Ch 49: Text Messages Across Time

“I heard your grade is having a parent-teacher meeting soon. I used to hate those the most…” After they met, Qin Weidong tried hard to keep the conversation going. He moved from parent meetings to assemblies, then to sports meets, and just as he was about to bring up next year’s oath ceremony, Lin Wu interrupted him:

“Qin Weidong.”

“What is it?” Qin Weidong asked lightly.

“Your slippers, toothbrush, and cup are also at my place. You can take them later.”

Previously, when Qin Weidong injured his toe, they had changed their meeting place to the burger shop. During that time, Qin Weidong had carried his belongings home twice, but since he had stayed there for quite a while, some things were still left behind.

“Oh, there are slippers and a toothbrush too.” Qin Weidong said casually.

“Mm. Take everything later, so you won’t have to make another trip,” Lin Wu said as if it were nothing.

“…Alright.” Qin Weidong fell silent for a moment. He couldn’t think of any reason not to take them.

“Brother Qin?” Just as the atmosphere turned quiet, a somewhat delighted voice came from the distance.

“Luo Liang?” Qin Weidong and Lin Wu had already entered the neighborhood. Looking up, he saw Luo Liang standing by a flowerbed with a tall, heavyset boy, smoking.

“Brother Qin, what brings you to our neighborhood?” Ever since their last conversation, Luo Liang had wanted to invite Qin Weidong out for a meal. But for some reason, Qin Weidong had blocked him.

“Do I need to tell you?” Qin Weidong replied coldly. He knew Lin Wu didn’t like Luo Liang, so he made sure to keep his distance.

“You don’t have to tell me. I’m just happy to see you.” Luo Liang froze for a moment. He had thought he was blocked by mistake. Now it seemed he had somehow offended him.

Unable to figure it out, Luo Liang turned to Lin Wu. He had noticed him earlier, but since they didn’t get along, they had instinctively ignored each other.

Just as Luo Liang was about to say something, the heavyset boy beside him kept staring at Lin Wu, then stepped down from the flowerbed. “Lin Wu, long time no see.”

“Mm.” Lin Wu responded briefly.

“We grew up together, and this is the attitude you give me?”

“Do you need something?” Lin Wu asked directly.

“Can’t I greet you without a reason?”

“Let’s go.” Lin Wu didn’t want to waste time on pointless talk and moved to leave with Qin Weidong.

“Damn it, I’m greeting you nicely and you act like this—” The boy felt humiliated and began to curse, but before he could finish, someone kicked him.

“Who the hell are you cursing at?” Qin Weidong snapped.

From the moment the boy started talking, Qin Weidong had sensed something was off. Now that he heard him cursing, his anger flared.

“Who the hell are you? Mind your own business!” The boy, stunned by the kick, tried to fight back.

“Hey, hey, don’t fight, don’t fight!” Luo Liang hurriedly grabbed him. He didn’t dare let Qin Weidong get into a fight here.

“Why are you holding me?” The boy was about 190 cm tall and weighed over 200 jin. Luo Liang was slimmer, but clinging to him made it hard for him to break free. After struggling twice, he glared at Lin Wu. “Lin Wu, you brought someone to beat me?”

Lin Wu didn’t know how he had come to that conclusion. “Did you bring a knife? Would I need someone else to beat you?”

“Fuck, last time I just wasn’t prepared, that’s why you got me…”

The boy’s name was Zhao Qi. He grew up in the same courtyard as Lin Wu, and the two had always clashed. Two years ago, Zhao Qi had brought a fruit knife to scare him, but Lin Wu had led him to a deserted place and struck back ruthlessly.

“If you don’t back down, I’ll stab you!” Zhao Qi had threatened him with the knife since he couldn’t win in a fight.

“Go ahead. At worst, I die, you go to prison, and your mother gets cursed behind her back. I’ve never been afraid of anything.” Lin Wu had sneered, completely fearless.

