Iceberg Beauty

“…”

I was too lazy to pay attention and just ran away.

In the foggy night playground, there are densely packed blue and white school uniforms.

The first two rows were reserved for the school and outstanding graduates, and before the show started, only a corner of the second row was left empty.

Bai Luo sat down calmly, his chin resting quietly on his palm, his eyes lowered to stare at the screen.

Uncle:

[Auntie said she bought a ticket back to Hangzhou and Hong Kong in a week. Your brother will be back too.]

[Really? ]

Typing is a bit shaky.

She has been away from her mother for nearly a year.

[Really? If the company isn't busy then, I'll come and keep Auntie company. What time is the train back to Hangzhou and Hong Kong?]

[Two o'clock at night.]

[Retreat now! I'll be in Nanhuai soon. Are you home? I brought you some cheese rolls you loved as a child.]

Bai Luo lowered his brows, his drooping hair obscuring his face in deep thought.

A doomsday-like gloom loomed heavy over the area. Thunder rumbled, rolling back and forth, and a downpour was imminent.

The street lights around the playground sank into dimness one by one.

High-definition projections capture the fleeting moments amidst the sea of ​​people.

The camera first freezes on Concubine Lu and Shen Cisi in the left corner of the first row, moving around in a disorderly manner in the restless crowd.

He is a young and naive junior in the first year of high school.

In a moment, light and shadow passed through thousands of blue and white figures, and condensed on a girl in the front row who lowered her eyes shyly.

She had shoulder-length black hair and a blue floral dress. Her almond-shaped eyes were watery as she stared at the big screen in a panic, as if frightened.

Suddenly, there was a rise in the noise of booing from the crowd.

"Senior sister has such a sweet temperament."

“There’s a unique sense of tranquility.”

"Don't you think the senior behind her is even more stunning?"

"I can't see her face clearly, can you please move the camera towards her?"

Everyone's eyes were drawn to it, and they all looked up.

In front of the director's desk, the camera seemed to be psychic, slowly pushing the focus towards the hazy figure in the crowd.

Bai Luo's drooping eyelashes froze in place, and the images on the screen magnified layer by layer.

But I am still immersed in the news about my uncle.

[I'll be waiting for you at your school gate. Don't worry.]

The camera cuts to a close-up, and the cigarette box and lighter held in her palm, as well as the content of the conversation on the WeChat interface, are all visible to the public.

Some girls around kindly poked her with their cell phones.

"Look at the big screen."

The wind rustled by his ears, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. Bai Luo was confused, and the moment he raised his eyes from the shadow of his hair, his eyelashes fluttered.

The crowd burst into exclamations.

"Senior sister actually smokes."

“This contrast is so special.”

“But it’s so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off it.”

The camera seemed to be bewitched, frozen in a moment of stunning beauty.

Bai Luo hurriedly extinguished the faint light in his hand and hid the cigarette and lighter in the dark.

He tried hard to hold up the corners of his lips, his smile half bright and half dim.

Fortunately, the director adjusted the lighting and shadow in time.

Although the girl's face was half hidden by the light and shadow, her clear eyes and warm smile were enough to burn people's hearts.

Shen Cisi in the front row narrowed his eyes slightly and turned around to investigate without making a sound.

Why do cigarettes and lighters look like his brother's?

I opened WeChat and sent a message in frustration.

[Any cigarettes left?]

The person hidden in the gray shadows on the stage felt several degrees colder.

Just now, he had been staring at the screen intently, taking in the entire content of the WeChat message, except for the note name.

Who will wait for her?

Who is she going to meet?

He rolled his Adam's apple in dissatisfaction, and even when someone called him, he didn't respond in a good mood.

"Brother Yang, the accompaniment is ready for you, come on and sing a song."

"Not interested. Find someone else."

He pressed his brows and focused on his phone, Shen Cisi's message came into his sight, but he was too lazy to respond.

He then clicked on the interface with the person with whom he had almost no communication.

[I have a craving for cigarettes.]

There is no beginning or end.

But his intention was obvious, he wanted her to deliver cigarettes.

"Brother, what's going on? Who made you unhappy? You can even sing half a song. When they're almost done on stage, you can just sing the last song."

His friend noticed a sudden drop in his body pressure, but couldn't figure out why. Just five minutes ago, he had been as relaxed and relaxed as a bright moon and a gentle breeze.

Just then, a WeChat notification flashed on the phone screen.

[Trust in your own determination and endure for a while.]

I can't stand it at all.

When his friend heard him curse, he frowned and asked again.

"What's wrong, Brother Yang? Do you need my help?"

"You made a girl angry? How do you comfort her?"

Bo Yi turned off the screen in his hand and leaned dejectedly against the dark and shadowy wall.

But his sight penetrated the desolate fog and fell on a bright white figure among the restless figures.

I don't know how the girl saw that he had extraordinary concentration.

The incoherent sentence disturbed my friend. It was the first time I heard the word "girl" from his mouth.

From my memory, it is clear that he was a lonely and cold person who kept people at a distance. When did the word "girl" become associated with him?

He even made the girl angry. How should he coax her?

