Chapter 7 The Skateboard Boy
Lin Yao gave birth to a son and stayed in the hospital for three days.
In Jin Wenhui's generation, men mostly valued their sons. There are three unfilial acts, the greatest of which is having no offspring, with "offspring" specifically referring to sons.
Indeed, some men are exceptions and do not have such a strong reproductive desire. Before Lin Yao gave birth to her son, Jin Zhao and Jin Wenhui had been father and daughter for sixteen years, and she once thought that Jin Wenhui was one of those exceptions.
It wasn't until Lin Yao gave birth to her son that Jin Zhao saw Jin Wenhui's unprecedented high spirits, as if he had attained enlightenment overnight. Only then did she realize that Jin Wenhui's indifference before the birth of his son was not due to indifference, but rather resignation.
To use a somewhat inappropriate yet apt analogy, Jin Wenhui before was like someone who had lost the Imperial Seal of the State, utterly despondent and only able to show disdain. Having a son, Jin Wenhui finally retrieved his long-lost treasure, and every day he raised his arms in triumph, wishing he could grant a general amnesty.
Although he had no throne or empire at all, and his Imperial Seal was made of plastic, it cost 9.9 yuan including shipping and came with inkpad.
Lin Yao spent her postpartum confinement at home. During that time, relatives and friends flocked to her house, almost breaking down the not-so-high threshold. The house was bustling with noise every day. It was as if a broken record was playing endlessly in that small house.
"Brother Hui finally has a son! Congratulations!"
"I never imagined I'd be here today, having a son at my age!"
"Having a child late in life is a great joy! Congratulations!"
...
The satisfaction of having his long-cherished wish fulfilled and the exhilaration of feeling triumphant would always seep through the tightly closed door and into Jin Zhao's ears.
Even with her earplugs tightly in and her head covered by the blanket, she could still hear the cheerful laughter outside.
However, not every guest cares so much whether he has a son or a daughter. In this case, these people are the kind of guests who will be disliked if their congratulations are not appropriate.
Jin Zhao once went out for a drink of water and happened to hear crickets chirping coming from Lin Yao's room, complaining that the gift from a friend who had just left was too meager.
"We gave birth to a younger brother, why did we only get this little?"
Jin Zhao didn't understand why, after having a son, the gifts had to be more expensive.
During that time, she always left home early and didn't want to go home after school. But she was still a minor and had nowhere else to go, and if she went home too late, she would encounter blond-haired boys smoking and fighting on her way home.
Jin Zhao dislikes blond-haired men, dislikes fighting, and hates the smell of smoke.
She loved the cool, misty scent emanating from Meng Yanxi, clean and refreshing. But she could never reach that level.
Since that day feeding the cats, Meng Yanxi hadn't spoken to her again. Several times they passed each other, and Jin Zhao's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't even notice her. Jin Zhao suddenly realized that the many words he'd spoken to her that day, though not many, were merely a fleeting moment of pity, or perhaps, seeing her crying in the office reminded him of his sister. He was probably thinking that he absolutely couldn't compromise, otherwise, the one who would be embarrassed and crying in the office in the future would be his sister.
He might not even remember her name, just as he could ask with a clear conscience: Who is Wu Fei?
Meng Yanxi was indeed aloof and superior, but what wrong had he done? He simply didn't remember that her name was Jin Zhao.
But they are from two different worlds, and you can't blame someone from another world for not remembering you.
He even offered her some well-intentioned advice, though it was of no use.
She didn't possess his shrewd methods. Her limited knowledge of how to be unkind came entirely from palace dramas about abortion and legal cases involving murder for money. But those were too terrifying; they certainly weren't Meng Yanxi's intention. Besides that, she couldn't think of any other way to be unkind without harming others, so she gave up.
She could only try her best to grow stronger and try harder.
The bad news is that National Day is just around the corner, and the second-year high school students will have a five-day holiday.
For the first three days, Jin Zhao went to the library to do practice problems every day. October 4th was Wu Nian's birthday. In the evening, Jin Zhao left the library early to go to Wu Nian's birthday party.