Lin Wu wasn’t afraid, but Zhao Qi was. Holding the knife, he didn’t dare stab. Somehow, the knife ended up in Lin Wu’s hand.

“Where were you planning to stab? If you don’t dare, I will.” Lin Wu’s voice had been calm as the blade traced from Zhao Qi’s face to his neck, then to his ear.

“I was just joking, I didn’t mean to stab anyone…” Zhao Qi had panicked and collapsed to the ground.

Someone had passed by during the incident, and the police were called. Zhao Qi, being three years older and already an adult, had brought the knife and was detained for fifteen days for threats and intimidation. Afterward, out of humiliation, he spread rumors that Lin Wu had tried to kill him and was some kind of mentally unstable potential murderer.

Adults ignored it, but among their peers, Lin Wu, because of his mother’s situation, was almost seen as a killer.

Two years had passed. Zhao Qi had moved away with his parents and still couldn’t tell whether Lin Wu had truly intended to harm him or just scare him. But he felt deeply humiliated, so whenever he saw Lin Wu, he couldn’t help but mock him.

“A knife?” Qin Weidong understood immediately. This was the person who had previously had a conflict with Lin Wu.

“And you still dare to curse!” His anger surged, and he was ready to act.

“Let’s go. People like this aren’t worth it.” Lin Wu quickly pulled him away. It wasn’t fear. He hadn’t been afraid of Zhao Qi two years ago, and even less so now. He just felt that talking to someone like him was a waste of time.

Zhao Qi, restrained by Luo Liang, could only glare at them.

“Let’s go.” Qin Weidong forced himself to calm down, gave Zhao Qi one last look, and left with Lin Wu.

“Damn it, why are you holding me? You’re all crazy…” Zhao Qi’s angry shouting could still be faintly heard behind them.

…

Half an hour later, Lin Wu packed Qin Weidong’s belongings. “These are your slippers, toothbrush, cup, jacket, and a pillowcase. See if there’s anything else.”

“That’s everything.” Qin Weidong’s lips pressed into a tight line. Lin Wu had been meticulous, gathering everything. There was nothing of his left here.

“Mm, then that’s it.” Lin Wu nodded and took the initiative to open the bedroom door.

Qin Weidong stepped out.

“Dong… Dong—” Luo Xiaorong had recognized him the moment he entered. Seeing him made her very happy, and she handed him an apple.

“Thank you, Auntie.” Qin Weidong accepted it, his expression complicated.

“I have something to take care of, so I won’t walk you downstairs.” Lin Wu stopped at the door.

“Lin Wu…” Qin Weidong held his things and looked at him.

“What is it?” Lin Wu looked up.

Qin Weidong wanted to find some emotion in his eyes, but they were too calm. It felt like something had been carved out of his chest.

“I’ll head down then.”

“Mm.”

After he left, Lin Wu closed the door.

“Dong… Dong?” Luo Xiaorong thought Qin Weidong would stay like before.

“Mom, he’s gone. He won’t be coming back anymore.” Lin Wu led her back to the room.

“Won’t… come anymore?” Luo Xiaorong didn’t understand.

“Mm.” Lin Wu didn’t explain further.

After returning to his room, he looked up at the flickering lightbulb overhead. The bulb in his bedroom was one of those old-fashioned warm yellow ones. A single small bulb lit the whole room, with a ring of tiny insects circling around it.

He thought back over the time he had known Qin Weidong. Qin Weidong had a good personality and was a genuinely good person, but they did not belong to the same world. Everything now had merely returned to its proper course.

After lying there for half a minute, Lin Wu was about to get up and wash when he suddenly noticed the phone and charger on the table. He had set them aside earlier while sorting things out and forgotten to give them back.

“Mom, I’m heading out for a bit!” Lin Wu grabbed the phone and charger and hurried downstairs. By now Qin Weidong had already gone far, and just as he was about to call him, he heard movement coming from the dark gap between two buildings in the distance—

“Who were you calling crazy just now?”

