Chapter 59 (2/2)

Lin Wenxi gave Hong Yan a call and then went to her home on the excuse of visiting her sick mother. To his surprise, Hong Yan’s mother, who was sick, managed to prepare an exceedingly good lunch for him and then called Lin Ziwei to express her gratitude. He had never expected that he would bring so much trouble for Hong Yan’s mother. After helping Hong Yan finishing her homework, he went home alone.

When he reached the door of his home, he searched his whole body but still could not find the keys. He recalled that Hong Xuan did not take the keys away with himself either. He thought that he had probably left the keys at home.

Lin Wenxi and his family had lived in this old-fashioned courtyard since they had moved into the county 7 years ago. Although it was located in a prosperous area in the eastern part of the county, it was simply decorated and did not look like a living place of a high-rank official. None of their neighbors knew that this place was the home of the former director of the education bureau of Yangzi County.

Now Lin Ziwei was the deputy mayor of the city, but he did not move into the city. He still lived in this courtyard in Yangzi County, as this county was his hometown and located just on the edge of the city. Hong Xuan would drive him to and from work every day, and once he was too busy, he could sleep in his office. He chose to stay in Yangzi County for another reason. This county had many famous schools, such as Zhenbei Middle School and High School, South City Middle School and High School, West City Middle School and High School and East City Middle School and High School.

As such, Lin Ziwei would rather continue living in Yangzi County than move into the city.

The facilities in the courtyard looked simple, but in fact, they had been carefully designed and upgraded by relevant departments five years ago when Lin Ziwei had become the deputy mayor of the city. Given this, Lin Wenxi knew that it was impossible for him to break into this courtyard now.

He walked back toward Hong Xuan’s home, but when he got only half way, he decided to go to Xuezi Bridge. He had to cross this bridge to go to Zhenbei High School and return home each day when he was a high school student. Because of the impending Chinese New Year, most of the vendors had returned to their hometown. This bridge looked empty now. As it had just rained, the bridge was somewhat muddy.

Lin Wenxi stood on the bridge in the wind and looked down at the quietly flowing Yangzi River. He thought gleefully, “I’m finally free today.” He decided to take a walk in the county.

About one hour later, he reached Zhegui Bridge in the south of the city. If he continued to travel southward, he would see many villages. Many villagers gathered around the bridge and sold local specialities to earn some money for the Chinese New Year.

Lin Wenxi bought a mountain apple from an old man and gave the man’s grandson two sweets. That little boy smiled cheerfully and gave him an orange-colored crab apple in return. Lin Wenxi took a bite of the crab apple and liked its sweet and sour taste very much.

Somehow he thought of Zhang Dong again. He clearly remembered how Zhang Dong had trained him and managed to make him laugh out loud.

Zhang Dong’s words still rang in his ears. He touched his neck and thought, “Zhang Dong really meant it when he asked me to kill him. He’s a hard-working soldier. Zhang Dong, why is it you? Why do you suddenly come back into my life after all these years? Why did you do that to me years ago?” Lin Wenxi still hated his own body, but he did not hate it so much as before. He remembered Zhang Dong’s words. “You’re not dirty. The dirty person is me.”

For the first time in recent 6 years, Lin Wenxi had walked down that lane again. When he reached Binhe Road and looked at his home from a distance, it began to snow.

Snowflakes began falling down, and this world would soon look pure and white. Upon seeing the snowflakes, Lin Wenxi thought of his childhood playmate Fangfang, but he could not remember his face clearly now. He wondered, “Where’s Fangfang? What is he doing now? Does it snow in his hometown? Will he think of me? He’s probably 20 years old now. Does he go a university?”

He walked back to Zhegui Bridge and stood on the bridge alone in the snow.

Someone pointed at him and teased, “Does that guy want to jump into the river now? Doesn’t he know that he won’t get drowned to death by doing so? He’ll get frozen to death.” Lin Wenxi heard it but still remained unmoved.

“Hey, bro, are you really planning to jump into the river?” Someone approached him and asked. Lin Wenxi just wanted to spend some time alone and did not want to be disturbed. He turned around and smiled at the person.

When he was about to leave, he heard someone in the crowd calling his name. A tipsy guy ran to him and grabbed his hand. He shivered and seemed to sober up upon seeing Lin Wenxi’s face.

“Zhao Yuan!” Lin Wenxi said, and his nose was twitching.