Chapter 865 - 855: Rainy Night (Final)

Chapter 865: Chapter 855: Rainy Night (Final)

"Aren’t you coming in to see your old classmate, Su Qing?"

A pained voice suddenly came from inside the dilapidated classroom; if someone who didn’t know the situation saw this, they’d definitely be startled.

The building had been abandoned for many years, and huge cracks had opened up in the walls; it felt like it could collapse at any second.

Su Qing stood at the classroom door, rainwater already soaking his shoes, but he didn’t care in the slightest.

He was holding up a black umbrella. The rain drummed loudly on the fabric, which is probably why the person inside noticed him.

Hearing this, Su Qing took a deep breath. Instead of pushing open that battered wooden door, he spoke in a low voice:

"How do you know it’s me, and not someone else?"

When the person inside heard that, he let out a dry laugh: "In this world, aside from the cops, it seems no one’s wanted to come looking for me for a long time. But I didn’t hear any sirens, and the commotion outside isn’t much. Thinking it over, there’s really only you who could have come!"

"You’re very smart. Why did you have to end up like this? You should’ve had a great future ahead of you, shouldn’t you?" Su Qing said.

"I’m smart? Aren’t you even smarter? You actually guessed I’d come here!" the person inside said with a touch of emotion.

Little did he know, Su Qing hadn’t known at all; it was only because of the narrator’s hint. Having come all this way, not seeing the ending made him feel uneasy.

"I don’t know exactly who you are, but I know you must know me. And I’m guessing you’re the classmate who transferred from here to our year back then. Since you’re doing this for Zhang Shunzhi, I figured you’d come here," Su Qing said flatly.

Hearing this, the person inside laughed: "Hehehe~~ *cough cough*~~ hiss~~"

"That’s right. I’ve known since we were kids that you were something, definitely a smart one. Back then, Chen Jing liked you, and there were quite a few people in the class who were jealous of you. What a pity, she was such a good girl!"

With those words, he’d basically admitted who he was.

"But...aren’t you at all curious who I am? If you push the door open right now, you’ll see me!"

Su Qing shook his head. "No. Whoever you are, I want the version of you in my mind to stay as you were back then forever. Maybe I’ll find out who you are tomorrow, but I’m not going in to look at you."

"That’s fine too. After all, I really am a mess right now. Not fit at all for old classmates to meet."

After that, the two of them fell into silence, then Su Qing spoke: "Since you liked her, why didn’t you take her away sooner, get married with her?"

"Who says I liked her?"

"Then why..."

"Not everything has a why. She was good to me, so I wanted to do something for her. Is that not allowed?

Honestly, no one in our class knew that my mom was crazy too—really off her rocker—but when it came to anything to do with me, she was especially attentive. It’s just that she died last year, all because I said I liked eating mulberries. She went up the mountain in the middle of the night to pick them and never came back. I’d only just gained the ability to support her, haha. Later I finally understood that even when the mind is gone, a mother’s love is still clear.

It was the same with Zhang Shunzhi. Back then, it was second grade. We were in this very classroom. Because she was older and taller, she sat in the back row. Since she couldn’t speak, even though she was fair-skinned and really pretty, no one wanted to play with her. Naughty boys in class often called her "mute," and some even deliberately threw her pencil case into the trash. She never fought back.

I really couldn’t figure out what those classmates were thinking back then, honestly. Because I was a bit lame, there was a kind of shared affliction between us, so I often went to talk to her.

To be honest, I thought she was really beautiful, especially her nose—high and nicely shaped. If she’d had a set of clean clothes on, she would have been perfect. With just a little makeup, she’d be no worse than anyone else."

At this point, the person inside let out a self-mocking laugh, as if he’d remembered something happy, and then went on:

"I remember once, because I didn’t want to go to school, I had a fight with my family and stormed out. I hadn’t eaten breakfast. I was so young back then, and at noon after school I didn’t dare go home, but I was starving. So I went around the class asking to borrow money from everyone. At the time, the most you’d have on you was a yuan and a few mao; if you had two or three yuan, you were a big shot.

I didn’t manage to borrow anything, and my grandma didn’t show up at the school gate—maybe she was mad at me. Just when I was on the verge of tears, someone patted my shoulder. I turned around and saw her standing behind me. She pulled a fistful of one-mao coins out of her pocket; I don’t know how long she’d been saving them. All together it was seventy mao. She gestured as she pushed the money into my hand, mumbling with her mouth, "Money... money..."

Even though she was lending me money, her tone was still so cautious. At the same time, she handed me a White Rabbit milk candy.

Before I could even say thank you, she ran off.

I remember it was a sunny day, I think. The light was especially beautiful. I felt like she was an angel who’d come to save me. That day I bought a pack of instant noodles and a bag of spicy strips and sat on the playground eating.

Later, when I went to pay her back, she was incredibly loyal about it, said I didn’t need to, and wrote to tell me that from then on we were friends, and that the two of us would play together!

After that, you know the rest. I went to your primary school, and she stopped going altogether. Every day she just worked in the fields. I saw her a few times after that. Each time she was sitting by the gate of this abandoned school, staring off into space. Maybe she was wondering where all her old friends had gone, why no one came to school anymore.

And then this year, I suddenly heard she was dead—raped and ruined by two scumbags. The funniest thing is that her stepmother and that brother of hers actually chose to settle it privately for a bit of money. Seventy-six thousand. Those two animals didn’t want to split the payout, so they each took thirty-eight thousand and buried the whole thing. It’s a fucking joke."

