8. Fantasy-Impromptu

◎You can contact me anytime if you're not sick◎

"I think I'm sick. Can I come to see you?"

After asking that question, Liang Chuling spoke again before Li Xun could reply, this time with great anger: "You're practicing the piano?!"

She heard the metronome on the other end of the line, and her ears perked up instantly. All the self-pity and grievances she had felt earlier vanished in an instant!

"Li Xun! You're in the music room? You've been secretly working hard!"

Li Xun's voice carried a hint of helplessness as it came through the receiver: "I didn't sneak around. I just came over to practice for a while in the evening since I had nothing else to do."

"Practice for a while?" Liang Chuling didn't believe it. "Are you trying to secretly surpass me? No way, I'm going to practice the piano too!"

She stood up as she spoke, forgetting the pain in her ankle.

Li Xun was truly at his wit's end.

He thought to himself, "You're sick but you still think about practicing the piano. Do you really want to practice for Chopin in person?"

The thought crossed my mind, and I immediately tapped the piano surface with my fingertip as an apology, a sign of apology, "Sorry for the offense..."

"Where are you?" he interrupted Liang Chuling's aggressive accusation.

“The pavilion outside our residential complex.” Liang Chuling’s momentum weakened a little as she squatted back down in the corner, watching the snow fall heavier and heavier.

"Wait and don't move. I'll be right there." Li Xun paused after saying that, "Find a sheltered spot."

After hanging up the phone, Liang Chuling's irritability subsided, replaced by a competitive spirit.

Unwilling to suffer even the slightest grievance, she opened her phone's map to check the location from Teacher Li Chi's small building to here.

A taxi ride is expected to take 15 minutes, while a bus ride will take half an hour.

She sent Li Xun another voice message, her tone domineering: "You have to be here within half an hour! Otherwise, I'll die!"

Just as Li Xun finished packing his things and was about to leave, he heard this voice message and stumbled, almost tripping over himself.

Dead? That's serious!

Judging from the way she was yelling on the phone just now, it doesn't seem like it.

This must be some kind of sudden, rapidly changing illness...

Li Xun dared not gamble, so he grabbed an umbrella and hailed a private car.

It arrived faster than expected, in less than fifteen minutes.

He parked his car outside the residential area, held up his umbrella, and walked to the pavilion. He immediately spotted Liang Chuling.

She was wearing home clothes, her hair was wet from the snow and a few strands stuck to her forehead, her face was a little white from the cold, and she was idly drawing scribbles on the stool with her fingers.

He doesn't look like he's about to die at all.

But it's kind of pitiful.

"Liang Chuling?"

Liang Chuling raised her head.

Under the glow of the streetlights and the snow, her face was indeed pale, and her eyes were red.

Aside from that, she seemed to be in good spirits; at least her eyes still held a certain menacing intensity.

Li Xun looked her up and down but couldn't detect anything obviously wrong.

On second thought, Liang Chuling has always liked to act tough, so maybe she's in a lot of pain right now and is just pretending not to show it.

The long-handled umbrella hit Liang Chuling on the head.

Liang Chuling is not short, but fortunately Li Xun is also tall, so their posture of holding the umbrella is harmonious.

He tilted the umbrella towards her, and looking at the snow falling outside the pavilion, Li Xun hesitated for a moment before pulling up the hood of his down jacket.

I'm also a little worried about getting sick.

"Let's go, the car will be here soon," Li Xun said.

Liang Chuling followed him outside. When her foot touched the ground, it aggravated her pain. She immediately endured it and pretended to be nonchalant.

As soon as she stepped out of the pavilion, her gaze was drawn to the candied hawthorn vendor who was steadfastly holding his position in the snow.

"Candied hawthorn berries," she tugged at Li Xun's sleeve and cried, "I want to eat those!"

Looking at her radiant appearance, Li Xun was certain that her earlier statement, "I'm going to die," was largely unfounded.

He handed her the umbrella: "Hold it yourself."

As Liang Chuling watched Li Xun run off to buy the items, a feeling of guilt welled up inside her for troubling him, and she felt she should reciprocate.

So she walked in that direction, stumbling along as she followed, wanting to hold the umbrella for him as well.

It's one thing for joy to turn to sorrow, but how can sorrow turn to even more sorrow?