Wu Nian and Jin Zhao live in the same neighborhood. Wu Nian is two years older than Jin Zhao, and today is her eighteenth birthday. If she had attended high school like her peers and taken the college entrance examination this year, she would already be on a university campus. However, Wu Nian chose to drop out of school after graduating from junior high school to work and earn money.
It wasn't because my family was poor.
Wu Nian has a younger sister named Wu Fei, who is the girl who dropped out of Class A because of Meng Yanxi. She is the one who received tens of thousands of yuan in pocket money every month but took the college entrance examination for love. The two are half-sisters.
Despite sharing the same father, their fates differed greatly. Wu Nian once used an analogy to describe their relationship, which Jin Zhao found particularly apt. She said it was like Yiping and Ruping from the TV series "Romance in the Rain."
Wu Fei is Ru Ping, and Wu Nian is Yi Ping. Their circumstances are similar; Wu Nian, like Yi Ping, even possesses a beautiful voice and easily found a job singing at a bar after dropping out of junior high. Even Wu Nian's boyfriend shares the same surname, He, and his name is He Yu. According to Wu Nian, they met at the bar where she sang; He Shuhuan—no, He Yu—came to listen to her sing every night and even fought for her.
Wu Nian thought He Yu was He Shuhuan, but Jin Zhao thought that apart from sharing the same surname He, the two had absolutely no relation.
He Yu has all the traits that Jin Zhao dislikes—yellow hair, smoking, and fighting.
However, Wu Nian's self-suggestion was too strong. No matter how Jin Zhao hinted or explicitly suggested it, she just couldn't get out of her own deep and complicated feelings.
The birthday party was held at the bar where Wu Nian worked, a place called Crossroads.
Jin Zhao had never been to a bar before. She had an almost rigid aversion to things that minors shouldn't do, including going to bars and karaoke. She didn't want to go, but Wu Nian smiled and wiped her face, saying to her, "Come on, there's no one else, just He Yu and a few colleagues."
On Wu Nian's eighteenth birthday, her first day stepping into the adult world, she had no parents, no relatives, and no friends by her side. But she had a younger sister, Wu Fei, who lived in a completely different world from her.
At that moment, Jin Zhao suddenly understood why Wu Nian thought He Yu was He Shuhuan.
He Yu was all she had left.
Jin Zhao nodded. The journey, involving a subway transfer and a bus, took almost an hour.
The bar is located at a crossroads in the old northern neighborhood, a busy but fragmented area. To the left are low-rise buildings, mostly from the 1970s and 80s, with gray cement walls and tangled electrical wires. To the right are high-rises, not exactly new either, with old-fashioned green glass facades, but at least a well-established and orderly commercial area.
Of course, this place can't compare to the city center just across the river. The Yunsheng Building stands on the riverbank, a landmark building in Suiyi, with a dazzling and colorful light show on its brand-new exterior.
During the recent National Day holiday, Yunsheng also obtained a permit to set off fireworks, and there will be a fireworks show every night from 8:30 to 9:00.
The neon sign, its lights saturated with intensity, illuminated the words "Intersection." Jin Zhao took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
The deafening electronic music burst forth instantly, making people's eardrums vibrate. In the dimly lit space, people crowded together, and the colorful lights overhead swayed back and forth, too dazzling to look at. Jin Zhao subconsciously raised his hand to shield his eyes.
In a large booth in the corner, a group of people were gathered around a table, laughing and talking loudly, their voices shattered by the deafening drumbeats. Wu Nian, who was sitting in the middle, had excellent eyesight and spotted Jin Zhao from afar. She immediately stood up and walked towards her: "Lingling, over here!"
Jin Zhao looked over, and everything went black.
Wu Nian was originally very beautiful, with an oval face, clear eyes, and a gentle, classical appearance. Especially her long, black, soft hair; when the wind blew, she looked like she had stepped out of a painting.
But that was the "original" Wu Nian. Today, Wu Nian has cut her hair and dyed it the same yellow as He Yu's.
