TSIBAMS Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Looking at the several split-screen videos on the computer screen, Ye Xing felt a bit dizzy. He remembered the last time he saw Qi Guang operate the computer at the KTV, and he didn’t understand it at all.

After all, he was a computer idiot who couldn’t even download a movie.

So he calmly acted as a freeloader, watching Bai Shu’s mouse click around.

At this moment, Bai Shu’s phone suddenly rang. He walked a little further away to answer the call, and then came back, saying to Ye Xing, “I’m going upstairs to open the door for an employee. You can watch it yourself. You can fast forward or directly adjust the time.”

“Hey, I…”

I don’t know how!

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Shu had already left in a hurry.

Fine, if he didn’t know how, he’d just fumble around.

Ye Xing found the place to adjust the time. Because he wasn’t sure about the specific time, he decided to try setting it to nine o’clock first. He held the mouse and slid it for a while before stopping.

Oh shit! How did it go to six o’clock?

Just as Ye Xing was about to continue adjusting, he was stunned by what he saw on the screen—

The person standing at the entrance of 1984 looked refined but with an undeniable air, it was Qi Guang’s father. And the person standing opposite him was wearing Bai Shu’s memorable white hoodie. Judging from the height and hairstyle, it was clearly not Bai Shu.

Ye Xing stared at the person on the screen, waiting for him to turn around—sure enough, it was Qi Guang.

He was suddenly overwhelmed with mixed feelings, and his mind was racing. Why was Qi Guang wearing Bai Shu’s clothes? No, that wasn’t the main point at the moment, and Qi Guang was clearly not wearing this outfit yesterday! Then the date must be wrong!

Ye Xing frantically looked for the date, the end of March, just the night he and Qi Guang had fought. Either Bai Shu had adjusted the date wrong, or Bai Shu assumed he knew how to adjust and didn’t change it at all.

So, that day after their fight, Qi Guang didn’t go home, but went to Bai Shu’s house?

Ye Xing’s mind was in a mess. He shook his head. As a single-core operating system, too many things to process would cause it to crash, so he needed to close some “programs.”

He put aside the issue of the date, and also put aside the issue of why Qi Guang was wearing Bai Shu’s clothes. He then realized his inner struggle—the unease of accidentally spying on someone else.

Then he should deal with this problem first! Ye Xing took a long breath.

Was Qi Guang someone else?

He could be and he could not be.

Was something that happened on the street with pedestrians in the background a private matter?

It could be and it could not be.

Ye Xing quickly convinced himself after last night’s mental preparation, and he made the decision to choose the latter as smoothly as choosing a multiple choice question in an exam. And to make himself accept this answer more comfortably, he silently recited in his heart—haven’t I been open with him about my personal matters, embarrassing things, and family affairs? It’s not too much to look at the behind-the-scenes story of an actor!

Alright, the first step for the single-core operating system, receiving data.

Ye Xing turned up the volume, moved the mouse to adjust the scene to the moment when the two first met—

Qi Guang was wearing Bai Shu’s hoodie, with some traces of fighting still on his face, looking listless. He pushed open the door of 1984 and was about to enter. At this moment, his father’s figure appeared behind Qi Guang, his voice calm but with a hint of coercion, “You’re working here?”

Bai Shu finished opening the KTV door and chatted with the employees for a while before coming downstairs. He entered 1984 and saw Ye Xing sitting in front of the computer in a daze, not even noticing that he had come in.

He looked lost.

“Did you find it?” Bai Shu asked.

Ye Xing then came back to his senses, shaking his head, “No.”

The scene was still on the street after Qi Guang’s father left. He moved the mouse a few times to adjust the date. Bai Shu glanced at the screen and sighed, “The date wasn’t adjusted correctly, let me do it.”

With that, he took the mouse from Ye Xing’s hand. Ye Xing was still absent-minded, staring at the passers-by on the street on the screen.

Bai Shu clicked the mouse a few times and said, “It’s probably around this time, I’ll fast forward to see… okay, it’s here.”

He stepped behind Ye Xing, focusing intently on the screen.

The screen showed the scene where Ye Xing and Zhou Tian were carrying Qi Guang out, followed by the fall.

Bai Shu pressed pause. Sure enough, a string of Buddhist beads fell beside Ye Xing in the picture, but his first reaction at the time was to help Qi Guang up, and he didn’t notice that he had dropped anything.

Ye Xing’s eyes were fixed on the screen, but his heart was still unsettled, as if the person who was so anxious to find the lost item wasn’t him. The Buddhist beads were important, but now there was something heavier weighing on him. He had to make a great effort to put even a little bit of his energy into finding the lost item.

Bai Shu pressed fast forward again. Next was them putting Qi Guang in the car, Bai Shu driving Qi Guang away, Zhou Tian going upstairs back to the KTV, Ye Xing chatting with Xu Ge for a few words before going into 1984. And that string of Buddhist beads was still lying alone on the wet street, unclaimed.

Not knowing how long it was before someone picked it up, Bai Shu directly adjusted the time forward by an hour. By that time, the Buddhist beads were gone. He then adjusted the time back a bit, narrowing the time range to make it easier to find. They sat in front of the computer, waiting silently. After a while, a child appeared, wearing overalls, slowly walking around. He looked like he was still in elementary school. He saw the Buddhist beads at a glance when he passed by, but didn’t pick them up right away. He walked while looking, looked back after passing it, and finally, after walking almost two meters past it, he decided to run back and pick up the Buddhist beads.

