KEIGHTY:
Hello, everyone! Please always check the pop-up notes for better reading experience. To those who are new to it, pop-up notes can be seen by clicking the underlined words. Enjoy <3
He Yu stood at the Anfu Prison gate, not looking back. He heard the iron door closing heavily behind him and almost felt compelled to return to the place where he had spent more than two years of his life with, but he resisted. There is no going back from here. He should take the straight road ahead of him that leads into the distance.
He Yu was not in a hurry to leave. He squatted not far from the prison door and smoked a cigarette quietly.
The cigarette was given to him by the prison guard who had disciplined him for two years before he left. There was only one cigarette, which He Yu put in his jacket pocket. Only now did he have the opportunity to squat down and savor it slowly. It wasn’t a good cigarette, but He Yu had never smoked a good cigarette. The irritating smoke was inhaled from his mouth into his lungs, and then slowly spit out from his mouth. It seemed to be a kind of cleansing, and his whole body felt a lot more energetic.
He Yu has lived here for more than two years, but has never had the opportunity to see the scenery outside Anfu Prison. After the court announced the verdict, he was transferred from the detention center to the prison by a police car. He was immersed in helplessness and panic. He couldn’t even raise his head to look ahead. Only today did he realize that this place was not as desolate as he had imagined.
Except for the nearly 100 meters next to the prison, it was empty. Further away, it was like many ordinary remote towns, with restaurants, shops, and some small hotels.
The prison is often visited by police officers and visiting prisoners’ families, which actually makes such a remote place lively.
When He Yu took the last puff of his cigarette and pressed the cigarette butt heavily on the ground, a BMW X6 stopped in front of him.
He Yu raised his head and saw the car door open. A handsome man in a suit and leather shoes got out of the driver’s seat, walked around the front of the car, and stood in front of He Yu.
“He Yu,” the man called out, his voice low and slightly excited.
It was against the light when He Yu looked at the man’s face. For a brief moment, he went into a trance and closed his eyes.
The man stretched out a hand to him and said, “Get up.”
He Yu smiled and reached out to hold the hand, but was pulled hard by the man.
Then, the man opened his arms and hugged He Yu hard. He hugged him so tightly that it almost hurt He Yu. He called out again, “He Yu.”
He Yu slowly hugged him back and gently called the man’s name, “Fu Chenshan.”
Fu Chenshan didn’t let go of He Yu for a long time. He Yu could feel his arms shaking slightly, and then he buried his face on He Yu’s shoulder.
He Yu couldn’t help but raise his hand and touch Fu Chenshan’s hair. It was no longer the familiar soft touch before. Fu Chenshan dressed himself up decently and put hairspray on his hair, which made it feel a little stiff.
He Yu finally patted his arm and motioned for him to let go. He Yu smiled and said in a relaxed tone, “I’m hungry, let’s find a place to eat first.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Fu Chenshan stood up straight, looked at He Yu, and said, “You have lost weight.”
Pc ojma, la lr cba atja tf tjr ibra kfluta. Lf Te tjr ajccfv vef ab kbgxlcu fnfgs vjs, jcv atf ilcfr bc tlr ojmf jgf wbgf mifjg-mea. Lbkfnfg, atf ybvs mbnfgfv ys mibatfr tjr yfmbwf ragbcufg atjc yfobgf, mbnfgfv klat j atlc ijsfg bo wermifr bc abq.
Me Jtfcrtjc bqfcfv atf qjrrfcufg vbbg jcv rjlv, “Xfa lc atf mjg olgra.”
He Yu walked over and into the car in an unusual manner. There was a smooth leather chair beneath him, and the car smelled faintly of car perfume. He Yu felt stuffy for a moment because it smelled so different from the mixed smell of men’s sweat and body odor that he was used to in prison.
Fu Chenshan had already sat back in the driver’s seat and started the car.
He Yu reached out and pressed the car window.
Fu Chenshan asked him, “Will you get motion sickness?”
He Yu shook his head. “It’s okay.”
Fu Chenshan said, “The air here is not good, and there is too much dust in front. It’s better to close the windows.”
He Yu then pressed back the car window and replied, “Okay.”
Fu Chenshan turned the car around and drove forward in the direction he came from.
He Yu looked at the small restaurant passing by the roadside and saw that Fu Chenshan had no intention of stopping, so he didn’t ask and sat quietly in the car looking at the scenery outside.
Anfu is a small town, and Anfu Prison is on the outskirts, built against a mountain. Because it still falls under the jurisdiction of Anfu Town, it was named after the place name.
The existence of a prison cannot boost the economy of a town. Anfu Town is still a remote and rundown town.
It was not easy for Fu Chenshan to find such a high-end restaurant in the town. The two chose a seat by the window. The waiter brought the menu. Fu Chenshan took it and handed it to He Yu before going to the bathroom.
He Yu looked at the menu. The food here was actually not expensive, but He Yu had been in prison and detention center for more than three years combined, and it had been a long time since he had eaten even the simplest home-cooked food.
When he was a child, he liked to eat fish-flavored eggplant. As long as eggplants are in season, his mother will go to the vegetable market every morning to buy them and cook them for him when she gets home from work at noon. The fresh eggplant is wrapped in thick gravy, and the aroma of fish fills the nose.
The simplest happiness at that time is now the greatest luxury. Even if you have many regrets, you will not be able to recover them if you look back.
