Under Clear Skies Chapter 91: Street Intersection

Chapter 91: Street Intersection

Translated by KarateChopMonkey of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

Tang Heng opened his laptop in Starbucks and uploaded the phone recording to the cloud.

Then he logged on to the school library’s electronic resource library and searched for “Tang Guomu Bao Lei”.

The result was as expected. From 2011 to the present, Tang Guomu and Bao Lei had jointly published 9 papers, with the most recent one published last December. Tang Heng expressionlessly downloaded that paper, only to see the authorship: Bao Lei, Department of Sociology, Hanyang College.

If Tang Guomu had really hurt him back then and kicked him out of the project team, causing him to lose face…

—How could he continue to cooperate with Tang Guomu over the years then?

Tang Heng closed his laptop, took a deep breath, and said to Li Yuechi, “We need to go to the street intersection.”

Li Yuechi was silent for a moment. “Let’s go…”

Hanyang College is located in Hongshan University City. It took twenty minutes to walk from the subway station to the intersection. They arrived in Wuhan last night, stayed in Han Street, and left this morning to find Long Juan. On the way, they never passed through the university town. In theory, Hongshan University City was the most familiar place to Tang Heng. He had lived in several houses there, and even in Han University. However, as he walked along Luoyu Road from east to west, he didn’t know if the street scenes on both sides remained the same. Even the memory of Optics Valley was still dilapidated. Passing by Hanyang College of Physical Education, then by the 627 Hospital, then the messy Guanbutun Computer City, there were the north gate of Normal University and the south gate of Han University, continuing westward, the brightly lit Guanguang Plaza sparkled at night, and the next stop was Baotong Temple.

He and Li Yuechi had kissed in Baotong Pagoda, and then decided to be together.

From Huquan to Zhongnan Road, only five stops on Line 2, the density of memories was too great.

So much so that he and Li Yuechi tacitly avoided mentioning those places.

Exiting Starbucks, Tang Heng wanted to hold Li Yuechi’s hand.

However, Li Yuechi was holding his phone tightly and didn’t move. Two seconds later, he suddenly said, “Is this for you?” His phone vibrated again, displaying a string of unfamiliar numbers, located in Wuhan.

“I don’t know…” Tang Heng suddenly became nervous, “Is it Tang Guomu — has he changed his number?!”

Li Yuechi freed up his other hand to hold Tang Heng’s, then pressed the answer button and put it on speakerphone.

“Hello…” A young male voice sounded urgent, “Is this Li Yuechi? Where are you guys? I’m back in Wuhan!”

Both of them froze.

“Hello?!”

“It’s me…” Tang Heng couldn’t believe it, “Jiang Ya — you’re back in Wuhan?”

“Damn, would I dare not to come back? Bro, what’s wrong with your phone? I couldn’t reach you!”

“My phone… doesn’t work at the moment.”

“I’m telling you, you sent me a ‘back to Wuhan’ from Guizhou, and then disappeared — I damn rushed back, ready to be on the news!”

“What news?”

“You, angered for your beloved, slaughtered Tang Guomu!”

“…” Tang Heng was speechless for a moment, “Not for now…”

“Alright, no more nonsense, where are you guys?”

Forty minutes later, Tang Heng and Li Yuechi returned to Han Street.

Jiang Ya’s hotel was right next to theirs.

When Tang Heng saw him for the first time, he didn’t even recognize him. Six years ago, Jiang Ya was muscular from playing the drums, with very strong arm muscles. In addition, his red hair and luxury brand logos all over his body made him the most conspicuous person in the crowd. But the man standing in front of him now, smoking with his head down at the hotel entrance, had black hair, was slightly chubby, and wore simple black sportswear.

“Damn—son!” Jiang Ya saw Tang Heng, stubbed out his cigarette, and rushed over. Tang Heng thought to himself, This guy could change his country but not his nature.

“Let go…” he hugged too tightly, so much so that Tang Heng found it difficult to speak, “Your belly is pressing against me.”

“Why do you attack me as soon as we meet?” Jiang Ya patted his belly, “I’m sitting in the lab all day… Hey, why don’t you look old?!”

Tang Heng was about to speak when Jiang Ya added quickly, “He doesn’t look old on the outside, but his demeanor is really different, he’s much more serious.”

Tang Heng looked at his face, feeling a moment of trance.

“Hey…” Jiang Ya looked at Li Yuechi, “Long time no see.”

