The autumn rain is lingering.
After landing, it was intermittent for several days.
It rained down the yellow leaves that were about to fall from the branches, wet the winding paths between the trees, and soaked the dark brown soil under the roots of the dead grass, enveloping the entire garden in a cold and lonely atmosphere.
But this aura did not cover Jiang Que.
In the past, the artistic part of his body would probably have been affected to some extent by the lingering autumn rain and the gloomy sky, evoking a cold and bleak mood.
But today, ever since he learned that he would soon be discharged from the hospital after recovering, it was as if a small flame had been lit in his heart, constantly warming him. Even the sentimentality that should have grown was like a drop of water falling into firewood, and was evaporated cleanly by the sizzling sound.
Occasionally, when he looked out the window, he could even taste some different artistic conception from the autumn rain, as if it was a gurgling spring that came in response to the needs and at the right time, washing away the dust that had settled for a long time, washing away the mottled rust stains of the past, and making all the old traces look brand new.
When he was first admitted to the hospital, he didn't bring much with him, but recently, as he was about to be discharged, he packed his luggage in advance with great sense of ceremony.
The few clothes were turned over and over in his hands. Tonight they were neatly stacked into the box. Tomorrow night he took them out again as if he was not satisfied, and then folded them and put them back in order. This back and forth routine seemed to have become his daily bedtime homework.
Seeing him behave like this every night, even the nurse in charge of the ward couldn't help teasing him, saying that he was like his own daughter who had just started elementary school. Because the autumn outing was coming soon, she had to check her small backpack every night before going to bed, turning over and over the snacks and dry food she had prepared, and she was very worried.
Hearing this analogy that seemed to be calling him childish, Jiang Que did not seem embarrassed. Instead, he gladly accepted the statement and calmly faced the expectations that he could not hide.
There's nothing to be embarrassed about.
There are places he can't wait to return to, and people he can't wait to meet. He doesn't mind if his impulse is discovered, and he has learned not to hide his emotions blindly.
That night.
After Jiang Que washed up and changed his clothes, he walked to the wall and opened his suitcase as he did every day, starting his "bedtime homework" of packing his luggage every night.
Zuo Jianqing estimated that he would be discharged from the hospital in the middle of this month. Now that the middle of the month has arrived, it means that he can't stay here for a few more days. Although he doesn't know the specific day he will leave, it does not affect his enthusiasm for packing things at all.
As he was squatting on the ground and combing his hair, he suddenly remembered the teasing the nurse had made to him a few days ago, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself.
He really is like a little kid.
He thought with a smile of emotion.
But he still happily folded the clothes he took out and put them back neatly into the box. Only after all the items were neatly arranged did he finally zip up the box and put it back against the wall.
The nights in late autumn are already a bit chilly.
After squatting in my pajamas for a while, there was not much warmth left in my body.
Jiang Que's toes, buried in his slippers, curled up slightly. He stood up and walked to the bed, lifted the quilt and sat in it, intending to warm up in the quilt and fall asleep before turning off the lights.
Boom boom boom.
Just then, there were several knocks on the door.
Jiang Que thought it was the nurse coming to remind him that it was almost lights-out time, so he glanced over casually. Unexpectedly, when the door was pushed open, it was Zuo Jianqing who walked in.
Zuo Jianqing, wearing his usual white coat and holding a cup of hot milk, said as he walked in, "Ready to go to bed?"
Jiang Que nodded: "Are you on duty tonight?"
Zuo Jianqing hummed, walked slowly to the bedside, and handed him the glass of milk in his hand: "Here, drink it."
Jiang Que took the cup and raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"Don't look at me," Zuo Jianqing said with a teasing smile, his hands in his pockets, "I'm just being asked to do this."
It goes without saying who entrusted me with this task.
Jiang Que smiled knowingly, holding the cup and lowering his head to sip it.
The warmth flowed into the mouth little by little, and gradually spread along the throat and into the abdomen, and in a short moment, the coldness was completely dispelled.
Zuo Jianqing stared at him and took a few sips. Then he casually turned his gaze away and happened to catch a glimpse of the suitcases at the foot of the wall. "Oh, are you all packed?"
Jiang Que followed his gaze and smiled: "Well, didn't you say mid-month?"
