050
As January drew to a close, Xu Yu was busy studying. Zhu Wenxu brought some carrots and pork ribs from Qinghua Town and served them to the table, repeatedly reminding him, "Drink more to get rid of the cold."
"It's delicious." Xu Yu noticed his clothes. "Are you going to discuss business later?"
Zhu Wenxu: "We have a cooperation plan and would like to go and discuss it."
"When will you be back? Do you want me to prepare dinner for you?"
"No, just finish this soup today. If you want to eat something outside, text me." Zhu Wenxu said, "I'll be back later. There will be a storm from 3 pm to around 9 pm, so please close the doors and windows."
"I will."
After Zhu Wenxu left, Xu Yu began to clean up the house, including most of the food he brought back from this trip, as well as his past memories of Liu Shaohua and him.
The phone still turned on, but it kept showing low battery. The MP3 player was dead, and the memory card was in doubt. Then there were some dirty little accessories he'd bought on a whim. Liu Shaohua kept them all, but his own was long gone.
According to Uncle Liu, three years after Xu Yu left, Xu Yu's father was released from drug rehabilitation. He sold his house and land and left with a woman he met in the drug rehabilitation center.
The house they had bought had already been renovated, and was now occupied by a new family of residents, one old and one young. Before leaving, Aunt Luo asked if he wanted to go take a look, but Xu Yu refused. He had nothing to take with him, and going would only add to his worries.
After everything was installed, Xu Yu opened a new online storage account. He decided to save the videos Liu Shaohua had filmed there. He could look through them whenever he wanted, and if he didn't want to watch them anymore, he could keep them forever. If the USB drive broke, everything would be gone.
He turned on his computer and started uploading videos. Because there were so many videos, the network was a bit laggy. Xu Yu kept watching, and it took over an hour for all the videos to upload successfully. The moment he ejected the USB drive, he realized he had neglected to connect it to the other USB drive.
The head of this USB flash drive was relatively small, and the contents inside could not be deciphered the first time. Xu Yu suspected that it was broken, so he ejected it and unplugged it again. This time the connection was successful.
There are only two documents in it. The name of the first document is the most important account in Xu Yu's life.
Clicking on it revealed the social media account and password: □□ and hearths. The second document contained just three short sentences, like something written while grumbling.
——Xu Yu would definitely forget his account password. He would definitely forget how to retrieve it.
——I helped him feed the penguins. He had so many messages. Every time I opened the computer, it would freeze. I was speechless.
——Xu Yu, you are such a fool.
Xu Yu was stunned for two seconds before pulling out his phone, opening his account and password. He hadn't registered a new account in years, too lazy to use one. When Xi Jiang tried to create an account for him to play games, he'd always refused because it was too much trouble.
After entering the password, the graphic code was repeatedly entered, and then a verification text message popped up. Just as Xu Yu was about to search where the number came from, he heard the old phone on the bedside table ring.
bite.
He was stunned again. This phone had a SIM card, and it was actually still usable, especially now that it could provide a verification code.
Xu Yu rubbed his cold fingers, but found no way to warm them. He successfully logged in after entering his password. The page began to refresh, and then a long list of messages popped up.
There are many groups. Game groups, class groups, and small groups where you don't know who is who.
The list of messages followed closely behind. The top one kept floating around, and because it was so slow, the phone instantly became hot, and my fingers were getting hotter and hotter too.
He washed his face, turned on his computer, and typed in the hearths official website to log in. The website had a simple animation for returning users: two little boys reunited under a rainstorm, holding an umbrella, and then leaning against each other with their eyes closed.
The animation ended, and the account was successfully loaded. All of Xu Yu's accounts were created by Liu Shaohua using his home computer. His username and profile picture remained unchanged. His profile picture was a goldfish, and his nickname, User 36085, was still being updated. After about ten minutes, the old name popped up.
Glass fish tank.
All the collected posts are still there except those deleted by the original poster. The historical messages include various warm messages, forum-limited nameplates obtained by completing tasks, and questions I asked about the game in the past.
All of this happened before 2015. Besides sharing with Liu Shaohua, there was another person who would often tag him. When Xu Yu refreshed the page again, he discovered that this person was Tu Meng.
Xu Yu had a strong premonition. When he clicked on the other party's homepage and private message bar, he collapsed like a ball.
Warm.
The note he gave to the other party was warm.
In 2013, Hearths launched an event - meet another similar me in the world.
The post is official and has not been deleted so far. It has already received over 999 comments. Tracing back through the comments, the information suddenly popped up on a night in March 2013.
