TSIBAMS Chapter 91

“Boss, is your store open every day?” Qi Guang browsed through the shelves of the small shop, finally stopping by the refrigerated display.

“What else would it be? Give myself a double weekend?” The boss said, without even looking up from behind the cash register.

Qi Guang was so retorted that he almost forgot what he wanted to ask. He glanced at the boss, who was playing on his phone, with cheerful background music occasionally interrupted by system sounds like “Can’t pass,” and “Crushed.”

He must be about to lose, his face looking more and more sour.

Qi Guang opened the refrigerator, grabbed two bottles of mineral water, and went to the cash register, “How much?”

“Damn! That landlord is not acting, and still doubling the bet. Do you have no shame?” The boss slammed his phone on the table, and with the background music of the game’s failure, he looked up at him, “Three yuan!”

Qi Guang opened his phone, scanned the QR code on the table, and seeing that he didn’t seem to want to continue playing the game, asked, “Have new people moved into this building?”

“Yeah, a young guy, plays games at home all day long. I even delivered goods to his place, all instant noodles and cola, that kind of junk food. Young people these days…” The boss shook his head, as if the person who was just immersed in the game wasn’t himself.

Qi Guang smiled, opened a bottle of water and took a sip.

“Do you know when the previous people moved out?” Qi Guang wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

The boss gave him a wary glance.

Qi Guang quickly explained, “My friend lives there. They left without a word, so I wasted a trip today.”

“Oh!” The boss suddenly realized, slapping his thigh, “I remember there was a handsome young guy living in this building before, about your height! But I haven’t seen him in a long time. He didn’t come when they moved out either. It was a woman who looked a bit like him, probably his mom? About a week ago, she even bought water from me. From her accent and temperament, it’s clear she’s not from around here…”

The boss rambled on, then picked up his phone and started a new game.

While waiting for matchmaking, he spoke again, “They probably won’t move back, but I can keep an eye out for you. Anyway, I watch the store every day. Besides playing games, I watch people coming and going. I can even tell who’s wearing new clothes.”

Qi Guang thanked the boss with a smile and then left.

“Didn’t I say I wasn’t moving back?” Ye Xing, sitting on the bottom steps, was still on the phone.

Qi Guang leaned against the door, watching him silently.

“Why move my things away without my consent? Why does everything have to be according to your wishes!” Ye Xing hissed, suppressing his voice.

Qi Guang couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but from Ye Xing’s tone, he could tell that the atmosphere wasn’t pleasant. And in his memory, Ye Xing had never used this tone with his mother.

He didn’t want to disturb him, so he stood at a distance, with Ye Xing’s increasingly impatient voice echoing in the stairwell.

“It’s because I didn’t have any thoughts before. I didn’t know what I liked or didn’t like, so in your eyes, I was just obedient.”

“Forget it, just move then.”

“I won’t go back. I won’t transfer schools either. I’ll finish high school here and go to university.”

“Mom, can you let me decide this time, please?”

“This has nothing to do with whether I’m in a relationship.”

After hanging up, Ye Xing sat with his head buried for a while, the sudden silence making his panting from being too worked up audible.

Qi Guang walked over and sat next to him, unscrewing the cap of the mineral water and handing it to him. When he touched his hand, he even felt a slight tremor.

This was a reaction he had only when he was angry and uneasy.

Ye Xing took it, angrily tilted his head back, and took a big gulp, “Do you have Lu Yueyang’s number?”

“Yes,” Qi Guang wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, “Did your aunt ask you to transfer schools?”

“Yeah, send me the phone number. I don’t believe that as an adult, I can’t make my own decisions!” Ye Xing took out his phone.

Qi Guang held his hand and gently stroked it with his thumb, “She’ll probably come to the shop tonight, talk to her then.”

Ye Xing’s face was expressionless, and he let him hold his hand for a while to calm down.

He turned to look at Qi Guang, “Do you think students have more say in this or parents?”

“Please have faith in our Teacher Lu…her dad is okay, right?” Qi Guang raised his chin, “He’s the director of the grade level after all.”

“Yeah…” Ye Xing’s response sounded like a sigh. He looked away and started talking to himself, “I don’t know if she’s crying, she always loves to cry, but she holds it in when people are around.”

Just then, a few kids came running down the stairs, and Ye Xing cleared his throat, not saying anything else.

Qi Guang knew he was talking about his mother, and didn’t ask anything. He couldn’t share Ye Xing’s anger, nor could he fight his mother. He couldn’t take a stand on this issue. Even though he was unhappy that Ye Xing was being moved, it wasn’t appropriate for him to say much.

Seeing Ye Xing looking distracted, Qi Guang ruffled his hair, “If you’re worried, call her again.”

“I won’t,” Ye Xing refused straightforwardly, “No matter what, I need to let her know this time that I’m not the same person without thoughts anymore. I need to be respected and have the right to be consulted.”

“Okay.” Qi Guang nodded.

After a while, Ye Xing sighed again and added, “I just think she’s acting a little off this time. Although she used to make all the decisions for me, she wouldn’t secretly decide for me or force me… I can’t really explain it, I hope I’m just overthinking things.”

Qi Guang didn’t respond.

The things he should and shouldn’t think about, he had already gone through them in his mind while listening to them talk on the phone, but he didn’t dare to take it to heart, or to overreact with Ye Xing.

What if this was just a normal move?

