Thirty-Eight Degrees Part 2

Lin Fang, “Come on, I felt that you had the best chance with Shi Yun, but look at you now. I’m telling you, this is your retribution in this life. After you hurt a good girl like that, of course, you would be punished by Yue Lao¹[1] Yue Lao is a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology. He appears at night and ties predestined couples together with a red cord. His legends serve as the basis for the red thread of fate.“

Xiang Shaoyuan had just arrived and as soon as he entered the private room, he learned that he had suddenly been chosen to act as the best man at Jiang Xuyang’s wedding. He sat down next to Wei Congying and Lin Fang, looked around, but didn’t see Jiang Xuyang. “Is he late again?”

Lin Fang snorted, “A good man should stay at home with his wife.”

Xiang Shaoyuan cursed, “Who the hell arranged the position of best man for me?”

Wei Congying smiled, “It was a democratic election. All of us voted against it, except you who didn’t come and vote. You abstained, so you were the only one left in the end.”

“The last time I saw such shameless behavior was when I was in school. The school set up a vote to ask if there was anything that needed to be improved.” After Xiang Shaoyuan sat down, he looked at the active card table in the private room and spoke, “You two are sitting here chatting? Why don’t you go over and play a few rounds?”

Lin Fang took a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, searched for a lighter but couldn’t find one, so he asked them for a lighter to borrow. After blowing out a small puff of smoke, he joked, “Look, I’m here criticizing a scumbag.”

“What do you mean?” Xiang Shaoyuan snatched Wei Congying’s lighter and lit his own cigarette. “Say it out loud, and we can all condemn them together.”

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Nkd Wydt pxsjle bkp nktyalvvl yde tzydnle yv Elk Usdtukdt clpkel bkx okvb y pxkzl, “Ebyv lzpl nswze kv cl? Zsw pvkzz alxlxcla Fbk Zwd, aktbv? Mbyv tkaz qswde y dlo csuqaklde obs zssjp hlau xwnb zkjl G’Usdt. Rq R olal vs tlv kdvs y nya ynnkeldv yde xllv y osxyd obs oswze pvyu okvb xl obld R oyp kdfwale yde oykv wdvkz R alnshlale vs zlyhl, vbl qkapv vbkdt R oswze es yp pssd yp R tsv sd xu qllv, oswze cl vs qkde bla yde vyjl bla vs vbl Ukhkz Gqqykap Jwalyw vs altkpvla swa xyaakytl.”

Dkydt Fbysuwyd jdlo ycswv vbl zyvvla byzq sq bkp osaep, vbyv Fbk Zwd vssj nyal sq Elk Usdtukdt, cwv bl eked’v jdso vbyv Fbk Zwd qswde y dlo csuqaklde obs zssjle zkjl Elk Usdtukdt. Rv pswdele swvzydekpb, cwv bl yzps vbswtbv vbyv vbkp tkaz oyp alyzzu nyryczl.

“Gb Usdt, bso cyezu eke usw bwav bla?”

Mbl nsdelxdyvksd yde nakvknkpx rbypl pvyavle ytykd.

Elk Usdtukdt vssj bkp zktbvla qasx Dkydt Fbysuwyd, zlydle cynj sd vbl psqy, yefwpvle vbl rkzzso dlmv vs bkx vs y nsxqsavyczl rspkvksd qsa bkp bydep, yde jknjle Nkd Wydt, “Xjyu, R’zz eakhl shla blal vsxsaaso yde bkv usw. R’zz blzr usw nsxrzlvl vbl qkapv pvlr sq uswa zshl rzyd.”

Qlv kdvs y nya ynnkeldv yde vbld xllv y osxyd obs oswze vyjl nyal sq bkx.

Mbl qkapv pvlr kp y nya ynnkeldv, yde bl nswze blzr bkx alyzkgl kv.

“Jlyv kv.” Nkd Wydt esetle, yde Elk Usdtukdt ldele wr jknjkdt vbl nsqqll vyczl.

After they started on the topic of Shi Yun, they couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful she was, how considerate she was…

They were brainwashing Wei Congying just like a pyramid scheme organization.

The seeds of shame slowly took root in Wei Congying’s heart, and he started to believe he had done her wrong.

