Chapter 33
The cinema recently released a foreign suspense blockbuster. Chen Meiyun has always loved this type of film, which is thrilling and a bit brain-burning. She couldn't wait until the Gaokao was over, so she dragged Jiang Wan to see it the day it opened. However, Jiang Wan had to go to No. 3 Middle School that afternoon to attend a symposium with writer Cheng Xiang, so they rushed to the early morning screening just to see the movie.
At 7:40 in the morning, the only two early risers in the entire screening room were Chen Meiyu and Jiang Wan.
The big screen was still playing commercials. Jiang Wan sipped the coffee she had just bought, feeling too sleepy to say a word. Chen Meiyu noticed the dark circles under her eyes and asked curiously, "Didn't you sleep well last night? Why are you so tired?"
Speaking of this, Jiang Wan seemed to come to life briefly. She reached into her army green work jacket and fumbled around for a while, finally pulling out a bunch of jingling things and handed them to Chen Meiyu.
Jiang Huainan had been traveling in the northwest for the better part of a month and returned today on a red-eye flight, arriving home at exactly four o'clock. Jiang Wan, already a bit sleepy from the coffee, had barely fallen asleep when Jiang Huainan's enthusiastic "Wanzi, your dad's back!" woke him up. The old man was so engrossed in his fun that he didn't care about Jiang Wan's well-being. Later, Jiang Wan couldn't fall asleep, so he simply accompanied Jiang Huainan to unpack for a while, nearly giving him a high blood pressure from all the small things he bought.
The lights in the cinema had dimmed, and Chen Meiyun couldn't see what was in her hand. She just touched it vaguely. It looked like a plastic chain. "What is this?"
"Comrade Jiang Huainan spent a lot of money to buy the Goddess Chain during his journey, and he specifically asked me to bring it to you, saying that wearing this thing to the college entrance examination will have miraculous effects." As for what miraculous effects it had, Jiang Huainan spoke affectionately in front of Jiang Wan at the time. She was so sleepy that she didn't listen at all. She was only vaguely certain of one thing: "Except for not being able to turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man, the rest should probably be possible." Jiang Wan's voice was sticky, and his eyes were fixed on the image of the person appearing on the big screen without moving.
Chen Meiyun chuckled. "Your father actually believed this kind of low-brow tourist attraction scam. After all, he went to a decent university."
"Do you know how speechless I was when I saw the receipt yesterday? This chain cost 1888, and he bought two. He's not stupid. I guess it's because the lady boss who sold him the chain was so beautiful, and he had no money but to pretend to be rich." At that time, Jiang Wan was speechless but also a little relieved. She was relieved that she didn't have many friends. Otherwise, according to Jiang Huainan's spending habits, Jiang Wan would probably have to go out begging on the streets to raise enough money for college.
"Now you know why our country is vigorously developing the gray-haired economy. Each of them is a potential stock--." As a handsome white man appeared on the screen, Chen Meiyu's voice stopped abruptly.
It didn't take long for Jiang Wan to determine that this handsome guy was the victim of this case.
"Do you think this handsome guy's tone is a bit like Lu Jiyu?"
They have the same broad shoulders and narrow waist, and their eyebrows and features are quite sharp, but when they smile, they are like a little sun, with a soft and strong charm, and a bit of the youthfulness that has not faded.
Jiang Wan finished her cup of coffee, still a bit hazy. The darkened theater felt like a deep blue ocean, and the screen in the center resembled the undulating surface of the ocean suspended above her head. The water shimmered in the sunlight, and the sounds of laughter and playfulness drifted across the surface, sometimes near, sometimes far, as if from another dimension. She was a little distracted and glanced sideways at Chen Meiyun, as if she hadn't heard what she was saying.
"Actually, Lu Jiyu is really handsome, but unfortunately he just doesn't like studying. If you say he's just dumb, it's fine, but he was so successful before. So what exactly is the reason that made such a top student fall into such a slump?"
