Midnight drinking party
In her memory, she rarely saw her father smoke, because her mother had said it was bad for them, so her father would only smoke occasionally, and he would always smoke alone on the balcony until the smell of smoke dissipated before going back inside.
He usually only smokes when he's under a lot of work pressure or when a business deal fails. But when he saw the two of them there, he quickly stubbed out the cigarette and waved his hand to disperse the smoke, trying his best to keep the mother and daughter from smelling it.
He said it was for their health and also out of responsibility to the family.
Xu Changjia seemed to be thinking about something. She went to the liquor cabinet and took out two bottles of liquor. She poured a glass of baijiu (Chinese white liquor) for her father and another glass of unfamiliar foreign liquor for herself.
Two bottles of wine and two wine glasses were carried on a tray to the living room and placed in front of her and her father.
She was worried about her life and death. Although she didn't know what her father was troubled about, they said that drinking can solve all worries, so if everyone couldn't figure it out, they would all get drunk together. Life is but a dream, and all worries can be solved.
The wine glass was pushed in front of him, and Xu's father's face was filled with shock, but he still remembered to put out his cigarette and move the ashtray closer to himself.
"Jiajia, what's wrong?"
He seemed to have never truly understood his daughter, not even noticing when she had become so familiar with everything on his liquor cabinet. This familiar tactic was clearly not the first time.
On the other hand, he was delighted by the change in his daughter, who had finally opened up her closed heart and chosen to confide in him, her father.
Xu Changjia didn't say anything, but raised his wine glass and clinked it with his father's, tilting it half a glass lower.
After downing half a glass of wine, he felt he could say a few words more freely. "Dad, why aren't you asleep yet tonight?"
The daughter, being very perceptive, naturally wanted to ask why he smoked, and what troubled or worried him on such a joyous occasion as New Year's Eve.
He took the glass and took a big gulp. The strong liquor went down his throat; he hadn't drunk such strong liquor in a long time. It felt like a pot of boiling water had been poured in and burned his throat. It was exhilarating.
With the warm wine in his arms, he was finally able to voice his doubts, "Jiajia, are you dating that celebrity that Dad drove home with today?"
I almost choked on the wine in my mouth, and my slightly tipsy state of mind was sobered up a bit.
"Dad, why would you think that?"
Since her rebirth, all she has done is focus on her own life and her studies. She has never really thought about love or marriage.
It's also possible that in her past life she was a single woman from birth, and she never even met a decent guy, let alone dated anyone. It's a little bit of a shame to think about it.
After being reborn, everyone she met was outstanding: her childhood sweetheart Yunhe, her senior in literature who was two or three years older than her, Zheng Ruoqian, and Zhang Yuning. Each of them was an excellent individual, so why would they be interested in her?
Mr. Xu gave her a deep look, as if he could see right through her. He didn't say it outright, but his daughter did treat this boy differently, perhaps without even realizing it herself.
As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.
Having lived for decades, he naturally understood that those so-called high school classmates were nothing more than ambiguous little tricks played by young people like them.
The way that minor celebrity looked at his daughter wasn't exactly innocent, but in this glamorous world, she still managed to retain a touch of sincerity. All he could say was, "Not bad." He just didn't know if he'd ever get to have that son-in-law's tea.
After having a couple of drinks with his daughter, he felt much better, and they started talking about the little star and then about the funny things his daughter did when she was little.
A tiny little radish has grown into such a graceful young woman. She's grown so fast; he's barely used to it before he can no longer feel his daughter's embrace.
The older he gets, the lonelier he becomes; in his view, the older he gets, the more lonely he becomes.
I used to be able to come home and hug her every day, but I don't know when it started, the house became cold and quiet, and I no longer hear the laughter and joy of my childhood. Instead, I face closed doors every day.
She was filled with mixed emotions. If there was so much unspoken love, why did the whole family of three die in their past life and become wandering ghosts?
Fueled by a bit of alcohol, she asked the question on behalf of her past self, a question that had caused her so much grievance: "Then why won't you spend more time with me? Even just a phone call would make me very happy."
It's not that they're unwilling to fight, it's that they're afraid to fight.
Parents work hard to build their careers, and their only concern is their children. They don't want to let their descendants suffer, so they pretend to be strong and try to make their businesses bigger and bigger to earn enough money to give them a better life.
He couldn't remember how many times he had sat on a plane, holding meeting materials in one hand and a family photo of the three of them in the other, looking at it again and again, reciting it over and over, thinking about it over and over again.
Mr. Xu didn't even dare to look his daughter in the eye to answer her question. He gripped the wine glass in one hand and drank half a glass of liquor in one gulp.
He couldn't give his daughter the answers she wanted; his words were all in his alcohol, and this was the only way he could escape.
