CH 25

hoenimochi12-15 minutes 28.01.2022

Translator: hoenimochi, Rin    Editor: Slumber

Lu Yong grew up as a loner. When he was in school, he never took the initiative to play around wildly. He preferred to go home and play alone. He could sit at home and spend half a day dismantling a discarded refrigerator or TV set alone with amusement. He was full of curiosity about every part of it. His dad always spoiled him and let him play with it, never scolding him for spoiling things, and the next time he saw a new appliance, his dad would specially buy it for him to play with.

He thought it was much more interesting than other boys collecting game cards, playing basketball, or roller skating.

So in this respect, his father indulged him more and more.

After Lu Yong picked up more and more “treasures” from the waste, he said he wanted a house to put things in. He asked his father if he could build a small house in the backyard, then he had the prototype of a studio.

It was not until after he met Shen Wenqiu that he got in line with the hobbies of ordinary boys. He would only be interested in understanding the things that Shen Wenqiu liked.

The reason why Father Lu liked Shen Wenqiu so much was not only because Shen Wenqiu was a beautiful child, knew how to be polite, had good grades, and was a standard helpful friend, but also because it was the first time in his life that Lu Yong had made a friend.

Before that, Lu Yong had no male friends of the same age.

At that time, Lu Yong was full of his beloved young boy. In addition to his hobby that lasted for ten years, he added a “Xiao Baa” to his daily topic. When his father asked about school, Lu Yong couldn’t help but talk about Shen Wenqiu within the first three sentences. He would remember everything Shen Wenqiu ate and what TV series he watched.

Later, when Lu Yong recalled it, he suddenly realised how flawed it was.

When the two of them didn’t talk, his father didn’t have much doubts. After all, the junior year of high school was too busy, and he no longer had time to play around, so he forgot to ask.

Once, his dad came over to give him something. He was not in the classroom, and his dad didn’t know that they had broken off their friendship, so he called Shen Wenqiu out in a familiar way.

When Lu Yong returned to the classroom, he saw this scene–

Shen Wenqiu was talking to his dad, as obedient as he always was, and said a mouthful of “uncle”, “…Well, thank you uncle, I will work hard, just give me the things and I will pass them to Lu Yong. Okay, Okay, thank you uncle.”

It couldn’t be seen that they had broken off their friendship at all.

Shen Wenqiu was smiling, and the afterglow of this smiling face quickly cooled down after seeing Lu Yong.

Lu Yong didn’t even dare to step forward, and silently avoided them. It took a few minutes to watch his father leave before he returned to the classroom. The things that his dad had asked for help were placed in his desk’s drawer, including a hand-made nougat.

Lu Yong picked up the candy wrapped in beautiful candy wrapping, thinking that if his father was there, he would definitely tell him to divide half of it to Shen Wenqiu. Since Shen Wenqiu went to their house more often, his father regarded Shen Wenqiu as half his son. Whenever Shen Wenqiu came to their house, he said that it was delicious and his father would be very happy.

Then, at the dinner table, his father asked abruptly, “I went to your school to look for you on Wednesday, and you obviously walked over. Why did you avoid Xiao Baa when you saw him?”

Lu Yong froze immediately, “…”

Both father and son stopped moving the bowls and chopsticks. His dad glanced at him calmly for a long time, then sighed slowly and patted him on the shoulder, “Dad got it.”

Got what? What do you know? Lu Yong was dumbfounded.

At first, Lu Yong felt that he knew that they were no longer friends, but later he felt that there was something wrong. Maybe his dad knew that he liked Shen Wenqiu.

He didn’t figure out what his father meant until so many years passed.

The day before yesterday, he asked Dad for help in order to aid Shen Wenqiu. His father agreed without saying a word and didn’t make it difficult for him. Later, he heard that Lu Yong found Shen Wenqiu, so he came to ask, “When did you and Xiao Baa reconnect? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Lu Yong intended to avoid the topic. He said, “I can’t finish it in a few sentences. I’ll talk to you in detail next time, Dad.”

——After visiting Shen Wenqiu, Lu Yong sent his father out of the ward.

The father and son walked out the door silently.

The father and son stood at the door of the ward. As soon as the door was closed, Dad lowered his voice and asked, “What about now? Do you have time to tell me more about the entire thing in detail?”

Lu Yong was afraid of being heard, and he walked a few steps away. He took his father to the end of the corridor to find a good location. Once he raised his head standing there, he could see the entrance of Shen Wenqiu’s ward. He then slowly talked about his reunion with Shen Wenqiu in this period of time.

Father Lu frowned when he heard the beginning, and he didn’t relax until the end. He said, “It’s not easy for Xiao Baa these years…Why didn’t he come to us earlier? He used to look like a lustrous and healthy boy, but now he looks thin and sick…Haih, I have heard about his family bankruptcy, but I didn’t expect it to be so bad.”

“You take good care of him and help him for as long as you can. Both he and his dad are good people. They have helped us so much before. You can’t be ungrateful.”

After speaking, Father Lu gave him another meaningful glance, patted him on the shoulder, and said speciously, “Everything is difficult at the beginning. He hasn’t worked for a long time. Adjusting his life is not like pressing a button to change the mode, “swish” then everything is changed, it is impossible. You need to have more patience, just wait for him to be pulled up.”

Lu Yong was just about to nod when Father Lu asked, “But he has been living with you this month? Didn’t you have only one bed?”

Lu Yong’s mind went blank and said, “We didn’t sleep on the same bed, he slept on the sofa.”

