosophy of learning. It is normal for us old people. Your father will never refuse when he is here.”

Yan Xuexiao picked up the glass and drank the whole bottle of vodka.

Ah Pei had seen the young man’s indifferent appearance in the past. If Yan Xue Xiao’s father was there, others would not dare to be so presumptuous in front of him.

He remembered that Yan Xuexiao shed a tear when he learned about Yan Zhao’s death, and he saw Yan Xuexiao kneeling for a long night in front of the portrait.

“I remember you went to the border town last year.” Zheng An asked casually, “That kid is called Shen Chi, right?”

“Who is he?”

Yan Xue Xiao raised his long and narrow eyes.

Yan Xue Xiao’s reaction did not seem to be fake. He should have forgotten the child who was abandoned in the border city. He asked more questions. He was unwilling to deal with the old fox Luo Shu. Yan Xuexiao returned to China to take power. However, he(YXX) kept finding out his(ZA) weakness, and he handed the youth a glass of vodka.

Yan Xue Xiao drank a full bottle of vodka and walked out of the restaurant. When he walked out of the restaurant, he looked cold and indifferent. Ah Pei asked worriedly: “You are in good health. Drinking so much alcohol? What’s the matter?”

The pale-skinned youth was silent, as if looking at someone through the night. Ah Pei knew that he was thinking of someone, but he did not dare to say his name even in his dream.

Days passed, Ah Pei slowly watched Yan Xue Xiao hover in the dark, growing from a gentle and cold youth to a man whose emotions and anger were invisible, the only thing that did not change was–

A worn red string is tied to his wrist.

*

Sixty-nine days away from the college entrance examination.

Sixty-eight days.

Sixty-seven days.

……

Shen Chi has been to school.

When Mr. Wang comes to the classroom every day, he will look at the empty chair first, and his eyes are full of deep worries.

On the fifty-ninth day, the teenager finally appeared in the classroom. On the podium, Mr. Wang’s eye circles suddenly turned red. He quickly bowed his head and wiped his eyes and wiped his glasses, with a severe tone: “Classmates, it is only two months away from the college entrance examination. Don’t give up at the last minute.”

“You scared me to death, and suddenly shut yourself in the room.” Zhuang Zhou looked at the young man who concentrated on reading, and let go of his heart.

Shi Liang choked his eyes and said, “We are calling your name in turn outside your door. Teacher Wang knows that you are so anxious. If you don’t come out, the school security guard will go to the door. Yan Shen also went to his father to unlock the door. What happened?”

“‌‌.”

Shen Chi sat quietly in his seat to solve the problem. The ten days when he shut himself in his room suddenly passed, and people would always be with him. He was no longer afraid to feel the warmth of light even in the dark.

They also hope that he will become a better person. He should not be a burden on anyone. This so-called long past experience is transformed into the strength to support him, and he can walk out of the darkness alone.
If Yan Xue Xiao stood in front of him, he could say thank you calmly. Even if he disappeared off his life unexpectedly, the hand he once held out to him was true.

The previous embrace is real.

The light he gave was true.

It’s just that the young unrequited love is forgotten in his mind, and it ends completely without waiting for him to grow up, and it will always be buried in the deepest corner of his heart, except that it won’t be known.

He reinvested himself in the intense preparation for the exam, not wasting every second, and greeted the arrival of the college entrance examination in the border town. In the fourth mode, his performance was ranked 35th in the province. When he saw the performance, MMr . Wang was more nervous than himself and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

The students in the class tacitly don’t disturb his study. As long as he is reading, he will always move gently, and the water cup on the desktop will always be picked up silently. When he walks out of the classroom, he hears the classmate behind him proudly introduce to others.

“The number one in the province is our class.”

“Not only does he learn well, but I also play the game very well, just doesn’t speak well.”

“I will try to take an exam in Yan University in the future.”

He paused as he walked forward. He didn’t get along much with his classmates, thinking that no one would like his cold self. So he was also a good classmate.

It was a continuous rainy day in the border town on the day of the college entrance examination. The concrete floor was full of torrential rain. Fortunately, the school building was refurbished to prevent the test from leaking. Social vehicles were not allowed to pass on the school road.

Mama Zhuang sent him and Zhuang Zhou to the examination room. They all stuffed a pen that went to the temple to pray for blessings. He took the pen: “Thank you, Auntie.”

Zhuang’s mother’s eyes were red:”Thank you, do you want to go to the examination room alone?”

Mr. Wang, who gave him the umbrella, repeatedly confirmed that his admission ticket was taken. Even Yan Jianguo was afraid that he would faint in the examination room because of low blood sugar gave him chocolates.

Shen Chi pursed his lips. In fact, there is no lack of subtle kindness around him, but he ‌‌ found that he could only see Yan Xue Xiao through his vision.

He went into the examination room and found a seat to sit down. He thought he would be nervous, but he was extremely calm in his seat. He looked at the red rope between his wrists and withdrew his gaze.

The first test was Chinese. His speed was not fast, but each word was written neatly. The topic of the essay revolved around Kant’s life, and Yan Xue xiao’s face appeared in front of him. He subconsciously writes the first sentence:

Kant, a German classical philosopher, once said that two things in the world can shock people’s hearts: one is the lofty moral standards in our hearts; The other is the bright starry sky above us.

Two days of college entrance examinations have passed. When he walked out of the examination room, he forgot to take the umbrella outside the classroom. The border town was covered by layers of rain, and the air was filled with a humid and sultry atmosphere.

The security guard at the security office handed him an umbrella, and he picked it up, and walked home from the rain alone, with relief.

When Shen Chi got home, Zhuang’s mother gave him a new mobile phone. He changed the new number and put the old mobile phone and everything left by Yan Xue Xiao into a box.

After the long preparation for the exam, he looked at the contents of the box, suddenly feel strange, as if Yan Xue Xiao had never appeared in his life, and he had never known a graduate student in the United States.

He has always been alone.

His gaze fell to his wrist, and finally he untied the red string between his wrist and put it in the box, buckled the lock of the box, and let out a sigh of relief.

The continuous rain in the border town has stopped, like his long adolescence and his unrequited love with the end of the rainy season-

It’s all over.

Translator’s Note: Low-key feeling shitty and depressed on recent chapters. I picked it up thinking it would be light and fluffy.