AMA Chapter25

Yu Chengsong didn’t need to prepare anything for Zhou Zheyu’s birthday, as the two brothers were not into giving gifts.

 

On his birthday, he went out to eat with Zhou Zheyu. On Zhou Zheyu’s birthday, he personally cooked a table full of delicious food, and the best gift would be for him to have fun all night with his classmates.

 

This time was no exception. A group of friends skipped classes early and went straight to the vegetable market to buy a lot of things.

 

Yu Chengsong, the only chef, went his own way and waited at Zhou Zheyu’s house, bringing back a bag of vegetables to cook a dish.

 

These people are as disappointing as ever. They can even make the wrong purchases even when following the menu. They haven’t become rich yet, but they already can’t even tell the difference between grains.

 

“I asked you to buy green peppers.” Yu Chengsong looked at the big bag of hot peppers, then at the men crowded in the room, and said with a sigh, “Who bought them?”

 

“Sun Zhong, didn’t your grandson buy it?”

 

“Bullsh*t! Zheyu bought it! I saw it all!”

 

“Scram, scram, scram, it can’t be me, how could I not know chilli?”

 

“This is a f*cking hot pepper.”

 

“Whoever buys it gets to eat it. Anyone who leaves a bite is a grandson.” Yu Chengsong threw the pepper back and instructed, “Wash it.”

 

“Hurry up and wash it! Don’t delay our chef’s performance!” Zhou Zheyu took advantage of the fact that he was the birthday boy and showed off his power. “Yang’er, you and that guy go and get Chengdi! The class is over. Go to the supermarket and buy him some drinks and snacks as well. He can’t drink with us either.”

 

“Buy another bottle of white vinegar when you come back.” Yu Chengsong shouted.

 

Before he could finish his words, the person had already rushed out the door. Alphas were tall and strong and walked quickly, leaving only a sound: “I know, I know!”

 

“They are all donkeys.” Yu Chengsong lifted the lid of the pot, and the water was boiling.

 

“After drinking, everyone will become an ox, they can even lift the roof of the house.” Zhou Zheyu said, looking around, and when no one was approaching him, he asked in a low voice, “Hey, hey, hey, why didn’t Yin Gu come?”

 

“He has family problems.” Yu Chengsong said, “Besides, he doesn’t know you well either.”

 

“But he’s familiar with you ah.” Zhou Zheyu touched his chin and said, “He didn’t even come when you invited him? Did you two have a fight?”

 

“I didn’t even invite him.” Yu Chengsong said this while cutting carrots. “I just mentioned it.”

 

“What’s the difference?” Zhou Zheyu clicked his tongue.

 

The difference? The previous reasons can make him feel more comfortable.

 

To be honest, he didn’t know why, but when Yin Gu said he couldn’t come because of something, his first reaction was that Yin Gu didn’t have anything and just didn’t want to come.

 

But Yin Gu had no reason to refuse him either, maybe there was really something.

 

No, it has nothing to do with him, whether there is a problem or not. Why should he worry about it? He must have been infected by Lao Li.

 

“So you think I did it?” Yin Gu leaned against the window, holding a cigarette between his fingertips, looking out the window with a frown.

 

At noon, he suddenly sent him a message asking him to call him as soon as he got out of school, saying that he had something to discuss. He even turned down Yu Chengsong’s invitation.

 

And it turned out to be because Yin He was beaten up?

 

A big loss.

 

“Buy a ticket and come back right now.” His father could no longer suppress the anger in his tone. “Yin Gu, I am very disappointed in you! You should work hard to improve yourself instead of dragging your brother down with you when you can’t do something yourself!”

 

“When did I drag him down?” Yin Gu took a puff of cigarettes and felt a dull pain in his lungs, as if they were about to explode.

 

His father’s way of thinking is always on his own high ground. Doing academic research is fine, but he is too arbitary when dealing with family matters. What is fair and what is right is entirely based on his own opinions.

 

“Xiao He was beaten up at school. You had been hanging out with that group of people behind me and your mother’s back, using violence to vent your emotions. And you still don’t admit it!”

