Ch16 - The Incident that Year

Sunnyshies: This chapter has been delayed for days! Hahaha, I finally posted it!

Sorry for the late update! Here’s the chapter! 

Angry is angry, when Sheng Xinghe went back to Lingjiang to sweep the tomb, Shu Jin still went with him.

In the past, Sheng Xinghe went back alone. Lingjiang was more than an hour’s drive from the city, Sheng Xinghe had nothing to do except sweeping the grave, so he could go back and forth in a day. Often Shu Jin went home after playing all day, and Sheng Xinghe had already returned.

But this time, it may be because they have been apart for two months, Shu Jin got up early and reluctantly told Sheng Xinghe that he would also go.

The two went to the station and bought tickets. After getting on the train, Shu Jin also looked out the window and did not speak. 

Sheng Xinghe knew he was still angry because of yesterday’s incident and took the initiative to hand him the snacks he bought: “Don’t be angry.”

Shu Jin turned his head, looked at him and said:

“Don’t you feel uncomfortable? That’s a newspaper, it’s tantamount to telling the world about you!”

“It’s a fact that uncle has sponsored me for more than ten years, it’s not something for me to be ashamed of.” Then Sheng Xinghe said, “If it wasn’t for him, I really might even have problems going to school. It’s just doing an interview, I should do it if I can help.”

Shu Jin was speechless. He thought that Sheng Xinghe was embarrassed to reject his father for the sake of face, but who knew that Sheng Xinghe was really in the mood to “repay the favor”. He suddenly remembered that Sheng Xinghe’s grandpa used to supply eggs to their family constantly because he wanted to express his gratitude.

Shu Jin couldn’t continue to be angry, but his heart still feels stuffy.

He doesn’t know why, but he just wants others to see how good Sheng Xinghe is, and doesn’t want people to pity and look down on Sheng Xinghe.

The good thing is, Sheng Xinghe is very good at relieving his mood. During the one hour drive, he specially selected some things that happened in his school, and the custom of that city to tell Shu Jin. Before getting out of the car, Shu Jin already forgot everything, and talked and laughed with him again. 

When the car arrived in Lingjiang Town, Sheng Xinghe first bought some memorial items on the street, and then took Shu Jin to his neighborhood.

This is an old street. Along the bluestone road into the alley, and then upstairs is Sheng Xinghe’s home.

There were also distant relatives of Sheng Xinghe who went to worship. And since it was not convenient for Shu Jin to go, Sheng Xinghe gave him the key and asked him to go to the house first.

Shu Jin discovered that it was very close to Shu Zhaoyuan’s factory. 

There are few streets in the town, and you can reach the gate of the factory by walking to the end of the street and crossing a field.

Shu Zhaoyuan left early in the morning, and he didn’t know if he was still at the factory or not. Shu Jin thought for a second and planned to go and talk to his father about the interview himself. He put the money given by Sheng Xinghe into the pocket of his jacket and slowly walked over there.

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.

Shu Jin had been here before, but there was nothing fun here. He would rather paint the east and west at home alone than follow Shu Zhaoyuan here.

Pa kjr j ibcu alwf jub, rb tf bcis tjr j ilaaif lwqgfrrlbc bo atlr qijmf. 

Coafg fcafglcu atf ujaf, Vte Alc gfqbgafv tlr lvfcalas ab ecmif uejgv, rjslcu atja tf kjr ibbxlcu obg tlr vjv. Fcmif uejgv gfmbuclhfv tlw lwwfvljafis, jcv rjlv fcaterljralmjiis: “Wljb Alc, sbe’nf ugbkc eq rb wemt. Tbe kfgf bcis atlr rwjii ktfc sbe ijra mjwf, jcv cbk sbe jgf ajiifg atjc wf!”

Shu Jin asked embarrassedly: “Do you know me?”

Uncle: “Know! How can I not know! You used to play with my son and the others when you were a kid.  A large group of children loved to go to the open space outside——”

The uncle pointed out. 

Shu Jin followed the direction of his fingers and looked at it. There is an open space outside the factory. Trees are planted along the road, like a natural fence. It is safe for children to play there.

Shu Jin doesn’t remember this place.

The uncle happily said: “That’s how many years it’s been, and you haven’t been here since the accident.”

Shu Jin wondered: “What accident?” 

Uncle: “Hey, it’s about the Sheng family’s kid. You were also scared that day, right? That’s why Mr. Shu didn’t bring you here.”

Uncle did not elaborate, but Shu Jin immediately understood what he was talking about.

His face changed slightly, and he asked suspiciously: “Am I there that day?”

The uncle casually said: “Yes, you were with a group of children. It’s normal if you don’t remember, how old you were at that time!” 

Shu Jin pursed his lips.

How come he never heard anyone talk about this before?

After the uncle chatted with him for a few minutes, he then called the office. He told Shu Jin that his father had left for the workshop and was busy with the inspection, so he should wait for a while.