With his attention focused on Li Xun and the candied hawthorn, he didn't look down and stepped into a puddle covered with ice.

The ice surface shattered, as if I had suddenly stepped into another world.

Liang Chuling gasped, still not fully processing what was happening—

"Lift your foot."

Li Xun quickly finished buying the items and ran back, immediately squatting down to pinch her calf.

Liang Chuling lifted her foot, and Li Xun instead grasped the back of Liang Chuling's knee, taking off her slippers before her socks got wet.

Looking at Li Xun squatting in front of her, and noticing the snowflakes on his hat brim and shoulders, Liang Chuling had a strange thought pop into her head and blurted out, "Li Xun, you look just like this puddle."

Li Xun stopped what he was about to do to check her other foot as well.

He looked up, his eyes filled with obvious bewilderment and a hint of annoyance.

Annoyed at his own carelessness, he made her stand next to the puddle.

He was annoyed at himself for not being careful enough. He only noticed when Liang Chuling took those few steps that she must have injured her right foot, otherwise why would she be limping?

Annoyed that she was being too meticulous, how could Liang Chuling compare herself to the water that had harmed her?

What's the meaning.

When Li Xun heard the sound and turned around, he saw her with one foot stuck in a puddle, looking dazed, and holding an umbrella in a way that was both comical and pitiful.

He remained silent, holding the wet slipper in his hand, about to find a place to throw it away, when he passed an old man sweeping up fallen leaves, carrying a large bag that looked like a transfer bag.

The old man and Li Xun looked at each other in bewilderment.

The old man asked seriously, "What should I do if I have trash in my hands and want to throw it away? Can I just litter anywhere?"

Li Xun shook his head.

Old man: "Then what do you think we should do?"

Li Xun: "Find a trash can."

The old man said, "Good boy. Here, throw it here." He then stretched out the garbage bag.

Li Xun hurriedly threw the slipper in.

The old man, having conscientiously completed today's test, walked away with a satisfied expression.

Liang Chuling was stunned and didn't know how to respond. She also felt that Li Xun probably wouldn't want her to speak at this time, so she kept quiet and held the umbrella aloofly.

Li Xun told her to step on his shoe with that foot first.

Liang Chuling obediently followed instructions.

Taking advantage of her attention being on her feet, Li Xun quickly touched her forehead with the back of his hand.

There was no sign of fever at all.

He had a general idea of ​​what was going on, but he didn't ask anything.

The car I called stopped on the side of the road with its hazard lights on.

There's still a short distance between where the two of them are standing and the car door.

Li Xun glanced at Liang Chuling. She was wearing a slipper on one foot and had the other foot on his shoe. She was holding her arm with one hand and holding an umbrella with the other.

It was truly a sorry state of affairs.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "Would you mind if I took you with me?"

Liang Chuling was trying to hop on one leg to see if she could hop all the way across, struggling to maintain her balance, when she heard this and her eyes widened: "Li Xun! Can you use the word 'hug'? I'm a person!"

Li Xun: "...Okay."

I've come to realize that reasoning with this little genius is useless.

Li Xun deftly tucked the umbrella away from Liang Chuling's hand. Since he was basically certain that she wasn't sick, a little snow on her head wouldn't be a big deal.

Then I put the paper bag containing the candied hawthorn skewers into her hand and told her to hold it.

Before Liang Chuling could react, Li Xun scooped her up in his arms. Liang Chuling was physically fit and not light, but it seemed Li Xun was also very fit.

Liang Chuling couldn't help but pinch Li Xun's arm. It was quite muscular. She thought to herself, "My arm muscles aren't bad either!"

I decided to try hugging Li Xun myself later.

The road was slippery from the rain, and Li Xun was accidentally bumped by a passerby. Liang Chuling immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, hitting him on the back of the nape with a paper bag, but he didn't make a sound. Liang Chuling leaned closer and sniffed, smelling a faint scent on him, like laundry detergent mixed with lacquer oil.

Li Xun carried her toward the car.

Snowflakes landed on her face, icy cold. She didn't speak or move again, clutching a bag of candied hawthorns in her hand.

The driver was an older man. Seeing Li Xun carrying a girl into the car, he kindly opened the door for him with a friendly smile.

