WBAI Chapter 73

The deadline for the wood carving competition Xie An’yu signed up for was the end of August. Before that, participants had to mail their entries to the address specified by the organizers. Late submissions would result in disqualification.

When Xie An’yu submitted his registration, he already knew what he wanted to carve. With about a month to work on it, the timeline wasn’t particularly long, but it wasn’t too short either. While he couldn’t tackle anything overly intricate, it was enough time to complete the piece he had in mind.

After registering, Xie An’yu went to a lumber store and picked out a suitably sized piece of maple wood. As he paid and prepared to carry it back, he suddenly understood why learning to drive was useful. The wood measured 50 cm by 50 cm—not overly large, but with some thickness, it was still a hefty block to carry. He had taken the subway there and would have to take it back. If he found a seat on the carriage, it would be manageable, but if not, it would be quite troublesome.

The shop owner packaged the wood in a box, and Xie An’yu asked, “Boss, does your store offer home delivery?”

The owner glanced up at him while sealing the box. “Sure, no problem, but there’s a delivery fee.”

“How much?”

“Where are you sending it?”

Xie An’yu gave him the address.

“Sixty yuan, I guess.”

The way he said ‘sixty’ clearly left room for bargaining.

“Can you make it cheaper?”

The owner stood up and clapped his hands. “You’re a student, right? What are you planning to do with this wood?”

“Carve something.”

“By yourself?”

“Mm.”

“Not bad.” The owner’s eyes showed a hint of admiration. “You’re young, but you’re into wood carving. The piece you chose—are you planning to carve a relief?”

Xie An’yu nodded.

“Alright.” The owner nodded. “Since you’re young, I’ll cut you a deal—50. Can’t go any lower than that.”

“Okay, thank you, Boss.”

Xie An’yu had already booked a DIY wood carving studio online in advance, and the address he gave the owner was for that studio. Carving wood was a messy job—doing it at home would scatter wood chips everywhere, and cleaning up would be a nightmare. It wasn’t something to do at home. Besides, the studio had specialized tools and equipment, making the work much more convenient than at home.

The studio had both public and private workspaces. The public workspace was like a small classroom, usually used by amateur woodcarvers or beginners crafting DIY trinkets.

Xie An’yu had reserved a private workspace and booked it for a week.

***

Yu Feng had spent six days in Milan and returned without telling Xie An’yu in advance. It wasn’t until he got in a taxi after landing that he sent Xie An’yu a WeChat message: 【Off the plane】

It was getting dark. Xie An’yu was still carving wood at the studio. He only saw Yu Feng’s message when he took a break to drink some water.

Xie An’yu: 【You’re back?】

Xie An’yu: 【Why didn’t you tell me earlier?】

Xie An’yu: 【Are you still at the airport? I’ll come pick you up】

Yu Feng: 【I’m almost home】

Yu Feng put down his phone, and it suddenly vibrated. He glanced down and answered the call.

“Auntie Chen?”

“Yu Feng! You need to come over right away!” Aunt Chen sounded anxious. “Cheng Sheng’s father is back!”

Yu Feng froze.

“He’s standing right outside your door right now. I just finished dinner and wanted to ask your mom to go for a walk. When I opened the door, I saw him standing there. I yelled at him a few times, but he still wouldn’t leave. Your mom is inside and won’t open the door either…”

“I understand. I’ll be there right away.” Yu Feng hung up. The taxi driver had already pulled up to the entrance of his residential complex. Yu Feng quickly took his luggage upstairs to drop off his luggage at home, and then drove his own car to his mother’s house.

***

Xie An’yu was just about to pack up and go home. He had just taken off his apron when he saw the message from Yu Feng.

Yu Feng: 【I’m heading to my mom’s place first】

Xie An’yu: 【When will you be back?】

Yu Feng: 【Not sure, might be late】

Xie An’yu: 【Did you have dinner?】

Yu Feng: 【Ate on the plane】

Xie An’yu: 【Mm, then I’ll wait for you】

Xie An’yu put his apron back on. The studio didn’t close until 10 PM, so he could stay there for a while longer.

***

By the time Yu Feng reached his mother’s place, it was already completely dark. He hurried up the stairs, the motion-sensor lights in the hallway flickering on one by one.

