Chapter 14: Running One’s Legs Off (Part 1)

*Chapter 14: Running One’s Legs Off (Part 1)*

The bus rumbled along the main highway. Once it passed Donghong, the traces of Shazhou City began to fade, replaced by the ubiquitous slogans of Yiyang County. In the past, Hou Weidong had found these banners annoying, but now, they evoked a strange sense of familiarity.

The incident at the bus station was merely an interlude. As the vehicle moved past Donghong, the images of Xiaojia, Chen Qingrong, and Zhang Yuanzheng spun endlessly in Hou Weidong’s mind, like a revolving lantern or the rotating lights in a dance hall. He finally understood the feeling of being tangled in a web that could neither be cut nor unraveled.

However, as soon as he stepped off the bus and onto the familiar streets of Yiyang, Hou Weidong felt a sudden awkwardness. Since graduating from Shazhou College, he had temporarily lost his connection to Yiyang County. What did "no connection" mean? It meant he had no place to stand. During his time at Shazhou College, Hou Weidong and his classmates often mocked the institution’s flaws. But now that he had left the small bed provided by the college, he realized that in all of Yiyang, there wasn’t even a single small bed that belonged to him. This was the most realistic and ruthless aspect of a city, and it explained why everyone needed a home. As the saying went, a golden nest or a silver nest was no match for one’s own doghouse.

He wandered aimlessly down the street for a while. Over the past four years, Hou Weidong had accompanied Xiaojia through every alley and thoroughfare, making him intimately familiar with the area. Consequently, many places triggered memories of Xiaojia. He used to tease her about her obsession with shopping, but now that Xiaojia was far away in Shazhou, he couldn’t even accompany her if he wanted to. A sour taste rose in Hou Weidong’s throat, leaving him feeling unsettled.

In Yiyang, the person he knew best was Liu Kun, his roommate for four years. In the dorm, Hou Weidong was closest to Jiang Dali; whenever they didn’t have dates, the two of them stuck together. His relationship with Liu Kun was relatively distant.

Liu Kun was a loner in the dorm, living very much in his own world. The first thing he did every morning was slowly comb his hair with a brush. Every night after the lights went out, the dorms would erupt in raunchy conversations. During these times, Liu Kun was the most active participant, often making shocking remarks. There was a girl in their class who was genuinely unattractive. As the saying goes, ugly people often have strange personalities, and she was certainly the most eccentric among the girls in the class. One night, Liu Kun suddenly sighed, "She’s so ugly and her temper is so weird; she’ll definitely never get married. No one has used her down there, so she’s probably rusted."

After that remark, "rusted" gradually became a code word for unattractive women. For instance, if a boy from the Political Science and Law Department at Shazhou College saw a girl who wasn’t very pretty in public, he might say, "That girl looks really rusted." By extension, when they saw a beautiful girl, they would collectively exclaim, "Damn, she’s so smooth."

Liu Kun was the creator of this "rusted" and "smooth" culture at Shazhou College.

Yet, this hero of words always stumbled when it came to dating. Every Friday, he would slick his hair back into a Chow Yun-fat style and wander through the college’s three dance halls. He spent four years wandering like this, and by the time he graduated, he was still a bachelor.

Hou Weidong walked through Limin Mall, the busiest shopping area in Yiyang. Many stores were playing a melancholy song: "The midnight radio softly plays a song, a melody we both know well. All love can only have one result, and I know deeply that it’s never me. Since we once loved, why must we truly possess each other? Even in parting, there won’t be too much sorrow. The midnight melody repeats that song over and over: Will you still love me tomorrow?"

Hou Weidong had heard this song many times before and usually found it ordinary. But today, due to the special circumstances of his trip to Shazhou, he felt as if he had been struck by a martial arts pressure point. He stood quietly in a corner that didn’t obstruct pedestrians, listening to Tong Anger’s gentle and mature voice with a deep sense of melancholy.

Summer nights are the most beautiful. The sunset still hung in the sky, but the streetlights were gradually turning on. Colorful skirts appeared on the pedestrian street of Limin Mall. The night air made every woman look delicate as jade.

Hou Weidong lingered in the flowing lights for a long time before finally arriving at a large compound. Inside were sixteen eight-story residential buildings, shaded by lush green trees. All the residents were grassroots civil servants of the Yiyang County Party and government organs, colloquially known as the "Second County Government."

