âI never expected that even youâd think of me to be like this. Canât anyone understand me? Iâm doing it for everyoneâs sake.â Xia Jiazuo said, feeling rather annoyed.
âDid we require you to help us? Did we ask you?â
âYou make it sound so good, but isnât it that you and Zhi Li were fighting for me? Isnât it that the feelings and emotions between you and him are that fragile after so many years of being together? Be with me. I wonât argue with you.â
âIt was because of you but not for you. He misunderstood the reason why I went to find him. I misunderstood his hatred to your attitude as treating me indifferently. Itâs not fragile. We fought because weâre humans. Weâre real people whoâd feel uncomfortable seeing the other together with someone else, whoâd also be angry because one said something awful to the other, but itâs all just because of love â too much love. Of course, I shouldâve also criticized my own self. How could I have a heart-to-heart talk in that place with the person that Zhi Li loathed and give him the cake that came from that same person? After all thatâs been said and done, I did something idiotic. On top of that, I even followed you. Iâve even been here talking nonsense with you a lot and it makes me feel sick. Donât think that Iâll sympathize with you. Who doesnât have a sad past?â Ke Bu left Xia Jiazuo and went inside: âDo you guys know whereâs Zhi Li?â No one paid attention to him. Even after he waited for a long time, there was still no one who paid attention to him.
âHey, Iâm asking you, are you with me?â
âHush!â
âHush? What hush?â
âZhang Luo has installed a device in Xia Jiazuoâs clothes. Donât be noisy. He seems to be arguing with Zhi Li.â
âWhere did you get this spyware?â
âFilthy, right? Now thereâs nothing that you canât buy online.â Zhang Luo answered.
When Xia Jiazuo caught sight of Zhi Li, he was not even so surprised. Zhi Li smiled and said: âIs it over?â
âHere comes another preacher. How annoying! Now, are you guys actually pretending to be a bunch of righteous people? All of you are obviously filthy shameless people who only talk about boobs, fighting and bullying the weak ones. Do you remember what I whispered to you before? Iâll take away those filthy things that you have from you. Unfortunately, theyâre hopeless. Theyâre basically wallowing themselves in degeneration.â
Zhi Li punched Xia Jiazuo in his face. It was a lot harder than the last time. He then indifferently started to talk: âThen let me tell you whatâs the reason why I punched you. Theyâre really filthy but you canât use the word âthingâ to call them.â If one would hear these kinds of words, that person would not be very happy, either!! Zhi Li grabbed Xia Jiazuoâs collar: âLet me see how clean you are.â
âI wonât fight with others. Iâm not like you.â
âThatâs really convenient for me.â Zhi Li kicked Xia Jiazuoâs stomach with his knee: âThen letâs see how dirty I am!â Zhi Li threw Xia Jiazuo into the schoolâs gutter. The width was very cramped for a big man like Xia Jiazuo, but Zhi Li actually trampled him down. His shoulders were bound up by the gutter and he could not climb up. He could not even move.
Chu Haoyu, Ying Xiujie, Gong Zhu and even Zhou Xinhe came to the railing and threw down scraps of paper, just like confetti, down to the gutter: âYou actually spoke about us like that. It was a pity that we even thought about letting you off the hook.â
Zhi Li did not want to come up to then so he turned around and walk away. Before Ke Bu went after him, he suddenly asked Su Youyan: âYouyan, why didnât Zhi Li turn into his dark transformation in this fight?â He still asked this question even in such a moment. Was it because he was worried that when he chased after him, Zhi Li was in his dark transformation? If that was the case, there would be no conversation between them for sure.
âYou also understand it in your heart. Thereâs a difference between being miserable and being irritated.â
âYouyan, thank you. Iâll go first.â Ke Bu ran toward Zhi Liâs direction.