Cheng Liqun was standing outside his door, wearing a white shirt. Yu Feng hadn’t seen him in over a decade. In his memory, Cheng Liqun had always dressed like this—a shirt paired with dress pants, his back always straight.

Now, his back was no longer straight. It was slightly hunched, a bit stooped, and his silhouette was no longer as broad and sturdy as it had been years ago. He looked thin and frail, with a sickly appearance.

Hearing the footsteps, Cheng Liqun turned his head. Yu Feng noticed that even his gaze had become unfocused, his gaze couldn’t seem to focus when looking at someone. His face was almost unchanged, but it seemed drained of vitality. The signs of aging were obvious—streaks of silver mixed in his hair. He was a few years younger than Wang Minying, but he looked much older than her.

Yu Feng had thought that if he ever saw him again, he would rush over without hesitation and punch him—maybe even beat him to death. But now, he felt unusually calm, neither sad nor angry, just purely disgusted.

How could he have the nerve to come back? How could he have the nerve to stand outside his door?

“Xiao Feng.”

His voice has also changed a lot—it was hoarse and weak, as if he were speaking with his last breath. He spoke with difficulty, and it was just as difficult to listen to.

Yu Feng frowned: “Don’t stand there.”

“I’m here to find Cheng Sheng.”

“I said don’t stand there.” Yu Feng’s voice deepened, his expression turning cold.

Cheng Liqun shifted slightly, his brow furrowing. “I’m not here to bother you. I just want to see Cheng Sheng. If you don’t want me here, we can talk downstairs.”

Yu Feng turned and headed downstairs. Cheng Liqun followed him.

The two of them stopped in front of a greenbelt. At this hour, most of the residents had gone for walks in the nearby park, so there weren’t many people around the residential buildings.

“I’m here to find Cheng Sheng,” Cheng Liqun said.

“And you only came to find him after disappearing for over a decade?”

Cheng Liqun had no response and could only lower his stance. “Can’t you even let me see him once?”

“He’s dead.” Yu Feng spoke the words calmly, but his heart felt as if it had been slashed by a knife, the pain making it hard to breathe.

Cheng Liqun’s hollow eyes widened, his gaze slowly focusing on Yu Feng’s face, staring straight at him. “What… did you say?”

“I said he’s dead.” Yu Feng met the eyes he loathed more than anything. “What, did you figure he finally come of age this year and be able to earn money and support you in your old age, so you came back for him? Is that it?”

“I just want to see him!” Cheng Liqun suddenly roared, startling the birds from the trees.

He lowered his head and coughed several times, then walked straight up to Yu Feng, staring intently into his eyes. “Are you lying to me?”

Yu Feng remained silent.

Cheng Liqun grabbed him by the collar and shouted, “Are you lying to me?!”

Yu Feng couldn’t understand—if Cheng Liqun truly couldn’t accept Cheng Sheng’s departure, why had he never shown his face even once all these years?

Adult hearts could be truly cruel sometimes.

Cheng Liqun’s voice was trembling, and his hands were shaking. He looked like a withered tree stripped of life, his words squeezed painfully from his throat.

When Cheng Liqun left, Yu Feng only reached his shoulders. Now, Yu Feng stood taller than him.
Yu Feng looked down at him, his gaze colder than ice.

“How did he die?”

“Suicide.”

Cheng Liqun’s eyes went blank for a moment. The hands gripping Yu Feng’s collar suddenly shifted to his throat.

Yu Feng frowned.

“He died because of you, didn’t he?” Cheng Liqun seemed on the verge of collapse.

He was ill, with only days left to live. In his final days, he wanted to see Cheng Sheng one last time. He had run away for years, returning to his rural hometown to continue teaching, and found a young, beautiful woman. But heaven sees all misdeeds, and retribution will come eventually.

In the end, he had no one left by his side, not even someone to witness his death.

Cheng Liqun couldn’t fathom why Cheng Sheng would take his own life, but he believed only Yu Feng could shake the foundations of what mattered most to him—including his life.

Cheng Sheng had already lost his hearing; his world was silent, and Yu Feng was his only sound. Without Yu Feng as his anchor, he would quickly fade away. That was why, when Cheng Liqun tried to take him away back then, Cheng Sheng chose Yu Feng instead.

