Chapter 24: Storms and Clouds Rise Her eyes, distinct in black and white, seem to remain unchanged forever...
"Hey, hey, keep your voice down. Don't scare my brother." Zhu Yingning quickly covered the microphone's receiving hole and tried to comfort him, "Didn't you sleep in his bed too?"
"How can that be the same?! I'm suffering when I sleep in his bed, and he's enjoying himself when he sleeps in mine!"
Seeing that the man was about to jump up and down, Zhu Yingning had no choice but to soothe him, "Okay, okay, you're suffering, you're suffering... Um... can you wait until I finish the call before discussing this? After all, this is someone else's phone."
Xu Sansui snorted, his nose not nose and his eyes not eyes.
Zhu Yingning finally released her hand from covering the microphone port and took the initiative to change the subject: "Brother Xiang, tell me about something else besides food and shelter... For example, how are your uncle and aunt doing?"
She took the initiative to lead the conversation to this topic, intending to let Xu Sirui know about his parents' recent situation to ease his pain of missing them. However, the more Zhu Jixiang talked, the more wrong Xu Sirui's expression became.
Because Zhu Jixiang said:
"My uncle and aunt are also very kind to me, just like they treat their own son."
"After I arrived here, I had a fever for two days because of the unfamiliar climate. Auntie stayed by my bedside the entire time, taking care of me meticulously..."
"My uncle even took me to visit his company and told me that if I studied hard and got into a good university, he would hire me to work there in the future."
"Every day after dinner, the three of us would go for a walk in the park and occasionally play table tennis. My uncle is a very good table tennis player."
"Auntie also told me bedtime stories. She said Xu Sirui loved listening to her bedtime stories when he was little. Later, when he grew up, he thought it was childish and restricted his freedom, so he refused to listen anymore. Auntie said he had no place to tell his stories, so it was a good thing I came."
…
And so on.
The more Xu Sirui listened, the more he felt like he had swallowed a pound of lemons in his stomach, sour and twisted.
He was essentially a self-absorbed person. After arriving in the mountains, he'd only thought about his own miserable experiences there, rarely thinking of his family back in Beijing, let alone Zhu Jixiang. Before coming to town to make the call today, he'd completely forgotten about this person, and even after hearing about him, he'd lost touch with their existence.
It was not until this moment, listening to the other party talk about his own situation, that he had a clear understanding of the positioning of this variety show.
Exchange lives.
Exchange, exchange, the key point is the word exchange.
While he was suffering, someone took over the comfortable life he should have enjoyed, ate his food, slept in his bed, and even occupied his parents, playing house with his parents and calling themselves a "family of three."
Hold.
His mood was like a roller coaster, from the initial rage when he found out his bed was occupied, to the jealousy and dissatisfaction, and then -
The rage subsided, the jealousy subsided, the unhappiness subsided, the intense emotional experience gradually became dull, leaving only a sour and depressed feeling.
Although he knew it was just a gimmick for the variety show, and knew their lives wouldn't be so easily replaced, compared to him, Zhu Jixiang, whom he had never met, seemed more like a victim of this variety show. After experiencing the prosperity of the city, would he strive for success in pursuit of it, or lose himself in the bright lights and revelry? No one would be held responsible or guarantee the outcome.
The city may become a springboard for his upward leap, or it may become an abyss that lures him into depravity.
Up or down?
Zhu Jixiang faces an even more difficult choice.
As for him—after all, life in the mountains was just a minor moment in his life. As long as he returned to Beijing, his life would quickly return to normal, and he would continue on his usual course. He still had a family that could provide for him, a prosperous life, and classmates who adored him. This variety show would leave no trace in his life.
Their lives have different starting points and different endings, just like two straight lines that intersect briefly but ultimately drift further apart.
But knowing it intellectually is one thing, and being able to accept it emotionally is another.
Xu Sirui had to admit that he was very stingy and he couldn't accept it.
By the end of the conversation, even his molars were sore, his whole body was weak, and he felt that everything was boring. Even the long-awaited journey home became meaningless.
Zhu Yingning saw that something was wrong with him and quickly interrupted Zhu Jixiang. After a few dry pleasantries and some advice like "you should eat well and study hard", he hung up the phone. Holding the receiver, he smiled awkwardly at Xu Sirui behind him: "...I'm done. Do you want to come over and play again?"
He stared at the microphone in her hand in a daze until she stretched out her hand and waved it in front of his eyes. Then he came to his senses, looked at her, pursed his lips into a line, and said, "I won't call anymore." Then he turned and left.
The words "I won't fight anymore" weren't said in anger, but rather calmly. But even so, Zhu Yingning felt a growing sense of foreboding. She hung up the phone and trotted after him, trying to comfort him, but he quickly took larger strides and left her behind.
In order not to be completely left behind, Zhu Yingning had to shut her mouth and use all her strength to keep up with his footsteps.
Seeing that she and the photographer were following closely behind him, and the photographer was even pretending to put the camera in front of him to capture his expression, Xu Sirui simply gritted his teeth and started running.
