Chapter 56 – (Extra 3) Invitation

Translator: hoenimochi, Rin    Editor: Slumber

For high school students, they could do anything as long as they didn’t have to go to class.

They heard that there were two classes that could be skipped this afternoon. All the senior three students were organised to listen to a speech. Everyone was looking forward to it. It was not that they were looking forward to the speech, but they were expecting to not attend the class. The speaker Lu Yong seemed to be an outstanding graduate of their school, and now he was a successful person in society, a well-known entrepreneur, a pioneer in the environmental protection industry, and had all kinds of titles of chairman and vice-chairman, which all sounded so gloriously bright.

Photos of Lu Yong could be found online.

Everyone quickly discovered that the uncle who appeared in the corridor of the teaching building today was Lu Yong.

During recess.

Lu Sihang mentioned when chatting with his good friend Shen Meng, “I knew Lu Yong when I was a child. His family used to live on the same street as me, and I sometimes saw him.”

But he didn’t have many good impressions in his memory. After all, it was a garbage station, and the smell was a bit strong. When passing by with his friends, he would avoid it. He had a vague impression that a tall, strong boy with only one arm was dragging a heavy car like a cow, climbing steadily step by step.

At that time, he seemed to be in kindergarten, and his mother said to him, “Look how hard it is. Sweetie, you should study well in the future, or else you’ll have to work as hard as this brother.”

Later, he learned that the neighbour’s brother was actually doing well academically.

Lu Sihang added, “When he was studying, his grades were good.”

Shen Meng said, “Really? … But have you seen the man accompanying him?”

Lu Sihang’s heart skipped a beat, “I saw him. What’s wrong?” He had a faint, bad premonition.

Shen Meng approached him, lowered his voice, and said speculatively, “Don’t you think they look a lot like a couple?”

Homosexuality was still a trending topic.

The female classmates in the class were circulating comics about love between men, and the comic about hot-blooded shōnen ¹ Japanese for teenage boys pursued by the male students in the class always felt more and more gay, as if there was something wrong.

He watched the news a few days ago and also saw that several countries passed gay marriage laws, which was absolutely earth-shattering.

Shen Meng’s breath hit his ears, which made his ears turn red, and he said, “Really? They look very ordinary… The boy I saw before is his friend, right? He often went to find Lu Yong when he was a child.”

Lu Sihang also remembered Shen Wenqiu. After all, Shen Wenqiu was so good-looking, not only in appearance but also very beautiful from head to toe, which was out of tune with that dilapidated alley. Most importantly, he once invited the kids nearby to have a snack! He didn’t remember his name—he just remembered him being a kind-hearted and beautiful big brother.

Shen Meng insisted, “Hear me out—they must be.”

The two people discussed the matter.

“How can you be sure? Are there any characteristics of homosexuality?”

“They’re very particular about how they dress. It’s hard for me to describe. Anyway, they have a gay aura.”

“I don’t think so. They’re not very close either. They just stand and walk together like normal.”

“The aura is different. Even if two people in love don’t talk or do it, their eyes and fingertips will reveal the lovey-dovey atmosphere.”

“Are you just being randomly suspicious?”

“Then do you want to bet?”

“No. No bet. How are you going to bet anyway? Are you going to run up and ask them? I’m not interested in homosexuality either.”

Both were lying on the table, their heads resting on their arms as they whispered head to head.

Shen Meng stared at him and said thoughtfully, “Aren’t you interested?”

Lu Sihang blushed and replied, “I’m not interested. Why are you so curious? Are you really interested?”

Shen Meng said exposingly, “It’s the first time I’ve seen such a person in reality, so it’s quite novel.”

Lu Sihang said, “It’s not like they are a rare animal.”

Lu Sihang remembered something. He remembered it when he talked about Lu Yong just now. He said, “Wait, can you accompany me to ask for a leave? I want to go home and find something.”

Shen Meng said, “Okay.”

In the office.

The teacher asked him what he was going to take home, but Lu Sihang didn’t answer clearly, “I’m going to find a letter.” 

The teacher asked, “What letter?” 

Lu Sihang said, “Mr. Lu, who is going to give a speech at our school this afternoon, seems to have a letter addressed to him at home. It was more than ten years ago. I want to go back and look for it.”

Teacher: “……”

The teacher didn’t believe it, so it was not approved.

Lu Sihang complained to Shen Meng, “What I said is true. I remember that letter. I was young at the time, and I dug it out of my letterbox and took it out to play with it. I opened it up, and the invitation was very beautiful. I was illiterate at the time, so I thought it was a greeting card and put it in my box. When I grew up, I looked through it and found a strange card. I think the postman probably dropped it off at my house by mistake. I remember that the year written on it seemed to match their age.”

Lu Sihang hesitantly said, “Unfortunately, I can’t go home to get it. I still think it’s quite magical.”

