Chapter 6 Manifestation: Why is it so unwilling to face me?
In the afternoon, Cheng Yiling met up with her old friend of many years to drink tea and play cards by the Qingyan River.
Cheng Mingdu stood up and picked up his car keys. "I'll drive you there."
"OK."
The car slowly drove out of the old house, through the dappled light and shadow of the old alleys of Chengdu, and along the winding Qingyan River.
Outside the window lies the familiar scenery of Jiangnan, with old houses with white walls and black tiles reflected in the water, and several awning boats gliding slowly by. The banks of the Qingyan River are a blend of old and new, with century-old teahouses on one side and a renovated cultural and creative district on the other, bustling with people yet not noisy.
"Mingdu, if you have something to do this afternoon, you can go ahead and take care of it. I'll have the driver come and pick you up."
Cheng Yiling got out of the passenger seat, wearing a custom-made cheongsam with a fur coat over it for warmth. She looked very elegant in this setting.
Cheng Mingdu held the steering wheel with one hand and casually rested the other on his arm. "If I have a meeting tomorrow morning, I should be heading back to Jiangcheng soon."
Cheng Yiling smiled and gently closed the car door: "That's fine too."
Cheng Mingdu did not return to the old house immediately.
He drove to Zhongcheng as if possessed. Students from Rongcheng No.1 High School had already entered the school one after another, the school gates were closed, and traffic had eased considerably.
I was planning to take a walk around the neighborhood and head back when I saw an elderly man with gray hair locking his bicycle by the roadside while I was waiting at a traffic light.
Cheng Mingdu opened the car window, and the sounds of people outside mixed with the wind rushed into the car.
He couldn't hear it clearly, but it was the sound of a sports meet at a university in Chengdu in the distance.
He pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out.
"Teacher Zou."
The old man was struggling to lock his old-fashioned folding bicycle when he heard a familiar voice. He looked up, paused for a couple of seconds, and then laughed out loud: "Isn't this Mingdu? What brings you back?"
"I was just passing by when I came to visit my elderly relatives." Cheng Mingdu took the car lock from his hand and locked it.
Professor Zou squinted and scrutinized him carefully, then sighed, "Back then, I thought you'd go to Tsinghua University to study physics, but who knew you'd go straight to the US to study computer science..."
Teacher Zou smiled and shook his head, his tone filled with satisfaction and a touch of unconcealed emotion, "But it's a very good path. I hear he's doing quite well in the investment circle in Jiangcheng now."
Cheng Mingdu smiled and shook his head slightly.
In an instant, he felt that this sentence was very similar to the way Cheng Yiling described Ye Yuying.
I thought she/he would go to XX University to study XX subject, but who knew she would go abroad without a word...
Thinking about this, he felt a little relieved. Aren't they on similar paths? It's just that, given the age difference, her departure seemed more resolute.
Ultimately, it's all about exploring one's own path.
"Come on," Teacher Zou patted him on the shoulder. "I've been invited to give a speech at the sports meet. I'll take you inside to see if the old campus has changed."
The two walked into the campus side by side. The young security guard at the gate looked at them with a slight puzzlement: "Teacher Zou, is this a new teacher?"
Teacher Zou smiled and waved his hand: "New teacher? Have you seen that name at the very top of your honor roll? That's him."
The security guard was stunned, his eyes widening: "You are—Cheng Mingdu?"
Thinking of that list, weathered by time, makes one instinctively feel that the people on it are already middle-aged.
"Wow... you're so young!" the young security guard exclaimed.
Cheng Mingdu sighed helplessly, seemingly finding the description somewhat ridiculous.
Thirty-something... compared to a high school student, that's definitely not young.
The campus was bustling with activity, the noise of which filled the air. Slogans, whistles, and laughter rose and fell. The familiar playground was still there, but the running track had been repaved and the exterior of the old teaching building had been repainted.
The big banyan tree is still there, still huge and blocking out the sky. It doesn't seem to have grown any bigger, but when evening self-study ends, it provides a small haven for the boy's mind to breathe.
"The teaching building hasn't changed much. Your senior year classrooms are now for math competition classes," Teacher Zou said as they walked. "The playground has been renovated twice. The locust tree you used to run laps around was struck by lightning and cut down last year. The students even made a monument to it."
Zou Ming was halfway through his introduction when he immediately straightened his tie, saying, "It's almost my turn to speak."
"You go ahead with your work, I'll just wander around a bit." Cheng Mingdu nodded.
His gaze didn't linger on the teaching building for even a moment. Instead, it swept past the crowd to look at the renovated running track. The fresh colors made him almost forget what it looked like ten years ago.
When Ye Yuying was in junior high school, he was studying in the United States and would only return to China during holidays. When she was in high school, he was busy with his graduation project and entrepreneurial project, and he had even less time to return to China.
She rarely messages herself, but a few of them were about autumn: "Brother, will you come back in the autumn?"
He didn't know why autumn was such a special season for her.
She hasn't said it out loud yet—because every autumn, she goes to the sports meet and sweeps all the first places in her group.
She always seemed more indifferent and calm than her peers, but she possessed an astonishing explosive power. Normally, she was like a dormant volcano, but once she was ignited, even with just a small spark, she could color the entire world with her own colors.
