Ch 11: Text Messages Across Time

In 2004, early the next morning, Lin Wu heated a basin of warm water to wash Luo Xiaorong’s hair, then dried it and blew it dry. She had always worn her hair cut to ear length, and once all that was done and she had changed into clean clothes, she looked much fresher and tidier.

“Not… going to school?” Luo Xiaorong asked. It was already nine o’clock, and Lin Wu usually left at seven.

“Not today. We’re going to the new canteen so you can try out the environment there first.” He had already spoken to the administrative director yesterday. Luo Xiaorong was to go over today and get familiar with the place, and if everything was fine, she would formally start work the day after tomorrow.

“Okay!” Luo Xiaorong clapped her hands.

People with intellectual disabilities often have difficulty adapting to a new environment, but Luo Xiaorong wanted to work so badly that although she only vaguely understood what Lin Wu meant by the staff canteen, she did not resist it.

There were no longer any shuttle buses from the residential area to the steel factory. Translated on Hololo novels. After going out, Lin Wu brought Luo Xiaorong to wait at the bus stop, and then they boarded together. This was a short-distance bus mainly serving the outskirts. The conditions inside were even more cramped than the buses in the city, so Lin Wu opened the window for air. He could feel Luo Xiaorong’s body tensed tight, a sign of unease.

“It’s alright.” Lin Wu held her hand.

“Mm!” Luo Xiaorong was very quiet on the bus.

The steelworkers’ family compound was only 5.2 kilometers in a straight line from Xuhu Steel Factory, not far, but the road conditions were poor and there were many heavy trucks, so the bus jolted and bounced the whole way. At 9:50, they arrived at the factory.

Xuhu Steel Factory covered five square kilometers, had net assets of more than thirty billion yuan, and employed thirty thousand workers. Inside it were seven staff canteens. The one the administrative director had mentioned yesterday was the Second Canteen. Lin Wu brought Luo Xiaorong over and explained why they had come, then found the place with directions from the gate guard.

The canteen was next to the administration building. It did not look very large. When they arrived, a middle-aged woman in chef’s clothes was pouring water outside. She froze for a moment upon seeing them, then asked, “Luo Xiaorong?”

“Yes. Director Kong asked us to come.” Lin Wu explained who they were.

“Come in. Director Kong held a meeting with us this morning.” The woman propped up the door curtain with a mop, motioning for them to enter.

Lin Wu and Luo Xiaorong went inside.

“There are twenty of us here. We mainly steam buns and mantou, then send them off to the other canteens. If the leadership gets hungry, we also make meals for them. It’s cleaner here than other places, and the work is simpler.” The woman’s name was Qiu Yan’e, the manager of the Second Canteen. As she spoke, she showed them around.

The Second Canteen covered five hundred square meters and was divided into a front hall and a back hall. Compared to the other canteens it was not big, but just as Qiu Yan’e said, it looked very clean and bright.

“You worked at the market canteen before?” she asked after finishing the tour.

“Yes.” Lin Wu explained Luo Xiaorong’s past duties.

“We have surveillance cameras in both the front hall and the kitchen. If you ever want to check, you can do so anytime.” The people at the Second Canteen had already heard from Director Kong why Luo Xiaorong was coming. All of this had been approved from above.

“Thank you.” Qiu Yan’e was brisk and straightforward, and she looked much kinder than the people at the market canteen.

“You two get familiar with the place first. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask.” With that, she left.

Lin Wu led Luo Xiaorong around to familiarize her with the environment. After staring curiously at the two of them for a while, the other workers returned to focusing on their own tasks.

At noon, Lin Wu took Luo Xiaorong to eat at another canteen. Afterward, he carefully explained the route from the shuttle stop to the Second Canteen. Since it was close to the administration building, the stop was only seventy meters away. Lin Wu walked the route with Luo Xiaorong twice, then had her walk it twice on her own. She remembered it.

At three in the afternoon, Luo Xiaorong tried making buns in the canteen. Her mind was slow, but she made the buns quickly and neatly, round and full. The others, who had initially worried she might be a burden, all relaxed when they saw this.

At six o’clock, while the two of them were waiting at the stop, they ran into Wang Manshan.

“How did it go?” Wang Manshan had just gotten off work, still wearing his steel factory uniform and carrying his work bag, looking dusty and tired.

“Good!” Luo Xiaorong laughed happily. In her eyes, as long as she was allowed to work, it was good.

“It was alright?” Wang Manshan looked to Lin Wu.

“It was good. Better than the market side. They told her to come in tomorrow and start working.”

“My workshop isn’t far from here. From now on I’ll be waiting for the bus at this stop too.” After saying that, Wang Manshan thought for a moment, then added, “You’re in your senior year now. Don’t ask for leave unless you really have to. If anything comes up, just ask me or Aunt Hao.”

Yesterday he had wanted to take leave himself to bring Luo Xiaorong over and help her get used to the place, but Lin Wu had been too worried and taken the day off instead.

“It won’t affect my studies,” Lin Wu said.

“That still doesn’t mean you can slack off.” Lin Wu’s grades had always been steady, and since entering high school he had ranked first in his year, but senior year was a critical period, and Wang Manshan worried any relaxation might affect him.

“I know.” Lin Wu nodded seriously. He was always diligent when it came to studying.

Three minutes later, the factory shuttle arrived. It went directly to the residential compound, and the three of them boarded together.

……

“Brother Qin, going to the internet café later?” At the same time Lin Wu and the others were heading home, back at Lide High, after afternoon classes, Hu Wei found Qin Weidong with obvious excitement.

