Second Hand Love Letter

After the car got on the highway, Shen Wenqiu began to feel vaguely uncomfortable.

He does not have motion sickness, but perhaps because the journey was too long, he felt a little nauseous. It might also be because the lunch was too greasy. The sun was setting outside, and Lu Yong’s Mercedes was still driving on the road and into the tunnel between the barren hills, Shen Wenqiu then realized that he had forgotten to ask a question—

Where does Lu Yong live?

The phone dinged as a notification came in.

Shen Wenqiu looked down at the text message: Welcome to the ancient capital of a thousand years, H City! H Culture and Tourism Bureau warmly reminds…

Shen Wenqiu was dumbfounded. It’s fucking out of the province!

Shen Wenqiu asked, “Where do you live?”

Lu Yong is like a robot. He had been driving for so long but he didn’t seem tired, “I am working in H city now.”

After a while, Shen Wenqiu asked in a daze, “…Don’t tell me that you drove over from H city by car on purpose?”

The black car ran over the boundary between day and night and rushed into a new tunnel. The wind whistled through the glass window. The street lights on both sides were like white meteors surrounding the two edges and were quickly flown away.

“Yeah.” Lu Yong admitted lightly, and said, “If you are sleepy, go to sleep for a while. We’re almost entering the city. If there is no traffic jam, it will take about two hours to get home.”

“There is a blanket on the back seat.”

“If you feel motion sickness, I have a motion sickness patch.”

Shen Wenqiu didn’t really listen, he was thinking about something else.

Five days ago, he was arrested at 2 in the morning, and he gave Lu Yong’s contact information to the policeman around 3 in the morning. Lu Yong arrived at about 8 in the morning.

On the day that he was arrested, Lu Yong had to drive off as soon as he received the call, so that he could arrive at about the place in time.

Shen Wenqiu’s lips mumbled and said, “You haven’t changed at all, you are still as careful and capable as before.”

Shen Wenqiu lowered the chair, climbed to the back seat, wrapped himself with a blanket, and said, “Then I will sleep for a while.”

After a little than half an hour later.

The car drove into the city, and the neon lights flashed by the window.

Lu Yong only dared to raise his eyes and peek into the rearview mirror after he heard that there was no movement.

He stretched out his hand to adjust the rearview mirror so that he could see Shen Wenqiu in the back seat. Shen Wenqiu curled up in the back seat and was sleeping. The blanket was too small to cover him completely. His ankles were exposed, and he looked skinny.

Shen Wenqiu looked dirty and thin, like a little stray dog.

–

The detention center is not a good place, even if he had been locked up several times, it is impossible to get used to it. He hasn’t had a good night’s sleep these days, but surprisingly he actually fell asleep on the soft seat.

……

In the first year of high school, he must live in a dormitory for one week and be subject to strict and confined management.

Shen Wenqiu was a spoiled child from a young age and was reluctant to go to the dormitory. As expected, the environment was worse than he thought. The iron-framed bed, the eight-person room, and the worst thing of all was that he went too late and all the good places were already selected.

Shen Wenqiu looked at the hard and dirty wooden boards, and then at the old wooden tables that had fallen out of paint. The floor was dirty and the walls were dirty. He subconsciously mumbled: “…Is this a place where people can live?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the poor father and son say happily, “It’s a very clean room! How great!”

Shen Wenqiu choked, he glanced at them, praying that they would not hear his squeamish complaints. He then turned his head, but he was met with the big tall black guy’s gaze again. His ears were instantly red and he was ashamed.

Shen Wenqiu saw Lu Yong bid farewell to his dad and send him away.

The two children discussed the beds. There are only two beds left, one below and one above.

The tall black guy asked him, “Do you want the lower bunk? It’s more convenient.”

Shen Wenqiu looked at his only arm, shook his head, and pretended to say seriously: “Forget it, I will sleep on the upper bunk. This bed doesn’t look very firm. Sleeping on the upper bunk when you have such a big size, what should I do if it collapses on me?”

Lu Yong immediately believed him, “You are right.” He choked back and said, “But it shouldn’t collapse, I’m not fat.”