Once inside the car, Liang Chuling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xun placed her on a seat and then boarded the bus from the other side.

Liang Chuling looked at the candied hawthorns in her hand. Li Xun had bought a wide variety, including hawthorn, yam, and strawberry.

Li Xun fastened his seatbelt, glanced at her, and casually remarked, "Don't eat in the car. We'll be home soon, eat when we get home."

Liang Chuling immediately retorted angrily, "Who wants to eat in the car! I'm not that rude!"

Li Xun nodded: "Hey, that's great! Little genius."

Liang Chuling: "..."

The fist hardened.

The driver in the front seat couldn't help but burst into laughter when he heard their conversation: "Young people, you have such a good relationship!"

Liang Chuling blushed and turned her head to look out the window.

Li Xun remained calm and composed.

Li Xun carried Liang Chuling back to the living room sofa, where the room was warm and cozy with heating.

He went to find a new pair of woolen socks and put them on the radiator against the wall to dry.

Liang Chuling insisted on hugging Li Xun and did indeed hug him for a few seconds. She immediately tilted her head back proudly and pouted. Li Xun began to wonder if she had gone crazy from her illness. He took an electronic thermometer and measured Liang Chuling's temperature to confirm that she did not have a fever.

"Where is Teacher Li Chi?" Liang Chuling asked.

"She went to Shanghai and will be back tomorrow," Li Xun replied while working.

Once she arrived here and was no longer in the midst of her previous chaotic and impulsive emotions, Liang Chuling belatedly realized that she felt uneasy.

I don't think I'm actually sick...

She wasn't lying; she genuinely thought she was sick at the time.

Why is she so weak-willed! She felt a little resentful towards her body.

I felt so embarrassed that I felt a little wronged.

Since she's not sick, she shouldn't just stay here.

I checked my pockets; my phone was there, but I didn't have my ID card.

I'm torn between saying goodbye now and asking Li Xun to use his ID to find me a hotel room nearby, or...

Her phone screen lit up; it was a new WeChat message.

Upon opening the message, I saw that the sender was Li Xun, who was sitting next to me.

He sent me a photo. Judging from the angle, it was taken secretly from inside the car.

In the photo, she is huddled in the corner of the car seat.

Because the foot that kicked the tree was in a lot of pain, no matter how it was positioned, it was uncomfortable as long as it touched the ground, and I didn't have the strength to keep it off the ground.

Li Xun noticed this, so he simply put her right leg on his left leg, preventing her feet from touching the ground.

Liang Chuling's left leg was crossed.

Holding a candied hawthorn in his hand, he had a somewhat vacant expression but a very bold posture.

The text Li Xun paired with was: "The weather is cold and the king is broken."

Liang Chuling stared at the photo and those four words, her teeth itching with anger, her embarrassment replaced by fury.

She glared at Li Xun, who was pretending nothing had happened and looking down at his phone, ready to have a serious talk with him.

Just as she was about to speak, a new message popped up.

This is a message from Ms. Ma: Mom will always love you.

——

At the same moment that Liang Chuling stepped on Li Xun's shoes and he half-squatted down to take them off, another scene had just ended in her villa.

Mr. Liang paced around the room twice before finally unable to resist asking his wife, who was wearing a face mask, "Chu Ling, it's so late, did you really go to your classmate's house?"

Ms. Ma, with her eyes closed, hummed in response.

"Which classmate? Boy or girl? Where do they live? What do their parents do? It's so late at night, a girl all alone at home, it's not safe. Don't you know anything about this? Is this how you discipline a child?"

Ms. Ma used a face mask to conceal her expression, but her face underneath the mask was full of disgust.

She rolled her eyes, her tone unusually direct: "Boss Liang, you never ask a single question about things you should care about, but you have eight hundred questions about these trivial matters. You're just bored."

Mr. Liang was so choked that he couldn't catch his breath, and his face instantly darkened: "What do you mean by that? Is it wrong for me to care about my daughter?"

Looking at his blustering yet cowardly demeanor, Ma felt a mixture of pity and amusement. She could only revert to her usual whiny tone: "What could I possibly mean?"

She stood up and walked to Liang's father, wrapping her arm around his and gently shaking it. "What I mean is, don't you know our daughter? Is there anything else in her heart besides the piano? She must be with Teacher Li! You know Teacher Li's family, right? Our daughter is going to be a great artist in the future, so we should understand and support her more, right?"