He doesn't even have any experience in love, so what advice can he give?

Fortunately, my brain works quickly.

"Isn't this simple? Why don't you go on stage and sing a song for her? Then she won't be angry anymore, right?"

Bo Xi glanced at him sideways, his eyes a mixture of sarcasm and self-mockery. He knew Bai Luo was different from others, otherwise he wouldn't have disliked him for three years of high school.

The spotlight broke through the darkness in its first arc, and the rhythmic electronic music filled the air.

The skit actor came on stage, wearing an exaggerated wig and performing with a deliberately elongated ending, which made the audience laugh.

Suddenly, a clear singing voice penetrated the cicada chirping and reached everyone's ears.

“I’m afraid I won’t have a chance.”

"Say goodbye to you"

Before the words were finished, someone with discerning ears recognized the familiar rhythm and shouted loudly, which instantly filled the air.

"It's Bo Qi from Class 8 of Senior 3."

There was an immediate uproar in the audience.

"Is he really back?"

"Didn't you say you refused?"

"Where are the people? Where are they?"

"He's there."

As soon as the voice fell, purple lightning flashed through the gaps in the clouds, and raindrops hit the plastic track hard, making crackling sounds.

The boy was caught off guard.

The night rain caught me off guard.

Tonight, the two met unexpectedly and bumped into each other.

No one cared about the dripping wetness, and everyone turned their eyes to the source of the sound.

The whistling silver-white light meets the eyes.

A dark figure slowly emerged from the side of the curtain, his fingers loosely holding the microphone, a smile on his lips revealing his youthful spirit.

Some people are born to be in the center of the stage and have the spotlight effect.

There is no such thing as a blind spot, only tough and handsome.

One face, half a life of stubbornness.

Surrendering is never an option.

Someone in the audience turned on their cell phone light, and thousands of beams of light swayed with the melody.

"After all these years, he really hasn't changed at all. I still have a video on my phone of him singing while squatting on the edge of the stage during military training during his freshman year of high school. I couldn't bring myself to delete it all these years."

"Wow, I have so many photos of him. Even if my memory is full, I can't bear to delete them."

Bai Luo held his chin quietly, listening silently to the sighs of his former classmates.

Six years ago, she missed the military training at Nanhuai No. 1 Middle School due to health reasons. She only listened to the leader's closing remarks at the end of the training.

I don’t know how arrogant and domineering a sixteen-year-old boy is.

At that time, Bo Xi did not know how high the sky was, because he was holding the sun with his own hands.

He is the role model that everyone emulates but dares not reach, and the beautiful fantasy of the "ideal self" in youth.

In all the dreams about youth, when I wake up, I always find that he is the protagonist.

The world laughs at the young man's arrogance, but the young man laughs at the smallness of the world.

He never gives up, because his ambition is higher than the sky and winning is his destiny.

The thunder roared in the summer night, and the lightning flashed, flickering on and off.

Bai Luo's vision was filled with a cold gray-blue night light.

She ignored Bo Qi at first, then looked down on him, and finally looked up to him.

In the vast crowd, she is also one of "his" audiences.

Youth is a torrential rain, and Bo Qi stands in the rain curtain and laughs wildly, becoming a moist highlight in everyone's memory.

If youth had a scent, it would be the fresh scent of laundry detergent mixed with summer sweat on his school uniform.

In the darkness of the night, the cicadas chirp like waves of drumbeats, one louder than the other.

The lighter in Bai Luo's hand gave off a dull, painful aftertaste.

The boy is still a boy when he returns, with the same stubbornness and unwillingness to admit defeat in his eyes.

Only Bai Luo understood clearly that there was an unknown nirvana in his bones and blood.

There is never dawn at the end of Nanfeng Lane, only the eternal night when he closes his eyes and lights a cigarette.

Despair is like rain that sticks to the skin. It cannot be wiped off, but will only seep into the bones and take root.

For three years, bones were broken in a corner of the night where no one cared.

But just mend your soul and never give up as a young man.

Piecing together the tattered flesh and blood, the unyielding eyes always look forward.

The lingering sound faded away, and Bo Xi in the center of the stage bowed in greeting, his back straight.

I would rather be crushed by reality than admit my mistakes as an eighteen-year-old.

The continuous cold rain in Nanhuai tonight is enough to wash away a lifetime of decadence.

Bai Luo was sitting alone in the endless darkness. He saw the man on the stage slowly straighten his back, his fingertips hooked on the brim of his clothes, and the cold air covered half of his face again.

There was a clamor of chatter, and cell phone flashes went off one after another.

On the film of memory, the boy is forever frozen on the stage, with his hair raised and a carefree smile, and behind him is the entire ignited youth.

The girl next to her saw that Bai Luo was just staring at the people on the stage without taking any action, so she poked her arm.

"Why don't you take a picture?"

"There will be no chance to see him again."

Seeing that the girl still refused to be persuaded, she had to find an excuse.

"My phone's almost dead."

"Oh, taking a picture can waste a few points. Why don't you add me on WeChat and I'll transfer the pictures I took to you."

