CH 8

Originally, only his face was bearable to see, but now that it was marred like this, it had been completely labeled as “useless”.

“You beat him too?” I withdrew my hand. And while I was sorry for him, I didn’t forget to care about Yang Haiyang’s injury too. 

Actually I wasn’t too worried about him. Although Shang Muxiao was still young, Yang Haiyang had been exercising all year round, and he was quite fit, so he shouldn’t suffer any loss.

Shang Muxiao stood up straight and put on his mask again, “I didn’t hit back. He hit me one-sidedly, I didn’t do it.”

He spoke like it was true. I slowly moved my eyes down to the back of his bruised hand.

“It’s not…” He noticed my gaze, raised the back of his hand and explained, “I did it myself when I smashed the wall. I really didn’t hit him.” 

He didn’t know about my relationship with Yang Haiyang, so there was no need to lie to me. I was more inclined to believe that he really didn’t hit Yang Haiyang — the sun truly came out from the west, how rare.

“Why did you smash the wall?” Putting the handout on my lap, I controlled the wheelchair to go out.

Shang Muxiao followed, and was always about two steps away from me.

“Because I almost couldn’t help but beat him.”

I was only surprised when I heard him say that he really didn’t hit Yang Haiyang, but now, after finding out that he was willing to hit the wall instead of hitting the other party, I was simply shocked.

We haven’t seen each other for just a few days, why was his personality so different? It was like he’d been poisoned by a Gu. 

“What? Do you think that because I’ve been beaten like this, I have to fight back?” Seeing that I didn’t speak for a long time, Shang Muxiao sneered, guessing what I was thinking. 

No, I thought that you’d not only fight back, but double down.  

“No, I just feel that… it’s somewhat unlike you.” 

It was one thing to think in your heart, it was another to say it out loud. I was no longer at a reckless age where I spoke whatever came to mind. I knew how to deal with various kinds of people and situations

“What unlike me?” He put his hands in the pockets of his coat and swaggered to my side. He walked in line with me, “I’m usually very good.” 

I couldn’t help looking up at him, wondering what expression he had as he said that.  

He felt my gaze, looked down and said, “Why? In my opinion, not breaking the law is being ‘good’.” 

“…..”

I wouldn’t comment and silently looked back on the road ahead. I admired him for being so outspoken that he could say it without a change in expression. 

On both sides of the widest main road in the school, tall French plane trees were planted. Over time, the canopies of the trees connected together, covering the road densely. The sun could only squeeze through the gaps of the leaves with the help of the wind. It was difficult for its warmth to reach the ground.  

It is the end of autumn now, and the leaves of the sycamore have turned from green to golden. It wouldn’t take long before the yellow leaves would fall, and the road would see the light of day again. 

“Is your car repaired already?” Shang Muxiao suddenly asked when he was about to walk out of Wutong Avenue. 

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Shang Muxiao didn’t notice it. He continued to move forward at the previous pace, and in a short while he was in front of me. “You haven’t forgotten your appointment for tomorrow?” he asked.

I was 32 and not 62, so I wouldn’t forget what I promised so soon. 

“No.” I said. 

He stopped for a moment and looked over with a frown, as if only just realizing that we were no longer on the same level.  

“Why are you so slow?” He complained. His mask couldn’t hide his impatience. 

The sun fell on him, and the bruises at the corners of his eyes became more and more apparent. 

I squinted my eyes and still walked slowly, not speeding up. 

“You can go first if you can’t wait.”  

He snorted softly when he heard my words, and it sounded like he had something to say. 

“Forget it…” But for some reason, he finally chose to swallow down all the words and said, “I will go to your house to meet you tomorrow night at eight o’clock, don’t forget.” 

He stayed where he was, waiting for me to reach his side before moving on. This time he maintained a very slow pace, in line with my speed. 

“Where are you taking me?”  

There was an intersection in front, and after that we would reach my office. Although I accepted the bet and promised not to avoid it, I still wanted to know where I would be taken, so I could be mentally prepared. 

However, Shang Muxiao still decided to keep me in suspense. 

“It’s a fun place, you won’t be disappointed.” At the crossroads, he stopped and said, “I still have a class, so I’ll be going first. See you tomorrow, Professor Bei.”

He backed up and waved at me, then turned around with his hands in his pockets and left in the other direction.  

I watched his retreating figure for a moment, turned the wheelchair, and walked away from him. 

As soon as I got back to the office and put down the lecture notes, I called Yang Haiyang. 

The other side picked up after a few seconds. The sound coming from the other end seemed like he was outside, and the faint whistle of a car could be heard. 

“That’s right, just this position… Hey, Beibei, what’s wrong? What’s the matter?”  

He sounded busy, so I made the long story short: “Miss Shang’s younger brother came to class today with an injury on his face…” 

Before I could finish speaking, Yang Haiyang interrupted me fiercely: “Fuck, don’t mention that lunatic to me! The fact that he hasn’t been beaten to death at that age must mean his ancestors have accumulated virtue.” 

He began to tell me what kind of lunatic Shang Muxiao was and what happened that day. “That day, everything was good, perfectly fine. Suddenly I heard a loud crash, and the glass of my shop window was smashed.” 

Yang Haiyang went out to look in confusion and saw Shang Muxiao standing outside. He clapped his hands, looking provocative, and didn’t run away when Yang Haiyang saw him, even giving him the middle finger. 

New hatred added onto old hatred, Yang Haiyang also admitted that he was impulsive.

