Final Chapter: What kind of life do I want?
The boy was still fixing his hair after coming down. Lin Lang came over to interrogate him, arms folded, looking around. "Who shouted that just now that scared me to death? Was it Zhiheng? Qianzi, did you hear that?"
"Based on the position, it's either Zhiheng or Jiqing," Liang Zhuoqian laughed. "By process of elimination, we get an A."
A argued to the end for dignity, "Why can't it be B?"
"Look at what he looks like today."
Lin Lang made half a step aside, his hands posing as if to ask for your attention. "What villain could be frightened to death so easily?"
There were seven people in the small tour group. Most of them had watched Harry Potter when they were young. One of them was still a child and was fully armed and put on wizard robes when he entered the park in the morning.
No matter how serious I am about returning to school, I will have to take returning to Hogwarts ten times more seriously.
The robes were strictly sorted according to the previous house test. Chen Zhiheng and Lin Lang were in Eagle House, He Miao and Liang Zhuoqian were in Badger House, Su Xia and Xu Jiaojiao were in Gryffindor, and Xu Jiqing himself was placed in Slytherin with extremely high scores.
He wore a wizard robe with dark green edges, a tie and sweater with diagonal stripes in the same color, and black suit pants. At Su Xia's request, he simply pulled his hair back. His cold eyebrows were exposed in the sunlight, and he looked as sharp and handsome as frost and snow.
This seems to be what it means to have a good temperament.
Although he didn't imitate any character, the Death Eater NPC passing by still didn't understand what was going on and saluted him with their wands raised.
Lin Lang was stunned. "Naturally black, right?"
He turned to look at Xu Jiaojiao, who looked worried, and offered his consolation as a senior, "But don't worry, little sister. Your brother doesn't have much sense of collective honor."
"If we were to actually enroll in school, and the Lion and Snake Houses played Quidditch, as long as your brother was there, the Golden Snitch would stick to your sister-in-law's hands as soon as it came out. If Slytherin could get any point, it would be considered a poor performance on his part."
Xu Jiaojiao uttered an "ah," her light brown eyes, like her brother's, bright and filled with worry. "That's even worse, isn't it?"
"I didn't say that."
Lin Lang took a bite of the chocolate frog and chewed it with a crunching sound.
Diagon Alley became the place where they spent the longest time. They waved their wands and chanted spells in front of the teacup window, bought candy at the dazzling counter of Honeydukes, shivered while drinking butterbeer with smoothies, laughed and cheered in the pink and purple sunset, and flew around and around in the hippogriff.
After the light show, He Miao took Xu Jiaojiao to see the Minions again, and several boys went to the first row of the roller coaster.
Xu Jiqing was checking out at the souvenir shop. Su Xia was sweating from the air conditioning in the room, so she came out to get some fresh air.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Without the noise of friends around, the night suddenly became quiet. Even the snow on the hut and the castle seemed thicker, reflecting the light blue light in the night sky.
Su Xia leaned against the wall and admired it quietly. She heard someone calling her, "Miss, did you drop this?"
She looked over and was so surprised that she couldn't speak.
A black hairpin.
Slender, inconspicuous, with a small heart decoration.
The hairpin that she had lost before dark was now lying in the palm of an old foreign lady.
The man was thin, with thick, fluffy gray curly hair and a pair of gray-blue eyes. He was the "shopkeeper" who had helped Xu Jiaojiao choose a wand when they had queued up at Ollivander's that afternoon.
She was still wearing the same purple windbreaker, white collar, and dark gold round hat as when we first met. Judging from the handbag she was carrying, she must be on her way home from get off work.
Su Xia thanked him and stroked the familiar texture of the hairpin, her heart agitated. "Where did you pick it up?"
The old man's blue eyes were deep and gentle as he looked at her.
Su Xia stammered, then asked, "How do you know that the hairpin belongs to me?"
The old lady didn't answer her question, but just smiled and said, "I know a lot about you."
She spoke in English, but slowly enough that when Su Xia heard every word of her next sentence, she froze in silence, unable to move a step.
"You are from another world, aren't you?"
Su Xia was stunned for several seconds, "...What do you mean?"
The night was dark blue and the snow began to fall again.
The shadows of lights from the wooden lattice windows were cast on the brick and stone road. Everything was so quiet, as if it was being blessed by real magic.
She panicked and wanted to ask more questions.
The other party had already opened a long-handled umbrella and waved goodbye to her as if blessing her, "Everything is in God's will."
When Xu Jiqing pushed the door open, he was greeted by Su Xia, who was crying.
He was carrying two large bags of stuffed toys she had picked out, but he couldn't stop her from rushing towards him. Amid the flying snowflakes and the exclamations of tourists, she hugged his waist tightly, her tears and snot rubbing against his chest, and she cried like a child.
What happened? Who bullied you?
She held him for a long time under the lamp, and no matter how she asked, he wouldn't say anything, which made Xu Jiqing anxious but helpless.
On the way out of the park, the girl pinched herself from time to time, and sometimes changed the victim to him, crying and laughing, mumbling thank yous to no one, and the beautiful makeup that she usually cared about was smudged by tears, but she didn't care and smeared it all on the back of her hand.
Xu Jiqing no longer let her pull him forward. Like last time, he half-knelt in front of her, shook her back, and put her on his back, so that her wet fingers would no longer torture him. "If you don't want to talk, just hug my neck, or pinch me."
