The elevator reached the basement level, and the doors opened automatically. After Chen Zhen took two steps out, he reached out and pushed open a soundproof door in front of him. A cacophony of electronic sounds and dazzling neon lights rushed toward him instantly.
The entire basement level was opened up into one massive, flat floor, filled with high-saturation lighting that made one feel as if they had traveled back a decade to a noisy street-side arcade.
And that was exactly what it was a space meticulously designed to replicate an old-fashioned arcade, filled with various games popular over a decade ago. It was, however, impeccably clean and organized, as it belonged solely to Chen Xunfeng.
Chen Xunfeng appeared to have already showered and changed; he was wearing a black T-shirt with wide sleeves. He was currently leaning back in an esports chair, expressionlessly pressing the buttons on his controller.
Chen Zhen took off his watch, walked over to Chen Xunfeng’s side, glanced at him, and pulled up a random stool to sit down.
On the small table next to them sat Chen Xunfeng’s phone and half a can of ice-cold beer. The screen in front of Chen Xunfeng displayed a racing game popular in the past; the small interface showed the earliest 3D game graphics, which looked quite simple and rough by today’s standards one could even see the pixels on the outlines of the motorcycles.
Yet, this was the only thing Chen Xunfeng liked to play. He had no interest in the currently popular VR, virtual simulations, console games, or mobile games. From childhood to the present, whether he was abroad with Chen Zhen or back in the country, no matter where they went or lived, Chen Xunfeng’s only requirement was that the house had to be equipped with a game room like this.
“How come you’re back so early today?” Chen Zhen had also had a bit to drink that evening. He leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed and tilted his head to ask Chen Xunfeng.
Chen Xunfeng’s short hair was half-dry, with a few stray locks of his bangs partially obscuring his eyes. His gaze remained fixed on the game screen, his movements on the controller never faltering. Hearing this, he responded slowly: “The normal dismissal time for freshmen is 6:00 PM. It’s 9:30 PM now. How is that early?”
Chen Xunfeng lay sideways in his chair, his side profile bathed in a red hue from the surrounding neon lights, his tone revealing an inexplicable sense of listlessness.
Chen Zhen laughed while rubbing the bridge of his nose: “Is that so? So you actually know the dismissal time for your grade.”
The rough-looking sports car crossed the black-and-white finish line on the screen. Chen Xunfeng propped himself up, took two game tokens from a basket nearby, and fed them into the machine.
“When you were little, every time you were unhappy, you would hide in your game room,” Chen Zhen said, as if reminiscing: “You were such a handful back then. When I dragged you out to go to school, you’d fight back. You weren’t even as tall as my legs back then.”
The game screen flashed a giant “3, 2, 1” countdown. Chen Xunfeng had already quickly started the next round. He curled his lips lazily: “Was your leg length 1.3 meters when you were 17?”
Chen Zhen laughed, stretched his arms, and pushed Chen Xunfeng’s shoulder: “So what are you moping about today? You’ve already cost me six million in the month since you started school. You’re a gang leader now what are you playing at, the brooding artsy youth?”
Chen Xunfeng tapped the controller, maneuvering his race car through a sharp bend and leaving the cars next to him behind. The expression on his face remained calm: “You are now an honorary board member of Sixth High. Didn’t your secretary say last time that you wanted to get into the education industry? I am your tool; you helping me settle things is a stepping stone for you to enter the field.”
Chen Zhen yawned: “Get lost. Who knew you’d fly into a rage and nearly beat your classmate into the intensive care unit? If that family had made a big scene and your grandfather found out, you wouldn’t be able to go to school there anymore. What else could I do? I had no choice but to spend money to build a swimming pool to smooth things over for you.”
This batch of arcade machines was new, purchased when they moved over the summer vacation. Every time Chen Xunfeng played, he set a new record. As the round ended, the prompt for breaking the record flashed on the screen again. Chen Xunfeng tossed the controller aside and leaned back into his chair. He stared at the colorful lights on the ceiling, thought for a moment, and suddenly spoke: “Uncle, has he forgotten me already?”
