The Fading Away of Our Youth (So Young) Volume 2 Chapter 14 Part1

I’m going to Spain for about 1.5 weeks in mid-March (and I’m so excited!!!) so I won’t be able to keep translating over that period of time. But, since I did a few parts over vacation, you guys will still get your regular chapter releases!

I was debating whether I could release an extra chapter this week, as I just had vacation, but because I’m going away soon I can’t. So sorry!

This chapter made me tear up… but still, enjoy the update!

Chapter 14, 1/2

Lin Jing was a bit surprised, but he didn’t deny it. He said, “You still guessed it. There really isn’t any other meaning to it, Xiao Pang (its means little fatty)… … no, when Shu Bao was younger he was indeed a stray cat, and I had just come back to the country. He frequently hovered around the area where I live, and I saw his thin and pitiful body, so I brought him home. After, I became busier and busier at work, and I had less and less time to take care of him. That’s why I entrusted Doctor Wu’s wife to bring him over to you, hoping that he could give you some company, because you’ve always liked cats ever since you were young. The reason why I didn’t tell you I was his original owner, was because I was afraid you would be suspicious.”

Zheng Wei, wrapped in her blanket, turned her head and looked at him. “I’m suspicious?”

“I thought… … ” He still wanted to say a few things, but the pillow that came flying over from the bed interrupted him mid-sentence. Caught unprepared, he was almost hit head on, but he used his hand and caught it right in front of his face, looking a bit pathetic.

“You thought, you thought, everything was just what you thought!” (in Chinese, this “you thought” can also be interpreted as “you a.s.sumed” or “you believed”)

He didn’t say anything more, brushed off the pillow, and replaced it back on the bed. He closed the door for her, walked to the kitchen, and used one hand to pick up Shu Bao who was once again sleeping on top of the fridge. Before leaving, he stopped for a moment at the door. No sound had come from her room the entire time, and then he sighed, petted Shu Bao’s head a few times, then opened the door and left.

Zheng Wei lay on her bed, and heard the “thump” as he closed the door, his footsteps as he walked down the stairs, him opening his car door, him starting up his engine, the sound of his tires against the ground… … Finally she couldn’t hear anything more. She wanted calm, and it was finally calm now. However in the middle of these events, it was as if she faintly heard Shu Bao, and she almost had the impulse to extend her head out the window and look out.

Only after a long time had pa.s.sed did she gradually realize the feeling of discomfort on her own body, and she dizzily went to take a shower. When she returned to her bed, her alarm clock showed that it was already the early hours of the next morning, her 26th birthday, in the incomparable excitement, had already pa.s.sed, almost like a good show. You sing and I go on stage, and it was only now that things finally quieted down. Before falling asleep, she refused to think about it. She had even hidden her alarm clock; it had only been a day, but she felt like it had been a lifetime.

Early the next morning, her bioglogical clock made Zheng Wei wake up on time, and only after climbing out of bed did she discover that even her bones were sore. She remembered that she had a meeting in the morning, so she could only give up on the idea of taking the day off. Before leaving, she poured cat food into Shu Bao’s bowl, out of habit, but only when she didn’t see him running over like he usually did, did she realize he had already returned to his original owner.

The morning meeting had been scheduled for two house, and Chen Xiao Zheng wasn’t partic.i.p.ating in the meeting. When Zheng Wei arrived she was already late by two minutes, and when she walked past his office, she discovered his door was shut tightly.

After the meeting had ended, she was the last one to leave, as usual. She finished organizing her own stuff, and when she was preparing to turn off the lights and close the door, Zhou Qu walked in. He picked up his notebook which he had left on his spot, and said, “Oh, that’s right, in two days Chen Xiao is going to partic.i.p.ate in the training cla.s.s for backup managers organized by the headquarters. He’s going for a bit more than 40 days, around, and he wanted to use these two days to stay at home to tidy up a few things, organize some necessary materials, and I approved his vacation.”

Zheng Wei was the manager in charge of the attendance records for all of the workers in the office, so she nodded her head. “Okay, I got it.”

Zhou Qu walked to the door of the meeting room, then turned his head to look at Zheng Wei. “There isn’t anything wrong, right?”

“Ah?” Zheng Wei’s expression was a bit surprised, and then she laughed. “There’s nothing, Boss.”

Zhou Qu waved his hand. “Huey up and organize the summary of the meeting as soon as possible.”

Zheng Wei returned to her own office, and took out her cellphone which she hadn’t checked at all last night, and went through all the 7 missed calls. All of them were from the same person, and as she went though each item’s calling time, 11:34, 11:37, 11:42… … … 12:11, she could understand that all these calls which had come in at these times were probably full of worry and desperation, however, what was the point? She scrolled down to the last item, and casually deleted all of these records.

