Chapter 4: Dream
She had a ridiculous dream yesterday. When she woke up, she even found herself funny.
Just as he had always said that she would never grow up, like a child. She had retorted with a defiant look at that time, but now she had resigned herself to her fate. She thought that only children would always have those boundless dreams.
The background of the dream was a boundless black, and the light was shining down from above, creating a conical outline.
That was the content that she could not describe in detail after she had woken up, but she was always forced to recall. Those scars were like the lines that had been drawn on a white sheet of paper with an oil pastel. The hard shackles were imprisoning his hands and feet. The light was a warm yellow, and it had dyed the red wounds and the cold white skin with the texture of an oil painting.
He had raised his head and had looked at him. His long and dark black eyelashes were trembling slightly, and his breathing was like a gentle breeze in a clear sky. His dark pupils were asking her for help…
At that moment, her heart had twitched violently a few times. She had tried her best to reach out and hold on to him. But in the end, she was just a speechless bystander. Her selfishness had easily shattered the dream, and then she had woken up.
Her pajamas were wet and sticky on her back, and her dark black, shoulder-length long hair was as if it had been soaked in water. She had woken up silently and had opened her eyes. She had seen the ceiling, and the black and white were overlapping, and they had turned into a gray.
She had closed her eyes, but she was no longer sleepy.
“Mu Qing, is your alarm ringing?”
Her roommate had shouted with some annoyance and had then turned over and had covered her ears with the blanket.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You can go back to sleep. I’m up.”
He Mu Qing was suddenly awakened from her daze. She climbed out of bed and went down with her phone, which was ringing. She hid in the bathroom, which was soundproof, and only then did she answer the phone.
Mother He was a restless person. She thought that even a little bit of free time was a crime. It was even more so after He Mu Qing had left. The square dancing that had been popular in the small county recently could not dispel her enthusiasm. It was not just her. She felt that the people of the He family should all inherit this excellent spirit.
“Daughter, did I disturb you?”, Mother He asked in a low and soft voice on the other end of the phone.
After so many years of fighting, He Mu Qing had long since been familiar with Mother He’s tricks. She rubbed her stiff cheeks and quickly said with a fawning smile, “Mom, what are you talking about? I’ve been up for a long time. I’m studying.”
“You’re up? That’s good.” Mother He’s voice was even more filled with a smile, and she was again concerned about her daughter’s health. “Don’t just think about studying all day. You’re also tired from your internship at the hospital every day. It’s good to go out for a walk on the weekends and get some exercise. Sharpening the axe does not delay the work of cutting wood.”
“I know. I’ve even made plans to watch a movie with my roommate today. Don’t you know who your daughter is? I’ve been the king of the children wherever I’ve gone since I was a child. The courtyard is full of your daughter’s little followers.”
“Look at you. I’m telling you, don’t just bully people outside. Not everyone is as good-tempered as Xiao Yu…”
Mother He suddenly stopped. She coughed twice and swallowed her words. “Um, your dad is going on a business trip to Jiangnan in a few days. He’ll make you some of your favorite locust flower cakes and bring them to you.”
It was as if her thoughts had been interrupted. He Mu Qing looked up in a daze, her eyes blank. It was a long time before she said “ah” and agreed. Her fingers were on her phone, and her fingertips were white.
“Okay… okay.”
She had agreed a few more times, and her whole person was in a daze. She had remembered that ridiculous dream again.
“That’s it then. I’ll hang up now.”
The phone had beeped twice and had returned to the desktop from the call interface. It was a photo of the two of them. The sunset was brilliant, and the orange-yellow sunset was filling the screen. The girl was leaning on the boy’s shoulder, and her smile was bright and brilliant, and it was as beautiful as a dream.
She scooped up a handful of cold water and poured it on her face, and it had drowned the sourness in her eyes.
…
The spring rain was continuous, and it was falling in strands. It had gathered into raindrops and was hitting the glass with a pattering sound. The cold of the end of winter was seeping into the room through the crack in the window, and it was covered by the noisy and chaotic sound of people.
The air conditioner in the fast food restaurant was a little old, and the curtain was always being pushed open by the flow of people coming in and out. The cold wind was rushing in, and the room was cold and gloomy.
Su Yu took two pieces of paper, and the rough paper had wiped away the greasy and fishy smell on his lips. He was looking at the outside with a blank expression, and he felt that everything was familiar. It was as if it were a movie that had been shot on location. He knew everything here very well, as if he were revisiting an old place.
This street was a relatively famous old street in Jiangnan. Everything was old, as if all the old and dusty things had been swept here, and it could not attract many young people.
Nearby was a very large flower and bird market, and next to it was a new university town that was under construction. The few fast food restaurants were filled with dark-skinned and rough-skinned workers, who were wearing work clothes that were covered in dust. The bowls were filled with heavy and salty food, and the greasy smoke was pungent.
Later, something had happened that had caused the construction to be incomplete. The new university town had been abandoned. There was still only the long-standing Jiangnan University, which was sitting alone in the old community, and it had not had much to do with the high-speed development of Jiangnan.
Su Yu had gotten out of the crowded fast food restaurant. The lingering and continuous rain was falling on him, and his clothes were slightly wet, and a dark color was seeping out. His thick and smooth black hair was wet and was drooping, and his whole person was so gloomy that it made people instinctively not want to get close.
An unpaved concrete road was extending to the end of his vision. The road was bumpy and was full of shoe prints that had been stepped on when the concrete was not yet dry. When he looked further, a few tall and majestic trees were blocking his vision, and the tender buds of the branches were faintly visible, and a few gray old buildings were scattered.
He had frowned and had recalled the way he had come. His memory was fumbling in the gray and dark. He had turned a corner of an alley and had inadvertently looked up and had seen a familiar sign. It was a local chain of a beverage shop in Jiangnan. The blurry route was instantly cleared in his mind, and he had found a way to the past from the complex and intricate lines.
Su Yu had approached the beverage shop. He had stopped when he had passed the entrance, and he had looked into the shop with some awkwardness. A lot of young men and women were gathered around the table, and the sound of friends laughing and joking was constant.
He had hesitated for a while, and he had pinched his fingertips to refresh himself. He had walked into the shop.
The clerk had politely asked him, “Hello, what would you like to order?”
He had touched his pocket and had hesitated for a few seconds before he had said, “A mango pudding, thank you.”
“Okay. Please pay here.”
The clerk had raised the scanner and had looked at Su Yu. But the phone in his pocket had long since run out of battery. His eyes had been in a panic for a while. He had looked down and had immediately taken out a few wrinkled bills from his pocket. He had folded the corners and had then handed them to the other party.
The gazes on him were a little strange. The lights in the shop were bright, and they had illuminated the cloudy emotion in his eyes. The surroundings were as if they were out of place with him. Every interaction with people had made him feel tired.
Since when had he become like this? It was not that he had not tried to cheer up, but he had always been powerless. He was like a marionette with its strings cut, and for a moment, he could not find the feeling of walking for the first time.
“Thank you.”
Su Yu had taken the mango pudding that the clerk had handed him. He had held the thing in his arms and had walked into the swaying and uncertain curtain of rain.
