/
【After tying his shoelaces and putting on a decent casual outfit, Guo An looked in the mirror again.
The reflection of a prosperous bearded man came into view.
Feeling satisfied, Guo An smiled and left the bedroom.
The luxurious hotel room’s warm lighting made people felt more comfortable.
“Let’s go, Lao Guo[1]! The bus is already here!” said a gentle middle-aged woman who was packing up the remaining luggage in the living room.
Staring at his wife, Yu Xiaoshan, Guo An’s eyes filled with tenderness. He rubbed the woman’s well-maintained hand, “Xiaoshan, thank you…”
The woman tucked her hair, blushing, “Aiya~ What are you talking about~ Lao Guo, you always behave like this ah… Oh well, hurry up! Don’t let others keep waiting for us!”
Guo An nodded and helped the woman bring the luggage out.
In the hotel lobby, a lot of people had gathered.
Looking at the clown in the hotel lobby, Guo An stopped walking.
The clown, who wore a well-ironed suit and clown mask, was holding a few magic balls.
He performed a magic trick for the people in the lobby, but his trick was so unskilled. This even made Guo An, who rarely watched magic tricks, scorned.
After a while, the clown finished his trick and bowed towards the crowd. However, no one gave a response, some people even started to curse.
“You fraud! Quickly go away! Don’t block the door! D*mn it, there are scammers like you everywhere!” A grey-haired youth cussed. He pushed the clown away and left the hotel.
Other people also left the hotel and walked toward the bus in front of the hotel.
Guo An followed and took his wife to the bus.
After the bus started to drive away, he glanced back.
Coincidentally, he saw the clown was walking out of the hotel. The clown was waving his hat at the bus, but his movement was strange and indescribable.
Looking away, Guo An glanced at his worried wife and smiled, “It’s okay, I’m just curious about that clown. Don’t worry.”
As the bus gradually drove away, the luxurious hotel slowly changed from its bright and beautiful appearance into a broken, burnt wall.
And the clown also disappeared.】
—— From《Bus of Hell》
【Zhou Yu, I can’t find you in Hell… but I can’t go to Heaven…】The man’s voice was full of unwillingness.
【Are you going to leave me?】The man mumbled in his ear.
【I’m begging you… please… stay with me…】His voice was so pitiful and heartbreaking.
【I will find you… wait for me!!!】the man obsessively screamed.
! ! !
The man’s voice and overlapping images began to fill his brain.
A hand? Calloused hand… this wasn’t mine…
Who is talking?
Who is Zhou Yu?
“Quickly go out! We need to leave now! Zhou Yu!!! Hey, are you done yet?!” A sharp, mean girl’s voice sounded from the door.
Soon, someone opened the door.
“Argh——Zhou Yu! You hooligan! Shameless——Mom——Look at this shameless b*st*rd!” The girl’s scream made his head hurt more, sobering him up.
As his vision cleared up, the youth slowly got out of the bathtub. Water droplets dripped off his cold white skin.
The youth blinked and spat water out from his mouth.
I fell asleep… It’s quite an experience.
He picked up a towel and wrapped himself tightly.
Erratically, the youth walked out of the bathroom.
Sure enough, it was his mother, who always loathed him, that was knocking on the door.
“Zhou Yu, hurry up! We need to go now!” his mother said, filled with discontent, “You also need to pay attention later! Xiao Zhi[2] is already grown up now, you need to become a good example as her big brother!”
Fiddling with his wet hair, Zhou Yu replied weakly, “I know, Mom.”
Zhou Yu didn’t even bother to explain that it was his sister who rush into his room.
It was useless anyway.
Even if he explained it, this woman called “Mom”, who was favouring his sister more, would not believe his explanation —— or maybe she believed it, but she did not want to blame her beloved daughter.
The woman’s footsteps gradually faded away. Zhou Yu dried his whole body and raised his room temperature —— After all, it was rare to stay in a good hotel like this. It would be a shame if he didn’t enjoy it to his fullest.
Besides, although it was summer, soaking in cold water for such a long time was too much for him.
The temperature constantly increased, dissipating the cold from his body. When his body temperature returned to normal, he began to blow his hair using a hairdryer.
Weng——weng——
The hairdryer sound replaced all other noise around him.
This made the youth who was still young, yet already experienced a lot, felt the long-lost peace.
I am behaving strangely today.
Usually, he would feel sad in the face of his mother’s apparent partiality.
But now, he wasn’t concerned about it at all. He didn’t even feel any affection left for his mother —— this was very strange, especially for him who always longed for his family.
Zhou Yu quickly dried his thick hair and looked at the mirror.
A grey-haired youth with a “smart” hairstyle[3]. His skin was so pale, making him looked like a ghost.
“Smart”?
Zhou Yu frowned, wondering why such thought crossed his head.
He used to think that this hairstyle was awesome and perfectly suited his arrogant temperament, but now it seemed—— well, it was still passable.
Fiddling with his hair awkwardly, Zhou Yu couldn’t help but wonder how he could boast this kind of hairstyle before.
What was I thinking before?
Zhou Yu examined his untrimmed hair that hung down to his neck.
Recently, he was fired from the factory where he worked, making him lose his financial income. He also hadn’t had time to cut his hair for a long time, even his originally short grey hair had grown into medium-length hair. In addition to his tender babyface, he looked like a girl if he didn’t talk.
Too sissy.
Zhou Yu went to find some clothes to wear in the closet expressionlessly.
As expected, those clothes didn’t suit his taste anymore.
Scanning at the colourful clothes studded with metal rivets[4], Zhou Yu wanted to laugh.
Am I really this childish?
Zhou Yu felt he had a headache again as he searched for decent clothing with no rivets. After some time, he tremblingly fetched a white shirt, a pair of jeans, and a black jacket.
Finally, a decent one.
Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed his clothes.
But when he walked to the mirror, Zhou Yu found a huge skull pattern on the jacket.
Zhou Yu took a deep breath but decided to put up with it —— because it was the only outfit that wasn’t too weird.
To be honest, he felt awkward. Why did I think that these clothes were nice and fashionable?
“Are you done yet? Hurry up!”
His little sister’s sharp voice sounded again, but this time she didn’t rush into his room.
Zhou Yu ignored her and tweaked his sleeves to make sure it wasn’t wrinkled. Finishing his adjustment, he looked at the mirror again and whistled.
“Perfect!”
After that, Zhou Yu immediately threw all the clothes that didn’t suit his taste into the closet, packed up a few pieces of underwear into his suitcase, and left his room.
Tn
[1] : “老郭”, translated as Lao Guo. Literally, this translated as Old Guo, but I decided to keep it in Chinese. Well, in China, for friends or acquaintances, you can add “老” (lǎo, old) or “小” (xiǎo, little) before their surnames/names.
[2] : “小枝”, translated as Xiao Zhi. The explanation is the same as above, so Zhi is Zhou Yu’s little sister’s name.
[3] : “杀马特”, translated as “smart” and it’s read as shāmǎtè. “Smart” is an edgy aesthetic from China. Picture below.
[4] : Picture for you if you’re wondering, “What is cloth studded with metal rivets?”