keyboard
In the evening, Tan Huaiyu, unusually, did not work overtime. He nestled on the sofa in the living room, watching legal programs on TV idly while occasionally glancing at the wall clock.
It was almost nine o'clock. Qi Shuo said he had some things to take care of at the factory today and would be back a little late, but usually he would be home by now.
The phone was right beside him, its screen dark. Tan Huaiyu hesitated for a moment, but still didn't make a call.
Qi Shuo doesn't like to be disturbed when he's working, and he drives very steadily, so he should be fine.
Twenty minutes later, the familiar sound of a key turning still didn't come from the doorway.
The case analysis on TV became somewhat dull, and Tan Huaiyu's lingering unease began to grow.
He picked up his phone, unlocked it, and opened the chat window with Qi Shuo. The last message was still the one he had sent that afternoon: "What do you want to eat tonight?" Qi Shuo replied, "Anything is fine, you decide."
He thought for a moment, then sent a message: [Where are you?]
The message was sent, but it disappeared without a trace. Several minutes passed without any response.
Tan Huaiyu couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains to look outside. The streets were deserted and desolate on this winter night, with only the streetlights casting a dim yellow glow. Occasionally, a car would speed by, but none of them were Qi Shuo's.
An unease crept in like vines. Qi Shuo wasn't the type to disappear without a trace, especially knowing he was waiting at home. Could something have happened at the factory? Or…
He didn't dare think any further and sent another message: [Why aren't you replying? Is the matter still unresolved?]
There has still been no reply.
Tan Huaiyu started checking his phone frequently, looking at the screen every minute.
Anxiety began to spread in his heart, and he even started pacing around the living room. Amber was a little uneasy about his pacing and meowed twice at his feet.
Another ten minutes, which felt like an eternity, passed before Tan Huaiyu finally couldn't resist and dialed Qi Shuo's number.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
With each monotonous ring of the caller ID, Tan Huaiyu's heart sank a little lower. Just as he thought the call was about to disconnect automatically, and even began to imagine the worst-case scenario, preparing to grab his car keys and head out to look for the phone—
The phone was suddenly answered.
"Hello?" Qi Shuo's voice came through the receiver. The background noise was a bit noisy, and the sounds of vehicles and people could be vaguely heard.
Tan Huaiyu's tense nerves suddenly relaxed. He spoke rapidly, his voice slightly raised due to nervousness: "Qi Shuo! What are you doing? Why aren't you answering your phone or replying to your messages? It's almost ten o'clock! Where are you? What happened?"
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, and then Qi Shuo's voice came through... sounded a little strange, as if he was suppressing some emotion. The background noise seemed clearer, and you could even hear the faint sound of sirens.
"Huaiyu," Qi Shuo's voice came through the receiver, slightly lower than usual, with a deliberately suppressed calm.
"I was just about to reply to your message when you called. I have something to take care of here."
Tan Huaiyu's heart jumped again: "What's wrong? Is there a problem at the factory? Is it serious? What's wrong with your voice?"
“It wasn’t the factory.” Qi Shuo paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, and then said in as calm a tone as possible, “It was… a minor car accident on the way back.”
"What?!" Tan Huaiyu's head buzzed, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer. His face turned pale instantly, and his voice changed. "Car accident?! How are you? Where are you injured? How serious is it? Where are you now? Are you in the hospital? I'm coming right away!"
He bombarded her with a barrage of questions, her knuckles turning white from gripping the phone so tightly, and her other hand instinctively reaching for her coat on the sofa. Her mind was a jumbled mess, with only the words "car accident," "Qi Shuo," and "injury" swirling wildly in her head.
"Don't worry, don't worry, listen to me." Qi Shuo's voice came through the receiver, seemingly trying to soothe him, but the background noise and his deliberately suppressed tone made Tan Huaiyu feel even more uneasy.
"I'm fine, really, I'm alright," Qi Shuo emphasized, but then his voice lowered again, "It's just that my leg seems a bit off. I probably hit it, and now I can't move it. It's a little numb and hurts a bit. I don't know if it's broken."
"Your leg is broken?!" Tan Huaiyu's vision blurred, and he almost lost his balance. He forced himself to calm down, but the trembling in his voice betrayed him. "Don't move! Don't move! Did you call 120? Where are you exactly? What's the license plate number? I'll call an ambulance right away! Wait for me! Don't move!"
He was rambling incoherently as he rushed to the entrance, hastily putting on his shoes. His hands were shaking so badly he couldn't even tie the shoelaces properly. He had only one thought in his mind: go to the hospital and find him right away!
"Huaiyu, Huaiyu, listen to me," Qi Shuo's voice came from the other end of the phone, seemingly tinged with helplessness, "Don't panic, I..."
