Funeral

In a dirty and messy alley, a man was lying on the ground, gasping for air. In addition to the injuries he had sustained during the day, he had added several new wounds to his body. The light outside flickered, unable to penetrate into the alley.

Only a round moon on the horizon illuminated this dramatic scene.

“You can run so fast. It’s hard for me to find you. We have a long-standing relationship. Why don’t you say hello to your brother?”

“Are you forgetting that you still owe me money? If you can’t pay it back, what will you use to compensate me?”

The man in front of Li Zhuang had eyes like a snake or a scorpion, as if he wanted to tear something from him.

The person in front of him had a permanent frown, causing a “川” character to form between his eyebrows, and a horrifying scar ran across his forehead.

Li Zhuang was wearing thin clothing despite the night, but this did not prevent him from breaking out in a cold sweat and trembling all over.

Seven or eight tall men surrounded him.

He felt like he was nailed to the ground, unable to move, and could only hear his heart beating wildly.

When he was younger, he could rely on his strength to make a little money. But now he was already old, and his body was weak.

He was someone who loved to enjoy life and couldn’t bear suffering or hardship. He had already gambled away the money he borrowed and now had a pile of debts with nothing to his name. If he couldn’t come up with something to use as collateral, who knew what these crazy people would do?

“I… I don’t have any money, but… but I have a son.”

Li Zhuang spoke with trembling lips and stuttered, breathing heavily like a broken bellows.

“He can pay you back. If he can’t, I’ll give him to you as compensation.”

Thinking of Qin He, he felt like he had caught onto a glimmer of hope, and his voice became noticeably louder.

“Xiao He,”

The man seemed to recall this person from memory and smiled.

“Okay, with you as his father, he’s unlucky. Give me the address.”

The man raised an eyebrow, stood up, and kicked Li Zhuang’s legs like he was kicking a lifeless object.

After the man left, Li Zhuang’s tense body finally relaxed, and he took a deep breath.

“You little brat, you’re still somewhat useful.”

Originally, Qin He had quit his job at the coffee shop to exclusively tutor Yu Cheng. But tonight, someone had to call in sick, and the shop was too busy to handle it.

The shop manager called Qin He and asked if he could help out in a pinch, promising to pay him double his usual wage. Since the shop manager was usually very kind to Qin He, he agreed to help out. He told Yu Cheng that he would come back to tutor him at 8 p.m. that night, and Yu Cheng nodded and let him go.

Yu Cheng played game after game, complaining that Qin He hadn’t come back yet. He checked his phone and saw that it was already 8:20.

Qin He is usually a person who keeps his promises; if he said he would be there at eight o’clock, then he would be there. But it’s already almost half past eight, and he’s still not here.

Yu Cheng couldn’t sit still and felt his right eyelid twitching incessantly, as if something bad was about to happen. He quickly grabbed his clothes and jumped out of bed.

It was almost curfew, and the security guard tried to persuade him not to go out, but Yu Cheng ignored him.

It was already dark outside, and autumn is a season with frequent rain. The gloomy sky seemed like it was about to rain, and leaves were falling rustlingly.

There were only a few people scattered on the street, and some of them remembered that Qin He was supposed to come help today, so they hurriedly ran to the store, only to be told that he had already left.

Yu Cheng frowns as all the calls he makes go unanswered. He quickly reports to the police and contacts his family to help him check where Li Zhuang is. He kicks a tree as he leaves the store in a hurry.”

On one side, Yu Cheng is getting increasingly agitated, while on the other, Qin He is blindfolded and tied to a chair.

After helping out, Qin He realises it’s already 7:40 p.m. and tries to take a shortcut back to school, but he’s stopped by a group of men.

Qin He slowly retreated, seeking a chance to escape. But as soon as he moved, the group of people moved forward and surrounded him.

“Who are you? I don’t remember having any conflict with you,” Qin He tried to strike up a conversation and divert their attention.

“You didn’t have any conflict with us, but your father, Li Zhuang, did,” one of the people replied.

“Little brother, your dad owed us money, and he gave you to us as compensation. You know you have to pay your debts, right?” Another person chimed in.

“It’s really hard to find you and your dad. We went to your house, but you’re living in the dormitory. “We’ve been waiting for you for several days,” yet another person said.

The man in charge spoke to Qin He with a carefree smile, making it hard to tell that they were actually kidnapping him.

Qin He put his hand in his pocket as if he were relaxing and negotiating with someone.

In fact, he had already called the police. The best use of a smartphone is for emergency calls.

“I have nothing to do with him. Do you really believe him if he just made up a son out of thin air?”1“made up out of thin air” is an idiom that means something is completely fabricated or untrue.

Qin He adopted an indifferent expression, as if he had never heard of that name before.

“When we lend money, we always have to understand the other party’s situation. Little brother, it’s not a good habit to fool people.”

“If he hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about you. Your father is really worthless, even selling his own son.”

“He owes you how much? I can pay him back, as long as you let me go.”

Qin He tried to deceive them, but failed, and had to think of another way to delay time.

“It’s too late; tie him up. Now I think you’re worth more than that 30,000 yuan. How much money can a little kid like you have?”

The person opposite waved their hand, and Qin He was pressed to the ground by someone.

“I haven’t seen you in a few years; you look better than when you were a child. I heard that rich people have strange fetishes; with your looks, you’ll be the top pick.”

Earlier, he had just spoken with someone and was convinced that the person couldn’t escape. Qin He struggled to resist but was kicked.