“Who the hell are you talking to like that?”

“You’re the fucking crazy one!”

…

In the dim alleyway, Qin Weidong was driving one punch after another into Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi was taller and heavier than Qin Weidong, but Qin Weidong was famous for fighting. He was quicker, and after Zhao Qi threw back a couple of punches, it was obvious he was no match.

“Brother Qin, take it easy, don’t let this get out of hand…” Luo Liang stood there dumbly at the side.

Five minutes earlier, Qin Weidong had found them by the flowerbed. He said he had something he wanted to talk about. They had both guessed he might make a move, but Zhao Qi cared too much about face. Thinking this was the steel plant family housing compound, he came with him into the alley. They had wanted to start with words before force, but Qin Weidong’s first punch had landed immediately. He was not hitting any fatal spots, but he was ruthless.

“Fuck… why are you hitting me? I don’t even know you!” Zhao Qi had started out hard-mouthed, but once he realized Qin Weidong was just as ruthless as Lin Wu, he got scared.

“Luo Liang! Whose side are you on?” Zhao Qi shouted.

“Zhao Qi, just back down and say something soft to Brother Qin.” Zhao Qi lived out of town now, and Luo Liang knew exactly whose side he was on. He had known the moment he held Zhao Qi back.

“Fuck!” Zhao Qi was furious. Before, Luo Liang used to call him Brother Zhao. Now he was calling him Zhao Qi directly.

“Brother, we…” Zhao Qi tried to back down.

“Who the fuck is your brother?” Qin Weidong kicked him again.

Ever since hearing that this guy had bullied Lin Wu, Qin Weidong had been suppressing his anger. Just now he had only come by the flowerbed on the off chance, thinking that if no one was there, he would ask around tomorrow. He had not expected Zhao Qi to still be hanging around there.

Now, the moment he thought of how this person had bullied Lin Wu all through childhood, his chest filled with fury. He put all of it into his feet and kicked hard, over and over again.

“Fuck!”

“You’re hitting too hard!”

“I won’t do it again, I really won’t…”

…

At first Zhao Qi still cursed back and tried to fight, but by the end all he did was beg for mercy.

That same night, a resident heard Zhao Qi’s cries and called the police. Qin Weidong, Zhao Qi, and Luo Liang were all taken to the station. Qin Weidong had hit hard, but there were no obvious external injuries. Zhao Qi had also fought back at the start, so the police ruled it mutual fighting.

“I’m the one who got beaten!” Zhao Qi hurt all over. He felt that Qin Weidong fought just like Lin Wu, too underhanded.

“Qiqi!” Zhao Qi’s parents arrived at the station weeping and wailing. They wanted to force Qin Weidong to admit fault, but Qin Jianzhang was no pushover. He directly brought in a few local toughs and a lawyer to back Qin Weidong up.

“Your kid hit our brother?” The men looked respectable enough, but one glance at them made it clear they were dangerous.

“He hit first…” Zhao Qi’s parents wilted the moment they saw that lineup.

The original nature of the incident was mutual fighting. Zhao Qi showed no visible injuries, while Qin Weidong had taken a punch to the mouth. After a whole night of arguing, both sides finally signed a settlement, and neither family paid the other before leaving the station.

Zhao Qi’s family now lived out of town. They had only returned to Xuhu this time because of family visits. Even after getting out, they still felt unconvinced and used their connections to look into the backgrounds of those tough-looking men. After finding out that several of them had prior arrests, and after running into them twice near the neighborhood gate, they got so frightened that they left early. They knew what their son was like. After going back, he would have to keep his head down.

This happened on the twelfth. Afterward, Qin Jianzhang made Qin Weidong write a three-thousand-word self-criticism.

“Three thousand words? That’s way too much. Can’t it be three hundred?” Qin Weidong tried to joke his way out of it.