He remembered the night his father and mother were arguing because his father had given his mother a dress. His mother cried and complained that his father had nothing to do with it. Liu Shaohua came to find Xu Yu and took him to his home to surf the Internet. That night, he clicked on this post and saw a face that looked very similar to his own.
Liu Shaohua was also shocked at the time: "If you didn't have a mobile phone and it was difficult for you to go online, I would have suspected you were playing a trick on me."
Xu Yu stared at the screen: "Do you want to comment on him?"
"Of course, this is fate. Maybe you two can become good brothers in the future."
“…”
So they established a connection. Wen Xu and he lived in completely different places. His hometown also had sky and land, but the sky was not as dark as that in Qinghua Town. Occasionally, there would be rainbows and bright clouds.
Perhaps because he noticed that Xu Yu liked scenery, hearths would tag Xu Yu in all his scenery posts, including city scenery, foreign streets, and various close-up photos of men, women, and children. He also introduced her to the central statue of the Greek hotel and told her the story of the goddess of love.
Xu Yu's gaze drifted far away until he finally saw that □□'s message update had finished. A profile picture identical to Tu Meng's popped up at the top of the screen. He had received numerous messages, the most recent one from a year ago.
[I only care about whether you are doing well. If you are doing well, I will bless you. If you are not doing well, I will find a way to take you away.]
[I'm so sorry, I wanted to take you away as soon as I saw you.]
Xu Yu seemed to understand something. He opened two software programs and opened Tumeng again to see the post that had been updated.
[It rained on July 3, 2025. We stood frozen on the bridge, wishing the world would stop for a moment. I wanted to hug him.]
[It rained on July 5, 2025. His world shouldn't always be raining. The private detective I hired is still helping collect evidence. I want to help him see clearly as soon as possible that the other party is not worthy of his trust.]
[July 9, 2025, sunny. I'm always willing to be by his side, like a mouse trying to enter his world.]
…
[September 20, 2025, sunny. People always try to avoid relationships, thinking they can pick it up again later if they just step away. But I can't. Just a few steps away from him makes my body collapse.]
…
I've always wondered why Zhu Wenxu fell in love with him, why he was willing to give up everything, and why he understood him so well. They'd been connected for ten years, and he'd been unilaterally continuing it, just to be together?
If he had not returned to Qinghua Town this time, if Liu Shaohua had not saved his account and password, would Zhu Wenxu have never told anyone about it and kept it hidden for countless tomorrows?
I cried so hard that my heart ached.
He changed Tumeng's other posts, and they all updated so frequently. This was a birthday post, posted once a year, with apples, candies, five-inch cakes, and the text was always wishing his little friend a happy birthday.
It has been sent out until this year.
Xu Yu could only curse Zhu Wenxu over and over again in silence. He wiped his tears, took out his phone and called Wang Li. Wang Li was resting, and as soon as he lay down, he whistled: "What's wrong? Why are you not sleeping so late at night? If you want to drink with me, no, I'm out of town now and won't be back until next month."
"Zhu Wenxu used to be called Wenxu, right?"
Wang Li's expression froze, and he was speechless for a moment: "W-what happened?"
"You came on the first night Zhu Wenxu and I were in Qingying, right? So you were able to find my location that day." Xu Yu said, "Tell me the truth, Wang Li. I looked at the timeline of Hearths and I can guess it."
There was silence on the other end.
Neither Xu Yu nor Wang Li were used to the sudden weight of the conversation. They had no desire to confront each other, let alone lose their friendship.
"Do you really want to know?" Wang Li calmed down. "I'm worried you'll feel bad."
"Go ahead."
Wang Li struggled internally for a moment, then downed a bottle of beer on the table and sat down heavily. "Two years ago, Bai Jing told me about something. He said his friend was in love, and if he couldn't find a solution, he might spend his whole life in this matter. I didn't care at the time. What era is it now? There are still people who are desperately in love with one-sided love. But after meeting Zhu Wenxu, I changed my mind."
"According to the original plan, I should have quietly followed you and Xi Jiang, but Xi Jiang was difficult to deal with. The day I met you wasn't part of the plan, and then you planned to leave Xi Jiang, so Zhu Wenxu and I changed our plans. But I don't have the ability to guide people, especially after becoming friends with you. I almost never reported on your situation. On the one hand, I didn't respect you, but on the other hand, I thought we were friends."
Wang Li sighed, "During the first three months of observation, Zhu Wenxu told me about your amnesia. He said that memory was very painful for you, and whether you wanted to regain it or not was not a big deal. As long as you were healthy and safe, he would do anything."
Xu Yu's voice was muffled: "So he didn't say anything."