Shen Meng said, “Let’s borrow a pass and sneak back to your house at noon to get it.”

Lu Sihang said hesitantly, “My home is a little far away. I’m afraid you won’t make it back in time.”

Shen Meng said, “But if you miss this time, maybe there will be no next time. Let’s go, I will accompany you, even if we are late and get our points deducted, I will accompany you.”

So the two of them snuck back to Lu Sihang’s house together. They ran all the way and didn’t walk. The two of them arrived home out of breath.

Their parents had gone to work, and no one was at home.

Lu Sihang searched through boxes and cabinets to find the letter.

They searched for more than half an hour.

When Lu Sihang was wondering if his memory was messed up, he finally found the thin invitation card.

Now it seemed like the style was a bit old-fashioned, but the paper used was very good, and the font had a bronzing design on it.

Lu Sihang said, “This is it.”

The name of the invitee was Lu Yong, the name of the inviter was Shen Wenqiu, and the signature was 2002.

Shen Meng clicked his tongue twice and said, “I don’t know why, but I just feel that ‘Shen Wenqiu’ is the man who is with Mr. Lu. The name matches his appearance.”

Lu Sihang said worriedly, “I don’t know if he went to the teacher’s thank-you banquet since he didn’t receive the invitation from his friends at the time.”

Inside the card was another small card with the words “apology card” written with a pen in it.

Lu Sihang put the apology card in the invitation, took an old textbook from the previous semester, and put the invitation in.

Then he took the book and rushed back to school with Shen Meng.

Of course they were late.

He was also caught as a resident student who pretended to be an escaped school student and made two records in a row. It was expected that they would be scolded to death by their homeroom teacher.

Just after they passed the school gate, the bell rang for class.

When they returned to the classroom, there was no one there, and everyone went to the auditorium to listen to the speech.

The two boys who got into trouble together bite the bullet and snuck into the auditorium. The head teacher glared at them, obviously wanting to settle accounts later.

At the end of the speech, everyone applauded and was dismissed. Then they went back to their respective classrooms.

–

Lu Yong was arranging the scripts on the desk and organising them. Shen Wenqiu went to the bathroom.

At this time, the two young boys came over. The one in front was a little shy, and the one in the back looked more daring. The second boy said to him, “What are you afraid of? Go.”

Are they here for something? Lu Yong thought. He tried his best to make himself not look so fierce, and asked gently, “What’s the matter? Little classmate.”

Lu Sihang blushed nervously, “I, I used to live on the same street as you!”

Lu Yong: “?”

He took out a book and handed it over.

Lu Yong glanced at it. Isn’t this a high school textbook? But he borrowed it anyway and asked, “Is this for me?”

Lu Sihang stammered, “The textbook is not for you. The things inside the textbook are yours.”

When the textbook was opened, there was an invitation inside.

Although Shen Wenqiu was not by his side, he could determine what it was without confirmation.

Lu Yong paused for several seconds before he took out the invitation and read it carefully.

Lu Sihang asked, “It’s yours, right? It was sent by mistake. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lu Yong said.

He looked so hard and cold, but his eyes were red. He looked at the invitation without blinking, opened it, and saw the apology card inside.

He had forgiven Shen Wenqiu long ago, but he only knew that Shen Wenqiu had apologised to him at that time after so many years.

He should have gone to look for Shen Wenqiu earlier.

Lu Yong was at a loss, and for a while, he didn’t know how to deal with this late youth.

Lu Yong thanked the two children in a panic again, “Thank you, thank you.”

He took out his wallet, “Oh, got to thank you…”

The little boy quickly refused, blushed, and said, “It’s alright, it’s alright, you don’t need to give money. It’s my fault that I simply took it and didn’t find out that it was sent wrong. Uncle, it’s fine that you’ve received it. I’ll go back to class first.”

The two boys left chatting and laughing.

Looking at their backs, Lu Yong felt like seeing him and Shen Wenqiu back then.

Shen Wenqiu came back from the bathroom. He brushed past them and walked towards Lu Yong as if he had come out of the illusion.

Shen Wenqiu found that his expression was not quite right and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Yong showed him the invitation: “The child gave it to me just now, saying it was sent to his house by mistake.”

Shen Wenqiu: “…”

Lu Yong watched Shen Wenqiu lower his head, touch the invitation fondly, and mutter, “It’s already thirteen years late.”

Lu Yong retorted, “It’s not too late. I’m always here anyway.”

Shen Wenqiu didn’t look up. After a while, he sniffed and said, “Although thirteen years have passed, this card is still valid.”

The apology card is—

The “I love you” too.

Shen Wenqiu’s eyes were wet. He raised his head and smiled at him.

He also laughed.

The author has something to say:

Damn, I finally wrote it.

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  Japanese for teenage boys ↩︎