Jiang Qiaoxi once thought that he had been reborn, but when he was alone in his hotel room in Beijing, he had nothing to do and no interest except leaning on the sofa and reading the math handouts he brought with him.
If a person's seeing, hearing, thinking and feeling for seventeen years from birth to growth are completely guided and forced by the outside world, and are shaped step by step perfectly, then what can he rely on to distinguish whether he does something out of inertia or it is truly his own will
For example, mathematics.
Whenever Jiang Qiaoxi felt this kind of confusion, he would put the book in his hand aside and smoke a cigarette. He communicated with his cousin who was far away in Hong Kong. His cousin was a good elder who knew his past and his situation and always tried to sort out these complicated thoughts for him. Sometimes he called Lin Yingtao, a girl who always seemed to make Jiang Qiaoxi feel more "real" in life - something that Jiang Qiaoxi often forgot. This seemed to be a congenital defect. It was difficult for him to control himself. When the "reality" passed, he could be easily activated and awakened by her.
Smoking is not allowed in the hotel room, so Jiang Qiaoxi began to eat the snacks that Lin Yingtao had packed for him yesterday.
"Did she go to her aunt's house?" said my cousin.
Jiang Qiaoxi opened the refrigerator to get some water to drink. He roughly described what happened last night and also mentioned the house that Aunt Lin Yingtao bought.
My cousin laughed and said, "The average house price in Hong Kong now is 50,000 Hong Kong dollars. Beijing is the capital of a great country, so 10,000 is not a big loss."
Jiang Qiaoxi gulped down the water. He planned to tell Lin Yingtao this when he accompanied her to Wangfujing in the afternoon.
My cousin asked, "What date are you coming to Hong Kong?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "It has not been decided yet."
My cousin said, "You still want to... take her to Berkeley?"
Jiang Qiaoxi didn't say anything. My cousin said, Qiaoxi, girls are smart and spiritual creatures, they will understand what you are thinking: "If she hasn't responded actively, it may mean-"
"I'll ask her directly this afternoon." Jiang Qiaoxi said simply.
The cousin on the other end said "hmm", probably because he understood the stubborn temper of this genius cousin who was more than ten years younger than him.
"Qiaoxi, you told me last time," he thought for a moment, "that this little Miss Lin is very homesick?"
"Um."
"I still want to advise you," said my cousin, "even if she agrees, don't take her."
"Why?"
"Even people who don't miss home will miss it when they go to America," my cousin said. "You'll understand it yourself when you go there."
Geng Xiaoqing was thirteen or fourteen years old, an age full of fantasy and imagination. She heard so many fun and thrilling stories from Lin Qile. The protagonists of these stories were several boys. She didn't know these boys, but she couldn't help but fantasize about playing with them for many days and nights. She had never experienced such a life, like the adventures in Japanese comics. Of course, there are some romantic elements in these stories, such as Geng Xiaoqing's love for Mitsui Shou since childhood, and Yu Qiao can sing "Until the End of the World", such as they have never met, but Yu Qiao told Lin Yingtao early that he would marry a wife with the surname Geng or Du in the future.
Geng Xiaoqing once thought that her destined meeting with Yu Qiao would be an unforgettable moment in her life. She stood beside Lin Qile and looked up at him. Geng Xiaoqing had seen Yu Qiao in photos of the city's high school basketball league a long time ago. She knew what he looked like, but he had never had the chance to meet her.
But a minute had passed. Yu Qiao looked up, looking impatient. Lin Qile was still happily telling Geng Xiaoqing that there was an Olympic Beach Volleyball Experience Center in Chaoyang Park, which had just opened in the past few days. She asked Geng Xiaoqing if she wanted to go with him: "What are you going to do next at No. 2 Middle School?"
Cai Fangyuan said: "Lin Yingtao, do you know how far Chaoyang Park is?"
Lin Qile turned around and said, "I'm here now!"
Geng Xiaoqing saw that Yu Qiao still had an impatient look in his eyes, but at this moment he turned his back to them, and she couldn't help but smile.
There is also an outdoor volleyball court inside Beihang University. Dushan went to the 15th class team to give his girlfriend some water, and when he came back he said, "Cherry, go in and play. I asked someone and they said they can play!"
"The lab also has a regular volleyball court..." Lin Qile said gloomily.
