Chapter 38: The Fireworks Of Our Lives - Xixi's Translations

Xixi9-11 minutes 08.08.2022

It was almost ten o’clock when Chen Yuchuan and Lu Yang came out of the boxing gym. In the middle of the night, the thin street lights were mixed with the cold moonlight streaming down from the night sky.

Chen Yuchuan was so hungry that his chest was practically touching his back. His arm was slumped over Lu Yang’s shoulder, with half of him practically hanging off of Lu Yang as he followed his pace.

“I’m so hungry.”

As they left the gym, he grabbed Lu Yang’s hand and slipped it under the hem of his shirt to rub his stomach. “I feel so hungry that I could see stars.”

“What do you want to eat? We can eat first before we go home.” They stopped on the side of the street, not entering the parking lot.

There are many restaurants near the boxing gym, but they rarely ate there.

Chen Yuchuan released Lu Yang and looked at their surroundings. Finally, he pointed to the shop across the street and said, “Let’s go eat the seafood barbecue over there, I want to eat skewers. No, I want to eat spicy skewers…”

“We’ll go, but you can only eat non-spicy skewers…” Lu Yang gave Chen Yuchuan no room for discussion. “Don’t even think about having spicy skewers, you had a stomach ache yesterday.”

“That was yesterday,” Chen Yuchuan said. “It’s gone now.”

“That argument is ineffective.” Lu Yang didn’t listen to him at all.

“Okay,” Chen Yuchuan quickly compromised, primarily because he was too hungry. But he still struggled a bit in the end, “Actually, the reason why I was complaining about a stomach ache wasn’t because it really hurted. It was because you’ve been more indulgent these past few days, so I couldn’t restrain myself and pretended that my stomach hurts. But really, it doesn’t hurt.”

“No spicy skewers or no sleeping tonight. You choose one,” Lu Yang gave Chen Yuchuan two options.

“I choose to sleep,” Chen Yuchuan said. “I’ve been sleeping pretty well lately. I don’t need to eat spicy skewers, but can I eat spicy grilled fish?”

In the end, Lu Yang ordered a grilled fish for Chen Yuchuan, adding spice without peppercorns. Chen Yuchuan was thoroughly satisfied.

The next day, they were called to the police station in the early morning. The thief had already been caught. That night, the thief had tried to rob another house, but the family had returned earlier than usual and knocked the burglar out on the spot.

In fact, the thief had tried to get into Chen Yuchuan’s old apartment before, but a neighbor had walked in on him halfway, and so he ran away without stealing anything.

But this thief was a habitual thief with a criminal record. Surveillance videos showed that he had picked the locks of three apartments in that community and had stolen a lot of things.

Unfortunately, the items that were stolen could not be recovered. The watches and rings had already been sold.

As for the buyers, the police said that they would continue to track them down. However, the chances of getting these items back were quite slim.

Chen Yuchuan and Lu Yang were still cursing as they left the police station, and finally, Lu Yang directly took him to the mall to purchase a new pair of rings.

They spent a long time selecting the right ring. In the end, Chen Yuchuan settled on a pair of rings that were similar to their original rings, one that they both liked.

However, because the store ran out of Lu Yang’s size, it would take two days for them to get the rings.

As a result, they paid the deposit, left behind their phone number, and made an appointment to pick the rings up two days later.

Lu Yang had already gotten the door of the old apartment replaced, and the lock was changed to a password fingerprint lock, increasing security.

They both reorganized a few things in the apartment, and once the apartment was completely cleaned up, Chen Yuchuan took a few photos and posted the apartment for rent.

He’d forgotten where he’d put the divorce certificate, but it was finally found in the pocket of the pants that had been hanging on the balcony all this time.

The divorce certificate was wrinkled after having been washed by the washing machine. He flipped through it and could still clearly read the words inside, which meant that it was still useful.

“It looks unlucky,” Chen Yuchuan shook the divorce certificate in disgust. “This color isn’t good-looking. We’ll go get a new one tomorrow.”

After he finished speaking, he remembered that the next day was the weekend. He changed his words again. “Tomorrow won’t work. We’ll change it next Monday instead.”

