No. 004 The Fading Song of the World
Ten years later, Liang Zhenyi was the roommate with the most tragic ending I met after graduating from university and starting work.
He was a good man.
I didn’t know much about his past, but in the few months we lived together, I rarely saw him complain about life. Because of my unusual work schedule, I slept late. He thought he snored, so he would always cover himself with a blanket or go to the living room to feed the mosquitoes when he slept. Every morning, he would buy me breakfast. When he occasionally watched movies or played games in the dorm, he would always wear headphones and type softly, trying his best not to disturb me.
At first, I thought Liang Zhenyi had many friends. I often saw him talking on the phone with them or going out to have fun. But later, I realized that those so-called friends only ever contacted him to borrow money or ask for favors. No matter how difficult his own situation was, Liang Zhenyi always prioritized their requests. The most extreme example was one month when he clearly didn’t have enough money to eat, yet he still scraped together two thousand yuan to lend to a “college classmate’s” girlfriend for an abortion, while he himself survived on instant noodles for a month.
Liang Zhenyi often told me, “We should help our brothers out whenever we can. They’ll definitely be there for me when I’m in trouble.”
Liang Zhenyi came from a poor family. His parents were farmers. My first impression of this young man from the countryside was that he was honest, and my second impression was that he was foolish. I never saw any of his friends return the money they borrowed or even treat him to a meal.
“Everyone has their own difficulties when they’re away from home. It’s okay if they can’t pay me back now, as long as they remember it in their hearts.”
He would recite motivational quotes every morning, greet his friends and colleagues with a smile, work hard, and maintain a regular schedule. This was Liang Zhenyi’s daily life ten years later.
However, the reality was that after three months, all the employees who joined the company with Liang Zhenyi received promotions, except for him. His salary only increased by 200 yuan.
None of his friends mentioned the money they owed him, and even more people kept asking him for loans.
Liang Zhenyi was a programmer. His monthly salary, including bonuses, was over 6,000 yuan. Logically, this salary should have been enough to live comfortably in Upper Capital City. However, to help his friends, I often saw him working late into the night, returning to the dorm exhausted, skipping dinner, and collapsing into bed.
I didn’t know how to advise him. After all, it was his personal business, and I had only known him for a short time. I also had to be frugal to repay my student loans.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Then one day, I received a call from the hospital.
He was sick, very sick.
That’s how it was in this world. When you’re away from home, what you fear most is not people’s hearts, nor your salary, nor even the housing prices or the cost of living. What we fear most is losing our health.
“Brother, I’m so sorry. I owe you so much money, and now I need you to take care of me.”
These were the first words Liang Zhenyi said to me when I saw him lying on the hospital bed.
I glanced at the empty ward without saying a word and sat down beside him.
For the next week or so, I took leave from work to take care of this first friend I made outside of my hometown.
It was worth mentioning that none of his friends came to visit him during that week.
I couldn’t imagine how he must have felt, having to rely on someone who wasn’t even considered a close friend.
When someone faces great difficulties and has to ask for help from someone who’s barely an acquaintance, the blow to their pride must be heavier than the physical pain.
Half a month later, I attended Liang Zhenyi’s funeral.
Besides his parents, his friends were also heartbroken.
This was Liang Zhenyi’s life.
Ten years ago, he was a little punk who got into fights, skipped class, and climbed over the school walls. Ten years later, he passed away as the kindest soul in Upper Capital City.
Yes, humans are such strange creatures. Students who fight, cause trouble, and skip class in middle school often become the most well-behaved in high school. And those top students and model citizens in high school often become the most isolated and troubled teenagers in university.
“Rest well and recover. Leave this to me.”
After saying this to Liang Zhenyi, who was still stunned by my forceful demeanor, I beckoned to Hua She. “Lead the way.”
“W-wait a minute!”
Finally snapping out of it, Hua She rushed in front of me, his face full of disbelief. “Xiaoyao, we can’t reach Long Ge right now. Is this really a good idea?”
I shot him a glare. “Are you planning to wait until those bastards have their fun and leave before letting Long Ge search the entire city for them to avenge Lao Liang?”
My words stunned everyone in the room.
Well, it was probably their first time seeing such a domineering “Yi Yao.”
If it were my sister, she would never take the initiative to confront those people, nor would she speak to Hua She like that. At most, she would just ask about Liang Zhenyi’s well-being and then find an excuse to go home.
These people didn’t know that “I” had been practicing martial arts for many years. Even Long Ge would protect me during fights.
“Um…” Sensing the tense atmosphere, a younger boy beside the bed cautiously approached me. “Xiaoyao, what happened?”
“It’s nothing.” I waved my hand and walked towards the door. “One question: are you in or out?”
From the reflection in the smooth surface of the door, I saw the younger boy exchange glances with the others.
“We’re in, we’re in! Long Ge isn’t here right now, so your words are his words. Since Sister-in-law has spoken, how can we back down?”
Encouraged by the younger boy, everyone in the room stood up.
“Should we bring some tools?”
“No need.”
Yi Yao’s daily training included combat. Although Taekwondo had evolved into a martial art that focused more on fitness, it was more than enough to deal with a few internet-addicted middle schoolers. In my memory, Yi Yao could single-handedly take on five trainees below the green belt level.
“Alright, Lao Liang, we’ll head out with Xiaoyao first.”
Judging from Hua She’s tone, he didn’t seem to have any real intention of fighting. But I didn’t care.
I could handle this alone.
