【009】
After the meal, before Yu Ting could speak, Lu Jue picked up his backpack and started walking. “I’m off now.”
Yu Ting swallowed the words back down.
It really wasn’t convenient to bring Lu Jue to the police station.
After settling the bill, Yu Ting asked the boss for a takeout container and packed the leftovers. He had eaten most of the three dishes; Lu Jue had barely touched a few bites.
Yu Ting first rode the tricycle home, then biked from home to the district police station.
Before he even entered the reception hall, he heard Zhang Minhua’s voice. “Being young and dumb doesn’t mean you’re right! Just because you’re young and dumb, you can smash someone’s livelihood? So ill-mannered!”
A group of people stood inside the reception hall.
Zhao Rufei was next to Zhang Minhua. Zhang Minhua was angrily arguing with the other party’s parents. Just then, another office door opened and a policeman walked out, followed by a Blondie.
The Blondie glanced at the crowd, then suddenly rushed over and grabbed one of the boys by the collar. He stomped his knee and pinned the person to the ground, fiercely punching his face. “Jiang Yu, you motherfucker! You sold me out!”
Jiang Yu howled in pain. “Mom! Help…”
The incident happened so fast. The police reacted, rushing forward to pull the Blondie off.
Even with both his hands restrained, the Blondie still tried to kick Jiang Yu. “You sold me out, I definitely won’t let you off!”
Jiang Yu’s lip was cut and bleeding. He cried out, hiding behind his mother. “I had no choice! My uncle forced me! Go find him if you’ve got the guts!”
Yu Ting knew of Jiang Yu—always being called up to give self-criticisms after the flag-raising ceremony. His uncle was the vice-principal.
At that moment, the Blondie spotted Yu Ting. From a distance, he spat at him. “Fuck! I should’ve just beat you dead last night!”
Now Yu Ting understood. Last night wasn’t just a feeling, someone really had been following him.
At the same time, he saw the Blondie’s face. It was badly beaten; both eyes were bruised, and there were clear palm-print welts on his face.
“Yu Ting, you just fucking wait. You got me expelled, I won’t let this go…” The Blondie kept cursing. The police officer shook his head and, unable to contact his parents, had to take him back inside.
Terrified out of her wits by the Blondie, Zhao Rufei hurriedly ran to Yu Ting and pulled him over, checking top to bottom. Tears welled up in both eyes. Yu Ting quickly explained, “It’s nothing, they didn’t bully me…”
Zhao Rufei pushed up his sleeve and found the bruise on his arm that hadn’t faded yet.
“…” Yu Ting immediately shut his mouth.
Tears completely rolled out of her eyes. Zhao Rufei’s fingers trembled as she clenched them. Suddenly, she turned around and gestured agitatedly at the group of parents.
They couldn’t understand, looking at each other in confusion.
Zhao Rufei’s signing was particularly agitated and fast. Zhang Minhua could barely keep up translating. “You bullied my son! We don’t want compensation! I want to sue you! All of you go to jail!”
The parents quickly came over to apologize, offering to pay for Yu Ting’s medical expenses.
Jiang Yu sneakily glanced at Yu Ting several times but ultimately didn’t mention that during the earlier confrontation, the Blondie’s injuries had actually been more severe than Yu Ting’s…
…
They stayed at the police station until near sunset. Zhao Rufei refused the private settlement compensation no matter what, so the police told them to go home first for now.
Zhang Minhua had been out all day and headed straight home after leaving the station. Without resting, Yu Ting took the tricycle to the flower nursery, loaded the 5 pots of Pink Parrot, hurried to deliver the last order, returned the tricycle, and only then went home.
Close to eight o’clock, the living room light was on. On the dining table were three plates covered with overturned bowls, an empty bowl and chopsticks, a white porcelain bowl filled with rice water, and a wooden rice steamer.
Inside the steamer was rice. Whenever Zhao Rufei had time, she never used the electric rice cooker. She boiled the rice in water until half-cooked, drained the water, then transferred it to the wooden steamer to cook.
Yu Ting had grown up drinking rice water. From age five, when his family was particularly poor, Zhao Rufei would pinch pennies desperately for a week just to afford the spare change for one bottle of milk. Yu Ting never cried or fussed for milk. He just added a little white sugar to the rice water and said it tasted better than milk.
