Chapter 20
The next morning, I was woken up by the sound of the television in my room. I opened my eyes and looked over to see my mom, already awake, leaning against the headboard and watching TV. Her face was bare of makeup, her hair a messy cascade of dark silk. Xiaoxia was no longer there. When she saw I was awake, a blush instantly spread across her beautiful face, like a hibiscus emerging from the water, as if she were ashamed of the absurdity of last night. But she quickly regained her composure, gave me a sweet smile, and said, "You're awake, son?"
"Mm," I answered, climbing out of bed. After standing by the bed and stretching with a big yawn, I continued, "I slept so soundly last night! How about you, Mom?"
"Oh? Me? I, I slept alright." After hearing my question, her demeanor became a bit unnatural again, and her answer was hesitant. But I didn't want to bring up what happened last night, so I put on an innocent act, as if I knew nothing, and asked her, "Mom, where are you guys taking me today?" Seeing me ask this, her expression immediately relaxed, and she smiled back, "Well, where do you want to go?"
"Me? Let me think. Oh, right. I want to go boating on Moon Lake, eat snacks at Gulou Snack Street, and play video games at the arcade on the top floor of the Jin'an Department Store." I said all this in one breath, then paused before asking, "Is that okay?"
"Of course! We'll head out after we finish lunch." She answered with a smile, showing no objection. Then, my mother and I started chatting. We had only exchanged a few words when Xiaoxia, fully dressed and looking radiant, walked into the room.
The moment he saw my mom upon entering, a smirk curled up on the corner of his lips, a knowing and suggestive smile. At that moment, I turned to look at my mom, only to see her glare at Xiaoxia before lowering her head, her cheeks flushed, looking shy and charming.
"I say, you two should be getting up, right? It's almost time to eat." By now, he was sitting on the edge of the bed I'd slept in, speaking to the two of us.
"Son, why don't you go brush your teeth and wash your face first?" As soon as he finished speaking, my mom said this to me. I didn't say anything in response and just walked out of the room, heading to the bathroom to wash up.
By the time the three of us left the room to go to the restaurant downstairs for lunch, it was already past noon. After a quick meal, they took me to all the places I had requested. I had a great time the entire afternoon. We didn't miss a single thing. Boating, eating snacks, playing video games, I did it all. Seeing how happy I was made them very happy too. They spared no effort in playing with me; Xiaoxia even acted like a big boy at the arcade, playing video games with me. My mom, with her elegant and graceful bearing, watched the two of us shouting and hollering as we played. This scene occasionally drew sideways glances from passersby.
As night fell, we returned to the hotel after a full afternoon of fun. Exhausted and sore all over, I went to bed early after dinner. I slept like a log that night, not waking up until the next morning. So I wasn't sure if they had made love that night. It was only from her sweet sleeping posture, which carried a look of happiness and satisfaction, and the faint, distinctly masculine scent lingering in the room that proved something had happened again last night. Thinking about everything that had happened these past few days, I grinned silently to myself. I turned over and went back to sleep.
The twenty-something-day winter vacation was over. I returned to campus to start my studies.
My grades had dropped drastically last semester. After the opening ceremony, the head teacher called me over and gave me a scolding, telling me to focus on my studies and not let my mind wander. I sincerely assured him that I would study hard from now on. For a while after that, I did indeed cast aside the distracting thoughts in my mind and focused on my studies. At the same time, my mom went to a driving school in the county to learn. My mother and I still talked on the phone every few days to catch up. Through her stories, I learned that Xiaoxia had been very busy with work lately and occasionally had to travel on business, so he didn't have much time to spend with her. Because of this, she felt very lonely during this time, and her words on the phone were filled with an unconcealable melancholy and resentment.
But their business was something I couldn't and didn't want to get involved in. So all I could do was comfort her over the phone and tell her not to overthink it. And also, to make plans to visit her on the weekend. That was all.
