Bite Your Fingertips

33rd -【Ended up empty-handed】

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Wei Guanglei thought carefully about what kind of expression he should make at this moment.

But then he had another thought. A big man shouldn’t be so frightened, I’m someone who’s already seen big scenes like him picking fish bones out, calm down!

Placing the stainless steel thermos in his hand on the only table in the house, Wei Guanglei urged, “Hurry hurry, my mother has ordered that I must watch you drink it all!”

Then he watched as Lu Shi entered the kitchen, took out a porcelain bowl and a small ladle from the cupboard, scooped out half of the soup, and put it aside.

“There’s still more at home.
I’ll go back and eat some in a bit, so you don’t have to share it—” Wei Guanglei stopped.

He turned to look at the closed bedroom door and then at the soup bowl in front of him.

Ack! It’d be strange if it was poured for him.

After the surprise, he calmed down again.

Wei Guanglei sat down.
“By the way, why did the Young Master sleep here last night?”

Lu Shi explained, “He got drunk and called me to pick him up.
It was really late so I just brought him back.”

“No…” Wei Guanglei thought this explanation was weird.

His Lu-Ge had never brought anyone back to his house, let alone let them stay overnight and in his bed at that.

Moreover, “If the Young Master was drunk, shouldn’t he have asked his family driver to come and pick him up? Why did he call you?”

Lu Shi lowered his eyes to drink the soup, causing his expression to not be seen clearly.

He replied, “Before he left, I told him he should call me if he drank.”

Wei Guanglei’s heart suddenly jumped.

I want him to need me, rely on me, and be inseparable from me.

He still clearly remembered what Lu Shi had said before.

Not knowing what to say for a while, Wei Guanglei simply shut up.

After Lu Shi finished drinking the soup, he washed the thermos and put it away.
Wei Guanglei wasn’t in a hurry to go back.

He sat on the sofa, playing a game on his phone.
He then lifted his arm and waved.

“Lu-Ge, I’m going to practice with a new hero, can you coach me?”

“Sure.”

Lu Shi simply picked up an exercise book and a pencil between his fingers, then sat on the other side of the sofa to solve questions while giving Wei Guanglei suggestions from time to time.

When Chu Yu woke up and opened the door to leave the bedroom, this scene greeted him.

He just got up and felt hungover.
He was dizzy, fully in a daze.
“Lu Shi?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Shi stopped his computations and pointed towards a direction with his pencil.
“Toothpaste and toothbrush are in the bathroom.
The light blue towel is yours.”

“Okay.”

Chu Yu dragged his steps to the bathroom to wash, and not long after, he poked his head out.
“Lu Shi, do you have a hair dryer in your house?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

After a while, the bathroom door opened again.
Chu Yu was very embarrassed as he asked, “Um… Can I borrow a change of clothes? The ones I’m wearing smell!”

Lu Shi got up, took a white T-shirt out of his closet, and threw it to Chu Yu.

It took half an hour for Chu Yu to get out of the bathroom.

Only Wei Guanglei remained on the sofa.

With damp hair, Chu Yu looked around.
“Where’s Lu Shi?”

“On the phone in the bedroom.
Dammit, these three fuckers came to gang up on me, they think too highly of me, their father!” Wei Guanglei remembered.
“Oh right right, there’s soup on the table that Lu-Ge specially left for you.
My mother cooked it all night, it should taste pretty good!”

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Chu Yu sat over and took a sip.
The taste wasn’t that great, but the cozy warm soup was very comfortable to drink.

Before he finished drinking his bowl, the bedroom door opened.
Lu Shi stood at the doorway and said towards Chu Yu, “Come here.”

Chu Yu put the soup bowl down and walked over.

The bedroom door was then closed.
The white T-shirt Chu Yu wore was a size too large and hung loosely on him.

He was curious.
“What’s the matter?”

“I’m going out for a trip.
I’ll be leaving immediately and might come back tomorrow or the day after.”

Chu Yu blinked.
“Then school—”

“I’ve already asked for leave.”

“Okay.
Then, then stay safe.”

Chu Yu observed him.
He always thought Lu Shi was usually calm on the surface, but compared to the norm, he seemed faintly anxious and in a state of urgency.

Seeing that Lu Shi’s fingers held the phone so hard they turned white, he guessed it was probably related to the call.

Despite this guess flitting in his heart, Chu Yu didn’t ask anything about it.

Lu Shi dropped his thin eyelids.
“What if you get hungry?”