Zuo Jianqing jokingly asked, "Are you anxious?"
Jiang Que said calmly, "I'm not anxious, I'm looking forward to it."
Zuo Jianqing pursed his lips and nodded, without asking any further questions. He just stared at him as he drank sips of milk, and occasionally raised his wrist to check his watch.
Jiang Que originally thought he was just delivering the milk, but he didn't expect him to be waiting there. He wondered if he was going to take the empty cup away, and asked uncertainly, "You... are waiting for me?"
Zuo Jianqing hummed, and raised his chin towards the half-full cup of milk in his hand: "Drink it quickly, lights out in three minutes, drink it and go to bed early."
Hearing what he said, Jiang Que didn't delay any longer and quickly drank the remaining drink. He was about to get out of bed to rinse the cup, but unexpectedly, Zuo Jianqing reached out and took it from him halfway: "Just give it to me directly, and go to sleep."
Jiang Queyuan was thinking of rinsing his mouth while washing the cup, but he was stopped like this. He felt that it was hard to refuse such a kind invitation, so he could only thank him with a smile inwardly and sat back in his original place as he wished.
After Zuo Jianqing closed the door and left, he got out of bed to rinse his mouth. When he returned to the bed, the headlight above his head had just gone out.
On rainy days, without the moonlight coming in from the window, the darkness around us seems even darker.
Jiang Que lifted the quilt and lay on the bed, covering himself with the quilt properly, then closed his eyes in relaxation.
The ward was silent, with only the faint rustling of rain outside the window filtering through the glass, creating a faint background sound.
Jiang Que closed his eyes peacefully, intending to listen to the sound of rain until he fell asleep. However, for some reason, the sleepiness today seemed to come more quickly than ever before.
Before he could even begin to prepare himself, a strong sense of sleepiness surged up from him, quickly drowning and enveloping him, silently enveloping his consciousness and bringing him into a dream.
The night seemed very long.
And this time, he slept very deeply.
It was as if I had traveled through time and space and fallen into another world, surrounded by gorgeous and colorful lights and shadows, wandering in one dream after another, both real and illusory.
He dreamed of the border town again.
It was no longer midsummer in the small town.
It was the first snowfall of winter. Amidst the heavy fluttering snow, on the soft, white snow, the young man who had said goodbye to him during the winter vacation arrived as expected, smiling and extending his hand to him: "Will you come with me?"
…
He dreamed of the bookstore in Taiwan Strait.
I dreamed that I was standing among rows of bookshelves. When I raised my hand to pull out a book, a pair of familiar eyes looked in from the gap.
The owner of those eyes wore a mask, but a look of inquiry was clearly visible in them. Then he chuckled as if realizing something and said, "Have we met somewhere before?"
…
He dreamed of the wrap party he had missed.
I dreamed that I walked into the brightly lit hall, and among the elegantly dressed people and the clinking of glasses, I saw that familiar figure through the crowd.
The figure turned around holding the wine glass, and the noise and clamor fell silent, leaving only the distant gazes, which collided with a throbbing echo in the lingering light and shadow.
…
…
The scenes switch layer by layer like a dream.
Jiang Que suddenly realized that those were the time points that he considered regretful.
The illusion before my eyes was like one parallel world after another. In these worlds, those regrettable nodes were rewritten and headed towards a completely different trajectory.
Those trajectories are certainly desirable.
But at this moment, when Jiang Que passed by and faced all kinds of tempting possibilities, he unexpectedly no longer felt much regret or lingering.
Because now he already knows that in the world he lives in, at the end of the path he is walking on, there is also such a person waiting for him.
That is the one who truly belongs to him, belongs to the real world, and is the one worth him running towards without being tempted by the scenery along the way.
With such belief, he passed through layers of gorgeous illusions and the vast white fog that filled the surroundings. Without stopping, he bid farewell to all the charming illusions and resolutely walked into the unknown chaos at the end of the illusion.
There seems to be nothing in the chaos.
There is only illusory darkness and emptiness.
But this no longer made him hesitate, because the hope burning in his heart was enough to support his motivation to move forward, and he knew that all he had to do was to keep going forward firmly.
Step after step.
