Chapter 8: Sunlight and the Vegetable Market

Hey, I’m talking to you.

By the roadside, Zhang Yanbin shoved Shen Chengzong again.

What’s your brother been doing this winter break? Why isn’t he working at the Auto Repair Shop anymore? We brothers even prepared gifts for him.

Shen Chengzong had just finished his competition class and was preparing to tutor someone, but these guys kept blocking his way, making it impossible for him to get through!

His fists clenched tightly inside his sleeves as he continued looking down, saying: He has another job, he’s not going to the Auto Repair Shop anymore.

What are we supposed to do then? Did we brothers wait for him for nothing? Zhang Yanbin stretched his neck and deliberately shouted back to his friends, The good student’s time is valuable, but ours isn’t worth anything, huh?

Such bullying, the good student looks down on people!

Where’s your brother working? Tell me, I’ll go find him. I won’t make trouble for you.

I don’t know.

You don’t know? Such deep brotherly love.

Shen Chengzong truly didn’t know! He had originally intended to ask, but after discovering Shen Jichuan was gay, his mind became completely chaotic. Then classes started, and after classes he had to tutor others – he was so busy running around that he completely forgot about it.

Your name is Shen Chengzong. I heard about you from my sister. She said you’re stupid and dull, ugly as hell, trying your hardest just to be the clumsy bird that flies first, nowhere near as good as your brother.

What nonsense are you talking! Shen Chengzong suddenly looked up, his voice suppressed.

Oh ho, getting angry. Even though you’re worse than your brother, you’re still a good student, right? We just like bullying good students. Let’s see what’s in your backpack? Seeing his anger, Zhang Yanbin became even more interested, snatching his backpack away. Shen Chengzong reached to grab it back, but was blocked by Zhang Yanbin’s lackeys.

Holding it high while rummaging through it, Zhang Yanbin eventually dumped all the books out.

With a rustling sound, pages and papers scattered across the ground.

A book different from the study materials and exercise books fell out – it looked so old it seemed dug up from the last century, with several words printed on the cover: The Demise of Male Homosexuality.

Shen Chengzong’s face instantly turned pale, words escaping his lips without thought: That’s not my book, it’s my brother’s book.

Zhang Yanbin didn’t think much of it, only assuming the book was for showing off.

He sneered as he opened to the first page, where a sentence was written in sharp, angular handwriting:

[Perhaps in the future, there will be a snowy mountain in my heart too, sacred and pure, where I will offer my worthless devotion and base admiration as sacrifices, all dedicated to him.]

He wasn’t uneducated, just a high school dropout, so he could read the words and mocked: You don’t have to tell me? Anyone can see that, he kicked the scattered exercise books bearing Shen Chengzong’s name, glancing at the writing, Your handwriting is much uglier than this.

Shen Chengzong stopped moving, expressionless, his fists in his sleeves clenching tighter and tighter.

Zhang Yanbin threw the book to the ground and waved his hand. A lackey behind him pulled a mineral water bottle filled with yellow liquid from the black bag he was carrying: If we can’t give it to your brother, giving it to you works too. We’re brothers, right? Since you’re so loyal you won’t tell me where he works, then receiving gifts on his behalf should be fine.

Hey!! Suddenly came a shout from not far ahead.

It was a family of three, and the one rushing quickly toward them was none other than Ji Su.

He shouted angrily, What are you doing! Bullying someone in public?? Do you even care about the police!

Ji Su charged over like a young horse, swiftly pushing Zhang Yanbin and the others aside, shielding Shen Chengzong behind him as he glared fiercely. Get lost!

Behind him were his parents, who had come along for shopping.

Ji Su and Shen Jichuan were close friends, so of course he recognized his younger brother.

Ji Su’s father was the local police officer in this area, and his mother was the academic affairs director of the junior high school at No. 2 Middle School. None of the kids on Wukou Street wanted to cross him.

Zhang Yanbin cursed his luck under his breath, quickly shoved the bottle of yellow liquid back into his lackey’s hands, and without hesitation left the scene under the scolding of Ji Su’s father.

Ji Su helped Shen Chengzong pick up all the books from the ground and pack them away.

That Zhang Yanbin is truly a scoundrel. Are you hurt? Ji Su’s father grasped Shen Chengzong’s shoulder. Come on, where are you headed? I’ll walk you there.

Shen Chengzong seemed not yet recovered from the earlier humiliation. Clutching his backpack, he only murmured his thanks after they had walked some distance.

Thank you, Uncle. I’m going to tutor someone—it helps earn a little money.

Ji Su’s mother remarked, So responsible. Ji Su, you should learn from him.

