77/Boyfriend
When Chen Mian woke up the next day, Shen Yu was already gone.
There was a sticky note on the table with the words written in a flamboyant hand: "Went to celebrate my grandpa's birthday. Remember to eat the food on the table."
Signed: Your boyfriend.
Chen Mian: "..."
I wonder when Shen Yu will stop using terms like "boyfriend" and "girlfriend".
Chen Mian put on her slippers and opened the door. Sure enough, there was the aroma of food in the living room. There were many plates on the dining table, a typical Shenyu style. Even takeout had to be made to look like it was made by hand to deceive the taste buds.
Chen Yu left a driver to take her to the high-speed rail station. The train was at 2 PM. Before leaving, Chen Mian went to the prison. It had been almost half a year since she last saw Ruan Yanmei. She had changed a lot. She was no longer as angry and desperate as before. She seemed to have completely gotten used to this kind of life. Separated by glass, with a microphone in hand, the two were silent for a long time. Finally, Chen Mian broke the silence.
She didn't mention her own life to Ruan Yanmei, but only told her about Qiao Cheng and Qiao Zhiwan. Shen Yu had told her all of this. Chi Sheng was related to Qiao Zhiwan, and he knew all too well about Qiao Zhiwan's family situation.
"Qiao Cheng had an affair with a married woman and was hit by her husband's car, leaving him in a vegetative state. He is currently in the hospital. Qiao Zhiwan did not go to university in another city; she stayed in Suibei to take care of her father."
Hearing this, Ruan Yanmei, who had been calm all along, began to breathe rapidly and slammed her hand on the table.
Chen Mian glanced at her and continued, "I forgot to tell you last time I came that Chen Song's body was cremated and I poured the ashes down the drain."
Ruan Yanmei's voice was slightly choked, "Okay, okay, okay."
The three consecutive "good" comments made Chen Mian lower her eyes.
Time passed slowly, and half an hour was almost up until the finish line.
The prison guard pushed open the door. "Time's almost up."
As Ruan Yanmei let go of the phone and was about to hang up, she heard a very low sound from the other end.
"Feel sorry."
The lightness seemed like an illusion.
After the call ended, Ruan Yanmei returned to her cell.
In the small cubicle, the things Chen Mian brought were checked and placed aside. She looked up at the only window, where sunlight streamed in, forming a small square. In the light, she remained silent for a long time before finally picking up the things Chen Mian had brought her: intimate underwear, with this envelope on top, which had already been opened and checked, containing a thin sheet of paper.
Ruan Yanmei picked it up and unfolded it in the sunlight.
Tears welled up when I saw the first line.
Because it was written by Chen Mian.
"Actually, I've never been able to understand why you can become parents without taking an exam, and why you didn't think more deeply about the decision to bring me into this world, or examine whether you were qualified to be parents."
The place where I worked part-time was run by a single mother with her daughter. She worked hard just to give her child a better life. I wondered what would have happened if you hadn't abandoned me and had chosen to take me away. I kept thinking about this between the ages of twelve and sixteen. I even considered setting up a fruit stand on the street and doing odd jobs to ease your burden.
I didn't eat much, I got good grades, I didn't want pretty clothes or nice stationery, I could skip my birthday and not eat cake or KFC or McDonald's. All I wanted back then was my mom.
But you never looked at me, never thought of me, and even after we met again, your eyes were full of resentment.
You see, we should have been the closest people in the world, but we've become the closest strangers.
I dream of not being born into this family, and you dream of not marrying Chen Song and not having me.
You said we look alike, and perhaps in this respect, we really were born to be mother and daughter.
They're all selfish, they all want to live only for themselves. I still don't want to apologize to you about Chen Song's matter. I don't think I did anything wrong. The fault lies with Chen Song, but Chen Song is dead. If hating someone can give you hope for the future, then hate them.
The TV series says that parents are not first-time parents, so we should give them more opportunities.
But children don't come into this world wanting to be born. Who will give me a chance?
You wouldn't understand what it feels like to long for daylight while living in constant fear, and you certainly wouldn't understand what it's like to be so scared that you can't breathe even when you hear footsteps behind closed doors.
But all of that is in the past.
I will not come to see you again; this is the last time.
Half of the money from selling the house is in the card; someone will give it to you when you leave.
The world no longer has Chen and Song.
Thank you for setting me free.
The prison guards at the door heard the crying and asked her what was wrong.
Ruan Yanmei smiled, looked up, pointed to the sunlight, and said, "The weather is really nice today."
*
When Chen Mian arrived at the Suibei High-speed Railway Station, she unexpectedly bumped into an acquaintance, Lin Lin.
She was carrying a bag, and next to her sat a boy Chen Mian had never seen before. The two of them were huddled together, talking intimately.
Chen Mian hadn't planned to say hello, but Lin Lin happened to look up at that moment, and the instant their eyes met, Lin Lin smiled. Her boyfriend asked her if she had seen anyone.
"My high school classmate."
Lin Lin stood up and waved to Chen Mian, as if she had forgotten the entanglement between the two of them in the past.
With her bag on her lap, Lin Lin sat next to her and handed Chen Mian an unopened bottle of Yakult from her boyfriend.
Here, take it.
Chen Mian didn't take the phone, but simply said thank you.
"You're still the same as you were in high school. Why are you still so aloof now that you're in college? Didn't everyone in the class say you were studying at a university in Beijing? I thought you weren't coming back. I didn't expect to see you here. Are you going to..."
