HR Chapter 54
by VolareBirth, aging, sickness, and death are the common lot of humanity.
Having grown accustomed to life and death, Si Cheng Zhengli learned of Xiao Qi’s passing. After a moment of silence, he sighed softly, “Well, a hundred ghosts celebrate his birth, a hundred ghosts see him off.”
July 15th was Xiao Qi’s birthday. In Si Cheng Zhengli’s hands was a birthday gift for Xiao Qi, but he tossed it aside; it was no longer needed.
That day, Lu Qinyuan changed Xiao Qi’s clothes and carried him to the burning pyre in the courtyard. Mu Linxian was already lying on the pyre. Lu Qinyuan placed Xiao Qi next to Mu Linxian, then set it ablaze, ending it all cleanly.
Si Cheng Houzai aged twenty years in an instant. His back was hunched over, never to straighten again, and his hand gripping his cane trembled slightly. Si Cheng Duyu, half-mad, laughed and cried before the fire, “What was it all for? What was it all for, A-Mo? What was it all for!”
Si Cheng Zhengzhe arrived with Zhong Wu Rui, slightly regretful, “I’m late.”
Zhong Wu Rui still had a cold expression, but his eyes were red-rimmed. Si Cheng Zhengzhe quietly squeezed his hand, then turned to Si Cheng Houzai and said, “Xiao Qi is gone. There’s no need for this place to exist anymore. Let’s burn it all down.”
His words weren’t just empty talk. Immediately, people began to drive others out, and some began to pour gasoline on the buildings.
The areas near the fire instantly burst into flames, spreading along the gasoline.
Si Cheng Houzai’s voice was old and hoarse, “Burning it is good, clean.”
The dream had also ended.
But the mistakes made could no longer be compensated for or concealed.
This period in the mountains felt like years had passed, yet also like the blink of an eye. Lu Qinyuan couldn’t wait to leave, but Si Cheng Zhengzhe stopped him, “Have you not wondered why you’ve survived among your enemies until now? Come, meet your benefactor.”
After descending the mountain and returning to Si Cheng Zhengzhe’s villa, Lu Qinyuan was immediately taken to the backyard by Si Cheng Zhengzhe without a chance to rest. As soon as they entered the backyard, they heard the sound of an erhu, very fitting for the scene, a sorrowful “Erquan Yingyue.”
As they got closer, they could see the person playing the erhu, wearing a white shirt, with handsome and refined features, a demeanor of indifference and tolerance, like a recluse. Noticing their arrival, he stopped playing and turned his head, his gaze falling directly on Lu Qinyuan, “Senior brother, I’ve heard much about you.”
Sitting next to this person was another, with delicate and petite features, a noble air, immersed in the erhu music until they came back to their senses, wiping the corner of their eye, and looking over as well.
Si Cheng Zhengzhe pointed to the erhu player and introduced, “This is Gu Yan,” then pointed to the latter, “From Zhengli’s family, Li Qingning, a little star.”
Lu Qinyuan frowned, “You’re Gu Yan.”
Gu Yan said amiably, “Senior brother doesn’t know me, but I know you. Master Min Chu often mentioned you when he taught me, saying you were his first disciple, and that when I met you, I should remember to call you senior brother.”
Putting down the erhu, he elegantly stood up and walked over leisurely, calm and composed, his gestures graceful and casual, yet retaining a noble air.
His gaze boldly sized up Lu Qinyuan, finally reaching a conclusion, “But you look more like a rebellious disciple.”
Lu Qinyuan calmly retorted, “A-Chu, however, loved this rebellious disciple deeply.”
Gu Yan was speechless, waving to Si Cheng Zhengzhe, “I’m leaving, boring.” He turned to Li Qingning and said, “I’ll have someone pick you up at my place another day, and we’ll have a good exchange.”
Li Qingning didn’t show anything on his face, but his eyes lit up, and he nodded, “Okay.”
Si Cheng Zhengzhe shook his head, reaching out to hold Zhong Wu Rui’s hand. Seeing Zhong Wu Rui look over, he smiled slightly.
Lu Qinyuan didn’t want to stay here for even a second longer. That day, he got into the car arranged by Si Cheng Zhengzhe and returned to Shang Ze City.
