Chapter 22: Jacket
In the narrow hallway, there was a moment of silence.
In this somewhat awkward silence, Yun Ci spoke again: “I’m the only one in the entire major who got a perfect score.”
After he said this, he felt the situation became even more awkward.
Yun Ci wasn’t sure if he heard what the aunt said just now. He probably didn’t, because the door was between them. When he opened the door, the aunt had just finished speaking.
So, what now?
Should he pretend he didn’t hear?
He was very confused, so he didn’t notice that Yu Xun’s state wasn’t much better than his.
The hand Yu Xun used to hold the bag unconsciously tightened a bit, and then the next moment, his Adam’s apple slightly bobbed.
“Come in,” Yu Xun turned sideways, making a little space, and finally said, “Let’s take a look at your test paper.”
“…”
Very absurd.
Even more absurd was that he actually brought the test paper with him.
Yun Ci walked in a bit dazed, forgetting to ask if he should change his shoes, and Yu Xun didn’t remember either.
After entering, he looked at the unfamiliar room setup. Although the residential building was quite old, the house was kept very clean. There was a wooden dining table in the living room, with soft pads wrapped around the corners, and the dining chairs were carefully cushioned. There were two green plants on the balcony, and the TV sound was very low.
Then he sat on the fabric sofa, took out the test paper, and placed it on the coffee table. Yu Xun sat beside him, and the two of them faced the perfect score test paper side by side.
After a while.
Yu Xun said, “Good job on the test.”
Yun Ci: “Obviously.”
Yu Xun added, “The questions weren’t difficult.”
Yun Ci silently agreed.
Then Yu Xun picked up the test paper, regaining some of his usual nonchalant attitude, and said, “But if I had been there, it wouldn’t be just one perfect score.”
After sitting for a while, Yun Ci got a bit more familiar with the unfamiliar environment, and with Yu Xun’s tone becoming familiar, he coldly retorted like before: “Who are you talking about? The one begging for the questions before the exam?”
“What’s wrong with humbly seeking advice before the exam,” Yu Xun said, “As long as you get a perfect score in the end.”
Yun Ci thought to himself, does this person have any sense of shame for missing the exam, and blurted out: “You didn’t even show up for the exam, where’d you get a perfect score?”
The just-warmed atmosphere cooled down again because of his impulsive words.
Yu Xun put down the test paper, and after a few minutes, he said, “There was something at home,” just as he finished speaking, there was a sudden noise from the tightly closed bedroom door, a heavy “thud” sound, as if something heavy was hitting the ground.
Upon hearing this, Yu Xun didn’t have time to continue speaking. He quickly grabbed a bunch of keys and rushed to unlock the bedroom door.
After opening the door, Yun Ci saw a woman he had seen once in his memory. Over the past few years, the woman’s appearance has slightly changed, and her hair has been cut short. If the aunt hadn’t mentioned it earlier, even if he saw her at Yu Xun’s house, he wouldn’t have connected her with the person he had met once before.
The woman was originally sitting in an armchair, with her hands and feet tied. The noise just now was caused by her violent struggle, causing the chair to fall over with her in it.
She had just woken up and started struggling, speaking incoherently, and after a few random words, she began to scream.
Sharp, chaotic screams.
The piercing sound came from the half-open door.
Yun Ci had never seen such a scene and didn’t know what to do.
But Yu Xun was very calm, as if he had done this a thousand times. He squatted in front of her, untied the soft cloth binding her hands and feet, then skillfully spread his arms and hugged the woman: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
“You just took your medicine, wait a little longer, just a little longer, and you’ll be fine.”
Yu Xun’s voice was very low, with a kind of tenderness Yun Ci had never heard from him before, but there was still a hint of his usual playfulness: “We have a guest at home today, Auntie.”
The next sentence: “He scored a perfect score on his exam, isn’t that amazing.”
The woman’s screaming gradually stopped, but she began to mumble something again: “Sky (天, Tiān). Sky.”
Yun Ci suspected that this word had no special meaning at all and couldn’t even tell if it was “sky” or one of the many other homophones. Because her current state was too chaotic.
But Yu Xun skillfully picked up her words, chatting with her as if they were having a conversation: “Are you talking about the weather (天气, Tiān qì)? The weather is nice today. It’ll rain tomorrow, and you can see a rainbow.”
The woman said again: “I, I…”
“You’re fine,” Yu Xun said, “Just sleep a bit more, and you’ll feel better when you wake up.”
“Talk (话, Huà).”
