Translator: xiin
Song Yu felt a little confused. How could things be happening so quickly? In his memories, Xu Qiao’s affairs had only come to light and been fully revealed when Xie Sui was in university.
But now, they were only in the first year of senior high school. Who had leaked the news? Based on the Xie Family’s strength, they would soon come to Jing City. When that happened, whether or not Xie Sui would be willing to go back was another question to consider.
He could still remember that in the original story, Xie Sui hated Xie Sinian all the way down to his bones, and wanted to stay away from the Xie Family for his entire life. Back then, he’d only gone back because he’d been forced to a dead end by the ** gong.
Song Wanying didn’t want to talk about the Xie Family any more. The joys and grudges between these rich families were really too terrible to look at for too long.
She asked Song Yu, “When are you taking your finals? Come back to A City quickly after you’re done. Mom still misses you.”
Song Yu was absent-minded, “Soon.”
Song Wanying suddenly recalled something and laughed across the phone connection, “I suddenly remembered something. Back then when you went to Jing City, you said you wanted to see the world in my stead. It’s been half a year now, how is the world?”
Song Yu was dazed for a moment. He was already immersed in worry for Xie Sui, so Xie Sui was still the first thing in his mind when she asked this question.
The desk lamp shone with a gentle light, and there was a faint fragrance of jasmine in the room. He dropped his gaze to the Chinese paper he was writing. The topic for the last composition was ‘Beyond Expectation’.
His memory spread across summer, to autumn, to winter. Inside a smoky, haze-filled room, there was an incredibly beautiful teenager. A hug from the top of the wall to the bottom of the wall, filled with the summer wind. There was also words spoken with a lazy smile, across thousands of stars in the auditorium. Even every dusk, every night, was vivid and graphic, standing out starkly like everyone he’d met in high school.
Song Yu’s heart suddenly became incomparably light.
He started laughing first. Then came his voice, clear, and extremely gentle.
“Oh, the world? It’s unexpectedly wonderful.”
Far away in A City, Song Wanying was stunned for a moment. Then, the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve up gently.
It was getting closer and closer to the day of the Near Year party.
Towards the end of the Class One rehearsals, everyone was no longer as reserved as before. They cracked many jokes while acting, and the most difficult to achieve thing was that Director Song actually no longer took a sip of water after each performance.
It was worth congratulating! Worth praises and tears! It had really been too hard for them.
Cinderella and the prince finished the last dance.
They were done.
Jiang Chunian enthusiastically went over to the water dispenser and poured a cup of hot water for Song Yu, “Director Song, you haven’t drunk water at all today. You’ve worked hard.”
Song Yu still hadn’t recovered from his cold and was a little low on energy. He glanced at her, then slowly took a sip of water.
Liang Yingying had almost to bar herself in her room from acting as Cinderella. Now that the dust had settled, everyone was happy and in good spirits. They all came over to join in the fun.
Someone held up a bottle of mineral water like a microphone, “I’d like to ask Brother Yu, it’s your first time as a director, how did you manage to be so powerful?”
After finishing the water, Song Yu chuckled and evaluated himself, “Does genius require any explanation?”
Jiang Chunian: “Genius Director Song, I see.”
The crowd of people in the rehearsal room all laughed uncontrollably.
At the end of the day, the New Year’s party performances were part of a competition. Not only did they have to work on their own rehearsal, they also went to inquire about the situation in other classes.
Ma Xiaoding’s little followers finally came in handy, gathering information about the classes around them.
Ma Xiaoding: “There are only three classes doing the same type of performance. They’re performing ‘Butterfly Lovers’. I heard that the prettiest girl in their class and the handsomest boy in their class are playing Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. But I think that everyone in our class has a high appearance value, and we’ll definitely be able to suppress everyone.”
Xi Bowen didn’t bother to correct his phrasing. He blew on the steam coming from his thermos, then said, “But having their class’ prettiest and handsomest perform is really a gimmick.”
Ma Xiaoding: “Then, we’ll bring out the name of our genius Director Song.”
Xi Bowen laughed for a long time, then sighed, “Say, how sensational would it be if Brother Yu and God Xie both took part in the performance?”
Ma Xiaoding: “Just think about it in your dreams.”
Old Chen had gone off for a meeting during their homeroom class. The crowd convinced their class monitor to close the windows, shut the door, and put on a horror film.
Eerie music sounded out.