“Just teach them a lesson. If anything happens, make sure to protect Xiaoyao. Otherwise, Long Ge will break our legs when he comes back.”
As we walked down the hospital corridor filled with the smell of disinfectant, I heard Liang Zhenyi’s voice from the ward.
Along the way, Hua She explained the cause of the fight.
From his fragmented explanation, I finally understood what had happened.
The ones who beat up Liang Zhenyi were a gang from No. 4 Middle School in Upper Capital City called the “Jiang Nan Gang.” They were quite notorious in the area, often robbing lone pedestrians for internet cafe fees. Because they were all minors, the police couldn’t do much about them.
Three hours ago, Liang Zhenyi was just planning to play a game at the internet cafe when a group of Jiang Nan Gang members suddenly surrounded him and demanded he give up his seat. In the heat of the moment, Lao Liang refused, saying he just needed a few more minutes to finish his game. Perhaps his tone was a bit harsh, because those arrogant brats immediately attacked him. Outnumbered, Liang Zhenyi’s right leg was broken.
The internet cafe was quite far from Fifth Hospital. Hua She and I walked for a good half hour before we arrived. Fortunately, those kids were still there, yelling and screaming excitedly over their game.
“Xiaoyao, how many hours today?”
The owner of the internet cafe was also an acquaintance. Seeing me walk in with four or five boys, he greeted me with a greasy smile, as if the incident with Lao Liang never happened.
“No need, I’m here to see someone.”
My sister would occasionally come here to play games with that “boyfriend” of hers when she had free time. But most of the time, it was “me” watching my boyfriend play, the computer just taking up space.
“Quick! Garen! Q him, Q him! Ultimate, ultimate!”
Following Hua She’s instructions, I walked up behind one of the kids. On the large screen in front of him, the boy was frantically manipulating the mouse and keyboard, controlling his hero to “fight for justice” in the virtual world.
So League of Legends was still this popular in 2016.
I took off the headphones of the person in front of me.
They said that being interrupted while playing this game was the easiest way to provoke someone.
“Who?”
As expected, the boy exploded like a lit fuse. He slammed his keyboard and turned around, only to be stunned when he saw me. “What’s up, beautiful?”
“We need to have a chat outside.”
“Don’t have time.”
After saying that impatiently, the boy put his headphones back on.
Hmm… quite patient.
If I were a boy, I would have been beaten up by now, right?
“Xiaoyao… maybe we should just forget about it…”
Hua She grabbed my shoulder and shook his head.
“Why should we forget about it? What do you mean ‘forget about it’? If you let them off the hook today, will you be happy when they beat us up next time? When they become bolder and stab your parents to death on the street, will you be happy then?”
The air in the internet cafe was thick with cigarette smoke and the stench of sweat. It was suffocating.
Hua She looked at me as if I were an alien.
“I’ll say it again, if you’re scared, go back. I’ll handle this myself.”
I squatted down and pressed the power button on the computer in front of me.
“Hey!”
The screen, which was showing an intense team fight, instantly went black. This sent the boy over the edge. He threw his headphones aside and stood up. “Are you fucking looking for trouble?”
The commotion attracted the attention of everyone nearby.
“Yes, I am.”
I said with a faint smile. “Tell your friend to come out here. We’ll settle this outside.”
Seeing Hua She behind me, the boy probably understood what was going on. He waved to the seven or eight other delinquents around him. “Stop playing, someone’s looking for trouble.”
There was an unspoken rule among these young thugs: to avoid disturbing others, fighting was forbidden inside the internet cafe.
“Damn it, lost another ranked game.”
Cursing under their breath, the delinquents got up from their seats one after another. They all glanced at me before turning their attention to Hua She, who had a natural air of authority. “You brought a girl with you to a fight? Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at by the others?”
“Laughed at? Hahaha, by you guys?”
Hua She wasn’t just sinister-looking; he was also quite vicious. The main reason he didn’t fight them earlier was that Long Ge wasn’t there, and he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries with their limited numbers.
Now that he saw I had escalated the situation, Hua She revealed his true colors. “Let me tell you something. This is our sister-in-law. If you know what’s good for you, go to Fifth Hospital and apologize to Lao Liang. We’ll let this go. Otherwise…”
“Apologize? Hahaha, that’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard. Even if Long Ge was here today, he wouldn’t be able to save you. If we don’t leave each of you with one less hand today, we’ll stop calling ourselves the Jiang Nan Gang.”
Emboldened by their numbers, these brats showed no restraint in their words.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire internet cafe, the two groups walked out into the open space outside.
“Alright, we lost a ranked game because of you. Tell us, what are you going to do about it?”
The apparent leader, a boy with dyed red hair, spat his chewing gum onto the ground and looked at Hua She provocatively.
“I…”
Hua She was about to speak, but I stopped him.
“How about this,” I said to the red-haired boy, my expression calm. “No need to kneel. You guys started it, and our friend got hurt. Just go to the hospital, apologize to Lao Liang, and pay for his medical expenses. We’re all from the same school. We’ll see each other again. Let’s not make things too ugly.”
“Who are you… oh, quite a pretty girl.”
The red-haired boy’s eyes lit up with a sleazy glint as he looked at me. “Haven’t you heard that women shouldn’t interfere in men’s business? Are you trying to reason with me, little missy?”
“This isn’t reasoning, it’s an order. I’ve made myself clear. Go apologize, pay up, and we’ll drop it.”
Ignoring the red-haired boy’s lewd gaze, I continued in a flat tone. “I’m not in a good mood today. I hope you won’t make things difficult for me.”
