The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

Chapter 114 (I Walked the Path You Had Passed) I Walked on the Way You Came

Zhao Yuan dropped out of school, and no one could find him anymore, except Chen Wanxin.

When Lin Wenxi came to his sense, he forced Chen Wanxin to give him an explanation.

“But I didn’t make you wipe out the whole boxing field,” Chen Wanxin said with a smile.

“I didn’t care about this. Whatever the reason was, I still would do what I had done as long as I knew that Zhao Yuan joined the fatal underground boxing match. So it has nothing to do with you! I only want to know why Zhao Yuan would take part in the fatal underground boxing match!” Lin Wenxi asked sternly.

“I told you before.” Chen Wanxin turned her back to Lin Wenxi.

“It was not the first confrontation of us. So you should know that I am not a fool,” Lin Wenxi said coldly.

“If you are so capable, you can figure it out yourself.” Chen Wanxin sneered.

Slowly dropping the words one by one, Lin Wenxi asked her. “Who, are, you?”

“I am Chen Wanxin.” With a smile, Chen Wanxin went on her way.

Zhao Yuan was extremely angry with Chen Wanxin, but she had her reasons. “Even I could feel that you had stayed in bad condition recently, let alone Wenxi, who was in the same dorm with you. Wenxi did not know the agreement we made during the Spring Festival. You also kept your promise such that you did not make the whole thing clear to him. I guess that was the reason why he always chased after me to ask for an answer. Thus, I had to take him to the boxing field to see you.”

“Besides, Yuan, in all fairness, I also just knew why you joined the fatal underground boxing matches in these two days. How could I tell Wenxi the reason if I did not know that? He... I guess that he did not mean it and he just worried about your safety.” Chen Wanxin explained.

“I know. It’s okay.” Zhao Yuan smiled at her. However, Chen Wanxin instinctively took a step back. Apparently, Zhao Yuan hid something so deep from her in his smile, which was only the tip of an iceberg above the water. But what was buried in the water in the bottomless abyss? Chen Wanxin felt increasingly uncertain about the present situation.

When Lin Wenxi went home, he just lightly greeted his families, and then he went straight to the place where he did voluntary teaching.

He arrived at the home of the Village Head.

“Let’s chat,” Lin Wenxi said unconcernedly. But the Village Head seemed to be much frightened.

“I am only an ordinary teacher, and your attitude scared me,” Lin Wenxi added. He figured out long ago that the Village Head had known his background. It must be because of his mother, who always worried about this thing or that thing of him, and so she must have specifically told the Village Head to take care of him. Although he didn’t get too much preferential treatment, the politeness of the folks living in the village and the great caution of the Village Head when they faced him, all of which made him always feel that they would connect all his efforts to his background. Just like a handsome guy who achieved great achievements with his efforts, others would still say, “It was just because he is a good looking guy.” All of this made him feel that somehow, his hard work in teaching was not recognized. Others respected him only for the sake of his status. “Well, I’ll just try my best to get what I want by making use of my so-called status,” Lin Wenxi thought.

“No, not really. Mr. Lin, if you have anything to say, say it. I haven’t seen too much of the world, so I cannot guess people’s minds.” The Village Head could not help making it clear to him.

“You must know the things that had happened in Zhao Yuan’s family. Then tell me everything you know.” Lin Wenxi took the tea made by the wife of the Village Head, took a sip of it and looked at them with a condescending look. But everyone could see that the so-called “condescending” could not be used to describe the attitude of Lin Wenxi. However, sometimes, a paper tiger could also be scary.

Lin Wenxi almost heard all things Zhao Yuan’s family had gone through. He knew the road Zhao Yuan’s father had traveled. But in the end, all flourishing days of his family came to an end.

It was no wonder that Zhao Yuan had wide connections. It seemed that he was taking advantage of all the resources available around him, only to survive and go on living.

It was apparent that the Village Head did not know the ever-burning red lantern hanging in Zhao Yuan’s home deathless endlessly. He did not know how persistent Zhao Yuan’s father was in the long waiting, and how many sighs and sobs Zhao Yuan’s father had made in each long night. “I suppose that Zhao Yuan’s parents also had experienced the unreasoning passion of love when they were young and had made a life and death promise. Perhaps, Zhao Yuan, his only son, is the reason that keeps him alive.” Suddenly, Lin Wenxi thought again, “How would Yun Che and Zhu Ziping handle it when they faced such a difficult misfortune? What if it were my parents?” No, Lin Wenxi dared not to think more. Fate played such a trick on them, but who on earth was the one that governed all these things?

Lin Wenxi felt like this kind of blood feud of Zhao Yuan’s family was on him now. The Village Head did not dare to say the name of the person who indirectly caused the disappearance of Zhao Yuan’s mother. Suddenly, some part of Lin Wenxi realized that there were so many people who had been convicted by his father’s iron and blood methods. However, Lin Wenxi did not know whether or not Zhao Yuan’s father was one of them.

Clenching his fists, Lin Wenxi felt an upsurge of emotion, and his face looked sad and angry. With great caution, the Village Head said that it seemed the person always acted against Director Lin, but he was reluctant to say anything more beyond that.

