Chapter 5: Aftermath (Part 2)

Chapter 5: Aftermath (Part 2)

After being discharged from the hospital, Li Su had already missed most of the semester at school.

His mother wanted him to go back to classes, but Li Su lied that he was in pain, pretending to feel sick during meals and even forcing himself to throw up, which eventually angered both his parents.

Though his mother was furious, she couldn't bring herself to lose her temper with her own son. After thinking it over, she invited a few of Li Su's usual playmates over to the house.

Li Su was pestered by his friends, who asked when he'd return to school, envying him for staying home all day, being pampered with good food and drinks by his parents.

"Gu Zi! Gu Zi! I heard you were a hero! I saw your name on the morning news broadcast! That's so cool!"

Li Su was pleasantly surprised that his name had made it onto TV.

Feeling a bit proud, he couldn't help but brag about his thrilling experience.

He talked from two in the afternoon until six in the evening, when everyone had to go home for dinner, and Li Su still felt like he hadn't said enough.

He kept quiet about most details concerning Wu Yi—such as the corpse that the perpetrator had molested being his mother, or the scene of Wu Yi killing with a knife.

Being hailed as a hero by his friends quickly rekindled Li Su's desire to return to school.

But on his first day back, he came home crying.

The skin graft surgery wasn't perfect. Although the skin under his lip was smooth, there was a small patch of uneven color. Li Su had gotten used to it, but he hadn't expected it to be so noticeable to others.

A classmate asked if he had gotten plastic surgery and then laughed at him, calling him a "plastic surgery face."

He wanted to snap back, but his voice was hoarse and unpleasant, freaking everyone out.

Rumors spread out of nowhere among his classmates.

They said he had shared a room with a corpse, that he was friends with a murderer.

After school, he planned to go to the park with his friends.

But the same friends who had treated him like a hero just yesterday now avoided him like the plague, as if even a touch would kill you.

"I heard that dead bodies left for a long time get death spots. Can death spots be contagious? Li Su was in that room with a corpse for so long... look at that uneven patch under his lip—could that be a death spot?"

"So scary, so disgusting! I never want to play with him again!"

"Let's go, let's go! He's coming toward us!"

"Ah! I don't want to catch death spots!"

Before Li Su could even get close, they all scattered in fear.

From then on, Li Su became a celebrity at school, surrounded by attention, yet isolated in loneliness.

For a long time, Li Su was gloomy and depressed. The experience he had once been proud of had changed his life and made him lose many things.

Meanwhile, Li Shuo had gone from a model student to a school bully, often getting into fights.

One time, because of a verbal altercation, Li Shuo threw a punch at someone's face. The other party's parents came to the school and cornered him at the gate.

Li Shuo and Li Su weren't in the same grade; Li Shuo's school ended ten minutes earlier than Li Su's, and Li Su often stayed after class, so they never went home together.

That day, Li Su was held back for another half hour. When he came out of the school gate, the parents picking up their kids had already dispersed, making the image of Li Shuo being surrounded particularly striking.

Li Su could see the malice on the faces of the two adults. Without a second thought, he aimed, lowered his head, and charged straight into them.

The two adults were knocked over, and Li Su saw someone behind them looking a bit uneasy.

It was Li Su's classmate.

Li Su turned to look at Li Shuo.

How did Li Shuo end up in a conflict with his classmate?

After the two adults stood up, feeling embarrassed, they raised their hands to hit Li Su. Just then, Li Su's homeroom teacher happened to come out of the school gate after work.

Out of respect for the teacher, the two adults didn't go through with the hit. But as they left, they left with a parting shot.

"Stay away from those two freaks!"

Li Su couldn't open his mouth wide enough to curse, so he just shot them a dirty look.

The next day, Li Shuo's mother was called to the school.

Li Su waited at home. At eight in the evening, his mother came back with Li Shuo, whose cheeks were red and swollen.

Li Shuo wasn't crying.

In Li Su's memory, Li Shuo never cried for anything except him.

His mother was furious. As she changed her shoes at the entrance, she scolded, "You're nothing but trouble. What good are you to me?"

Li Shuo ignored her, walked over to Li Su, took Li Su's hand, and placed it on his own cheek.

"Brother, Mom hit me so hard—it hurts."

His mother noticed Li Su standing at the door of his room, changed her expression, and softened her voice.

"It's all your brother's fault. Every few days I have to go to school to deal with those unreasonable parents. I'm exhausted. Gu Zi, have you eaten? Dad's busy at the factory; I told him to order takeout for you tonight, but it looks like he forgot. Really, when he gets back—just wait till I yell at him."

Li Su rubbed Li Shuo's face.

"Mom, has Huole eaten?"

His mother walked to the kitchen, tied on an apron, and took out some dried noodles from the cupboard.

"He's been slapped enough. How dare he ask for food? I'm too angry to eat. Tonight, he's not allowed to eat. Every day he's got nothing better to do but cause trouble."

Li Su wanted to say that Huole was actually very well-behaved.

At least before that incident, Huole had always been a model student.

But his mother had never seemed to like Li Shuo, so even the slightest misbehavior from him was unforgivable in her eyes.

Despite saying that Li Shuo wasn't allowed to eat, his mother still made him a bowl of noodles.

But Li Su's bowl had braised beef, while Li Shuo's only had an egg with a broken yolk.

Still, Li Shuo put the egg into Li Su's bowl.

Li Su tried to pick the egg back out. "I already have an egg here, and it's whole."

Li Shuo said, "I don't like eggs, bro. You forgot again."

Li Su thought for a moment. How could Li Shuo not like eggs?

He was the type to add two eggs to his egg pancake.

Maybe he was just sulking at Mom.

Li Su ate the egg himself, but when Mom wasn't looking, he picked two slices of beef and handed them to Li Shuo, then quickly placed his own bowl in the sink.

"I'm full!"

Mom saw that there were still noodles floating in the bowl and scolded him affectionately: "Honestly, you never finish your food."

Li Su quickly ducked back into his own room. Li Shuo watched Li Su's back disappear, silently lowered his head, and stuffed the two slices of beef into his mouth in one go.

.

Li Su was starting to dislike school.

He never liked school to begin with, and now he couldn't find any pleasure in it at all.

Before, at least he got love letters; now, not to mention love letters, he was lucky if the word "murderer" wasn't scrawled on his desk.

The rumors evolved from him being a friend of a murderer to an accomplice, and finally to being the murderer himself.

Some people even threatened him face to face, saying they would call the police to arrest him.

Li Su wished he could just get into a fight.

But he knew that as soon as he threw a punch, it would confirm those rumors about him.

His and Li Shuo's situation at school was very bad; they didn't fit in, were labeled the freak brothers, and everyone avoided them.

In the depths of the night, Li Su would return to that warehouse in his dreams.

Crouching beneath the warehouse window, listening to the desperate curses coming from inside, Li Su hesitated.

What if he hadn't jumped in—would his life have returned to normal?

Just as Li Su was hesitating, a grinding sound came from above him. He looked up.

A madman covered in blood raised a cleaver and swung it down at him.

"Found you!"

Then came a piercing, sharp laugh in his ear.

Li Su woke with a start. Before he could regain his composure, he was startled by Li Shuo sitting at the edge of his bed.

He switched on the bedside lamp, his chest heaving violently.

"Why are you sitting here instead of sleeping! You scared the heck out of me!"

Li Shuo hadn't expected Li Su's reaction to be so strong. He lowered his eyes and apologized.

"I'm sorry, brother. I just couldn't sleep. I want to sleep with you."