When Fu Chenshan came back, he saw He Yu still looking at the menu in a daze.
The waiter next to him was holding a pen and paper. He seemed to have been waiting for a long time, but he was too embarrassed to rush.
Fu Chenshan sat opposite He Yu and asked, “How many dishes did you order?”
He Yu came back to his senses, looked up at him, and handed over the menu. “Please order something for me, I can’t even remember what to eat.”
Fu Chenshan flipped through the menu.
He Yu lowered his head, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip. His eyes fell on the corners of Fu Chenshan’s lips, and he saw his lips unconsciously pursed into a straight line. This was an expression of disgust but he wanted to hide it. He Yu has known him for more than 20 years and grew up together. No one is more familiar with the meaning of Fu Chenshan’s every expression than he is.
Fu Chenshan ordered four or five dishes, all of which were He Yu’s favorite dishes, and he still remembered them clearly.
The waiter left with the menu.
It was already past dinner time, and there was only He Yu’s table in the entire restaurant. The two people sat facing each other, unusually quiet.
Fu Chenshan started to wash the dishes and chopsticks with tea, but He Yu sat still and didn’t move.
He waited until Fu Chenshan asked him, “Can I wash your chopsticks for you?”
He Yu reacted.
He had been in prison for such a long time, but he still remembered to wash the dishes before eating. He smiled mockingly and said, “No need.”
Fu Chenshan frowned slightly and looked at He Yu.
He Yu felt his throat was a little itchy and asked, “Is there any smoke?”
Fu Chenshan was startled when he heard this and blurted out, “You don’t smoke!”
Fu Chenshan’s tone was so agitated that He Yu was stunned for a moment, and then he smiled. What’s the big deal? “It’s hard to live in the cell. Occasionally, someone will give you one, so I try to take it and feel better.”
Fu Chenshan suddenly reached out and held He Yu’s hand on the table. “Xiao Yu, I’m sorry!”
He Yu suddenly became a little distracted. He Yu heard this sentence many times, almost every time, from the time Fu Chenshan cried and begged him until he was sent to the detention center, and later to prison, when Fu Chenshan came to visit him. When they met, Fu Chenshan would always apologize.
He Yu wasn’t bored; he just thought it was pointless. Can any amount of remorse buy him back three years of freedom? Can it save his mother’s life?
There is one question that Fu Chenshan has never asked. If he asks He Yu now whether he will regret it later, He Yu will undoubtedly say that he will. From the time he was locked up in the detention center, living in fear and darkness, to the time he saw his mother sobbing and leaning on his sister’s shoulder in court, to the time he was punched in the face by someone in the cell, he felt so regretful that he couldn’t help but regret it. Kill himself and restart.
But what if he has second thoughts?
Fu Chenshan looked remorseful. Every time he saw He Yu, he felt so sad that he seemed to wish he could go to jail for him. But He Yu saw it and became calmer. He didn’t hate Fu Chenshan. He only blamed himself for diving headfirst into the so-called love and leaving no way out when cruel reality devoured the ideal love. Everything was gone, leaving only regret, but there was no way out.
He Yu raised his hand and wiped his face. “Let me borrow some money, I’ll buy a pack of cigarettes.”
Fu Chenshan let go of his hand, took out a hundred yuan bill from his coat pocket and handed it to him, still advising, “Smoke less, it’s not good for your health.”
He Yu took the money, stood up, smiled and said, “It’s okay.” Then he walked out of the restaurant.
He Yu bought a pack of cigarettes worth 20 yuan and a lighter worth 50 cents from a small shop opposite the hotel. He did not rush back, but stood on the roadside, lit a cigarette, held it in his mouth and took a long drag.
From him, Fu Chenshan, who was sitting by the window, could be clearly seen.
Fu Chenshan was less than a year older than him. The two families were neighbors and had known each other since elementary school. They later went to junior high school and high school together, and they didn’t separate until college. As a result, after graduating from college, the two people worked in the same company.
He Yu started to like Fu Chenshan when he was in the third year of junior high school. He always thought that it was fate that the two of them could always be together. But later he realized that that kind of fate was too heavy for him.
Before he finished smoking, the waiter started to serve the food.
Fu Chenshan turned around to look for him. He Yu quickly put out his unfinished cigarette and walked towards the restaurant.
He Yu ate quickly and quietly.
Fu Chenshan ate very little and kept helping him pick up vegetables and two bowls of rice.
Although He Yu was silent, he ate a lot during this meal. It had been a long time since he had eaten a meal that was so full of flavor and oil.
After eating, He Yu took out a tissue and wiped his mouth.
Fu Chenshan looked at him and asked gently, “Are you full?”
He Yu nodded.
Fu Chenshan said, “Then let’s go back. It will take more than two hours to get back to the city. There will be severe traffic jams if we are late.”
He Yu stood up and said, “Chenshan, I want to go and pay homage to my mother first.”
The author has something to say:
I have some free time recently and want to write a book seriously. If I have a story, I plan to write it down as soon as possible. It would be best if I can finish it in one breath while taking advantage of my passion.
The original series of books will continue to be serialized, and I guarantee there will be no cheating…
This started off pretty good. Thank you for the translation!
You’re welcome <3
Damn, what’s going on? They mystery keep me on edge 👀👀👀
Something tells me he yu was unjustly sent to prison and it very much has something to do with his childhood sweetheart…