He said he didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to be separated from his brother.

“It was you back then—because of you, he refused to go with me. And you? How did you take care of him?!” The veins on Cheng Liqun’s hands bulged. He wished he could strangle Yu Feng to death. Since he didn’t have long to live anyway, he might as well take someone with him.

Yu Feng’s breathing grew labored. For a brief moment, he thought it might be better to die like this, at Cheng Liqun’s hands.

Cheng Sheng’s face surfaced in his mind—a face brighter than sunlight when he smiled. Cheng Sheng loved to laugh, always hiding his sorrows. He never realized how obvious the sadness in his eyes was, but what good did seeing it do? Yu Feng still hadn’t managed to keep Cheng Sheng in this world.

Yu Feng remained motionless, letting Cheng Liqun choke him. His lack of reaction gave Cheng Liqun pause. Yu Feng’s body was relaxed, his neck slack, offering no resistance.

As his breath slowly faded, Yu Feng closed his eyes. He seized Cheng Liqun’s hands and yanked them aside—just as Cheng Liqun’s grip loosened slightly.

Yu Feng shoved Cheng Liqun’s hands away and slapped him across the face. The sharp crack left Cheng Liqun stunned, his ears ringing.

In the next instant, Yu Feng’s hands closed around Cheng Liqun’s throat.

Yu Feng grabbed him by the neck and took a few steps forward, shoving him against a tree. His voice was hoarse as he spoke, “What right do you have to accuse me? If you really cared about him, why didn’t you ever come to see him all these years? You want to take him away? Why should he go with a bastard like you?”

Yu Feng’s grip was much stronger than Cheng Liqun’s. Cheng Liqun was emaciated, his neck so thin it seemed like it could snap with a light twist. With just one hand, Yu Feng choked him until he couldn’t breathe, his face turning a purplish-red.

Yu Feng was truly choking him to death: “I’ve always thought you were hypocritical, but I never imagined you haven’t changed at all over the years. You’ve deceived even yourself with your act. Don’t act like you loved Cheng Sheng in front of me—it makes me sick.”

Cheng Liqun’s eyelids were rolling back. If Yu Feng kept choking him a little longer, he might really stop breathing.

Yu Feng realized that no matter how much pain showed on the other man’s face, he felt no sense of satisfaction—only sorrow. Time doesn’t flow backward. Cheng Liqun’s suffering and death couldn’t bring Cheng Sheng back. Once gone, he was gone forever.

Yu Feng released Cheng Liqun, who slid down the tree trunk and collapsed on the ground, coughing violently.

Yu Feng knew he was ill.

“Just slowly die alone like this,” Yu Feng spat out the words and turned to leave.

As Yu Feng went upstairs, he saw his mother standing at the door, peering down the stairs.

“Where is he?” Wang Minying asked, her brow tightly furrowed.

“Downstairs,” Yu Feng replied as he walked up. “It’s fine. Go back inside. If he comes up again, we’ll call the police.”

Only then did Wang Minying notice the red marks on Yu Feng’s neck. She gasped, “What happened to your neck?”

“It’s nothing.”

Wang Minying’s expression darkened. “Did he lay a hand on you?”

“I’m really fine.”

“Look at the state of your neck!” Wang Minying suddenly erupted. “Who does he think he is?! How dare he come back?! How dare he come looking for Cheng Sheng?!”

Yu Feng tried to calm her. “Let’s go inside first.”

The situation was better than Yu Feng had expected. Wang Minying didn’t break down into hysterics or smash things around the house. Aside from her visible anger, her emotions were relatively stable.

Yu Feng had been afraid that seeing Cheng Liqun would send her into another collapse.

Perhaps his mother had moved on long ago—he just hadn’t realized it.

Yu Feng went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. The finger marks on his neck were clearly visible, with some areas turning slightly blue where the grip had been tight.

“He died because of you, didn’t he?”

That voice had been echoing in Yu Feng’s mind since the confrontation.

Walking out of the bathroom, Yu Feng glanced in the direction of the room where he used to sleep.

