Haicheng in August was hot and stuffy. In the afternoon, the white sun shone on the road, painting layers of heat waves and distorting the outline of the traffic. 

The orange sports car drove across the newly re-paved asphalt road, turned right at the intersection and headed for Haicheng’s most remote Hanbei district. 

In the sports car, Shen Jia sat in the driver seat and took off his Bluetooth headset. He looked at Qi Cong, who sat in the passenger seat looking outside the window frowning. Glancing at Qi Cong’s pale lips, his excessively thin face, and thinking of what his friend had just said on the phone, Shen Jia hesitated for a moment before calling out, “Brother Cong.”

Qi Cong immediately withdrew his eyes from the window and looked at Shen Jia. “Did you hear anything?” 

“I have some news.” Shen Jia chose his words carefully. “I asked a friend who grew up in the Wenhua district. He said that three years ago, there was indeed a man named Gu Xun who worked in a coffee shop on Huaibei street. However, just before or after your accident, this man resigned and supposedly went abroad.”

Qi Cong was stunned and then frowned, “He went abroad?”

“Un. After the demolition and reconstruction of Wenhua District was completed, some of the original shop owners came back to open their shops again. This news came from two of the original shop owners, so it shouldn’t be wrong. “

Went abroad. 

Qi Cong slowly leaned back into his seat.

Gu Xun was a poor child from the countryside who had struggled. He worked part-time jobs while applying to universities to improve himself. Where could he get the money to go abroad? What would he do abroad? Study?

“Brother Cong, may I ask who Gu Xun is?”

Qi Cong returned to his senses and looked at Shen Jia, who looked back at him with a cautious expression on his face. His mouth opened, but he didn’t know what to say.

As a matter of fact, his mind was still a mess and couldn’t make sense of everything around him. 

Two days ago, he woke up in the single ward of the city hospital and was scolded by a red-eyed Shen Jia just as he opened his eyes.

Confused, he talked with Shen Jia for a long time and then both of them became confused. They discovered that something was wrong with the other person, so after they calmed down, they chatted with each other again. Then Qi Cong became even more confused and Shen Jia immediately called for the doctor.

After another examination and speaking to the doctor, he learned three things from Shen Jia and the doctor.

It was 2020, not the year 2017.

He was just rescued from gas poisoning.

He lost three years of his memories.

In his mind, he just went to bed last night and woke up this morning. But in fact, three years have passed, during which a lot of things happened that he has forgotten.

Three years of his life were stolen. 

He tried to convince himself that it was all just a joke, a prank, or an illusion. However, his skinny self in the mirror, a number that has become unavailable, and Shen Jia, who changed greatly from body shape to clothing, make him unable to deceive himself.

He really slept from the end of spring 2017 to midsummer 2020.

“Brother Cong?”

Qi Cong came back from his thoughts and didn’t want to answer Shen Jia questions so he simply shifted the topic. Looking at the increasingly strange scene outside the car, he asked, “Where is this? Didn’t you say you were going to take me home? “

Shen Jia’s response to this was strange. He avoided his eyes and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. When an old neighborhood appeared in front of him, he suddenly turned the steering wheel and stopped car at the side of the street.

Qi Cong frowned and looked at Shen Jia. “Jia Jia?”

“Brother Cong, actually I have one more thing to confess to you. Before, you asked if Uncle and Aunt were doing good these three years. At the time, I was afraid of stimulating you too much, so I lied.”

Qi Cong had never seen Shen Jia show such an embarrassed expression before. The vague sense he had that something was wrong was infinitely magnified, causing his heart to sink. 

He unconsciously sat up straight and asked, “What lie?”

Shen Jia took a deep breath and exhaled again, glancing at Qi Cong. He quickly said with an attitude of early death and transcendence, “You were indeed in the hospital because of gas poisoning, but you turned on the gas yourself. When I came looking for you at your house, there was a suicide note beside you. ” 

“Brother Cong, you didn’t accidentally get poisoned by gas, you committed suicide.” 

“You killed yourself for a man.”

“For him, you gave up your postgraduate entrance examination, gave up your major and worked as a cheap laborer for that man for three years. You also secretly dug up your family’s resources to feed him.”

“You were messing around for two years. Your family’s company was in a critical period of transformation, so it was unable to stand your spending and trouble.” 

