Proofread by Claire.KK
“Muqiao.”
Yuan Sufei stepped forward and called gently. She saw clearly the gloom in her son’s eyes—he looked lifeless, just like when he was sent home by the police.
Xi Muiqao looked round upon her, his dark eyes looking like backwater with no waves stirring inside, and it seemed that his eyes misted over, which made them look deeper and dimmer. He tried to open his thin pale lips for several times. After quite a while, he finally found his own voice, then he said with frustration, “Mom, I’m fine. I’ll just go back room first.”
At this moment, all words paled. Looking at her son’s flabby shoulders, Yuan Sufei felt so worried. She was afraid that he would lose his vitality again like fourteen years ago.
In the room.
A lonely figure knelt on one knee, took out a square shabby wooden box from the bottom drawer of his desk and opened it carefully. There were a picture and a crystal trophy that was full of trails of glue.
Xi Muqiao gawked at the picture, the cigarette squeezed between his fingers burning, and the gray smoke filling the air.
In the picture, there were a handsome man and a boy with a bright smile, and the man held the boy in his arms. What a lovely scene it was!
After the cigarette burned out, the residual sparks burned his fingers. Then Xi Muqiao loosened his grip, and the picture fell on the floor. He jabbed on the man’s face in the picture with the cigarette in his hand.
Xi Muqiao closed his eyes and then opened slowly. His long, slender, big and white hands picked up the crystal trophy, and his fingertips rubbed the two names engraved on the base—Xi Lucheng and Xi Muqiao.
After a moment, his hands held the both ends of the trophy as hard as he could. The trophy fragmented once again, and the fragments cut his palms, with blood slowly flowing out.
Xi Muqiao still grasped the fragments in his hands, the pain in his eyes making people feel worried about him. He wasn’t afraid of being hurt, because the deepest wound was not on his hands but in his heart.
“I’ll have nothing to do with you in the future.” After saying these words lightly, Xi Muqiao looked like he had lost all his strength in an instant. He sat there motionless as a lifeless puppet.
Fourteen years ago, he torn up all the photos of Xi Lucheng, and broke everything connected with him; nevertheless, at last, he still kept a photo of them two.
And that crystal trophy, after he broke it up for the first time, he stuck the broken pieces together with glue while crying. During the past fourteen years, he placed his last hope of Xi Lucheng on these two things.
Hereafter, they would become meaningless.
Xi Muqiao stood up slowly, with his hands propping on the back of the chair. He let the blood in his palms spurt out as if his heart became empty.
Suddenly, he started to miss the little bastard—he missed the smiling face in his memory, he wanted to hear the loud and liquid voice and to see the black, smart but stubborn eyes.
“Qiao Mu.” He murmured. These two characters kept floating into his mind, again and again.
It seemed that the scene before his eyes was back to fourteen years ago—he stood alone under a cherry tree, crying, and he met the six-year-old Qiao Mu. Then his heart throbbed again thanks to her.
However, the good times didn’t last long, and the little girl disappeared as if she evaporated from the world. He struggled to look for her but didn’t find any traces. His mind, which just started to alter for the better, fell into the dumps once again.
Xi Muqiao’s thin lips wearing a smile, he felt a strong emotion striking his mind—he wanted to see her, he wanted to see her immediately. It was just like the fourteen years ago, everything would be OK as long as she could accompany him.
The University of Jiangcheng, in the class of Mechanics and Structure.
On the rostrum, the beer-bellied old professor kept talking, while under the rostrum, Qiao Mu and Qiu Ning were chattering head to head.
“Did you really sell yourself to the man?”
Qiao Mu nodded, “Yes.”
“Did the man give you five million yuan?”
Qiao Mu was calm, “Yes.”
Qiu Ning’s voice suddenly rose by a few degrees, “Holy crap! What dumb luck you have, little bitch! You’d better find a small puddle as a mirror and look at yourself. Is there any part in your body is worth five million yuan?”
The classmates all turned around and looked at them. Qiu Ning hurried to cover her mouth, lowered her head, glanced, sideways, at Qiao Mu, who was spinning a pen for fun, and then whispered, “You really got a great benefit! The man is not only wealthy and powerful but also very handsome! How charming he is!”
Qiao Mu didn’t respond. She didn’t know whether it was good or not for her.
Qiu Ning’s curious face leaned over to her, “By the way, little bitch, why did he pay you for five million yuan? What is he going to do with you?”
Qiao Mu signed, covering her blushing face with her hands, and prevaricated, “He…He said…as the weather is cold, he needs me to warm bed for him.”
“What?” Qiu Ning was stunned instantly, ‘Is this a special hobby of the rich?’ “Then did you warm or not?”
