Ma Xiaoding sent him the address.
It was on Linqing Road near No. 1 High School, a street lined with leisure and entertainment venues. Internet cafés, card rooms, karaoke bars, pool halls-it had everything. It was where many No. 1 High School students hung out after class, and also a gathering place for delinquents.
After getting out of the car, Song Yu looked around but couldn't find the place.
So he asked Ma Xiaoding.
[I'm on Linqing Road. Where exactly?]
The Sadako avatar stayed still for ages. Ma Xiaoding couldn't work out how to describe it right away. The place was too out of the way, with no landmarks nearby.
Finally, he glanced outside. Inspiration struck, and the artistic soul deep in his bones stirred eagerly.
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: Brother Yu, look up at the sky.]
Holding his phone, Song Yu froze for a few seconds, then inexplicably followed his instructions and looked up.
Some birds perched on the utility poles. A few clouds floated across the boundless blue sky. Nothing unusual. He looked carefully but still saw no head poking out of a building window to wave at him.
Baffled, Song Yu typed.
[?]
This time, Ma Xiaoding replied especially quickly.
[Do you see a cloud that looks like cotton candy?]
Song Yu: "..."
Ma Xiaoding was delighted.
[I'm right to the right of that cloud! Follow it and you'll find me! Brother Yu, my match is about to start! Talk later!]
Song Yu: "..."
What a lunatic!
Seeing his expression, Xie Sui smiled gently. "What's wrong?"
Song Yu put his phone away, expressionless. "Nothing. There might just be one more person I need to beat up."
Xie Sui chuckled and asked gently, "What's the internet café called?"
Song Yu thought for a moment. "Something with Hua in it."
Xie Sui looked up and surveyed the street. His childhood memories of Jing City were particularly vivid. Back then, to earn money, he had covered practically every inch of the area around No. 1 High School. An internet café with Hua in its name, tucked away where teachers wouldn't easily find it-he soon remembered. His eyes focused slightly. Carrying the plastic bag, he took a long stride forward. "Follow me."
As a newcomer, Song Yu obediently did as he was told.
They crossed the road, turned into an alley between two buildings, and walked a few more steps to a staircase.
Xie Sui said, "It's on the second floor."
Song Yu's mouth fell open in surprise. "This internet café is so out of the way. How did you know about it?"
Xie Sui smiled. "I used to work part-time here."
Song Yu stalled for a second. "You've really had all kinds of part-time jobs."
Xie Sui didn't answer that. His eyes narrowed slightly. "You came to beat someone up without even knowing where?"
Song Yu waved a hand. "Forget where. I don't even know what the person I'm beating up looks like."
"..."
Xie Sui.
That certainly was Song Yu's style.
Second floor, internet café.
When Song Yu walked in, Ma Xiaoding had already lost. He slapped the desk loudly, yanked off his headphones in frustration, and punched the chubby boy beside him. "I told you not to go in during that last fight! Told you not to! But you just had to show off! I'm so pissed! This loss is on you!"
The chubby boy clutched his head in misery. "I was wrong, I was wrong! Brother Ding, I was wrong!"
"Tch." Sitting far away from them, a tall, skinny boy in a white T-shirt snorted. "Give it a rest, Ma Xiaoding. Just take the blame yourself. You're your team's weak link. An ADC going 1/9. Awesome. Just awesome."
Ma Xiaoding protested, "A webpage suddenly popped up on my computer halfway through! It doesn't count! Rematch!"
The boy in the white T-shirt curled his lip. "Tch. Just admit you're a sore loser. So many excuses."
Ma Xiaoding said, "...Fuck, look how cocky you are after winning one game. Nine tonight, outside the dorm. You and me. Whoever doesn't show is a little bi-"
His threat stopped short, and he swallowed the last word. He stared wide-eyed at the person walking in, dumbfounded.
Song Yu had been calling Ma Xiaoding the whole way upstairs, but Ma Xiaoding had been completely absorbed in his game, ignoring his vibrating phone and never picking up.
Now he saw him in person.
Song Yu hung up, his expression cold.
Ma Xiaoding stared at him, utterly stunned. "..." How did Brother Yu get here so fast?!
Before he could explain, Song Yu had already strode over, his face so dark he looked ready to chop him up.
Ma Xiaoding raised his hands in surrender. "Brother Yu, I can explain. I really didn't hear my phone just now."