The man reached out to touch Qin He’s face, but Qin He dodged it. The man’s face changed, and he raised his hand to hit Qin He.

“You guys are breaking the law. Let me go, and I won’t call the police. I’ll give you the money,” Qin He said something, but he was quickly silenced.

On the way, Qin He cursed Li Zhuang the whole time. Although his phone was taken, he managed to send a distress signal.

When he was tied up in the car, he was pushed because he couldn’t see where he was going. His head hit the car door, leaving a bruise.

He could only feel the car driving, swaying like it was going to the outskirts of the city. He felt like vomiting, but he had to remain calm.

The sky has started to drizzle, but it hasn’t brought any coolness, and the stuffy, humid air is uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry, your classmate called for help when he realised something was wrong. But the car kept changing routes, making it hard to track. Someone has already gone to investigate.”

The police officer next to him comforted the angry Yu Cheng, who was still a minor and could only wait on the side.

“Did they catch Li Zhuang?”

Just as he asked, someone brought Li Zhuang in.

Yu Cheng’s anger finally found a release, and he rushed over and kicked Li Zhuang down.

“What the hell does this have to do with you?”

Li Zhuang had been beaten for two days straight and couldn’t take it anymore. He lay motionless on the ground, and the people nearby quickly restrained Yu Cheng.

“Stay calm, this is a police station.”

Yu Cheng’s eyes looked at Li Zhuang as if he was about to burst into flames and burn him alive. He shook off the people around him and went outside to make a phone call.

The humid air and sticky sweat made him uncomfortable.

After some time, Qin He arrived at the police station and saw Yu Cheng on the verge of losing his temper, struggling to control his anger.

“What happened?” Qin He asked.

“Are you okay? Did they do anything to you? Tell me,” Yu Cheng’s eyes turned red as he confirmed the person in front of him. “Who did this?”

Qin He’s bangs were wet from the rain and sticking to his forehead. His left cheek was swollen, clearly from being punched.

The wound on his forehead was bleeding and looked very glaring.

“I’m okay. I accidentally bumped into something. They just stopped here, and not long after, someone else came,” Qin He said.

Qin He gently patted Yu Cheng’s back to calm him down.

“Don’t worry. They won’t appear in front of you again, and that jerk won’t have the chance to harass you anymore,” Qin He said.

A glint of ferocity flashed in Yu Cheng’s eyes.

“If you do something, you have to pay the price. It won’t work this time no matter what you say,” Yu Cheng said.

For the first time, Yu Cheng felt that time was so difficult to bear, checking every minute to see if the person had returned.

“We should treat your wounds first.”

As he looked at Qin He’s injuries, Yu Cheng instinctively wanted to touch them but was afraid of hurting him.

Qin He also knew that he had probably scared Yu Cheng for real. For the first time, someone cared for him so much, and he felt like he was surrounded by warmth, as if he had someone to support him…

It was still drizzling outside, and they couldn’t let Qin He’s injuries get wet. Yu Cheng went to get an umbrella, which he borrowed from a girl.

The transparent umbrella had little yellow ducks printed on it, which looked out of place with Yu Cheng’s gloomy expression.

Qin He’s eyes were filled with sparkling laughter.

“Stop laughing and come in quickly. Your wound will get wet in the rain, and you will feel uncomfortable.”

Qin He put on Yu Cheng’s jacket and walked into the umbrella, maintaining a slight distance from Yu Cheng.

It was quite a challenge for a small umbrella to cover two almost-adult males.

Yu Cheng pulled Qin He closer and said, “Do you want to catch a cold?”

The close proximity made everything clear. Yu Cheng’s forehead had tiny beads of sweat, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his lips were tightly pursed.

“You’re going to turn into a grumpy old man.” Qin He tapped Yu Cheng’s head. “Relax your brow.”

Perhaps the night was too suitable for confiding, or perhaps after this incident, Qin He had a genuine desire to open up to Yu Cheng.

He took the initiative to start the conversation and talked about his childhood.

“Am I quite pitiful? Every time someone finds out about my family’s situation, they always say, “Qin He, you’re so pitiful.”

Qin He talked about his childhood, but there was no emotion in his words.

It seemed more like telling a story that had nothing to do with oneself. Only when mimicking others’ words did the tone have a slight fluctuation.

Qin He disliked hearing about his family’s situation from others; he didn’t need their pity.

This was the first time he had talked about his own story, and the other person might have been surprised to hear it.

He wanted to be friends with this person, but he didn’t want to be seen as pitiful.

He didn’t want the other person to look at him with pity every time, so he took the initiative to talk about it.

“You’re very impressive. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t have grown up to be like you.”

Yu Cheng leaned towards Qin He, trying to warm him up, and sincerely admired him from the bottom of his heart.

Then, the young master experienced the emotion called “heartache” for the first time.

When they arrived at school, half of Yu Cheng’s clothes were already wet from the rain.

Just like that feeling of heartache, it submerged his entire heart without a word.

This incident alarmed the school, and they initially wanted people to go home and rest for two days.

However, Qin He insisted that it was unnecessary, and since he stayed, Yu Cheng stayed as well.

Their relationship had become surprisingly close, to the point where they were almost inseparable. Yu Cheng was no longer clingy towards Qin He and being ignored, and Qin He would respond to him as well…

Xian Nan Zhi

A novel is a novel, a fictional world~

Believe in science~

1“made up out of thin air” is an idiom that means something is completely fabricated or untrue.