Chapter 48 Orange (11) May we all have a bright future, ...
Lin Xia felt thirsty in the middle of the night and woke up in a daze. She opened her eyes and vaguely saw a faint light around her. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether it was day or night.
"Did I wake you?"
Someone beside him asked in a low voice.
Lin Xia looked up sleepily and saw He Chuan sitting next to her, leaning against the headboard. He was not asleep. He was wearing a thin shirt with the collar slightly open, revealing his collarbone and a large area of skin on his chest. The night light on the bedside was turned to the lowest setting, and the light around him was dim, like early morning and dusk.
The memories of last night came flooding back like a tide, the feeling in her body slowly returned, and the unspeakable sourness and discomfort gradually emerged. Lin Xia felt hot all over, and she couldn't help but hide her face in the quilt.
He Chuan asked again: "Does it feel uncomfortable? Does it hurt anywhere?"
Lin Xia blushed and shook her head, saying in an almost inaudible voice:
"Thirsty."
He Chuan got out of bed, took out a bottle of unsealed mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her:
"It's a little cold, is that okay?"
Lin Xia stretched out her arm to take it, but suddenly realized that she was not dressed yet. She hurriedly wrapped herself in the quilt, then took the bottle and drank it carefully in small sips.
They were so close yesterday, but now she still feels very shy when facing him.
He Chuan saw through her shyness, chuckled, took the remote control on the bedside table and turned up the air conditioner a few degrees. She was sweating and he was afraid she would catch a cold.
"It's not daybreak yet, let's sleep a little longer."
He took the empty bottle of water from her and took a few sips as well. Lin Xia raised her eyes and saw his slightly raised neck and sliding Adam's apple. Somehow, her face felt hot again.
She hurriedly looked away and asked softly:
"Then why aren't you sleeping yet?"
"I slept for a while, but I couldn't fall asleep."
He Chuan put the empty bottle aside, then turned back to look at her with a deep and gloomy gaze.
"Xia Xia, I can't bear to leave."
"What are you reluctant to give up?"
"I can't bear to leave."
He reached out and gently stroked her face, tucked the messy hair on her temples back, and whispered:
"When I saw you this time, you've become even more beautiful, so beautiful that I almost didn't recognize you. They say girls change a lot when they grow up. Every six months I see you, you grow up a lot and become much more beautiful. I don't know when we'll meet again. These past few years, you've grown and transformed, you've stepped from school into society, these are the most crucial years of your life, and I'm destined to miss them."
"I've always believed that if love is long-lasting, it doesn't matter if we're together day and night. I don't want to be obsessed with temporary happiness. I can endure the separation for our long-term future, but now, before I even leave, I'm already reluctant to leave."
His words made Lin Xia feel sore in her heart. She reached out and held his hand, put it on her cheek, and whispered:
"He Chuan, I really don't want to leave you. I don't want you to go abroad, and I don't want to leave you. I want to be with you forever. But you have to go. It's been so hard for you to get to where you are today. The dream you told me, the mountains, the trees, the wind and the clouds in the small forest farm is now only one step away. You can't give up."
"It's only three years. We'll be like we were before, when I was in high school and during training camp. We'll text and chat every day. After three years, I'll go abroad to find you. During these three years, I'll just be studying in school. Nothing will change. I promise."
When their eyes met, Lin Xia seemed to see a moist light flash in He Chuan's eyes. The next moment, he leaned towards her and gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her forehead.
"good."
He said in a hoarse voice,
"Xia Xia, I also promise that I will always wait for you. I will not like anyone else, I only like you."
Lin Xia felt a little tickled by his kiss and said with a smile:
"Of course, you must only like me."
He Chuan also laughed:
"Sleep?"
"Well, but I need to go to the bathroom." Lin Xia whispered, "Help me get my clothes."
So He Chuan found her bathrobe which had been thrown in some corner, watched her with amusement as she struggled to put on the bathrobe while curled up in the quilt, and then watched her go to the bathroom.
He could hardly take his eyes off her, and almost unconsciously followed her. Sitting at the head of the bed with his eyes closed, he laughed silently at himself, "He Chuan, He Chuan, how are you going to spend the next days and nights?"
After a while, a soft cry suddenly came from the bathroom. He Chuan's heart skipped a beat and he rushed over quickly.