Jin Zhao was shocked. She had always thought that the lifeless yet greasy yellow color on He Yu's head was due to a failed dyeing, and that the hairdresser might have even lost money. She never expected that she could actually dye an identical "couple's head".
"What's wrong with you? You were fine last night!" Jin Zhao couldn't believe her eyes, hoping it was an illusion. She reached out to touch Wu Nian's hair, but didn't dare to.
Wu Nian grabbed her hand and ruffled his hair haphazardly, making his already messy head of blond hair even more disheveled.
Wu Nian: "How is it? Pretty, right?"
Jin Zhao: "..."
She often felt out of place in this world.
Jin Zhao took out a gift he had prepared for Wu Nian from his schoolbag: a box of oil paints.
Before dropping out of school, Wu Nian was an art student, studying oil painting. Her paintings are better than her songs.
Wu Nian's smile faded for a moment, then she pulled Jin Zhao into a booth: "Come sit down, don't spoil my fun."
There were six people present: Wu Nian, Jin Zhao, He Yu, one of He Yu's friends, and two of Wu Nian's colleagues from the bar. Wu Nian prepared drinks for the others and yogurt for Jin Zhao. Everyone gathered around to sing "Happy Birthday" to Wu Nian and took turns giving her gifts.
The atmosphere was more harmonious than Jin Zhao had imagined, although He Yu did not prepare a gift for Wu Nian, but instead gave himself to her.
On her way here, Jin Zhao had been wondering if He Yu would be like He Shuhuan in "Romance in the Rain," offering himself to Wu Nian. —And He Yu certainly didn't disappoint her.
Wu Nian was deeply moved. The two, sporting matching yellow avatars, embraced and kissed passionately amidst the deafening drumbeats and the air thick with alcohol and sweat.
Jin Zhao wants to leave.
She decided to leave immediately after finishing the cake.
The atmosphere suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse as Wu Nian and He Yu started arguing.
The two were enjoying a sweet meal of cake. He Yu, with the bruises from his recent fight still visible on his cheekbone, tenderly asked Wu Nian to feed him. After feeding him a bite, Wu Nian said, "By the way, I found you a job as a trainer at a gym. The commission is very high."
He Yu is a year older than Wu Nian. He didn't look for a job after graduating from vocational high school. His family may have tens of thousands of yuan in savings. He is currently investing full-time. Wu Nian said that He Yu buys lottery tickets every day.
He Yu wasn't particularly lucky, but he was probably a bit better than Jin Zhao. It's said that he once won as much as 600 yuan.
He Yu probably firmly believed he could get rich by buying lottery tickets, and when Wu Nian helped him find a job, he immediately turned cold: "Did you go to see Feng Chao again? Did you ask him to mess with you?"
Despite the vulgar language, Wu Nian wasn't angry. She nonchalantly replied, "Who cares who found you? As long as you have a job, that's all that matters."
"Bang!"
He Yu slammed the wine glass to the ground, shards of glass mixed with wine splashing everywhere.
"Screw your job! Don't stop me from making a fortune!"
"Smack!"
Wu Nian slapped He Yu across the face.
The two, who were kissing passionately just moments before, almost came to blows on the spot. Their friends and colleagues rushed to break them up, while the two exchanged insults from a distance.
The language is very vulgar, and most of the words are not even used in TV dramas, so it wouldn't pass censorship.
Jin Zhao huddled in the corner of the sofa, terrified and motionless.
*
Wu Nian's coming-of-age ceremony ended unhappily.
At 8:35, Jin Zhao accompanied Wu Nian out of the bar.
As darkness fell completely, the Yunsheng Building across the street stood resplendent in the pitch-black sky. It was time for the fireworks show, and with a series of muffled thuds, fireworks soared into the sky, bursting into magnificent bursts of light above the building, as if someone had crushed a sky full of stars and scattered their brilliance—red, pink, blue, and purple—the dazzling colors even brightening the dark clouds.
Jin Zhao looked up at the fireworks, his eyes filled with brilliance.
Is it pretty?
Wu Nian watched indifferently as the crowd stopped on the street, eagerly taking out their phones to take photos and videos.
