Translator: Lynn
Hii, as it turns out I have some free time to translate a chapter, so here’s the second chapter of the sponsored chapter!
Sponsored chapter (2/2)
Since the day Cheng Yi called and was rejected, Cheng Ke’s phone never rang again. There were no calls or messages.
It was the Chinese New Year, a holiday when people typically reach out to celebrate with each other. However, the New Year seemed to be forgotten.
Moreover, being someone who had been detached from social circles since childhood and failed to integrate into any new ones, Cheng Ke doubted that anyone would think of him on this special day.
Except, the hotel remembered him.
He received a New Year’s gift from the hotel.
But that didn’t really count as remembering.
In the hotel, he was addressed as “Dear Guest” like everyone else, not as Cheng Ke.
He opened the gift and found several boxes inside, containing snacks, dried fruits, and a box of fresh fruits—all the things traditionally prepared for the Chinese New Year at home.
Cheng Ke took an egg roll and ate it, checking the time. It was still before noon.
If he went out now, he knew there would be no place to eat. So he put another bag of egg rolls in his jacket pocket, grabbed his notebook, and headed out.
He could still hail a taxi, but even if he couldn’t, it would only take 20 minutes to walk from the hotel to the store.
As Cheng Ke stepped out, he carefully examined the coats hanging in the hotel cabinet, one by one. It was a very cold day. He had opened the window for a while in the morning, and the wind that blew in had chilled his face and made it feel wet.
He hesitated for a moment before selecting the thickest coat, the same style as Jiang Yu’s expensive one.
He had always wanted to find the same style of the thick coat as Jiang Yuduo’s, but he didn’t know where Jiang Yuduo had bought it, probably from a wholesale market. Cheng Ke attempted to find a similar one in the nearby vegetable market and stumbled upon this one in the clothing section.
To be honest, apart from being very heavy, it couldn’t compare to Jiang Yuduo’s coat which cost over 500 yuan. Cheng Ke felt like the shopkeeper had temporarily inflated the price because he looked gullible.
If Jiang Yuduo were there to help, he believed he could get it for 300 yuan. After all, Jiang Yuduo’s coat was better than this one and only cost slightly more than 400 yuan. No, if Jiang Yuduo were around, he would just buy the same style for him.
Wearing the bulky coat, Cheng Ke stood at the elevator door with a bag of fireworks he had bought the day before, realizing that he couldn’t stop thinking about Jiang Yuduo.
After much hesitation, when the elevator doors opened, he turned and went back to his room.
He switched to the second thickest coat.
Then, he pressed the elevator button again.
The new coat clearly wasn’t as effective at blocking the cold as the previous one. Within a few seconds of getting into the taxi after leaving the hotel, Cheng Ke already felt the chill.
At this moment, the streets were empty, and firecrackers were sounding everywhere. The entire world outside the window was enveloped in smoke and snow. The driver hurriedly drove, eager to complete his orders and go home.
Cheng Ke glanced at his phone as it rang. It was a message from Xu Ding.
— Are you really not coming to my house? It’s packed with people now, and it’s very lively.
— Really not, thank you. See you on the third day of the new year.
— Okay, happy new year.
— Happy new year.
He put away his phone, and this time, a message from Lin Xu appeared.
— Happy new year, Cheng-ge. Let’s go out for a drink when you have time.
— Happy new year.
Cheng Ke let out a soft sigh. Lin Xu was quite an uncommon person. After their encounter with Jiang Yuduo at the bar, Lin Xu never contacted him again nor asked any further questions.
Now, looking at this seemingly casual message, Cheng Ke remembered that he had never given Lin Xu any explanation, and he felt a little embarrassed.
Shortly after replying to the message, the car arrived at his destination. As Cheng Ke stepped out of the car, it quickly sped away and disappeared. Standing in the old, north wind mixed with snowflakes and smoke, he almost lost his sense of direction.
He trembled slightly as he took out the key to open the door. It felt like fleeing in the final days, with everyone around him already having escaped. He had found a shelter where he could hide… How on earth did the rolling gate open?
