YA Ch38: Youth

The two of them skated to a stylishly decorated bar.

It was full of young people eating burgers and fries with imported beer, and a long-haired foreigner playing guitar on a small stage.

Taking off his thick coat, Yang Chen revealed a programmer’s favorite plaid shirt, while Lu Yu showed off his sports T-shirt, blending in with the youthful atmosphere.

The beer was served in tall, chilled glasses with stirring sticks bearing the beer’s name. Lu Yu took a sip, finding the temperature and taste perfect, but it was too delicate to be satisfying.

After a couple of sips, a stylish young woman approached, boldly sat down at their table with her beer, and propped her face on her hand, saying to Lu Yu, “Handsome, can I add you as a friend?”

Lu Yu smiled, “I have a partner, sorry.”

The girl blinked, looked at the bald Lao Yang across from him, then back at the handsome Lu Yu, incredulously twitching her mouth, “You two?”

Yang Chen quickly clarified, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m his dad.”

Lu Yu kicked him under the table.

The girl laughed, clinked glasses with Lu Yu, and left, chattering with her friends.

Lao Yang watched the young women and sighed, “Youth is so wonderful. Even now, my mind is still stuck back in my college days. The things that happened later were probably too painful; I can hardly remember them. How did I end up almost thirty?”

The two clinked their glasses and took a big gulp.

Yang Chen sighed and began recounting the time after he graduated, focusing on the small leader who was the source of most of his suffering.

The leader, upon learning about Lao Yang’s poor family background, likely thought he had no backing and needed the job too much to quit, so he bullied him endlessly, giving him all the dirty and tiring tasks. Colleagues would blatantly shift their burdens onto him, and the leader would turn a blind eye, even berating Lao Yang for it.

Yang Chen lifted his glass, drank most of it in one go, slammed it on the table, and sniffed, “I could barely tolerate all that, but when he stole my achievements, I couldn’t stand it. That was my first major accomplishment after starting work, and he took it to claim credit, getting promoted and a raise, while I was only mentioned as part of the team. The most outrageous part was the year-end bonus. I was second to last in the team, with the last being someone who just did odd jobs.”

Lu Yu patted Lao Yang’s back. He had heard these stories from Lao Yang but never in such detail. Hearing it now filled him with righteous indignation, his hand forming a fist as he patted Lao Yang’s back.

“Why should he bully me, huh?” Lao Yang, choked by the pats, continued with more vigor, his eyes red, “I thought that once I succeeded, once our company went public, I’d go back to the old company and make him kneel and beg for forgiveness.”

Lu Yu punched him, “Why wait until we go public? By then, you’ll be a big boss, and dealing with him would lower your status. Now is the perfect time.”

Lao Yang looked up, confused, “Huh?”

Lu Yu shoved Lao Yang’s beer glass into his hand, urging him to finish it, and gulped down his own drink. After paying, he dragged Lao Yang away.

They took a taxi to a high-tech industrial park five kilometers away, finding a woman delivering takeout near a well-lit building. They moved to a surveillance blind spot.

In this area, where internet giants were located, the elevators couldn’t keep up with the number of people. Delivery workers spent over half an hour on each order, leading to the emergence of a secondary delivery service.

These women collected the deliveries, received a commission from the delivery workers, and distributed the food to the offices, working efficiently.

Lu Yu gave the woman two hundred yuan in cash and had Lao Yang pull out a phone number. “Call this person and tell him to come down.”

The woman glanced at the two of them, then took out an old flip phone without changing her expression. “Alright, after this call, we don’t know each other.”

She then dialed the number, “Li Chao? Come downstairs. Who am I? I’m my daughter’s mother. I know everything about you two! If I don’t see you at this corner in ten minutes, I’ll come up to your office.”

After hanging up, she took the money and left.

Lao Yang was stunned, “She can do that?”

Lu Yu, also a bit shocked, gave a thumbs up to her retreating figure.

Soon, a shifty-looking middle-aged man hurried over, peering around the bushes. Seeing no one, he lowered his head to make a call but was suddenly gagged and bagged.

Lu Yu quickly dragged him into the bushes and gave him a beating, then Lao Yang to urinate on his head. Fueled by adrenaline, Lao Yang actually complied. Afterward, Lu Yu shouted, “Eat shit!” and pulled Lao Yang away.

They ran two streets away.

Lao Yang laughed heartily, then started crying, hugging Lu Yu, “Lao Yu, I feel so much better now, not depressed at all, waah…”

They sat on the roadside, drinking convenience store beer and eating two-yuan bags of peanuts, laughing and singing loudly.

Lu Yu, holding an empty can, asked Lao Yang, “Do you remember when I broke up with Ming Yan?”

