As the college entrance exam got closer, her aunt often tried different ways to make her a tonic soup. But no matter how she fed her, she found that the child's chin became more and more pointed, and she became so thin that she could be blown away by a gust of wind.
The family was always worried that Lin Weixia would be affected by these things, but Gao Hang felt that her sister was fine. She went to school and came home as usual every day, and her condition was so normal that the family swallowed their words of concern.
In the evening, Lin Weixia returned home, ate dinner and went back to her room. As usual, she reviewed her books for a while, then washed up and went to bed.
It was late at night and Lin Weixia was lying in bed. She opened her eyes and saw darkness all around her. Occasionally, the neighbor's dog in the opposite building would bark.
She fished out her cell phone from under the pillow, found the black profile picture, and saw the note "Ban" on it, and her heart skipped a beat.
Start typing in the dialog box: You are now -
Press Enter to delete and re-edit: Asheng, I bought milk today.
Delete one word at a time with the Enter key, final edit: Sorry.
Then she clicked send and finally threw the phone aside and lay on the bed with her limbs spread out. The faint moonlight seeped in through the undrawn curtains and a tear fell from the corner of Lin Weixia's closed eyes.
Lin Weixia had not heard from Ban Sheng for a long time, and no one responded to the messages she sent.
In mid-May, a placement test was completed. After returning home, Lin Weixia washed her hair and sat at the desk, wiping her half-dried hair. Water droplets wet the back of her white skirt. She picked up her mobile phone to practice an English listening comprehension exercise, when the screen suddenly jumped and showed a call from an unfamiliar number.
My fingertips trembled and my heart tightened.
I had a feeling that it should be him, but I didn't dare to answer.
Lin Weixia reached out to wipe away the water drops that had dripped onto the screen, clicked the answer button, and spoke softly:
"Hello."
There was no response. There was total silence on the other end of the receiver, so quiet that you could hear each other's breathing. Then there was a "click" sound from the lighter's receiver, and it ignited.
"It's me." Ban Sheng's voice was low and slightly hoarse.
Lin Weixia's heart trembled, and she replied, "Yes, I know."
"Come out and meet me." Ban Sheng said slowly.
Lin Weixia seemed to hear him throw the lighter on the coffee table. There was an unstable sound of electricity coming from the receiver. He paused and chuckled:
"It seems like we've never had a serious date."
"good."
On Saturday night, Lin Weixia appeared at the entrance of the cinema carrying a brown paper bag. There were many people in the mall on weekends, and in addition to couples, there were also parents with children in the cinema.
Lin Weixia was wearing a white suspender skirt with her long hair draped over her shoulders. She had no makeup on, not even lipstick. She was dressed very simply.
The cinema hall was full of people. Lin Weixia was squeezed in the crowd and subconsciously looked for the boy. The phone made a "ding dong" message notification sound. She clicked it and saw:
left.
Lin Weixia looked up while holding the phone. Ban Sheng was wearing a black T-shirt, his broad shoulders leaning against the wall. He was wearing a black baseball cap, and the half of his jaw that was exposed had a cold and clear curve.
He stood in the smoking area, the cigarette between his fingertips burning like a streak of forbidden red, with ashes falling off.
Lin Weixia walked over, and Ban Sheng just threw the cigarette into the trash can. When he looked up, their eyes met.
It seems like we haven't seen each other for a long time.
There was a bright red wound on his brow bone that extended to his eyelid, and there was also a cut on his cheek. Ban Sheng still looked nonchalant, but seemed even more desolate.
His face was a sickly pale color, as if something was pulling him down, and his body was shrouded in a layer of gloomy black.
Passersby frequently turned back to look at this eye-catching boy, and were instantly attracted by something about him.
Ban Sheng didn't care at all. His eyes fell on Lin Weixia's face. He didn't say anything until he finally spoke:
"Let's go."
The two walked side by side to the ticket office. After Ban Sheng bought the ticket, he looked up and saw other girls holding popcorn and Coke in their arms, and they took the initiative to line up to buy them.
Lin Weixia followed behind him all the time. She noticed a slight wrinkle on his shoulder and clothes. She moved her slender white fingertips, wanting to reach out and smooth it out.
As a result, when a child running around in the theater was about to bump into her—
It was as if Ban Sheng had eyes behind him. He stretched out a long arm and grabbed her wrist directly, easily bringing her to him.
Lin Weixia leaned against his hard chest, the top of her head touching his chin from time to time, and Ban Sheng held her tightly in his arms.
