Chapter 139

“You don’t understand, do you?”

“Then let me make it clear to you.”

“You have too much, and none of it requires effort from you. That’s made you overly naive, completely unaware of the dangers of human nature.”

“Do you know this boy? Do you know his background, his experiences, his character? Have you considered the consequences of your impulsive teenage behavior?”

The screen was forcefully tapped, causing the image of Mo Yin clutching his abdomen to shake.

Li Xiu’s gaze shifted from the fake image of Mo Yin on the screen to the real face of his father right in front of him. “I know him. I know everything about him.”

Li Qing chuckled, shaking his head as he laughed. “I always thought you were much more mature and stable than your peers. It seems I was mistaken. In matters like these, you’re no different from any other eighteen-year-old boy, Li Xiu. I can only tell you, that you’ve caused yourself and me a lot of trouble. If you really are… in a relationship, then it couldn’t be better.” Li Qing’s expression turned completely cold. “Now, back to your room. Until this is sorted out, you’re not to go anywhere else.”

Li Xiu stared at the TV screen and asked, “Is mom okay?”

“Take care of yourself. You don’t need to worry about anything else!” Li Qing snapped quietly.

From his father’s attitude, Li Xiu deduced that his mother was probably frightened but not physically harmed.

Strangely, as if a switch had been flipped.

He, who had never truly felt emotions, suddenly broke through that thin veil. Li Xiu felt his heart slowly fill with complex emotions—anger towards his parents, towards himself, towards Mo Yin—and also sadness and pain…

With hindsight, emotions surged.

He felt like he was about to be overwhelmed.

Li Xiu remained still, just quietly watching the TV screen. Li Qing turned off the TV, leaving Li Xiu’s reflection on the dark screen. Li Qing repeated, “Back to your room.”

Li Xiu slowly turned his face. “Dad, you won’t go after him, will you?”

“You don’t need to worry about that either,” Li Qing said. “He’s not my son. I have no responsibility to worry about his future.”

“Thank you.”

Li Qing’s chest rose and fell as he pointed inside. “Back to your room. I don’t want to see you right now.”

For four days, Li Xiu had been confined at home while Li Qing went out to “solve the problem.”

All communications at home were cut off, and his phone was taken away. During the day, Li Xiu listened to music and watched “TV” alone. He repeatedly watched those two video clips, every frame etched into his mind.

That afternoon, Li Xiu had a dream. He dreamed he was washing his hands in the hotel bathroom when suddenly the cubicle door behind him opened, and Mo Yin walked out. He turned to look at Mo Yin, who walked over and washed his hands beside him. The sound of running water filled his ears clearly. Li Xiu reached out and held Mo Yin’s wrist, wanting Mo Yin to stand on his feet, then he woke up.

The living room was empty, and the house was quiet. Li Xiu had fallen asleep on the couch. He turned his head and saw himself on the screen, kissing Mo Yin’s little arm. Mo Yin seemed reluctant, but as he walked forward, he got closer to him.

On the fifth day, when mid-term grades were announced, Mo Yin really felt Li Xiu had been absent from school for five days.

On the report card, he was ranked first. He didn’t recognize the name of the second place, and Li Xiu’s name wasn’t there.

Mo Yin picked up his phone again. His frequency of checking the phone had increased these days. Before, he was afraid the phone would suddenly vibrate with bad news from the dormitory. Now, he was waiting for any news on Li Xiu.

What happened to Li Xiu?

Why didn’t he contact him? It was like he had disappeared. But if he really had disappeared, the school wouldn’t be so calm. So where did Li Xiu go? What did he do? Study abroad, be recommended for college, fall ill, move away?…

The drawbacks of not having social connections at school were now evident. No one dared to approach Mo Yin. Mo Yin tried to eavesdrop on conversations, hoping to catch any news about Li Xiu. But whenever he approached, people either walked away or fell silent.

Mo Yin missed Li Xiu.

He felt a bit angry about it.

Why did Li Xiu keep appearing in his mind like this? He only liked Li Xiu a little bit, but Li Xiu used that tiny bit of affection to disrupt his thoughts like this?

Mo Yin held his phone tightly, lips pursed. He didn’t want to call or text Li Xiu. He wanted to delete his number, and block him, just like when he first received a text from Li Xiu.

If he had stuck to his principles from the beginning, refusing any connections with anyone, he wouldn’t be feeling so upset today because of Li Xiu’s disappearance.

Mo Yin’s finger hovered over Li Xiu’s contact in his phone for a while, unmoving.

In his contacts, there were no anonymous numbers; everyone had a name. Only Li Xiu.

The day they parted at the airport, Li Xiu texted him. Mo Yin hesitated a long time before replying. After that, Li Xiu took it as an opportunity to insist on calling him.