 

“Yin Gu, buy a ticket and come back home right now. If you continue like this, you’ll be ruined! Now your mother and I have just taught you a lesson for your sake, and you dare to let those people kill Xiao He. Have you read all those books all these years gone to waste?!”

 

“I didn’t do it.” Yin Gu repeated, lowering his eyelashes. “This matter has nothing to do with me.”

 

“You still want to lie! If Xiao He hadn’t risked being beaten to death by you to tell us, how long would you have continued to degenerate like this? You lied to the teacher, you lied to us, and you pretended to be a good kid. Do you think this is a good thing?! You dare to tell such a big lie now, you will be finished in the future, you will be rotten from the inside! No one can save you either by then!”

 

His father’s breathing became rapid. He had some health problems recently and was not as good as before. Even when he got angry, he seemed to lack energy.

 

But this is not a reason for him to give in. He has no interest in taking responsibility for things he has not done.

 

“Yin He has told us all the troubles you caused outside for so many years without telling me or your mother already. If you hadn’t threatened him, he wouldn’t have kept it from us!” His father said.

 

“What?” Yin Gu frowned. “What trouble?”

 

What did he do, fight? Smoke? Drink?

 

Yin He was talking nonsense again. His parents were like tyrants who believed whatever he said.

 

“Ask yourself! Come back home right now, and your mom will contact the school. You need to see a psychiatrist, right now, immediately!”

 

Yin Gu threw away the cigarette and found that he couldn’t even express the most basic anger. He just asked calmly, “Will a psychologist be helpful? You know best why I became like this.”

 

His father didn’t admit it. He was always right, and he had to be right. “You still don’t think you were wrong? You… are hopeless!”

 

“That’s right.” Yin Gu laughed softly, a little sarcastically. “I’m hopeless, so I won’t go back.”

 

“Yin Gu!”

 

“Look for me again after you have investigated the matter thoroughly. Don’t contact me recently. After all, Yin He still needs your care.” Yin Gu said.

 

“…This is the last chance your mother and I will give you. Think about it carefully!”

 

“Unnecessary.”

 

“Then you don’t have to come back home this year!”

 

It was not until there was a shrill, busy tone on the other end of the phone that Yin Gu suddenly came to his senses. He took a tissue from the bedside and squatted on the ground to pick up the fallen cigarette ashes.

 

The cigarette ashes were scattered on the ground and could not be picked up. He wiped it twice, but it became dirtier and dirtier. He threw down the paper and went to get a mop. He passed by the kitchen, poured a glass of water, took a sip, and started to choke.

 

He coughed so hard that he finally had to cover his mouth and lean against the refrigerator to take a deep breath.

 

His fingertips trembled as he suppressed his emotions, and his fist tightened. With a “snap”, the glass shattered to the ground. Yin Gu looked at his hand and found that there was no blood.

 

He shook off the water droplets on his palms, walked to the living room, and fell back on the sofa.

 

It wasn’t known when it became completely dark outside the window. The lights from thousands of homes were blindingly warm, and the pressure of being unable to breathe but having to pretend nothing was wrong was always with him.

 

He always believed that the most painful thing was not those strange knives and guns, but the knife stabbed from his back by the person who should be closest to him.

 

The knife stabbed at his most vulnerable part without mercy.

 

He shouldn’t have answered the call. He should have agreed to Yu Chengsong’s request to go to Zhou Zheyu’s birthday party. Even answering the call at the birthday party would be better than being alone in the room.

 

Maybe it would be much better if there was someone around him now… if Yu Chengsong could talk to him for a few words.

 

Yin Gu stared at his phone blankly. A few minutes later, he did what he considered to be the most impulsive, unreasonable, yet least regrettable thing in his life.

 

He called Yu Chengsong.

 

“Hello? Yin Gu? Hello?” It was too chaotic to hear clearly from Yu Chengsong’s end. The shouts of so many people overturned the roof. The birthday was like a gang fight. “Stop drinking! Stop drinking! Alcohol poisoning requires you to undergo gastric lavage!”

 

“Poisoning! Yes! We have to… drink poison!”

 

“Brother Song! Let’s go… take one! Come!”

