Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Many luxury cars were parked at the school gates; the young masters and ladies of Jingang’s high society were lazily stepping out of their vehicles.

A Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit stopped not far from the school entrance. This model wasn’t actually the latest anymore—it had been famous for five years—but because it was expensive and had never been officially sold in the Jingang mainland market, it was out of reach for many wealthy people in Jingang. Thus, stopping here now attracted a great deal of attention.

After Old Ma parked the car, he reported to Jiang Sheng, “Mr. Jiang, we have arrived.”

Jiang Sheng turned his head and said, “A-Yu, it’s time to get out.”

Du Yu was staring blankly out the window. The snow hadn’t stopped, though the intensity was gradually weakening. Snowflakes like willow catkins drifted onto the car window; pressed against the glass, the shapes of the snow were even clearer.

Du Yu hadn’t taken in Jiang Sheng’s words just now. He reached out to touch the snow by the window; through the glass, he felt nothing but a hand full of coldness.

“A-Yu, we need to get out of the car.”

Jiang Sheng said it again. He kept his speaking speed very slow so that the boy could hear him clearly. Du Yanyu had mentioned that when Du Yu’s brother, Du Li, was alive, he was used to calling him A-Yu; to this day, as far as Du Yu was concerned, only by calling him A-Yu was it possible for him to listen.

And this time, he finally heard. He slowly turned his head.

Seeing that he had a reaction, Jiang Sheng hurried to the side to pull open the car door, his tone gentle: “A-Yu, let’s get out.”

He stood by the car door, just about to open the umbrella, when his gaze suddenly caught sight of Du Yu’s scarf—it had come loose at some point, dangling with one side long and the other short.

Jiang Sheng bent down slightly, moving closer to Du Yu to re-tie the scarf. The scarf still carried warmth and the faint scent of body wash; the boy’s neck looked very white and tender.

“Are you cold?” he asked while tying it.

It was still snowing outside. Jiang Sheng hadn’t had time to open the umbrella; as he stood by the car door, snowflakes drifted and tumbled into his hair.

Du Yu suddenly reached out to touch Jiang Sheng’s hair. He tilted his head up, his voice soft: “Flower.”

Jiang Sheng froze for a moment, then smiled. “It’s a snowflake.”

He deliberately lowered his head a bit more. Du Yu tried to pinch some snow off, but with just a little pressure, the snow melted.

Once the scarf was tied, Jiang Sheng opened the umbrella.

“Let’s go, A-Yu. Class is starting.”

After the words were spoken, Du Yu didn’t acknowledge him. His gaze was easily attracted by other things; he began to imitate what Jiang Sheng had taught him earlier, reaching out his hand to catch the snow.

“A-Yu, we have to go,” Jiang Sheng said again.

Du Yu still didn’t react, his head lowered as his long, pale fingers toyed with the snowflakes. His obedient, simple face looked very innocent and cute.

Jiang Sheng was a bit helpless. Du Yu simply wasn’t listening to him, and class was about to start. He checked his watch: 7:42. Only eighteen minutes left before class. He had promised Du Yanyu to deliver Du Yu to school on time.

If it were someone else, Jiang Sheng might have had a way, but now he was facing such a person. He couldn’t hear the sounds of the outside world, and Jiang Sheng found it hard to pierce through that barrier that isolated him from the outside. This left him very frustrated.

Jiang Sheng waited quietly for a while. His gaze suddenly caught the snow on the car roof. He thought for a moment, then reached out to grab some snow, packing it in his hand into a small snowball. He lowered his head, held it before Du Yu’s eyes, and asked tentatively in a friendly tone, “Do you want it?”

How many years had it been? He hadn’t played this kind of child’s trick since primary school; it was too childish. But now, in order to coax the Du Yu before him out of the car, he had to do this.

When Du Yu saw the snowball, the image of Du Li appeared in his mind. In fact, whatever flowers or snow—it was all what his brother liked. Because his brother liked it, he liked it. His thinking was just that simple.

He raised his world-ignorant gaze to look at Jiang Sheng. He reached out his hand, his voice sweet and soft: “Want…”

Jiang Sheng let out a sigh of relief and a short laugh, opening the car door wider. “Then will A-Yu get out first, okay?”

Du Yu looked at him for a while; a few seconds later, he stepped out of the car.

Jiang Sheng smiled, spread his palm, and held it before Du Yu’s eyes. “There, here you go. Watch out, it’s cold.”

Du Yu glanced at Jiang Sheng and then carefully took the snowball.

Jiang Sheng looked at Du Yu and thought: Fortunately, this child is easy to coax.