Qin Weidong was slumped over his desk, idly spinning a pen. After hearing him, he asked weakly, “Staying all night?”

“No, just skipping evening study hall and going out to play for three hours.” Hu Wei actually wanted to stay all night, but he had only just finished writing his self-criticism and did not dare push too far.

“Not going.” Qin Weidong pointed to the sling on his arm.

“How many more days?” Hu Wei remembered then that Qin Weidong was still technically an injured patient.

“I have a follow-up the day after tomorrow. If everything’s fine, they’ll take it off.”

Qin Weidong only had a mild soft tissue injury. Strictly speaking, he did not need to keep his arm in a sling, but Qin Jianzhang had been worried about possible aftereffects and had specifically told the hospital to be extra careful. He had now been stuck with it for five days, and it was very inconvenient.

Looking at his arm, Qin Weidong thought of the fire five days ago, and then of the conversation yesterday. Translated on Hololo novels. He felt like he had lost his mind to endure motion sickness while following someone around all day, only to get looked down on in the end. It was infuriating. The more he thought about it, the more stifled he felt.

“Tell Wang Ming and the others I’m treating everyone at Piaoxiang Pavilion the day after tomorrow. We’ll all get together.” Qin Weidong felt he had had bad luck lately and urgently needed some lively company to dispel the gloom.

“Got it!” Since Qin Weidong often treated people to meals, Hu Wei eagerly accepted the task.

Over the next two days, Qin Weidong returned to his usual carefree life of half-listening in class and eating and drinking as he pleased.

Two days later, the group met for dinner at Piaoxiang Pavilion. It was a restaurant on Southeast Road with very good atmosphere and service.

“Everyone eat and drink as much as you want. Afterward we’re heading upstairs for karaoke!” Qin Weidong had his sling removed that afternoon after his follow-up. He was in high spirits, and his mood had improved considerably.

“Brother Qin made it out of the fire alive. From now on everything will go smoothly for him.”

“Brother Qin even saved a middle school kid while escaping. Impressive!”

“Mighty!”

……

More than a dozen people came to the gathering. Everyone got along well, and they had even pooled their money to buy Qin Weidong a game console to celebrate his recovery. No matter how much each person contributed, it was the thought that counted.

“Like I said, eat well and drink well!” Since he had only just recovered, Qin Weidong could not drink alcohol, so he used soda in place of it. The mood in the private room became lively at once.

Upstairs from the restaurant was a large KTV. After dinner, everyone went upstairs to sing. Qin Weidong had done a lot of socializing just now and felt a little stifled, so after settling everyone in, he went downstairs to the entrance of the restaurant for some air. It was now 8:40. A light breeze was blowing, and the road outside was full of students from No. 1 High riding their bikes home.

Piaoxiang Pavilion was near No. 1 High. Qin Weidong checked the time and realized it was indeed the hour when school there got out.

He stood at the entrance for a while, preparing to go back upstairs and sing, when he suddenly looked up and saw a slender figure across the street. The figure was wearing the blue-and-white school uniform, carrying a denim schoolbag, and had just walked over from the direction of No. 1 High. He stood quietly at the bus stop across the road.

The two of them faced one another, separated by a road full of passing cars and cyclists. Qin Weidong looked at him. The other person lifted his head slightly. Qin Weidong could not tell whether he had seen him.

At that moment, Route 22 arrived. The boy boarded with the crowd, and before long disappeared at the end of the road.

Qin Weidong: !!!

The memory of the alley hit him again. He could clearly recall that warning look in the other boy’s eyes, the one tinged with contempt. Perhaps because it was nighttime and his mind felt clearer, that look seemed even sharper now than it had in the alley.

Qin Weidong was furious. He felt he had done a good deed. Even if someone was going to look down on someone, it should have been the strange number who asked him to deliver the message, not him. Why was he the one being looked down on?

He had been helping someone!

He thought the matter had already passed, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He forced himself to calm down, then suddenly seemed to remember something and opened his phone contacts.

He scrolled down and finally found a number. Then he called it.

In an apartment building in the steelworkers’ residential compound, Luo Liang was sprawled on the sofa eating a banana. When he saw the incoming call, he jolted upright and fumbled to answer it.

“Brother Qin?”

After they had met last time, he had called Qin Weidong once and sent him two text messages. Translated on Hololo novels. They had only said things like whether he had time to eat together. Qin Weidong had brushed him off by saying it was inconvenient lately. Luo Liang understood what that meant and did not dare make himself seem like a clingy nuisance.

He had planned to wait a while before trying to contact him again. He never expected Qin Weidong to call him first. It was a complete and delightful surprise.

“Brother Qin, what’s up? Just say the word!” Luo Liang assumed he needed more people for a fight and excitedly prepared to change his shoes.

“It’s nothing major.” Standing at the restaurant entrance, Qin Weidong asked into the breeze, “Do you know Lin Wu?”

“Lin Wu from the alley?” Luo Liang immediately thought of the two of them standing face to face the other day.

“Yeah.”

“I know him. We’re from the same residential compound.”

“Tell me about him. The more detail, the better.” Qin Weidong still had a fire burning inside him. He felt he could not just let this go. At the very least, he had to get the other guy out somewhere and glare right back at him.

✧˖°.──⋆⭒˚.⋆💌⋆⭒˚.⋆──✧˖°.

Thandar: I was a little bit confused with this chapter. I thought I made a mistake translating so I went back to the raws, and there was no mistake. The author wrote it in this way transitioning from chapter 10 to chapter 11.

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