16. Don’t you want to play with me?
To be fair, Sun Changming may not be a reliable man, but in Tang Sizhuo's eyes, he is a good stepfather, at least much more qualified than Tang Jiahua.
Sun Changming worked in construction, a business so extensive that he wasn't home much, and he had casual affairs all over the country. Xiao Tong was considered one of the most beautiful women in the palace, but she wasn't particularly beautiful either. She still had to dress up every day to compete with women she had never met.
A successful career and surrounded by beautiful women, Sun Changming's only regret was that he was over 40 and still childless. He initially blamed his first wife, but his lovers around the world also failed to bring him pregnancy, with pregnancies lasting only two or three months at best. Tang Sizhuo had been missing an artifact from his antique display case, and it was there that he filled it.
The little girl was clever and well-behaved, inheriting her mother's beauty. She was a constant source of praise no matter which party she attended. Sun Changming was initially somewhat bothered by the fact that she wasn't his child, but he eventually came to terms with it. The fact that she could still be close to him despite being unrelated made him appear even more generous and gentle, a father far more dignified than the average father. Therefore, he doted on his stepdaughter, providing Tang Sizhuo with everything from food, clothing, and shelter to the finest that could be purchased.
After Xiao Tong realized Sun Changming's thoughts, she became more concerned about disciplining and dressing up her daughter. When they went on a trip to Hainan, she brought two large boxes of clothes for Tang Sizhuo.
In the first-class cabin, separated by a curtain, Tang Sizhuo sat properly in a light blue gauze dress. She ate very carefully, cutting her steak into fingernail-sized pieces and then letting it rest on the edge of the plate until the sauce had drained away before slowly bringing it to her mouth, chewing it carefully, fearing that her clothes would get dirty in the turbulent plane.
The meal came with a small portion of fried chicken, golden and shiny, emitting an enticing aroma. Tang Sizhuo, who had long suffered from a loss of appetite and now rarely saw fried food, tried to reach for it several times, but then remembered Xiao Tong's comment that it was junk food only for the poor, and so she gave up. After finishing half a steak, Tang Sizhuo put down her knife and fork, whispered to the flight attendants, and told them she was done, asking them to clear her plate.
The air in the cabin was dry, but Xiao Tong insisted that she wear a gauze skirt. The stiff outer edge scratched her calf skin, which was very uncomfortable.
When Sun Changming wasn't home, Xiao Tong would occasionally feel lonely and would cuddle Tang Sizhuo to sleep, telling her daughter stories of the past. She'd talk about how they lived in the mountains back then, walking over ten miles on a dirt road to school. She'd wanted to participate in the school's cultural performance, but because she couldn't find or afford a red dress, she wasn't chosen. She could only watch her cousin, who wasn't as pretty or as good at dancing, strut her stuff. At the end of each story, Xiao Tong would lower her head, kiss Tang Sizhuo's cheek, and say her daughter was different. Her daughter would strive to be a better person, forever living a life of luxury and beauty.
Tang Sizhuo sat up straight and quietly crossed her legs to reduce the contact area with her gauze skirt. She saw the flight attendant bring her half-eaten meal tray into the workroom, heard the crisp sound of bowls and plates colliding, and the sticky sound of food falling into the garbage bag.
If Zeng Xiasheng were alive, he would not let any of this food go to waste. He would enjoy eating everything.
Tang Sizhuo didn't have to go to school the weekend before her departure, so she didn't see Zeng Xiasheng again. Hiding in her bedroom, she thought over and over again, still unable to understand why he was upset. She wanted to find Zeng Xiasheng and ask for clarification, but she was afraid of being discovered by Xiao Tong. Xiao Tong would interrogate the grades and family background of any classmates she was close to at school. If he caught her hanging out with a rag-picking country bumpkin, he would definitely not let a beating go.
Tang Sizhuo became increasingly sad as she thought about it. When the plane took off, it seemed like it wasn't Jiang Ming who left, but she, the only friend left behind.
After finally landing, Sun Changming stood up from the front row, walked over to Tang Sizhuo, leaned over to help her unbuckle her seatbelt, and lovingly picked her up and walked out. He paused at the cabin door, giving Tang Sizhuo time to thank the flight attendants, and sure enough, they praised her. Sun Changming liked her even more, tilting his head to rub his stepdaughter's cheek and laughing.
As soon as Tang Sizhuo left, Zeng Xiasheng completely lost his reason to clean the place. No matter how clean he cleaned, the old man would assign him to feed the pigs and chickens, and he would come back from the vegetable market covered in mud and have to wash his own clothes.
His life hadn't changed much, except that he no longer had to go to the library every now and then. However, time seemed to have been stripped of its bones and muscles, and he felt completely limp.
After a week of idleness, by the end of December, many young people who had come to the city for work returned, and the neighborhood immediately became lively. Children, older and younger, flocked to the illegal internet cafes on the back streets. Zeng Xiasheng was truly bored. While squatting in front of the door, he would often see other children's eyes light up as they talked about games, and gradually his patience grew unbearable.