The accumulated snow on the ground had long since been swept away by workers. Jiang Sheng held the umbrella, tilting the bulk of it toward Du Yu. To be honest, Jiang Sheng had been worried the boy might wander off; he hesitated over whether to hold his hand, but felt that might be inevitably too intimate.

Fortunately, Du Yu was very obedient, walking forward without a word. He wasn’t as tall as Jiang Sheng; walking side-by-side like this, he only reached Jiang Sheng’s shoulder. Looking at him, Jiang Sheng felt as if he were looking at a younger brother—a simple youth who needed care, protection, and concern.

Walking past the circular boulevard, Jiang Sheng pointed to a set of stairs not far away and said, “A-Yu, go that way.”

Du Yu didn’t acknowledge him. Jiang Sheng was helpless and seemingly compromised. He reached out and gently grasped the boy’s wrist, pointing toward the stairs. “Go that way, A-Yu.”

Luckily, this time Du Yu had a reaction. He looked down at their joined hands, then up at Jiang Sheng. Jiang Sheng held the umbrella and led him by the hand toward the stairs. Du Yu’s gaze was slightly confused; he didn’t understand, but he passively followed him.

Du Yu was currently in Grade 12. Unlike Grade 10 and 11, Grade 12 was in a separate building. On the first floor of Huiyuan Building, Jiang Sheng glanced at the door plate hanging at the classroom entrance: “Grade 12, Class 1.”

Jiang Sheng stood at the door and took a look. There were about twenty to thirty people—a mix of Black, White, and Asian students—laughing and fooling around in the class. Faint English words reached his ears, but being far away, Jiang Sheng couldn’t hear specifically what was being said.

He handed the bag to Du Yu and bent down to meet his eyes. Regardless of whether the boy could take it in or not, he said seriously, “A-Yu, now you have to go in by yourself. You must listen well in class, do you understand?”

Du Yu didn’t speak, nor did he take the bag. His pair of clear eyes stared at him. Du Yanyu had specifically instructed that once at school, he had to rely on himself; he couldn’t grow up under someone else’s wing forever. He needed to grow up on his own.

Jiang Sheng grasped his wrist and hung the strap on his arm. He looked at the situation in the classroom and gave an encouraging smile. “Go on in.”

Du Yu looked at him without blinking, no reaction. Jiang Sheng waved his hand. “Quick, go in.”

Just as he finished speaking, a boy suddenly rushed out, acting clumsily, and knocked Du Yu’s bag to the ground. He hurried to pick it up, patted it off, handed it to Du Yu, and apologized with a smile: “Sorry about that… Hey, I’ve seen you! You came in that flashy car this morning. My parents told me that the car is very expensive; they really like that car.”

His Mandarin wasn’t very standard, carrying a heavy regional accent. He seemed extremely familiar with others; seeing Du Yu’s face clearly, he directly put the bag on for him and tried to pull Du Yu into the class. “My name is Liang Sinian. My father is the Steel King, Liang Chaowei—but not Liang Chaowei, you know, there are many people with the same name. You haven’t told me your name yet! We’ll be friends from now on. If there’s a chance, could you invite me to sit in your flashy car?”

Liang Sinian was a bit noisy. Jiang Sheng stood not far away watching. He felt Du Yu needed a friend—no matter what kind, he just needed a friend. And having entered the school, now was clearly a good time for him to make friends.

…

At this moment, Liang Sinian’s mouth was a bit dry. He had said so many things, but this classmate from the flashy car refused to acknowledge him with a single word. He opened a bottle of mineral water and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

Then he stared at Du Yu, who was sitting next to him, and said, “Hey, can you talk or not? Are you a mute?”

Du Yu was sitting by the window. He hadn’t chosen it; he had been dragged there by Liang Sinian. As soon as he sat down, he placed the snowball on the windowsill.

“Hey.” Liang Sinian propped up his head and called to him. “It’s no fun. Why don’t you ever say anything? Are you deaf?”

The sky had cleared after the snow, and the snow was melting. It looked wet outside the window, as if there had been a rainstorm. Du Yu looked out the window and began to space out again. What was he thinking? No one knew.

The homeroom teacher was a British Chinese who dressed very formally. As soon as she entered, she spoke in English, in a very standard London accent: “A very warm welcome to everyone. I am your homeroom teacher. My Chinese name is Liao Wenqian, but of course, you can also call me by my English name, Melody.”

The children in this class had attended international schools since they were small—from kindergarten to high school—and were used to hearing English. Such simple spoken language was a piece of cake for them.

Liao Wenqian looked over the class. “Since everyone has already sat down, I won’t arrange the seating. If there are any problems, you can communicate with me privately.”

