Chapter 62 My Eyes Have Always Been This Sparkling

Without eating breakfast or even brushing my teeth, I grabbed my schoolbag and ran to school. On the very first day of Huang Ying's departure, my life had already fallen into such disarray. It seemed my previous thought was correct: leaving her would bring massive changes to my life.

I arrived at my seat looking utterly dejected, trying to muster some energy, but the enthusiasm lasted for barely a dozen minutes before I wilted again.

Chen Xiaoyao paid me no mind whatsoever. He and my grandfather shared the same eccentric disposition: unless you went looking for him, he would never initiate contact, unless, of course, he genuinely had something to discuss with you.

As for Chen Yuming, he was just as he had always been, frequently joking around with the female classmates, showing no signs of anything out of the ordinary.

I cast my gaze around the classroom. The dorm head was dead; the others in our room who used to hang out closely had already found new friends. Li Yun was gone, my desk mate had been replaced, and even Huang Ying—whom I used to spend over a dozen hours a day thinking about—was no longer by my side. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of being abandoned.

My wandering thoughts did not drift back from the outside world until noon.

"Did you go to the South Suburbs yesterday?" As soon as I pulled my thoughts back, I heard Chen Xiaoyao's voice.

I nodded. There was no point in hiding it from him. Since he had stated it this way, he must have already verified it, much like the dorm head's frequent saying: I ask you merely to show you some respect, but your own opinion is completely irrelevant, and even if you have one, you might as well keep it to yourself.

After that, the conversation ended. I didn't say another word to him. Right now, I didn't want anyone to disturb me, save for Huang Ying and Li Yun.

I spent the afternoon classes in a half-asleep, half-awake state. Hearing the bell and knowing school was over was purely a matter of conditioned reflex, formed over time just like training a dog: first you blow the whistle, then you toss it a piece of meat, and thereafter whenever you blow the whistle, it will naturally come over.

Most students were like that—hearing the bell meant knowing it was time to leave school.

With my schoolbag in hand, I walked listlessly down the school stairwell. I pulled out my mobile phone and hesitated for a long time before finally dialing my grandfather's number.

"Hello, has Huang Ying arrived?"

For some reason, at that moment I was actually terrified that Huang Ying would answer the call. There was no reason for it; I was simply afraid. Not everything in life requires a reason.

"She has arrived!" My grandfather's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Oh!" I responded flatly.

"Do you want to speak with her?" Surprisingly, my grandfather didn't hang up this time and even asked me an extra question.

"I..." I had no idea what to say. Should I explain the reason why I asked her to go back? Should I ask how her journey went? Or whether Grandpa's house was fun?

Before I could finish, a sweet voice came through the receiver: "Hello!"

"Huang... Huang Ying?" Not only was my voice trembling, but my whole body was shaking as well.

"Mm-hmm."

"You... take good care of yourself at Grandpa's place. I'll go back and pick you up after a while!" I thought about it, and these seemed to be the only things I could say right now.

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll—"

"Wang Yu, you need to take good care of yourself too!"

Just as I was about to utter my closing words, Huang Ying once again revealed her true feelings. As soon as I heard those words, my eyes instantly welled up with useless liquid.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to hang up first then!" I was afraid that if I said a couple more words to her, tears would genuinely fall. The few things we said weren't particularly sorrowful, yet every time I heard Huang Ying's voice, a profound grief welled up from the depths of my heart.

After hanging up the phone, my mood improved slightly. I couldn't afford to remain so decadent anymore; if I wanted to be with her in the future, I had to sweep away every obstacle in front of me.

"Hey..."

No sooner had I hung up than Chen Yuming slapped me on the shoulder, giving me a fright.

"Damn it, what are you yelling for? You scared me to death." I cast a dissatisfied look at him, pulled my schoolbag straps up, and continued walking down the stairs.

Chen Yuming followed closely behind me and said, "Old Wang, that girl of yours..." He made an S-shape with his hand, "...is she still around?"

"Go to hell, her name is Huang Ying!"

"Fine, is that Huang Ying of yours still around?"

"No."

"I don't believe it. I'm going to your place as a guest, you shouldn't refuse, right?"