“Don’t worry about me.
Although it’s uncomfortable, I can endure just fine.
You’ll be back tomorrow or the day after anyway, it’s not long.”

If it were other times, Chu Yu would be firm in accompanying Lu Shi to where he was going and ask, like before, if he could tag along.

But this time, it was very obvious that Lu Shi didn’t want him to join.

He could only guess that it wasn’t suitable for him to follow.

“Mh.”

Lu Shi put his phone in his pocket.
“I’ll be back as quickly as possible.”

Wei Guanglei wasn’t surprised when he heard that Lu Shi was leaving.

In his memory, there’d been three or four instances where Lu Shi had suddenly left and not returned for two or three days.

Lu Shi never mentioned what he was going to do or what he’d done, but every time he came back, he was never in a good mood.
He’d always be on edge for the next several days and would explode with just one poke.

“My mother said she’d stew pig trotter soup tonight to replenish your brain.
I’ll go back and tell her to wait for next week to cook it.”

Lu Shi carried a black backpack on one shoulder.
“Mh, thank Auntie Rou for me.”

After getting on the bus at the stop, Lu Shi tapped on his call log and returned a call.

A rough male voice answered the phone, “Hello?”

Holding a bus hanger in his hand, Lu Shi stared at the slow-moving streetscape outside the window and asked, “Are you sure?”

“There’s an 80% chance.”

The male voice on the phone spoke conservatively, “The time interval is too long to be certain, but the address I found this time is much more reliable than previously.
However, I can’t guarantee it completely.”

“Hm.”

“The other thing is, this grandma I found doesn’t possess that clear of a mind.
I’m not sure whether she can tell you anything.
Lu Shi, don’t have high hopes.”

The bus drove slowly and as it rocked, the hangers would make a creaking sound from the friction.

Through the glass window, he could hear the sound of a loudspeaker outside.
“Sugarcane, sugarcane, ten yuan a bag, ten yuan a bag…”

Lu Shi squinted beneath the prickling light of the sun.
His voice lowered.
“Thank you.”

“I don’t need your thanks.
I’ll take your money and help you with things, as it should be.”

After taking the bus to the terminal, Lu Shi got on another bus for Xiali County, made two more transfers, then finally reached a place called Xiali Town.

Following the address on his phone, Lu Shi stopped in front of a small supermarket.

At the entrance of the store, there was a big blue signboard that read ‘Manli Supermarket’.

The supermarket wasn’t big, with compact shelves and not a single customer inside.
There was a rocking toy car at the door that was switched on and flashing red and green lights.

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Behind the cash register sat a woman in her 30s or 40s in a black dress, playing with her cellphone.

Lu Shi walked in and said, “Hello, I’m looking for Wang Zhenshu.”

“That’s my mother, who are you?”

There were only two streets in Xiali Town with not many people coming or going.
Occasionally, one could see the elderly sitting on the side of the road chatting.
When they caught sight of Lu Shi’s unfamiliar face, they’d watch him pass by.

The woman in the black dress introduced herself as Li Manli.
She pulled down the shutter door of the small supermarket, locked it, and brought Lu Shi into an alley with her.

“A few years ago, my mother always reminisced, saying that when she was younger she worked as a rich family’s nanny.
I still don’t quite believe her.
With her level of cooking, which rich family would hire her to be a nanny?”

After bypassing a pile of construction waste, Li Manli smiled and said, “I didn’t expect it to be true.”

Lu Shi spoke little.
When listening to Li Manli, he’d respond from time to time.

Passing by a brick wall with the words ‘Persevere with Sustainable Development’, the two stopped in front of a lone gate of a small courtyard.
Li Manli fished out the key and opened the courtyard gate while shouting, “Mom, where are you? Someone’s looking for you!”

“Manli is back?”

An elder stepped out of the door, held the door frame, and stood there.
“Who’s looking for me?”

Li Manli pointed at Lu Shi.
“It’s him.
He said his surname is Lu.
Didn’t you always say you worked as a nanny for a wealthy family in the past? Their child has come to visit.”

Wang Zhenshu sat down on the rattan chair at the door.
“Surnamed Lu… Lu.” After more than ten seconds, she spoke again, “Are you the child that was in Mrs.
Lu’s belly?”

Li Manli offered Lu Shi a chair and then asked if he wanted tea.

Lu Shi politely declined.

He answered Wang Zhenshu’s question, “Yes, I am.”

He looked at the old lady in front of him and spoke slowly as he questioned, “You took care of a pregnant woman in S city 18 years ago, is that right?”

