TCOR CH25

Chapter 25: Why are you so angry?

On the fifth day of living in Shen Wunian’s house, Wang Xiangyang’s video suddenly spread through the school.

In the video, he was in a single room, with a bandage on his face and a triangular bandage on his hand. Only part of his right foot was visible, as if it was in a cast.It would have been hard to recognise the pig-headed person in the video as the arrogant rich kid from before, if he hadn’t produced his ID card to prove who he was.

He said his name was Wang Xiangyang and that he was a student in the XX Department of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. He then recited his ID number and student number.

His front teeth seemed to have fallen out too, and he couldn’t stop air leaking when he spoke.

Because of my family’s wealth, I bullied classmates since junior high school.I bullied a classmate surnamed Lin, threw his books into the toilet, made him kneel down and kowtow to me, and molested him. I caused him tremendous physical and mental harm, and forced him to drop out of school.

In high school, I continued to bully people I disliked. I even beat up the old man who swept the road. Their family was not as well off as mine, so when their parents got involved, it was usually settled by giving a little more money.

‘After going to university, I did not repent, and I always had malicious intentions towards my roommate Zhong Ai.Last Saturday, I maliciously spread rumours that he had stolen my belongings.In fact, I never lost my watch; it was always at home with me.’

‘Zhong Ai works and studies hard, relying on his own hands to improve his life. He treats everyone politely and sincerely, but I suspected him with base and dirty thoughts. I even reported him first, verbally abused him, beat him, and spread false information at school.I sincerely apologise to the people I have hurt… I…’

His eyes drifted slightly as if he were looking at the person filming, not knowing what he was seeing, and his body trembled violently as he slapped himself in the face.

‘I deserve to die!’ he said.

After that, he didn’t dare look at the camera again, and kept his head bowed, nervously repeating the same sentence over and over.

“I’m a pervert, I deserve to die… I’m a pervert, I deserve to die…’

Peng Dai sent me the video, saying that it had started spreading among students at night and even people from other schools were eating their vegetables.

‘Little Ai, is this the same person who bullied you? I thought he was awful, but I didn’t think he was this awful!’

I didn’t think so either…

On Saturday, Wang Xiangyang clearly still looked like he was waiting to see how I would die. Why did he suddenly change his mind after just a few days?

And what about these injuries?I still have some self-awareness, so this should…not be from me, right?

I was confused, so I rewinded the video to the start and watched it again. This time, I noticed something new.

I zoomed in on the details of the hospital room and looked again and again.I was certain that this was the hospital that Shen Wunian had taken me to, the one run by the Liang family, because of the colour scheme and style of the decor in the background.

I had a terrible suspicion.

Could it be that Pei Huanchen had taken the law into his own hands and illegally detained Wang Xiangyang?

This made me feel worried, so I got up and quickly left the bedroom to find Shen Wunian.

I forgot to knock, and just pushed open the door to Shen Wunian’s bedroom.

‘Shen…’

There was only a thin curtain in the room, and Shen Wunian, with his back to me, was changing clothes.His arms had just been slipped into a black knitted undershirt, and I could see his whole back.

He is 1.9 metres tall, so his body is wide and muscular.

The only blemish is probably the scar on his left waist.

The scar is about the size of a coin, and looks like a cluster of exploding fireworks. I don’t know how many years have passed, but the scar tissue on the surface is still uneven, much whiter than the surrounding skin, and very noticeable.

‘Get out.’

I looked away quickly. Shen Wunian looked up at me.

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry!’I realised how rude I had been, so hurriedly apologised and left the room.

A few minutes later, Shen Wunian came out of his room, dressed and carrying a coat over his elbow, looking as if he was going out.

‘I’m going out for a while, and I might be late. Don’t wait up for me,’ he said, acting and speaking as usual, but I always felt that something was missing from his smile.

But ever since he saw the photos I had taken of him, he had been like that. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was as if he wasn’t really interested in anything.

I always feel like he’s angry with me, but I don’t know why.

I chased after him and played the video of Wang Xiangyang for him to watch.

He looked at it without much interest and kept walking towards the door. ‘It seems that he has realised his mistake. Bad people get their just deserts. Isn’t that good?’

‘Do you think it might have been done by Huanchen?’

He stopped in his tracks: ‘Pei Huanchen?’

‘He said he would crush Wang Xiangyang for me.’ Wang Xiangyang was beaten beyond recognition within a few days, and he even made a video exposing his crimes.

Shen Wunian nodded: “It’s not impossible.”

When I heard this, I became even more anxious: ‘The police won’t go arrest him, will they?’

‘What’s the point? He’s living it up.’After changing his shoes, Shen Wunian walked over and told me, ‘Don’t ask Pei Huanchen these things online, or you’ll leave evidence.’

So it really is related to Pei Huanchen? He definitely knows something!

