Chapter 3
“…”
A dead silence.
After a long time, Dean Ling awkwardly chuckled, trying to lighten the mood: “Professor Song… a young talent, already has… has children?”
Song Shuci smiled at Jian Wu and hummed in agreement. “In a few years, they should be old enough to attend Teacher Jian’s classes.”
“Then… then congratulations!”
Ling Meng instinctively offered congratulations, but after saying it, she felt something was off. After all, his wife and child had run away, it didn’t seem like something to be congratulated about.
So this is what a big shot is like, Ling Meng thought. Not only is his career advancement a step ahead of others, but even his life progression is faster. Others at this age are still dating and preparing for marriage, while he’s already divorced.
Wait, not exactly divorced, since Song Shuci just said fiancée.
While she was absorbing this gossip and brainstorming, Jian Wu was almost laughing in anger.
Who was his fiancée? Who ran away with his child? Song Shuci said these things without even blushing. With his ability to twist the truth, could his research papers even be trusted?
After dropping this bombshell, Song Shuci seemed refreshed. He then excused himself: “Dean, I have some things to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. You don’t have to see me out.”
By then, they had reached the building entrance. Dean Ling quickly switched back to his social mode, trying to persuade him to stay: “If you’re not busy, why don’t you have dinner with Ling Meng and Jian Wu? You’ll all be at the same school from now on–”
“It’s not convenient today,” Song Shuci’s refusal this time was rather firm. He glanced at Jian Wu, then pointedly looked at his watch in front of him, offering an excuse, the truth of which was unknown: “I have an appointment.”
“Oh… it’s okay, it’s okay,” Dean Ling still maintained a smile. “There will be other opportunities.”
“Mm, thank you very much today. I’ll contact you later.” Before leaving, Song Shuci politely shook hands with Dean Ling again.
Ling Meng was delighted to have a night free from forced socializing and sincerely shook hands with Song Shuci.
This handshake ceremony was about to reach Jian Wu, but the man was staring at the watch exposed on Song Shuci’s wrist, not even noticing Song Shuci looking at him.
He wasn’t sure if Song Shuci simply found the watch practical and was used to wearing it, or if he had long forgotten its origins.
But he seemed to understand how Song Shuci felt when he saw him wearing that shirt.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, just as Jian Wu was pondering, his palm suddenly felt warm. Song Shuci, while he was distracted, took his left hand and briefly shook it.
Whether intentional or not, Song Shuci’s watch on his left hand was now very close, its smooth face reflecting the high ceiling of the first floor like a mirror.
Jian Wu thought that if he took off this watch and looked at its back, he should be able to see a line of small words that didn’t match the watch or Song Shuci’s temperament—
“Happy 18th Birthday, Brother!”
But as soon as this thought arose, Song Shuci withdrew his hand.
“Your right hand is injured, but your left hand can still shake, right?”
Song Shuci’s tone was slightly mocking, clearly aware that his previous excuse about his right hand was a lie.
He withdrew his hand and finished speaking without waiting for Jian Wu’s response, then nodded to Dean Ling: “I’ll be going now.”
He walked away quickly, his coat swirling slightly as he turned, brushing past Jian Wu’s warm left hand.
Jian Wu’s left fingers unconsciously curled slightly at his side, his gaze instinctively following Song Shuci.
As the glass doors slowly closed, Song Shuci’s figure quickly disappeared.
Dean Ling, seeing him leave, commented with a subtle tone: “This Professor Song is quite unique.”
“He’s a big shot, it’s normal to be… unique.”
Ling Meng recalled the scene just now and chuckled awkwardly. After a moment of thought, she couldn’t help but ask Jian Wu: “But I’m a little confused, why did you two suddenly start arguing? I was afraid you’d scare him away by rattling off all those recruitment insider tips.”
Jian Wu put his left hand in his pocket and muttered: “It would be better if he ran away.”
“Jian Wu,” Dean Ling reprimanded both sides, “Although Professor Song has a bit of a personality, it doesn’t mean your behavior today was good. Look at what you did today. It’s your first time meeting, he didn’t offend you, yet you kept firing off remarks like a machine gun. Did you eat gunpowder?”
With Song Shuci gone, Jian Wu quickly backpedaled: “I was wrong, Dean.”
“Now you’re pretending to be obedient? I’m telling you this because I treat you like my own son. No matter how good your teaching skills are, it won’t do if your emotional intelligence is low. Let me tell you–”
Seeing that her father was about to launch into another lecture, Ling Meng quickly interrupted him, winking at Jian Wu: “Jian Wu, didn’t you say you still needed to review the exam papers?”
“Ah, right, right,” Jian Wu didn’t want to listen to the nagging either. He gave Ling Meng a grateful look and quickly seized the opportunity: “Then I’ll go first, Dean. We’ll talk again when we have a chance.”
