Hello, Old Times Chapter 28

Chapter 28:That Woman’s Life and Death

Finally, Yu Zhou Zhou closed the tin box in melancholy.

She looked over all her past treasures, including the notes, cards and badges she had accumulated from school. She felt very warm inside, it felt as though her chest was no longer empty. Then, she saw the deflated red balloon.

Yu Zhou Zhou who had now attended many different literary performances had a vague impression of the first title she received as ‘Story King’ but whenever she thought about how she was flattered at the time, her lips couldn’t help but rise up, and continue to rise.

When she recalled the moment Lin Yang handed her the red balloon, her lips rised into the biggest arc before immediately drooping down again, somewhat bitterly.

Yu Zhou Zhou calmed down and quickly put everything back into the tin biscuit box.

In the end, she still wasn’t able to find it. Actually, what she wanted to find was just the same expression that had appeared on Shan Jie Jie and Xu Yan Yan’s faces.

That expression came from the heart and was mysterious and unpredictable. Yu Zhou Zhou tried her best but still couldn’t imitate it.

She opened the door of her small room, planning to go into the living room to get some water. Just as she walked into the living room, she saw Yu Ting Ting anxiously bend down to stuff something into her arms and protect it with her hands.

“You…What are you doing?”

“Finding the scissors.”

“Did you find it?”

“Found it.”

“…It’s so dangerous to put the scissors in your arms…”

“Not for you to care!” Yu Ting Ting bared her teeth. If she was a cat, the fur on her back would have long risen.

Yu Zhou Zhou tilted her head and caught a glimpse of some light blue wrapping paper covered in white stars and dark blue ribbon on the coffee table.

“Are you wrapping something?”

“Not for you to care!”

“Are you able to say something else?”

“Not for you to care!”

Yu Zhou Zhou helplessly shook her head, turned and left the living room. When she returned to her little room, she remembered that she had forgotten to pour herself water.

Never mind, just bear it…

At 5:55am in the morning, Yu Zhou Zhou was dragged out of bed by her mom.

It was the day of the official performance. The “XXth Anniversary and Commendation of the Provincial Communist Youth League Committee” was held at the City Hall Square at 10am. However, they had to gather at school at 6:30am.

Shan Jie Jie and the others were pulled into the brigade headquarters to change into their costumes and get their make up done while the bouquet and drum and horn teams went into the store room to collect their bouquets and instruments. At 7:30am, everyone squeezed into the bus and thre three large buses full of primary students drove to the City Hall Square

Yu Zhou Zhou and Zhan Yan Fei’s situation was a lot better. They were able to wear what they wanted and didn’t have to put on frightening stage make up. Shan Jie Jie and the others were a lot more pitiful – Shan jie Jie continuously refused to look in the mirror because she knew that it didn’t matter if she looked into it or not, the devastating result couldn’t be changed.

Shan Jie Jie’s hair was brushed into two tall braids, each wrapped with a long red ribbon. She wore a bright yellow dress with light green sequins and a pair of bright red shoes paired with white stockings. At that moment in time, she was standing with near the front of the bus with Yu Zhou Zhou. Occasionally, when the bus drove in a dimly lit place, she could vaguely see herself in the window, her bright red blush that looked like a monkey’s bottom and the sticky thing on her eyelashes that she didn’t dare touch.

Most importantly, through the direction of the cheering, she knew that Zhang Shuo Tian was on the same bus as her, and was located near the back door. Shan Jie Jie didn’t dare look in that direction, she turned her head around and had her back towards the back door. However, this position made it difficult for her to grasp the hand holders. She could only wobble around and grab Yu Zhou Zhou’s sleeve every now and then.

Yu Zhou Zhou didn’t know Shan Jie Jie’s complicated train of thoughts. She only thought that Shan Jie Jie was exceptionally talkative today. Although Shan Jie Jie usually had a lot to talk to her about, but today she was very warm to those around her who she was usually disdainful of as well. Shan Jie Jie kept making cold jokes and complained after every few sentences, “How can the Battalion Instructor put make up on people like this, we’re completely ghosts! Ghosts…”

Yu Zhou Zhou was extremely confused, was she nervous because of the performance?

