Chapter 12: CH 12

Mr Liu was brought away for an interrogation, and Sheng Min Ou left as well to represent the law firm. I was then brought away at the insistence of Wu Yi as he accompanied me to the hospital to get stitches.

Fortunately, with my injury at the elbow and the chill of winter settling in, the cut would be unnoticeable once I hid it under long sleeves. Otherwise, if my mother got to see the wound, she would definitely conjure up some wild guesses as to how I got it.

“Thankfully you were here today, Mr Lu, otherwise I don’t even know how things would have ended.” Wu Yi offered to send me home and spoke to me in the car, “Laoshi also came back just in the nick of time, really the whole incident was unfortunate but it ended up being one of the best possible outcomes that could have happened.”

I sat in the backseat, twirling my wrist. Though the bandages were tied up a bit too tight, it didn’t restrict me from being able to move my arm.

“You call him your teacher, so are you his student?”

“No, no, I call him ‘Laoshi’ but it is different to a teacher in the educational sense. I used to work at Mei Teng as Laoshi’s assistant, and he taught me many things. Being a senior I revered, I chose to refer to him as ‘Laoshi’ out of respect. Two months ago, after I heard that Laoshi decided to leave Mei Teng, I offered to leave with him. At first, I was scared that he would be unwilling, but he ended up agreeing straight away.” He smiled and then continued, “I’m very grateful towards Laoshi’s trust and confidence in me.”

Through the reflection of the review mirror, I could see the young man’s expression was bright and he appeared to be someone with a passionate and dedicated character, as if he wouldn’t easily be defeated by anything that came his way. It was a strikingly different personality from Sheng Min Ou.

I leaned back against the seat, relaxing my muscles all over, and let out a long exhale.

“Then he must… think of you highly.”

There was some congestion on the roads back, and as waves of fatigue rolled in, I succumbed to a deep sleep. When I woke up again, the car had already stopped outside my apartment block.

After thanking Wu Yi, I got out of the car and climbed up the stairs. Even though I knew Sheng Min Ou wouldn’t reply to me, I still sent him a text message letting him know that I had safely arrived home.

With my mother’s condition remaining worrying and not looking like she was going to hold out for much longer, once Wei Shi knew of it he gave me annual leave ahead of time, so that I wouldn’t have to go to the shop every day.

My mother woke early, so she would usually wake at around six a.m. and then feel sleepy again at ten a.m.. During the day, the only time when she would actually be awake and fully conscious was these four hours. Now, she slept for an increasingly longer amount of time with each passing day. Although she attributed this to people naturally wanting to sleep more in winter, but I knew, that one day she would fall asleep just like this, and never wake up again.

Usually I would choose to take the earliest bus to see her and speak to her, or hold a monologue so she could just listen to me talk, then leave when she fell asleep.

“Today I passed a garden and I saw two reckless little kids playing with water. The weather is so cold nowadays, don’t you think they must have too little homework to do so they’re bored out of their minds, so they’re asking to get sick instead? There were no adults supervising them either, so who knew which families’ kids they were.”

I carefully peeled the mandarin in my hands, making sure to get rid of the pith until each piece was spotless and had no white strings anymore. Content with it, I brought the piece to her lips, but she shook her head, giving me a gentle smile as she spoke feebly, “You, when you were younger you ate everything that was given to you, how come now you’re becoming more picky and meticulous.”

I took the mandarin piece and put it in my own mouth, my voice muffled as I responded, “What do you mean picky, it’s called having refined taste.”

She laughed, “This is called being refined..”

Actually, since I was younger I was always pretty unsophisticated, just that Sheng Min Ou happened to be especially peculiar regarding his belongings. To make him happy, I was forced to see things in the way he did and become more particular with everything.

P gfwfwyfg atja sfjg la kjr j cfk sfjgr mfifygjalbc, jcv atf kfjatfg kjr jr mbiv jr la lr cbk. Cr j ojwlis, kf kfca ab ws ojatfg’r mbiifjuefr’ qijmf ab mfifygjaf atf cfk sfjg abufatfg, Vtfcu Zlc Ye kjr jgbecv akfinf bg rb atja sfjg, jcv P kjr bcis jgbecv rfnfc bg fluta sfjgr biv.

The adults spoke amongst themselves and were playing with poker cards, so Sheng Min Ou and myself sat on the couch watching television. There was a steel box filled with all sorts of confectionery, where sweets and lollies were in abundance, as well as a fruit platter consisting of winter dates and mandarins.