Song Yu opened up a packet of potato chips and took the initiative to say to Xie Sui first, “If you’re scared, you can lay down on the desk and sleep.”
Xie Sui smiled so deeply his eyes curved, “Mm.”
However, during the entire process, it was only the girls in the class who were frightened into screaming. In their corner, the four of them only felt dull as they watched.
Ma Xiaoding kept asking, “What is that female lead doing? Why does she insist on going there at midnight even knowing that the classroom is haunted?”
Xi Bowen’s thoughts went in a different direction, “It’s probably so that the female lead can rush into the male lead’s arms and cry. The director must think that this kind of scene is very romantic.”
Song Yu leaned back against his seat and crunched on potato chips, “If I were the director, I would never make that kind of arrangement.” After being called Director Song for a long time, his ego was now a little inflated.
“What’s Brother Yu’s worthwhile opinion on this?”
Song Yu said, “The female lead’s crying and flailing as she rushes over is really scary. If I were the male lead, I would probably think that I’d encountered a crazy woman, and should turn around and run off first. They might as well have arranged for the female lead to be scared into a daze by the ghost in the classroom, and then have the male lead go back to the classroom to pick up a book. He’ll be surprised by the female lead’s sleeping appearance, then shake the female lead to wake her up. Isn’t it easy to let the story develop in a dark and gloomy classroom? The female lead would be so scared that she cries beautifully, like pear flowers with rain, and the male lead would feel so distressed that he begins to feel a deep desire to protect her. A lonely man and single woman signals the beginning of love.”
He whistled, “Romantic.”
Xi Bowen took a deep breath, “I’ve learned something.”
Ma Xiaoding laughed and punched him lightly, “What the hell did you learn? Do you really intend to trick little girls to the classroom in the middle of the night?”
Xi Bowen laughed too, “I don’t dare, I don’t dare, hahahaha.”
The New Year party would take place next Monday evening, and all classes would go to the auditorium to do a final rehearsal on Friday.
Song Yu ran into Qin Mo again. The two of them were separated by three rows of seats. Qin Mo smiled at him from the distance.
Song Yu chose to tilt his head and talk to Xie Sui instead, “Will you come to the New Year party on Monday night?”
Xie Sui seemed to be very busy these days.
Song Yu always felt in his heart that it might have something to do with the Xie Family, but as an outsider, he didn’t know how to bring it up.
The teenager’s warm breath fell on Xie Sui’s ears. It was itchy and light, like a feather sweeping through his heart.
Xie Sui really wanted to kiss him, but he told himself that they weren’t there yet. He still had to wait a bit, just a little bit.
He restrained himself and curved his lips, “I’ll come, for you.”
Song Yu hesitated for a while, then said tentatively, “Has something happened with you recently? It feels like you haven’t been in a good mood.”
Xie Sui smiled, “Mm, a little.”
“???”
This straightforward answer of his confused Song Yu. He asked, “Then, tell me… I’ll help you think of a way to deal with it?”
Xie Sui: “Okay.”
Song Yu; “?!” Was there really no covering up?
Xie Sui continued, “Do you know about my parents?”
He asked this question in such a light and understated way that it left Song Yu very flustered, and his heart jumped right up to to his throat. Of course he knew about Xie Sui’s parents, but for Xie Sui, they should be very painful and bitter memories. His mother had chosen to jump from a building and suicide when he was seven, leaving him alone in the world, and there was even less point mentioning Xie Sui, who wasn’t qualified to be a father at all. At the thought of the helpless boy who had no one to rely on from over ten years ago, Song Yu’s heart felt so distressed that his head went blank for a few seconds. He opened his mouth, “I……”
Xie Sui noticed almost every subtle change in expression on his face, and couldn’t help laughing internally. His Yuyu was really very kind, “I don’t love my mother, but I don’t hate her, either.”
Hate was something from his previous life.
“The Xie Family wants me to go back now.”
“He wants to make it up to me.”
“Yuyu, should I go back?”
Song Yu’s entire self was in the dark, stunned. He could feel his heart trembling; was he asking him such a question so directly? The more he thought about it, the more he didn’t know what to say. He was afraid that saying one wrong sentence would affect Xie Sui’s choice at this fork in the path of life.
Xie Sui leaned over the desk and muffled his laughter after seeing Song Yu’s nervous look.
“………”
Song Yu’s nervousness disappeared as he laughed.
