Skin - Chapter 29

　Chapter 29 – Another Headache

Meng Zhao understood what the sentence meant ‘Now I can only follow you.’

　　Meng Zhao: “…” Not only could Lu Shichen make himself feel justified in coaxing girls, he could also make one feel justified in whatever he said.

　　”Okay,” Meng Zhao couldn’t kick him out of the car, “Don’t disturb me while I’m working.”

　　Lu Shichen said: “Sure.”

　　Meng Zhao was driving when he suddenly remembered something: “Hey, I just remembered something from high school. Did we come here to volunteer back then? I remember that this sanatorium was not so big at that time, and it didn’t seem to be called Wen Yi Nursing Home. Back then, what was it called? Ren’an Nursing Home?”

　　Lu Shichen: “Hmm.”

　　”I remember, that day, you had a headache, and I was so kind enough that I ran to the pharmacy to buy you some painkillers, but by the time I returned, you were gone.” Meng Zhao turned his head and glanced at Lu Shichen, “What kind of person were you? I ran four kilometres back and forth that day!”

　　When he mentioned that incident, Meng Zhao recalled what had happened that day. It was actually the first time he had met Lu Shichen.

　　It was shortly after the start of the first year of high school. Before the National Day holidays, their head teacher had organised the entire class to do some volunteering work at a nursing home.

　　That morning, Meng Zhao had visited his uncle in the detention centre, and it had already been past nine o’clock when he arrived at Ren’an Nursing Home.

　　Because he didn’t know where his classmates had gone, he had to wander around for a while, and unexpectedly ran into Lu Shichen.

　　Lu Shichen was squatting on the ground with his hands pressed tightly against his temples. Meng Zhao ran over quickly and only after he got closer, he could see that his face was almost transparently pale, his brows were tightly furrowed, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

　　Meng Zhao didn’t know his classmates very well, but Lu Shichen’s appearance was so eye-catching that he recognized him at a glance as the cool and arrogant academic topper who sat diagonally in front of him.

　　”What’s wrong?” Meng Zhao half squatted down and looked at him, “Headache?”

　　The other party ignored him.

　　”Let me help you sit over there.” Meng Zhao reached out and helped him up. Lu Shichen seemed to have exhausted all his strength because of the headache, and most of his weight was on Meng Zhao.

　　Meng Zhao had never seen anyone with that headache. He even suspected for a moment that the other party may have had an incurable disease. He asked with some concern, “Did you bring medicine?”

　　Lu Shichen still didn’t speak. Meng Zhao saw his chest heaving and his breathing was rapid. He seemed to be still troubled by the headache. Meng Zhao touched the pocket of his school uniform and took out two chocolate candies. Back then, he had a habit of carrying two candies with him. He peeled off the candy wrapper and put it to Lu Shichen’s lips: “Would you like to have some candy? It’s sweet and can relieve the pain.”

　　In fact, Meng Zhao had already studied biology at that time and knew that there was no relationship between sugar and pain relief. But when he was very young, his mother Meng Jing took him to the hospital for injections and always stuffed a candy into his mouth telling him that eating something sweet would make it stop hurting.

　　So later, whenever he encountered something very bitter or painful, Meng Zhao always had the habit of eating something sweet.

　　Seeing Lu Shichen frowning and eating the candy with a painful expression as if he was taking some bitter Chinese medicine, Meng Zhao stood up, looked around, and pointed outside the nursing home: “I’ll go see if there is a pharmacy nearby. You sit here and wait for me for a while.”

　　After saying that, he quickly ran out of the nursing home.

　　Meng Zhao ran along the roadside, not knowing whether the pedestrians he met had pointed him in the wrong direction, he ran a long way before he saw a pharmacy. He bought some medicine for the headache and ran back quickly, but when he arrived, panting, Lu Shichen had disappeared.

　　”What are you thinking about?” Lu Shichen asked, interrupting Meng Zhao’s thoughts.

　　Meng Zhao returned to his senses: “It’s okay.” After he finished speaking, he realised that Lu Shichen was sitting in the passenger seat and seemed to be staring at him. He was a little scared by being stared at in such a way, so he changed the subject and said, “Do you want to take a look at the clues?”

　　”What clue?”