I’ve already got nothing left. There’s only my name on the household register at home now. The two crazy women who were good to me in this life—I didn’t manage to protect either of them. Living on doesn’t mean much anymore. I still owe her seventy cents. I’ve got to do something for her.

Lately I keep wondering, what was she thinking when she stood by that well? Did she hate this world? Hate her family? Did she leave any last words?

Maybe only the wind that brushed her cheeks in that moment heard them!

She was kinder than most people in this world. It’s just that the world is too filthy, unworthy of having someone as perfect as her.

In my heart, she has always been that little angel who patted the shoulder of a boy starving himself dizzy, at his most helpless moment."

Listening to the man inside the room, Su Qing’s hand clenched around the umbrella was trembling slightly. Her chest felt as if a boulder were pressing down on it, suffocating.

So... it turns out that the crush of youth really can climb over mountains alone, simply because beyond those mountains, there are flowers blooming so brilliantly that you want to pick one, just to show it to her for a moment.

"Is this the strength of loving someone?" Su Qing said softly.

"Su Qing, you have to know, falling in love is nothing special. Loving on... that’s what’s remarkable."

Right then, inside the classroom, a man soaked through, with scruffy stubble that made his age impossible to tell, was pressing his stomach, from which a large dark patch of blood was seeping. Clearly he was injured too. Beside him were beer, instant noodles, spicy strips—things he had prepared in advance. His left leg was obviously different from a normal person’s, his ankle twisted badly. He was a cripple. At the same time, near him lay an empty pesticide bottle.

In fact, as soon as he’d arrived, Su Qing had already learned from the narration what state the man was in now—beyond saving. He’d only come to witness the ending.

"I’ve read books. I know there are no ghosts or gods in this world. But when I think of her, and of my crazy, deranged mom, I somehow found myself kneeling before Guanyin as if driven by ghosts, my heart clear as a mirror. I kowtowed a full thousand times, begging for another life. Begging that in my next life I’ll still be my mom’s son. Begging that in my next life I’ll still grow up with her. The two of us are cowards, but she’s so timid—how’s she supposed to take care of herself? What if she gets lost over there? I want to go find her. As for her stepmother and that little brother of hers, well, they got lucky this time. It’s all too rushed now, there’s no time.

Old classmate, to tell the truth, I really am a coward. All these years I’ve lived in my own imaginings. I hate life. I hate myself. I zone out all the time. In my world, I’m supposed to be a sword immortal, standing with my blade, renowned far and wide, or a free and easy, dashing poet. But when I flip through my own past, I realize I’m just a little thief. I’ve stolen experiences that don’t belong to me and imagined them as mine."

"I want to know, in your eyes... what kind of person am I?" The man inside the room had blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his gaze burning as it fixed on that rotten wooden door.

Hearing this, Su Qing took a deep breath and smiled. "You must be a good person, man. At least better than a phony like me!"

"Hahaha, a good person... not bad, not bad at all, old classmate. People shouldn’t have a moral cleanliness fetish. That way, no one can truly hurt you deeply, and you can live at ease," the man said, with something else implied.

This was a secret between the two of them. Of course, Su Qing understood.

"I know. I will."

"That’s good." Then the man shouted, "We only live this once. Don’t let your youth die in regret!"

"Thank you!" Su Qing said, sincerely.

"I’m the one who should thank you. It’s just... it seems I don’t have much time left. I really want to stay with you a little longer, but alas... escorting a friend a thousand miles, there must be a parting in the end. Before you go, I want to say to you: may life go smoothly for you. I’ve seen you online, in your prime. It’s a pity I won’t get to see you when you’re old. Take care. Don’t end up like me.

Actually, it’s more or less complete. I originally planned to have a drink with you. Today’s my birthday—no, it’s already past midnight now, so forget it. My only wish after this is: may my heart wander lightly, may your sorrows stay shallow. Go on. Leave me here by myself for a while."

Hearing that, Su Qing’s grip on the umbrella turned pale-white. "Happy birthday, old classmate... goodbye!"

With that, Su Qing turned and left.

Listening to his words, the man in the room smiled in satisfaction. Then, with effort, he pulled from his pocket a White Rabbit milk candy whose yellowed sugar coating had gone misshapen, carefully unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

His palm lightly patted his thigh in rhythm, and through the candy in his mouth came a slurred, broken bit of song:

"Might as well... die inside your fickle love... time and time again, might as well give me a ridiculous ending. If... I don’t regret being fooled by you till I’m covered in scars, I don’t believe... you won’t..."

Just as Su Qing reached the school gate, he heard the singing drifting out from inside. For a second, he felt his head jolt. Then a streak of scarlet flowed from beneath his nose.

With a thud, he felt his strength drain rapidly from his body, his vision going black, and he dropped to his knees directly in the mud, water splashing up.

And in a certain classroom, a man whose whole body was covered in blood, with a crippled left leg, had no life left in his eyes.

Only his eyes were still open, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, his hand clenching that already yellowed candy wrapper tight, praying to Bodhisattva Guanshiyin to grant his wish as he looked toward the last row of desks.

"From now on the two of us are friends. Let’s play together!"

"Money... money..."

In that classroom that had lain abandoned for who knows how many years, it was as if loud, clear reading voices rose once more. At the back row, a tall, shy, introverted girl was passing notes to an equally introverted boy, finally fulfilling the promise they made back then!

...