Chapter 98: My One and Only (Part 3)
The turning point of the matter had appeared in a very accidental opportunity. Chen Shizhou had added Yu Lin on WeChat.
Not long after the literary and art gala, the school had held a campus corner, and the leading teachers had selected a few students from the grade to be in charge, and had let them add each other’s social accounts.
Chen Shizhou had added Yu Lin.
As the holiday was approaching, the leaves on the trees had gradually turned yellow, and they were falling down. Besides building the campus corner, they also had to be busy with reviewing. Each class’s self-study time was different, and the time to go to the activity office was also different.
There had been no chance to meet, but in order to attract more students, the teachers had planned to arrange a play in the next semester. After a discussion, the script planning had been given to Yu Lin, and the other student leaders were uniformly deployed by Yu Lin.
The student leaders of a few different classes had started to communicate because of this.
Yu Lin’s profile picture was a little white dog, with soft fur, and it was being held in its owner’s arms. The owner’s face was not shown, and he was just holding the little dog’s chin with his fingers.
One day, the little dog’s profile picture had suddenly popped up on Chen Shizhou’s chat page. Chen Shizhou had looked at it, and his heart had skipped a beat.
Yu Lin had asked him in a business-like manner on the other end, 『Classmate, I’ve sent you the first draft. Do you have any thoughts? If you have any thoughts, you can tell me.』
Because it was a campus activity, Yu Lin had adapted a script from a textbook story at the teacher’s request. In order to attract more students to participate, the script had been designed with many interactive parts, and many lines had been added.
The whole story had both laughter and tears, but because of the humorous adaptation, it had made the heavy story a little lighter.
Chen Shizhou had read this story, which was familiar to most students, and after a moment of silence, he had thought of the always vivid and interesting manga on Yu Lin’s desk, and he had said, 『The overall story is unfolded from the main perspective. Do you want to add a third perspective?』
He had thought it over and over again, and he had said to Yu Lin, 『The clam seller’s ending is tragic, but he doesn’t know it at three-quarters of the way through. He’s still laughing that he has caught a huge clam, and he doesn’t know that it’s an empty shell. At this time, you can use a voice-over to hint.』
『Is what fate brings only a gift? To say it like this, it can both make the ending not so abrupt, and it can also add a sense of immersion for the audience.』
Is what fate brings only a gift?
At this time, Chen Shizhou also did not know that this sentence, which was just a normal analysis, would also make him speechless in the future.
『That makes sense.』 The input box on the other end had jumped happily, and Yu Lin had quickly adopted his suggestion.
Because of this suggestion, Yu Lin had seemed to think that he had something to talk about with Chen Shizhou. Unconsciously, their communication had become more and more frequent. Many times, Chen Shizhou and Yu Lin had been surprised to find that they were almost another self in the world.
Their personalities were different, and their environments were different, but their views on many issues were surprisingly consistent.
At that time, there was a pancake stall in the school. The owner’s pancakes tasted very good, but he was very stingy, and he was reluctant to put sauce, and his attitude was also not good. He would get angry when he was busy.
Once, when there were many people, a girl had been a little slow when she was getting her food, and she had been shouted at by the owner. The girl had been stunned on the spot, and then she couldn’t help but cry.
Yu Lin had just gotten his own pancake at that time. He had handed the pancake to the girl and had gently told her to go back to the classroom to eat.
Then he had stood at the window, and his eyelashes were raised, and he was staring at the owner, and his usually warm eyes were cold.
In a clamor of noise, Yu Lin had said to the grim-faced owner, “Our school has dozens of stalls, but most of the students who have plenty of time will come here to buy pancakes. Do you really think it’s because your pancakes are better than others?”
“No.” Yu Lin had told him, and then he had left in a chorus of agreement from the surroundings.
Most of the students at No. 1 High School knew that the pancake owner had a sick mother to support, and his child had also been diagnosed with a serious illness. He was irritable, and the students could understand, and they had tolerated him, but this was not a reason for him to vent his anger at will.