“Flower (花么, Huā me)? We don’t have any at home. What kind do you like? We’ll buy some later.”
“…”
Yun Ci realized that no matter how illogical the words were, Yu Xun could continue the conversation, as if they were really talking.
Just like how Yun Ci often felt Yu Xun could talk nonsense when they spoke.
After several rounds of conversation, the chaotic “incident” was gradually calmed down by Yu Xun’s soothing. But every time the woman saw Yun Ci, she probably couldn’t accept a stranger suddenly being at home, and her emotions would become agitated again. She had a bottle of something by her hand, and in her agitation, she threw it towards Yun Ci.
After a while, the woman finally fell asleep again.
Yu Xun settled her in bed, then came out and closed the bedroom door.
He closed the door and turned around.
Yun Ci, who was standing at the doorway, unsure whether he should go in and help, ended up covered in ink.
Yu Xun: “Your clothes.”
“It’s fine,” Yun Ci said.
Witnessing someone’s family matters was always awkward, so he awkwardly made some small talk: “Is that your aunt?”
Yu Xun responded with a “Hmm,” without avoiding the topic, but briefly said, “Something happened in the past, and she had a mental breakdown.”
Yun Ci stood at the doorway, feeling like an accidental intruder.
The Yu Xun in front of him subtly overlapped with the Yu Xun from high school.
The Yu Xun in high school, who was a headache for the dean, was good at everything except that he was always mysteriously absent, even during important events.
He went missing during the Monday flag-raising ceremony speech.
He disappeared during the monthly exams.
He vanished during military training.
He was absent during quality education activities.
Where did he go? No one knew. Would he do it again? Hard to say.
Once, Yun Ci ran into Yan Yue scolding Yu Xun when he went to the teacher’s office.
Strictly speaking, he didn’t run into them; it was the boys in his class who tricked him into the office to enjoy the “spectacle” of his rival being scolded.
When he first entered, he heard Yan Yue say, “You can tell the teacher anything…”
Yu Xun had a bit of fatigue in his eyes. The proud young man refused to say anything: “Don’t ask, teacher.”
“…”
Then Yan Yue’s eyes swept over, landing on him: “Yun Ci! Why are you here causing trouble? Who called you here? Get back to class—”
Yun Ci snapped back to reality and said, “At that time, I didn’t know she was your aunt.” He referred to the time he called the police in the park.
Yu Xun: “I know. I wanted to thank you later, but you and your classmates chased me away.”
“?”
Yu Xun reminded him: “The snack shop, chicken legs.”
Yu Xun’s gaze lingered on Yun Ci, as if traveling through time, recalling that they had been “at war” for almost a year by then. He had brought several boxes of chicken legs to thank him.
He hadn’t even reached Class 1’s door when someone from Class 1 started shouting:
—”Ci-ge, someone from Class 7 is coming!”
“I don’t know why he’s here today, and he’s holding chicken legs. I get it now, today the snack shop had a limited supply of chicken legs. He must have bought them to humiliate Ci-ge!”
“Who cares why he’s here? Kick him and his chicken legs back to their teaching building.”
“…”
Between him and Yun Ci, they could never have a proper conversation.
Just like at the beginning of their first year, when he tried to explain.
“Oh, wrong person,” Yun Ci had said with a cold face, adding a sarcastic laugh, “Keep talking.”
“…”
…
Noticing Yu Xun’s gaze, Yun Ci averted his eyes and asked, “Is she often like this?”
Yu Xun: “Occasionally, irregularly. I can’t afford to take time off because I’m afraid something will happen to her.”
Behind this “can’t afford,” there were probably also “inconvenient” factors.
Gao Pingyang would definitely dig deeper, just like Yan Yue did back then.
“Have you been to the hospital?”
“Yes, it’s a psychological issue that can only be managed with medication.”
“We also tried hospitalization,” Yu Xun added, “But she prefers being at home. Most of the time, she’s lucid, and later the doctor also suggested home treatment.”
“…”
Yun Ci didn’t know what to say.
He wanted to ask, “What about your parents,” but when the words reached his lips, he vaguely felt it was another inappropriate topic. If his parents were around, he wouldn’t need to take care of his aunt and start working part-time in high school.
…
Although they always said that after entering university, each person’s world slowly unfolded, Yu Xun’s world was something he had never imagined.
After years of conflict, Yu Xun was someone he knew very well and yet didn’t understand at all.
…
Yu Xun reminded him: “Dormitory curfew is up. Where are you sleeping tonight?”