One journey after another.
He persevered forward in the dark chaos, firmly believing that the end was just ahead and that he would eventually bid farewell to the darkness.
I don’t know how long it took.
Finally, tiny glimmers of light began to flicker in the darkness in the distance, and along with that light came a faint, almost imperceptible, pleasant ring tone.
Jiang Que quickened his pace and walked forward.
The distance to the end is getting closer and closer.
Finally, the moment he rushed out of the edge of darkness, he completely broke away from the dream -
He lay on his back and opened his eyes.
What comes into view is the vast starry sky.
Countless stars are spread across the dark blue night sky, like a canvas covering the sky and the sun, shining through the glass dome and gently enveloping the quiet midnight.
The melodious tinkling bell sounds continued, like the lively melody played by a music box, adding a touch of fantasy and romance to the magnificent and brilliant starry night view.
Jiang Que blinked in a daze, and for a moment he almost thought he was still in a dream. He turned his head and looked to the side, and found that he was lying on a soft big bed, and the place where the big bed was located was actually an exquisitely decorated suite.
The surroundings were very dark, with only a few night lights on the walls. The faint light did not affect the brilliance of the stars above at all. Instead, it reflected the starry sky outside the glass dome, creating a lively and quiet light and shadow in the room.
Jiang Que sat up in a daze, looked down at the thin blanket on his body, then lifted the blanket and got out of bed sideways. Finally, when he stepped on the soft and thick carpet, he felt a real sense of solid ground.
Before he could think about where he was and why he was there, the faint ringing sound suddenly became clearer as if the volume was turned up.
Jiang Que couldn't help but startled, and walked towards the bedroom in the direction of the sound. As soon as he reached the door, his attention was attracted by something in the living room -
It was a small sphere suspended in mid-air, glowing with a faint silver light. It slowly rotated in the darkness. Against the backdrop of the starry sky above, it looked like an asteroid floating in the universe.
And the ringing sound came from it.
Jiang Que walked slowly closer and observed it quietly for a while. He couldn't help but raise his hand curiously and touched it lightly with his fingertips.
Unexpectedly, with just a slight touch, the planet's rotation slowly stopped, and the ringing sound gradually faded away.
When the ringing sound completely faded away, a line of small words like an electronic clock appeared in the silver light on the surface of the sphere:
zone time: 2020-11-13 23:45
Jiang Que was feeling surprised when suddenly, the ringing sound that had disappeared came from another direction.
He turned his head in surprise, and after listening carefully for a while, he quickly realized that this time the sound came from outside the suite.
The suite's door is a heavy double wooden door.
Jiang Que followed the sound and walked to the door. He raised his hand to hold the door handle and pushed both doors open.
There is a Milky Way in front of me.
The straight corridor, from the ceiling to the walls, and from the walls to the carpet, is covered with the projection of starry night lights, with countless colorful stars embellishing a silver galaxy.
There is a planet floating at the end of the galaxy.
Like the one in the suite, it was also spinning on its own, emitting bursts of pleasant tinkling sounds, as if calling someone to come closer.
Jiang Que stepped into the Milky Way in a daze.
Thousands of stars surrounded and surrounded him, accompanying him as he walked slowly forward.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but as he walked, he felt that the ground under his feet was slightly undulating with the movement of the surrounding stars, making his steps a little erratic, as if he was not walking in a corridor, but had really fallen into the distant and mysterious universe, strolling and floating in the long river of stars.
Just like this, floating up and down, moving forward.
When he finally reached the end of the galaxy and arrived in front of the suspended planet, he stopped, raised his hand as before, and gently touched it.
Sure enough, the rotation of the star and the ringing sound gradually stopped again with his touch.
At the same time, a line of electronic time appeared again in the silver light on the surface of the sphere:
zone time: 2020-11-13 23:48
Before Jiang Que could think about it, the next second, the area on his side that was originally immersed in darkness suddenly lit up with starlight. Along the downward sloping direction of a staircase, another Milky Way gradually spread out.
A few seconds later, a new star appeared at the end of the galaxy, and the familiar ring tone was heard again.
Jiang Que suddenly realized something.
