Chapter 715: Let's Be Friends for a Day
My single sentence plunged the two of them into complete silence.
"That's right..." Sister Siwei said. "Even if we could build something similar, Brother Hero’s daily workload would still be just as heavy."
"It's fine," I told them. "Brother and Sister, I really don't mind."
"But your body..." Sister Siwei looked at me, then suddenly froze. "Ah, Brother Hero!"
I was startled. I reached up and touched my face—my nose was bleeding again.
Ever since more and more "fragrant ones" had appeared in the family, I'd been smelling more and more scents, and my nose bled all day long.
Seeing this, Sister Siwei quickly walked over and reached out to touch my nose. "Brother Hero... it's okay, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. It'll be over in a second."
She always said that every time. Her body carried the wonderfully pleasant scent of "healing."
If only my mother were even half as good as Sister Siwei... how wonderful would that be?
I remember in first grade, I saw another kid's parent picking him up from school. The kid fell down, and his mother went over and comforted him for ages.
So when I got home, I imitated him. I "accidentally" fell down in the living room. My mother didn't come to help me up; she just stood there laughing at me for being stupid.
I lay on the floor grinning like an idiot too, then stood up and fell down again, and fell down again after standing up.
I wanted to make my mother laugh.
I really, really wished she would walk over and say, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. It'll be over in a second."
But I bruised my knees and palms painfully, and she just kept laughing at me for being foolish.
This time, Brother Gu Yu and Sister Siwei's discussion ended in discord once again. I knew they desperately wanted to make things easier for me, but neither was willing to admit it was impossible.
They wanted to help me, and I wanted to help them. We were trapped in a vortex of mutual tugging.
That day, after school ended back in the real world, Xu Jiahua, who had been standing as punishment all day, picked up his bag and walked out of the classroom. Instead of going home, I followed him.
My parents didn't talk to me, but I had so many questions I needed to ask someone.
"Zheng Yingxiong, what are you doing?" Xu Jiahua slung his school uniform over his shoulder and turned around. "School's out—aren't you going home?"
"Xu Jiahua, I want to ask you a few questions."
"Questions?" He stopped walking and looked back at me. "Ask me?"
"Yeah."
He scratched his head, giving off a scent of confusion, then stuck out his hand. "One question, one dime."
Without hesitation, I pulled out the cold one-yuan coin from my pocket and handed it to him.
I hadn't eaten lunch today. Being hungry was nothing new to me, and if I didn't use the yuan I'd saved, I'd probably never get another chance.
"Huh?! That much?!" He stared at the coin, stunned. "Holy shit... what are you doing?"
"I'm giving it all to you. I have a lot of questions."
Not only did I have many questions, but I also wanted to say sorry to Xu Jiahua.
"Then—then wait a sec..." He looked at the coin in his palm, then grabbed my wrist. "Zheng Yingxiong! Come with me!"
I followed him as he ran across two streets, until we reached a small convenience store.
"Granny!" Xu Jiahua called out happily.
In a few seconds, a very elderly granny poked her head out. The moment she saw Xu Jiahua, the wrinkles on her face softened a little. She laughed in a low voice. "Ah Hua, here to buy those fifty-cent vegetable buns again? I've been keeping two warm for you, all ready..."
"No! No, no!" Xu Jiahua quickly waved his hand. "Granny, don't talk nonsense! When did I ever buy two vegetable buns for fifty cents..."
"Ah...?" The granny blinked. "What's wrong with you...?"
"Ahem! I..." Xu Jiahua cleared his throat loudly. "Granny! I have a friend visiting today, and I want to treat him to a drink!"
"A drink...?" The granny blinked suspiciously. "Ah Hua, where did you suddenly get money?"
"Jeez!" Xu Jiahua lowered his voice. "Granny! Don't worry about it! Just give me the drink!"
"Then... do you want some sugary water?" The granny pointed at a wrinkled plastic bottle nearby. "Ten cents a bottle."
"Sug—sugary water, that can't be right..." Xu Jiahua kept clutching the coin in his hand, hesitating. A few seconds later, he turned his head and looked at a delicate little glass bottle. "Granny! I want that! I want cola!"
"Cola...?" The granny was startled. "Ah Hua! Cola is fifty cents a bottle! You usually only eat..."
"Ah, just don't worry about it!"
Xu Jiahua quickly handed over his coin, took two glass bottles of Coca-Cola from the granny, then grabbed my hand and ran off.
From far away, I heard the granny shouting after us, "Ah Hua, remember to return the bottles!"
"I know, Granny!"
We sat down on a bridge pier, holding the dark liquid in our hands. Neither of us dared to drink.
That black water fizzed in my hands, and my heart fizzed along with it. I felt like I wasn't much different from the black water in the bottle—once I left the bottle, I'd end up in someone else's stomach.
"Damn... Coca-Cola..." Xu Jiahua held the glass bottle up to his eyes and stared at it closely. "So weird. And it's bubbling..."
I wasn't listening to him. I was just thinking about how to start.
Even though I had countless questions to ask, there was one thing I had to say first...
"I'm—"
"Sorry, Zheng Yingxiong," Xu Jiahua said, staring at the glass bottle.
"Huh...?"
"I mean about me always asking you for money. You just saw it too..." Xu Jiahua scratched his head awkwardly, then flashed a particularly bright smile. "There's no one at home. At night my stomach growls like crazy. If it weren't for your fifty cents every day, I wouldn't even be able to afford vegetable buns. Thank you for treating me to meals these past two weeks."
When he said that, I felt his scent become even more pleasant than before.
Even though my life had stopped at the age of eight, I had spent five years in "prison."
I wasn't a little kid anymore.
My experiences over these years had taught me that before trying to communicate with someone, you had to pay attention to the scent on them.
In this world, everyone's scent was complicated, but I was only afraid of two kinds: one was the extremely foul smell like Uncle Wan's, and the other was the nearly scentless smell like the rest of my family.
But Xu Jiahua's scent had always been pleasant.
By now, I had also learned how to understand a person. I didn't need to see if they had done bad things, or if their clothes were dirty. I just needed to close my eyes and feel their scent with my heart.
"Xu Jiahua, you can tell me the truth," I said, tilting my head. "Why did you always have to say it was 'protection money'?"
"Ah... that makes me look more like a big shot," Xu Jiahua said with an embarrassed smile. "But I've already acknowledged your character. From now on, I won't treat you like a little sidekick anymore!"
The two of us sat by the river in the sweltering summer evening, watching adults fly past on their bicycles, listening to the cicadas sing.
"Xu Jiahua, I don't want to be a sidekick. Can I be your friend for just one day?" I asked.
"Just 'one day'?" He blinked. "What kind of question is that? We can be friends from now on!"