CH 17.2

The Seventeenth Cup of Coffee Part 2

The voice came from past the hallway, and Jiang Ying could not hear everything that was said in the room.

But with the few words she was able to catch, it struck her like thunder. She was confused and did not know whether to go in or not.

The person who was having an outburst at this moment was like a trapped animal screaming in despair. It was the same person who was the most gentle existence she had ever met in her 20+ years of living.

And she had never dared to imagine that Yun Xian would say something like “I hope I don’t exist”.

Su Cheng pulled Jiang Ying out and closed the door. He said in a soft voice, “The boss answered the phone and it sounded like it was someone from his family. I guess something happened because he started fighting without saying a greeting. He is never happy whenever he answers a phone call from his family.”

“I’m going in to see him,” Jiang Ying stated and tried to go in.

“Hey, sister.” Su Cheng stopped her. “It’s better to not go in. He’s upset, so let him deal with it for a bit.”

Jiang Ying opened her mouth, but could not say anything. With a heavy sigh, she leaned against the door and put her hand out in front of Su Cheng. “Give me a cigarette.”

Su Cheng was surprised. He took out a cigarette and the lighter from his pocket and handed it over to her.

Jiang Ying was about to light the cigarette in her mouth when she remembered that she had told Yun Xian she would quit smoking. She closed the lid of the lighter with a snap and tousled her hair impatiently. “Forget it.”

Not long after that, Yun Xian came out and shouted to Su Cheng, “Su Cheng, I’m going back to Beijing for a few days. Call me if something comes up.”

Su Cheng quickly replied, “Oh, okay.”

Yun Xian briskly walked to the door and saw Jiang Ying standing there. After what had just happened, he hid his annoyed expression and forced himself to put on a smile. He asked her, “Why are you here?”

Jiang Ying didn’t answer his question and asked instead, “Are you going back to Beijing? Did something happen?”

Su Cheng intentionally went back in to leave them alone to talk.

It was hard to explain, so Yun Xian only said, “Something happened at home. I’ll tell you later. I have to go to the airport now. Wait for me to come back.”

“Yun Xian.” Jiang Ying took his arm. “I’m going with you.”

Jian Ying saw that he didn’t respond immediately and grabbed his hand. She said, “I don’t want to get involved with whatever is happening to your family. I just want to be with you. Maybe there is something I can help you with. Let me go with you, okay?”

The gloom that surrounded him seemed to have suddenly diffused. Yun Xian raised his hand to touch Jiang Ying’s cheek. His heart was aching.

“Okay.”

It took 40 minutes to get to the airport. Jiang Ying drove the car, while Yun Xian was talking with different people. The first question was always “Is Yun Qian with you?”

After going through all the people in his address book, Yun Xian finally put down his cell phone and leaned back into the chair.

Jiang Ying glanced at him and asked, “Did your brother run away from home?”

Yun Xian said weakly, “He hasn’t been doing well with his studying lately and had a fight with our mother. Today, the teacher called and said that he didn’t go to class. I don’t know where the kid went.”

Jiang Ying comforted him, “He’s not a kid and knows what to do. Maybe he is tired and wants to run away for a while.”

Yun Xian rubbed his temples. “I know.”

Yun Xian was in a bad mood, so Jiang Ying didn’t say anything else. They hastily bought tickets for the next flight, and it was past two o’clock in the afternoon when they landed.

After they took a look at the surveillance cameras at the community’s gate, they knew that Yun Qian had walked in the opposite direction of the school that morning. However, it was difficult to find out where he went afterwards.

Xia Zhi, Yun Xian’s mother, had two public classes in a row that morning and had no time to check her cell phone. Teacher Tao, Yun Qian’s homeroom teacher, thought that he was sick and that was the reason why he didn’t go to school. He was a good student with great grades, so she never thought that he would skip class.

Xia Zhi’s first reaction when she knew that her younger son had not gone to class was to call her older son, who she also couldn’t control.

In her view, part of Yun Qian’s sudden rebellion was something he had learned from Yun Xian, and Yun Xian’s defiance was inherited from Yun Chengfan. They couldn’t bear it, so they tried to escape from reality. Father and son were the same: cowardly and shameful.

The mother and son argued after a few words. They have been sitting in the police station the entire time. Each person was on different sides, and neither of them paid attention to the other.

Jiang Ying was standing next to Yun Xian. This was her first time meeting his mother, so she was very reserved. Since the atmosphere was awkward now, she was even more uncomfortable.

When the police officer heard that it was a senior in high school who had gone missing, he was pretty relieved.

He asked them, “Where does the kid usually go? If he doesn’t want to go to class, then he probably went to the Internet café.”

Xia Zhi shook her head. “It’s impossible for him to go there. His ID card is at home, and he doesn’t have a cell phone. Where else can a child go?”

Yun Xian calmly explained the situation to the police officer, “He usually stays at home or goes to school. I contacted my relatives and his friends and they all said that  they didn’t see him. There’s only a few places he could go alone and he only has a few hundred yuan on him. Can you check the surrounding surveillance cameras?”

While smoking, the police officer was writing the report, “It’ll take too much time to look through it. Maybe he will come back on his own if we wait.”

Jiang Ying pulled Yun Xian’s sleeve and asked in a low voice, “Does he have any hobbies? For example, if he likes astronomy, then he might go to the museum, or maybe he likes to play basketball?”

Yun Xian lowered his head and said nothing.

Jiang Ying thought he didn’t understand, and continued, “When you are in a bad mood, you will probably do something you like. Maybe he just wants to find a place to vent.”

“Jiang Ying.” Yun Xian finally looked up. The light landed on the side of his face and shoulder. It highlighted his dark circles from the lack of sleep and the fatigue in his eyes. “Yun Xian most likely doesn’t have any hobbies.”

It was better to say he couldn’t.

Anything that was not related to learning was a waste of time. Anything he liked would be shut down by these words: “Wait until the college entrance exams are over. Your main duty now is studying.” Over time, any hobbies and interests that could have brought him joy would lose that effect.

During the long silence, the light shifted. Yun Xian’s entire body was in the shadows. He finally remembered that his brother used to like flying machines.

When did Yun Qian stop talking to him about spaceflight, or mentioning space probes, or bringing up terms that were so fascinating in his eyes?

It seemed like it happened one weekend, when Xia Zhi took the brothers to the bookstore. Yun Qian was very happy to have a copy of The Vastness of the Universe.

The book was very thick, and the specialized topics it discussed were too hard for a child at seven or eight years old to understand. However, the pictures alone made Yun Qian interested in it. He did not know what was needed to invest in a manned spaceflight, he just couldn’t resist the curiosity he had about the deepest parts of the universe.

However, the book Yun Qian liked so much could not be taken home. No matter how persistent he was and how much he described how interesting the book was, Xia Zhi ultimately retorted, “Can your test scores be higher than it?” He was so crushed that he had no words to talk back.

That day, Yun Qian didn’t throw a tantrum and obediently put the book back on the shelf. Xia Zhi patted his head with satisfaction and stated with a smile, “How about I take you and your brother to eat pizza tonight?”

As for whether his brother was happy later, Yun Xian did not remember.

Maybe he forgot it pretty soon. He was a child then after all.

“Isn’t it pathetic?” Yun Xian asked Jiang Ying in a hoarse voice. “He doesn’t even have anything he likes.”

He was talking about Yun Qian, but he seemed to be talking about himself.