Chapter 2 - Somebody help! There's a suicide! Yue Yue had a sharp tongue and Wu Qiqiong was already used to that. He decided not to argue with her. He crouched down and picked up her bag from the ground. With an apologetic smile hanging on his face, he passed the bag back to Yue Yue.
"If you don't like me in this state, I can lose weight, just for you."
"Stop wasting your saliva. It's not just a few kilograms we are talking about here. You can lose some weight, but your stinginess is hopeless! Everytime we go shopping, it has always been discounts and promotions. It's the same story with going to the supermarket. Even when we were to get a room, you will only choose those without internet and air-conditioner. My close girl friends are all driving their own car, yet I am still squeezing in subways!"
Wu Qiqiong, with his good nature, tried to console her. "Beijing have always been full of traffic conjestions. Furthermore the oil price is so high. It's really not worthwhile to drive on the road!"
Yue Yue was feeling infuriated with anger. "Right. Your monthly salary is merely just slightly over 2000 CNY. Things are so expensive in Beijing nowadays, isn't it a waste to get a girlfriend! So in order to help you to save money, let's just break up."
"Don't do this to me......" Wu Qiqiong swallowed his pride and pleaded, "I don't feel pain spending money on you."
"Right. There is a total of only a slight over 2000 CNY, what is there to feel pain about? Even if you muster all your courage and spend all, the most that you can get is a bowl of Dou Zhi* and two pieces of Jiao Quan*. What use does it have to graduate from a reputable school and end up working from nine-to-five. It's not much better than a college student. My best friend from childhood didn't even manage to graduate from high school, yet he is driving a BMW now. Even if you can't afford a BMW, at least get a Passat!"
Wu Qiqiong fished out a piece of tissue from his pocket and gently wiped off the sweat on Yue Yue with consideration.
"Don't worry. Don't worry. (We) will get one after few years.
"After a few years? With your damn pathetic salary? You're still thinking of getting a car? With that shabby house of yours, you still have the nerve to ask me to join you guys for a meal? Wu Qiqiong. Wu Jiqiong* (Super duper poor). How poor you are? Just looking at your name it bloody proves you can't prosper. That's it. You go back inside. Just tell your mother that it's over between us."
Yue Yue turned her head to leave and once again Wu Qiqiong grabbed onto her. The two of them start tugging at each other, which made the dog on the other side of the ally barked along.
"Is there really no possibility of turning back?" Wu Qiqiong's rheumy eyes look red.
To be frank, although Yue Yue could have a sharp tongue, she did not have a cold heart. If she had been so heartless, she would never have endured for such a long time before she decided to break up with him. Looking at Wu Qiqiong's pathetic state, Yue Yue felt wretched inside. She couldn't bare to do this, but there was simply no feeling left now. She had to break it to him sooner or later. When could this be over if she were to continue wavering like this?
"Wu Qiqiong, frankly speaking, I'm not rejecting you because you're poor. I just hate you for having no motivation. Ever since we were together, you have never done a single outrageous thing. Even if you were to fight with me or shout at me, at least refresh my life! To put it mildly, you are a modest person. To put it bluntly, you're a coward! Chu Wo Zi*!
There was a piece of brick lying beneath the utility pole behind where Yue Yue was standing. Wu Qiqiong stared at it blankly. He suddenly recalled reading from a novel called 'The Debris of Memory', whereby the protagonist, in an attempt to retrieve his love, smashed his head with bricks time and again. In the end waived a love story that touches deeply into every heart.
"I can die for you." Wu Qiqiong blurted out abruptly.
Yue Yue did not even blinked her eyelids on hearing that. She laughed it off as if it was a joke.
"You better don't die for me. Even if you were to slash you arm in front of me, I will call you the king!"
Wu Qiqiong edged over tepidly to the utility pole, slouched down and picked up the piece of brick that had a missing edge. His two hands were quivering like some rotten bamboo sticks tottering in wind. Finally, he managed to tighten his grip onto the brick and turned to face with Yue Yue, lips trembling vigorously.
"I'm......I'm going to smash it now. Don't you regret later."
Yue Yue threw him a side glance, not taking him seriously. She turned her head around and left.
Smash!
Yue Yue immediately stopped track and turned around. Her face was pale with horror.
Wu Qiqiong was lying on the ground. His body was jerking uncontrollably. His head was full of blood.
"Da Qiong*! Da Qiong! Please don't scare me! Somebody help! There's a suicide!"
T/N
*Jiao Quan, a deepfried dough ring, is a traditional Beijing snack. It is crispy and tasty. The locals in Beijing usually eat it with Dou Zhi (soybean milk). It is usually served as breakfast.
*It's a play of words as super duper poor in Chinese it sounds like and rhyme with his name, Wu Qi Qiong.
*Northern Chinese local dialect; means afraid to meet other strangers. Shy in public and talk endless with their closed ones. Another meaning is doing things at free will at home and acting like a coward once outside. Something similar to the phrase 'every cock crows best on its own dunghill', but in a bad way.
*Chinese have a habit of adding certain words to the character of their names for closed ones to make a nickname. And they make the name sound cute. For instance, Da(big)+name, Da Yu = Big Yu; Xiao(little)+name, Xiao Songshu = Little Squirrel, etc.