Lu Shi was even a little nervous as he asked this question.

The taut string in his heart trembled slightly.

Wang Zhenshu nodded.
“Yes, I did take care of her.
That Mrs.
Lu ah, she liked eating the hot and sour potato dish I made.
She had a big appetite during pregnancy and always ate a large plate per meal.”

Lu Shi’s throat was a bit dry.

“That’s my mother.
You,” he calmly said, “can you tell me what happened during that year?”

Wang Zhenshu recalled, “I’m but an old woman and my memory isn’t good.
I remember Mrs.
Lu was very educated, she liked reading books and often phoned others to discuss issues with them.
I’m illiterate and didn’t understand any of what I heard.
Mr.
Lu was busy and returned late at night.
Mrs.
Lu just waited for him while reading, never listening to any persuasion otherwise.”

When people were old, they’d keep bits and pieces of trivial things in their memories.

Lu Shi asked, “Did they have a good relationship?”

“Yes, very good, very affectionate.
Mrs.
Lu was pregnant and her feet were swollen so it wasn’t easy for her to wear shoes.
Whenever Mr.
Lu returned, he’d take her shoes off and massage her feet.
The anti-slip mat in the bathroom was also bought specially by Mr.
Lu.
His care for her was truly meticulous.”

Wang Zhenshu looked at Lu Shi again.
“Mrs.
Lu also said that she’d let me hug the child once he was born.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to that.
My husband at home was seriously ill so I hurried back to my hometown.
Before leaving, Mrs.
Lu gave me a lot of money.
She was very kind.”

“When did you leave?”

“When? When… ah, I left when Mrs.
Lu was eight months pregnant.
At that time, she stood with her pregnant belly at the door to see me off.
She was smiling while telling me to stay safe on the road.”

Speaking up to here, Wang Zhenshu then spoke incoherently.
After a while, she mentioned that the fire was still on in the kitchen and that it was almost dark, then asked why Manli hadn’t returned.

Li Manli came over from the side.
“Mom, I came back earlier, did you forget?”

She turned to Lu Shi apologetically.
“Old people, the mind wouldn’t be so clear when you’re old, it’s confusing.”

Lu Shi sat for a while.

It wasn’t until Li Manli helped Wang Zhenshu go back to her room to sleep that he earnestly said his thanks, then got up and left.

Leaving Xiali Town, Lu Shi took a bus to the neighboring town.

It was late and there were no buses back to Xiali County.
But he was near the station and so found a hotel to stay in.

 

Early Monday morning, Chu Yu carried his empty school bag to the classroom.

The desk behind him was empty and as Chu Yu glanced at it, he inexplicably felt a little sense of loss in his heart.

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Zhang Yueshan inquired once he saw him, “Lu-Shen asked for leave, what’s the matter?”

Chu Yu appeared wan.
After sitting down, he held his chin in his hands and replied slowly, “Rep, I also don’t know.”

“I thought you’d know.”

Zhang Yueshan sized up Chu Yu.
“School Flower, are you… sick again?”

“What sick?” Chu Yu’s glare was strengthless.

Since last night until dawn, his whole body had had a low fever, rendering him unable to sleep comfortably.

When he got up in the morning, he could hear his heart’s ‘badump badump’ jolting his eardrums.
The veins on both sides of his temples felt like they were about to explode.

“That sounds like the same thing you had at the beginning of school!” Zhang Yueshan recalled with difficulty.
“That thing… called, called, a nomorelogical disorder1! Yes, that’s the name!”

“Nn, something like that.”

Chu Yu spoke weakly, about to lie down again.

Zhang Yueshan remembered.
“By the way, Lu-Shen isn’t here so who will you copy your homework from?”

“I won’t copy.”

Chu Yu lay down and uttered without care, “Don’t feel like copying.”

Thinking that Chu Yu didn’t want to study as it was just after the monthly exams, Zhang Yueshan recalled something.
“Last night, I heard Guan Yiyang transferred to another school.”

Chu Yu’s mind processed slowly, taking him several seconds to react.
“The one who made a futile attempt to call me father?”

“That’s him.
And not only him, but also Fang Mingzhe who framed you for cheating, and Shen Zhongming, the son of the teaching and research department head.
They all transferred!”

Li Hua was covering his ears to memorize some text, but hearing their gossip, he turned his head and quickly joined in.
“Also also, Shen Zhongming stole his father’s key to open the drawer with the test paper and stole it.
They said that he was shut in at home and beaten, his cries could be heard from the gate of their community.” He added, “He lives on the 20th floor.”

