Episode 38 Heartbeat
Lin Ying still remembers that it was the end of her final exams in her second year of high school. The weather was fine during the day, but it gradually became gloomy in the evening, and it even rained heavily.
The rain stopped many students who did not bring umbrellas. They had to stay in the classroom, either waiting for the rain to stop or for their family to pick them up.
According to the usual routine, Lin Ying should be the former, but half an hour ago, her Nokia received a text message from Lin Jidong -
"Ashu happens to be free today, so he'll pick you up. You should get ready early and don't keep them waiting for too long."
Even so, Lin Ying still chatted with her classmates for a bit too long. After all, the final exams were over, and she had snatched up the concert tickets she had been dreaming of.
"You're the only one in our class who managed to snag tickets for the Shanghai show, and you even snagged two at once! Don't be so clever."
"I spent several nights browsing Tieba and learned a lot of tricks to grab tickets. I was there half an hour in advance, constantly refreshing the page, wishing I could turn my 3G network into 4G..."
"I still need cash. My parents' bank cards are kept very secret. I can't link them to online banking, so I can't pay..."
"Why don't you check out Tieba? Maybe there are some for sale."
"It's all the oxen and lions who are opening their mouths!"
At that time, the means of grabbing concert tickets were still primitive. There was no ticket-grabbing software, no electronic authentication, and no mobile payment. Ticket information could only be found on the official website, and gossip could only be obtained by browsing Tieba and Tianya Forum.
Lin Ying was able to get two pictures, partly because her father ignored her surfing the Internet, and partly because Yan Yiming opened a joint account with his father and had online banking permissions.
"It's the end of the semester, and you got the tickets again. You can go see Eason with your boyfriend. I'm so jealous!"
"What boyfriend? Don't talk nonsense!"
Lin Ying blushed at the other person's teasing. She stood up and tried to cover his mouth, but she bumped into Jiang Shu who had just walked to the back door of the classroom...
He held the umbrella handle with one hand and used the other to support her shoulders so that she would not fall into his arms.
This made Lin Ying embarrassed, and she quickly turned around and kept a safe distance from him again.
“…Brother, aren’t you waiting for me at the school gate?”
"It's raining so hard that the school gate is blocked. I parked my car in a nearby alley. Is it okay? Should I leave now?"
Lin Ying naturally didn't dare to object. She quickly returned to her seat and put on her schoolbag. Seeing the dusty folding umbrella lying in the drawer, she hesitated for a moment and finally took it with her.
Taking advantage of this moment, my deskmate suddenly asked softly, "Is that your brother?"
She nodded.
"So handsome? I always thought you were an only child?"
Lin Ying smiled indifferently, said goodbye to everyone, and followed Jiang Shu's urging pace outside.
The umbrella Jiang Shu brought was enough to support the two of them walking in the rain, but Lin Ying still stubbornly hid under her own small umbrella.
It was pouring rain. After leaving the school gate, the traffic was so congested and noisy that the two of them had no chance of walking side by side. They could only rush into the alleys in panic, one after the other, urged by the rain...
Before getting in the car, Jiang Shu threw her long-handled umbrella and her schoolbag into the back seat, while Lin Ying rushed into the car, folded the wet folding umbrella and pressed it at her feet. Finally, she freed her hands and smoothed the ends of her hair that were wet from the rain.
"It's raining so hard today, please come all the way here."
Although she was very young at the time, she had learned to read people's expressions early on, and her life motto was not to cause trouble to others, even to her family members.
At this moment, her tone was full of apology. After all, this "trouble" was really beyond her control in her eyes.
"Nothing, I just happened to be outside and came by."
Jiang Shu spoke at a slow pace, and neither complaint nor happiness could be heard.
The engine started, and Jiang Shu tried his best to back the car out of the narrow alley and into the surging traffic.
The rain outside was noisy and the atmosphere inside was dull. Lin Ying had no choice but to make small talk: "How long will you stay at home during the summer vacation?"
"Late August."
"That's pretty much the same as summer vacation back home."
"Um."
She nodded. It was rare for her to be alone with Jiang Shu like this, and now with the heavy rain, it felt even more suffocating. She was searching for new topics in her mind, but was stopped by the other party's question -
"Are you going to see Eason Chan's concert with Yan Yiming?"
Lin Ying paused, then immediately admitted, "Yes, this Saturday night, at the Hongkou Football Stadium."