“Hey–”
Dean Ling’s attempt to keep him failed. He rubbed his chest in frustration: “You young people, you all have the skills, why are you so unwilling to socialize more…”
Jian Wu slipped away, deliberately taking a detour to avoid bumping into Song Shuci again. But after smoothly riding his motorcycle home, he couldn’t help but slap his own cheeks.
Stop being delusional.
He was wearing the shirt Song Shuci bought him simply because he hadn’t thought about it. Could Song Shuci be wearing the watch he gave him because of lingering feelings?
Impossible.
They had been separated for four years… What was supposed to end, had already ended.
He opened the door and tossed his keys aside. The clanging sound startled his parrot, which flew over to greet him.
The bird angrily squawked: “Idiot! Idiot!”
“Shut up–”
Jian Wu listlessly grabbed the bird that had landed on his shoulder and put it back on its perch. He grabbed a sleeveless vest from the balcony and turned to enter the bedroom.
But the bird followed him, flapping its wings and continuing to curse: “Pervert! Pervert!”
Jian Wu had adopted the parrot from the previous owner of the apartment. When he bought the place, he heard the former landlord was planning to get rid of the bird.
Regardless of the breed, once a parrot learned to swear, it couldn’t be sold for a good price, especially in a small city like B City, where most parrot owners were elderly people, often somewhat superstitious, who couldn’t stand the parrot’s “disrespect.” So even the original owner didn’t want it anymore.
But releasing a caged parrot was a death sentence. Fortunately, Jian Wu had thick skin and wasn’t afraid of being cursed, so he saved its life.
Jian Wu had just taken off the depressing shirt when he heard the parrot and couldn’t help but argue back: “You’re the pervert! I entered the room first, you’re the one who followed me in. Who’s the pervert? How did you learn to shift the blame like–”
“Forget it,” he swallowed the name he was about to say and warned the parrot, which was tap-dancing on his minefield, “Shut up.”
He carelessly put on a loose sleeveless T-shirt and, holding the shirt like a bomb, walked out of the bedroom, preparing to find a place to destroy it when his phone suddenly rang.
He casually crumpled the shirt into a ball and stuffed it into the corner of a cabinet, then pulled out his phone: “Hello?”
The sound of mahjong tiles clattered from the other end, followed by his mother’s voice: “Hello? Xiao Wu? I suddenly remembered something to tell you.”
Jian Wu had a bad premonition.
Soon, he heard his dear mother say: “I heard from Aunt Xu that Song Shuci is back these days. Don’t worry, I absolutely didn’t tell them where you are. But I heard Xiao Song is going to your university for an interview for something, I think it’s today. If you still don’t want him to know where you are, remember to avoid him.”
Jian Wu: “…”
“Mom,” he glanced at the clock on the wall, complaining, “Do you know what time it is? Why didn’t you say this earlier?”
“I forgot! Getting old makes you forgetful. And my luck was especially good this afternoon, I was too busy winning money. What’s wrong? Did you two…” Her tone suddenly became subtle, “Meet?”
Jian Wu quickly denied: “No.”
“Then why are you in such a hurry?” She chuckled, sounding relieved at first, but upon closer listening, there seemed to be a hint of strange disappointment.
However, Jian Wu was too absorbed in his mother’s despair-inducing memory to notice the difference.
“I’m not in a hurry, I just…”
Jian Wu wanted to say something more, but his mother’s attention had already returned to the mahjong table: “Hey, hey, hey, don’t move, I won! A clean sweep! Come on, pay up–”
“Mom…” Jian Wu felt like he was punching cotton. Finally, he could only sigh, “You really are my mother.”
“Of course, look how much you look like me,” his mother played dumb. “Gotta go, I’m going to collect my winnings!”
The call ended with a click, hung up decisively.
Jian Wu stared at his phone in shock, speechless for a long time.
It wasn’t until he felt a wet sensation on his foot that he was briefly pulled out of his mother’s “betrayal.”
He looked down. A tortoise, as big as his face, was lying by his foot, its claws still wet.
Four living creatures resided in Jian Wu’s small apartment: him, his bird, his tortoise, and a B Medical University student who rented a room from him to study for the postgraduate entrance exam.
His apartment had two bedrooms, and since he couldn’t use them both, he rented one out to earn some extra cash.
The student wasn’t home at the moment, and the tortoise had escaped its enclosure.
Jian Wu stared blankly at the tortoise for a while, Song Shuci’s words “runaway fiancée who took my child with her” echoing inexplicably in his ears.
He put down his phone, rubbed his temples, squatted down, and called the tortoise’s name: “Wansui–”
Perhaps sensing something in his voice, Wansui lifted its head, which had been rubbing against his foot, and looked up at him.
Jian Wu went to get some dried shrimp and small fish to feed it. Wansui, who usually snatched food from his hand, showed no interest in eating this time, just staring with its small, seemingly wise eyes.