The father and daughter got completely drunk in the living room. One or two bottles were not enough for them. Xu Changjia then went to rummage through the liquor cabinet, making quite a commotion.
The noise woke up Xu's mother, who was keeping vigil on New Year's Eve, so she had no choice but to send the two of them back to sleep and forbid them from drinking anymore.
When Xu Changjia saw his mother, he hugged her tightly and refused to let go.
Xu's mother was initially a little angry, but her temper vanished after her daughter's outburst. Hearing her muttering about life and death, she could only try to appease her.
"Jiajia, life is full of unexpected events, and we are also subject to birth, aging, sickness and death. If one day your father and mother leave you, don't be sad. We will just go to another world and love you in a different way."
She helped her daughter back to her room, and as soon as she closed the door, she turned around and noticed a small wet patch on her shoulder. This child, she just tends to overthink things.
Xu Changjia lay in bed, but his mind was unusually clear. He hugged the quilt and stared straight at the ceiling, with a few tears still glistening on his long eyelashes. He just stared at the ceiling and couldn't figure out anything.
She didn't actually drink that much, but later she couldn't help mixing the white and red drinks together and got a little tipsy.
Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I wanted to find something to do, but I didn't know what to do, so I could only talk to the things in my head.
"Memory Book, do you have a name?"
It didn't say a word.
"Memory Book, do you think my mom and dad really love me?"
It remained silent.
"Memory Book, how much longer can I live?"
This time there was finally some movement, a clattering sound, like someone pressing a calculator or typing on a computer keyboard.
After about a minute, it spoke, “Host, based on your efforts over the past few years, you currently have 81 months of life left, which is 6 years and 8 months. You can live to be 26 years old, but you will not see the sun at 27.”
She counted on her fingers several times, but couldn't get a clear count. However, she vaguely felt that there seemed to be more than before.
"Memory Book, are you sure you're not mistaken? How come you're living longer than before?"
It monitored all the data and saw that the nerves in the host's brain were unusually active. She was not quite lucid at the moment, so it couldn't reason with her. Although there was indeed a period of her lifespan that hadn't been explained yet, she certainly wouldn't remember it even if it were explained now.
“Host, I haven’t miscalculated. Your lifespan is currently this long.”
Okay, I'll live a little longer if I can, so I didn't press the memory book any further.
She closed her eyes, wanting to sleep, but her brain wouldn't stop. After a while, she opened her mouth again and asked, "Memory Book, when do you think Brother Yunhe and Zhang Yuning will let me live two more years?"
Before she received a reply from the memory book, she fell asleep.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, she was woken up by her biological clock. For the past year, she had been getting up at eight o'clock every morning to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination. Now that she didn't have to work hard for the time being, she naturally woke up.
But my head hurts so much, it feels like someone is tapping my head like a wooden fish, it's really uncomfortable.
With a kick of his legs, he struggled to get up.
Images flashed through her mind: her running freely in the snow with Zheng Ruoqian, the sound of her mother talking to her, the tears she wiped on her mother's pajamas, and various scenes of her toasting with her father.
So, what did she do?
"Ding dong, congratulations host, Ou Liyao's program has been featured on CCTV and the number of views has skyrocketed. Although the number of Weibo followers has not yet reached the target and she has not debuted as a group, the online pre-show effect is good. You are rewarded with one year of lifespan."
She was a little confused. This seemed to have happened just a couple of days ago, so why was the memory book only bringing it up now?
It seemed like she had found a breakthrough, so she kept negotiating with it, begging the memory book to retrieve the memory videos from the past two days so she could just take a look.
Normally, if someone were caught accessing memory videos without cause by the SOUL world, they would be punished. So the first few times were only because the host had been reborn and had lost his memories.
Today, it seems that it's not impossible to make an exception, since the reason the host gave it is quite reasonable.
It opened its locked memory bank and played the video of the past two days' memories to the host at double speed. It was indeed very rich.
Fortune and misfortune can change in an instant? Birth, aging, sickness, and death?
Did Mom already have a premonition of something?
She sat blankly on the bed. Although her mother had given her the answer to life and death, she still didn't understand. If the rules of this world could be overturned and rebuilt, then why couldn't she indulge in unrestrained and wild growth?
However, Xu Changjia forgot one thing: she herself is now the center of the world. This world was created because of her rebirth, and she is the one in control.
The memory itself knows what she is thinking. If the host deviates from the path and fails to complete the mission, it may also be imprisoned by the SOUL world and have its freedom restricted.
Just as it was about to say something to remind its host, a short and piercing "sizzle" sound was embedded in its mind, causing Xu Changjia to groan in pain and gasp for breath.
She repeatedly called out to the memory book, calling out her number 011, but never received the slightest response.
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