Chen Meiyun threw two pieces of popcorn into her mouth. The film's pre-roll was too long and she felt a little bored. "I've asked Zhou Zifang several times, but he's very tight-lipped and I couldn't get anything out of him."
"Is there a possibility?" Jiang Wan said in a low voice.
In fact, people don't give up on themselves at all.
After enduring the boring pre-swing, the movie finally reaches its first climax. A handsome white boy is pushed down from a building due to a misunderstanding and dies on the spot. The perpetrator decides to dismember him.
"Oh my god, he's so handsome, it's such a waste." Chen Meiyu lamented for a few seconds, and suddenly covered her eyes with her hands.
The plot has entered a bloody period.
Before the film was released, there were rumors that some of the scenes were too gory and would be difficult to approve, but it seems that a lot of deletions were made before it was released. Jiang Wan watched for a while and found that the camera shots were mostly fixed on the perpetrators. It was estimated that the deleted shots were all of the handsome white guy.
Chen Meiyu has been afraid of such bloody scenes since she was a child, but she is the kind of person who is both naive and playful. When she was in junior high school, she even dragged Jiang Wan to watch a Japanese horror movie. She was so scared that she didn't dare to open her eyes throughout the whole movie. Jiang Wan almost fell asleep while watching the movie. She felt very disgusted. There was no plot, just pure disgust, which made her sleepy.
The two of them emerged from the cinema just as lunchtime was approaching, and the mall was already packed. Chen Meiyun's eyes were red, clearly still reeling from the shocking ending. The victim's father, determined to find out where the murderer had dumped the body, decided to intervene, luring the killer to commit another crime. Ultimately, the real killer was apprehended, but he himself tragically died.
Seeing that Chen Meiyun was extremely upset, Jiang Wan decided to make her even more upset. She handed her phone to Chen Meiyun and said, "I just checked the information about that handsome white guy. He's Danish and just turned 20 this year. He's a rising star in the film industry and has great momentum."
But what’s even more amazing is...
Jiang Wan slid his fingers down.
"There's another piece of good news."
"This guy is already the father of three children."
Chen Meiyu: This is not good news at all.
＊
Before heading to Experimental No. 3 Middle School, Jiang Wan returned to the studio. A parent had scheduled a trial lesson with their child, and she was worried Jiang Huainan might oversleep. Luckily, as she reached the door, someone beamed as they escorted a mother and child out. "Okay, Mrs. Chen, if you've made up your mind, please contact me." As soon as he noticed Jiang Wan approaching, he pointed at her and boasted, "Mrs. Chen, this is my daughter, a student at F University."
The mother and son immediately looked at her with admiration and respect.
Jiang Wan: ...Her father is really good at writing bad checks.
"Why are you lying to others?" Jiang Guan walked into the studio and picked up a drawing board that had fallen to the ground.
Jiang Huainan sat down leisurely on a rattan chair by the French window, holding a teacup. The sun was shining brightly outside. He looked at Jiang Wan, who was busy sorting out her paintbrushes. "How can you be lying? Your ability didn't add any points. It's a sure thing that you'll get into F. However," he suddenly asked, changing the subject, "Jiang Wan, have you ever thought about what major you want to study?"
Jiang Huainan seldom discussed these issues with Jiang Wan. He knew that Jiang Wan was a very opinionated person and too much intervention would only push her further away.
Jiang Wan finished organizing his pens and started to sort out a box of watercolors. Ignoring him, Jiang Huainan continued to talk to himself, "Several of our group members have children around your age. I asked them what majors they were studying or planning to study, and they all seemed to be medicine, computer science, finance, and some other fancy majors I'd never heard of. You can tell from these majors that they're going to have great careers after graduation."
Jiang Wan had to remind him, "It's been almost a month since I submitted the application form. I've also filled out many of the popular majors you mentioned."
