Chapter 64
"Stop letting anyone follow me."
This was the first thing Mu Zhengxi said to Zeng Yuan after she entered the ward.
"I will never go to Changqing again." Mu Zhengxi sat up on the hospital bed and looked out the window. The thin sunlight shone on his pale face. His hair, which had not been styled in a long time, covered the upper half of his face with his bangs, making it impossible to see his emotions. Only his dry and chapped lips could be seen moving slightly.
"I will never go there again from now on."
The lowered voice was directed at Zeng Yuan, but it also seemed to be directed at himself.
After struggling painfully, the prey bird eventually obediently locks itself in its cage.
This change in attitude was so sudden and completely unexpected for Zeng Yuan. Mu Zhengxi's decision to give up was obviously the best possible outcome. However, her subconscious wariness as a businesswoman and her innate maternal emotion caused the scales of trust to sway back and forth. In the end, the latter slightly prevailed over the former, and Zeng Yuan said, "Get some rest." She neither agreed nor disagreed.
Yan Yuheng and Xu Zizhao stopped running abruptly when they saw Zeng Yuan coming out of the ward, and stood up straight, holding their breath.
Hello, Auntie.
Hello, Auntie.
Zeng Yuan nodded slightly to them, glanced at the ward, and said, "Go in."
Upon hearing this, Yan Yuheng and Xu Zizhao exchanged glances, then nodded hastily.
I entered the ward and closed the door.
Xu Zizhao looked through the door and saw Zeng Yuan walk away with the bodyguards at the door. He then informed them of the situation.
Yan Yuheng asked anxiously in a low voice, "What happened? What's going on?!"
Mu Zhengxi rested his hand on his raised leg, the veins on the back of his fair hand standing out, and there was still a bruise from the injection. "Just low blood sugar." He brushed his hair back, revealing his eyebrows and eyes.
Xu Zizhao plopped down on the edge of the hospital bed, still shaken, and said, "You scared us to death!"
Yan Yuheng, disbelieving his nonchalant attitude, sat down on the hospital bed and patted his leg, asking, "What happened? What's going on?"
Mu Zhengxi forced a faint smile, pretending to be relaxed as usual, "I really have low blood sugar."
"You look terrible, buddy."
Xu Zizhao said this.
I'm not asking about your health.
Yan Yuheng stared at him, as if they were facing off.
This flower doesn't look wilted from lack of water; it looks like it's been uprooted and has completely lost its vitality.
Mu Zhengxi couldn't be bothered to maintain the smile on his face any longer. He turned his face away and said, "Don't ask anymore."
Hearing the unusual calm tone of the two, but the clearly uneasy atmosphere, Xu Zizhao, though sometimes a bit slow-witted, was not stupid. He stood up and said, "I'll go to Changqing and bring Jiang Jiawei over here to play. Just say my mom invited her."
My arm was pulled hard.
Mu Zhengxi looked up at him, his face cold and his oppressive gaze almost made Xu Zizhao hallucinate Zeng Yuan for a moment. He was so frightened that he dared not move, and his previous heroic ambition was extinguished in an instant.
Mu Zhengxi lowered his eyes, "Don't go anymore, and don't go again in the future."
Don't disturb her, don't interfere in her peaceful and beautiful life, don't bring her pressure and trouble that shouldn't belong to her life, and don't let her... live such a hard life again.
Mu Zhengxi only now realized that there was no such thing as a prophecy. If it was, it should be a warning from the thirty-four-year-old Mu Zhengxi to him. He should blame himself for being too forgetful and cowardly, for secretly escaping and banishing those painful memories, thinking that he could pretend that nothing had happened.
The feelings that blossom in youth are like keeping pace with each other during recess exercises, going around half the school building to the toilet, making lame excuses for forgetting to bring books, and imagining a bright future that can be as simple as the weight of a college admission notice.
Mu Zhengxi is still a high school student; he should only be a high school student, but he can't just be a high school student anymore.
Bearing an experience far beyond his years, he was almost crushed by the bones that had grown but were only enough to support his flesh. He wanted to seek help and cry out in pain, but subconsciously he still thought of Jiang Jiawei, who was even more frail than him.