He asked the gatekeeper, an elderly man. Upon hearing that he was looking for Liu Kun’s family in Building 6, the old man’s attitude immediately warmed up. "Minister Liu’s home is right down this path, Building 6, Unit 1, Number 5. It’s very easy to find."

Liu Kun’s home was indeed easy to find.

A woman in her twenties opened the door. She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but her most striking feature was her "whiteness." Her skin was fair, delicate, and glossy, adding a certain charm to her appearance.

The woman politely asked, "Who are you looking for?" She bore an eight-tenths resemblance to Liu Kun, especially in her skin tone, which seemed to come from the same mold. However, such skin on a woman’s face was considered charming, while on a man’s face, if not careful, it was labeled as "pretty boy" skin.

Hou Weidong knew Liu Kun had an older sister who worked at a bank, so he assumed this woman was her. He said politely, "Sister Liu, hello. I’m Hou Weidong, Liu Kun’s classmate." The woman was indeed Liu Kun’s sister, Liu Li. She had heard of Hou Weidong’s name, so she called out into the house, "Liu Kun, a classmate is here to see you. It’s Hou Weidong."

The sound of slippers slapping against the floor echoed from inside. Liu Kun walked out from the inner room. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt at home, and his hair still seemed to have some mousse in it, looking shiny and smooth. He reached the door and said in surprise, "Hou Weidong? Didn’t you go to Shazhou today?" Hou Weidong didn’t want to tell Liu Kun about his狼狈 (embarrassing) situation, so he said, "I plan to report to the Personnel Bureau tomorrow to see if the assignment plan has been finalized." Liu Kun stood at the door and said, "It probably won’t be that fast. I heard the results won’t come out until mid-July. Aren’t you going to meet Xiaojia’s parents? Did they disagree with your relationship?" Hou Weidong didn’t want to bring up that matter, so he replied, "With my job not yet settled, how could I have the mood to discuss such things?"

July 1, 1993, was a day Hou Weidong would not easily forget. He had been rejected during a blind date, encountered trouble at the bus station, nearly got beaten up by a fat police officer, and traveled back and forth between Shazhou City and Yiyang County, sitting on a bus for over six hours. All these events combined left a faint trace of dust and weariness on his face.

For Liu Kun, July 1 was a comfortable day. He had ridden in a car out of Shazhou College, been taken out for a lavish lunch by his father’s colleagues at noon, and then gone out for another meal with his family in the evening to celebrate his graduation from Shazhou College.

In comparison, Liu Kun seemed quite well-off. Standing at the door, he exuded a sense of superiority. During their four years of living together in college, Liu Kun, whose father was an official in Yiyang, had originally possessed a strong sense of superiority. However, Hou Weidong had performed too outstandingly at the college: excellent grades, four first-class scholarships, a student union cadre at both the college and department levels, one of the few student party members, and he had even won the heart of Zhang Xiaojia, the beauty of the Biology Department. These achievements were outstanding in the college, so Liu Kun’s sense of superiority derived from his family was gradually shattered by Hou Weidong. Now, that sense of superiority had returned.

Liu Li called from inside the house, "Why are you two standing at the door talking? Come in quickly." Liu Kun suddenly realized and said, "Come in, come in."

Liu Li’s home was a three-bedroom apartment with a living room that also served as a dining room, covering a full thirty square meters. Hou Weidong had seen the narrowness of Xiaojia’s living room, so seeing this large space, he thought to himself, "What’s so great about Shazhou? Families still squeeze together like this."

Before graduation, Hou Weidong had already confirmed he would be assigned to Yiyang County. Liu Kun had proactively offered several times, "Once you come to Yiyang, stay at my place. We brothers can have a good chat." Because of this, after arriving in Yiyang, Hou Weidong didn’t stay at a hotel but went directly to Liu Kun’s house.

"Have some tea. This is good tea sent from the Qinglin Town Tea Farm. It costs one hundred yuan for two taels." Liu Kun handed Hou Weidong a white fine porcelain teacup, then sat back on the sofa, turned on the TV, and casually clicked the remote, chatting with Hou Weidong in a disjointed manner.

In Hou Weidong’s heart, "Liu Kun is far inferior to me." Therefore, in their interactions, Hou Weidong psychologically held a slight advantage. Today, Liu Kun’s lukewarm behavior made Hou Weidong feel very awkward.