“Three thousand. Not one word less!” Qin Jianzhang was so angry his head hurt. He usually acted unconcerned, but he trusted his son. Qin Weidong had gotten into fights and ended up at the station before, but it had always been because the other side provoked him, and even when he fought back, he showed restraint. This time, though, Qin Jianzhang knew he had really gone all in.

“You’re grown now. Childish fights were one thing before, but if something like this happens again, you absolutely cannot handle it yourself. If it’s serious, call the police. If it hasn’t reached that point, call me or Zhao-ge.” After venting his anger, Qin Jianzhang added this warning.

“I know.” Qin Weidong answered dully. He knew, but if it happened again, he would still do it.

Qin Jianzhang sighed, then dabbed medicine onto the corner of his mouth. “Does it still hurt?”

“Not anymore,” Qin Weidong said.

“Your old man’s the one whose heart hurts!” Qin Jianzhang pretended to press hard, but when his fingers touched down, they were gentle.

At the station he had learned why they fought. The other boy had started by cursing at him. Qin Jianzhang felt that words alone should not have led to a fight, but the other boy had looked slick and shifty, obviously no good, and besides, what right did he have to curse at his son?

Served him right.

For the next five days, Qin Weidong stayed home recovering. Other than eating and sleeping, his greatest pleasure was sending Lin Wu text messages. If he sent three, Lin Wu might reply to one, and that one was usually about schoolwork.

He felt as though he had found a pattern. Every day he tried to start conversations with math problems.

The questions could not be too hard, or Lin Wu would explain them and he would not understand, which would make him look stupid.

They could not be too easy either, which would make him look even more stupid.

Every day Qin Weidong racked his brains to find math problems, hoping their shaky relationship might recover a little. As for Lin Wu’s earlier, obvious rejection, he pretended he had not understood it. After all, this was not the first time he had played dumb.

…

On the night of November 17, Lin Wu lay on his bed after getting home, staring up at a 20-watt lightbulb above him.

The old bulb had flickered with unstable current, so he had replaced it with a new one. The new bulb was a bit brighter, but once the light was on, those same annoying little insects still flew in circles around it. He had been watching them for five days now. Every time the light came on, they threw themselves at it, not caring whether it was natural light or not, fluttering at it again and again. They looked painfully unintelligent.

He lay there in a daze for a while when his phone buzzed with a text.

【Jianna’s got a new double chicken-patty burger. It’s been a while since we had burgers. Want to go tomorrow night after school?】
The message was from Qin Weidong.

Lately, aside from asking about math, Qin Weidong had often tried to find chances to meet, things like “I still don’t understand this math problem, can you explain it face to face?” or “I’m passing by your neighborhood, want to take a walk?” Lin Wu never knew how to answer, so most of the time he did not reply.

Now, looking at the message, he still did not reply.

At 10:50, after washing up, he got ready to turn off the light and sleep. Before switching it off, he glanced once more at the bulb. The same little insects were still circling around it. He lay there, unable to fall asleep.

He stayed like that for ten minutes, then reached for his phone.

【Okay.】
After spending five full minutes carefully composing that single reply, he finally sent it.

…

Bang!

The instant the message was sent, in the boys’ dorm at Lide High School, Qin Weidong jerked upright so violently that his head hit the wall behind him. He paid no attention to it. In a daze, he opened the chat history.

An hour earlier, he had texted to ask whether Lin Wu wanted to go eat burgers together. After sending it, he already knew Lin Wu would probably not reply. Even so, he still sent messages because he always thought, what if he did reply? Even if the odds were tiny, what if?

That was why he asked every day, always holding on to that one what if.

What if, what if, what if…

Even if the chance were only one in ten thousand, as long as Lin Wu did not find him annoying, he truly had the patience to ask ten thousand times.

And now Lin Wu had replied.

He stared at the single word “okay” on the screen, feeling as though he must be seeing things.

✧˖°.──⋆⭒˚.⋆💌⋆⭒˚.⋆──✧˖°.

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