FWP Chapter 14

Chapter 14 14 Fly Away

Chapter 14 14 Fly Away

BGM: 《Fly Away》

Ley Soul

Fly Away – Single｜2024

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Yu Zipei’s great-grandmother turned 96 last year, a ripe old age.

Wanderer breathed a sigh of relief.

He gulped down the sparkling water, the bubbles tickling his throat as they went down, making him squint.

Yu Zipei wanted him to continue.

“Ah. There’s really nothing to say, we just met.”

Yu Zipei’s facial muscles twitched. How could there be nothing to say?

In ’09, Zhou Zhao went to see Wanderer, and when he came back, he broke up with her. Three years later, Zhou Zhao went to see Wanderer again, and soon after, he made his famous “I’m asexual” statement.

Yu Zipei got a headache just putting the two names “Zhou Zhao” and “Wanderer” together.

Letting Zhou Zhao go find Wanderer was like throwing a meat bun to a dog—a one-way trip.

Seeing that Yu Zipei insisted on getting the whole story, Wanderer shifted uncomfortably.

They had chatted, talked like true friends, and it was different from before. Yu Zipei said that he had been stuck in a rut for too long, thinking he couldn’t get out, but it was just blood stuck inside. As long as he was cruel to himself, he would still be a free man without burdens.

But what was stuck inside wasn’t just his blood, but also his flesh, his bones, his bottom line.

Wanderer stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, placing his palm against the glass.

There were drops of condensation on his palm. The sparkling water taken out of the refrigerator not only chilled his internal organs, but also gave him an extra cool palm.

Wanderer looked at his palm print on the glass, lines upon lines, the maze of lines intricately intertwined.

He wanted to say, “You know what? This is a lot like my relationship with everyone.”

Who “you” was, Wanderer wasn’t sure.

If he could choose, he would choose a deaf person so that he could tell all his secrets to the deaf person.

Summer of 2012, the average temperature in Nandu climbed to 42 degrees Celsius.

The scorching sun baked the road, causing it to smoke. It was almost three in the afternoon, and every household had closed its doors and windows. There wasn’t even a dog on the street.

In a building facing the street, the air conditioner fan blades were evenly covered with three rows of seven columns of condensation droplets.

Wanderer pulled open the front of his shirt and lay on the bed, chest bared. He slept on the lower bunk of the bunk bed. There were gaps in Chen Buchu’s bed board, and he could vaguely see his floral sheet.

The sheet was bought last year when Chen Buchu was living with a spicy Nandu girl. After he was kicked out, he wrapped the sheet around his waist.

And only this sheet.

Chen Buchu walked through the streets and alleys wearing it, waving and greeting everyone he knew.

This area was inhabited by gamblers, sleeping during the day and working at night.

Wanderer rarely participated in their gatherings, taking the opportunity to hide in the room and spacing out.

He also read books sometimes. But he couldn’t buy proper Chinese books in Nandu, so he read comics for several years.

Chen Buchu turned over in bed, and an inch of the floral sheet rustled out of the gap.

Wanderer didn’t hear what he said clearly and asked, “What did you just say?”

“I said, I feel really sorry for you.”

Chen Buchu poked his head out, revealing a messy head of medium-length hair of various colors.

They had obviously made a lot of money, but they had never been to a barbershop. Wanderer insisted on growing his hair long, and Chen Buchu thought that medium-length hair was cool when walking, so he followed suit.

His red hair faded to light red, and then to grayish-yellow.

The grayish-yellow stubble was the same color as the largest denomination coin in Nandu. Wanderer used Chen Buchu’s hair as the counting code that Robinson Crusoe carved on the deserted island. Every inch it grew meant they had stayed here for another while.

“Sorry to me? You’re drunk, what are you talking about?”

Chen Buchu didn’t speak or joke, just kept looking at Wanderer. He rarely did that. Wanderer gave up the idea of ​​chatting and joking with him, and said slowly, “Are you not giving me my salary this month?”

He signed a contract with Chen Buchu’s father, and the other party prepaid Zeng Haitang’s medical and nursing care expenses. Chen Buchu paid for his boat ticket to Nandu, his accommodation, and his three meals a day.

There were fifty-seven casinos in Nandu, one of which belonged to Chen Buchu’s father. The casino was a vibrant mother, her blood vessels intertwined under her skin and limbs, raising hundreds of children crying for food.

Chen Buchu was biological, and Wanderer was adopted.

No matter how well he did, he was paid a fixed salary. He had been lazy, but Chen Buchu found out.

Chen Buchu was merciless and didn’t care about friendship. As long as he noticed Wanderer’s slackness, he would immediately “urge” Wanderer. The method was old-fashioned, a classic scene from a gangster movie, lighting a cigarette and exchanging glances with his subordinates. The subordinates would take orders and give him some “sweetness” for the boss.

Wanderer learned his lesson and had kept a lot of gambling funds for the Chen family in the past year.

He valued his salary very much.