Chen Zhen, who was lying in the chair next to him, was almost asleep under the influence of the alcohol and comfortable temperature. He was suddenly startled awake by the question. Before he could react, he lay in the chair rubbing his temples and asked: “Who?”
Chen Xunfeng didn’t speak; he just took a sip of beer.
Only then did Chen Zhen slowly react. He laughed lazily and said: “That… little classmate of yours?”
Chen Xunfeng picked up the phone next to him and gave a low grunt of affirmation. He raised his hand to tousle his hair, while his other hand swiped across the phone screen. He looked at the call logs on the display, frowned, and then spoke: “When school let out today, I saw someone tailing him. I followed them all the way to his house, but couldn’t find anyone. I sent him a text, and I even tried… tried to call him, but it wouldn’t go through.”
Chen Zhen also frowned: “How could there be incidents of stalking at your Sixth High?”
The look in Chen Xunfeng’s eyes deepened. He shook his head: “I don’t know. Those people weren’t from our school. I memorized the face of the guy leading them.”
Chen Zhen’s nerves twitched with irritation. He interrupted him with a headache: “You’re there to go to school, not to wage war. Can you stop causing trouble for me every single day?”
Chen Xunfeng paused, then circled back to the previous topic without a trace: “Before, I always thought he had forgotten me and couldn’t recognize me. There were a few times… when I was in close contact with him, he acted as if I were a complete stranger. At that time, I even wondered if he had been too young when I left, just…” Chen Xunfeng raised his arm slightly, as if measuring a height, “…just that tall. Now he’s grown so much, and 6 or 7 years have already passed. It should be normal that he doesn’t remember.”
“But today, I’m very sure—he saw me. He was looking at me, Uncle. That look in Zhou Ai’s eyes, I remember it clearly. He stared at me for a long time. Either he hasn’t forgotten me, or he finally remembered.” Chen Xunfeng crushed the empty aluminum can in his hand and threw it into the trash can nearby.
“Zhou Ai is very smart, just as smart as he was when he was little. He has a very good memory.”
Chen Zhen looked at him quietly and smiled: “Then when do you plan to rebuild the friendship with your kindergarten playmate?”
Chen Xunfeng lowered his head again, his eyelashes drooping simultaneously. It had taken him six years to move back with Chen Zhen and transfer to Sixth High, but from the day he started, when he saw Zhou Ai at the school gate, Zhou Ai had been nothing but completely distant and indifferent toward him. He felt a sharp, clear sense of rejection coming from Zhou Ai.
Seeing him go silent, Chen Zhen got up from his seat and patted Chen Xunfeng’s shoulder: “I’m going up to sleep. You’re sleeping here tonight? Will you be able to get up tomorrow morning?”
“By the way,” Chen Zhen seemed to remember something and stopped. Chen Xunfeng looked at him, and Chen Zhen said: “Don’t you dare cause any more trouble for me. Let me ask you, are you really going to take care of those stalkers for your little childhood friend?”
Chen Xunfeng didn’t speak, but he didn’t deny it either.
Chen Zhen rubbed his temples helplessly: “I send you to a prestigious school, but you treat going to class every day like going to war. There are surveillance cameras on the road outside the school, right? Find a way to identify those people, and I’ll deal with them for you. If they’re pros, I’ll see if I can get them sent to the station for a couple of days. Don’t you dare get involved, you hear me? You’re still a student can you try to act like one?”
Chen Xunfeng glanced at him but said nothing.
Chen Zhen glared at him, then waved his hand and walked out: “No more drinking. Go to sleep.”
…
On Thursday morning, after Zhou Ai returned from feeding the cats behind the hill, there were still few people in the classroom. The rain that started yesterday hadn’t stopped; in fact, it had intensified in the middle of the night.
He had gone to feed the cats in the morning, but the cats and dogs were all curled up in shelters, refusing to come out. However, the breakfast in Zhou Ai’s desk bin remained.
