Chapter 50
In September, Shi Chang'an dragged his luggage and an admission letter to a key university in the city. Lu Shenxing put aside his official duties and drove him to the school.
The dormitory is for four people. There are two bunk beds on the left side of the door. Opposite are four rows of tables and cabinets. There is a water dispenser on the balcony, and the toilet occupies part of the space. Overall, it is very nice.
Shi Changan ultimately did not choose the music conservatory, and Lu Shenxing admitted that his method was a bit despicable.
He was used to looking at the results, and as for the process, he had to put it behind his mind for the time being.
The acne-covered boy, who was particularly favored by youth, stared at Lu Shenxing, who was making his bed with his shirt sleeves rolled up. He approached Shi Changan, who was tidying up his closet, and said, "Hey, is that your brother? He's so stylish."
Shi Changan turned to look at his roommate and saw pure curiosity on his face. Nothing else. The corners of his lips curved slightly, revealing a faint smile. He addressed Lu Shenxing, "Daddy."
The boy's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "He's your dad?"
Shi Changan raised his chin and said, "Yeah."
"Your dad looks so young." After silently glancing at his father with wrinkles on his face, the boy took a long time to utter these words.
The middle-aged man heard the envious voices behind him and turned around to slap him. "Wang Shinan, you little bastard, how dare you look down on your father? Even dogs don't look down on their poor families, but you are not as good as our Dahei."
Wang Shinan touched his head and rolled his eyes. "I told you not to hit my head, not to hit my head, but you still hit me. Can I still realize my dream of being over 170cm tall?"
Everyone laughed when they saw it. Several people from all over the country gathered together, and the awkward atmosphere changed with the father and son.
Shi Changan sent Lu Shenxing back home. When he was closing the car door, he suddenly stopped, bent down and got in.
After getting out of the car, Shi Changan's lips were red and swollen, and he was breathing heavily. He straightened his messy collar, suppressed his aroused desire, and turned to leave.
He basically lived at home, and his dormitory was just for show. One evening during self-study, Shi Changan received a call from Huang Kuo, "Changan, I don't have a mother anymore."
The suppressed sobs on the other end startled Shi Changan. He stood up from his seat with a worried look on his face. A voice came from behind him. It was the boy sleeping across from him, "Changan, if the counselor calls your name after class, I'll help you."
Shi Changan did not stop and soon disappeared at the classroom door.
Wang Shinan poked the table with a pen. "Qiao Han, I just don't understand. Aren't you ashamed of sticking to Chang'an so shamelessly?"
Qiao Han propped up his head and turned it away, too lazy to pay attention.
Wang Shinan, who was ignored, twitched his lips and said, "Don't think I don't know what you are planning!"
"Really?" Qiao Han turned his head back, "Then tell me?"
"Are you interested in the comic book set that Shi Changan placed on his desk?" Wang Shinan gritted his teeth. He also liked it and wanted to borrow it to read, but he felt it was not good because they were not very familiar with each other.
"..." Qiao Han patted Wang Shinan's shoulder, "You are so smart."
Shi Changan found Huang Kuo in the playground they often went to. On that summer night, the chirping of katydids came from all directions, destroying the tranquility.
"Chang'an, it's you. I thought you were the old man sweeping the garbage." Huang Kuo was lying on the ground, his mouth reeking of alcohol, with more than a dozen wine bottles lying around him.
Shi Changan walked over, kicked away a wine bottle and sat down. He had been without a mother since he could remember and didn't know how to comfort her.
"When did it happen?"
"I wasn't around when she passed away. I only found out when I received a notification from the Public Security Bureau. She was already dead." Huang Kuo's eyes were red, and he sniffed. "It was gas poisoning. She didn't want to drag me down."
Shi Changan pursed his lips, "Is your father back?"
"He said he doesn't have time." There was hatred in Huang Kuo's eyes that didn't belong to his age.
Shi Changan reached into his trouser pocket, took out a tissue and handed it to him, "Forget it then. You can discuss anything with me in the future."
Huang Kuo put the tissue to his nose and twisted it, looking embarrassed and pitiful. "Want to drink?"
"No." Shi Changan shook his head.
"Chang'an, would you like a drink?" Huang Kuo opened a bottle of beer and pushed it in front of him.
Shi Changan drank it with a tear on his forehead. He crushed the can in his hand and his breath was full of the smell of alcohol.
There was a period of silence that followed. The two young men, who had known each other since childhood, drank the fragrant beer in silence. The crisp sound of cans being opened and thrown to the ground continued for a long time.
Huang Kuo looked at the starry sky, his tongue tied. "Chang'an, I heard that when people die, they turn into stars in the sky. Can you help me find which one is my mother?"
Shi Changan took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on. His mind was hazy, and he looked at them in a daze for a long time, "That one."
"Huh? Where?" Huang Kuo kept his head tilted back. After an unknown amount of time, he raised his arms and buried his face in them. He let out a choked cry, and then burst into tears of sadness.
Shi Changan sighed and hugged him sideways. "Teacher taught us that birth, old age, sickness and death are inevitable for everyone. Huang Kuo, everyone around us will leave one by one, including you and me."
