Chapter 129

Several children sat scattered on the ground. Li Xiu sat among them like a giant out of place.

Mo Yin completely ignored Li Xiu’s invitation to read together. He turned and walked away, hesitated after a few steps, then turned back. Li Xiu didn’t follow but held a large picture book, smiling lightly and peacefully.

The bookstore was generally quiet, lit by daylight with shelves reflecting a polished wooden glow.

When Mo Yin returned, Li Xiu froze. He revealed a genuine expression without any pretense, his true self beneath the mask.

Mo Yin seemed oblivious, sitting cross-legged beside him. “Did your family call you?”

Li Xiu turned his face towards him. “Yes.”

“Car accident,” Mo Yin said, “jinx yourself casually.”

Li Xiu smiled. “Is that so?”

Mo Yin turned away. “Why aren’t you going back?”

Li Xiu closed the picture book, looking thoughtful. After a moment, he turned to Mo Yin and said, “If I tell you the reason, you’ll be angry.”

“Try me,” Mo Yin said. “Do you think you can predict everything I do? Did you predict I would come back to talk to you?”

Li Xiu remained silent, contemplating. After a while, he said, “I skipped class today.”

Mo Yin hesitated briefly. Li Xiu smiled. “See? I knew you would be angry.”

“Angry? Why would I be angry? You skipped class, not me,” Mo Yin said.

Li Xiu nodded. “Then you should be happy, right? This way, I might fall behind you.”

Mo Yin understood. He didn’t know when Li Xiu had started observing him, but Li Xiu seemed to understand his thoughts very well, perhaps having observed him secretly for a long time. Everything seemed like a conspiracy.

Mo Yin smirked. “I will surpass you.”

“I look forward to it.”

They fell silent for a moment.

Mo Yin couldn’t explain why he came back to talk to Li Xiu. Perhaps out of curiosity, or maybe just to break that seemingly always-predictable smile of Li Xiu’s.

Whatever his purpose, he achieved it and it was time to leave.

As Mo Yin was about to get up, Li Xiu said, “Do you think I’m taking things for granted?”

“A university professor came to help me with my lessons, and yet I skipped class,” Li Xiu said objectively, his arm hanging over his bent knee. “Very immature and ungrateful.”

Mo Yin sat back down, glancing at Li Xiu without making any comments. Li Xiu didn’t seem to expect a response, his eyes calmly fixed on the long shelves ahead.

“Your family situation must be tough,” Mo Yin said.

Li Xiu looked at Mo Yin.

Mo Yin gripped his left wrist with his right hand. “Are you trying to show off your superiority with that?”

Li Xiu smiled. “Do you think I’m showing off?”

Mo Yin said, “Aren’t you?”

Li Xiu shook his head. “No.”

Mo Yin stared into Li Xiu’s eyes. “I am.”

Li Xiu smiled again. “So I envy you.”

“You should envy me. If our positions were reversed, I would excel more than you, and you would lag behind,” Mo Yin said confidently.

Li Xiu nodded slowly. “Quite possible.”

“Not possible, certain.”

Li Xiu smiled gently. “Alright, certain.”

“I’m indeed happy that you skipped class, not because missing one class would make you fall behind me, but because your attitude guarantees your defeat against me.”

“You care a lot about winning and losing,” Li Xiu said lightly, “but I don’t.”

“You’re lying.”

“Really.”

Li Xiu leaned forward. “Look into my eyes if you don’t believe me.”

Compared to Mo Yin’s pitch-black eyes, Li Xiu’s eyes leaned towards deep amber, lacking Mo Yin’s depth, seeming to lack something.

Mo Yin said, “Whether you care about winning or losing, I will win. Your attitude doesn’t affect mine.”

“I can’t influence anyone,” Li Xiu said, picking up the picture book he had put down. “Individuals are too insignificant in the whole world. We are just insignificant NPCs in this world, and whatever we do, it won’t ultimately affect the outcome.”

Li Xiu’s words made Mo Yin’s brain instantly buzz and sting. He felt a strange sensation in his body, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He raised his arm to cover his stomach, bowing his head and letting out a soft groan.

Li Xiu set down the picture book. “What’s wrong?”

Mo Yin didn’t say anything. Li Xiu deduced from his pale face and dry, pursed lips, “Low blood sugar?”

There was a dessert shop in the bookstore.

Mo Yin sat at a table, drinking a cup of creamy cocoa milk. The sweet and slightly bitter liquid slid down his throat. He realized why he had smelled a sweet fragrance when he came in.

Li Xiu asked, “Feeling better now?”

Mo Yin remained silent.

It was Li Xiu who had helped him over. Last time, when they fought on the playground, Li Xiu had carried him to the infirmary. Mo Yin could have walked, but to feign serious injury, he let Li Xiu carry him. Just now, he had indeed felt uncomfortable, which was embarrassing to think about.

Li Xiu also ordered a hot cocoa, but he left it untouched.

His phone rang again, and he answered, saying, “Still stuck in traffic.”

Mo Yin could hear the sharp criticism coming from the other end of the phone, chastising Li Xiu for his lack of time management and disappointment.

Mo Yin listened quietly, discreetly observing Li Xiu’s expression.

Li Xiu’s face showed no emotion, no smile. Only when apologizing to the person on the phone did he start smiling again, the kind of smile Mo Yin was most familiar with, with a gentle tone, “It’s a special situation, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I’ll hurry home.”