Jin Zhao nodded: "It looks good."
"You know, Yunsheng Building is actually quite far from here. It takes me 40 minutes to ride my electric scooter there. It's just that the buildings here are old and the floors are low, so we got a good deal and can see the fireworks as soon as we look up."
Jin Zhao didn't know what Wu Nian wanted to say, so she just looked at her quietly.
Wu Nian wore heavy makeup today. Because of her fight with He Yu, her makeup was ruined, and her eyeshadow was smudged and dark. Combined with her dry, yellow hair, it gave her a mature yet broken look.
"Do you know the heir of the Yunsheng Group?" Wu Nian asked.
Jin Zhao found the question absurd: "How could I possibly know him?"
“I know him,” Wu Nian said. “He’s a year and a half younger than me. When I was very young, I lived over there. Mr. Wu once took me to visit the Meng family.”
Following Yiping's example, Wu Nian used "over there" to describe her former home and referred to her father as "Mr. Wu".
"The Meng family?" The familiar words made Jin Zhao's eyelashes flutter slightly.
"Yes, the Yunsheng Building belongs to the Meng family. The Meng family has a brother and sister who are very beautiful, but they are extremely mischievous. The two of them together can tear the building down. Uncle Meng, who is such a calm and collected person, gets so angry that he breaks tree branches and beats them up."
As Wu Nian spoke, a nostalgic look appeared on her face: "But do you know, their family's pampered prince is fearless, except for insects. Back then, a spider fell from a tree and scared Meng Yanxi so much that he screamed and ran away. I was the one who caught the spider for him."
"Meng Yanxi?"
It felt like being stung by a bee unexpectedly in the heart.
Another cluster of fireworks exploded in the sky, illuminating one side of Jin Zhao's face with pink light.
“Is her name Meng Yanxi?” Wu Nian rubbed his temples. “I’ve only met her once, and I can’t remember clearly, or I might be wrong. But it doesn’t matter. What I mean is, you see, Yunsheng Building looks so close to us, we can see it just by looking up, but it’s actually very, very far away. They are like clouds in the sky, and we are like mud on the ground, we will never intersect.”
Jin Zhao lowered his head and silently looked at his feet.
"I'm going to ride my electric scooter."
"No, you've been drinking." Jin Zhao pulled her back. "Let's take the bus."
"The bus stop is 800 meters away. We can get there faster by riding our electric scooters."
Wu Nian had already taken the keys to get the electric scooter and quickly tossed a helmet into Jin Zhao's arms: "I'll ride it to the bus stop."
Jin Zhao hesitated for a moment, then put it on his head.
After crossing the main street, the electric scooter skillfully turned into a dark alley.
Jin Zhao quickly stopped him, saying, "It's too late, let's take the main road."
"It's okay, I walk this way every day, it'll be over in no time." In the blink of an eye, Wu Nian had already driven quite a distance.
There were no fireworks in the alley; only the occasional flash of starlight in the sky reflected a pale light onto the stone pavement.
On one side is an abandoned factory, and on the other side is the wall of an old residential area. The factory is no longer in operation and is completely dark. On the other side of the residential area, a dim street lamp shines from a distance.
Jin Zhao sat on the back of Wu Nian's seat. The temperature dropped during the National Day holiday, and a gust of wind blew in her face, making it a bit chilly. Wu Nian was still wearing a tank top, the stretchy fabric hugging her young and graceful body, revealing her slender arms and shoulders. Her hair smelled strongly of dye.
She suddenly noticed a red mark on the back of Wu Nian's neck. In the dim light, Jin Zhao couldn't tell whether it was from fingernails or a bite.
Jin Zhao was silent for a few seconds, then whispered, "Niannian, you should still go and take the college entrance exam."
The electric scooter suddenly stopped.
The inertia caused Jin Zhao's body to lurch forward uncontrollably, his chest colliding with Wu Nian's back, and their helmets also collided.
"You can go down now."
Wu Nian stepped on the ground and turned to Jin Zhao.