With just a few words, she fabricated a plausible story about Liang Chuling's whereabouts, and even flattered Liang's father. Her coaxing and swaying calmed Liang's father, and his earlier anger dissipated.

He snorted, his expression softening. He was pleased to have his ego flattered: "That's true, Teacher Li Chi's place is a respectable one."

Ms. Ma rolled her eyes again, a sweet smile on her face: "Exactly. So, stop worrying about things unnecessarily, go take a hot bath and relax, you must be tired today?"

Sometimes, coaxing a man is almost like coaxing a dog.

Ms. Ma has mastered this skill.

After Mr. Liang's figure disappeared into the bathroom, Ms. Ma walked to the French windows, looked at the fine snow falling outside, and stood silently for a while.

I imagine my daughter might be in a hotel, at a classmate's house, in a music room, in an arcade, or even in an internet cafe or bar.

It was impossible to interfere, or rather, Ms. Ma didn't actually want to interfere.

Whether you want to vent or enjoy yourself, it's fine.

She doesn't know how to manage a mother-daughter relationship.

Having just ended a hypocritical struggle with her husband, she needs to reassure herself that she is still a mother.

The first thing I did when I said that was to convince myself.

No matter how terrible my marriage is, or how my personal life is, my love as a mother has never changed.

She knew perfectly well that Liang Chuling had just witnessed two disgusting scenes: physical evidence of her father's infidelity and messages from her lover on her mother's phone.

Ms. Ma could neither explain nor change this fact.

The only option is to use the most correct statement to mend the rift.

Prior to this, she and Liang Chuling reached a fragile consensus: no matter what the adults do, you must fly forward.

After that, she will reaffirm the alliance.

-

The arrival of information, and the reality of the scene, is an ironic misalignment.

As she was misaligned, Liang Chuling's fingers froze.

The annoyance brought by Li Xun's photo disappeared, replaced by a sense of bewilderment and unfamiliarity.

The farce was brought back to her attention.

The words "Mom will always love you"—which should have been the most genuine words—were spoken by someone who had just participated in this hypocritical game.

It no longer sounded like a guarantee, but rather like an irony about the word "love." Liang Chuling couldn't tell how much of that statement was genuine and how much was an act.

This sentence carries weight.

It seems to be saying: I've loved you so much, so please don't dwell on it anymore, don't be sad anymore, you should be sensible and move on.

She could no longer justify her anger and sadness, because her mother had already raised the banner of "I will always love you."

She felt unfamiliar with that home, unfamiliar with the roles her parents played, and at this moment, beside Li Xun, she also felt a sense of floating unfamiliarity.

You have nowhere to run away; you are still that family's daughter, and you still have to face all of this.

Liang Chuling's world is black and white. She pursues the ultimate.

For sixteen years, she has been with her family, who have met her needs, desires, and wants, and she has been willing to bring honor to her family.

The conclusion is that the family does not actually exist, which is a false proposition.

Only later did I realize, "Yes, I don't even see any family members in my home; it's often just Liang Chuling herself." If there are no family members, then what kind of family is it?

So, what exactly is love?

She held her phone, unsure of what to do.

The panic stemmed from her clear-headedness.

She is no longer the child who can be fooled by sweet words.

She realized that many of her rights were about to be taken away by "love".

The world seemed to have been shattered into countless fragments by the heavy snow. She stood in the center of the fragments, not knowing which piece was real, nor where she belonged.

-

Li Xun was startled, thinking that Liang Chuling was truly angry with him. So angry that all her vibrant anger had vanished, leaving her only stunned?

He was a little annoyed, feeling that he had acted impulsively.

After chopping and mixing in the kitchen, Li Xun brought out a large bowl of fruit, intending to apologize.

Li Xun asked tentatively, "I was wrong, don't be angry. How about some fruit salad?"

Liang Chuling was pulled back to reality by his voice. She was a little confused about what he was talking about and could only focus on the present. However, she didn't have much of an appetite for the fruit salad, but she didn't want to refuse his kindness.

I picked up a spoon and rummaged through the pile of fruit, specifically choosing the cantaloupe to eat.

