Chapter 16 "Will we contact each other again...?"
***
How was Li Ai's wedding?
Li Jiacong's father, Li Mingda, sat in a red rice chair in the living room, with a huge tea table in front of him. He poured tea with an air of superiority, and with a single glance, he made Li Jiacong sit opposite him.
Back home, Li Jiacong had to spend time with his father, having tea and chatting. His parents had gone on a trip recently and missed Li Ai's wedding.
Li Jiacong: "It's great. The venue is beautiful, and everything went smoothly."
Li Mingda: "Now that I think about it, it's all like she was when she was a child. She's already married. When are you planning to get married?"
Li Jiacong took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a premonition of what was about to happen.
Sure enough, his mother, Chen Wen, came out of the bedroom. She was a woman nearing sixty, dressed very fashionably in a short-sleeved cheongsam, with curly hair that wasn't a single gray hair: "Jia Cong, your Aunt Zhang's daughter has returned to China. Don't you want to go and see her? It would be good to know more about her."
Li Jiacong: "I don't want to watch."
Li Mingda: "What do you want? To be a bachelor for life? Watch, you have to watch!"
Li Jiacong couldn't stand his father's tone. From childhood to adulthood, this man had always been the boss outside and the boss of the family. Everyone else was an employee who couldn't go against his wishes: "I don't want to see it."
Li Mingda was about to lose his temper. In recent years, he had rarely laid a hand on Li Jiacong, but when anger flared up, he still wanted to beat him up.
Chen Wen immediately eased the tension: "It's okay, if you don't want to look, you don't have to. Young people probably don't like blind dates."
Li Mingda glanced at her and said, "Keep spoiling him. You're over thirty and you're still spoiling him."
The anger shifted to Chen Wen, and she had achieved her goal. She wasn't afraid of Li Mingda and was very reasonable: "This isn't spoiling, it's not forcing the child. You always like to force others."
Li Jiacong gave his mother a thumbs up.
Li Mingda slammed his teacup down: "Do you think I fucking enjoy forcing you people?"
Li Jiacong immediately stood up: "Stop! Dad, Mom, I'm just back to get my things and I'll leave right away. Don't argue over me and ruin your relationship in your old age."
He went into his bedroom, took out a very old gift box from a drawer, and was about to open it.
Just then, Chen Wen came in, sat on his small bed, and looked at him gently: "Jia Cong, why are you going through these old things? Didn't you say they were all 'sealed away' and we weren't going to look at them anymore?"
"You're too perceptive," Li Jiacong said, shoving the things directly into his pocket. "Can you give me some space?"
Chen Wen: "I saw the video of Li Ai's wedding."
Li Jiacong tightened his grip on the box, his hand tucked into his pocket.
Chen Wen continued, "Your dad didn't see it."
Li Jiacong: "It doesn't matter."
Li Jiacong suddenly said, "You've already seen the video, yet you still used Aunt Zhang's daughter to test me."
Chen Wen: "I just hope you can broaden your horizons a bit. Look around more; there are many wonderful and beautiful girls..."
Li Jiacong didn't say anything, but closed the door with a cold expression and left.
The car pulled up at Pengda Auto Repair Shop again. Standing at the entrance, someone greeted him, "Hey buddy, what's wrong?"
Li Jiacong said, "I'm looking for Li Sheng."
"Okay, wait a minute." The man went in to help him look, but Li Jiacong didn't wait and followed him in directly—he was afraid that Li Sheng would hide from him and not come out.
Li Sheng was eating, squatting on the ground with his lunchbox in his hand, shoveling food into his mouth. When he saw him coming, he was stunned for a moment.
Li Jiacong: "You left in too much of a hurry last time. I don't have your contact information."
Li Sheng: "No."
"What do you mean, 'not'?"
"No."
Li Jiacong swallowed the words he wanted to say: "Let's add each other on WeChat." He pulled up the QR code and handed it to Li Sheng.
Li Sheng remained motionless and said softly, "There's no need."
Li Jiacong's warm smile was almost too much to bear, and he said with a forced smile, "Li Sheng, we don't have that much of a grudge, do we?"
