Chapter 29
When they first arrived in City A, they had a relatively happy time.
After all these years of knowing each other, they were finally living together as a couple. Unlike in middle school, where they always had to hide from their parents, and unlike in university, where they could only stay together in a hotel for a night every now and then. Although the rented apartment was small, it was just right for their relationship.
Perhaps the only thing Jian Wu found unbearable was Song Shuci’s increasingly unrestrained possessiveness.
For example, Song Shuci wouldn’t let him do any chores in their shared home, he would check his phone, worried he was contacting his former clients and continuing to tutor, he installed a surveillance camera at the door, and demanded he not go out for too long.
Song Shuci even applied his academic rigor to him, demanding daily progress reports on his studies, and quizzes and tests became routine.
Everything was centered around making him focus on his exam preparation.
The feeling of being back in “senior year” after so many years was truly unpleasant. Moreover, the rent and living expenses in City A were high, he couldn’t participate in any entertainment activities, and even playing mobile games would be interrupted by Song Shuci’s random check-up calls, ruining the game for his teammates if he was unlucky.
Perhaps his only entertainment was having sex with Song Shuci.
But even this was tied to his daily studies.
The vibrator that had caused the misunderstanding between them came in handy at this time.
Song Shuci used it as punishment when Jian Wu failed to complete his study tasks on time. The most outrageous time was when he made him wear it while reciting the political essay questions he hadn’t been able to answer.
Exasperated, Jian Wu asked Song Shuci if he wanted to join a BDSM club. The studious Song Shuci first expressed confusion about this new field, then, after thirty minutes of online research, turned around with a data cable and said, “We can try it if you want.”
This made Jian Wu so angry that he would downvote any teacher-student themed porn he saw.
Most people had a dark side, it just depended on how deeply it was hidden.
After knowing each other for over twenty years, and being together for over six, Jian Wu finally saw Song Shuci’s unmasked dark side clearly for the first time.
He wasn’t exactly afraid, because no matter how they fought, Song Shuci would never truly hurt him.
But his rebelliousness was real.
A healthy relationship couldn’t grow in an unequal power dynamic.
10 am, exercise time at B Medical University Affiliated Middle School.
As the melodious music played on the playground, the children did their exercises in neat rows on the green lawn.
Jian Wu, as usual, went out for a ten-minute stroll to relieve the fatigue from sitting for too long.
But this time, his heart was more tired than his body.
He had been struggling all morning with how to apologize to Song Shuci’s parents.
He had been impulsive and thrown away the gift Song Shuci’s parents had given him while drunk and angry last night, but after sobering up, he regretted it deeply.
No matter how he and Song Shuci fought, he shouldn’t involve the elders.
Song Shuci’s parents had always been very good to him. Growing up, whatever Song Shuci had, he also had a share. After his father passed away, he received even more care from them.
Except for the year he came out, when the three adults in his family were angry and didn’t celebrate his birthday, whether before or after that, Song Shuci’s parents always prepared a birthday gift for him.
After he and Song Shuci broke up, he changed his phone number and never contacted them again, but Song Shuci’s parents still sent gifts to his mother every year on his birthday, asking her to pass on their blessings.
He should be grateful to such elders.
After struggling for a long time, he finally took a deep breath and called Song Shuci’s mother.
A capable female voice answered, still energetic despite the traces of time: “Hello, who is this?”
“Aunt Xu,” Jian Wu said nervously, “It’s Xiao Wu.”
Hearing him, the other side seemed stunned, pausing for a long time before saying: “Xiao Wu?”
The ending note carried unconcealed surprise.
Before Jian Wu could respond, Mrs. Xu called out to the man beside her: “Lao Song, stop watching TV, come here, it’s Xiao Wu’s call!”
Amidst the familiar background noise of a TV drama, the sound of slippers quickly approached. Hearing Aunt Xu call for Song Shuci’s father, Jian Wu greeted the man on the phone: “Uncle Song.”
“Xiao Wu, is that really you!?” Song Guochuan, hearing the voice from the phone, first greeted him in surprise, then chuckled. Xu Xiu, beside him, said, “Quickly turn on the speakerphone.”
The old couple, facing an empty screen, smiled lovingly.
“You haven’t called us in so long,” Song Guochuan asked, “Is this your new number? How have you been lately? Is everything alright?”
“It’s a new number.” Jian Wu, hearing their concerned voices, was touched, even feeling guilty for losing contact all these years.
“I’m doing well,” he said into the phone, “How about you two? Are you doing well? How’s your health?”
Their voices overlapped: “We’re good, we’re good, we just miss you.”
“I miss you too,” Jian Wu smiled unconsciously, exchanging pleasantries with them.
“You miss us, yet you avoid us?” Xu Xiu said, “I haven’t asked yet, why did our busy bee suddenly remember to call this old lady?”
