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Twenty-Fifth Period
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Zhou Yanli froze in place for a long while, until Jiang Huihui’s startled cry made him return to his senses.
He wasn’t stunned because the other guy had a knife, but rather he was shocked that Zhou Jinwei had actually blocked the knife for him.
The blood kept flowing. Zhou Jinwei had pressed tissues over the wound, so he couldn’t tell exactly how long the cut was.
That person was just a paper tiger, liking to act tough. Seeing that someone really got hurt, he turned and ran, too scared to think about anything else.
Zhou Yanli tightly furrowed his brows, wanting to have the guy dragged back here.
Zhou Jinwei stopped him, “Forget it.”
“Forget what, he….” Zhou Yanli still had a menacing look on his face.
However Zhou Jinwei’s one line thoroughly extinguished his flames, “You made the first move, so what use is there dragging him back? You want to get hauled into the station again?”
Zhou Yanli fell silent, his gaze landing on the hand that got cut.
Jiang Huihui had a worried look, nearly about to cry. Those tissues very quickly got dyed red by the blood. She took off the scarf around her neck and wrapped it around his hand, “Let’s go to the hospital first——will the blood run dry?”
Her words left Zhou Jinwei feeling rather helpless, “I seem to recall that you got full marks in biology.”
She pursed her lips, the corner of her eyes a bit red.
She was timid by nature, always abiding by the rules growing up, the kind that would take a detour whenever seeing a fight.
However, recently, she had witnessed all kinds of scenes.
Zhou Jinwei glanced at Zhou Yanli. The latter had turned his head, his lips pressed together very tightly. The contours of his profile were still firm, yet in this moment, it was like veiled in a layer of light mist, with an unseen emotion hidden underneath.
–
They went to a nearby clinic to treat the wound. The cut wasn’t deep, but he still got a few stitches, without the anesthesia.
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Jiang Huihui was too scared to watch. She sat outside waiting, her hands shaking nonstop.
Zhou Yanli saw and thought that she was cold, so took off his coat and handed it to her, “Put it on, the temperature is low at night.”
She didn’t wear it, just holding his coat in her arms, her tears still streaming, “Zhou Jinwei, he…..should be fine, right? How about you go in for a look? How come there isn’t any sound? It can’t be that he passed out from the pain?”
Zhou Yanli took a glance inside. The person didn’t pass out, still sitting there, just frowning a little.
It definitely was going to hurt. After all, it was directly using the needle to stitch the wound, without even applying anesthesia.
He sure could endure, not even letting out a grunt.
Zhou Yanli stood leaning against the wall.
But if he really were to groan, he perhaps would even look down on him.
Merely stitching a wound, what’s there to groan about.
About ten minutes later, Zhou Jinwei came out from inside, his wound wrapped in bandages.
The doctor also prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine for him, instructing him to not let the wound come in contact with water for the next few days.
Zhou Jinwei nodded and gave his thanks.
The streets at 2am were completely empty, not a pedestrian in sight. As far as the eyes could see, only this 24-hour clinic still had its lights on.
It made this already cold and quiet city seem even more desolate. Gust after gust of cold wind made the leaves on the ground whirl in the air, only to fall again in the end and return to silence.
Jiang Huihui’s gaze was fixed on Zhou Jinwei’s injured hand the whole time, her eyes containing very obvious worry.
Zhou Jinwei’s tone was relaxed, “Don’t worry, the stitches can be taken out in half a month.”
She had cried, so her eyes were a bit red. Zhou Jinwei glanced at the scarf in his hand. It was already stained with blood.
When passing by a roadside trash can, he attempted to throw it away but got stopped by Jiang Huihui.
“Why throw it away?” She didn’t understand.
He said, “It’s dirty.”
Jiang Huihui took the scarf from him, “Just need to wash it.”
Hearing her say this, Zhou Jinwei nodded and didn’t say more.
Zhou Yanli who was normally the most talkative also became particularly quiet today. Thus, on the way home, the three of them were unusually silent.
The alley lit by motion-sensor lights was narrow and cramp, the buildings tightly packed together, practically not leaving any gaps between them.
Because it couldn’t be reached by sunlight, the surface was forever wet.
When walking, they even had to carefully avoid those puddles.
The shops on both sides were closed. The people here clearly don’t have the habit of keeping the signs on all night, for the sake of saving a few hundred on the electricity bill each month.
There was only a streetlight every ten or so meters, its glow negligible.
As a result, only a few puddles could be successfully avoided.
Zhou Jinwei’s obsession with cleanliness made him furrow his brows at times like this. Judging from his expression, stepping in a dirty puddle was even more unbearable than getting stitches without anesthesia.