I panicked even more, but at the same time felt that, since this matter concerned me, I had to take responsibility. I decided to just pretend I knew nothing and I wouldn’t let anything slip.

Shen Wunian smiled and closed the metal door slowly. ‘Smart.’

In the afternoon, the counsellor called and was very worried about what had happened. She asked when I would return to class.

I felt really bad, like a criminal, and asked what the school was going to do about the fight.The counsellor said that because Wang Xiangyang had admitted he was the one who started it, he would definitely be punished and I wouldn’t be.

‘Don’t worry, the school will handle this fairly, and won’t wrong a good person or let a bad person go.’The counsellor’s tone was gentle, very different from when it had first happened.’In addition, Wang Xiangyang is willing to pay you compensation for medical expenses and reputation damage.What do you think…would it be okay if it was charged to your tuition card?’

I had been preparing myself for this.The other party asked me about the video, but instead of asking, he offered to pay me compensation, which made all the prepared lines I had in my head suddenly useless.

‘Well, yes, you can just put it on that card.’But on the phone, I didn’t show any of this.I still looked calm and collected.

But as soon as I hung up, I lost it. I collapsed on the bed, pressing on my pounding heart as I gasped for breath.

I started cleaning the house to calm down. Sometimes when my hands were busy, my mind had no time to wander.

While tidying up the papers on Shen Wunian’s desk, I accidentally saw his translated driver’s licence, which had his date of birth.

‘Why didn’t you tell me…’

I opened the takeaway app and started looking for nearby cake shops.After a few searches, I finally chose a ‘strawberry bomb’ fruit cake.The price of the cake was surprisingly high, even in the city centre. A small 4-inch cake could actually buy me four pairs of white sneakers.

Luckily, the cake was made to order, and I called the shop assistant to ask.He said it would be delivered to my home in two hours, which was just right, as Shen Wunian would be home late today and it should arrive before he got back.

The cake was delivered at 6:30 pm, just as I’d hoped.I followed the instructions on the cake and put it in the fridge to chill. Then I started looking forward to Shen Wunian’s return.

I wasn’t in a hurry to get the cake out before nine, so I didn’t think about sending Shen Wunian a message.At ten, I started to worry a bit and kept checking my phone for a message from Shen Wunian, but there was nothing. At eleven, I couldn’t hold back any longer and sent a message to Shen Wunian to ask when he would be back.

He didn’t reply, not for another hour and a half.

As I watched the clock and a new day dawned, I stared at my phone and sighed.

I thought, “Forget it, he must have had someone else to celebrate his birthday with.”

Just because he didn’t tell me it was his birthday didn’t mean his other friends didn’t know.

I thought, “Oh well, it’s probably just an early birthday for me.”

I took the cake out of the fridge and did all the usual things I do, like lighting the candles and singing ‘Happy Birthday’. I ate a bit of the cake, but then I fell asleep.

The 4-inch cake is just right for two people to eat, but a little too much for one person.I ate most of the cake with some variety shows on in the background, and I really couldn’t eat the remaining small piece.I had planned to lie on the sofa for a while to digest and then eat some more, but I accidentally raised my blood sugar and felt sleepy, so I just fell asleep on the sofa.

When I opened my eyes, I was still seeing the silly variety show on the TV. I felt a bit light-headed and there was a slight smell of alcohol on my breath.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up, asking, ‘You’re back? What time is it?’

Shen Wunian turned off the TV, saw that I was awake, looked down at his watch and said, ‘2:40 a.m.’

When you’re tired, your brain seems to function like it’s drunk. I don’t know what happened, but it was as if my body had a mind of its own, and without warning it started rambling.

‘Did you eat any cake yesterday? No? You should eat the rest. This cake is really expensive,’ I said, pointing at the small, half-eaten piece of cake on the table.

Shen Wunian paused, looked at the cake and asked, “Is this for me?”

‘It was all for you, but you didn’t come back, so I ate it myself.’

‘You know it was my birthday yesterday?’ he asked again.

I had seen your translated driver’s licence by accident.I closed my eyes slightly and frowned. “Why didn’t you reply to my messages? What are you angry about?” I asked, sounding muddled and confused.

Shen Wunian sat down next to me, picked up the small piece of cake, and used the same spoon I had used to eat it.

‘Let’s go and get a drink,’ he probably didn’t hear the last part and only answered the first.

‘Then you must have eaten the cake,’ I said, putting my legs up, putting my hands under my knees, holding one hand in the other, and trying to keep my eyes open, but feeling sleepy.

‘No.’

‘Huh?’

‘I just don’t want to think that I’m going drinking because it’s my birthday.’

If I had been in my right mind, I would have sensed something unusual by now, but I was in a daze and didn’t think Shen Wunian’s words were strange at all.

‘Why?’

‘Because…my parents died on my birthday.’He looked at the cake and spoke in a flat tone.

I yawned, then felt a lump in my throat.My brain started working again, and I suddenly woke up.