At that time, Mo Yin was on the minibus back to school. For some reason, he saved Li Xiu’s number and added a note to it.

When Li Xiu called later, the screen didn’t show a jumble of numbers anymore—it said “Li Xiu.”

At that moment, Mo Yin felt a bit happy.

But “Li Xiu” didn’t appear again. That bit of happiness disappeared, replaced by a strange feeling.

Am I going to cry?

Mo Yin thought silently in his heart, burying his forehead in his arms, eyes wide open. He thought, I won’t cry for anyone.

Mo Yin didn’t delete or block Li Xiu’s number. He planned to do it in front of Li Xiu when he returned to school.

That evening, when Mo Yin was eating alone in the cafeteria, someone placed a tray opposite him. Mo Yin looked up and saw it was Zhang Jiaming. Confirming the feeling of disappointment surging up inside him.

Mo Yin continued eating with his head down. Zhang Jiaming seemed hesitant, wanting to talk to Mo Yin about something, but looked awkward and reluctant to speak.

Seeing Mo Yin finish eating and about to leave, Zhang Jiaming had to call out, “Mo Yin, I need to talk to you about something.”

Mo Yin continued walking forward without lifting his head.

“It’s about Li Xiu!” Zhang Jiaming hurriedly added from behind.

Mo Yin’s steps halted.

Swiping his card at the dormitory door, Zhang Jiaming entered. “You’re now alone in a dorm room.”

Mo Yin put down his backpack without acknowledging Zhang Jiaming’s unnecessary words. He turned around, fixedly looking at Zhang Jiaming. “Where did Li Xiu go?”

Zhang Jiaming smiled, a bitter smile. Mo Yin couldn’t be bothered to chat with him; his mind was only on Li Xiu.

“I don’t know the specifics,” Zhang Jiaming said. “Actually, I didn’t intend to come to you today.”

Mo Yin felt disappointed again. Since Zhang Jiaming didn’t know where Li Xiu had gone, there was nothing Mo Yin wanted to say to him. He opened the dormitory door and gestured for Zhang Jiaming to leave.

Zhang Jiaming sighed, closed the door, his hand pressed against it. “There’s a call. They need you to answer.”

After the call ended, Zhang Jiaming said, “I’ll give him the phone now,” handing his phone to Mo Yin.

Mo Yin hesitated for a moment, then took the phone.

On the other end was a very calm and steady male voice. Mo Yin listened quietly, almost the entire conversation being from the other side. When they finished speaking, he softly replied, “Okay.”

The call ended, and Mo Yin handed the phone back to Zhang Jiaming.

Zhang Jiaming didn’t ask what they had talked about on the phone. He glanced at Mo Yin and said, “Li Xiu might be in a bit of trouble.”

Mo Yin looked at Zhang Jiaming.

“I grew up with Li Xiu since we were little,” Zhang Jiaming said. “It seems he’s gotten himself into trouble. I don’t know the details, but my dad said you might be able to help him, so…”

Mo Yin remained indifferent, not speaking.

“Be careful with your phone,” Zhang Jiaming said. “It’s likely being monitored. And it’s probably best not to try to contact Li Xiu; it might not be good for him.”

Mo Yin still didn’t speak. Zhang Jiaming didn’t know what else to say. He pulled the dormitory door closed. Before leaving, he asked one last question, “Do you like Li Xiu?”

Mo Yin still didn’t answer.

On the sixth day of Li Xiu’s absence, the school was on holiday. Mo Yin got up early and went to the school gate to wait for the bus. When the bus arrived, Mo Yin was the only one there. After boarding the bus and tossing in two coins, he walked to the back row and sat alone. He sat down and looked quietly out the window at the scenery.

The bus ride seemed unusually long and tedious. Mo Yin tried to listen to English listening exercises, but another melody kept lingering in his ears, along with shallow breathing sounds.

He started to hate Li Xiu.

He hated the songs Li Xiu had played for him.

He hated how Li Xiu suddenly intervened in his life.

Mo Yin lowered his head, resting his forehead on his backpack, pretending to sleep. He had been very tired last night but couldn’t sleep; his mind had been restless.

Zhang Jiaming’s questions kept haunting him.

But the questions delved a little deeper.

Did he like Li Xiu? How much did he really like Li Xiu? If Li Xiu didn’t come back, could he continue living like this, going back to how things were before?

Mo Yin thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out.

The bus stopped, and Mo Yin got off through the front door with his backpack. When he reached the last step, he turned back and said, “Thank you.” The driver glanced at him but said nothing.

He had to transfer to another bus to get to the Stone Hospital.

After about forty-five minutes on the second bus, Mo Yin got off.

