Chapter 14: Spider Thread
Old Sun’s ho was in the school’s staff quarters, just a few hundred ters from campus.
It was one of those old-style apartnt blocks, but one could tell that the sanitation and environnt were pretty decent. The corridor wasn’t cluttered with bicycles everywhere. There were rows of tin shed garages downstairs.
In the year 2001, that was actually considered quite nice.
When Old Sun unlocked the door, Chen Nuo followed him inside and imdiately saw School belle Sun sitting on the sofa.
The house had heating, and it was quite sufficient. The girl was wearing only a thin cotton sweater, which outlined her youthful and unrestrained curves exceptionally well.
As Chen Nuo walked in, the girl was slouched on the sofa in an unflattering posture, legs crossed, hair a ss, munching on a corn cob while the latest episode of "Endless Love" played on the TV.
Clearly, she was drooling over Yuan Bin’s handso face on the screen while nibbling on her corn.
Oh no! So much for her image!
Initially, when she heard the door open, she had lazily glanced back, but then she saw Chen Nuo...
"..." After being stunned for a second, School belle Sun let out a shriek, leaped up from the sofa, and dashed back to her room.
Chen Nuo didn’t really mind seeing School belle Sun with her hair all over the place...
It was just that the cotton sweater clung so tightly to her body, those curves...
TSK TSK TSK...
His gaze followed School belle Sun to her bedroom door.
COUGH!!!!
Old Sun coughed, making Chen Nuo avert his gaze.
Old Sun glared at Chen Nuo. "Change your shoes, then go sit in the living room and start your howork!"
Looking at this boy who was becoming increasingly displeasing to the eye, Old Sun suddenly had so regrets.
Am I inviting the wolf into the house?
A few minutes later, School belle Sun erged from her room, now wearing a comfortable knitted cardigan and fluffy cotton slippers. Her hair was tied in a neat and youthful ponytail.
The day before yesterday, while they were cleaning the schoolyard after school, Chen Nuo had casually complinted her on how nice she looked with a ponytail. Consequently, for the past two days at school, School belle Sun had worn a ponytail every day.
"Dad... um, why is he here?" School belle Sun cautiously eyed her father.
As Old Sun sorted his briefcase, he answered nonchalantly, "Oh, I brought him ho for dinner."
Saying that, he looked up at his daughter and then at the boy.
"Both of you knuckle down and do your howork! Chen Nuo, you use the dining room table! Keke, you work in the living room! No chattering!"
They begrudgingly took out their school bags and howork.
School belle Sun, completely distracted, kept stealing glances at Chen Nuo.
However, to her surprise, the normally playful boy now had a clear and tranquil gaze as he looked around the living room and kitchen. Then he suddenly smiled, lowered his head, and flipped open his textbook.
Could he be intimidated by her father? That can’t be right.
But Chen Nuo felt a strange emotion welling up inside him. He took in the old-fashioned furniture, the simple yet cozy decor, the yellowed wallpaper, and the warmth from the radiator. He could hear the sounds of Old Sun chopping and washing vegetables in the kitchen...
Chen Nuo took a deep, almost greedy breath. He seed to be trying to inhale this sensation of warmth—sothing he felt he hadn’t experienced in a lifeti—deep into his body.
He looked towards School belle Sun, his gaze devoid of the usual teasing and frivolity, filled instead with a touch of... warmth.
Old Sun wasn’t really good at cooking.
After he finished chopping and washing the vegetables, he left the kitchen and sat on the living room couch with a cup of tea and a newspaper.
After reading for a while, he took out a cigarette. He thought for a mont, glanced at his daughter and Chen Nuo, decided not to light it, and went to the balcony to smoke instead.
Chen Nuo, who had his head down reading, only looked up when Old Sun slid open the balcony door to go outside for a smoke. He glanced at School belle Sun, who was also looking at him.
"Your dad is a pretty good guy."
Old Sun was a pretty good guy, but the dinner was sowhat disappointing.
The two teenagers worked on their howork until half-past seven. During that ti, Old Sun went out to smoke several tis and made a couple of phone calls. However, School belle Sun’s mom still hadn’t returned.
This left Old Sun, who had boasted about chicken legs, feeling sowhat embarrassed.
Chen Nuo didn’t mind. School belle Sun, however, had already run into her room, returned with a roll of Oreo cookies, sat down beside Chen Nuo, tore open the packet, and shared them with him.
"My mom often works overti and cos back very late. If you’re hungry, eat so of these first."
Old Sun felt like he might have a heart attack... His darling little girl always used to offer *him* cookies first!
After a mont’s thought, Old Sun stood up, walked into the kitchen, and took out a container of dried noodles. He poked his head out towards the living room and spoke to the two children.
"How about we cook so noodles first? Keke, you cook them."
School belle Sun, as if it were routine, hopped down from her chair and skipped into the kitchen.
Old Sun thought a bit more, then put on his jacket, changed his shoes, and went out.
About fifteen minutes later, Old Sun returned with a bag of ready-made dishes: brined duck, pig head at, and cold seaweed salad.
The noodles School belle Sun cooked were pretty ordinary and slightly overdone.
The brined duck was a bit too salty, the pig head at a little dry, and the cold seaweed salad clearly had too much MSG.
But Chen Nuo found this al particularly delicious.
That was because, as the al started, Old Sun’s first move was to take his chopsticks and place a duck leg in Chen Nuo’s bowl.
But Old Sun’s amiable expression only lasted for a second.
