Chapter 7.2

“Then why didn’t you answer my call?”

“Call? I didn’t hear a call?”

Kong Kong suddenly shouted, “Ah? I forgot to tell you that the residential phone broke a few days ago!”

“Then I also called your cell phone, but you deliberately turned it off…”

“No, I never turned it off…” Cang Qiong immediately got up and turned over his bag… Cell phone, cell phone… Huh? Where was his phone? “Kong Kong, have you seen my cell phone?”

“I remember, I haven’t seen your phone since you came back.”

“Did I lose it?”

“That’s a possibility. Your phone might have been stolen on the street…” Kong Kong provided another alternative. Yesterday, Cang Qiong was walking back in a state of despair. He wouldn’t feel it if someone was secretly opening his bag on the street!

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Tl eked’v zspl kv lyazkla, yde eked’v zspl kv zyvla. Jwv zspv kv yv vbkp nlavykd vkxl. Mbl tseqyvbla bye vs yexkv vbyv bl oyp wdzwnju, yde czyxle vbl vbklq qsa pvlyzkdt.

“R’x psaau, tseqyvbla… R xyel usw osaau…”

“R oypd’v yczl vs pzllr olzz!” Tkp tseqyvbla vssj swv yd yxwzlv qasx bkp rsnjlv yde bydele kv vs Isdt Isdt, “Isdt Isdt, olya vbkp!”

“Ebyv kp vbkp?” Uydt Cksdt yde Isdt Isdt czwavle swv yv vbl pyxl vkxl.

“Gzvbswtb R nyd’v vwad Isdt Isdt kdvs y bwxyd, R byhl vakle xu clpv vs nalyvl vbkp, eyu yde dktbv! Gqvla olyakdt kv,&dcpr; Isdt Isdt okzz byhl vbl vlxrlayvwal sq y bwxyd clkdt! Zsw okzz qllz bkp oyaxvb obldlhla usw bwt bkx!”

Gp pssd yp bl blyae vbl osae “bwt” yde pyo vbl tseqyvbla xkpnbklhswpzu pvyakdt yv bkp dlnj, Uydt Cksdt’p qynl kxxlekyvlzu vwadle ale ytykd. Gp qsa Isdt Isdt, obld bl blyae vbyv kv bye pwnb yd lqqlnv, bl kxxlekyvlzu rwv vbl yxwzlv sd bkp dlnj. Ekvb y pxkzl, bl pyke vs Uydt Cksdt, “Rq vbl olyvbla vwadp nsze kd vbl qwvwal, R nyd blzr usw oyax vbl cle!”

Mbl tseqyvbla zssjle yv vblpl vos byrru nbkzeald yde pxkzle pvwrkezu…

***

After the Golden Week holiday ended, Cang Qiong started to work and go to school again.

One night. Just a few days after.

“Qiong Qiong, where are you going?”

“I’m going to work.”

“Liar!” Kong Kong looked at Cang Qiong suspiciously. He grabbed his bag, and shook out the contents that were inside: screwdrivers, flashlights, blades, gloves… “What are you doing?”

“You flipped my bag…”

“Organizing your bags is my daily task… Tell me. What were you about to do?”

“Nothing…” Cang Qiong had already turned obedient and docile toward Kong Kong. He couldn’t bear to lie to Kong Kong, so his love affected his acting skills.

“Then I’ll follow you all night!” Vice versa, Kong Kong was getting more and more “fierce”.

The paper cranes sent out by Cang Qiong told him that they only found one person—Song Kufeng; the other two seemed to have disappeared from the world and couldn’t be located. No matter how hard the paper cranes looked for them. So, tonight, he decided to go to Kong Kong’s former high school to check those people’s high school profiles.

“Okay, I’ll be honest with you. I want to go to your high school to find some data.”

“What data will you be looking for?”

“Any information or records I can find about those three bastards!”

Kong Kong became unhappy: “Didn’t I say that I don’t care anymore? Why do you still want to look for them?” – Actually, it wasn’t that Kong Kong didn’t care anymore, but he was afraid that Cang Qiong would do something impulsive and do something without forethought. The most important thing was that he didn’t want Cang Qiong to get hurt.