After hanging up and placing the phone aside, Li Xiu took a sip of hot cocoa and smiled at Mo Yin. “It’s a bit sweet.”

Mo Yin scrutinized the smile on Li Xiu’s face and noticed a subtle difference from the smile he had seen when Li Xiu answered the phone earlier.

Li Xiu wiped his upper lip with his finger. “Cream.”

Mo Yin licked his upper lip.

“Aren’t you going home?” Mo Yin asked.

Li Xiu replied, “Just a little longer.”

Mo Yin asked again, “Why don’t you want to attend the makeup class?”

Li Xiu countered, “What do you think?”

Mo Yin smirked coldly. “Because you’re taking your blessings for granted and don’t know how good you have it.”

Li Xiu laughed again. “You’re right.”

Mo Yin finished his drink, sweetening his throat towards the end. He carried the books and settled the bill—two hundred yuan on the book card, just enough.

Li Xiu was on the phone again behind him.

Mo Yin glanced back at Li Xiu. Li Xiu hung up the phone and said, “I have to go back.”

Mo Yin didn’t reply.

Li Xiu said, “Let’s exchange phone numbers.”

Mo Yin adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag and walked out of the bookstore.

“Back already?”

As soon as he opened the door, Li Xiu heard his father’s calm inquiry.

Changing his shoes, Li Xiu responded and walked into the living room. His father sat in the main seat, reading the newspaper, while his mother glanced at Li Xiu meaningfully from the side.

Li Xiu said, “Sorry, there was a slight accident on the way.”

“Natural or man-made disasters, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Li’s father said, his face still hidden behind the newspaper. “Where was the accident? Didn’t you say you were taking the subway home?”

“The road from school to the subway was jammed with buses for a long time.”

The newspaper slowly slid down from between his fingers, and Li’s father smiled gently. “How serious was the accident? Is it severe?”

“Don’t know, didn’t go down to see, just stuck in traffic for a long time,” Li Xiu replied.

“Oh.”

Li’s father nodded slowly, and after nodding a few more times, he suddenly threw the newspaper he was holding aside.

“Li——”

The newspaper made a crisp sound as it landed at Li Xiu’s feet.

Li’s father’s chest heaved, his gentle face showing a stern expression. “Still lying! Was there or wasn’t there an accident on the road? Do you think I can’t find out?”

Li’s mother frowned gently. “Your father has already called to ask. There was no major accident causing traffic jams on the route you took home.”

“Sorry,” Li Xiu picked up the newspaper from the floor, “I lied.”

“Why?!”

“I didn’t want to attend the makeup class.”

“You don’t want to? Since when do you have the right to decide not to attend? Do you know how much effort I made today to invite Professor Sheng from the university for you, something other students can’t even dream of?”

Li Xiu stood up, bowing his head. “I know.”

“You know? You know, and you still behave like this? You’re becoming more and more unruly,” Li’s father stood up, pacing the living room with his hands behind his back. “I told you not to participate in that physics competition last year, but you didn’t listen. I told you not to stay in the dormitory, but you didn’t listen. Has there been an accident at school? You didn’t report to us either. You really are becoming more and more lawless.”

Li Xiu never argued back, fully accepting his father’s criticism and making a promise to never repeat his mistakes. His mother acted as a mediator between father and son, at certain times pulling her husband aside saying, “Alright, alright, our son hasn’t come home in half a month.” Then she turned to her son, “Go rest in your room for a bit.”

Exiting the turmoil, Li Xiu returned to his own room. He set down his backpack but neither sat nor lay down, instead standing by the window and looking outside.

Many times, Li Xiu would reflect on himself.

With a privileged family background and caring parents, he had sailed smoothly through life. What reason did he have not to be happy?

Mo Yin was almost his opposite.

With a tragic family situation, being ostracized by classmates, and with grades improving step by step through hard work, securing a single dorm room away from influence had been an all-out effort for him. Yet from the start, everything had been handed to Li Xiu.

Could he really not be happy?

Compared to most people in the world, he already had so much. He had no right not to be happy.

Those vague and inexplicable emotions could only be attributed to idleness and discontent.

This principle had been instilled in him since childhood.

“Look at these children in war-torn areas…”

His father visited small countries, bringing back many photos for the young Li Xiu to see as he stood by the desk.

The peers in the photos were emaciated, their eyes lifeless.

“Barely clothed, barely fed, truly living in despair. Li Xiu, do you realize how lucky you are to have such favorable conditions? Tell me, do you feel anything?”

Li Xiu stood for a moment, his lips moving as each word satisfied his father.

“I am very fortunate, I have many things, I will study hard, live seriously, and listen to Mom and Dad.”

A comforting touch came to his head. “Yes, don’t disappoint your parents, alright?”

Those empty eyes lingered in his dreams, observing him, questioning him, accusing him…

He wasn’t happy, yet he dared not be unhappy.

Everything led into a dead end. The further he walked, the deeper and darker it became. Though he seemed to be walking a path where many people tread, he always felt like he was swimming against the current.

He didn’t truly know what he wanted.

Life repeated itself, devoid of meaning.

—

In a single dorm room, Mo Yin found tranquility that made him happy just sitting there. He satisfactorily arranged his few textbooks on the shelf, running his fingers over their smooth spines, savoring the moment.

He sat down, supporting his face with one hand, smiling as he looked at his own books.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Mo Yin took it out—it was an unfamiliar number.

——[Let’s really become friends.]

—