He and Li Yuechi hugged briefly, and Li Yuechi also said, “Long time no see…”

“Let’s go eat something?” Jiang Ya put his arm around Tang Heng’s shoulder, “I’m starving…”

So the three of them went back to the restaurant from the morning. It was almost noon, and Jiang Ya ordered a few dishes and asked if they wanted beer. Tang Heng shook his head, “You guys go ahead…”

Li Yuechi also declined, “We have things to do in the afternoon…”

“One by one, you’ve all become civilized…” Jiang Ya grumbled, “Then I won’t drink either.”

Without alcohol, they had to drink tea instead. Bitter Tieguanyin tea went down their throats. Jiang Ya looked at Tang Heng, then at Li Yuechi, and asked quietly, “So, what’s the situation with you two now?”

“Friends…” Li Yuechi said.

“Oh…” Jiang Ya seemed relieved, “Then let’s have a toast, brothers who haven’t seen each other in six years.”

The three clinked their tea cups together, making a crisp clink. Tang Heng felt a bit confused. Why did Li Yuechi say they were just “friends”?

Was that what he thought? But last night—last night Li Yuechi kissed him.

The waiter brought the dishes, and Jiang Ya ate voraciously, saying with indignation between bites, “I really want to call the chef from the Chinese restaurant downstairs to come over. Damn it, is he even qualified to make Chinese food with what he cooks?”

Tang Heng didn’t have much appetite. He held his tea cup and said, “Then eat more…”

“You’re not eating? I don’t think the food in Macau is better than this. Last time I went to Hong Kong for a meeting, oh, those Cantonese dishes, tasteless.”

“I ate a lot this morning…” Even though he said that, Tang Heng still picked up some cold lotus root salad, “But this kind of thing, you can’t find it elsewhere.”

“Yeah, I missed it so much, I dreamt about it.”

Former close friends who had not seen each other for six years could still feel a hint of awkwardness.

Especially since Tang Heng noticed that Jiang Ya carefully avoided talking about the past.

The awkwardness persisted as they left the small restaurant, and Jiang Ya asked, “Where are you guys going?”

“To find someone. Are you tired?” Tang Heng said, “If you’re tired, go back to the hotel first.”

“I’m fine. I slept enough on the plane—I’ll go with you guys.”

Tang Heng’s initial reaction was “No need…” These matters were too complicated, and he didn’t want to involve Jiang Ya. However, before he could speak, Li Yuechi, who had been silent for a long time, said, “Thanks, let’s go together then.”

On the subway, Jiang Ya hugged Tang Heng and sighed softly, “I was really scared by you… I’m afraid that if you act impulsively, something might happen.”

Tang Heng said, “It won’t come to that…”

“It won’t? That’s you… Anyway, whatever happens this time, promise me you’ll stay strong, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold on.”

Jiang Ya seemed to want to say something else but didn’t. He just hugged Tang Heng’s shoulder tightly.

Tang Heng glanced at Li Yuechi, who was standing a few steps away from them, staring straight ahead at the railing as if lost in thought.

Tang Heng didn’t know why, but ever since Jiang Ya appeared, Li Yuechi hadn’t been as intimate with him as before. He didn’t talk to him much, didn’t hold his hand anymore, and even kept a distance of one or two steps when they walked together.

The subway arrived at the street exit, and the familiar announcement made Tang Heng’s heart beat faster.

There were more people at the street exit than before. As he stepped out into the street, Jiang Ya suddenly shouted, “Hey, look, they’re still here!”

It was an old woman selling flowers. It was spring, and the old lady was carrying a pole, selling gardenias at the subway station entrance. Their fragrance filled the air.

Back when he was with Li Yuechi, in late spring and early summer, Li Yuechi would occasionally buy a bunch of gardenias and put them in their rented house. Back then, gardenias were three yuan a bunch, and he wondered what the price was now.

“Let’s go…” Li Yuechi’s voice was faint.

Tang Heng snapped out of his thoughts, “Oh, okay.”

The three of them arrived at Hanyang University of Philosophy and Social Sciences, a third-tier university with a very small campus, so they easily found the sociology department office. As previously discussed, Li Yuechi handed his phone to Tang Heng and whispered, “I’ll be waiting for you guys over at the playground.”

Jiang Ya nervously asked, “Can I go too? I don’t know that person… It won’t be suspicious, right?”

“Come along and wait for him at the door of the office.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Tang Heng…” Li Yuechi paused, then said, “Tang Guomu might have reconciled with him, be mentally prepared.”