Su Xia cried so hard that she couldn't speak. She hugged him and shook her head hard.
Xiaoxue is gentle.
Xu Jiqing carried her on his back and walked slowly forward, waiting for her disordered sobs to gradually subside, and her chaotic mood to become calm along with her breathing.
"I'll tell you a secret," Su Xia choked up, mustering up her courage. "It may sound like I'm dreaming, but you have to believe it."
Xu Jiqing carried her steadily on his back, "Okay."
"The day you transferred to No. 1 Middle School wasn't actually the first time I met you. I encountered something when I was 27 and traveled back in time."
After saying this, she turned her head and held her breath waiting for Xu Jiqing's reaction.
But to her surprise, Xu Jiqing was just silent for a moment, and then whispered back to her, "Maybe I have some feelings."
She was stunned. "How could it be?"
"I just feel," Xu Jiqing paused, "that you treat me very well."
The kind of good he doesn't deserve.
It made him feel occasionally like he had been caught in a spring rain that didn't belong to him, and that he had picked up someone's treasure. Not only did he not have the slightest intention of returning it, he even cut open his heart in a despicable manner, trying to sew her into his flesh.
The winter coat was very thick, but she could hear his heart beating against his back.
Before Su Xia could say anything, she heard Xu Jiqing ask again, "Did we know each other when you were twenty-seven?"
The word he used was "knowledge."
The lowest, most insignificant chance encounter.
"It's more than just knowing each other." Su Xia's tears welled up again. She took a deep breath and whispered, "We're married."
Xu Jiqing: "That's great."
Su Xia's heart ached at his brisk tone. The remaining fear and relief twisted into a knot, turning into hot drops that fell from the corners of her eyes. "Not at all."
"I've been really bad to you," she bit her lower lip hard, "but you've been a little mean to me too, so I don't want to talk to you every day and even want to divorce you."
Xu Jiqing hummed, "Are you divorced?"
"No..." Su Xia was about to burst into tears again, so she tried to be as emotionless as possible and said, "You did that."
Xu Jiqing smiled, "Which one am I?"
"That's it."
She pursed her lips, hugged his neck even tighter, and refused to say that word no matter what.
The snow was so light that she couldn't feel it falling on her.
Xu Jiqing kissed her trembling fingertips, then kissed her knuckles, palms, backs of her hands, and wrists, melting the few snowflakes into pieces.
"That's good too."
Su Xia's nose was blocked, and she took a deep breath. "It's already that, so what's the point of being okay?"
"Until the moment of death, I will still be your husband."
Prohibited word trigger.
Su Xia's heart was shocked, and she hit him on the shoulder anxiously, "Your life has more meaning than this, stop talking nonsense, and spit it out."
"You will definitely live a long and healthy life this time. It doesn't matter whether I'm here or not, understand?"
Xu Jiqing didn't reply this time.
When she hit him for the second time, he turned his face to her and kissed her hard.
-
I had so much fun in the park that all my good and bad emotions were exhausted.
The next morning, no one woke up by the alarm clock. Everyone was unconscious until lunch time, and then they were woken up by the bedside phone to check out.
Seeing Su Xia resting until the next day to barely recover her spirits, Xu Jiaojiao blamed herself so much that she postponed her trips to the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square to summer vacation. Besides visiting the Forbidden City, the rest of the day was all about her newly arranged leisure schedule:
Visit bakeries and coffee shops, various beautiful bookstores, pet the animals at cat and parrot cafes, and spend the rest of the time in the warm home, basking in the sun and doing puzzles together.
The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the day we were preparing to return to Jiangcheng.
Su Xia woke up early for the first time in a long time. After failing to fall asleep several times, she gave up struggling, broke free from Xu Jiqing's arms, walked barefoot to the living room, waiting to watch the sunrise.
Xu Jiaojiao's suitcase was spread out on the floor, with clothes and shoes neatly arranged. Next to it was a paper bag leaning against the wall, which contained the books they bought while strolling near the front door.
She was bored, so she took out things one by one and helped to organize them.
Almost all of them are Xu Jiaojiao’s extracurricular books, with cute and fancy covers and many full-color illustrations inside.
Su Xia held the paper bag and flipped through it with great interest for a while, until she reached the bottom and saw a collection of poems that obviously did not belong to her.
Thin, unsealed.
It is titled "Let Us Believe in the Dawn of This Cold Season".
Just as Su Xia was about to turn the page, Xu Jiqing came over from her side and slowly hugged her whole body. "Why don't you sleep anymore?"
"A surprise inspection," she muttered, "to see if you're going to steal your sister's book and confess your feelings to me when she's not paying attention."
Xu Jiqing corrected, "Mine."
Su Xia found a comfortable position in his arms and deliberately imitated his cold expression, "Oh, yours."
After the snow, the best sunny winter.
The dark blue sky turned brighter, and above the horizon, the crimson morning light spread like an oil pastel, as if all things were about to be reborn.
The title page was opened, and the poem copied by Xu Jiqing with her right hand was written on it, as if answering her past "dream talk":
[Do you know what kind of life I want?
The kind that can be with you,
You, all of you.
And if life were repeated a thousand times,
Still you, you, again, still you. 】*
*
You are my everlasting summer.
There are all the warmest and most moving colors in the world.
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