Right now, Zhao Rufei’s bedroom door was shut. Yu Ting washed his hands clean, changed into clean clothes, and only then went to knock.
“Mom, I didn’t mean to hide it from you.” Yu Ting knocked once and stopped. He laughed softly. “I’m so hungry, Mom. Come out, eating alone isn’t enjoyable for me.”
Movement came from inside immediately. Within two seconds, the door opened. Zhao Rufei’s eyes were red. She had cried again after Yu Ting left.
Yu Ting no longer deliberately hid his injuries. His simple white T-shirt not only exposed the injury on his arm but also the ointment patch stuck on his neck.
Mother and son exchanged a glance. Somewhat vengefully, Zhao Rufei lightly smacked the spot where the ointment patch was on Yu Ting. “You brat!”
It wasn’t hard, but Yu Ting hissed, “Ah!” Zhao Rufei tensely pulled her hand back, leaning forward anxiously. “Did that actually hurt you?”
Yu Ting seized the chance to drape an arm around Zhao Rufei’s shoulder, leading her to the dining table. “Once I’m full, it won’t hurt anymore.”
Zhao Rufei was finally amused. She sat down and quickly uncovered the three overturned bowls. Steam puffed out. None of it was the leftovers Yu Ting packed. One dish was richly red Braised Pork Belly, one was Tomato Stewed Beef, and one was Scallion Oil Bird’s Beak Clams.
Zhao Rufei wiped the corner of her red, swollen eyes and formed a fist with her hand. “Eat more, gain more strength!”
So you won’t be easily bullied.
Yu Ting picked up his bowl. He’d eaten too much at lunch and wasn’t very hungry, but he still ate two bowls of rice.
Zhao Rufei was satisfied. She passed the rice water to him. She suddenly remembered something and gestured, “A boy came to the flower nursery today looking for you. He said he was your deskmate.”
The rice water had the right amount of sugar—perfectly sweet. Yu Ting took a sip and nodded. “Yeah, his name is Lu Jue.”
Zhao Rufei signed, “When you have time, invite him over to the house to play.”
“Cough…” The rice water went down the wrong way. Yu Ting coughed for quite a while, his face flushing deeply red. He confirmed with Zhao Rufei in disbelief, “To our house?”
Zhao Rufei smiled and nodded. “He’s a very well-behaved child, and he just moved back to Lingjiang. He doesn’t know many people here. You invite him home for a meal. Mom will make a few specialty dishes to treat him.”
His throat still a little uncomfortable, Yu Ting picked up the bowl again and drank the rice water. When it was nearly finished, he put the bowl down and said, “He wants to eat Sea Intestine Dumplings. I’ll ask him if he’s free on Saturday.”
Pulling out his phone, Yu Ting sent Lu Jue a message.
Just about to stuff the phone away, it went “Ding!” Lu Jue had replied:
Okay. [Smiley face]
After dinner, Yu Ting returned to his room and pulled out the leftover money from his pocket.
Just over three hundred left.
He raised his eyes and looked at the desk calendar. Li Chengxi’s birthday wasn’t far off.
~
Saturday morning, Zhao Rufei got up early to go to the market and buy fresh, live sea intestines.
Yu Ting was brushing his teeth when suddenly someone knocked at the door.
Thinking Zhao Rufei had forgotten something, he ran to open the door with the toothbrush still in his mouth. When the door opened, he froze.
Lu Jue also froze.
The young man inside the doorway had messy bedhead, was wearing a tank top and shorts, with soft white toothpaste foam at the corner of his mouth. His eyes still weren’t fully open.
He looked very easy to bully.
Lu Jue came to his senses first. Carrying an exquisite fruit basket, the corner of his mouth tugged upwards. “I think I came too early.”
Yu Ting pulled out his toothbrush and pointed at a pair of unopened men’s slippers on the shoe rack. “Open those yourself. I’m going to wash my face.”
He ran back to the bathroom and quickly finished washing up. When he came out, the fruit basket was on the coffee table. Lu Jue stood in the living room, staring intently at the wall where the sofa was.
That wall was plastered with certificates of merit Yu Ting had earned growing up. Zhao Rufei couldn’t bear to throw any away, so the whole wall was covered airtight.
Yu Ting thought about interrupting, but then decided against it. He called out, “Had breakfast yet?”
