Chapter 31
Zhou Yue opened her eyes only after the alarm rang. She had set several alarms because she was having trouble telling time. Sometimes she woke up two days later, and sometimes she slept for a long time, but when she looked at the clock, she found she had only slept for a quarter of an hour.
It was two o'clock, the sky in Shanghai had turned gloomy, and the sunlight was as pale as thin cream.
"It feels like it's going to rain." She got out of the car and looked at the sky. The people behind her were silent, like dead people, but Nanjing Road was still bustling and lively, with laughter and joyful chattering everywhere.
A little girl was held high above her father's head. She sat on his shoulders, pointing into the distance and laughing loudly.
"It's great." She murmured as she looked at the crowd flowing like the sea. The dead still don't speak. He wouldn't understand. How could the people following Jiang Huai feel anything about this scene?
"Are you hungry?" she asked him as she walked into the surging crowd. "I want to eat crab meat dumplings. Do you want some?"
The man really had an unrecognizable face. I remembered him at first glance, but forgot him the next time I looked back. All I remembered was the scar that went deep into his earlobe and the wound on his neck.
"Thank you, Miss Zhou. I'm not hungry."
Zhou Yue had already spotted this crab soup soup restaurant on TV, but there was a line, so the man joined them. After a while, the owner came out, clasped his hands together, and said apologetically, "Sorry, everyone, we're sold out today. Come back tomorrow. Thanks."
Most of the people in the queue were tourists who rarely came here. Some complained loudly, while others shook their heads and sighed. Zhou Yue also sighed and walked out of the crowd.
But the Huanghe Road area is actually full of small restaurants and open-air food stalls. The dishes are so varied that it's hard to decide what to eat: fried eel shreds, pork ribs and rice cakes, braised pork, and wine-sweetened vanilla bean curd...
Zhou Yue stood in front of the glass shop, staring blankly at the greasy and flashing white menu board. She had eaten crabs once on a cruise ship. The greasy and yellow crab roe was so fat and red. She didn't taste it that day, but when she thought about it today, she found that she missed it very much.
Someone patted her arm and she turned around. The man pointed in a direction. She looked in the direction he pointed. The four big red characters "Crab Roe Soup Buns" were covered with thick dust. There was no signboard, just a plastic sign. The word "crab" was missing a "worm". It was hidden behind a row of busy food stalls. She walked back and forth on Huanghe Road but didn't see this store.
"Tsk! It's not authentic!" She sneered with her arms crossed, but her eyes were fixed on the gray shop door. The door was closed, but the window was open and propped up by a pole. The incandescent light shining through was cold, and she could see several tables of people sitting inside. They were all old men and women, with calm and relaxed expressions. They held teacups and leisurely enjoyed the fireworks of Yellow River Road. They did not have the aggressive spirit of foreign tourists who were blushing and fighting for seats.
Zhou Yue looked for a long time, then glanced at the bustling Huanghe Road. It was just past three o'clock and the sky was already dark, but the flashing neon signs were like red and green fireworks, burning through the dark clouds in the sky.
In the end, she followed the principle of "since she's already here", walked in, but only realized that she had run out of cash after entering the door.
"Do you have money?" She touched her jeans pocket and her ears felt a little hot.
"I brought it. What would you like to eat, Miss Zhou?"
"Just..." She leaned over the greasy cashier counter, tilting her neck to look at the menu for a long time, "Just one basket of crab roe and one basket of crab roe!" After she finished speaking, she turned around and saw that he was also looking at the menu above his head with an expressionless face. He was on her left, with the corner of his mouth on the side that was smiling, so it looked like he was smiling.
"Okay." He listened to her, lowered his head and took out his wallet to pay the bill. She found a seat by the window and looked out the window like the old men and women. He still came over silently and sat opposite her.
After a while, the steaming hot dumplings were served. The aunt in white chef's uniform accidentally glanced at his face. When she looked at Zhou Yue, a trace of horror and pity flashed in her eyes, but he seemed not to notice. She took out a pair of disposable chopsticks from the bamboo tube, opened them, scraped off the thorns and handed them to her.
"Thank you." She muttered quietly without even looking up. "You don't want to eat?"
"No."
She was working hard while he sat opposite her, silent. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pair of black-gloved hands resting on the table, motionless.
This man had been haunting her for a whole day, and she was very annoyed. She took the opportunity to sneak a peek at him while pouring vinegar, and saw that he was looking out the door, so she took the opportunity to glare at him fiercely.
