Just in Time Chapter 44
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 44 Heavy Snow
“Apologize for what?” Yi Chenliang was puzzled.
“Um, I moved away when the seats were adjusted without waiting for you to come back. I didn’t even say a word to you.” Yun Fang helped him brush off the snow from his hair, “My mind was quite chaotic at that time.”
“Mine was…quite chaotic too.” Yi Chenliang frowned, “After all, I confessed boldly and immediately got rejected.”
Yun Fang: “…”
Yun Fang chose to skip this dangerous topic.
****
Yi Chenliang had cleaned up his house very neatly, but there was too little furniture, making the house look empty.
Yun Fang couldn’t help but think of the absurd incident half a month ago when he saw that sofa, and quickly looked away.
In theory, dumplings should be eaten on the eve of the Lunar New Year, but Yi Chenliang’s kitchen was really lacking in supplies. The snow outside was getting heavier and heavier, and no one wanted to go out to buy groceries.
“Aren’t you going home for dinner tonight?” Yi Chenliang changed his clothes and walked into the kitchen in flip-flops.
“My dad is on a business trip and my mom went to my grandmother’s house to visit the sick, there’s no one at home tonight.” Yun Fang turned his head and saw what he was wearing and frowned, “Aren’t you cold?”
Yi Chenliang was wearing a thin gray sweatshirt on top, loose pajama pants on the bottom, and was barefoot in slippers, as if he was living in spring and summer.
“There’s heating, if I wear too much, I’ll be hot.” Yi Chenliang habitually reached into his pocket for a cigarette, but halfway through, he met Yun Fang’s gaze, took the candied melon from the plastic bag to the cutting board, and smashed it with a fist.
Yi Chenliang picked up a piece and chewed it in his mouth, asking Yun Fang, “Want some?”
“Eat.” Yun Fang was washing vegetables, his hands were all wet, he naturally opened his mouth, indicating him to throw it in.
Yi Chenliang picked a big piece and threw it into his mouth, his fingers were sticky with sesame, so he licked them along the way, which made Yun Fang’s eyelids jump.
“What are you licking? Wash it!” Yun Fang averted his gaze, holding a knife and chopping vegetables on the cutting board. The posture made it seem like he was chopping someone’s fingers.
Yi Chenliang looked at him inexplicably, “Are you going through menopause?”
“…” Yun Fang threw a kitchen knife onto the cutting board, turned his head gloomily to stare at him, “Come, say it again.”
Yi Chenliang picked up the candied melon and ran.
The vegetables in the kitchen were limited. Yun Fang used all his culinary skills to stew a winter melon soup and stir-fried green pepper with eggs. By the time he came out with the dishes, Yi Chenliang had already fallen asleep on the sofa.
Yun Fang, seeing him dressed so thinly, felt cold. He slapped his butt, “Eat before you sleep.”
Yi Chenliang was startled, he jumped straight up from the sofa, his head hit Yun Fang’s chin, and he cried out in pain.
Yun Fang covered his chin, sweating from the pain, “Was that necessary?”
Yi Chenliang held his head and gasped for air. Yun Fang was worried that he had hit the wound on his head again, he parted his hair and took a look, “You’ve got a bump.”
After the pain subsided, Yi Chenliang looked up and came face to face with Yun Fang, Yun Fang’s hand was still on his head.
“It’s okay.” Yi Chenliang brushed off his hand, cleared his throat, “Let’s eat.”
Yun Fang’s cooking skills were average, the food he made was not exactly delicious, but at least it was edible. Yi Chenliang drank half a bowl of winter melon soup, picked up two pieces of egg from the green pepper, the chopsticks picked up the green pepper along with it, the egg was eaten, and the green pepper was left in the bowl.
“I forgot you don’t eat green peppers.” Yun Fang picked up the green pepper and put it in his own bowl, “Why did you buy it?”
“To make stir-fried potato shreds look good.” Yi Chenliang saw him eat the green pepper without changing his face, “Can you eat it?”
“When I’m hungry, I can eat anything.” Yun Fang laughed.
“Juvenile detention center?” Yi Chenliang remembered what he had said before, and frowned, “Is it because of Wang Youwei?”
“It doesn’t have much to do with the juvenile detention center.” Yun Fang paused, “But I did go to the juvenile detention center because I accidentally killed Wang Youwei.”
Yi Chenliang put down his chopsticks, “How many years were you sentenced?”
“Under sixteen years old, and it was an accident, five years.” Yun Fang lowered his head to eat, “Why are you asking about this?”
Yi Chenliang felt a bitterness at the root of his tongue, “If it wasn’t for you, I would be in there now.”
Yun Fang laughed, “That’s why you have me.”
Yi Chenliang couldn’t tell what he was feeling. The chaotic scenes in the alley a few months ago alternated in front of his eyes, finally stopping on the hand that was tightly holding the knife.
He didn’t know whether to be grateful or sad.