Cai Fangyuan said: "Just imagine if there was sand, it would be over!"
Lin Qile introduced Geng Xiaoqing to Du Shang and Cai Fangyuan, saying that she was her junior high school classmate and desk mate at Qunshan No. 1 Middle School: "I chatted with you on QQ!" Then she turned around and found that Yu Qiao had disappeared.
Duchamp said: "He must have gone to visit the museum. He wants to apply to Beihang University."
Qin Yeyun trotted out of the Beihang Museum, took the juice from Lin Qile's hand and drank it. "There are all iron planes, fighter planes, fighter jets, helicopters..." Qin Yeyun complained with a bored look on his face, and then looked at Geng Xiaoqing, "Who are you?"
Lin Qile quickly introduced it again.
Qin Yeyun was very surprised when he heard that Geng Xiaoqing used to be a student at Qunshan No. 1 Middle School, because Geng Xiaoqing looked very fashionable.
Unlike the one next to her. Qin Yeyun turned her head and glanced at Lin Yingtao, and suddenly she noticed something strange.
Lin Yingtao didn't tie her hair up today. Her long black straight hair was neatly tied behind her ears. Her bangs were curled with something and hung loosely on her eyelashes. She also wore a skirt, a short plaid skirt that didn't cover her knees. She looked like a little lady, a typical student girl. But Lin Yingtao was too naughty. Her expression was not quiet for a minute. Wearing this skirt made her look even more obvious.
Qin Yeyun hooked his hand around Lin Yingtao's neck and pulled out the gem cherry hidden in the collar of her shirt. "Ah..." She suddenly sighed and shook her head, wasting a gift from heaven.
Geng Xiaoqing discovered that the fastest way to get along with the people in Experimental High School was to talk to them about Lin Yingtao's past when she was in junior high school in the mountains.
"Have you ever been to the construction site in the mountains?" Du Shang sat down in front of her and asked curiously, "Did you go there when you were in junior high school?"
Geng Xiaoqing nodded: "Yingtao took me there." She noticed Yu Qiao coming from the opposite side of the volleyball court, and she raised her voice, "The gate was demolished at that time, and it felt empty. Yingtao told me that the street opposite your Workers' Club and the big fountain as soon as you enter the gate is called 'Yu Qiao Street'!"
"What's it called?" Du Shang heard this and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Yu Qiaoer Street?"
Yu Qiao heard someone calling his name and didn't understand what Cai Fangyuan and Du Shang were laughing at. He walked closer and heard Lin Yingtao's classmate from another school say, "There is not only 'Yu Qiao Street' at the Qunshan construction site, but also 'Du Shang Street' and 'Cai Fangyuan Street'."
Cai Fangyuan was drinking Coke nearby, originally with a mocking look on his face, probably because he thought Lin Yingtao was too stupid and childish, and Yu Qiao Street. Suddenly he heard his own name, and the smile on his face suddenly stopped.
Lin Yingtao is playing volleyball with several students from Beihang University on the outdoor volleyball court.
Yu Qiao took the can of Coke that Cai Fangyuan gave him and sat down on an empty chair next to Geng Xiaoqing.
"What Yuqiao Street?" he asked.
Geng Xiaoqing raised her eyes and looked at him, then quickly lowered her gaze. She said that Yingtao named each road in the Qunshan construction site when she was in junior high school: "She told me when she invited me to her home."
Yu Qiao asked: "Which one is Yu Qiao Street?"
Geng Xiaoqing said: "It's the first street into the construction site, the widest main road."
Duchamp narrowed his eyes and asked, "Is it just our street?"
Geng Xiaoqing hesitated.
"That's right," Cai Fangyuan smiled and turned around, "No Jiang Qiaoxi?"
"The path in front of Yingtao's house," Geng Xiaoqing said, "seems to be called this name."
Du Shang asked Geng Xiaoqing how Yingtao was doing at Qunshan No. 1 Middle School: "Did anyone bully her at that time?"
Geng Xiaoqing shook her head: "No. But at that time... she was quite unhappy. I was her only friend at school. She only talked to me and invited me to her home. At first, she didn't like studying and was often criticized by the teacher. Then suddenly, she made a lot of pen pals and received a lot of letters. She even skipped classes and went to the provincial capital—"
Geng Xiaoqing discovered that Yu Qiao had been watching her and listening to every word she said.