“At the beginning of this year, your family’s furniture company officially declared bankruptcy.”

“Brother Cong, Uncle and Aunt haven’t been doing well these past six months.  After your family went bankrupt, Auntie has been ill for two months and didn’t get better until last month.”

“They live in the neighborhood in front of us and make a living selling small furniture. The neighborhood is very old and the lighting is very poor. On the first floor that Uncle and Aunt live is even more – Brother Cong?”

Qi Cong didn’t finish listening to Shen Jia words. When Shen Jia said “‘they live in the neighborhood in front of us’”, he couldn’t help pushing open the car door. Getting out of the car, he walked towards the neighborhood in front of him.

The heatwave of midsummer swept over him, but Qi Cong’s palms broke out in a cold sweat. His heart beat very fast and his brain was buzzing. He didn’t know whether it was from anger or heatstroke.

He, Qi Cong, for a man, made his parents bankrupt in their middle age, and his mother was ill?

Not to mention, suicide?

With a great sense of absurdity rising from the bottom of his heart, Qi Cong bit his lips tightly and looked at the neighborhood ahead.

Seven stories tall, they were typical old residential buildings from the 1980s, with mottled grey black walls and narrow broken windows. There shouldn’t be many families inside. After a quick scan, there were only a few households that were drying clothes on the balcony.

It was a world apart from the small villa where the Qi family had lived for more than ten years. 

Qi Cong thought of his mother’s body, which couldn’t stand the heat and cold at all. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. 

Seeing is believing, seeing is believing.

He ran into the wide-open iron gate courtyard of the neighborhood as fast as he could. Because he was in a hurry, he almost ran into an electric tricycle that was coming out of the community.  

“Brother Cong!”

Shen Jia drove to catch up.

Qi Cong ignored him and glanced over the two old residential buildings next to him. He ran towards the first floor of one of them.

Seeing this, Shen Jia shouted hurriedly, “It’s the other building, Number 102!” 

Qi Cang stopped, turned around and ran towards the other building. 

Shen Jia was anxious and immediately drove the car into the community after the electric tricycle passed.He found a random parking space and got out of the car to chase after Qi Cong. 

The residential building was so old that there was no security door at the entrance. Qi Cong entered the building without any obstruction and went up several stair steps at once. Searching through the damaged and mottled signs on the wall, he found 102, and raised his arm, wanting to knock on the door.

“I heard Xiao Cong owes nearly 800,000 on his credit cards in debt.”

Qi Cong’s raised arm froze as he looked up at the non soundproof wooden door in front of him and frowned fiercely.

This voice…Little Uncle?

“Fourth Younger Sister, it’s not that I want to take advantage of your misfortune, but I’m also thinking about Xiao Cong. He is still young. If he fails to repay the money, his whole life will be ruined. Who would dare to marry him in the future?”

Shen Jia ran in and saw Qi Cong still standing by the door, so he asked in confusion, “Brother Cong, why are you–” 

Qi Cong motioned to Shen Jia, signaling him not to speak. Looking at the door again, his eyebrows furrowed.

A female voice answered, but because the voice was too low, the specific content could not be heard from outside.

“Fourth Sister, don’t be angry. You are too naive. Can you really let him fend for himself? If he really could do it, you wouldn’t be living here. We are all relatives. You don’t have to act brave in front of me anymore. Fourth sister, Sanmu has gone bankrupt. You and Qi Lin don’t have the capital to make a comeback, so what is the use of holding this trademark? You might as well sell it and help Xiao Cong pay off his debt, so that your family can live in peace. ” 

This time, he was answered by a gentle male voice with a trace of restrained anger, “but 600,000 is really too little. The initial value of this trademark is 1.5 million, which can be even higher if it’s auctioned. “

“That’s a lot, but I’ve got cash that I can give to you right away. There’s no longer time to wait to pay back Xiao Cong’s bills. What’s more, I’m also a member of the Qi family. The brand that our Qi family put together is more suitable for you to sell to your own family, don’t you think? “

Shen Jia also heard the words coming from inside the house, and his eyes widened. “Trademark? It was my aunt who asked me to buy it when your family went bankrupt and said she wanted to leave it to you– ” 

Qi Cong suddenly raised his hand and slammed on the door.