Soon, the weekend arrived. I went to Yunfei Residential Complex as planned with my mom. As I was getting close, she sent me a text message. I opened it and saw that she was telling me she wasn't home but at the driving school and wouldn't be back until noon. She also told me where the spare key was hidden and told me to let myself into her and Xiaoxia's place first.
After reading the message, knowing what to do, I didn't take long to get to the apartment. I found the key under the doormat, opened the door, and walked in. The room was empty. According to my mom, Xiaoxia had gone to Guangzhou for the past couple of days and wasn't here. I changed into a pair of slippers, went to the computer desk, sat in the chair, and casually turned on the computer. I started searching for the sex video of my mom and Xiaoxia that I had seen last time. But to my disappointment, the video had been deleted, and they hadn't filmed any new ones. Seeing this, I stopped searching and instead opened QQ to chat with the people online.
After chatting freely for over two hours with people from all over the country, whose names and identities I didn't know, I logged off. I looked up at the wall clock; it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon.
"Why isn't Mom back yet? Should I call her?" With this thought in mind, I took out my phone and dialed her number.
"Beep… beep. Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily out of service. Please try again later." A voice prompt came from the phone. Unwilling to give up, I dialed again, but it was the same as before.
So I had no choice but to hang up. While guessing why she wasn't back yet, I went into the kitchen, took a carton of yogurt and a bag of cake from the fridge, and sat on the sofa in the living room to eat. I quickly finished the food, but my mom still hadn't returned. After thinking it over, I got up, put on my shoes, grabbed the key, and left the apartment. I went to the entrance of the complex to wait for a taxi to go to the driving school to see what was going on.
On the road outside the complex entrance, I waited for a few minutes before hailing a taxi. After telling the driver the address, he turned the car around and headed toward my destination. Just as the car turned the corner in front of the complex, I was looking out the window, happened to see my mom. She was just getting out of a yellow-plated Santana instructor's car on the right side of the road, in the middle of the block. In the blink of an eye, the taxi I was in passed by the instructor's car. I quickly turned to look over and saw that after getting out of the car, my mom didn't leave immediately. She was still standing by the driver's side window of the instructor's car, bending over to say something to the person inside. Seeing this, I immediately asked the driver to stop. After paying the fare, I got out and walked step by step in her direction.
Just as I was about to reach her, she straightened up and was about to leave. Seeing this, I quickly called out, "Mom!" She heard me, turned her head, and when she saw it was me, she started walking towards me. As she walked, she asked, "Xiaojun, why did you come down? Didn't I tell you to wait for me at home?" I was about to answer when a figure leaned out from the driver's side window of the instructor's car which hadn't left yet, and said to me, "Hey, aren't you He Jun? What? You're Auntie Shen's son?" Hearing this, I focused my gaze on the driver's seat, and a handsome, refined, and spirited face appeared in my line of sight.
"Him?!" My heart skipped a beat when I saw this person, and I couldn't help but take a step back.
Why did he have such an effect on me? That person's name was Chen Kai, a student in the third year of high school at my school. Don't be fooled by his refined appearance. When it came to his reputation, no one in our school didn't know his name. Forming cliques, fighting, harassing girls, insulting teachers, all these terrible deeds, which we considered utterly rebellious, he had done them all.
Two girls at the school had even been impregnated by him and were eventually forced to transfer schools. All these misdeeds were swept under the rug, major issues turned into minor ones and minor ones into nothing, all thanks to the full efforts of his father, the county's Party Secretary. The school leadership could do nothing about him, as they all had to make a living under his father's administration. You have to respect the face of the Buddha even if you don't respect the monk.
So they turned a blind eye to him, as long as he didn't go too far. He was happy with this arrangement and spent most of his days away from school, just hanging out. As for how he knew me, it was because when I first started high school, a classmate of mine who I got along with had hung out with him for a while. Sometimes when I went to find that classmate, I would see Chen Kai too. If he was in a good mood, he would greet me and offer me a cigarette.
