Chapter 15

Although on the very first day of school, Qi Yang had openly locked horns with Mu Yicong, letting the entire Class 17 know that the two didn’t get along—and not just Qi Yang, but Liu Dameng and the curious Cui Wu as well.

For the next few days, though, they didn’t have any direct conflict with Mu Yicong.

Because military training started.

High school military training usually wasn’t very long, a week tops.

The affiliated high school was an exception. A full twelve days.

“Stupid school,” Liu Dameng gritted his teeth while standing at attention. “My sister’s college training was only two weeks. What’s a shitty high school doing training us for so long, trying to work us like dogs?”

“You’re the dog, don’t lump us in with you.” Cui Wu, standing behind him, chimed in.

Liu Dameng turned around and kicked him.

The drill instructor blew his whistle, glared at them, and pointed. “Everyone else, dismissed for break. You two, keep standing!”

Qi Yang, ignoring Liu Dameng’s jealous glare, went to drink some water in the shade of a tree, earning him a pair of middle fingers from Liu Dameng and Cui Wu.

Half the training ground listened to Class 17’s instructor curse them out, saying things like ‘there are only two days left of training’, ‘tomorrow is the inspection ceremony and everyone can relax’, and other such bullshit about holding the line to the very end.

After he finished cursing and blew his whistle again, Qi Yang was gone.

“Where’s Qi Yang?” the instructor yelled, veins bulging on his neck. “Run off again?!”

Liu Dameng snapped to attention with a loud slap. “Reporting, Instructor! I don’t know!”

Qi Yang hadn’t gone far. Going back to the classroom would get him caught, so he directly jumped over the school wall and headed home.

Just as he reached the school intersection, a tall, slender figure got out of a black sedan. Qi Yang squinted in the harsh sunlight. It was Mu Yicong, who hadn’t shown up for training today.

Four rings on the car logo. Pretty good license plate number.

Mu Yicong got out and walked towards the school. The rear window rolled down halfway, and he stopped.

Whoever was in the car seemed to be giving him instructions. Mu Yicong, ever expressionless, just drooped his eyelids and nodded.

Qi Yang glanced over. The man in the car was middle-aged, probably Mu Yicong’s dad. He looked quite a bit older than Qi Dahai.

The car drove off, but Mu Yicong didn’t move.

He stood alone in the sun for a while. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he met Qi Yang’s appraising gaze.

Qi Yang was wearing a black T-shirt, his hands shoved into the pockets of his camouflage training pants. He was really put off by Mu Yicong’s pale, cold complexion.

“What are you looking at?” he asked Mu Yicong.

Mu Yicong, as usual, ignored him. He stared at Qi Yang for a moment, then headed into the school.

Nutjob.

The affiliated high school was a bit far from home, and his bike was still at the school, so Qi Yang had to take a taxi back.

On the way, they passed the neighborhood where Mu Yicong lived. Qi Yang glanced out the window a couple of times, calculating the distance. Mu Yicong’s place was actually pretty close to his.

Qi Yang thought back to how Mu Yicong had stood alone in the sun just now. He suddenly felt that Mu Yicong’s deadpan face wasn’t just for him; it was the same damn attitude he had with his own family.

But when it came to attitudes towards family, Qi Yang really wasn’t in a position to judge Mu Yicong.

As soon as he pushed open the door to his own home, he nearly bumped into Qi Xing.

Qi Xing was already crawling. Seeing the door open, she stopped like a little animal, looked up at Qi Yang, and held his gaze.

After two seconds, her little body twisted, and she turned to crawl away again.

Qi Yang bent down, picked her up off the floor, carried her into the master bedroom, and put her on Zou Meizhu’s bed.

Zou Meizhu was taking a nap. Half-asleep, she pulled Qi Xing into her arms and glanced at Qi Yang. “Yangyang, you’re home from school so early today.”

“If you give birth to them, can you at least keep an eye on them?” Qi Yang said, a bit impatiently.

This sibling thing was really annoying.

Qi Yang didn’t have much of an opinion on how Qi Dahai and Zou Meizhu had raised him. He’d made it this far without missing any limbs and had never been short on allowance money.

But ever since Qi Xing came along, he found himself more and more dissatisfied with his parents’ parenting style.

They really did treat a kid like a cat or a dog, sleeping soundly without worrying if Qi Xing would bump her head or knock into something.

Of course, Qi Yang’s concern for Qi Xing was limited to putting her back in a safe place.

He went to his own room, turned on the AC, and had just cooled down for five minutes when a message from Liu Dameng popped up.

It was a photo. Under the scorching sun on the training ground, only one person stood at attention. Clearly being punished by the instructor.

Qi Yang zoomed in on the picture. The one being punished was Mu Yicong.

Liu Dameng: I’m dying of laughter, this guy skipped training and got busted.

Qi Yang replied: Why?

Liu Dameng: Dunno. Not long after you left, he showed up. The coach asked why he was late. He didn’t say a word, so they made him stand.

Qi Yang: Just saw him with his dad at the school gate.

Liu Dameng: Then why didn’t he say anything?

Qi Yang: How should I know.

Liu Dameng: Dumb mute.

Qi Yang ignored him and opened a game to play.

He hadn’t been playing long when Liu Dameng sent another picture.

This time, the subject wasn’t a person. It was Cui Wu’s hand, holding a backpack.

Mu Yicong’s backpack.

Liu Dameng sent a string of “hahas” and told Qi Yang: Cui Wu, that little shit, stole Mu Yicong’s bag.

Qi Yang finished his game before switching screens to reply: Why’d you steal his bag?

Liu Dameng: For fun.

Liu Dameng: This Cui Wu guy is a real bro. As soon as he heard Mu Yicong was our enemy, he declared they’d be mortal enemies from then on.