If the first planet was like an alarm clock that woke him up from his sleep, then the ones that followed were like guiding lighthouses, directing his direction with light and sound, leading him to some unknown destination.
Jiang Que took a step forward and walked down the stairs.
Just like that, following the guidance of one planet after another, I stepped onto one galaxy after another, followed the steps back down, and walked through layer after layer.
And wherever he passed, the time on the planet also changed little by little——
zone time: 2020-11-13 23:49
zone time: 2020-11-13 23:50
zone time: 2020-11-13 23:51
…
Finally, after walking through countless galaxies and passing several asteroids, Jiang Que arrived at the last level of the stairs.
When he turned the wide corner, a spacious circular hall suddenly appeared before his eyes.
This place is also dotted with countless stars, but because of the magnificent height and extremely long diameter, coupled with the clock-like rotation direction of the stars, the entire space no longer looks like a galaxy, but like a vast spiral nebula.
Jiang Que quietly stepped onto this nebula.
As the surrounding whirlpools rotated, the undulations of the ground beneath his feet became increasingly clear, making him feel a little dazed and tipsy in these dreamlike scenes that appeared one after another.
He walked forward step by step.
From a distance, I saw a tall glass door at the edge of the nebula.
That seemed to be the exit of the hall leading to the outside world, but because it was dotted with flowing starlight, it looked like a time tunnel that was about to open.
When Jiang Que walked to the center of the nebula, the glass door showed the familiar time words:
zone time: 2020-11-13 23:55
It was like a signal that the time tunnel was opening.
As Jiang Que continued to approach, finally, when he was only a few steps away from the door, the glass door slowly opened from the middle to both sides -
A moist breeze blew towards me.
Jiang Que walked out of the door against the wind. For a moment, he felt as if he had really stepped into another time and space.
It was the endless sea and the countless stars above it.
It was as if the nebula behind him was overflowing with firefly-like stars, flying from the opened tunnel of time and space to the distant sky, gathering and dispersing, spreading and flashing freely in the night, and also casting shimmering reflections of starlight on the sea.
After getting drunk, I didn’t know that the sky was in the water, and the boat was full of sweet dreams that pressed down the starry sky.
It was not until this moment that he discovered incredulously that the place where he was standing was not any land building, but the second-floor platform of a giant cruise ship.
Jiang Que took two steps forward foolishly.
Soon, a long staircase leading downwards appeared below the field of vision.
And at the end of the long steps, stood an extremely familiar figure, as if walking out of his dream.
Song Yecheng seemed to have been waiting there for a long time. When he finally showed up, he smiled at him with bright eyes. Then, as he was staring at her, he stretched out his hand to her from a distance, as if to welcome her or to happily invite her.
Jiang Que's heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
Plop, plop.
It seemed as if it would jump out of my chest in the next second.
He took a step forward and walked down the stairs.
At first he walked steadily, but as the distance kept shortening, his pace became faster and faster. When there were only the last few steps left, he almost took a quick step and flew into that solid embrace like a bird returning to its nest.
Song Yecheng was knocked back two steps by him, and hurriedly smiled to steady himself. He hugged his hands and felt the strong pounding heartbeat. His heart softened immediately. He lowered his head and rubbed his nose affectionately: "Missed me, didn't you?"
Jiang Que's breathing was still a little unstable, and he gasped softly against his chest. After finally calming down a little, he blinked and looked up at him: "...I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Song Yecheng was amused by him, and he leaned over to hold his lips, biting them lightly as if grinding his teeth: "What do you think?"
A slight numbness and pain came from his lips, giving Jiang Que the most direct and real feeling. He seemed to be finally relieved and smiled embarrassedly a little bit late.
Surrounded by the sea of stars, and in front of me is the person I love. Although this scene is not a dream, it is better than any beautiful fantasy.
He was so surprised that he laughed for quite a while. Then he remembered his previous question and asked curiously, "Where are we?"
He had been laughing just now, and Song Yecheng also smiled at him. Now that he finally came to his senses, Song Yecheng still smiled without answering. He just took his hand and led him to the front of the deck: "Come."
Jiang Que followed him forward.
After walking for a while, I could see from afar the front end of the deck, where the guardrails on both sides intersected.