When Shen Jia saw Qi Cong’s angry expression, he shut up.

The sound of someone knocking on the door interrupted the conversation inside the room. A few seconds later, a warm male voice approached the door and called out, “Coming, who is it?”

The door opened and a gentle middle-aged man appeared behind it.

Qi Cong looked at his stepfather who appeared behind the door, and saw his gray hair and the face that was at least five years older than “yesterday”. The last trace of hope that this was all a “joke” in his heart disappeared.  His nose suddenly became sour, but he forced out a smile on his face as he said, “Dad, it’s me, I’m back.”

Lin Hui in the door stared blankly at Qi Cong and didn’t answer.

“Dad, where is mom?”

Lin Hui returned to his senses and moved to the side. He was not happy, but instead appeared to be somewhat cautious. “Your mother is here, you…. Your mother hasn’t had a good rest these two days. Don’t… “

Qi Cong’s heart was like a stone. How ridiculous he must have been in these three years for his stepfather to have such an attitude with him.

He secretly clenched one hand, letting his fingernails dig deep into his palm. He suppressed his emotions with the pain, then reached for Shen Jia next to him, and continued, “Dad, I also called Jia Jia. A few years ago, I was ignorant and I knew I was wrong. This time, I came back to tell you that the money I owed has been paid off and I’m going to do business with Jia Jia to start anew from scratch. Dad, I will work hard this time to let you and mom live a good life again. “

Shen Jia was stunned as he looked sideways at Qi Cong.

Qi Cong pinched Shen Jia in the arm while pretending to hug him.

Shen Jia responded and turned to look at Lin Hui, echoing, “Right, right, Uncle, Brother Cong really understands he was wrong this time. We have agreed that he will follow me to… “

Shen Jia hesitated and looked at Qi Cong again.

Qi Cong increased his strength as he pinched Shen Jia’s arm.

“…to make a lot of money!” Shen Jia looked at Lin Hui again. “Uncle, you know that in my line of work, if you do well, you can easily earn seven figures a year! Brother Cong will surely make you and aunt live a good life again. “

Qi Cong hid a frown.

Seven digits? Didn’t Shen Jia study interior design? What kind of design job can earn seven figures a year now? 

A thin figure appeared behind Lin Hui. She reached out her hand to open the door completely, looking at Qi Cong. She said, “Come in first, why are you standing at the doorway while talking.”

Qi Cong immediately focused on Qi Yin after she appeared. He looked at Qi Yin’s hastily tied hair, her yellow and thin face, and finally on the many fine lines in the corners of her eyes.

Was this still his mother, who was always well dressed, plump and well maintained?

The fake face he put on in front of Lin Hui was easily shattered. Qi Cong bit his lips to suppress his emotions. He almost lost his voice, and his adam’s apple rolled a few times, as he whispered, “Mom.”

Qi Yin looked at Qi Cong again, but didn’t answer. She just turned around and walked into the house.

Lin Hui however, took the initiative to come forward and patted Qi Cong on the shoulder. “Just come in. You come in too Jia Jia, please come in. “

“Thank you, Dad.” Qi Cong sorted out his emotions and obediently entered with Lin Hui’s permission.

In the narrow and old living room, a fat middle-aged man sat on the wooden sofa in the middle. Seeing Qi Cong enter the door, he immediately put on a look of disapproval and said, “Xiao Cong, you can’t always be so ignorant. As soon as you have no money, you come back and pretend to apologize and cheat your parents’ pension money. It’s already not easy for your parents.”

Qi Yin, who was about to sit on the sofa, paused.

Qi Cong‘s troubled mood cooled instantly. He looked at the other person and said in a cold voice, “Uncle, you are also here. You’re right. It’s really not easy for my parents. Can you give back the 500,000 you swindled from my mother under the pretext of repairing ancestral graves?” 

Qi Yin was stunned, and then suddenly turned her head to looked at Qi Cong.

 

Hi,

It’s a revised version of Spare Tire is Gone. There were so many author revisions since I first started translating this novel that I am not sure which version it is.  

During this time my old account was hacked and I lost access to it so this translation is of the last revision I had access to since I decided to not purchase this novel for the second time on my new account. 

Hope everyone enjoys reading it. 

 

Edited by: Antiope1

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