Chapter Eleven: Chen Yuming’s Discovery

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Huang Ying put on her hat and mask, and we arrived downstairs at the rental apartment. Just as Huang Ying and I were about to go upstairs, an elderly woman behind us called out.

“Young man, do you know where Building B is? I got separated from my daughter-in-law,” she said, staring at me.

“Grandma, it’s right behind you!” I replied. She glanced back, then said, “Young man, could you please help me upstairs? I don’t know the way!” I thought for a moment—good deeds to the end, right? So, I decided to escort her upstairs.

I told Huang Ying to head back first, and I helped the elderly woman into Building B.

“Grandma, which floor do you live on?”

“I think the third floor!”

“The third floor?” I also lived on the third floor, but in the building opposite.

When we reached the third floor, I asked, “Which room are you in?”

There were four units on this floor.

“305.”

“But there’s no 305 here. Are you sure?”

“I don’t know. I got separated from my daughter-in-law!”

It seemed she was suffering from some form of dementia. There was no other choice—I called the police, and they took her away.

After settling the matter with the elderly woman, I returned to my room.

I needed to wake up early tomorrow because school was starting!

But before going to sleep, there was one more thing to do—I had to type; I still needed to earn money.

About two hours later, I finished typing and lay down on the bed, but sleep eluded me. I noticed that the light in Huang Ying’s room was still on, so I knocked on her door.

“You’re still awake?” I asked from the doorway.

She hesitated, then stepped aside to let me in. In her generation, men weren’t allowed to enter a woman’s room casually.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Me neither.” I dragged a chair over and sat beside her bed. “How about I teach you to use the computer?”

She didn’t respond. I took her by the arm and led her to my room, then had her sit in front of the computer. “This is the power button. Press it.”

“Okay,” she said, gently pressing it with her delicate hand. Soon, the computer lit up. Her eyes widened, fixed on the screen.

“The computer can do many things—you can surf the internet, watch movies, chat! Let me set up a QQ account for you. That way, when I’m at school, you can chat with me.”

“Really? That’s amazing!”

I opened QQ and registered an account, then asked, “When’s your birthday?”

“June 8, 1901.”

“Alright, your QQ number is 1434520***, and the password is 19010608.” I read it aloud. She sheepishly said, “I didn’t remember it.”

“I’ll write it down for you. If you forget, just check your notebook!” I grabbed a pen and wrote it on the first page.

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“Now I’ll teach you how to log in!” I demonstrated four times before she finally got it. Meanwhile, I added myself to her friend list, labeled with my name, Wang Yu. I was the only one on her list—once I teach Grandpa, she’ll be able to chat with both of us! She had some schooling before, and even after decades of hardship, she had learned quite a bit. Typing shouldn’t be a problem.

“Try sending me a message!” I logged onto my QQ on my phone. She clumsily typed two characters, taking about thirty seconds.

After she pressed Enter, my phone beeped.

“Hello” appeared on my screen.

“Good! Tomorrow when I’m at school, you can message me!” I wasn’t a model student—sometimes I even used my phone in class.

“Mm,” she blushed again. I really don’t know how her adrenaline works—she blushes so quickly. I looked down and realized that while teaching her to operate the computer, I had rested my hand on her shoulder. Even over her clothes, she was such a conservative girl; no wonder she blushed!

Since I couldn’t touch her directly, the only way was through clothing or something else. Even then, her face turned red!

This was her first time using a computer, and everything inside it was unfamiliar, like how we once viewed the structure of the atomic bomb—all new.

That night, I taught Huang Ying several more times before she barely memorized the process.

Before turning off the lights to sleep, I glanced outside and saw a woman around forty sitting by the window opposite, at a computer desk, staring toward my window.

“Damn, still that lecherous at her age!”

I went over and closed the curtains. I’d never had a strange woman peek at me like that before! Early the next morning, I got up and saw the same woman again by the window.

If I weren’t a well-mannered young man of the 21st century, I would have cursed her out already. Why was that woman, so past her prime, always staring at me?

The best thing about waking up was that someone had already prepared breakfast for you, and that someone was a beautiful woman!

After breakfast, I was ready to leave for school. It was the first day, and I didn’t want to be late!

Huang Ying saw me to the door. I turned and said, “If you want to go out and play, be careful!”