They rarely had such peaceful conversations.
Yun Ci didn’t think curfew was an issue: “I’ll climb back over the wall.”
This guy often climbed back over the wall at night. Although Yun Ci had never done it, it didn’t seem difficult.
However, the frequent wall-climber Yu Xun pondered for two seconds: “Didn’t you notice I haven’t climbed it these past few days?”
Yun Ci: “?”
Yu Xun: “After too many attempts, the dorm manager couldn’t catch me. So a few days ago, they built the wall higher overnight. It’s now so high that even I can’t climb it.”
“…”
There’s always a higher mountain, huh.
The dorm manager will always be the dorm manager.
Yun Ci fell silent: “Then I’ll—”
He was going to say, “Then I’ll find a place to stay outside.”
Yu Xun interrupted: “Even though you brought your test paper, you probably didn’t bring your ID, so you can’t stay at a hotel.”
“…”
“Stay here.”
Yun Ci really couldn’t bring himself to say something rebellious like “I’ll sleep on the street” in response to the current situation, so he finally accepted this nightmare of a reality.
Half an hour later, in Yu Xun’s living room.
Yun Ci, refusing to sleep in the bedroom, curled up on the sofa. His dirty jacket was folded and placed on the floor. Yu Xun was in the bathroom, taking a shower. Everything had started from the aunt mentioning his “heroic act” and spiraled out of control.
His phone vibrated.
Luo Sifang: [Did you find him? I have someone to cover for you in the dorm. Don’t worry, you won’t be marked absent.]
yc: [Yeah]
Luo Sifang: [What’s the situation?]
Yun Ci thought for a moment and didn’t reply.
Luo Sifang sent another message: [Anyway, it’s good you found him.]
Once the room quieted down, Yun Ci’s thoughts began to drift. His mind was filled with those coincidental words, replaying over and over, hinting at an impossible guess.
There are so many people in the world doing good deeds.
Every day, someone helps an old lady cross the street.
In the past, at West High, Yan Yue had specifically established the “Lei Feng” award to reward students who did good deeds around the school. Maybe the person Yu Xun had a crush on was a girl who had received that award.
…
Yun Ci thought he should be the person Yu Xun hated the most.
As Yun Ci was thinking about this, the bathroom door opened. Yu Xun walked out, then turned into the bedroom to get something.
When he came back, Yun Ci, who was aimlessly scrolling through his phone, suddenly found his view darkened—a jacket was thrown over him.
He pulled the jacket aside a bit and looked up to see Yu Xun’s lower jaw.
“Your clothes are dirty,” Yu Xun said, “Wear mine tomorrow.”
Yun Ci instinctively refused, “No need.”
Then he hesitated, torn between saying “I’ll freeze to death” and “Even if the jacket is dirty, I can still wear it.”
The living room light was a bit dim, making Yu Xun’s eyebrows and eyes appear darker.
He had already returned to his usual irritating school persona: “Oh, you don’t dare wear my jacket because you’re afraid—”
Yu Xun didn’t finish his sentence. Yun Ci could guess the rest of his annoying comment, but he suddenly thought of the term “act of bravery” and, as if to prove something, interrupted, “What am I afraid of?”
His fingers subconsciously clenched, “It’s just a jacket.”
“Though I’m a bit disgusted,” he added, “Who would be afraid of wearing a jacket?”
–
The next day, Yun Ci arrived at class just on time for the morning lecture.
In the back row of their law classroom, he saw someone who shouldn’t be there.
Liu Zi also glanced at him, probably worried about his big brother, and came to their classroom early in the morning to find someone.
But Liu Zi glanced at him once, then looked again.
And then again.
Yun Ci: “…”
This guy has always been weird.
He ignored him and borrowed the textbook from the person next to him to start the lecture.
Liu Zi kept staring at him from the back, then lowered his head and took out his phone.
[Preparation Group]
Liu Zi: [Brothers]
Liu Zi: [Do you see this jacket?]
Liu Zi: [/picture]
The group members immediately responded.
[What’s up, Liu Zi, another fight?]
[This seems familiar, did they fight again?]
[Where this time, which alley? This time, we will definitely gather faster than last time. We need to be quick.]
Liu Zi: [No]
Liu Zi typed seriously: [If I’m not mistaken, Yu-ge also has this jacket.]
He continued typing: [This kid bought the same jacket, trying to clash outfits, to let our Yu-ge know—who suits this jacket better.]
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