The heavy rain clung to the glass window walls. The rain on the side windows was like people's intermittent breathing, and the rain on the front window was repeatedly blocked by the wipers, pouring down like a mountain waterfall.
Lin Ying didn't know what else to say, so she habitually pulled out her wired headphones, plugged in the MP3 player she had been using since junior high school, and escaped into another world alone, while Jiang Shu was excluded from that world...
Her shoes and socks were wet by the raindrops from the folding umbrella, but she seemed completely unaware. Jiang Shu wanted to remind her, but seeing that she was immersed in the world of headphones and humming a song, Jiang Shu seemed reluctant to interrupt her and remained silent all the way.
But on Saturday afternoon, Lin Ying received a call from Yan Yiming, saying that he had broken the appointment.
The family was still eating lunch at the table. Towards the end, the aunt suddenly approached with Lin Ying's phone. Seeing the name on the caller ID, Lin Ying was about to answer the call immediately, but after looking around, she got up and went to the small living room to answer the call.
Afterwards, her emotions continued to develop along with the words she had said, and her expression soon turned from sunny to cloudy - the caller was Yan Yiming, and the content of the call was that she could not go to the concert with him tonight.
Lin Ying had been visibly excited these past few days because she was going to see her favorite singer's concert. But now, after just five minutes of phone conversation, she returned to her seat like a different person.
Lin Jidong noticed something was going on and remained silent for a long time. It was Jiang Yueling who started it first - "Did the kid from the Yan family break the appointment?"
Lin Ying hadn't recovered from the shock she had received yet, and when she was suddenly asked about the real issue, she choked up for a moment. Before she could speak, Lin Jidong's words brought her back to reality:
"I'm asking you a question, are you deaf?!"
With a click.
Lin Ying paused while scooping soup. "...He said he has a sketching class in the evening, and it's hard to schedule an appointment with the teacher, so he can't turn it down."
Jiang Yueling asked her, "The forecast says it's going to rain again tonight. I don't know how long it will last. Are you still going alone?"
Lin Ying nodded slowly, but this caused Lin Jidong to complain again: "It's raining late at night, it's not safe for you to go alone, don't go."
"The venue is very busy, it won't be unsafe. Besides, today is Saturday, maybe we can catch the last subway."
"Xiao Yan isn't going, so why would you go alone?"
"It's his business if he doesn't go. This is a concert of my favorite singer, and I got the tickets with great difficulty. There's no way I won't go!"
Lin Ying rarely gets angry in front of her family, but this time her emotions made her explode without caring about anything else.
The one who reacted most strongly to this outburst was naturally Lin Jidong. He slammed the table and shouted harshly—
"You're still being willful! Xiao Yan has his own plans, what about you? You're not good at anything, and you still have the nerve to make demands?"
"What did I ask for? I was going to play tonight anyway. It's not like you just found out. You just think that Yan Yiming isn't going and I'm not worthy enough. What gives you the right to..."
However, what awaited her was always a slap in the face.
It has been like this since she was a child. Whenever she talked too much, Lin Jidong would use these three methods - scolding, ridicule, and a slap.
She had nothing to say. If one of them had to behave indecently in front of Jiang Yueling, it would have to be her.
Who made her the superfluous one? Who made her the one who was being annoying today?
Lin Jidong was furious, glaring at Lin Ying's face, still feeling very disappointed. After the slap, Lin Ying could only calm down. Jiang Yueling couldn't help but sigh:
"Alright, alright, blame me for being nosy and asking this question. Let's all sit down and eat, shall we?"
"Shall I take her?"
The person who spoke up next was his own son—and this made Jiang Yueling unhappy: "The gymnasium offers no shelter from the wind or rain. Can you stand there for so long? Can you handle it?"
"It's been raining a lot lately, so it's okay with a raincoat and an umbrella. Besides, there aren't just a few people watching the concert."
Jiang Shu stood up directly, without looking at Lin Jidong or his mother, and walked straight towards Lin Ying - she was still covering her face, as if her soul had temporarily left her body, but was brought back to reality by Jiang Shu's few words.
He walked up to her and handed her a tissue:
"You should clean up well this afternoon. I'm sending my car to be washed today. We'll go to the subway then."