Oh, it opened.
Nothing had changed in the store, so Cheng Ke turned on the light and sat down on a paint bucket on the ground floor.
He planned to start from the first floor, go over the details they had discussed that day, and sketch out the design to get a better sense of it.
On a day like this, it was a bit too challenging not to find something to occupy oneself.
Although he had prepared a bag full of fireworks for himself, he had no desire to look at them now.
The phone rang once again.
He let out a sigh. It wasn’t even midnight yet, and everyone seemed so upbeat.
This time it was Coach Xiao Yang who messaged him.
Coach Xiao Yang sent a template greeting of “Happy New Year,” followed by another message.
— Cheng-ge, you’ve been a little lazy recently. How long has it been since you came to practice? After the new year,
Cheng Ke hesitated for a long time, swaying his fingers back and forth on the screen, before finally replying with a single word.
— Fine.
He rarely sent such brief messages to others. In the past, his friends wouldn’t send a long string of “Happy New Year” messages. He usually chose to ignore such messages. But now, he wanted to reply, yet he didn’t know what he could say.
Feeling tired and flustered.
Just as he was about to exit, he hesitated once again and clicked into Moments.
The first thing that caught his eye was the New Year greetings from the General Protector Ninety-Nine-Eighty displayed on the screen.
Carefully, Cheng Ke scrolled down to read every message from the chief protector during this period, which took an astonishing amount of time and strained his eyes.
Then, he felt a little unsettled when he realized that the last time the Chief Protector appeared as “Jiang Yuduo Global Support Club” was ten days ago.
The text content was only two words: “party” and “took a few photos.”
They were taken to the edge of the flower bed in the small garden on the street where they usually gathered—Jiang Yuduo and his little brothers.
Cheng Ke clicked on the photo and tried to zoom in with his fingers, attempting to see Jiang Yuduo’s face with a cigarette in his mouth. However, after zooming in just once, the photo couldn’t be enlarged any further.
“Damn it!” Cheng Ke muttered in frustration.
The Chief Protector’s photos seemed to have been taken with a landline by someone’s mother. The pixel quality was ridiculously low, and the hands holding the camera were shaking. When the photos were enlarged, they became blurry.
He could only helplessly stare at the unenlarged photo.
Jiang Yuduo remained the same, with a distinctive aura that stood out among the group of people. With a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes seemed lost, and his expression appeared impatient and indifferent.
Where was Jiang Yu when he took these photos?
Wasn’t he with Chen Qing anymore?
Based on Chen Qing’s habit, whenever Jiang Yuduo was by his side, he would definitely post photos. But for the past ten days, there was no mention of Jiang Yuduo… Cheng Ke exited the app and clicked on Jiang Yuduo’s photo album.
It’s deserted.
Even the tiny dew point map is nowhere to be seen.
Cheng Ke stared blankly at his phone for a while before letting out a soft sigh
Since six o’clock in the evening, the sound of firecrackers had been exploding like crazy all around.
Now, it was past ten o’clock, and it had quieted down a bit as if waiting for the eruption after 11:30.
Jiang Yuduo placed Meow, the stray cat, on a stone pier of the bridge railing. He then pulled a tiger hat over its head and leaned in, exclaiming, “Stay still! I’ll take a picture of you!”
Meow, being the street-smart cat it was, had already adapted to the cacophony surrounding it. Moreover, with clothes on its body and a hat on its head, its attention was solely focused on the hat, tilting its head to keep the hat in place.
Jiang Yuduo took out his mobile phone and snapped a few photos of Meow. Upon reviewing them, the effect was quite good. Meow looked like a wealthy cat. He sent the photos to his friends and added a few words.
Meow is rich.
“Let’s go,” Jiang Yuduo said as he picked up Meow and tucked it into his coat. “Let’s turn around.”
With no one on the street and visibility poor, Jiang Yuduo purposely refrained from looking around.