So we were more or less acquaintances.
While my mind was in a jumble of chaotic thoughts, I heard my mom ask him, "Chen Kai, you know my son?" She was dressed very beautifully today. Her black wavy hair cascaded down her back. She wore a knee-length, expensive, light-gray suit dress that was cut in a generous and dignified style yet retained a feminine charm. A pair of long, shapely legs were sheathed in a subtle layer of flesh-colored stockings, and she wore black, mid-heeled, strap leather shoes. She was the very picture of an elegant, mature, white-collar beauty.
"Yeah, Auntie Shen. What a coincidence." Seeing me hesitating, as if I didn't dare to talk to him, he didn't seem to mind. He sat in the driver's seat and answered my mom with a big smile.
Then he said to my mom, "I'm really sorry about today, Auntie Shen. I broke your phone. Just make do with this one for now. In a few days, I'll pay for you to go buy a better one."
"Oh, it's alright. Didn't you already compensate me for the phone just now? There's no need to buy another one. I think this one is quite good."
"That won't do! When I say something, I mean it. Well then, I'll call you later! Auntie Shen, He Jun, goodbye!" His tone was firm and left no room for argument. After speaking, he waved casually at my mother and me, then drove off. My mom and I also turned and walked towards Yunfei Residential Complex.
On the way back, I asked my mom about her phone. She slowly explained it to me.
It turned out that Chen Kai was also learning to drive and happened to have the same instructor as my mom. Today, their practice group was at the driving school. When it was Chen Kai's turn to drive, he lost focus for a moment and almost hit another instructor's car that was practicing on the same lot. My mom was in the car at the time, and she was just taking out her phone to call me.
She didn't have a firm grip on it, and the inertia from his sudden braking made her stumble. The flip phone flew out of her hand, hit the concrete pavement, and split in two. Later, after class was over, he began apologizing profusely to my mom, borrowed a car from the instructor and took my mom to a phone store to buy her a new phone as compensation.
Then he drove her back. After she finished explaining, I immediately told her about some of the things Chen Kai had done at school. After hearing this, she couldn't help but frown and said to me, "I never thought he would be so bad at school! Then again, who learns to drive while still in high school? And during school hours, at that." Seeing my mom say this, I felt inexplicably relieved. The two of us continued walking towards the complex and arrived shortly after.
Since it was past lunchtime, and I had already eaten something and wasn't very hungry, my mom only cooked a simple bowl of plain noodles in the kitchen. She brought them out and told me to have some too. I didn't refuse and ate the noodles with her. Then we sat on the sofa, watching TV and chatting. She was probably tired from practicing driving all morning, and after a little while, she started to yawn repeatedly. Seeing her like this, I told her to go take a nap. She agreed, so she got up and went to the bedroom to sleep. After she closed the door, I picked up the TV remote and turned the volume down a bit. Then I continued watching my favorite TV program.
At two-thirty, my mobile phone rang. I answered it without looking at the caller ID.
"Hey! Ajun. What are you up to?" the voice on the other end asked. I listened to the voice, and when I recognized who it was, my heart grew uneasy again. But I didn't hesitate with my mouth and immediately replied, "Nothing much, just watching TV. What about you, Aze?" Aze's full name was Wu Haoze, the same classmate of mine who had followed Chen Kai. I heard him get straight to the point and say to me, "I say, Brother Chen just called me. He told me to ask you to go to the teahouse on the first floor of the county cultural center to find him. He has something he wants to talk to you about." After hearing his words, my heart started beating even faster. I didn't even hear what he said next, mumbled a few vague replies, and hung up the phone. Thinking about the person I was about to meet, my heart was in turmoil. But I knew I couldn't not go. If I didn't go today, he could find me at school tomorrow, the day after, and every day after that.
"If it's a blessing, it's not a disaster. If it's a disaster, you can't avoid it," I muttered to myself. After slowly calming down, I went to the bathroom to wash my face, tidied up a bit, and then headed out.
