Chapter 81: Little by Little, He Became Cold... (2/2)

”Do you know that Zhishu has left nothing, no dying wish at all, except for his funeral arrangement. Like this world isn't worth lingering on to him,” Ziyu Ai's bitter smile was worse than a crying face, ”Do you know what he has left in the end, President Jiang?

”Only his clothes he was wearing when he just came to Hangzhou, and a bank card with 150,000 in it!” The last syllable sounded sharp and mean. Ziyu Ai tried to grab Wenxu Jiang's clothes; both of them stumbled. ”150,000! Couldn't even afford a decent grave! Wenxu Jiang... How cruel of you!”

”He was with you for more than a decade; his body was sick; his heart was hurt. In the end, he couldn't afford a grave? Tell me, President Jiang, did you spend more than 150,000 on any of your lovers?!”

Wenxu Jiang couldn't say anything, his lips had turned into dark purple because of the shock, his face dead white. Words clogged up his throat; he coughed blood.

By the time Assistant Song arrived, Wenxu Jiang was alone with his hand on his chest, his clothes covered in blood, muttering, ”Someone told me... Zhishu He is gone...”

Wenxu Jiang collapsed in the end.

Assistant Song called A&E in a hurry. The medical report said he had gastric perforation due to emotional overreaction and overfatigue.

When Assistant Song found Wenxu Jiang was awake, Jiang had been staring at the blank ceiling for god-knows-how–long; it chilled people to look into his empty broken eyes.

”Boss... You...” Assistant Song couldn't say anything else but, ”Don't be too sad.”

”Book me a ticket, I'm going back to Beijing,” Wenxu Jiang's voice was weak and aloof, ”Zhishu is just mad at the shit I've done, I'm sorry and I'm scared now. He's waiting for me at home, isn’t he?”

Wenxu Jiang covered his eyes with his hand. He sounded bitter, ”I dreamed of Zhishu Just now. He said he missed me a lot... I must meet him...”

”Boss!” Assistant Song cut him off mercilessly; he knew Wenxu Jiang was at the edge of self-destruction. ”I'm sorry.”

”Sorry for what?!” Wenxu Jiang suddenly got worked up; he pulled the needle off the back of his hand and shouted, ”All you lot do is curse him! How can he be dead? How can he abandon me...” At the end of his sentence, he choked with sobs.

Wenxu Jiang was almost crying. ”Even if every one abandoned me, Zhishu wouldn't.”

Assistant Song couldn't calm Wenxu Jiang down. He took the plane back to Beijing on his own the very afternoon.

Half an hour before the flight took off, Wenxu Jiang received a message on his cell phone. He checked it; it was Ziyu Ai's message.

”Zhishu said, in his dying breath, that you must live your life properly because he didn't want to see you ever again, alive or dead.”

Apart from Ziyu Ai, no one would know whether it was Zhishu He's original word or it was the meanest thing Ziyu Ai made up to punish Wenxu Jiang.

Wenxu Jiang just turned off the phone slowly like he didn't care at all. ”Zhishu He can't be dead.”

Seven hours later, he was already standing in the apartment where he and Zhishu He lived for nine years. He called, ”Zhishu, are you home?”

No reply.

Wenxu Jiang was upset. He turned on all the lights and sat on the couch, eyes fixed at the door. I made you wait, from now on, I'll wait for you... Zhishu, I'll wait for you to come home.

Wenxu Jiang rubbed the ring hanging on his neck lightly with a gentle smile. ”Come home early when you have enough fun... I miss you. Really.”

Wenxu Jiang sat on that couch for two days without eating or dining. He sat still like he lost his soul, eyes dead-locked on that closed door. He no longer talked to himself in a smile or showed any sign of vitality.

In the end, Wenxu Jiang felt like the door opened in a trance, where Zhishu He, at the age of 17, waved at him in the school uniform in a smile, and behind him, it was an expanse of flowers.

Still in a trance, Wenxu Jiang reached out his hand and said gently, ”The school is over; let's go home together.” And then, his tears fell involuntarily.

The end.