Just in Time Chapter 14
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 14: Mistaken Identity
Yun Fang didn’t take Sun Yuan’s threat to heart and arrived at school early the next day, cheerfully ready to spend his Friday.
However, after the morning reading session, Yi Chenliang’s seat was still empty. He went to Ji Shumo and asked, “Why hasn’t Yi Chenliang come?”
Ji Shumo, who was munching on a bread roll, turned his head in surprise to look at Yi Chenliang’s seat and mumbled unclearly, “I have no idea either.”
Yun Fang was a bit distracted all morning because of this. He planned to go to Xinnan Alley during the noon break, but he was called out by Old Fang during the last self-study session.
“Your mother is waiting for you at the school gate.” Old Fang patted his shoulder, “Go ahead.”
Yun Fang, puzzled, went to the gate and saw Tang Yi waving at him.
Tang Yi was wearing a floral dress today and had curled her hair. Yun Fang could even smell a faint scent of perfume.
He looked at her in confusion, “Are you going on a date?”
Tang Yi blushed at his words and hit him lightly, “What nonsense are you talking about, kid? I’m taking you to see a psychologist.”
Yun Fang’s confusion deepened, and then he saw Tang Yi somewhat awkwardly fiddling with her skirt, “Does it look good?”
“It looks pretty good, suits you.” Yun Fang nodded.
Tang Yi couldn’t help but laugh, “You sure know how to talk. Your father is a tight-lipped gourd.”
“That psychologist…” Yun Fang was a bit uneasy due to Tang Yi’s unusual behavior today, “Is it a man?”
Tang Yi hit his back in exasperation, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “She’s my high school bestie, we haven’t seen each other in a long time!”
Yun Fang immediately relaxed, then got lightly hit by Tang Yi again, “You and your father are just alike, one is a little rogue, the other is an old rogue!”
Yun Fang let her hit him while laughing.
The psychologist’s name was Qi Shuang, who appeared to be about the same age as Tang Yi. They even hugged each other happily when they met.
“You finally returned to Wu City. If you didn’t come back, I thought I would never see you again in my life,” Tang Yi said with a hint of annoyance. “If it weren’t for the alumni group, I wouldn’t have been able to find you.”
Qi Shuang, true to her name, laughed and begged for mercy, “Didn’t I contact you as soon as I came back? Is this your son?”
“Sugar, call her auntie,” Tang Yi said.
Yun Fang: “Hello, Aunt Qi.”
“What auntie, just call godmother,” Qi Shuang praised him, “So handsome!”
Qi Shuang seemed to like him very much, but she was not his doctor. Instead, she arranged for another older doctor to give him psychological counseling.
“I’m too familiar with your mother. It’s not appropriate for me to give you psychological counseling,” Qi Shuang explained to him seriously.
Yun Fang nodded, followed another doctor into the room, and it was already half past one when he came out.
He had a way of dealing with psychologists and was not worried about being found out. Of course, Yun Fang did not think he had any psychological problems.
“The child has no problems. It may just be that the study pressure is a bit high,” the doctor said a few simple words to Tang Yi, “Take him out more often and let him make more friends…”
Tang Yi obviously breathed a sigh of relief and sent Yun Fang back to school while there was still time.
Yun Fang stood at the school gate watching Tang Yi leave, decided to skip the afternoon class to go see Yi Chenliang, but just as he was about to leave, he heard the voice of his former head teacher, Old He. “Yun Fang!”
Yun Fang turned his head stiffly and saw Old He standing at the school gate on duty with his hands on his hips, “Hello, teacher.”
“There are ten minutes left before class starts,” Old He looked at him with full momentum, “If you don’t come in again, I will mark you as late.”
In order to maintain his image as a good student, Yun Fang swallowed his pride and walked into the school gate.
In the end, he couldn’t go to find Yi Chenliang.
Fortunately, the next day was Saturday. Yun Fang got up early to go find someone, but was stopped by Sun Yuan at the bedroom door.
“Let’s go, follow me to Dongyang Street,” Sun Yuan said.
