Chapter 43

43 | Incident on the Road

What about you, is there a boy who you like?

He said, “Yes.”

Pang Qian’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Gu Mingxi to answer that way. When they were at school, she was always with him, but she’d never seen any signs that he was interested in a girl. Pang Qian asked, “Who?”

Gu Mingxi looked at her, then suddenly countered, “What about you, is there a boy who you like?”

“You tell first!”

“First answer my question.”

Pang Qian became bashful. Looking at the students in front of them, she made sure that no one was paying any attention to them. Then she quietly responded to Gu Mingxi, “There’s a boy that I really like.”

Gu Mingxi looked at her, then asked automatically, “Who?”

“You tell me who you like first.”

“When you tell me, I’ll tell you.”

“Don’t lie. Actually you probably already know…” Pang Qian whispered into Gu Mingxi’s ear, “Xie Yi.”

Xie Yi?

Oh, Xie Yi.

Gu Mingxi’s eyes dropped, staring intensely at his legs on top of his desk.

He picked up a pen with his toes, his mind completely blank.

Xie Yi, so it was Xie Yi.

Pang Qian told him a secret from her heart, so she was very embarra.s.sed. She pleaded to Gu Mingxi, “You can’t tell anyone. I’m only telling you.”

Gu Mingxi bit his lip, remaining silent.

Pang Qian wouldn’t let go so easily. She tugged on his sleeve. “You still haven’t told me who you like.”

Gu Mingxi didn’t know where to find someone to “let himself like.” He opened his mouth and finally said, “It’s… A girl from my drawing cla.s.s. You don’t know her.”

“Ah?” Pang Qian was very suspicious. “How come I’ve never heard you mention her?”

His tone was very stiff. “You don’t know her, why would I talk to you about her?”

“What school does she study at? What’s her name? Is she pretty?” Pang Qian rested her chin in her hands and looked at him with great interest. “Does she know that you like her? Have you confessed to her yet?”

“She…” Gu Mingxi thought for a moment, then turned to look at Pang Qian. Slowly, he said, “She’s not that tall, about your height. She’s pretty cute and her expressions are very lively. When she smiles, she looks especially pretty. She doesn’t know that I like her. I don’t plan on confessing, because she likes someone else.”

“Ah…” Pang Qian thought it was a great pity. She tried to comfort him, “Gu Mingxi, it’s okay. Look at me. Xie Yi doesn’t know that I like him either, and I don’t plan on confessing. We’re in the same boat.”

Then she started laughing foolishly.

Pang Qian truly believed Gu Mingxi’s words, because he’d never lied to her before. So when he said that he liked a girl in his drawing cla.s.s, Pang Qian was convinced.

She knew that there were several girls in their cla.s.s that were interested in him.Because Pang Qian was Gu Mingxi’s deskmate and good friend, they would try to chat with her, and then happen to ask about Gu Mingxi. Whether or not he had a girlfriend, what his interests were, what he usually did over the weekends, etc.

Li Xiaoyan told Pang Qian, “Gu Mingxi’s really handsome. Although he doesn’t talk a lot, and he needs to use his feet to do things, I just think he’s really handsome. There’s just this other worldly quality about him.”

Pang Qian asked, “What do you mean by other worldly?”

“Other worldly, like… Very refined and not ordinary. Aiya, you don’t even understand this. To put it another way, he’s just like a celestial being.” Li Xiaoyan looked very shy.

Other worldly…celestial?

Several scenes popped into Pang Qian’s mind: Gu Mingxi falling off his bike and eating mud. Gu Mingxi slipping on ice. Gu Mingxi swaying back and forth, as he lifted his right leg to do something. Gu Mingxi wolfing down his food when he was really hungry. Gu Mingxi stuttering after being shocked by that “inconceivable” movie. Gu Mingxi’s distorted features as he was holding in his pee. And that scene buried deep in her memory, Gu Mingxi’s red face as he was urinating…

Ah… That wasn’t other wordly (chu chen), it was a theatrical performance (chu xi).

Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi grew up together. It was nearly 16 years now that they’d never been apart. Even if they weren’t neighbors anymore, when they got to school, they were still very close deskmates. They’d seen a lot of each others’ lives. She was even witness to Gu Mingxi’s accident and amputation.

In Pang Qian’s eyes, Gu Mingxi’s gender was already a bit blurred. She had several good female friends in w.a.n.g Tingting during primary school, Sun Mingfang in junior high, and now Zheng Qiaoqiao. They got along pretty well, and they would chat together as girls did. But Pang Qian always felt that the person she shared her secrets with the most was actually Gu Mingxi.

