After a while, Qin Cang regained his usual calm. Wang Ran glanced at the cameraman, signalled that he could turn the video camera back on.
“What caused you and Mr. Yang to be together?”
Qin Cang fiddled with the hand warmer in his arms. It was slightly unbearably hot, but he was unwilling to toss it away because Yang Yiqian gave it to him. He could only hold it in his arms sound and safely.
He opened his pale lips and continued, “I do not know when he started liking me. This man…he is always stubborn and does not have much sense of honour at all. He knew that I had a girlfriend but still pursued me shamelessly.
“At first I thought he was joking and ignored him. Later, he insisted on sleeping next to me. Two people crammed in a lower bunk. I was confined under his arms and feet, and trapped in his firm and scorching breath. That was when I knew that he was for real.
“He did not give me time to consider other things. As you know, a young man’s desire was fierce and unreasonable. It was like being surrounded by a magnificent army on the edge of a steep cliff. When I jumped off, the intense pain turned into this foetal joy. As I climbed layer by layer, I realised it was futile to escape. So I choose to sink with him.
“There were others in the dormitory. Although he used heavy force, his action was very light. His strong chest was against my back. I felt my whole being was in this water. That was him, but also me. That entire night was wet.
“On this cramped iron frame bed, each smallest squeak was like a wail from a ghost. In this dark night, even the thin moonlight outside the window was too ashamed to enter.
“After that night, I hid from him for a long time. Then a few days later, something happened at home that I needed to tend to.
“He panicked, trying to find me. When he learned of my home address from the counsellor, he immediately bought the next train ticket and took a seventeen hour train, arriving at my house that very night.
“I was startled when I saw him. His face was grim with messy stubble. Carrying only a backpack and the thin clothes on his body. He looked stiffened from the cold.
“I quickly dragged him into the house to warm up by the fire. When I threw him an old military coat, he did not move, he just sullened with a gloomy expression.
“My grandmother asked me what was up with this kid. I lied and said, ‘This is my classmate. Maybe he is tired from the train ride. Grandma, you should go and rest first.’
“My grandmother was very old. Because of her health complications, her steps were shaky. But she repeatedly told me to look after my classmate. A while later, she moved an extra cotton wool bedding and said to Yang Yiqian, ‘There is no available spare room in the house. You go squeeze with my grandson, it will be warmer.’
“Yang Yiqian’s anger was long gone as he nodded like a chicken pecking rice. ‘Qin Cang’s grandma, you do not have to worry about me. Qin Cang and I are great friends, the kind that will do anything for!’
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.
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“My head was on the side of his neck, and I could smell this sour scent on him. It was the smell of old sweat, not very strong but I could not stand it. I frowned and wanted to struggle out, but he held me tighter and tried to push me deeper into his arms.
“‘Xiao Cang, please don’t hide from me. I miss you madly…Don’t be afraid of me, don’t hide from me, okay?’
“His life-begging tone came with a clinging burning breath, wovening into a dense and strong net to cover my entire being.
“I was so trapped that I only sigh and agreed with an okay.
“That night, I slept in the same bed with him and each of us kept to our sides. When I lay down with the light out, time suddenly slowed down.
“This was a very strange feeling for me because I always wanted to take my girlfriend back home, but I was always concerned that she would break up with me because my family was poor. So I never brought it up between us. I would never expect that in the end, it was Yang Yiqian who followed me home and even lay on the same bed.
“Yang Yiqian is actually a rich second generation. I did not believe him when he first told me that. Later, when he drove his Mercedes to school, I was so shocked. During that time, I was even thinking long and hard on getting myself a bike.
“He rolled down the window and put out his hand casually, smiling blatantly. ‘Come on, this Da-ge has a driver licence and will take you out for a ride.’
“So I was deeply moved when he rushed to such a far and remote place.
“The night in the countryside gets very dark. There were more than a dozen families scattered around the large mountain, covered by the accumulated snow, making the long night darker and colder.
“About an hour later, Yang Yiqian thought I was asleep so his feet got into my quilt restlessly. His feet were hot, while my body temperature was always colder than the norm. When his feet touched mine, I could feel his whole body quiver. I thought he would take back his feet, instead, he flipped his body upside down and held my cold feet on his hot chest.
“In the quiet, dark night, he hissed from the ice. That sound was crystal clear and spread out into the dark.