At the apex of the bow stood a plaster-colored, coconut-shell hemisphere, and in the depression of that hemisphere hung a "planet" similar to the one seen before.
However, the diameter of that planet was larger than those seen before. Although it was suspended, it did not rotate and did not emit any light. It just stayed there quietly, as if it was still immersed in sleep.
Song Yecheng led him to the bow, stopped beside the planet, pulled him in front of him, put his arms around his waist from behind, and instructed him in his ear: "Touch it."
Jiang Que raised his hand as he was told and gently touched the planet.
The next second, the planet that was originally in "sleep" actually brightened up slightly, but the light it emitted was not the silver light seen before, but a color that was a mixture of azure and green.
When the entire sphere was fully revealed, Jiang Que was surprised to find that it was actually a miniature version of the Earth, which fully displayed every ocean in the world and the continents distributed around the world.
Then, a flickering light appeared in a certain area of the blue ocean.
Song Yecheng held his hand and pointed his finger at the light spot: "We are here."
With his light touch, the electronic map began to zoom in and out like a satellite bird's-eye view, and soon displayed the entire surrounding sea area with the light spot as the center.
This is an area of sea located in the Pacific Ocean, near the equator, and the light spot is the satellite positioning of the cruise ship. The positioning shows that it is sailing at a constant speed from east to west.
"Then where are we going?" Jiang Que turned around and asked.
Song Yecheng met his gaze and chuckled mysteriously: "Going...tomorrow."
As he spoke, the current time zone of the cruise ship's location was displayed above the flashing satellite positioning on the map.
2020-11-13 23:59:20
tomorrow.
That is November 14th.
Thinking of this date, Jiang Que's fingers unconsciously curled slightly.
However, the next second, Song Yecheng's warm palm wrapped around his fingers soothingly, and led him to point to the surface of the earth again: "Don't worry, look."
Jiang Que looked down as he said, and saw that with a touch, a series of crisscrossing longitude and latitude lines were outlined at an extremely fast speed on the map that originally only divided the land and sea. And right at the place where the cruise ship's position almost coincided, a straight line running through the north and south appeared.
It is not just a warp.
It is also the International Date Line, which is located in the middle of the twelve east and west zones and coincides with the 180-degree meridian.
Seeing this line, Jiang Que seemed to realize something, and Song Yecheng, like a magician about to reveal a secret, whispered in his ear, "Look ahead, are we almost there?"
The dateline has no entity and should not be something that can be seen, but at this moment Jiang Que seemed to be bewitched and really looked forward as he said.
The sea breeze blew through my hair and clothes.
The ship sailed through the waves, cutting through the sparkling sea like a snow blade. The brilliant stars in the night sky lit up the way ahead, and the reflected galaxy rippled.
The end is clearly not visible in the distance, but the unknown makes people look forward to it endlessly, as if the place they are about to arrive at should be called the future.
As the cruise ship moves forward, time on "Earth" is passing by second by second.
2020-11-13 23:59:34
2020-11-13 23:59:35
…
2020-11-13 23:59:46
2020-11-13 23:59:47
…
2020-11-13 23:59:58
2020-11-13 23:59:59
Just as the number was about to return to zero and the date was about to change, the speeding cruise ship accurately crossed the invisible International Date Line and rushed into the East 12th District!
In an instant, time completely refreshed, skipping the day that was supposed to arrive and entering a brand new date -
2020-11-15 00:00:00
At the same time, dozens of bright lights shot up from the distant sky and rushed into the sky, instantly blooming into extremely brilliant and colorful fireworks!
Jiang Que stared at the sky in shock, and was so overwhelmed by the huge surprise that he almost forgot to breathe.
Song Yecheng touched his wrist, took off the countdown bracelet lightly, and threw it into the endless deep sea against the sea breeze.
Jiang Que looked back and saw Song Yecheng smilingly reaching into his arms, taking out a watch box that had been warm for a long time, and carefully putting a brand new watch that was exactly the same as his own on his wrist.
At this moment, Jiang Que seemed to have experienced a true rebirth.
Say goodbye to yesterday and start a new life.
Under the witness of the starry sky and the reflection of the gorgeous fireworks, Song Yecheng hugged him and kissed his earlobe gently: "Welcome to the new world."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com