Chapter 148 Love Memoir
The weather forecast predicts that Typhoon No. 79 of this year will make landfall early tomorrow morning.
The torrential rain in the northern part of the city started yesterday and shows no signs of abating.
The air was hot and humid, lacking the coolness of a downpour, making it hard to breathe.
Weather bloggers analyze that typhoons are highly deceptive; the hotter the weather, the greater the accumulated energy, and the stronger the typhoon.
For safety reasons, Heyuefang will be closed starting today.
However, Qu He did not tell Zhuang Bieyan about this.
At 2 p.m. sharp, she arrived at Beicheng Cinema.
With the typhoon about to make landfall, the cinema lobby was nearly empty. She showed the electronic invitation, and a staff member immediately came forward to lead the way.
Hall 3 is a couples' hall, with a limited number of red double sofa seats.
The viewing instructions were displayed on a large screen.
The staff led her to the door, and as soon as Qu He entered, she saw Yan Shu sitting in the center of the last row.
The theater was dimly lit, and the light reflected from the large screen shone on her, making only her general outline visible, but the ill intent in her eyes was immediately apparent.
"I thought you wouldn't come?" She stood up and made room for her next to her.
Qu He remained motionless, her fingertips icy cold.
If I hadn't made that call to Aunt Zhong yesterday, she definitely wouldn't have come.
Yan Shu glanced at her phone, then took the initiative to descend the steps, stopping two steps above Qu He.
The light and shadow stretched her shadow long, almost covering Qu He. "It's almost time."
She suddenly smiled, her expression ambiguous, "Qu He, if you can watch the whole thing today, I'll give you a gift."
After uttering this nonsensical remark, she picked up her bag and left.
As they passed each other, the hem of her skirt brushed against Qu He's calves, leaving a cool sensation.
The theater doors were closed again, leaving Qu He alone in the large space, with the air conditioning constantly blowing into her collar.
After a while, she stepped up the stairs and sat in the second-to-last row.
As if timed perfectly, the video started playing on the big screen the moment I sat down.
The video begins quietly, with only the sound of a pencil scratching across paper. The girl's delicate features are slowly revealed; it is Yan Shu in her junior high school years.
The camera slowly focuses on the painting: a man reading a book by the window in a library.
At a glance, Qu He recognized him.
He is younger than he is now, but it is definitely him.
Farewell banquet.
Year after year.
One after another.
From pencil sketches to oil paintings, his painting skills have become increasingly sophisticated.
The scenes in the paintings are becoming more and more numerous.
The meetings and conversations have moved from the school library to work meetings and home.
The man in the painting is watering flowers in the backyard, cooking in the kitchen, having a gathering with friends, and even sleeping on the sofa.
What changes is the man's gradually maturing features; what remains unchanged is that the chronicler has always been Yan Shu.
The video ends with a freeze-frame on the last oil painting, where dazzling fireworks bloom in the night sky, and the man tilts his head slightly, his back straight.
Then the screen changed, and it became a real recording.
Fireworks, just like those in the painting, exploded in the night sky. Yan Shu slowly walked into the frame, holding a bouquet of German irises and an exquisite gift box.
Zhuang Bieyan turned around upon hearing the sound.
"Happy birthday." Yan Shu shyly handed over the gift and flowers.
Zhuang Bieyan was turned to the side of the camera, but his voice was completely captured, "Did you prepare these fireworks?"
Yan Shu nodded.
Immediately, a cacophony of cheers erupted from the surrounding crowd, a mix of Chinese and English: "Together! Together!"
The video ends with a freeze-frame of the two embracing.
Yan Shu leaned on Zhuang Bieyan's shoulder and smiled brightly at the camera.
It stung Quhe's eyes.
The air conditioning in the cinema was on full blast, and Qu He, wearing short sleeves, got goosebumps on her exposed skin.
But what's colder than the body is the heart.
What's this?
A love memoir of Yan Shu and Zhuang Bieyan?
So, they really were together.
No wonder Yan Shu always looked at her with such hostility.
It turns out it wasn't unrequited love; it was because they had shared such a romantic past.
