Chapter 48 48. Minuet
The street lights in the alley are broken. There may be only a few working street lights in the whole of Pingnan.
So the alley was very dark, and when the person Du Jiahao was following suddenly turned around, Du Jiahao didn't have time to react and almost bumped into the other person.
I couldn't see the other person's expression clearly, I only heard him ask me jokingly: "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Du Jiahao had never robbed anyone alone before, and his hands were shaking as he took the switchblade from his pocket. He pinched his thigh hard, forced himself to lower his voice, and said fiercely: "Do you want money or life?"
The other person's laughter was so loud that Du Jiahao became furious and shouted, "What are you laughing at? Aren't you afraid of death?"
"Let's make a bet," Li Xiuyu said. Du Jiahao knew his name was Li Xiuyu; he had asked his eldest brother about it.
"You're crazy! Get this straight! You're being robbed! What are you betting on? Your life?"
"You don't like betting? That's okay, just think of it as me telling your fortune and tell me if it's accurate or not."
Du Jiahao gradually saw the person in the darkness clearly, and saw Li Xiuyu smiling at him while speaking.
"Fuck your mother's stinky ass..."
Du Jiahao was halfway through cursing when he was interrupted by Li Xiuyu: "You haven't stabbed anyone before, and you won't stab me tonight."
"If you have the guts, give it a try..."
Li Xiuyu took a step towards Du Jiahao and continued, "You're an orphan. Your parents don't want you. You can't go to school even if you want to. You've been hanging around on the streets since you were a kid."
"Who do you think you are?"
"Don't you like me talking like this?" Li Xiuyu paused, as if thinking seriously, and then said, "How about this, let's change the format. I'll ask the questions and you answer them. What do you like?"
"I like going to the arcade... Shit, why should I answer you?"
Du Jiahao was pushed back by Li Xiuyu. He stumbled and fell into the gap between two bungalows, which was just enough for two people to stand face to face. Li Xiuyu chased him in, and their chests were almost touching.
Li Xiuyu blinked. His eyelashes were very long and thick, and every time they pressed down, they felt very heavy. "No, this is not your favorite."
"Have people like you all ruined your brains by reading so much?"
"Tell me, what is your favorite thing?"
Du Jiahao was half a head shorter than Li Xiuyu. Li Xiuyu bent down slightly, and their eyes were at eye level.
Li Xiuyu's tone was like she was acting like a spoiled child. Du Jiahao, for some unknown reason, thought about this question seriously and said hesitantly, "Play basketball."
"It's still not right."
Du Jiahao racked his brains and came up with another idea: "Watch TV, watch martial arts movies, gangster movies, have you seen "Across the World"?"
"No, no..." Li Xiuyu shook his head repeatedly. Du Jiahao put his right hand on the wall. The wall was slippery and had a strong smell of moss.
"You like boys. You followed me for a week, not for money, but for this." Li Xiuyu pointed down calmly.
"Fuck, what are you talking about!" Du Jiahao started cursing immediately, spewing out a stream of Hokkien swear words, but he paused in the middle of his speech.
They were too close, and the lingering scent of cigarettes and mints from Li Xiuyu tickled him. Du Jiahao's body honestly reacted to Li Xiuyu's. Li Xiuyu glanced at that place frivolously, let out a cocky laugh, and then pinned Du Jiahao against the wall. Du Jiahao tried to run, but he pulled out Du Jiahao's belt, which he had untied at some point, and clamped him, tying his hands behind his back. They were standing under the back window of someone else's house. There was a "click" from inside, and someone pressed a switch. A dim incandescent light shone through the greasy window. There was the crisp sound of plastic bags, the clanging and clattering of knife blades against the chopping board, and the smell of garlic granules fried in hot oil wafted out.
Du Jiahao still struggled, and Li Xiuyu impatiently patted his face, finally bringing him to his senses. In the narrow alley, they didn't always have both feet on the ground; sometimes they stood on tiptoe, sometimes leaned against the wall, like they were dancing a duet.
"Eat!" the old woman inside yelled, startling Du Jiahao. Chopsticks and spoons clashed against each other, and footsteps of varying weights echoed one after another.
The smell in the air became increasingly turbid. After finishing, Li Xiuyu untied the belt on Du Jiahao's hand.
Du Jiahao rubbed his wrist, glared at Li Xiuyu, and said as he put on his pants, "Give me three hundred."
"What do you mean by three hundred?" Li Xiuyu lit a cigarette, looking puzzled as he leaned out the window again. "Who's having dinner so late?"
Du Jiahao snatched the cigarette from his mouth and smoked it himself. As he smoked, he cursed in his heart, saying, "This lunatic is so rich. He has never smoked such good cigarettes."
He angrily said to Li Xiuyu: "You don't have to pay to go to the foot massage parlor?"
After Li Xiuyu understood what he meant, she laughed again and said, "Comparing our conditions, shouldn't you be the one giving me the money?"
He lowered his voice: "Weren't you the one who just had a good time? The noise was so loud that covering your mouth wouldn't help."
Du Jiahao was furious: "Do you think you are good-looking? Your eyes are as big as a donkey's."
"How about this, I can pay you some nutrition fees, but not now." Li Xiuyu licked his lips and said, "We'll meet here again at this time next week. I'll give you three hundred then..."
The street light flickered a few times and then came back on, shining into the narrow gap. A light also came on in the back window of another house, and the sound of water and the smell of shower gel wafted out.
Li Xiuyu narrowed his eyes, looked Du Jiahao up and down in the light, and said, "After looking at you for a long time, I still find you quite pleasing to the eye. I'll give you 500 yuan."
"Don't take yourself too seriously." Du Jiahao cursed as he pulled out a switchblade, pointing the tip of the knife at Li Xiuyu: "Give me the cigarette, or you can't leave."
Li Xiuyu threw the remaining half pack of cigarettes to Du Jiahao, lowered his eyes, and said aggrievedly, "It's not like I'm not willing to give it to you. Why are you being so harsh?"
Du Jiahao cursed again, took the cigarette, put away the knife, and walked away cursing. He heard Li Xiuyu repeat behind him: "See you next week."
Du Jiahao didn't look back, but raised his hand and gave Li Xiuyu the middle finger.
Xu Zhen asked Du Jiahao excitedly: "Are you going next week?"
"I..." Du Jiahao hesitated for once, and Zhuang Yongyuan and Xie Kang urged him to answer impatiently.
He counted on his fingers and decided to go for it. After all, Zhuang Yongyuan and Xie Kang had made a lot of money lose, so it wasn't shameful to tell the truth in front of them.
"I went there the next day and waited for Li Xiuyu at the school gate around six o'clock."
Xie Kang asked, "Did you encounter it?"
"Yes, he did..." Du Jiahao's face darkened, "But he wasn't alone, he had a fellow student with him..."
His voice trailed off. "They were dressed in their school uniforms, holding a book. They were listening to music together, each with an earphone. Li Xiuyu was completely different in front of him than she was in front of me."
Du Jiahao raised his head and asked everyone in confusion: "Is this what you call jealousy? If I weren't jealous, he might not have died."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
