Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 56
Chapter 56
In fact, Li Chengxiu wasn’t going very far.
He had no relatives, and no actual destination to go to.
He was afraid Teacup would get tired after a long time on the bus, so he decided to stop at Guangzhou first.
He found a small hotel to live in. The next day, he planned to go out to look for a house. After he found a place to live, he could start looking for a job.
Li Chengxiu wasn’t quite sure if he was going to look for a job as an accountant or go back to cooking.
He now had a brief experience as an accountant but it was much less than his experience as a chef. Considering the monetary issues, it might be a better idea to find a job at a restaurant.
Li Chengxiu pondered for a long time and decided to write two resumes. He could then try to apply for both positions and see which one worked out in the end.
Teacup slept in the bus for more than two hours and wasn’t very energetic. The puppy was lying on the hotel bed now with half-drooping eyelids, looking weak. Li Chengxiu brought some water to its mouth.
Li Chengxiu thought the dog was just tired, so he rubbed its neck and massaged it for a while and then put it down in its nest to sleep..
The hotel wasn’t very clean. One of the windows was broken, and it couldn’t be closed properly, so there was a four-finger gap there which let the wind in. Although it was warm outside recently, the nights were still a bit chilly.
Li Chengxiu tightly pulled the curtains together and lay on the bed, staring at the yellow ceiling with his eyes open.
He had to do everything over again.
Housing, work – he had to find new options and get used to them yet again. In the past ten years of his life he really had gained nothing.
Li Chengxiu couldn’t figure out how his life could be so difficult.
This hopeless feeling made him suffocate. As if in a trance, Li Chengxiu couldn’t help thinking why did he even live at all. It was so tiring and uncomfortable, and there was really nothing good about it. What was the reason for living?
Right when Li Chengxiu was busy looking for an apartment in Guangzhou, Shao Qun was going crazy.
He had waited for Li Chengxiu’s phone call for several days, staring at his phone so intently that he almost burned a hole in it. But he waited for fucking nothing.
He gradually felt that something was not quite right. Shao Qun didn’t have much hope anymore that Li Chengxiu would call him, but since he agreed to move out of Li Shuo’s house, he should have at least sent him a message.
He didn’t dare to go to him so soon again, afraid of another rejection.
But after waiting for several days, Shao Qun finally couldn’t wait any longer, so he drove to Li Shuo’s house.
He rang the doorbell for a long time, but there was no response at all.
Shao Qun suddenly slapped himself on the forehead. Of course! Li Chengxiu must still be working at the company at this time.
Shao Qun thought about it for a while, but he didn’t want to wait around this fucking place where Li Chengxiu and Li Shuo lived together. So he drove to Li Chengxiu’s company.
When he got there, he found out that Li Chengxiu had resigned a few days ago.
Shao Qun’s head was buzzing, and a chill covered his body from the soles of his feet to his forehead. A very bad premonition immediately appeared in his heart.
He returned to his car as if he was running for his life, and he almost flew back to where Li Chengxiu lived.
He pressed the doorbell non-stop for five or six minutes, but there was no response at all. In the end, he just knocked on the door with his fist and shouted, “Li Chengxiu! Li Chengxiu!”
The security system in this community was very good. Shao Qun’s loud actions finally aroused the suspicion of the security department on the other side of the monitor, and two people came out quickly to see what was going on.
The two tiny security guards were typical southerners. Seeing that Shao Qun was tall and big, they didn’t seem too comfortable. They asked him politely what he was doing bothering the residents.
Shao Qun sighed heavily, his face ugly: “I’m looking for my friend.”
One of the security guards looked at the house number, tilted his head and thought for a while. He then took out his walkie-talkie to talk to the security department: “Didn’t the 1818 resident move out a few days ago? Who was on duty that day?”
After a while, a reply came: “He moved out and left before dawn on the 12th. Xiao Wu was on duty that day, and he helped him with the luggage.”
Shao Qun’s face turned pale, and he asked reluctantly, “Where did he go?”
The security guard snorted: “Mister, how would we know?”
Shao Qun went downstairs, swaying from side to side as his legs were shaking.
When he got into the car, he called Xiao Zhou and asked him to find Li Chengxiu.