“Yes, I did! But it should say he warmed me.” Qiao Mu’s little face blushed with excitement, “You know that my home is very cold. But he was like a big stove. So, I felt so warm that night and slept very well.”
“Holy cow! Little bitch, your spring is coming!” Qiao Ning exclaimed.
“To hell with the spring! He is the underworld boss!” Qiao Mu added.
“Damn it! Little bitch, are you stupid or something? No matter what kind of boss he is, you just sleep with him! Sleep with him as hard as you can! Anyway, you have already slept together! It’s a pity if you couldn’t continue to sleep with him, isn’t it?”
Qiao Mu, with a red face, twitched the corners of her mouth.
‘Damn it! You are a simpleton! This is of course easy to say. Sleep with him as hard as I can? I have been a good girl since I was little. I can’t do this kind of thing at all!’
“I suddenly start to envy you.” Qiu Ning covered her face, with her eyes full of envy.
Qiao Mu was speechless, ‘Envy me for that? I feel my whole person don’t belong to myself at all. Should you sympathize with me? Whining…’
“I’m telling you, little bitch, you have to grab this opportunity. If you could take good care of that man, you will have a bright future. You will never be bullied by others again.”
“Damn it! Who dares to bully me?” Qiao Mu asked her.
“You creditors!” Qiu Ning replied seriously—she had seen the creditors forced the little bitch into a dreadful position.
“I have paid off all debt.” Qiao Mu said calmly.
“…”
When these two girls were busy talking, a cold voice rang, “Qing Ning, please come here and draw the forces the beam bear.”
The old professor stood on the lectern, with his eyes, as sharp as a knife, penetrating his thick glasses. How she dared to be distracted on his class? She must be ready to die!
Qiu Ning suddenly stood up and looked at the pattern named beam on the blackboard, ‘Damn it! If you didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know it’s a beam. Then how could I know the forces it bears?’
“Don’t you know how to draw? Well, Qiao Mu, please come up here and draw the forces.”
“Ok!” Hearing her name, Qiao Mu stood up and walked to the lectern insouciantly. After several strokes, “Prof, I finished!”
Qiao Mu put the chalk down, dusted off her hands, and then in the old professor’s and the whole class’s admiring glancs, she walked down from the stage confidently, went back to her seat and sat down.
She raised her eyebrows toward Qiu Ning, who still stood there, with her face full of complacence, and sneered, “Whoops, it’s so easy! It only takes me three seconds to work it out.”
Proofread by Claire.KK
“Muqiao.”
Yuan Sufei stepped forward and called gently. She saw clearly the gloom in her son’s eyes—he looked lifeless, just like when he was sent home by the police.
Xi Muiqao looked round upon her, his dark eyes looking like backwater with no waves stirring inside, and it seemed that his eyes misted over, which made them look deeper and dimmer. He tried to open his thin pale lips for several times. After quite a while, he finally found his own voice, then he said with frustration, “Mom, I’m fine. I’ll just go back room first.”
At this moment, all words paled. Looking at her son’s flabby shoulders, Yuan Sufei felt so worried. She was afraid that he would lose his vitality again like fourteen years ago.
In the room.
A lonely figure knelt on one knee, took out a square shabby wooden box from the bottom drawer of his desk and opened it carefully. There were a picture and a crystal trophy that was full of trails of glue.
Xi Muqiao gawked at the picture, the cigarette squeezed between his fingers burning, and the gray smoke filling the air.
In the picture, there were a handsome man and a boy with a bright smile, and the man held the boy in his arms. What a lovely scene it was!
After the cigarette burned out, the residual sparks burned his fingers. Then Xi Muqiao loosened his grip, and the picture fell on the floor. He jabbed on the man’s face in the picture with the cigarette in his hand.
Xi Muqiao closed his eyes and then opened slowly. His long, slender, big and white hands picked up the crystal trophy, and his fingertips rubbed the two names engraved on the base—Xi Lucheng and Xi Muqiao.
After a moment, his hands held the both ends of the trophy as hard as he could. The trophy fragmented once again, and the fragments cut his palms, with blood slowly flowing out.
Xi Muqiao still grasped the fragments in his hands, the pain in his eyes making people feel worried about him. He wasn’t afraid of being hurt, because the deepest wound was not on his hands but in his heart.
“I’ll have nothing to do with you in the future.” After saying these words lightly, Xi Muqiao looked like he had lost all his strength in an instant. He sat there motionless as a lifeless puppet.
Fourteen years ago, he torn up all the photos of Xi Lucheng, and broke everything connected with him; nevertheless, at last, he still kept a photo of them two.
And that crystal trophy, after he broke it up for the first time, he stuck the broken pieces together with glue while crying. During the past fourteen years, he placed his last hope of Xi Lucheng on these two things.
Hereafter, they would become meaningless.