Sister Luo had invited him for a New Year’s Eve dinner at her home tonight, but he declined. Apart from Chen Qing’s house, he had never been to Lu Qiang’s place for a New Year’s Eve dinner in all these years.
He didn’t feel much about the New Year, whether it was bustling or desolate. He had become quite numb to it all.
Emotions, regardless of their nature, require a personal connection to truly experience them. In other people’s lives, he was always just a supporting character, coming and going.
And his life felt empty.
His phone rang, and he knew it couldn’t be Chen Qing. Chen Qing had already made 36,757 calls today. If you added up the calls made in the past few days, it could rival a gold mine.
It was Lu Qiang calling. “Why haven’t you checked your phone? I sent you a red envelope. Accept it quickly!”
“Oh,” Jiang Yuduo replied.
“Oh, what? Give me New Year’s greetings!” Lu Qiang said.
“Happy New Year, sis,” Jiang Yuduo smiled.
“Hey, come back soon after you’ve had your fun. Call Chen Qing and the others, and let’s have a meal together,” Lu Qiang said.
“Okay,” Jiang Yuduo responded.
After hanging up, he opened WeChat and saw Lu Qiang’s red envelope—or more accurately, a money transfer.
Ten thousand yuan, a hefty red envelope.
He took the money and replied to Lu Qiang.
— Thank you, sis.
As he was about to exit, he hesitated and clicked on Cheng Ke’s photo album.
In recent days, he rarely thought about Cheng Ke. Even when he saw the Jaeger-LeCoultre watch in his bag, he didn’t feel much. He only remembered it was Cheng Ke’s watch, and to Cheng Ke, its significance was “unhappiness.”
But now, as he looked at Cheng Ke’s name, he suddenly felt a hint of nervousness. He couldn’t quite discern if it was fear, resistance, or anticipation.
Cheng Ke’s photo album had always been empty before, and this person never posted on Moments.
However, today, just ten minutes ago, a photo was posted.
No words, no expressions, just a photo.
The picture displayed a firework resembling a colorful fountain, occupying almost the entire frame.
Jiang Yuduo clicked on the photo and slowly zoomed in.
The fireworks’ light grew larger and larger, eventually transforming into blurred spots of light.
Cheng Ke must be setting off fireworks with his friends.
Xu Ding, Lin Xu, or perhaps someone else.
Those friends who shared the same world as Cheng Ke, posed no threat to him, nor did they cause him any trouble.
Cheng Ke, the one who left him, had not encountered any of the harm he had worried about. He was safe.
Jiang Yuduo clicked to open the chat box.
The conversation between him and Cheng Ke had taken place a long time ago and was almost devoid of content.
He hesitated, tapped the screen a few times, and began typing the words “Happy New Year”
As Meow peeked out from his coat, Jiang Yuduo swiftly deleted his unfinished message, retreated, and returned the phone to his pocket.
Cheng Ke claimed they were still friends.
Now, Jiang Yuduo wasn’t certain if it was the truth, if he was afraid of feeling sad, or if it stemmed from Cheng Ke’s upbringing.
His phone rang inside his pocket.
Without moving, he sat on a bench by the roadside and lit a cigarette.
The weather here was pleasant—no snow, no fierce northern winds. Even the trees still retained their green leaves.
He gently placed Meow on the ground, which had come with a leash, but he didn’t use it.
If he were to keep a dog, he would be an irresponsible citizen, the kind who walks their dog without a leash.
Any animal restrained by a tether would stir up unease within him.
In his memory, those animals chained up would bare their teeth at him, their eyes filled with fear.
Many of them were strays hiding in various corners at night, which he had captured.
Some things remained clear in his memory.
Perhaps he remembered everything, and forgetting was just an excuse. Every nightmare served as a reminder that he hadn’t forgotten a thing.
It felt as if he had assumed Cheng Ke was starting to fade away, only to realize that he hadn’t even become blurry.
Cheng Ke glanced at his phone. Half an hour had passed, and Jiang Yuduo hadn’t replied.
He let out a sigh.