Just like how she was nervous when they first met.

Shan Jie Jie was truly nervous. However, the reason wasn’t what Yu Zhou Zhou had expected.

She kept repeating how ugly the make up was, in fear that someone would gossip to Yu Shuo Tian or comment, “Hey, Shan Jie Jie is so ugly.”

It was that simple.

But it was also that complicated.

The mood of the teenage girl changed with the start and breaks of the bus on the road.

The Battalion Instructor sat at the back of the square’s stage with the little actors, bored. The drum and horn players put their instruments aside before sitting on the floor. Yu Zhou Zhou noticed Xu Yan Yan secretly clipping her hairclip back on the side of her ponytail – “This is a legitimate tortoiseshell hairpin, it’s genuine tortoiseshell, really, it’s very expensive.” – Xu Yan Yan had been repeating these words back and forth for the entire week.

When she raised her head, she saw Zhuang Shuo Tian and Lin Yang walk over. Their snow-white costumes made them look like officers from afar.

As the conductors, Lin Yang and Zhang Shuo Tian would walk up the stage first to direct the drum and horn team in playing the prelude before leaving the stage for the four recitalists. Then, after the recital was complete, they would come back on stage again to conduct.

Hence, they were called over by the battalion instructor to sit together at the back of the stage.

Shan Jie Jie was no longer the little girl from four years ago who was always nervous before the stage. These past few years, like Yu Zhou Zhou, she had also attended quite a number of big and small events. Although she wasn’t a veteran, she was experienced. Originally, she wasn’t nervous but now, it wasn’t the same – what happens if she made a fool of herself, what happens if she made a fool of herself in front of him – her hands were ice-cold but yet, her palms were sweating. She wiped her hands on her dress, but her dress was slippery and had no use, her hands were still sweaty.

More importantly, she was afraid to face him. Looking at someone with such a ghastly face required confidence. When she saw that Xu Yan Yan was also trying to sit with her back to him and had turned from a chatterbox just a moment ago to a lady-like figure, it was the first time that Shan Jie Jie had realised, no matter how detestable she was, the heart of women were all inter-connected.

Shan Jie Jie’s anxiety all fell into Yu Zhou Zhou’s eyes.

She suddenly also felt somewhat worried for her little pal.

Yu Zhou Zhou sighed helplessly. When she turned her head back, the first thing she saw was that Zhan Shuo Tian from the drum and horns team had also been painted a ghost face by the battalion instructor.

Jie Jie, you don’t need to hide anymore, you’re both the same.

As for Lin Yang, he was sitting awkwardly on the seat with his head raised and lips closed tightly. The battalion instructor pinched his chin tightly with her left hand as she traced the outline of his lips with a lipliner.

Yu Zhou Zhou suddenly broke into a laugh.

Lin Yang’s face immediately became paler after being coated with powder. As soon as the battalion instructor let go of him, he immediately lowered his head and said, “I need to go to the toilet” before turning his head and running out.

Even though he knew that he’d be held back by his buddies for show, but to Lin Yang, being laughed at by a group of people was much better than being laughed at by a certain person.

Shan Jie Jie and Xu Yan Yan were very quiet, Zhan Yan Fei and the battalion instructor had gone out so only Yu Zhou Zhou and the other three boys were left to stare at each other.

She suddenly felt very annoyed.

Yu Zhou Zhou didn’t know why but she didn’t like Zhang Shuo Tian. She felt that he was greasy – even though appearance-wise, he did look a bit better than the average guy and wasn’t greasy but it was an inexplicable intuition.  

She turned and asked Shan Jie Jie, “Do you want to go to the bathroom?”

Shan Jie Jie shook her head, so Yu Zhou Zhou stood up and went alone. When she walked to the open-air sink, she suddenly heard chaotic footsteps behind her. It turned out that the stage organizers were adjusting the position of the bouquet team members so everyone had stood up and moved towards Yu Zhou Zhou’s direction. She turned back and continued to wash her hands with the cool water, she just didn’t know what best to do.