Jin Zhao looked up blankly, and when he saw the three men blocking his way, his heart jumped into his throat.
The three men were hidden in the shadows, their faces obscured. They could only be identified as males by their builds; they were neither short nor tall, and varied in build.
They stood in a line, staring at them, holding sticks in their hands, tapping them repeatedly in their palms.
Jin Zhao had always grown up following the rules and regulations; she had never seen anything like this before. She had never even watched a TV series with this kind of subject matter.
"Call the police!" Jin Zhao was terrified and immediately grabbed Wu Nian's bag.
She doesn't have a cell phone. Jin Wenhui said that as a high school student, the most important thing is to study hard, and she agrees.
Wu Nian snatched the bag away: "It's okay, we know each other, you can go first."
Jin Zhao tried to snatch Wu Nian's bag and call the police, but Wu Nian suddenly yelled at her, "Get out!"
Jin Zhao was startled by Wu Nian's sudden outburst of temper and stammered as he got off the electric scooter.
At this moment, three men approached. The one in the lead had an indistinguishable color dyed on his hair and a hoarse, rough voice: "Niannian, long time no see. Is this your new girlfriend?"
The sticky gaze fell on Jin Zhao, whose face turned pale and she retreated repeatedly.
Wu Nian rode his electric scooter and blocked her way: "I met a friend on the road, so I gave her a ride to the bus stop. Let's be considerate; she's still in high school and will be aiming for a good university."
"Fine, we never mess with good students, but you..."
"Did you hear me? Get out of here!" Wu Nian turned around and looked coldly at Jin Zhao.
Jin Zhao's gaze swept back and forth between the three people blocking his way and Wu Nian for a moment before he turned and ran away.
A sharp "slap" came from behind me—the sound of a slap. This was followed by the sounds of punches and kicks, a brutal and visceral exchange of insults between men and women, filling the air with a chilling intensity.
Jin Zhao dared not look back and could only run away for his life.
She had never run so fast.
In the distance, the fireworks at Yunsheng Building continued, but the dazzling light could not always shine into this dark alley. Only occasionally, the light would briefly pierce through, illuminating Jin Zhao's face, which was flushed and bloodshot from running so desperately.
The cold wind whistled across her face like knives, and her tears felt like knives too.
There were three of them, all boys. The fight quickly turned into one-sided bullying. Wu Nian struggled, crying and screaming.
Jin Zhao finally ran out of that dark alley, his face already covered in tears.
Across the street, a large crowd had gathered, watching the fireworks. Jin Zhao wanted to call for help—anyone, please help Wu Nian.
Tears blurred her vision, or perhaps she was too scared to notice the skateboarding boy coming this way when she rushed out.
"Get out of the way!"
The boy's cold shout startled the girl who was panicking and running for her life.
Jin Zhao turned his head.
At nine o'clock, with a muffled thud above the Yunsheng Building, the last cluster of fireworks exploded in the sky, like crushed red and blue stars, shimmering and dazzling, leaving the world in awe.
Against that backdrop, Meng Yanxi appeared before her like the wind, riding a skateboard, as if descending from the sky.
The two nearly collided, but Jin Zhao didn't even have time to be afraid. Or perhaps she was too afraid to move, standing there motionless, staring blankly in his direction.
Fortunately, Meng Yanxi was highly skilled. With a stunning carve, she shifted her weight dramatically, tilted her skateboard, and instantly changed direction, smoothly bypassing her blocking the way.
The boy's black T-shirt brushed against Jin Zhao's fair arm, enveloping him in a cold, misty mountain air.
Meng Yanxi landed with one foot and stepped on the tail of the skateboard with the other, and the skateboard stood up with a snap.
Suddenly, someone rushed out and nearly bumped into her. The young man frowned in displeasure and was about to ask her what was going on when he turned around and was met with a face covered in tears.
"Meng Yanxi, help!"
Jin Zhao clutched his clothes tightly, as if grasping at a straw, and looked up at him, choking back tears: "Please!"
A note from the author:
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That's all for this chapter! See you tomorrow night at 8 PM!
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