DSYOM Chapter 65

Xu Zhiya’s resistance to the ancestral worship was something Xu Qi could understand. He also hated returning to this place.

The shops on Nanchang Street, the playground of the Central Elementary School, the narrow alleys between low buildings—each one could evoke the most embarrassing memories deep in his heart.

As the car slowly approached the cemetery, Xu Qi’s breathing also gradually became more rapid, as if his windpipe was being slowly squeezed by a clamp, leaving only a small gap for air to pass through.

He raised his hand and loosened the two buttons on his collar.

The car stopped at the entrance of the cemetery. Xu Qi went to a nearby flower shop and bought several branches of phoenix tail and chrysanthemums. Without tying them together, he simply held them in his hand and walked to the resting hall inside the cemetery. Inside were rows of stainless steel racks, divided into dozens of small spaces. The urns of those who were neither individually buried nor placed in the ancestral hall were placed here.

Xu Qi walked in front of a rack and gently placed the flowers in front of the sandalwood box.

His father had originally been just an honest and straightforward small vendor. Their family had rented a small shop in the corner of Nanchang Street and opened a boutique women’s clothing store. His mother was responsible for sales, and his father handled purchasing and transporting. His mother was very skilled at selling clothes. Although the store was not in a good location, the turnover was among the fastest on Nanchang Street.

The peaceful days did not last long.

At the end of Nanchang Street was the market property management office, responsible for the daily management of the shops. The few old hands[footnote]老油条 (lǎo yóu tiáo) literally means ‘old fried dough stick’, but it can also refer to those low-class people who do not work properly, steal from others, and rob others. [/footnote] inside were not to be taken lightly. From time to time, they would come to the shop to take advantage, bringing along siblings and relatives to buy things at a ‘discount price’. This had already become an unwritten rule of Nanchang Street. The shop owners turned a blind eye and suffered the loss in silence. After all, losing a few dozen yuan was a small matter. But if they offended these local bullies, who would come to inspect every now and then, they could easily find some ‘fire safety issues’ or ‘sanitation problems’ and directly order the shop to shut down for rectification. That would be far worse.

When they were short on funds, the property management office would come up with various excuses to seize the goods from the shops.

It was easy to get the goods back, just by handing over a few bills. If they didn’t want to pay, there were other ways.

They would hook those old hands by the neck, say a few soft words, let them feel around, take advantage, and if they were appeased, the cost could be avoided.

Xu Zhiya was a well-known beauty in the area. Ever since she arrived on Nanchang Street, the eyes of a few people in the property management office had been following her.

Her goods had been seized more times than others, double the amount.

At first, Xu Zhiya had her husband pay to redeem them. But as the seizures became more and more severe, she simply couldn’t tolerate losing her hard-earned money in such a frivolous manner.

So, she started to go to the property management office herself to negotiate.

The goods were returned, but rumors spread, and they became worse with time.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back soon came. One day, after Xu Zhiya’s husband had just unloaded new stock and moved it into the store, someone from the property management office came over, walked around the store, and said that their clothing racks were too close together, blocking the aisle and affecting fire safety. They directly removed two rows of clothes from the middle of the store.

Before leaving, the person patted Xu Zhiya’s husband on the shoulder and, with a sly grin, said, “Tell your wife to come pick them up later.”

Then, almost in the blink of an eye, the knife used for opening boxes was thrust into that person’s abdomen, stabbing him repeatedly more than a dozen times. Afterward, this usually silent man, holding the bloodstained knife, calmly walked out of the store and headed toward the end of the street. If not for a few people desperately holding him back, he almost bloodied the property management office.

At that time, Xu Zhiya was at the factory, reviewing new designs. When she returned, she only saw bloodstains all over the store. The owner of the store next door was trembling all over, and told her in a shaking voice that her husband had been taken away.

Xu Qi’s father was sentenced to thirty-five years. He ultimately did not survive the long prison sentence and died in prison. When Xu Qi received the ashes, the family argued fiercely. The incident on Nanchang Street became widely known, and everyone knew that there was a murderer in the family. They were not keen on having this disgraced relative placed in the ancestral hall.

So, he was finally laid to rest in the cemetery, placed together with the other thirty or so quiet souls.

