Chapter 131
Chapter 131
The girl Qin Song had liked in middle school was named Sun Xiaoke. He vaguely remembered that Sun Xiaoke’s mother and Hu Heng’s mother seemed to have been coworkers.
Too much time had passed; his memory might have been off too, so he wasn’t entirely sure.
After getting off the high-speed train, Qin Song casually hailed a taxi on the road.
He scrolled through his QQ contacts until he found Sun Xiaoke, and located her with ease.
“Are you there?”
He wasn’t sure whether she still used this old QQ account, so he tentatively sent the message.
The moment he sent it, he regretted it. If Sun Xiaoke thought he was there to borrow money, she probably wouldn’t reply at all.
About a minute later, Sun Xiaoke responded.
“?”
Qin Song swallowed and kept typing: “Is this still Sun Xiaoke using this account?”
Sun Xiaoke: “Did someone steal your account?”
Qin Song sent a goofy-grin emoji. “No. It’s me.”
Sun Xiaoke sent a string of numbers: “This is my number. Call me.”
Qin Song cleared his throat and dialed the number.
“Hello, Qin Song?”
He froze for a moment. After all these years, Sun Xiaoke’s voice was no longer as sweet and clear as it had been before; it sounded intelligent and composed now.
Qin Song gave an awkward laugh. “Xiaoke, hello.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Cut the crap. I thought your account got hacked. If you have something to say, say it.”
Her bluntness made Qin Song feel a little stiff. “Uh, actually, I don’t really have anything that important…”
Sun Xiaoke: “You’re not here to borrow money, are you?”
Qin Song hurriedly said, “No, no, no, no!”
Sun Xiaoke: “As long as it’s not money. If you want to borrow money from me, I’ll block you.”
Qin Song: “I want to ask you about someone.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Everyone we know is basically from the same circle. Who are you asking about?”
Qin Song: “Hu Heng…”
Sun Xiaoke cut him off quickly. “Hu Heng? Weren’t you two the closest? I remember you were like conjoined twins back then.”
Qin Song: “Let me finish. I want to ask you about Hu Heng’s mother.”
Sun Xiaoke went quiet for a second. Qin Song could imagine the frown on her face right now.
After a confused pause, Sun Xiaoke said slowly, “You… why would you think… I know his mother? She and I are about as unrelated as it gets.”
Qin Song reminded her in a low voice, “I remember you told me back then that your mother and her mother were coworkers. Remember?”
Sun Xiaoke said in realization, “Oh… right, right, right, I remember now. You really have a good memory. I’d almost forgotten about that.”
Qin Song: “Could you help me ask about her indirectly?”
Sun Xiaoke: “No problem, but I’m curious – why are you asking about her?”
Qin Song sighed. “It’s a long story. I really don’t know how to explain it.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
Qin Song: “Yes.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Okay, stop there. I won’t ask anymore. I don’t have some magic ability to solve your problems. But asking around about his mom is fine. I’ll go ask my mother now. Wait for me.”
Qin Song quickly thanked her and hung up.
The taxi stopped right at the entrance to Qin Song’s residential complex. Just as he scanned the code to pay the fare, Sun Xiaoke called back.
“Xiaoke, that fast?”
Sun Xiaoke: “I’ve always been quick about things. The moment I hung up on you, I contacted my mother right away.”
Qin Song: “Thank you very much.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Though I noticed you’re pretty direct too. You didn’t even exchange pleasantries with me when you reached out – just went straight to the point. That’s really heartbreaking.”
Qin Song pressed his lips together and let out a muffled “Mm” before asking, “Where are you these days? What are you doing?”
Actually, he didn’t want to know at all.
If not for that damned Unknown Number, if not for investigating Hu Yonglan, he would never have thought to contact Sun Xiaoke again in a thousand years.
Sun Xiaoke: “I’m still in City A, working as a piano teacher. What about you?”
Qin Song said absentmindedly, “Oh, I’m in City A too.”
Sun Xiaoke: “I even ran into you on the street a few years ago. You were still as handsome as ever. I haven’t seen you much these past two years, though.”
Qin Song didn’t want to keep chatting, so he pretended his throat was uncomfortable and coughed for a while.
Sun Xiaoke slapped her forehead. “Right, right. On to the important stuff.”
Qin Song: “Mm-hmm, go ahead. I’m listening.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Hu Heng’s mother really used to be coworkers with my mother. Her name was Hu… Hu Yongju.”
Qin Song: “Hu Yonglan.”
Sun Xiaoke: “Plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum are all pretty much the same – don’t sweat the details… My mom used to work with Hu Yonglan in the cafeteria of the same company. They were both in charge of making pastries. My mom said Hu Yonglan was a really strange person, not a single friend… Hey, are you still listening?”
Qin Song: “I didn’t miss a single word.”
Sun Xiaoke said, “My mom said Hu Yonglan was always aloof, like some strange white peacock. She looked down on everyone equally.”