The person sitting across from him spoke lightly, but in his world, there was no one who would risk their life to block that knife for him.
He had been so scared, and the person across from him had been just as scared.
“I’m sorry.” Yi Chenliang looked at him, his heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed, both painful and astringent.
“Why are you suddenly apologizing?” Yun Fang looked at him with amusement, “It’s not your fault.”
“If I could go back in time, it would be better.” Yi Chenliang pursed his lips, “I would save you.”
Yun Fang was stunned, his heart felt sour, and it took him a while to laugh, “For me, it’s already in the past.”
This was the first time Yi Chenliang felt that his laughter was dazzling, dazzling enough to make people feel sad for no reason.
The grown-up Yi Chenliang in front of him, who only lived to be thirty-five and then died, didn’t know how much more hardship he had endured, how much more suffering he had suffered, before he came to him.
So Yi Chenliang reached out and ruffled his hair, looking at him seriously and said, “It’s okay, I’ll protect you from now on.”
Yun Fang was stunned by his sudden touch, and then laughed, “This is the first time someone has said they want to protect me, and it’s a kid.”
“It’s not someone, it’s Yi Chenliang.” Yi Chenliang corrected seriously, and then looked at him meaningfully, “And you’re a kid now too.”
Yun Fang: “…Eat your food!”
After dinner, the sky outside had completely darkened, but the snow was getting heavier and heavier.
Yun Fang was in the living room taking a call from Tang Yi, Yi Chenliang was in the kitchen washing dishes, by the time he finished washing and came out, Yun Fang’s call was still not over, so he went to the bedroom.
Yun Fang asked about the situation on Tang Yi’s side, and also explained what he had eaten for dinner that night, and finally listened to Tang Yi’s instructions on what he should do, before finally hanging up the phone.
He walked to the bedroom door and saw that half of Yi Chenliang’s body was buried in the wardrobe, he also leaned in to look, “What are you looking for?”
Yi Chenliang pulled out a set of fleece pajamas from the depths of the wardrobe and handed it to him, “I found some clothes for you to wear.”
Yun Fang, who had no intention of staying overnight: “…Oh.”
They were living across from each other, it wouldn’t take five minutes to walk there.
But now that Yi Chenliang had already put the pajamas in his hand, it wasn’t very appropriate to say he was leaving.
The rented house only had a one and a half meter double bed, the other bedroom was empty, it was obvious that Yi Chenliang didn’t intend to let him sleep on the sofa or on the floor, the two quilts were laid out shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, very intimate.
It was just sharing a bed. Yun Fang thought logically, now Yi Chenliang couldn’t be beastly enough to even make a move on himself, and besides, it wasn’t the first time he had slept with Yi Chenliang on the same bed.
So Yun Fang let his guard down.
Yi Chenliang didn’t have a phone, and there was no TV in the rented house. After dinner, he basically had no entertainment activities. Yun Fang also didn’t like to play with his phone, so the two of them just stood by the window watching the snow.
“How much money is left now?” Yun Fang asked.
“Six hundred.” Yi Chenliang didn’t hide it from him.
Originally, Yi Chenliang had almost saved enough for next semester’s tuition in these few months. He gave Yun Fang a thousand for the living supplies and clothes in between, spent over two thousand on medical expenses, paid a lot for rent, and he hadn’t given Yun Fang the money for the lawsuit… The originally ample money was now tight.
“I actually still have—” Yun Fang was interrupted as soon as he started speaking.
“Use your money for yourself.” Yi Chenliang decisively rejected him, “I can solve it myself.”
“Mm, I know.” Yun Fang smiled, “I accepted the money you gave me.”
Yi Chenliang nodded in satisfaction, “I will go to work tomorrow.”
“What kind of job did you find?” Yun Fang asked.
“The supermarket is short of people to move goods for the New Year.” Yi Chenliang flicked the gauze window, “Go to the restaurant at night, I can earn quite a bit during the New Year.”
“Your injury hasn’t healed properly.” Yun Fang reached out and touched his ribs, “Doing heavy work now can easily leave a root of illness.”
“Hiss——Don’t touch.” Yi Chenliang slapped his hand away, half-jokingly and half-seriously said, “You are still my lovelorn object now.”
“…” Yun Fang coughed, “Actually, I just wanted to say, if you don’t mind, you can come and help me, I will pay you a salary.”
“Hmm?” Yi Chenliang was puzzled.
“I opened a small shop.” Yun Fang said, “Also short of people for the New Year, but the work won’t be tiring, the salary is high, I will take you to see it tomorrow.”
Yi Chenliang looked at him for a while before nodding, “Okay.”
“What kind of expression is that?” Yun Fang asked.
“Just the look at you always studying, where did you find the time to open a shop.” Yi Chenliang said.
“I asked a friend to help manage it.” Yun Fang touched his nose, “I rarely go there.”
