Old Wounds, New Growth - Chapter 14. 1

Translator: Deyonna

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After returning from the short vacation, I had seven consecutive days of classes, all the way until the next weekend. The school's arrangement for senior high school students was to have exams on Saturdays and self-study sessions on Sundays. For students at my school, Saturday evenings were the only time we could freely arrange for ourselves.

Before entering the school gate, I tucked Potato inside my jacket and quickly zipped up my hoodie to conceal it. While the security guard wasn't paying attention, I swiftly swiped my access card and slipped through the school gate.

I made my way to the entrance of Class 25, where Li Chishu was sitting at his desk, buried in books. The pile of books covered him so much that I could barely see the top of his head.

I walked in with light steps and approached the row of seats in front of Li Chishu. He hadn't noticed me yet, as he was completely engrossed in whatever he was doing.

I turned my head to the side and finally saw that he had cleared a space on his desk. There were two disposable boxes from the school fruit shop, one containing unpeeled lychees with only a few left, while the peeled ones were all placed in the other box.

Li Chishu was wearing disposable gloves, his movements meticulous and focused. His expression was no different from when he was pondering math problems. He has always been a person who approached everything with great care and dedication.

The lychee shells were piled on a napkin, and there was no sign of any pits. It seemed that Li Chishu hadn't eaten a single one.

I remember him telling me that during his years of studying, every weekend when the low-income subsidy and compensation allowance were distributed, he would reward himself by buying a box of fruits for five yuan or less from the school fruit shop. After having dinner on Saturdays, he would bring the fruits to the classroom and enjoy them slowly. It was a monthly treat, and it was the happiest time for him each month.

I asked him what he usually bought, and he smiled and said, "What can you buy with five yuan? Most of the time, it's a few small apples because that way I can have them for a few meals. If I'm really craving, I'll buy the smallest watermelon for one yuan."

He was always the most nervous when choosing a watermelon, afraid that he might accidentally pick one that was too big and exceed his budget.

"But watermelon is really sweet," he said. "I think it was the sweetest thing I ever had during my years of studying."

In fact, with the financial aid for impoverished students, compensation allowance, and the school's exemption policies, Li Chishu didn't have to live so tensely. He personally admitted that he had nearly a hundred yuan left over each month after covering his living expenses.

But he was just afraid. Afraid that his grandmother might suddenly have an emergency and he wouldn't be able to help. Afraid of encountering situations that required money. Afraid that he wouldn't have any emergency funds in these special circumstances. Even if he really did encounter such situations, the small amount of money he had saved up wouldn't be enough. But for Li Chishu, saving that little bit of money was his only way out. After all, he had been struggling in the first twenty-something years of his life and he hadn't found anyone to reach out to or rely on.

After all, I was a little too late.

I remember that even the cheapest longan at school costs at least twelve yuan. I think this is the most extravagant thing Li Chishu has done so far.

How come he never told me that he once spent a lot of money to buy a box of longans during a weekend in his senior year of high school?

Potato poked its pair of eyes out from my neckline and started letting out a whine from its throat when he saw Li Chishu. It was at this moment, when Li Chishu finished peeling the last longan, that he finally noticed my arrival.

He quickly took off his gloves and stood up. "You've come?"

"I didn't come." I pulled Potato out of my clothes and handed it to Li Chishu. "What you're seeing is a hallucination."

Li Chishu smiled and closed the lid of the longan box. After taking Potato from me, he extended the box of longan to me with his other hand. "Here, this is for you."

?

This was probably the first time since I turned eighteen that I lost control of my expression when facing him.

I took the box of longan from him, not even retracting my hand, and just held it suspended in the air between us. "You peeled this for me?"

"En." Li Chishu nodded, his hand caressing Potato, speaking slowly to express his goodwill. "You... have brought me breakfast many times, and also dinner... So I... I bought you this box."