“You don’t care, but I care. I’m  petty. When other people punch me, I want to pay them ten times back. You don’t know how badly I was beaten by them that night! I am not getting revenge because of you. I’m retaliating because of me!”

After listening to what Cang Qiong said, Kong Kong hit him with one punch and stared at him. “I just punched you.”

Cang Qiong rubbed his chest and said, “Didn’t I say ‘other people’…”

“Are you saying that I’m not a human?” Kong Kong knew it was Cang Qiong’s classic trick!

“No, Kong Kong isn’t  ‘other people ’ because you are ‘my people’…” The sweet words came out of his mouth again. Cang Qiong has become more and more silver tongued…

“I want to come with you!” It seemed that Kong Kong had made up his mind. Cang Qiong had no choice. He hugged Kong Kong and took Kong Kong with him out of the door…

In the dark night, Cang Qiong and Kong Kong arrived outside Huiming High School’s walls. He looked left and right carefully to make sure there was no one around.

Cang Qiong nimbly climbed the wall without any difficulties.

As soon as he jumped off the wall, Kong Kong — who walked through the wall — just stood beside him…

“Woah! You scared me to death! Please, make a little noise, okay?”

“Okay.”

Relying on his memory, Kong Kong took Cang Qiong to the archives. It was only then that Cang Qiong realized that bringing Kong Kong with him provided a great benefit. He didn’t even need to pick the door lock. Kong Kong could simply walk through the door and open it for him.

Cang Qiong turned on his flashlight and started rummaging…

“The 90th class… I found it!” Cang Qiong carried out a thick file folder and opened it casually. It was Kong Kong’s page! “See? I’m destined to be with you!”

“You bet!”

On the slightly yellowish paper, a one-inch photo of Kong Kong was on the page. It displayed a fresh and lovely smile, showing a row of white teeth and two sweet dimples. Cang Qiong peeled it off and stuffed it into his wallet—Hey! It was a rare chance to have his beautiful babe’s photo…

As Cang Qiong took a closer look, he saw a certain notable line on the description column: Died on April 23, 1990. He frowned…

And then Cang Qiong started to look for Song Kufeng from the very beginning of the yearbook. It was recorded that after graduating, Song Kufeng entered an academic university—’How could such a beast be able to enter an academic university?!’

“Kong Kong, I bet something is wrong with this guy!”

“What do you mean?” Kong Kong looked at Cang Qiong in confusion.

“Hold on… Let me confirm it.” Cang Qiong began flipping through the yearbook again… Finally, he found Zhang Yong’s file! He pointed to the description column and said to Kong Kong, “Look, he died on May 10, 1990.”

“How could this be?” It turned out that this person has been dead for so long?

“Hmph! There should be more…” Cang Qiong turned to Yue Wenhui’s page, and the description written was: Died on June 3, 1990.

“How could it be…” Kong Kong couldn’t believe it. Was there a divine condemnation?

“I think… We should ask the only one who is still alive… But the only one left alive may not be willing to tell us, so we should ask the dead one… Kong Kong, where was your teacher’s office before? Lead me there.”

Kong Kong took Cang Qiong to the third-grade teacher’s office. Cang Qiong brought the memory of the place back to May 11, 1990. The day after Zhang Yong’s death. The teachers were all talking about it. Although he couldn’t hear any sound, Cang Qiong could still distinguish the shape of their mouths and found that Zhang Yong was drunk when he fell and drowned in a lake in a nearby park.

Then there was Yue Wenhui, who died of gas poisoning. But his roommate, Song Kufeng, was able to escape his untimely death.

Kong Kong followed Cang Qiong to the park, completely bewildered.

The park had been closed, with no other people in it. The road in the park was still clearly visible under the lights from the nearby houses. Speaking of which, this was the first time they went to a park together. The two walked to the lake hand in hand. Cang Qiong gazed at the dark lake and said, “The yin in this lake is very heavy…”

“I feel it too…”

Cang Qiong chanted the incantation silently, and then the calm surface of the lake began to move as if something was about to rush out! Kong Kong shrank behind Cang Qiong in fear—in fact, ghosts were also afraid of ghosts…

The ripples on the lake were getting more and more powerful; the water was churning, and several heads in black slowly emerged! When the lake had finally calmed down, Cang Qiong looked at the drowning ghost in front of him and asked, “I’m looking for Zhang Yong, is he still there?”

