Mind Reading

Chapter 4 Part 1

Su Tang threw all the broken glass in the kitchen bin and her shirt was drenched with sweat after she finished cleaning up. She wasn’t going to leave soon and went back to her room to take a shower. She put her dirty clothes into the washing machine and wrapped the coffee-colored male bathrobe that was hanging in the wardrobe. 

There were no signs of someone else living in Shen Yi’s home. Although the price tag was cut off, it was obviously new, and she felt a little uncomfortable wearing something brand new straight on her skin. 

Su Tang guessed that liking the quietness was probably in his nature. 

If he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t live a soundless life so calmly. 

Shen Yi never left the room again after taking the pills. Su Tang poked her head in from the door and saw him sitting against his bed with glasses. He was working on his laptop attentively and she didn’t disturb him as she sat down and watched TV alone. 

There were many paid channels; most of them were financial related, a few dramas and anime related. Even so, Su Tang couldn’t find anything she wanted to watch after going through almost a hundred channels.

The last channel was a finance and economics channel, it was playing a stock analysis program. The man in the suit was talking passionately to the camera and Su Tang suddenly remembered that Shen Yi said he could lip read. Out of curiosity, she muted the TV. 

The program didn’t have subtitles and Su Tang stared at the screen for over a minute. The analytic never stopped a single second yet Su Tang couldn’t even recognise one word he said. She turned voice back on in frustration and declared giving up. 

Su Tang sighed in defeat. The more you compare……

Su Tang eventually decided on a drama channel. She rested her chin in her hands as she watched Xiao Yanzi fight Wet Nurse Rong (1) and when she wanted to strangle Xiao Yanzi for Wet Nurse Rong, Shen Yi left his room and walked into the living room. 

Su Tang looked at the clock on the wall and it was three past four. She remembered what he typed, that he was going to work until four and go to bed. 

“Are you done?” 

Shen Yi nodded. He sat down next to her and gave her a tired smile. 

“You should go to bed, it’s late already.” 

Shen Yi didn’t say good night immediately but watched the TV with interest and typed a question on his phone.

——Which character has the best voice? 

Su Tang blinked and pointed at the TV, “You mean them?” 

Shen Yi nodded and looked at her eagerly. 

Others would discuss which character looked the best, but Su Tang never thought about who had the best voice. She hesitated for a while and replied, “Empress Dowager.” 

Shen Yi looked surprised, and Su Tang laughed, “Her voice sounds like my grandma.” 

Shen Yi blinked and looked at Empress Dowager, who was holding Qing’er’s hand and smiling kindly. He pondered at the character until another character appeared before looking away and nodding regretfully. 

——Must be a kind voice, it’s a shame that I already lost my hearing when I met her. 

Su Tang felt sad for him but suddenly realized what it meant. Her tongue twisted and quickly phrased a sentence which could make all mandarin teachers want to kill her, “You…… You heard voices before?” 

Su Tang realized she sounded too rude but before she felt awkward, Shen Yi already nodded with a smile and typed on his phone.

——I could hear a little before three. 

Su Tang sat next to Shen Yi and clearly saw the natural process of typing. He looked calm, but a faint sense of nostalgia. It felt as if he was an old man recalling his life during his teenage days. 

Su Tang relaxed a little and asked boldly, “Is it because of a sickness?” 

Shen Yi smiled helplessly and nodded. 

Su Tang was too embarrassed to keep asking what illness it was. She looked at the characters in traditional clothing and suddenly remembered something from an old book. She looked at Shen Yi, “I think something our ancestors said fits you quite well.” 

Shen Yi turned to her and looked at her. 

“To be bestowed with great responsibility, one must……” Su Tang read the first part with great passion and forgot what comes next. She remembered that Shen Yi said he wasn’t great at Chinese and never read Mencius before, he wouldn’t know what idioms meant, she concluded the line herself solemnly, “One must be tortured.” 

Shen Yi suddenly leaned back and started laughing. His whole body was shaking, and Su Tang pulled his arm unconfidently, “I’m serious, why are you laughing?” 

Shen Yi tried to stop laughing but his eyes were still smiling. He moved his phone closer to Su Tang and typed it down word by word. 

——One must be crucified with ordeal and tribulation so as to break one’s will; subdue one’s spirit; exhaust one’s muscles; starve one’s flesh. I think that’s what our ancestors said. 

Su Tang howled in grief and punched the laughing man lighting on the shoulders, “Didn’t you say you were bad at Chinese?” 

Shen Yi stopped coughing under her threatening gaze. He smiled and typed. 

——I studied in the States and I’m bad at it. I’m still learning. But I saw this in a drama and remembered it because of its meaning. 

Su Tang casted a side glance at him and looked unconvinced, “Which drama?” 

——Young Justice Bao.

Su Tang rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t argue back. She never read Mencius and she also first learnt this from that drama too. 

But he remembered it so clearly and she messed it up…… 

Luckily, he only saw her in the sanatorium. If they did grow up together like what Old Chen said, the light of this top student would definitely cloud over her head. 

Su Tang was still exclaiming when Shen Yi tapped her arm lightly and passed his phone over.

——The compliment is too much, I’m not that ambitious and I didn’t suffer that much. But thank you for feeling bad for me. 

Shen Yi was still smiling but it wasn’t as bright as before. The warmness made Su Tang’s heart soften and completely lost her temper. 

“Who said I felt bad for you, I’m simply commenting on it……” Su Tang wanted to stop embarrassing herself by turning the page. She looked at the clock and quickly said, “It’s way past four, you said you were going to sleep after you finished working. Hurry up and go.” 

Shen Yi hesitated. 

——Aren’t you going to bed?