Chen Buchu pouted, “No. It’s not because of money, it’s because of life.”

“Our family owes you two lives.”

Where did two lives come from?

Hearing that it wasn’t because of money, Wanderer relaxed. He slumped on the bed, there was still a whole afternoon and half an evening before work, “I’m a bachelor, my grandma is half a life, adding up to only one and a half.”

Chen Buchu’s lips pursed into a straight line. He grabbed the edge of the bed and looked at Wanderer on the lower bunk.

Wanderer and he had known each other for many years. He was a bastard when he was a kid. When he heard that his dad had brought a child back, he thought he was going to lose favor. He found Wanderer in the middle of the night to scare him.

How old was Wanderer then? Six years old? Eight years old?

Anyway, not even as tall as a broom.

Chen Buchu sneaked downstairs and walked towards the room where Wanderer was being held. He was locked in the storage room in the corner of the first floor.

The Chen family’s nanny had her own grandson and felt sorry for this child who was brought to repay the debt, so she made a makeshift bed for him next to a bundle of brooms.

When Chen Buchu sneaked in, there was no one on the makeshift bed.

He looked around and found Wanderer sleeping in the gap behind the door, with a tin bucket over his head.

Chen Buchu reached out and picked up the bucket. Wanderer pleaded softly, “Don’t hit me. Please.”

Chen Buchu brought a plate of cold prawns from the kitchen to Wanderer.

Tomato prawns, the solidified sauce was very sticky. Wanderer ate very quickly, his lower face covered in red, and he started hiccuping with wide eyes.

Chen Buchu was afraid of feeding him to death, so he quickly patted him on the back to help him breathe.

He was delicate and pampered, slapped Wanderer twice, and felt that Wanderer was too rough to the touch.

“Are you okay? Have you never eaten anything before? Don’t your family give you food?”

Wanderer hiccuped, but took the time to reply, “Eat… eat, my grandma steams rice for me.”

Just eats rice, doesn’t eat vegetables? Chen Buchu didn’t forget his intention, he put on a fierce look, “Your parents owe my dad a lot of money, you go back and tell them to pay back the money quickly, and take you back!”

Wanderer wiped his face, “I go back?”

That day, Chen Buchu opened the door of the storage room with a stolen key. He held the key, as if he could make decisions for his dad.

When Wanderer was released, his eyes were filled with tears. He stood in the dark courtyard and promised Chen Buchu, “When I go back, I’ll tell them to send money to your dad!”

“Thank you for giving me good food to eat.”

A day later, Chen Buchu watched in stunned silence as Wanderer was sent back by a couple. Wanderer had a bruised face and was still wearing the clothes he wore yesterday.

The clothes were very old, and the neckline was a size larger than yesterday, revealing his shoulder. It was as if someone had grabbed his collar, strangled his neck, and dragged him back from his home step by step.

Chen Buchu’s dad was going out to play golf. He carried a gleaming golf club, patted Chen Buchu on the head, and asked, “I’ll be back in a while. You stay in your room during this time, okay?”

His dad spoke politely, but his strength was not small. Chen Buchu felt that his head was about to separate from his body. He tilted his head and looked at Wanderer a few steps away in an absolutely uncute and uncoquettish posture.

Wanderer stared at the marble floor under his feet and never looked up. He was too small, standing next to this couple, he was an extra appendage.

Chen Buchu saw Wanderer’s dad offering a cigarette to his dad. He nodded and bowed, his posture low to the ground.

“Brother Li, the child is ignorant, I have taught him a good lesson, please don’t take it to heart.”

His cigarette was very cheap. Chen Buchu had only seen his dad smoking a pipe and cigars, but his dad still took it.

Chen Li nodded slightly, and Wanderer’s dad quickly tiptoed and offered a lighter. A cluster of fire lit up Chen Li’s face.

In Chen Buchu’s memory, his father’s business had been very large in those years, and there was a large group of people around him wherever he went.

Chen Li pinched the cigarette, and the golf club tapped in front of Wanderer’s feet, “Our floor looks good, right?”

Wanderer’s mom pinched him and forced him to look up. He looked up at Chen Li and said softly, “Hello, Uncle.”

Chen Li said, “Still calling me Uncle? That’s really ignorant.”

Wanderer looked at his dad, then at his mom, held his breath, and called out again, “Dad.”

“Good.”

Chen Li touched the top of Wanderer’s head and felt it was dirty. Wanderer’s dad handed his sleeve over. Chen Li wiped his hand and said, “It’s not a solution for you and your sister-in-law to be like this, I’ll assign you something to do later.”

Chen Buchu said, “Do you still remember your mom and dad?”

Dad, mom. They are two people, a combination, adding up to exactly two lives.

The subtext had been fiddled with for a long time, but it broke in Wanderer’s heart.

When the tightly stretched string broke, both ends hit him hard, the severe pain making it difficult for him to breathe.

“Our family owes you two lives.”

[The author has something to say]

Thank you to the friend who fed me the starfish! mua!