Blue Cocktail chapter 25

The thoughts were a bit stuck. Cheng Shuo climbed off the sofa, refilled his beer, and the foam floating on the surface looked like the clouds in the sky, or like the cotton candy in an amusement park—white cotton candy, it should be delicious, little Cheng Shuo thought.

Passing children clutched the white cotton candy, he silently withdrew his envious gaze without saying anything.

Being able to come to the amusement park was already very joyful, little Cheng Shuo thought. If he wanted to eat cotton candy, that would be too greedy.

Ferris wheel, go-kart, carousel.

A clown with a red nose winked at him, the ball on the tip of his hat wobbling. Little Cheng Shuo laughed uncontrollably, bending into a ball.

The amusement park was overcrowded, with long lines everywhere. He thought He Yin might soon become impatient, but surprisingly, from start to finish, He Yin patiently and gently stood behind him, waiting with him.

Tired from playing, too tired to walk, little Cheng Shuo sat on a bench by the roadside to rest.

The setting sun, orange sky, warm-colored clouds.

The breeze tousled He Yin’s hair, and in the sidelight, sunlight fell on half her face. Her nose formed the boundary between light and shadow, the light spots in her pupils flashing intermittently. “I’ll go buy you cotton candy. You wait here for me, don’t wander off.”

Little Cheng Shuo lifted his head in disbelief, then grinned broadly and nodded vigorously, “Okay!”

Sitting quietly on the bench and waiting. Initially, he pondered whether He Yin would buy several cotton candies. If she bought only one, he’d share some with He Yin.

After waiting for a while, He Yin did not appear. He felt bored. He gazed at the white clouds in the sky, some in the shape of a heart, some resembling cat ears. Wait, why were cotton candies only oval? Could they be made into different shapes? But gradually, he realized he had waited a long time—far beyond the time He Yin needed to come and go.

Little Cheng Shuo suddenly stood up. He wanted to find He Yin.

A tender reminder from He Yin echoed in his ears, not to wander, to wait in the same spot.

So, he sat back down. He sat there until it became dark.

“Kid, why are you here alone?”

A crescent moon appeared in the blue-gray sky, someone sat on the bench next to him.

Cheng Shuo glanced covertly; it was a young lady.

The teacher said not to talk to strangers, Cheng Shuo thought to pretend not to hear. But the young lady smiled and asked again.

Cheng Shuo hesitated for a few seconds, then looked up, answering confidently, “My mom went to buy cotton candy for me. She’ll be back soon.”

“But,” the young lady furrowed her brows with a puzzled expression, “the only cotton candy shop in the park was closed a few hours ago. Are you sure you remember correctly?”

Cheng Shuo was dumbfounded for a few seconds, his heart suddenly racing, “I’m sure I didn’t remember it wrong!”

The young lady also seemed to doubt herself, “Could I have remembered it incorrectly?”

After a pause, she said, “Let me take you to the cotton candy shop and help you find your mom.”

Cheng Shuo hesitated for a moment but decided to follow; she shouldn’t be a bad person.

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the closed shop, and the young lady pointed at the notice on the blackboard. The sign said it had suspended operations this afternoon due to some urgent matter.

Cheng Shuo didn’t fully understand the fluorescent writing; he didn’t know enough characters. But he saw the U-shaped lock on the door handles.

Cheng Shuo stared at the notice for a while, quietly, and motionless. He thought He Yin might have realized she couldn’t buy cotton candy in the amusement park and went outside to buy it?

He considered the possibility and felt disappointed. He probably got lost, and He Yin had accidentally lost him.

“What’s your mom’s phone number? I’ll call her,” the young lady said.

Cheng Shuo recited a series of numbers, but the call didn’t connect.

“What about your dad’s phone number?”

Cheng Shuo gave another set of numbers. The call didn’t go through either.

Someone nearby called the young lady’s name. “I have to get back to work. What should I do? Shall I find my colleagues at the broadcasting station and announce your mom’s name?”

Cheng Shuo comforted her, “It’s okay. I can go home directly; I know the way.”

“How will you go home?”

“I’ll take the bus.”

“Can you take the bus alone at such a young age?”

