CH 30

一 “Don’t tell Lu Yong that I like him.”

That being said, actually Shen Wenqiu had always been carefree and thoughtless in high school.

At that time, even if the cutest girl chatted with him for a few sentences he would feel impatient but when he was with Lu Yong, he felt that time passed so fast and all the friends he used to play well with were left behind in his mind.

However, Shen Wenqiu was completely unaware of his addiction. Friends around him expressed dissatisfaction more and more frequently. But he felt that the other party was making a fuss, he himself didn’t favour Lu Yong at all.

After he lied to find Lu Yong to play at the weekend and was caught by Sheng Xu, Shen Wenqiu felt uneasy all day.

When he arrived at school the next Monday, he couldn’t help but worry that he would receive strange looks and be ridiculed. He prepared himself mentally but Sheng Xu acted as if nothing happened and the world was still at peace.

Instead, it was Shen Wenqiu who couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked him, “You didn’t tell them?”

Sheng Xu asked back angrily, “In your heart, am I the kind of person who will badmouth others like a busybody? You are also the odd one out. You feel uncomfortable after living so many good days, so you want to taste hardship.”

Shen Wenqiu was ridiculed to the point that he felt weird and argued, “It’s not really picking up waste, Lu Yong is very amazing…”

Sheng Xu didn’t want to listen to him at all, “Okay, okay. Don’t compliment him in front of me. I usually take him to play so as not to embarrass you. I don’t get along with such people, you’re the only one who thinks that he is kind and honest. The way I see it, he is the one who hides his bad intentions most deeply and no one is as sinister and treacherous as him.”

Shen Wenqiu was getting angry when he heard such words, “If you don’t like him then let it be. You don’t have to say it so meanly.”

A pair of good friends almost turned against each other because of this and were angry at each other for several days.

In the end, it was Lu Yong who stepped forward, blaming himself and asking him, “Is it because of me you guys had a fight?”

He then persuaded them to reconcile.

… Just like this time, after more than ten years.

Shen Wenqiu sent Sheng Xu back because the conversation was not very pleasant. Of course, his expression also did not look good.

As soon as he returned home, he saw Lu Yong waiting in the living room. The moment Lu Yong saw him coming back, he immediately got up and looked at him dumbly. He looked like he wanted to ask but didn’t dare to do so and just said, “Did you guys quarrel? Did I cause you guys to quarrel again?”

Shen Wenqiu shook his head and said, “How can this be blamed on you? It’s not a quarrel, Xiao Xu always had a bad temper. He lent me so much money and all went down the drain. There’s actually pressure from his family’s side.”

But as soon as he saw Lu Yong, Shen Wenqiu seemed to hear the echo of Sheng Xu’s thorny reply earlier, “Do you still think of people as fools? As someone who can run a big company, how can he be stupid? 1 indicating that he’s not stupid He knows very well in his heart. Do I even need to tell him about this matter?”

Contrary to what one might expect, he couldn’t see the bigger picture. Shen Wenqiu thought that he even asked, “Do you want to buy me at 800 yuan for one night?” Even if he found a way to mend the situation later, who would believe such a clumsy and lame reason? Does Lu Yong actually know?

Shen Wenqiu looked at Lu Yong and Lu Yong’s expression seemed like he wanted to speak but he didn’t.

Shen Wenqiu thought to himself, ‘What did they talk about in the cafe?’ Lu Yong wouldn’t lie but he would hide things. Sheng Xu was a man with a few true words in his mouth and even his words were subtle. Could it be that he had already disclosed it in the coffee shop?

When Lu Yong hung up, he seemed to hear Sheng Shu swearing…

People were always in a complicated mood when there were people who liked them but they didn’t like them back. They would feel pressured and embarrassed because they couldn’t respond to this love. One might even feel guilty and feel an inexplicable sense of responsibility for it.

And their situation was more complicated. Lu Yong confessed before but his feelings had changed over time.