Qin Song asked, “What makes her say that?”
Sun Xiaoke said, “She always looked at people down her nose, never greeted anyone, and kept the same blank face no matter who she was dealing with. Isn’t that being arrogant? Her coworkers all said behind her back that she thought she was something special, when in reality she had nothing to be proud of.”
Qin Song said, “Oh. That doesn’t sound great.”
Sun Xiaoke said, “But she loved taking photos. My mom said back then, very few people were willing to spend money on an actual camera. Most people just made do with the camera on their phones. Hu Yonglan didn’t make much, but she still bought herself a pretty decent camera.”
Qin Song said, “She had a hobby like that?”
Sun Xiaoke said, “Yeah. She treasured that camera. When she had nothing to do, she’d keep it in the drawer of her desk, and the second work ended, she’d take it with her, like she was afraid someone would steal it. My mom said everyone talked about her back then, saying she was putting on airs she couldn’t afford. She obviously didn’t have that kind of spending power, but she insisted on buying it anyway. And after buying it, she treated it like some precious treasure, hiding it away all day and carrying it with her everywhere…”
Qin Song grew a little curious. “What did she take pictures of with it? Did she travel a lot?”
Sun Xiaoke said, “Her life was so tight financially, and she still had to put Hu Heng through school. Where would she find the money or the mood to travel? I don’t know what she used it to photograph. Maybe she took selfies at home and admired herself.”
Qin Song suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked, “Right. Was she a widow?”
Sun Xiaoke thought about it carefully, then said, “She did say that she… was a widow.”
Qin Song turned up the volume on his phone a little. “What do you mean? What do you mean she said she was a widow?”
Sun Xiaoke said, “Well, put it this way. Back then, everyone worked together in the cafeteria, washing plates, doing dishes, prepping ingredients. It was impossible not to chat about family stuff. Whose husband worked where, whose wife was going through menopause, whose son failed the college entrance exam… none of that was secret. But if someone asked Hu Yonglan, ‘Where is your husband from?’ she’d shut them down with one sentence.”
Qin Song asked, “What sentence?”
Sun Xiaoke said, “He’s dead.”
Qin Song said, “Huh?”
Sun Xiaoke said, “That’s right. Whenever anyone asked about her husband, she’d say he was dead. Maybe he really was dead, or maybe she was just talking nonsense. But once she said that, who would dare keep asking? Over time, everyone started saying Hu Yonglan was a widow.”
Qin Song carefully thought back to how Hu Heng had described his father.
Because Qin Song had learned from others long ago that Hu Heng came from a single-parent family, he had never taken the initiative to ask about Hu Heng’s family situation. He rarely even brought up the word “father.”
In his memory, the few conversations that had touched on fathers had all been brought up by Hu Heng himself. Only now did Qin Song realize that Hu Heng did not seem to have ever directly said his father had “passed away.” What he had always said was, “I don’t have a father.”
That left room for ambiguity. Qin Song thought that perhaps Hu Heng had not lost his father young. Perhaps his parents had simply divorced.
It was only that his mother hated his father too much, and so had erased the existence of that role entirely.
After hearing Sun Xiaoke’s account, Qin Song felt that Hu Yonglan was pitiful, and Hu Heng was pitiful too. Even so, he still did not believe there was any necessary connection between this unfortunate mother and son and that Unknown Number.
Just then, a call came in. Qin Song moved the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. It was Huahua.
Perfect timing. Qin Song had already found out everything he wanted to ask about, and it was about time to hang up.
“Xiaoke, I’ve got another call coming in. I’m going to take it.”
Sun Xiaoke said, “Go on, go on. I need to get busy too. Bye!”
That simple farewell from Sun Xiaoke tugged at something in Qin Song’s heart.
Go on, go on. Jie ba, jie ba… stutter, stutter…
Ridiculous as it was, in that instant, Qin Song suddenly thought of how Hu Heng had once said that for a long stretch of his childhood, he had been a stutterer.
Could his sudden stutter, and his equally sudden recovery, have had something to do with his parents?
The phone kept ringing, not giving Qin Song any more time to think. He quickly answered Huahua’s call.
“Big Brother, where did you go?”
Qin Song said, “I… I asked for leave to visit my high school homeroom teacher. I just got back to Mingdu.”
Huahua said, “The boss singled you out in the meeting today. Said some employees have been skipping work a lot lately. He was definitely talking about you.”
Qin Song said, “I wasn’t even there. Who was the boss singling me out for?”
Huahua burst out laughing. “Hahahaha, I still couldn’t fool you.”
Qin Song said, “Obviously. I asked for leave. How does that count as skipping work?”
Huahua said, “When are you coming back to work? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
Qin Song said, “Tomorrow.”
Huahua said, “Then I’ll see you there!”
Huahua made Qin Song feel warm. By now, she was one of the few people left in his heart who still felt warm and genuinely kind.