His mind was in a mess, and his speech was a little awkward. The fear that Li Chengxiu might disappear was like a relentless pressure on top of his head. He felt cold all over his body, and his chest was so tight that he couldn’t breathe.
After thinking about it for a long time, he remembered that there was someone who might have a clue as to Li Chengxiu’s location. Shao Qun flipped through his contacts and finally found Adrian’s phone number.
Adrian had long deleted Shao Qun from his contacts, so he answered the phone completely unprepared.
Shao Qun didn’t make any small talk and just said in a low voice, “Adrian, where did Li Chengxiu go?”
Adrian was stunned for a moment: “Shao Qun?”
Shao Qun repeated impatiently, “Where did he go?”
Only then did Adrian finally react. He sneered: “Chengxiu and Li Shuo are together in the US.”
Shao Qun’s mind was blank, and he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. It took a long time for him to recover, and he said in a trembling voice: “No, it’s impossible. He said he…” Shao Qun remembered the scene from that day. Li Chengxiu had only said that he was moving out. How could Shao Qun have known that Li Shuo would really throw away his whole career in China and trick Li Chengxiu into coming to America!?
Adrian laughed coldly: “Shao Qun, do yourself a favor and don’t bother them anymore. They are going to get married in the US. If you still have some feelings for Li Chengxiu, why don’t you just wish him happiness?”
“Bullshit!”
Shao Qun suddenly yelled, startling Adrian.
Shao Qun hung up the phone, flipped through his phone book with trembling fingers and immediately dialed a friend of his: “Help me check the departure list for the United States in the last few days. Is there anyone named Li Chengxiu…?”
After going crazy for an entire afternoon, Shao Qun found out that Li Chengxiu had, indeed, not left the country. Not a single airline had any information about him at all – he had never even been on a plane.
Shao Qun was in a complicated mood. On the one hand, he was relieved. At least Li Chengxiu didn’t go to the United States to reunite with Li Shuo, but on the other hand, Li Chengxiu had just disappeared into thin air. China was so big, and it was practically impossible to find someone who had no relatives or friends and left no trace.
Shao Qun now regretted his actions that day. He shouldn’t have forced Li Chengxiu. But how could he have known that he would force him into running away? Where was he going to look for him now?
Shao Qun sat motionless in his car until it got dark. In this narrow and dim space, he was completely alone with his solitude and regret.
He has never been so helpless before. He hadn’t been so frightened even when billions of funds that he had invested seemed to have disappeared. The fear of losing Li Chengxiu was about to ruin him.
Suddenly his phone rang, and Shao Qun abruptly picked it up with some expectation in his heart.
It was a string of unfamiliar numbers – a call from abroad.
If he remembered correctly, the area code was that of the US.
Shao Qun picked it up, and the other side was silent for a few seconds. Then Shao Qun heard: “It’s Li Shuo.”
Shao Qun took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Even if Li Shuo hadn’t contacted him, he would have contacted Li Shuo. So this call came just at the right time. He solemnly asked, “Where is Li Chengxiu?”
Li Shuo paused, and his tone suddenly intensified, showing boundless anger: “How dare you ask me that? I should be the one asking!”
Shao Qun’s last glimmer of hope was shattered, and he slumped in the car seat like a deflated balloon: “He’s gone…”
Li Shuo said angrily, “Shao Qun, you bastard! You forced Chengxiu to run around without a moment of peace, unable to find a safe place to live! Are you happy now? He’s gone. He’s completely gone!”
Shao Qun’s heart was in so much pain that he couldn’t speak. His eyes felt hot, and his vision blurred instantly.
He covered his eyes with his hands and said in a hoarse voice, “Where could he go…?”
“How would I know? He said he went to a relative. But I never heard him mention any relatives before.”
Shao Qun choked and said, “He has no relatives…” When he helped Li Chengxiu repay his debts, Xiao Zhou had told him about Li Chengxiu’s situation in his hometown where he had basically no one to turn to. After they got their money, they simply stopped contacting him anymore. Shao Qun couldn’t imagine where Li Chengxiu could go. China was so big that he could go anywhere. Even if he stayed somewhere in Shenzhen, it was easier said than done to find a person who had no fixed place to live, no permanent job and no friends.
Li Shuo said fiercely: “Shao Qun, Chengxiu doesn’t have much money on him. His health is very poor, and he has no relatives. If something happens to him, I won’t spare you.”