Zhou Yanli’s expression couldn’t be made out in this dim environment. He was very quiet the entire way.
If switched with any other day, he would’ve long started cursing and grumbling.
No matter how slow Jiang Huihui was, she could still sense that the atmosphere was off. Several times along the way, she wanted to open her mouth, but in the end she held back every time.
Forget it, it seemingly wasn’t appropriate to say something at a time like this.
After returning home, she very quickly fell asleep. It was too late, almost three in the morning. Based on her usual sleep schedule, when there’s no homework, she will already be in bed before ten.
In the living room, the light was still on.
Zhou Jinwei was scared of waking Jiang Huihui, so carefully entered his room and took out his clothes.
Zhou Yanli somehow had gotten himself a pack of cigarettes from somewhere, smoking one outside, and only coming in after the smell had dissipated.
When he came in, Zhou Jinwei had just poured a cup of water and was rummaging through the medicines the doctor had prescribed, finally taking out a box and opening it.
Zhou Yanli didn’t say a word. After coming in, he just stood against the wall, watching all of this with a heavy look in his eyes.
All the way until Zhou Jinwei used the water to take the medicine, “Have something to say to me?”
“Yeah.” Zhou Yanli lifted his chin.
From the moment he saw Zhou Jinwei’s hand get injured at the net cafe, until now, he hasn’t said more than five sentences.
On others, this might be normal, but on him, it was particularly unusual.
Zhou Jinwei put down the cup and quietly waited.
Zhou Yanli somewhat awkwardly looked to the side, even if there was nothing there. He just refused to look at Zhou Jinwei.
“Sorry.”
Zhou Jinwei was momentarily stunned, even thinking that he’d misheard, “What?”
This reaction of his, in Zhou Yanli’s eyes, just had a different meaning. He said in annoyance, “More or less enough——what, even want me to apologize twice?”
Zhou Jinwei was actually left a bit speechless by his words. A moment later, he laughed, “Really didn’t hear clearly.”
Zhou Yanli didn’t bother to respond to him. He took out his phone from his pocket and pressed a few times.
Immediately after, Zhou Jinwei’s phone sounded.
He glanced at him, then unlocked his phone. The message was from Zhou Yanli who was standing in front of him.
[Sorry, today’s matter was indeed my fault. My mistake, I admit.]
Zhou Jinwei similarly used the phone to reply to him.
[Will you get into fights again in the future?]
He furrowed his brow, typed a few letters, and hit send.
[Depends.]
Zhou Jinwei shook his head.
The two of them were rather ridiculous, merely standing less than two meters apart, yet still used the phone to communicate.
Clearly, they both realized this problem, putting down their phones at the same time, appearing somewhat speechless.
In the end, it was still Zhou Jinwei who spoke first, walking to fridge and asking him, “Drink beer?”
Zhou Yanli remained silent for a moment before nodding his head, “Sure.”
He answered quite reluctantly.
Because there was still class tomorrow, Zhou Jinwei just took out two cans of light beer, handing him a can.
Zhou Yanli slightly frowned, casting a glance at that pile of medicine on the table, “Can you drink?”
“It’s fine.” He popped the tab with one hand and stood casually leaning against the table behind him.
No wonder he’d spent that long rummaging through them just now. Turns out he was trying to see which medicine will allow him to drink afterwards.
They’d just moved in today, so a lot of things weren’t ready. Zhou Jinwei originally had given a key. That place was in an excellent location and had a nice environment. In any case, it was don’t know how many times better than this place.
Zhou Yanli said no need. He’d long found a place.
Precisely here.
That family perhaps saw that they were young, so raised the price on them. Zhou Jinwei was too lazy to waste his breath on this kind of matter, so just signed the contract on the spot.
Zhou Yanli felt that the only thing that didn’t change about his dad was that lofty arrogance hidden beneath his calm exterior.
He didn’t have this. This bit, he actually didn’t inherit.
The door although was closed, considering the poor soundproofing here, and afraid of waking Jiang Huihui, the two of them instinctively lowered their voices.
After a period of mutual silence, Zhou Jinwei was the first to open his mouth, “Your dad doesn’t care about you?”
He was referring to him getting into fights.
“Yeah, he doesn’t care, I was raised by the nanny.” Zhou Yanli took a sip of beer. Probably finding it hard to drink, he furrowed his brows, then relaxed them again a moment later, “What does the nanny know? She’s just working for the money, afraid of offending her employer and losing her job. So at home, whatever I say goes. Matters that can be solved with money, in my view, are all trivial matters.”