Shen Wenqiu touched his nose, “It’s nothing, Sheng Xu said that he would come back when he has time in the future. He was just simply throwing a little child’s temper. He thought that I’m not a good enough buddy. He mainly scolded me because I didn’t tell him about the last time I jumped into the river…But I felt ashamed about it, that’s why I didn’t tell him. What are you looking at me for, what else is there to say? There’s something on my face?”

Lu Yong exhaled from his nose and said, “I hope you can make a few more friends. The ones who will lend you money when you are in the most difficult time are all true friends who are worth interacting with. It’s a pity to split up with them like this.”

“I’m sorry for them.” Shen Wenqiu said, “I know how annoying I was when I relied on them in these years. Before, I really thought I couldn’t pay them back but now there are cracks even if I could pay them back. They wouldn’t want to be friends with me again…but it’s better than not paying them back at all.”

Lu Yong asked him to stop and said, “Don’t think about it so much. Didn’t you originally say you wanted to read a book? Just read it first and if there are any words you don’t understand, I will explain them to you later. And about Y town’s information, you have to go on a business trip with me the day after tomorrow to study about it.”

“Okay, I’ll take a shower and read the book.” Shen Wenqiu nodded and said.

Lu Yong watched him walk into the bathroom and close the door as if he was entering another world, briefly separating the two of them.

Lu Yong also went back to his room and took off his clothes one by one. Napoleon said, when you take off your clothes, it’s time to take off your troubles. Usually, he thought so too.

However, today was different. He was still upset and he tried his best to soothe his distraught mood.

He disassembled the prosthesis as usual, cleaned it, disinfected it and did the maintenance work well.

After getting used to wearing the prosthesis, it would feel uncomfortable as if a part of his body was missing when he took it off.

“What makes you think you can stand on high ground to talk to me… When Shen Wenqiu’s family went bankrupt, it was me who reached out to help him…”

The words Sheng Xu said were like a long thin needle which suddenly punctured a certain abscess that had been hidden for a long time. It was not that Lu Yong didn’t think about it before. What was he doing when Shen Wenqiu was in the most difficult situation and the most helpless? He remembered clearly that he was studying project technology abroad. He knew that it would not be of much help at that time but whether he was useful or not was one thing and whether he helped or not was another.

He really hadn’t inquired about Shen Wenqiu’s affairs all these years. Why was he so straight-minded and didn’t know how to turn a corner?

If he had gone to Shen Wenqiu earlier, would Shen Wenqiu still have gotten to where he was today?… Even if Shen Wenqiu hated him again, even if he would be scolded a few times, he shouldn’t have dragged it on until now. Just because of his cowardice, he really didn’t dare to inquire about Shen Wenqiu’s affairs and blocked his ears which was a clumsy and obtuse thing to do.

Did he only know how to help when Shen Wenqiu called him and begged him? Where had he been before?

Sheng Xu was right, he was not qualified to pose as a kind person.

If he had cared more, if it were a little earlier, maybe it was possible for Uncle Shen not to die and Shen Wenqiu would not degenerate to that state.

Lu Yong thought that he and Shen Wenqiu should still be different from passers-by and him turning a blind eye was a hidden wound.

In the bathroom.

Shen Wenqiu stood under the showerhead, leaned back and let the warm water wash his face.

He was now taking medication and treatment. Even if he wanted to escape, Lu Yong would supervise him to take his medication on time.

He secretly thought that Lu Yong was his medicine and was his life support.

However, this affection towards him was as thin as poppy candy. It was a fragile and sweet sensation. He knew that it would melt in the mouth immediately but he couldn’t help but want to taste it. For such an extremely short-lived sweetness, a daily ration of pills was all that was available for him to draw motivation and face the cruel world that day.

‘How selfish.’ He thought.

Shen Wenqiu took a shower, read the information book for an hour and went back to his room to sleep.

“Thud thud” Lu Yong knocked on the door.

This was Lu Yong’s home but Lu Yong had to knock on the door of a guy who lived in his life parasitically like a hermit crab. Shen Wenqiu actually felt quite absurd when he thought about it.