During his more than ten years of imprisonment, only Xu Qi had visited him. Every time the visit ended, his father always seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Xu Qi knew that he wanted to ask how Xu Zhiya was doing, whether he could see her again, but Xu Qi could not answer.

He couldn’t recount the older men his mother had been with after that, nor could he directly tell his father that Xu Zhiya would not visit him.

Neither in life nor in death would she come to see him.

Just like now, on the fifth anniversary memorial, only Xu Qi stood here, looking at the solitary wooden box, his hands clasped together, silently praying in his heart.

Each year, he would tell his father what had changed in his life. Of course, it was the version after filtering out the bad and keeping the good. The first few years, there was truly nothing to say, but in recent years, there had finally been a few changes that could offer some comfort.

This year was different, this year had a major turning point.

“Dad,” he looked at the memorial tablet and said, “I saw him again.”

This time was different from before. He was no longer the powerless child, no longer someone unable to control his own life.

He would not lose him again.

After leaving the cemetery, he breathed a sigh of relief and took out his phone. Jiang Yu was not good at reading or writing, but fortunately, the phone had a text-to-speech function, so they could still chat online. But he wanted to hear Jiang Yu’s voice, so he dialed the number.

The ringtone lasted for a long time, and only after a while did the other side pick up, with a small voice saying, “Hello?”

Xu Qi’s heart suddenly softened: “It’s me.”

“Oh…” There was a sound of fabric rubbing, “I’m at work.”

A scene appeared in Xu Qi’s mind—Jiang Yu, wearing a mask, squatting by the cabinet, taking off a glove and placing it on the counter, carefully talking while quietly watching to see if the employer had noticed he was slacking off.

“Then I’ll keep it short.” Xu Qi asked: “Disney’s new movie is out. Do you want to go see it? We can go together.”

“Sure,” the voice was still low, “but I still have work this afternoon…”

Xu Qi smiled, “Do you want to see me today?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, probably pondering how the other person knew. After a long time, a single word came through: “En…”

Xu Qi felt that his chest could breathe again. “So when are you free?”

“Four o’clock in the afternoon?”

Xu Qi glanced at the time. If he drove back, he would probably arrive in Beijing around three, still with some time to spare. “Then I’ll pick you up,” Xu Qi said. “Can you send me your location using your phone?”

Jiang Yu quickly replied, “I can,” and Xu Qi felt a sense of admiration. “You’re so capable now?”

“I know a lot of things,” Jiang Yu said, a bit dissatisfied, then quickly added, “Ah, the homeowner’s looking at me. I have to hang up.”

Xu Qi stared at the black screen of his phone, lost in thought for a while, only to realize that his reflection in the screen was smiling.

He played some relaxing music and drove back to Beijing.

While waiting for Jiang Yu downstairs in the community, he suddenly remembered that he hadn’t taken his medication. Xu Zhiya’s medicine box was well-designed, but it couldn’t overcome the owner’s forgetfulness. Xu Qi hadn’t brought the medication for the day back to his hometown, and now it was too late to go back and get it.

Before his thoughts could delve any deeper, Jiang Yu appeared in his line of sight. The doubts in his mind unknowingly dissipated. He straightened up and went to meet him.

Jiang Yu put the bag in the back seat and sat in the front passenger seat, then began to continuously turn his head to stare at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your dark circles are so serious,” Jiang Yu asked with concern, “Didn’t you sleep well?”

“I’ve been busy lately,” Xu Qi said, “It’s fine, I’ll just get a good sleep tonight when I get home.”

In fact, he hadn’t had a good sleep in a long time. Sometimes it was due to overtime, other times because of stress. However, it was rare for entrepreneurs of his age to get enough sleep, and this kind of lifestyle was normal.

Xu Qi chose a private cinema with a small two-person room, where they could watch the movie without being disturbed. Once they arrived, Xu Qi asked Jiang Yu to wait for a while while he went to buy a bucket of overpriced popcorn. The two of them entered room No. 3 and sat on the large leather sofa. Xu Qi handed the popcorn to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu took it and placed it on the table in front of him, saying, “Go to sleep.”

Xu Qi didn’t react for a moment.

