Chapter 82 – Monday Night

translator: xiin
editors: butter & XavierForest

Song Yu thought of Qin Mo but quickly suppressed his emotions and didn’t show any obvious anger.

He kept his head down, his eyelashes lowered as he ate quietly.

He didn’t want Xie Sui to see that something was wrong.

The events that had happened in the previous life hovered over his heart like a haze, but he’d promised Xie Sui that he wouldn’t dwell on the past. Therefore, he didn’t want him to know about this matter and planned to handle it by himself.

Xie Sui was waiting for him to speak and kept looking at him.

But Song Yu didn’t say a word. His face was pale and frail after recovering from his illness, and his brows were tightly furrowed.

The meal progressed in silence. Xie Sui couldn’t count on him anymore and decided to break the silence first, “Shouldn’t you tell me about what happened yesterday?”

What happened yesterday?

Song Yu was still a little flustered when he heard Xie Sui’s words. He calmed down the panic in his heart, pretended to be calm and said, “Oh, it was just an accident. I went back to get something, but that man just closed the door too quickly.”

Xie Sui smiled slightly, “An accident?”

Song Yu tried to muddle through, “Mm.”

Xie Sui’s dark eyes stared at him for a few seconds to judge if he really planned to deal with this matter by himself, then he didn’t ask any more questions. He just slowly looked away and smiled, “Is that so? I thought that it was a scene that Director Song specifically arranged for us.”

Song Yu looked at him, and for the first time, he didn’t get angry or ashamed from being teased. Instead, he felt a sense of frustration and depression in his heart. He pulled blankly at his lower lip, then lowered his head.

They had known each other from such a young age, and they had also been friends until death in their previous life. That meant that the ‘liking’ Xie Sui spoke of really was the kind of love between friends.

Song Yu sighed inwardly. He was in a bad mood and changed the topic, “I should go back soon. Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

Xie Sui preferred his feverish, confused appearance from last night over his current look of someone who had a lot of concerns on their mind. However, he didn’t expose him and instead nodded and smiled, “Okay, see you on Monday.”

On Saturday, Song Yu was meant to go home. He sat in the car, his gaze fixed on the view outside. It was now winter, and everything in Jing City seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gray mist. The car window was open, and the wind outside was cold. 008 had spoken a lot of nonsense, but there had still been a sentence that entered his heart: ‘That’s all from the previous life.’

However, even if it was the previous life, and although he had no impression of it, Qin Mo had been the one who killed him.

… How could settling these accounts be so simple?

Song Yu didn’t even blink, his expression as cold as frost.

008 had gone to look for the Lord God again, and the next time it came back to deal with him, it may not be as soft as before.

Would it send him away directly?

… Did he actually want to leave or not?

He’d said that he liked Xie Sui?

But when exactly had he started falling for him?

“Young master, did you encounter something that made you unhappy at school?”

Uncle Ma held the steering wheel and asked suspiciously.

Song Yu was brought back to his senses by Uncle Ma’s voice. He was stunned for a few seconds before abruptly opening his mouth and asking, “Uncle Ma, do you still remember the friend I told you about whom I felt friendly with at first sight?”

Uncle Ma was surprised for a second, then started laughing, “I remember. Young master kept running towards Lianyun Street ever since arriving at Jing City. You often asked me to go pick you up there late at night. Is that the person you’re referring to?”

Song Yu smiled along, but his eyes were still a little distracted, “Yes, that’s him.”

He curved his lower lip, but it didn’t look like a smile. He continued softly––

“Actually, it’s not like feeling familiar at first sight.”

… It was an old friend.

When it came to dealing with Qin Mo, even if he gathered all the witnesses and physical evidence and submitted it to the school, it may not be enough to get him punished. It may even be labeled as merely a slightly excessive joke. After all, it had only been a single night trapped in the auditorium, and even Song Yu himself hadn’t expected that he would feel so uncomfortable in there.