Shen Wenqiu chuckled, “Why are you so dumb? I’m just kidding.”

After returning, Lu Yong took out the plastic basin and rag from the nylon polybag, hesitated, and asked Shen Wenqiu, who was still standing next to the bed as if not knowing where to start, “You seem to be not very good at cleaning? Do you want me to help you?”

Before Shen Wenqiu had time to answer, his father came with someone. They carried a few big and small bags, as if he wanted to arrange his bed as much as possible to the extent that even Princess Pea can sleep.

He had always taken things for granted, but in front of this silly, big, tall black guy, he suddenly blushed and whispered in an embarrassed voice, “Thanks, thank you, but my dad hired an aunt to clean.”

Father Shen also noticed Lu Yong, and said in surprise, “Oh, you are classmates? Hello, hello.”

As he was saying, he took out a box of milk from a large cupboard of snacks and fruits prepared for Shen Wenqiu, handed it to Lu Yong, and said in passing, “My Xiao Baa has never lived outside. He may not be used to living like this, because he is spoiled by me. You look like a good and capable boy, so please take care of him…”

The name ‘Xiao Baa’ made other students in the same bedroom look at him.

Shen Wenqiu had to bury his fingers in the trousers, and said embarrassingly, “Dad! Don’t call me ‘Xiao Baa’! I’m already fifteen years old!”

Father Shen laughed, touched his head, and preached, “Don’t lose your temper at school. If you get beaten up, Dad won’t care about you, behave yourself.”

……

“Xiao Baa.”

“Xiao Baa, we are here, wake up.”

Since his father died, he hasn’t heard anyone call him that for many years. Shen Wenqiu had an illusion for a while and thought he was reborn and went back to the past.

It’s best to find out that he has had a too-long nightmare. And when he wakes up, he is still a beloved rich young master, not a homeless vagrant.

Shen Wenqiu sat up, his soul still immersed in a dream that he couldn’t get up from. He raised his face and said to Lu Yong who was standing outside the car door, “I haven’t heard anyone call me ‘Xiao Baa’ in 800 years, and for a moment I couldn’t react to the fact that I was being called.”

“I felt embarrassed. We are already old.”

And he hasn’t seen him in ten years, so why can Lu Yong call him by his nickname so naturally?

Shen Wenqiu stared at Lu Yong.

One, two, three, four, five——

Shen Wenqiu looked away uneasily.

Lu Yong was not embarrassed, but he was embarrassed.

Shen Wenqiu sniffed the blanket, and said quietly, “I’m sorry, I haven’t taken a bath for three days, I smell so bad, it makes your blankets smell too.”

Lu Yong put away the blanket and said, “It’s okay, we just have to wash it.”

They went to take the elevator.

Lu Yong swiped his room key, and the elevator button for the 19th floor lit up.

Shen Wenqiu: “You’re living on such a high floor?”

Lu Yong: “The scenery is good.”

Lu Yong lives on a large flat floor of a single household with a staircase, with an area of ​​more than 300 square meters. The flat has three bedrooms and one living room, and a large balcony. It is very spacious. Shen Wenqiu felt that an air circulation system was probably installed. Even if the doors and windows were closed shut for a day out, he did not feel stuffy. The house is beautifully decorated, in a typical Mediterranean style, with blue, white and yellow as the basic tone, bright and clean, but it gives him a sense of desolation.

Shen Wenqiu set his eyes on the big sofa in the living room, found where he would be sleeping tonight, and said, “Your house is well decorated. It looks like you took a lot of effort on it.”

Lu Yong replied, “It’s a second-hand house. The original owner is an interior designer, I took over directly, and didn’t change anything.”

Shen Wenqiu, “Oh.”

He thought, why is Lu Yong still the same? He can’t hold a conversation at all, and it would be just fine for him to simply answer in the scene right? 

How can someone like Lu Yong become President Lu?

Lu Yong took Shen Wenqiu to the long table in the living room and said, “You sit down for a while and get what you want to drink. I’m going to cook.”