After hearing that he was looking for Zhang Yong, several drowning ghosts slowly sank down… Only one remained and slowly approached the lakeshore. After his body was half above the water, he stopped moving forward. The drowning ghost stayed at the bottom of the lake all the time; his body was covered with green algae and slippery cotton wool. Cang Qiong and Kong Kong couldn’t see his appearance clearly. Sticky and wet. At first glance, he looked like a carrion.

“Who are you? How do you know me?”

“I’m the one who was beaten up by you in a warehouse 12 years ago, don’t you remember?”

Zhang Yong looked at Cang Qiong for a while and then shook his head, saying he didn’t remember. It seemed that this person either has a pig’s brain, or he had beaten too many people. However, this wasn’t important, Cang Qiong asked him directly: “How did you die?”

As soon as he asked the cause of his death, the drowning ghost began to wail angrily: “That bastard! It’s that bastard!”

“Song Kufeng, right?”

“Yes, it was him! He got me drunk that night and pushed me off the bridge!”

“Okay, I got it. Thanks… I’ll go find him. Go back now!”

“You must take revenge for me!” The thick voice was still roaring.

Although Cang Qiong replied: “I will. You can continue existing peacefully as a drowning ghost!” But what he actually thought was: ‘Who wants to take revenge for you? You’re lucky I’m kind enough not to beat you into pieces.’ He saw Zhang Yong sinking slowly into the lake and said to Kong Kong who had stood behind him. “I told you that classmate with the surname Song isn’t someone good.”

“Um……”

“Do you know where he lived when he was a senior in high school?”

“Yes, I heard he rented a house with a roommate, but I didn’t know the roommate was Yue Minhui.”

Cang Qiong touched Kong Kong’s face, “Are you tired? If you’re tired, let’s go another day.”

Kong Kong shook his head and said, “No need. That place is close to here.”

Standing under the building, Cang Qiong closed his eyes and tried to sense him for a while, but found nothing. “It seems that he is no longer living here. Let’s go back!”

Cang Qiong didn’t dare place his arm around Kong Kong’s shoulders – like some arrogant thug – while they were on the street. So they held hands instead.

“Why can he run around?” Kong Kong felt awfully wronged.

“He didn’t kill himself, right? Have you forgotten?”

“Then where did he go?”

“One possibility, he may have wandered around. There are many stunning scenic views and attractions in the world. Wouldn’t it be a waste if he doesn’t visit them? Therefore, generally speaking, the yin in scenic spots can be very heavy; Another possibility is that his yang life might have expired and he has been reincarnated; Third, his family did a ritual for him after his death and let him reincarnate early—this kind of thing is called pulling strings! His reincarnation will cause a pregnant mother to give birth to twins!”

“Ah?!” Kong Kong felt astounded.

“Moreover, the Taoists and monks who performed the ritual for him must have formidable capabilities to execute it! Definitely not the kind of fake Taoist and monks who deceive people! They also have to give the ghost messengers plenty of money!”

“Isn’t that the same as bribery?”

“They are the same! Money talks! After the ghost messengers receive the money, they will secretly take him to find a mother and reserve a seat for the twins!”

“Then can I also go to reincarnation?”

“You don’t want me anymore?”

“No, no! Just asking!! Uh… One more question! After they have been murdered, why didn’t they become fierce ghosts?”

“First, he didn’t wear red clothes; second, that man surnamed Zhang probably didn’t even know that he was murdered! Otherwise, I don’t think he would be that composed…”

“How do you know he didn’t?”—Alas! Kong Kong could ask so many questions.

“Because that Song Kufeng is still alive and lives well.”

“Have you seen him?”

“No, I just let my scouts check on him.”

“Qiong Qiong…”

“What?” Cang Qiong knew that Kong Kong wanted him to stop.