“Yes i can,” he replied confidently. Then he remembered something and pursed his lips, “So, can you… lend me two yuan?”

Two coins were placed in his palm.

“Here, it’s a gift. Don’t worry about returning it.”

“Thank you!”

Cheng Shuo took out a few pieces of candy as a thank-you gift.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye!”

He waved vigorously, smiling until the young lady’s back disappeared. He then slowly restrained his smile.

Cheng Shuo arrived at the bus stop. The sky was overcast with dark clouds, and the raindrops increased, falling hard. He suddenly realized he had no umbrella.

He had to get home quickly.

This part of the road was very remote, and the streetlights were in disrepair. Several lamps were already out, a few flickered weakly and then went out, as if extinguished by a demon hiding in the dark.

Dark shadows chased after him relentlessly.

Suddenly, thunder rumbled.

“Boom—”

A fleeting flash of strong light illuminated his pallid cheeks. Cheng Shuo shuddered, then covered his ears tightly with both hands. Under the thunder and downpour, he trembled uncontrollably, forcing himself not to think or look, lowering his head to concentrate on the path beneath his feet, walking faster, even faster.

As he walked, he began to run.

He didn’t know how long he’d run, running until his legs weakened, and his strength was on the verge of depletion. In his sight, finally, the corner of a courtyard appeared, a familiar figure—

He Yin was holding an umbrella, hanging clothes in the yard.

Cheng Yu stood at the front door, hands in his pockets, watching He Yin hang the clothes.

“By the way, where’s Cheng Shuo?” Cheng Yu asked seemingly casually.

Cheng Shuo was about to approach when he suddenly heard He Yin’s calm voice, “He got lost in the amusement park.”

He abruptly stopped in his tracks, standing drenched in the dark. Rainwater struck his cheeks, leaving winding trails, like weeping glass.

Cheng Yu nodded at the statement, casually responding, “Oh, got lost.”

Then, they both walked into the house, the door slamming shut as if nothing had happened.

In that moment, a vast fear enveloped little Cheng Shuo, like the endless darkness around him. Suddenly, he realized that, compared to carelessness, premeditation was even scarier. Countless children got lost, and if He Yin wished, he could be one of them. Even his mother would deceive and abandon him; no one could be fully trusted.

Little Cheng Shuo suddenly had an absurd idea. If he ran directly to He Yin now, would she blame him? Question why he didn’t wait and left on his own? Should he still go home?

But he didn’t have the strength to survive on his own, no choice but to act as though he heard nothing, silently knocking on that closed door.

The scene cut off here, suddenly jumbled, incoherent, flashing intermittently, until nothing was visible at last.

Thoughts transitioned into the present, emotions still immersed in the past, with a lingering sense of fear.

He felt terrified countless times but also grateful. At the age of seven or eight, he traveled a long distance by bus for eight stops without encountering a bad person, such as a human trafficker. Otherwise, his life would have been radically different—

During that time when public safety wasn’t comprehensive enough, being abducted to remote mountains or illegally trafficked for organs was entirely possible, everything was possible.

Fortunately, he managed to live safely to adulthood, no longer relying on anyone to survive.

Thanks to fate, sometimes harsh, sometimes lucky.

He Yin could remarry, have a new life, have her beloved child Han Han, use her second husband’s money to build a large amusement park, and take Han Han to play at the park.

Cheng Shuo was okay with that as long as she didn’t bother him, and didn’t seek an utterly meaningless forgiveness.

But then He Yin reappeared, at Lu Huaiqian’s Mo Blue bar.

The glass slipped from his palm.

“Ding—”

Cheng Shuo suddenly startled, opening his blurry eyes.

The shallow layer of residual liquid on the glass bottom broke free from the confines of the glass and snaked and contorted across the floor. The sleek glass was shattered into pieces, becoming a tool that could harm oneself and others.

Cheng Shuo stared at the mess on the floor for a while, then got up from the sofa, silently clearing the glass shards with a broom.

Initially drenched in beer, the broom somehow dried itself as it swept. Alcohol evaporated, the shards became garbage in the trash can. Once cleaned, there was no trace of the incident, as if it was just a false alarm.