"Back to Beijing." Chen Mian corrected her wording.
Lin Lin had an "I knew it" look on her face. Her boyfriend went to the restroom at that moment, and Lin Lin smiled and said to Chen Mian, "Are you wondering why I changed boyfriends? Chen Ke and I broke up a long time ago. He was repeating his senior year of high school. When he came out to see me on the weekend, his parents saw him. His parents blamed me and said that it was my fault that their son failed the college entrance exam and had to repeat a year. But come on, with that kind of logic, even if their sky falls, it's all my fault."
In a tone as if confiding in a friend, Chen Mian casually responded.
Lin Lin hadn't mentioned Chen Ke to anyone for a long time. Although there were many people from Suibei at Suida University and quite a few classmates in her class, everyone knew that she and Chen Ke had broken up, but no one asked why. She had a bellyful of anger that she hadn't found a place to vent. Knowing that Chen Mian and Chen Ke didn't get along, the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend was put to the extreme at this moment.
She scoffed and continued, "So I broke up with him, that's fine. There are so many good guys in college, you know. Who would want someone like him—poor, insecure, and a mama's boy? And then he blamed me after we broke up..."
Chen Mian kept looking at her phone while she was narrating, even though there was still half an hour before she was supposed to get on the bus.
Tickets will be checked 15 minutes in advance.
She was a little distracted, and her phone was silent. She kept reminding herself that the person she was dating was busy with something and hadn't sent a single message.
Perhaps sensing her perfunctory attitude, Lin Lin changed the subject, "You and Shen Yu are dating, right? Someone in the class group said yesterday that Shen Yu posted on his WeChat Moments, so Shen Yu has gotten what he wanted."
"I used to like him in high school. Back then, a few people in Suizhong didn't like Shen Yu. They were decisive when rejected. He had a lot of people around him, but he kept a good sense of boundaries. I even told Chen Yin that Shen Yu was a top player. He had a great sense of style. I thought he could stay like that forever, not loving anyone and walking among a hundred flowers without getting attached to anyone."
"Until I got involved with you."
"but--"
Lin Lin leaned closer, looked at Chen Mian carefully for a few moments, and then smiled.
"I'm quite curious, how do you two conduct your relationship? Did Shen Yu become a simp?"
Chen Mian didn't say much, letting her chatter on and on in his ear.
Only then did he coldly interrupt her, "What's it to you?"
Lin Lin was taken aback, then frowned. Just as she was about to say something, her boyfriend came out of the bathroom. Seeing that the atmosphere between them was not pleasant, he asked what was wrong.
Lin Lin pulled her boyfriend's arm and walked to a few rows back, scoffing, "Nothing much, she's just busy and doesn't have time to talk to me."
Even after the person left, Chen Mian was still not very happy.
She disliked the term "lickspittle" being used to describe Shen Yu, and she didn't believe that there was any "licking" or "simping" involved in her relationship with Shen Yu.
I opened my phone and sent a message to that person who had been quiet all along, a message tinged with emotion.
--What are you doing?
Five minutes passed before they replied.
Shenyu: Your boyfriend is dying.
He sent me a photo; in the photo, a group of children were surrounding him.
Shen Yu: See that? These kids have been bothering me for almost half an hour.
Shen Yu: Don't have a baby, really don't have a baby, who the hell can stand this?
Chen Mian typed slowly.
—Oh, then you go ahead and get busy.
Shenyu: Hurry up and get on the bus, right?
Shenyu: Have you been missing me since I last contacted you?
Just kidding.
The children of his relatives around him are still calling him "brother" endlessly. They are all kindergarten age. The older ones don't dare to bother him to play. Only these little kids dare to bother him and want him to play games with them.
It was his grandfather's birthday, and his parents were there like they were watching a play, telling the child's parents not to interfere.
"It's rare to see A-Yu so popular with kids."
That's what his mother said.
Shen Yu felt as if he were undergoing a tribulation.
I ordered a game console and a bunch of toys from a food delivery service, one for each of us, before I could finally get away.
I opened the glass door to the garden and sat on the swing.
The phone rang once.
Chen Mian replied: I don't really think about it right now.
Sinking Domain: ?
I stared at my phone repeatedly to make sure I wasn't mistaken, and then I laughed in exasperation: Can't you say something nice?
Then I saw Chen Mian reply: Maybe because we just broke up, I'll probably think about it tomorrow.
Chen Mian: So, come back and ask again tomorrow.
Shen Yu: "Damn it."
Did Chen Mian really attend university? Or did she specialize in emotional education to learn how to handle Shen Yu?
After a while.
While playing on his phone, You Huai saw a new post on his friend's WeChat Moments.
Dog Domain: What should I do if my girlfriend says she misses me?
You Huai: Damn it, are you fucking crazy?
He had just argued with Chen Yin and was in a bad mood. He opened Chen Yu's WeChat, about to say something, when he noticed that Chen Yu's WeChat name had changed.
From that unconventional English name that used to make his teeth ache, it has become:
——deep sleep
You Huai: ...
From insomnia to deep sleep.
He sent a WeChat message to Shen Yu.
—Would you die if you didn't show off your love for a day?
They replied quite quickly.
"You seem so angry, could it be that your girlfriend didn't tell you she misses you?"
You Huai: ...
You Huai: Blocked.
/
Waaaaaah, five stars! Thank you everyone! Waaaaaah!
Let's say thank you to everyone, together with Xiao Shen and Xiao Chen!
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