The previous Yun Fang had saved quite a bit of money in his card, and Tang Yi and Yun Heyu also gave him a fixed amount of pocket money every month, which added up to a not small sum. He temporarily borrowed this money for a while, and just returned the money to the card this month when he made a profit.
He didn’t plan to touch the money of the original owner and Tang Yi and Yun Heyu, he saved it in the card, and when he found an excuse later, he would return the money to Tang Yi and Yun Heyu.
After all, he was not the real Yun Fang, and he couldn’t use this money with peace of mind.
The money earned in the shop was enough to support him and Yi Chenliang.
When it was time to sleep, Yun Fang suggested looking at the wound on Yi Chenliang’s knee.
Yi Chenliang rolled up his trouser leg, “The scar is almost gone.”
Yun Fang reached out and touched it, frowning, “I left too early that day.”
“It has nothing to do with you, they were determined to get me back, sooner or later they would have the chance.” His knee was a bit itchy from Yun Fang’s touch, Yi Chenliang rolled down his trouser leg, “It’s fine now.”
“After the New Year, you will be sixteen years old, then it will be advantageous to sue.” Yun Fang casually tugged at his pants.
Yi Chenliang nodded, “When you went to the earthen house to save me, I thought I was dreaming, wondering how you could possibly know where I was, but I didn’t expect—”
He looked at Yun Fang in front of him, the more he thought about it, the more incredible it seemed, “I didn’t expect you to be me, a larger version of Yi Chenliang.”
The larger version of Yi Chenliang was amused by his words, mimicking his speech, “Ah, when I couldn’t find the smaller version of Yi Chenliang, the larger version of Yi Chenliang was really anxious.”
Yi Chenliang asked him, “Do you still remember things from when you were a child?”
“I remember most of them.” Yun Fang thought carefully, “I still remember when I was a child, I fought with Wu Erzhu under the banyan tree at the entrance of the village, almost fell down, and got a big cut on my calf.”
Yi Chenliang rolled up his trouser leg again and pointed it out to him, “This is the one, I cried in pain at the time.”
“After going home, I didn’t dare to tell anyone, I hid in the quilt and cried secretly, swearing that I would beat up Wu Erzhu hard in the future.” Yun Fang couldn’t help but laugh, “Crying with a face full of snot bubbles.”
“Ah, yes!” Yi Chenliang also laughed with him, “Really stupid.”
“Do you still remember the small wooden hammer hidden under the grape rack in the backyard when you were nine?”
“Of course I remember, I thought it was very beautiful, and even gave it a name…”
“But then it was stolen by Wu Dazhu.”
“You also think it was stolen by Wu Dazhu?”
“It must have been stolen by him, I beat up Wu Erzhu, he was taking revenge for his younger brother.”
“Hahaha…”
Perhaps because people always tend to remember pleasant things, or perhaps because those dark and unclear memories of childhood filled with violence and fear, because there was someone who could share without reservation, magically became bright and interesting, even giving people the illusion that they were very happy.
It seemed as if it wasn’t just him who had walked through that obscure time alone, but another intimately connected soul had shared his joys and sorrows. All the secrets that could be spoken and unspoken could be said without reservation, without fear of strange looks, and without having to hide his own vileness and disguise—
Countless wounds on the soul, hidden by time and years, were lightly stroked by each other, miraculously healed, no longer needing to worry, tossing and turning over those difficult to heal chronic diseases and so-called unattainable.
Outside the window, the heavy snow spread all over the sky, leaving only the rustling sound of falling snow. There was only one dim light in the room. In the warm atmosphere, two lonely souls broke through the insurmountable time, cautiously and naturally touched each other.
One saw the past, the other saw the future.
****
The night was deep, Yi Chenliang laid on the bed with his legs crossed, excited and was unable to sleep.
“It’s three o’clock, Xiao Yi, we should go to sleep.” Yun Fang yawned, “We can talk about anything else tomorrow.”
Yi Chenliang turned to his side, his eyes sparkling as he looked at him, “I can’t sleep.”
Yun Fang looked at him helplessly, “It’s too late today.”
“But I can’t sleep.” Yi Chenliang moved towards him, “I can chat with you all night.”
“We have things to do tomorrow.” Yun Fang lifted the quilt and wrapped him and his quilt together, “I will coax you to sleep.”
Yi Chenliang crawled out of his own quilt and directly into his, kicked his own troublesome quilt away, and said righteously, “Two quilts are too hot.”
Yun Fang laughed softly, “Mm, go to sleep.”
Yi Chenliang’s half head was tucked in the quilt, and after a while, he raised his head to ask him, “After you came here, has no one called your name?”
Yun Fang closed his eyes and said, “There is already one of you.”
Yi Chenliang occupied half of his pillow, his voice filled with the vitality and joy of a young man, “Yi Chenliang.”
Yun Fang’s closed eyes suddenly opened, looking at the person close at hand.
“Yi Chenliang.” He called out happily again.
“Mm.” Yun Fang closed his eyes and dared not look again, but reached out and held the person in his arms, “I’m here.”