“Dongyang Street?” Yun Fang didn’t wear glasses and couldn’t see Sun Yuan’s expression clearly, but he heard a hint of excitement in his tone.
That’s convenient, it’s on the way.
He didn’t believe that he couldn’t find Yi Chenliang this time.
Sun Yuan led him to a shabby hardware store on Dongyang Street. The white plastic board blocked half of the door. After entering, the messy steel pipes and aluminum alloys were piled together, and there was almost no place to step on.
A young man was sitting at the door, lazily smoking a cigarette with his legs crossed. When he saw them coming, he grinned and said, “Yo, Little Yuan is here?”
Yun Fang looked at the familiar face in front of him and couldn’t help but laugh.
Li Kai.
The gang leader who resells iron sheets and steel pipes. When Yi Chenliang was in high school, he used to “pick up” iron sheets with him to exchange for money. He was a thorn in this area. Wang Youwei was very close to Li Kai. At that time, Wang Youwei dared to steal Yi Chenliang’s money and deduct his share. It’s hard to say that there was no instigation from Li Kai.
It’s just that at that time, Yi Chenliang impulsively killed Wang Youwei in a fit of anger, and didn’t have time to think about the twists and turns. When he came out of the juvenile detention center, these people had long disappeared.
“Brother Li, I brought the person to you,” Sun Yuan greeted him pleasingly, pulling Yun Fang from behind him, “My cousin, the top student of No.1 High School, settling accounts is definitely not a problem.”
Li Kai looked Yun Fang up and down with some disdain, seeming not to think much of him, but in the end, he reluctantly agreed, “Alright then.”
Seeing him finish a cigarette, Sun Yuan took out a pack from his pocket and handed it to Li Kai, “Brother Li, here.”
Sun Yuan skillfully lit it for him, turned his head and gave Yun Fang a look, “Hurry up and greet Brother Li!”
Yun Fang nodded at Li Kai with a smile, “Hello, Brother Li.”
Li Kai seemed pleased as he bit his cigarette, “Follow me, and you won’t be short of benefits.”
“Can I see the account book?” Yun Fang asked.
Li Kai seemed to think he was not a threat, took out an account book from the wooden cashier’s desk, and gestured for him to look, “You first see if you can balance it, if not, forget it, I’ll find someone else.”
Sun Yuan patted his chest to guarantee, “Brother Li, you can trust the person I found!”
Yun Fang thought to himself that it was too early for Sun Yuan to be rest assured.
The table was piled with a bunch of parts, and there were also several boxes of screws. Seeing this, Yun Fang directly sat down on the small stool behind the table, “I need to take a good look.”
“Okay.” Li Kai went to the door to smoke again, and Sun Yuan went up to him and started to chat and laugh.
Yun Fang was looking down at the account book. The amounts recorded on it were messy. Li Kai was a distant relative of the owner of this hardware store. He was hired to watch the store, but he took the opportunity to lead a group of unruly teenagers to resell parts, even stealing iron sheets and steel pipes from construction sites, and he also did a lot of tricks on the purchases.
He was looking down carefully, but he had no intention of really helping him do a fake account.
“Brother Li, I have something to discuss with you.” A somewhat familiar voice sounded at the door.
Yun Fang was sitting behind the table, and people outside could hardly see that there was someone inside, but he could see the person coming through the gap.
Wang Youwei’s yellow hair was very eye-catching, and he looked very upset now.
“What’s the matter?” Li Kai seemed impatient.
“I must kill that little bastard Yi Chenliang!” Wang Youwei gritted his teeth, “He even dared to block me last night! That motherf*****!”
Hearing the three words Yi Chenliang, Yun Fang’s hand holding the account book tightened.
“That kid works pretty neatly, why do you have to stoop to his level?” Li Kai obviously didn’t want to get involved in their affairs, “If you really want to blame someone, blame yourself for being clumsy, you took his money and got caught, how can I help you?”
Wang Youwei obviously didn’t think there was anything wrong with stealing money, and cursed angrily, “Damn, Brother Li, you don’t know, that stupid thing almost killed me last time… Brother Li, I did this for you, you can’t leave me here!”