“Oh, and I left some money on the coffee table in the living room. If you want to buy anything, feel free. But it’s better to wait until I get home this afternoon; I’ll go out with you. The computer’s in my room—if you want, you can play on it!”

After saying this, I left for school. Honestly, without Huang Ying nearby, I felt a little lonely.

At school, I first registered, then paid fees—these were separate from living expenses. Then I went to class. The classroom was already crowded with students, including Chen Yuming.

When they saw me, they all asked, “Wang Yu, any interesting stories from the summer? Tell us!”

I wanted to share, but would they believe me?

“I have something interesting!” Chen Yuming shouted loudly, as if afraid no one would notice.

Sure enough, all eyes turned to him.

“The other day, when I first came, I saw a beautiful woman on Wang Yu’s bed!”

“Oh~ oh~” they teased, all grinning mischievously at me.

I hurriedly explained, “No way!”

“Denying just proves it! Proof is in the cover-up!”

“Yeah…” Schoolmates loved this kind of thing—fact or not, as long as there was gossip, they’d believe it.

Chen Yuming, seeing the attention shift away, added, “I only glanced once, and the beauty vanished!”

“Pfft…” “So it was a lie…”

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“I’m not lying! At first, I thought it was a hallucination, but later I realized it was real. I suspect it was a ghost!” Some timid girls, upon hearing the word “ghost,” immediately left.

“That ghost was on Wang Ming’s bed, wearing clothes from last century!” Chen Yuming continued.

A nearby girl smirked, “I heard our school used to be a graveyard—maybe it’s the spirits from the graves!” Her words stirred a lively debate.

Suddenly, a sharp scream cut through the chatter.

“Ghost!”

“Ah…” “Ah…” The girls jumped in fright, but they were all good actors; there was nothing to fear.

Of course, the scream was mine. Huang Ying wasn’t scary at all—she cooked and washed clothes for me!

“Ghosts my foot! There’s no such thing! Even if there were, I’d handle them!” I wasn’t bragging. Over two months, Grandpa taught me a lot of things!

“Wang Yu, really, that ghost was on your bed!” Chen Yuming said earnestly.

Isn’t that nonsense? I was the one who told her to lie down there. But I wasn’t about to admit it.

“There are no ghosts in the world; you’re just scared of your own shadow. You even said it was a gift from heaven last time! I think you’re just jealous you can’t get her, so you call her a ghost. Honestly, your heart is so dark!” I fired back without holding back, leaving Chen Yuming speechless.

“I… well, I was just saying…”

I cut him off, “Alright, alright, I get it—it was real for you. Now go dream about your goddess!”

After putting Chen Yuming in his place, class began. The first day was boring—the teacher told us to read by ourselves. But my mind wasn’t on that, so I secretly took out my phone, logged into QQ, and saw a message. It was from Huang Ying!

“How much longer until you’re home?” just a few short words—wonder how long it took her to type.

“Around five in the afternoon,” I replied and waited for her response.

Nearly ten minutes passed with no reply; I felt a bit disappointed. Then, at the thirteenth minute, my phone vibrated. I eagerly opened it.

“I’ll prepare dinner and wait for you.” I could already picture her delicate demeanor! Having someone waiting at home—what more could I ask for?

“When I get back, I’ll take you out! For now, you can watch some movies!” When I taught her QQ, I also showed her how to use PPS.

Finally, school ended. I rushed home with a bag of books and knocked. About twenty seconds later, Huang Ying opened the door.

“You’re back!” The words sounded like a wife greeting her husband.

“Yeah.” I put down my bag and saw dinner was already laid out on the table.

I washed my hands and sat down. Huang Ying dashed into the bedroom and brought out the laptop; she was watching a comedy.

She placed the computer next to the table. “I’m watching this—it’s really good. Want to watch?”

I had already seen it, but I couldn’t refuse her. How could I say no when she was sharing something she liked?

“Sure, sit there and we’ll watch together!” She plopped down and watched with great interest. I ate while glancing at the screen but was really sneaking looks at her. When she laughed at the funny parts, it was beautiful and innocent, like a child.

I deliberately ate slowly because as soon as I finished, she would run to wash the dishes. Seeing her so happy, I didn’t want to disturb her.

!!