“Yu Feng.” Wang Minying called out to him from the living room. She could tell he was in a bad state—it had been a long time since she’d seen that expression on his face. She didn’t know what Cheng Liqun had said to him.

Yu Feng turned to look at her and asked, “Can I stay here tonight?”

Wang Minying frowned but nodded silently.

Yu Feng opened the door to the long-sealed room. In truth, it wasn’t sealed at all—Wang Minying cleaned it every week. The room was spotless, with not a speck of dust on the bookshelves or desk.

This was the room where Yu Feng and Cheng Sheng used to sleep. The bed by the window was his, and the smaller bed on the other side of the desk belonged to Cheng Sheng.

A photo of Cheng Sheng stood on the bookshelf. Yu Feng walked over, touched the frame, and quietly gazed at the person in the picture.

Everything in the room remained unchanged, only the person was gone, and time had drifted far away.

Yu Feng turned off the light, lay down on Cheng Sheng’s small bed, and closed his eyes.

***

Wang Minying sat in the living room for a while but couldn’t stay still. She picked up the car keys Yu Feng had left in the entryway and opened the door to leave. Just then, Chen Shuqin happened to poke her head out from across the hall: “Is he gone?”

Earlier, when Cheng Liqun was at the door, Chen Shuqin had been outside cursing loudly, causing everyone upstairs and downstairs to come out and watch the commotion. Wang Minying didn’t want Chen Shuqin to get dragged into the mess, so she dug out her long-unused phone to call her and tell her to go back inside the house. Chen Shuqin listened and went back in, then calling Yu Feng afterward.

“He should be gone,” Wang Minying said, closing the door.

Chen Shuqin looked puzzled. “Are you going out?”

“Mm.”

Chen Shuqin noticed the car keys in her hand and looked surprised. “You’re driving out?”

Wang Minying knew how to drive, but she hadn’t driven in years.

“Don’t be reckless! It’s been so long since you’ve driven. What’s so urgent that you need to drive out? I’ll have my family’s Lao Li take you.”

“No need, it’s not like I don’t know how,” Wang Minying said hurriedly as she headed downstairs. “Go back inside, I’m leaving.”

“Hey! Be careful on the road! Drive slowly!”

Wang Minying had been a high school teacher in her youth, so her mind was still sharp. After studying Yu Feng’s car for a moment, she started it up and hit the road. Following the navigation, she drove to Yu Feng’s apartment complex.

Wang Minying ran into Xie An’yu—who had just returned from the studio—at the elevator.

“Auntie…” Xie An’yu was a bit surprised.

“Just got back?”

Xie An’yu nodded, unsure of the situation. “Are you… here to see Brother Yu?”

“I’m here for you,” Wang Minying said. “Yu Feng is at my place. Could you… go keep him company?”

Xie An’yu’s heart sank. “Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened. If you’re willing to come, come with me now.”

Xie An’yu nodded: “Mm.”

Wang Minying drove aggressively, speeding along the way, her face cold and silent. After parking the car downstairs at her apartment complex, she led Xie An’yu upstairs. She opened the door and pointed toward the room where Yu Feng and Cheng Sheng used to live: “He’s in that room. He might be asleep. You…”

Wang Minying wasn’t sure what to say. Bringing Xie An’yu over had been somewhat impulsive, but she truly couldn’t bear to leave Yu Feng alone in that room for the night.

Xie An’yu walked straight to the room, knocked gently on the door, and when there was no response, he pushed it open.

Yu Feng thought it was his mother and didn’t move, lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

With the faint light from outside, Xie An’yu saw Yu Feng lying on the bed. He closed the door, walked over quietly, and knelt down beside the bed. Yu Feng’s breathing was uneven—he wasn’t asleep.

“Brother,” Xie An’yu called out softly.

Yu Feng’s eyes snapped open, and he turned his head to look.

Xie An’yu didn’t know what had happened, but as soon as he entered the room, he felt a sudden, inexplicable wave of sadness. He gently touched Yu Feng’s ear. “I’m here, Brother.”

List of Idiom in Chapter 73

毫不猶豫 (háo bù yóu yù): without the slightest hesitation; without the least 【slightest】 hesitation; make no bones about; describes a person who is very decisive in handling things without a moment’s hesitation.

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