While she was organzing the summary of the meeting, Zheng Wei suddenly remembered how Ruan Ruan hadn’t picked up her calls all thoughout last night, and hadn’t called back afterwards either. She faintly felt like something wasn’t right, this wasn’t Ruan Ruan’s style, so she felt a bit worried, and hurriedly called her phone once again, but still, no one picked up. The more Zheng Wei thought, the more uneasy she felt. She didn’t even have Wu Jiang’s phone number in her phone, and she didn’t know whether or not anything had happened to Ruan Ruan, so she could only keep calling. In her head she thought that if by the end of the day there still wasn’t anyone who answered the phone, she would personally go over and visit Ruan Ruan’s house to get to the bottom of things.

The fourth time she called, Ruan Ruan’s voice finally transmitted over from her side of the call, but before Zheng Wei had even said a few sentences, she hurriedly hung up on the phone, turned to ask Zhou Qu if she could take the day off, then frantically ran towards the hospital.

Ruan Ruan was staying in the orthopedic wing of the hospital (literally translates to broken/hurt bones wing), and when Zheng Wei arrived, she saw the plaster-on-her-leg-elbow-wrapped-in-gauze-getting-an-IV-drip Ruan Ruan. Luckily, even though her face was in a bit of a bad condition, when she saw Zheng Wei who was making such a big fuss, her face at least still broke out in a smile. (Sorry for that terrible -xx- xx- xx-xx -xx – thingy, that’s the only way I could think of how to translate that bit of Chinese because that’s basically what it means, like the XX-XX-x.x.x- Ruan Ruan…)

“I already said it wasn’t too serious now, what are you doing coming over even though you have work?” Ruan Ruan slightly lifted up her injured arm, and pointed to the bed.

Zheng Wei sat down. “I already said, after I called your cellphone and your house so late at night and no one picked up, when I finally, with much difficulty, got through, and you said that you were at the hospital, it almost scared me to death.”

Ruan Ruan felt a bit apologetic as she said, “Yesterday was your birthday, and I was originally going to give you a call. Who knew it was this useless (I think she’s talking about herself, like, “Who knew I was this useless,”), I can even get hurt to this extent when taking a shower at home. At the time, it hurt a lot, but I never thought it was my tibia which had been fractured. It was only a fall in the bathroom, but I couldn’t move at all. There was no one at home, and all of the neighbors were far away. Even my phone wasn’t next to me, and I could clearly hear the sound of the phone in the living room ringing, but I could only feel worried/anxious (and not be able to do anything else).

“What about your husband, at what time last night did he finally come back home and take you to the hospital?”

“He was in the hospital all night last night, and he only found me after coming home this morning to change clothes. Fortunately, I didn’t get a concussion or something like that.”

All throughout her speech, she kept playing it down, but Zheng Wei still couldn’t process it for a long time. She imagined Ruan Ruan, alone and unable to move as she lay in the damp, cold bathroom, and the pain from her body already seeping into her soul, but still remaining clearly conscious. Without a single person by her side, calling out all day ineffectively, waiting second by second, minute by minute for dawn to come, and until the next morning, when that busy man finally came home. She had lay in that bathroom for almost 10 hours.

While Zheng Wei imagined that kind of feeling, she s.h.i.+vered. If Wu Jiang hadn’t returned home that morning to change, if what Ruan Ruan had hurt was not only her leg… … she didn’t even dare to think further.

“Yesterday when I couldn’t get through to your phone, I should’ve thought that something might’ve happened, should’ve went to your house immediately to check it out.” Zheng Wei’s eyes reddened as she whispered it.

Ruan Ruan laughed. “Don’t be silly, who knew something like this would’ve happened. That’s right, last night when you called my phone, was there something wrong?”

Zheng Wei shook her head ambigiously. “Let’s not talk about me for now, where’s your husband, doesn’t he work at this hospital? I want to ask him face to face, if you even treat your own wife so terribly, what kind of great doctor are you, what kind of man?”

“He already stayed with me for a bit this morning, and I think he’s in the operating room right now. I heard there’s an important surgery this morning.”

“How important is it, more important that you?” Zheng Wei’s emotions rose up (in indignation).

Ruan Ruan laughed and explained for Wu Jiang. “Don’t blame him for this matter, it was me who wasn’t careful. He also didn’t know I would fall in the house. To tell the truth, it’s still thanks to him for bringing me over this morning.”

Zheng Wei looked at the ceiling, and suddenly felt it was extremely outrageous. “Ruan Ruan, have you truly never blamed him at all for anything, even when you broke your leg and you were lying in the bathroom, enduring until dawn, waiting for him to finish operating on some other person and come home, you’ve never once blamed him? He isn’t a stranger anymore, he’s your husband, he’s supposed to accompany you for an entire lifetime, the person who’s supposed to protect you for your entire life!”

