Volume One: Youths Meet in Humble Times Chapter Thirty-Six: That’s Just the Kind of Person I Am

There is nothing new under the sun; it is the same everywhere. Li Yu was already accustomed to such things, but in the end, Shen Tang chose to endure it—not for herself, but to spare Li Yu from becoming an innocent victim.

Her eyes were red with anger as she turned to take Li Yu’s hand, intending to leave. Yet she found he stood unmoving. She glanced at him, questioning, but Li Yu simply shook his head and offered her a faint smile.

Then, releasing her hand, he said, “It can’t be this way.”

Shen Tang didn’t know what he meant, but thinking of his safety, she quickly tried to pull him away, saying, “It’s fine, I don’t want it anymore. Let’s just go.”

Li Yu gazed earnestly into her eyes, his expression grave as he replied, “Some things can’t simply be yielded because we say so.”

The bystanders were all taken aback that a child, seemingly younger than any of them, could speak such words. Xu Kaijiang, the third eldest of the Five, stood and approached Li Yu, looking down on him with disdain as he sneered, “You gray-eyed freak, what do you want? What can you possibly do to us?”

Li Yu looked up at the boy who was a full head taller, ignored his words, and instead walked toward their grilled fish. The group hadn’t expected this reaction; his actions left them bewildered. Li Yu surveyed the area, saw that the fish they’d taken were nearly cooked—with only two still roasting—shook his head, and, in a flash, drew a small knife from his sleeve and pressed it firmly against Xu Kaijiang’s lower back.

Though it seemed quick, it wasn’t especially so. What made it work was that Li Yu had intent while the others were unsuspecting; no one expected such a frail-looking boy to act, and before they realized, he had succeeded.

Li Yu’s hand, gripping the knife, was steady—he truly applied pressure, enough for Chen Dahu to feel pain. The sensation made it clear that Li Yu was not merely brandishing a weapon to intimidate but would genuinely use it. Brave as Xu Kaijiang was, he was still an eight-year-old child; within moments, his face turned pale.

He stammered, “Wh-what do you want?”

That snapped everyone from their shock. Shen Tang, recovering first, understood the meaning of the words Li Yu had spoken to her before approaching the group: “Later, make sure you come to me as quickly as possible.”

Even though the recent events had alarmed her, she did not doubt Li Yu’s intent and placed her full trust in him, immediately running to his side. Now, the scene was set with two opposing sides—Li Yu pressing his knife to Xu Kaijiang’s back, Shen Tang beside him, and the three of them facing off against the other four.

Li Yu answered Xu Kaijiang’s question, “I don’t want anything. In truth, we have never wanted anything. Isn’t it because of what you wanted that things turned out this way?”

Xu Kaijiang tried to bluff, “If you dare do anything to me, it won’t end well for you either.”

Li Yu didn’t lessen his grip; in fact, at those words, he pressed harder, cutting a shallow wound and drawing blood. His gaze was cold as he looked at the four before him, emotionless as he said, “I’ve heard threats like that many times. Most people say such things without knowing what strength it takes to back them up, or whether anyone behind them would truly make a show of vengeance on their behalf.”

Xu Kaijiang didn’t quite understand. He asked blankly, “What do you mean?”

Li Yu replied coolly, “Everyone who has threatened me like that is dead.”

With that, he shoved Xu Kaijiang to the ground. Xu Kaijiang, caught off guard, fell hard and stared up at Li Yu in shock. Li Yu looked down at him, his gaze icy, and said, “Don’t provoke me again. I killed a man when I was three. Though I’ve lived in peace for two years since, there’s still heat in the blood my knife has shed.”

He then took Shen Tang’s hand and left, leaving the five boys gaping after them.

Chen Dahu and the others rushed to Xu Kaijiang, checking his wound and asking if he was all right. Seeing the cut was not deep, they quickly bound it with a strip of cloth. He Yun, the youngest of the Five, was two years younger than the oldest and one year older than Li Yu, the very age to be defiant. As he recovered from the shock, he muttered angrily, “Big Brother, we can’t just let him go. He hurt Third Brother!”

Zheng Dafu and Chen Dafu, forgetting the previous threat, also felt it was shameful to have been threatened by someone younger and clamored for revenge. Xu Kaijiang, still stinging from his wound, grew increasingly resentful. “Does he think a few harsh words will end this? I’ll show him I’m not so easy to bully. We’re not saints, either.”

