Chapter 119 #2
As Zhao Ke went to work on his assignments, Jiang Cheng sat down at his desk, pulled out his phone, and tapped open Xu Xingzhi’s WeChat Moments.
Xu Xingzhi’s display name seemed rather sophisticated— “ to act is to know ”—while his display icon was the character for the word “knowledge” written in brush calligraphy . 5 All of it gave off an old professorial vibe, which made for a heavy contrast with the actual content of his Moments posts.
They were almost all cat photos.
A wide variety of cat photos populated Xu Xingzhi’s WeChat Moments: his own cat, his friends’ cats, cats in cat cafés, and stray cats on campus. He even gave the familiar strays he saw nicknames that were more like code names, like Stray-A, Stray-B, Nomad-1, Nomad-2, and so on.
There were very few text posts in between the photos of cats. Jiang Cheng did a cursory scroll through and realized that they were all variations of the same thing.
What an adorable kitty.
Cute.
Master is the most beautiful.
Whatever Master meows is right.
Kitty kitty cat cat, so many cats.
Meow~
…Despite his Moments being a complete one-eighty from the impression he gave off in person, Jiang Cheng figured he would be an easy person to get along with.
He spun the phone in his hand. His mood was a little complicated right now. He felt a little hopeful; he wanted badly to grab onto that tiny shred of hope. At the same time, he worried he would be let down if he set his expectations too high.
In moments like this, he understood all too well how Gu Fei must have felt all these years.
The biggest difference between them was probably, as Pan Zhi said, naivete. Compared to Gu Fei, he was much more naive. He would fear disappointment on one hand while stubbornly holding on to hope with the other, refusing to let go.
***
“Take a look at Er-Miao’s forehead.”
As soon as Gu Fei went into the store, his mom pointed toward Gu Miao, who swerved nimbly through the aisles on her skateboard.
“She hit her head and grazed it,” she told him. “I wanted to put a tincture on the wound, but she won’t let me touch it. You better check it out.”
“Okay.” Gu Fei walked over. As Gu Miao rolled past, he stepped on her skateboard, picked her up, and set her down in front of him. “Let Gege take a look at your head.”
Gu Miao put her hand over her forehead.
“Did you run into a tree?” Gu Fei asked. He could see redness and swelling on the skin where Gu Miao’s hand couldn’t cover.
Gu Miao shook her head.
“Did you bump against something?” Gu Fei asked again.
“Lamp,” Gu Miao said in a very quiet voice.
“A lamppost? Did you crash into a lamppost?” Gu Fei held back his laughter.
Gu Miao nodded.
“Oh, look how impressive our Er-Miao is!” Gu Fei started laughing. “Forget trees, we’re crashing into lampposts now. Good job.”
Gu Miao put her hand down and looked back at him proudly.
The scrape was small enough—a tiny break in the skin—but it had swelled into a big bump. Gu Fei took out a first-aid kit to disinfect the surface before sticking a bandage on it.
After Gu Miao walked out the door, skateboard in hand, Gu Fei frowned to himself.
Judging by the area of skin the bandage covered, Jiang Cheng’s bump to the head should’ve been pretty similar to Gu Miao’s.
But if Jiang Cheng had hit his head and broken the skin, how was there no redness or swelling whatsoever?
Did his boyfriend have a forehead made of titanium, or was he not telling the truth?
Gu Fei sighed as he put the first-aid kit away and sat down behind the cash register. If ever Jiang Cheng didn’t want to tell him something, then that something must have to do with him.
He pulled out his phone and stared for a long time at Jiang Cheng’s name in his contact list before finally sending a message to Pan Zhi instead.
- Hot Pan?
- shoot
Seeing Pan Zhi’s reply, Gu Fei suddenly hesitated again. He wasn’t sure how to raise the question. How could he ask in a way that assured Pan Zhi that he was just worried and not being suspicious of his boyfriend?
- spit it out
- Nothing, just wanted to say your name
Gu Fei thought he must be wound up a little too tightly these days. He might’ve been worried about Jiang Cheng, but asking someone else about something Jiang Cheng didn’t want to tell him about was the kind of thing he never would’ve done before.
- you! bastard!
- Pls spare my life Lord Pan
- I can’t believe you’ve been corrupted too!
Gu Fei chuckled and put the phone back in his pocket.
