Chapter 77: The Wandering Korean's Notes (6)

  Because Shunying's mother-in-law wanted to relive the feeling of sleeping with Qin Ke years ago, and also because she might be experiencing jet lag in a foreign country, she tossed and turned all night and couldn't fall asleep until dawn. She felt like she had only slept for a short while when someone woke her up.

  I helplessly opened my eyes to find Qin Ke squatting beside me, so I curiously asked her, "Why did you get up so early? You also have insomnia!?"

  "Come on! Accompany me for a bit..." Qin Ke said very seriously.

  "Where else can I go?"

  "Go... see my mom..."

  "Isn't she... dead?" Due to just waking up, her mind was still in a daze and didn't fully grasp the accurate meaning of Qin Ke's words.

  Go to her grave and pay respects to her...

  The sky was gloomy in the morning, as if to match our mood today. Qin Kaiyi and I took a taxi back to the hotel, changed into black clothes, tidied ourselves up, and then took another taxi to the cemetery where Qin Kaiyi's mother was buried. The cemetery was built on a hillside, and as we stepped up the stairs towards the top of the mountain, the sky began to drizzle with rain, making our mood even heavier.

  Before long, a large area of neatly planned graves appeared in front of us. Qin Kaiyi led me to stand silently in front of one of the tombstones. After seeing the photo on the tombstone, I knew that this was where Qin Kaiyi's mother was buried. Under the photo were two lines of text. From the three Chinese characters "Hán Sù Yīng" engraved on the left side, it could be inferred that the Korean text on the right side was also Qin Kaiyi's mother's name.

  "It seems like someone was here just now..." I said to Qin Ke Yi as I looked at the newly placed flowers in front of the grave.

  "Who could it be?" Qin Ke muttered to himself.

  "Maybe it was one of your mother's relatives or friends when she was alive."

  "Perhaps... " Qin Ke let out a sigh and slowly knelt down in front of her mother's tombstone, gently stroking the stone with one hand while tears slowly fell from her eyes.

  "Mom... Ke Yi has come... Ke Yi is here to see you..." Qin Ke Yi stroked the photo of her mother on the tombstone, choking with sobs. At this moment, I was also infected by Qin Ke Yi's emotions and the gloomy atmosphere, my eyes began to moisten as well.

  "Mom... I'm sorry... it's too late..." At this time, Qin Ke Yi's emotions began to lose control, her crying grew louder and louder, as if she had returned to the state of mind of a 7 or 8-year-old girl in front of her mother. At that moment, being in Korea, due to the influence of the environment, it was easier to evoke memories of the few Korean movies I had seen, so I imitated the scene from the movie and walked over, squatted down and hugged Qin Ke Yi.

  I didn't know how to comfort Qin Ke Yi at that moment, so I could only hold her tightly in my arms. As I slowly lifted my head and looked at the photo of Qin Ke Yi's mother, a sense of responsibility suddenly arose within me, and I silently made a promise to Qin Ke Yi's mother in my heart.

  "Auntie... don't worry... I'll take good care of Ke Yi, won't let her suffer or get hurt again, I'll love her with all my heart..." At this moment, I felt as if Qin Ke Yi's mom in the photo was smiling at me faintly, as if expressing gratitude..."

  On the way back to the hotel by taxi, Qin Ke leaned on my shoulder and slept all the way until we arrived at the hotel entrance. After entering the room, I helped Qin Ke lie down on the bed, covered her with a quilt, and watched her close her eyes and continue sleeping...

  "Kang Jian... where are you going?" After seeing that Qin Ke Yi seemed to be sleeping soundly, I got up to go downstairs to buy some food, but just as I stood up, Qin Ke Yi opened her eyes and asked me.

  "I'm going downstairs to sell some food... you haven't eaten anything from morning till now... I'm afraid you're hungry."

  "I'm not hungry! Don't go, lie down and keep me company..."

  "What's wrong? Are you afraid I'll run away? Or are you afraid someone will kidnap me?" I asked with a smile, then walked over and leaned against the headboard beside Qin Ke Yi. Qin Ke Yi buried his head in my chest, then closed his eyes. Due to last night's lack of sleep plus getting up early this morning, after sitting there for a while, I also felt an intense drowsiness, so slowly I too leaned against the headboard and fell asleep in a daze, until a sudden ringing phone startled me awake.

  I opened my eyes and composed myself, then hastily got out of bed and picked up the phone.

  "Hello! What's up?" came Jiayinna's voice over the phone.

  "What's up? Where are you?"

  "Am I at the dorm? Tonight, my boyfriend and I want to invite you to dinner, would you be willing?"

