Just as Xie An’yu settled into the car, Yu Feng suddenly tapped on the window, signaling him to roll it down. Xie An’yu fumbled around blindly before finally finding the window control button.
Yu Feng leaned down, making eye contact with Xie An’yu inside the car. “Why are those people chasing you?”
“I hit my boss… He was bullying my friend.”
Yu Feng nodded. “Got it. Close the window, and don’t get out.”
“You should get in too,” Xie An’yu said, his brows furrowed. “I’m afraid they’ll—”
“There are so many cars here; I wouldn’t be able to drive off right away even if I got in. What if they smash my car, and the people run off? Who would I complain to?” Yu Feng’s voice was low and calm. “It’s fine, I’ll talk to them properly.”
The group chasing Xie An’yu had seen him getting into a stranger’s car with their own eyes, so they directly surrounded it, trapping Yu Feng as well.
Yu Feng took his last drag of the cigarette, extinguished the butt, and tucked it into his portable ashtray. He then glanced at the fierce-looking young men in front of him.
The curly-haired leader immediately tried to wrench open the car door handle. After two forceful tugs that yielded nothing, he turned to glare at Yu Feng: “Who are you? Unlock the car!”
With that, he turned to Xie An’yu, who was sitting in the back seat, and raised his voice threateningly, “Don’t fucking hide! Get out of the car if you know what’s good for you.”
Xie An’yu frowned at him, instantly recognizing the man as someone who had harassed him on the restaurant’s opening dayday—the one with a sharp, gaunt face and a distinctive head of curly hair. Over time, the chestnut dye had faded, turning a yellowish hue.
“Yu Feng didn’t say anything. The curly-haired man, a little embarrassed and angered, slammed his hand against the car window: ‘If you don’t unlock this, I swear I’ll smash your car!'”
A lackey standing behind him tried to reason with him. “Brother Wu, let’s take it easy. This car doesn’t look cheap. That person hasn’t left yet; let’s just go inside ourselves first.”
He glared back at his lackey, “Do you think I need you to tell me that?”
Yu Feng finally spoke. “Is there a problem?”
“If there wasn’t a problem, would I be wasting all this breath on you? I’m not looking for you; I’m looking for him.” The curly-haired man pointed at Xie An’yu in the back seat. “Don’t meddle. Hand him over.”
“You have a problem with my brother?” Yu Feng asked again.
The other person choked for a moment, then pointed at Yu Feng’s nose and said, “I’m telling you, my patience is thin. Don’t you dare push your luck. This has nothing to do with you. If you insist on getting involved, don’t blame me for being rude later.”
“I’m his brother. If you have a problem, come to me.”
Yu Feng’s unyielding attitude almost made the curly-haired man explode with rage. “You motherfucker—” He lunged forward to strike, but his lackeys quickly pulled him back.
“Hold on, Brother! There are too many people around. Don’t be impulsive—we’ll get in trouble if anyone sees this.”
Someone muttered, “Could he really be his brother…?”
The curly-haired man immediately turned around and swore, “Are you a fucking idiot?! Do you really think that’s possible?!”
“I said, if you have a problem, come to me. Otherwise, leave,” Yu Feng stated. “Whether he’s my brother or not isn’t important. What’s important is what you’ll tell your boss when you go back. I won’t hand him over to you, and wasting your time here won’t change that.”
Based on what Xie An’yu had just told him, Yu Feng already realized that this curly-haired leader was just a pawn doing someone else’s bidding. The one truly intent on catching Xie An’yu, their boss, was likely not among this group.
This gang in front of him clearly looked like small-time thugs—all bark and no bite, incapable of accomplishing anything or committing any serious crimes. The square was crowded today, and under the watchful eyes of so many people, even if he flat-out refused to hand Xie An’yu over, they wouldn’t dare do much.
The curly-haired man understood Yu Feng’s implication but still harbored doubts. Even if he went back and claimed Xie An’yu had been taken away by his brother, would Lu Yang believe him?
He glanced at Yu Feng, then at Xie An’yu in the back seat, and waved his hand at his followers. “Let’s go.”
The curly-haired man turned to leave, his subordinates trailing behind him. One of them whispered, “Brother Wu, are we really just leaving like this? What are we going to tell Brother Lu?”
“What’s the rush?” The curly-haired man lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, he won’t get far. That guy wouldn’t actually take him away. We just need to lie low around here.”
“What if he runs away?”
“He can’t run.”
***
A few minutes later, the group finally disappeared from sight.
Xie An’yu breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to open the car door but found it still locked. He fumbled around for a while, unable to find the unlock button. Seeing him searching frantically like a headless fly, Yu Feng pressed the unlock button on his car key, unlocking the vehicle.
Hearing the click, Xie An’yu knew the car was unlocked. Clutching his backpack, he prepared to get out, but as soon as he opened the door, Yu Feng pressed his head down, forcing him back into the car.
