The scenery is still familiar.
Instead of taking a taxi, they opted for the slowest type of bus.
The city where they grew up was considered a bustling metropolis in those days.
Now, only this creaking, dilapidated bus remains as its final testament.
The bus slowly drove into the former site of the railway factory, where all that could be seen was desolation.
Zhou Chu has always believed that he does not have a particularly deep attachment to his homeland.
But when you see the mottled walls and the dilapidated Khrushchev Building where the red bricks are completely exposed...
He couldn't help but sigh.
Further inside is the railway primary school.
The railway primary school is next to the station, and behind it are the railway junior high school and the railway senior high school.
These schools are still open, but they are noticeably deserted.
After all, if someone's family has the means, who would stay here forever?
Zhou Chu stayed because his father was a low-level cadre in the railway system and luckily escaped layoffs.
Gao Qinyi grew up with her grandparents.
But this doesn't mean her family is poor; on the contrary, they are very wealthy.
Her father was among the first batch of state-owned enterprise employees to venture into business, and through his own abilities, he managed to amass a fortune.
No one knew exactly how much he had; all they knew was that he always came back in luxury cars.
After he went into business, he divorced Gao Qinyi's mother.
After her mother remarried, she was sent to live with her grandparents.
This is why she has such a strong personality.
Her father would give her a lot of money, but she would receive nothing else besides money.
Across from the school are rows of abandoned factory buildings.
The factory building no longer has windows, and it's pitch black inside from the outside.
There was nothing inside; not even a single steel bar could be found.
It's actually quite suitable for filming locations for so-called horror movies.
Gao Qinyi had climbed to the top of the factory building, looking down at this "ruin" that had been abandoned by the times.
He remembered sitting here with Gao Qinyi when they were little, talking about their future dreams.
Zhou Chu's ideal remained unchanged: to be a writer forever.
At that time, Gao Qinyi did not express her ideals.
I wonder if she has made up her mind yet.
While Zhou Chu's thoughts were still wandering, he suddenly heard Gao Qinyi's voice in his ear.
"Sit down." Gao Qinyi had already sat down.
Two long legs swung casually in the air.
It's a full three stories high, nearly ten meters tall!
Zhou Chu's legs went weak after just one glance.
I definitely don't have the courage I had when I was a child.
"I think I'll just stand here."
Zhou Chu obediently sat down five meters from the edge of the rooftop.
"No way." Gao Qinyi said seriously, "I already said we wanted to revisit our childhood, why are you so far away from me!"
True to her word, she got up and pulled Zhou Chu over.
"No need, no need, I'll go by myself." Zhou Chu hurriedly waved his hand, pointed to the edge where she was sitting, and gestured for her to be careful.
"That's more like it." She lay down completely.
Lying flat on my back, I watched the ever-changing clouds in the sky.
The air is so fresh.
It's a pity there's no one here anymore.
Zhou Chu, standing behind, didn't dare to stand up and go over.
He shuffled his bottom inch by inch across the ground, finally managing to get close enough.
After trying not to look down at his feet, he finally reached the edge.
But no matter what, he didn't dare to let his legs dangle.
Gao Qinyi didn't press him further, but just gave him a mocking look.
It was as if they were mocking him for being a coward.
But Zhou Chu didn't take it seriously.
That's how a man should be: soft when he needs to be soft, and hard when he needs to be hard.
"Sister Qin, look over there."
Zhou Chu pointed to the dilapidated residential buildings in the distance.
His family has moved away now, but Gao Qinyi's grandparents are still there.
"Hmm." Gao Qinyi tilted her head slightly and squinted at the distance.
Zhou Chu was terrified, and he kept his hand pressed against her back, just in case.
"Should we go back and check on it later?"
“Okay.” Gao Qinyi nodded and lay back down.
Her deep eyes held a mystery, leaving one wondering what she was thinking.
"Would you like to talk about your dreams?" Zhou Chu couldn't help but ask, after all, this was a question she hadn't been able to answer when she was a child.
However, I have to admit that suddenly asking someone about their ideals is a really, really silly thing to do.
Gao Qinyi didn't laugh at him; instead, she thought about it very seriously.
After thinking for a long time, she still shook her head.
"I don't know either... but if I had to say what I wish for right now, I would have two."
"Tell me about it?"
"My first wish is that the railway didn't go bankrupt and my dad didn't go into business," Gao Qinyi said, then couldn't help but laugh and sigh, "Isn't that incredibly childish?"
This is undoubtedly a question.
But it didn't seem like he was asking Zhou Chu; it seemed more like he was asking himself.
“Not childish,” Zhou Chu replied earnestly.
How can this be called childish?
He didn't say much back then.
But the impact on society is self-evident.
Children never know whether they want to stay with their father or their mother.
The children had no idea when these days would end.
If we were to say what a child's dream was back then, it would undoubtedly be to go back to the past.
Even Gao Qinyi's current dream is the same.
"Although my family was poor back then, every time I came home from school, there would be a hot meal prepared by my mother and a hug and kiss from my father."
Although she was talking about something regrettable, Gao Qinyi did not show any sadness on her face.
On the contrary, it's the satisfaction of that fantasy.
So many years have passed, and she has long since calmed down.
"Um."
Zhou Chu didn't know what to say, so he could only hum in response.
He was lucky, actually.
"Who wouldn't want that?" Zhou Chu sighed, looking at the smoke rising slowly in the distance.
Since it was already noon, everyone started cooking.
The wisps of white smoke rose up like incense sticks in eerie arcs, but eventually dissipated.
Just like things that have happened in the past, it's impossible to go back to the past.
"So what are your dreams? Judging from your current appearance, you're probably still writing books, right?" Gao Qinyi lay down on her side, propping her head up with her arm, and asked him.
"That's right."
"I really envy your life, which is full of dreams." Gao Qinyi smiled gently.
In this cold world, perhaps the only thing that brought warmth was her smile.
"You still haven't told me what your second wish is."
"Do you really want to know?" Gao Qinyi kept Zhou Chu in suspense until she had piqued his interest enough before slowly saying:
"My second wish... is to marry you."
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