Pang Qian could bad talk some other girl to Gu Mingxi, and she was never worried that he would repeat her words. She could also rant about which teacher’s clothes were too ugly, and she was sure that he wouldn’t tattle on her. Whenever her period came and she felt uncomfortable, she would openly let Gu Mingxi know and tell him not to provoke her. Even when her parents were fighting at home, she could confide in him. When she was hurt or having a hard time, she could cry in front of him.

That was how much Pang Qian relied on Gu Mingxi, and how much she trusted in him. She admitted, hearing that Gu Mingxi had a girl that he liked gave Pang Qian a sour feeling. But knowing that the girl didn’t go to First High, and at most, he’d see her once a week, she felt great joy.

And lastly, because Gu Mingxi said that the girl liked another boy, Pang Qian started to feel outraged for him.

Such an awesome Gu Mingxi! That who-who-whoever actually didn’t like him! Seriously bad taste!

In any case, Pang Qian felt that Gu Mingxi was her best friend. He was extraordinarily important to her, but this didn’t extend to boy-girl relations.

Pang Qian thought that Gu Mingxi must think just the same. He definitely wouldn’t like her that way.

After school, Pang Qian had to go to the gym for ping pong practice. Gu Mingxi and her parted, one of them walking to the bus stop.

He waited several minutes before a bus came. After seeing that both the front and back doors were squished full of people, he decided not to get on.

After waiting awhile longer, a bus still didn’t come, so Gu Mingxi decided to do as he’d done on his way to school. He walked half an hour to take the bus that would take him home.

On the way, he pa.s.sed by the machinery factory again. He was in a bad mood, his head lowered as he walked slowly, kicking at the pebbles on the road. He was completely unaware that behind him, there were two people following him.

When he walked to a quiet area, the two guys caught up to him, blocking him off on either side. One of them with a buzz cut said, “Kid, you must’ve gotten a bit of pocket money over the New Year’s. Give your bro a bit to buy some cigarettes.”

Gu Mingxi stood still and looked up at them. He wanted to walk around them, but was stopped by the one with blond hair. “Kid, hand your money over, and we won’t cause you any trouble.”

Gu Mingxi said, “The money’s in my left pant pocket. Take it yourself.”

Buzz-cut and Blondie had already noticed that Gu Mingxi didn’t have any arms. That’s why, despite him being tall, they weren’t afraid of him. Buzz-cut dug into Gu Mingxi’s pocket. He was very cooperative, but he only had 20 dollars in his pocket. Buzz-cut wasn’t happy. “Student, you’re covered in name brands, but this is all the money you have?”

Gu Mingxi said evenly, “That’s really all I have.”

Buzz-cut already grabbed his backpack. “Let me take a look and see what’s in your bag. Kid, lying isn’t a good thing. Don’t blame me. Like I said, if there’s no money, I’ll let you go right away. But if I find even a dime, well then…”

His bag was tossed onto the ground. Without a word, Gu Mingxi turned and ran.

Buzz-cut didn’t know what to think, so he just immediately chased after him. There were a lot of bikes and motorbikes near the factory area, and the roads were very narrow. Gu Mingxi’s path got blocked by a motorbike, and Buzz-cut caught up to and grabbed onto him.

Gu Mingxi looked at him, “You can have all the money in the bag. Just let me go.”

His gaze was magnanimous, without a trace of fear. There was only a kind of hidden contempt and anger. Buzz-cut stared back, then hit on the the head. Then he kicked his legs heavily.

“What? You trying to brush me off?” He grabbed onto Gu Mingxi’s collar and pulled him into a nearby alley, despite Gu Mingxi’s struggles. “Students nowadays sure are getting more outrageous.”

Gu Mingxi cried out, “You can have all my money, it’s in the bag! Just take it yourselves and let me go!”

With a sneer, he pushed Gu Mingxi to the ground. While he was trying to get up, Buzz-cut kicked him in the stomach.

Blondie caught up with them, carrying Gu Mingxi’s bag. When he saw the scene in front of him, he was a bit worried. “Why did you beat him? We’re just getting some pocket money. He’s just a kid.”

Buzz-cut spoke ferociously, “I just didn’t like the way he was looking at me. The f.u.c.ker’s disabled, but he was looking at me like I was garbage.”

When he finished talking, he kicked Gu Mingxi again. Gu Mingxi curled up, trying to protect himself. He clenched his teeth, refusing to cry out in pain.

Buzz-cut stopped and started going through Gu Mingxi’s bag. He pulled out 300 dollars and realized that the rest was just school books. He wasn’t very interested so he poured it all out and stomped on them to vent out his anger.

When he and Blondie were pa.s.sing by Gu Mingxi’s body, he suddenly realized that there was a yellow chain on his ankle.

Gu Mingxi’s shoes had already been lost, and his pants had been pulled up because of the scuffle. That yellow chain immediately caught Buzz-cut’s attention. “What’s this. A gold pendant hidden on the foot. How smart.”