Chapter 30
The windows of the welfare home are narrow, and the light and shadow are cut by the guardrails and fall on the dim ground.
The little girl Qiqi was sitting cross-legged on the bed, holding an old little fox. When she heard unfamiliar footsteps, she looked up vigilantly.
A pair of big, round eyes, but... the pupils are cloudy.
Zhang Jusong felt a little uncomfortable. Anyone who saw this flaw in the white jade would feel a little emotional. She secretly warned herself not to show this emotion. The little girl would not like others to treat her with pity. It was best to maintain a normal attitude.
She subconsciously put on a smile: "Hello, we are both students from A University. My name is Zhang Jusong and his name is Xia Zhiheng."
Qiqi nodded, looking as if she understood: "I see. Where's Sister Yu? Didn't she come?"
Zhang Jusong looked at Xia Zhiheng and said hesitantly: "Sister Yu is..."
"It was Big Sister A who accompanied me before. Okay, I get it." Qiqi lowered her head and rubbed the little fox doll. "Either she had something to do or she graduated. It doesn't matter. This little fox was given to me by her."
Zhang Jusong was speechless for a moment. The students who came to participate in this type of social work activities came and went, and these accompanied children seemed to understand the feeling of "people coming and going" more clearly than ordinary children.
Even I can't guarantee that I can visit her a few times.
Zhang Jusong lowered her eyes, feeling a little sad. She even thought that if she couldn't keep up the companionship for a long time, it would be better not to participate in such activities.
Xia Zhiheng's voice rang out, interrupting her sadness.
"Very cute little fox, do you like it?"
"Not bad." Qiqi smiled, "Okay, sit by the bed. How do you want to play with me today?"
She spoke in a cheeky tone, revealing an attitude of "I'm reluctantly doing you the honor of letting you gain some experience points."
Zhang Jusong and Xia Zhiheng looked at each other and sat down beside her. Zhang Jusong thought he was older than Xia Zhiheng, and she was the one who asked him to come, so he said with a sense of responsibility: "Whatever you want to play, we will play with you."
Qiqi thought for a moment and directed, "Open the first drawer of the desk. There is a fairy tale book inside. Sister Yu read to the corner last time. You can continue reading. Um... if there are two of you, each of you can read a character. That's it."
It can be seen that she is very experienced and has made a very balanced arrangement.
Zhang Jusong glanced at the desk and before he moved, Xia Zhiheng had already understood what he meant and went to pull the drawer.
He asked: "Is it the book The Little Prince?"
"Yes," Qiqi said, "Read it to me. You are a boy, so you can read the Little Prince. What other roles are there?"
Xia Zhiheng's eyes swept across the folded page: "It's time for the little fox to appear."
Qiqi sat up straight at once: "Okay, then I'll read Little Fox, let's start."
Zhang Jusong came closer, with a few strands of hair softly hanging on the slightly yellowed pages of the book.
"Okay, let's read you a story together."
Xia Zhiheng spread out the fairy tale book and gave her half. The two of them were like classmates who forgot to bring their textbooks and had to read a book together.
"The Little Prince" is a classic fairy tale, with a loose text layout and illustrations. Unfortunately, for Qiqi, no matter how beautiful the illustrations are, she can't see them. It's better than the seemingly monotonous and boring Braille book. No wonder she has to listen to others read it.
Zhang Jusong cleared his throat and recited the little fox's words: "Hello."
Xia Zhiheng replied: "Hello. Who are you? You are very beautiful."
"I am a fox."
"Come and play with me."
"No, I haven't been tamed yet."
"What do you mean by 'taming'?"
When she first started reading, Zhang Jusong's voice was a little hoarse, but when she was absorbed in reading the story, her gentle voice became particularly moving.
"It means to establish a connection. To me, you are just a little boy, like millions of other little boys. I don't need you, and you don't need me. To you, I am just a fox, like millions of other foxes. But if you tame me, we will be each other's only one."
"My life is dull and boring... But if you tame me, my life will be full of sunshine..."
This is a classic passage about domestication. If you are domesticated, meaningless things suddenly become meaningful. When the little fox sees the golden wheat field, it will evoke the longing for the little prince, because the little prince has golden hair.
When turning the page, Zhang Jusong's gaze stopped.
The sunlight filtered through the narrow window, cutting Xia Zhiheng's face into a tiny shadow and covering up a few lines of black type.
Her heartbeat quickened quietly, as if the silhouette was not projected on the pages of the book, but rather... projected into her heart.
Suddenly, she didn't dare to look up, but stared at the words on the book. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She read a simple word with a stammer:
"Please - tame me!"
There was silence for a moment.
Xia Zhiheng's voice rang in my ears, "I really want to do this."
"…But what should I do to tame you?"
Zhang Jusong took a deep breath and continued, "You need to be patient enough. First, you have to sit down at a distance from me... Then, you can get closer to me day by day."
"Stop—" Qiqi raised her hand and asked, "Why did you have to stay away from me at the beginning?"