“Don’t look for him…”

“I know, I know.” Cang Qiong interrupted him, “I won’t go and look for him! For my own safety. If I am hurt, you will suffer too, right?”

Kong Kong replied “um” with satisfaction and thought, ‘Finally, this kid – Qiong Qiong – has grown into someone more mature and sensible!’

***

However, some things were just destined to happen. When you wanted to look for it, you couldn’t. No matter how hard you tried; when you didn’t want to encounter it, it happened to meet you.

Just a few days later, during a crisp autumn weekend, Kong Kong and Cang Qiong went to the zoo. Unexpectedly, Cang Qiong bumped into Song Kufeng, who was already a teacher. What a terrifying sight!

After more than 10 years, he has added a bit of maturity and stability. He had changed his glasses. And for some reason, he did look like a well-respected and versed teacher. A group of elementary school students around him was shouting: “Mr. Song! Teacher Song!”

What irony! A murderer has become a teacher to nurture the next generation! If it wasn’t Kong Kong who was pulling him, Cang Qiong would have rushed up to beat Song Kufeng the second that he saw him!

“Mr. Song, an ant is on your body!” a little girl called out. Then many students shouted: “Squeeze it! Squeeze it! Ants will bite!”

Song Kufeng saw the ant, grabbed it gently, and put it back on the green grass. “Every small animal is an independent living being. Life is equal. We cannot arbitrarily deprive other’s lives…”

‘What he said was so high-sounding. What a gardener who cultivates the flowers of the future!’ Cang Qiong couldn’t bear it any longer. While Kong Kong wasn’t paying attention, he rushed up a few steps and punched Song Kufeng’s glasses off. The surrounding children screamed in panic…

“Who are you?” Song Kufeng, whose glasses were knocked off, couldn’t see who was coming, so he moved all his students behind him.

Cang Qiong picked up the glasses and threw them at him, “Look at me clearly! So you can’t say that I hit a good person by mistake.”

Song Kufeng didn’t panic. He put on his glasses and looked at Cang Qiong calmly. Suddenly, he showed an expression of disbelief as he stared at Cang Qiong in astonishment…

“Looks like you still remember my face that made you jealous to the point of madness… A beast like you has become a teacher? Also, lecturing your students that life is equal? Aren’t you ashamed to say that?!”

Song Kufeng’s face suddenly turned white. He lowered his head, like a death row prisoner waiting to be sentenced. Cang Qiong grabbed his collar and threw another punch…

“Don’t hit our teacher!”

“Bad! Bad person!”

The innocent students wanted to protect their teacher. They picked up the rocks on the ground and threw them at Cang Qiong. The girls were all scared that they were reduced to tears by this big brother who suddenly appeared and beat their teacher.

Kong Kong ran up and grabbed Cang Qiong, “Enough, this is a public park! Qiong Qiong, don’t beat him anymore!”

“Kong Kong, get out of the way!” Cang Qiong shook Kong Kong away. When Song Kufeng heard “Kong Kong” he raised his head. “Kong Kong? Did you say ‘Kong Kong’ just now? Was he? Is he here?”

“You bastard, are not qualified to be calling him Kong Kong!” Another punch!

The fight attracted more and more passersby. Even if Cang Qiong beat Song Kufeng harder, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of the hatred in his heart! Other teachers also rushed over.  With Kong Kong, they tried their best to pull Cang Qiong away…

Several people grabbed Cang Qiong and wanted to send him to the police station, but Song Kufeng stopped them. He said it was his personal problem and his own fault…

Kong Kong dragged Cang Qiong out of the zoo. Along the way, Cang Qiong had a stinky face and still looked unwilling.

“You have knocked him down to the point of making his nose bleed and face crooked. You should be smiling proudly now!”

“Humph! He killed three people. It’s not a pity for him to die!”

“He will see me if he is dead, and I don’t want him to see me!”

“As soon as he dies, I will rip him into pieces!” – Dreadfully poisonous!

Unexpectedly, two days later, Cang Qiong met Song Kufeng again at the door when he returned home. It seemed that Song Kufeng had been waiting for a long time, and he bowed deeply when he saw Cang Qiong. What was this?