Father Lu was stunned, and fell silent: “…”

Lu Yong’s neck reddened, and he fell silent: “…”

Lu Yong thought his father meant something, and then wondered if it was because of his guilty conscience. He shouldn’t have simply opened his mouth or even gone to the extent of explaining. Wasn’t it a standard example of a clumsy denial resulting in self-exposure?

Father Lu raised his head first and said abruptly, “You’re not short of money, buy a new bed! Clean up the side bedroom. Otherwise, are you going to let him keep sleeping on the sofa?”

Lu Yong pretended to be calm: “En, I, I will buy it when I go back.”

–

With that said, Lu Yong was not in a hurry to take Shen Wenqiu back.

He simply missed a few more days of work. Since starting his business, he had been very dedicated to his work, so it wouldn’t be a problem for him to ask others to do the job for a few days.

Now that they had all been admitted to the hospital and their physical problems had been checked, Lu Yong then took Shen Wenqiu to the best local psychiatric hospital for treatment.

Shen Wenqiu didn’t agree at first and said, “I couldn’t think properly about it before, but I’m all right now. It’s all right, I’ll adjust myself. Why are you wasting that money?”

Lu Yong said, “It’s not much of a waste of money, you go and have a look.”

“Are you saying that I am crazy?”

“I didn’t mean that…but I think you have to seek help from a professional doctor to deal with your emotions.”

“I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t want to go. Take me back to H city.”

Lu Yong still drove the car to the hospital entrance. Shen Wenqiu sat in the front passenger seat like a pin, and said muffledly, “I’m just a little depressed. Who wouldn’t when they owed so much money and when your family died? You’d be depressed too, right?”

“Isn’t this kind of thing generally said to be too sentimental?…Why get a huge number of people to be involved?”

Shen Wenqiu actually had a vague idea about his old classmates’ attitudes, and it was not completely unheard of. Anyway, it was a negative case. He always couldn’t help thinking about how others were talking about himself. They must said that he was weak and incompetent, with poor psychological quality, and was completely defeated when suffering a setback…

Lu Yong coaxed him and said, “You should see the doctor first. I’ve even taken the number for you. I’m really concerned since you’ve never seen a doctor, so I have been thinking about it.”

Did he unconsciously cause trouble for Lu Yong again? Shen Wenqiu had to agree, but then he said, “I can’t stay in the hospital even if the doctor admits me.”

The test results did not surprise them.

It was depression.

The doctor prescribed the medicine and instructed him to take the medicine on time, live a regular life, exercise more, try to avoid the source of stress, and it was best to rest.

Shen Wenqiu was very despondent. When completing the questionnaire, he had already tried his best to choose optimistically, but he still couldn’t hide it. The doctor also said jokingly, “Depression is a pathological change with a physiological basis. It is not a weakness that can be easily overcome and concealed. The current scientific theory is that the lack of serotonin in the brain makes you unhappy. Of course your self-regulation is important, but medicine must be taken.”

Shen Wenqiu didn’t speak and didn’t look good either. Lu Yong said, “Thank you, doctor, I will tell him to take the medicine properly.”

They dealt with it for the rest of the day.

Lu Yong followed him half a step behind, carrying a plastic bag of medicine.

Even if he didn’t say a word, even if he didn’t look back, Shen Wenqiu could know that Lu Yong was supporting him behind. Shen Wenqiu asked awkwardly, “I really don’t want to be treated like a sick person. Can I go to work at your company when I’m sick?”

Lu Yong replied: “Do you want to go right away? If you want to go, go. If you don’t want to go, take medicine and rest at home. You can improve your mood and health first, don’t worry.”

He even tried to make a joke, “Anyway, you owe so much money that one day or two doesn’t make a difference. What’s the hurry? Isn’t it?”

After speaking, he immediately added rigorously: “I’m joking.”

Shen Wenqiu was really amused by him, and he could always be amused by Lu Yong’s serious attempts to be humorous.

The hospital was halfway up the mountain, and the road was very steep. They walked down the long steps, and the afterglow of the setting sun stretched their shadows and leaned in front of them.

Shen Wenqiu thought, fortunately there was a sunset glow today, so Lu Yong wouldn’t find him blushing.

Lu Yong remained neither too fast nor too slow, and said to him, “I don’t think this is being sentimental. Being sick is sick. When you are sick, you should be treated instead of being accused and persecuted. If you want to pay back the money, you also have to get healthy first, don’t you?”

“If it really doesn’t work, I can help you pay it back… Don’t be too stressful.”

Shen Wenqiu said sharply, “You are putting pressure on me by saying this, so don’t say it.”

Lu Yong quickly agreed, “Okay, okay, I won’t say anything.”

It had been a long time since the two of them chatted so freely, and it was like going back to their student days, but it didn’t feel the same. How would the young Shen Wenqiu be so fierce? Dissing him whenever he wanted to.

Shen Wenqiu looked at his own shadow and suddenly said, “But I haven’t worked for so many years, I don’t know if I can do it.”

Lu Yong felt the phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and took a look. It was a text message from a person in the furniture store, stating that the bed he bought would be delivered to the door tomorrow.

Lu Yong silently put his phone back and said, “Do you still remember Town Y?”

“I do.” Shen Wenqiu said. During winter vacation of the first year of high school, he and Lu Yong travelled there together. They said it was a tour, but it was actually a study tour in disguise, which was very memorable.

Lu Yong said, “I plan to build a new factory in Town Y. I think you are the person who understands me the most. It would be best if you help me.”