Zhang Yueshan then began discussing with Li Hua whether Shen Zhongming’s house was really on the 20th floor and how his wails could reach the gate of the community.

Chu Yu didn’t participate, he was so uncomfortable that he was a bit irritable.

Turning his head to stare at the empty seat behind him, he felt even wearier.

Chu Yu just lay there all day.

As it got dark, the street lights downstairs gradually turned on.

After the bell rang, the school building seemed like it was about to be shaken into collapse due to all of the ‘boom boom boom’ sounds of footsteps.

Chu Yu stood up with his hands on his desk, preparing to go back to the dormitory and continue lying down.

Zhang Yueshan, who was packing his school bag, saw that Chu Yu was wobbly and unsteady.
He was worried.
“School Flower, are you okay? Do you want me to help you?”

Chu Yu knew himself well, so he waved his hand.
“No, I can do it.”

Zhang Yueshan wasn’t assured and followed beside Chu Yu, accompanying him until they were downstairs.

The age of 16 and 17 was when one’s appetite was large, and if one didn’t eat supper, they could wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

Zhang Yueshan pointed to the direction of the cafeteria.
“Can you really go back? If so, I’ll head that way?”

Chu Yu was also hungry, but there was no food he could eat in the cafeteria.
For a moment, he felt miserable.

He nodded slightly.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Back in his bedroom, Chu Yu directly lay down without turning on the light.

With eyes closed, groggy, and in a daze, he heard his phone ringing.

He reached out and felt around for a long time before picking it up.
He opened one eye and found that it was Lu Shi calling.

Chu Yu instantly sat upright.

“Hello?”

When the call connected, Chu Yu could hear whistling wind coming from the receiver.

“It’s me.”

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Lu Shi’s voice came through, mixed with some electric noise.

“Are you hungry?”

Chu Yu leaned against the wall, bowed his head, and unconsciously prolonged his tone as he answered honestly, “Extremely hungry.”

He asked back, “Where are you now? I’ll look for you.”

“At Qingchuan River.”

Listening to Lu Shi’s voice, it was more hoarse than usual, and the wind pressing in, brought by the river, indescribably made people feel a little sad.

“Don’t come here.
I’ll return to the school, open the door for me in a while.”

After hanging up, Chu Yu lay on his bed, listening to the movements outside the door with his ears pricked up.

He thought that waiting was really too fucking hard.

His thoughts then wandered endlessly. What the hell did Lu Shi do? It was very mysterious.

Moreover, the voice Chu Yu heard, he wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating, but he felt that it was a bit different from normal.

Chu Yu grasped at a memory.

In the locker room, Lu Shi had the same tone of voice after answering the phone.

Like he was about to cry in the next second.

Every minute and every second was extremely difficult.

Until three soft knocks sounded on the door.

Chu Yu didn’t wear slippers as he stepped on the carpet barefooted and hurried to the door in two or three steps.

Lu Shi walked in and closed the dormitory door with his hand behind him.

The room was completely dark.

“No lights on?”

Before he finished speaking, Lu Shi felt someone pounce on him.
Following along with the soft strength of the other party, he sat down on the carpet.

In the darkness, he could faintly see the other’s silhouette.

Lu Shi was pushed down by Chu Yu and simply relaxed, letting him freely move.

He felt Chu Yu fumble and touch his collar.
He pulled it open, and soon, there was a slight tingling sensation on Lu Shi’s shoulder, as well as the subtle movements of sucking blood.

He wrapped his arm around Chu Yu’s waist and held him in his embrace.
Lu Shi’s voice was light and husky as he said in a low voice, “I know you’re hungry, be good.
Don’t worry and drink slowly.”

He rushed back and forth these past two days, but just like before, he ended up empty-handed.

Chilled by the early autumn’s night breeze, even the tips of his fingers were like ice.

Whereas the person in his arms was as toasty as the warm spring sun.

Lu Shi lay on the carpet, hugging Chu Yu.
His eyes slowly fell shut and his tight nerves finally relaxed at that moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The author has something to say: Here’s a heart made up of used bus tickets~

 

1

The real word for neurological dysfunction is 神经功能紊乱 (Shénjīng gōngnéng wěnluàn), but ZYS said 植物神经紊乱 (zhíwù shénjīng wěnluàn) which translates to plant nerve dysfunction.
How did he even think of plant???? HHAHAHAH I put nomorelogical for better flow.