CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 76: RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME (2)

Zhao Meimei lay in bed that night, eyes wide open, pondering how she could possibly get to the provincial capital. The farthest place she had ever been was to her Brother Yangyang’s house in the city center.

Zhao Meimei’s mind was racing, calculating step by step how she should proceed, like solving a math problem.

Zhao Meimei wasn’t in the habit of saving her pocket money. Whatever her mom gave her, she’d take and spend right away. Moreover, her mom only ever gave her enough for a popsicle on a hot day.

The family’s money was all kept in the drawer of the master bedroom, usually saved up for a week until her dad had a day off to take it to the bank.

Today was Wednesday, and there were already three days’ worth of funds in the drawer.

Zhao Meimei licked her lips, her neat upper teeth biting down on her lower lip. With money, she could take a taxi to the bus station, buy a ticket to the provincial capital, and once there, take another cab to her Brother Yangyang’s school. Surely, she could find him by asking around if needed.

Having determined her plan, Zhao Meimei felt her anxious heart relax a bit, and she soon fell asleep.

The next day, Zhao Meimei got up as usual, washed up, had breakfast, said goodbye to her dad, and then sat on the sofa absent-mindedly, one eye on the TV show and the other watching her mom busying herself in the kitchen.

Liu Xiue tidied up, changed her clothes in the bedroom, carefully combed her hair, and before leaving, instructed Zhao Meimei: "Don’t watch too much TV, remember to do your homework, and don’t sit so close to the TV; it’s bad for your eyes!"

Zhao Meimei leaned back on the sofa, waved goodbye to her mom, and as soon as her mom closed the door and her footsteps echoed down the hallway, Zhao Meimei jumped up and dashed into the master bedroom.

In the drawer, there were three hundred yuan and a small stack of somewhat worn-out change, neatly bundled in a leather strap. This old money was saved for the bank because customers didn’t want it as change for purchases.

Zhao Meimei took out the three hundred yuan and the small stack of change, went back to her room and changed into the new clothes her mom had bought for her to wear during the New Year, changed from top to bottom, and then emptied her backpack to put the money inside. After some thought, she added a change of clothes, grabbed a handful of candies from the coffee table, and stuffed the half-eaten bag of cookies from yesterday into her bag too.

Zhao Meimei finally leaned over her desk and left a note for her parents: I’m going to the provincial capital to find my Brother Yangyang, don’t worry about me.

She didn’t forget to sign her name and the date at the end.

Zhao Meimei neatly placed the note on the coffee table, thinking she had prepared sufficiently, and left.

Shi Yang felt like he had just fallen asleep when someone woke him up. He blinked sleepily, gaze blankly turning to his roommate standing by the bed.

Shi Yang spoke in a hoarse voice, like an old rusted gong: "What’s up?"

His roommate hurriedly said: "The lobby guard downstairs asked you to come down for a moment."

Shi Yang, severely sleep-deprived and lacking proper blood flow to his brain, paused before processing the meaning of this. He lay still and asked: "What does the guard want with me?"

Roommate: "Someone seemed to be looking for you. I was in a hurry to get back to the bathroom so I didn’t ask, maybe you should go check it out?"

Shi Yang was utterly exhausted, having stayed up two nights in a row, suddenly wakened from deep sleep, his whole body sore, temples throbbing.

He reached to rub his head and told his roommate: "Hey, bring me my phone, it’s charging."

His roommate fetched the phone and handed it to him, asking: "You’re not going down to check?"

Shi Yang pressed the power button: "No, I’m dead tired."

His roommate laughed, teasing him: "Yeah, who else besides a girl would be looking for you! But it’s the holidays now, so this person’s quite eager, maybe a senior preparing for an internship?"

Shi Yang, even in jest, mumbled his curses lazily: "Screw off!"

His roommate: "It’s noon, I’m going to get lunch, you want me to bring some back for you?"

Shi Yang stretched languidly: "No need, I’ll sleep a bit more, about to....."

The phone rang unexpectedly.

The moment the phone was switched on, a call came through. Shi Yang glanced at it and saw it was Zhao Meimei’s home number; only then did he recall he had upset Zhao Meimei the previous night.

His roommate gave him a pat: "Alright, I’m off to get lunch."

Shi Yang waved him off and answered the call: "Hello, Meimei?"

But it wasn’t Zhao Meimei on the other end; Shi Yang heard Liu Xiue’s slightly trembling voice: "Yangyang, it’s Auntie. Have you seen my Meimei?"

Shi Yang: "Hmm? Meimei?"

Liu Xiue was almost in tears on the phone: "Meimei left a note saying she went to the provincial capital to find you!"

Shi Yang: "What?"

Shi Yang’s voice suddenly rose in volume. His hoarse voice now sounded both deep and thick. He coughed with effort and asked, "Auntie, are you saying Meimei came to find me?"

Liu Xiue’s voice shook as she babbled: "I just got home thinking I’d make her lunch, but the house was empty. I thought she went out to play. Then I accidentally saw a note on the coffee table; Meimei wrote she was coming to see you."

Shi Yang’s mind buzzed with confusion, only forming one coherent concern: Meimei, who had never traveled far in her life, coming out here all by herself in this freezing weather; could she manage the trip, and what if she got lost?

Liu Xiue was still speaking, but Shi Yang could no longer register her words. He clutched his phone and said with a trembling voice, "Auntie, I’ll head to the bus station right now to see if I can find her. Wait for my update."

Shi Yang ended the call and dashed out like a lost spirit, forgetting even to wear a jacket, just running out in a thin sweater straight from the dorm.

Shi Yang rushed down to the second floor, just in time to bump into his roommate.

His roommate looked at him, baffled by his desperate pace, and was about to call out when Shi Yang was already sprinting down the stairs three or four steps at a time, disappearing in a blink.

Shi Yang collided with a fellow student just entering the lobby on the first floor hallway corner, forgetting to avoid people in his haste, both wobbling back a step.

Shi Yang regained his balance, but the student he’d crashed into, with snow still on his shoes, fell back to the ground from the force of the impact.

Shi Yang hastily went over to help the person up, apologizing profusely: "I’m really sorry, I have an urgent matter and didn’t watch my way."

The other, having taken a hard fall, struggled to stand and angrily chastised; "No matter how urgent, watch where you’re going!"

Shi Yang kept apologizing earnestly: "I’m truly sorry! I didn’t mean to!"

The other person maintained a grimace, gave him a glare before muttering: "Fine, at least I’m not hurt."

Shi Yang apologized once more, before anxiously turning and running towards the dorm entrance. He had only taken a few steps when he heard a crisp voice behind him, one that made him doubt his senses: "Brother Yangyang! Bro!"