"No grudge." He and Li Jiacong didn't have any deep-seated hatred, but he didn't want to enter Li Jiacong's world anymore. "I really feel it's unnecessary."
There's no need to contact them again.
Li Jiacong's face grew even more unpleasant, but he didn't leave.
Li Sheng hesitated for a moment, then suddenly smiled, making him look very sincere. He said politely, "Brother Cong, if you have any problems with the car, come to me, I'll give you a discount. You really don't need to add me anymore. I haven't kept in touch with anyone from my old village. Actually, it's quite easy for me. You know why."
Li Jiacong nodded, paused for a few seconds, nodded again, and then turned and left.
Li Sheng continued eating with his head down, but he couldn't swallow the food he was chewing.
never mind.
He got up to get to work when suddenly, there was a loud thud outside. A huge impact.
Everyone in the factory ran out to see.
"Holy crap! How could anyone run into this? Anyone can get on board like this?"
"Who the hell are these people, driving such nice cars? What a waste!"
"Damn it! Shengzi! That looks like your fellow villager! He's run into the railing!"
Li Sheng's mind went blank for a moment, and he rushed over.
The honking on the road was deafening, filled with impatience and discontent. Li Sheng crossed the road and opened the car door.
The driver's side airbag deployed, and Li Jiacong, though covered in blood, was still conscious. Upon seeing Li Sheng arrive, he subtly pursed his lips, unnoticed by anyone.
-
The emergency room in the hospital is terrifying; there are patients bleeding profusely and those with severed limbs.
Li Jiacong had stitches in his forehead, a minor bruise on his arm, and swelling in his right leg. He was alright, and seeing Li Sheng busy taking care of him, he finally sat down beside him: "What's your family's phone number? Make a call and ask them to come over."
Li Jiacong: "Never mind."
Li Sheng: "You need to be observed for a few more days. It would be best if someone took care of you."
Li Jiacong: "The injury isn't serious. If I tell my mom, she'll have to cry in front of me twice. I'm tired. I don't want to tell them." He closed his eyes. "You can go now. Don't worry about me."
Looking at Li Jiacong, who was lying on the hospital bed with a deathly pale face, Li Sheng felt a pang of pity and asked, "Do you have any friends?"
“No…” Li Jiacong turned his head away. “If you want to leave, then leave. Stop talking nonsense.”
After a moment of silence, Li Sheng turned on his phone and went outside to make a call.
Inside, Li Jiazong vaguely heard Li Sheng say, "It might be very late tonight."
"Um."
"Don't worry, it's just a friend and a small matter, nothing serious, don't worry."
"I wasn't in a fight. It was a car accident."
"You...don't know him."
Li Jiacong frowned with excitement, staring intently at Li Sheng's phone, trying to read the contact name, but unfortunately he couldn't make it out.
After finishing the phone call, Li Sheng came over. Li Jiazong immediately closed his eyes, looking sickly. Li Sheng asked, "Are you thirsty?"
"I'm not thirsty." Li Jiacong suddenly reached out his good hand to touch his phone.
Li Sheng saw it and handed it to him: "What do you want to do?"
Li Jiacong pitifully held out his phone to him: "Can I have your WeChat now?"
***2002
"You've been reading this novel all vacation." Li Sheng took the book from Li Jiacong and started reading.
“My mom recommended it to me, and I have to finish watching it before I go back, to give her face,” Li Jiacong said, rubbing his temples. “When I get home, she’ll definitely ask me what I think. Have you read it?”
Li Sheng flipped to the cover of the novel—Leo Tolstoy's *Resurrection*—and said, "I saw it on the small bookshelf at school. My Chinese teacher told me roughly what the story was about."
The male protagonist seduces his aunt's maid, resulting in her pregnancy. He is kicked out of the house and eventually becomes a prostitute. Years later, during a court hearing, the two reunite, and the male protagonist embarks on a path of atonement.
Li Sheng casually flipped through two pages, his gaze sweeping across the page until he spotted some insightful writing—
He recalled their last meeting, the primal passion that gripped him, and the disappointment that followed the satisfaction of that passion. The story's candid revelation briefly and inexplicably reminded him of his relationship with Li Jiacong, like a metaphor.