I had some money in my pocket, which I had saved to buy fireworks for Tang Sizhuo, but she didn't want to play with them, so there was no need to save any more.
One evening, Zeng Xiasheng walked to the entrance of an internet cafe. His hesitation was dispelled by the owner's solicitation, and he spent five yuan to turn on the computer. He had never touched a computer before, and was extremely slow to learn, even learning how to use a mouse took him a long time. However, the thrill of the gunplay drew him in almost instantly. The internet cafe was dimly lit, hiding any trace of poverty. In the small space illuminated by the screen, he roamed the world, either engaging in a gunfight or lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill. Getting shot in the head didn't matter; it was just a matter of starting over.
He took out the banknotes from his pocket one by one, and he actually won a few times. The sense of accomplishment that swept over him made him ecstatic, and he even forgot to go to the fields to pick vegetables. It was not until he could not find a single coin in his pocket that Zeng Xiasheng realized that he had been in the Internet cafe all night.
The screen popped up with the "Insufficient Balance" message, but he remained sitting there, headphones on, and twirling his mouse relentlessly. The administrator came several times to urge him to leave, but when he refused to leave, they simply turned off his phone and dragged him out by his clothes. Zeng Xiasheng was so confused that he didn't fight like he usually did.
It was early morning outside, and the cold wind irritated his brain, making it even more excited. The deafening sound of gunfire continued to echo in his ears. He began to miss the mixed smell of smoke inside, and finally he no longer felt bored.
If she were to play with Tang Sizhuo, she wouldn't like this kind of place. Even seeing adults with dyed hair and smoking outside would terrify her. If someone looked at her with a critical eye, she would timidly clutch his clothes and tell him to go somewhere else.
The world of the rich girl seeks peace and tranquility, but chaos, violence and foul-mouthed neighbors are the air he breathes.
Zeng Xiasheng was walking down the street when he suddenly scoffed. He was starving, but he didn't want to go back and get beaten. He finally wandered over to a breakfast shop, took advantage of the owner's inattention, grabbed two steamed buns, and ran. He stuffed the buns into his mouth as he ran. They seemed to be filled with meat, but he couldn't tell what they tasted like. The burn made his throat ache.
Need some money to go online.
Zeng Xiasheng squatted in the room until no one was there, then went back to get his snakeskin bag, took a bus to the villa area, picked up a bag full of plastic bottles and cans, and then impatiently went to the recycling station to exchange them for money, and then sat back in front of the computer.
Once he walked through that door, time seemed to stop. Grandpa had rushed in a few times, slapped him with curses, and dragged him back to work, but that was all. There were always times when they slept, times when they were away, and many times when they were awake but couldn't see him. Zeng Xiasheng kept slipping away, picking up scraps every day to keep him up all night, playing games day and night, practically living in the internet cafe.
Twenty days flew by, and by the time the next semester started, he no longer even wanted to sit in the classroom. He was in a poorly-performing primary school, and aside from the homeroom teacher's attendance checks, the other teachers didn't care. Whenever he noticed his homeroom teacher wasn't outside, Zeng Xiasheng would strip off his uniform, stuff it into his schoolbag, and then sprint to the wall, squeezing through the bent fence.
The villa area, the library, and Tang Sizhu, when he thought of them sometimes, he would feel that they were all an illusory dream, like clouds emerging on the horizon, appearing only briefly in his vision.
Day after day passed like this, and one warm morning after the beginning of spring, when he was pulling up his shoes and listlessly preparing to report to school, he suddenly saw Tang Sizhuo standing at the school gate across the street.
Zeng Xiasheng thought his eyes were blurry; he'd been staring at his computer for too long, and lately, things had been getting blurry. But he rubbed his eyes, patted his head, and looked over. Tang Sizhuo was still standing there.
It was already past nine o'clock, and there were no other students at the school gate. The breakfast vendors were also preparing to pack up and go home. On the old and dilapidated streets, the cleaners' brooms were sweeping the mess on the ground.
Tang Sizhuo, wearing a four-piece school uniform and with his carefully groomed hair draped over his shoulders, appeared so out of place in this picture.
She had noticed him and was looking at him intently.
As they chatted, Zeng Xiasheng mentioned his school, saying there was a small hill behind it that would be covered in small yellow flowers in the spring. Tang Sizhuo wanted to see it, but he had been struggling all spring last year and couldn't find a chance, nor did he have the courage to sneak out.
Zeng Xiasheng's eyes met hers, and he suddenly felt a pang of arrogance. He realized he hadn't had a haircut in ages, his collar was stained and yellow, and he reeked of cigarette smoke and sweat from the internet cafe from head to toe. He almost turned and fled, but the crowd crossing the street pushed him forward, and he reluctantly moved in front of her.
However, Tang Sizhu seemed only a little surprised at his decadence and did not show any disgust.
The little girl bit her lip, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, her eyes filled with grievance. After he approached, she spoke with difficulty and gently asked him, "Don't you want to play with me anymore?"
She took out a translucent and colorful conch with a thin string strung on it from her cardigan pocket. She had to hold it with both hands to control the trembling of her fingertips.
"This is a gift for you. Please don't be angry with me."
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