Chapter 74 74. It is difficult to tell the other half

After leaving Shen Xifu's house, Xie Kang still had nowhere to go, so he rode around Pingnan like a headless fly, passing by his home, No. 1 Middle School, and Li Xiuyu's former home.

When Xie Kang was staring at the gas station attendant holding the gas gun in a daze, he remembered that there was someone he could see.

After paying for the gas, he put on his helmet, turned the handlebars, rode onto the road, turned a few corners, and arrived at Du Jiahao's food stall.

The weather was getting colder. Xie Kang stretched his stiff hands, pushed the door open with his elbows, and walked into the food stall. The hot steam from the food and wine rose up in the air.

There were many people having dinner together before the New Year. Xie Kang looked around but didn't see a single empty table. For a moment he didn't know where to sit and just stood there in a daze.

The aisle was narrow, and with waiters and customers coming and going, Xie Kang had to repeatedly make room for them. Fortunately, a waiter recognized him as a friend of Du Jiahao, asked him if he was there for dinner, and gave him a priority seat.

"Where is your boss Du?" Xie Kang asked.

"It's too busy today, Boss Du is also helping in the kitchen." The waiter pointed to the curtain separating the kitchen and the hall.

Xie Kang knew that the kitchen during peak hours was like a war, and he didn't want to go in and cause trouble. The waiter wanted to help him share a table, but he refused. He walked out and sat on a stone block by the roadside, staring blankly.

There is no regulation prohibiting the setting off of fireworks in the new district. The sound of firecrackers can be heard from afar every once in a while, and the air is filled with a faint smell of gunpowder.

The food stall didn't become deserted until almost two in the morning. When Xie Kang stood up, a white car stopped right next to him.

The driver was a woman in her thirties, not tall, wearing a red down jacket. The back door opened, and a young boy wearing glasses and looking very gentle jumped out of the car. The woman led him to the store.

Xie Kang followed them into the store and heard the waiter calling the woman "Boss Lady".

Du Jiahao came out of the kitchen, wiped his hands on his apron, picked up the little boy and spun him around, speaking affectionately. Then he saw Xie Kang and was surprised. "Xie Kang? Why are you here?"

"Is it strange that I'm here?" Xie Kang frowned.

"You didn't go to Shanghai with Zhuang Yongyuan?"

Although a group was created with Xu Zhen and Du Jiahao, they each have their own lives. When they don't meet, the group is quiet and no one talks about their current situation.

On New Year's Eve, Du Jiahao saw Xie Kang leaving with Zhuang Yongyuan and his group, thinking that he was going to Shanghai to continue playing with the band, but he didn't expect to meet him again in Pingnan.

Xie Kang said, "Zhuang Yongyuan didn't ask me to go either."

He squatted down and greeted the little boy: "I'm your father's friend. Call me Uncle Xie. Say hello to me when you see me next time."

The little boy was shy and hid behind Du Jiahao. Xie Kang smiled and nodded to the woman called "Boss Lady".

Du Jiahao noticed Xie Kang's complicated, inquiring look. He walked up to the woman and whispered a few words. He took off his apron and waved to Xie Kang, "Come sit in my office."

Xie Kang had dined here many times, but this was his first time in Du Jiahao's office. Passing through the clanking back kitchen, a dark wooden door opened next to the cold storage and revealed the office. It was small, windowless, with two metal cabinets filled with miscellaneous items. There was a safe in the corner, and a tea set and computer on the desk. Xie Kang glanced over and saw the screen displaying the entire store's surveillance footage.

In the kitchen surveillance video in the upper right corner, the woman is taking off her coat, rolling up the sleeves of her cashmere sweater, and preparing to put on gloves to help. The boy seems very familiar with the place, touching here and there, and soon he finds a mop and starts mopping the floor properly.

Du Jiahao was also watching the surveillance video. His usually wary expression relaxed considerably as he gazed at the person on the screen, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Xie Kang cleared his throat: "When you told me you were getting married, I thought you were just talking nonsense."

Du Jiahao came back to his senses: "We got the certificate."

Before Xie Kang could answer, he continued, "I know what you want to ask. Yao Xiting and I...we're not a real couple. We're just two friends living together and taking care of each other."

Du Jiahao lit a cigarette and said, "I didn't lie to you. Don't think I'm the kind of guy who would trick women into marriage. I said that to piss you off."

There were no extra chairs in the office, so Xie Kang sat down at the edge of the table, holding his chin and saying, "Are you saying this on purpose to irritate me? I said a few things to you before, and you still hold a grudge?"

"It has nothing to do with that." Du Jiahao flicked off the ash from his cigarette. "It happened many years ago."

"Why is that?"

"I'm jealous of you." Du Jiahao raised his eyes and looked at Xie Kang. Beneath the appearance of a small boss with a happy life, the rebellious boy who used to hang out in society flashed by.

Xie Kang curled his lips: "Why should I be jealous?"

"You two, I mean you and Zhuang Yongyuan, you're both living well."

"Alive and well?" Xie Kang repeated unconsciously.

