The Decade of Deep Love

Translator: Claire.KK

Zhishu He dreamt more and more frequently lately, sometimes, he would even sink into tangled dreams during light sleep. The scene in all those dreams was always the same and explicit. It was this cool hooligan-ish boy who never wore his school uniform properly reached out to him with a languid smile, “The school is over, let’s go home together.”

Zhishu would always wake up with his face covered with dried tears. He somehow felt it was an odd summoning just as the calls of lost youth, decayed love, and impending demise.

Zhishu was selecting the 31st birthday present for himself recently—his own grave.

This had been going on for days before Ziyu Ai found out. Zhishu couldn’t hear very well lately so he didn’t notice people coming over when the brochure got his full attention.

Ziyu Ai hugged Zhishu from behind, lay his jaw gently on Zhishu’s shoulder, “What are you looking at?”

Ziyu felt something wasn’t right from Zhishu’s subconscious hiding movement. He then snatched the piece of paper from his hand which was already crumpled.

Ziyu Ai’s face turned bloodless, and then livid, due to extreme rage. He clutched Zhishu’s chin, forcing Zhishu to fixate on his eyes, “Why are you looking at this?”

Zhishu He was a bit hurt, he struggled and said, “Aren’t you a doctor?”

His answer didn’t make much sense to Ziyu’s question but they did get each other’s point at heart.

Ziyu Ai let go of Zhishu dispiritedly. “Just quit thinking about this nonsense.” He said.

Zhishu didn’t back down this time. He flattened the grave-selling flyer slowly. “Can’t I pick my resting place where I’m gonna spend a long time living?” Zhishu He blinked and smiled like a child, “I still have about 150,000 yuan in my account card. I’ll need your help if that’s not enough.”

Zhishu’s smile stilled. Emotions were drifting in his eyes as his mind drifted. “After I die... Just cremate me. I pretty much know why your brother came here a while back. If that asshole Wenxu Jiang still wants me, just give him my ashes...Not for free of course. Ask him for whatever he owes including lost-wage compensation, emotional distress claims, medical bills and c. If he refuses to pay you, don’t give me back. Spill me, bury me, whatever you like...”

Ziyu Ai was frozen from head to toes. He was used to death but he just realized that he, in fact, wasn’t that cool with it. 𝐟𝚛e𝐞𝙬𝗲𝒃𝓷𝒐𝘃e𝒍.c𝑜m

“I won’t give you back no matter how much he offers.” Ziyu made a promise.

Zhishu was a bit tired. He curled his body as he lay on the doctor’s thigh. “He probably doesn’t even want my ashes, which might bring him bad luck. Not everyone is like you, rich and stupid.”

Ziyu stroked his hair. “I’m not stupid...” He said in a low voice. If anything, he just loved him too much.

*

It took the transport network of Public Security Bureau 48 hours to confirm a route; during that period of time Wenxu didn’t close his eyes for a single moment. He was weakening at a perceivable speed. He now even needed emergency drugs in his pocket all the time.

Wenxu Jiang didn’t relax at all. He spent a large amount of money getting top specialists here from U.S., even sponsored the most advanced medical equipment to the hospital. His plan was when Zhishu came back, he would seamlessly get the best treatment at once. He was constantly thinking about if he missed anything Zhishu might need.

Not until after Zhishu He left him did Wenxu Jiang started to realize what was for fun and what the real necessity in life was. If Zhishu could stay at his side in a good shape, he even would be happy to live the hard life as 10 years ago.

Wenxu Jiang had this coming at him. He didn’t dare to miss Zhishu too much because his heart could hurt, the physiological pain that would result in suffocation and shock.

Wenxu Jiang booked the earliest flight the same afternoon as soon as he got hold of the rough location. Only economy class seats were available, where he couldn’t even stretch his legs. Wenxu Jiang didn’t want to screw up his body so he took a little nap.

By the time he landed in Xiaoshan International Airport, it was over 7 p.m.. The ground was wet because the rain just stopped.

The branch office manager came to pick him up in person. Wenxu Jiang didn’t push himself too hard because he wanted to save time. If it was a few years back, he would stay up for 72 hours for just one order.