However, this time Lin Ying ignored him, just looked up at him, turned around and left the restaurant and returned to her room - this was the only time she rebelled in her memory of knowing Jiang Shu for more than ten years.
After willfully declaring one's will, one still ends up avoiding it.
That night, it started to rain just as the concert began, and the rain really got heavier halfway through. Fortunately, the two of them were well prepared and did not get completely soaked... Being so embarrassed at the first concert would surely not leave a good memory, but Lin Ying didn't think so.
She felt that the rain made the concert full of drama. The bustling crowd mixed with the singing, and the spring rain floating in the air was like a fresh and refreshing wine. Together with the idol's singing and emotions, it made her intoxicated, as if she had drunk a bowl of old wine and was drunk in another world.
She hummed along with the people on the stage -
Everyone only has those two hands, and even hugging them is hard for you to possess them.
To possess something, you must first understand how to accept losing it.
I once wandered along the snowy road. Why do I shed tears for good things?
Who can own Mount Fuji with love?
She doesn't want love or Mount Fuji, she just wants this freedom to herself.
And this private freedom was only tasted by Jiang Shu with her - although he did not understand her intoxication.
The argument and slapping a few hours ago seemed like a thing of the last century. She was willing to get wet in the rain and be in a mess, at least this moment was her carnival.
Three hours later, the concert concluded successfully. Jiang Shu and Lin Ying, draped in raincoats, their shoes and socks completely soaked, each held an umbrella and, following the steward's instructions, joined the crowd pouring out of the stadium. On a dark, rainy night, the arena was bustling with activity. The dumplings, already cooked, were now being served and scattered everywhere, creating a throng of people, almost too hot to eat.
After finally squeezing out, Lin Ying, still drenched in the afterglow of the excitement, nearly slipped in a puddle. Jiang Shu quickly pushed past a few people and grabbed her arm. Their umbrellas clattered together, and the rain formed a waterfall, drenching them headfirst...
"There are too many people. Let's take a taxi back."
But they looked at the vehicles that were unable to move, which looked like boxes of softened matchboxes. Seeing that the road was difficult to pass, Lin Ying suggested:
"Shall we hurry up before the subway stops running?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Ying grabbed his wrist, practically pulling at the sleeve of his raincoat, and ran towards the subway entrance...
They walked through the dense flow of people, each with a colorful umbrella above them, like glowing mushrooms in the dark night. Unfortunately, the weather was not good and they all wilted. To ensure safety, the two of them put away their umbrellas and rubbed shoulders with each other, hesitating under other mushrooms.
They were like two maverick night walkers, cutting in line and bumping into others without any concealment.
Lin Ying was running the hardest. Even Jiang Shu was helpless against her, forced to run forward by her lead. For a moment, she was like a wild horse that had suddenly broken free from its reins, unruly at heart. He wanted to grab her ponytail, her long, half-wet black hair, scattered in the wind. He wanted to hold a few strands, hold them between his fingertips and sniff...
Until they stepped into the crowded carriage at the last moment - and he almost failed to squeeze in because of his distraction at that moment, but Lin Ying's quick eyes and hands caught his fingers at the critical moment, and his body was suddenly pulled away. At that moment, the two of them were pulled by inertia, and he almost fell into the people on the subway...
Fortunately, the moment he landed, he pulled her back to his side, and the two of them were able to stand safely without accidentally hurting anyone.
The subway was still packed, with barely enough space for the two of them to fit their shoes. Even the distance they needed to turn around seemed so cramped that they could only stay there—with only each other in their eyes and hearts.
"Aren't you afraid of falling if you run so fast?"
His voice was like raindrops, covering his ears through the raincoat, as if filtering out the complaints in his tone.
"If we run one second slower, we will miss the last subway."
After she finished speaking, she laughed out loud, and Jiang Shu laughed too. Their laughter and breathing stuck to the messy raincoat, carrying the dampness of rain and the heat of breathing in their chests.
That was Lin Ying's most profound impression of him - the wet rain and the surging heartbeat.
And her heartbeat.
Her recollection came to an abrupt end—what woke her up was the heartbeat that was gripping her like a nightmare.
After her heartbeat calmed down, Lin Ying sat up dazedly and found two more messages on her phone. One was a PDF of someone's resume, and the time it was sent to her was just now -
"Xiao Xu is looking for a job recently. I see her resume includes experience in arts and media. I wonder if you're looking for anyone?"
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