"How can I not panic!" Tan Huaiyu shouted into the phone, his eyes instantly reddening with anxiety and fear. "Your leg is broken! And you're telling me not to panic! Where are you! Tell me your address!"
"Sigh..." Qi Shuo seemed to sigh on the other end. Then, Tan Huaiyu heard a clearer siren coming from the phone, along with the noise of a crowd. Then Qi Shuo seemed to have walked a little further away and said to the person next to him, "Oh, the ambulance is here. It's pretty fast."
Then, his voice came clearly into the microphone again, and his tone sounded a little more relaxed.
"Huaiyu, the ambulance has arrived. The person should be taken away soon. The scene seems to be mostly cleared up," Qi Shuo said.
Tan Huaiyu breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her heart was still pounding: "What about you? Did you get in the ambulance? Which hospital? I'll come directly to the hospital to find you!"
"Me?" Qi Shuo paused for a moment, then said in an extremely natural, even relaxed tone, as if "the matter is resolved and I can go home now," "I'm fine. I was just passing by, standing on the side, and called the police. Oh, the person has already been taken away by the ambulance, and it seems there's nothing more for me at the scene. Well, it's getting late, I've finished dealing with things here, and I'm about to go home."
Tan Huaiyu: "………………"
He froze as he put on his shoes.
The anxious, panicked, and distressed expressions on their faces froze.
The string in my mind, stretched to its limit by the car accident, snapped with a "snap".
Qi Shuo's voice continued through the receiver, tinged with urgency: "Wait at home, I'll be there in about... um, in about twenty minutes. I'll hang up now, I'm driving."
"Beep—beep—beep—"
The call was disconnected.
A busy signal came through.
Tan Huaiyu remained motionless in the entryway, one foot wearing a shoe and the other bare on the floor, holding his phone as if answering a call.
Time seemed to stand still.
A few seconds later.
Tan Huaiyu slowly, very slowly, straightened up.
The color drained from his face little by little, then gradually returned to its previous flush. It wasn't the paleness and flush from worry and fear, but a mixture of extreme absurdity, lingering fear, anger at being fooled, and... a murderous urge—a vibrant array of colors.
Slowly and stiffly, he took off the shoe he had haphazardly put on, and stepped barefoot onto the cold floor.
Then, he turned around and walked back to the living room, step by step.
Every step he took was slow and steady, but the low pressure emanating from him made Amber, who was nestled on the sofa, perk up her ears and quietly shrink into the corner.
Tan Huaiyu walked to the center of the living room and stood still.
With a blank expression, he raised his hand and slammed his phone onto the coffee table with a light, but not too heavy, thud.
Then, he went to the study, opened the door, and took out—
A keyboard.
A brand new, black, mechanical keyboard.
He walked back to the living room and placed the keyboard neatly in the center of the room on the smooth tiled floor.
After doing all this, he dusted off non-existent dust from his hands, walked to the sofa, sat down, picked up a cushion, and hugged it to his chest. Then, he raised his head, his gaze calm and unblinking, fixed on the direction of the front door in the entryway.
Amber peeked out from the corner of the sofa and cautiously meowed, as if asking what had happened.
Tan Huaiyu turned his head and gave it a smile that could only be described as "gentle," his voice unusually calm: "It's okay, Amber, go to sleep. Dad is waiting for someone... who needs to be taught a lesson, to come home."
amber:"……"
The cat's intuition told it that this was not a safe place to stay. It quickly slid off the sofa and into its cat bed, leaving only its wary eyes showing.
Twenty minutes later.
The sound of the key turning the lock rang out precisely on time.
Qi Shuo pushed open the door, bringing in a blast of chilly air from outside. He was humming a tuneless little tune, seemingly in a good mood. As he changed his shoes, he casually said, "I'm back. Huaiyu, what did you have for dinner? I'm a little hungry..."
Before he could finish speaking, he changed into his slippers and looked up to meet Tan Huaiyu's calm, unwavering eyes on the living room sofa, eyes that instantly sent chills down his spine.
And in front of Tan Huaiyu, on the tiled floor, was a brand new, black keyboard that gleamed coldly under the light.
Qi Shuo's smile froze.
He paused as he was changing his shoes.
The little tune I was humming got stuck in my throat.
A familiar, ominous premonition, like a Siberian cold front, instantly swept over his entire body.
Tan Huaiyu looked at him without saying anything, but simply tapped the keyboard on the ground with her chin.
The meaning is self-evident.
Qi Shuo's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, to make excuses, to get away with it: "Huaiyu, let me explain, I was just joking, I didn't expect you to react so strongly..."
Tan Huaiyu remained silent, simply watching him. His gaze was terrifyingly calm, yet more intimidating than any roar.
Qi Shuo's voice grew softer and softer until it disappeared from his throat. He glanced at Tan Huaiyu's expression that said, "This isn't over yet," then looked down at the cold keyboard on the floor. Finally, resigned, he let out a long, heavy sigh.
