To be honest, Fei Zuohua himself never expected that he would want to become friends with Pei Cangyu.
He had known Pei Cangyu since they were very young; they attended the same primary school. Back then, Fei Zuohua not only had his father by his side but also many "good uncles." These "good uncles" always spoke in booming voices, smoking and drinking right in front of him. The leader of the group usually wore floral shirts, crossing his legs and dangling his slippers while sipping white liquor. Whenever he saw Fei Zuohua, he would beckon him over: "Want a drink, kid?"
Fei Zuohua would nod blankly, and the uncle would dip a chopstick into the liquor and feed it to him. The stinging burn would make him cry, sending the men at the table into roars of laughter. The uncle would then scoop him up: "How was it? Tell you what, let’s arrange a marriage for you. I have a daughter—she’s a few years older than you, but..."
At that point, Fei Zuohua’s mother would intervene. With a polite yet distant smile, she would take Fei Zuohua from the uncle’s arms, clearly reluctant to let the man touch him.
The uncles were very good to him. When school let out, there were always tall men in suits waiting at the gate. They looked fierce and menacing, but if Fei Zuohua said he wanted a piggyback ride, the men would squat down and hoist him onto their necks. When they saw Fei Zuohua’s father, they would greet him with profound respect. Once, when Fei Zuohua was fighting over a pencil at school, an older student didn't just snatch the pencil away but also slapped him. Fei Zuohua walked home sobbing. The men at home saw him crying and asked only two questions: "Who?" and "Where?"
That night, the sirens of ambulances wailed through the street for over three hours. Fei Zuohua never saw that older student again. The next day, his teacher even personally apologized to him, saying she was sorry for not looking after him properly.
Fei Zuohua was delighted. He thought that no one would ever dare to bully him at school again. His relationship with the uncles grew even closer, and he told them everything.
At that time, Pei Cangyu was merely the grade's famous "kid with no parents." Naturally, Fei Zuohua never spoke to him, and he couldn't remember if he had ever joined the others in mocking Pei Cangyu for being an orphan—after all, in early childhood, such things were so common that no one could remember them clearly or distinguish good from evil; it was all hidden beneath a veneer of innocence.
However, the incident where the uncles stood up for Fei Zuohua left his parents fuming.
His father returned from a long business trip and heard about what happened. His mother and father had a massive argument. Fei Zuohua hid in his room, listening to them debate, hearing phrases like "who ruined whom."
After a while, his father walked in, picked Fei Zuohua up, and then crouched down to look at him with a face full of fury. "Why did you bully your classmate?"
Fei Zuohua looked toward his mother, but she was just as angry.
His father stared at him. "Did you ask those uncles to go to school and help you snatch things from your classmates?"
Fei Zuohua cringed, looking at his mother again, but she only watched him with a stern expression.
Fei Zuohua nodded cautiously.
His father stared at him in silence for a long time before slowly standing up. "Tomorrow, you are going to apologize to your classmates. I’m going with you."
His mother sighed. "That’s just treating the symptoms, not the root cause..."
But Fei Zuohua didn't wait for her to finish. As soon as he heard about apologizing, he grew frantic, waving his hands in protest. "Why should I apologize! I won't! Why the fuck should I have to apologize!"
Upon hearing his words, both parents froze simultaneously. Fei Zuohua didn't think much of it; that was just how the uncles usually spoke.
He was about to speak again when his father slapped him across the face.
Fei Zuohua burst into tears immediately, crying out for his mother as he walked toward her. But his mother frowned and did not crouch down to hold him or stroke his head as she usually did.
She turned her head and looked at his father. "Fei Qisheng, let's get a divorce."
His father was silent for a moment. "...Fine."
And so, a week later, Fei Zuohua became a "kid with no father."
The news spread so fast it felt almost like a vengeful spectacle. The family that had beaten up someone else's child was now divorced—proof enough that arrogance could never last. First, there were rumors of a mistress, then rumors of a disease; words drifted among the neighbors, and prying eyes followed the mother and son. To all of this, Fei Zuohua’s mother offered not a single word of explanation.
After much anger and many tears, Fei Zuohua finally went back to school.
There were no more uncles to provide him safe passage, and no more older students who would avoid him on sight. In a swift and brutal fashion, Fei Zuohua lost the earliest idols of his life.
As he walked into the schoolyard, he felt as though everyone was glancing at him with malice.
His intuition was correct. During his second week alone, as he walked down the hallway with his head bowed, someone tripped him.
Before Fei Zuohua could even react, a group of people swarmed him, trampling over him. Fei Zuohua lay flat on the ground, not even lifting his head. He couldn't see anyone; he could only see pairs of sneakers flashing before his eyes as he was pinned down and stepped on. He began to cry from the sheer injustice of it.
"Hey."