“I asked him if he was crazy, and he said; ‘If you don’t break up with my sister, I can be even crazier. And next time I will break more than just glass’. You also know that the convenience store is my hard work and Yunrou is my Achilles heel. He stabbed both of them so I went up and gave him a punch.” The two scuffled. Yang Haiyang was getting angry, and he didn’t notice how many punches he’d thrown out and how much he’d received. He only felt that Shang Muxiao’s skills were quite bad.

Hearing this, I also felt something was wrong. Since it was Shang Muxiao who started it first, how could he give Yang Haiyang such a futile fight?

“You don’t know how capable he is. I thought he was really weak, but it turned out that he had never been beaten like this before. After a few punches, his true nature was exposed, and he grabbed me by the neck and pushed me against the wall. That look… I almost thought he was going to stab me with a knife. Then, he punched the wall, leaving me who hadn’t even reacted yet to pick myself up and leave.” 

In the evening, Shang Yunrou called and scolded him. She couldn’t believe that he beat her brother like that. It was only here that Yang Haiyang found out that he had been tricked. That kid Shang Muxiao actually used the method of self-destructing to divide him and Shang Yunrou. He was wholeheartedly vicious which made one bristle in anger. 

He had been busy in the store these past two days, and he had to coax Shang Yunrou. “How can there be such a vile bastard in this world!!” I could only imagine how Yang Haiyang was vomiting blood with his hands on his chest. 

He really was… a complete villain.    

Being aggrieved and acting pitiable were all disguise. However, his ruse of self injury, dangerousness and cunning were his nature, which was hard to guard against.  

“Miss Shang must also be extremely concerned. Explain it to her well, she is not an unreasonable person, and she will understand.” He spoke a little more with Yang Haiyang. He was re-installing the glass of the shop, and there was no one to help so he said “Let’s talk next time”, and quickly ended the call. 

In the evening, I received a message from him, saying that he had gotten along with Shang Yunrou, and showed me a video of Shang Yunrou sitting in a rocking chair and holding Yang Youling reading a storybook. 

In the picture, the little girl has long soft loose hair, and is nestled within Shang Yunrou’s arms. 

It had been a long time since I’d seen the little girl, so I sent Yang Haiyang a message and told him that I would come see Yang Youling in a few days. Yang Haiyang replied “ok” to me and agreed to meet me next Tuesday night. 

I had a dream. 

I knew I was dreaming. This dream has been with me for the past twelve years. In the first two years, I had it almost every night. Later, with the passage of time, it gradually changed to only an occasional dream I had when I was emotionally unstable and under too much pressure. 

In the moving vehicle, the voices of the other three people resounded in my ears. Lu Feiheng asked me if I wanted to drink water. I opened my eyes, and just as I was about to thank him, the world turned upside down. 

Everything spun. I had no idea what was going on. When I recovered, I had been thrown out of the car. My whole body was in pain, and with blurred vision, I saw that the SUV I was in just now had flipped over beside the guardrail. The hood was deformed and sparks were flying. 

I saw Jing Shen hanging upside down in the car with blood all over his face. I didn’t know if he was alive or dead. I tried to save him, but his legs didn’t respond at all. 

The oil in the tank spread little by little and was eventually ignited by a small spark that engulfed the entire wreckage of the car. 

My arms were grabbed and someone dragged me away from the danger zone. 

“There are people…” I said weakly, my eyes gradually darkening.  

When I opened my eyes again, it was already bright.

I lay on my bed, listening to the birds chirping outside the window. After a while, I sat up wearily.

No one liked to relive a nightmare, and a horrible nightmare at that.

That day, I was very preoccupied. I forgot the time when boiling water, forgot to add salt when cooking, and even when I was doing laundry; I didn’t remember whether I had poured laundry detergent or not. 

If it wasn’t for Shang Muxiao calling me, I might have forgotten my appointment.

“I’m already downstairs, come down quickly.” After a while, he added, “Remember to bring your car keys.”

When I got downstairs, Shang Muxiao was leaning in front of his blue-and-white heavy machine, and was tossing his helmet in boredom. Seeing me coming down, he locked his helmet and leaned towards me.

“You drive, I’ll navigate. It’s a bit far, but the scenery is good.” 

Looking at the scenery at night?

I was puzzled in my heart, but I still followed his instructions and drove all the way to the destination he directed.

The road became more and more deviated. There were fewer and fewer vehicles on the road, and we even left the urban area and went to the suburbs.

When I saw that we were heading up the mountain that didn’t even have a street light, I had to turn on the high beam to illuminate the road ahead. 

“How much longer?” I finally couldn’t hold my breath and asked.

Shang Muxiao looked out the window and said, “Almost there.” His tone sounded very perfunctory.

In the following hour, this conversation reappeared no less than three times.

From eight o’clock to ten o’clock, the dark road was lined with large fruit trees. Shang Muxiao said that they were cherry trees, but I didn’t know if it was true or not. 

“It’s here, stop!” As if he saw some sign, Shang Muxiao suddenly motioned for me to stop, and before the car came to a complete halt, he opened the door and jumped out of the car.

What are you doing…

I was rarely angry at his dangerous behaviors.

I turned the car off, then sat in the wheelchair and walked in his direction. The grass was a little uneven, but it did not affect the wheelchair. 

“Do you know that it was very dangerous just now…” I walked around the car, and my eyes suddenly lit up. I was a little speechless for a moment.

In front of me was an open viewing platform. The bottom of the mountain was dark with only scattered lights visible. The distant city was shaded by mountains, surrounded by rustling leaves blown by the wind. When the light brought by high technology disappeared, the light from the stars became brighter than ever.

“Look, isn’t the scenery beautiful?”

Shang Muxiao raised his arms and introduced this dazzling Milky Way to me.