Bai Luo was not used to adding strangers on WeChat, so he smiled awkwardly.

"I'll take the picture right away."

Under the girl's sharp gaze, she raised her mobile phone and aimed the camera at Bo Xilai who left the stage in a graceful manner.

The figure on the stage seemed to have a telepathic connection, and his gaze penetrated the chaotic sound of rain tonight and met Bai Luo's wet eyes.

Caught off guard, he raised his arms, pushed his palms outward, and made a playful "Yeah".

The audience below was instantly excited and the sound of shutter clicks rang out one after another.

"Ahhh, he made a yeah!"

"Take a quick photo! This smile is killing me!"

Some younger students even stood up and shouted.

“Again!”

It's a pity that he has retreated to the background.

The sound of rain was too fragmented, sometimes heavy and sometimes light. Bai Luo had already put down his phone in a panic the moment he made the "V" sign.

A faint red appeared on the ears, vague and unclear in the turbulent night.

Just as I was about to delete the photos I took by accidentally touching my phone, a message popped up on WeChat.

[Have you used the privileges given to you?]

The fingertips trembled.

[No filming.]

[Really? The flash nearly blinded me.]

The people in the shadows backstage were laughing so hard that their shoulders were shaking. They could even imagine the girl gritting her teeth as she typed.

“…”

And then he dismantled her stage.

[It has been deleted.]

Bai Luo typed quickly.

[I'll give you the privilege once more.]

Bai Luo frowned and remained silent for a moment, but was finally defeated.

[Not deleted.]

The photo was transmitted by the fingertips for some unknown reason.

At the end, add a kitten expression that says "beg for mercy", with eyes full of anger and resentment.

The people backstage were laughing so hard that they could hardly stand up straight.

[I like the photo.]

As the message popped up on Bai Luo's WeChat, his uncle's message popped up almost at the same moment.

[I'm already at the school gate. After the celebration is over, you can see me when you leave the school gate.]

Bai Luo hadn't canceled her train ticket; she didn't want Bo Qi to be alone. She figured the celebration would take a while, so she decided to talk it over in person and come back in time.

[I'm leaving now.]

Scattered lights, like scattered rain, illuminated the night sky. Bai Luo stumbled forward in the darkness, holding up her rain-soaked skirt.

Concubine Lu happened to look back and caught a glimpse of the embarrassed figure.

Just as my uncle said, the black business car was parked quietly in the middle of the school gate.

The man in the car had already taken her figure into his eyes and pulled out a black umbrella from the car's umbrella stand.

In the gray-blue foggy night, the man standing by the car looked reserved and noble, with his dark suit and tie messy and askew, looking like a gentleman.

He spoke, his voice blending into the night along with the drizzle.

"Run slowly, don't rush."

The streetlights cast a dim light, and the wind carried the fresh scent of drizzle. Bai Luo passed him sideways and disappeared silently into the carriage.

I immediately took out a tissue from the car's paper box and wiped the cigarette box and lighter soaked in rainwater to remove the cold air.

Shang Yu smiled dotingly.

"Didn't you say it can be done after the celebration?"

"I just came here to inform you that I'm taking the train back to Hangzhou."

The person in a white gauze dress didn't even raise her head, but carefully wiped the raindrops off her body.

There was a glimmer of darkness in Shang Yu's eyes, but his face remained gentle.

"You really don't want to be in the same space with me."

Dense raindrops poured down the car window, reflecting Bai Luo's cold profile.

"I'm overthinking it. There will be a handling fee for cancelling the train ticket, and I don't want to waste money."

Shang Yu frowned, his eyes fixed on the cigarette case in her hand. He suddenly recalled the boy he had run into when he had secretly visited her at her rental apartment.

I thought the person living with her was a girl, but it turned out to be a boy.

It just so happened that the boy was his half-brother.

Later, they secretly sent people to investigate and found out that the so-called "rental house" in the old residential building was just a cramped one-bedroom apartment.

But he never thought she would sleep with the opposite sex. He had his own judgment of her temperament and knew not to ask stupid questions before the relationship was warmed up.

The subject changed at the right moment.

"Let's go home and visit uncle."

Shang Yu was a young boy adopted by Bai Luo's father. When he stepped into the unfamiliar vermilion lacquered gate at the age of fourteen, he bumped into the seven-year-old Bai Luo.

At the age when he is dependent on his father's love, he instinctively rejects his "older brother".

Because of the seven-year age difference, her father asked her to call him "little uncle".

When his father was alive, he favored Shang Yu very much, and Bai Luo did not refuse his proposal.

Moreover, it has been many years since the two of them stood together in front of their father's portrait and shared the ups and downs of life.

The commercial vehicle ran over the ginkgo leaves that had fallen to the ground due to the rain, sending up waves of water.

The carriage was warm and Bai Luo looked at the lights of thousands of houses as if he was visiting a tourist attraction.

She glanced sideways lazily, meeting the eyes of the person who had been staring at her.

Thousands of strands of rain vapor invaded his respiratory tract, neutralizing the cool sandalwood fragrance on the man's body.

"Uncle, you know my dream."

"I haven't thought about getting married."