It seemed that Qin Mo had investigated him quite thoroughly.

There was the Qin Family behind Qin Mo, so naturally, he could only go to his brother with this matter.

He couldn’t call his father. President Song was so irritable that he would definitely bring him back to A City immediately and put him under his nose if he knew that he was being harassed.

His elder brother was abroad and was a bit surprised when he received his call, “Why did you call me so suddenly?”

Song Yu said, “Brother, help me investigate someone.”

Song Xu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “You have quite the high school extracurricular life. You even need to investigate someone.”

Song Yu: “Investigate Qin Mo.”

Song Xu froze, then repeated the name. “Qin Mo? Why does this name sound so familiar?”

Song Yu sighed. “Of course it’s familiar. He’s the fourth child in the Qin Family.”

Song Xu pondered for a while. After pulling his thoughts back, he laughed and said, “Oh, it’s him. But one of you is in A City, while the other is in Jing City. How did he manage to provoke you from so far away?”

Song Yu lowered his gaze. His eyes were icy, “He came to Jing City a few days ago.”

“Oh?”

Song Yu continued, “Let’s just put it this way. We are fated to be at odds and disgusted with each other. Yesterday, he schemed against me and trapped me in the auditorium, so I also want to mess with him.”

Song Xu: “……”

Song Xu: “Here, you––” He pondered his words, not knowing how to persuade this precious younger brother of his. 

He hadn’t finished organizing his language when Song Yu continued on, “Brother, did I have any psychological shadows on rainy days when I was young?”

All his persuasive words were swallowed back down.

On the other end of the call, Song Xu froze. It appeared that he was remembering something.

Before falling into the water, Song Yu had been lively and healthy, but he’d closed up after falling into the water on the island. He either lay there on the hospital bed, or huddled in his bedroom. For a very long time, it felt as though he’d lost his soul and spirit.  When he’d been a child, there had only been two accidents that had caused the entire family to panic: once, when he’d accidentally taken a sip of alcohol, and the other when he was locked inside a classroom on a rainy day.

When the driver had gone to pick him up, he’d discovered that Song Yu was pale all over, and his entire person was incredibly weak. The driver had been so scared that he’d called home directly. At the time, the family had guessed that he may be a little claustrophobic.

Although the Song family had blocked a lot of public information about these two incidents that took place before he was six, fearing that it may have a negative impact on Song Yu, these things could still be dug up if someone really investigated it.

When he thought about it this way, it was possible that the kid from the Qin Family had done such a thing intentionally.

Song Xu frowned tightly, and his voice grew somewhat anxious, “You were locked in alone in the auditorium last night, during a storm? How are you now?”

Song Yu was very frank. He said lightly, “I had a fever, but I’m fine after a night of sleep.”

From his voice, it really didn’t sound like he was sick anymore. Song Xu felt a little more relieved. He spoke in a low tone, “Just now, you mentioned the fourth child of the Qin Family and triggered my memory. I heard that he transferred schools, because he found a boyfriend in high school and came out of the closet. The old man of the Qin Family wanted to break his legs. In order to avoid the limelight, he went to Jing City. After all, it was the Qin Family who made a fuss about it back then.”

Song Yu closed his eyes and was taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t expected that there was such a story behind Qin Mo’s transfer to Jing City.

“Qin Mo is still young, but he has bad thoughts.” Song Xu said, “You don’t have to be directly involved in this matter. I will help you handle it. If what you said is true, then the Qin Family will have to give us an explanation no matter what.”

Song Yu said, “Mm.”

He closed his phone. His eyes were as sharp as knives, his face gloomy and cold.

Once the Qin Family side was dealt with, he wouldn’t be so polite to Qin Mo in Jing City anymore, either.

He kept pestering him, wanting to sit down and have a chat. In that case… they’d have a proper conversation.

Monday. It was now deep into winter, and the weather was getting colder and colder. When walking outside, puffing out a breath would cause a cloud of mist, and the wind blew like knives against one’s face.