Yet, it just so happens that almost everything in this world can be solved with money.
“When I was little, probably this small.” He used his hand to gesture in front of himself. He was sitting, so the height he indicated just reached his chin, “I got pinned to the ground and beaten up by a few kids my age. The reason why, I’ve already forgotten. Anyways, I got beaten pretty badly. As for how the matter was handled afterward, I’m not clear. I just know that when those people got brought before my hospital bed by their parents to kneel down and apologize, their injuries weren’t lighter than mine. After that, they all disappeared without a trace. You could say that, as far as I was aware, there was no record of them anymore.”
Zhou Jinwei looked at him, the hand holding the can unconsciously exerting strength, denting the can.
Zhou Yanli’s gaze was calm, as if he were talking about someone else’s matter, “Yeah, my dad is very impressive, with tremendous power and influence. No one dared to offend him. Even if I committed an enormous mistake, he can also quietly smooth it over for me. If I get bullied, he will make them pay a hundredfold. But when I’m getting beat, he’s unable to appear by my side. I used to think that I was an orphan——whose son only gets to see their dad three times in three years?”
Zhou Jinwei felt his breathing suddenly grow heavier. He wanted to take a sip of beer, but discovered that the can was somehow already empty.
He lowered his head, his throat tightening.
“Your father, isn’t worthy of being a father.”
After a very long silence, he finally opened his mouth in a hoarse voice.
Hearing the Zhou Jinwei of the past commenting on the Zhou Jinwei twenty years from now, Zhou Yanli suddenly wanted to laugh, “Right, I also feel he’s not qualified.”
“Do you hate him?”
He paused for a moment and then shook his head, “No, he’s my only family in the world.”
Zhou Jinwei had long noticed that he was someone who deeply cared for those around him.
Familial love, for him, rose above all other feelings.
Including himself.
Zhou Yanli took a sip of beer, sitting casually. His hand holding the beer rested on his knee, while the elbow of his other arm propped against the backrest behind him.
Perhaps because of the alcohol, or perhaps because in the depth of night, people are more likely to reveal their true feelings, this was his first time telling someone these things, “I used to often think, how great it’d be if I’d been a bit older when my mom was sick, or if the disease she had was one that could be cured with an organ transplant. Whether it’s a kidney, or a liver, I can give it all to her, as long as she can live.”
Zhou Jinwei asked him, “You miss her very much?”
He lowered his head, hooking his lips into a smile. His eyes were a bit red.
Zhou Jinwei heard the restrained choked-up tone in his voice.
But he held it in, not crying, “Of course I miss her, miss her every day. I think of her when I’m walking, think of her when I’m eating, even when sleeping, I also think of her. Especially when I’m sick, I think of her even more. I would think of how much pain she was in back then, was it even more unbearable than what I was feeling? She was a girl, so certainly must have been very scared of the pain. At the time, how did she endure? An entire year, she did chemo for an entire year. My little aunt said that towards the end, the hospital even started putting her on an analgesic pump.”
“I don’t know how I came to this place. I also don’t know when I will go back. This matter is too incomprehensible. Everything is unknown. Anyways…..you must take care of Jiang Huihui.” At first, he was still being sentimental, but then his tone changed, starting to threaten him, “Else I’ll make you regret it.”
Zhou Jinwei was rather curious as to how he was going to make him regret.
Zhou Yanli said, “I’ll get into fights every day and make you clean up after me.”
He chuckled, but didn’t speak.
There were voices coming from inside the room, interrmittenly, without any logic. It was probably Jiang Huihui dream-talking.
“I’m not sure about the things in the future, but at the very least, this bit of responsibility, I still have.” Zhou Jinwei had the crushed can in his hand thrown into the trash can, barely making a sound.
“What?” Zhou Yanli looked up.
“I won’t have a child and not raise him.”
Unknown as to why, Zhou Yanli somehow heard a promise from these ordinary words of his.
He blanked for a moment, suddenly smiling, “You best remember these words of yours, else I will let you end up with a son that’s even more rebellious than I am.”
Zhou Jinwei stood up, going to the fridge again to get beer. By the time he came back, this side had already fell silent.
Zhou Yanli had already lain down, his hand still holding that half can of beer.
Zhou Jinwei shook his head. If you can’t drink, then don’t drink.
He went over to carry him back to his room, patting his shoulder, “Zhou Yanli?”
As soon as he said this, he just saw him sit up on his own like a spring.
“F#%$, who do you think you are calling me by my name?! I’m your dad!”
“……”
Even when drunk, he had hell of a temper.
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