Chapter 105: Familiarity
The tall and straight poplar trees along the city street flashed past. The cold, white sunlight shone through the withered yellow leaves, casting mottled shadows, as if a hazy, illusory dream was before his eyes, making it hard to see clearly.
The bus in the bustling city center was constantly stopping and starting, the jerky, stagnant feeling making one want to vomit.
Su Yu silently watched the interaction between Xia Qian Ge and Lin Siyi in the front seat. The cheerful atmosphere of their conversation was filled with the emotion of a long-awaited reunion. He looked at Xia Qian Ge, with her exquisite, mature makeup, a bright smile on her face. Her hair, which was falling by her ear, was constantly swaying in the wind that was blowing through the gap in the curtains. A sense of annoyance and worry, of unknown origin, filled his chest.
This feeling was familiar. In the past, Lin Siyi would often discover Su Yu secretly looking at Xia Qian Ge and would jokingly ask him if he had a crush on her. At that time, Su Yu had strongly denied such a guess, but the feeling of being called out was like a small snake with a poisonous tongue wrapped around his heart, making him feel helpless and annoyed.
He superimposed the current Xia Qian Ge with the one from his previous life, and he couldn’t see a single flaw.
He had forgotten when Xia Qian Ge had started to become mature, independent, and capable… perhaps it was from the first time she had stood in a courtroom and won her first case. She had put on a mature makeup, hiding the natural softness and fragility in her features. He suddenly realized that his own space was being squeezed bit by bit, until there was no room to retreat.
“Are you… okay? Motion sickness?”
Zhang Heng, Lin Siyi’s boyfriend, sat next to Su Yu. He put a box of motion sickness pills in front of Su Yu and asked about his condition with concern.
“Oh, I’m fine. I’m probably just a little carsick.”
Su Yu put the motion sickness pills in his mouth and forced a smile.
“You… and that girl named Xia Qian Ge…” Zhang Heng looked at Xia Qian Ge, who was chatting and laughing with Lin Siyi in the front seat, a hint of a boyish joke in his eyes. “You’ve been looking at her the whole time.”
Zhang Heng leaned back and lowered his voice. “Siyi probably wants to set you two up this time, but she’s not sure what you think and is afraid of making a mistake, so she told me not to say anything. But from what I can see now…”
“Haha…”
Su Yu shook his head and laughed noncommittally.
…
The amusement park in late autumn was as deserted as the withered yellow leaves on the roadside. They took a bus through the bustling city center and arrived at the amusement park, which had just started operating in Qingchuan in recent years. At first glance, Su Yu was surprised by the spectacular scale of the amusement park. He had never seen such a magnificent amusement park in his hometown. Later, when he had the ability to go, he no longer had the same mindset.
Even from behind the wall, he could see the steel tracks of the roller coaster reaching into the clouds. A roller coaster, flashing past at high speed, brought a wave of screams from above…
“We’re going to buy tickets. You guys can wait here.”
Lin Siyi eagerly ran towards the ticket office with Zhang Heng, their heads close together, discussing something.
“Is the bag still okay?”
Xia Qian Ge broke the silence first. She tilted her head and smiled brightly, pointing at the waist bag she had given him as a birthday gift, winking playfully.
“It looks pretty good. But… it must be expensive, right?”
Su Yu took off the bag from his waist. He knew that with Xia Qian Ge’s financial situation in college, it was probably very difficult to afford such a thing.
“Haha, the mall is having a sale these few days. Did you forget I work part-time at the mall?” Xia Qian Ge laughed, her tone natural. “I was lucky. I asked a colleague for a few receipts for the lottery, and I got a discount coupon. This bag is only about two days’ salary.”
“Then I’ll have to prepare well for your birthday next time.” Su Yu said politely.
“I’ll be looking forward to it… your birthday gift.”
Xia Qian Ge nodded very seriously and looked at the amusement park. Her dark pupils were filled with the roller coaster speeding across the sky, the people on it huddled together, screaming deafeningly, parents and children, boys and girls…
“So this is what it’s like. It’s just like I imagined. It’s so lively… there are screams and laughter everywhere, and the roller coaster tracks are taller than the buildings. Oh, right, and there are hydrogen balloons with various anime characters on them…”
She had never been to an amusement park with her parents, nor had she gone on a field trip with her classmates on a school bus. The book had described all the details so vividly that she was not unfamiliar with anything in the amusement park—the merry-go-round, the roller coaster, the animal show… she knew them all by heart, as if… she had really been there.
She had thought that when she grew up, she would definitely go to an amusement park once to see if what the book said was true. But the book had added a fatal condition at the end.
The book said, an amusement park… should be visited with the person you love. She remembered stroking those few words and reading them silently for a long time. But in the past, she had still been sentenced to death by this sentence…
But now she was inexplicably moved, so much so that her blood began to boil, stimulating a strong and subtle emotion. The craving in her heart was like a hot flame, melting the layers of eternal snow on her heart. Her hands and feet were ice-cold, yet she also felt the scorching heat of a sea of fire.
The boy was right beside her… the distance between them was only a few short steps. She wanted to hold him in her arms at this moment, to touch his cheek, to feel his thick, smooth hair with her fingers, to confirm whether this was just a dream as usual, and that after waking up, there would only be an endless emptiness, tightly choking her throat, making it impossible to breathe.
Xia Qian Ge suddenly turned her head, the wetness in the corners of her eyes showing her true emotions at this moment. The love and longing in her eyes were as if submerged in the deep sea, leaving only her dark pupils looking at Su Yu.
She showed a bright smile again, a few strands of hair casting a shadow on her pale neck, like a black feather gently falling on a pure white snowflake.
“Haha, I’m so embarrassing. I almost cried.”
“There will be other chances in the future…”
Su Yu crumpled the tissue in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket, fighting back the urge to wipe the girl’s tears. Instead, he took out a new pack and handed it to Xia Qian Ge. “Everything will get better.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Xia Qian Ge took the tissue and said thank you softly.
“We’ve got the tickets. Let’s go. It’s still early.”
Lin Siyi and the others rushed over with the tickets. She keenly noticed the faint pink at the corners of Xia Qian Ge’s eyes and frowned. “Why are your eyes red? Did you cry?”
She looked at Su Yu with suspicion and narrowed her eyes. “Did you do something, Su Yu?”
Xia Qian Ge smiled and explained, “No, the wind just blew some sand into my eyes.”
“Oh, then I misunderstood you, Su Yu. Let’s go. The roller coaster here looks so exciting. I want to ride it first.”
Lin Siyi pulled Xia Qian Ge and ran towards the entrance with great energy.
Xia Qian Ge asked Lin Siyi to wait for a moment, turned around, and handed the tissue back to Su Yu, saying thank you softly. Then, the fragrance of gardenias turned into wind and gently drifted away in front of him.