Kong Kong poked his head out of the door and said in fear: “Qiong Qiong, he has been waiting here for a long time. Does he want to take revenge on you?”

“What are you doing here? You were too embarrassed to fight with me in front of your lovely students that day, so you came over to express your anger now?!”

“No, no! I’m here to tell you something… Certainly…”

Cang Qiong opened the door and went in; Song Kufeng slowly followed. Kong Kong turned around and entered the kitchen.

“I’m here to apologize to Kong Kong…”

“Why are you telling me this? If you want to apologize, you should go to the underworld!” Cang Qiong sat on the sofa, ignoring Song Kufeng who was standing in front of him like a fool.

“I believe that Kong Kong is here… I heard that people who resorted to suicide will linger forever in the room they died …”

Kong Kong came out of the kitchen again, walked to Cang Qiong, and sat down quietly. His mouth was stuffed while his cheeks were bulging, chewing slowly. He was like a hamster who likes to store food in its mouth.

Cang Qiong tried hard not to look at Kong Kong’s funny face, and said, “That’s just a superstitious legend…”

“How about you? 12 years ago you were a college student. But now, you still have the appearance of a college student…”

“All right then, I’ll convey your apology to Kong Kong. It’s up to him whether he accepts it or not. However, I have a condition. I want to know why you killed Zhang Yong and Yue Minhui afterwards?”

Song Kufeng lightly laughed and stated what happened at that time: “In high school, Yue Minhui and I were roommates, because he was my distant cousin. He also knew that I liked Kong Kong, and always encouraged me to confess to Kong Kong. I knew that Kong Kong and I wouldn’t go to the same university since his grades were much better than mine. But there wouldn’t be any chances for me to see him again after we graduated. One day of our senior year, I finally showed my heart to Kong Kong, but he rejected me. But later, I saw you kissing him, but he didn’t resist at all… When I was in class that afternoon, I found a chance to ask Kong Kong about it. He said it was none of my business. I tried kissing him too, but he slapped him…”

Cang Qiong squinted his eyes at Kong Kong, indicating with his eyes, “You didn’t tell me about this…”

Kong Kong didn’t have to pretend and spoke out directly, “I thought you knew it all.”

After they briefly ignored him, they continued to listen to Song Kufeng…

“After I went back, I talked to Little Hui. He said that Kong Kong was cheap. Kong Kong clearly liked men but pretended and rejected me to spite me… He said that Kong Kong must have a thing with you…”

Kong Kong‘s face turned crooked from anger…

“Later that night, Little Hui said a lot. The more he talked, the angrier I became. I was so jealous that I wanted to have Kong Kong as my own. Little Hui saw through me and said he was willing to help me, so I agreed… Little Hui also said we should threaten Kong Kong to give up the opportunity to be recommended to Meige University by taking a few scandalous pictures of him. So Kong Kong would be distracted and might not perform properly, then he would be admitted to the same university as me… He also promised all the negatives of the photos would be handed over to me… I was convinced. So the following evening, he called another guy to go to Kong Kong’s place. And then we saw you and Kong Kong sitting downstairs talking and laughing… I was really jealous to death.”

What a narrow-minded person! However, if it was Cang Qiong, he would definitely rush up to bite…

“We had waited there for a long time but saw no sign of you leaving. Later, Little Hui thought of a way to knock you unconscious. We didn’t expect that you were quite strong, so I drugged you — which was originally intended to be used on Kong Kong.”

Cang Qiong rolled his eyes… ‘What a mess! If there was no drug, your puny lives wouldn’t be enough for me to play!’

