Chew Slowly Chapter 2

Chapter 02

The banner reading “Rule of Law Enters the Campus” was already prominently displayed on the sports field, creating a noticeable atmosphere. The event was scheduled for the evening, and by 7:30, students were slowly making their way to the field, carrying plastic stools.

Chen Zongqian glanced over. The young woman leading the legal outreach team had already finished setting up. She recognized Chen Zongqian and knew the Senior Lawyer must have business here.

Fortunately, there wasn’t much work, and Chen Zongqian couldn’t help anyway. With nothing to do, he thanked her and walked toward the academic buildings.

He was here today to see Lu Xiaoyun’s son, Xu Qiaochuan. The email Yao Can sent contained his name, age, school, class, and other details, with a blue-background, no-hat identification photo at the bottom.

Perhaps because Yao Can constantly talked about it, Chen Zongqian felt an inexplicable suggestion in his heart. When he received the email this morning, his first thought was that the boy looked similar to someone. He had looked at the photo countless times throughout the day, and after staring at it for so long, he started to doubt the resemblance.

He dimmed the screen and brought up the screensaver, which showed a photo of Xiao Ran at age five in Seaside Park. Did they look alike? He couldn’t quite tell.

“Oh my god, a handsome guy!” Following the sound, Chen Zongqian saw a group of female students walking together toward the field. One girl tugged her companion’s arm, whispering, “You shouted too loud!”

She wasn’t shy, though, and proactively spoke to Chen Zongqian: “Are you looking for someone, handsome? The meeting is starting now, the classrooms are empty.”

The broadcast music on the field stopped, and the event was about to begin, yet they were in no hurry. One said she was already late, and the other didn’t want to go to the field to feed the mosquitoes. Chen Zongqian asked them for a specific class, and the girl replied, “What a coincidence, we’re right next door to that class.”

Chen Zongqian smiled and said it was indeed a coincidence, then asked if they knew Xu Qiaochuan.

The Director of Academic Affairs was patrolling the edge of the field. Seeing students dawdling instead of lining up, he blew his whistle to hurry them along. He was very authoritative, and the students were afraid of being caught by him. The girls quickly ran off, leaving only one sentence behind: “We know him, but he’s crazy.”

After urging the students toward the field, the Director of Academic Affairs slowly walked up to Chen Zongqian. He recognized him as someone who had come with the outreach team, standing out in the crowd. He had initially thought Chen Zongqian was a leader, only later learning he was a legal consultant.

He hadn’t heard everything the students said, but the words “he’s crazy” were shouted clearly and distinctly, making them hard to miss. Students were usually hard enough to manage, but to speak so disrespectfully at a time like this, embarrassing the school, made the Director angry again.

“Don’t blame them, I was asking them some questions,” Chen Zongqian explained, frowning slightly. That phrase, “he’s crazy,” was particularly grating. It didn’t sound like a casual joke. He wondered if Xu Qiaochuan was being bullied.

Hearing that Chen Zongqian was looking for someone, the Director led him directly to the sports field. He moved between several classes, straightening out crooked lines, and emerged looking displeased.

Chen Zongqian stood behind the formation. In front of him, several boys were sitting and laughing, joking that Xu Qiaochuan had kept up his act for so many years, only to be caught today.

“Are you on bad terms with him?” Chen Zongqian asked.

“Good, excellent terms!” They laughed even louder. There was no one like Chen Zongqian at the school, and the Director was standing right next to him. They were quick-witted and knew how to speak appropriately. Since they didn’t say anything negative, Chen Zongqian didn’t expect to learn anything, and the topic of Xu Qiaochuan quickly ended.

Chen Zongqian took off his glasses. The email from Yao Can also included the dormitory building number and room number, and he decided to check there.

The sports field was full, but the academic building was empty. Chen Zongqian hadn’t expected meeting the boy to be so difficult, having failed twice. But bad luck was bad luck; even Liu Bei had to visit Zhuge Liang’s thatched cottage three times. The Director of Academic Affairs pulled the class monitor out and ordered him to lead the way to the dorms.

Xu Qiaochuan’s class monitor was a boy. He had been sitting comfortably, only to be suddenly dragged out to find someone. He didn’t want to serve the leaders, nor did he want to climb six flights of stairs to find the boy.

Chen Zongqian noticed the impatience on his face and offered to go up himself. The class monitor nodded dismissively. The time it would take Chen Zongqian to go up and down the six floors was enough for him to smoke a cigarette.

The dormitory building had a unified power cut after students were supposed to be in their rooms. Only the emergency lights in the stairwell and hallway provided a faint glow. Chen Zongqian used this light to climb to the sixth floor. He passed a water dispenser where a plastic lunchbox had fallen to the floor, instant noodles spilled everywhere, and no one had cleaned it up.

Chen Zongqian heard the sound of running water from afar, coming from the end of the hall. Room 601 was at the very end, and he quickened his pace.