How could he still be laughing! Could it be that this wasn’t a serious and saddening question?
Song Yu was furious and anxious, “You––”
Xie Sui said, “I’ll do as you say.”
Song Yu: “……” The words in his mouth were swallowed back down in depression.
In fact, for Xie Sui, it didn’t matter if he returned back to the Xie Family or not.
It could even be said that recently, this wasn’t the problem that had been bothering him.
He’d finally learned the root cause of Song Yu’s ‘disease’. He’d almost drowned during a rainstorm on a private island when he was six years ago.
What a coincidence, that island was the one where he’d shot and killed Zhao Ziyu in his previous life. He’d pretty much forgotten how he’d gotten to the island, but he was very clear… that he definitely hadn’t been forced to go there.
Xie Sui looked at Song Yu’s side profile, and his expression which looked a little angry and embarrassed. He bowed his head, and the smile in his eyes gradually faded away.
“From then on, the princess and the prince lived together happily ever after.”
Senior high’s first year’s Class One was the last class to rehearse. It was already 10:30PM by the time they finished.
Xie Sui didn’t return back to his apartment. After accompanying him out of the auditorium, he went straight out of the school and headed home.
Song Yu was still confused by Xie Sui’s sentence, ‘I’ll do as you say.’
Should he go back to the Xie Family?
Go back and receive a compensation that was many years late, fame and wealth, status, and family backing. Even if Song Yu wasn’t there anymore in the future, no one would dare to bully him so casually.
However, the Xie Family wasn’t a warm and comfortable place. He was also very afraid that Xie Sui would be hurt by those relatives of his who were no better than snakes and scorpions once again.
He’d really put in a lot of effort to worry about his desk mate today.
Song Yu walked for a while, then suddenly received a phone call from a teacher, “Is this Song Yu from the first years’ Class One?”
Song Yu was stunned, “Yes, I am.”
The teacher said, “One of the students from your class forgot to pick up their cell phone in the auditorium, and the only contact number here is your name. Come and help him pick it up.”
Song Yu looked up at the sky and felt that it was going to rain again.
In fact, he was only a few steps away from the auditorium, so he frowned and walked back the way he’d come.
It was already almost 11PM in the evening, and the huge auditorium was basically empty.
Song Yu walked in just in time to exchange greetings with the last two students as they left after putting the equipment back in place.
Song Yu headed towards the first row and was just about to bend over and move aside someone’s school uniform to see if there was any cell phone left underneath.
The lights in the entire auditorium went out abruptly––the whole world fell into darkness. Song Yu’s eyes widened, and suddenly, a gray figure appeared at the entrance and locked the door.
Thump.
The sky outside was overcast, and the moonlight could not penetrate through the clouds. Inside the large auditorium, darkness seeped into the surroundings like a tide, like he was the only one left in the world.
Song Yu’s eyes widened slightly, and a chill spread from his side. It was Saturday, and he took out his cell phone, wanting to call Xie Sui, but there was no signal or service on his phone. A signal jammer had been activated.
Song Yu slowly clenched his hand around his cell phone and sneered angrily. Not bad––was someone playing a prank on him?
What did they want to do with him?
He didn’t have claustrophobia, and this just meant that he would have to sleep there for the night.
He suppressed his anger and his desire to tear Qin Mo apart.
Song Yu sat down. In the darkness, there was only the faint light coming from his cell phone.
The walls of the auditorium were very thick, and the windows were very high up. It was impossible for him to call for help.
The winter nights were very cold, and what made it worse was that there was a rainstorm in the middle of the night. His still had a cold, and as time went on, he felt his brain become groggy and dull.
He was particularly prone to feeling sleepy on rainy days, but he was unable to sleep well this time.
The rainstorm, darkness, and locked room. In fact, Song Yu wasn’t afraid of any of these things individually, but when all three were combined together, it made him feel anxious, depressed, and dizzy for no reason. He even started feeling a sense of suffocation.
It was as though a wild beast in his mind was pounding and biting in a frenzy, making him feel so uncomfortable that he was completely splayed against a desk, shrinking into himself in pain.
Feverish, half dreaming, and half awake.
His mind was filled with strange things, and his ears full of chaotic sounds.
“Are you f*cking crazy?!”
“I’m not crazy, I know exactly what I’m doing. Hahaha, Song Yu, aren’t you very proud? The person I knelt on the ground and begged is dead set on you. Why! For what?!”
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