peers
I don’t know if it’s because you think about it during the day and dream about it at night, but ever since she saw Lin Shanglu’s distorted values in the teahouse last time, Chen Nanxing always thought back to the past. What she thought about most was that midsummer night when she was sixteen, when the eighteen-year-old Lin Shanglu found her curled up in the shade of a tree licking her wounds with a flashlight.
The light of the flashlight dispelled the darkness and shone on her body, which was even warmer than the sun. She raised her head from her arms. Eighteen-year-old Lin Shanglu was sweating profusely, and the loose hair on his forehead stuck to his skin. He looked a little disheveled, but his eyes were shining, as if the stars in the sky had fallen into his eyes.
She stared at him blankly with her red and swollen eyes. The eighteen-year-old Lin Shanglu squatted down and hugged her for the first time. She blushed terribly, but for some unknown reason she did not refuse.
The night wind blew in from the distant mountains, picking up the hems of Lin Shanglu's clothes and ruffling her short hair. It brought with it the fragrance of soapberries and the slightly bitter taste of sweat from the boy, as well as Lin Shanglu's firm promise at the age of eighteen:
Nanxing, I'll take you away!
Later, year after year, things changed, and in Chen Nanxing's heart, this was their best beginning.
In the dream, Chen Nanxing, just like in the deepest part of his memory, slowly raised his hands and wanted to hug Lin Shanglu back. However, at the last moment, the eighteen-year-old Lin Shanglu suddenly became the thirty-four-year-old Lin Shanglu, and the warm embrace turned into a cold roar:
Chen Nanxing, do you really have to do this?!
Every time the dream reached this point, Chen Nanxing would wake up in a cold sweat. After waking up, the feeling of loss would haunt him for the rest of the night like a possessed ghost.
Without a good sleep, Chen Nanxing looked visibly haggard, with his cheekbones slightly protruding.
It was another night of copying and pasting. Chen Nanxing woke up from her sleep and sat at the head of the bed to drink water. The white light from the mobile phone screen shone on her pale face, creating an atmosphere that only a female ghost in a horror movie could have.
Chen Nanxing tapped the screen of her mobile phone with her fingertips, sliding across the photos. These photos were all sent to her by Qin Enyu. There were photos of the scenery of Suijiang, the school that she and Chu Zhenghe donated to, and some local specialties.
Every place in G City is pretty much the same. Chen Nanxing flipped through the pictures one by one and could vaguely outline the current shape of G City Zhaofeng in her mind. That was the city where she lived before she was sixteen.
Chen Nanxing opened the WeChat of the female principal of Suijiang High School again. Their chat ended with the last message sent by the female principal:
Education is a fundamental human right and the cornerstone of dignity and freedom. However, few people in remote areas enjoy this fundamental right, especially women. In impoverished mountainous areas, a woman's sole value lies in her reproductive capacity. This is a deeply unhealthy phenomenon. The objectification of women can easily breed social ills, such as the trafficking of women. Therefore, establishing a high school accessible to girls is a significant decision.
Chen Nanxing's academic qualifications are not high, even low, but she agrees with what the principal said, because her biological mother is a poor woman whose life was changed because of her reproductive value, so she gave the female principal a considerable sum of money for running the school.
She should go back and take a look.
Chen Nanxing paused while clicking on the screen, and this idea suddenly appeared in her mind. It then intensified and in less than a quarter of an hour completely occupied Chen Nanxing's entire mind.
She has also seen the sea, which symbolizes freedom. At the point in her life, it seems that it doesn't matter where she goes. Chen Nanxing is not a person who is entangled. On the contrary, her decisiveness and execution ability are beyond the reach of Lin Shanglu.
When it was daybreak, Chen Nanxing had almost packed her luggage. She sent a WeChat message to Qin Enyu, informing her that she was also going to leave the B&B.
After making sure Jiang Shiyu was fine, Qin Enyu took her and Chu Zhenghe to Suijiang. They are probably back to Country M now.
On the eve of her departure, Qin Enyu came to find Chen Nanxing. She mainly wanted to tell him two things. The first was that she handed the key to the homestay to Chen Nanxing and generously said that Chen Nanxing could stay there as long as he wanted and she would not charge any fees. The second was to apologize for her going back on her word. Lin Shanglu had attacked Jiang Shiyu, and Qin Enyu did not have the patience to wait a year before attacking Lin Shanglu.
Chen Nanxing was at a loss whether to laugh or cry about the first thing, and was a little silent about the second thing. However, Chen Nanxing soon expressed her opinion, which was that Lin Shanglu brought this upon himself and could not blame anyone else.
There is a twelve-hour time difference between Country M and China. It is currently between seven and eight o'clock in the evening in Country M, which coincides with the time when Qin Enyu is most energetic. They quickly replied to the message.
The general meaning is that Chen Nanxing can just leave and don't have to worry about the B&B. Someone will clean it regularly. An emoticon pack that fits Qin Enyu's personality very well is also included.
Chen Nanxing pursed her lips and smiled lightly, then sent back an emoticon package from the same series, and flipped to Ji Chuan's WeChat:
[Nanxing: Xiaoji, are you free this morning?]
Ji Chuan had been refusing to accept the car repair fee last time, and the rescued stray cat also needed to find a good home. She had always been in the habit of arranging everything before leaving, and this time was no exception.
Young people sleep a lot, and Chen Nanxing originally thought that Ji Chuan would definitely reply to her message very late, so after sending the message, she went to put on makeup and put her phone on the bedside table to charge.
When she finished putting on her makeup and looked at her phone, she found that Ji Chuan replied to her almost immediately:
【Xiao Ji: Yes! 】
Later, maybe because she didn’t reply, I sent her an emoticon package every five minutes, with only one theme - what’s wrong?