Fei Zuohua saw a pair of old but clean white shoes stop in front of him.
"Beat it."
Fei Zuohua felt the weight of the feet leave his body as the group ran away laughing.
He lifted his head and saw the owner of the shoes.
But Pei Cangyu didn't even spare him a glance, walking straight into the classroom.
Fei Zuohua silently crawled up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and used the wall for support as he stood. He watched Pei Cangyu from a distance. A sense of sorrow washed over him. From this day forward, was he going to become someone just like Pei Cangyu?
Perhaps because of the resentment Fei Zuohua had accumulated at school in the past, people looked for trouble with him wherever he went. Standing on the "other side" of the collective for the first time made him feel exceptionally helpless. Whenever this happened, he felt an urge to see what Pei Cangyu was doing. Most of the time, Pei Cangyu was sleeping.
As the seating arrangements rotated, Fei Zuohua and Pei Cangyu ended up in the same small group. It just so happened that their group was responsible for the blackboard newspaper that week. The student in charge of the drawings finished early and left, leaving Fei Zuohua and Pei Cangyu to handle the outlining and coloring. Since it was the final stage of the work, the two of them stayed until the very end.
Fei Zuohua stole a glance at Pei Cangyu. Pei Cangyu was standing on a stool, coloring the sun with red chalk. He whistled a tune from who-knows-where as he worked. Because he colored so unevenly that the sun looked like a pair of butt cheeks, he even made himself laugh.
*It must be nice,* Fei Zuohua thought. Pei Cangyu’s situation was even more miserable than his own, yet he was always so happy.
Fei Zuohua tried to strike up a conversation with this "wild kid" who, in the eyes of their classmates, always walked alone. "Hey..."
Pei Cangyu turned to look at him, stopping his chalk. "Huh?"
"Is it... okay for you to go home this late?" Fei Zuohua checked his watch. "It’s seven o'clock. It’s already dark."
"It's fine." Pei Cangyu waved a hand and turned back to continue coloring. "As long as I finish before eight. You better hurry up too."
Fei Zuohua used green chalk to color the grass on the other side while Pei Cangyu continued to whistle his cheerful tune.
"What are you whistling?" Fei Zuohua asked again.
"Oh, I don't know." Pei Cangyu laughed. "Maybe it's my own original composition. Maybe I'll just become a musician in the future."
The most important reason they became friends from then on was that they walked the same way home after school.
To Pei Cangyu, it really made no difference; he treated everyone the same way. Fei Zuohua was simply the first one to approach him. And Fei Zuohua was more than happy to stay close to Pei Cangyu; at least when he was with him, no one would come looking for trouble. Because during his years of being mocked, Pei Cangyu had established an undefeated record in the world of elementary school brawls. Their classmates didn't really insult him much anymore.
As soon as class ended, Fei Zuohua would pack his bag and wait for Pei Cangyu, who was always catching up on homework.
"Are you done yet?" Pei Cangyu lifted a miserable face. "I forgot yesterday's."
"Huh? Haven't you been catching up on yesterday's all day?" Fei Zuohua frowned and walked over, pulling out his own pen. "Did the teacher say you can't leave until you finish?"
Pei Cangyu nodded pitifully.
Fei Zuohua helped him take a workbook. "Then I'll help you with the Chinese one..."
Pei Cangyu swiftly snatched the Chinese workbook away and swapped it for a math one. "Help me with the math instead."
And so, the two of them hunched over Pei Cangyu’s desk, catching up on homework under the only light left on in the classroom. Even with math, Fei Zuohua was faster than Pei Cangyu.
While Pei Cangyu was struggling with sentence construction, Fei Zuohua put his pen away and glanced toward the school gate. It was already dark. A yellow lamp glowed at the gate. In the past, the uncles would often wait for him under that light, and his father would come to pick him up when he wasn't busy.
Now, that was all gone.
Fei Zuohua turned to look at Pei Cangyu, who was biting his nails.
"I don't think I used to talk to you much before..." Fei Zuohua spoke gloomily.
"That's normal." Pei Cangyu waved it off carelessly without even looking up. "I didn't talk to you much either."
Fei Zuohua stared at Pei Cangyu’s hand and noticed a dark purple bruise under the nail of his right pinky finger. "What happened to your hand?"
Pei Cangyu paused, glanced at it, and laughed. "I went on the swings yesterday and fell."
"Swings? Where?"
"Just east of the intersection where we split up, about ten meters. I'll take you there in a bit."
"Are you finished, Pei Cangyu?" The teacher walked in through the front door. Pei Cangyu hurried to present the workbook in his hands.
The teacher flipped through it, looked at Pei Cangyu, then looked down and flipped through it again before placing it back on his desk. "Keep it up. Don't do today's homework either; you can keep catching up tomorrow."
