Ch29 - Confession (2/2)
Yu Hao said, “For me, this is enough. I’ll use my life to guarantee that I won’t say anything about this.”
“The main point is that even if you did, no one would believe you.” Zhou Sheng mocked, “Isn’t that how novels are written?”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Yu Hao said uneasily, “Believing and saying it out loud are two different matters. If you’re afraid that I’ll divulge this, I’ll apply for a transfer and go somewhere else……”
“No need! Ai!” Zhou Sheng’s voice sounded like he didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. He lay back down on the bed and sighed, “I really did wish that there’d be someone who I could share my secret with.”
Yu Hao got a shock. He couldn’t see Zhou Sheng’s expression and could only hear his voice. In this moment, his tone had completely matched with the one that belonged to General in his dreams.
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Zhou Sheng whispered wearily, “I’ve been suppressing this in the bottom of my heart for many years. But now, someone finally managed to break into my world and became my true friend. That person is you, Yu Hao.”
Yu Hao was stunned.
Zhou Sheng looked at Yu Hao who was sitting in front of him and continued, “If something like this happened to you, would you tell someone about it? Would anyone believe you? But you’re really too smart. You unmasked this secret with your own inferences alone, and now I’m the one who feels a sense of relief instead……lie down ba, don’t keep sitting. Lie down and talk.”
Yu Hao laid down beside Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng leaned over a little and pressed the back of his hand against Yu Hao’s head to make him move closer to him.
“Lately, I often thought that amongst the tens of millions of people in this world.” Zhou Sheng muttered, “If you would be the only one out of all of them who would give your own totem to me……” As he spoke, he turned his head around and smiled sadly at Yu Hao.
In this moment, Yu Hao thought that Zhou Sheng looked extremely handsome, that he was the most handsome guy that he had ever seen in his life.
“Sleep ba, don’t say anything anymore.” Zhou Sheng stretched his hand out and pressed it down on Yu Hao’s forehead, then rubbed it in passing to make him close his eyes. He turned around with his back facing Yu Hao, “This news actually isn’t more shocking than the fact that my Dad is Zhou Laichun. I’m serious.”
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Yu Hao, “……”
It was as if Yu Hao had just accomplished a mission and ran a marathon. His consciousness felt much heavier, and he could no longer stay awake.
It was daybreak outside. Yu Hao said to Zhou Sheng, “Good night.”
“Un, good night.” Zhou Sheng said underneath the warm glow of the morning light.
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It was a fine day on New Year’s Eve. The sunlight streamed into the kitchen through the windows. It shone upon Zhou Sheng until he was about to explode from impatience as he reluctantly cooked New Year’s Eve dinner for four people. But this year was at least better than the last——last year, he was so sick of cooking, but this year, Yu Hao was around to eat it.
For the sake of Yu Hao, this time he was a little more motivated to cook this meal.
Every chef has their own taboos, yet all liked the same thing — the look of admiration in a foodie’s eyes. The first time Yu Hao saw Zhou Sheng cook, his jaw almost dropped off, and he even cleaned off the entire table of his dishes. Just because of this, Zhou Sheng was very willing to cook for him; Yu Hao is not like his mother who would be so picky towards everything on the table and would even think they weren’t good enough.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Zhou Sheng was prepared to make deep fried ribbonfish, diced chicken with sponge gourd and red peppers stuffed in cucumbers, roast a duck and cover it with a thin film of pastry, along with some spiced chicken with chili sauce, sweet and sour fish, steamed shrimp with egg tofu, sweet and sour pork ribs and Eight Treasure rice. Then one more stewed soup with ham and bamboo shoots and that would be enough.
While Zhou Sheng plucked the hairs of the duck, he thought that he would need to get Yu Hao to stop when he was full before he stuffed himself to death. However, he didn’t know what kind of gift Yu Hao would buy in return for celebrating the New Year here and eating all these meals at his home. Sometimes, Zhou Sheng would get pretty annoyed by this trait of Yu Hao’s. Every time he treated him to a meal or a drink, Yu Hao would always insist on gifting him with something in return. Yesterday, Zhou Sheng had inadvertently caught a glimpse of Yu Hao searching for shoes on Taobao. Yu Hao has never worn basketball shoes before, so it must have been for him. To put it politely, Yu Hao wasn’t someone who would freeload off others, but to put it in a more negative light, he just didn’t like owing other people favours.
Was it necessary though? They were so familiar with each other already anyway. Zhou Sheng thought while he was squeezing the shrimp, that the steamed egg tofu falls apart really easily, so he had to be careful.
The first time he saw Yu Hao was when they were at the field. At that time, Zhou Sheng had already run 20km and was going through a kind of out-of-body experience, while Yu Hao sat on the stands in a daze. Zhou Sheng ran round after round, seeing him with each round he ran. Yu Hao’s wilted appearance reminded him of a dirty dog at his old home who would limp over and bark for food.