Ke Bu caught sight of that personâs receding figure that has become one with the night and was made distinct by the night. It was so moving. Ke Bu ran up to him in a rush and grabbed Zhi Li. Zhi Li turned and coldly said: âDo you have a problem?â
âYes, I have many problems. I have a lot of things to say. Iâm sorry. Iâm sorry for everything. I shouldnât have said those shameful words, but you also shouldnât have let me be with others.â
Ke Buâs apology did not seem to have much effect. Zhi Li still acted the same. He grabbed Ke Buâs hand and said: âI know you said those words in anger.â
âThen why did youâŚ?â
âYou didnât get it?â
âWhat should I understand? Isnât it that this time, youâve won. You mustâve been ruthlessly laughing at me.â
Zhili looked at the boundless night sky: âI also have things that I canât stand.â
Ke Bu had a bad feeling. His throat felt dry and he was trembling: âWh, what?â
âYou.â
Ke Bu felt that he could not understand what Zhi Li said. He did not want to understand. His heart was in pain and even his body could not bear the pain: âDo you want to leave me?â Zhi Li did not say anything. Ke Bu hated this kind of silence: âSay it. What are you trying to say? What do you want to do? What do you want me to do? Didnât you say it before, even if we argue, youâd forgive me? Now⌠Liar âŚZhi Li, youâre the worldâs biggest liar. What are we going to do next?â
âYeah, what are we going to do next?â The words that Zhi Li uttered were torn by the wind and scattered entirely in Ke Buâs mind. At first, he thought that as long he would apologize nicely, then everything would be all right. He and Zhi Li would return to the way it was before. Their feelings have been accumulated but how come they could be so fragile just like this? Zhi Li turned around to look at Ke Buâs face. His dark eyes shone, and with a dull tone that was a bit bitter, he said: âYouâre afraid of me. Ke Bu, youâre still afraid of me.â
âItâs two different things.â Ke Bu did not deny that and Zhi Li could not help but laugh: âWhat do you want me to do then? Keeping you, whoâs afraid of me, stay by my side, are you trying to torture yourself or me?â
Ke Bu could not clearly see Zhi Liâs expression, but he could feel his loneliness. White spread in black â indeed, that was Zhi Liâs countenance. It was the first time that he caught sight of Zhi Liâs feelings. Ke Bu had forgotten. He was only thinking about his own pain so that he had forgotten the most important thing. He remembered those people who were calling Zhi Li a monster and looking at him with eyes full of dread. Although the girls liked him, they were equally afraid of him because of his highly unapproachable and unfathomable nature. They just looked at him with that kind of gaze from a distance. Zhi Li was lonely and alienated. He spent his childhood and youth with those dreadful gazes until he met Ke Bu. His loneliness attracted the otherâs loneliness. When he was redeemed, the other one was also redeemed. He stood by Zhi Liâs line of sight without the feelings of fear or inferiority to Zhi Liâs appearance. He smiled and said that he liked Zhi Liâs character; but now, he was just likes the others? Did he slowly change, all these years? Was the reason that once rescued him out from loneliness had now become his reason to be lonely?
Zhi Li turned around and left. Ke Bu opened his mouth but could not make a sound. It turned out that this was the real problem between them, the moment when Ke Bu suddenly avoided Zhi Liâs hand. What did Zhi Li think about during that time? Did it hurt him? Damn it. Dear me.
Indeed, he was so scared because, during that time, he could not sort out his feelings. However, he found it hard to say it and they seemed like sinking in quicksand â the more they struggled, the faster they sunk into the pain. Ke Bu ran after him with big strides and tightly clung on to Zhi Li from behind: âStop, stop⌠Zhi Li, donât go. Zhi Li, please donât go.â It was as if he returned to that time when they first met. During that time, he also begged Zhi Li, just like this. It was the same longing of wanting him to stay, although it was quite different now since this yearning was stronger than before. It made Ke buâs chest rise and fall out of uneasiness: âIâm a fool, Iâm hopeless. At that moment, I couldnât say it out loud, but now Iâll say it all for you to hear. Iâm sorry. I didnât notice that you also have your own weakness.â
âThereâs nothing for you to be apologetic about.â
âYou bastard, listen to me. Yes, I was scared of you. I was really scared because you used such a cold tone to talk to me. I was scared because you yelled at me. I was scared because thereâs disappointment in your eyes of me. I was scared. I was so scared. I was scared that youâll hate me. I was scared that you donât want me anymore. I was scared that youâll leave me. And what l was most scared of was that you donât love me, you bastard!â Ke Buâs voice was hysterical: âCanât you tell? I love you so much so that Iâm scared of you.â
Zhi Li felt the warm moisture seeping through his clothes from the back. With a soft and gentle voice, he teased Ke Bu: âAre you not Ke Bu? Ke Bu definitely wouldnât cry for Zhi Li.â
âRight now, Iâm not Ke Bu.â
âReally?â
âYes. Zhi Li, letâs not argue anymore in the future, okay?â
âI wonât argue with Ke Bu, nor will I argue with you.â
Ke Bu bit Zhi Li from behind but because it was winter, he was only able to bite Zhi Liâs clothes.
âThis is the second time.â Zhi Li suddenly said something that Ke Bu could not understand: âWhat?â
âYou owe me this time. You should repay me next time.â
Ke Bu held Zhi Li tighter: âZhi Li, do you like me?â
âYes, I like you.â
He knew that Zhi Li would definitely say this directly, but he really wanted to hear it. He really wanted to. He likes him. He really likes him.