The winter vacation is coming soon, and it’s New Year again in the blink of an eye.
On New Year's Eve, my aunt planned to make dumplings in the afternoon. She was about to go out to buy flour, meat fillings, etc., when Lin Weixia suddenly remembered something and said, "Aunt, Gao Hang and I will go."
"Sure, just buy whatever you want to eat on the way." Aunt took out a wad of money from her wallet.
Gao Hang followed Lin Weixia out of the door reluctantly. The streets were crowded with people, big red lanterns were hung high, the weather was clear, and the flower beds on the streets were full of tender yellow flowers.
The two siblings came to the vegetable market. Gao Hang felt that the various ingredients in his hands were too heavy and complained: "Sister, in previous years, our family only ate dumplings stuffed with pork. Why are you buying beef and pork now? I find that you have changed. Why are you trying so many different things?"
Lin Weixia was holding a round white radish in her hand. She glanced at him when she heard what he said. Gao Hang shrank his neck in fear and smiled apologetically: "Sister, you can buy whatever you want."
After shopping, the family gathered around the table to make dumplings, while the uncle was in charge of cooking the New Year's Eve dinner. Night fell unknowingly, and before dinner, Lin Weixia received a message from Ban Sheng.
Ban: [Come out in a while? ]
Lin Weixia replied: [Okay, wait until I finish my meal.]
After the New Year's Eve dinner, the aunt gave each of the two children a big red envelope. Gao Hang noticed that his sister's red envelope was thicker than last year's, and he immediately expressed his dissatisfaction:
"Mom, you can't be so partial!"
My aunt immediately gave him two chestnuts on the head and said impatiently, "How dare you say that! You spend all day either buying shoes or gaming equipment. Why don't you stop studying and go work in a computer parts factory?"
"Your sister didn't buy any new clothes for the New Year this year. She's going to college soon, so she has to buy something for herself."
Lin Weixia laughed when she saw Gao Hang's frustrated look. He really liked to be beaten on New Year's Eve. After handing out the red envelopes, according to convention, she had to accompany her aunt to watch the Spring Festival Gala before going out to play.
Halfway through watching the Spring Festival Gala, Lin Weixia's phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw Ban Sheng asking her:
[Are you done yet?]
Ban: [I'm downstairs in your house. ]
Lin Weixia's eyelashes twitched and she glanced at her aunt, who leaned back on the sofa, yawned, and began typing a reply.
Xia: [It’s almost time. After watching this skit, my aunt will probably go to bed. ]
She chatted with her classmates casually: [Is your family lively during the New Year? There are so many people at the neighbor's house next door, and the children are stomping on the floor.]
After a long while, Ban Sheng finally replied, his mood was low: [It's OK, there are quite a lot of people. But they don't want to see me. ]
Her fingertips paused, and Lin Weixia didn't know what to reply, so she sent an emoticon of a rabbit holding a rabbit and pinching its face.
After the skit ended, my aunt yawned all the way back to her room to rest. Lin Weixia breathed a sigh of relief, quickly went to the kitchen to get out an insulated box, filled it with food, and put it in the microwave to heat it up.
The waiting process was a bit impatient because Ban Sheng had been waiting downstairs for an hour and had not urged her.
The microwave oven made a "ding" sound, and Lin Weixia took out the lunch box and put it into the bag. She was busy when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure reflected on the clean kitchen sink.
"hey-hey"
Lin Weixia's heart choked. She turned around and saw Gao Hang's face so close to her. She was startled and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Sister, do you want to set off firecrackers?"
Lin Weixia ignored him and walked out the door carrying the green cloth bag. When she passed Gao Hang, she said calmly, "I stopped playing this when I was five."
Gao Hang said he felt humiliated.
When Lin Weixia was carrying the thermos box downstairs, she saw Ban Sheng standing there smoking with one hand. He leaned against the wall with his head tilted back, and wisps of white smoke slowly floated up from his thin lips. The flickering light of the fire outlined a careless and desolate face.
The downward feeling in him returned.
After a while, Ban Sheng left the wall and stood by the road waiting for someone.
Lin Weixia noticed Ban Sheng's depressed mood and wanted to go over to cheer him up. She put the lunch box aside, tiptoed over and stood behind him, standing on tiptoe, covering his voice with one hand, and deliberately lowered her voice:
“Guess who I am?”
Ban Sheng raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice: "Weiwei?"
Lin Weixia looked distant, unconsciously loosened her hand, and turned to leave. A hand grabbed her arm, and Ban Sheng called out:
"Xia Xia, I'm just kidding."