"I can't tell you. Let me tell you this. When he knew Xi Jiang wasn't treating you well, he almost went crazy. But he was afraid that you really loved Xi Jiang, so he didn't dare to do anything out of line. Even now that you two are together, he still has nightmares about you leaving him and so on. If you really want to leave him, he will still choose to let you go."
Wang Li was helpless: "He always thought that he missed the most important ten years of your life, that he didn't accompany you and take care of you, and that he owed you his love for you, so he didn't plan to say anything. Even on the day you went to see Lin Mian, he only sat in the car for two hours to make sure you weren't upset by what Lin Mian said before leaving."
He couldn't understand Zhu Wenxu's thinking, perhaps because of their different sexual orientations. Zhu Wenxu wanted to be as simple as, "I'm here when you need me, and I'll be discarded when you don't." But if he really wanted to be discarded, Wang Li thought Zhu Wenxu might actually die.
Over the years, I have relied on hearths' account and those memories of the past to survive until now.
If it were someone else, they would have been surrounded by countless colorful things.
"He's a fool."
Wang Li fully agreed: "Don't cry, it's not easy for you and him to get to where you are now. If you have anything to say, just talk slowly."
"You just said two years ago. Do you mean you started two years ago?"
"No, I only heard about it initially. It really happened last year when news of his overseas venture reached China, and the Zhu family recalled him to take over the position ahead of schedule," Wang Li said. "He wanted to get rid of the Zhu family all of a sudden. As for how he did it, you now know."
Xu Yu hummed: "I understand."
Wang Li was about to say something when the call was disconnected. A door slammed in the living room. Xu Yu put down her phone and heard someone familiar in the living room take off their coat and turn on the light. "It's dark now, why aren't you turning on the lights?"
Since they've been together, he's been gentle with his voice, like a parent who praises their child no matter what he does.
Entering the living room, a heavy smell wafted over. Zhu Wenxu first caught sight of Xu Yu's face. Crying can make a person's face swollen, especially around the eyes, which were stained a light pink, scattered on the phone next to her and the interface reflected on the screen.
At the same time, the phone rang. Zhu Wenxu glanced at the incoming call notification and turned it off. He put down the cup and walked towards Xu Yu, each step feeling like a thousand pounds of weight.
He had imagined this scene, but he had never imagined it happening so quickly. He didn't know how to convey his feelings to Xu Yu, nor did he want to tell him what he had become of her because of missing her for so many years.
If only I could be pitied.
Zhu Wenxu really wanted to kneel down and beg him to love him.
"Have you figured it out yet?"
Xu Yu nodded slowly: "What if I really fall in love with Xi Jiang?"
Zhu Wenxu was a little stunned when he heard this. He then wiped away the tears from Xu Yu's eyes and said, "I will bless you generously."
"that's all?"
"Then I'll snatch myself away," Zhu Wenxu said, "and take you far away."
He wasn't joking. Xu Yu felt like he might actually do it.
Xu Yu didn't know how to ask: "Aren't you afraid of not succeeding?"
"I don't know." Zhu Wenxu hugged him. "I thought about failure. How can I give up without even trying? Look, I succeeded, didn't I?"
"You're a fool."
Zhu Wenxu admitted: "I am willing to be a fool."
"Why are you making your life so miserable?" Xu Yu hit him on the back. "Do you have to carry everything on your own?"
Afraid of hurting Zhu Wenxu, Xu Yu grabbed his clothes tightly. She had cried too many times in the past few days, and tears kept falling when she felt uncomfortable and painful, which did not give him any preparation.
He messed up Zhu Wenxu's white shirt and used it to wipe his face without hesitation. After a long time of calming down, he hit him again, this time controlling his strength and being much lighter.
"It's worth it, isn't it?"
Xu Yu scolded him again: "Fool."
"I'm a fool." Zhu Wenxu leaned his forehead against his. "Like those who spend their entire lives gambling, I use what I don't want to get what I want. Isn't that already a big winner?"
"Don't hide it from me." Xu Yu said hoarsely, "I don't want to carry it alone anymore."
Zhu Wenxu hugged him tightly, silent. His sobs gradually subsided as he washed his face, applied medicine, fed him water, and settled him into bed. Throughout the entire process, they stared at each other dozens of times, one clinging to the other, the other clinging to them, wishing they could completely devour the other in space.
"It's over, Xu Yu. I'm very satisfied with you." Zhu Wenxu kissed his forehead. "Do you understand?"
"I hope you won't be so tired, can you understand?"
Zhu Wenxu kissed the corner of his mouth: "Yes."
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