With a cold laugh, Song Yu pulled up their chat. "No rush. First, explain where that cloud that looks like cotton candy is."
Ma Xiaoding: "..."
?? Does nobody have a romantic bone in their body anymore?
Wasn't following a cloud especially poetic?
Clutching his forehead where he'd been hit, Ma Xiaoding led the way. "When I went out to use the bathroom, I heard them walking along talking about that filthy stuff. It was infuriating. Come on, Brother Yu. Let's go smash the place up."
"Third floor, third floor. I saw them go up there myself."
Song Yu, who planned to wash his hands of fighting, twitched his lips. He had no desire to discuss this with a delinquent like him. He deliberately slowed down to wait for Xie Sui.
Ma Xiaoding's lackeys all watched fearfully as their boss bowed and scraped before this boy.
He looked delicate and tender-skinned, but he hadn't hesitated at all when striking. His vicious, unruly manner made it obvious he wasn't someone to mess with.
And more importantly... wasn't that Xie Sui following him?
Several of them had gone to middle school with Xie Sui. Besides his outstanding grades and looks, their impression of him was that he was silent, gloomy, and withdrawn.
But now, Xie Sui seemed somewhat different from how they remembered him.
There were still similarities. That distant chill that kept everyone at arm's length hadn't changed.
But he gave off a very different feeling.
The old Xie Sui had been like a vine stubbornly growing in the darkness, wrapping himself in thorns, living numbly under crushing pressure. One look at him was enough to sense the gloom.
Now, things were different. That gloom had become an indescribable air about him. Every movement seemed exceptionally elegant and composed. Whether his eyes held a smile or not, there was a hint of coldness in them, languid and dangerous.
The lackeys followed behind in silence.
In the stairwell, Song Yu looked up and asked him, "Remember how I told you I'd beat Zhu Zhixing up once school started?"
Xie Sui paused, reaching a conclusion in an instant. His dark eyes fixed on him as he chuckled. "So when you said you were going to beat someone up, you actually meant getting revenge for me?"
"Huh?" Song Yu wondered whether he seemed too eager to please. Someone offering unsolicited favors was either scheming or stealing. Guiltily, he covered it up. "No. It's because the food his family makes is such a rip-off."
Xie Sui said, "Oh?"
Ma Xiaoding already considered Xie Sui one of their own. After all, Brother Yu's deskmate was his friend too.
He led the way up front. His hearing wasn't great, and he only caught Xie Sui's question.
Eager to restore his image in Brother Yu's eyes, he rushed to give Song Yu credit. "Exactly! Brother Yu wasn't going to come at first. He wanted to study hard and ignore this crap. But the second I told him that idiot Zhu Zhixing was targeting you and wanted to beat you up, he changed what he was about to say! Asked me for the address! Rushed straight over without stopping! Now, isn't that loyalty? Tsk, Xie Sui, our Brother Yu really means it with you."
Song Yu: "..."
Fuck. Ma Xiaoding, you're dead.
The stairwell was dim, and the two of them stood very close. Song Yu could clearly hear Xie Sui's soft chuckle.
His breath was slightly warm, and that laugh by Song Yu's ear was maddening.
Song Yu gritted his teeth. "Don't listen to his nonsense."
As always, Xie Sui went along with him. His eyes seemed to hold starlight in the darkness, his voice suppressing laughter. "All right."
Song Yu deliberately slowed his steps, recalling what Ma Xiaoding had told him. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
In Gentle Control, Xie Sui had suffered far too much bullying and humiliation during his school years. Song Yu had skimmed through it so quickly back then that someone like Chen Zhijie had left little impression on him. But threatening him with his grandmother-that was a tactic the second male lead in the original novel had used to force Xie Sui to stay by his side.
Threatening someone with their closest family was so low. He didn't even know how a high school student had come up with such a trick.
Song Yu said, "I still think he owes you an apology and an explanation for those three years of middle school."
Xie Sui's lashes fluttered, his expression almost a smile.
Watching the stairs as he climbed one step at a time, Song Yu said quietly, as if to himself, "Yes. That's it."
Given Zhu Zhixing's character, he was only too frightened of Ma Xiaoding right now to spread rumors recklessly. There was no guarantee he wouldn't do something worse later.
Better to give him an unforgettable memory, so he would always know exactly what he could and couldn't say.
Ma Xiaoding reached the third floor bristling with aggression. There was a small pool hall here.