Pei Cangyu nodded with a smile, then realized something was wrong and shook his head.
Fei Zuohua followed Pei Cangyu as they ran toward the swings. Because Pei Cangyu had to be home by eight, he had to quickly show Fei Zuohua before leaving.
Fei Zuohua was panting as he ran behind. Pei Cangyu shouted back in annoyance, "Can't you exercise more often?"
Fei Zuohua didn't say a word, just quickened his pace to keep up.
There was no one at the swings. Fei Zuohua’s eyes lit up the moment he saw them. He dropped his bag and ran over, hopping onto a seat to swing. Though the swing was a bit heavy and hard to get moving.
Pei Cangyu sat on the ground for a while to catch his breath, then patted his rear and stood up. "I'm going back."
Fei Zuohua jumped off the swing. "Wait a little longer."
Pei Cangyu waved his hand. "Can't."
Fei Zuohua looked at him, unable to find the words. He wanted Pei Cangyu to play with him for a bit, or just stay for a while; it had been a long time since anyone had played with him. But he couldn't say it.
Fei Zuohua kicked a pebble on the ground and turned back to sit on the swing. He didn't move, just sat there blankly, watching Pei Cangyu pack his bag.
"Do you know your directions—North, South, East, West?" Fei Zuohua wanted to invite his friend to stay, but all that came out were trivialities.
Pei Cangyu nodded. "You don't?"
Fei Zuohua didn't. Most kids didn't; those who knew their cardinal directions were usually raised by their grandparents. Fei Zuohua remained silent, unable to think of anything to say that would make Pei Cangyu stay.
Pei Cangyu put on his small backpack, hopping once to adjust its position, and then bid Fei Zuohua farewell. "I'm off."
Fei Zuohua looked at him and gave a muffled "Mm."
That single "Mm" betrayed his low spirits.
Pei Cangyu stopped and blinked. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"Oh. Bye." Pei Cangyu waved and left.
Fei Zuohua sat alone on the swing, losing even the desire to move. He had never actually said it out loud, but he quite hated Fei Qisheng. He no longer called him "Dad," but referred to him directly by his name. The reason Fei Zuohua had ended up in such a lonely state was all because of his irresponsible father, who had another family elsewhere—or so the aunties next door said.
Fei Zuohua gritted his teeth and kicked the ground in frustration.
He heard the sound of light footsteps running from the shadows in the distance. A moment later, Pei Cangyu appeared.
Pei Cangyu leaned on his knees, panting. "Hey, do you want me to walk you home?"
Fei Zuohua was stunned. "You... walk me?"
Pei Cangyu stood up straight and spread his hands, looking puzzled. "Don't you come find me every day so I can walk you home?"
Fei Zuohua was a bit surprised. Was his little scheme of "using Pei Cangyu for protection" that obvious? Moreover, Pei Cangyu just said it directly, completely unbothered by it.
The moon was exceptionally bright that night, appearing very close to the earth. It was said to be a rare night of a red moon, and many people had gone out specifically to see it. Though in this spot where the two of them stood, there was never anyone around.
Pei Cangyu asked again, "You coming?"
Fei Zuohua gazed at Pei Cangyu from a distance, then stood up, grabbed his bag, and gave him a smile. "Yeah."
Until the sixth grade, Fei Zuohua was still always hanging around with Pei Cangyu. Every day, he would ride his bike to the entrance of Pei Cangyu’s residential compound to wait for him. Because Pei Cangyu woke up late, he would often come out with unfinished bread in his mouth and hop onto the back of Fei Zuohua’s bike. Fei Zuohua would then pedal off, wobbling slightly.
Fei Zuohua discovered that Pei Cangyu was practically a magnet for trouble. Even just walking down the street, he would occasionally provoke local thugs because his gait was too arrogant. This was especially true around Heping Road. And Pei Cangyu was the type who "did exactly what he was told not to do," so he loved loitering on Heping Road. Even if he wasn't buying anything, he insisted on wandering around there.
As his friend, Fei Zuohua naturally had no reason not to go with him. In the process, Fei Zuohua’s physical fitness improved immensely; he ran faster, grew muscles, and even shot up in height. Pei Cangyu also became somewhat famous on Heping Road.
This made Fei Zuohua’s mother very worried. She expressed several times that she wanted to meet Pei Cangyu, but Fei Zuohua always made excuses to refuse, because he didn't think his mother would like him.
If everything had continued as usual, Fei Zuohua would have remained Pei Cangyu’s best friend forever. Although their personalities were vastly different, it didn't stop Fei Zuohua from believing that Pei Cangyu was a good person.
But when he was twelve years old, Fei Qisheng came back.
***
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Stolen Jade | Chapter 72 | Under the Red Moon | Novela.app | Novela.app