Ji Su snorted, You know the situation at Brother Chuan’s house. They can’t just rely on him to support the family. He’s taking the college entrance exam in half a year. Chengzong tutoring is helping his brother out.

Besides, Brother Chuan accidentally hit someone a while back. Doesn’t taking care of that person cost money? Chengzong doing this helps share the burden…

—What?

Shen Chengzong looked up sharply. My brother hit someone?!

Ji Su was taken aback. You didn’t know? Your brother didn’t tell you?

Shen Chengzong pressed his lips tightly together.

–

Up in the attic.

After Ji Su’s family led the boy away, Shen Zhi could no longer see them. With the commotion over, a flicker of disappointment rose in his heart.

He had hoped to see Shen Chengzong lose his temper with those outsiders.

He informed the landlord, settled on signing the contract the next afternoon, and then headed to the market to buy groceries.

Back in his youth, Shen Zhi and Zhang Yanbin had been at odds.

The root of their conflict dated back to the summer after Shen Zhi’s first year of high school. At that time, Chengzong was about to start high school too. With compulsory education over, attending local high school required tuition, and the first year’s expenses were especially high.

Supporting an elderly person with Alzheimer’s and two high school boys stretched the family’s finances thin.

Shen Zhi had to find ways to earn money, but at just sixteen, tutoring paid poorly, so he looked for work at factories, internet cafes, or nightclubs.

Many places turned him away as soon as they heard his age.

Luckily, while delivering ice pops to an Auto Repair Shop, he met Boss Zhang, who was hiring, and was kept on as a helper. Unafraid of the sun and willing to work hard, Shen Zhi learned quickly. Boss Zhang found him increasingly reliable and, wanting to help him out, paid him 3,500 a month.

Things were looking up.

Unfortunately, Boss Zhang had a nephew named Zhang Yanbin.

Zhang Yanbin had been expelled from high school—not for grades, but for sticky fingers and a habit of stealing.

After his expulsion, too proud to transfer to another school, and perhaps influenced too deeply by arrogant protagonist novels, he often ranted in those early days:

Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west bank—don’t bully the youth for their poverty! What’s the use of being a college student or getting good grades? When I make it big, I’ll hire these people to work for me. What good are good grades and exams? When I’m rich, they’ll all be licking my shoes.

Later, he was brutally beaten by reality at Boss Zhang’s Auto Repair Shop.

The repair shop was built by the roadside, enclosed only by a circle of shabby sheet metal, with rusted railings and dusty yellow ground, shaded by very few trees around.

Day after day, he listened to the monotonous roar of vehicles speeding past on the highway. Day after day, he crawled under cars to repair them, staring up from the ground at the owners’ various shoes—cheap ones, expensive ones.

But whether cheap or expensive, they all made him kneel for money.

Behind the auto repair shop was the local garbage dump. Zhang Yanbin smelled the stench of his own sweat mixed with the foul odor from the dump, as if he himself had become trash in that landfill.

Perhaps he would be stuck here for life.

Later, he grew to resent school, and by extension, the top students favored by the institution.

Shen Zhi worked part-time here in his youth and naturally became a target.

Out of respect for Boss Zhang, he never bothered with Zhang Yanbin’s provocations, never said a word, and simply ignored the taunts.

Until one day, on his way home from the repair shop, he saw Zhang Yanbin and his lackeys harassing a girl from out of town with vulgar remarks. Disgusted and furious, Shen Zhi could no longer pretend to be deaf or blind. With a cold expression, he stepped in to intervene.

Zhang Yanbin hurled insults.

Shen Zhi ignored him, urging the girl to leave quickly. Humiliated, Zhang Yanbin tried to block her path. In the ensuing scuffle, Zhang Yanbin lost his temper and threw a punch.

Back then, Shen Zhi was in excellent physical condition. When a high school student fights in earnest, their fists are harder than stone. He beat Zhang Yanbin and his gang until they couldn’t get up, then spat a mouthful of blood-streaked saliva, grabbed Zhang Yanbin by the collar, and said:

People like you—with your vile character, filthy and depraved—are like maggots in the gutter. One glance at you is enough to make anyone sick!

His words cut Zhang Yanbin deep. Eyes bloodshot, Zhang Yanbin snarled, People like us? Shen, do you think good grades can change your damned poverty? You might end up worse than ‘people like us’! Rotting in the mud, turning into stinking trash!

The teenager with his sleeves rolled up stood, breathing slightly uneven. He shook his bruised knuckles, picked up his backpack from the ground—he’d been squeezing in study sessions between repairs at the shop.

Slinging the backpack over his shoulder, the youth heading home in the sunset light tilted his head slightly and let out a cold sneer.

