Chapter 9 No need to look back. Occasionally, step into this time. ...
She left so decisively back then, much like how she used to wander alone on campus when she was young.
But now—
Ye Yuying lowered her head, her fingertips slowly tracing the edge of the record cover. Her nails silently grazed the gold serial number, 117.
She intended to put the record into the record player, but her fingertips hovered above the stylus, hesitant to drop it. Finally, she smiled gently, put the record back in its place, as if the melody, once it started playing, would uproot certain parts of that past.
She feigned nonchalance and casually said, "Never mind, let's just watch a movie."
The movie soundtrack was stored on the top shelf of the cabinet; she could barely reach the edge while sitting and reaching out.
The moment my finger touched a cassette tape, I immediately pulled it back—my fingertip was covered in a thin layer of dust.
She raised an eyebrow and smiled, her tone slightly teasing: "The cleaning lady you hired doesn't seem very professional. She wiped the visible areas spotless, but the unseen areas were covered in dust."
Cheng Mingdu was coming out of the kitchen with a pot of warm water in his hand. Hearing this, he silently curved the corners of his lips but did not reply.
A sense of curiosity arose in my heart; I wanted to know what movies he had been watching all these years.
She reached out slightly and carefully pulled a soundtrack tape from the edge.
She took down the original soundtrack from the top, and the familiar color scheme on the cover made her heart clench, and she vaguely guessed what was going on.
It was an old cover that looked quite old, very well preserved, with neat edges and a slightly yellowed seal.
She carefully turned the cover over, and there was a familiar scene on the cover—a white background with contrasting red and blue lettering. The man was wearing a beige suit, with the edge of his light blue shirt collar slightly showing. His red baseball cap was gone. He was sitting on a bench, leaning slightly forward, with his hands resting on the bench on either side. There was a brown leather briefcase in the background, which was completely white.
The entire cover has a minimalist style, which is a typical "negative space" in 1990s American design. Only the title Forrest Gump is marked at the top of the image, and the font is simple and clean.
This classic film, released in 1994, chronicles the life of Forrest Gump.
Even after many years, that one glance is enough to awaken a silent period of time.
She carefully turned the envelope over, and sure enough, the yellowed imported sticker was still there, with small black writing in the corner—
"To YY"
Some people spend their entire lives running;
Some people just wait for the wind to blow in the same spot.
May you always run at your own pace.
There's no need to look back.
——MD”
The beginning and end of their names form the initials of their names, a formal yet restrained way of expressing gratitude.
When Cheng Mingdu wrote down this carefree wish, she probably never imagined that she would put it into practice so thoroughly many years later.
Cheng Mingdu didn't move, but his eyes remained fixed on her fingertips, not shifting for a moment.
She quickly put the audio tape back in its place, then spread out her dusty hands, momentarily stunned.
"Don't you like watching 'Forrest Gump' anymore?" he asked casually.
"I've been watching this for so many years, I'm getting a little tired of it. Let's change it." She smiled, snapped out of her reverie, put the soundtrack back in its place, and casually pulled out "The Shawshank Redemption" from the bottom of the box, handing it to him.
He took the disc, put it into the player, and pressed play.
In an era with such a wealth of viewing platforms, this approach feels very retro. The visuals are like an adult dreaming about childhood, with all the old objects and decorations having a sense of distortion, making one subconsciously feel that the scenes are destined to remain in memories.
The projector slowly lit up, and the white screen cast a halo of light on one side of the living room wall. The opening scene showed a feather drifting silently in the wind above Shawshank Prison, its destination unknown.
She was reminded of the beginning of Forrest Gump, where a feather falls at Forrest's feet, and he begins to tell his story...
She sat back on the sofa, tilted her head back slightly, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The two sat silently on sofas at opposite ends of the living room, separated by a wooden coffee table at the farthest point. The light and shadow cast their shadows on the edge of the screen, some overlapping and some misaligned.
Midway through, the tea got cold, so Cheng Mingdu got up and went to the kitchen to boil water again.
In just a few minutes, when she turned around again, Ye Yuying's shoulders were slightly hunched, her hands were tightly gripping the hem of her skirt, and her knuckles were white.
Just now, her nerve pain started again. She subconsciously reached into her bag to get painkillers, but after rummaging around for a while, she only found a nearly empty pillbox and a few candies...
I suddenly remembered that I had brought a new box with me before leaving the house, but I forgot it at the hotel along with my room key when I changed my shoes...
"What's wrong with you?" He put down the water, his tone becoming more serious.
She looked up at him, her chest heaving, but she masked it with a faint expression, her voice weak and feeble: "I'm on my period, I'm feeling a bit unwell..."
Her voice was low and a little hoarse, as if she didn't want to talk about her body in such a quiet and private space.
Cheng Mingdu looked at her face, his eyes darkening slightly.
Didn't you bring any painkillers?
"I left it at the hotel." She said casually, as if she had just accidentally forgotten a hair tie. "But the nearest pharmacy must be a bit far, could you please take me there?"
He picked up his car keys and prepared to leave: "I'll buy it for you right away, it'll be quick."
She immediately shook her head, "It's okay, you can take me there."
If the painkiller she wants is for neuropathic pain, it is a prescription drug, and she has almost no chance of buying it unless she goes to the pharmacy herself.
Cheng Mingdu didn't try to persuade her anymore. He just walked over and picked up her coat and umbrella from the side. "The ground outside is slippery. I'll drive the car to the door."
