Shao Wu had never seriously analyzed what he felt for Yang Shuyi. It seemed impossible to explain. Why had he been unable to stop staring at Yang Shuyi’s arms the first time he saw him in the internet café? Why, after they became classmates, did he keep sneaking glances at him? Why this? Why that? There was no reason.
…Of course, Shao Wu was deliberately avoiding thinking too deeply about it. Studying was exhausting enough. Why create more trouble for himself?
He had slept badly the night before and spent the entire morning nodding off. Unfortunately, school administrators happened to be observing classes in their room that day, so no matter how sleepy he became, he had to force himself to stay awake. By lunchtime, Shao Wu was practically dazed. When he reached his front door, he stood there turning his key uselessly for almost half a minute before finally managing to unlock it.
The moment he entered, he saw his mother sitting on the sofa with her arms folded. Her expression was dark.
“Mom?” Shao Wu was hungry and exhausted. His eyes were barely open.
“Shao Wu. Come here.” His mother’s voice was extremely stern. Shao Wu had not heard that tone from her in years.
He changed his shoes and walked over to stand in front of her.
“Where were you last night?”
“I…” Shao Wu suddenly woke up a little. How did Mom find out? She had not even come home last night.
“You’re really something now, aren’t you? Staying out all night! Did you go to an internet café?!” His mother’s voice sharpened. “I came home this morning and ran into Auntie Liu downstairs. She said she fried some stuffed lotus-root sandwiches last night and wanted you to try some, but when she knocked on our door, nobody was home!” Auntie Liu lived downstairs. She was a fashionable older woman who loved making all kinds of snacks and drinks.
“I was at the hospital with my classmate.” Shao Wu had no choice but to tell the truth. “I went to visit his grandmother last night, and it got pretty late. My classmate was there by himself and bored, so… I stayed with him overnight.”
“You spent the entire night at the hospital?!”
“Mm. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my classmate.”
“Seriously?” His mother frowned.
“Seriously.”
“Are you stupid?! You child…” She was so angry that she stood and paced around the room. “You haven’t even fully recovered from the flu, and you went hanging around a hospital? And spent the night there? Were you not sick enough already?!”
Shao Wu froze. Only then did he remember that he had just recovered from influenza. Maybe he really was young and healthy. He had slept through an icy night at the hospital and, apart from being exhausted, did not feel particularly unwell.
“Mom, I’m fine,” he said softly. “I’m really fine. Listen to me. My voice sounds normal, doesn’t it?”
“You’re impossible!” His mother sighed. Then the questions came one after another. “And your classmate just let you stay with him? There aren’t any adults in his family? They let a child stay overnight at the hospital alone?”
“His family situation is kind of complicated…” Thinking about Yang Shuyi’s family made Shao Wu gloomy again.
“How is it complicated?”
“Well… his parents are divorced. His dad just got remarried, and his stepmother brought a child with her… He said his dad stays during the day, and he stays at night.”
“That’s how it is?” His mother sat beside him. She seemed distracted. Then suddenly, her voice became hoarse. “My boy… you see? When parents divorce, it’s the child who suffers. These fathers… not a single one of them has a conscience…”
Shao Wu was startled. Why was his mother crying? He stood there helplessly for a moment. Then suddenly realized… His mother had been divorced too. Her son from her previous marriage, Wang Yujun, had been raised by her ex-husband.
Was she crying because of Wang Yujun?
Wang Yujun… Could she possibly know that Wang Yujun was gay?
But Shao Wu did not dare say a single word about that. He did not even dare ask.
So he could only wrap an arm around his mother guiltily. “I met my classmate’s dad last night. He actually seemed all right… Mom, don’t be sad, okay?”
His mother wiped her eyes and smiled somewhat awkwardly. “Hey, I’m just thinking about nonsense.” Then she looked at him. “You’re not allowed to do something like this again, understand? You’re at such an important stage right now. Forget everything else. Even getting sick can affect your studies.”
“Mm, mm. I know.” Shao Wu nodded obediently. “Mom, I’m hungry.”
“There are some dishes I brought home in the refrigerator. Heat them up.”
“Okay.”
Shao Wu got up and headed toward the kitchen. Only then did he finally relax. Fortunately, he had been obedient since childhood. In seventeen years of life, he had never really gone through a rebellious phase. Because of that, his parents trusted him immensely.
His mother never asked the name of that “classmate.” Maybe she forgot. Maybe she simply did not care. And Shao Wu did not volunteer it.
That name was a secret even he himself thought about constantly without understanding why.