Shao Qun didn’t speak. If something happened to Li Chengxiu, he wouldn’t spare himself.
Li Shuo seemed to feel that it was a waste of time and effort to even say another word to Shao Qun, so he just spat with disgust: “Stop messing with my affairs and let me return to China immediately. Maybe then I can look for some clues.”
Shao Qun didn’t say anything and just hung up the phone.
He buried his face in the steering wheel, his hands clenched into fists, and his shoulders were slightly shaking.
Li Chengxiu managed to find an apartment very quickly. After all, he had a lot of experience in that area – he had looked for a new apartment no less than 20 or 30 times already.
This time, Li Chengxiu was lucky. The previous resident of this small apartment was a student. He suddenly received his visa and wanted to go abroad. However, his housing contract was still running and if he breached it, he wouldn’t get his deposit back. So he sub-rented it very cheaply to Li Chengxiu.
Although the house was a bit old, it was at least clean. Most importantly, the transportation was convenient. Just in one afternoon, Li Chengxiu managed to move all his luggage over.
After a while, he was finally done cleaning up the house.
Because he was so busy for a long time, he didn’t pay much attention to Teacup. When he fed the dog at night, he found that the pup was still listless and didn’t eat much.
Li Chengxiu had never had a pet before, so he thought that the dog was just tired and needed to adapt to the new environment. So he wasn’t too worried for a while.
After a night of rest, he started looking for a new job.
There were many positions that he applied for. He didn’t know if there was any hope, though. He could only wait now.
He left early and returned late every day. When he got home, he was so tired that he almost collapsed, and he fell asleep immediately after touching the pillow.
In the past two days, there was another issue that gave Li Chengxiu quite a headache.
Time and time again, he could hear a loud “bang bang bang” sound of a ball hitting the floor coming from the room nearby. The sound insulation here was not very good, and even though Li Chengxiu couldn’t hear so well with one of his ears, the sound was still clear enough to disturb his rest.
Li Chengxiu just moved here and didn’t want to have any unpleasantness with the neighbors, so before doing anything he thought about it at first.
But after a few days, he couldn’t take it anymore.
The general fatigue from running around all over the city these days, the abrupt changes in his life, the guilt towards Li Shuo, and the resentment towards Shao Qun were weighing heavily on his heart. The continuous “bang bang bang” noise was pushing him over the edge. It seemed that the ball was hitting him directly on his forehead. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly wanted to scream and cry, and let out all the emotions that were stuck in his throat and that he couldn’t swallow. It felt as if his body would explode if all this stuff didn’t find its way out.
When his brain was about to boil over, Li Chengxiu rushed out of the apartment and knocked on the neighboring door a few times.
The sound coming from the inside stopped, and after a while, he heard footsteps approaching the door step by step.
Li Chengxiu was suddenly a little nervous. What should he do if the other party turned out to be an unreasonable person?
The door opened, and Li Chengxiu saw a young man of a very tall stature. His upper body was naked, and one could see a strong chest and perfect eight-pack abs. His skin was of a rather attractive wheat color, and the man was in general quite attractive and handsome. He exuded the usual vitality of a very young person.
He frowned and glanced at Li Chengxiu, his tone was a little impatient: “What is it?”
Li Chengxiu noticed that a basketball was rolling at his feet. He realized that this was the source of the damn noise.
He swallowed and said cautiously, “This… Are you… here…. playing basketball at home?” This young man didn’t look easy to deal with. He also seemed so strong, and he was at least half a head taller than Li Chengxiu. It was hard not to be nervous.
The young man glanced at the basketball at his feet: “What’s wrong? This is the first floor.”
Li Chengxiu said: “It’s….it’s very noisy. I live right next door…And I can hear it clearly.”
The young man made an “oh” sound and curled his lips: “But I don’t play at night. The sound insulation here is not good, so deal with it.”
He obviously wasn’t afraid of Li Chengxiu’s thin and weak posture.
Li Chengxiu was stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something. Seeing that the young man furrowed his brow and that his temper didn’t seem to be very good, Li Chengxiu swallowed the words in his mouth.
The man glanced at him, and without saying another word, slammed the door shut in his face.
Li Chengxiu looked entirely flabbergasted.
