Chapter 8 (1/2)

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Yu Dong worked in a radio station not far from the apartment complex she lived in. There was a night bus that directly took her there and was only a half hour’s drive.

A DJ’s working hours can be very flexible, and Yu Dong’s midnight program lasts from 12:00 to 2:00 a.m.

Everyday Yu Dong would leave at 11:00 p.m., take the bus to the radio station, host the program, then get home at around 3:00 a.m. afterward.

Xia Feng who had recently only worked the night shift didn’t know that Yu Dong would leave every night for work. He would come back early in the morning and simply figured she was still in bed. So with two people who had been sharing a home for so long, one didn’t deliberately explain, and the other didn’t deliberately ask. Xia Feng thought that Yu Dong was still looking for a job, as she was a recent graduate.

The night breeze was cool. When Yu Dong went to work this night, she put on her newly bought shawl. The bus appeared at the entrance of her apartment complex just on time.

Yu Dong’s driver smiled as she swiped her card to get on the bus.

“Girl, off to work again tonight?” Bus drivers travel long distances with different people every day. It’s actually a pretty lonely profession, so they like chatting with regulars.

“Yes.”

“Is it still at 2:00 at the gates of the radio station?”

“Yes, I won’t be late today.” Yu Dong smiled, took out a cup of hot coffee that she had brought and handed it to the driver, “Thank you for waiting for me yesterday.”

“Yesterday, Yu Dong came out of the station 2 minutes late. She thought she had missed the bus, but when she passed the gate, she saw the bus on the opposite side of the road, the driver waving at her. Yu Dong’s mood then was as warm as the hot coffee she was now holding.

“Coffee, just the thing to keep me from falling asleep!” The driver smiled brightly.

Yu Dong also laughed, and continued further into the bus, finding a seat.

The night bus was usually very fast. Sometimes when the driver sees nobody under the stop sign, he would just continue to drive without stopping. Occasionally, a few people working night shifts get on the bus.

After two stops, the bus opened its doors, and a middle-aged man wearing a suit came up. He swiped his card, footsteps staggering, and passed Yu Dong to sit on the chair behind her, emitting a strong smell of smoke and wine.

Yu Dong quietly opened her window, trying to disperse the strong smell of wine, but perhaps because he was sitting too close to her, the thick smell of smoke made her want to choke. After a few minutes, Yu Dong decided to sit in a different seat.

Moments later, as she attempted to stand, her clothes seemed to be pulled by something. Looking back, Yu Dong found the man, who was probably too tired and fell asleep, leaning on top of her shawl.

Yu Dong thought about it, but in the end didn’t wake the man, simply taking off her shawl and went to sit on the other side of the bus.

The neon lights outside the window seemed more gorgeous during the dark night, but the obvious fatigue of the people outside was too stark of a contrast. It made Yu Dong feel as if she had returned to 10 years ago, to the Yu Dong who went to work and stayed until 1 or 2 a.m., the Yu Dong who was like a cutthroat female general. The old Yu Dong who would fall asleep on the bus, how many times had she been woken by the bus driver at the terminal? When she had started making money, she began to drink Chinese medicine to regulate and nourish her stomach.

“The next stop is the radio station!”

Hearing the reminder, Yu Dong stood up, returned to her seat and patted the man gently on the shoulder.

The man opened his eyes and was somewhat confused as he looked up to Yu Dong. After a while, he finally realized that he was laying on top of other people’s clothes. He immediately blushed in embarrassment and apologized, “Excuse me! I didn’t mean to crush your clothes!”

Yu Dong took back her shawl and said softly, “Never mind! Where are you getting off? I can see how tired you look. Be careful when you leave the bus stop.”

“Chuansha Road!” The man laughed, “I can’t believe I had to think for half a year to remember this.”

Yu Dong nodded and walked to the front of the bus to get off. As the bus stopped, she glanced back to see the man had fallen asleep again. Yu Dong quietly said to the bus driver: “Sir, the gentleman at the back is getting off at Chuansha Road, can you please remind him?”

The driver looked back and nodded with a smile.

Yu Dong shrugged off her long-lost memories, smiled and pulled her shawl on, now smelling like wine. She entered the radio station.