“And then, I went to Kong Kong’s apartment, and asked him who you are to him. But he still said the person he likes was none of my business and it has nothing to do with me. I was furious… And then… I just did something impulsive… I never thought that Kong Kong would resort to suicide the next morning, and you disappeared in the warehouse without a trace. Like you just evaporated from the world. I shamefully regretted it. I wanted to find you and I read from Kong Kong’s diary that you were a student of Meige University. I went there to look for you, but found that you weren’t there at all… I thought Kong Kong had met a liar…”

Liar? He was indeed a liar at that time, and also cheated for money and beauty…

“On the third day after Kong Kong’s death, I heard a conversation between Zhang Yong and Little Hui by chance. It turned out that Little Hui supported me in order to use me to make Kong Kong give up his recommendation for Meige University. They also said I’m a pervert and hopelessly stupid. And now that Kong Kong was dead, no one can compete with him… And Zhang Yong was willing to help him because Little Hui promised to let him work in his uncle’s company after he graduates……”

It seemed that those two guys deserved their death!

“I knew my stupidity caused Kong Kong’s death, and that resentment and guilt made me want to kill them, so I started looking for opportunities. One day, Little Hui happened to be suffering from a high fever and fell asleep in bed. I went out and bought medicine for him. On the way, I saw Zhang Yong who was drunk. He wasn’t aiming for college anyway and lived a foolish life. He came up to chat with me. At that time, the park was being renovated and a wall was torn down. We walked along the lake. I thought it was a godsend opportunity, so I pushed him into the lake, and he drowned just like that. After I went back, I was afraid that Little Hui would be suspicious, so I set all the clocks in the house back to the time I went out and woke him up to take the medicine. After he fell asleep again, I set the clock back… So even if someone saw me with Zhang Yong that night, Little Hui could be my witness… Later, Little Hui got recommended to be a student at Meige University and was about to move out soon. I decided to kill both of us. It was a rainy day and the windows were closed. At nighttime, after he fell asleep, I turned on the gas, made it look like I forgot to turn it off; I closed my eyes and waited to die…”

“Then why didn’t you die?”

“I don’t know why it was so coincidental. It was probably because the window in my room was too old. When it rained that night, the whole glass fell down…”

“It was indeed a coincidence that you survived!”

“So I survived and decided to repent for my mistakes for the rest of my life… That’s pretty much it. Would you deliver all these to Kong Kong for me?”

“Does apologizing now really matter to you? I don’t think it makes any sense!”

“Kong Kong, I’m sorry…” He seemed to know that Kong Kong was there…

Kong Kong’s kindness began to take effect again, “Qiong Qiong, forget it. Tell him I forgive him.”

Cang Qiong pouted and said, “Kong Kong said he will never forgive you for the rest of his life!”

“Qiong Qiong!”

Song Kufeng smiled bitterly, “That’s what I thought so too. How can he forgive someone who harmed him? Cang Qiong, please take good care of Kong Kong.”

“How do you know my name is Cang Qiong? And how do you know that I will take care of Kong Kong?”

“I was wandering around here yesterday, trying to find you. A fine-looking man told me something and suggested that I apologize…”

The fine-looking man must be his godfather! What’s the matter with him?

Song Kufeng suddenly saw a piece of white paper floating in front of him, with the words: Song Kufeng, it’s been so long. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’m fine now. Please don’t disturb me and Qiong Qiong’s life again. I believe you will be condemned by your conscience throughout your whole life, and this punishment is enough. Go back to where you were. – Kong Kong. 

Kong Kong was holding the piece of paper and stood in front of Song Kufeng…

After Song Kufeng finished reading it, he bowed and said politely, “I understand. I will try my best to do good deeds in my life to make up for my sins.”

The white paper was waving in the air a few times. Cang Qiong said sarcastically, “Remember to go to the lake and burn some joss money!”

So it was done now? Cang Qiong felt like he had listened to a distant story. He used to be angry and wanted to poke holes in Song Kufeng. But now, he decided to let him go…

His beloved Kong Kong was lying quietly beside him. Maybe it was better to let Song Kufeng leave as far away as possible from Kong Kong. And leave as far away as possible from him as well.

.

A new life awaited before Kong Kong.

Cang Qiong resigned from his part-time job since his godfather said that he opened a “Qiong Qiong Flower House” and the business was very good. Many people came to buy flowers every day. He gave all the money he made to Cang Qiong. In this way, Cang Qiong could spend all his spare time with Kong Kong.
His godfather was really trying his best to let his godson be happy. No matter what, the godfather wanted to create a joyous and worry-free life for his godson…