“I fell asleep like this. My feet gradually warmed up in his arms, sweating even, as if they wanted to melt with him.
“The next day, when I woke up, Yang Yiqian was already up. He followed closely behind my grandmother as she burned fire on the stove. He had never seen this kind of earth stove before, getting dust on his nose.
“My grandma did not want him to work. But he showed a smile and fiddled with an iron tongue, telling her everything is fine.
“My returning home this time was really because of a family matter. My father came back with his lover and angered my grandmother. She fell ill and was bedridden for two days. It was Ms. Zhao, our next door neighbours, called me.
“When I came home, my father was gone and left some money. That money was left on top of the wooden cabinet in the bedroom. It was a small pile of red and wrinkled bills. My grandmother did not accept it, and I did not touch it.
“Just the thought of it makes me sick.
“When grandma’s spirit got better, I suggested that she move closer to my campus. I could rent a place for her, but my grandma was dead set on staying. Giving me excuses like her concern for her chickens and vegetables. How she was used to here and was reluctant to leave her village friends.
“My hands were tied. University courses proceed on schedule, so I couldn’t keep taking absents. I was left to ask my next door neighbours to take care of her.
“Yang Yiqian always surprises me with the unexpected. For example, he brought a pile of milk powder, supplements and dry food to store in the house, explaining to my grandmother how to eat them. Gifted cigarettes and alcohol to my neighbours for me, which was a big deal for the family at that time. He also left Ms. Zhao his phone number to get in contact if something came up.
“When we went back to university together, we bought the standard ticket, one without sleeping accommodations. He purchased a small pillow for me in advance, changed seats with the person next to me, and let me lean on his shoulder or lie on his lap.
“I tried to ignore him. I accepted the small pillow and went to sleep without leaning against him. After I slept for a while, I woke up to find half of my body in his arms.
“He untied his big coat and put it around me. When he saw me up, he questioned, ‘Why are you so cold-blooded, like a snake?’
“I withdrew from his arms. I did not feel cold, instead, I felt this heat inside of my head. It was persistence, burning my brain into a mush.
“He had such a good physique, could burn so hot even wearing so little, hot enough to suffocate me.
“He looked at me earnestly and asked, ‘Why do you always frown so deeply when you sleep?’
“I frowned without realising it. I have never paid attention to this problem before, and never really care. However, he wanted to get to the bottom of the matter. I thought he was being noisy so I paid no attention to him. He brought up another question, this time about my family situation.
“When I looked into his eyes and saw those focused dark pupils, I only saw sincere. I leaned against the window, organised my answers and shared a few words with him.
“It’s pretty simple. My father cheated and my mother could not handle it. She cried and quarrelled with him for several years until finally, she felt really tired and left. Left as in she was no longer in the world of living. She cut her wrists and committed sucicide.
“She died on a stuffy and hot afternoon. It was before I finished school and did not witness the bloody scene, but when I returned home, there was this intense iron scent that swallowed me whole. I vomited everything in my stomach and had a feverish nightmare that night, muttering incoherent words the entire night.
“Grandma took me to the clinic for a few shots. When I was not getting any better, she went to the temple and prayed for the master there to drive away the evil. The torment lasted for a week or two.
“My mother was pretty nice. She married from the village next door. A hardworking, honest and filial individual. The only flaw was her stubbornness.
“She actually found out that my father was cheating very early on. At the beginning, she would secretly cry all night and forcefully comfort herself during the day. She just thought that my father did this on a whim and everything would be back to normal in time.
“But it never returned to normal, because my father’s affair became more brazen. Even my grandmother learned of this. Things got from bad to worse as the villagers began to gossip with pointing fingers. In the end, my father simply went far away with the woman.
“My mother was a traditional woman. One that believed the husband was her heaven. When heaven collapsed, she also lost the will to live.”
The sunshine outside the window gradually faded, same with Qin Cang’s face. He chuckled gently, looked at Wang Ran and said, “Fortunately, I’m not as foolish as her.”
Wang Ran did not understand the meaning of the last sentence. She kept feeling that Qin Cang’s eyes were gazing past here to elsewhere.
The author has something to say:
I didn’t expect that I would fail the audit on chapter two. I…went to reflect on this…
While crying out
oh no 🙁 poor author
Yanyan so pushy 😭 but his wealth and assistance and presence greatly helped.
Poor mc’s mama 🥺
Also, is mc really airing out everything on an interview??? 😭