Chapter 156: Rebirth
Xia Qiange didn’t say anything on the way. She carefully held onto the corner of his shirt, her head resting on his shoulder, just crying. Her sobs were very low, a whimpering sound like a small, injured animal silently licking its wounds. She was quiet, light… as if she had soaked the clouds, and they had fallen softly into his heart.
Su Yu turned his head and looked at the sign of the funeral home in the distance. Those two women… were Xia Qiange’s stepmother and another daughter? Su Yu had never seen them before. He thought of the girl with the pigtails and heavy makeup, her arrogant and domineering appearance. She didn’t seem easy to get along with. He was a little worried about Xia Qiange’s future.
He couldn’t help but recall Xia Qiange’s frightened and helpless appearance just now. If he had been a step later, the girl’s raised hand would have landed squarely on Xia Qiange’s face, leaving a bright red handprint on her porcelain-white, delicate skin. His heart clenched, and he didn’t dare to think about it anymore.
“What? Those two women are crazy.” Chen Kai came out of the convenience store with a bottle of water. He was furious when he thought of how Xia Qiange had almost been slapped. “Su Yu, why did you pull me back just now? Otherwise, I would have really gone up and argued with them.”
“Are you really that good, Chen Kai? Let me see it sometime.”
Mo Yufei, who had been silently accompanying Xia Qiange, suddenly spoke. She stared at Chen Kai without speaking. Chen Kai was startled. He knew that Mo Yufei rarely spoke, but she also had her moments of anger… like now. Mo Yufei was clearly very angry with those two arrogant women. He immediately shut up and obediently brought over the drinks and snacks he had bought.
“Qian Ge, are you hungry? Have something to eat.” Mo Yufei looked away from Chen Kai, and the other party immediately retreated as if he had been pardoned, looking comical.
“Thank you…” Xia Qiange took the sandwich, which had already been opened, and took a small bite. Her bright eyes crinkled, and the corners of her lips curled up, but she looked even paler. “You and Chen Kai have a really good relationship. I couldn’t tell at all at school.”
Mo Yufei seemed to have become much more cheerful after she went to college. Perhaps it was also because of Chen Kai’s influence. She asked with a grin.
“Aren’t you and Su Yu also in Qingchuan? What… is your relationship not good?”
“He and I…”
Xia Qiange puffed out her pink cheeks and lowered her eyes, just smiling. She turned her head and looked at Su Yu, and her gaze happened to meet his. Their gazes met and warmed up. She quickly looked away, but her earlobes turned red, and she bit her sandwich and fell silent.
Su Yu took over the conversation. He smiled and said, “You’re really something. Yufei, you’ve really been corrupted by Chen Kai. When we were deskmates, you would never make this kind of joke.”
“Is that so? People change. What’s wrong with that?” Mo Yufei looked at the small wet patch on Su Yu’s shoulder, without a trace of subtlety. “Be good to Qian Ge in the future. Don’t make her cry.”
“Huh? What… we’re just…”
“Cough cough…” Su Yu was stunned for a moment. Chen Kai immediately coughed twice and grabbed Su Yu. “Let’s go. We haven’t seen each other in a long time. Let’s catch up.”
Su Yu was pushed away by Chen Kai. As he left, he glanced at the girl’s trembling and wet eyes, which were a faint pink. Her gaze was as soft as if it were about to melt into a pool of spring water. It seemed to be looking at him, with a lingering ripple of reluctance.
…
“What’s going on?” Chen Kai and Su Yu walked to the corner. Chen Kai pressed Su Yu against the wall, not holding back at all, and asked directly, “Don’t blame Yufei for being direct. We thought you two were together. Are you still playing tai chi?”
“You’re probably overthinking it. We don’t see each other much at school, maybe a few times a semester.”
“Hey, are you kidding me? Don’t pretend with me. We’ve been brothers for years. On such a cold New Year’s Eve, you went to a girl’s house and stayed with her all night. Not to mention Xia Qiange, if I, Chen Kai, were a girl…”
Chen Kai glared at Su Yu, his face full of helpless disappointment.
“If I were a girl, I would have been moved. Why did Xia Qiange just pull on your clothes? Why didn’t she pull on mine? If you still don’t understand what she means, don’t say you learned how to flirt with girls from me, Chen Kai, in the future.”
“I told you, I haven’t thought about these things anymore.”
Su Yu’s hair was a little long, and it was messy in the wind. He squinted his eyes, his sparse and neat eyelashes hiding a few traces of dejection.
“Don’t give me that useless talk. Oh… you met other pretty girls at school, right? You’ve had a change of heart, right? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, you’re just looking for a scolding.” Chen Kai nudged Su Yu’s chest with his elbow, holding his breath and wanting to scold him some more, but in the end, it turned into a sigh.
“Forget it. If you really don’t like her, it’s useless for me to force you. Qian Ge is pitiful… but with her personality, she probably won’t take the initiative to confess to anyone she likes. You should stay away from her now. No matter what she thinks, just let her give up. Otherwise, if you keep leading her on, you’re really not a good person.”
“Qian Ge is all alone. If you don’t like her, then put away your useless sympathy. What if she takes it seriously?”
Chen Kai punched Su Yu hard in the chest. He took a few steps back with a grunt.
“I know…”
The bangs on his forehead fell down, cutting Su Yu’s vision into several pieces. A piercing buzzing sound swirled in his mind. The warning made him feel uneasy all day. Too many variables had caught him off guard.
The original memory had already deviated to a track with no end in sight. But life was still accelerating… accelerating. He couldn’t brake. He looked at the blurry fog and began to hesitate about what was at the end of the track. Was it the redemption he had hoped for, or… would the track break at a certain corner ahead, and below was a dark and silent abyss?
He had done many things after his rebirth, but he had also done nothing. He couldn’t change anything. He held his head high, but he was slowly sinking into the deep quicksand of the desert. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank. One day, it would cover his mouth and nose, and he would be completely buried, and all he would see was darkness.
“Why don’t we… just skip the party tonight? I’ll take Qian Ge back first. I…” Su Yu looked up, his long bangs blown away by the wind again. His eyes were bloodshot, dark and deep, full of sadness and dejection. The fluttering hair seemed to be about to pierce his eyes. He said those few words heavily, “I’ll listen to you.”
“Whatever… it’s not too late to get together when you guys come back for the summer break. Anyway…” Chen Kai walked towards the bench, his voice echoing in his ears. “Anyway, by that time, you two will either be on your own, just as ordinary friends, or…”
“Or you’ll come together, arm in arm.”