It was already evening when he arrived in Shang Ze City. Lu Qinyuan was physically and mentally exhausted, so he found a hotel, checked into a room, and fell asleep. He dreamed that he was young and ignorant, grabbing Min Chu’s hand and being unreasonable, only to be beaten severely by Min Chu, beaten to near death. He cried his eyes out, hugging Min Chu’s leg like a rogue, shouting, “You beat me to death, you beat me to death, I won’t let go even if you beat me to death!”
At this point in the dream, Lu Qinyuan suddenly woke up. He had completely forgotten how Min Chu had responded to him later.
Without having anyone pick him up, Lu Qinyuan took a taxi straight back to Lan Yuan.
An Yu was sitting in front of the door, training the little black mastiff to attack a cloth doll. He threw the doll on the ground and shouted, “Senger!” The little black mastiff immediately pounced on it, tearing and biting fiercely, but its small milk teeth were soft and small, unable to bite through. The growls in its throat grew louder, like muffled thunder.
Senger was the name An Yu had changed. “Lai Xi” was too weak, too rustic and lacking in temperament.
An Yu had specifically taken clothes that Lu Qinyuan had worn and let Senger smell them, then stuffed them into the cloth doll, so it would remember the scent, training it to attack the owner of that scent when it smelled it.
Senger didn’t fawn over its owner like ordinary pet dogs, only single-mindedly carrying out its master’s orders.
An Yu was very proud of this aspect of Senger. Except for his orders, Senger didn’t listen to anyone, treating everyone with cold eyes. Of course, it wasn’t very enthusiastic towards him either, but it was loyal.
Senger, who was biting, suddenly dropped the cloth doll, growling softly, and ran out. An Yu immediately came to his senses and called out, “Senger!”
He chased after it and saw Lu Qinyuan standing in front of the door. Senger was biting his trouser leg, tearing and biting fiercely. Lu Qinyuan stood there without moving, only asking, “Why is it biting me?”
An Yu looked at Lu Qinyuan, who had returned alone, and glanced behind him, “Where’s Xiao Qi?”
Lu Qinyuan’s face darkened, “He’s gone.”
They went as a pair, but returned alone.
Lu Qinyuan went straight into the bedroom to continue sleeping, and kept dreaming.
Sometimes it was Min Chu, his chest stained red with blood, his eyes red, crying, “I don’t want to die…”
He had never seen Min Chu cry, even before their separation in death, Min Chu had smiled and mocked him.
Sometimes it was Xiao Qi, with a pool of water lilies as bright as fireworks behind him, but the water lilies were very eerie. In the blink of an eye, they turned into manjusaka flowers, dancing flamboyantly behind Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi kept smiling, and the tears kept flowing, but he didn’t say anything. He told him to leave, asked him questions, but he ignored him. Lu Qinyuan was so anxious he scratched his head and ears, his eyes dyed red by the manjusaka flowers.
He dreamed many other things, a mess, as if he had lived a lifetime in his dream. When he woke up, his temples throbbed with pain. He tried to remember what he had dreamed, but couldn’t remember a single thing, only that it was a mess.
When Sha Tang saw Lu Qinyuan coming downstairs, his mouth widened enough to stuff an egg in, “When did you get back, Lu-ye? Why didn’t you say anything?”
Lu Qinyuan rubbed his temples and frowned, his tone impatient, “Why ask so much? Get me something to eat first.”
Sha Tang responded oh-oh, and hurried to the kitchen, making a bowl of wontons very quickly, saying apologetically, “I didn’t know you were coming back, so I didn’t leave any food.” The meaning was that you should make do with this, and there would be no special treatment.
Lu Qinyuan scooped a wonton and put it in his mouth. The skin was thin, the filling was plentiful, and the taste was delicious. It was indeed adequate, so he didn’t say anything more. Halfway through eating, he looked up at his watch and saw that it was already three o’clock in the afternoon.
Lu Qinyuan asked, “Where are the others?”
Sha Tang was resting his chin on his hands, watching Lu Qinyuan eat wontons. Hearing this, he said, “Bai Ze has a cold, Zhu Yan is taking care of him, and Xiu Xiu went to find young master Cheng, haven’t seen him for several days.”
Lu Qinyuan frowned, “Is it serious?”
Sha Tang said, “A small illness, but he needs to rest for a couple of days.”
Lu Qinyuan didn’t say anything. After eating the wontons, he went to take a walk in the courtyard, but his eyes involuntarily searched for a certain figure, but there was no one. He went all the way to the garden, where his eyes finally found a figure he hoped to see, but it wasn’t the person he originally had in mind.