Qi Yang slowly typed two words: Silly fuck.

What Liu Dameng and Cui Wu did with Mu Yicong’s backpack, Qi Yang didn’t know.

But the next day, during the inspection ceremony, just as Class 17’s square was about to enter, Old Wu came to the edge of the training ground, waved his hand, and called Qi Yang straight to the office.

“Do you know where Mu Yicong lives?” Old Wu asked, catching Qi Yang off guard.

“No,” Qi Yang said.

“Aren’t you two from the same middle school?” Old Wu sized him up.

Just because they were from the same middle school, he had to know where he lived?

Qi Yang couldn’t be bothered to explain. He just stared back at Old Wu.

“Do you have his phone number?” Old Wu fiddled with his own phone and asked again. “Do you have it?”

“Yes,” Qi Yang said. “What happened to him?”

“He didn’t come to school. Can’t get in touch with him.” Old Wu explained simply. “Called his mom. His parents aren’t in town.”

Qi Yang let out an “oh.”

So yesterday, his dad had probably come to say goodbye to him at the school gate.

Come to think of it, Mu Yicong’s parents really were busy. Back at No. 9 Middle School, no one from his family had ever shown up for a parent-teacher conference.

“What are you ‘oh-ing’ about?” Old Wu glared at Qi Yang. “Call him.”

Qi Yang really wanted to ask what it had to do with him, but figured making a call in the office was better than military training. So he pulled out his phone.

Then, under the homeroom teacher’s watchful eye, he dialed the number saved under the name “Son.”

“Change that name after you finish calling.” Old Wu pointed sternly at his phone.

Qi Yang, listening to the ringing tone, drooped his eyelids and smiled slightly.

After six rings, the call was picked up. A somewhat hoarse “Hello” answered.

Qi Yang handed the phone directly to Old Wu.

Old Wu took the phone, first said he was Teacher Wu, and asked why Mu Yicong hadn’t come to school. After a few “mm-hmms,” he said, “Give me your address.”

Qi Yang turned his head to look at him.

Mu Yicong must have been reluctant. Old Wu explained for a while, said it was at his mother’s request, and finally grabbed a notebook to write down an address.

After hanging up, he tore out the page and handed it to Qi Yang. “Go to his place and check on him. Mu Yicong says he has a fever. If it’s serious, call me.”

Qi Yang stared at Old Wu for a long time before finally asking the question, “What’s it got to do with me?”

“I can’t leave,” Old Wu said, deaf to the question. He folded the address and stuffed it into Qi Yang’s pocket. “This is a task from your teacher.”

Seeing Qi Yang still not moving, he pointed at him and said, “I haven’t settled the score with you for skipping training yet.”

“Won’t going to his place now be skipping training?” Qi Yang raised an eyebrow.

“Whether you’re there or not doesn’t make a difference.” Old Wu waved his hand. “Hurry up. I’m giving you a half day off.”

A ‘task from the teacher’ meant jack shit to Qi Yang, but the words ‘half day off’ were very tempting.

He pocketed the scrap of paper and walked out of the school gate. His original plan was to go straight to the internet cafe, but then he thought again: it would be more fun to mess with Mu Yicong.

He took a picture of the street and sent it to Liu Dameng. Reading Liu Dameng’s reply of a string of “Holy shits,” he happily flagged down a taxi.

Qi Yang knew which neighborhood Mu Yicong lived in.

He only unfolded the paper to check the building number when he got outside the gate. Building 10, Room 302.

This was an old neighborhood, once the dormitory for some factory.

Qi Yang thought about the Audi he’d seen at Mu Yicong’s home and wondered if this address was even right.

Standing outside Room 302, he knocked twice. He decided that if no one came to the door after 30 seconds, he’d head downstairs to the internet cafe.

He counted silently to 18. The lock clicked, and the door opened.

Mu Yicong stood at the door in his sleepwear, face pale. Seeing Qi Yang, he frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“You think I wanted to come?” Qi Yang said.

“Get lost,” Mu Yicong said.

Qi Yang ignored him. His gaze went over Mu Yicong’s shoulder, into the small entrance hall inside.

This apartment of Mu Yicong’s was so empty it didn’t really look like a home. It had all the necessary furniture, but there was hardly any sign of life. He couldn’t even see a second pair of slippers.

But what really caught his attention was a pile of textbooks spread out on the living room floor.

The pages were all wrinkled, with water stains soaking the floor. They’d clearly been soaked in water.

Connecting it to the photo Liu Dameng had sent yesterday, Qi Yang asked, “Did someone throw your backpack in the lake?”

There was an artificial lake on the campus of the affiliated high school, right behind the training ground. The lake was shallow, but a few careless students fell in every year.

No one said a word. Mu Yicong tightened his grip on the doorknob, then raised his arm to slam the door shut.

Qi Yang stuck his foot out, wedging it in the gap.

“I’ll say it one more time.” Mu Yicong looked into his eyes, and slowly repeated, “Get lost.”

Qi Yang grinned maliciously. “Beg me.”

He was betting Mu Yicong didn’t dare actually close the door on his foot.

A sick person’s reactions were slow, so Qi Yang confidently planned in his head that if Mu Yicong threw a punch, he’d know exactly which angle to tilt his head to dodge it perfectly and look cool.

But the next second, the sudden rush of air from the closing door, the sharp scrape of the lock, and the intense pain from his right foot being violently crushed hit him like a steel needle, shooting straight from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

He punched Mu Yicong hard in the shoulder. Mu Yicong staggered back a step, letting go of the door handle.

Qi Yang crouched down, his face twisted in pain. He couldn’t even make a sound. Cold sweat poured out in layers.

Fuck his mother. He’d bet wrong.