For many years afterward, Cheng Mingdu felt regret. He knew what Ye Yuying wanted him to see, but...
When he watched the videotape of her competition from back then almost frame by frame...
The nightingale has already... flown away.
His gaze drifted to the end of the track in the distance, where he saw children of similar age to her, yet none of them seemed as vibrant as she was in that scene.
She would tie her hair back and secure it firmly with a hair tie of the same color. At the end of the day, a few strands would always droop down her forehead, vying with her long eyelashes for space near her eyes.
She loves dark-colored clothing, especially in autumn and winter, where black slit skirts always cover her slender legs, extending all the way to her knees.
Outside the crowd, it was as if a memory had manifested.
He felt as if he could really see Ye Yuying in her black coat...
She seemed to notice that someone was looking at her, and slowly turned around.
Across the crowd, she spotted him, her surprise growing even stronger.
The next second, with the referee's whistle, everyone stood up to cheer for the athlete, and the crowd engulfed her.
She struggled in the crowded throng, as if swimming in a turbulent river.
However, her cold nature allows her to choose not to struggle in such a situation, to stand still alone amidst the chaos, and simply wait for the commotion to pass.
Even a short race can only last for a few minutes of jubilation. She just needs to stand still and wait for the crowd to quiet down again.
Just as she was about to stand still, a hand reached through the crowd and firmly grasped her arm through her heavy coat.
The force wasn't strong, but it was enough to give her a jolt.
She turned around in an instant, her gaze unexpectedly meeting that figure that should have been far away from her.
Cheng Mingdu silently guided her away from the crowd, leading her to the back of the throng. He didn't speak, but simply stared at her intently with quiet eyes.
Ye Yuying stared blankly into his eyes and noticed that compared to eight years ago, there were more complex and unfathomable emotions in them.
It seems she never truly understood his gaze, nor did she ever know where his feelings originated.
By the time she sensed it, it had already reached an extremely intense level.
He had rescued him many times before, and the touch and strength felt very familiar, except... it seemed that the strength was a bit greater than before.
"How did you get here?" Her voice was so soft it was almost carried away by the wind.
As soon as she finished speaking, dead memories surged up like a rising tide, crashing against her.
Against the backdrop of the sports meet, she had looked up countless times on the field and on the podium, always gazing into the void, hoping that one day he would unexpectedly stand outside the crowd, watching her from afar, just like he was now.
Thinking about this, she suddenly felt that the situation was somewhat ridiculous. Her once urgent wish had not been fulfilled, but many years later, it had been fulfilled so easily and beyond her expectations.
Her lips twitched slightly, revealing a faint smile that, from a certain angle, looked like self-deprecation.
"I came back to visit the old man." Cheng Mingdu's tone was low and slow. Just before he finished speaking, he asked, "And you?"
She tilted her head slightly, thinking subtly, trying to avoid giving the impression that she was lying.
"Come pick up a sample of the first generation; they've made some minor modifications."
She glanced down at the exoskeleton device faintly visible around her ankles, the gray-black metal covering her calves almost blending into her coat, and said softly, "Just testing it out."
Cheng Mingdu reacted quickly: "You're here to test it? Isn't this for... people with mobility issues?"
"I recently sprained my ankle, so this is a good opportunity to test its effectiveness."
She can lie without batting an eye these days.
In the past, when faced with situations involving lying, she would usually just lower her head and remain silent endlessly.
Wearing the exoskeleton allows her to temporarily stop using crutches.
Moreover, this first-generation product was designed based on her personal neurofeedback, which, on the bright side, saved a lot of testing costs.
"Did you sprain your ankle...?" This was the first thing Cheng Mingdu noticed in that sentence.
Ye Yuying immediately replied, "It's alright."
The urgency in his tone suggested a desire to prevent any tenderness from arising.
Cheng Mingdu instantly composed himself, belatedly realizing the slight mockery in his own reaction. He then changed the subject, saying loudly, "I seem to have heard of your first-generation product, its model number is... AY1.0..."
She seemed momentarily moved by his tone, and finally nodded, "That's it."
He added, "You seem to take naming things very seriously."
Whether it's the company name or the product number.
She stood still, looked up at the stands, and exhaled a long breath, which condensed into white mist in front of her eyes.
"It's alright." Her throat tightened, and she racked her brains trying to think of something more appropriate than those two words.
Fortunately, he didn't ask what the AY in AY1.0 meant. At the time, he subconsciously felt that the two letters were related to himself, but now he suddenly realized that they were also related to Cheng Mingdu.
He probably guessed a bit, but fortunately he didn't say it or ask deliberately.
"Shall we go to the school history room?" he suggested, then frowned and glanced at her legs. "Do you need any help?"
She pursed her lips, subconsciously took a half step back, and shook her head, as if ready to leave at any moment.
"I have to go now. My assistant will pick me up in a bit."
Cheng Mingdu glanced at her, the morning mist in his eyes dissipating. Wasn't it Li Song?
"You're so unwilling to face me?"
His tone was calm and deep, not like a question, but more penetrating than the wind.
Ye Yuying raised her eyes, the corners of her eyes still red from the wind, the depths of her pupils still rippled, yet a gentle wave rose again.
A note from the author:
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50 red envelopes~~[Cat emoji]
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