  "That's really bad, and you guys have to spend money on me too! Haha!"

  "Don't pretend anymore! Wait for us at the hotel, we'll come pick you up soon!"

  "Alright, see you later!" After hanging up the phone, I turned around and saw Qin Ke'er lying on the bed. She had also been woken up by the ringing of the phone and was staring at me with wide eyes. So I told her about Jin Yina and her boyfriend's decision to invite us for dinner and pulled her out of bed.

  After we had all gathered, Jin Yina appeared at the door and rang the bell. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, we went downstairs with her. Her boyfriend was waiting for us in a Hyundai sedan. When he saw us coming down, he shook hands with me and Qin Ke separately and introduced himself. He was also a Chinese overseas student, from Dalian. Judging by the car he drove, it was clear that his family was well-off, either wealthy or high-ranking officials.

  After getting into his car, he took us to a high-end barbecue restaurant. Although he was a rich man, his boyfriend seemed very elegant and humble, without the usual Northeastern habit of drinking excessively when meeting, which made the atmosphere at the table much more relaxed. Jin Yina also formally invited me and Qin Kei to visit their vacation home on Jeju Island, I had seen introductions about Jeju Island online before, compared to the hustle and bustle of Seoul, Jeju Island is a natural scenic tourist destination, with this in mind, Qin Kei and I happily accepted her invitation.

  Just as everyone was full of wine and food, ready to leave, Jinyi Na's boyfriend received a call from a friend asking him to go clubbing together. After hanging up the phone, he also wanted me and Qin Ke to go together. Considering that going back to the hotel would be staring at the ceiling, we followed them onto the car, heading towards the city center.

  The nightlife in Seoul is more colorful than Harbin, the car quickly arrived at a disco door on a street with bright lights and green wine. After getting off the bus, you can hear the shocking music inside the house outside the door, making people unconsciously produce the desire to dance with the music.

  As Jinna and her boyfriend walked in, the scene inside could only be described as crazy. All the fashionably dressed young men and women were surrounding a very high stage, dancing wildly to the fast-paced music. On the stage, different men or women would occasionally climb up to show off their dance moves to everyone below. The female waitresses wearing roller skates carried trays and weaved through the crowd non-stop. Occasionally, a few of them would enthusiastically greet Jinna's boyfriend, apparently he was a regular here.

  We found two friends of Jina's boyfriend in a relatively quiet corner, and after he introduced me and Kei to his two friends in Korean, one of them greeted us with authentic Mandarin.

  "You're also an overseas student from China?!" I asked excitedly.

  "I'm Korean! I just became a Korean citizen this year!" He seemed to say proudly, as if being Chinese was not something to be proud of in his eyes. Although I felt disgusted and looked down on such an act of forgetting one's ancestors, I tried not to show it and only silently despised him in my heart. After all, everyone has the right to choose their own life, and for a country with a population of 1.3 billion, it's unrealistic to expect every person to be patriotic. Patriotism is ultimately just an emotional thing, there's no must, and when someone abandons their country, besides feeling regretful, one can only helplessly accept it.

  After we sat down, Jina's boyfriend ordered something. After everything arrived, we started chatting and drinking while clinking glasses, but I refused to clink glasses with the guy who thought he was Korean every time. After a while, Jina pulled Qin Ke to go dancing, leaving us four guys continuing to chat and drink, but most of the time it was the three of them talking, and I quietly listened on the side.

  "Do you think Korea is better or China is better?" A person who claimed to be Korean suddenly asked me, and from his tone of voice, it seemed like he had a bit too much to drink.

  "Each has its own strengths, but I still like China!" For a drunkard's provocative question that easily triggers ethnic disputes, I gave a moderate answer.

  "Why? Because you are Chinese!" Hearing his words, I couldn't help but laugh at him for always claiming to be a pure-blooded Korean.

  "So why do you like Korea? Is it just because you're Korean!" I intentionally put emphasis on the three words "Korean person" while saying this, in an attempt to awaken his conscience, although I knew it might be futile.

  "Korea is so great! Everything is here! The economy is developed! Samsung, LG, which one isn't a world-class enterprise? Does China have any?" His words, although suspicious of being spoken by a drunkard, made me unable to treat him as just a foolish drunk and tolerate him again.

  I adjusted my mood, suppressed the little anger in my heart, and after organizing my language, I said to him, "We have everything except American soldiers! Sorry everyone, I have something to do and will leave first!" After finishing speaking, I stood up, picked up my bottle of beer and gestured to the three people present, then drank the remaining beer in one gulp. Then, I walked into the crowd of dancing people, pulled Qin Ke Yi who was dancing with Jin Yina, and headed towards the exit...