Jiang Qiaoxi was standing at the entrance of Beihang University when he suddenly received a text message from Cai Fangyuan: "Ask Lin Yingtao what Jiang Qiaoxi Street is."
He looked up and saw Lin Yingtao coming towards him through the door.
She was wearing a skirt today. Jiang Qiaoxi had never seen her wear this kind of skirt before. It looked a bit like the high school girls he had seen when he was studying in Hong Kong.
Lin Yingtao walked a little anxiously, and her shirt kept rising and falling on her chest.
"Let's go eat at Donglaishun!" Lin Yingtao said expectantly.
Jiang Qiaoxi had never accompanied a girl shopping before, and this was his first time in the Wangfujing Street area of Beijing. After eating the hot pot at noon, he took Lin Yingtao's hand and began to follow her around. Lin Yingtao was queuing up at the Olympic counter of Wangfujing Department Store to buy souvenirs. She wanted to buy a souvenir shirt, which was a white T-shirt with a red Beijing seal and the Olympic rings in the middle. Lin Yingtao bought one for her father and mother, and Jiang Qiaoxi simply bought one for his cousin to show that he would also buy things for his brother.
The two kids were wearing the same Olympic commemorative T-shirts and wandering around the mall. Lin Yingtao was full of energy and wanted to see everything. Jiang Qiaoxi bought two ice cream cones and ate them with her.
They walked past a shop window and stopped at the same time.
In the window, the stunningly beautiful model was wearing new autumn clothes and a colorful and extremely exaggerated wig.
Jiang Qiaoxi frowned, perhaps finding this fashion difficult to understand.
"Isn't this Jiang Yulu?" He suddenly thought of someone.
Lin Yingtao was eating an ice cream cone nearby, being careful not to get it on her nose. She said, "Who is Jiang Yuyu?"
Jiang Qiaoxi looked down at her.
"My daughter," he introduced.
"Nonsense," Lin Yingtao smiled with eyes curved, "She's obviously my daughter."
They walked out of the department store and bought iced milk tea for Lin Yingtao on the roadside, while Jiang Qiaoxi got an iced Americano. Many students were taking their own photos on the first floor of the mall, and Lin Yingtao also joined in the fun, dragging Jiang Qiaoxi in even though he had never taken such photos before.
As it was getting dark, Jiang Qiaoxi was going to visit a foreign language bookstore. Lin Yingtao followed him idly at first, but later she stood at the Japanese counter upstairs and read original comic books.
When I came out of the bookstore, the lights were already on and Beijing was about to fall into the night.
There were more and more tourists around, and Lin Yingtao was held by Jiang Qiaoxi's hand, as if he was afraid that she would get lost. Sometimes she looked up at him, and sometimes she looked at the pedestrians on the road curiously.
Suddenly Jiang Qiaoxi put his arm around her from behind. It turned out that a group of tourists were coming over from behind, with a tour guide leading them. Lin Yingtao was almost caught in them.
Lin Yingtao wondered what Jiang Qiaoxi was thinking.
He would naturally hold her hand, hug her as a matter of course, text her every day, call her, talk about the future, and even bend down to kiss her mouth. Would he confess his love to her? At a time like today, when she dressed up, would he say in the next second, Lin Yingtao, are you willing to be my girlfriend? Or, would you wait for me in China for four years
Lin Yingtao listened to the footsteps around her and the strange dialects spoken by the tourists. Jiang Qiaoxi was still hugging her.
Lin Yingtao thought that if he said so, even if it took eight or nine years to complete a PhD in mathematics, she might agree.
"Cherries." Jiang Qiaoxi said suddenly.
"Um?"
"Let's buy something to eat."
"Go back and eat?" Lin Yingtao asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head and looked at her. "Let's go back to my hotel and eat."
Lin Yingtao didn't understand at first.
"What?"
Jiang Qiaoxi laughed for some reason and his ears turned red.
Lin Yingtao looked up at him, not knowing whether she should laugh or not, but she laughed anyway.
"Let's go." Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Like in a romantic movie, when you are young, you always want to do something taboo. Is this right, wrong, or just an experience? Lin Yingtao was taken into a car by Jiang Qiaoxi, and her heartbeat was deafening.