Xi Muqiao stood up slowly, with his hands propping on the back of the chair. He let the blood in his palms spurt out as if his heart became empty.
Suddenly, he started to miss the little bastard—he missed the smiling face in his memory, he wanted to hear the loud and liquid voice and to see the black, smart but stubborn eyes.
“Qiao Mu.” He murmured. These two characters kept floating into his mind, again and again.
It seemed that the scene before his eyes was back to fourteen years ago—he stood alone under a cherry tree, crying, and he met the six-year-old Qiao Mu. Then his heart throbbed again thanks to her.
However, the good times didn’t last long, and the little girl disappeared as if she evaporated from the world. He struggled to look for her but didn’t find any traces. His mind, which just started to alter for the better, fell into the dumps once again.
Xi Muqiao’s thin lips wearing a smile, he felt a strong emotion striking his mind—he wanted to see her, he wanted to see her immediately. It was just like the fourteen years ago, everything would be OK as long as she could accompany him.
The University of Jiangcheng, in the class of Mechanics and Structure.
On the rostrum, the beer-bellied old professor kept talking, while under the rostrum, Qiao Mu and Qiu Ning were chattering head to head.
“Did you really sell yourself to the man?”
Qiao Mu nodded, “Yes.”
“Did the man give you five million yuan?”
Qiao Mu was calm, “Yes.”
Qiu Ning’s voice suddenly rose by a few degrees, “Holy crap! What dumb luck you have, little bitch! You’d better find a small puddle as a mirror and look at yourself. Is there any part in your body is worth five million yuan?”
The classmates all turned around and looked at them. Qiu Ning hurried to cover her mouth, lowered her head, glanced, sideways, at Qiao Mu, who was spinning a pen for fun, and then whispered, “You really got a great benefit! The man is not only wealthy and powerful but also very handsome! How charming he is!”
Qiao Mu didn’t respond. She didn’t know whether it was good or not for her.
Qiu Ning’s curious face leaned over to her, “By the way, little bitch, why did he pay you for five million yuan? What is he going to do with you?”
Qiao Mu signed, covering her blushing face with her hands, and prevaricated, “He…He said…as the weather is cold, he needs me to warm bed for him.”
“What?” Qiu Ning was stunned instantly, ‘Is this a special hobby of the rich?’ “Then did you warm or not?”
“Yes, I did! But it should say he warmed me.” Qiao Mu’s little face blushed with excitement, “You know that my home is very cold. But he was like a big stove. So, I felt so warm that night and slept very well.”
“Holy cow! Little bitch, your spring is coming!” Qiao Ning exclaimed.
“To hell with the spring! He is the underworld boss!” Qiao Mu added.
“Damn it! Little bitch, are you stupid or something? No matter what kind of boss he is, you just sleep with him! Sleep with him as hard as you can! Anyway, you have already slept together! It’s a pity if you couldn’t continue to sleep with him, isn’t it?”
Qiao Mu, with a red face, twitched the corners of her mouth.
‘Damn it! You are a simpleton! This is of course easy to say. Sleep with him as hard as I can? I have been a good girl since I was little. I can’t do this kind of thing at all!’
“I suddenly start to envy you.” Qiu Ning covered her face, with her eyes full of envy.
Qiao Mu was speechless, ‘Envy me for that? I feel my whole person don’t belong to myself at all. Should you sympathize with me? Whining…’
“I’m telling you, little bitch, you have to grab this opportunity. If you could take good care of that man, you will have a bright future. You will never be bullied by others again.”
“Damn it! Who dares to bully me?” Qiao Mu asked her.
“You creditors!” Qiu Ning replied seriously—she had seen the creditors forced the little bitch into a dreadful position.
“I have paid off all debt.” Qiao Mu said calmly.
“…”
When these two girls were busy talking, a cold voice rang, “Qing Ning, please come here and draw the forces the beam bear.”
The old professor stood on the lectern, with his eyes, as sharp as a knife, penetrating his thick glasses. How she dared to be distracted on his class? She must be ready to die!
Qiu Ning suddenly stood up and looked at the pattern named beam on the blackboard, ‘Damn it! If you didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know it’s a beam. Then how could I know the forces it bears?’
“Don’t you know how to draw? Well, Qiao Mu, please come up here and draw the forces.”
“Ok!” Hearing her name, Qiao Mu stood up and walked to the lectern insouciantly. After several strokes, “Prof, I finished!”
Qiao Mu put the chalk down, dusted off her hands, and then in the old professor’s and the whole class’s admiring glancs, she walked down from the stage confidently, went back to her seat and sat down.
She raised her eyebrows toward Qiu Ning, who still stood there, with her face full of complacence, and sneered, “Whoops, it’s so easy! It only takes me three seconds to work it out.”