"If you want to smoke, go outside." Zhou Yue stuffed a crab meat soup dumpling into her mouth and ate it in one gulp, not spilling a drop of the delicious broth. After chewing it, she said, "You can keep an eye on me by standing at the door anyway."
She put down her chopsticks and looked at the blank table and smiled: "I really don't understand."
The man turned around when he heard the sound, and without looking at her, he glanced at the empty basket on the table and said, "Miss Zhou, have you finished eating? If you're done, let's go."
…
After a full meal, Zhou Yue walked along Nanjing Road, with his hands behind his back, admiring the scenery along the way like a leader inspecting work. It was the blue hour, and the soft blue made the lights of the Magic City even more brilliant.
The xiaolongbao were really good. She couldn’t tell whether they were good or not, nor did she know whether they were fresh or not, but she just felt that they were better than the hairy crabs she had eaten on the boat that day. So why weren’t they popular?
"Boss Jiang hasn't summoned us yet?"
"Not yet," he said. Zhou Yue glanced down at her watch. It was only a little after four. When she looked up again, two men were approaching. They were wearing berets and casual clothes. They looked refined and elegant. One of them had a camera hanging around his neck and spoke in a gentle and pleasant manner. "Hello, young lady. Could you take a couple of pictures for me?"
Zhou Yue reacted for a moment and roughly understood what was meant. Shanghainese was similar to the Zhejiang dialect spoken by Jiang Huai, but she was a little confused about the purpose of taking photos. "Photos? For magazine covers..." Before she could say a few words, someone grabbed her arm and lifted her up. He pinched her armpit like a chicken, and she felt waves of sharp dull pain, almost like being pinched by iron pliers. He carried her forward like this, and the wind whistled in her ears.
"What are you doing?" Zhou Yue gritted her teeth in pain, but mainly out of fear. She didn't care about the surprised or contemptuous looks of the people on the street and shouted, "Let go!"
"Don't talk to people you don't know. Mr. Jiang must have told you that. And you're taking pictures. Do you think you've lived too long, Miss Zhou?" He carried her away, getting very close to her. His voice was as low and hoarse as the frozen gravel in the wilderness in winter. She could hear the heavy resonance of his chest as he struggled. When he let go, Zhou Yue pushed him hard, "Don't touch me!" But he didn't move.
When they looked back at the two men, they were already far away from them. They stood there in a daze, holding their cameras, looking at each other in confusion.
She didn't speak to him after that, rushing ahead with her hair dancing wildly in the cold wind.
After walking out of the busiest street, the road suddenly became deserted. In front of me was a long uphill road. The residential buildings on both sides were very ordinary. Except for the sycamore trees, they were no different from other cities.
There was a female student on the slope, with her back to the road. She moved a small stool to sit on, with her schoolbag on another small stool. There was a drawing board in front of her, and she seemed to be sketching.
Zhou Yue walked behind the little girl with her head held high and her arms folded across her chest, then turned back to look at him provocatively. This time, he didn't come over. He just stood under a tree not far away and lit a cigarette, with no intention of picking her up and dragging her away again.
Zhou Yue retracted her gaze and put away her vicious expression, staring at the little girl's painting absentmindedly. From her point of view, a gloomy sky could be seen between the tall buildings, but what the little girl painted was a fiery red sunset. The golden sunset sprinkled on the cold steel forest, melting the steel and concrete, and spreading out circles of afterglow.
But she should have finished her painting. She tore off the tape around the drawing paper and put it aside to dry. When she lowered her head to rinse her brush, she saw a pair of feet behind her. She looked up and met Zhou Yue's eyes. Both girls were startled. Zhou Yue took a half step back and the female student turned around. Both of them were so embarrassed that their ears turned red.
"You draw very well." Zhou Yue smiled with her hands behind her back. The female student seemed surprised that someone was speaking Mandarin here. She turned her head and looked at her with her chin raised, and whispered, "Just draw casually." She had a round face and almond eyes, and was very cute.
"Are you studying art?" Zhou Yue took a step forward, looked down at the painting on the small stool, and murmured, "What a beautiful painting."
"No," the female student shook her head. "I just like painting." After a pause, she said, "My mom wouldn't let me apply to art school." She turned around and looked at Zhou Yue. "What about you?"