Lin Weixia pulled back a sound and was about to talk nicely, but unexpectedly Ban Sheng grabbed her wrist and held it hard, staring at her. She lost her balance and took two steps back.
People were pressed against the wall.
Ban Sheng's eyes were burning, and Lin Weixia's face became hot. She thought he was going to do something, so she turned her face away. An aggressive aura came over her, and a bad face came down.
Her eyelashes fluttered.
Unexpectedly, Ban Sheng's face fell on her shoulder. He seemed very tired, and his face gently rubbed the soft white flesh of her neck. Lin Weixia felt itchy and wanted to avoid it.
"Let me hold you for a while." Ban Sheng's voice was low.
Lin Weixia immediately stopped moving, raised her hand and gently touched the back of his neck, with a soothing meaning. Ban Sheng buried his head in her shoulder, snorted and laughed, his voice tender:
"I just guessed it was you."
"Why?" Lin Weixia asked.
Ban Sheng chuckled and didn't answer. He inhaled the sweet peach scent emanating from her body, and his irritable mood was calmed down.
Why did Ban Sheng know it was Lin Weixia when she covered his eyes just now? Because only Lin Weixia would raise her hand to touch the back of his neck near his short hair.
He liked her touching him there the most.
The two of them were affectionate for a while before Ban Sheng let her go. He called a car.
"good."
On the other side, in the hospital, Ning Chao stood at the vent of the corridor and smoked two cigarettes, then washed his hands and walked in. As soon as the door opened, the queen's dissatisfied voice came:
"It takes you so long to go out and smoke a cigarette. It makes me want to smoke too."
Liu Sijia was wearing the smallest hospital gown, had her hair tied into a bun, had a plain face, and exuded a much less aggressive aura.
Ning Chao sneered, walked up to her, leaned over, picked up the folding table and put it next to her bed, and handed her the lunch box:
"Miss, my mother brought you some food. I'll go downstairs and get it for you."
"Wow, I'm in for a treat."
Liu Sijia took two chopsticks and happily opened the lunch box. She sniffed and started eating with the chopsticks. Ning Chao watched her and handed her a tissue after she finished most of the food. He said in a surprised tone:
"Sure, you're pretty strong today."
The ward was extremely quiet. Ning Chao turned on the TV and soon after he watched it, the phone rang. Although Ning Chao stood by the window with his back to her, the phone rang continuously. It should be Ning's mother calling him to go home.
After he finished the call and returned to his room, Liu Sijia pretended to yawn several times, turned off the tablet, and talked to Ning Chao with sleepy eyes:
"I'm tired, please go away."
"OK."
The boy put his hands in his jacket pockets, lowered his dark eyebrows and was about to go out, his hand just resting on the door handle.
Her heart tightened, and Liu Sijia called out to him:
"Hey, Happy New Year."
Ning Chao was stunned for a few seconds, touched his head uncomfortably, and whispered:
"Yeah, you too."
After making sure Ning Chao had left, Liu Sijia couldn't help but feel nauseous. She rushed into the bathroom, held the toilet, and dug her throat with ease. The food she had just chewed came out in a rush, and she vomited violently, crying physiological tears.
After vomiting, Liu Sijia walked out to the window and looked downstairs. She saw Ning Chao holding a cigarette in one hand from afar. When he saw a Coke can on the way, he kicked it into the trash can with one accurate kick.
"Childish." Liu Sijia complained in a low voice.
Although she was complaining, Liu Sijia stood at the window for a long time, looking down until Ning Chao's back disappeared around the corner of a tree.
The car drove along the Nanjiang Bridge and Qingzhou Bay. Lin Weixia looked out of the car window and saw the LED on the tallest building of Pingye Building was lighting up the Happy New Year, and the area below was filled with people waiting for the countdown to the New Year.
The two walked all the way to the halfway point of Yinye Mountain, and Ban Sheng picked a vacant space to stop.
Lin Weixia stood at the foot of the mountain, with a panoramic view of the prosperity of the entire city and the boundless sea not far away. The mountain breeze blew, and her neck couldn't help but shrink.
The two of them sat side by side on the ground, with the mountain breeze blowing constantly. Ban Sheng took off his windbreaker and wrapped him up, then took out a cup of Hong Kong-style Ovaltine that he had just bought from the convenience store.
The Ovaltine was still hot in her hand. Lin Weixia took a sip and felt her internal organs warm.