Lu Yong took off his suit jacket, untied his tie, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and started cooking in the semi-open kitchen. Shen Wenqiu remembered that Lu Yong used to cook and it was delicious. Lu Yong’s family had a food stall. He heard that he could cut vegetables and cook while standing on a small bench before he even attended school.

Lu Yong was making fried noodles, holding the wok with his prosthetic right hand, and holding the chopsticks in his left hand to loosen the noodles.

This prosthetic limb can be operated at will even with such a heavy pot?

Shen Wenqiu held his cheek with one hand, leaned back, and looked on curiously, saying, “Aren’t you President Lu now? Why do you still need to cook by yourself?”

Lu Yong said while cooking, “It’s not like I have time everyday. If I can go home to rest, I will cook by myself, which is more healthy and sanitary.”

He put two plates of fragrant fried noodles on the table, two glasses of orange juice, and added ice cubes.

Shen Wenqiu looked at his plate, and felt that the egg and pork shreds were all on his plate, and asked, “Such a big portion?”

Lu Yong said, “You are too skinny, eat more.”

Lu Yong ate fast, and Shen Wenqiu felt a hint of pressure.

Lu Yong said, “Take your time to eat, there is no need to hurry.”

Shen Wenqiu couldn’t help speeding up his meal. Just after eating, he planned to consciously collect the dishes and chopsticks. Lu Yong came over with two pieces of clean clothes and said:

“Leave it, I’ll wash the dishes.”

“There are no new clothes. Put on my old clothes and make do with it first. It’s clean. Just use the blue and white stripe hanging on the wall for the towel.”

Shen Wenqiu is still not as courteous as before.

He took a long bath, dried his hair, and felt much more comfortable.

Lu Yong’s vanity was empty, except for the tooth cup and toothbrush, there was only a bottle of Vaseline body lotion — 100 yuan per liter can be used for a long time, and half a bottle has been used.

Shen Wenqiu came out of the bathroom.

Lu Yong sat in the living room waiting for him. When he saw him, he stood up and said, “Come with me.”

Shen Wenqiu dazedly followed him to the master bedroom, Lu Yong said, “I have changed the new sheets and quilts, which were just washed and dried the other day.”

Shen Wenqiu: “…”

He thought that he’d be content if Lu Yong did not dislike him for being dirty, but Lu Yong’s words made it seem as if he was the one afraid of being disliked by Shen Wenqui if things were dirty. Weird.

Shen Wenqiu just stood by the door and didn’t walk in, scratching his head, “I’m just a freeloader. I’ll just sleep on the sofa.”

Lu Yong said, “I sleep on the sofa.”

Shen Wenqiu was stunned for a moment, “Huh? This is not a guest bedroom?”

Lu Yong nodded, “This room faces south, and has the best sunlight.”

This is nothing like the dove that is occupying the magpie’s nest, but it’s more like the magpie rushing to ask the dove to occupy its nest.

Shen Wenqiu took a step back, “I’ll just sleep on the sofa. I’m used to sleeping on the park bench. I can’t sleep on such a soft bed.”

Shen Wenqiu gave a gentle smile, “It’s still early. Can I watch TV in the living room for a while?”

Lu Yong’s offer was rejected. His face and shoulder muscles became stiffer, and he said, “Okay.”

And then he said, “I still have work to deal with, and I’ll be in the study room. You can call me if you have something you need.”

Shen Wenqiu was going to just lie on the sofa and just sleep there.

Lu Yong entered the study room at half past eight, but he never came out. He waited a little bit before 1 am and came out of the study room. He said goodnight to Shen Wenqiu, and went to wash and go to bed.

“Good night, Xiao Baa.”

“…Good night. Dayong.”

The room fell into silence.

Shen Wenqiu heard the sound of closing the door in the master bedroom, turned down the TV volume, and turned off the TV after five minutes.

He laid with his arm on his head for half an hour, but he still couldn’t sleep.

Obviously, he usually sleeps better in the chairs of Internet cafes and by the flower beds in the park.

Shen Wenqiu got up quietly, opened the door to go out, and pressed the down button of the elevator

No response.

He pressed again.

Still no response.

It seems that he can’t leave without a room card.