"Whatever!" I tossed out a single word and left Chen Yuming with my back, though he quickly caught up again.

Back home, passing by a roadside stall, I casually bought a five-yuan pack of dried noodles. With Huang Ying gone, life could only go on this way.

Chen Yuming truly followed me to the rented apartment. However, the current place was merely a house; it could hardly be elevated to the level of a home, so letting him come visit was of no consequence.

I opened the door, changed into a pair of slippers, and walked in. Since nobody usually lived here, I had only prepared two pairs of slippers—one for me, one for Huang Ying.

"These shoes are for a girl, right?" Chen Yuming said, eyeing the remaining pair of slippers on the floor.

I hurriedly turned back, kicked off the shoes I was wearing, and said, "You wear this pair!"

"I know, those belong to your little girlfriend Huang Ying. I won't wear them then!" Chen Yuming said in a sarcastic tone.

I placed Huang Ying's shoes back into the shoe cabinet and walked inside barefoot.

"Is she really not here?" As soon as Chen Yuming entered, he looked left and right, then planted himself on the sofa like a lord, crossing his legs as he spoke.

"What do you think? What are we having for dinner? Cabbage boiled with noodles or noodles boiled with cabbage?" I asked, holding a head of cabbage in one hand and the noodles in the other.

"Let's go out to eat!" Chen Yuming stood up, slung an arm around my shoulder, and pulled me toward the door.

"Let me put these things down first!"

A few minutes later, we headed out to a nearby small hot pot restaurant. Hot pots were everywhere around here; we casually ordered a few dishes and sat down.

"Would you like any drinks?" the waiter asked, coming over.

"Beer!" I held up five fingers.

The waiter jotted it down in his notebook and left.

"What's wrong with you today, kid?" Chen Yuming asked, looking at me.

"Nothing at all!" "Just now on the school stairs, I saw you crying." "Bollocks, my eyes are always this dewy and bright, alright!"

"Pfft... you're so damn gross!" Chen Yuming made a retching gesture.

That evening, the two of us completely polished off a pot of dishes, accompanied by five bottles of beer. Normally I didn't drink, but today I had gone straight for three bottles.

I thought I would get drunk, but I was wrong. I never imagined my alcohol tolerance could be this good. After drinking three consecutive 550ml bottles of beer, the worst effect I felt was just a slightly dizzy head and a somewhat bloated stomach, alongside a seemingly magnified boldness.

"I'm coming over to sleep at your place tonight." Chen Yuming often drank outside, and two bottles of beer were a piece of cake for him.

I nodded. Li Yun had once said there were always precious things around us—whether it was someone who loved us or someone we loved, we must cherish them well, and that included friends.

Alcohol lends courage to the timid. I was never a person skilled at expressing emotions, but right now, I felt capable of doing anything.

I draped my arm over Chen Yuming's shoulder, and together we walked home.

If I ever drank again in the future, I had to bring Huang Ying along. I couldn't keep her tucked away at home out of sight as usual. Although she never complained, it was deeply unfair to her.

Opposite our rented apartment was an auto repair shop named Brother Auto Repair, and right next to it was the boundary of another residential compound.

As Chen Yuming and I passed through the small alleyway connecting that compound to the one where I lived, a little girl of about five or six suddenly came running excitedly out of a house, shouting as she ran, "I saw Grandpa! I saw Grandpa!"

Chen Yuming and I hurriedly stepped aside to make way, lest the child bump into us and hurt herself.

Chen Yuming watched the little girl's retreating figure, shook his head, and curled his lip, saying, "Today's youngsters are truly inferior to our generation. Back in the day, we used to play with mud in our split-crotch pants..." *Slap...*

I gave him a smack on the head. "You were probably playing with mud pies made of urine and dirt when you were little!"

"It's true though!" Chen Yuming batted back at me.

As we passed beneath the building the little girl had just run out of, I instinctively glanced inside, then traced the path the child had taken. There was no grandfather to be seen anywhere; looking from the inside out, you could at best see a corner of a building. Looking from the outside in, the interior was empty, save for a television playing SpongeBob SquarePants.

"Hah, today's youngsters really are inferior to our generation! They've even taken to lying!" Seeing this scene, I shook my head as well!