The female colleague hosting was extremely welcoming, and was scared we were holding ourselves back, so she forcefully placed in our hands one mandarin each and told us it was very sweet, so we should try it.

Temporarily disregarding how Sheng Min Ou back then might have considered and categorised everyone as a low IQ existence, he at least from the outside appeared very polite and obedient, to the point where even my mother was unable to find a fault of his. After thanking the female host, he clutched the mandarin in his hand and continued to hold on to it.

I had been eyeing the mandarins ever since I entered the room, except I felt too embarrassed to reach out and grab one. Now that someone had given one to me, everything ended up working out perfectly.

Just as the female colleague had said, the mandarins were delectable, and immediately I had finished it off. I looked towards Sheng Min Ou, and found that he was still holding the mandarin, having not touched it at all.

“Ge Ge, are you not eating it?” I asked, reminiscing about the sweet juices of the mandarin and it’s refreshing taste, as I salivated at the thought of eating it again.

He looked at me, then looked at the mandarin in his hands, his eyes darkening as he asked, “Do you want something that’s mine again?”

Back then I was young, so I didn’t realise in the slightest that there was something wrong with the way he asked his question, and I was completely oblivious to his expression, not fearing how he looked in that moment at all.

My mother did not conceive me with ease, so she was always especially doting towards me, which led to me developing an arrogant and willful personality. If my father bought two sets of toys or snacks for me and Sheng Min Ou, then after I was bored with my toy or finished my snack, I would always cry and cause a scene so I could have Sheng Min Ou’s half that he still hadn’t gotten to touch yet. I knew that if I said I wanted it, my mother would unconditionally meet my demands, and take everything away from Sheng Min Ou.

Sheng Min Ou wouldn’t get angry, or upset, he would just give me what I wanted and say that he didn’t like it anyways.

Due to these incidents, my father would often argue with my mother. My mother thought that my father was meddling in other people’s businesses, treating someone else’s son more favourably than his own flesh and blood. My father thought she was completely unreasonable and causing trouble without reason. As for me, I was completely absorbed in my perception of being the most adored child in the family, receiving immense satisfaction from taking away the things belonging to Sheng Min Ou, without realising I was being an idiot at all.

What goes around comes around, a part of why Sheng Min Ou was so antagonistic towards me today was because of all the sins I committed back then.

“Of course not, there’s still many mandarins on the table, I don’t want yours.” Even though back then I was an idiot and couldn’t decipher his expressions, I was still able to sense his displeased mood. In response, my tone of voice subconsciously became more eagerly attentive, “Ge Ge, these mandarins are really sweet, is it because you don’t want to peel them yourself? I’ll do it for you, okay?”

He looked at me for quite a while, before passing me the mandarin, which had some residue heat left on it from him holding it in his hands for so long.

I happily accepted it, quickly peeled off the rind then handed it back to him. He didn’t take it from me, rather he just scrutinised the mandarin, which still had an abundance of pith all over.

“I don’t eat the pith.”

I was caught off guard and let out a small ‘oh’, then I lowered my head and started peeling away at the pith, one strand at a time. After ten long minutes, until there was no trace of white on the mandarin anymore, I handed it over to him again.

He held the fruit at both ends, critiquing it as if he was examining an artefact.

I was filled with anticipation and didn’t even want to blink as I stared at him, waiting for his praise.

He lifted his gaze and took a swift look at me, then his fingers suddenly loosened their grip, and then the fully orange mandarin, now completely devoid of pith fell from his hands.

“Ah….” My eyes followed the mandarin as I saw it fall to the floor, rolling twice on the concrete and now coated in dirt.

“My bad, I didn’t have a good hold on it.” Sheng Min Ou said that it was ‘his bad’, yet his expression did not show a single trace of remorse.

He bent down and picked up the dirtied mandarin that was unable to be eaten anymore, and casually threw it into the bin. No matter whether it was for the mandarin, or for my feelings, he didn’t treasure it at all.

I bit at my lips, and took another mandarin from the fruit platter, “That’s okay, I… I’ll peel another one for you?”

He plucked a tissue from the box and wiped his hands, shifting his attention from me to the television, and refused me seemingly without much thought.

“No need, I don’t want to eat it anymore.”

Back then, I really thought there was nothing else that could be as despairing as this, and tears would well up in my eyes each time. For a long while, I thought that my despondence was because I felt like I had been wronged, but now that I think back on it, perhaps it was because I already sensed his antagonism towards me.