Luo Gang, the fourth, remained silent. Chen Dahu noticed and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything, Fourth?”

Within the Five, Luo Gang was the strategist. While he rarely took action himself, he was always the one to devise plans and clean up after. Whenever they clashed with other children, it was Luo Gang who found ways to edge out their opponents. Among them, Chen Dahu was the muscle and made the final decisions, Zheng Dafu stirred the group, Xu Kaijiang was the instigator who found their entertainment, Luo Gang offered the schemes, and the youngest, He Yun, was another troublemaker like Xu Kaijiang.

Chen Dahu was eight, Zheng Dafu and Xu Kaijiang seven, Luo Gang and He Yun six, with Luo Gang a few months older than He Yun.

But if there was anyone in the group Chen Dahu truly trusted, it was Luo Gang. Not for any other reason than his cleverness and knack for ideas no one else thought of.

Luo Gang, after a moment’s thought, replied, “I don’t think this boy is easy to deal with. He was calm from beginning to end, even when he drew the knife on Third Brother. That kind of composure... Maybe he really has killed, just as he said.”

The others fell silent. For all their bravado in the town, they were only children; their usual mischief was little more than brawling, chasing chickens, teasing dogs, or bullying their peers. They’d never truly committed a real crime, nor had the stomach or the heart for it.

He Yun was still dissatisfied. “But what if he was lying? What if he only meant he’d killed chickens or ducks?”

Luo Gang addressed Xu Kaijiang, “You can ask yourself, Third Brother—how did you feel when he pressed the knife to your back?”

Xu Kaijiang saw the others looking at him. He wanted to put on a brave face, but under Luo Gang’s stern gaze, he gave up the pretense. “I don’t think he was joking. For a moment there, I really felt he meant to kill me. The way he looked at me—it was the same look we have when we kill chickens or ducks. And those eyes of his—they made my skin crawl.”

After that, the five stood in silence, each lost in thought. If Xu Kaijiang was right, they couldn’t treat that boy like the other children in town—no one knew if he might suddenly snap and kill.

Chen Dahu, seeing no one spoke, summed up, “All right, let’s leave it be for now and see how things go. Just don’t provoke him if you can help it.”

But whether his words would be heeded was beyond his control.

The human heart is the hardest thing to govern. In the choices along the path of life, in the trust between people, a slight misstep can lead to great error. These tiny differences may take a lifetime to prove; how could they be explained or made clear with just a few words?

So it was among Chen Dahu and his companions, and so it was between Li Yu and Shen Tang.

On their way home, the two walked a long stretch in silence.

At last, Li Yu broke it. “Sister Tang, did I frighten you?”

Still, Shen Tang said nothing, and they continued on, step by slow step. Li Yu sighed inwardly. He had expected Shen Tang might react this way, yet this had been the perfect chance—a moment to show her another side of himself.

He did not wish to hide anything from her, because sooner or later Shen Tang would discover he was not as harmless or pure as she thought.

For Li Yu, Shen Tang was his first true friend. And so, in the spirit of honesty between friends, he could only show her his cruel side from the start, lest she later feel he had deceived her.

As Li Yu lamented inwardly, Shen Tang’s quiet voice came from beside him: “Was your life so bitter before?”

He was caught off guard by her question, momentarily stunned. When he recovered, a trace of joy flickered in his heart. “Until I was three, that was my life.”

Hearing this, Shen Tang stopped and turned, gazing down at Li Yu. She hugged him gently and said, “It’s all in the past now. You’ll never live like that again.”

Only then did Li Yu notice her eyes were red, brimming with tears she stubbornly refused to shed.

He reached out and gently hugged her back. “Yes, from now on, things will only get better. For both of us.”

With their hearts unburdened, the two returned to Shen Tang’s home. Li Yu felt at ease, sensing that Shen Tang did not mind his fiercer, crueler side. Shen Tang, for her part, thought that no matter what he had been, he was now her brother—and she would care for him and see that he never suffered like that again.

Fate is truly a wondrous thing. Though Shen Tang had known Li Yu for only two days, he already felt like a real brother to her.

Perhaps it was because she had always wanted a younger brother. Yet, in Tianmen Town, there had never been a child she liked as much as she liked Li Yu. Maybe, that too was shaped by the character of the people of Tianmen Town.