"What's wrong?"
When he opened the door, he saw Lin Xia standing in front of the mirror on the sink. She turned around and looked at him, frowning and saying:
"Why do I have a prickly heat rash on my neck again?"
He Chuan stepped forward, took a look, and said slowly:
"This isn't prickly heat."
"What's that? An allergy?"
"no."
"Are there bugs in the hotel?"
"no."
Faced with Lin Xia's confused expression, He Chuan sighed, lowered his head and kissed her neck deeply.
"What do you think this is?"
Lin Xia reacted immediately and her cheeks turned red.
"I know, I know!"
She quickly pushed He Chuan out.
"Get out now, I'm not a child anymore. I don't need someone to accompany me to the bathroom."
"Really?" He Chuan joked, "Are you not afraid of the dark or nightmares anymore?"
"That was all when I was little..."
The two of them simultaneously recalled that night at the small forest farm.
She couldn't sleep because she'd read the world's unsolved mysteries. She wanted to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night but didn't dare go out. She was huddled under the covers trying to find the light switch when he startled her. He didn't break her pride, but quietly stayed outside the door, escorting her back to her room and even lighting a beautiful desk lamp for her.
She remembered every detail clearly.
At that time, neither she nor he had thought that they would end up like this today.
"Next year is 2012," she said softly.
He Chuan also felt a little emotional: "Yes, time flies so fast."
"Do you think 2012 will really be the end of the world?"
Even now, she's obsessed with this prophecy. As the time approaches, all sorts of rumors are circulating online. While this is a one-in-a-million chance, and years from now, it might become another absurd joke on the internet, just like the 1999 doomsday predictions, what if? What if the Earth really does perish on this day, and humanity really becomes extinct?
He Chuan shook his head: "I don't know either."
No one knows.
"At that time, you should have been in London, and I was in Beijing."
Lin Xia's mood couldn't help but become a little depressed.
He Chuan said:
"If it really is the end of the world, then we will always die together. If it is not the end of the world, then it doesn't matter where we are."
Lin Xia thought about it and felt that what he said made sense, which made her feel a little better. However, she still insisted stubbornly:
"When that day comes, no matter where we are or what we are doing, we will call each other. Even if the world really ends, we will still hear each other's voices until the last moment."
She was so sad about these boundless fantasies, and she made a solemn vow, which moved and amused He Chuan. He reached out and hugged this innocent and lovely girl in his arms, and promised her:
"Well, if the world really ends, let us die together."
......
On the morning of the second day, Lin Xia and He Chuan checked out of the hotel and took the Disney shuttle bus to leave the park. Before leaving, they had breakfast at the hotel. Lin Xia also took a photo with Daisy Donald Duck in her pajamas. This fairytale journey was truly without any regrets.
After last night, both of them had experienced a profound change in their hearts. From now on, there was only this person in the world who was the most special to them. Every hand-holding, every touch, even every glance they made, sent ripples through each other's hearts. They weren't the type to be overly affectionate in public, but on the way back from Disneyland to Tai Po Village, whether on the subway or on the minibus, they held hands, linked arms, inseparable, as if the world would explode if they were separated for even a second. The journey from Lantau Island to Sha Tin should have been so long, but it still felt too short to them, and they just wished time would go by even slower, even slower.
After returning to the village house, the small building was empty. Chen Weipeng and his brothers had gone somewhere unknown, leaving the rooftop living room in a mess.
He Chuan worked tirelessly to get the tools to clean, while Lin Xia sat obediently on a small stool beside him, watching with her chin in her hand.
In fact, she particularly liked the way he did housework, whether it was cooking, washing clothes, or sweeping the floor, he seemed particularly...virtuous? She used to think that whoever could live with He Chuan in the future would be extremely happy, but now she believed that that someone would definitely be herself.
But no matter how much she liked him, she didn't want to spend her last day with him like this, so when he had almost finished packing, she asked him:
“Is your university close to here?”
“It’s quite close, only about ten minutes’ walk.”
Lin Xia's eyes lit up: "Then I'm going to take a look!"
Her flight was leaving in the afternoon, so she still had time.
He Chuan teased, "You want to aim for CUHK too? Do you want to continue being my underclassman?"
