The Bystander Speaks

Ten years later, when I saw Shen Yu again, I noticed the long, thin scar running down his arm to his wrist. I gave a quiet laugh and said, "Serves you right."

Shen Yu's gaze passed right through me and settled on my older brother behind me. My brother and sister-in-law were standing there.

"Bro, Shen Yu is out. Did you know?" People streamed past on the street. At my words, quite a few shot me strange looks.

My brother walked over with his arm around my sister-in-law and said, "I don't know."

Outside the shopping mall, on New Year's Eve, the clock struck midnight. Fireworks shot into the sky and quickly burst apart.

Shen Yu's voice rang out, drowned by the noise around us. I looked at my brother and sister-in-law as they exchanged smiles and New Year's wishes. Then I stepped back two paces, pointed at the scar on Shen Yu's wrist, and sneered, "That's ugly. That tattoo's even uglier."

Shen Yu never lowered his head. He simply kept staring in my brother's direction and silently hid the tattoo.

"Shen Yu, do you think someone with a criminal record can have a good future? Does he even deserve one?" I asked mockingly, gazing at the fireworks. "I think the answer is definitely no. He doesn't deserve one either."

"Of course, I'm talking about you and you alone."

Throughout the whole time I humiliated him, Shen Yu didn't say a word or make a move. The only time he acted was when my brother almost got knocked down by the crowd. Shen Yu hurried to his side to protect him.

When Shen Yu looked at my brother, my brother only put a concerned arm around my sister-in-law and asked, "Are you all right?"

Perhaps everything became irreparable when my brother transferred to Huaiqing Middle School. No matter what happened, things could never go back to the way they were.

Shen Yu said he would live his life for my brother. My brother said he would live his life for himself.

As the last bystander, I watched the ending with my own eyes. Only then did I understand what my brother meant by living for himself: he was afraid Shen Yu would really leave this world for his sake.

My brother said, "I want him to live to a hundred, so I have no choice but to live to a hundred too. I don't want to see him down there."

Theme: A lonely sleeper faces the sorrow of the river maples and fishing lights.