OS - 51

The results of the coal mine accident were in. Liang Tian was swamped with work every day, and with Cheng Wanyue’s condition worsening, it wasn’t until December that she prepared to go find Zhou Yu.

Cheng Yuzhou swallowed his pride and asked Yan Ci for Zhou Yu’s new number.

He was still using his old number. Zhou Yu stared blankly at her phone screen, accidentally knocking over the hot water kettle. Boiling water splashed onto her hand, and her skin quickly reddened, stinging painfully. The pain made her instinctively go to the sink to run cold water over it, but she was still in a daze, only answering the call just before the system disconnected it.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.”

Zhou Yu looked at the faucet, “I know.”

“My mom wants to meet you. Don’t be nervous, it’s not because of our relationship,” Cheng Yuzhou took a deep breath, opened the balcony door, and stepped outside. The cold wind helped him clear his head. “It’s about your dad’s case. There’s a result.”

Zhou Yu froze. She had never told Cheng Yuzhou about Zhou Liwen’s accident in the coal mine. Zhou Liwen wasn’t the only victim of that accident. Every family had caused a fuss, but in the end, nothing came of it.

Cheng Yuzhou seemed to know what she was thinking, “Don’t feel burdened. My mom works in this field; she’s very good at these kinds of cases. Even if you want to break up with me, you’re still Cheng Wanyue and Cheng Yanqing’s friend.”

The coal mine accident involved too many complexities to be resolved quickly, indicating that Cheng Yuzhou had been helping her long before they broke up.

Zhou Yu remembered senior year, when Cheng Yuzhou rushed out of school before the exams, missing the provincial joint exam. “Before Chinese New Year last year, you didn’t take the final exam and went back to Nanjing early, saying Auntie was injured. Was she injured because of my dad’s case?”

“That’s just the nature of her job; it’s unavoidable. My dad and she argue; nine out of ten times it’s because of work.”

It was indeed because of that.

She felt guilty and remorseful, “...You never told me.”

“I thought I’d tell you once there was a result, otherwise it would only add to your psychological pressure,” Cheng Yuzhou said indifferently, “Your family matters, you never tell me about them either, do you? Even for your phone number, I had to ask someone else. Guess who I asked?”

If there had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have asked Yan Ci.

He suddenly chuckled as he spoke, a bit self-deprecating, “Zhou Yu, you’re really good at annoying people.”

Because she wanted to break up with him, she completely cut off contact with Cheng Wanyue and Cheng Yanqing too. She couldn’t get any information about her from other classmates either; very few people even knew which university she attended.

“I haven’t been doing well at all. I’ve lost ten pounds in half a year, and when I miss you, my calls never go through. I regret not going to find you. I also fear regretting it if I did.”

Cheng Yuzhou hadn’t left Nanjing for the past six months. Cheng Wanyue’s condition was unstable, so he didn’t dare to leave.

“Zhou Yu, don’t forget me too quickly. Give me more time,” his voice was low, “Please.”

For a moment, Zhou Yu almost blurted it out: she didn’t intentionally lie to him, she wanted to go to Nanjing, wanted to go to university with him, wanted to try hard to make herself better and closer to him, but she couldn’t.

Liu Fen couldn’t leave Baicheng; her husband and father were buried there, as was her aging, seriously ill mother.

If she couldn’t leave, Zhou Yu couldn’t move an inch.

________________________________________

Her roommate came back from outside and was startled to see the shattered hot water kettle on the dorm room floor. Zhou Yu didn’t even know when her phone had run out of battery and turned off automatically. She quickly went to clean up.

“You’re so clumsy!”

Zhou Yu said, “Answering a call, didn’t hold it steady.”

Chen Huan helped mop the floor and noticed the shiny blisters on Zhou Yu’s hand, exclaiming, “You got burned, you have blisters! Go to the infirmary quickly. Rinsing with cold water alone won’t do much. Your hand is very pretty, don’t leave an ugly scar. Forget it, I won’t eat first; I’ll go with you to the infirmary.”

Zhou Yu didn’t want to trouble anyone, “You eat, I’ll go by myself.”

“Zhou Yu! I really don’t like this about you. We’re roommates; if there’s no accident, we’ll be living together for three and a half more years. At home, you rely on your parents; outside, you rely on friends. Why are you always so polite with me? If it weren’t for the fact that on orientation day, you were the only one in the entire dorm who went to the library to bring me a sanitary napkin, I wouldn’t be telling you all this. Today you trouble me, tomorrow I’ll have something to trouble you with. The most annoying thing about you is that you just don’t let me dislike you. Not getting Yan Ci is my own problem. Although I’m a little jealous of you, and a little angry, I would never distance myself from you because of a man, understand?”

Chen Huan’s words made Zhou Yu a little embarrassed, so she stopped being polite and took her campus card and medical record book to the infirmary.