No matter what, the clover ferns at that time represented her sincerity.²[2] From Chapter 35. He should have stayed. He should have told her earlier that he went to Xunchuan for a competition. He was not a professional psychologist and foolishly believed that having her see it more often could change the psychological trauma caused by the car accident…

After listening to Lin Fang and Xiang Shaoyuan’s back and forth, Wei Congying went home early.

Turning on the light in the living room, Wei Congying saw his bookshelf against the wall. Thinking of the poetry collection that Shi Yun always read, he took down two books casually, flipped through a few pages, and saw traces of him having read it in the past.

Wei Congying picked up a book and went to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door, took out a can of beer, closed the refrigerator door, and the display screen on the refrigerator door came on.

He noticed the doctor’s instructions handwritten on the memo of the display screen.

These were all things the doctor mentioned when he was sick and recuperating. These words did not belong to Wei Congying or the nurse.

So there was only one answer.

But the answer had long since left his side.

Wei Congying finished off most of the beer in a few gulps, then lay on the sofa with a collection of poems in his hand, aimlessly flipping through the poems one by one, reading about descriptions of love by various famous poets.

Similar yet very different.

In various descriptions, it seems that love was always positive and could save a person.

In Wei Congying’s opinion, such statements were too exaggerated.

The compatibility between people was also very important. At least so far, Shi Yun was the most compatible with Wei Congying.

He liked the way she looked at him, but at the same time he was descpicable and selfish in that he only loved himself.

–

At the end of April, Shi Yun packed some clothes in the dormitory. She was the only one in the dormitory who was going home on May Day.

Shi Yuan and the others said that she went home more often this year than in previous years.

Shi Yun folded a few clothes and put them in a paper bag, then found a cosmetic bag and put a few cosmetics in it, “A friend of mine is getting married on the first of May, so it’s more convenient for me to stay at home and attend the wedding.”

“Getting married?” Shi Yuan was also packing, but they were just the things she would need to go to the library later that night. “Sure enough, they’re right when they say, a medical student is in school when their friends get married, and they’re still in school when their friends have children. Learning and learning… I don’t know until when will I be done learning in this life.”

Shi Yun took a taxi back home. When passing by Chu Yue’s house, she saw the word “囍”³[3] This character is a merge of two 喜 characters, representing the bride and groom. It also means double happiness and is a symbol meant for good luck especially for marriages. pasted on their old house.

Grandpa and grandma knew she was coming back in the morning, so they cooked a few more dishes. Shi Yun didn’t have any cash on her, so she had planned to borrow some from grandpa and grandma, but she was sure grandpa and grandma would not accept her money afterwards.

Shi Yun planned to go to the bank after dinner.

After dinner, grandpa was watching the evening news while grandma washed some fruits and brought them out of the kitchen.

Shi Yun took a shower, grabbed her ATM card and prepared to go to a nearby bank.

Grandma saw her going downstairs and wondered where she was going. Before Shi Yun had time to tell her, she happened to hear the news reporting a major incident that morning.

The female host on TV read the news release in a clear and loud voice.

“… Let’s move on to the next piece of news. At 10:15 this morning, ‘Wu Tai’, who once shocked the world with his transnational human trafficking and drug smuggling, was executed by firing squad. Wu Tai’s organization had abducted and kidnaped women and children from our border areas to help them with smuggling…”

Wu Tai…

As soon as the name came out, Shi Yun felt as if her steps were weighed down with lead. She tried hard to regulate her breathing, hoping that her collapse would not be discovered by her grandparents. In the end, she failed and turned back to her room.

Holding back tears and breath, Shi Yun waited until the door of the room behind her closed. Then she took deep breaths, but the cries came out along with the carbon dioxide.

Shi Yun slowly squatted down against the door. She thought of the man who told her before leaving that he was going on a mission.

He was going to bring back a comrade.

He was going to bring back a demon as well.

In the end they all came back, only he stayed there forever.

Notes:

1] Yue Lao is a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology. He appears at night and ties predestined couples together with a red cord. His legends serve as the basis for the red thread of fate.

[2] From Chapter 35.

[3] This character is a merge of two 喜 characters, representing the bride and groom. It also means double happiness and is a symbol meant for good luck especially for marriages.