He knew that tonight's ordeal was likely to be difficult.
He walked over hesitantly, stopped in front of the keyboard, hesitated for a moment, and then tried one last time: "Um... this keyboard is new, right? It's quite expensive, it would be such a waste to break it..."
"Kneel." Tan Huaiyu finally spoke, one word, concise and unquestionable.
Qi Shuo: "..."
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Then, with a death-defying resolve, he bent his precious knees and knelt on the brand-new, cold, hard mechanical keyboard in a standard, humiliating posture.
The moment his knee touched the button, the uneven texture made him realize clearly that tonight was probably not going to be easy.
Tan Huaiyu watched as he obediently knelt down, his expression unchanged, only his arms tightened around the cushion a little.
“Explain,” he uttered.
Qi Shuo knelt on the keyboard, his back ramrod straight, but his tone had softened completely, filled with utmost sincerity and remorse: "I was wrong, Huaiyu. I was really wrong. I just saw a rear-end collision on the road, got stuck in traffic, and was bored, so I thought I'd tease you... I never expected you to be so scared. I promise, I'll never dare to joke like that again! I swear!"
"Just kidding me?" Tan Huaiyu finally showed some emotion. He sneered, his amber eyes seeming to be frozen.
"Qi Shuo, do you know how scared I was just now? I even put my shoes on the wrong feet and almost ran out barefoot! I thought you broke your leg! I thought something terrible had happened to you! I even planned which hospital to call and which doctor to see! And what did you do? You just stood there watching the show?!"
He grew angrier as he spoke, his voice rising, and his eyes reddening again, this time from anger: "Do you know that this kind of joke isn't funny at all! Not at all! What do you take me for?! You're happy to see me so upset and angry?!"
"No! I really didn't!" He shuffled forward on his knees, trying to grab Tan Huaiyu's hand. "Huaiyu, I really know I was wrong. I just... I just had a moment of madness. I'm such a bastard! You can hit me, you can scold me, just don't get angry at yourself, I..."
"Don't touch me!" Tan Huaiyu shook off his hand, turned her face away, her chest heaving slightly with anger.
Qi Shuo's hand froze in mid-air as he looked at Tan Huaiyu's red eyes and tightly pursed lips, feeling as if his heart was being pricked by needles. He knew that this time he had truly frightened and angered the man.
He stopped arguing and simply knelt obediently on the keyboard, head bowed, like a large dog that had made a mistake. His voice was low and full of remorse: "I was wrong, Huaiyu. I'm sorry. I made you worry. It was my fault. You can punish me however you want, I'll accept it."
The living room fell silent, save for the ticking of the wall clock. Amber peeked out from her cat bed, wondering what strange game her two fathers were playing again.
Tan Huaiyu took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her surging emotions. Fear and anger were intertwined, but seeing Qi Shuo's dejected and genuinely remorseful appearance, her anger slowly subsided, but the lingering fear and unease remained.
He turned back to Qi Shuo, who was kneeling motionless on the keyboard, and coldly said, "Kneel. Don't get up until I tell you to stop. Reflect on your actions!"
"Yes," Qi Shuo replied readily, but inwardly he felt relieved. The fact that they were willing to punish him meant there was still room for maneuver.
So, Qi Shuo began his "journey of repentance" right there in the center of the living room, on that brand-new mechanical keyboard. Tan Huaiyu, meanwhile, sat on the sofa, hugging a cushion, not looking at him, but staring at the TV, though clearly her mind wasn't on it either.
Time ticked by. The keyboard keys beneath his knees throbbed painfully, yet Qi Shuo dared not move an inch. He began to deeply reflect on the serious consequences of his foolish joke and vowed never again to joke about anything that might worry Tan Huaiyu.
After some time, Tan Huaiyu seemed to have calmed down a bit, or perhaps he simply felt that kneeling on the keyboard was too lenient a punishment. He stood up and walked over to Qi Shuo.
Qi Shuo raised his head and looked at him expectantly, his eyes filled with "I know I was wrong, please forgive me."
Tan Huaiyu looked down at him, expressionless, and announced the "final verdict":
"You'll sleep on the sofa tonight."
"Also," he paused, adding, "this keyboard is yours. From now on, you'll use this for work, and you're not allowed to switch to another one. Every time you use it, remember today's lesson well!"
Qi Shuo: "...Yes."
As long as it helps me calm down, I'll sleep on the sofa if I want, and use the keyboard if I want.
Watching Tan Huaiyu turn and go back to the bedroom, Qi Shuo knelt on the cold keyboard, rubbing his aching knees, but felt strangely at peace.
Next time, even if you beat him to death, he wouldn't dare to make such a joke again.
absolute.
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