The corners of Du Jiahao's mouth rose and fell uncomfortably. His breathing became visibly rapid, and the rise and fall of his chest was still obvious under his thick coat.

"Do you know why Xiting and I can be friends? Because we are both widows in our own ways, haha."

He nervously tore the sponge of the cigarette holder, tore the one in his hand into pieces, and then picked up another cigarette holder from the ashtray and kept tearing it.

"Stupid as hell." Du Jiahao muttered to himself, then turned to Xie Kang for confirmation. "Isn't he quite capable? There's nowhere he can't go? Why is he so stubborn?"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, not needing Xie Kang's response. "Damn it, damn it, who are you trying to show him? Do the people who killed him have any regrets at all?"

Xie Kang took a deep breath and was the first to say the name: "Li Xiuyu..."

He could only utter these three words, not knowing what else to say. He still couldn't understand Li Xiuyu and Du Jiahao. He couldn't understand why Li Xiuyu would break up with her family for Du Jiahao, but was unwilling to stick by him any longer. He couldn't understand why Du Jiahao, who seemed like he would find countless lovers, now awkwardly uttered the word "widowhood".

Before Xie Kang could react, Du Jiahao had already adjusted himself: "No more talking. Every time I see you guys, I think of him."

He looked normal, and his recent loss of control seemed like he was possessed by a spirit and had nothing to do with him.

Du Jiahao pointed at the computer screen again and said, "For a while, you and Zhuang Yongyuan came here every day to eat and dine for free. I watched you all the time."

"You're here." Xie Kang paused and said, "I resigned."

Du Jiahao handed the cigarette case and lighter to Xie Kang: "Finally decided? Going to Shanghai after the New Year?"

"What are you going to Shanghai for?"

"Where else can I go?"

Xie Kang lit a cigarette and shook his head: "I don't know where to go either."

He asked again: "Where did you go then?"

Xie Kang was referring to the aftermath of Li Xiuyu's death. They had last seen Du Jiahao at the funeral home entrance. Du Jiahao attempted to charge into the crematorium, but was stopped by a group of Li's relatives. He engaged them in a relentless brawl, throwing every punch with unrelenting force. Xie Kang and Du Jiahao were struck by the street-savage desperado he exuded.

When the security guard came with an electric baton, Xie Kang and Zhuang Yongyuan finally realized what was happening. If they continued to let Du Jiahao vent his anger, Du Jiahao would end up in the police station.

They went to pull Du Jiahao back together. To sober him up, Xie Kang slapped him hard a few times. Du Jiahao's face and eyes were red, his skin was scratched, and several scratches ran through his eyebrows.

After a few slaps, he finally calmed down a bit, leaning against the wall to catch his breath, his eyes fixed on the crematorium just across the door. Xie Kang signaled with his eyes that Zhuang Yongyuan should look after him while he went to talk to Li Xiuyu's mother and told her not to pursue Du Jiahao's case.

Zhuang Yongyuan wanted to hug him, but Du Jiahao looked as if his body was covered with thorns. He didn't know how to start, and he said comforting words that he didn't even believe.

After a while, Du Jiahao suddenly shook off Zhuang Yongyuan and walked down the mountain alone. When Zhuang Yongyuan tried to catch up with him, he turned back and yelled, "Don't follow me!"

Seeing Zhuang Yongyuan didn't stop, Du Jiahao became even more furious, his hair almost standing on end. "If you keep following me, I won't let you go!"

Xie Kang heard the dirty words coming out of Du Jiahao's mouth, patted Zhuang Yongyuan on the shoulder, and told Zhuang Yongyuan not to follow him and to go find him after a few days when Du Jiahao calmed down.

They hadn't expected that after leaving behind a disheveled figure with his clothes torn, they wouldn't see Du Jiahao again for a full decade. Du Jiahao didn't have many friends or relatives in Pingnan, and it was normal for street people to come and go. Xie Kang and Zhuang Yongyuan bravely asked thugs who might know Du Jiahao about his whereabouts, but they came up empty-handed.

Now Xie Kang finally found the opportunity to understand Du Jiahao's experience at that time, but unfortunately Zhuang Yongyuan was not there.

"Me? I've been to many places. Xiamen, Shanghai, Mangui, Jiayuguan, Japan, Taiwan. I've been there and done everything." Du Jiahao blinked. "The more places I go, the more I realize that as long as people don't starve to death and have something to eat, they can survive."

"Li Xiuyu has read so many books and his bookcase is so full, how come he didn't know about this before me?"

Xie Kang shook his head, puffing out cigarettes, and said, "Zhuang Yongyuan once told me that Li Xiuyu's books were just for show; he doesn't like reading."

"No wonder."

“You’ve been to so many places, why do you keep coming back?”

"I met Xiting while working in the kitchen. We got along pretty well. Her parents were pressuring her to get married, threatening to jump off a building if she didn't. Her girlfriend died in a car accident, so it's good to have someone around." Du Jiahao smiled again, "At least I have some experience in this area."