Chapter 500: Qiao Mu Private High School

On the way back, Spades was far behind Bai Liu, who was walking fast and alone with his head down, and whenever Spades tried to approach him, he would say indifferently.

"Leave me alone, don't come over."

So Spades stopped at a distance where he could only see Bai Liu's back.

The two were in the midst of a bustling crowd, separated at times by an invisible bond, as the laughing and joking crowd passed between them.

This distance lasted until Bai Liu returned to school, standing under the school building with the lights out, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his voice steady: "I need to go to class to get something, you go back to the dormitory first."

Spades was quiet for a long time, before he let out an oooh, turning slowly with his head down and walking back down the path he and Bai Liu had taken together every night, three steps at a time, five steps at a time.

From start to finish, Bai Liu did not look back at him.

The lights are out in the building, but not in the classrooms, because it is a holiday period and Qiao Mu Private High School opens its classrooms to study until midnight, so students can stay in there and study.

Bai Liu goes up the stairs, walking alone in the dark corridor, towards the end of the classroom.

When he entered the classroom, Bai Liu didn't turn on the light either. He went to his seat, sat down slowly with his desk propped up, and then didn't move.

The paper on the desk is down to the last big question, and on the sketchbook underneath are Bai Liu's handwritten scribbles of Spades and him, Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan filling his drawer box with an assortment of notebooks and snacks, and in the bottom right corner of the box can be felt the card the man left for him to ask for help.

His homework, books, pens and textbooks were kept in a neat and untouched condition from the time he left until he returned, and no one ever came near his seat easily again.

--Bai Liu is in the best shape he's been in for 18 years.

It's as if everyone is trying to create a very nice atmosphere, trying to get Bai Liu to grow up, study, take the entrance exams and meet the future he wants.

Bai Liu slowly lowered his eyes as he looked at the messy ball of puppy strings on the draft, his hand on the table clenching.

Lu Yizhan's notes in the box of his drawer suddenly fell out, and the prayer charm for the top student in the entrance exam slipped to the floor.

[Bai Liu, Sister Dot and I both want to talk to you about something].

Lu Yizhan scratched his head apologetically as he looked at Bai Liu with a hopeful glint in his eyes: [It's not that there's nothing serious lately, and the college entrance exams are coming up? I feel that everything will be settled, so I want to talk to you about what to do after the exams.

The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you want to do.

I just want to ask you, after you graduate and work, will you be willing to live with me and a little sister?

Bai Liu stared at Lu Yizhan with a strange look of what are you talking about again: [Aren't you and Sister Dot getting married? Why do you want to live with me? Aren't you afraid of people gossiping?

Lu Yizhan paused: [Because I don't want you to live out there alone, without someone to rely on].

We are seriously considering this matter. Sister Dot and I are going to save up a sum of money to renovate the house after graduation and let you come and live here after we have renovated the house, hoping you will be more comfortable. You like horror games, don't you? Sister Dot has a special room for you to play games.

Lu Yizhan smiled gently: [From now on, once you're off work, you can play games with her, and when I come back in the evening, I'll cook dinner for you.

[What do you think?]

[Sister Dot and I will always be there for you, playing games, eating, going to the hospital when you're sick, and having a caretaker whenever you need one.]

[This way, when senior year is over, you'll never have to be alone again].

Next to the flickering lights of the freezer, Spades, with a look on his face that Bai Liu couldn't understand, looked steadier and smoother as he looked straight at Bai Liu without moving his eyes and said.

[Your time alone is coming to an end.]

Lu Yizhan says: [Sister Dot and I will always be there for you].

Spades says: [I'm leaving].

Lu Yizhan says: [This way, when senior year is over, you'll never have to be alone again].

Spades says: [Before I leave, can you say you like me?

Memories converge in Bai Liu's brain in a jumbled fashion, different images resembling the old freezer vending machine, flashing and chilling at the same time.

Bai Liu leaned down and he slumped over his desk, his eyes looking into the empty space next to him, the chair Spades used to sit on and look at as if it contained every emotion and none, a deep sea of nothing.

He pondered calmly.

Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian, Spades, represent two very different life choices.

If Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian are chosen, Spades will disappear because he is not alone, but at the same time, he will have a normal, smooth, cosy life and he has no doubt that Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan will take care of him like this and play with him for the rest of his life.

The best things that Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan had ever been given, which they would not eat or use, they would give to Bai Liu, who confirmed beyond any doubt that she would indeed be able to live with them as Lu Yizhan had said she would, in the universal sense of the word, in a conventional and happy life.

There is someone to take care of you when you are sick, someone to play games with, someone to cook your meals, and someone to understand and empathise with all your joys and unhappiness.

If Spades is selected ......

If you do not select Spades, it will disappear.

Bai Liu's always calm mind advances to the point where there is a brief lull.

Spades, the monster, is like a huge accident in Bai Liu's life that is neither good nor everyday, pulling Bai Liu away from the course called "ordinary people" and dragging him into an endless, unpredictable future.

--Like a misplaced [anchor].

If he had chosen Spades, Bai Liu had a vague feeling that he might have led a completely different life, full of terror, instability and desire.

and [Alone].

It was only when he remained in a state of mental isolation that Spades could exist, and later, perhaps, Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan could not exist around him.

Bai Liu may need to remain alone until he dies.

This is certainly a very bad deal.

If he were to choose Spades, he would have to sacrifice the peace of mind he had built up for the first 18 years of his life to touch this monster.

How stupid would one have to be to make such a choice.

Bai Liu gathered his things and got up to go back to the dormitory, he passed the toilet at the corner of the stairs when he was keenly aware of who was following him, he looked cold: "I thought I told you to stay in the dormitory and not to follow me here ......"

A red-eyed Hou Tong slowly emerged from the shadows, a little confused, "What stays in the dorm?"

Bai Liu stopped just in time as he calmly changed the subject, "You're following me, what's the matter?"

Hou Tong bit her bottom lip as she took a deep breath and mustered the courage to speak up, "I like you Bai Liu!"

"I'd pay a million a year to talk to you about an eighty year old relationship! I'd play horror games with you every day, I'd give you the best things and let you live in a big house with me!"

"I'll make sure you never go back to class alone like that to get your things again, I'll be with you and when you're done with your exams, I'll take you to my parents, I've told them about you many times and they love you!"

"I want to spend sixty-two million dollars to be with you until I'm eighty." Hou Tong looked at Bai Liu with red eyes: "Will you do it?"

Bai Liu remained quiet for a long, long time, looking into Hou Tong's expectant and apprehensive eyes, his breathing gradually easing.

Given a choice between Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian and Spades for 62 million, how stupid would someone be to choose Spades?

Bai Liu does not know.

"I'm sorry." Bai Liu's tone was calm, "I have someone I want to be with all the time."

--maybe the kind of madman who would rather be alone until he dies than let go.