***
Jiang Cheng had just come back to their dorm from the cafeteria, wondering if he should take the initiative and contact Xu Xingzhi first, when he got a call from the guy himself: “I’ll be at your school in about half an hour.”
“Huh?” Jiang Cheng blinked. “Where are you? I can go to you. I don’t want to make you come all the way here.”
“It’s on my way,” said Xu Xingzhi. “I’ll let you know to come out once I’m at the west gate.”
“Oh, all right,” Jiang Cheng replied. After hanging up, he turned to Zhao Ke beside him. “He said it’s on his way, but is it really on his way, or is he making a trip here just for this? I feel a little bad, like I’m troubling him.”
“It’s on his way,” said Zhao Ke. “Don’t worry. Zhao Jin and her friends aren’t that nice.”
“Ah.” Jiang Cheng looked at him.
“What I mean is, if it wasn’t on his way, he would definitely tell you to go to him,” Zhao Ke said. “So no need to feel bad.”
Jiang Cheng nodded. “Mm-hm.”
Jiang Cheng went to the west gate before Xu Xingzhi could call him again. It only took about twenty minutes of waiting before he spotted Xu Xingzhi walking over, fishing for his phone. When he waved, Xu Xingzhi smiled and put his phone back in his pocket.
“Didn’t I say to wait for my call?” Xu Xingzhi asked.
“It’s not like I have anything better to do after dinner,” said Jiang Cheng. “So…shall we find somewhere to sit down?”
“Let’s go to the coffee shop on your campus. That way, you won’t have to go back and forth.”
Jiang Cheng nodded. “Sure.”
Xu Xingzhi was a pleasant person to be around. Jiang Cheng had never had the occasion to ask anyone for a favor before, though; he couldn’t help feeling a little tense and uneasy, afraid that any wrong gesture or word on his part would put this guy off helping.
“So, your friend’s sister,” Xu Xingzhi said as they walked together. “Is she going to school?”
“She was in elementary school but dropped out two years ago. She’s been home ever since.”
“Special needs school or a regular elementary?” Xu Xingzhi asked. “Why is she not going anymore?”
“It’s a regular elementary school. I don’t think they even have a special needs school there,” Jiang Cheng said. “She…hit and injured another student, so she dropped out after that.”
“Does she usually exhibit aggressive behavior?”
“No. I’ve only seen her hit someone that one time, and it was because the kids were scribbling all over her notebook and insulting her.”
“So she is able to perceive other people’s attitudes, whether friendly or hostile,” Xu Xingzhi mused.
“Sometimes. But a lot of the time, she doesn’t seem to understand what we’re saying,” Jiang Cheng sighed.
They kept discussing Gu Miao as they walked, and by the time they arrived at the coffee shop, Jiang Cheng had gradually relaxed.
Xu Xingzhi had merely asked one question after another to get to know some details, but his even tone of voice and his steady cadence of speech allowed Jiang Cheng to let down his guard easily. It was probably a trick of the trade.
Although… Jiang Cheng remembered Zhao Jin and thought that perhaps that wasn’t the case for everybody.
The coffee shop wasn’t busy at this time of day. The two of them found a corner table and sat down.
“I’ll get a fruit tea—I’ve had way too much coffee these last couple days,” Xu Xingzhi said just as Jiang Cheng was about to order a pot of coffee.
“Sure.” Jiang Cheng ordered a pot of fruit tea instead. “Were you working into the night? Zhao Ke said you’re about to submit your proposal.”
“It’s not that exactly. I wouldn’t stay up to work on a proposal.” Xu Xingzhi chuckled. “My cat has been in a bad mood lately, so I stayed up to keep him company.”
“Huh?” Jiang Cheng stared in surprise.
“I’ve spoiled him rotten,” Xu Xingzhi said. “If I don’t play with him, he jumps onto the bed and stomps on my face. If he doesn’t sleep, I don’t sleep.”
“…Oh.” Jiang Cheng laughed. “You really like cats, huh? I saw that your timeline is full of cats.”
Xu Xingzhi smiled. “Yeah, as soon as I see a cat, I can’t take another step.”
When the fruit tea came, Jiang Cheng poured a cup for Xu Xingzhi and said, “Then am I keeping you from your feline master today? Will he be upset if you get home late?”