Then, Yu Feng himself got into the car, closed the door, and said, “Let’s wait a bit. They won’t leave immediately; they’re probably still lurking somewhere, waiting for you.”
Xie An’yu sat silently in the back seat. From his angle, he could only see Yu Feng’s back. He watched as the person in front reached out a hand, took a pack of cigarettes from the glove compartment, pulled one out, and stuck it between his lips.
The distinct ‘clink’ of a lighter opening echoed in the car. For some reason, Xie An’yu’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and immediately after, he caught the scent of cigarette smoke drifting from the front seat.
Yu Feng rolled down the window and started the car. Given the current situation, it seemed they had no choice but to give up this hard-won parking spot and find another place to park.
The sudden movement of the car startled Xie An’yu. “Big brother, you…”
“I’ll let you off somewhere else; those people are definitely still nearby.”
Because Xie An’yu was sitting directly behind Yu Feng, Yu Feng couldn’t see his face at all. Even when he glanced in the rearview mirror, Xie An’yu kept his head lowered.
As Yu Feng drove, he momentarily lost focus. He wondered if he might have been mistaken. Could this person really be Student Xiao Dao? After all, what were the odds of such a coincidence?
But even the boy’s voice sounded remarkably similar to Xiao Dao’s.
Yu Feng’s phone rang. He swiped the central control screen, and Zhou Yi’s voice echoed through the car: “Where are you? Still not here? Didn’t I tell you to come early? It’s almost packed here.”
“If it’s full, it’s full. I can still see from the back,” Yu Feng said. “I’m driving now, so I’ll hang up. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Alright, waiting for you.”
“Big brother, if you have something to do, you can just drop me off,” Xie An’yu said, uttering his most complete sentence since getting in the car, giving Yu Feng ample opportunity to recognize his voice. Listening to him from behind, the sense of familiarity grew even stronger.
“I’m fine right now,” Yu Feng said.
In truth, Yu Feng hadn’t driven far at all. They were in a large square, where he had been circling at a snail’s pace. It was easy to get away from the previous spot, but finding another nearby parking space was incredibly difficult. Moreover, the square was so crowded with cars that he couldn’t even drive out.
“Big Brother,” Xie An’yu called out. “Just drop me off here. We’ve driven this far; they probably won’t follow.”
Given the current traffic conditions, it would indeed be difficult for Yu Feng to drive the car out with the other person. He hummed in acknowledgment, turned on the hazard lights, and pulled over.
Xie An’yu got out of the car with his backpack, walked to the window, and said, “Thank you, Big Brother.”
Yu Feng got another close look at Xie An’yu’s face. After carefully comparing it to the photo he had in his mind—the one glancing back in the supermarket—he confirmed that the boy standing before him was indeed that Xiao Dao.
He looked much the same as in the photo: not the fair-skinned, delicate type, but with sharply defined features and bold, youthful energy radiating from his eyes.
“No need to thank me,” Yu Feng said, staring intently into Xie An’yu’s eyes. The young man awkwardly avoided his gaze.
“Then I’ll be going now,” Xie An’yu had a brief eye contact with Yu Feng, then quickly shifted his gaze to the car window. He always found it hard to maintain eye contact with strangers for long.
Yu Feng hummed in affirmation, watching him turn and walk away. The young man carried a black backpack in one hand, walked a few steps, then turned back to wave at him.
Yu Feng returned a faint smile.
The young man turned and walked forward, his steps steady and quick. As he walked, he pulled a black baseball cap from his backpack and put it on. His posture was very upright, and his cool, somewhat aloof figure seemed out of place amidst the lively surroundings.
It wasn’t until Yu Feng had parked the car again did he fully regain his senses. In just over ten minutes, it felt like he had briefly stepped into a parallel world and then returned.
How could they just happen to run into each other on a busy street like this?
Such a dramatic encounter gave him a glimpse into Xiao Dao’s life, and some of his fragmented imaginings about Xiao Dao seemed to be confirmed by the chaotic events that had just unfolded—this kid probably wasn’t doing very well.
***
Xie An’yu wandered aimlessly through the crowd. Having evaded the group from earlier, now it was time to consider what to do next. He had punched Lu Yang, so his restaurant job was undoubtedly gone. He would have to start looking for a new job again.
Thinking about how he had just given his salary to Ding Xiaofei to repay debts, and now, barely two days later, he was unemployed, Xie An’yu felt a pang of sadness. Moreover, he was now renting a place. If he couldn’t find a new job before the next rent was due, where would he go?
The streets were bustling with activity, crowds surging in every direction. Xie An’yu glanced up absently, noticing that most people seemed to be heading in the same direction.
He followed the flow of the crowd to the entrance of an underground band’s performance venue. A roll-up display banner advertising the show stood at the entrance, and vendors hawking glow sticks called out to passersby.
One vendor grabbed Xie An’yu’s arm, eager to sell his unsold glow sticks. “Handsome brother, want some glow sticks? The show’s about to start! I’ll sell them cheap, two for five yuan—how about it?”