　　”Report cards.” Meng Zhao told Lu Shichen about the clue relating to the report card, thinking that perhaps a talented player like Lu Shichen could solve the puzzle.

　　Who knew that being a genius was useless? Lu Shichen looked at the report cards in his hand for a while and asked, “What clues are on this?”

　　”You can’t see it, right? I’ve told you all the clues. If you can’t see it, there’s nothing you can do.”

Chapter 32

　　The car drove to the vicinity of Zhao Yunhua’s old home. Compared with the residential area where Zhou Yan’s crime occurred, that place looked even older, with a row of red ‘demolition’ characters written on the wall.

　　The residential area was not straight from north to south, and the buildings were not arranged in a regular pattern. Meng Zhao drove around the paths between the buildings, looking for the building where Zhao Yunhua’s house was located.

　　After parking the car nearby, Meng Zhao took the key to Zhao Yunhua’s house and went upstairs with Lu Shichen.

　　The corridor was dim, and the cement stairs had become uneven after years of trampling. The walls were covered with colourful advertisements. Zhao Yunhua’s home was on the top floor. The two walked to the door, and Meng Zhao inserted the key into the keyhole: “It’s against the rules to bring you here. Don’t move around for a while, just find a place to stay.”

　　”What will happen if you violate the rules?” Lu Shichen asked.

　　”It’s against the rules…” The lock was unlocked, Meng Zhao stood up, pushed the door open and walked in, observing the interior layout of the house, and said casually, “I will be expelled from the police force.”

　　It was a two-bedroom house, about 60 to 70 square metres. It was not very large, but Zhao Yunhua had kept it very tidy and clean. So although the house was a little old, it still gave people a very comfortable feeling.

　　Meng Zhao walked into one of the bedrooms. It was obviously Zhao Tong’s room. The walls were covered with awards that Zhao Tong had won since childhood, and the desk was filled with high school textbooks and exercise worksheets.

　　Meng Zhao had decided to visit Zhao Yunhua’s house mainly to find Zhou Yan’s report cards from that year. Zhou Yan’s adoptive father only found three at his home, and Wen Zhao High School refused to provide them, so he could only try his luck.

　　Meng Zhao opened the drawer of the desk. Everything inside the drawer was neatly organised. The test papers Zhao Tong had written were arranged quite neatly. Meng Zhao took out the pile of test papers, and a stack of A4 papers slipped out. They were Zhao Tong’s high school report cards.

　　Meng Zhao bent down to pick it up and saw Lu Shichen walk in. He was standing in front of the wall covered with award certificates, looking at them.

　　He picked up the report card, stood up and said, “Hey, didn’t I tell you to not walk around?”

　　Lu Shichen didn’t look at him, still staring at the wall: “Being expelled from the police force doesn’t sound like a serious consequence.”

　　Seeing Lu Shichen start to talk about it again, Meng Zhao felt a pain in his teeth: “I am old and unmarried, and I haven’t even bought a house yet. If I lose my job, will you support me?”

　　Lu Shichen looked at the wall and said, “Yes.”

　　Meng Zhao choked up after being interrupted by him, and then realised that his “yes” was to the corresponding sentence of ‘you have to support me if I lose my job’.

　　”…Fuck.” Meng Zhao was speechless. He couldn’t do anything with Lu Shichen. He was the one who had brought him in. He couldn’t just tie him up and throw him aside. He ignored Lu Shichen and started looking through Zhao Tong’s report cards. Zhao Yunhua actually saved every report card of Zhao Tong since elementary school. It was really a perfect piece of evidence.

　　He was looking down at his high school report cards when Lu Shichen said, “These certificates are all covered with transparent tape.”

　　”Yes, probably because she was afraid of the ink fading,” Meng Zhao replied, looking up at the awards, “It can be seen that Zhao Yunhua loves Zhao Tong very much.”

　　Apart from the award and certificates, even though Zhao Tong had passed away ten years ago, all his things were still intact in the room he once lived in. As soon as he stepped in, it was as if a teenager who was preparing for the college entrance examination still lived in the room. Meng Zhao felt a little sad.

　　After looking at the awards and certificates on the wall, Lu Shichen walked towards Meng Zhao, took the photo frame on the table and looked at it. It was a photograph of Zhao Yunhua and Zhao Tong.

