As dusk, carrying sand and dust, swept over the city of Beiping, Xu Zhuohua's knuckles turned white as he gripped the leather suitcase.
This city, known as the "ancient capital," resembles the rotting corpse of a giant beast, with a pungent, decaying stench seeping from the cracks in the crumbling bricks of its bluish-gray city walls.
This was completely different from the salty smell carried by the sea breeze in Xinhai City, where even the sewers of that emerging commercial port exuded the metallic stench of industrial civilization.
The little beggar huddled on the street corner was so thin he looked like a skeleton, with a layer of murky cloud covering his sunken eye sockets.
Just as Xu Zhuohua was about to reach into his pocket, he suddenly heard a burst of laughter from upstairs in the restaurant. The carved wooden windows were wide open, and the emerald-colored glass cups shimmered under the kerosene lamps. Ladies dressed in fox fur coats were cutting foie gras imported from France with silver forks, and the hems of their cheongsams embroidered with gold thread brushed against the shoulders of the drunken warlord.
Her nails dug deeply into her palms.
These begging children don't want a big pancake; they want a spark that can change their fate, a spark she is currently powerless to ignite.
The languid strains of a gramophone drifted from inside the glass door, mingling with the groans of starving people echoing from the depths of the alley. She recalled the lines from her textbook, "Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road, frozen corpses lie," and now she understood that the cycle of a thousand years had simply repeated itself, albeit in a different silk robe.
Are all men born equal? This world has clearly torn people into different classes.
The journey from Beiping to Xinhaicheng, which takes more than four hours by high-speed rail, took Xu Zhuohua a full month.
A warm, humid southerly wind carrying cottonwood fluff swept across the platform, and the railway tracks gleamed silvery-white under the blazing sun.
The greenery in the south is vibrant and bold; the aerial roots of banyan trees hang down like curtains, and the phoenix trees burn a cloud of color at the end of the railway tracks. Even the wild grass sprouting from the cracks in the platform has a vigorous and aggressive nature.
This vigorous vitality, however, felt like a fine needle, pricking her heart again and again.
The white mist spewed from the steam locomotive gradually dissipated, leaving the platform filled with the salty, fishy smell of the sea and the sour smell of sweat.
A vendor selling sugarcane juice jingled as he walked by, glass cups on a bamboo tray condensing with water droplets; a businessman in a suit and tie strode by carrying a crocodile-skin suitcase, his gold watch chain peeking out from his cuffs; several barefoot porters carried rubber brought from Southeast Asia, their dark backs gleaming in the sunlight, their carrying poles making the gravel beside the railway tracks creak.
As Xu Zhuohua gazed at the familiar scene before her, the image of her leaving last year suddenly overlapped in her mind—the same glaring sunlight, the same brightly dressed crowd.
The bronze bell hanging on the platform suddenly rang, startling a flock of white doves that drew murky lines across the azure sky. Suddenly, I felt that the prosperity of this city was like a fragile sugar coating, covering a core as rotten as Beiping.
People are not divided into different classes, but they are grouped together by their kind.
Xu Zhuohua's mood seemed to have plummeted to rock bottom. A month of traveling had almost worn down all her edges.
Fortunately, she fulfilled her promise to Xu Shi Nong within the stipulated time.
So at least, when Cheng Muyun meets with misfortune next year, the Xu family will lend a helping hand.
Xu Zhuohua came out of the station, followed by a guard from the Xu family, who had been sent to her by Xu Jixiao.
Xu Zhuohua's fingertips, gripping the suitcase, suddenly trembled.
Across the bustling crowds and passing rickshaws, that tall figure stood like a pine tree piercing through the clouds, steadily beneath the plane trees on the opposite side of the road.
The brass buttons on Cheng Muyun's military uniform gleamed coldly in the setting sun, making his features appear even more gentle. Under the shadow of his hat brim, his eyes curved into crescents, filled with starlight that belonged only to her.
The adjutants stood with their hands at their sides, their crisp uniforms and gleaming boots exuding a chilling aura, yet they all became blurred backgrounds next to Cheng Muyun's handsome figure.
He raised his hand to adjust his military cap, his every move exuding the gentle grace of a gentleman, yet concealing the unwavering resolve unique to a soldier. Beneath his well-tailored military uniform lay a figure of elegant bearing, and his deep eyes seemed to hold a vast starry sky, instantly captivating Xu Zhuohua's gaze.
Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. Xu Zhuohua didn't care about her high heels on the bluestone slabs; her skirt fluttered in the air like a blooming rose.
She weaved through the surging crowd, creating a gust of wind, and rushed straight into Cheng Muyun's arms. The familiar scent of pine wood mixed with the smell of gunpowder instantly enveloped her.
My nose stung with tears, and all the grievances, longing, and unease I felt in a foreign land turned into tears welling up in my eyes.
"Cheng Muyun! I miss you so much." Her voice was choked with sobs as she buried her face in his shoulder.
Cheng Muyun's warm palm gently stroked the top of her head, as if afraid of hurting her, yet full of reassuring power.
The surrounding noise seemed to fade into background noise. At this moment, only two hearts, finally reunited, remained in the world, clinging tightly to each other in the early summer evening breeze.
But this simple "I miss you" doesn't seem to fully express Xu Zhuohua's longing.
Her longing was like a mighty river flowing eastward, its course gradually descending and its current growing more turbulent until it reached Xinhai City, where it seemed as if a cliff suddenly appeared, transforming the water into a waterfall, magnificent and unstoppable.
In Cheng Muyun's arms, the surging longing finally turned into a pool of clear water, flowing gently and nourishing the heart.
Cheng Muyun gently patted Xu Zhuohua's back. Under the thin clothes, he felt the protruding spine and couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.
Cheng Muyun's warm palm pressed against her thin back, his fingertips gently caressing the bony shoulder blades beneath her dark blue cheongsam, his voice filled with tenderness: "Zhuohua, have you not been eating properly? You've become so thin."
His breath, hot as he spoke, brushed past her ear, carrying the refreshing scent of mints, which made Xu Zhuohua's nose tingle again.
"I miss you so much that I can't eat or sleep." She buried her face in the other person's shoulder, the rough texture of the military uniform fabric brushing against her cheek.
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