Lu Yong took the medicine and a glass of water, he wanted to come and watch Shen Wenqiu take it with his own eyes. The medicine that Shen Wenqiu took every week was kept by Lu Yong to prevent Shen Wenqiu from taking medicine when he had a mood attack.

But sometimes Shen Wenqiu would wonder, who between them was the secretary and thought that Lu Yong was like a father. After Lu Yong watched him finish taking medicine, he would go to the trouble of telling him to cover up with the quilt as it was easy to catch a cold when the seasons changed. He didn’t allow him to play on his phone. Seeing him turn off his phone, he said, “Good night, Xiao Baa.”

Shen Wenqiu was in a trance and felt like he had become a child. He replied, “Good night, Dayong.”

Lu Yong turned off the lights and left as he closed the door.

Shen Wenqiu didn’t fall asleep. He looked at his room. Half because of the lack of money and half because he hadn’t really made up his mind to stay with him for the rest of his life, so in addition to the basic furniture, he did not decorate anything.

How could he be so cheeky? What was he thinking when he was in the hospital that he could say something like that?

It was the free ones that were the most expensive.

From the beginning, forever was the most ephemeral and changeable thing.

He had tried very hard to make himself appear happier but Lu Yong was still cautious about him. Who would like to have such a person by his side?

Lu Yong was doing things out of guilt and responsibility. Maybe when Lu Yong helped him stand up on his own and when he could walk by himself, Lu Yong could rest assured to let him leave, right?

–

The next day came in the blink of an eye.

Shen Wenqiu packed his luggage and set off to Y town with Lu Yong. First, they took a plane from the airport to the nearest big city and then took a car to go there.

They also went there ten years ago. It was very troublesome at the time. The construction of their country was changing with each passing day. Now transportation was much more convenient. Shen Wenqiu remembered that it took them almost three days to reach the destination together back then.

……

The final exam of the first semester of high school’s senior two was approaching.

Shen Wenqiu and Lu Yong were spending time together every day and of course, he found that Lu Yong seemed to be more stingy. He used to order one meat and one vegetarian meal in the cafeteria but now he only ordered one vegetarian dish and ate as much as he could. He didn’t know how he could bear it. Not to mention in other respects, he was reluctant to buy paper when he ran out of draft paper at school. He asked Shen Wenqiu if he had papers he didn’t need anymore and wrote it again on the paper he had written.

Shen Wenqiu asked him incomprehensibly, “Are you saving money? I remember that uncle gave you enough living expenses. If you want to buy any materials, I will help you. So don’t make yourself sick.”

The honest Lu Yong said shyly, “No, I want to save some money for transportation fees.”

Shen Wenqiu asked, “Transportation fees? What transportation fees? Where are you going? Travel?”

Lu Yong shook his head repeatedly and said, “No, I want to go to Y town. I heard from my uncle in the same industry that there are many electronic waste recycling factories there. I want to take a look at it during the winter vacation.”

Shen Wenqiu’s eyes widened, and without saying a word, he proactively said, “I’m going too. Take me with you.”

Lu Yong always remembered what Shen Wenqiu looked like when he said this, like a cute and clingy puppy with bright eyes. Lu Yong’s face flushed, how could he say no?

“But I don’t have much money. I’m going to take the bus and train. It’s very tiring.”

“I don’t mind.”

“…Okay. Let’s go together.”

At that time, Lu Yong hadn’t travelled far before, so he didn’t know how to buy tickets. He bought it late and queued for a long time but could only buy two sitting tickets.

Later, he learned that Shen Wenqiu had originally planned to travel abroad to play in an amusement park but he was abducted into a train full of returning migrant workers with a small school bag on his back.

The train station was full of people. It was too crowded.

At that time, the Nokia brick phone was still popular. It was the 2G era and the signal was very poor. Lu Yong was afraid of losing the young master. He would check if Shen Wenqiu was still there with each step he took.

Shen Wenqiu stepped forward in the crowd. Lu Yong felt a warm hand slip into his palm unexpectedly, pressing it moistly. Shen Wenqiu was next to him and said, “Let’s hold hands. Otherwise we will be separated.”

indicating that he’s not stupid