Shu Jin stayed at the door for a while. But seeing that the time is almost there, he feared that Sheng Xinghe could not enter the house, so he informed the uncle that he would no longer wait. 

When he returned to the alley, Sheng Xinghe had already returned, and was calling him with his mobile phone.

“Brother!” Shu Jin stepped forward.

Sheng Xinghe raised his head, half of his clear and bright face has the deep black eye, and the other half has the gray grim eye.

Somehow, Shu Jin was taken aback. 

He chased away the strange discomfort in his mind, and asked, “So soon?”

“En.” Sheng Xinghe said, “I’m afraid that you’re too anxious to wait. Why didn’t you go up there?”

Shu Jin said: “I went around and went to the factory.”

The two went upstairs together, and Sheng Xinghe opened the door with the key. 

There is a smell of dust in the enclosed house, but the light is very good, and the daylight reflects the house furnishing. It’s not as shabby as Shu Jin imagined, rather it was full of the implicit charm of age.

Sheng Xinghe’s grandfather used to be a teacher when he was young. Later, he suffered from physical illness. In his forties, he resigned at home and relied on his wife’s meager salary to support his life. Therefore, you can still see traces of the life of some old cultural people at this house.

Although their conversation was minimal, Sheng Xinghe mentioned some family matters. He is the unwed child of his mother, and has never met his father. His mother was rebellious and threw him to her parents after giving birth to him and never came back.

Now that he came back, Sheng Xinghe checked the facilities in the house and cleaned the dust. 

Shu Jin wanted to help, but Sheng Xinghe refused, so he just looked around. First, he went to Sheng Xinghe’s room, then quietly imagined how Sheng Xinghe grew up here, and then went to look at the kitchen and the patio outside.

There are some chickens kept on the patio, probably allocated by each household. The well water in the shed does not interfere with the river water. Shu Jin guessed the chickens Sheng Xinghe’s grandpa were also raised here before, but now the position has been occupied by others.

His heart was sore and swollen. Then he looked up to see a household with a large broken window and a rusty guardrail. 

“Doesn’t anyone live across the street?” He asked.

“Moved out.” Sheng Xinghe said, “It used to be occupied.”

Shu Jin said: “Oh, it looks like a haunted house, it might as well be sold.”

Sheng Xinghe put the bucket on the wooden floor and glanced outside: “The houses in this small town are not easy to sell, and everyone is all acquaintances.” 

Sheng Xinghe’s expression was very pale.

Shu Jin felt that something was wrong. After standing for a while, he suddenly remembered that Shu Zhaoyuan had told him that the family who blinded Sheng Xinghe’s eyes worked in his factory and was Sheng Xinghe’s neighbor.

And Sheng Xinghe also said that the family moved to another place because of this incident.

Shu Jin’s throat suddenly felt dry. When he looked at the dark window, he suddenly became angry again: “That’s their house, isn’t it?” 

Sheng Xinghe nodded: “En.”

Shu Jin said: “They deserve to be unable to sell their broken house.” Then he said again, “No, I heard my dad say that their family didn’t pay you much money in the first place, so they should just sell this crappy house and give you all the money.”

Seeing him angry, and his eyes were about to breathe fire, Sheng Xinghe smiled. He rubbed his head by the way and said: “You’re asking people to bankrupt their family.”

Shu Jin said after him: “Aren’t you angry?” 

Sheng Xinghe: “It’s not easy for them either. Their family still has external debts and they are not doing well.”

Shu Jin: “…”

Sheng Xinghe added: “When Grandpa was still around, every year they would send a lot of things to the house when they came back from other places.”

Sheng Xinghe stood there and thought of something, then said, “That person is afraid to see me. And every time he met me from afar, he would walked away. That incident…should have a big impact on him too.” 

Shu Jin knew that the person he was talking about was the kid who stabbed him in the eye.

It was an accident that year.

Both sides were about the same age at the time, and in fact the damage done to both of them was not small.

So even though Shu Jin was very angry, after hearing Sheng Xinghe say this, he still felt a little compassionate. 

Back in the city, Shu Jin fell asleep leaning on the car window.

When he woke up Sheng Xinghe still had his eyes closed. His long eyelashes covered his eyelids,  his eyebrow bones were straight, and he looked no different from ordinary people. One of his hands was grasped by Sheng Xinghe, because he was asleep, the force of his fingers were very light.

Shu Jin looked at Sheng Xinghe’s face for a long time, and felt the dampness in his eyes when he closed them again.

It’s too uncomfortable. 

He likes Sheng Xinghe, so he thought sadly and painfully, if…that didn’t happen, it would have been fine.

He was clearly there that day, if he could stop it, it would be great.

Then his Sheng Xinghe will have a more perfect life.

After a while, Shu Jin opened his eyes again. 

Sheng Xinghe was already awake and was also looking at him.

The car was noisy, and other passengers were playing on mobile phones and chatting. At that moment, Shu Jin felt that the world was quiet.

Except for his increasingly heavy heartbeat.