Heavy rain blocked out the daylight, and the surroundings were dark and gloomy.
Before entering the classroom, Zhou Ai hung his umbrella in the corridor. Suddenly, he was heavily bumped by someone. By the time he reacted, Hu Cheng, who was carrying his schoolbag nearby, had already shot him a nasty, malicious smile. Hu Cheng blocked Zhou Ai’s other side with his arm and said: “Dumb-mute, seeing you suddenly reminds me—the class monitor told me to apologize to you this week.”
“Well, listen up. I’m apologizing to you now. Sorry, Zhou Ai, I’m so sorry, so sorry. I feel so guilty I’m about to die. I’ve been so guilty these past few nights that I couldn’t sleep. How could I have shared your love letter in front of the whole class? Mutes have a ‘spring’ (romance) too, I suppose. We ‘normal’ people should try to understand.”
Zhou Ai was completely shrouded in the shadows of the dark surroundings, mixing with the gloomy sky beside him. He remained as quiet as a shadow, making no move at all.
Hu Cheng was taller and stronger than Zhou Ai, but he still feared Zhou Ai’s move from the other day. He stepped back slightly and said: “What? Do you want to strangle me again?”
Zhou Ai didn’t respond. He just stood there, looking at him quietly with those black eyes, as if he were observing and sizing him up.
Hu Cheng took another two steps back. Suddenly, Zhou Ai’s lips moved it looked like an unfinished smile, shallow and fleeting, as if he were struggling to suppress a laugh.
Hu Cheng had never seen any other expression on Zhou Ai’s face. Zhou Ai’s smile was too quick; it had vanished before he could even see it clearly, and he only felt it was extremely bizarre.
Hu Cheng’s heart suddenly began to beat faster. This week, he had contacted his cousin from the vocational school, showed his cousin the strangle marks on his own neck, and informed him that he was being bullied in class.
His cousin was obsessed with “intellect” and listened to Hu Cheng who always had excellent grades almost unconditionally. Within a few sentences, his cousin vowed to avenge him against Zhou Ai. But his cousin was also quite stupid; they had such a perfect opportunity last night, yet the group had somehow ended up being locked on the rooftop by Zhou Ai, drenched in the rain for half the night. After dawn, he had to bring a locksmith just to find that remote, old building.
The cousin and his friends had spent the whole night freezing; when they met that morning, they were shaking from the cold, yet they turned around and comforted Hu Cheng, saying they would continue to ambush Zhou Ai these next few days, promising they would definitely teach him a lesson. They even told him to relax, saying that per the plan, they had long since shifted the blame onto that arrogant Chen Xunfeng.
But facing Zhou Ai’s eyes at this moment, Hu Cheng’s heart suddenly began to drum. Zhou Ai’s eyes were pitch black. Clearly, there was no emotion in them, but Hu Cheng felt the bizarre sensation that Zhou Ai knew everything.
Zhou Ai pushed aside Hu Cheng’s arm that was blocking him. Hu Cheng had retreated too far, so his arm was only loosely resting on the window sill. With Zhou Ai’s light push, the arm dropped heavily.
Zhou Ai’s face remained calm and ripple-free. As usual, he walked quietly into the classroom.
However, Hu Cheng stood in the corridor, looking through the window at the side profile in the corner of the classroom. He watched for a long time before finally fishing out his phone and walking quickly into the restroom at the end of the hall.
On the other end of the line was his cousin, whose voice was still thick with sleepiness, but he answered quickly. Hu Cheng asked somewhat urgently: “What exactly did you tell the mute yesterday? Does he really believe you were sent by Chen Xunfeng?”
…
In the afternoon, the rain still hadn’t stopped drizzling, it had been coming down for a full day.
After school, Zhou Ai held his umbrella and walked toward home. He hadn’t gone far before he stopped in his tracks again.
What happened yesterday had made him sensitive, so today, he was especially keenly aware: someone was following him again.
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