An Yu was sitting in a chair under the flower trellis, leaning on the table, his eyes gazing at the lotus pond in front of him, his brow slightly furrowed, his face gloomy.
Lu Qinyuan sat down opposite him, “What about you, why do you look so unhappy?”
An Yu glanced at him, saying helplessly, “Zhu Yan promised to go home with me, but Bai Ze is sick again.”
Lu Qinyuan didn’t understand, “Why Zhu Yan? Do you need an outsider to accompany you home?” He squinted at the sun in the sky, thinking that the sun in Shang Ze was indeed more pleasing to the eye.
An Yu explained, “I told my family that I found a triad boss, so I have to bring one back, or I’ll get beaten.”
Lu Qinyuan recommended himself, “Do you think I’ll do?”
An Yu stared at Lu Qinyuan, sizing him up. With no other options, he reluctantly agreed, “It’ll do.”
Lu Qinyuan smiled and asked the time. An Yu said, “In a couple of days, I’ll think about it.”
The next day, Lu Qinyuan went to the hospital to visit Bai Ze. Zhu Yan was sitting by the bed, peeling an orange for him. The two of them were talking and laughing. Bai Ze looked a little pale, but his spirits were good. He didn’t go in, just stood outside the ward and glanced at him before leaving.
After leaving the hospital, he called Bai Ze to let him know that he had come and to reassure him.
Lu Qinyuan went to the company. Ignoring the work that could bury Ye Xing, he punched in and left. Ye Xing laughed, “Lu-ye is good at creating hatred, still being a jerk before leaving.”
The word “jerk” made him think of Lu Qingshuang. He had long since removed his control over Lu Qingshuang, but he still knew his basic information. He heard that he hadn’t kicked the drug habit and was going crazy from time to time, pretty miserable.
Zhu Yan stayed at the hospital, and An Yu’s last hope was shattered, so he took Lu Qinyuan home.
An Yu’s hometown was in a small county town. His parents were ordinary working-class employees, living a life that wasn’t exactly affluent, but still well-off.
An Yu was the only child in his family. He liked men, so the An family line would end with him.
The tradition of carrying on the family line wasn’t deeply ingrained, but An Yu still felt that he had let his parents down, unable to shoulder his responsibilities, instead burdening them with worry and anger.
Standing in front of the door, An Yu raised his hand to the doorbell, but didn’t have the courage to press it. As he hesitated, a palm pressed down, and the doorbell rang. A voice quickly responded from inside, “Who is it?”
The voice was that of a middle-aged woman, with a slight local accent. When An Yu heard it, his eyes immediately turned red.
The door opened, and through the security door, he saw the middle-aged woman standing inside. An Yu called out softly, “Mom…”
An mother didn’t speak for a long time, neither opening the door nor moving. An Yu regretted it in his heart, wondering if he shouldn’t have come back. Suddenly, he heard An mother complaining in a choked voice, “Do you still recognize the door to your home?”
After entering the door, An mother kept staring at Lu Qinyuan. She couldn’t see clearly outside the door, but now, taking a closer look, to use a term from TV, he had the appearance of a dragon and the posture of a phoenix. Then she looked at her own son, simple and plain, to put it bluntly, a bumpkin.
What did he see in her son? An mother couldn’t figure it out, and her eyes didn’t leave Lu Qinyuan. An Yu felt embarrassed, but An mother still kept staring.
Lu Qinyuan seemed unaware, drinking tea and letting An mother size him up. An mother had a straightforward personality, unable to hold things in, so she finally couldn’t help but ask, “What did you see in my son? Look at him, he has nothing, can’t compare to you.”
“Mom!” An Yu was dissatisfied, was she really belittling her own son like that? Especially that nickname, “Wa Wa (Doll)”? He turned to look at Lu Qinyuan, only to see Lu Qinyuan smiling brightly, and even asking An mother, “An Yu’s nickname is ‘Wa Wa’?”
An mother said, “He was good-looking when he was little, but he’s not anymore.” Struck by other people’s children, An mother felt more and more that her own child didn’t deserve other people’s children.
Lu Qinyuan looked at An Yu amusingly, acknowledging without praise, “I think he’s alright.”
An mother wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly a child’s cry came from the bedroom. An mother immediately got up and went to the bedroom, An Yu looked surprised, whose child was it?