Chapter 37: More Wronged Than Dou E

Chapter 37: More Wronged Than Dou E

A blinding white light flashed before his eyes, his head throbbing, ears ringing, body trembling.

Lu Hechi bit his lip tightly, covering his ears with both hands, trying to ignore the voices that suddenly flooded his mind.

"So you're Lu Hechi?"

"...I'm sorry, your parents never told you..."

"This kid's got no manners at all."

"Don't contact your foster parents either. I've already paid them—consider it payment for eighteen years of raising you."

Lu Hechi collapsed to the ground, his head buzzing, Chen Jiadong's hands the only thing holding him up.

Those images flashed through his mind, fragmented and disconnected.

The old courtyard in the countryside, the people sent by the Lu family, his foster parents standing at the door, him getting pulled into the car.

He pressed his face against the car window, looking at the front door. The sun was so bright it bleached out everyone's faces. Little Lu Wentang was chasing the car, crying.

"...No."

Lu Hechi spread his fingers wide, pressing them against the window, as if trying to hold on to everyone, until the scenery receded further and further, and he could no longer see a trace.

"..."

"You alright?" Chen Jiadong bent down to look at him. "Should I call an ambulance?"

Lu Hechi went pale and shook his head.

The throbbing pain at the back of his head was slowly fading. His vision blurred for a few seconds, then snapped back into focus, and he saw Chen Jiadong crouching in front of him, still gripping his arm.

"I'm fine," Lu Hechi said softly. "It's been happening occasionally lately. I just need a minute."

Chen Jiadong didn't let go until Lu Hechi was steady on his feet, then slowly released him.

"Have you seen a doctor about this?"

Lu Hechi shook his head.

A hospital?

He suddenly remembered the contact information Wen Lan had sent him the last time she left the Lu estate.

The name was odd—Williams.

He hadn't planned on going, but now he was starting to have second thoughts.

Especially those fragments of memory that had just flashed through his mind. He didn't know if they were real or all in his head.

They walked along the lake for a while longer in silence. A little further ahead, a few little boys were playing a game where they ran into trees.

A few of the boys hoisted one of them up and "slammed" him into a willow tree by the lake—it looked so dumb.

Chen Jiadong, one hand in his pocket, noticed and said, "Man, isn't this the game we played in middle school? Kids these days still play it."

Lu Hechi looked over too, and after a couple of seconds, had to look away.

When Chen Jiadong had just transferred to Qingcheng, the welcome ritual was to hoist someone up and find a tree to slam them into. If he remembered correctly, it had been his idea.

"Then I remember you showing up late for class in high school. The upperclassman at the door asked your name, and you said 'Lu Hechi, Class Three.'"

Chen Jiadong raised an eyebrow. "Well, you had me watching videos during physics class, and we got caught and got stuck standing outside for the whole afternoon."

"Damn!" Lu Hechi was pissed. He had just been trying to watch a new anime on the website—who knew a pop-up ad would jump out and start playing something X-rated.

He was more wronged than Dou E!

Lu Hechi gritted his teeth. "Then what about you, using my photo to catfish girls online because you were stressed senior year?!"

Chen Jiadong rubbed the back of his neck.

The two of them went back and forth, roasting each other for over half an hour. Finally, they caught each other's eye and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Once Chen Jiadong stopped laughing, his phone rang.

He answered. After a moment, he said "mm," then told the person he'd be right back.

Chen Jiadong hung up and pocketed his phone.

"I'll head back first."

He walked away without looking back, until Lu Hechi couldn't see him anymore.

Lu Hechi walked alone along the lake for a long time. The wind kept blowing, carrying the smell of water and grilled sausages from roadside stalls.

By the time he returned to the hotel, it was completely dark, with only the streetlights casting a dim yellow glow across the water's surface.

"..."