“Isn’t he dead yet? Well, I will watch him die in the future,” Lin Wenxi said, grinding his teeth.

When his mind calmed down, Lin Wenxi asked lots of the things that happened in Zhao Yuan’s childhood. But it was a pity that the Village Head could not remember much of those things. He only told Lin Wenxi that when Zhao Yuan was six or seven years old, Zhao Yuan’s father moved to the town with his family. Upon seeing that Lin Wenxi cared so much about Zhao Yuan’s affairs, the Village Head told him many more things that Zhao Yuan did every year when he returned to the village as an adult. Zhao Yuan would lend a hand to repair houses and install electric wires for his neighbors. He would send domestic water to the school and repair tables and desks for the school. Zhao Yuan also liked taking the children in the village up and down the mountains to play. Lin Wenxi felt like that he had traveled through layers of space and time such that everything Zhao Yuan did was related to him. He was also there when Zhao Yuan was repairing the house. And when Zhao Yuan was carrying the water for the school, he accompanied him and wiped the sweat for him. While Zhao Yuan was playing with the children, he was among the group of children.

Before leaving, Lin Wenxi asked the Village Head abruptly. “Did Zhao Yuan ever have a pet name Fangfang in his childhood?”

The Village Head shook his head.

Lin Wenxi had asked Zhao Yuan’s aunt the same question, but both of them felt completely confused. It seemed that both of them had spotted Lin Wenxi’s gloomy look.

Lin Wenxi decided to stay here for a brief time.

During this time, what he had done made the people in this small village remember his name, Lin Wenxi, since then. They enjoyed talking about the memories the young man left them in this cold winter for quite a long time.

Lin Wenxi reopened the class, lengthened the teaching time per class, and offered courses in the evenings. He taught twelve classes a day, being responsible for all kinds of courses.

He became the “King of the Children.” On holidays, he and his little friends living on the street called more friends, and they climbed almost all the mountains in the entire village. They repaired the desks and chairs of the village’s schools and helped to dredge the channels in the fields. Following Lin Wenxi, the children were willing to do any work. After some time of hard working, Lin Wenxi would take all of them to the biggest “supermarket” in the village, and a dozen people would buy all the goods in the shop. Grinning from ear to ear, the boss would often give each of them a few lollipops as presents and watch those more than ten little friends go back home tightly packed together in the alley, hand in hand and side by side. Lin Wenxi also did something wild that he had never thought of like turning up his sleeves to show his bare arms, rolling up his trouser ends, and so on.

It had rained twice in these days, so some corners of the house were leaking. Lin Wenxi picked the ladder and climbed up while trembling. By making use of the cement and some broken roofing tiles, he repaired the corners of the house neatly with a jingle-jangle sound. The rain drenched him through. So in silence, he took off his coat and roasted it by the campfire. When he quieted down, he would stare at the empty seat next to him as if Zhao Yuan was sitting there smiling. At that time, Zhao Yuan was only a few years old.

Lin Wenxi took the children to pick more wild fruits and wild vegetables from the woods, and then he would make those ingredients into balls with Liu Lanhua. Well, all of those strange-shaped balls were Lin Wenxi’s masterpieces. Lin Wenxi would eat those balls made by him, and sometimes he would throw some balls to the dog which he called “Da Yuan” outside. He would then cook those delicately pinched balls with thoroughly mixed seasoning and gave them to his next-door neighbors from door to door. In return, his neighbors would give him a big armful of fried corn kernels and pumpkin seeds. While enjoying the unusual local food, Lin Wenxi was beaming.

Even during the holiday, Lin Wenxi would help the neighbor’s kids with their homework, which had produced an immediate effect. Therefore, each time when Lin Wenxi yelled in the yard, those children nearby would bring their benches and homework to his yard one after another. While rushing to fight for the front-row seats in the yard, they would make the chicken and duck in the yard jump up and down with their wings waving, which made the whole yard very lively. After some time, all the children in the yard learned some children’s English songs and the most basic English greetings. Although their English was very poor, they were happy to let Lin Wenxi correct their errors. And the most hard-working children could even tell all the things in the yard in English one by one. Each time when Lin Wenxi crazily hung out with the children and got holes in his clothes or trousers, some children would come up to him and insist on taking his clothes or pants back their home. Always, the mothers of the children were able to fix his items to their original appearances. Moreover, whenever his little friends got some fresh fruits and vegetables in the wild, they would stuff them in baskets and send all of those to Lin Wenxi’s place while swallowing saliva.

Lin Wenxi had lived here for nearly half a month, and it was the third time that Hong Xuan came up to him.

“My mother once said that Zhao Yuan had come to our house alone. Why did he come to my home? His father was not at home, and the neighbor of his father told me that his father had an accident. Are you going to give me the answer or not?” Upon seeing Hong Xuan, Lin Wenxi still said the same sentence.

“Zhao Yuan’s father becomes seriously ill. Zhao Yuan might want to earn the bonus of the match by taking part in the fatal underground boxing match,” Hong Xuan said indifferently.

