White Moonlight Ch.7

Chapter 7 – Astray Youth (7)

The alley was dark and quiet, while outside, the street was gradually becoming lively. Students returning from school walked along the street, their voices covering the once howling wind. Street vendors were bustling with activity, making it seem like nothing had happened here.

Li Yue knew exactly what Bearded Man meant when he said those words before leaving. The other party wanted him to leave quickly and not get involved anymore, but he didn’t leave. His feet felt like they were weighted with lead, and he remained on the street outside the alley.

Students passed by continuously, their conversations drifting closer and then farther away. Most of the upperclassmen knew him, and when they saw him standing alone by the roadside, they glanced at him a few times before averting their gaze and moving on.

Besides students, there were also vendors, parents, and residents of this street scattered around. They might be associates of those earlier people, or they might not be. It was also possible that those few people had no other associates here.

Li Yue didn’t know why Zhou Kaiji had connections with these people, nor could he discern the current situation. The noisy sounds around completely masked any noise from the alley, and in the darkness, he couldn’t see anything clearly.

His gaze swept over the others on the street before finally stopping at the alley entrance where no one had appeared. He moved his fingers slightly, then finally forced his stiff legs to move.

“I can’t leave. I should go find someone.”

This was the old city area, and help was at a distance. The nearest would be the school security maintaining order at the school gate.

Gripping his bag tightly, Li Yue closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. The figures around him gradually blurred, and he lifted his feet, avoiding the people coming towards him and heading in the direction of the school gate.

Click.

Amidst the surrounding noise, a sound of metal clashing rang out. It was clean, sharp, and faint, yet he inexplicably caught it. Turning his head, he suddenly saw someone emerging from the previously empty alley entrance.

The person who claimed to be Zhou Kaiji’s guardian appeared. He tilted his head slightly, sandwiching his phone between his ear and shoulder as if he were talking to someone. His eyes were slightly lowered, one hand clasping the wristwatch on his wrist, the metal watch band reflecting a side of the light, glinting briefly, emitting a cold aura.

He still had the scarf around his neck, but the appearance of the scarf had changed slightly from before, hanging loosely as if it had been untied and then retied.

Bearded Man and his two companions were nowhere to be seen.

As if noticing the gaze, the person still on the phone raised his eyes slightly and, through the continuous stream of people, looked directly over, his light-colored pupils appearing even paler under the light.

Li Yue, who was about to go to the school gate to find the security guard, stopped in his tracks just in time, standing in place and watching as the person put away his phone and approached, saying, “Why haven’t you left yet, little classmate?”

Li Yue was momentarily unsure how to respond, his gaze involuntarily shifting towards the alley entrance as he said, “They…”

Just as he stood on the street, a gust of wind blew past, leaving his throat as dry and cold as when he had just run down from the classroom, making it difficult to speak normally.

“The situation with those people earlier,” Chen Luosong smiled and said, “has been resolved.”

Li Yue wanted to express his gratitude but lowered his head instead, only to see the person standing across from him taking out something and handing it over. Gesturing casually towards the scarf, he said, “This is quite effective for a sore throat.”

Li Yue reflexively took it, looking down as he opened his palm.

It was a few throat lozenges.

*

Zhou Kaiji went to the science department office.

The teacher didn’t have anything particularly special to discuss with him; he just mentioned that he did well on the recent quiz and asked some unrelated questions.

When he came out of school, there weren’t many people at the school gate.

He didn’t see the person who usually stood by the wall but noticed the driver who had been waiting in the car before.

The driver led him to where the car was parked, chatting as they walked. He mentioned that Secretary Chen had something to attend to but would be coming later, so he asked Zhou Kaiji to wait inside the car for now.

Zhou Kaiji followed Secretary Chen’s instructions obediently.

As he sat in the car with the heater on, he didn’t put down his backpack. The first thing he did after sitting down was to turn his head quietly and look at the roadside. His gaze swept over every person passing by.

Perhaps he waited for a while, or maybe not too long, but finally, a figure appeared within his line of sight.

The car’s lights came on, and the driver got out, opening the door. Chen Luosong, who arrived late, bent down and sat in the car. The cold air from outside also crept in but was then cut off by the car door.

Inside the warm car, Chen Luosong lowered his eyes and removed the scarf from his neck. As he glanced sideways, he noticed the high schooler next to him still carrying a backpack. He smiled and said, “I didn’t realize you like carrying backpacks so much.”

It was only then that Zhou Kaiji realized he hadn’t put down his backpack. He lowered his head and took it off. When he did, he noticed the thermos cup placed aside.

Seeing his gaze, Chen Luosong casually explained, “Throat-soothing tea, good for your voice.”

He also added, “Would you like some?”

For some reason, Zhou Kaiji’s heart skipped a beat, and his hand on his side tightened momentarily. He didn’t say anything, and Chen Luosong just asked casually.

After speaking, Chen Luosong took the thermos cup and opened the lid, smiling and saying, “You young people probably don’t need to drink these yet.”

Zhou Kaiji looked at him.

The car smoothly moved along the road, with lights flickering along the way.