Chen Nanxing gathered her long hair behind her shoulders and typed a few words:
【Nanxing: Can I have some tea with you? 】
Ji Chuan was still dozing off in bed at the time. Upon hearing this, he sat up straight away, unable to conceal his excitement. He deleted and re-deleted a few words until he finally managed to come up with one:
【Xiao Ji: Okay! 】
Chen Nanxing could see all of Ji Chuan's reactions through the screen. She closed her eyes and smiled softly, then told Ji Chuan the time and place:
[South Star: A lantern at ten o'clock in the morning appears in spring.]
At ten o'clock, when Chen Nanxing arrived at Yizhan Fengchun with his cat bag, Ji Chuan was standing at the door playing with his phone. He had arrived half an hour early.
"Xiao Ji."
Chen Nanxing took two steps at a time and walked forward. She looked at her watch and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it was Ji Chuan who arrived early and not herself who was late.
"Didn't we meet at ten o'clock? Why are you here so early?"
Ji Chuan took the cat bag from Chen Nanxing's hand and held it in his arms. He raised his hand and scratched his head: "I'm fine, so I came here early."
Chen Nanxing smiled brightly and took Ji Chuan to the tea room she had reserved in the morning. She didn't come here specifically for tea, so as soon as the two of them sat down, she took out a card from her bag and placed it in front of Ji Chuan:
"Xiao Ji, this card contains the money for the car repair last time. The password is the last six digits of the bank card number."
The money in the card was transferred by Chen Nanxing on the way back to the B&B on the day of the car accident, and had been in her bag for a long time.
Ji Chuan never thought of asking Chen Nanxing to pay him the money. The moment he saw the card, he immediately declined:
"No need." He smiled again, "It wasn't a good car in the first place. I've been driving it for several years and I've wanted to replace it for a long time. I can still realize its value before I replace it, so it's fulfilling its mission."
Chen Nanxing kept her promise and promised to bear all the losses, so she would never let Ji Chuan suffer a penny of loss. She smiled and put the card in Ji Chuan's hand:
"Here, take it. The money inside should be enough to buy a decent new car. Besides, I also want to thank you for taking care of me for so long."
Ji Chuan focused on what Chen Nanxing said. He leaned forward an inch and asked anxiously:
"Are you leaving?"
All good things must come to an end. Chen Nanxing nodded and said, "Well, I'm going to go out and take a look. Today I'm mainly here to say goodbye to you, and also..."
She smiled sheepishly as she spoke, took the cat bag and placed it in her arms, took out the transformed cat from it and petted it twice to satisfy her craving:
"I also want you to help find an owner for this cat. I've only been in Licheng for a short time, and besides Zhixu, you're the only one I know. Zhixu has returned to Country M, so I'd like to ask you to help find someone who's cat-friendly and wants to keep a cat."
There was no need to look for a home for the cat, because after rescuing this stray tabby cat with Chen Nanxing, Ji Chuan had made a plan: if Chen Nanxing didn't want to keep it, then Ji Chuan would adopt the cat.
"Leave the adoption of the cat to me."
Rather than adopting a cat, Ji Chuan was more concerned about Chen Nanxing's whereabouts: "Where are you going?"
The tabby cat lay docilely on Chen Nanxing's legs, and was stroked by him, making a "purring" sound. Chen Nanxing was as happy as the cat when he was touched by the cat:
"G City."
Ji Chuan frowned in confusion: "But don't you like the sea? G City is a mountainous area..."
Chen Nanxing put the cat on the table and let it move freely. She had more than one reason to return to G City. She couldn't find a specific one and didn't want to tell Ji Chuan, so she made up an excuse to prevaricate Ji Chuan:
"I'm from G City. I've been living in B City ever since I left G City at the age of sixteen. I haven't been back for so many years. Now that I have the time and energy, I'd like to go back and take a look."
"Are you from G City?"
A hint of surprise flashed across Ji Chuan's eyes. He had once accidentally heard someone send a voice message in the B City dialect to Chen Nanxing, and Chen Nanxing heard it without any obstacles, so he always thought that Chen Nanxing was from B City. Only after listening to Chen Nanxing today did he know that Chen Nanxing was actually from B City.
Chen Nanxing nodded and added:
"Yeah, G-city Megaman."
"My mom is also from Zhaofeng. I even went to Zhaofeng for a visit the year I graduated. I didn't expect you to be from Zhaofeng too."
The cat walked up to Ji Chuan and sniffed at him. Ji Chuan naturally liked furry animals that could arouse his protective desire. While he was talking, he couldn't help but touch it twice.
"What a coincidence." Chen Nanxing was surprised by the wonder of fate.
“Right!”
Ji Chuan was in high spirits, brimming with joy from the inside out. The tabby cat patrolled the tea table and then came over to rub Chen Nanxing's hand. Chen Nanxing used one hand to scratch the cat's chin and smiled at Ji Chuan.
Seeing her smile, Ji Chuan also started to smile. He held his face with one hand and looked at Chen Nanxing expectantly and asked her:
"Can I come with you when you go to Mega?"
Chen Nanxing applied a little more force under her fingers, causing the kitten to feel pain and raise its head to bite her hand. Chen Nanxing immediately eased the pressure. Her lips tightened as she looked at Ji Chuan disapprovingly: "Little Ji."
Ji Chuan glanced at Chen Nanxing's expression and quickly racked his brains to come up with a legitimate reason:
"I'm going to Zhaofeng soon, and now that you're going too, I thought we could go together. It wouldn't be boring to have someone to accompany us on the journey."
Finally, he blinked his bright, round eyes like a deer, seeking Chen Nanxing's approval: "Is it okay?"
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