“Oh? Feng Ge, You’re here.” Shen Xiao Shi heard the sound of the door opening, and raised his head from behind the counter. Seeing that it was me, he appeared to be quite surprised.

“I had nothing to do so I came.” After leaving the nursing home I had nowhere to go, so rather than staring at the same four walls at home, I’d rather visit the shop instead.

“Then come in and take a seat, here, take my spot.” Shen Xiao Shi got up and stretched, the action lifting his white T-shirt which had 'Everyone is Evil' written, revealing his thin but fit waist.

The heater was turned up high in the store, and adolescent males were in the peak of their physical conditions with hot blood coursing through their veins, so naturally they would all be less tolerant of the heat. Sheng Xiao Shi often just wore a parka on the outside, and a T-shirt on the inside. Once he entered the store, he would take off his outer layer, leaving only a thin T-shirt on.

“How is the business these past few days?”

“I don’t know if it is because it’s almost new years and everyone is heading back to their hometown, but the past few days have been quiet.” Shen Xiao Shi opened the iron door and switched with me. “Yesterday someone came in to pawn off a portrait of Luo Zheng Yun and he had signed it personally as well. This would probably be the biggest sale we’ve had the past few days.”

“Luo Zheng Yun?”

Liu Yue responded half heartedly to me whilst engrossed in her kdrama, “Feng Ge, you don’t even know Luo Zheng Yun? He’s an actor that’s become super popular the past two years, he’s really handsome, and his acting is even better. He has only debuted for two years but he’s already been crowned king of the silver screen. He only released ten thousand copies of those portraits as a limited time product, and that copy being pawned off had his signature. As soon as we put it online someone else had already bought it off us.” She raised two fingers, “For twenty thousand renminbi.”

When he debuted I was still in cells making flowers out of plastic, so it was completely normal for me to not have heard of him.

I took off my jacket and hung it on the back of the chair and asked, “How does he look? Let me examine his visuals.”

Hearing this, Liu Yue quickly opened up a new search tab and entered ‘Luo Zheng Yun’ these three words. Immediately, the webpage was filled with pictures of the same man.

He was pretty handsome, with sleek, sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, his features appearing even more defined on camera. Different from the youthful male idols now that could give one smile and melt the hearts of their older fans, it appeared he didn’t smile much, and he gave off a more sombre feeling. However, because he was too good looking, the contrast between his personality and looks gave him an alluringly sinister appearance… He looked exactly like the antagonist that every female would fall in love with in an idol drama, apart from the main heroine herself.

“Ah,” I said, recollecting my glance and commenting, “Not as handsome as my older brother.”

Liu Yue looked skeptically at me as she replied suggesting, “Feng Ge, when are you going to let us see that mysterious elder brother of yours? I just want you to enlighten me and show me what a truly handsome man is like.”

I waved my hand in an exaggerated motion, “There’ll be a chance, all of you will have a chance.”

Whilst we were talking, the door opened from the outside, and in came a person wearing a black coat with a slender frame.

I raised my head to glance over at that direction, and just happened to look them in the eye.

He stopped abruptly in his footsteps, pausing at the door, his thick glasses reflecting light, making it hard to decipher what emotions were in his eyes.

“Lu… Lu Feng?”

This person had pale alabaster skin, his fringe slightly obstructing his eyes and he had a scarf snaked around his neck. If it wasn’t because I heard his voice and identified that it belonged to a male, I would’ve thought this was a woman that walked in.

I squinted my eyes, my memory completely blank, and was unable to recognise him, “You are?”

That person walked forward two steps, so I could completely take in his features.

Although his glasses were thick, his limpid eyes still shone clearly through the lenses, and he had luscious eyelashes framing them. His appearance could be described as beautiful and delicate. Seeing a face like this, I quickly matched the person in front of me with someone from my memories.

My voice was stuck in my throat, as it took me a long time for me to hoarsely say his name, “…Mo Qiu?”

In my junior years of high school, despite being mischievous and prone to causing trouble, I always ranked highly for exams and was good looking, so everyone from teachers to students would be fond of me. In my cohort, I was the student elected king. Just by raising an arm and chanting a few words, a whole heap of people would follow me.

I always shone and stood out, and received countless exclamations of praise. Whoever I saw I could befriend, yet as if it was an unspoken principle of this universe, whenever there was someone who was welcomed and popular, there was someone who was equally disliked.

If I was the idolised student at school who had fans all around, then Mo Qiu, he would be the person everyone wanted to avoid like the plague.