Lu Jue was still looking at the certificates. He shook his head. “No.”
“My mom went to buy sea intestines and chives…” Yu Ting paused for a second. “Do you eat chives?”
To be honest, Yu Ting wasn’t too clear about his preferences. But he’d had meals at Li Chengxi’s house a few times; Li Chengxi’s whole family avoided foods with strong flavors.
Lu Jue finally turned his head. “I do.”
“My mom will be back soon. Let’s just do dumplings in a bit.” It was already hot by seven in the morning. Yu Ting turned on the electric fan. “Want something to drink?”
He rarely drank beverages, usually only eating a Salted Ice Pop when it was too hot. Still, there was a small school store not far from his house that sold all the drinks you’d find on the market.
“Ice water.”
Yu Ting went to the kitchen and poured a glass of ice water. He handed it to Lu Jue, saying, “Have a seat first. I’m going to prep the dumpling wrappers.”
Zhao Rufei had already kneaded the dough before going out. Once he rolled the wrappers, as soon as the sea intestines and chives arrived, they could make and boil the dumplings.
Lu Jue took a sip of water, then immediately followed him into the kitchen. “I’ll help.”
Yu Ting didn’t refuse, but a few minutes later, he glanced at the misshapen, hole-riddled fishing-net-like dumpling wrappers on the cutting board and politely declined Lu Jue’s enthusiastic assistance.
Yu Ting was fast and skilled at rolling wrappers. By the time Zhao Rufei returned with the live sea intestines and fresh chives, a whole lump of dough had become a pile of thin, uniformly sized dumpling skins.
Yu Ting mixed the filling. Not long after, the first pot of Sea Intestine Dumplings came out of the water.
The aroma filled the whole house.
Sixty dumplings were boiled in the first batch, piled into three full plates.
Carried to the table, the plump dumplings revealed a faint green hue inside. Zhao Rufei enthusiastically signed, “Little Jue, try Lele’s cooking skills.”
Yu Ting, “…” His mom really liked Lu Jue, even exposing his childhood nickname.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Jue glanced at Yu Ting. “Lele?”
Zhao Rufei smiled. “Tingting’s nickname. He says it’s cheesy and won’t let me call him that outside.”
Lu Jue laughed too. “It’s not cheesy at all; it’s cute.”
Yu Ting, “…”
Zhao Rufei beamed and placed another dumpling into Lu Jue’s bowl. “Little Jue, what major do you think you want to study in the future?”
Yu Ting lowered his head, quietly biting into a dumpling. Lu Jue replied, “Haven’t thought about it yet.”
Setting down her chopsticks, Zhao Rufei signed, “I’m planning for Lele to study computer science. Do you know anything about that field? Does it involve going out to sea or getting on ships?”
Lu Jue snuck a glance at Yu Ting. His mind flashed to the several oceanography books he had seen in the Sea Cave.
He swallowed the dumpling and curved his lips. “I don’t know.”
Zhao Rufei nodded, then added, “You’re from Jing City, so you must be very familiar with it, right? Next week, Lele has to go to Jing City for a competition. I have to stay and oversee the flower nursery reconstruction, so I can’t get away. He’s traveling that far alone, a strange place with no one he knows—I’m especially worried. Is accommodation safe there?”
“I have to go back myself next week.” Lu Jue put down his chopsticks, his smile dazzling. “What date is Lele leaving?”
Yu Ting, “…”
Zhao Rufei, “Next Friday!”
“What a coincidence, same for me.” Only then did Lu Jue turn his head to look at Yu Ting. “Then shall we go together?”
Before Yu Ting could open his mouth, Zhao Rufei delightedly agreed. “That’s great! With you along, I’ll feel much more at ease.”
So Yu Ting closed his mouth again and continued focusing on eating dumplings.
Just then, Lu Jue’s pocket vibrated persistently. He ignored it. Finishing off the rest of the large plate of dumplings in a few swift bites of his chopsticks, his smiling eyes blinked. “Chef Lele, another plate!”
Yu Ting, “…”
On his way home, Lu Jue casually pulled out his phone.
The screen showed 99+ missed calls, all from an unknown string of numbers.
Almost instantly, another call popped up on the screen.
Lu Jue answered. A vigorous male voice preempted him: “Big Brother! Guess who this is!”
T/N: Lele means “Happy” or “Joyful.”