After confirming that the person was fine, he immediately released the force on Lin Weixia's wrist. However, Lin Weixia felt a burning sensation on her hand where he had touched her, and the boy also unnoticedly distanced themselves from each other.
Lin Weixia's eyes suddenly felt sore.
After entering, Ban Sheng did not fall asleep this time. He leaned back in his chair and watched a movie with her seriously. However, Lin Weixia forgot what the movie was about, and the two followed the crowd out.
Couples kept walking out together, chatting and laughing—
"The movie just now was really good. You have to watch it with me again next time."
"Sure, we'll sit in this seat next time, but don't rub your snot on me."
Lin Weixia raised her eyes. The aisle of the theater was narrow. Ban Sheng was walking in front, his cold and tall shadow lengthened by the bright lights.
She stood in his shadow.
They both look like a couple.
But it’s not.
After leaving the theater, Lin Weixia glanced at the row of claw machines against the wall. Ban Sheng asked her:
"Want to play?"
"Yeah, I want to play."
Lin Weixia stood in front of the claw machine and picked up dozens of coins. Finally, she got a doll, which was a gray cat.
She originally planned to give it to Ban Sheng, but she was too embarrassed to give it to him, so she kept it in her arms.
The girl next to them in a pink dress was very envious and said slyly, "Brother and sister, you two are such a good match. The children you will have in the future will definitely be very good-looking."
Ban Sheng pulled the corner of his mouth, raised his hand and touched the little girl's head, and laughed softly:
"It's a pity that my brother and sister are not lovers."
Finally, Lin Weixia gave the cat doll to the little girl. The little girl took it, stomped on the floor happily, and ran downstairs.
The two took the elevator downstairs and finally passed by the market on the first floor. They walked around for a while. Lin Weixia looked at a butterfly hairpin a few more times, and Ban Sheng bought it for her.
Lin Weixia handed him the paper bag and said, "This is for you."
It was a blue origami shark she had folded, and Ban Sheng took it.
As they walked out of the shopping mall, the air conditioning disappeared and they were plunged into the real, stuffy environment. It seemed as if they woke up and the atmosphere between them cooled.
Those things that were deliberately not mentioned always stood like a thin line between the two of them.
The two of them came out today to revisit the places they had visited when they met before, so they went to Chen Ji Dumpling Restaurant on Minle East Road next.
That was the place where Lin Weixia had won the special prize in the school party and invited him to dinner.
They didn't take a taxi, they walked all the way there.
When we arrived at the dumpling restaurant, a dim yellow light bulb was hanging on a corner of the eaves. I looked up and saw that the blue shutter door was closed with a red note on it. The owner, who was probably a nostalgic person, wrote:
This store is for sale, thank you for your company along the way.
It’s closed.
I'm afraid we won't be able to have this meal.
It seems like they can't wrap things up properly.
Ban Sheng stood at the door and waited for a long time. He smoked one cigarette after another, leaving scattered red cigarette butts on the ground. Lin Weixia stood there trying to persuade him to leave, wanting to say forget it, but she opened her lips but no sound came out.
The night is up and down, with only neon lights flashing along the way.
A middle-aged man in a blue Polo work suit was about to go in for dinner. When he saw the store was closed, he didn't react for a moment and asked Ban Sheng standing next to him:
"Hey, why is the door closed? When will it open?"
Ban Sheng leaned against the blue rolling door. He took out a cigarette box from his trouser pocket, casually took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
He lowered his head and reached out to light the fire. The orange-red flames reflected his cold eyes. The flickering flames disappeared, white smoke came out from his thin lips, and his entire face fell into darkness. I couldn't see his expression clearly. I could only hear a low voice, hoarsely saying:
"I'm waiting too."
Finally, the two went to the park where Ban Sheng helped Lin Weixia celebrate her birthday. They stood there, looking at the river view across the white wire fence.
Lin Weixia had never seen Ban Sheng smoke so heavily before. The boy's back was arched and coughs kept coming out of his throat.
Ban Sheng raised his eyelids to look at her. The wound on his brow bone was blood red. He wanted to ask what Liang Jiashu meant to her, but was afraid of getting a bad answer. After a while, a difficult sentence rolled out of his throat:
"Let me ask you something, when is it true and when is it false?"
Ban Sheng didn't care that he was kept in the dark from beginning to end, didn't care that he was used as a pawn, and didn't care that Lin Weixia pushed him to the forefront in order to find out the truth.
He only cares about whether Lin Weixia is sincere to him.
The sound of the wind seemed to have stopped. Lin Weixia was silent for a long time and replied softly, "Half true, half false."