 

“I’m done. Wait a minute, I’ll go out…” After a while, accompanied by the sound of a door closing, the background noise suddenly went silent. “Yin Gu?”

 

“En.” Yin Gu opened his mouth.

 

It’s only eight o’clock. How can a birthday party end at eight o’clock? This call was really, really, really inappropriate.

 

“Are you in a bad mood?” Yu Chengsong suddenly asked.

 

“You are now…” Yin Gu paused and took a breath. “Does that matter still count? You promised me, not against one’s will.”

 

“Count.” Yu Chengsong said.

 

“I want to eat.” Yin Gu whispered, “You cook.”

 

“Right now.”

 

Yin Gu thought that Yu Chengsong would scold him for being crazy and would say that he was a psycho for not eating the birthday cake when there’s a cake, but he would still at least ask him why.

 

But Yu Chengsong just said, “Okay, give me your address, I’ll go there after I buy the groceries.”

 

Yin Gu hung up the phone, sent the address, then raised his arms to cover his eyes, curled up on the sofa, and didn’t want to move at all.

 

The fight on Yu Chengsong’s side had reached a point where it was a fight to the death. Everyone in the group had a bottle of white wine as a base, and there were too many beers to count. They were shouting and yelling with red faces and thick necks, and Zhou Zheyu was stripped down to just a pair of shorts.

 

“F*ck! I lost again! My luck is all gone today!” Zhou Zheyu threw the poker cards and cursed.

 

“Take off!”

 

“Take it off quickly and let us take a look.”

 

“Brother Yu is a man, take it off!”

 

“Okay! I’ll take it off—”

 

“Come here.” Yu Chengsong dragged the person away. The group of people were so drunk that they didn’t even notice that the leader had run away. They laughed loudly, and no one knew what they were laughing about either.

 

“What’s… wrong?” Zhou Zheyu put his arm around his shoulders. “Let’s go again. One of us will go?”

 

“Really have to go.” Yu Chengsong put a jacket on him and said, “You guys have fun.”

 

“…Ah?” Zhou Zheyu squinted his eyes and stared at him for a long time. Then he realized what he meant and hugged him. “Where the hell are you going? Today is my big, big birthday! If you don’t drink, lie down… and don’t leave!”

 

“Do you only have this year left to celebrate your birthday?” Yu Chengsong pushed him away. “I’ll give you a big red envelope tomorrow. I have something to do here and can’t let go. Chengdi will sleep with you at your house today.”

 

Zhou Zheyu said, “Oh” and pointed at him with narrowed eyes, “Yin Gu! It must be… him!”

 

“Yes.” Yu Chengsong did not deny it.

 

“F*ck… it’s true…” Zhou Zheyu’s eyes widened, his hands trembling as he pointed at him. “You two, you, you two are really husband and wife bowing to each other… ah no… the husband sings, and the wife… follows! That’s not right either… respect each other as equals! No…”

 

“You learned this idiom. No wonder little idiot didn’t let you provide him extra classes.” Yu Chengsong was happy and comforted him. “Something happened over there. I noticed that his voice was not right. I’ll go check it out.”

 

“Then what should I do?” Zhou Zheyu frowned and pointed at him. “Am I your best… best brother?”

 

Yu Chengsong patted his shoulder and said, “Yes, you are my good son. Now Father has to go see your mother. The tone of your mother’s voice when he called just now sounded like he was going to die in the next second.”

 

“My, my mother???” Zhou Zheyu was shocked. “Is it developing this fast?”

 

Yu Chengsong looked at him and nodded seriously.

 

“Hurry, hurry up!” Zhou Zheyu pushed him, “When there was no more problem, give… give me a call!”

 

“En, you should keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t get drunk.” Yu Chengsong said.

 

“I got it! Don’t worry!” Zhou Zheyu watched him go with tears in his eyes.

 

Yu Chengsong started running as soon as he went out. There was a small supermarket downstairs in Yin Gu’s building. He didn’t care whether it was cheap or expensive. He rode there and bought a lot of things. When he ran up to the fourth floor with plastic bags in both hands, he even wanted to give himself a little red flower.

 

He really is such a good person!