The tree that took root and grew inside him was planted by his own hands, so why should others share the burden of its life and death? Therefore, he had to endure the pain, let his tears flow backward, and pretend that nothing was wrong.
He originally thought he could do it.
But the truth is, the wildly growing branches prick the skin and feel like they're tearing you apart, and tears are beyond your control.
Sitting on the hotel steps, Jiang Jiawei turned her gaze to him and noticed his presence. She stood up and took a step forward, but Mu Zhengxi took a step back, so Jiang Jiawei stood still and quietly watched him.
The snowflakes piled up by the roadside were soft like cotton, and they would sink in at the slightest touch.
Mu Zhengxi fell downwards involuntarily.
The snow continued to fall, piling up to an immeasurable depth, almost to the point of engulfing the city.
What brings you here?
Jiang Jiawei came to participate in the competition, she had already told him on the phone. The question was so stupid and distant, it was not Mu Zhengxi's intention. He regretted it the next second after he finished speaking and hurriedly explained, "I didn't mean that, I meant—" Could it be that you came for me?
"Your hair has grown a lot longer."
Jiang Jiawei's voice forced him to swallow his words back down his throat.
The eyebrows and eyes were hidden under the baseball cap, and most of the flesh on her cheeks had disappeared, revealing her bone structure clearly. The thick black cotton coat looked like it was being stretched on a clothes rack, with a thin and empty interior.
“I…” Mu Zhengxi licked his lips, his hands hanging by his sides digging into his skin, leaving a crescent-shaped mark. Looking at Jiang Jiawei’s hair, which was not tied up under her beanie, he laughed and joked, “You’re the same, your hair has grown long too.”
Jiang Jiawei looked at him for a long time, then said, "But you don't look good with long hair." Her voice, muffled by her scarf, was hard to detect.
Yan Yuheng, who was sitting in a taxi not far away, rolled up the window, turned off the hazard lights, and drove away from the hotel.
Upon hearing this, Mu Zhengxi laughed, but as he laughed, the corners of his mouth began to turn downwards, and tears accumulated on his lower eyelids like snowflakes, eventually rolling down his cheeks.
"Jiang Jiawei, my grandmother, my grandmother may be leaving me soon..."
Almost the instant she reached out, Mu Zhengxi grabbed her without hesitation, hugging her tightly and forcefully.
Tears were swallowed by the red scarf. Mu Zhengxi buried his head in Jiang Jiawei's neck and shoulder. He was born in this city and has lived here for almost eighteen years, but this was the first time he felt the cold to the bone in such an ordinary winter. Yet, he felt it wasn't cold enough, otherwise, how could time not have been frozen?
"Jiang Jiawei, I want to take you to see her."
"good."
Mu Zhengxi grabbed her wrist and dragged her along the road, as if a ferocious beast was chasing them.
Once in the taxi, his palms were sweating from his tightly clenched hands, and his knuckles ached from the pressure. The streetlights cast shadows across Mu Zhengxi's profile, creating a play of light and shadow.
My heartbeats fluttered, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. Hanyang was so far away; it would take three months and a lot of effort to get there.
Is it the distance between mountains and seas, the height of a building, or the different scenery of the four seasons that separate us?
Mu Zhengxi said, "She might look a little strange right now, but don't be afraid, she won't hurt you."
Jiang Jiawei looked down at his hand, which was tightly held as if he was afraid she would run away. She gripped his hand back, pressing her palm against his, and whispered, "I won't be afraid."
Jiang Wenqing, wearing a ventilator, lay in soft, white cotton bedding on her hospital bed, like an old, withered tree fallen in the snow. How could gazing at a tree be frightening?
Mu Zhengxi gently lifted Jiang Wenqing's hand and placed it on Jiang Jiawei's hand. He said, "Wenqing, this is my... best friend."
Jiang Jiawei blinked, and tears streamed down her face.
"Her name is Jiang Jiawei." She's the Jiang Jiawei I told you about.
Mu Zhengxi pursed his lips.
"She was very happy to see you."
Jiang Jiawei sniffed, her expression unusually confrontational, "Really? How did you know?"
Mu Zhengxi raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears on her cheek with his fingers. "Of course I know. She is my maternal grandmother. How could I not know?"