Lu Yang took the divorce certificate from Chen Yuchuan’s hand, stuffed it into his pocket, and said, “Then Monday it is. The weather forecast says that there will be no rain on Monday, so the weather should be perfect.”

“Even if it rains or snows, I will still go,” Chen Yuchuan said with a smile.

On the weekend, the clerk called Lu Yang to tell him that the rings had arrived. He was working overtime at the company that day, so when he came home after picking up the ring, he found Chen Yuchuan was sleeping in the bedroom.

He was sleeping soundly and quietly.

Lu Yang didn’t want to wake Chen Yuchuan up. Instead, he opened up the ring box, took out the ring, and slipped it on Chen Yuchuan’s ring finger.

When Chen Yuchuan woke up, he found Lu Yang’s arms around his waist, and the first thing he saw was the ring on Lu Yang’s finger. He held Lu Yang’s hand and raised it closer to look at the ring. It was then that he noticed that he was also wearing a ring.

The curtains were open, and the sun in the evening was very dazzling, soaking the room in an orange warmth.

Having just woken up, Chen Yuchuan was in a daze for a long time. It felt as if they had never been divorced.

After waking up, they were still the same as before.

He held Lu Yang’s finger, playing with the ring. The phone by the bed vibrated a few times, and he picked it up to take a look.

Man Yunxin had posted a few photos to the family WeChat group, which consisted of only the four of them. There were some photos of the landscape, and a few of Lu Xianfeng and Man Yunxin.

Chen Yuchuan didn’t let go of Lu Yang’s hand. He scrolled through the photos with one hand, and replied in the group chat: Mom and Dad, you both looked great. Standing together, you’re even more beautiful than the scenery behind you.

After he sent the message, he felt Lu Yang shifted behind him, and the arm around his waist tightened.

Lu Xianfeng replied with a smiley face. Looking at the serious smile on the screen, Chen Yuchuan turned back and showed Lu Yang his phone. “Should I ask Dad about this smile? This isn’t simply a smile.”

“Ask if you want. He might not answer though.” Lu Yang had just woken up, and his voice was still low and hoarse.

“Indeed, Dad only listens to mom.” Chen Yuchuan continued to send messages. “Mom and Dad have a really good relationship.”

“Their relationship is really good. They’ve been like that since I was young. My paternal grandfather and grandmother served in the army together, and after they were discharged, they started a business. Meanwhile, my maternal grandmother was a soprano singer, and my maternal grandfather was a university professor. So, they kept their relationship secret for a long time, and in fact, their families didn’t even know about it until they decided to get married. Even after the wedding invitations had been sent out, no one could believe that these two people with such different personalities would end up together.”

“I’ve never seen them quarrel or bicker. It’s great.”

After saying this, Chen Yuchuan took a picture of Lu Yang’s hand with the wedding ring and posted the photo to the group.

Lu Xianfeng sent a smiling expression below, and Chen Yuchuan responded with an emoji of a dancing bear.

“They used to fight sometimes when I was young,” Lu Yang said. “But even when they were quarreling, my father had never raised his voice at my mother. Before my maternal grandparents died, he would often go to their house to lodge a complaint.”

Hearing this, Chen Yuchuan put his phone down and looked back at Lu Yang. “Is this why you kept complaining about me every time we went to visit my parent’s grave? It’s hereditary?”

“Maybe,” Lu Yang responded.

Chen Yuchuan smiled silently, and then said, “I thought that a gentle person like Mom wouldn’t get angry.”

“Everyone gets angry,” Lu Yang said. “Life is mostly full of fireworks. If you live well, it’s a life of fireworks. If you don’t live well, it’s embers and smoke. My parents just belong to the former category.”

“Then what kind are we?” Chen Yuchuan asked.

“The both of us…” Lu Yang stopped halfway through and didn’t continue.

Chen Yuchuan was in a hurry. He put his elbow back on Lu Yang’s chest and said, “We both have different personalities, so we are very different. We fight more than our parents, and we fight often. So are we embers and smoke?”

Lu Yang replied, “We’re not embers and smoke. These quarrels and fights are a part of the fireworks of our lives. Although our flames run high sometimes, sometimes high enough to burn the roof, our fireworks that will never go out.”