Li Xun looked at her picky eating and didn't say anything. He breathed a sigh of relief when she finally ate something.

I turned and walked to the radiator, touching the pair of woolen socks that were drying in the sun. They were dry and warm.

He walked back with the socks in his hand and sat down opposite Liang Chuling.

Before she could react, he had already reached out and taken off the pair of socks he had been wearing.

That's when I noticed Liang Chuling's right big toe was swollen, sigh—

Li Xun sighed inwardly. This is such a headache.

There was no broken skin or bleeding, so there was no need for medication. It seemed that only time was needed. Time moved forward, but it was as if the injured area was being pushed back, restored to its former state.

If there is a wound, it can actually heal faster.

Pain is swift and stimulating; new life also comes joyfully.

Just like you need to pop a blister or press an ulcer.

Li Xun replaced Liang Chuling's thin socks with his warm, thick socks.

He didn't know what had happened to Liang Chuling tonight, but he figured the incident was the cause and the injured foot was the effect.

Li Xun had no idea where it was going...

But that doesn't prevent him from empathizing with the consequences.

I felt a little sorry for Liang Chuling and didn't know what to do. This uncertainty made me even more at a loss.

Life is about constantly not knowing what to do.

After changing his socks, he let go of his hand. Now that they were both sitting, the height difference was reduced.

Li Xun could just see that there were several pieces of sugar stuck to the front of Liang Chuling's fluffy vest, probably from when she was eating candied hawthorn.

Liang Chuling followed his gaze and looked down, then exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly tried to swat it away.

"Don't move," Li Xun stopped her. "The more you film, the more it will embed itself in."

He held out his hand to her: "Take off your vest, I'll take care of it, otherwise it'll be even more difficult to deal with if it melts."

Liang Chuling obediently took off her vest and handed it to him.

Li Xun took the vest into the bathroom, rubbed off the sugar crumbs, and then noticed some oil stains...

well--

He sighed again. This is such a worry.

I squeezed out a little dish soap, rubbed the oil stains a few times with cold water, and then threw the vest into the washing machine and pressed the quick wash button.

After doing all this, he washed his hands and came out.

Liang Chuling picked all the cantaloupe and strawberries out of the yogurt bowl, leaving only some apples and dragon fruit.

Li Xun walked over, glanced at the bottom of the bowl, and nodded: "Great. You know how to pick out the nutritious parts to eat."

Then he took the bowl away and went into the kitchen, where the sound of running water could be heard.

Liang Chuling was taken aback by his sudden praise. She blinked and wondered to herself what was so great about it.

She even suspected that he was mocking her for being a picky eater.

Liang Chuling turned on the TV to find a program to watch.

She rarely watches TV; the TV in her home is basically just a decoration.

At this moment, it's simply because I don't know what to do.

After Li Xun finished, he sat down on the sofa next to her and said, "You're really amazing. You even know to find a TV to watch."

Liang Chuling turned her head: "Are you alright?"

Li Xun asked innocently, "What's wrong? Can't I even praise you?"

Liang Chuling was exasperated by his attitude, turned back, and continued pressing the remote control.

After scrolling through a bunch of channels and finding nothing I wanted to watch, I finally stopped at a channel that was showing old Hong Kong films.

In the movie, a woman in a cheongsam floats eerily down the corridor, accompanied by sinister background music.

Liang Chuling was actually a little scared, but she forced herself to remain calm and even turned up the volume a little.

Li Xun replied to Li Chi's message, telling him that Liang Chuling would be staying at his house for the night.

Li Chi didn't bother to ask about the cause, and only said the effect: "Don't stay up late, or I'll beat you up. Order a cake and eat it with her."

After replying, he glanced at the screen, then at Liang Chuling sitting upright, and praised her again, "You're really brave."

Liang Chuling retorted, "I'm not afraid at all!"

“No, I’m not afraid.” Li Xun nodded readily. “It takes courage to watch a horror movie on a snowy night.”

Liang Chuling felt uneasy after hearing his words, so she grabbed a nearby cushion and hugged it to her chest.

The film then enters a calmer phase.

Liang Chuling felt a little thirsty and reached for the water on the coffee table. However, her palms were a little sweaty, and she didn't hold it properly. The bottle fell onto the carpet and rolled to Li Xun's feet.