Jiang Jiawei asked again, "Will you be as happy and pleased as my grandma was when she saw you?" Her nose turned red, her eyes turned even redder, and tears welled up in her eyes again, trying to hide the grievances that were about to spill out.
"meeting."
Mu Zhengxi nodded firmly and said, "If I'm happy, she'll be happy too. What I like, she'll definitely like as well."
"You're so wonderful, no one could dislike you." No one could possibly dislike you.
As if to prove Mu Zhengxi's answer, Jiang Jiawei felt a slight twitch in her palm and quickly looked at the person on the hospital bed.
A peaceful sleeping face, long and even breathing.
The city was a vast expanse of white as far as the eye could see. Snow fell on rooftops, treetops, and car roofs, covering the earth and obscuring its original appearance.
When it snows, we appreciate the snow scene without dwelling on what it must have looked like before the snow fell.
On the way back, the people at both ends of the back seat remained silent. Without the excuse of "escaping," the boundaries of safety were once again clearly revealed. Even best friends, male and female, were not in a position to hold hands casually.
The warmth of our intertwined palms had long been dissipated by the cold wind.
After letting out the excess water, my mind became much clearer.
The silence was broken by the taxi driver, who suggested, "There's a traffic jam up ahead, only a few hundred meters away. Why don't you walk?"
Mu Zhengxi looked at Jiang Jiawei, and after receiving her answer, he said okay and paid the fare.
The roads were so congested that the cars stretched as far as the eye could see, their taillights flashing in the night, forming a river that filled in the void of stars in the dark, silent night sky.
The snow crunched underfoot.
The candied hawthorn cart coated in caramelized sugar was the only bright spot in the desolate night. The two people's eyes were drawn to it almost simultaneously, and they found a reason to start a conversation at the same time.
Mu Zhengxi: "Want to eat?"
Jiang Jiawei: "Let's buy a candied hawthorn."
They looked at each other and smiled.
Strawberry candied hawthorn skewers: take a bite and the thin, crisp sugar pieces burst open to reveal juicy fruit flesh, sweet and sour.
"Is it tasty?"
Jiang Jiawei nodded vigorously, her eyes crinkling into crescents.
Mu Zhengxi looked at her and unconsciously smiled. Her overly long bangs poked into her eyes, causing them to feel sore and uncomfortable, which was normal.
Mu Zhengxi spoke slowly and earnestly, “Jiang Jiawei, even if you don’t get into a prestigious university, you will still become a very capable and outstanding adult. People who like you will still like you, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
After finishing the conversation, we arrived at the hotel, which was just across the street away.
"I'll leave you here."
Is that all?
Mu Zhengxi forced out a "hmm" from his throat. He couldn't look Jiang Jiawei in the eye, and then, struggling to make up his mind, he said, "That's enough."
Jiang Jiawei accepted the answer in a few seconds.
"good."
The person who made the decision turned out to be the one who couldn't stand it the most. With his hands clenched into fists in his pockets, Mu Zhengxi turned his face away and said in a hard voice, "The light is green."
“Yes, I know.” Jiang Jiawei opened the pocket of her down jacket, took out an envelope, pulled out his hand, and placed it in her palm. “A New Year’s gift.”
Mu Zhengxi subconsciously curled his fingers together and stared at the New Year's gift for a long time. When he looked up again, Jiang Jiawei's figure had already merged into the crowd crossing the road.
He couldn't help but call out her name.
"Jiang Jiawei!"
At this distance, even if I cry, no one will notice, so there's no need to make up excuses that I can't come up with anymore.
Becoming a mature adult is a cruel lesson; before you even realize it, you have to learn to let go in ways that are inappropriate for your age.
Jiang Jiawei, who was standing across the street, turned around and looked at him.
Once the distance between people inside a taxi increases from 30 centimeters to 30 meters, it will become a north-south divide, with the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River acting as the boundary, preventing cold air from moving south and the southeast monsoon from moving north.
Jiang Jiawei sat in front of the television, watching a news report about funeral arrangements that was being broadcast on CCTV.
It also refers to the distance between the front of the television and the outside of the television.
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