Every day after Zhou Sheng got home, he would have packed something to feed it. It was a typical stray puppy — its coat looked beautiful, but it was very dirty. Sometimes, even if Zhou Sheng didn’t bring any food, the puppy would still come and nuzzle against his trousers and follow him upstairs as it wagged its tail and barked noisily. Zhou Sheng wanted to raise it, but he had misgivings about his neurotic mother, so he gave up on that idea in the end.
Yu Hao — who sat next to the field — was just like that puppy, which always made Zhou Sheng want to go over to rub his head. And every time his body approached its limit, Zhou Sheng’s mind would be filled with Yu Hao’s appearance, round after round, Yu Hao Yu Hao Yu Hao……it was as if the impression of Yu Hao in his mind had been linked to the physical limits of his body like a conditioned reflex.
For a month after that, Yu Hao would go to the field a few times per week. Zhou Sheng would see him carry a basketball once in awhile as he joined a group of people who were playing, but he would be knocked flying here and there by Fu Liqun. Gradually, Yu Hao began to give up on playing and chose to sit next to the field instead. Zhou Sheng thought that he must have felt that the others didn’t think his skills were good enough. Rather than saying that his teammates thought he wasn’t good enough, it was more like Yu Hao thought he wasn’t good enough — he was always mindful of gains and losses, so if he felt like he was holding his teammates back, then he would gradually come less often.
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“Why do you treat me so well?” When Yu Hao was sitting on the front bumper of his bicycle yesterday, he suddenly asked this.
I like you bei, Zhou Sheng thought in his heart, but student Yu Hao, please take note: I ‘like’ you, not ‘love’ you.
Zhou Sheng lifted the Beijing roast duck and hung it in the iron stove on the balcony to roast it. That iron stove was even older than him.
Why do I like you? Because I couldn’t overlook a lot of things, and I wanted to protect the weak you so that you would continue living on ba. Zhou Sheng secured the roast duck.
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As for why it’s you, and not someone else, it’s because receiving a response is important. No matter how well someone treats another, if he gets no response in return, he’ll gradually come to find that person annoying. Zhou Sheng might say that he doesn’t mind not receiving any reciprocation, but at the bottom of his heart, he still hoped that this person would give him a kind of blazing trust that had no reservations, a sense of adoration, as well as friendship.
The moment when Yu Hao passed him his totem was the first time for Zhou Sheng to feel that strongly moved in his life. It was as if what he had given him was not just his totem, but his everything.
Zhou Sheng could also feel that every time Yu Hao saw him, he would be in a very good mood. And after he moved to their dormitory, although he never showed his happiness on his face, he could tell that Yu Hao did feel very excited about it.
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When Zhou Sheng went to the cafe to look for him the other day, Yu Hao was originally quite listless, but he immediately brightened up when he saw him — as if in his dark and gloomy world, a streak of sunlight had shone in. This sunlight had illuminated Yu Hao, and it had also illuminated the Zhou Sheng who was trying to suppress his rage.
If I don’t take care of you, who will? Zhou Sheng said in his heart. But he could guess what kind of feelings Yu Hao held for him, and these feelings had turned into his Shackle Curse.
Yu Hao held steadfast to his vow to find him, which made Zhou Sheng feel very surprised. But truthfully, he had longed for this outcome. Yu Hao was the first person who managed to find him in the real world, and Zhou Sheng’s wish had been fulfilled. What about the future though? Should he tell him about the origin of this power?
Zhou Sheng held his wrist up and looked at the bracelet that Yu Hao had woven for him. The red rope went through the golden wheel, and it looked like a gorgeous watch.
Forget it ba, Zhou Sheng thought. There were a lot of things that even he hadn’t figured out yet, and it’s not like he would meddle and enter other people’s dreams to wreck them.
Zhou Sheng first noticed that he seemed to hold special feelings for Yu Hao on the day after he was discharged: they were all sitting in the hot pot shop, and Yu Hao had sat directly opposite him — that perplexed expression of his made Zhou Sheng’s heart ache. For a few days after that, every time Zhou Sheng entered the classroom and sat beside Yu Hao, Yu Hao’s eyes would light up, as if he had been waiting for him for a long time. Zhou Sheng knew that despite not saying anything, Yu Hao was very happy in his heart.
This made him think of a book that he had read when he was little.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
“But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world.”
“But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow.”
Zhou Sheng rubbed his head. His dyed red hair had faded, and the colour that remained looked like a golden yellow. This was why Yu Hao would think of golden wheat fields whenever he saw him, and even the breeze that blew across the fields became gentle.