Li Sheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How many more days until you leave?"
“I don’t know,” Li Jiacong said. “School starts on September 1st. It should be before that.”
Li Sheng looked at him: "Will we keep in touch again?"
Li Jiacong said naturally, "Get in touch! I told you, come over, and I'll show you around."
"Just playing around..." Li Sheng continued, "Then how do we contact each other?"
Li Jiacong thought for a moment. Since Li Sheng didn't have a cell phone, he could only use the primitive method: "Write a letter."
Li Sheng: "Will you reply?"
Li Jiacong: "What do you mean? Of course I'll reply, but I guess... you know I'm not good at writing, so I guess I can't come up with many bad words, but I'll definitely read your letter."
Li Sheng remained silent.
“I have a cell phone,” Li Jiacong said, “but that’s inconvenient. If you’re in the city, you can get an IC card to contact me.”
Li Sheng: "Write down my phone number."
Li Jiacong wrote it down for him in one stroke of his pen, and then signed his own name at the end.
Should it be mailed to your school or your home?
“Let’s go to the school,” Li Jiacong said. “If we go to my house, my parents might open the book and look at it.” He then wrote down the school’s address as well.
Li Sheng looked at the note. He felt a little better; at least he hadn't received 100 rubles.
Li Jiacong looked at the text in the novel with a headache, finally finishing the last chapter. Turning back to the cover, he saw a pair of hands clasped in prayer. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he said, "What's the inside of the church like? Is it dilapidated? The first time I went, I couldn't go into the chapel. Are they still allowing it now?"
Li Sheng nodded.
It took less than ten minutes to walk to the church. The doors could be opened freely, and there was a small shop selling religious items near the entrance. Further inside was the church itself, with a few rooms offering accommodation nearby. As they pushed open the church doors, the first thing they saw was a huge cross hanging at the very front. Neat rows of seats lined both sides. The dark floorboards creaked underfoot, yet surprisingly, they created a sense of tranquility.
There were paintings and stained glass windows on the window, seemingly telling a story. Li Jiacong looked at them, and soon a man dressed in a priest's robe walked in.
The man was exceptionally enthusiastic towards Li Sheng: "You're here! Did you attend service this morning?"
"Father Qin, hello," Li Sheng nodded slightly, "I'm busy with other things."
“It’s alright, you’re welcome anytime, anywhere.” Father Qin then turned his gaze to Li Jiacong. He had seen the two of them when they entered. He smiled kindly and said, “If you have any questions or want to know anything, you can come and talk to me.”
"Let's take a look," Li Jiacong said. The last time they met, it was at night, and he didn't get a good look at the priest. Now, the priest looked very simple, with deep wrinkles on his face and particularly rough fingers. If he hadn't been told he was a priest, he would have thought he was just a farmer.
"Then let's not go any further ahead," the priest said. He chatted with Li Sheng for a few more minutes, asking about his daily life, and then, seemingly having other matters to attend to, he left.
They didn't have much time to explore the chapel, and soon left. On the way back, Li Jiacong asked, "Are you very familiar with the priest?"
“It’s alright,” Li Sheng said. “The priest hopes I can talk to him more when I have time.”
"Talking to the priest, confessing?" Li Jiacong asked.
"Similar, I guess," Li Sheng said.
Li Jiacong turned to look at him: "Where are those confessionals with walls between them, like in the movies?"
"There's a small house, but they're usually facing each other."
Li Jiacong said with little interest: "It would be hard to say it face to face. But the priest must be hiding a lot of secrets; it must be very interesting."
"Father Qin will keep it a secret."
Li Jiacong raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.
As they talked, they walked into the house and heard the telephone ringing suddenly from inside.
Someone inside answered the phone. After a few replies, his grandmother came out of the house and ran into Li Jiacong and Li Sheng, who were returning home.
Xiuying brought him some amazing news: "Jiazong, your dad just called and said you can come home the day after tomorrow!"
A note from the author:
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