Chapter 97 - 34: [Mo’an] (Side Story)

Chapter 97: Chapter 34: [Mo’an] (Side Story)

"Hello," he said calmly.

"Xia Qingnan took a bus and ran off to your place, didn’t she?" On the other end of the line was the familiar, angry voice of a middle-aged man.

In his memory, this man seemed to be furious every second of the day, set off by all sorts of inexplicable reasons—ugly handwriting on homework, scraping a knee on the way home, unfinished summer assignments, an exam ranking that went up but with a lower total score, or forgetting to throw away an empty yogurt cup. He could stay angry all day over the most absurd things. Even though they were completely trivial matters, to him, they seemed like the entire world.

"Yes, I’ve got her settled in. Don’t worry," Xia Mo’an replied.

"Who told you to settle her in! Tell her to get her ass back here! She’s in her senior year of high school! The college entrance exams are next year! What kind of nonsense is taking a leave of absence!" the middle-aged man cursed over the phone. "Mind your own studies! You barely managed to get into a lower-tier key university, so don’t waste this opportunity! Study hard! If you throw away your four years of college, just wait and see how you survive in the real world!"

Xia Mo’an wanted to laugh a little, but a helpless wave of exhaustion drowned him. "Study hard"—these two dry, hollow words seemed to be the only thing his father knew how to say about his future. He had been saying them since Xia Mo’an was a child.

When a phrase is repeated three times, it feels important. Ten times, and you start to get sick of it. Fifty times, and it breeds frustration. A hundred times, and you just want to laugh.

Repeated thousands of times, it leaves you feeling nothing at all.

All that remains is cold numbness.

"Nannan needs rest. I’m letting her rest here for a while," he replied.

"She’s just faking it! She’s completely spoiled! Why are you even bothering with her!" the middle-aged man roared furiously.

"I am a much better brother than you are a father," Xia Mo’an said, stating the simple truth. "Let me take care of her for a while. The doctor said she’s under too much pressure, and part of the reason is the family. Once she gets a little better..."

"Give me your address. I’m driving over right now," his father interrupted.

"If you come over, I’ll apply for a leave of absence too. I’ll take Nannan somewhere else, find a job, and rent a place for a while," Xia Mo’an said mildly into the phone.

"You behave yourself and stay in your college!" the voice on the phone bellowed.

"Then don’t come. Don’t make things worse," Xia Mo’an replied. "Nannan has been crying all night... It’s already hard enough for her just to stay alive."

"You’re spending our money! I’ll cut off your living expenses!" the man roared. "We worked our fingers to the bone to raise you two, and this is how you repay us?"

"The rent money comes from what I saved working part-time at college," Xia Mo’an answered. "If you cut off my living expenses, then I’ll drop my classes and get a full-time job. I have hands and feet. Earning my own keep is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Stop talking and let me answer the phone." His mother’s voice came from the other end, followed by the clattering sounds of a struggle over the device.

It sounded as though his father had hurled the phone to the floor. Fortunately, the phone’s build quality was decent enough that the call remained connected, and his mother picked it up.

"Is Nannan still fainting?" his mother asked softly.

"Not really anymore," Xia Mo’an replied.

"Has she taken her medicine?"

"Sertraline hydrochloride. As prescribed by the doctor," he answered.

"Are you able to take care of her properly on your own? I just think you’re already busy enough with your college life, so I wanted to let Nannan rest at home for a while."

"She can’t be at home. Back there..." Xia Mo’an hesitated. "The family pressure is too high. Acquaintances drop by to visit from time to time, plus there are her high school classmates and teachers. The environment isn’t good for her mental state. She’ll be fine here with me."

"I’ll transfer you some money later. Make sure she eats well and lives comfortably," his mother said. "You shouldn’t have to spend your own savings on Nannan’s medication."

"It’s fine," Xia Mo’an replied.

"You’re still spoiling the two of them!" His father’s resentful roar echoed in the background.

"Remember to check your WeChat messages, An An," his mother said softly, and hung up the phone.

Xia Mo’an opened WeChat, which he had ignored upon waking up this morning. Buried amidst a barrage of his father’s long-winded, roaring text messages were two uncollected money transfers from his mother.

"We don’t need to spend your money anymore..." He TAP-TAP-TAPPED lightly on his phone’s keyboard, typing out the sentence before slowly deleting it.

"We’re doing okay for now. I’ll collect it later." He tapped send.

"Just accept it. You need money for everything in your daily lives," his mother replied instantly.

He hesitated, not typing anything else, and simply sighed.

The owner of the small neighborhood supermarket was lying behind the counter smoking a cigarette, surrounded by a cloud of smoke. Coughing, Xia Mo’an picked up a cup of yellow peach yogurt with fruit chunks from the shelf, and then grabbed a can of cola for himself. Looking at the liquor on the adjacent shelf, his hand holding the cola couldn’t help but hesitate.

"I’m not under any pressure. I’m in a good state of mind. I need to stay sober," he told himself.

Yet, he was still feeling somewhat anxious. The pressure was trying to crush him, but in this tiny alliance made up of a brother and sister, even one person being anxious was already too much—a full fifty percent.

One out of the two had to maintain emotional stability and a positive outlook, right? If both of them were pessimistic and depressed, they probably would have already held hands, found a scenic spot, and jumped together.

He scanned the QR code to pay for the yellow peach yogurt and the cola, then returned to his rented apartment.

It was still morning, so Xia Qingnan’s condition was relatively stable. Her emotions were much more likely to break down by evening and into the night.

He gently placed the yellow peach yogurt on the living room table. With a sharp POP, he pulled the tab on the cola and tilted his head back, chugging a couple of mouthfuls of the carbonated drink.

Xia Qingnan sat at the table, spacing out. She wasn’t looking at her phone, nor was she on her computer. She was just... staring blankly.