Chapter 4: Forbidden Late Night

Late night.

The late night in the small town.

The clamor of the square had long faded, leaving only the occasional clinking of colliding beer bottles. 

If you listened carefully, you could still hear the sizzling oil from the barbecue stalls, and the wind blew in from the window, carrying a faint, elusive scent of oil.

An Jing’s room had two tables: one a study desk, the other a computer desk. 

On the desk sat a white, bulky monitor, with the host placed against the wall.

Through the fan’s gaps, a thick layer of dust inside was visible.

A cheap speaker, with a slight buzzing sound, played Jay Chou’s “All the Way North.”

Fearing disturbing his two cousins next door, the volume was very low, sounding distant as if from another world.

On the computer screen, the white mouse continuously clicked on web pages, and provocative images filled his sight.

Third year of junior high was the most restless period of adolescence.

Everyday studies suppressed normal physiological reactions, but there always came a time when they needed release.

And An Jing had always been bothered by that kind of thing.

He might seem like he understood a lot, but in reality, he was completely an amateur, having never even personally seen the kind of ‘pornographic videos’ his male classmates discussed.

That is to say, from the onset of puberty until now, he had never actually released himself.

In this increasingly stressful third year of junior high, the desire for release grew daily.

And now, he was seeking a solution from this omnipotent internet.


However, apart from making his body even hotter, there was no improvement whatsoever; in fact, he felt even more uncomfortable.

“Ugh…”

An Jing covered his forehead, cautiously glancing at the door—though he had locked it, he always felt his cousin might push it open unexpectedly.

The unease of doing something wrong.

This kind of thing couldn’t be asked of anyone else.

Moreover, he pretended to know a lot at school; if he didn’t even know how to do something like this, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to admit?

—A teenager’s mind was always so strange and sensitive.

Late October nights, the Indian Summer brought waves of heat, making his forehead slightly sweat.

Finally, he couldn’t resist shedding his clothes.

Looking down, it was immediately obvious what was wrong with his entire body.

The screen displayed a picture of an anime girl, not very revealing, just dressed somewhat lightly.

An Jing endured the heat in his body, looking at his own hand, full of lines.

At that moment, he seemed to awaken to something, as if he understood the true meaning of the birth of the universe.

Like the violent explosion a star undergoes as it approaches the end of its evolution.

“Hoo… hoo…”

He was filled with joy from comprehending the truth of the universe.

“Xiao Jing, are you asleep? Don’t sleep with the computer on…?”

The supernova, having reached its limit, finally erupted.

Powerful electromagnetic radiation illuminated the entire galaxy.

The radiation energy generated in this instant was comparable to the total energy radiated by the sun throughout its lifetime.

The exploding star ejected most of its material outward at one-tenth the speed of light, and the entire universe lit up with brilliant fireworks.

He immediately realized that most of the initial cosmic rays originated from such supernovae.

“Xiao Jing?”

Yu Huihui’s voice at this moment was so gentle, and somewhat ticklish, plucking at the teenager’s heartstrings and interrupting his thoughts on comprehending the universe’s truth.

The gigantic supernova in his mind finally ejected all the matter within its body, yet this was not the end.

For the universe was so vast that, if one expanded their view, they would find many similar supernovae undergoing the same process.

At this moment, his desktop was like the universe, receiving gifts from ancient stars.

So much so that the black hole-like tissue paper couldn’t absorb all of it.

An Jing could only hold his breath, pretending to be asleep.

Thankfully, Yu Huihui wasn’t Yu Mingfei; she didn’t try the doorknob.

She merely gave two soft reminders, and her footsteps gradually receded, followed by the sound of a door closing with a ‘thump.’

An Jing couldn’t tell if she had gone to the restroom or returned to her room.

His burning body, along with his brain, gradually cooled down.

Only then did he realize what he should do—he had to wipe the desk clean first.

The smell of the supernova explosion permeated the room; it was everywhere on the keyboard and the edges of the desk.

Even the meteorite fragment was contaminated by the matter it had ejected.

He controlled the massive black hole in his imagination, wiping away the supernova explosion matter that seemed both present and absent on the desktop.

He then lowered his head, searching for any possible oversight on the floor.

After confirming there were none, he hesitated for a moment, poured out the water from the vase (which represented the Milky Way), and took out several black holes from his fantasy world to wipe the desk several more times.

At this very moment, he was like a creator, casually erasing traces of what once existed in this universe.

Not until he was certain all traces had been completely removed did he finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

He cautiously stood up from the chair, slowly shuffled to the door, and listened for any sounds outside.

Apart from the sound of air moving, there seemed to be no other noises outside.

No sound came from the next room either.

It was late, so his two cousins must have already fallen asleep.

After waiting a few more minutes and confirming it was safe outside, An Jing slowly opened the door a crack, peered out a few times, swiftly slipped out, gently closed his bedroom door, and then rushed into the restroom in three strides.