Qu He felt a tightness in her chest, not because of the video, but because Zhuang Bieyan had kept it from her.
She didn't mind that he had exes; putting herself in his shoes, everyone has a past.
From the day they got married, Qu He knew that there would be chapters in his life that she would be absent from.
But what she cared about was the deception! The concealment!
She had asked him repeatedly if he and Yan Shu had ever been together, and every time he answered with such certainty that he had no relationship with Yan Shu! Every time he swore that he had nothing to do with Yan Shu.
However, Yan Shu had also visited that house in England.
The reason he set off fireworks on his birthday was because Yan Shu had once set them off for him.
Yan Shu even sent him German irises.
They had such a passionate past together, yet he denied it to her time and time again.
Is this what "completely unrelated" means?
He knew everything about her past, but she had to painstakingly uncover the truth about his past by going through his love scrapbook with his ex-girlfriend.
That's unfair!
That's so unfair!
My eyes stung, as if they'd been burned, and my throat felt choked up.
Qu He grabbed her bag and ran down the steps as if fleeing. When the cold wind directly above the door brushed past the corner of her eye, tears fell onto her arm, chilled to the bone by the air conditioning.
After she left, at the corner of the door, Yan Shu was looking in the direction she left, and silently made a phone call.
After leaving the cinema, Qu He drove directly to the Zhuang family's building.
She was going to find Zhuang Bieyan and ask him in person.
Ask him if those paintings, those fireworks, and his past with Yan Shu were all, as he claimed, completely unrelated!
But as soon as they arrived at the Zhuang family's building, they ran into Tan Cong, who was about to go out.
He was quite surprised to see her. "Madam, what brings you here? Mr. Zhuang returned to Wanhua Garden half an hour ago."
go home?
Qu Hexin felt a sinking feeling.
Without saying a word, she turned back to Wanhua Garden, her tires kicking up a slick of rainwater. The windshield wipers swung wildly from side to side, but she couldn't get the rainwater off the windshield no matter what she did.
Just like her current mood, it's a complete mess, a total disaster!
As soon as the car arrived at the entrance of Wanhua Garden, a person jumped out from the side and blocked her car.
It's Qian Zhaoye.
He looked much more dejected. Although he was still dressed in a sharp suit, the fatigue and bloodshot eyes were impossible to hide.
Qu He showed no intention of getting off the bus.
Qian Zhaoye stubbornly stepped forward and knocked hard on the car window.
Qu He, growing impatient, lowered the fan halfway.
"Ahe, I have something to tell you."
Qu He rolled her eyes at him and said, "Get lost."
Qian Zhaoye was offended, but he didn't retaliate. "Get out of the car first, and we'll talk."
"What right do you have to demand anything of me? Say what you have to say now." Qu He said, preparing to close the car window.
Qian Zhaoye panicked when he saw this and instinctively reached out to stop him, almost pinching his finger in the process.
"Are you alright?" he suddenly asked, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Qu He had no idea what was wrong with him.
I was already annoyed, and I didn't want to get entangled with him at all.
She shifted into gear and floored the gas pedal.
In the rearview mirror, Qian Zhaoye was unwilling to give up and wanted to catch up, but was stopped by the security guard.
Just when I thought I had gotten rid of him, Qian Zhaoye reappeared from who-knows-where as soon as I came out of the parking lot.
Qu He didn't even glance at him, stepped into the elevator and pressed the close button.
But at the last second before the door closed, he forced his way in.
"What are you doing? Get out!" Qu He took a step back warily, putting distance between herself and him.
"I have something to tell you, it's very important."
Qian Zhaoye continued talking to himself, and even tried to take her hand, but Qu He shook him off.
"Don't touch me!"
She didn't know how he got into Wanhua Garden, but if she didn't stay in this enclosed space with him for even a second longer, who knew if he might suddenly go crazy and do something drastic.
She gave him a wary look, and tried to open the elevator door, but was stopped.
Seeing her wary look, Qian Zhaoye spoke directly, "Don't you want to know who Zhuang Bieyan's white moonlight is?"
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