When they arrived at 1984, it was almost lunchtime. He thought that Bai Shu and Li Ke, who had found a car, should be in the shop, drinking and chatting. But the door was closed, and the curtains were tightly drawn.

Qi Guang was puzzled, and after looking at Ye Xing, they pushed the door open and walked in.

A strong smell of smoke hit them, and both of them covered their mouths before they could sneeze. The projector screen facing the door was showing a black and white silent movie starring Charlie Chaplin, a comedy, but Xu Ge, who was slumped on the sofa and dozing off, didn’t seem to be interested.

The atmosphere in the room was strange, and Qi Guang didn’t hesitate to turn on the lights.

Xu Ge was startled awake.

“I almost fell asleep again,” Xu Ge rubbed his eyes, “Why are you guys here?”

“We came to have lunch with you. Where’s Bai Shu?” Qi Guang walked over.

“Haven’t seen him.” After stretching for a while, Xu Ge went back to his comfortable position on the sofa, “I’m a bit hungry, let’s order takeout.”

“Ye Xing, call my sister’s restaurant and have them send over a few dishes.” Qi Guang took out his phone and handed it over.

Ye Xing responded and tapped on the phone a few times.

“Have you been in the shop the whole time?” Qi Guang asked, looking at the ashtray on the coffee table, which was full of cigarette butts.

“Yeah,” Xu Ge stared at the screen, his voice a little dry, “Yesterday they sent me home, and when I got there, I realized I didn’t have my house key, so I came back to sleep in the shop.”

“Ah?” Qi Guang smiled, “Boss Xu, you’ve been a bit out of it lately! Don’t you have a spare key?”

“Bai Shu has it.” Xu Ge said.

His gaze remained on the projector screen, and because it was a black and white film, the light reflected on his face looked a little lonely.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener did, and Qi Guang didn’t know what to say. “That’s good, otherwise…”

Otherwise, finding someone to open the lock would be a hassle.

“Otherwise, Qi Guang would have to use a paperclip to open the lock for you.” Ye Xing hung up the phone and glared at Qi Guang.

Xu Ge chuckled at this, his attention drawn from the movie. He proudly said, “You might not know, but Qi Guang learned that skill from me when he was little.”

“Tsk.” Ye Xing shook his head.

“So, us smart people, we don’t install locks that can be opened with paperclips at home, understand, you little trash?” Qi Guang moved his leg and bumped into him with his knee.

Xu Ge didn’t have the heart to watch them flirt, but at least he had company watching the movie, so he was a bit happier, laughing from time to time as he watched the movie.

Qi Guang didn’t know what was so funny, and after watching intently for a while, he realized that the movie had no sound. He looked at Ye Xing in surprise, “This movie doesn’t have any dialogue?”

“Yeah, it’s a silent film,” Ye Xing said.

Ye Xing could actually enjoy a movie with Xu Ge, Qi Guang was a little surprised, “Why is that?”

“Because at that time, Chaplin believed that dialogue would ruin the actor’s performance.” Ye Xing said.

“Too profound.” Qi Guang leaned back on the sofa, looked at his straight back, and said with a sigh, “If no one speaks, how can you know what the other person is thinking?”

He didn’t think too much while saying these words, and it wasn’t until after he said them that he found it a little awkward.

Just at this moment, the door was opened again, at the wrong time.

Then two unwelcome people walked in.

“Brother Bai, Li Ke!” Ye Xing waved, “Where did you two go?”

Li Ke was twirling his car keys in his hand, looking like a cheerful, just-came-back-from-a-school-trip elementary school student… no, he looked excited.

“We took a drive around and went to the ancestral hall in the north. We were going to hike a mountain…” Li Ke said, sitting down next to Ye Xing.

Ye Xing narrowed his eyes, waiting to hear more like a gossip-lover.

Before Li Ke could continue, Qi Guang said, “Bai Shu, you worked hard, taking Ye Xing’s roommate out to play.”

“I’m just doing my part as the host, you two are like you’re only interested in people!” Bai Shu chuckled, absentmindedly twitching the corner of his mouth.

Then, he took a few clean glasses, filled them with water, and went back to the bar, taking the ashtray from the table to empty it on the way.

Qi Guang glanced at Xu Ge, who was still focused on the movie, not planning to join them.

“There’s bad news.” Li Ke said.

“Hmm?” Ye Xing looked at him.

“Teacher Xia called and yelled at me for a long time, insisting it was me who led you to skip class. We have to go back today.”

“Damn!” Ye Xing smacked his boyfriend’s leg excitedly.

“I’m the one who is screwed!” Li Ke’s face went from excitement to a faint sadness, and he climbed over the sofa and sat on it, “You’re the mastermind, but I’m the one getting yelled at. She said if I don’t go back today, she’ll confiscate my phone. It’s inhumane!”

When Bai Shu finished cleaning up and returned, he didn’t sit in the empty seat next to Xu Ge. Instead, he brought a stool over and sat opposite the coffee table. This action attracted Qi Guang’s attention, and he blurted out, “Bai Shu, Xu Ge forgot his house key.”

“I’ll go home and get it later.” Bai Shu said.

The complaining between the two paused abruptly.

The ordinary conversation suddenly hit the blank space of everyone’s chatting, and the air suddenly went quiet. No one spoke further, and the last line of dialogue seemed abrupt and awkward.

Qi Guang glanced at the projector. The silent movie was still trying hard to entertain the audience.

I don’t like silent movies.

He sighed deeply in his heart.