"You've already left, so why should I take the exam? I just want to see where you've been for the past four years," Lin Xia snorted. "You've already been to my school. This isn't fair!"
He Chuan was amused. How could this be fair or unfair? But Lin Xia always had her own logic, and he could never do anything to her. So he complied with her request, and the two of them packed up and headed towards the school.
It was summer vacation, but there were still many students coming and going on campus. Although the architectural styles and vegetation were completely different, the youthful atmosphere unique to colleges and universities made Lin Xia feel at home at first sight.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is worthy of being the largest university in Hong Kong. Since it is built on the mountain, the roads are either steps or gentle slopes. It feels more tiring to walk around than Tsinghua University. He Chuan suggested taking a bus tour, but Lin Xia refused. She just wanted to see with her own eyes those places that she had only heard about from He Chuan in the past, the classrooms where he took classes, the dormitories where he lived, the cafeteria where he ate, and the library where he worked all night to finish his thesis. She wanted to see them all.
Most people have a sense of pride in their alma mater, and even if they don't, they still have some affection for it. After all, those were the four most glorious years of their youth. He Chuan was naturally incredibly familiar with CUHK. He took Lin Xia along, picking out interesting places she'd be interested in, and recounting everything that had happened to him there over the past few years, his expression a rare, exhilarated expression.
At this moment, he was just a big boy showing off to his beloved little girl.
They walked up the colorful stairs of Kangben International, walked along University Avenue, took a shortcut from the straight stairs of the Pentecostal Building, found a small bookstore hidden in the campus, passed the famous Million Avenue, and deliberately passed through Zhongmen to visit the school history museum and cultural relics museum. Finally, they came to the commanding height of the school - the Tianrenhe Pavilion on the top of the mountain.
After days of sightseeing and what happened last night, Lin Xia was not feeling well. He Chuan saw that she was trying to be brave, so he carried her up the last section of the uphill climb.
"I've always wanted to show you this place. I always thought you would like it."
The Pavilion of Heaven and Man in Harmony is a famous attraction at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is said to have been built in memory of Qian Mu, the founder of the "On the Harmony of Heaven and Man," his final enlightenment essay. At the center of the mountaintop platform is a shallow, mirror-like pool. From here, you can gaze out across the distant Ma'anshan Mountain, tucked away in the clouds, and the nearby Turpan Harbor wharf. The turquoise sea, the emerald green mountains, and the vast, clear sky create a scene resembling a tranquil and elegant ink painting.
Standing in the water corridor, people feel as if walking into a painting, which truly interprets the essence of the four words "harmony between man and nature".
He Chuan put Lin Xia down from his back, and the two stood side by side.
Lin Xia was shocked by the scene before her and couldn't recover for a long time.
At this moment, many thoughts flashed through her mind: the past, the present, the future, love, studies, ideals, separation and waiting, perseverance and change...
My heart is filled with great passion, but also with deep feelings.
"When I was in high school, I took a psychology class and the teacher asked us to draw a self-portrait of our future. Where would we be and what would we be doing in three, five, or ten years?"
For some reason, she remembered an irrelevant little thing.
He Chuan said: "We did this before. Maybe we had the same psychology teacher."
"What did you write?"
He Chuan thought about it for a moment and said slowly:
"I hope that in ten years, I will be a lawyer in the UK, own a house of my own, and live a decent and stable life without having to work hard for a living."
After finishing speaking, he felt a little embarrassed:
"It's not some great ideal, just a very mundane goal. What about you?"
"As for me, I hope that in ten years, I will graduate from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts and go to a city with long summers and can wear skirts every day. I want to hold an exhibition, publish picture books, and paint forever! But now, maybe I need to add a little more -"
Lin Xia looked at He Chuan and said with a smile:
"I want to be with you."
He Chuan's heart was moved, and he couldn't help but reach out and pull her into his arms, saying word by word:
"Whether it's three years, five years, or ten years from now, we'll be together."
At the junction of the sea and the sky, between the mountains and rivers, under the century-old banyan tree, their youthful vows were witnessed.
Lin Xia leaned on He Chuan's chest and muttered in her heart:
May we all have a bright future, become the person we most want to be, and live the life we most want!
——End of the previous article——
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