Don’t worry. I will leave this place—taking my grandmother and my younger brother with me—to live a good life in the city.

He strode firmly forward under the sunset’s glow, his sharp, cold brows etched with unwavering ambition.

I, Shen Jichuan, will surely have a smooth future and a brilliant path ahead!

The memories gradually faded.

Shen Zhi picked through vegetables at the market.

To be fair, while the market was cheaper now, the freshness of the produce was far worse than in the morning. He bought some fruit too, to replenish vitamins for the kid burning the midnight oil with exam prep.

Not a trace of his former sharpness remained in him now. Shen Zhi carried all his purchases in his left hand, paid, and turned into a mobile phone store.

He bought a new phone released in 2010, along with a new phone case and SIM card, and topped up the credit.

By the time everything was set up, it was almost 8 p.m. when he returned home.

Shen Jichuan had been waiting anxiously. The moment he heard knocking, he rushed to open the door. Seeing Shen Zhi, he breathed a long sigh of relief: Brother Shen, why are you back so late?

He had thought Mr. Shen’s foot was hurting again, or that some old injury was acting up, making it hard for him to walk.

I was held up by something. Are you hungry? I’ll quickly cook some dragon whisker noodles. The weather was bitterly cold. Having been outside for so long, Shen Zhi’s hands were red and stiff from the frost.

Shen Jichuan hurriedly took the groceries from his hands and carried them to the kitchen. Oh, alright!

Come here first. I have something for you.

Huh? Shen Jichuan was curious. What is it?

Shen Zhi took out the prepared new phone. For you to use. When he looked up, he met Shen Jichuan’s stunned expression and couldn’t help but laugh. It’s a secondhand phone, and it has some minor issues. Cost about a hundred, really cheap.

Shen Jichuan’s family only had two old landline phones. He held the so-called flawed secondhand phone as if it were a sacred decree. I can still go to internet cafes to use computers, but this is my first time using a touchscreen phone. When he turned it on, he gasped, I feel like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden!

Shen Zhi was amused by his little exclamation.

But why are you giving it to me? An employee benefit?

You could say that, Shen Zhi replied. Starting today, I’ll increase your assignment load. If there’s anything you don’t understand, send me a message. If I’m awake, I’ll explain it to you. It’ll save us some time the next day.

All the expenses for this phone are covered by my friend’s company. Don’t worry about data or call credits—use it freely. I’ve registered a QQ account for you. We can chat on that. My phone number is saved in there too. Call me if anything comes up.

After fiddling with it for a while, Shen Jichuan quickly got the hang of it. In the contacts, he found Shen Zhi, saved as: [Evil Capitalist].

Shen Jichuan: …

He glanced at Shen Zhi’s calm profile and suddenly chuckled.

Shen Zhi: What is it?

Shen Jichuan suppressed a laugh. Nothing.

He just found Mr. Shen’s occasional teasing rather endearing.

Shen Jichuan accepted the phone and went to cook the dragon whisker noodles. He added a poached egg, some ham, greens, and a few slices of marinated beef. After they finished the simple meal, each went about their own tasks.

Around 10 p.m., Shen Zhi got up to stretch.

He had given Shen Jichuan the phone partly to make it easier to stay in touch, but there was another reason—today, the Auto Repair Shop had given Shen Chengzong trouble. Given Shen Chengzong’s personality, he would definitely tell Shen Jichuan about it.

If that were all, they might not argue, but there was another unstable factor at home: the elderly Mrs. Ke Chaolan.

Whenever Shen Chengzong was involved, the old lady was bound to make a scene.

If the argument got too heated…

Brother Shen, the alarm rang, and Shen Jichuan packed his things. It’s time. I’m heading home.

Shen Zhi hummed in acknowledgment. From the balcony, he looked outside—under the streetlights, the ground was glistening wet. He reminded him, It’s sleeting outside. Take the raincoat by the door when you leave.

OK.

Send me a message when you get home.

OK.

Shen OK, it’s not just about the assignments. If anything else comes up, you can contact me too.

Shen Zhi stood on the balcony looking back, strands of hair falling by his ears, his profile pale and cold as jade. Behind him, the sound of drizzling rain mixed with snow carried a hint of dampness. His words sounded both playful and serious, Just like the mentor accompanying a novel’s protagonist—no matter what happens, if you come to me, I’ll solve it for you.

…Oh, alright, I understand. Shen Jichuan paused for a moment before responding.

He scratched his head, Well then, Brother Shen, see you tomorrow.

Bang.

The door closed.

Shen Zhi returned to the bedroom and, for who-knows-how-many-times, watched Shen Jichuan leave through the window.

Outside, the wind and snow were bleak and bitter.

It’s getting colder and colder, he thought.

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