Xie An’yu stopped, his peripheral vision catching the promotional content on the roll-up display banner. The ticket price was marked at fifty yuan, with the words ‘Charity Performance’ prominently displayed.
Xie An’yu refused: “No, thank you.”
“Come on, handsome!” the vendor pressed. “Waving these around will really get you in the mood! They’re not expensive. How about four yuan? Any lower is really impossible—I’m already selling below cost! I’m not even making a profit on you.”
“I really don’t want any.”
The vendor clicked his tongue and turned to solicit other passersby.
Xie An’yu fumbled in his pocket. His loose change added up to exactly fifty yuan. Perhaps feeling reckless, he thought, since he has lost his job anyway, he might as well use this remaining money for charity, and he can listen to some music too.
He had never been to a band performance before.
Xie An’yu walked into the entrance. The ticket seller was a girl with exaggerated makeup and hairstyle. In front of her was a rickety school desk. A sign with payment QR codes and unsold tickets stood on the desk. She glanced at Xie An’yu and asked with a smile, “Buying a ticket?”
“Is it fifty yuan for one?” Xie An’yu asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you accept cash?”
“Sure.”
Xie An’yu pulled out the fifty yuan in small bills from his pocket and handed it to her.
The girl was clearly a bit surprised as she sorted through the crumpled notes, even finding some coins mixed in.
As the rhythmic music from the basement pulsed through the air, Xie An’yu asked the girl, “Is this a charity performance?”
“That’s right, all the ticket proceeds goes to a charity organization,” the girl said. “You can scan the QR code to follow our official account; we’ll publicly disclose the donation details there.”
The girl put the money into a cash box and handed Xie An’yu a ticket: “Here you go, your ticket.”
“Thank you.”
“Wait a moment.” The girl pulled out a stamp from under the desk. “Extend your hand—I’ll stamp it on the back of your hand. This is our entry pass.”
Xie An’yu paused, then lifted his hand. The girl stamped the back of his hand.
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 18.1″]
凶神惡煞 || 兇神惡煞 (xiōng shén è shà): devils; fiends; devils and monsters; (figuratively) fierce person; ferocious person; evil spirits; ferocious gods; originally referred to evil spirits, but later it was extended to describe people with fierce appearance and cruel temperament.惱羞成怒 (nǎo xiū chéng nù): to become angry out of embarrassment; to fly into a rage out of humiliation; to be ashamed into anger (idiom); turn shame into anger; flare up from shame; be infuriated by exasperation.
多管閒事 || 多管閑事 (duō guǎn xián shì): to bother to interfere others’ business; to have an oar in everyman’s boat; to meddle in other people’s business; put one’s finger into another’s pie; be a busybody; nosy; officiousness; to meddle in other people’s affairs unnecessarily.
油鹽不進 (yóu yán bù jìn): lit. no oil or salt; stubborn; impervious to reason; unyielding; obstinate; intransigent; be so stubborn as to refuse to take any advice; be as stubborn as a mule. This idiom has a derogatory connotation, and its core meaning refers to a person who is extremely stubborn and difficult to accept advice or suggestions from others.
心領神會 (xīn lǐng shén huì): understand without need for a full explanation; to understand tacitly (idiom); to know intuitively; to understand thoroughly; readily take a hint; even without the other party saying it explicitly, you already understand it in your heart.
漫無目的 (màn wú mù dì): hit or miss; aimlessly; at random; describes behavior without a clear goal. Its core meaning refers to behavior that is undisciplined and lacks planning, and is often used to describe a disordered state or a negative attitude towards life.
何去何從 (hé qù hé cóng): what course to follow or take; where to proceed from here; what path to take; where to go and what to do; which way to turn; what decision to make; which direction to choose on a major issue.
人頭攢動 (rén tóu cuán dòng): crowded; be seething with people; there are many people and they are moving frequently.
心不在焉 (xīn bù zài yān): absent-minded; absent-mindedly; preoccupied; inattentive; with one’s thoughts wandering; From the Great Learning (《大學》) in the Book of Rites: 心不在焉，視而不見，聽而不聞，食而不知其味。此謂修身在正其心。, When the mind is not present, we look without seeing; we hear without understanding; and we eat and do not know the taste of what we eat. This is what is meant by saying that the cultivation of the person depends on the rectifying of the mind.
破罐破摔 (pò guàn pò shuāi): lit. to smash a cracked pot (idiom); to allow things to worsen even if you know there are faults or mistakes; crazy despair in the face of a blemish, defect, error or setback; let things slide; give up on oneself; resign to one’s fate; act recklessly after a setback; make no effort to improve; take a selfdestructive path; A folk proverb, a metaphor for letting shortcomings, mistakes or setbacks go their own way without correcting them, or even intentionally taking a worse direction. Synonym to 破罐子破摔 (pò guàn zi pò shuāi).
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