Chapter 18: Power Plug This is just a left hand, not destiny...
The movie ended, the lights came on, and Jiang Haoxiang was awakened by the sound of the movie ending.
"Is it over?" She yawned loudly.
Zheng Yi looked at her like this, and his fear faded with the crowd. He stuffed the large, untouched bag of Wangzai buns into her arms in a bad mood and said, "Let's go home."
Jiang Hao wanted to follow him closely.
The breeze outside the mall was crisp. It must have rained during the movie screening, so the temperature had dropped considerably, and the air was damp. Jiang Haoxiang sniffed like Jiujiu, and Zheng Yi found her amusing. The streets were bustling with traffic and people, but Jiang Haoxiang was the only one who swayed left and right, sniffing everywhere.
Passing by the square, they saw an elderly street performer singing. Jiang Haoxiang suddenly stopped and stared at the singer. Zheng Yi felt this was a bit intrusive, but also thought Jiang Haoxiang's behavior was endearing. So he went to a nearby tobacco and liquor store to exchange some cash, ran over and slipped a hundred-dollar bill to the street performer, then returned to Jiang Haoxiang's side and listened with her. He didn't want to give anyone the opportunity to criticize Jiang Haoxiang.
Zheng Yi unilaterally felt that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, because the clips of the male protagonist tying his shoelaces, buying clothes, and watching movies were still playing in his mind. He felt like he was being observed and written by God.
He thought Jiang Haoxiang wanted to listen to the song, but Jiang Haoxiang said, "Brother Zheng Yi, we have met this uncle."
Zheng Yi was confused: "When? Who did you meet with? An Fengyang?"
Jiang Hao seemed to not understand what he was saying and felt a little frustrated, but decided not to argue with him. After all, he fell asleep during the whole movie and felt a little guilty.
She continued, "When I first went out with your friends as a kid, we met this uncle. He was singing here with his kids. Have you forgotten? Brother Zheng Yi."
Have you forgotten, Brother Zheng Yi? Back then, you told me you wouldn't be like my dad, suddenly having a child of your own and then abandoning me.
Zheng Yi couldn't recall the details of the incident, but he had a vague memory of taking Jiang Haoxiang out to play with his good friends. Those friends had helped him find Jiang Haoxiang after she ran away from home, so he naturally thought it was normal to take Jiang Haoxiang out to meet them.
But at this moment, Zheng Yi thought of something else: "That was the first time you met An Fengyang."
Jiang Hao felt a little frustrated again. She knew Zheng Yi really didn't remember, and she was the only one who was upset. But she didn't understand why Zheng Yi kept mentioning An Fengyang, so she didn't respond.
Zheng Yi looked at Jiang Hao and didn't want to reply, feeling choked up. Just as he was trying to find another topic to entice Jiang Hao to say a few words and call her "Brother Zheng Yi", the singer plucked a guitar string and the prelude sounded.
It's sweet olive.
"The sparrows outside the window are chattering on the telephone poles."
"When you say that, it feels very summery."
“The pencil in my hand moves back and forth on the paper.”
"I'll use a few lines to describe who you are to me..."
With the ambiguity of the blues moment, the lyrics turn into rain, dripping outside the body and vibrating inside the body.
Zheng Yi's heartbeat began to accelerate. He forced himself to look straight ahead, pretending to concentrate on the song.
“The rain fell all night long, and my love overflowed like the rain.”
"The fallen leaves in the yard are piled thickly with my thoughts."
When the singer sang "But at this moment I just want to kiss your stubborn mouth", Zheng Yi felt that he must be being observed, and that the movie must have been filmed by secretly observing him, otherwise, otherwise, otherwise, how could he suddenly lose control at this moment and completely lose control of his hands.
He held Jiang Haoxiang's hand.
It was God who allowed him to hold Jiang Haoxiang's hand.
Jiang Haoxiang's hands were cold and she suddenly felt very panicked. She didn't understand the source of the panic, but she only knew that the blood rushed to her head at this moment and then quickly fell back, causing her ears to tinnitus and she could no longer hear the singer's voice.
All senses were temporarily closed, turning into touch, moving to the left hand.
Zheng Yi thought he was only holding Jiang Haoxiang's hand, but in fact, he was holding Jiang Haoxiang's entire body, holding Jiang Haoxiang's limbs, blood, heartbeat, happiness, pain and incompleteness... holding her past and future -
Then Zheng Yi quickly let go of his hand.
Her senses returned, and Jiang Hao fancied she could feel her own heartbeat. The past returned like a memory, the future stretched beyond her reach. She was thrown back to where she was.
Look at your left hand. It is just a left hand, not destiny.
Zheng Yi himself was panicking. Even more so than the last time. They'd held hands in the taxi, but that was just a gesture of reconciliation. He could explain the promise of a pinky promise on the trip with countless excuses.
What about this time? What about this time?
Jiang Haoxiang's frightened look alerted her. Zheng Yi even felt like she was committing a crime.
So he suddenly let go of his hand.
The moment he let go, Jiang Haoxiang's body instinctively acted faster than her brain could think. She hooked back in an attempt to keep him, but only hooked air.
Zheng Yi had quickly put his hand into his coat, so he didn't notice Jiang Hao's attempt to keep him.
I didn't even see the disappointment in her eyes.
Loss also travels into the body, anchoring itself in various parts of destiny.
On Sunday afternoon, Xiang Li's friends arrived one after another, and the house became lively.
Most of the people who came were Xiang Li’s long-time friends, and among them was indeed Chen Yu.
