All this happened in the blink of an eye. Zhuang Yan and Jiang Bei were really shocked and hurried forward:
"Brother, are you okay?!"
"Where did you fall?"
The shock of the sudden fall made Jiang Que's brain a little short of oxygen. He couldn't help but frown and close his eyes. He opened his eyes again after the dizziness subsided a little. While struggling to stand up straight, he pulled Song Yecheng's hand off his waist and said, "It's okay."
"I told you to ignore that cat!" Jiang Bei said anxiously, "It's just an ungrateful wolf!"
After he finished speaking, he noticed Jiang Que's lips were slightly pale, so he quickly took out a candy from his pocket, peeled off the candy wrapper, and stuffed it into Jiang Que's mouth without saying anything: "How is it? Are you dizzy?"
Jiang Que sucked the candy and shook his head, his gaze returning to Song Yecheng's face.
Zhuang Yan then remembered what Song Yecheng had called him, "Jiang Que," and asked in confusion, "Do you know each other?"
Song Yecheng's expression was full of wonderful things, and his inner thoughts were now so complicated that they were difficult to describe.
Before stepping into this small courtyard, he was as nervous as a fan meeting his idol, and he was the kind of fan who had been waiting for many years to finally see his idol.
He had imagined countless times what kind of person Bai Ye Ling was. He thought he might be elegant and profound, or ordinary and simple, or even plain-looking. He even wondered if he was unwilling to show up in public because he was old, weak, or disabled.
However, today, all the blurry silhouettes in the blurred background disappeared the moment he saw Jiang Que. The hazy and mysterious image in his imagination suddenly became clear, complete, and close at hand, but it made him feel unprecedented absurdity and incomprehensibility -
The person who had confronted him in a dim old house not long ago and parted ways unpleasantly, who was good-looking but never told a word of truth, was actually Bai Ye Ling, whom he had wanted to meet for many years but had never had the chance to meet?
Bai Yeling...810...
It wasn't until this moment that he realized belatedly that the seemingly random string of meaningless numbers in his pseudonym was actually... a homophone?!
For a moment, you could hear a pin drop in the yard, and the atmosphere gradually became weird.
Jiang Que originally wanted to give Song Yecheng the power to choose "know" or "don't know", but since he didn't respond, he could only answer ambiguously for him: "Yes, I have."
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Yan's expression turned strange after hearing this. After a moment, he slapped Song Yecheng's arm: "Tsk! Then why are you acting like a miserable little fan who has no chance to meet me? You keep nagging me about Teacher Bai all the time and want to meet him, but after all this time, it's already—"
"Uncle Zhuang!" Song Yecheng came to his senses and quickly interrupted his revelations, but it was obviously too late. Jiang Bei stared at him suspiciously with his eyebrows almost touching his hairline, and Jiang Que's eyes also showed a lot of surprise.
Poor little fan?
Are you clamoring to meet?
Song Yecheng actually often mentioned him to Zhuang Yan?
Jiang Que was completely unaware of these things. In his opinion, the only apparent connection between him and Song Yecheng was the movie "Twins", and he didn't even show up during the filming of that movie. What reason did Song Yecheng have to be interested in him?
Zhuang Yan rarely saw embarrassment on Song Yecheng's usually calm face, so he jokingly said in disbelief, "Oh, you're still embarrassed about this?"
Song Yecheng was simply at a loss for words. He opened his mouth but finally gave up and turned away to look aside.
Zhuang Yan glared at him with a smirk, "Alright, since we already know each other, there's no need for me to introduce you. It's a waste of my time to come here. I have a lot of things to do. Oh, and by the way, Xiaobei, memorize your lines tonight. You want to get the first one right in one take tomorrow. Do you understand?"
Jiang Bei confidently made an OK gesture. Zhuang Yan patted his shoulder with satisfaction, said hello again, and left first.
The courtyard fell into silence again.
Jiang Que was not good at speaking, and when he saw Song Yecheng not saying anything, he didn't know how to start.
Song Yecheng was not speechless either. He had a lot of things to say and ask, but he still hadn't gotten over the shock of "Jiang Que was Bai Ye Ling", so all his words were stuck in his throat and pushed against each other. After pushing for a long time, he still couldn't make any sense.
"I say," Jiang Bei glanced at one and then the other, seeing the two of them staring at each other like hawks, he could no longer bear it, "It's freezing outside, why don't you two go inside and stare at each other?"
His words were like a hole in an inflated tire. Song Yecheng's pent-up frustration suddenly found an outlet. He suddenly turned around and asked, "Are you his brother?"
Jiang Bei was puzzled: "What for?"
Song Yecheng looked down at him and said, "So he's just someone with connections?"
Jiang Bei was stunned for a long time before he turned around and said, "Hey! Don't spit blood at me. I was chosen through a serious open audition! Director Zhuang didn't know about my relationship with him before I joined the crew. Besides, he's not my real brother, he's just-"
"Are you smoking?" Jiang Que interrupted suddenly.