I suppressed the corners of my mouth from rising too high, afraid that Li Chishu would feel embarrassed. I held the box of peeled longan and looked at it repeatedly. "Why did you peel them for me? It's not like I don't have hands."

I'll definitely show it to Jiang Chi when I go back.

This was peeled by my wife.

"You personally made the coffee and sandwiches," Li Chishu said. "I can't grow longans, but I can peel them for you."

I smiled and asked him, "They must be quite expensive, right?"

Li Chishu shook his head, still playing with Potato, while keeping his head down. "You brought me a lot of food, so I saved some money."

In fact, he didn't really save much money. Even if I didn't bring him those meals, he would still spend that little money on food. And this box of longan was packed in the largest disposable box from the fruit shop, and you can't get that much for less than twenty yuan.

"Li Chishu," I called out to him, "When I said for you to return those things to me, what I meant was to pay it back in ten years or twenty years later, not now. Not a day earlier."

His hand, which was resting on top of Potato's head, paused for a moment. He probably didn't expect me to see through his thoughts so quickly.

"Don't do this again." I put away the fruit box. "Would you like to go to the playground and sit for a while?"

-

It was already completely dark at 8:30 in the evening. Li Chishu squatted on the lawn, playing with Potato for nearly half an hour. I sat on the flag-raising platform, with a mint candy in my mouth. My face was already dark as the sky. "Li—Chi—shu..."

He looked up from not far away, his eyes filled with the same energy as the little dog squatting by his feet, so excited to the point of being confused. "What's wrong?"

I stared blankly for a few seconds, letting go of the grievances that had built up in my stomach. With a calm expression, I asked, "There's still someone here. The school gate closes at nine o'clock. Do you want to leave me out here to dry?"

Li Chishu hesitated for a moment before running over with Potato in his arms and sitting next to me. Before he could say anything, I grabbed Potato and placed it behind me. As soon as I let go, the mischievous puppy immediately ran towards Li Chishu, only to be pushed away by me after a few steps. After a few back and forth, it targeted the hem of the back of my clothes, relentlessly biting and pulling back, not forgetting to occasionally whine toward Li Chishu pitifully.

Puppies are the enemy of the world.

Li Chishu's eyes kept scanning behind me, but when he noticed my silent expression of dissatisfaction, he withdrew his gaze and tried to strike up a conversation. "I heard that in the last monthly exam, Pan Ran from Class 24 correctly answered the key questions in physics and mathematics."

"Oh." I finished the candy in my mouth and unwrapped the next one. "Who is Pan Ran?"

Li Chishu paused for a moment. "The one... who's constantly competing with you for second or third place in our grade."

"I see," I replied nonchalantly, showing little interest in this person named Pan Ran.

Li Chishu asked, "You don't have any impression?"

I was confused. "Why should I have any impression of him?"

Li Chishu fell silent.

The silence continued until he and I walked together toward the school gate. Li Chishu was so lost in thought to the point that he was walking ahead by himself, completely unaware that he had left me and Potato behind.

The path out of the school gate is built along the school building. At the end of the path, there is a blind corner of the building, which is also a blind spot for surveillance. Next to it is the school's century-old tree, and at night, it gets so dark that it's impossible to see anything.

As Li Chishu approached that blind spot, I grabbed him. "Are you still thinking about that Pan Ran?"

Li Chishu didn't answer, but suddenly asked me, "Do you smoke?"

"......" I didn't expect that despite taking a shower before coming and eating candy all evening, Li Chishu would still notice.

I asked him, "When did you notice?"

Li Chishu said, "Today?"

"No, " I said. "Ever since you noticed me smoking."

He fell silent for a moment. "I actually smelled it the morning when you first brought me sandwiches."

He asked again, "Have you been smoking all this time?"

I denied, "I only started recently."

I have a cigarette addiction, but not as severe as Li Chishu's. Not as severe as the cigarette addiction of 27-year-old Li Chishu.

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