“Who dares to call you an old lady?” Jian Wu teased, “Aunt Xu is the belle of our complex, eternally youthful.”
“It’s always nice to hear Xiao Wu’s sweet talk,” Xu Xiu chuckled, “I’ve gotten so many gray hairs since you left.”
The elders’ continued warmth and closeness eased Jian Wu’s pressure to apologize. Seeing they had steered the conversation to the main topic, Jian Wu stopped changing the subject and said carefully: “Uncle, Aunt, I… have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Yesterday, Song–”
Considering they were Song Shuci’s parents, Jian Wu paused and changed his words: “Yesterday, Gege came to deliver the birthday gift you prepared for me…”
It had been so long since he had called Song Shuci “Gege” that his throat felt a little dry. He swallowed and continued: “I accidentally dropped it, I’m sorry.”
“Ah?”
“Uncle, Aunt, I’m really sorry,” Jian Wu apologized again, “It was my fault.”
But after his apology, the other side remained silent for a long time.
Jian Wu panicked slightly, thinking he might have hurt the elderly couple’s feelings.
He knew Song Shuci wouldn’t tell his parents about this, but he didn’t know what the Song parents had given him. He just thought that if it was something irreplaceable, he wouldn’t be able to hide it, and it was better to apologize directly than to lie.
Thinking about it now, should he have hidden it after all?
Just as he was feeling anxious and blaming himself for his impulsiveness last night, the other side finally spoke: “Xiao Wu, where are you?”
Jian Wu didn’t think much about it and just said: “I’m at school.”
“Which school?”
Hearing this, Jian Wu finally realized something was wrong.
“You…”
Xu Xiu interrupted him excitedly: “Are you back in City B? How long have you been back?”
“Almost… almost a year.”
Jian Wu finally realized the old couple didn’t even know he was back, then the gift…
“Xiao Wu, these past few years, you refused to contact us, so I gave all the gifts we prepared for you to your mother,” Xu Xiu said, “We didn’t know you were back, so we didn’t ask Shuci to give you any gifts.”
Mrs. Xu, the great detective, quickly deduced the situation: “That gift must have been from Shuci himself.”
Jian Wu froze, his hand holding the phone turning white.
He recalled the night he ran downstairs after reading all the greeting cards.
The spring breeze was gentle, the air fresh.
The cleaning staff were unusually diligent that night, even cleaning the trash cans late at night.
The large trash can was empty, only a few fallen leaves inside.
The new black plastic bag gleamed in the darkness, like blinking eyes.
Mr. Song’s voice still echoed in his ears: “Shuci saw you? You two ran into each other? That’s really a coincidence. You’ve been back for almost a year, and we haven’t run into you, but he ran into you as soon as he came back from America. You two are really fated.”
Jian Wu instinctively wanted to respond, but he opened his mouth and couldn’t speak, only the image of Song Shuci’s red eyes when he turned around that night flashed through his mind.
Perhaps sensing his daze, Xu Xiu nudged her husband and whispered: “Alright, alright, stop mentioning that brat, Xiao Wu finally called us.”
After criticizing Mr. Song, she turned to Jian Wu with a concerned tone: “Xiao Wu, although you and Shuci… are no longer together, you’re still like family to us. We watched you grow up. We understand you didn’t want to see us these past few years because of Shuci, but if you ever want to see us, come anytime, Auntie will cook your favorite dishes.”
Mrs. Xu was soft-hearted, and her voice was already choked with tears after just a few words. Jian Wu couldn’t bear to see people cry, so he put aside his analysis of Song Shuci’s reaction that night and hurriedly comforted her: “Auntie, don’t be sad, I didn’t intentionally not contact you these past few years…”
But as he spoke, he felt a lack of conviction.
He had done it intentionally.
After breaking up with Song Shuci, he changed his phone number and cut off contact with almost everyone. Except for occasionally calling his mother to tell her he was safe, no one knew where he was.
Even after returning to City B last year, he only contacted Cheng Xian.
He knew he was being stubborn, but he just couldn’t bring himself to see Song Shuci’s parents like he saw his own mother.
But he really couldn’t bear to see Mrs. Song sad. Before he could think, he promised: “Really, Auntie, I was just too busy, it has nothing to do with Gege. I’ll definitely come visit when I’m free in a few days, okay?”
As soon as he said this, Mrs. Xu’s eyes reddened even more, tears welling up: “You have to keep your promise.”
Jian Wu practically nodded frantically to appease her: “Mm-hmm, I definitely will.”
Xu Xiu, wiping her tears, made him swear countless times that he would come to their family dinner.
Jian Wu, filled with guilt, naturally agreed to everything.
After hanging up, Jian Wu was still a little emotional, staring blankly at his phone.
Completely unaware that Mrs. Xu on the other end quickly wiped away her tears, instantly regaining her usual capable demeanor, and called her son: “Why are you getting more and more cowardly as you grow older? Even sending a gift, you have to use your dad and me as an excuse?”