He didn’t rush in. He hesitated outside the door for a moment, then tentatively called out, “Xu Qiaochuan?”

The sound of water continued inside, but there was no response. Chen Zongqian knocked on the door. It was slightly ajar and opened easily.

Xu Qiaochuan heard his name called and suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t want anyone to come in right now. His heart was pounding, as if he had been startled. Xu Qiaochuan wanted to stay silent and pretend no one was there, but the sound of the running water was loud and strange, impossible to ignore.

The faucet had been accidentally pushed open during his struggle, and now he couldn’t turn it off. He was soaked by the running water, his T-shirt clinging to his body. Xu Qiaochuan felt like the clothes were water weeds, tangling him and making it hard to breathe.

“Is that Xu Qiaochuan?” The voice was outside the washroom. Xu Qiaochuan still didn’t respond, and the person said again, “Excuse me, I’m coming in to take a look.”

The door was gently pushed open. Xu Qiaochuan didn’t look up, only seeing the man’s shadow cast on the floor.

The washroom balcony was semi-open. Even though the white light was off due to the power cut, the neon lights from the tall buildings in the distance provided enough light to see clearly.

The person was half-sitting on the floor, his hands tied to the hot water pipe with nylon rope. The power-cut water heater only dispensed cold water. He had been drenched for an unknown amount of time and was shivering violently. Chen Zongqian immediately turned off the water.

The bones in his wrist looked somewhat deformed; they must have been dislocated during his struggle. Chen Zongqian was afraid of causing him more pain, so he carefully tried to untie the nylon rope, but after struggling for a while, he couldn’t loosen it—the rope was tied in a dead knot.

“The bottom bunk closest to the door, there’s a knife under the mattress.” This was the first sentence Xu Qiaochuan had spoken tonight. His voice was calm, as if this kind of thing was routine for him.

Chen Zongqian didn’t even have time to wonder why there was a knife in a school dorm before he rushed to find it as instructed.

Only after the man left did Xu Qiaochuan lean his back against the wall, relaxing slightly. Although it was summer, he couldn’t tell which was colder: himself, the water, or the tiled wall.

Chen Zongqian returned and used the fruit knife to cut the nylon rope. Xu Qiaochuan said, “Thank you,” and pushed the dislocated bones back into place.

“You…” Chen Zongqian had intended to ask something, but seeing his action, he was instantly speechless.

Xu Qiaochuan was very thin and not very tall, only reaching Chen Zongqian’s chin when he stood up. He kept his eyes down, not looking at anyone, and repeated, “Thank you.” But Chen Zongqian still didn’t move. Xu Qiaochuan frowned and said, “I need to take a shower now.”

His hair was still dripping water, and his clothes were completely soaked, creating an extreme contrast with the well-dressed and immaculate Chen Zongqian.

“There’s no hot water,” Chen Zongqian said, pointing to the extinguished water heater.

Xu Qiaochuan acknowledged this with a sound, standing silently, his expression seeming to say, “Yes, and?”

Chen Zongqian watched Xu Qiaochuan walk back into the dorm room. Even without a verbal confirmation, he knew the person in front of him was the Xu Qiaochuan he was looking for.

The image sketched from Yao Can’s description and the email photo became distorted and blurred upon actually meeting Xu Qiaochuan. Chen Zongqian thought he looked similar at first glance, and again at the second. He felt he could understand Yao Can now.

At that moment, Xu Qiaochuan was slightly bowed, his eyes hidden in the scattered light and shadow. The splashing water made him seem somewhat translucent, but Chen Zongqian found his features and bone structure familiar. When Xu Qiaochuan lifted his head, his facial features were also very similar.

He was just too thin, his complexion gloomy and sickly, like a pitiful stray cat. Chen Zongqian’s heart tightened with a dull ache. If Xiao Ran had been lost outside, wouldn’t he be just like a stray cat?

He was on the verge of uttering that name, but this was only one meeting. Chen Zongqian briefly lost his rationality, making a judgment without any evidence, which was highly inappropriate.

Over a decade of longing and anticipation surged forth. Chen Zongqian shook his head to clear his mind.

Xu Qiaochuan took off his soaked T-shirt, his upper body bare. Chen Zongqian’s breathing momentarily softened. He had photos of Xiao Ran and vividly remembered the distinguishing features on Xiao Ran’s body, features he hadn’t dared to forget for over ten years.

Xiao Ran had a very small, pale red birthmark on his lower back, shaped like a soaring bird.

Chen Zongqian’s gaze was abrupt and direct; he completely disregarded the offense. Xu Qiaochuan, with a cold expression, walked past Chen Zongqian and headed straight back to the washroom.

He walked over, fully exposing his back. Chen Zongqian did not see anything he was hoping to see.

The skin on Xu Qiaochuan’s back was not smooth and clean like the front. A large area of skin from his neck down to his lower back was twisted and wrinkled. Chen Zongqian’s breath hitched. This was scar contracture caused by burns.