As soon as Chen Yu saw Jiang Haoxiang, he pulled her hand and said, "Haoxiang, you've grown up so much now. Back then, you were just a crying little pudding! Now you've grown into a grown-up girl who doesn't cry anymore."
Jiang Haoxiang felt a little embarrassed.
Zheng Yize was surrounded by several aunts, handling the situation appropriately. The adults chatted, the topic shifting from career to family, and then to children's education.
Someone started talking: "Our kid is going to college, and his dad is looking for a house in a school district, saying he'll need it when he gets married."
Another person said: "Yes, housing prices are rising sharply now, so it's a good idea to plan early."
Xiang Li's eyes casually glanced at Jiang Haoxiang, who lowered her head to eat the pomelo flesh that Zheng Yi had peeled for her.
Chen Yu watched this scene and said to Xiang Li with a smile: "Your Zheng Yi is really good at taking care of his sister."
"She's getting prettier and prettier, and her grades are so good. Xiang Li, you're so lucky to have such a good daughter." An aunt joked with a smile.
Xiang Li smiled and said, "Of course I am. I am so lucky! You can envy me."
Another woman, observing Zheng Yi, who was clearly distracted by her phone, said, "Xiaoyi, you're quite the handsome fellow. I heard you applied to a prestigious university abroad? That's impressive." She then changed the subject and launched into gossip. "My son was browsing Instagram the other day and saw a picture of you with a pretty girl. Are you in a relationship? Do you have a girlfriend abroad?"
Zheng Yi snapped out of his trance and said, "No! Auntie, don't talk nonsense! It was just a classmate who took the photo while doing a group project."
The reaction was so big that Xiang Li was shocked. "Why are you so excited? I never interfere with your affairs. If you have it, you have it. If you don't, you don't. Just tell the truth."
Zheng Yi wanted to continue explaining, then looked at Jiang Haoxiang next to him. Jiang Haoxiang was nodding his head, feeling sleepy.
Zheng Yi's eagerness to prove his innocence gradually calmed down as Jiang Haoxiang nodded. He suddenly felt that his hurried explanation just now was particularly stupid and meaningless.
I swallowed the rest of my words and fell silent. Think whatever you want. I've already denied it.
Another aunt tried to smooth things over with a smile, moving between Zheng Yi and Jiang Haoxiang, and half-jokingly said, "If you ask me, Xiaoyi and Haoxiang are a good match standing together. They know each other so well, how nice."
This time, Zheng Yi didn't refute it immediately like he had before. He attributed it to being tired of explaining.
Jiang Hao seemed to have heard his name in a daze and looked in the direction of the voice. Just then he looked at Li and said with a smile: "That won't do."
After Xiang Li finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Haoxiang with a smile.
Jiang Hao's mind was in a mess. He looked at Xiang Li's smile and said, "How can that be possible? It's not possible."
After saying that, she repeated in her heart as if to confirm: It really won’t work.
Zheng Yi suddenly felt sad. A kind of angry sadness. Why couldn't it work? What was wrong? Was it because he wasn't good enough?
This weekend was like a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs. Jiang Hao felt like she only had a full weekend like this once a month. Normally, she only had half a day off on Sunday afternoons.
During the rest of Zheng Yi's summer vacation, he diligently delivered meals to Jiang Haoxiang many times, and took advantage of Jiang Haoxiang's short time on Sunday afternoon to take Jiang Haoxiang out and buy her a bunch of things.
A month had passed in the blink of an eye. Zheng Yi was leaving again, heading to Spain to prepare for the start of university.
The farewell scene at the airport was somewhat similar to and yet somewhat different from last time.
Xiang Li was reminding him of some things to pay attention to. Jiang Haoxiang wanted to stand aside.
Zheng Yi looked at Jiang Haoxiang's expression, and for a moment, he couldn't help but wonder, should he stay in China? Or should he repeat a year, take the college entrance examination, and stay in China? Would that make up for the three-year time difference?
He knew this wouldn't work.
Xiang Li would be disappointed in him. Jiang Haoxiang would also find him unreasonable. A man who could even give up his own future would look down on himself.
So, he took the boarding pass and waved to Xiang Li and Jiang Haoxiang: "Let's go, Mom, take care of yourself. Jiang Haoxiang, study hard and take care of yourself."
After saying that, he walked towards the security check, and his back looked resolute.
Zheng Yi tried hard not to look back, afraid that if he looked just once more, he'd really stop wanting to leave. He thought to himself, I should have woken Jiang Haoxiang up when we watched the movie that day. If Jiang Haoxiang had seen that movie, would she have thought of something? Would she have asked him something? How would he have answered? Would there be some unknown plot point? Would it affect the ending now? These were just thoughts.
Jiang Hao wanted to watch Zheng Yi's back disappear at the end of the passage without looking back, and then he remembered his actions to stop the irreversible situation.
A few days ago, Jiang Haoxiang secretly climbed over the firewall and found Zheng Yi's Instagram account. He saw the photo that the aunt mentioned.
In the photo, Zheng Yi and a woman of the same age stand side by side. The sun is shining brightly, and the two look harmonious. The woman looks very gentle.
There is a comment below: "99".
She stared at the comment for a long time.
Zheng Yi's phone screensaver is a photo of her, Xiang Li, and Zheng Yi. Xiang Li's phone screensaver is also the same photo.
Jiang Haoxiang’s mobile phone screensaver has always been the one that came with the phone when it left the factory.
The airport announcements seemed far away. For some reason, Jiang Haoxiang also set the photo of the three of them as his phone's screensaver.
Xiang Li was in the middle, with her and Zheng Yi on either side, all smiling happily.
Always be happy.
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