He is His Excellency Zhi Li

Chapter 15. Memories Chapter 1: At First...

Author: Angelina

Translator: Pline

Proofreader: KainGuru

That one summer in junior high school, the cicadas cried incessantly; there was no wind, nothing fresh and cool, and the scorching heat and flying dust eroded the world. The room was quiet, dirty plates were piled up in the sink, the clock on the wall stopped turning, and there was only one pillow in the room. Ke Bu sat on the stool looking at the piece of paper in front of him, with not a bit of expression on his face, and after a long time, he looked up at the two men in front of him: "Got it." Having finished speaking, he stood up and the stool fell backwards, making a dull sound. He neither wanted to turn around nor open the door to leave.

The crowd on the street jostled Ke Bu, and there was obviously a lot of people who felt terribly lonely. He had no destination, nor was he in the mood to reach that destination. Repressing his emotions in his chest was undoubtedly very difficult, yet he still could not let go of his burden through his eyes' frames. Who said that you could get over sadness by crying? What was this feeling of helplessness?

In this world, life was short and terrible — taken away by time, taken away by illness, taken away by disease, taken away by pain, personally taken away by one's hands. Exactly what was eternal? Ke Bu heavily hammered his fist against the wall. Regardless of other's surprised look, his knuckles rubbed against the damaged skin. His bloodshot eyes could be faintly seen. Ke Bu forced a smile, how did this sad plot come about? Reality, cruel people were not willing to look at reality.

Ke Bu slipped down to sit on the ground, curled up his legs, and simply put two of his hands on his knees. His line of sight shuttled between the crowd without a goal. He was simply numbed seeing people unceasingly appearing and disappearing. At last, his line of sight was attracted, falling onto a youngster, who was sitting on a bus stop seat. His fair and clear clothes were similar to his whole person. He had a touching face. It was clearly seen as fresh and clean; however, it was vaguely illusory. Furthermore, this beautiful youth did not ride on any public transportation vehicle. He merely indifferently sat there. He seemed to have no relation to this mortal world. Everything was all about him. His beauty was outrageous. Ke Bu remembered that he had seen this face — Zhi Li, from the same school, the name that girls had been talking about.

His mouth felt dull and tasteless. His urge in his chest to talk to someone boiled up his blood. It prompted him to stand up. He went inside the shop next to him and bought two popsicles and headed toward that beautiful youth. As expected, his line of sight was occupied. Standing in front of Zhi Li, he passed a popsicle over: "This is not a treat. AA system." This unfathomable prologue was the first sentence Ke Bu said to Zhi Li. Zhi Li took precautions looking at the popsicle, then looked at Ke Bu's flower-like smile with his head tilted.

"What's that look in your eyes? I'm not evil enough to poison you."

Zhi Li did not say anything, and took the popsicle. Ke Bu ate his popsicle and sat down beside Zhi Li: "This place is really cool. You should eat something icy in summer."

"That's not the flavor I like to eat."

"Do you know anything about socializing?"

"What interests do you have that is worth using my socializing skills?" Zhi Li was not salty to say the truth.

Because of Zhi Li retorting back, Ke Bu was startled. Soon afterwards, he laughed up to his heart's content: "You really are realistic. Zhi Li, what do you think I look like?"

"Ordinary."

Ke Bu took a bite on his popsicle as if he was coping with the confirmation he got regarding his own speculation, then continued to say: "You're too straightforward! Sure enough, you clearly don't seem to know what you can say, and what you can't say. I'd like to remind you that with such a character, coupled with you growing up this way, it's highly likely that you'll be envied by other boys."