Ma Xiaoding rushed into the classroom from outside, holding two cups of hot water. He had goosebumps from the cold and shivered as he sat down in his seat, “Oh man, just now, I stood there for a long time listening to their conversation and trying to gain information on the enemy. I didn’t hear anything about Liang Zhu’s situation, but I did get a bunch of gossip about Brother Yu.”

Song Yu was flipping an English book, and when he heard Ma Xiaoding’s words, the corner of his mouth twitched.

Xi Bowen’s eyes grew wide, “What kind of gossip?”

Ma Xiaoding: “It’s about Friday night. Didn’t Brother Yu get locked in the auditorium? God Xie was so anxious that he made phone calls one after another and even came to me.” After getting told off by Song Yu last time, he naturally didn’t dare to talk nonsense. “It’s such a touching brotherhood. Yet now, what kind of distorted news are they spreading outside? Alas, the world is going downhill.”

Xi Bowen laughed, “Distorted news? Yet you stood there for so long? Did you get addicted to listening?”

Ma Xiaoding glanced at Song Yu’s profile in front of him and lowered his voice, “Wasn’t it just in order to hear how much they can distort things? Let me tell you exactly what those girls in Class Three said. Brother Yu was trapped in the dark classroom, trembling and scared, and God Xie came rushing over like a savior, pulling him out of the darkness. They were two men alone, and a magical atmosphere spread.”

Xi Bowen: “???”

Xi Bowen: “Don’t you feel like this plot is a bit familiar? Isn’t that the story Brother Yu told me that time we watched a ghost movie?”

Ma Xiaoding only realized this now and slapped the table. His mouth was as wide as a duck egg in indignation, “F*ck me! So everything was within Brother Yu’s expectations––Wuwuwu.” Xi Bowen blocked his mouth and stopped him from seeking death with his words.

Song Yu’s slender hand was flipping a pen, his features delicate and indifferent as he acted as though the two people behind him were farting.

He was currently controlling his thoughts to not think about Xie Sui and attempting to focus on Qin Mo’s affairs.

The minute hand turned slowly on the clock as he watched, and he also counted slowly in his heart.

The New Year’s Eve party started at seven o’clock.

People started entering the venue at six o’clock.

When Old Chen was leading them over, he lifted his eyelids and glanced over at the crowd. He commented angrily, “The weather forecast says that it may snow tonight. Are you all still wearing so little? If you catch a cold and fail the final exam, I won’t be saving face for you at the parent teachers meeting.”

Everyone laughed, “Teacher, can you say something nice?”

On the other hand, Song Yu glanced towards the back and frowned.

Xie Sui hadn’t arrived yet.

Had he asked for leave again today?

But hadn’t he promised that he would come?

The heating was on in the auditorium. After the venue filled up with people, Song Yu even started to feel a bit hot.

He took off his school uniform jacket, revealing a high-necked sweater and jeans that matched well with the youth’s long and slender figure.

Class Three’s show came before theirs. They were performing Butterfly Lovers, and it was unclear if it was stage fright or something else, but the most handsome guy of their class stuttered through his act. His face was flushed red, but he finished his performance. And it was his performance that made everyone laugh.

The next show was Class Seven’s group signing. It was Class One’s turn soon, and Ma Xiaoding was backstage waiting to go on stage.

Xi Bowen sat beside him and crunched on potato chips, “If Class Three had a stricter director that watched over their practices a bit more, they probably wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“Not all directors are as talented as I am.” Song Yu replied lazily.

Xi Bowen continued, “And not all talented directors are able to arrange scenes for themselves.”

Song Yu sneered, “Are you going to start making trouble too?”

After a round of mutual snarking, his cell phone vibrated. Song Yu flipped his phone over.

A message from an unknown number had finally been sent over.

He curved his lower lip lightly, and there was an imperceptible chill in the darkness.

He picked up his school uniform and stood up, “I’m going to the bathroom.”