Mud beads

Chapter 8 I don't remember

The courtyard was quiet, and Yuejian Che's lazy voice came through the phone with exceptional clarity.

"What is it?"

Teacher Fang's voice was almost touching the phone: "Yuejian Tetsu, it's me."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Yu Zhu's heart pounded.

Teacher Fang spoke very quickly: "Yuejian Tetsu, don't hang up yet. I just have one question, and I'll leave after I finish."

The front door was open, and the flowers in the vase on the entryway cabinet swayed gently in the breeze. Aunt Wang stood on the steps, her brow furrowed.

The call wasn't disconnected, and no one spoke.

Teacher Fang asked, "Of all the things you've said to me... was any of them true?"

Koshima Toru's voice rang out quickly, casually: "I don't remember."

The phone hangs up.

Teacher Fang was still holding up her phone.

The phone screen went dark, revealing a small patch of her pale profile. She silently handed the phone back to Yu Zhu, who took it. A thin layer of dampness covered the back of the phone.

Aunt Wang remained polite: "Teacher Fang, no need to see me out."

Teacher Fang tugged at the strap of her bag on her shoulder, and as the strap moved, a red mark appeared on her shoulder.

She said, "I understand."

She turned and walked steadily onto the road outside the courtyard. The holly bushes along the roadside were neatly trimmed, and the sun shone brightly on their leaves.

Yu Zhu watched Teacher Fang's retreating figure, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

She had been told before that she didn't remember.

Liu Guizhen couldn't remember which day she missed a meal, Yu Dahai couldn't remember what grade she finished in elementary school, and her older sister Yu Laidi, who worked away from home, didn't remember sending her any of the things back. But at least her "not remembering" was always accompanied by either annoyance or perfunctory explanations.

But Koshima Toru's amnesia was different. His amnesia was very mild, without even a trace of emotion.

Yu Zhu suddenly felt sorry for Teacher Fang, but she was so beautiful and dignified, it was not her place to feel sorry for a shepherd girl from the mountains.

After closing the front door, Aunt Wang picked up the flower arrangement that had been blown away by the wind in the entryway and moved it back to the kitchen sink.

She didn't scold Yu Zhu, but only said, "Don't open the door for things like this in the future. Young Master doesn't like trouble."

Yu Zhu lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry."

Aunt Wang glanced at her, her tone softening slightly: "You're young, you don't understand. Don't believe anything they say outside. The young master is from the Yue family, and many people want to take things from him."

Yu Zhu nodded without saying anything.

Actually, she wanted to ask Aunt Wang if Teacher Fang was very bad, but she swallowed the words back.

Aunt Wang said that many people outside wanted to take things from Echizen Toru.

She was also someone who had been brought back from outside. She didn't know if she counted as one of them.

Aunt Wang continued pruning the flowers, and with a snip of the scissors, she cut off an extra leaf.

Leaves fell to the ground, and Yu Zhu bent down to pick them up, but Aunt Wang said it wasn't necessary, they could sweep them up together later. Her hand froze in mid-air before she pulled it back.

She thought, everything here has a place. Flowers have a place, shoes have a place, cups have a place.

Things that have no place will be taken away.

Yu Zhu returned to the coffee table and picked up her pen again.

Moth

Echizen Toru didn't return until evening.

He carried a faint, cool, earthy scent characteristic of the outdoors. The black fitted jacket he wore that morning was draped over his arms, and he was only wearing a gray sports T-shirt. The thin material clearly outlined his broad figure, and Yu Zhu glanced at him before immediately looking down.

Aunt Wang went up to him, took his coat, and said he was wearing too little.

Yu Zhu stood beside the stairs and saw Yue Jian Che look up at her.

He smiled.

Yu Zhu's back tensed up immediately.

"You," he raised his chin slightly, "come here."

She walked over.

Echizen Toru didn't go into the living room or upstairs; he just stood under the light in the entryway. The light fell from above him, making his shadow very faint.

"Did someone come to see me today?"

Yu Zhu nodded: "Teacher Fang."

"Why are you calling me?"

Yu Zhu lowered her head and looked at her toes: "She said, just one sentence."

Echizen Toru nodded, as if he understood.

The next second, he asked, "She told you to hit her, so you hit her?"

Yu Zhu's fingers suddenly curled up.

"I thought..."

"You think so again?"

The color drained from her face.

Koshima Toru took a step forward.

Yu Zhu instinctively stepped back. He saw this, stopped, and did not approach any further.

She was overthinking it; he almost never touched her.

"What did I tell you?" he asked.

Yu Zhu whispered, "I can't say I know you."

"Anything else?"

"I can't talk to you in front of other people."

"besides."

She thought about it for a long time, but couldn't come up with an answer.

Koshima Toru waited patiently until she became increasingly flustered, then he spoke for her: "Be good."

Yu Zhu looked up at him.

"A dog should only obey its owner," he said softly. "It shouldn't respond to every call, understand?"

The room quieted down.

Aunt Wang stood at the entrance with the clothes in her hand, caught in a dilemma.

Yu Zhu's ears burned. She knew that in the city, "dog" wasn't a good word. She wanted to say that she wasn't a dog, but the words were immediately drowned out by another voice.

Tetsuya Echizen brought her out of the mountains.

Tetsuya Echizen gave her a new name.

Koshima Toru made her go to school.

She ate his food, lived in his house, and everything she owned, from head to toe, was bought by Aunt Wang with the Yue family's money.

What right does she have to refute this?

Yu Zhu nodded.

"I've got it."

Echigo looked at her and nodded, then stared for a while, as if that wasn't enough.

His silence was harder to bear than his words. Yu Zhu didn't know what she had done wrong again, so she could only stand there blankly, trying to hold her breath.

Koshima Toru slowly said, "Next time she comes, don't call me."

Yu Zhu said, "I understand."

Koshima Toru then said, "If you die at the door, call the property management. Don't call me."

Yu Zhu subconsciously raised her head.

Echizen Toru still had a smile on his face, his long eyelashes drooping slightly, like a clay bodhisattva on a village altar, both compassionate and solemn.

Yu Zhu recalled what the students at the school gate had said.

Koshima Toru is so unlucky.

Encountering this kind of teacher.

She repeated those two sentences to herself, over and over again, finally suppressing the sudden chill that had gripped her.

She thought, the young master isn't cold-blooded.

He was just annoyed by being bothered.

He just hated that she helped someone who had hurt him without his consent.

Yu Zhu took a breath: "I understand."

Koshima Toru smiled with satisfaction: "Smart."

He turned and went upstairs.

Yu Zhu stood downstairs, her heart skipping a beat at the compliment.

She seems to have finally done one thing right.