Shi Changan suddenly stopped talking. He lowered his eyes. Daddy would leave him one day and go to a place where he couldn't find him. What would he do then...
On the other side, Shi Changle stood under a tree with a bag on his back, his eyes fixed on the lights not far away, his steps slow to move.
At that time, I refused to give in, thinking that if he lost the bet, he couldn't come back, otherwise he would be laughed at. It seems ridiculous when I think about it now.
On Shi Changle's eighteenth birthday, his father's assistant came to him and gave him a card with the words "From now on, you will be the master of your own life."
That means giving up on him completely.
Shi Changle gave up on himself for a while, and accidentally learned that his father had already planned to make him and his brother independent after they became adults.
But he didn't understand why his brother could still stay with his dad?
Today was the first day of school for him. He saw that others were accompanied by their families, but he was alone. Shi Changle tightly grasped the bag strap.
A beam of light and the sound of an engine approached. Shi Changle took a few steps back, hiding in the dark and watching the man coming out of the car.
The man suddenly changed direction. Shi Changle wanted to escape, but he still had a glimmer of hope.
A pair of strong arms embraced him, and he felt a warm and wet touch on the back of his neck. The intimate action made Shi Changle dare not breathe and was completely stunned.
"Didn't you text me that you'd be late?"
Shi Changle paused and thought disappointedly, it turns out that Daddy recognized the wrong person, who did Daddy think he was?
The next moment, Shi Changle heard a name that was so familiar that he wanted to tear it out of his life, "Chang'an."
His expression kept changing as he struggled to break free and staggered away.
Lu Shenxing, who already knew he had made a mistake, pulled his hair hard and cursed, "Fuck!"
When Shi Changan came back in the evening, Lu Shenxing, who was most tired of dealing with those bloody misunderstandings, took the initiative to confess that it was because it was dark.
Shi Changan turned off the shower head, wiped the water with a towel, and said lightly, "Daddy, please don't admit your mistakes again in the future, okay?"
He cared and couldn't help thinking about the situation at that time.
Lu Shenxing uttered a syllable through his nose, carried Shi Changan to the sink, and used his mouth instead of a towel to wipe off the water droplets on his body.
After staying in the bathroom for more than two hours, Shi Changan and Lu Shenxing took another shower before going to bed.
Shi Changan held the hand on his waist and said, "Daddy, if you want to leave me one day, can you take me with you?"
The atmosphere in the room became oppressive. After a long time, Lu Shenxing placed his lips on Shi Changan's forehead and said, "Okay."
A few days later, Shi Changan saw Shi Changle at school, and the other party's first words were, "I know everything!"
Shi Changan put his hands in his pockets, the wind blew the collar of his clothes and the ends of his hair, and the exposed part of his neck was covered with kiss marks of various sizes.
Shi Changle took a deep breath, his expression very ugly, "You and Daddy, are you...doing something?"
Shi Changan raised his eyebrows. "You came to me just to ask this?"
The nonchalant tone angered Shi Changle. He looked at his brother with a look that showed him something dirty, "You are disgusting."
"Are you done?" Shi Changan said coldly, "I'm still waiting to eat. Please make way."
Shi Changle stood there, shaking with anger, "You actually got together with your own biological father!"
Shi Chang'an reached out and pushed Shi Changle aside, then walked away. From the moment he decided to admit his distorted feelings, he no longer cared about other people's eyes and attitudes.
Shi Changle slowly squatted down. He felt very uncomfortable. The two people closest to him had a relationship that he could not interfere with. He was abandoned.
After that, the two brothers would occasionally meet in the university town, but nothing happened except for the good-natured jokes from people around them. Those jokes also ended with the indifference and alienation between the two parties involved.
Shi Changan saw Huang Kuo again at the Public Security Bureau. He was sitting among a group of people, his face bruised and swollen, and there were bloodstains on his tattered clothes.
After completing the formalities, Shi Changan took Huang Kuo to the hospital without asking any questions.
"Chang'an, you should go back soon." Huang Kuo grinned, blood seeping from the broken skin, but he seemed to feel no pain. "Thank you this time."
Shi Changan frowned, "Can't you find another job?"
"Oh, I don't want to leave there." Huang Kuo smoked a cigarette. In order to stay in the underground casino, he had adapted himself as quickly as possible to the atmosphere of accelerated heartbeat and the instantaneous transition from heaven to hell. He even desperately wanted to sit at the gambling table and play a round. Now he really couldn't leave.
Shi Chang'an's brows furrowed even tighter. He saw a strong color in the eyes of the young man in front of him, which was the pursuit of fame and fortune.
"Chang'an, you don't understand." Huang Kuo took a few puffs, his movements skillful, and said with a smile, "It's easy to make a living, but it also depends on what you want to eat."
Shi Changan was unwilling to continue Huang Kuo's topic of "We are not from the same world" and asked, "How much compensation do you want this time?"
"Not much. I have a way." Huang Kuo narrowed his eyes. A customer at a gambling table lost a large amount of cash and insisted that he had stolen it. He teamed up with several others to beat him up. When the surveillance video was produced, those people didn't even apologize. Just because he fought back, they hired someone to put him in jail the next day.
Huang Kuo was a dog that looked down on others. He put out his cigarette and then climbed up and stepped on those people.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