Jiang Bei choked up instantly, looked at him in horror, quickly lifted his collar and sniffed: "No way? It's been so long and you can still smell it?"
Jiang Que lowered his eyes and glanced down: "Finger."
Jiang Bei quickly raised his hand and sniffed, and indeed he smelled a faint scent of cigarettes. He suddenly remembered that he had just used this hand to stuff candy into his mouth, and he immediately thought to himself that it was a bad idea.
However, this was not over yet. Just as he was about to say something to make amends, Song Yecheng continued to fan the flames, "How old are you? Are you an adult? Do your parents know that you're smoking at such a young age?"
Jiang Bei was so furious that he glared at them both: "Hey! If you like glaring, go ahead and glare at me! Why are you picking on me? I asked you to come in with good intentions, but you really fell for their trick!"
After saying that, he angrily rushed to the front hall. After a few steps, he suddenly paused, turned his head and said to Song Yecheng with a fake smile: "My parents don't know, because I don't have any parents at all."
After saying that, he rolled his eyes and strode away without looking back.
Song Yecheng was a little confused by his last sentence. Thinking about what he said before, "He is not my biological brother", he suddenly felt unsure about their relationship and couldn't help but ask, "You two are...?"
"He's an orphan, and I'm his sponsor," Jiang Que explained. "We just happened to have the same last name, so he just called me brother."
Song Yecheng stammered "Oh", then felt a little apologetic: "Was what I said inappropriate? How about I go and talk to him..."
"No need," Jiang Que interrupted him and walked towards the enamel bowl that had just fallen. "He doesn't care about these things at all. He was just afraid that I would say something about him, so he wanted to find a chance to slip away. He just happened to use you as an excuse to make a fuss."
Song Yecheng nodded, not quite understanding. Seeing him bend down to pick up the enamel bowl, he turned around and picked up the fallen ladder. Just as he was about to lean the ladder back against the wall, his eyes suddenly fell on a small packaging bag at the foot of the wall.
After seeing clearly what was in the package, Song Yecheng turned his head to look at the ground at his feet. He saw a lot of dark particles that had just been spilled from the enamel bowl scattered on the fluffy white snow. He couldn't help but wonder, "Is this cat food?"
He originally thought that the bowl contained food or something, but the packaging bag at the foot of the wall suddenly looked familiar to him - he had raised a cat before, and although that cat had died of old age, he had raised it for so many years, so he still recognized cat food.
Jiang Que followed his gaze, seemingly not understanding the reason for his strangeness: "What's wrong?"
Song Yecheng asked curiously, "Where did it come from?"
It is not uncommon to feed cats with cat food, but this remote mountain village obviously does not have such things, and the nearest county town is dozens of kilometers away by car. It would be too troublesome to go there specifically to buy it.
Jiang Que said, "I brought it from home."
After hearing this answer, Song Yecheng was even more puzzled - what was the point of bringing cat food with him when traveling far away for work?
As he was thinking, Song Yecheng suddenly had an idea: "Is that cat yours?"
Although it is very troublesome to take a pet out for a long distance, it is not impossible for many cat owners who love their cats as their life. If the cat is Jiang Que's, it is not surprising that he carries cat food with him.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Que denied it and said, "No, it's a wild cat in this village."
"..." Song Yecheng was full of question marks, "Then why did you bring cat food from home?"
Jiang Que stared at him silently for a moment and said, "Because I know it's here."
Song Yecheng was stunned for a moment, then quickly remembered what he had said about "traveling through a book". According to that logic, he was the creator of this entire world, so it was not surprising that he knew everything in advance.
But this is obviously a fallacy.
Song Yecheng chuckled lightly and didn't ask any more questions. He leaned the ladder back against the wall and turned around, seemingly unintentionally changing the subject: "How old are you this year?"
In his previous imagination, Bai Ye Ling should be a senior of about the same age as Zhuang Yan, but Jiang Que was obviously much younger than he imagined. This was one of the reasons why he was so unbelievable when he found out that Jiang Que was Bai Ye Ling.
Jiang Que said, "Twenty-four."
Yes, five years younger than me.
Song Yecheng thought about it, and then he calculated it in his mind for a moment, and suddenly asked in surprise: "So you wrote "Dust" when you were sixteen?"
Jiang Que walked into the house with the bowl in hand. He tilted his head slightly when he heard the words: "What's the problem?"
Song Yecheng followed, hesitated for a moment, and then curled his nose awkwardly: "No problem."
Although he said this, he was not so calm in his heart: although there are many authors who start writing books in their teens, it is rare for their first book to become a best-seller and widely known both at home and abroad. It is no exaggeration to say that they are extremely talented.
But this is not the point. The point is that when Song Yecheng first read "Dust", many of the views and opinions in the book made him feel a kind of maturity and insight from having experienced the world. It is hard to imagine that those were all written by a sixteen-year-old boy.
What kind of experiences did he have back then, and what led to his mature state of mind at a young age?
Song Yecheng couldn't ask these questions right away. After all, the two of them were not familiar with each other at all, not to mention that there was a strange book "Chengye Chronicle" between them.