“Okay, now let’s open our English books to page three. Let’s look at the first lesson’s Reading Out…”

Liang Sinian glanced at Du Yu beside him, who was still spacing out. He nudged his arm. “Hey, class is starting! Page three! Why haven’t you taken your book out yet? What are you doing?”

Because it had cleared up, the temperature was warm. A kite flew high in the distance. It was far from St. Paul’s, but because it was flying so high, it could be seen clearly even from a distance.

Du Yu suddenly stood up. Because of this abrupt move, the people in the class instantly turned their gazes toward him.

Liang Sinian was surprised: “Wow, you’ve got style! We’re in class! Have you made a mistake? Watch out or Melody will make you ‘eat a banana’ (give you a scolding/punishment).”

…

Jiang Sheng was not far outside the classroom. He had just glanced into the room; Du Yu was looking out the window. He was always prone to spacing out and didn’t listen to the lessons properly.

Jiang Sheng checked the time: 8:28. He had to wait here until 2:00 PM, when Du Yu’s classes ended. For the remaining five hours and thirty-two minutes, he could only sit here quietly. He was bored from waiting and felt a craving for a cigarette.

In truth, his addiction wasn’t strong—one pack a week, an average of two or three cigarettes a day—but he hadn’t smoked a single one since this morning. He struck a match and lit a cigarette. Holding it between his index and middle fingers, he sat on the steps at the stairwell.

But before he could even take a second puff, he saw Du Yu walking out of the classroom. He hurriedly stubbed out the cigarette and walked over quickly.

“Where are you going?”

Liao Wenqian stood at the classroom door and shouted, “That student! Class is in session right now. Please return to the classroom immediately!”

A few students near the window were sticking their heads out to gossip. “Did he eat sh*t? Is he out of his mind?” “He’s sick, like an idiot.”

Liang Sinian looked at Du Yu outside the window, appearing very pitying toward him. “Don’t talk about him like that! He’s deaf and mute. My grandmother is deaf and mute, it’s very pitiable.”

“A-Yu.” Jiang Sheng jogged a few steps to catch up with him. “Where are you going?”

Du Yu kept walking forward. Jiang Sheng looked at the situation in the classroom and had to grab hold of Du Yu, bending down to try and make his eyes notice him. He said word by word, “A-Yu, where are you going?”

This method was effective; Du Yu stopped. He raised his head, looked toward the sky, and murmured to himself, “Butterfly… Brother…”

Jiang Sheng followed his gaze. High in the azure sky, a butterfly kite was flying. Was Du Yu thinking of his brother? Perhaps he used to fly kites with Du Li. Did he think the person flying the kite was Du Li?

Jiang Sheng looked down at Du Yu. He was tilting his head back, his clean face and innocent, guileless gaze fixed steadily on that kite.

A youth of his age would usually know everything—eating, drinking, playing, and having fun. Their eyes would have long ago become cloudy and worldly. Only he was different from the others. Such a result was because of the huge price he had paid. Someone would forever be the shadow in his heart.

This child was too simple, and truly too easy to feel heartache for. Even though Jiang Sheng had already seen many kinds of people and various stories, he was ultimately touched by Du Yu’s gaze.

He asked softly, “Does A-Yu want to fly a kite?”

Du Yu lowered his head, his ignorant gaze looking at Jiang Sheng. He remained silent, not saying a word.

Jiang Sheng bent down, resting his elbows on his knees, and pointed a finger toward the sky. “A kite. That one, the butterfly.”

Du Yu looked up at the sky and saw that butterfly kite, identical to the one he had flown with Du Li when he was small. His naive voice said, “Want.”

Jiang Sheng slowed his speaking speed. “Then A-Yu go back to the classroom for lessons now. When you finish school, I will accompany you to fly a kite, okay?”

There was a trace of persuasion in his words. There was no other way; after all, since they had just started, it was inevitable that Du Yu wouldn’t be used to him. It was a struggle even to speak with him; if he tried to make him return to class directly, he feared that even if he stood there talking for an hour, the boy might not necessarily heed him.

He grasped Du Yu’s wrist, hoping he could feel that he was talking to him. He pointed in the direction of the classroom and said word by word, “Now, you have to go back. Do you understand what I mean?”

Jiang Sheng was about to say more, but unexpectedly, Du Yu actually understood. He began to walk forward.

“Yes, very good.”

After a few steps, Du Yu suddenly turned his head. His pure gaze fixed on Jiang Sheng as he uttered two words: “Butter… fly…”

Jiang Sheng froze for a moment, then wanted to laugh. “I know. Butterfly. Yes, I won’t forget. Hurry back.”