Chapter 120
X U XINGZHI WAS A VERY EASY PERSON to talk to, and conversation flowed without difficulty. All one needed to do to avoid awkward silences was to talk about cats. One “meow” and he could go on for three full minutes.
For someone like Jiang Cheng, who usually felt awkward around strangers and never had much to say, a cat-slave like Xu Xingzhi was great company.
“All right, I’ve made a note of everything you told me,” he told Jiang Cheng.
“I’ll organize my notes when I get home and reach out to you if I think of something.
To be honest, the way we’re going about this isn’t technically protocol, which makes it easy to misjudge the situation…
but let’s go with this for now. You can also reach out to me if anything else comes to mind. ”
“I will.” Jiang Cheng nodded, and after a moment of thought, spoke up again hesitantly: “So…about the fees…”
“Fees?” Xu Xingzhi looked at him.
“I mean, if treatment is possible, then…approximately how much would it cost?” asked Jiang Cheng.
“An exorbitant amount,” said Xu Xingzhi.
“Ah.” Jiang Cheng didn’t know what to say.
“I’m kidding. If I’m able to help out, I won’t charge you anything for it.” Xu Xingzhi smiled. “But other costs associated with treatment won’t be cheap. You may not think so in the short term, but it certainly adds up over time.”
“Oh.” Jiang Cheng suddenly felt immense pressure bearing down on him.
His brain whirred into motion, cogs spinning rapidly.
The money from tutoring definitely wouldn’t cover it, since he had to account for his tuition and daily expenses.
The usual textbooks and study materials all cost money, so he wouldn’t be able to save much after that.
He’d probably need to find another source of income, but that would really put a squeeze on his already jam-packed schedule.
As sparks flew in his churning mind, he asked, “Do you have a rough estimate? I have to think about how to budget for it…”
“Your friend’s little sister,” Xu Xingzhi said, looking at him, “and you’re footing the bill?”
“Huh?” Jiang Cheng’s brain ground to a halt. “Um… No, it’s… I…”
“Well, you won’t need to think about that until the next step in the process anyway,” Xu Xingzhi said.
“Whether treatment is possible, how to approach it, and how far it can go—these are all questions to be tackled as they come. Don’t worry too much about it for now.
If there’s hope, just hold on to it. She’s only eleven years old; there’s a whole lifetime to go. ”
“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng answered.
He’s right. If there’s hope, just hold on to it. There’s a whole lifetime to go. It wasn’t just Gu Miao’s lifetime, but Gu Fei’s too.
Jiang Cheng checked the time as they walked out of the coffee shop—they’d been talking for two hours. “Sorry for taking up so much of your time,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Xu Xingzhi. “I wasn’t doing anything today, anyway. You should get back to your dorm.”
“I’ll walk you to the gate,” Jiang Cheng said. “Are you going back to your campus? How are you getting there?”
“I live by my campus, I can just walk back.” Xu Xingzhi smiled. “No need to walk me.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Jiang Cheng insisted.
Xu Xingzhi glanced at him. “All right, then.”
“Will your cat master scratch you for being left alone the whole night?”
“No, he’s very classy. He doesn’t usually use his claws.” Xu Xingzhi laughed. “Normally in these situations, he just ignores me. So I have to placate him.”
“…Ah.” Jiang Cheng cracked up. A cat that would stomp on your face if you didn’t play with it was classy ? “You sure have a big heart.”
“Mm.” Xu Xingzhi nodded. “No other use for it for a single dog like me.”
Jiang Cheng laughed, and he felt a surge of pride well up at the mention of single dogs. If he didn’t control himself, he might accidentally commit animal abuse. He needed to control this impulse, especially since he was the one asking for a favor.
Still immersed in a gleeful “ha ha ha, tee hee hee, I’m not a single dog, I have a boyfriend, hee hee heee” mood, he took another five seconds before he suddenly recalled what Xu Xingzhi had said before.
“Your friend’s little sister, and you’re footing the bill?”
An awkward feeling washed over him. He wondered if Xu Xingzhi had figured anything out. People here were more tolerant and relaxed about this sort of thing, but Jiang Cheng didn’t want to expose himself for no good reason, especially since he had just met Xu Xingzhi and was asking him for help.
“You should get back,” Xu Xingzhi said when they reached the gates. “I’ll let you know if there’s any news on my end.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Jiang Cheng watched Xu Xingzhi slowly amble away into the distance before turning to walk back to his dorm.
