Chapter 82
Enoch lay in bed, probably dying.
Madison covered his lips with pity, fanning away the stuffy air from his nose, and said, "Your son has climbed up to the nobility. Why don't you learn from him?"
"It would have been better to bring him back from the beginning."
"You're no worse than him, so why are you completely useless?"
Enoch was enveloped in a deep red curtain and silk sheets, his fingers fiddling with a bracelet made of colorful pebbles.
Black hair covered his eyes, revealing only half of his pale face.
He remained silent for a long time, quietly fiddling with the pebbles in his hand every now and then.
Madison said, “You have disobeyed, Enoch. In the days you were missing, you have picked up the vices of inferior beings. You know that my generosity is not due to me.”
Enoch was no longer the timid little boy who followed Madison around like a shadow, afraid that Madison wouldn't like him.
Madison wasn't very nice to him, but Enoch wasn't friendly to him either, which annoyed him. After sitting for a while, the two insects remained silent to each other, and he hurried off to have some fun.
Enoch felt his heartbeat slowing down. He held the beads, like he was collecting candies as a child.
He felt that his breath carried something away; he saw his childhood, his youth, a small tent on the grassland, and a father and son sitting on a stack of firewood.
He felt that there were many things in life that were beyond his control, that he couldn't control his emotions, and that he couldn't decide who he wanted to love or who had loved him.
What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of living?
Enoch had never thought about or considered the concept of the future, but he had longed for happiness. He just sometimes didn't understand why there were so many things he couldn't do without.
He remembered the round-faced, spirited child. He remembered how the child would go out to gather firewood, plant crops, herd sheep, raise fish, chisel ice from glaciers in winter, and collect bees on cliffs in summer.
If only there were something left for him, but Enoch had no property, he had nothing.
Finally, Enoch seemed to return to the tent. He lay on the floral rug, and Toto rushed in. He lifted the curtain, and the setting sun outside the tent was as red as fire. Toto hugged him and cried loudly, asking him if he wasn't leaving.
Enoch smelled the scent of the forest and earth on him. He didn't know what to say, whether to tell him not to be disgusted or not to blame him. He wasn't like a child who knew nothing. Enoch understood that he was a burden.
But Enoch pursed his lips and whispered, "I'm not leaving, I haven't left."
Toto said, "Really? I miss you so much."
yes.
It's true.
Enoch slowly closed his eyes.
...
Toto was in class when there was a knock on the classroom door.
Professor Arnold stood outside the door, looking unwell. He called Toto out and led him to his office.
He didn't say a word the whole way, and Toto didn't dare to disturb him. When they arrived at the office, Professor Arnold asked him to sit on the sofa and lit a cigarette for himself.
Toto was shocked that the professor smoked. Professor Arnold didn't seem to care. He exhaled a puff of smoke, paused for a moment, and handed Toto a newspaper: "Read it yourself."
Toto took it, completely bewildered. After reading it, his expression changed drastically, and he jumped up and opened the door.
Professor Arnold called out to him sharply, "Where are you going?"
Toto stopped in his tracks: "I'm going to find him."
Professor Arnold finished his cigarette, flicked off the ash, shook the pack, and finding it empty, threw it on the table with a slightly irritated expression: "What are you looking for him for? You can't even get close to the prison gates. I'm telling you this just to prepare you mentally, not to send you to your death."
"Fei was arrested because he was involved in... the election. If the investigation results are negative, he will be released naturally. If there is any trouble, what help can a piece of trash from a slave planet like you provide?"
"At this time, it's best if you don't get involved with him."
Professor Arnold's face was icy: "His family has distanced themselves from him because of this."
Author's Note:
To be continued tomorrow
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