　　Zhao Tong in the photograph looked childish, with delicate features, very much like Zhao Yunhua like a younger version of her. When the photograph was taken, both mother and son had smiling eyes. Even though the photo was taken more than ten years ago, one could still vaguely see the light in their eyes.

　　Lu Shichen stared at the photo and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, as if something in his mind was about to burst out again. He looked away, put the frame back to its original position, and looked at Meng Zhao: “Any clues in the report cards?”

　　”Look here.” Meng Zhao touched the lower right corner of the report card with his finger. It had been worn away to the point where no edges could be seen. It must be because Zhao Yunhua had looked through the stack of report cards countless times.

　　He was looking through the report card, and when he saw that Lu Shichen didn’t respond, he turned his head to look at him.

　　When he saw him, he was stunned.

　　Lu Shichen raised his hand and pressed his temple, his brows furrowed. Although he did not look as miserable as he did in the nursing home, it was obvious that he had a headache again.

　　”What’s wrong?” Meng Zhao asked immediately, “Headache again? I have some painkillers in my car. Should I go downstairs and get them for you?”

　　”Any candy?”

　　”Huh?” Meng Zhao was slightly stunned, then said, “I’ll go buy it.” He bent down and pulled the chair out from under the desk, helped Lu Shichen sit down first, and then quickly ran down the stairs.

　　Meng Zhao took some painkillers from his car, and went to a nearby store to buy chocolate and mineral water. As he ran up the stairs, he thought, ‘Lu Shichen looks like he’s in good shape, and his fighting skills are not inferior to his own, but how come his headache is so severe that it’s like an earth-shaking headache.’

　　Pushing the door open and walking into the room, it seemed that Lu Shichen had recovered a lot and was now flipping through the stack of report cards.

　　”Does your headache have a regular pattern?” Meng Zhao handed the painkillers, mineral water and chocolate to Lu Shichen. “It’s been more than ten years, and it still hasn’t gotten better… But these two times it doesn’t seem to be as painful as before, right?”

　　Meng Zhao thought of the time in the nursing home when Lu Shichen pressed his hands on his temples with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to squeeze his head to pieces. This time, the attack didn’t seem as serious as that time.

　　”It’s just that my threshold for pain has increased.” Lu Shichen said calmly. He unwrapped the chocolate, broke off a piece and put it in his mouth.

　　Meng Zhao speculated on the cause of Lu Shichen’s headache, and recalled what he said earlier about ‘complications of amnesia’. He tried to summarise the pattern: “Last time you saw the photograph of Zhou Yan and his mother, you had a headache because you felt as if you had seen them before. This time you saw the photograph of Zhao Tong and his mother… But you had also seen a photograph of Zhao Yunhua when she was young on that public account before, and it didn’t induce a headache at that time. Could it be that you haven’t seen Zhao Yunhua before, but you have seen Zhao Tong?”

　　Lu Shichen shook his head, denying Meng Zhao’s speculation: “There are many reasons for headaches, a certain person, a certain scene, a certain event… Anything possible.”

　　”Do you think the reasons for your headaches these two times are different?” Meng Zhao asked, “What are the details?”

　　”The photo of Zhou Yan and his mother gave me the feeling that I had seen those two people before, but Zhao Tong…” Lu Shichen paused before saying, “I can feel that it’s not just this photograph that’s giving me a headache, but this entire room.”

　　”What do you mean?” Meng Zhao was even more confused at his words, “Do you think you have been to this room before?”

　　Lu Shichen raised his hand and pinched his brows again, as if his headache had not completely subsided: “It has nothing to do with the room itself, it should be some strong emotion.”

　　Lu Shichen could feel that the relationship between Zhao Yunhua and Zhao Tong, mother and son, was the cause of his headache this time. It seemed that in his memory, someone had treated him like that a long time ago… Was it the woman who had appeared in the dream?

　　Lu Shichen wanted to think clearly along the line, but the headache that had just eased seemed to start to worsen again, forcing him to shift his attention elsewhere.

　　Some strong emotion? Meng Zhao seemed to understand a little bit. The motherly love Zhao Yunhua gave to Zhao Tong was indeed strong enough. It was probably that emotion which had evoked some childhood memories of Lu Shichen.