Zhou Yue looked at her face for a moment, then averted her gaze, smiled, and shook her head. "I wasn't a good student, so I didn't get into university." She pondered for a moment, then turned back to look at the man. This time, he was quite tactful and stood with his back to them. Zhou Yue had been walking for so long and felt tired. She went over and sat on the steps at the girl's feet. "What are you going to draw now?"
"I can draw anything," the girl said confidently as she slowly and methodically taped a blank piece of drawing paper to her drawing board, a smug smile on her face. "Anything you say, I can draw."
"Where is the chimpanzee?" Zhou Yue looked at her with her hands on her cheeks, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
"Chimpanzee?" The little girl paused while pasting the drawing paper, her almond-shaped eyes widened as she looked at Zhou Yue's face blankly. This beautiful lady made her think of only peacocks and swans. Unexpectedly, the beauty's hobbies were different from those of ordinary people!
"Hey, chimpanzee." Zhou Yue smiled and nodded heavily. The girl was not shy about showing off her superb painting skills. The two heads were put together and laughed while painting, and they whispered, "Can you add a fang here?" "Of course, but then it will be King Kong, right?" "Hahaha King Kong!"
After finishing the painting, Zhou Yue held it up to appreciate it, as if he was identifying an authentic work of a master. "Oh, it's really good... Can you teach me how to draw one?"
"OK!"
But what to draw? She thought of Jiang Huai. His face had no sharp edges, only soft lines, willow-like eyes and nose, thin lips, and an oval face. It was easy to draw.
But it took her a long time to finish a painting.
"Well! This..." The little girl held up the painting with an encouraging smile on her face. She took a deep breath and held it, praising, "It's pretty good!"
The man behind her coughed violently. Zhou Yue turned around and glared at him. He was waving his hand to clear away the smoke with his back to them. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, roll up the painting, unfold it again, and then roll it up again. She sat next to the little girl and lingered, refusing to leave. "What's your name?"
"Li Jia."
"Leave home?" Zhou Yue looked at her in surprise, her chin lowered. "Running away from home?"
The little girl held her drawing board, picking at the dried paint clumps on it, her face wrinkled in dismay. "No, Li, the Li of dawn, Jia of Shanghaojia..." She paused, as if mustering up her courage, and said, "It would be great if I really ran away from home! Never come back!"
Zhou Yue studied her face quietly, chuckled and said "hmm", then looked up at the completely dark sky, "I wish I could go home."
Li Jia looked at the young lady next to her in confusion. This beautiful lady with long legs, whose long boots didn't even reach her knees, why couldn't she go home?
Twenty-one-year-old Zhou Yue met eighteen-year-old Li Jia once, and they never met again. Before leaving, she left her QQ and locked up the Nokia phone. This was a new smartphone with a touch screen and QQ.
Shanghai had been overcast all day. What fell wasn't rain, but snow, though very light, melting as soon as it hit the ground. Zhou Yue stood dazed under a sycamore tree, gazing at the snow faintly visible against the night sky, muttering to herself, "It's snowing in Shanghai too."
"Yeah." The man waited until Li Jia disappeared with the drawing board on his back before turning around. He hummed a smile. Zhou Yue took a long time to react. She looked up at him and said coldly, "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm not laughing." He was holding a cigarette, and it was impossible to see whether the other side of his face was smiling. The swirling smoke was soaked by rain and snow, and it floated into Zhou Yue's nostrils. It was moist and not choking.
"Hmph," she sneered, "Isn't it just painting? What can't I learn? Isn't there a huge bookstore in Shanghai? I want to buy some books! I want to learn painting!"
"Okay," he said.
He was definitely smiling! Zhou Yue walked around to him, tiny snowflakes drifting between them in the night sky. Her eyes slowly met his, her pupils dark, her eyelashes so long… “What are you doing?” Zhou Yue felt her hands empty. When she lowered her head, her hands were indeed empty. When she looked up again, the phone was already in his hand.
"What are you doing with my phone? It's private, don't you know?" She yelled, her face flushed with anger, but he seemed not to hear. He held a cigarette in his mouth and quickly tapped the screen a few times before handing the phone back to her. "Keeping this will only cause her trouble. Miss Zhou, please understand your identity. Doing whatever you want is bad for everyone."
Zhou Yue held her phone, looking down at the blank friend list. She didn't say anything. When she heard him say, "Boss Jiang asked us to come over," she only smiled. Her heart felt like it was falling into the icy cold water of the river on a snowy night. After a while, his voice rang out above her head again: "Let's go buy books next time."
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