Chapter 8: The “Other Children” Myth

“Are you Hao Ning?” Wu Mei Niang, who was on the screen, spoke toward out of the screen! Specifically, she was talking to me outside the screen.

“Shit!” I almost fell to the ground. Then I looked around and realized that the people beside me were still picking their things. They seem not notice anything abnormal about me. “Who are you?”

Wu Mei Niang, who was on the screen, smiled sweetly at me. “I don’t know who I am yet, but your friend is going to die, while and you guys can’t do anything about it!”

Why do strange things happen every year, especially this month? I swallowed my saliva and said with difficulty, “we are going to visit him and see what we can do …”

“Haha.” Wu Mei Niang laughed sarcastically, “And after that? Do you have a viable plan? Are there targets that can be implemented? Have you done a risk assessment for each essential part? There’s nothing like that at all. You just watch and watch, and time has been wasted by you all. Time is life, and what you all do is to seek wealth and murder!”

Her comment sounded strange to me. The more I heard this, the more it sounded like something our boss would talk to our director. “What are you talking about? Your tone resembles those successful articles?”

“Really? Is that so?” Wu Mei Niang blushed, “when I learn this speaking pattern, well, let’s not talk about it. What I am saying is that it is simply impossible for you to save your friends with these outdated methods. No matter what you see today, just keep remain calm. I will find you later, but not recently, since I’m still not stable …”

Wu Mei Niang made a face at me, and then went back to the plot of the TV show. Li Zhi also appeared smoothly, while they resumed the romance and hatred.

“Hey, hey!” To prevent others from thinking that I was an idiot, I shouted a few times lightly at the screen, but storyline of the TV show was still the same, completely ignoring me.

I composed myself and picked out a few of Zhou Yuan’s favorite snacks. After checking out, I went to find Liu Shuai and rode a taxi to Zhou Yuan’s place.

Zhou Yuan lived in a special area of S city. The special part about it was that normally, a part of a city would belong to this city’s administration, but this area was directly under the administration of the central government. Thus, it was obvious that the planning for this place was different from the styles of other regions.

Zhou Yuan was a humble resident in this region. He lived on the fifth floor in an old residential area with no elevator. When Liu Shuai and I arrived at the entrance, we suddenly heard someone speaking inside. As I was about to knock the door, Liu Shuai stopped me and shew me a sign of keeping silence and listening.

I was wondering how could this little baldy be so gossipy? As we listened carefully, we heard that they were talking something probably related to us.

A woman sounded like Zhou Yuan’s mother said, “son, do not think I am gabby, but after you graduate, you didn’t stay in a large company for even a few years before you come out and join these start-ups one by one. It’s OK for trying that for a few years. But now, look at yourself, you have nothing behind. You’re a top college graduate after all. Look at your cousin. He’s one year older than you, and he didn’t even go to a college. He accidentally injured others in high school, then quitted school to start working. He was so poor back then without any relatives in H city. While now he has contracted a large area to breed crawfish and earns millions. Now look at you. You are living on such a pity salary and have no girlfriend. What will you be in the future?”

Liu Shuai and I looked at each other and smiled bitterly. That was another victim of the “other children” myth. I finally understood why Zhou Yuan would make such an extreme decision. To him, that pressure of reality existed, while relatives’ improper comments on him would make him even more unsatisfied with his current situation.

Then here came Zhou Yuan’s voice, “mom, your son is just at this level. I can’t be a boss and I don’t want to. It’s not like I haven’t tried hard, but that is the situation. What can I do about it? Besides scolding me, is there any other ways you can give me to live a better life than what I have now? ”

“Mom only worries for you because I love you. Look at others …”

“You sure know how to worry about me! Do you think I could be better if the whole family scold me?”

“Well, Mom knows that. Then what should we do? We are so worried about you. Forget it, mom has to go to a night shift. Just eat by yourself. If you’re not feeling well, then take a break tomorrow. Remember to say some soft words to your boss.”

When we heard that, we hastily straightened our clothes and knocked on the door.

Dong, dong, dong.

“Who is it?” Auntie Zhou spoke from inside, and soon the door opened. ”It’s you guys! Come in quickly!”

“Auntie!” I smiled and acted cute. This tactic worked especially well for a middle-aged woman like auntie Zhou. “We heard that Zhou Yuan did not feel well, so we come to see him. We bring some fruits for him. Is that good for him?”

“Of course.” Auntie Zhou smiled sweetly. It was impossible to tell from her expression that she just quarreled with his son. “You are so nice and considerate. Auntie should have cooked for you, but I have to work the night shift!”

Liu Shuai was still laughing foolishly, while I immediately followed up, “It’s fine, auntie. We’ll go out to eat with Zhou Yuan later. Please keep your schedule!”

“That sounds good. Alright, then I am going to work. Whoops, I’m going to be late — Yuan, your colleagues are here to see you! I am leaving first.”

It looked like auntie Zhou was really in a hurry to get to work. She didn’t wait for Zhou Yuan to come out before she left.

When the door was locked, Zhou Yuan walked out of his bedroom. He was in a casual T-shirt and held a copy of Journey to the West in his hands, his eyes showing no spirit. “There you are”.

Liu Shuai and I exchanged a glance. Liu Shuai said, “I heard that you’re not feeling well today, so we came to see you. These are your favorite snacks.”

“Got it.” Zhou Yuan’s reply was unable to tell whether he was happy or angry. He sat on the small stool in the living room, placed the book to one side, and continued changing TV channels with a remote control.

I didn’t know what to say, just brought out a topic. “You also read Journey to the West?”

“Yeah,” Zhou Yuan replied, “I like it since I was young.”

… ….

Liu Shuai and I felt a little awkward. Either he hadn’t changed a lot, or his mother’s words left had a huge impact on him, and he hadn’t adjusted his emotion yet, but he was so cold and detached, really unlike the Zhou Yuan from before.

I don’t think it was a good thing just staying like that. When I was looking for topics to chat, Zhou Yuan turned to the television and asked, “Liu Shuai, are you alright?”

I realized that Zhou Yuan was giving his appreciation to Liu Shuai for saving him that day, so I immediately shot him a glance.

Liu Shuai’s face was completely red. He would never let Zhou Yuan know that he won’t be able to erect for half a year. He glared at me maliciously and said, “I’m fine. Actually I am pretty good.”

I was completely confused by his stare. It’s not me who turned him into that. I just delivered Yan’s words to him, and he’s already venting his anger at me. That was not fair. But then again, weren’t most people acting the same? It’s just like when I was playing DOTA and my computer got stuck, I knew that was obviously a problem with the internet or video card, but I still furiously tapped on the mouse and keyboard. Right now, I was the wrong keyboard.

“Got it!”

No more words.

To be honest, I had rich experience of chatting, but I had never felt as awkward as I did today. For the following few minutes, I could only hear the sound of advertisements on the television. I really couldn’t take it anymore, so I decided to break the ice. “Zhou Yuan, we heard the conversation between you and your mother.”

Liu Shuai looked at me for a moment, as if he was scolding me for saying that. Zhou Yuan’s back was facing us. Although he didn’t move, I could clearly see his hand, which was holding the remote control, trembled. I knew that was the issue he was worried about.

Sure enough, after a while, Zhou Yuan turned around. “Hey, do you guys think that I wasted these past few years?”

I looked at Zhou Yuan. “I don’t think so.”