“Hey, calm down.” Li Kai blew a smoke ring, “It’s not a big deal, find a few people to teach him a lesson tonight, let him be honest, it’s not easy for a kid to live on his own.”
Wang Youwei climbed up the pole, “Brother Li, you are kind-hearted, that white-eyed wolf is ungrateful!”
(t/n: climbed up the pole-a metaphor for catering to the master's will in order to gain reputation and status)
Li Kai laughed, “I’ll handle this, tonight I’ll find someone to notify him to go to the fertilizer factory.”
“Okay.” Wang Youwei nodded, “He also has a friend, seems to be a student from No.1 High School, he threatened me last time, looks like a tough guy, otherwise…”
“Enough is enough.” Li Kai flicked the ash, “It’s enough to beat Yi Chenliang, who has no parents, to vent your anger, don’t cause me trouble.”
“Eh.” Wang Youwei smiled all over his face, “Really troubled Brother Li.”
Li Kai chuckled, “You’ve troubled me a lot. Little Yuan.”
“Brother Li, just say!” Sun Yuan, who was listening on the side, looked at Li Kai with bright eyes, eager to try.
“I’ll take you to gain some experience tonight.”
“Thank you, brother!” Sun Yuan was even more excited when he heard this.
Yun Fang quietly listened to the whole conversation from behind. Wang Youwei only came later and didn’t walk in. He didn’t even realize there was another person inside.
Li Kai obviously didn’t want Wang Youwei to get involved in the account matter, and didn’t even mention it.
It wasn’t until Wang Youwei had finished smoking two cigarettes and left that Yun Fang sat up from behind the table and said to Li Kai politely, “Brother Li, I can’t do this account.”
Before Li Kai could speak, Sun Yuan immediately became anxious, “Yun Fang, stop talking nonsense! You are the top student in the grade, you always score full marks in math, and you can’t do this account?!”
“Being good at math has nothing to do with doing accounts, I really don’t understand.” Yun Fang looked at him blankly, “If it weren’t for your threat, I wouldn’t have come, but you can’t let me mess up Brother Li’s business, right?”
Sun Yuan was choked by his words, his eyes were about to burst into flames, and he pointed at Yun Fang angrily, “Alright, you wait for me!”
Seeing Sun Yuan like this, Li Kai instead played the peacemaker. Of course, he didn’t have any expectations for a high school student in the first place. He patted Sun Yuan’s shoulder with a smile, “Forget it, if the little student doesn’t understand, we can’t force him. Calm down, Brother Li will treat you to lunch at noon.”
Sun Yuan immediately felt more guilty, “How can I let Brother Li spend money, I will treat you to lunch today, to apologize to you.”
After speaking, he glared at Yun Fang fiercely.
Yun Fang calmly returned with a smile.
“The little student can also come along.” Li Kai seemed not to have seen the confrontation between the two, “There’s no overnight hatred between brothers, right?”
The place Li Kai chose was a famous roast duck restaurant on Dongyang Street. The three of them picked a small private room and went in. Sun Yuan also pretended to be generous and ordered a box of beer.
Yun Fang smiled and refused the alcohol that Li Kai passed over, “Brother Li, my mom doesn’t allow me to drink.”
Li Kai was pushed away by Yun Fang several times, and he was a bit unhappy, his face sank.
Seeing this, Sun Yuan laughed, “Brother Li, he’s just like that, don’t mind him, I’ll drink with you!”
Li Kai squinted his eyes and clinked glasses with him.
Halfway through the meal, Yun Fang went out to the bathroom. Because he was in a hurry, he almost bumped into someone as soon as he entered the door. That person even helped him, and then was about to leave.
Yun Fang pulled the person into the bathroom. He looked at the person in front of him wearing a staff uniform, and couldn’t tell what he was feeling, “Yi Chenliang.”
Yi Chenliang was still wearing a mask, and his voice was muffled, “You got the wrong person.”
“I would recognize you even if you turned to ashes.” Yun Fang gritted his teeth.