His roommates were all still at the library. It was the month before finals, and aside from eating and sleeping, everyone was making use of every free second they had to dig into their books—the atmosphere was almost as tense as the last year of high school.
Jiang Cheng sat down at his desk and took stock of the neatly stacked books in front of him. Along with the books for his classes, there was also a stack of psychology textbooks, including various case studies.
Better study first. Jiang Cheng sighed quietly.
Looking at those books, he sometimes felt a surge of anxiety and helplessness.
How else could he arrange his schedule and how hard did he have to grind in order to hold on to Gu Fei and still stay on the right track academically?
He tried not to think too much about it.
He knew that Gu Fei would never agree to him doing this. Gu Fei had said a long time ago that he didn’t want anyone to make sacrifices for him. If Gu Fei knew what he was doing, he thought, it would surely put more pressure on him.
Jiang Cheng pinched the bridge of his nose. Never mind. He wouldn’t dwell on this for now. He would tackle the tasks in front of him and worry about the unsolvable problems later.
And now—study.
***
“Er-Miao.” Gu Fei crouched before Gu Miao. “Gege will ask you one more time—do you really not want to go anymore?”
Gu Miao kept her head down.
“Look at me,” said Gu Fei. “Do you not want to go play there again?”
Gu Miao lifted her head.
Gu Fei repeated, “You don’t want to go anymore? Have you made up your mind?”
Gu Miao nodded.
For a long time, Gu Fei looked at her in silence. Then he patted her on the arm, stood up, and poured himself a glass of water. When he’d gulped it all down, he finally said, “All right, then. We won’t go.”
Gu Miao picked up her skateboard happily and waited to follow him out the door.
“If you’re not going, then I’m going to go to class in the afternoon,” Gu Fei said. “You can play by yourself. Gege only has one class this afternoon. I’ll come home right after, so no need to wait for me there, understand?”
Gu Miao nodded. After she followed Gu Fei to school on her skateboard, she zoomed breezily back the way they came.
Gu Fei looked up at the sky and let out a sigh, then slowly walked inside.
Gu Miao simply refused to go to the therapy center again.
He had already tried twice to persuade her, and on both occasions, she’d expressed her resolve via screaming.
Gu Fei couldn’t force her to go. Her increasingly frequent screaming exhausted him mentally and physically.
If she wouldn’t go, then he had to let it be.
He’d dropped by the center in the morning to get a refund on the fee he’d already paid, but to no avail. The staff told him the fee was charged per term, not per session, so they couldn’t give him a refund, but they hoped that Gu Miao could continue to attend.
If this had been the old Gu Fei, with his old temper, he would have gotten the money back no matter what, even if he had to make a scene. This time, however, he turned and left without another word. He was in no mood to say anything else.
He couldn’t blame Gu Miao, so he blamed only himself.
The center had trial classes that charged by the session so people could try it out before committing.
Since Gu Miao had been there before, and it seemed to be good for her, he’d opted to commit.
But now, after he’d paid so much money, Gu Miao refused to return.
He didn’t have the strength for anything else—not even to lose his temper. All he felt was exasperation.
“Gu Fei.” The class president found him after class. “Do you have a minute?”
“Mm,” Gu Fei answered as he gathered up his stuff.
“Here’s the thing,” the class president began. “You know about the school event coming up?”
“I don’t,” said Gu Fei.
He really didn’t. He never spent an extra minute on campus outside of actual lessons, and he never interacted with any of his classmates. He would hardly know if anything happened in his class, let alone a school-wide event.
“You don’t even know about the school event?” The class president laughed. “You’re a real lone wolf, huh?”
“Get to the point,” said Gu Fei.
“They’re holding an event with the theme ‘A Song for the School,’ where everyone can help to create a new school anthem…”
“Not me.” Gu Fei cut him off and stood up. “I don’t have time, and I don’t know how.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know how? You’re too modest.” The class president stood up too. “The other students from Fourth High said you’re a very talented composer.”
“Who said that?”
“It’s—” The class president was flustered.
“Whoever said that,” Gu Fei went on, “can come and talk to me themselves.”
“…Gu Fei.” After a pause, the class president sighed. “They’ve got someone from every class participating, and everyone wants to bring honor to their class…”
“So I’m the only one who can bring honor to our class?” asked Gu Fei.
“You don’t have to put it like that,” the class president said with a frown. “If you don’t want to do it, just say so. You don’t have to be rude about it.”