Somehow, her thoughts drifted to the kiss scene.

Yu Zhou Zhou suddenly felt that the air around her had become hot and dry. She closed her eyes and told herself, I’ll… I’ll just be shameless just this once.

In her imagination, a face moved closer and closer to her, it felt as if the warm, fragrant breath was on her.

It was Nephrite’s face*.

*[Nephrite is a character from Sailor Moon]

Yu Zhou Zhou never told Yu Ting Ting that the character she liked wasn’t the tuxedo masked man who was arrogant enough to fly to the skies.

The one she liked was Nephrite, one of the Four Kings of Heaven. He was nicknamed by Shan Jie Jie as the seaweed-headed highness of the dark, he was always saying to the Dark Crystal, “There’s nothing the stars don’t know.”

The only time Yu Zhou Zhou cried watching Sailor Moon was when Nephrite died. He was a villain but he fell in love with Usagi’s best friend, Naru Osaka. Yu Zhou Zhou thought that that must be love. Although he never said it, although when his accomplices betrayed him and captured Naru to threaten him but he only said, “That woman’s life and death has nothing to do with me”, but, he still went to save her and lost his life in the process.

When Naru timidly and asked Nephrite who was dying under the tree tearfully, “Does your Dark Kingdom…have any days off? Let’s go eat ice cream together okay?”, Yu Zhou Zhou’s tears flowed along continuously.

Suddenly, she heard a burst of laughter.

Yu Zhou Zhou turned around and saw a boy wearing a red costume from the bouquet team run past her side. As he ran, the wind blew up his costume which made his thin frame under the consume more obvious. As he ran, he kept turning back as if he really wanted to see Yu Zhou Zhou’s reaction. The surrounding boys cheered exaggeratedly while waving their flowers while the girls were chattering and blushing, everyone couldn’t conceal their excitement.

Later, when Yu Zhou Zhou recalled all this, although everyone’s faces were blurry, but the feeling of not knowing what was happening was still quite clear.

Suddenly, the white back of a figure appeared.  

Lin Yang grabbed the little boy’s collar. Being suddenly grabbed, the boy was harshly choked by his collar and bent down to cough, both his tears and snot running. Lin Yang didn’t let go though and everyone watched in surprise as the scene turned silent.

Lin Yang’s voice was lazy but held a degree of coolness, “Are you seeking death?”

The little boy was so frightened he didn’t dare make a sound and could only continue to cough. After all, he was actually only just a little boy.

The crowd who had just reacted rushed over to separate the two. The little boy fled but Lin Yang only smiled and told everyone to follow the teacher’s command and get into place, and be quick about it!

His voice wasn’t loud but it contained a hint of authority. Very quickly, the crowd dispersed.

Lin Yang had actually washed his make up off.

Yu Zhou Zhou looked at him in surprise.

Lin Yang looked away, blushing slightly. In a nonchalant voice, he said, “He’s from our class. I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

Yu Zhou Zhou tilted her head and smiled, “What did he do?”

Lin Yang’s mouth gaped open and he stared directly at her, “What are you joking about!”

“I really don’t know, I only turned around when everyone started laughing and I only saw him running away.”

“But.. he.. he just.. he hit.. he hit your.. once.” Lin Yang’s voice became smaller and smaller.

“What?”

“…Bottom…” His voice was barely audible.

“Oh?” Zhou Zhou rubbed the back of her head, “I didn’t know, I didn’t feel it.”

Lin Yang’s face flushed red and his eyes widened. He once again turned away and strode towards the entrance with big steps.

“Lin Yang!”

“What?”

The teen who turned around had a trace of joy and shyness on his face.

“Thank you.”

Later, Yu Zhou Zhou couldn’t remember Nephrite’s face nor that line, “That woman’s life and death has nothing to do with me” but, the Lin Yang who tried his best to say the word  ‘bottom’ in a courteous way had always stood in a corner of her heart.

It was then that Yu Zhou Zhou realized, actually, there was never an emptiness in her heart so there was no need to fill it either.