Zhang Jusong was stuck: "Ah? What?"
"I asked, why did the little fox want the little prince to stay away from it?"
Xia Zhiheng laughed softly: "Yes, why?"
Zhang Jusong always felt that the laughter had a bit of a naughty meaning.
She pursed her lips, still lowered her head, maintained the posture of reading a book and said: "At the beginning, it was so strange. If it suddenly approached, the fox would definitely be scared and run away. After all, you can only know a person's face but not his heart."
Qiqi pondered for a while and said, "I see, that makes sense." She waved her hand and said, "Sorry, continue reading."
The ending that follows is somewhat regrettable. The little prince tamed the fox, but still had to leave.
After hearing the story, Qiqi hugged the little fox doll tighter. She frowned and said, "So the fox got nothing."
Xia Zhiheng reminded her: "The fox got the color of the wheat field."
"For the fox, every time it walks through the wheat field in the future, it will have precious memories. That's enough."
His voice was like a light that was stubbornly cast into a dark room, warm and bright.
"For the fox, every time it walks through the wheat field in the future, it will have precious memories. That's enough."
Zhang Jusong was dazed and felt a gaze falling on her. She could feel his gaze, which made her a little flustered, and she subconsciously lifted the hair by her ear.
Fortunately, Qiqi was there. She touched her chin and thought for a while: "Okay."
She curled her lips: "I still hate the story of leaving."
Because of this sentence, Zhang Jusong couldn't bear to say goodbye to Qiqi even after the agreed time for gathering had passed.
If only I could stay with her a little longer, this thought flashed through Zhang Jusong's mind every time he looked at the time.
Senior Ayan's voice sounded from afar: "Ju Song? Are you still there?"
"Yes——" Zhang Jusong responded. She looked at Qiqi, and the words of farewell came to her lips, but she couldn't say them.
It was Qiqi who spoke first: "Okay, you should go back."
"Sorry..." She started to speak, but heard Qiqi laugh.
"Sister, you are so weird. What is there to be sorry about?" The little girl let go of the little fox doll in her arms, leaned forward, and hugged Zhang Jusong with her arms.
"Okay, okay, a brave girl is not afraid of separation. Thank you for telling me the story of the little prince and the little fox."
She smiled and said, "Goodbye, then."
Just like welcoming the sunset, Qiqi welcomed another separation skillfully and calmly.
I walked outside in the setting sun, and my companions had already gone out one after another.
Senior Ayan saw her, took her hand, and smiled softly, "What's wrong? Are you enjoying being in the same room with your junior? I can only help you up to this point."
Zhang Jusong said angrily, "Senior! No, I have always treated me as my sister. It is embarrassing to say this."
"I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I was just joking." Senior Sister Ayan shook her arm, "Okay, let's go back to school. I guess there won't be any food in the cafeteria at this time."
After returning to school, everyone had a lively meal together and then said goodbye to each other.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, many people go home, but there are few pedestrians on the school path.
I don't know what time it was, but the moon came out from the clouds and hung on the branches of the willows. A passerby on the bridge saw this and took out his cell phone to take a photo of the moon.
Zhang Jusong also stopped and looked at the full moon quietly. She preferred to remember the moon with her eyes rather than with electronic photos.
"As expected of a full moon, it is indeed very round."
She smiled and turned her head to look at Xia Zhiheng. But he said nothing, with his eyes downcast, as if he was worried.
It seemed that he had not spoken since he came back from the welfare home. Zhang Jusong realized it belatedly and felt a little uneasy for a moment. She reflected on herself and wondered if she had offended him in some way.
The moonlight floated on the water, sparkling. Xia Zhiheng stood by the water, his face hidden in the night. No joy could be seen on his face, but she could vaguely sense a sense of loneliness in his posture.
He is not happy. She made up her mind and waited for a while, but he still didn't respond.
Zhang Jusong asked cautiously: "Are you a little unhappy?"
Xia Zhiheng looked at her, and after a moment's silence, he said, "A little bit."
"What's wrong?"
She was a little confused, recalling today's scene, it seemed... nothing was unusual?
With a sigh, Xia Zhiheng took a step closer to her, his eyes moist and full of charming pity.
"Ode to Zhang Ju."
This was the first time he called her by her first name.
"I think I forgot to tell you something."
Zhang Jusong paused: "What?"
He stared at her and said word by word with great seriousness: "You have always been more than just a sister to me."
Her breathing stagnated and her heart began to beat wildly uncontrollably.
"I don't know what you mean."
She subconsciously wanted to escape, but as soon as she turned around, her wrist was clamped - he wouldn't let her go.
It was not until this time that Zhang Jusong clearly realized that Xia Zhiheng was no longer the little boy who used to follow her.
He was so tall that when he stood in front of her he almost completely blocked out the moonlight.
Xia Zhiheng said slowly: "Zhang Jusong, please tame me."
The lines in the fairy tale book come from "The Little Prince".
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