Lin Weixia remembered the green insulated box next to her. She opened the lid and asked softly, "Would you like to try some of the dumplings I made at home?"
A hand with clear wrist bones was placed on her wrist, and Ban Sheng smiled lazily with his face tilted to the side:
"Okay, feed me."
Lin Weixia took a pair of chopsticks and reached for the round dumplings in the lunch box, but she couldn't pick them up no matter how hard she tried. A pair of hands naturally covered the back of her hands. He lowered his neck, and Ban Sheng ate a dumpling. He chewed it slowly and raised his eyebrows:
"Beef filling?"
"Well, we happened to have this kind of filling at home." Lin Weixia replied.
Lin Weixia didn't know whether Ban Sheng had New Year's Eve dinner at home.
But he ate up all the dumplings she had secretly brought from home.
Lin Weixia stayed for half an hour and only felt the cool breeze. She didn't know why Ban Sheng brought her here, so she asked:
"Why did you bring me here?"
Ban Sheng lowered his head and kept looking at his phone. Lin Weixia saw that the screen of the phone in his hand was exposed, and a dark star map appeared with coordinates constantly appearing.
"You'll know in a moment." Ban Sheng replied.
Ban Sheng stood up for a while and then sat down again. Lin Weixia handed him the Ovaltine in her hand and asked, "Are you thirsty?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Weixia remembered something and retracted her hand holding the hot drink. Unexpectedly, Ban Sheng stretched out his long arm and snatched the hot drink from her hand for himself.
Ben Sheng held the cup of hot drink in his hand, and the Ovaltine turned a circle at the base of his thumb. He pointed directly at the rim of the cup with a faint lipstick mark, and his thin lips naturally touched it.
She had just drunk it.
In an instant, Lin Weixia's ears turned red and burned badly. She cried out, "Ah—"
But it was no use, Ban Sheng had already drunk the hot drink, and his Adam's apple slowly slid up and down.
He seemed to do nothing, yet he did everything.
The ambiguous atmosphere is in the mountain breeze, in the breath, and in the look in each other's eyes.
A "pop" startled the two people who were looking at each other. Ban Sheng looked away first. He looked at the sky and spoke slowly:
"Look."
Lin Weixia turned her head at the right time and was instantly stunned by the beautiful scenery in front of her. The sky was full of stars, and one red rose nebula after another was right in front of her. The stars were shining, as if they were just around the corner.
It was a rare scene, but he let her encounter it.
"One wish has come true." Ban Sheng said, looking up.
"What?" Lin Weixia asked.
"Celebrate the New Year with you."
Ban Sheng tilted his head to look at her, his dark eyes focused and bright. Lin Weixia's heart shrank and she was immersed in his eyes.
At this moment I just wish time could slow down.
"Bang", "Bang", "Bang" the sound of fireworks ignited in the distance. In an instant, fireworks rose into the sky. The new year has arrived.
"Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year."
The two said in unison and smiled at each other. Ban Sheng pointed to the sky not far away and said, "Come on, how about fulfilling one of each other's wishes in the New Year?"
"Okay, you speak first." Lin Weixia looked at him.
Ban Sheng stared at the sky not far away in a daze, his voice faded, and he smiled self-deprecatingly: "I don't think I have ever told you about my family."
"My mother left when I was very young. She was a very good dancer, but she probably got tired of her married life and decided to pursue her dream. Anyway, she left very suddenly, leaving me behind."
Lin Weixia stretched out her hand and placed it on the back of his hand, feeling the warmth coming from it. She asked in a gentle voice, "Where is your mother now?"
"I don't know. I checked, but there's no news. Maybe she went to the UK or the US? Or maybe she's in China, Beijing, or Hong Kong." Ban Sheng turned to look at Lin Weixia. For the first time, his eyes revealed a lonely look. He paused and said, "Can you accompany me to find her in the future?"
Lin Weixia was stunned and nodded: "Okay."
Ban Sheng raised his lips and smiled, as if to break the sentimental atmosphere. He pinched her fingers and returned to his previous carefree look: "What about you? What's your wish?"
"After the college entrance examination, I want to get a bone screw inserted in my clavicle." Lin Weixia said seriously.
Ban Sheng raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect his girl to be so cool. He chuckled, "Why, are you afraid of the pain and want to pull me along?"
"No, I want to get bone nails." Lin Weixia looked at him and paused, "It's for couples,"
Their eyes met, and Ban Sheng was stunned for a moment, then he regained his composure and smiled:
"Oh, with great pleasure."