AUS Chapter 21: Me, Liu Jiang, and the Shura Field

I knew there was a reason why Liu Jiang was hesitant to speak the whole way here.

From his high schooler perspective, after making plans with a friend he regularly meets and then having another friend suddenly impose, letting down either friend would be wrong, especially for someone as “all-loving” as Liu Jiang.

Inside the room, I said to Liu Jiang, “You could have told me he was coming, but you should have told me beforehand.”

Liu Jiang started using both hands to ruffle his hair. After a few moments, he said to me, “I feel like you don’t really like him.”

I stood where I was, my expression unchanged.

So, this kid wasn’t as foolish as I thought—wait, no, he’s so popular, how could he not have noticed?

I decided to use my acting skills. I said, “You’re overthinking it.”

He said, “Do you think I’m stupid?”

Acting failed. I decided to turn the tables. I sighed and asked him, “When did you notice?”

The room lights were off. He slowly crouched down on the floor and said, “Probably… that day you were waiting for me in front of the milk tea shop.”

So, he knew I had been standing in front of the milk tea shop for a long time that day. He also knew I was leaning against the glass door, listening to their conversation. His surprise after discovering me was all an act, intended to save face for me.

Look who’s the foolish one now.

With the room still dark, I took a few steps back and sat in his chair. He continued to crouch there, ruffling his hair.

I asked him, “Do you think we’re alike? Me and Gu Tongyu?”

He looked up at me from his crouched position. “We are similar in some ways.”

For example, being considered good students in the eyes of teachers and parents. For example, both having pleasant voices. For example, having generally similar facial features.

I seized the opportunity. “Do you know that if two people are very similar in certain aspects, there’s a natural sense of repulsion between them?”

Liu Jiang remained crouched, but he propped his face up with one hand and squinted at me.

He really had changed. Even making this expression looked good on him.

He questioned me, “You say that as if you’ve lived ten years longer than me.”

I didn’t deny it. Psychologically, I had indeed lived ten years longer than him. So, I addressed the matter at hand. “If I were to meet someone new who plays in a band now, what would your reaction be?”

“Don’t,” Liu Jiang said.

He didn’t even consider it, rejecting me outright.

I raised an eyebrow, engaging in a staring contest with him from my seated position.

Liu Jiang finally stopped crouching. In the darkening room, his lanky figure was very conspicuous.

“I mean,” he explained, “if I really only kept one type of person in my circle of friends, then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you in the first place!”

He was right.

If that were the case, the only so-called “good student” around Liu Jiang would be Gu Tongyu.

I was the one who came later.

I fell silent, turning my head to look in another direction. If this had happened after we got together, we definitely would have had a fight.

But now, I didn’t even have the right to argue with him.

Liu Jiang was the first to give in. He softened his tone. “I know you don’t like him, and it wasn’t intentional this time—but, didn’t you want to see the earring?”

I turned my gaze back to him. He was standing not far from me. Then, under my gaze, he used his extended index finger to tuck his hair behind his ear.

It was an ordinary gesture, but on him, it had a combined power of directness and intimacy. I stared at him, my mind short-circuiting as it replayed the action over and over.

Then I said, “Let’s go downstairs and say hello to him first.”

After nonchalantly standing up, I mentally slapped myself.

I didn’t understand why I always used my adult composure to restrain my teenage impulses, only to regret it later.

I mentally slapped myself again.

My jaw must have actually twitched because Liu Jiang, walking downstairs beside me, glanced at me. I cleared my throat. “I’ll talk to him nicely.”

Despite this promise, I actually wasn’t very confident. Until we sat at the dinner table, I maintained a stiffly friendly expression.

Grandma Liu, of course, didn’t know anything. She greeted us warmly while setting the table, “Pingsheng, do you know him?”

I quickly took the bowls and chopsticks from Grandma’s hands, nodding and replying, “Yes, yes, I’ve heard from Liu Jiang—I’ve heard of him.”

Gu Tongyu was not far behind me. He was carrying the fish soup, and when he heard me mention Liu Jiang’s name, he looked up at me, smiling much more naturally than I was.

Once everyone was seated, I happened to be directly facing him. I don’t know if it was my imagination, but in my peripheral vision, he seemed to be looking at me. However, whenever I turned my gaze back, he would invariably be smiling gently at whoever was speaking at the table.

So fake!

I felt like I was about to break my promise; I couldn’t fulfill the commitment I made to Liu Jiang.

So I started to compete with him for food, intentionally or not. If he reached for the blanched choy sum, I would snatch the top piece. If he ladled the sweetcorn with pine nuts, I’d take the spoon and serve myself soup. When he finally decided to eat the braised ribs, I immediately placed the blanched choy sum under his chopsticks, offering sincere persuasion.

I said, “Brother, eat your vegetables.”

Liu Jiang kicked me under the table.

Well, it wasn’t really a kick, more like bumping me with his knee, pivoting on his thigh. Teenage boys’ bones are rock hard, and my thigh ached.

Enduring the pain, I snatched the large bottle of juice Gu Tongyu was about to grab.

After dinner, I volunteered to wash the dishes for Grandpa and Grandma. Unexpectedly, Gu Tongyu also squeezed in. He was more eloquent than me, and Grandma Liu beamed, readily relinquishing the kitchen to us.

Just as he and I stood there speechless, Liu Jiang rushed in.

Now, three people were crowded in front of the small sink, and everyone present spoke with hidden meanings.

Gu Tongyu asked, “Are your studies busy?”