This kid, even has to do some mental preparation before picking up something.

“I know this kid,” Bai Shu said, “He has a late-night snack stall nearby. They set up shop at ten o’clock. I’ll help you get it back tonight.”

“I can go by myself, it’s too much trouble for you,” Ye Xing said.

Bai Shu turned off the computer, unplugged the power, and walked to the door, “It’s just a small effort, your home is probably not close to here, and it’s not necessary to make a special round trip this late.”

“Okay,” Ye Xing followed him out, “Thank you, I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

“No need for a meal, just take care of our business,” Bai Shu smiled, “Can you still make it back to school in time? I can drive you?”

“Ah?” Ye Xing looked at the time. It was indeed a bit late, but he was too embarrassed to trouble others again and again. Although he had only met Bai Shu a few times, Bai Shu’s way of handling things always gave him the feeling that they were friends.

Was it because of Qi Guang?

His face gradually darkened.

“Ye Xing?” Bai Shu, looking at the person who was spacing out for the nth time, opened the car door, “Get in.”

Ye Xing didn’t refuse any more and got into the car.

While sitting in the passenger seat, the scene of Qi Guang confronting his father in the surveillance footage started playing on loop in his mind.

The second step for the single-core operating system is to analyze the data.

The things Qi Guang said and his resistant attitude towards his father, that was a side of him that he had never seen before, articulate and heartbreaking. Before, Ye Xing had only thought that Qi Guang’s family was broken, but now, it looked like despair.

No wonder he would rather work and go to school to escape his once-affluent life. What he was escaping from wasn’t his home, but clearly an abyss.

He had misunderstood him, and said such harsh words to hurt him.

He deserved to die!

Ye Xing suddenly felt not only dizzy but also a little uncomfortable. He lowered his head and pressed his temples with the middle fingers of both hands.

Bai Shu had noticed his unease long ago. He had thought it was because of his anxiety about the Buddhist beads, but now it was clear that there was something else. He tentatively asked, “Are you okay?”

Ye Xing raised his head and shook his head, “I’m fine.”

He felt a bit stuffy and rolled down the window. They weren’t too far from school. The streets were filled with people in school uniforms walking back to school after lunch. He then remembered that he hadn’t had lunch yet. What was strange was that he didn’t even feel hungry.

He hesitated for a while and then opened his mouth, “That… is Qi Guang okay?”

“I thought you could hold back from asking,” Bai Shu smiled, gripping the steering wheel without looking away.

Ye Xing didn’t quite understand the meaning of his smile, “I saw he didn’t come to school today…”

“He just got up at noon. Whether he’ll come to school in the afternoon is unknown,” Bai Shu said.

Having to find out about Qi Guang’s news from others, Ye Xing felt a little dazed. He had clearly been certain before that Qi Guang was a friend he could trust, and he had also believed, in a conceited way, that he was someone Qi Guang trusted.

Or was it not conceited?

Qi Guang didn’t seem to have lied to him, at least not so far.

Except for the fact that he was the top student in the grade, which was yet to be verified…

But this didn’t seem to matter anymore. After all, it was too easy to verify. He could just ask any classmate to find out. Compared to the major news he had gotten by accident at noon, this was simply not a big deal.

So, it was fair to say that Qi Guang really did treat him as a friend.

And what kind of bastard things had he been doing???

Revealing people’s scars! Being sarcastic! Provoking fights!

But Qi Guang didn’t take it to heart at all, and even helped him block the alcohol. Although he said that it was because he couldn’t hold his liquor and his drinking manners were even worse. It was true that he couldn’t hold his liquor, but the claim about his drinking manners was fabricated. The main point was, why did he help him regardless of past grievances?

It made him seem like even more of a bastard!

Rather than self-blame, what Ye Xing was even more upset about was that he had pushed Qi Guang away, pushing him towards other people, like now, he felt embarrassed even to make a phone call. After asking Bai Shu a couple of questions, he couldn’t bring himself to ask further.

“We’re here,” Bai Shu stopped the car and unlocked the car door, “Hurry in, don’t be late.”

“Thank you, you’ve been too much trouble today,” Ye Xing got out of the car and said goodbye to him.

Right now, he desperately hoped that the other person would answer, “You’re welcome, a friend of Qi Guang is a friend of mine,” but Bai Shu didn’t say anything. He smiled and started the car and drove away.

Damn, he felt even more suffocated.

Damn it, how did he become such a self-pitying, little wife?!

He hadn’t taken a few steps towards the school gate when someone patted him on the shoulder. He was startled and instinctively wanted to shake the hand off, but Zhou Tian’s voice and face immediately appeared, “Ye Xing, how did you get out of Senior Bai’s car?!”

Ye Xing breathed a sigh of relief, “I left something at their store yesterday.”

“Oh,” Zhou Tian nodded, “What was it? Did you find it?”

“A string of Buddhist beads. Someone picked it up. He said he would help me get it back,” Ye Xing walked forward.

“Oh.” Zhou Tian laughed, “If you hadn’t said that, I would have suspected that you two were on a date.”

“What are you saying?” He stopped, looking at Zhou Tian with a “are-you-an-idiot” expression.

“I’m just joking. After all, I’ve been suspicious of you for a while,” Zhou Tian leaned close to his ear and said in a low voice, “Last time when I saw you looking so wimpy surrounded by female classmates…”