Yet, the sight of Meow, wearing a red vest with white fur trim and a reluctant expression beneath a red Lei Feng hat1Lei Feng hat:
, brought forth another long laugh.
Jiang Yuduo must have traveled somewhere, a place where it didn’t snow.
He placed the last small firework tube in an open space, tremblingly lit a cigarette, and approached to ignite the fuse.
Just as the little sparks emerged, he was about to capture the moment with his phone when a gust of wind swept over, toppling the tube instantly and redirecting the sparks toward him.
“Damn it!” Cheng Ke swiftly turned and ran, bolting back to the shop in a matter of steps.
Through the glass door, he observed the fireworks continue to burst after being dispersed. He stomped his feet, getting showered with a few pieces of shredded paper shells, extinguishing the flames.
After spending only about twenty minutes outside, Cheng Ke couldn’t find any means to divert his attention or combat boredom and solitude.
He stood inside the store for a while, put on his coat, wrapped himself up, and stepped outside.
He headed back to the hotel to sleep.
In the absence of any cars, Cheng Ke briskly trotted towards the hotel, yet he didn’t feel too cold upon arrival. The hotel’s supermarket was still open, so he entered and purchased two bottles of wine, carrying them back to his room.
Jiang Yuduo hadn’t replied to his message. Although it wasn’t a big deal, it still dealt him a disappointing blow during this extraordinary day in an extraordinary state.
This night, he stood outside everyone’s world, even Jiang Yuduo’s world, who protected him like a neurotic.
To lull himself to sleep amidst this extreme loneliness, he consumed both bottles of red wine upon returning to his room.
The wine was fine, better than those available at the supermarket across the street.
He lay on the bed, realizing that he should have bought white wine instead. These two bottles of red wine, aside from making him feel slightly more relaxed, hadn’t displayed any hypnotic effects.
As he lay there, staring into space, his back began to feel numb, and he still couldn’t fall asleep.
However, he felt a bit dizzy. When his phone rang, he couldn’t determine the direction of the sound. Fumbling from the side of the pillow, he reached for the phone and turned his head, only to discover that he was indeed dizzy, unable to read the words clearly on the screen.
“Hello?” he answered the phone.
“Happy New Year,” someone spoke through the receiver.
Cheng Ke was taken aback. “Jiang Yuduo?”
“Yes,” Jiang Yuduo responded, pausing for a moment. “I just saw your message.”
“Oh,” Cheng Ke glanced at his phone. It had been nearly two hours since he sent the message, and it was past midnight now. “It was too noisy.”
“It wasn’t noisy,” Jiang Yuduo said. “I heard the phone ringing, but I just hadn’t looked at it.”
“Ah,” Cheng Ke smiled. Jiang Yuduo was as straightforward as ever. “Happy New Year.”
“You… did you set off fireworks? They were very beautiful,” Jiang Yuduo said.
“It was nothing,” Cheng Ke replied. “I just bought some and played them all in five minutes. The last one almost set me on fire.”
“Surprising,” Jiang Yuduo said. “Did you light it with a torch?”
“Get out,” Cheng Ke laughed.
“Are you alone?” Jiang Yuduo asked, sounding hesitant.
Cheng Ke hesitated and cleared his throat. “Yes.”
“I thought…” Jiang Yuduo was taken aback. “Aren’t you with your friends?”
Cheng Ke laughed. “I mentioned before, my definition of friends is different from yours. I don’t have any friends who can hang out with me at this time.”
Jiang Yuduo remained silent.
“You…” Cheng Ke initially didn’t want to ask, but he felt it would be too deliberate not to inquire, so he eventually spoke up. “Did you take Meow on a trip?”
“Huh?” Jiang Yuduo chuckled. “Did you see the photo?”
“Yeah, it was quite funny,” Cheng Ke said.
“I didn’t travel,” Jiang Yuduo revealed.
Cheng Ke waited for a while, seeing that he seemed to have finished speaking, so he could only respond, “Oh.”
“I’m here to see my psychiatrist,” Jiang Yuduo disclosed.
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