Ruan Ruan was silent for a moment, and then slowly shook her head on the pillow.

Zheng Wei started to cry, and the more she thought the worse she felt. She didn’t know that Ruan Ruan’s “don’t blame” was because she had given up, or whether it was because she hadn’t had any hopes, no hope at all, from the start. Was this truly Ruan Ruan’s happiness? No love, no hate, and without even any requests or expectations. If it was, this kind of living together till old age, mutual respect in marriage, was really depressing.

She began to sob uncontrollably in Ruan Ruan’s serene gaze, and by the end, she didn’t know whether these tears were for Ruan Ruan or for herself. Ruan Ruan wanted to give her some consolation, and so she opened her mouth, but nothing came out, and she (RR) only gently patted her (ZW’s) hand.

“Did you have a happy birthday?” Ruan Ruan waited until she got tired of crying before changing the subject. “Yesterday morning, Lin Jing called me, and asked me especially what type of flowers you like now. I said you seemed to like lilies a lot… … You should’ve received the flowers by now, did he call you afterwards?… … What, did something happen afterwards?” Through Zheng Wei’s tears she saw a little bit of a hint.”

Zheng Wei said, “I did it with Lin Jing.”

Ruan Ruan’s character was extremely placid , and hearing her suddenly blurt out these kinds of words, she was also taken aback. Zheng Wei repeated exactly what happened last night, from Chen Xiao Zheng to Lin Jing, and when she got to the end when the “accident” took place in her house, she carelessly said that it was because she had drank too much.

After Ruan Ruan had heard her tell the whole story, she only asked a single question. “What do you think about it?”

“I don’t think about it,” Zheng Wei said, “But I don’t understand, why are even you helping Lin Jing, you even worked with him to trick me with Shu Bao.”

Ruan Ruan said, “I’ve never thought of helping him, I was only thinking of helping you. I can’t say how good he is, but in the end, he’s sincere, and you aren’t completely unaffected by him too. Having a person by your side, even that day when I had the bad luck to fall, it wasn’t as bad as how I am now. Besides, don’t you also like Shu Bao a lot?”

Zheng Wei blankly nodded her head, and then shook it.

For the following few days, Zheng Wei wowuld go to visit Ruan Ruan at the hospital immediately after getting off work, and a lot of the time she would encounter Wu Jiang wearing a white lab coat at her sick bed. He would smile as he greeted her, but, from the beginning to the end, Zheng Wei couldn’t respond to him with a smile.

Lin Jing called her a lot of times, and everytime she saw his number, some part of her brain would be in total chaos that night. So, she would carelessly say a few sentences before handing up, refusing to have a deep conversation with him, and also refusing to see him again. Lin Jing’s tone also seemed a bit helpless, but maybe he thought that letting her have some time to calm down wasn’t a bad thing. He never acted as aggressive as he had that night, and the calls would come in everyday. He would greet her using two lines only, and her att.i.tude would be bad, but he still pretended to not feel a thing.

After about 4 or 5 days, Lin Jing gave her another call. Zheng Wei just so happened to be in an impatient mood, so he quickly explained that he would be going on a business trip for a little more than a week, and he had also taken leave from his part time work as well. But, there was no one to take care of Shu Bao, so he could only board him at a pet shop.

“Stop dreaming, I’m not going to take him in again,” Zheng Wei said, rejecting him.

Lin Jing said, “I’ve never considered having you bring him back. But you also know that his disposition isn’t very sociable, and I’m afraid that he won’t be accustomed to some things at the pet shop. If you have time, can you go check on him, but of course, if you don’t have time, you can forget about it.”

Zheng Wei clearly knew that she should want to completely cut off her connection to Lin Jing right now, and she should completely forget that cat too. But when she woke up that night to get a drink, and saw the empty s.p.a.ce on top of the fridge, the floor still littered with cat toys, she couldn’t help but start missing that ugly fat cat. Even though he was crafty, for a great number of days in the past, after she got off of work, only he was there to give her company. Even that night when the power had suddenly gone out, because she had had him by her side calling “meow, meow”, she hadn’t felt alone in the darkness.

The second day, after she came out of the hospital, Zheng Wei still went to that pet shop. Right after she had entered she immediately saw Shu Bao sitting alone in a cage. The other cats were all playing with one another or sleeping together, snuggled up. Only he was the misfit. The owner of the pet shop said, Shu Bao didn’t like playing with the other cats. Even if he only get close to the other cats, he would get nervous and aggressive. Being alone in the cage was tolerable, but he wasn’t eating much.