When Ban Sheng pursued Lin Weixia for the second time and asked her to think it over carefully, Lin Weixia's feelings were pure before that period of time, but she was also hesitant. She had to consider the feelings of her good friend and remind herself that she still had things to do.
It was Fang Mo who sent her a text message that night to tell her why no one wanted to take the swimming class. Something happened there, and it seemed to be related to Zheng Zhaoxing and his gang. Later, some people started to spread the rumor that the swimming pool was haunted, so it was closed.
The person in trouble was Liang Jiashu, who was also Ban Sheng's deskmate.
In order to find out everything, Lin Weixia personally agreed to a promise with Ban Sheng. It was not that she didn't feel moved during the process of getting along, but because of the fog in front of her, she kept wavering and struggling. But she did use Ban Sheng and broke the promise with her own hands.
Ban Sheng laughed, which seemed a little eerie in the night. He didn't seem to care much and pulled the corner of his mouth:
"Good."
"I'm going abroad." Ban Sheng looked at the river view opposite without looking at her expression.
Lin Weixia lowered her eyes, her fingers tugging at the corner of her skirt, her expression indifferent:
"Have a safe trip."
Lin Weixia lowered her head, and Ban Sheng suddenly turned around. His tall and straight figure loomed over her, and an aggressive aura suddenly approached. A ruffian face pressed down and kissed her lips without saying a word.
The choking smell of cigarettes passed through her lips and teeth, astringent and bitter. Lin Weixia frowned, and her lips were domineeringly touched by him, and their breaths were entangled together.
The hand with blue veins was placed on the snow-white neck, and Ban Sheng's tiger's mouth was stuck on her neck. Lin Weixia was forced to tilt her head back. If she wanted to breathe, she could only kiss him back.
Ban Sheng exuded a chilly aura, a dark aura enveloped her, their dark pupils only looked at each other, and the butterfly finally landed on the Spring Tower.
They kissed for three minutes.
It seems like the world is ending.
So kiss your lover until the end of time.
When they were entangled, Ban Sheng bit her lips hard, blood immediately filled her lips and teeth, and the tip of his tongue tasted like rust. When they separated, Ban Sheng panted and buried his face in her neck.
There was a resident singer on the side of the road singing a song with deep emotion, and passers-by frequently stopped to watch. The boy's voice came over clearly and with deep emotion.
The singer sang "Thinking of You Day and Night". That night, they were playing a card drawing game on the beach. They asked Ban Sheng what they would do if Lin Weixia left one day. He sang this song to express his love.
The singer's tone had a hint of sadness as he sang:
A sudden dream
It's the bubbles you rolled up when you left
And now—
Every time the singer sings: I will move forward regardless of my own safety
Ban Sheng raised his face, looked at her, and said in a low voice:
"I will never walk towards you again without hesitation."
The singer continued to sing affectionately: I will miss you day and night
His voice was extremely hoarse, and his tone was resolute when he spoke harshly. He stared at Lin Weixia and said:
"I will forget you."
"Okay." Lin Weixia replied.
Ban Sheng loosened his hand on her neck, and the cold breath disappeared. When he left, his eyes were red, and he looked at Lin Weixia and said the last words:
"Lin Weixia, you are a heartless person."
Ban Sheng left with his back to Lin Weixia and walked forward, still holding the blue origami shark in his hand. Lights flickered along the way, and the lush green trees looked a little dark in the night. The still white statues were all blurred.
Only him in my eyes.
He was getting farther and farther away, and his back seemed more and more real. Soon, the black figure disappeared around the corner.
Never seen again.
The wind started to blow, and dust kept flying into my eyes. Leaves were blown up in the air and then slowly fell to the ground. Lin Weixia's strength was drained out of her body. She squatted down, hugged her knees, and kept crying, crying until her internal organs were in turmoil.
Lin Weixia thought of the lonely and desolate figure of the young man just now, and her heart ached and it was difficult for her to move. What did her favorite song "Mountains and Seas" say? It seemed to be fulfilled in the current scene -
I listened to the boy's voice.
In the past when there was still a future,
Longing for a happy ending.
He understands, he understands, I can't give it to you.
So he turned and walked towards the sea.
Lin Weixia recalled the New Year on Yinye Mountain, when the boy asked with expectation if she could accompany him to find his mother, and she agreed. The two made many promises, saying that they would get couple bone nails together after the college entrance examination, and go to Beijing to see the snow together after the college entrance examination. In the future, they would raise a white puppy together and spend the next New Year together.
She failed to fulfill any of his wishes.
I have nothing to give you, but I wish you happiness, health and peace. I hope you will have a smooth and free life in the future, and never meet someone like me again.