The taxi dropped me off at the entrance of the teahouse on the first floor of the cultural center. When I went inside, I saw that it was full of customers, and Chen Kai was sitting at the first table by the window. When he saw me arrive, he smiled at me, then immediately waved a waiter over and said a few words in his ear. After receiving his instructions, the waiter politely led him and me to a private room inside. After we were both seated, he ordered a cup of West Lake Longjing tea for himself, then asked me, "What about you? What would you like to drink?"
"The same is fine," I replied.
"Then bring a pot of Longjing, from Meijiawu. And a plate of mixed nuts, and a plate of locally produced watermelon seeds. Make it quick." He finished ordering quickly. After the waiter wrote down the order, he walked out of the private room and closed the door. At this point, he took a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket and casually offered me one. I took the cigarette and was about to light it with my own lighter.
There was a 'click' sound. I looked up and saw him holding an open "ZIPPO" lighter, emitting a faint blue flame, which he extended towards me. So I used it to light my cigarette, took a drag, blew a smoke ring, and said to him, "Thanks."
"You're welcome." After he finished speaking, he lit his own cigarette too. After taking a few puffs, he asked me, "Why did you look like that when you saw me at noon today?"
"Heh." Not knowing how to answer, I could only use a dry laugh to cover it up. Seeing that I wasn't answering his question directly, he also temporarily stopped pressing the issue. He focused on smoking his cigarette, and I did the same. For a moment, the private room was filled with gray smoke.
By the time we finished our cigarettes, the waiter came in with the tea and snacks we had ordered. After setting everything up, he left the private room. Seeing that the waiter was gone, Chen Kai picked up his teacup, took a small sip, held it in his mouth for a moment before swallowing. He even closed his eyes to savor the taste. Before he could open his eyes, I started asking him, "Brother Kai, what did you call me here for today?" Hearing my question, he slowly opened his eyes, his expression full of amusement. I heard him ask me in return, "Your parents are divorced, right?"
"Hm?" I was a bit surprised by this question, and a sound escaped my lips. Seeing my reaction, he didn't seem to think much of it and continued to ask, "Your dad's name is He Weiguo, he works at our county's Agricultural Bureau, and a few months ago he went to Tianxi County in the neighboring province to support their rural development work. Right?" I nodded after hearing this. Then he threw out a third question: "Your mom's current lover is named Xia Tianhong, the general manager of the provincial Xingye Group's branch office in our county. Correct?"
"Just say what you mean. Tell me straight what you want." I didn't want to beat around the bush with him anymore and asked him directly.
"Heh." He smiled, his eyes staring straight at me, and said to me in a slow, light tone, "I don't want anything. I'm just here to give you a heads-up in advance. I want to be friends with your mom. I hope you won't interfere. It's as simple as that."
"But she already has a boyfriend." I suppressed the anger in my heart and tried to slow down my speech as I said this.
"Oh? Is that so? But she used to have a husband, didn't she? In the end, how did she run off with another man? Making your dad, He Weiguo, a laughingstock for everyone at the Agricultural Bureau." His words were like a fuse, instantly igniting the anger in my heart. I was about to stand up and rush over to punch him a few times, but he unhurriedly held both hands out in front of him, making a gesture for me to calm down. He also quickly said with a chuckle, "Hey, hey, brother, don't be angry. I'm just like that, my mouth runs away with me. My apologies, my apologies!" While he was saying this, I had already stood up and was staring at him coldly. After he finished speaking, I said, "Goodbye!" Then I turned and walked out of the private room.
I walked aimlessly along the bustling street. My heart gradually calmed down. What was there to say? My mom made one wrong step, and now every step is wrong. When heaven sends a disaster, there's still a chance; when you bring disaster upon yourself, you cannot live. Ancient proverbs are all words of wisdom.
"I'll just take it one step at a time," I thought to myself, quickening my pace and moving forward.
*****
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