I replied, “Haha, as if you don’t go to high school.”

Liu Jiang smoothed things over, “We go to different high schools. How can you compare a regular high school with an art high school?”

Gu Tongyu followed up, “That’s true, but we also have homework. I always stay at school for an hour after classes to finish it.”

Oh, you want to compare with me, huh?

I said, “I finish mine during class.”

Liu Jiang kicked me again.

Half an hour later, we finished washing the dishes. The tableware was neatly arranged in the dish rack. It was a miracle we hadn’t broken a dish or two in the process.

Gu Tongyu showed no signs of leaving. He asked about our plans for the evening. Actually, I hadn’t finished my homework, but to maintain the lie I just told, I said I didn’t have anything specific in mind.

Liu Jiang said he was going to the practice room to practice bass. To appear less deliberate, I said I would go to Liu Jiang’s room to preview tomorrow’s lessons.

Gu Tongyu looked at him, then at me, and then said, “Okay, then I’ll go with Liu Jiang to practice bass.”

Damn, how did you learn to seize every opportunity at a time like this?!

But one can’t slap oneself in the face. I resolutely picked up my schoolbag from the entrance and marched resolutely towards Liu Jiang’s room.

Liu Jiang’s house was a self-built house in an old alleyway. The soundproofing was neither good nor bad. After putting down my schoolbag, I locked the door and opened the window, holding my breath to listen to the sounds coming from next door.

They came up later than me, and their voices were deliberately lowered, probably out of consideration for my studies. Although the volume was low, I could clearly hear them talking and laughing.

They were getting closer. I heard the practice room door open and then close. Someone opened the window of the practice room, so I could hear even more clearly.

They first exchanged some trivial pleasantries, then started chatting about school stories, followed by strange anecdotes. Although the topics seemed to jump around quickly, their conversation wasn’t as dense as I had imagined. Most of the time, it was Gu Tongyu initiating the conversation, and Liu Jiang responding.

I could tell Liu Jiang was grinning as he replied.

And Liu Jiang’s voice was a bit louder, probably because he was closer to the window.

Right, yes, that’s right—these words were used interchangeably, completely different from when he talked to me.

If I had to find a word to describe it, it would be obedient.

Obedient implies compliance, implies suppression, implies not being as unrestrained as when he spoke freely. And when Liu Jiang and I were together, ninety percent of the time he was the one initiating the conversation.

Okay, Yang Pingsheng wins this round.

Suppressing the upward curve of my lips, I leaned on the windowsill with my elbows and continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Soon Gu Tongyu stopped initiating topics. I heard the sound of the bass being plugged in. After a few plucks and tunings, they got down to business.

“Is it like this here?” This was Liu Jiang’s voice.

“Hmm… yes, but if you want a better visual effect, you can also do it like this—” This was Gu Tongyu’s voice.

“Like this?” Liu Jiang’s voice again.

Gu Tongyu didn’t answer immediately. I heard a few footsteps, and then his voice grew louder.

“Like this.”

Apparently, he was also standing by the window, next to Liu Jiang.

One can slap oneself in the face, but one must do it resolutely.

The practice room door opened. Both of them at the window turned to look over. I walked in resolutely, dragging my schoolbag, pulled over a stool, and sat down.

I said, “I can’t study without any sound. Continue.”

Both of them were staring at me. Suddenly, Liu Jiang stood up.

He said, “Ah, I just remembered I wanted a soda but didn’t grab one. Yang Pingsheng, come with me to get a soda.”

His “brother” volunteered, “I’ll go with you. I’m here to accompany you anyway.”

“No need, no need,” he quickly refused, coming to my side and tugging on my sleeve. “You’ll do, Yang Pingsheng, come with me.”

Just like that, I was half-pushed, half-pulled out the door by him. On the way out, he even asked Gu Tongyu to sit back in his chair and wait for us to return.

We stumbled into the corridor, and Liu Jiang closed the door behind him.

I had a feeling he didn’t just want me to accompany him to get a drink, but I couldn’t be sure. Just as we reached the corner before the stairs, he suddenly grabbed my elbow.

He grabbed my elbow again! Last time, he hit a nerve because of this!

I turned around, ready to protest, but the next second I was met with his extremely close face. Not only was he close, but his hair was also tucked behind his ear.

He said, “See?”

My hand was still in the position of preparing to push his arm away. I asked, “See what?”

But as I asked, I realized what he wanted me to see. He remained silent, and our eyes met.

The ear piercing.

Liu Jiang assumed all my irritability stemmed from not seeing his ear piercing.

Like a child who didn’t get the ice cream they wanted, or a young girl who didn’t find suitable clothes while shopping, or like Yang Pingsheng right now.

We were standing almost directly above the living room. I could hear the sound of running water downstairs. Grandma Liu was preparing the ingredients for tomorrow’s breakfast before going to bed, and Grandpa Liu was helping her, the two occasionally bickering over trivial matters.

Liu Sisi went straight back to her room without finishing her dinner. She was watching TV in the living room downstairs. The TV was on; it was news time.

Any of them might suddenly leave their spot, walk up the stairs, and see us by the second-floor staircase.

Including Gu Tongyu in the room at the end of the hallway. He was less than ten meters away from us, and he could open the door at any moment to look for us.

Liu Jiang’s chest was rising and falling, showing his inexplicable nervousness.

I was relatively calm, temporarily calm. I quietly withdrew my arm that was prepared to resist and took half a step forward, my hand reaching towards his earlobe.

He abruptly closed his eyes.