　　If the cause of Lu Shichen’s headaches could be traced, then the one in the nursing home twelve years ago…

　　Meng Zhao looked at Lu Shichen and asked his question: “What caused the headache in the nursing home?”

　　As soon as he asked the question, he saw Lu Shichen close his eyes and frown even deeper, as if his headache had begun flaring up. Meng Zhao quickly stopped his questioning: “Forget it, forget it, don’t think about it, I won’t ask anymore.”

　　After a long time, Lu Shichen opened his eyes. He saw Meng Zhao staring at him worriedly, as if he was afraid that he would pass out from the headache at any time.

　　Meng Zhao’s eyebrows and eyes were clearly black and white, with neat and beautiful lines, but what attracted Lu Shichen was the emotion revealed in those eyes at that moment. It reminded Lu Shichen of the time when those eyes seemed to be staring at him the same way in the nursing home ten years ago.

　　It always seemed a little weird to look at Lu Shichen, so Meng Zhao looked away: “Why don’t we go to the hospital?”

　　”I’ve been there many times, but they just prescribed some painkillers.”

　　”Then why not take some painkillers? Since there are no other symptoms, it will be fine as long as the headache is suppressed, right?”

　　”I’ve eaten too much, so it’s no longer effective for me.” Lu Shichen looked at Meng Zhao and chuckled, “It’s okay. I’ve experienced severe pain before, but I won’t die for now.”

　　”Don’t keep dying, okay…” Meng Zhao felt that he was going to have the same headache as Lu Shichen. He couldn’t die for the time being, but he always had headaches unexpectedly, and painkillers were ineffective. It was really torture to live like this.

　　Suddenly, he thought of the time when he had a stomachache and the various painkillers that Lu Shichen had bought for him at the drugstore. Could it be that Lu Shichen bought them all because all the painkillers were ineffective against him?

　　At that moment, Lu Shichen pushed over a report card, pointed at a page, and changed the subject: “When you went downstairs just now, I looked at these report cards carefully and found that there was one person missing from this class in March of the second semester of senior year.”

　　”Hmm?” Meng Zhao pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at it. Sure enough, as Lu Shichen said, there were 45 students in the class of the first semester of senior year, but only 44 in the second semester. “But this is not uncommon. Transferring, taking a leave of absence, taking the college entrance examination in another province, or going abroad, it is very common for a class to be missing one person… When you went abroad, didn’t our class lose one person too?”

　　Meng Zhao took the report card from Lu Shichen and flipped through it. He found that it was from the absence of this person that Zhao Tong’s grades began to decline… Was it a coincidence or was there another reason?

　　Xu Yulin. Meng Zhao looked at the name that disappeared from the transcript and decided to look for the girl named ‘Xu Yulin’ when he got back.

Chapter 33

　　Lu Shichen walked to the window and opened it for ventilation: “Where did you get the clue about the report cards?”

　　”I received a text message from an unknown source.” Meng Zhao said, opening Zhao Tong’s second drawer, which contained a stack of materials that looked like a duty roster.

　　”Can I see it?”

　　Meng Zhao handed his phone to Lu Shichen, picked up the stack of materials, looked at the front, and then turned it over to find that the front of the stack of white paper was a company’s duty roster, and the back had traces of Zhao Tong’s calculation. It might be the waste paper that Zhao Yunhua brought back from the company for Zhao Tong’s calculation. She even sorted out Zhao Tong’s calculation paper.

　　Meng Zhao roughly flipped through the stack of verification papers. He originally thought it was just a pile of useless waste paper, but he didn’t expect that it actually recorded a lot of Zhao Tong’s thoughts. Zhao Tong used his verification papers as a diary.

　　It seems that Zhao Tong also loves Zhao Yunhua, Meng Zhao thought. Judging from the house, Zhao Tong lives a very simple life. Perhaps because he saw his mother working too hard, he was even reluctant to buy himself a diary.

　　After reading the two text messages, Lu Shichen did not rush to return the phone to Meng Zhao, but leaned on the table and fell into deep thought.

　　Meng Zhao flipped through the handwriting Zhao Tong had left on the calculation papers. To his surprise, although he was a victim of school bullying, Zhao Tong’s words did not show any trace of pain or sadness. Instead, they were full of words to encourage him.