*

Going to school, attending classes, finishing school—the students’ time passes by quickly in this continuous and repetitive process.

In these repetitive and monotonous days, any small incident happening around would receive a high level of attention. At some point, someone noticed that several streets near the school suddenly changed. The alleys that were usually not paid much attention to were temporarily blocked off, and construction sounds could be heard after school.

There were rumors that an attempted robbery had occurred in one of the alleys before. For the safety of the students, a kind-hearted individual donated money, and in cooperation with the school and government, they funded the renovation of nearby streets with safety hazards.

“Maybe it’s some young master or young miss studying here, and their family is splurging money.”

Li Hua was bundled up like a blob, his hands too stiff to hold a pen, so he just kept it in his pocket and tried to chat with his deskmate who was quietly doing homework.

It was already early winter, and the weather was getting colder. The school finally stopped requiring students to wear school uniforms on campus, so the students in the classroom wore thicker and thicker down jackets, especially him, wrapped up the roundest.

But his deskmate only spared him a perfunctory response amidst his busyness, leaving Li Hua feeling desolate. With no one to chat with, he could only idly look around.

As he looked around, he happened to see someone appearing at the classroom door.

It was Li Yue, looking like he had come to deliver a message and calling out the class monitor.

Li Hua nudged the person next to him and said, “The young master has arrived.”

Li Yue had good looks, good grades, and it was said that his family was well-off, running a company. Although he usually didn’t show off, it was rumored that he wore expensive clothes and accessories, a true young master.

“…”

This time, Li Hua didn’t even get a perfunctory response.

In the moment of silence, he suddenly remembered that the person next to him had to work before just to support himself. Realizing that the topic wasn’t quite suitable, he quickly stopped and said, “Sorry…”

Zhou Kaiji finished the last step and put down his pen, then turned his head and asked, “What did you say?”

The person had been focused on his work and hadn’t heard what was said. Li Hua quickly made a sound to cover up the fact and said, “It’s nothing, you can continue.”

The young master was still at the door, distributing notices as usual. Once he finished, he would leave. If there were discrepancies in the notices, he would have to count the desks at the door again, with the class monitor helping him.

The others gathered around, making a fuss.

Li Yue and the class monitor were classmates in junior high, and they had a good relationship. They were both good-looking, so every time he came to class, there would be excited whispers around. However, he just smiled and asked them not to make a fuss.

This time was no different. Ignoring the commotion around him, he threw something into his mouth halfway through, then lowered his head to continue counting.

The class monitor curiously asked what he was eating.

“Throat lozenge,” Li Yue handed the counted notices to the class monitor and said, “Someone gave it to me. It’s gone now, and it happened to be the last one.”

The notice was about the upcoming break, a short holiday next week for three days. After the break, they would return for monthly exams.

Three days off was already a significant break for high school students, and the class was buzzing with excitement, selectively ignoring the news about the exams upon their return.

Zhou Kaiji took the notice passed down and glanced at it before carefully folding it and placing it in his book.

*

The week felt particularly challenging for most students, especially with the additional holiday adjustment, extending classes on Friday until late in the evening.

Leaving school coincided with the evening rush hour, and the roads were congested. The red taillights formed a long line, stretching endlessly with no end in sight.

Chen Luosong had been busy throughout the week, but he looked no different from usual, holding a thermos cup and leaning back in his seat, half-closed eyes as he inquired about the school’s happenings.

He asked every day after school. Zhou Kaiji was usually quiet and focused on doing his work peacefully, paying little attention to his surroundings. At first, he struggled to say much, but he gradually got used to it, especially with Li Hua, who was like a news dealer, constantly feeding him information. Zhou Kaiji could now manage to converse a bit more.

Chen Luosong listened to him, occasionally smiling and resting his face on his hand.

The traffic cleared momentarily as they entered a dimly lit tunnel.

The light dimmed, and the car became quiet.

As they emerged from the tunnel, Zhou Kaiji turned his head and saw the person sitting beside him, resting his head, his half-closed eyes now shut, stray hair covering his face.

Zhou Kaiji stayed silent, watching for a while before realizing, then shifting his gaze away and looking out the window on the other side.

After exiting the tunnel, they reached a bridge, but the traffic was even worse than before, hardly moving for a long time.

From this vantage point, they could see the pitch-black river below and the vast warehouses on the distant riverbank.

Suddenly, one of the dark warehouses briefly lit up. It was car headlights; a vehicle drove out from among the warehouse stacks, drove close to the riverbank, and quickly drove away, the light from its headlights disappearing.

Zhou Kaiji gazed at the constantly flowing dark river.

“This river is very cold at this time.”

A voice suddenly sounded in the car. Zhou Kaiji turned to see that the person who had previously closed his eyes had woken up again, slightly opening his eyes to look out the window and say, “There are ice fragments in the water. If you’re not careful, you might get frostbite.”

He had just woken up, speaking softly with a slight hoarseness, but his attitude remained as casual as ever, as if it were just casual chatter.

Zhou Kaiji asked, “How did you know that, Brother Chen?”

Chen Luosong chuckled, “I guessed.”

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