Alienation behind the chalk line

As I recall, my friendship with Ye Zhixia was based on some kind of wonderful complementarity from the very beginning, like two stones of completely different shapes that fit together perfectly.

Our differences are almost innate.

I'm the type of guy who can turn white clothes into camouflage uniforms by rolling them in the sand, and the scabs on my knees are always a mixture of old and new.

Rough emotions come and go quickly. I fall down, my knees bleed, and I cry with my teeth grimacing. But when I see my friends coming over with freshly picked foxtail grass, I burst into laughter before my tears have dried.

Ye Zhixia's thoughts are much more delicate.

When a few flowers fell from the old crabapple tree in the yard, she would squat and look at them for a long time, and then carefully pick them up and put them in Aunt Fang's thick dictionary.

She could notice that the color of Lulu's hair tie had changed today, could hear the hint of guilt in Jiang Yuanzhou's boasting, and could even tell from my carefree laughter which one was sincere and which was perfunctory.

We are two people with completely different backgrounds, but we grew up together and became friends.

Now that I think about it, maybe it’s because we built castles together in the sandpit when we were children, shared a bag of spicy strips worth 50 cents together, and watched "The Legend of Nezha" and "Sanmao Wanderings" together on the sofa in my house.

At an age when those who are shrouded in the shade of camphor trees have only a vague idea of ​​the world, the edges and corners of their personalities have not yet hurt others, but have become new and exciting points of light in each other's eyes.

When we were in the third and fourth grades, the thing that fascinated us kids the most, besides the Super Girl sticker cards, was probably the "Little Raccoon" instant noodles that cost 50 cents a pack in the canteen.

The purpose is certainly not the crispy noodles sprinkled with seasoning powder, but the Water Margin hero cards that come randomly inside.

Collecting all 108 generals can exchange them for a yo-yo that seemed extremely cool at the time.

I am a typical person who gets excited after only three minutes. I was ambitious at first, but soon my enthusiasm was worn out by the repeated cards and the "Song Jiang" and "Lu Junyi" that could never be put together.

My cards usually have a bad fate, being stuffed into the side pocket of my school bag, together with eraser crumbs and wrinkled candy wrappers.

Or it may be crumpled in your trouser pocket and go through the torture of a washing machine.

I really envy and even admire Ye Zhixia.

She found a plastic card album specifically for collecting these cards. Each card was neatly inserted into the grid according to the number, and a layer of protective film was carefully covered on the outside.

In the end, of course, she was the only one who won the grand prize.

As a friend of the "grand prize winner", I am naturally proud of it.

————

But when self-awareness emerges like bamboo shoots after spring rain, the underlying color of character is no longer a complementary and colorful one, but instead becomes an irreconcilable conflict.

Just like the argument about the ring jumping game that year, the ripples it caused lasted much longer than I imagined.

"You committed a foul, Lin Nian!" Ye Zhixia's voice was unusually sharp as she pointed at the line under my feet.

We stole some chalk from the classroom, drew a few circles on the square brick floor of the playground, and started a fierce "jumping circle" game.

This time there is one group of boys and one group of girls. The rules are simple. Whoever finishes all the circles in order and returns to the starting point first wins.

I looked down at my canvas shoes and saw that the toe of my right shoe was indeed pressing on the white arc drawn in chalk.

I felt a little guilty, but I refused to give in. "How could that be? I was clearly standing within the line."

I shifted my weight to my left foot and quickly winked at Lulu next to me.

As my "comrade-in-arms" for many years, Lulu immediately understood what I meant.

He stepped forward and tried to smooth things over. "Right, right, right! Nian Nian just didn't stand firmly. This can't be considered a foul."

But Ye Zhixia stood there, frowning, "You've clearly stepped on the line!"

Looking at Ye Zhixia's extremely serious and even somewhat stubborn expression, I suddenly felt bored.

The sun made people dizzy and the cicadas' chirping seemed particularly noisy.

Aren't we teammates? I just didn't stand firmly when I jumped over. I didn't mean to go out of the line, and it really was just a small touch of my toe.

"Okay, okay!" I waved my hands, trying to cover up my guilt with a nonchalant expression. "It's just a game, why are you taking it so seriously?"

I stared at Ye Zhixia in dissatisfaction, watching her cheeks and eyes getting redder and redder.

"Last time when we played 'Catch the Ghost', you secretly looked at Jiang Yuanzhou's hiding place; and the week before last when we were playing hopscotch, you jumped an extra square when we weren't paying attention. Don't think I didn't see it..."

My face suddenly started burning.

She said this as if I were a villain who always cheated.

"Is it really that serious?"

I was so angry that I kicked the small stone at my feet. It hit the iron railing with a "ding" sound. "This is just a game, and we are teammates, right? Why are you ruining my game?"

"Lin Nian, for you, everything is important."

Ye Zhixia blinked her eyelashes rapidly. "You always find excuses to sneak out of class duty; you're late eight out of ten times when we're supposed to go to school together; even your apologies seem like condescending charity, and you never truly feel sorry..."

"Okay, okay, it's just a small matter. Why are you two arguing?"

The carefree Lulu finally realized what was wrong. She ran out of her circle and stood between Ye Zhixia and me, looking around, feeling a little confused.

"This isn't just a game problem; she never takes other people's feelings seriously, and she never puts herself in their shoes."

Ye Zhixia's voice trembled a little, and she turned around and wanted to leave.

Lulu quickly grabbed her and said, "Forget it, forget it. This round doesn't count. Let's just start over! Nian Nian, apologize quickly..."

I looked up and saw Lulu winking at me frantically, and I also saw Ye Zhixia's red eyes.

At that moment, I did feel a trace of regret in my heart, and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

"Aren't we friends? Why do we have to fight over this?"

I tried to lighten the mood, and my tone was clearly one of submission.

Ye Zhixia turned her head and avoided my gaze.

I tried to pull her hand, but she gently pulled it free.

"You don't understand at all." Ye Zhixia pulled out the hand that Lulu was holding, turned around and started to attack indiscriminately, "You all help Lin Nian, I don't want to play with you anymore."

When Ye Zhixia turned and ran away, the shadow of the sycamore leaf suddenly became sharp.

Lu Xingye, who had been watching the game nearby, crossed his arms, smacked his lips, and made a classic straight-man comment: "You girls' friendship is so complicated."

This caused Jiang Yuanzhou and the others to join in the tut-tut noises, "It's just a game, what's the fuss? We might as well go play ball!"

I froze in place, looking at the direction where Ye Zhixia disappeared, feeling a mixture of emotions.

Lulu tried to smooth things over, but I couldn't hear a word.