Futile Devices Scans

“The five stories are finished. Aren’t we almost at the end too?” Ke Bu asked this mood-killing question after listening to the story.

“Are you already that desperate to do something indecent that can’t be written down?” Chu Hao Yu asked.

“Planning to kill someone like you really can’t be written down. Otherwise the police might find me.”

“I have a suggestion that would make this last forever. Write one sentence a day. If you only think of one sentence and type one sentence every day, this thing could go on for a very long time,” Gong Zhu offered. Ke Bu mocked him. “You’re so smart. You actually came up with a way to lose every single reader.”

“Maybe lots of people are waiting to see you and Zhi Li get married or something.”

Ke Bu waved a hand. “I don’t want that kind of formality right now. It makes it sound as though marriage is the only beautiful ending every relationship can have. Why do we always have to repeat what everyone else does? Why do we have to imitate other people’s relationships? I’m not anyone else. I don’t like being tied down by those two words, and I’ve never longed for them either.” Ke Bu thought that simply being together with Zhi Li like this was already the best state for them. What exactly could marriage prove? His father and mother had married, yet in the end they had become miserable. Lan Yin and Zhi Zuo Si had divorced, yet they still loved each other deeply. What determined a relationship had never been a ceremony.

“You talk as though someone proposed to you.”

Ke Bu kicked Chu Hao Yu. Chu Hao Yu immediately complained to Ke Qin. “Uncle, Ke Bu kicked me.”

“Stop bothering my dad.”

They continued fooling around and discussing the story. Ke Bu leaned against the seat and stared at the roof of the vehicle, imagining the sky hidden above it. Aliens, huh? When they were children, so many people wrote essays saying they wanted to become astronauts someday. But Ke Bu had always been hopelessly realistic. He knew his life would never accomplish some grand objective like that, so he never gave himself grand ambitions in the first place.

I’m not an idiot. Zhi Li is the real idiot for liking someone like me.

Ke Bu turned to look at Zhi Li sitting beside him. At some point, he had fallen asleep. Idiot. Zhi Li, you’re an idiot, you know that? Ke Bu lightly cursed him in his heart, then hooked his fingers around the corner of Zhi Li’s clothes. He was only holding on to a piece of fabric, yet both his body and heart immediately felt so comfortable.

Returning to school again put Ke Bu in an exceptionally good mood. He opened the car door, climbed out, and stretched.

“Ke Bu, don’t worry about anything else anymore. You’re a student. Focus on studying properly,” Ke Qin instructed him. Ke Bu nodded.

“And reflect on the fact that you lied. That’s not a good habit for a student,” Zhi Li, who had suddenly moved into the front passenger seat, added. Ke Bu glared at him and walked around to the other side of the car. “Are you my dad too?!”

“If you want to call me that from now on, I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do! Why aren’t you getting out?”

“I never said I was going back to school.”

Right. Liu Qing still hadn’t left. After all, she and Zhi Li hadn’t seen each other in such a long time. Ke Bu nodded. He opened his mouth, then suddenly had no idea what he was supposed to say at a time like this. Zhi Li reached out and ruffled Ke Bu’s hair. He was staring at him. What was he going to say? Tell Ke Bu to wait for him? Tell him everything was over and there was nothing left to worry about?

“Ke Bu, you need a haircut.”

“That’s the only thing you could think of saying?!”

“Then what am I supposed to say?”

“Don’t say anything!”

Ke Bu watched the car leave and let out a long breath. The class bell rang. He immediately took another long breath. Was it back? His ordinary life.

Inside the car, Ke Qin held the steering wheel awkwardly. He rarely had opportunities to be alone with Zhi Li. He cleared his throat. “Things were a little unpleasant between us when I got married last time. Uncle may have said some things that were too harsh. Don’t take them to heart. For Ke Bu’s sake, let’s get along properly from now on.”

“Last time?” Zhi Li thought about it, his naturally blank expression appearing again. “I had a pretty good time last time. Ke Bu was very proactive in bed that night.” The instant he finished speaking, Ke Qin nearly drove onto the sidewalk. He pretended to cough and acted as though he hadn’t heard the second sentence. “It’s good that you didn’t take it to heart. So what are you planning to do after graduation?” Was this one of those questions every father-in-law was required to ask his son-in-law?

“After graduation, obviously I’m leaving school.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Ke Qin still wasn’t familiar with Zhi Li’s habit of interpreting things literally.

“Then what did you mean?” Ke Qin watched the road ahead. It was difficult not to trust Zhi Li. From the very first time Ke Qin had met him, Zhi Li had carried an air that made it seem as though there was nothing he couldn’t do. “Ke Bu’s mother and I owe him a great deal. From now on, please look after Ke Bu for us.”

“He isn’t a burden to me.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Ke Qin thought about it. Actually, Zhi Li’s answer was a pretty good one too, so he didn’t bother correcting him. After dropping Zhi Li off at home, Ke Qin drove away. Zhi Li pushed open the front door. The house had already become an empty shell. After divorcing, Lan Yin had moved out and gone to Yinguo Town. Zhi Li lived at school, while Zhi Zuo Si rarely came back either. In the past, he had driven half an hour home from the company because Lan Yin and Zhi Li were there. Now he either went to Yinguo Town or slept at the office.

Zhi Li sank into the sofa, tilted his head back against it, and closed his eyes.

What exactly were those words Ke Bu had guessed at again and again, the words that had persuaded Liu Qing? Ke Bu had imagined so many possibilities. Now he had finally returned to his ordinary life, and Liu Qing had apparently acquiesced. What could Zhi Li possibly have said that carried that much power?

Ke Bu had probably guessed only one thing correctly about those words: his heart wouldn’t have been able to bear them. Everything else, he had guessed wrong. From beginning to end, those words had never been some beautiful love confession.

At that moment, a hand rested lightly on Zhi Li’s shoulder, followed by the smell of alcohol. “What did you tell me at the hospital? You said that as long as I pretended to accept this, you would go abroad with me.” Liu Qing lowered her head. Zhi Li opened his eyes and their gazes met. “So when exactly are you planning to fulfill that promise? Or were you only trying to stop me from tormenting him and buying yourself time?” The corner of Zhi Li’s mouth tilted faintly. “Grandma, you lied to me for so many years. If I lie to you once, no matter how you count it, you didn’t exactly lose out, did you?”