Lao Yang, already quite drunk, slurred, “Of course, how could I forget? You were so happy that day, went to the Lu family to repay the money and sever ties. But when you came back, you were crazy, dragged me to drink, cried about how ‘everyone abandoned me, nobody wants me,’ and gave all your three million savings to the Lu family. You even called Ming Yan to say you wouldn’t look for him anymore and were breaking up.”

Lu Yu listened, eyes wide in surprise. He had no idea their breakup was related to the Lu family.

“What were you thinking? You saved that two million to go abroad to find Ming Yan, and you gave it to those bastards in the Lu family. You could have at least treated me to spicy hotpot,” Lao Yang muttered, leaning on Lu Yu, “Two million, that could buy so many chicken wings and luncheon meat…”

Lu Yu carried Lao Yang home, not daring to leave him alone, and took him to his and Ming Yan’s place. He quietly snuck in, dropped Lao Yang on his bed, cleaned him up a bit, and covered him with a blanket.

Seeing Lao Yang was fine, Lu Yu took a quick shower and changed clothes. He went to the study to search for past records.

In college, he had a notebook for jotting down good phrases and inspiration, and he occasionally wrote secret diary entries in it.

After rummaging through the large bookshelf full of published books, he found the black-covered notebook in a drawer.

Skipping the earlier pages, he found the last page he remembered and slowly flipped through it, stopping at a page with chaotic writing.

The page looked manic, with letters in various sizes, slanted and deeply indented, some even tearing through the thick paper.

“I am abandoned, always abandoned. Not kidnapped by traffickers, nor given away by acquaintances, but abandoned by my biological mother. Mom abandoned me, the Lu family abandoned me, and Ming Yan abandoned me. Go! All of you, go! Pursue your bright futures! Leave me to drown in darkness!”

The last sentence was overly melodramatic, pulling Lu Yu out of the chaotic, mentally disturbing writing, his mouth twitching.

“What are you doing?” A warm, melodious voice sounded behind him. Sitting on the floor, Lu Yu turned to see Ming Yan, standing at the study door in his pajamas, tall and graceful like a bamboo.

“I’m reading Lu Dayu’s diary,” Lu Yu didn’t move, quietly watching the doorway, that warm, gentle, and vibrant spot.

Ming Yan frowned and walked over, squatting in front of Lu Yu. He glanced at the closed notebook, then at Lu Yu’s calm face, slowly taking the book from his hand. “You brought Lao Yang back?”

“Yeah, he drank too much, so I let him sleep in my room.” Lu Yu didn’t mind the notebook being taken away; he just kept looking at Ming Yan.

“So, you’re saying you don’t have a bed tonight and need to sleep with me?” Ming Yan’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

Lu Yu nodded lightly, not getting up, holding Ming Yan’s hand that had taken the notebook. “About the past, was there a misunderstanding between you and Lu Dayu?”

Seeing how crazy Lu Dayu had gone, who knew what he had said when breaking up with Ming Yan.

Ming Yan looked down, staring at the thumb pressed in Lu Yu’s palm, its joints clearly defined. “There was no misunderstanding.”

“He didn’t make up any lies; he just plainly told me he wouldn’t come looking for me anymore,” Ming Yan sighed, freeing his hand from Lu Yu’s grip and putting the thick notebook back in the cabinet, closing the door. “I understood why he broke up later, though I didn’t at the time.”

Lu Yu took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Lu Dayu is a maniac, a lunatic who does nothing but bad things!”

Ming Yan stood up. “There’s no need to delve into these things. Come on, let’s sleep.”

Lu Yu got up and grabbed Ming Yan. “Did he ever do anything to hurt you, like cheat you out of money or insult your parents?”

Ming Yan shook his head.

Lu Yu, still worried, asked, “Did he date anyone else during the breakup?”

“I don’t know,” Ming Yan thought for a moment, “but I don’t think so.”

“Definitely not.” Lu Yu was firm. As long as Ming Yan had no misunderstandings, he believed that coward Lu Dayu wouldn’t fall for anyone else; he’d rather stay a lifelong bachelor recluse.

Ming Yan glanced at him, then turned and left.

Lu Yu followed him into the bedroom, closing the door and looking around before sidling up behind Ming Yan, who was lighting a scented lamp, and carefully hugged his waist.

When Ming Yan stood up, he fell right into Lu Yu’s arms.

Lu Yu whispered in his ear, “Have we ever slept together?”

Ming Yan raised an eyebrow, pushing the clinger away and crossing his arms. “So, when it’s something bad, it’s Lu Dayu, but when it’s something good, it’s you?”