『Then will you still go to his house to buy in the future?』 After hearing about this, Chen Shizhou had asked Yu Lin on WeChat.
『I still will.』 At that time, Yu Lin was supporting his chin and was looking at the formula on the blackboard, and he had said to him with a smile, 『His correctness and his mistakes, my anger and my understanding of him, there is no conflict between them. Will you still go?』
『I will.』 Chen Shizhou was silent for a moment and said to him.
He had never been as emotionally rich as Yu Lin, and he could not perceive and judge the correct emotional response to every matter. His world had long been two distinct tones of black and white, so it seemed bland and uninteresting.
He couldn’t feel why Yu Lin could have two contradictory emotions towards one person, but it didn’t stop him from liking it.
『I know this world is very bad, but I want the world in my eyes to look as good as possible.』
Later, when he was asked if the villains in the manga had retreated too easily, Yu Lin had replied to Chen Shizhou like this on WeChat.
『As a creator, it seems that I am protecting them? I don’t know. I have this feeling. Perhaps hardship will make people grow, but it’s also very good to be happy.』
『To let the people who are destined to die find a way to live, and to let the people who are destined to be betrayed have a little warmth by their side, it will make life look more full of hope, right?』
As he was speaking, Chen Shizhou was holding his phone, and he was looking down at the lines of handwriting that were revealed on the phone screen, and he had not even noticed the teacher speaking above.
Until Yu Lin had reminded him on the other end, 『Wait… I remember that this class of yours is not physical education, right?』
Chen Shizhou: 『.』
This was the bad thing about being the number one in the grade. He could remember the entire class schedule after hearing it once.
But at the same time, there was a joy of being remembered, as if their relationship was very good.
What kind of relationship…? Chen Shizhou could not easily give a definition at this time. He had a faint thought in his heart, and it was about to break through the soil, but it was always suppressed by reason.
He couldn’t do this.
But he had become greedy.
So, 『Let’s meet officially after the holiday.』
This kind of thought, when Yu Lin had proposed it with a smile on his face, Chen Shizhou had not refused.
***
It was a holiday, but it was the holiday before the New Year, and everyone in this city was very busy.
The holiday for high school students was always very short. They would leave the campus just before the New Year, and as soon as they had left the school, the atmosphere of the New Year had arrived. So besides the endless test papers, visiting various uncles and aunts had also been put on the agenda.
『Endless visits are even more tiring than going to class.』
Yu Lin had told Chen Shizhou like this in a message. He no longer had time to reply to messages in time, nor did he have time to fulfill the agreement between the two of them.
This was the tradition of this city. Chen Shizhou’s parents would actually take him with them, but it seemed that there were not as many as Yu Lin’s, and he still had time to glance at WeChat.
Unconsciously, the first snow had fallen in this city during the holiday.
The sound of fireworks had begun to explode in the snow.
『I’m sorry. I’ve been too busy during this period of time. Let’s meet tonight. There seems to be a show at the central square? But I might bring a child with me. Do you mind?』
Chen Shizhou had opened his phone and had seen Yu Lin’s message, and he had replied, 『Okay. I’m fine with anything. It’s up to you.』
At night, in the bright private room, his uncle was sitting on the side, and he was clinking glasses with his father, and he was constantly praising Chen Shizhou. “Little Zhou is the number one in the grade again at the end of the term. He’s really a good child. He will definitely have a great future!”
His father was smiling by his side. “What great future? It’ll be good enough if he can successfully take over my class.”
His mother and aunt were talking on the side, and they were smiling very happily.
Chen Shizhou looked at his family, who were happy and harmonious, and he was staring at the phone screen. He suddenly stood up, took the coat that was hanging on the coat rack, and while he was putting it on, he said, “You guys eat. I have something to do outside.”
His father frowned, a little unhappy. “What important thing do you have to suddenly leave?”