“Here you are!” In addition to the building security, the only person in the station during this time was her co-worker Senior Yu, who was responsible for transferring audience calls. Senior Yu was a middle-aged man in his forties with a good temperament and has been working in this station for more than 10 years.

“Senior Yu, I brought you snacks.” Yu Dong smiled and placed the snacks she had bought downstairs on the other person’s table.

“Oh, this young girl treats me well.” Senior Yu happily accepted the snacks and started to eat.

Yu Dong laughed and said nothing else, she placed down her bag, tidied up a little, and went into the recording booth. She planned to start as soon as the airing program ended.

00:00:00

“Hello everyone, this is FM9666, welcome to Midnight Phantom, this is DJ Fish Jelly.” The program officially started, and after she had skillfully read the opening line, she began to broadcast a song.

(T/N her name can be directly translated into fish frozen, but her DJ name had different characters, despite having the same meaning. So I took the other meaning ‘jelly’ as it sounded nicer for a DJ name?)

“This song is for every person who’s still on their way home. May this song accompany you, so you no longer have to be alone.” A homey song was playing and was sent to every wireless platform tuning in to her program.

“Tonight, it seems that someone finally sent us a message to ask a question.” After a few clicks, the display in front of Yu Dong displayed the message, “This listener friend asked me ‘Why is this program called Midnight Phantom? the midnight phantom is a horror film, shouldn’t you be telling ghost stories?’ ”

Yu Dong smiled and said, “The name of this program has nothing to do with the movie Phantom of Midnight. This program, as its name implies, features a beautiful figure at midnight. Where’s this beautiful figure you might ask? your DJ Fish Jelly, a beautiful woman, is here ah…”

“Well, I don’t have much else to say, the time has come for any of our listener friends to call. Interested friends can call and chat with Fish Jelly. Any topic, even ghost stories, can be requested!” Yu Dong said, “Of course, I can continue to play songs. If there aren’t any friends in the audience, this  Fish will simply continue to send songs to everyone.”

After that, Yu Dong looked up towards Senior Yu. She thought that Senior Yu would shrug and shake his head like usual, indicating no calls, but unexpectedly the phone rang, and Senior Yu signaled at her.

Yu Dong turned around again: “OK, let’s now answer the phone call from our first listener friend.”

“Hello!”

“Good Sister Fish Jelly!” a crisp female voice came from the other end of the phone, and the voice indicated the caller couldn’t be older than a student.

“What’s the name of this Sister?”

“I…Can I not say my name?” This young girl sounded timid- as if she was afraid fish jelly would get angry.

“Certainly, but for the convenience’s sake, can I call you Beautiful?” Fish Jelly laughed and said, “Beautiful, are you still a student?”

“Yes, I’m in Grade One this year.”

“Freshman, why are you awake at such a late hour? Are you lovelorn?” Fish Jelly guessed.

As she looked down towards her screen, messages piled up, saying that Fish Jelly was irresponsible, butting in on some teenage puppy love.

Senior Yu frowned and waved his hand.

Fish Jelly saw this but ignored it.

“No, no!” Beautiful cried out.

“Ha, I’m joking. Then classmate Beautiful, are you troubled about something?” This was her first ever caller, so Fish Jelly was very patient.

“I… I’m about to transfer again.”

“Transfer? Not willing to part with former classmates?” Fish Jelly guesses.

“No…no!” Beautiful refuted, then burst into tears. “I don’t want to go to school. I transferred so many times already. Every time I come to a new school, my classmates end up bullying me. My parents helped me transfer when they found out, but every new school is the same. I don’t want to live like this…why do they bully me? wuu….”

The girl’s voice full of grievance spread throughout the small booth.

“Beauty! Miss Beautiful!” Fish Jelly had to call out to the little girl twice before she managed to stop crying. Fish Jelly then said, “Beautiful, do you want to know what kind of person isn’t easily bullied?”

“What kind?” The little girl’s voice was like a whisper.

“A person who laughs easily, who’s brave, optimistic, generous.” Fish Jelly said this with a calm voice and continued. “A person who scolds back when scolded, hits back when hit, and when called crazy, crazily runs to the teacher’s office. A person who doesn’t cry, doesn’t show weakness, a person who isn’t afraid of teachers.”