“What? Don’t want to eat?” Jian Wu chuckled.
Wansui just looked at him, silent—it couldn’t speak.
Jian Wu stared at the patterns on the tortoise’s shell for a while, then suddenly said: “I saw your ‘dad’ today… He’s back.”
Wansui tilted its head thoughtfully, then crawled forward a few steps, stepping onto his foot.
Jian Wu closed the lid of the tortoise food, leaned back against the carpet, and lifted Wansui onto his lap.
Wansui usually loved to lie on his legs. It stretched out its limbs and shook its head, clearly very comfortable.
Jian Wu lowered his eyes, stroked its small head, and after a while, asked: “Do you miss him?” Most animals in nature probably don’t have much affection for the concept of “dad,” let alone a tortoise hatched from an egg.
Wansui, listening to Jian Wu’s voice, had clear eyes, seemingly free of any distracting thoughts, apparently having long forgotten its cheap dad.
Jian Wu: “Forget I said anything.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone on the sofa chimed with a notification.
Jian Wu reached for his phone with one hand while holding Wansui with the other.
—A user with a landscape profile picture had sent him a friend request.
The man’s remark was simple, just four words: “Hello, Teacher Jian.”
Jian Wu taught eighth grade, and according to B City’s policy, the biology and geography exams were in two months, so recently many concerned parents had been adding him to ask about the situation. He glanced at the retirement-style profile picture, combined with the remark, and instinctively assumed it was a student’s parent, accepting the request without much thought.
However, as soon as the request was accepted, while his “Hello” was still in the text box, the other side suddenly bombarded him with over a dozen photos.
All of them were pictures of him before the age of one, shirtless and wearing split pants.
Jian Wu’s heart leaped uncontrollably. After a while, he deleted “Hello” and slowly typed a question mark.
The other side quickly replied:
[Found these while looking through my phone.]
[I thought, since Teacher Jian has such a bad memory, I’d help you remember.]
Jian Wu typed another question mark.
[You have a red birthmark on your right shoulder.]
[You should have a black mole on your McBurney’s point and another on your right groin.]
[You have a chickenpox scar on your left lower rib cage, if I remember correctly, it’s from when you scratched it open as a child without us noticing.]
“?” Jian Wu: [Stop.]
Jian Wu: […]
[Need me to continue helping you remember?]
Jian Wu didn’t reply.
The other side quickly sent another message: [Okay, there’s also a raised intradermal nevus on the left side of your third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. When you were eight, you said it was itchy and you liked to scratch it. Your mom took you to the hospital to have it removed, leaving a coin-sized scar. It’s not visible now, but you can still feel it. You said you didn’t like me touching it there, but every time I touched it you really enjoyed it.]
Fuck.
Jian Wu quickly typed: [Can you stop talking.]
Song Shuci: [So do you recognize me now?]
Jian Wu took two deep breaths, staring at the message, his ears burning red, the blood rushing to his head.
Is Song Shuci an idiot?
He’s almost thirty, not three, what the hell is wrong with him?
He didn’t reply, directly blocking and deleting him, his hands still shaking with anger. He decided to take a cold shower to calm down.
But after calming down, he felt his previous reaction was inadequate.
He had deleted Song Shuci without saying a word. What was the difference between that and losing an argument?
The more Jian Wu thought about it, the more frustrated he became. But based on his understanding of Song Shuci, he would definitely come back to bother him.
While showering, Jian Wu was still thinking about how to retort if Song Shuci added him again. He also had childhood photos of Song Shuci, stored on his computer’s E drive in the third folder from the top.
After showering, Jian Wu finally gathered his emotions.
He came out drying his hair, opened his computer and the folder, then vigilantly glanced at his phone.
Unexpectedly, his phone, which had been buzzing earlier, was now completely silent.
Song Shuci hadn’t added him back with a different account, nor were there any unknown calls coming in.
B City in April was somewhat humid. A light breeze blew, and the blood in his body suddenly ran cold.
The sky outside gradually darkened, and lights flickered on in the building opposite. The tortoise slowly crawled back into the water along the ramp Jian Wu had carefully built.
The parrot, perched on its small platform, was splashed by the water and angrily flapped its wings.
Jian Wu unlocked his phone again, confirming that everything was quiet, no new messages or notifications.
He stared blankly at his phone for a while, then, as if suddenly coming to his senses, he vigorously dried his hair with a towel, kicked off his slippers, and threw himself onto the sofa, curling up in a ball in the corner.
The parrot was startled by his sudden movement and quickly cursed “Idiot!” to calm itself down.
But the person on the sofa, whether or not he had been called an idiot so many times that he was numb, didn’t respond. The person who usually loved to argue with it remained silent, only stopping his movements.
A thick bath towel covered his entire face, his expression hidden.