She had been sick too frequently in the past six months. Chen Huan’s medical record book was still brand new, while hers already had several pages filled.

“You’ve been crying just now, haven’t you? Your eyes are so red, I’m not blind,” her roommate glanced at her, “You really are able to endure. You’re burned like this and not even anxious. Luckily it’s cold now, otherwise it could easily get infected.”

Zhou Yu wasn’t unaware of the pain. She just kept thinking about Cheng Yuzhou begging her on the phone not to forget him too quickly, and her heart felt very sore.

“Thank you.”

Chen Huan said, “Treat me to a meal. My packed claypot rice must be cold. Buy a new one, with egg and sausage.”

Zhou Yu smiled, “Anything you want.”

Although everyone said Yan Ci was pursuing Zhou Yu, they actually rarely saw each other. The campus was large, and their two departments didn’t have classes together, so the chance of meeting by coincidence was too small.

Tang Qian had come to find Yan Ci once to apologize for Zhang Qiang’s incident. Her casual angry words were taken seriously by Zhang Qiang, and Yan Ci was also affected by that fight, almost missing out on college. Chen Huan didn’t manage to get Yan Ci and couldn’t stand strange women pestering him, so she brought up Zhou Yu in front of many people, and Yan Ci didn’t deny it.

Only after Zhou Yu burned her hand did Yan Ci appear around her more frequently.

Anyone could tell their interactions were abnormal, not like friends, and even less like a couple. They didn’t talk much when sitting together, but they understood each other’s habits very well.

________________________________________

The day Liang Tian came to find Zhou Yu was a weekend.

They agreed to meet at a coffee shop. Zhou Yu arrived half an hour early.

The woman who entered through the door was wearing a beige overcoat, had an outstanding demeanor, and light makeup, looking very young.

Zhou Yu had never seen her, but she seemed to recognize Zhou Yu and walked directly towards her.

“You must be A-Yu. I’m Cheng Yuzhou’s mother. He showed me your photo.”

Zhou Yu quickly stood up, “Hello, Auntie.”

“Hello,” Liang Tian sat down, “The lawyers and the coal mine owner’s family will arrive in ten minutes. Shall we chat first?”

Zhou Yu subconsciously took a deep breath, her hands on her knees unconsciously clenching.

“Don’t be nervous. I’m not some wicked mother-in-law who breaks up lovers,” Liang Tian said with a smile, “Cheng Yuzhou has been quite sad these past six months. After your gaokao, he was especially happy, telling me you’d also go to Nanjing for university, wanting to pick you up early to play at our house, take you to visit Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and the Presidential Palace, and feed pigeons at the Music Platform.”

Zhou Yu lowered her head, her face slightly pale, “I lied to him. Something happened in my family... I’ve only known him for a year, and he’ll meet many more people in the future. There’s no need for him to change his life’s path because of me, Auntie. I just don’t want to be a rope that binds him; I don’t want to hurt him.”

“It’s not that all long-distance relationships don’t work out, it’s just a bit tough.”

“Still, I won’t. Being too greedy will only make me lose more.”

“He always says you’re wonderful in every way. Now that I’ve met you in person, I can understand.”

Liang Tian’s first impression of Zhou Yu exceeded her expectations. She had thought that a girl raised in such a family would inevitably be very sensitive and fragile. In the photos Cheng Yuzhou showed her, Zhou Yu smiled beautifully. Although her complexion was poor now and she looked a little sickly, her demeanor was poised. When she didn’t know the names of the coffees, she showed no shyness or embarrassment; instead, she listened very attentively to the waiter’s introduction. “He truly spoke the truth about everything.”

The coal mine owner’s family came to apologize to Zhou Yu and gave her a large sum in compensation.

They still had to find the relatives of other victims.

Zhou Yu walked Liang Tian to her car, “Auntie, thank you very much.”

Liang Tian smiled and hugged her, “Thank you too. That year my son was in our hometown became especially meaningful because of you. He used to be quite playful, and his dad and I didn’t manage him much. Because of you, he learned to be more responsible and accountable. If we can become a family in the future, we shouldn’t have to worry about mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relations.”

Zhou Yu’s eyes felt sore as she watched Liang Tian leave.

Liang Tian didn’t delay for too long and returned to Nanjing on the third day.

Cheng Yuzhou still commuted between school and the hospital, returning home the fewest times. The whole family breathed a sigh of relief when Cheng Wanyue showed slight improvement.

He came home for dinner, and Liang Tian mentioned Liu Fen’s passing.

Cheng Yuzhou dropped a spoon, “When?”

“It should have been around that summer vacation. I didn’t ask for the exact date; it’s a sad thing, and bringing it up always causes pain. The girl had it really tough, but she’s much stronger than I imagined. The day I went, I even saw her hand was burned.”