Li Xun picked up the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her: "Great job, little genius! You picked the best-tasting one right away."

Liang Chuling said irritably, "Li Xun, that's enough!"

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy that I praised you?"

"Is that a compliment? That's just being sarcastic," Liang Chuling said fiercely.

"Injustice. Just because someone is a genius doesn't mean they can wrong us commoners. Really." Li Xun leaned against the armrest, looking rather lazy.

He was indeed a bit tired. He had been busy all day, and then this hectic schedule came up in the evening. He's not exactly a high-energy person.

She was incredibly sleepy, but there was no way she could leave Liang Chuling behind and go to sleep alone—

Thinking about this, I became more alert and no longer sleepy.

This little genius is truly a miracle doctor who can cure all ailments!

Liang Chuling was so annoyed by his seriousness that she almost laughed, so she grabbed a cushion and threw it at him.

Li Xun easily caught the pillow and hugged it to his chest: "Look, you can even throw accurately. Your athletic ability is pretty good too."

"Li Xun!" she couldn't help but call his name.

"Yes, I'm here," he replied so naturally.

Li Xun found it amusing to see her flustered yet somewhat embarrassed state; he had found a way to help her out of her slump.

How could this be? How could he know her so well? Li Xun was astonished.

Liang Chuling was completely exasperated, slumped back into the sofa, and resigned herself to her fate: "Fine, keep praising me!"

Li Xun was overjoyed.

Liang Chuling felt uncomfortable sitting, so she changed her posture and pulled her feet up onto the sofa.

Li Xun: "Your cross-legged posture is very proper. Great job."

Liang Chuling idly twirled her hair with her fingers.

Li Xun: "Your fingers are very flexible, perfect for playing the piano. Fantastic."

Liang Chuling yawned.

Li Xun: "Those teeth are so neat. Great."

Liang Chuling finally couldn't hold back any longer and grabbed another cushion to cover her face: "Li Xun, if you praise me one more time, I'm leaving."

The cushion covered her eyes, but she could see a completely different scene—

At first, Liang Chuling wondered if she couldn't stay there if she wasn't sick, but Li Xun didn't ask a single question from beginning to end. He just went and changed the bedding in his room.

Liang Chuling didn't want to lie: "Li Xun, I'm not sick, but I really didn't mean to lie to you. I thought I was sick." She was a little embarrassed.

Li Xun was changing the bed sheet at that moment. He shook the fluffy blanket, turned his head to look at her, and his expression, which was unusually composed, broke down. He was speechless.

I'm speechless. Isn't it better not to be sick? Why would you deliberately seek out illness?

But you can also figure out what she's thinking.

“You can come to me if you’re sick, and you can come to me anytime if you’re not sick.” Li Xun emphasized the word “anytime”.

In piano sheet music, the accent mark is an inverted quarter note topped with a greater than sign.

The representative emphasized.

At this moment, Li Xun felt that the greater than sign was standing between Liang Chuling and him.

Liang Chuling > Li Xun.

At least that's what Li Xun thought.

"But I'm a little embarrassed... I'm not sick, yet you're going to sleep in the study because of me." Liang Chuling really didn't want to waste her breath on Li Xun. If she felt embarrassed about it, she would just openly admit it and let Li Xun help her resolve the issue.

"I forgot to tell you, it's my birthday today. If you leave tonight, I definitely won't be able to sleep well because I'm worried. You don't want me to have insomnia on my birthday, do you?" Li Xun slowly put the pillowcase back on, then looked at her calmly.

Today is December 31st, Li Xun's birthday, and this is no joke.

"Ah! Why didn't you say so sooner! I didn't prepare anything!" Liang Chuling was so anxious that she started pacing in place.

"It's okay, I don't celebrate my birthday. Really, look, my mom didn't come back either. If you really feel bad about it, go to bed early tonight."

Liang Chuling remained huddled in the pillow. Li Xun noticed her ears were turning red and knew he couldn't tease her any longer, so he decided to stop while he was ahead.

He suppressed a laugh, picked up his phone again to check the sheet music: "Okay, I won't praise you anymore."

The living room quieted down, with only the background noise of the television and the sound of snow falling outside the window.

Warm light enveloped the two of them; one pretended to read sheet music, while the other buried his face in a cushion and played dead.