If Song Yecheng's previous feeling about the "traveling through a book" talk was simply annoyance at being fooled, then after learning that Jiang Que was Bai Yeling, this feeling became subtle.
Call it the preconceived fan filter or call it intuition, anyway, he didn't think Bai Ye Ling would play such aimless and boring tricks, nor did he think that his actions were for any shameful purpose.
The room had been ventilated for a long time, and the residual heat from the heater was almost gone. Jiang Que closed the back door and was about to close the front door when he heard Song Yecheng say behind him, "Don't close it. I'm leaving now."
Jiang Que was a little surprised. He thought that Song Yecheng would get to the bottom of the "prophecy" after entering the house, or at least ask a few indirect questions. He was even prepared to be interrogated, but he didn't expect him to leave so easily.
Is it because you were disappointed to find out that the Bai Ye Ling you always wanted to meet was me?
Or... are you still bothered by what I said earlier about traveling through a book?
Jiang Que couldn't help but speculate secretly, and at the same time, he moved to the side as he said, making way for him.
Song Yecheng walked to the door and was about to step out when he paused. After hesitating for a moment, he turned around and took out his phone: "Want to add WeChat, Teacher Bai?"
If Jiang Que knew Song Yecheng well enough, he would have noticed that his actions and tone at this moment revealed a sense of lack of confidence yet deliberately pretending to be casual. After all, he had been approached by others for almost thirty years of his life and had never taken the initiative to ask for anyone's contact information. He was not very proficient in his business.
Jiang Que was stunned for a moment, and then reacted after a while. He reached into his pocket and found that his cell phone was not there. He then searched the other side, then frowned in confusion and touched the trouser pocket on the side of his leg through his long coat.
Seeing the "?" slowly appearing above his head, Song Yecheng looked a little silly and cute. He felt amused and raised his chin towards the Eight Immortals Table not far away: "Over there."
Jiang Que looked back blankly, then walked towards the eight-immortals table with a sudden realization, put down the enamel bowl, wiped his hands on the towel hanging beside the table, picked up his cell phone and walked back.
They both lowered their heads to unlock WeChat, and after a few seconds, the screens flashed simultaneously—
Looking at the two QR codes standing opposite each other, as if they were engaging in an invisible stare-down in the air, Song Yecheng finally couldn't help laughing out loud.
It seems that he is not the only one who is not proficient in his business.
Jiang Que was a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Song Yecheng grabbed his wrist and said, "Let me do it."
He clicked a few times on his phone, brought up the scan code box, and scanned it towards Jiang Que's screen. After sending the invitation, he let go of his wrist: "Okay, let's go."
Jiang Que watched him turn around and leave the house until his figure disappeared outside the courtyard gate. Then he withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and clicked to approve the application.
After putting down his phone, he closed the front door, turned back to the back door, and looked into the yard.
On the wall illuminated by the setting sun, the small snow depression is still there, but the cat is nowhere to be found. I wonder if it was frightened or if it will come back again.
He had actually been here four or five days. On his first day, as he had just put his things down inside, he noticed a cat lingering on the backyard wall. Jiang Bei was nearby, and seeing his interest in the cat, he quickly warned him that it was vicious and heartless, and told him not to mess with it. He had once fed the cat, and after just trying to pet it, it scratched him hard, which is how the saying "an ungrateful wolf that can never be tamed" came about.
Jiang Que heard it, but did not ignore it. Instead, every noon and evening when the cat was not around, he would take a small bowl of cat food and put it on the wall. When he checked again half an hour later, the bowl was indeed empty.
This seemed to have become an unspoken understanding, one silently fed the other silently, and they kept a safe distance from each other so that they could not see each other when they looked down or up.
Jiang Que originally thought that this tacit understanding would last until the day he left. However, this evening, when he walked out of the back door with his bowl, he unexpectedly found that the cat was squatting on the wall. It did not run away when it saw him come out, but just stared at him as he walked closer to the wall.
When Jiang Que climbed to the top of the ladder and tentatively reached out his hand to it, the cat's posture was obviously a little tense, but even so it did not dodge. It just shrank its neck awkwardly and let Jiang Que touch its head.
Jiang Que knew his limits and understood that the cat was still very wary of people, so he didn't take any further action. He touched it lightly and then withdrew his hand, handing the bowl directly to it.
However, just at that moment, the unforeseen visit of Zhuang Yan and the other two suddenly broke the fragile balance that had just been established, causing it to overturn the bowl in its panicked escape and almost causing Jiang Que to fall to the ground.
In fact, it is not impossible to raise it.
Jiang Que thought.
It’s just that a sense of security isn’t enough.
Any creature with a little bit of spirituality in this world will not be indifferent to kindness. It is almost an instinctive yearning, like a moth flying towards fire or grass turning towards the sun.
Outside the wall, the last rays of dusk disappeared.
Jiang Que turned around and walked into the bedroom, opened the suitcase, took out a small bag of brand new cat food, poured it into a bowl, carried it to the backyard, and put it back on the wall.
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