Thanks to the five-kilometer journey to school, Xu Sirui's running speed and physical fitness have improved qualitatively. After running with all his strength, he realized belatedly that the photographers could no longer outrun him. In the blink of an eye, the two photographers were left far behind by him.
"Xu Sirui! Xu Sirui——"
They shouted his name and tried to stop him.
Xu Sirui didn't care about all that. He spread his hooves and ran as fast as he could.
The wind blew against his face, making it impossible for him to open his eyes, but he felt a long-lost sense of relief, and his depressed mood seemed to be swept away by the whistling wind.
After running through three blocks, he slowed down slightly, wanting to find a place to rest. But when he turned around, Zhu Yingning's face suddenly appeared behind him. She stared at him and asked with concern, "Xu Sirui, where are you running to?"
“Fuck…”
Xu Sirui was quite frightened and subconsciously started running again.
As he ran, Zhu Yingning subconsciously followed him.
She always trailed him by two or three steps, a constant distance no matter how fast or slow he ran. Xu Sirui caught a glimpse of this and felt like vomiting blood. He deliberately slowed down, waiting for Zhu Yingning to let down her guard before suddenly accelerating to shake her off—like a basketball feint. But it was clear that she was also well versed in the art of feinting, always ready to accelerate. The moment she saw him sprint forward, she would speed up to catch up.
Xu Sirui ran around the edge of the town, with Zhu Yingning following him like a ghost.
In the end, he couldn't run any longer, so he stopped at a random spot, holding his knees and gasping for breath. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words from between his teeth: "Why the hell are you always following me?"
She was also a little out of breath, but not as badly as him. Running actually made her look more energetic. She pinched her waist and shook her head, saying, "I don't know. I saw you running, so I chased you."
“…”
"Are you in a bad mood?"
Xu Sirui didn't want to talk. After stopping his run, all the depression and low spirits came back. He took a moment to relax, feeling that he could almost breathe again, and then continued walking forward, walking aimlessly.
Zhu Yingning still stubbornly asked behind him, "Are you in a bad mood?"
He suddenly felt a surge of irritation, so much so that he wanted to tear his clothes off and roar to the heavens like Tarzan. But he couldn't do that, so he vented his anger by kicking the bicycles next to him, causing the row of bicycles to fall like dominoes. Then he turned around and pointed his finger at her nose: "If you know I'm in a bad mood, don't bother me. Get lost!"
Xu Sirui has a bad temper and he knows it.
He also knew that no one in this world could stand his true temper. Look, didn't his parents pack him up and send him here because they couldn't stand it anymore?
He was prepared for Zhu Yingning to turn and walk away, like his parents or the teachers at school, her face brimming with anger or disappointment. But despite his hysterical outburst, she didn't even bat an eyelash, maintaining the same expression and posture. She gazed at him calmly for a long moment before pulling a crumpled three yuan bill from her trouser pocket. She clutched it in her hand, slowly unfolding it in front of him and offering him a faint smile.
She said, "Xu Sirui, let's use this money to go online."
There was a breeze blowing.
They stood in the gap between high walls and deep alleys. The bluish-white sunlight could not penetrate the dark gap. Only the breeze from south to north was like a gentle hand, lifting their clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles on their clothes, and drying the sweat caused by running.
The wind blows in gusts, sometimes surging and sometimes subsiding.
Xu Sirui stared at her face.
He thought, she is so ordinary.
Such an ordinary, bland face—in his old school, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. But here, he was forced to spend so much time with her, forced to gaze at her features, seeing the ordinary as extraordinary. Her eyes, stark black and white, stood out from the blandness like eternal truth, as rich as undiluted ink.
As I looked, my vision suddenly became blurry.
The ink block was diluted by the boy's tears, flowing into two flowing ink marks.
He cried and felt deeply ashamed. The more ashamed he felt, the more he couldn't control his tears, forming a vicious cycle.
In the three weeks since he'd been here, he'd lost more face in front of her than in the previous fourteen years combined.
Fortunately, Zhu Yingning did not insist on asking him "Are you crying?" this time. She just kept stretching out her hand and looked at him without saying a word.
Xu Sirui wiped his eyes and thought of a question. In order to divert his attention, he asked, "What is your dream?"
Zhu Yingning was stunned by his 180-degree turn of events, but she straightened her face, put her heels together, puffed out her chest, and answered with great vigor, "My dream is to become someone who can contribute to the people."
Xu Sirui burst out laughing.
He was crying and laughing at the same time, and he thought his expression must be extremely ugly. Fortunately, there was no camera here. He covered his stomach and laughed out loud.
It's easy to tell if there's sarcasm in someone's laughter. Xu Sirui's laughter can often be attributed to mockery, though there are also times when it's fake. But Zhu Yingning can tell it doesn't contain any mockery. He's laughing, and that's simply laughing, just like eating is eating, sleeping is sleeping. It's natural, and there's no need to search for the underlying reason.
So she started laughing too.
The wind is blowing and the clouds are rolling. It should be a good day today.
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