Jiang Huainan took a sip of tea and sighed slightly before looking at her. "But Wanzi, you clearly have more important things you want to do. I know you've been worried about a lot of things at home. Your mom and I did say some irresponsible things when you were little. We just wanted you to get good grades back then, but now that your grades are improving, I've become greedy again."
"I want you to be happy. People should do what they love to be happy. Look at me, your father. I quit my job at the school and opened this mediocre art studio. I know a lot of people laughed at me behind my back, and your mother looked down on me, but it doesn't matter. I think it's great this way. I'm free and happy. Although young people have the capital to make mistakes, I still hope that you, Wanzi, can find your own way in life without taking too many detours."
"Don't you think so?"
＊
There was a long queue at the gate of No. 3 Middle School. All of them were people who came to attend Cheng Xiang's symposium. Jiang Wan stood in the queue and took a quick look. Most of them were students from No. 3 Middle School wearing school uniforms, and occasionally there were a few idle people like her who were wearing their own clothes.
The wait was getting rather boring, and with the afternoon sun blazing, a thin layer of sweat formed on Jiang Wan's forehead. Bored, she pulled out her phone to check WeChat and saw that the friend request she'd sent yesterday had been accepted. Jiang Wan recalled the unwavering pride on Gao Zhuo's face when he'd mentioned his legendary friend. She sensed a subtle sense of familiarity in his words and, for once, inquired: What kind of person is he?
Gao Zhuo then unashamedly pulled out his phone and showed her one of their chat groups. There were five people in the group, led by Gao Zhuo. One of the group members had a very familiar profile picture: a melancholy, tranquil blue snowfield dotted with star-like lights.
Jiang Wan asked Lu Jiyu about the source of this portrait. Lu Jiyu said that it was taken when he was skiing abroad. He broke his leg and was waiting for rescue on the top of the mountain. He felt bored and started taking pictures.
Jiang Wan praised him for his good attitude.
Lu Jiyu was a bit amused and confused. "My mentality was really not good at all. I was tackled by a rookie at the time. My entire lower body was numb for a while, so I even considered what would happen if I really became paralyzed. I felt like I might go crazy. But as I was thinking about it, I saw the lights of thousands of homes in the vast white expanse below the mountain. It was very quiet all around. I felt like I was the last living being on the planet. Isn't that a bit childish? Then suddenly I felt that even if I died like this, it didn't matter. I just merged with the world."
"After thinking about it this way, I feel much calmer."
When he said this, his eyes were bright and with a slight smile, he felt a little melancholy and helpless.
That was the first time Jiang Wan felt that Lu Jiyu was really an interesting person, and it was also the first time she realized the broken part of his character.
Jiang Wan took a quick look at the content posted in their group. Most of the messages were from Lu Jiyu, and each time he posted either study notes or some real exam practice questions.
"He said this group isn't for chatting, so let's try not to talk."
"Didn't you say you would ask him questions and chat with him about life?"
"These are usually sent privately." Gao Zhuo smiled, revealing his white teeth.
He looked much more optimistic than before. He was no longer the Gao Zhuo who walked into Jiang Wan's house with a sad face. He would not talk about his failure in the high school entrance examination with red eyes and say that he used to be the first in the class, but he fell ill with a fever on the day of the math test and almost fainted in the examination room.
All the sadness and inexplicable pain of the past seemed to be healing.
Jiang Wan didn't hesitate to let Gao Zhuo push Lu Jiyu's WeChat to her second account. She said she wanted to ask him some questions about further studies, but asked Gao Zhuo not to tell Lu Jiyu her real name. Gao Zhuo didn't quite understand, but he did it anyway because he trusted Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan didn't feel guilty at all about using her second account to add Lu Jiyu. After all, he was the one who tricked her first, so what if she was just playing with him?
The queue slowly moved forward. She clicked on the WeChat friend notification she had just received, thought for a moment, and sent a WeChat message.
Dumplings are a little sweet: Help!!! Lu Xueba, what should I do about my anxiety before the exam? I can't sleep well these past few days. [Have pity on me]
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