The cramped restroom, the dilapidated wooden door, the stark white fluorescent light.

Everything here looked so shabby.

But to An Jing at that moment, it was like reaching a safe house; he immediately felt relieved.

He needed to change his clothes and take a shower.

Although he was showering with cold water, it didn’t reduce the lingering heat in his body.

He was still savoring the pleasure of this first time.

“So that’s how good it feels. No wonder some people even say they do it once a day…”

An Jing looked at his blurred reflection in the mirror, his face unnaturally flushed.

“I wonder if twice a day is possible…”

“Phew…”

“Pffft, pffft.”

***

When he walked out of the restroom again, An Jing’s movements seemed much more natural.

However, he didn’t linger in the living room. 

Instead, he quickly darted into his room, changed into clean clothes, turned off the computer, and then lay sprawled on his soft mattress. 

Perhaps it was due to releasing himself too many times, but his muscles felt somewhat loose, his whole body felt empty, as if something was missing, and his limbs were soft and powerless.

“You little brat!” 

The door was suddenly pushed open at that moment, and An Jing instinctively covered his lower body.

“Click.”

The room’s incandescent light flickered on.

Yu Mingfei stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips, looking ready to scold someone.

“Late at night, not sleeping, what are you doing?”

“I got up to use the restroom…”

“Use the restroom? You never get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom once you’re asleep!”

Yu Mingfei snorted, her gaze falling on his still somewhat damp hair. Her expression suddenly turned strange.

“Hmm… you took a shower?”

“Ah… I felt a bit sweaty, so I took a shower…”

An Jing quickly lied.

“Hmph, late at night, taking a shower, are you sick?”

Yu Mingfei glanced at him, then suddenly clicked the light off with a ‘snap.’

Her previous anger inexplicably dissipated.

“Alright, alright, go to bed early! Even if tomorrow’s Sunday, you shouldn’t stay up so late, it’s already past one!”

“O-okay…”

“Bang!”

The bedroom door slammed shut.

An Jing immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good thing Sister Fei didn’t find out…”

Fatigued, he muttered to himself, rolled himself up in the thin quilt by the wall, and fell into a deep sleep within seconds.

***

“What’s wrong? It’s a day off tomorrow, it’s fine to let him play a bit longer,” Yu Huihui said with a light chuckle from the next room, watching Yu Mingfei push the door open and enter.

“He should relax occasionally. When we were in junior high, we also stayed up late sometimes, it’s just stress.”

“But back then, we stayed up late reading.”

“Don’t think I don’t know, you stayed up late reading novels. It’s no different from him playing on the computer.”

“Tsk…”

Yu Mingfei rubbed her slightly plump, round face.

“Ah, this kid really is…”

“What’s wrong?”

“How should I put it?”

She slowly lay down on the bed and hugged Yu Huihui’s arm.

“Should I say he’s grown up, or what?”

“Hmm? What?”

“Nothing, nothing. It’s normal for teenage boys to do that kind of thing.”

“Oh~ it’s very normal. When I was in school, I even knew boys in our class who used my photos.”

“Ew—you know about that kind of thing too?”

“Yeah, I heard about it. It should be pretty credible.”

“They’re such perverts.”

“It’s puberty, otherwise, where would all that excess energy go?”

“Phew… How to put it? It’s a little melancholy. That silly kid who used to just follow others around, playing in the mud, has grown up too.”

“Does growing up make children less cute?”

“Yeah, from a cute little guy to a man. So boring.”

Yu Mingfei pouted and buried her face in Yu Huihui’s arm.

“Time to sleep…”

***

It seemed as though everyone on the entire street had fallen into slumber; even the barbecue shop had pulled down its rolling shutter.

An Jing’s room was exceptionally quiet now. 

Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

The meteorite fragment on the desk, however, suddenly emitted a faint, ethereal glow, bathing the entire room in a soft blue hue. 

Then, the blue light began to converge, transforming into a beam that shone directly on An Jing. 

An Jing’s body seemed to undergo some subtle changes, though they weren’t obvious in the darkness. 

Gradually, golden particles of light appeared within the blue light. 

These light particles grew more and more numerous until they completely replaced the blue light, turning it into a golden glow.

“Ugh… Zhu Ying, you… you said you… liked me…”

An Jing, in his deep sleep, mumbled a few words, a satisfied yet shy smile on his face.

“I, of course, like you too…”

“Can I hug you…?”

“W-wash, shower together?”

“Your tongue is so sweet…”

“R-really, can I?”

The golden light grew increasingly brighter, until it illuminated the entire room as if it were daylight, then instantly began to dim.

This golden beam slowly extinguished, finally disappearing without a trace.

And the stone on the desk, which was originally blue, had now turned a crystal-clear gold, as beautiful as a piece of amber with a few impurities.

An Jing tilted his head, sinking into an even deeper dream.

It seemed he was destined to have a series of good dreams tonight.