“I’ve prepared him wet food in advance.” Xu Xingzhi pulled out a pen and notebook from his bag. “I’ll take down some information first about your friend’s sister. We can start with the cause of her injury when she was little.”
“Okay.” Jiang Cheng warmed his hands around the cup. “She…was hurt when her dad threw her against a wall.”
Xu Xingzhi looked at him. “Biological dad?”
Jiang Cheng nodded. “Her dad was always abusive; both siblings were afraid of him.”
“And how is the relationship with their dad now?” Xu Xingzhi jotted down notes.
“He’s dead… It’s been years now,” said Jiang Cheng.
Xu Xingzhi’s pen stilled for a moment. “How did he die?”
“He got drunk and drowned.” Jiang Cheng frowned. He felt a pang in his heart for Gu Fei whenever he thought about this.
“How long was the interval between her dad hurting her and his death?” asked Xu Xingzhi.
“That…I’m not so sure.” Jiang Cheng thought for a moment. “My friend never mentioned it.”
Xu Xingzhi quickly wrote in his notebook. “Since then, has anyone talked to her about her dad?”
Jiang Cheng was a little dizzy from the series of questions. “It probably wasn’t brought up again. My friend would rather not think about it himself.”
“I see.” Xu Xingzhi nodded. “Would it be possible for me to chat with your friend?”
“Ah?” Jiang Cheng was taken by surprise.
“No?” Xu Xingzhi looked at him.
In theory, it would be much simpler for Xu Xingzhi to speak to Gu Fei directly.
But right now, with everything still up in the air, he was reluctant to let Gu Fei know about all this; he had already experienced too much disappointment.
Gu Fei never divulged the details of Gu Miao’s recent regression to him, but he could sense it in Gu Fei’s mood—the disappointment.
He didn’t want Gu Fei to experience dashed hopes again.
Besides, Gu Fei had never wanted him to carry Gu Miao’s situation around as his own cross to bear. At this point, he hadn’t even figured out how he would tell Gu Fei about all these things he’d done on his own initiative without Gu Fei thinking that he was holding Jiang Cheng back.
Jiang Cheng was a little caught off guard by Xu Xingzhi’s question. He had no idea how to explain the nuances and complexities of his reasoning to someone he barely knew.
But Xu Xingzhi didn’t press the matter. He turned his attention downward and continued filling out details in his notebook.
It was a while later when Jiang Cheng finally said, “I haven’t told my friend about this yet. I just wanted to see…if there’s any way…”
Xu Xingzhi smiled. “You’re afraid to disappoint him?”
“Mm.” Jiang Cheng sighed softly.
“He must be a very good friend,” Xu Xingzhi said.
“That’s understandable. It’s all right—the truth is, I can’t give a solid answer right now.
I have to go back and think on it. I have some ideas about the little girl’s condition, but I’d still like to discuss it with my advisor first to see if my initial assessment is correct. ”
Jiang Cheng nodded. “Of course.”
“If I can help, then we’ll talk about the best way to approach this,” Xu Xingzhi said.
“Sounds good. Thank you so much.” Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure what else to say. He wasn’t adept at conveying gratitude, but he worried that he’d come off as insincere if he didn’t try his very best. In the end, he only managed to repeat himself. “Really, thank you so much. Thank—”
“You really don’t need to be so formal.” Xu Xingzhi laughed and took a sip of the fruit tea. “You don’t seem like such a formal person based on your timeline posts.”
“Ah.” Jiang Cheng rapidly went through the contents of his WeChat Moments in his mind, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He didn’t post much, but there was no lack of boasting; things like “world’s most handsome man” and whatnot. “Ah.”
“So you don’t need to be so formal with me either. I’ve known Zhao Jin for a long time,” Xu Xingzhi said. “She’s helped me a lot in the past, so it’s nothing at all for me to help out her friend.”
“I’m…her brother’s friend.” Jiang Cheng corrected Xu Xingzhi without thinking. He was still immersed in his mental audit of particularly embarrassing and dorky posts on his Moments timeline.
“Oh.” Xu Xingzhi paused for a moment, then laughed again. “You’re pretty funny. All right, then—we’re friends now.”
“Hm?” Jiang Cheng looked at him.
Xu Xingzhi extended his hand. “Hi, my name is Xu Xingzhi.”
Jiang Cheng reached out and shook his hand. “Jiang Cheng.”