“Take a nap,” Jiang Yu said, “I’ll wake you up when the movie is over.”

Xu Qi looked at him. “How can I sleep when I’m on a date with you?”

“Why not?” Jiang Yu said seriously. “I’m going to watch the movie anyway. It doesn’t matter whether you’re asleep or awake.”

Xu Qi was about to argue, but Jiang Yu grabbed his hand and shook it. “Shh, the movie’s starting, go to sleep.”

Jiang Yu’s hand had grown much larger, but it still felt as soft as it had back then. Xu Qi held his hand, leaned against the comfortable backrest, and struggled for a while between his will and sleepiness. In the end, sleep won.

This was the rare, pure sleep he had recently. When he woke up, the movie had already ended a long time ago.

He suddenly became fully awake, seeing Jiang Yu carefully pushing his shoulder.

“The boss came to hurry us,” Jiang Yu said. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll have to pay extra.” Then he shook his phone. “Gege called to ask where I was. They’re waiting for me to have dinner.”

Xu Qi glanced at the time, regretfully stood up. “Let’s go then.”

Jiang Yu sat on the sofa, his arm lifting with Xu Qi’s movement. It was then that Xu Qi realized they were still holding hands. Jiang Yu didn’t move, seeming lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Qi asked.

Jiang Yu looked like he was seriously pondering something. “You said earlier that today was a date.”

Xu Qi sighed. After more than two hours, he finally reacted.

“Yeah,” Xu Qi said.

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then stood up excitedly. “So this is what a date is like!”

Xu Qi wanted to explain to him that a date isn’t a journey of watching a movie alone or sleeping alone, and that he would definitely not fall asleep next time.

But Jiang Yu looked so happy, excitedly talking about how great the new movie was, and he couldn’t get a word in.

It wasn’t until they sat in the car that Jiang Yu finally quieted down. They moved slowly through the traffic during the evening rush hour, watching the night gradually take over the city.

As the car drove over an overpass on the third ring road, Jiang Yu suddenly sat up straight. “Our school!”

Xu Qi turned his head and saw the plaque of Xingcheng Secondary School gleaming under the streetlights. In the distance, the teaching building stood tall against the night sky. Through the fence, Xu Qi vaguely saw the shadow of the playground, the basketball hoop, the artificial turf, and the activity room lurking in the darkness far away.

A sudden sense of foreboding struck him.

He suddenly jerked the steering wheel, veering off the main road and stopping under the shade of a tree at the corner of the campus. Before the car had even come to a full stop, water rushed in through the sunroof, the gaps in the doors, and from beneath the seat.

The water level rose rapidly, and the air became thinner and thinner. Water poured into his ears and nostrils, quickly making it impossible for him to breathe. He tried to escape from the suffocating drowning, but his hands trembled and he couldn’t grip the door handle.

He was sure he was going to die. He was about to…

“Xu Qi?” A vague voice came from far away. “Xu Qi?”

Suddenly, the car door was yanked open, and the water rushed out of the car. A large amount of air flooded in, and he gasped for breath.

“What’s wrong with you?” A hand gripped his arm. “Are you sick?”

He slowly turned his head and saw the familiar face and the familiar eyes. Jiang Yu was looking at him nervously, his pupils full of concern.

His lips were numb and wouldn’t open. After several tries, the airflow finally found a way out. “I forgot to bring my medicine.”

“What illness do you have?” Jiang Yu looked even more panicked than he did, as if afraid he might actually die right then and there.

Xu Qi could still see the fence of Xingcheng Secondary School out of the corner of his eye. He closed his eyes, thinking about how to explain his mental illness to Jiang Yu.

Then he felt a warm presence closing in. The person in the front passenger seat unbuckled their seatbelt and awkwardly, over the gear shift, hugged him.

There was still the scent of sunlight in his hair.

The warmth slowly surged, and as his heartbeat gradually returned to normal, he opened his eyes. In the distance, the plaque of Xingcheng Secondary School shimmered brightly.

“I will find them one by one,” he said.

The people who ruined his childhood, the people who ruined Jiang Yu’s childhood, and the indifferent school standing behind them.

“Not a single one will be spared.”