“If his father was badly ill, why would he come to my dad to ask for help?! When his father had a serious illness, the only thing he needed was money! Does my family look like a rich one? Uncle Hong Xuan, could you please stop treating me like I am still the little child in the past years?” Lin Wenxi threw his questions in a loud voice.

“He only wanted to ask Brother Wei to introduce some people for him to get a loan...” Hong Xuan replied.

“Hong Xuan! Uncle! The folks in this village have told me about the things that had happened to Brother Yuan’s family in the past! Do you know that good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spread far and wide? All the folks in the village told me that Zhao Yuan’s father had committed a crime! But what was the crime? Why did Zhao Yuan need the help from Lin Ziwei? Why did he have to fight the underground fatal boxing match to earn money? Only you can give me the answers to these questions!” Lin Wenxi shouted at Hong Xuan hoarsely.

But Hong Xuan shook his head and turned around.

“Who is Chen Wanxin? Have you found out that yet?” Lin Wenxi asked him but looked the other way.

“No, I cannot find out who she is,” Hong Xuan answered.

“Cannot you find out who Chen Wanxin is? The family name of my father’s old rival is Chen, and Chen Wanxin has already known my background. Do you think that I cannot figure all of this out? What’s the need to only listen to Lin Ziwei’s words and deceive even yourself?” Lin Wenxi roared angrily.

“Wenxi, he is your father,” Hong Xuan said.

“Hong Xuan! I call you uncle, but in fact, I have been treated you as the other father of me for a long time in my heart! But what about you? You have accompanied me for so many years. Did you do all that only to follow Lin Ziwei’s words? Don’t you have a single bit of parental love to me? Isn’t there the least bit of affection between us like a father and a son?” Lin Wenxi said hoarsely, and he even started to whimper.

“Lin Ziwei is always busy with his bullsh*t work, so he cannot understand me. But you, Hong Xuan... You brought me up since I was a child, don’t you know who I am?” Lin Wenxi stood there injured while sobbing.

Hong Xuan could no longer hold his feelings back and that he immediately held Lin Wenxi in his arms. “Wenxi, it is a confidential matter, so you must not get involved!”

“But I’ve already got involved in! Someone used me to ruin Zhao Yuan’s hope! You told nothing to me so that I don’t even have the qualification and ability to protect myself. What about you? Can you go to my school and watch me twenty-four hour a day? Can you make me drop out of school? Or, can you transfer me again to another school?” Lin Wenxi kept sobbing in Hong Xuan’s arms. “For so many years, I have almost lived in an incognito life. Thus, when someone bullied me, I didn’t dare to say anything. And when I got, got... by that person, I still dare not utter a sound. I was told that I should be obedient and be an ordinary child. But the standards required of me by my father are not the standards of a child from an ordinary family. Uncle Hong Xuan...”

Hong Xuan touched Lin Wenxi’s head gently. It was the first time that he embraced this child so tightly. This child had always been undergoing rigorous training and stringent requirements of him. It was also the first time that Hong Xuan heard the voice from Lin Wenxi’s heart. Another father of Lin Wenxi! Right, since he was a child, Lin Wenxi always nestled in his arms and stared at him. What a willful child! But when this child Lin Wenxi was a child, his body was weaker than the girls’. Thus, many times when Lin Wenxi fell, when Lin Wenxi broke his head and was bleeding, and when Lin Wenxi could not continue his weight-bearing running, Hong Xuan really wanted to take a step closer and lend him a hand. But he dare not! He could not do that, either! The old mother of Hong Xuan at home was so eager to have a grandson, but since he already had a beautiful lover, he would never think more. However, he didn’t expect that after so many years, he could form such a close relationship with Lin Wenxi.

Then, Lin Wenxi learned the things about Chen Wanxin. Or more precisely, he knew the things about Zhao Yuan who had a broken family. He also realized what a horrible family and rival the Chen family was, and everything that Zhao Yuan had endured for so many years.

“I don’t know the specific reasons that Zhao Yuan chose to fight the underground fatal boxing match. But at least it should be related to his father, who was seriously ill and stayed in the hospital. You can only ask Zhao Yuan himself about these specific things.” Still, Hong Xuan spoke of this subject to Lin Wenxi with some reservations. Hong Xuan did not say a single word about the progress of the investigation into the case of Zhao Yuan’s father, which was a too sensitive thing.

“And, there is not much advice that I need to give you. It’s just that you should not talk about the things of Zhao Yuan before your father for he truly worries that you will get involved in all of this.” Hong Xuan added.

“Zhao Yuan! How can you bear all of this alone?” Lin Wenxi sat on the ground. He choked with his head buried in his hands. His big drops of tears fell down and wet the ground, which almost dyed the dirt the color of blood.

It was time to leave. Lin Wenxi walked up to the top of the hill behind Liu Lanhua’s house and looked around. He had been to each place where Zhao Yuan walked by in this village, and he had also experienced everything that Zhao Yuan had gone through.

“I stayed in the place where you had lived. I walked the path that you had passed. Without waving good-bye, I want to leave quietly.”

In the town, under a white poplar, a boy shed strings of tears.