Because School belle Sun then also picked up a duck wing, looking like she was about to transfer it to Chen Nuo’s bowl... Old Sun’s eyeballs almost popped out. School belle Sun smiled sheepishly, her chopsticks making a little circle in the air, and eventually, the duck wing ended up in Old Sun’s bowl.
During the al’s idle chatter, Chen Nuo listened to School belle Sun ramble about her mother, a low-level civil servant who was always very busy. This was especially true in recent months, as it seed she was involved in so district redevelopnt project, so she often worked overti.
Therefore, when Old Sun himself worked late, his daughter bringing him food didn’t always include chicken legs—most of the ti, in fact, it was noodles cooked by School belle Sun herself, complented by a couple of sausages.
The chicken leg that day had just been a stroke of luck.
When the al was nearly over, the sound of keys ca from the door.
The door pushed open, and a woman in her thirties walked in.
Chen Nuo could tell at a glance that this was School belle Sun’s mother—they looked too much alike.
School belle Sun’s features, largely inherited from her mother, were delicate and petite. The only difference was those peach blossom eyes.
School belle Sun’s mother’s eyes sloped upwards even more at the corners, giving her a sowhat more enchanting look.
Her face was lightly made up—very subtle, but clearly very thoughtfully applied. She wore a ladies’ short trench coat, the most popular style that year.
When Sun’s mother entered, saw the three people at the dining table, and noticed Chen Nuo, she paused briefly before smiling and nodding as a greeting. Then she turned to Old Sun. "You’ve brought a student over for dinner again?"
Old Sun had already stood up and gone to her, taking his wife’s bag. He then bent down to take slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them at her feet.
"Yeah, the kid’s dinner wasn’t ready at ho, so I brought him over to make do. I actually wanted him to try your chicken legs. Why are you back so late?" Saying this, Old Sun turned his head to Chen Nuo with a smile. "This is my wife, Mrs. Yang. Just call her Auntie Yang."
Chen Nuo’s behavior tonight was completely different from how he acted at school during the day. He politely stood up and bowed slightly. "Hello, Auntie Yang. My na is Chen Nuo."
"Alright, sit down, keep eating. Don’t be shy," she said in a clear, indifferent tone.
Ms. Yang walked over and sat on the sofa, while Old Sun had already gone into the kitchen, returning shortly with a glass of water.
He had mixed it with cool boiled water, so the temperature was just right for drinking.
After Ms. Yang drank half a glass, Old Sun asked with concern, "Why did you have to work overti so late again? Have you eaten?"
Seeing Old Sun like this, Chen Nuo couldn’t help but smile.
Old Sun, aside from being doting on his daughter, is probably a henpecked husband at ho too.
Ms. Yang nodded, her voice weary. "Yeah, had a bite. Today I accompanied the leaders to inspect that planned plot of land in the countryside. We walked for half the day; I’m exhausted."
With that, Ms. Yang walked over to her daughter and kissed her on the cheek. "No TV tonight. Finish your dinner and do your howork right away."
School belle Sun pushed her mother away with a laugh, frowning. "Mom, you sll too much like smoke."
Old Sun inquired upon hearing this, "Smoke?"
Ms. Yang sighed. "Those people in the developnt office are all heavy smokers; I can’t stop them. I’ve been in that smoky office all night; my eyes are almost red." Saying this, she headed towards the bedroom. "I have a terrible headache. I’m going to lie down for a while."
Old Sun saw his wife to the bedroom. When he ca out, he called loudly, "Don’t lie down too long! I’ll warm you so milk."
School belle Sun nudged Chen Nuo with her elbow, whispering, "My mom is pretty, right? My dad is so good to her!"
As she said this, the girl looked at Chen Nuo with expectant eyes, as if hinting at sothing.
Chen Nuo didn’t reply, lost in thought.
He quickly finished the noodles in his bowl and took it to the kitchen.
"Leave it, leave it! I’ll wash it. Don’t you bother," Old Sun followed him in and shooed Chen Nuo out of the kitchen.
After thinking for a mont, Chen Nuo said, "Old Sun, it’s getting late. I should head back."
Old Sun looked at Chen Nuo, seemingly wanting to chat about sothing, but in the end, he didn’t. He just patted his shoulder. "Don’t stress about what happened after school today. Your own thoughts are what’s most important. That place... I’ll talk to them for you first. Those prison folks are used to being blunt; that’s not how you handle student counseling. Alright, head ho for tonight. Get so rest early, and don’t be late for school tomorrow."
Chen Nuo gave Old Sun a sincere smile.
School belle Sun seed sowhat reluctant to see him go, but in front of her father, she dared not show too much.
She dawdled while seeing Chen Nuo to the door, watching him change his shoes.
As Chen Nuo changed his shoes, his eyebrows suddenly raised.
But he said nothing, got up, bid farewell, opened the door, and left.
Arriving on the ground floor, Chen Nuo stood there, looking up at the lights in the apartnts above.
The Sun family lived on the fifth floor, and from this spot, he could just see the light from their living room window.
Chen Nuo’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
The sll of cigarettes... That was clearly the scent of a cigar. In 2001, not many people smoked cigars on the mainland, and it was unlikely soone from Old Sun’s ordinary background would even encounter them. And when he was changing his shoes at the door... He had seen the shoes Ms. Yang had just taken off. They were a pair of dark red leather boots. The boots were gleaming, the soles spotless.
After a mont’s thought, Chen Nuo took one more longing look at the lit window on the fifth floor, dismissed the tangled thoughts in his head, and walked away into the night, hands in pockets, step by step.
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