This is an old house, and the parking lot is located in the backyard.
She nodded, stood up, her movements so slow it was as if all her joints were stuck.
While Cheng Mingdu went to get the car, she took out the last painkiller, hesitated for a moment, and placed it under her tongue.
As long as a new painkiller is administered before the previous one wears off, it's fine.
The car pulled up, and Cheng Mingdu went to greet her, opening the door for her. A gust of wind rushed in. Although the thunderstorm was coming later in this area, the extreme humidity and the rippled surface of the lake indicated that it was imminent.
She held the umbrella, and he held it for her.
Despite their past intimacy, he was still using a gentleman's hand at this moment.
He didn't ask her if she needed help, and she didn't emphasize her refusal; they both understood each other implicitly.
They walked slowly down the stone steps, their shoes making a soft rustling sound as they scraped against the damp ground. The car was parked not far away; he opened the passenger door, helped her into the seat, and then walked around to the other side to get in.
“There’s a 24-hour pharmacy near the hospital, only two kilometers away, so it’ll be quick,” he said calmly.
She nodded, tilted her head to the side, pressed her forehead against the glass, and closed her eyes briefly. The pain, like a large worm crawling into her bones, writhed continuously, poised to strike, pressing down on every nerve.
The streetlights outside the window swept past one by one, and even with her eyes closed, she could feel the light and shadow before her.
On the way, she remembered something again. No one had ever mentioned ibuprofen to her before. After her first period, she would grit her teeth and endure it every month with a hot water bottle.
Later, Cheng Mingdu gave her her first painkiller and kept ibuprofen in the medicine box and in the lining of her schoolbag in the days that followed.
She slowly opened her eyes, feeling weak as she experienced the pain in her body. Suddenly, she wondered if her current dependence on painkillers was related to these pivotal events in her life.
The car stopped in front of a pharmacy near the hospital. She slowly got out of the car, holding an umbrella, and Cheng Mingdu followed her inside.
She asked Cheng Mingdu to wait for her in the car, and under his questioning gaze, she frankly said, "I have a hidden illness, and I'm just buying something else, which is inconvenient for you to know."
Cheng Mingdu's calm face softened slightly. He had only frowned slightly before, but upon hearing the words "hidden illness," his expression changed subtly. His Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to speak, but he ultimately held back and did not ask.
“I can do it myself, it’ll be quick,” Ye Yuying said calmly, even politely.
Cheng Mingdu didn't insist any further and turned to walk outside, saying, "I'll wait for you at the door."
She nodded, turned around, and moved to the pharmacist's side.
The pharmacist recognized the name of the medicine she prescribed and paused, saying, "This medicine requires a prescription."
She was well-prepared; these things were always ready, and she rarely made such a basic mistake.
She breathed a sigh of relief the moment the medicine was put into the bag.
Ye Yuying came out, holding a light blue plastic bag in her hand. Her face was still pale, but her eyes were a little clearer.
She saw Cheng Mingdu standing on the corridor in the distance. A fine rain was falling outside the eaves. His palm was stroking the handle of the umbrella that she had already warmed in his hand, and his eyes were calm.
Cheng Mingdu rarely makes such unconscious movements.
The rain suddenly intensified, and a bolt of lightning struck down from the horizon. Pedestrians on the street quickened their pace, but he stood motionless, as if isolated from the world.
She didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, and then quickly walked back to the car.
Cheng Mingdu closed the car door for her, then got back in. The car door slammed shut, as if the world had been encased in soundproofing material.
"Is it serious?" he asked.
She leaned back in her seat, her voice calm but not cold, carrying an honesty tinged with weariness: "It's not serious."
He refrained from offering any explanation without making a sound.
Cheng Mingdu didn't say anything and started the car.
The car turned around, drove out of the hospital entrance, and returned to the path by the lake.
Raindrops pattered haphazardly against the glass outside the window, like a drumbeat with a disordered rhythm.
They remained silent the entire way.
When we returned to Qizhi Xiaozhu, thunder finally rolled down, like ancient low murmurs, echoing back and forth across the lake and the mountains.
The room was still warm, and familiar lines from the movie drifted from the living room.
"I'm going to wash up and rest now," she said.
Cheng Mingdu nodded: "The hot water is already on."
Do I live on the second floor?
The second floor was her previous room.
“That place has been converted into a storage room. You can stay on the first floor; you don’t need to go upstairs.”
She agreed with a faint smile, and upon closer inspection, she didn't seem to show any disappointment at losing the room.
She walked slowly, as if each step was a compromise with her body. Only after her figure disappeared at the end of the corridor did he look up at the room at the far end of the second floor—her former bedroom.
His gaze lingered on the doorway, remaining fixed for a long time.
If that tightly closed door were opened, it would completely expose his long-sealed emotions.
Because everything in that room remained unchanged, even the folds in the curtains were exactly the same as before she left.
The dusty copy of Forrest Gump wasn't because the cleaning lady was unprofessional, but because she forbade anyone from touching anything in the room, not even the order of the movies and books.
It's as if this can freeze time here, preserving everything related to her from eight years ago.
It allows him to occasionally step into this time.
Beyond the thunder, the wind and rain raged all night, and amidst the storm, an old love affair that was already irreversible was being peeled away little by little by time.
A note from the author:
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50 red envelopes dropped [Three-colored cat head].
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