At that moment, Song Shuci was silently observing a university student posting flyers on a wall. Hearing this, he asked: “He called you?”
“Yes, he said he dropped the gift we sent him and felt very sorry. I told him that gift was definitely from you, not us, and told him not to feel guilty.”
Song Shuci: “…”
“Let me tell you,” Xu Xiu continued, “Xiao Wu just promised to have dinner with us when he’s free. Mom finally got you this opportunity, you better seize it.”
Song Shuci was surprised: “How did you convince him?”
“You don’t know who I am,” Xu Xiu said proudly, “Unlike you and your dad, always unable to say anything nice.”
“…” Song Shuci was silent for a while, then couldn’t help but ask: “He really agreed?”
“He agreed, he agreed,” the way Xu Xiu said it made it sound like Jian Wu had agreed to marry her son, “Don’t you trust me?”
“Anyway, you better seize this opportunity and win him back, understand?” Mrs. Xu issued her command. “I really don’t understand you two, growing up together since you were in diapers, what kind of conflict could make you not talk for four years, and even make him distance himself from your dad and me? You’re the older brother, you should be more accommodating to your younger brother, don’t you know?”
“Our problems… aren’t as simple as you think,” Song Shuci said.
“Then what is it?” Xu Xiu said, “Don’t argue with me, just tell me, do you still like him? If you do, don’t be a coward. Don’t worry about whether he still likes you, as long as you like him, isn’t that enough? Didn’t you chase after him and confess every day in middle school? Why are you so hesitant now?”
“Alright, stop,” Song Shuci said, “I know what I’m doing.”
Xu Xiu was annoyed by her son’s lukewarm attitude and couldn’t help but say: “With your attitude, I don’t even want to talk to you, and your dad too, both of you are so tight-lipped.”
Song Guochuan, innocently caught in the crossfire, said, feeling wronged: “If you want to scold your son, then scold him, why are you scolding me?”
“What’s wrong with me scolding you? It’s your influence that made him like this…”
Hearing his parents start bickering on the phone, Song Shuci directly hung up.
The university student posting flyers had just finished, patting the paper on the wall. Just as he was about to turn around, Song Shuci suddenly spoke behind him: “Hello.”
Lou Xi, who was naturally introverted, was startled. He turned around, saw Song Shuci, and, observing his attire, instinctively took him for a teacher, hurriedly saying: “Hello, teacher! Excuse me, are we not allowed to post flyers here?”
“I don’t know, you have to ask the relevant department at your school.” Song Shuci’s gaze fell on the rental advertisement he had posted, “Are you renting out a place?”
Lou Xi thought Song Shuci looked familiar, but because it was too dark that night and they only briefly crossed paths, and because he had high myopia and wasn’t wearing his glasses, he didn’t connect him to that night. Hearing Song Shuci was looking for a place to rent, he became unusually outgoing.
“Yes, I’m currently renting from a teacher at the affiliated middle school, but I recently got accepted into a graduate program in another city, so I’m planning to move out early. The landlord is very nice, teacher, are you interested? I can tell you more about it.”
Although Lou Xi clearly didn’t recognize him, Song Shuci had recognized him from afar, which was why he came over.
He nodded: “Okay.”
Seeing a potential tenant, Lou Xi immediately started his enthusiastic introduction: “The landlord also lives in the apartment. He has his own bedroom, and other common areas are shared. The apartment isn’t very big, but it’s enough for daily living. If you don’t mind living with the landlord, this place is really affordable, much cheaper than other apartments in the same area. And if you work nearby, the commute is also very convenient, about ten minutes by scooter.”
“Sharing with the landlord?”
“Yes, don’t worry, I know many people don’t like living with the landlord,” Lou Xi quickly explained, “I also had the same concerns when I first rented it, but luckily, I chose this place because it was cheap, otherwise I wouldn’t have met such a good landlord. The landlord is quite young and very polite. He even plays the guitar. When I was stressed about my exams, he would even ask if I wanted to listen to music to relax.”
He clutched a stack of unposted flyers, seemingly a little anxious about the unknown future: “I hope I can also meet such a good landlord in City A.”
“You’re going to City A?” Song Shuci asked.
Lou Xi nodded.
Song Shuci hesitated slightly: “Then your wish might be difficult to fulfill.”
“Actually, I’m mentally prepared, just looking at the rent prices almost made me collapse,” Lou Xi sighed, but quickly adjusted his expression and took out his phone, promoting, “How about this, I’ll contact the landlord and take you to see the apartment?”
“No need.”
Lou Xi thought Song Shuci wasn’t satisfied and tried to persuade him: “Teacher, just go and take a look, the apartment is really good.”
Song Shuci took out a pen and wrote a phone number on his flyer.
“Prepare the contract, and bring it to me to sign.”
