Long Way Home - Chapter 3

Lu Feng going for self-study could be used as an idiom, its meaning: a phenomenon that rarely or doesn't ever happen.

Most of his time was spent outside of school fighting and getting himself in trouble. (As mentioned before, this was our school's main source of dirty income.)

Just recently, he had broken a neighboring school's gang leader's arm using a chair, giving him a notorious name among the high schoolers in the district. It was the generation where school violence was all the rage; those who watched too many gangster films imitated their actions and struck fast and hard, gang leaders were appointed if they were capable of smashing beer bottles on others' heads with no mercy and were thought to be heroic.

Being one of the leader's favourite followers, I was envied by many. Only I, however, understood the feeling of not wishing to be dragged down by this fellow who was capable of insulting the discipline master's line of ancestors in his best voice right after exiting his office where he had just been reprimanded in.

"Xiao Chen, let's go ice skating. I'll treat you."

"No, I've done nothing to deserve it."

This sort of conversation was common between us. Lu Feng was rich, naturally, he was generous towards his friends. However, I was one who would never accept any benefits from anyone without having earned them. Dad had strictly taught me and my brother from young with the help of the feather duster: "Firstly, don't ever steal. Secondly, don't ever be greedy." By greedy, he meant gaining petty advantages. So between Lu Feng and I, we draw a clear line when it comes to matters of money. Even when we go hiking and get a bottle of mineral water, I would pay him back every single cent. I saw myself as being upright by doing this, but Lu Feng often got angry because of this.

As expected, he angrily knitted his brows as he stared at me. After staring for a while and realising I was not in the least bit shaken, he changed his tone.

"You definitely deserve this. Let's go for two rounds and take it as a means of expressing my gratitude to you."

"Huh?"

"That essay you helped me complete the last time, it won the first prize in the competition. My father was generous with the reward he gave me."

I froze, stunned.

Seriously? How did that happen? That nonsensical essay actually got the first prize?

Why did things turn out this way? I had never won a single prize for the essays I wrote, and for merely three chicken drumsticks, I've given the prize away to him...

In those days, ice skating was popular amongst the high schoolers, reason being the lights and atmosphere there was suitable for some hanky-panky. Boys would bring pretty girls to skate in hopes of becoming closer, openly holding their hands or touching their waists under the guise of teaching, even planning their falls carefully such that the girl would end up in their arms when they fall. Most of the time, the relationship between two people would be brought to the next level after having skated together, and if luck's on their side, they might hit a homerun.

When we were changing our shoes outside, many people greeted Lu Feng. "Ah Feng, you didn't bring a pretty girl here today?" "Ah Feng, you're alone?"

Damn it, does being a man mean that I'm not human?

Having not had the experience of even touching a female's hand before, I got annoyed. "Hey, it seems like you're rather promiscuous. Exactly how many girls have you skated with?"

"Wait, let me count..."

He actually started counting with his fingers. I expressed my irritation with an "urgh" before standing up and wobbly made my way towards the rink by leaning on the wall.

"Xiao Chen, you suck," he shouted out. 

"Shut up!" Even without your loud announcement, anyone could see I was a novice.

Honestly, that was my first try at ice-skating. I should deserve a consolation prize for being able to stand on my feet, not the words "you suck".

Lu Feng was playing real fine in the rink while all I could do was hold on to the railings as I unsteadily moved. Safely making my first step was as moving as Man's first step on the moon for me.

"Xiao Chen, let me help you." After skating two rounds and seeing that I was still hanging on to the railings for my dear life, he came over and started nagging, "You'll never learn it in this lifetime at this rate."

"Shoo shoo shoo." I vigorously swatted with my right hand as if I was swatting at flies. "You go and play it your way, I'll learn it slowly."

That shameless fellow ambushed me again, pulling my arms forcefully. Once my hands left that life-saving railing, I screamed aloud, my screams akin to that of one drowning. After struggling for a while, I realised I was stubbornly clinging onto Lu Feng's shoulder.

"I knew it, you wanted to make me fall to my death!"

Lu Feng laughed. "You didn't fall, did you? Come on, I'll hold you. I'm much better than those railings."

He was definitely more reliable than those railings, especially since the railings wouldn't be there to save me when I shout for help. With my left hand intertwined with his index finger and my right hand stretched outwards to maintain my balance, Lu Feng stayed by my side, his right hand staying put around my waist. In this position, we managed to skate one round around the rink, and by the time we were done, my palms were wet with sweat.

"Let's try one more round."

"Let me off please," I pitifully begged, "I'm not good at balancing. I will never get the hang of it."

"What are you saying, you can almost stand straight now, let's practice a little more..."

Across from us, a couple was unsteadily headed straight for the both of us, and just when it seemed that the great clash of the novices would happen, Lu Feng's quick reflexes pulled me to the side to avoid it. I wasn't able to duck as elegantly as he did and slipped, resulting in a teary-eyed me gripping tightly onto Lu Feng's clothes as I whimpered sadly on the floor. 

That time round, I had finally seen Lu Feng's reliability as a living banister.

"I think I'll rather not continue anymore." I was pathetically leaning on Lu Feng's chest sobbing softly. It was a bit uncomfortable for two men to be so close together, but Lu Feng's hug was tight, so I didn't bother struggling to break free.

"Let's try it again," he said lightly.

"Are you really not satisfied till I fall and break my limbs?"

"With me here, you won't fall."

Although Lu Feng spoke bravely, I still broke something - someone had approached from behind and with the loss of the reliable Lu Feng's hold, I fell straight down to meet the ground. 

"......" The pain had made me speechless.

"Is he fucking blind?" Lu Feng angrily cursed as he quickly bent down to help me up. "Are you alright?"

"How could I be alright?" Although it was embarrassing, I wanted to cry out loud at the pain when he accidentally made contact with my ankle. "I sprained my ankle!"

I became quite a sight in school the next two days by hopping about with one foot to get around. Often, I was cursing while hopping, and for those who didn't know better, they would have thought "as expected, a top student still remains strong even when he's injured" by looking at my strict face as I mumbled on, thinking that even under such circumstances I would still be memorising formulas.

"Xiao Chen, are you feeling better today?"

The target of all my vicious cursing was waving a bottle of medicated oil in my face.

"You wish. It's going to hurt for a hundred days."

"Oh, that leaves only ninety-eight more days then."

I was almost driven nuts. He clumsily applied the medicine on my ankle and asked, "Where else does it hurt?"

I harshly retorted, "My butt!"

Wasn't that obvious after directly hitting the ground with that much force?

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows with a sly smile, "Want me to help you massage it?"

"......" Since we were both males, I personally thought it was no big deal, but that look on his face unsettled me. "N...no thanks, it doesn't hurt that bad."

Unexpectedly, the pain got worse the next day. Perhaps the words "doesn't hurt that bad" meant the pain would extend till the tailbone, making even the simple action of lifting your waist a tremendous one. My right foot also swelled bigger, rendering me useless without a single foot to even hop on as I cried helplessly in bed.

Chapter 2

Chapter 4