Chen Shizhou turned his head and looked at him calmly. “A very important thing.”
His mother turned her head to look at the father and son, shook her head, and smiled and waved her hand. “Okay, okay. The New Year is for playing. Go, go. Come home early.”
Chen Shizhou stood at the door, and his gaze shifted, and he nodded softly. “Thank you, mom.”
He walked out, and he was hit in the face by a cold wind, but it was not very cold. As he was walking, the corners of his lips, which had been tightly pressed together, couldn’t help but curl up slightly.
The central square was crowded with people. Someone was singing with a speaker, and someone was walking hand in hand. Many children were holding balloons, and they were running around and setting off fireworks. The colorful fireworks illuminated the faces of all kinds of people.
Chen Shizhou was not cold at all. He took out his phone and sent a message to Yu Lin, one word at a time, 『Where are you?』
But in fact, he had seen Yu Lin as soon as he had sent it.
The naive Yu Lin of high school was actually a little fond of a lively atmosphere. Chen Shizhou had walked towards the most lively place in the square.
Before he had gotten close, he had seen the young man’s tall and slender figure at a glance, and he was holding a little bean with a dinosaur hat in his hand.
The little bean should be the cousin he had mentioned who would always come to visit. He was cute and adorable, and he was being held by Yu Lin, and he was looking into the crowd with a terrified expression.
The two of them’s expressions were not right. Chen Shizhou paused for a moment, and he got a little closer, and he looked into the crowd.
But the scene inside was not good.
A woman with disheveled hair was crying, and her face was full of tears. She was crying and shouting, and she was frantically slapping a man’s face. “Homosexual! Homosexual! Damn you. Your son is already in elementary school, and you’re telling me you’re a homosexual. Why don’t you just die?”
The surroundings were stunned for a second. This was still something that could not be discussed in the open in this city, so after a moment of silence, it quickly became a matter of discussion.
The man was standing in front of her, his face pale, and he was both surprised and angry. He reached out to grab her arm. “No… how could you… stop talking. What are you crazy about?”
“I’m crazy?” The woman looked at him, and she was both crying and laughing, and she slapped him on the face again. “I’m crazy. That man sent me the photos, you know? Your son got them. Aren’t you disgusting? Your son asked me, ‘Mom, why aren’t this uncle and dad wearing clothes?'”
As the woman was speaking, she began to retch in despair. She squatted on the ground and cried, “It’s really too disgusting. You guys, really, you’re too disgusting.”
She felt that her tears were blurry, and she couldn’t stop trembling.
An auntie on the side couldn’t stand it anymore and came over to comfort her. She grabbed the auntie’s fingers as if she were grabbing a piece of driftwood, and then she looked up and looked at the man angrily.
Her gaze was wandering around in a panic. She suddenly turned her head and pointed at Yu Lin and the little bean outside the crowd. “How old is your son? How is he going to go out in the future? Do you want him to grow up like this, and to be pointed at when he goes out, and to be told that his dad is a homosexual?”
She was crying as she looked at Yu Lin. “Kid, you tell me. Isn’t it disgusting? My child is still young. Are you willing to be told that his father is a homosexual when he goes out? What is my child going to do in the future with him like this?”
Yu Lin: “…”
Yu Lin was holding the little bean, and he looked at her in silence. He was standing outside the crowd and did not speak.
After a pause, he pressed his lips together and led the little bean, who was tightly holding his fingers, away.
He must have been disgusted by this at that time.
Chen Shizhou looked at his back, and he thought, and then he was as if he had woken up from a dream.
After a long time, the wind was a little cold. Chen Shizhou suddenly didn’t know what he was doing. His knuckles were cold from the wind. He lowered his eyes, opened his phone, and said to Yu Lin, 『I’m sorry. I have something to do. I can’t make it.』
The other end should have been slow to come to his senses. After a long time, he replied, 『Okay. It’s fine.』