He had been to Stone Hospital twice before: once to plead with the dean to admit Mo Xuemin, promising to raise the money as soon as possible, and the second time was today.

After completing the paperwork at the reception, a nurse led Mo Yin inside. Stone Hospital was average in condition but very quiet. The nurse led him to Mo Xuemin’s ward, where two men in black stood in front of the door, looking like bodyguards. One of them reached out for Mo Yin’s backpack. Mo Yin hesitated but handed it over to the other man. The man scanned Mo Yin all over with a device, even checking the soles of his shoes, before nodding at Mo Yin.

Mo Yin pushed open the door to the ward.

In the middle of the ward was a bed, with two chairs in front of the window separated by a small table, seeming out of place in the cramped room. The window was high up near the ceiling. A man in a suit with his back to Mo Yin was looking up at the high walls.

The man turned around upon hearing the door open. He was a middle-aged man with a pleasant and refined appearance, reminiscent of Li Xiu’s father whom Mo Yin had met.

“Hello,” the man greeted with a smile, extending his hand politely towards Mo Yin. “I’m Zhong Zeyong.”

Mo Yin didn’t shake his hand; his hands remained by his side.

Zhong Zeyong withdrew his hand, seemingly unaffected by Mo Yin’s attitude, and smiled, “Don’t be afraid. Now that you’re here, let’s sit down and talk properly.” Zhong Zeyong walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. “Come, my child, come and sit here.”

Yesterday on the phone, Zhong Zeyong had introduced himself and informed Mo Yin that he was being watched, so he had to contact Mo Yin and arrange to meet in this roundabout way. The strict security at the psychiatric hospital made it a good meeting place. He would be there early, and Mo Yin just needed to show up.

As for the reason for the meeting, Zhong Zeyong said it was related to Li Xiu, and…”I know you’re a smart and resilient good kid. If you want to change your fate, then you must come.”

“The situation is unfortunate, but at the same time, you’re lucky,” Zhong Zeyong poured half a cup of water and pushed it towards Mo Yin. “The police have been monitoring that gang for some time now and caught them just in time. Otherwise, if their videos had been circulated widely during that cycle and uploaded to the Internet, it would have been too late.”

“You’re all still kids. Such videos would cause you a lot of harm and impact. It’s really fortunate.”

Zhong Zeyong blew gently at the hot steam rising from the cup’s mouth. “But there’s no impenetrable wall in this world. Although it hasn’t spread widely, some people with ulterior motives know about it. Li Xiu is currently under house arrest, and the adults are busy outside, hoping to minimize the impact of this matter. Don’t worry about Li Xiu, and don’t be afraid. We’ll handle things properly.”

Mo Yin placed his palms on his knees, slowly curling them into fists. He remained silent throughout. Zhong Zeyong smiled, “You’re a composed child. I like that.”

“Today, I didn’t just call you here to ease your mind. Mainly, I’m also… entrusted by someone…” Zhong Zeyong took a sip of hot tea, casually saying, “Your relationship with Li Xiu…” He looked up at Mo Yin. “What is it like? Could you tell me specifically?”

Mo Yin treated Zhong Zeyong with the same attitude as he did with Zhang Jiaming—no response, no expression.

Zhong Zeyong took out his phone from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

A familiar voice reached Mo Yin’s ears.

“We met at a bar. He was working there. I thought he looked quite handsome and innocent, being a student. Maybe he’s good at this kind of thing, so I kept in touch with him. Later, he said he was willing to sleep with me as long as I gave him ten thousand yuan. He said he’d play with me for a week. I agreed, and then we went to a hotel room. But after we got there, he changed his mind, took out a knife, and threatened to hurt himself. I was afraid of a serious incident, so I let him go. Oh, and he also took five thousand yuan from me. That’s how it went.”

The recording stopped.

Mo Yin kept her head down, motionless.

Zhong Zeyong looked at the wall ahead and said, “Child, I actually admire you. At such a young age, you have courage and strategy. You know how to deal with people who bully you, get what you want, and still manage to walk away unharmed.”

The lid of the cup fell with a “snap” onto the table, and Zhong Zeyong continued slowly, “Now, the opportunity before you may be the only one in your life. I can help you start fresh, permanently escape your sick father, and send you abroad for further education. You can choose any country, any school. In a few years, no one will know about your past. You’ll be able to completely start a new life.” Zhong Zeyong’s voice was deep and compelling, with a unique persuasive power. “As long as you bravely tell the truth…”

When Zhong Zeyong mentioned “permanently escape your sick father,” Mo Yin finally looked up at him.

Zhong Zeyong stared intensely at Mo Yin. “Child, in the video, you looked very unwilling. Actually, you didn’t want to, did you?”