“I understand…”

Tang Heng turned on the recording function on his phone and then put it in his pocket. Jiang Ya stood at the corner of the corridor, this time leaving Tang Heng alone.

He stood at the door of Bao Lei’s office, pinching his brow, forcing himself to stay calm.

He knocked, and Bao Lei’s voice came from inside, “Come in…”

Tang Heng pushed the door open and looked expressionlessly at the man sitting at the desk, “Senior Bao, do you still remember me?”

“You—ah, junior!” Bao Lei stood up abruptly, his face full of surprise. “How come you’re here? Aren’t you in Macau?”

He still didn’t know. Tang Heng thought. Right, the incident happened suddenly, Tang Guomu probably didn’t have time to contact Bao Lei.

“I came to find you, senior, there’s something…” Tang Heng’s expression was solemn. “Regarding Teacher Tang…”

“Teacher Tang—what happened to Teacher Tang? Junior, please, have a seat and tell me.”

Tang Heng didn’t move from his standing position. “Is it convenient to talk here?”

“Yes, yes, it’s convenient.” Bao Lei hurriedly closed the office door.

“Some journalists are investigating the incident of Tian Xiaoqin’s fall from the building years ago. Do you remember Li Yuechi?” Tang Heng asked.

“What?” Bao Lei frowned. “Are these journalists contacted by Li Yuechi?”

“Yes, and there are several influential freelance journalists.”

“Wh-what should we do?” Bao Lei asked, then remembered something and shook his head. “No, junior, let me tell you, the college has already published a clear investigation report on the Tian Xiaoqin incident. We can’t just believe whatever a few journalists say!”

“Did you know that there are some truths missing from the college’s report?” Tang Heng asked.

“But…”

“Those journalists probably won’t harm Teacher Tang directly, at most they’ll write some articles and cause a stir. But you know there are still many doubts about Tian Xiaoqin’s fall from the building, such as her body being cremated on the same day without her family’s consent, her relationship with Teacher Tang, and… you.”

“What does it have to do with me?!” Bao Lei’s expression changed drastically. “I wasn’t even at the school when she jumped!”

“You pursued her, and quite… eagerly. Li Yuechi knows about this, right?”

“That’s not because of Teacher Tang’s intention!”

“Teacher Tang just wants you to help out, but he’s too embarrassed to ask, so he sent me.”

“Help with what?”

“When you pursued Tian Xiaoqin, you were still a student. Compared to a teacher harassing a student, a student harassing another student isn’t as serious…”

“How…” Bao Lei forced a smile, “Is Teacher Tang trying to make me take the blame?”

“Don’t be nervous, the college may not really reopen the investigation into this matter. But you know, there was a new president last year…”

“Junior, Teacher Tang is being unreasonable…” Bao Lei seemed agitated. “We both know what he did, and I’m not the first one to help him. There was another female Ph.D. student before Tian Xiaoqin… Why me? Just because I’m less experienced?”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I helped him so much! Everything he didn’t want to do, I did for him! Even that night—that night when he and Tian Xiaoqin went to the hotel, I used my ID to book the room!”

“So he wants you to help him until the end.”

“I can’t do that…” Bao Lei’s tone was extremely anxious. “I really don’t have the ability! I’m just a lecturer now, if I take this blame, it’s over for me!”

Tang Heng remained silent for a moment, then said, “Then forget it, senior, if you’re unwilling, I can’t force you.”

Bao Lei grabbed Tang Heng’s right hand with both of his own, “It’s not that I’m unwilling, I have the intention but not the ability, junior. Can you help me explain to Teacher Tang? No, let me do it myself, I’ll call him now—”

“Don’t, he’s busy these days and not in good health.”

“Then…”

“I’ll make it clear to him…” Tang Heng stood up. “I’ll leave now…”

“Junior!” Bao Lei quickly stopped him. “Can you… leave me your phone number?”

Tang Heng struggled for a moment and then quietly recited a string of numbers.

Bao Lei seemed stunned. Tang Heng walked out of the office without him even seeing him off. Jiang Ya poked his head out from around the corner and whispered, “How did it go?”

Tang Heng saved the recording, handed the phone to him, and said, “Take this…” Then he walked straight into the restroom and turned on the faucet to its maximum.

He vigorously scrubbed the hand that Bao Lei had touched, and when he looked up at his reflection in the mirror, he saw his face was deathly pale, sweat dampening his temples, and his back was covered in cold sweat.

“Tang Heng…” Jiang Ya followed him in, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” Tang Heng said hoarsely. “Let’s go quickly…”