Cherry blossoms
jingle--
A bicycle emerged from the street corner, its speed neither too slow nor too slow, and sped away, crushing the cherry blossoms in its wake.
A sudden gust of wind caused the pale yellow fisherman's hat to flutter backward, and a bicycle that had been heading away circled back. A pair of light-colored sneakers stopped in front of the hat, and the man squatted down, a tooth necklace hanging around his neck dangling from his collar.
He picked up the fisherman's hat with his left hand and tapped the voice message on his phone with his right: "Fang Chengyin, the press conference is about to begin!"
Fang Chengqi stood up and pushed his bicycle forward, saying, "I didn't go."
The other party expressed their helplessness and then there was no further communication.
Fang Chengyin put away his phone, pedaled again, and the electronic screens on the glass buildings on both sides began broadcasting the news:
"We are at the press conference. After five years, Best Actress Song Zixin is returning to the film and television industry..."
"Yanyang Plaza is right next to Flower Kindergarten. It's class time now, so please try to keep yourselves calm."
"After five years of fruitless searching for her husband, the nation's first love announces her comeback."
...
Fang Chengyin rode past these entertainment news reports, his only thought being to get to the scene as quickly as possible, when suddenly a dark figure appeared in front of him.
The bicycle suddenly swerved to the side, the long legs braced against the ground, and came to a stop.
Fang Chengyin stared at the ground, panting heavily, but the thing, in high spirits, wouldn't let him go. Suddenly, it scurried up to his face and stuck out its long, scarlet tongue.
"scare!"
Fang Chengyin suddenly took a step back, and when he looked up, he saw more dark figures sitting on the cherry blossom trees on both sides. When he turned to look at him, his empty, copper bell-shaped eyes gleamed, and his face was ferocious and terrifying.
He can see ghosts.
In the season when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom during his second year of high school, he woke up in the hospital. Outside the window, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and what he saw was a ghost hanging upside down.
Fang Chengyin resumed riding, but the shadowy figure ignored him.
Years later, he discovered that these ghosts didn't seem to harm people; they just liked to spoil the scenery, often dragging themselves around with their lower bodies missing.
He couldn't adapt and was still terrified.
The bicycle quickly stopped at the right wall of Flower Kindergarten. The press conference venue was not far away, and the crowd was dense.
He had no intention of getting close.
"Don't linger here!"
Fang Chengyin turned around and met a dark, wrinkled face with white hair. He was quite old; it was a mystery how he became a guard.
The other party's eyes were too sinister, so Fang Chengyin pushed his bicycle away from the area of influence. Only then did the old man snort and return to the guardhouse in a huff.
That's so uncivilized, how did they become a security guard?
Fang Chengyin felt uncomfortable, but fortunately, the exclamations that erupted not far away were more worthy of attention.
An expensive car was parked in front of the red carpet, and a woman wearing a white dress with a slit cape stepped out.
Even from a distance, Fang Chengyin could still sense the woman's unique charm and elegance, and the sound of cameras clicking was constant wherever she went.
The flashbulbs seemed to exist just for her.
Song Zixin, the person he admires most, was also once the audience's favorite actress and set many film records.
Five years ago, she was criticized so much for her role in "Slippery" that she was forced to leave the entertainment industry.
Fang Chengyin followed the woman's gaze, his eyes, which had been dull for five years, suddenly brightened.
"Hello everyone, I am Song Zixin."
The electronic screen on the building displays a woman's face, which, despite the marks of time, remains radiant.
Her eyes welled up with tears because of the enthusiastic response from her fans.
The intensity drowned out all other sounds, even becoming deafening. A teacher from the neighboring kindergarten raised her voice again.
Fang Chengyin looked at the woman, a smooth upward curve at the corners of his mouth, and then pushed his bicycle back. This was his way of supporting Song Zixin, low-key yet warm.
After walking a few steps, a little girl ran out of the guardhouse, her white skirt stained red, even if it was just a little, it was enough to be glaring.
Fang Chengyin threw down his bicycle and rushed over.
The little girl clung to his leg, her voice trembling, "...There's a bad person! A bad person!"
Fang Chengyin crouched down to examine the blood closely. It wasn't the little girl's, so he led her toward the press conference venue not far away, calming his tense nerves: "Don't be afraid! Run over there!"
There are many people there; you can grab anyone and be saved.
The little girl was pale and clutched his collar tightly, trying to burrow into his arms as if she had found a safe haven.
At that moment, loud, childish screams echoed from inside the park.
Fang Chengyin tried his best to coax the person in his arms: "Brother is going to catch the bad guys! You run over there and find other uncles and aunts to help brother!"
The little girl cautiously glanced at the crowd following his finger, and ran over without saying a word. She ran so fast that an unknown sharp object on her skirt cut Fang Chengyin's left hand between his thumb and forefinger.
Blood began to drip—
He didn't care and turned to rush into the guardhouse. Just then, the door opened from the inside, and the person who opened it was crawling on the ground, his face covered in blood, almost unrecognizable as the old guard. Behind him, in the middle of the playground, a kindergarten teacher lay in a pool of blood, surrounded by a thick, dark aura.
With his last breath, the old man roared, "Outside...outside!!"
Fang Chengyin snapped back to reality and stepped out of the guard room. The huge figure crashed into him, and his body was slammed against the door by the recoil.
The man staggered a few steps but continued running forward.
Fang Chengyin turned around and chased after him, the wind whistling past his ears like blades.
He used one hand to brace himself against the wall and scaled the barrier, but the man was agile and managed to slip past the corner and rush into the old alley across the street first.
Unlike the luxurious skyscrapers outside, the houses in the alley are crowded and cramped, and dimly lit.
The light-colored sneakers were covered in dirty water stains after only a few steps, and many stalls were knocked over.
After leaving a mess along the way, Fang Chengyin finally caught up with the man. To be precise, the man deliberately stopped and stood a few meters away with his back to him.
Fang Chengyin was stunned and stood frozen in place by just seeing his back.
That silhouette resembled a withered fir, yet it could withstand the lash of nature, its branches reaching up to the wild sky in the splendid summer when cherry blossoms were in full bloom.
Fang Chengyin gritted his teeth to calm himself down.
The man in the hoodie's profile was illuminated by the flickering red light—a crescent-shaped scar ran along his jawline.
Fang Chengyin ripped off his fisherman's hat, his bright eyes clouded with a heavy haze: "Dad?" The word burned the tip of his tongue.
The man hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran.
Fang Chengyin took a step, but was tripped by something as soon as he took it, causing him to stumble forward and feel a sharp pain throughout his body.
Just as I was about to get up, a sharp and eerie sound exploded in my ears.
"whee!"
"Hehe—hehe!"
Fang Chengyin withdrew his hand. The sewage on the ground had turned into a black, viscous substance at some point, and an unknown long hair fell down from the side.
Fang Chengyin's face turned pale instantly. He forced himself to look up and saw a young man, a young man whose body was entangled by several ghosts.
The ghosts had no distinct facial features; they perched on his shoulder, baring their fangs and laughing as they looked at him.
"Is this a more formal way to greet someone?" The man looked down and reached out his hand, as if casually passing by. "Need a hand?"
He is a human being!
When you're at your wit's end, nothing brings more comfort than encountering someone like yourself.
Fang Chengyin reached out his hand, and the moment their fingers touched, dark red, fine cherry blossom patterns appeared on the back of the man's neck.
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