After returning from Hong Kong, Lin Qile's mood was always floating, like a feather lifted by the wind. She left Jiang Qiaoxi, so she just stayed in the wind, waiting and hoping to be with him again next time.
When leaving home and heading to the station, Lin Qile also began to adapt to the separation from her parents. She stood at the end of the line and told her father that she would do her internship well: "Try to find a kindergarten with a higher salary!"
Her mother told her: "Find a Sunday to visit your eldest aunt. You didn't even think of calling your eldest aunt during the New Year, and your eldest aunt is still asking about you. Go and help with some chores, ask your uncle if he is healthy, and ask when your cousin is getting married."
Mom and Dad walked her into the hall. They stood outside the glass curtain wall and watched her. Lin Yingtao was inside the wall, waving at them: "Go back soon!" Dad smiled at her, probably knowing that someone had to go first, so he pulled Mom past him and turned to go to the parking lot.
Lin Qile began to realize that her father was not as tall as she had imagined, and the same was true for her mother.
Tears suddenly fell. Lin Qile looked at them, unable to tell what this pain was. She bent down, picked up the suitcase and walked towards the security checkpoint.
Lin Qile felt that she had to be an adult. She wanted to go to school and find a better job. She also wanted to get a driver's license so that there would be another person in the family who could drive a car besides her father. This would prevent the situation where her father and Uncle Yu got drunk during the winter vacation and had to ask Yu Qiao and his classmates to come to the hotel and drive the cars back home.
She sat on the high-speed train, leaning against the window and listening to the songs of Khalil Fong and Yoga Lin recommended to her by Dushan. Lin Qile found that Dushan always knew what she liked to listen to. When they were young, they were often obsessed with the same tape. She said in the group that these were good friends who grew up together. Cai Fangyuan said that now music websites can recommend new songs that you will definitely like based on the old songs you like. Intelligent programs are developing rapidly. Maybe slowly, in the future, people will no longer need friends.
Lin Qile opened a women's magazine and looked at the emotional and sexual question-and-answer section. She used to love reading this, but now she found that she could answer the questions as well. She no longer had to keep her eyes open, as if through a layer of fog, to foolishly guess the mysterious truth of "emotion" and "love".
So she turned the page and studied makeup like Qin Yeyun. Lin Qile stared at Nozomi Sasaki in the magazine. She imagined becoming as beautiful as a model so that she could dazzle Jiang Qiaoxi's eyes. Jiang Qiaoxi could see nothing but her.
After returning to school, Lin Qile started studying and attending classes as usual. It was March not long after the start of the school term, and Lin Qile was still on the phone in the corridor late at night. Jiang Qiaoxi answered the call wearing headphones. He had just returned from an internship and was working overtime in his small rental apartment to revise the business plan of Cai Fangyuan's company.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, happy birthday," Lin Qile suddenly said. She squatted in the corridor and looked at her watch. Many people in the dormitory building were asleep, so she didn't dare to speak too loudly. "Twenty-one years old!"
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly raised his eyes from the printed paper filled with revision suggestions and saw the time on the computer.
March 5, 2011, 00:04,
There is indeed no time difference between Hong Kong and Beijing. Jiang Qiaoxi thought contentedly, picked up his coffee, turned his head, and saw the withered daffodils on the windowsill. The porcelain cups were clearly a pair, but Jiang Qiaoxi only picked up one, and the other was placed in the cabinet. Jiang Qiaoxi said, "Cherry, what kind of flowers do you think we should buy for our home?"
In the second semester of junior year, Jiang Qiaoxi was busy with internship and earning money, while Lin Qile was busy taking classes and taking exams. They had too many certificates to take, such as nanny, childcare, caterer, psychological counselor... Lin Qile planned to take the dance teacher qualification exam, and in order to take the editing exam, she would take the eighth level Chinese dance exam.
In her spare time, such as when eating, Lin Qile would think of what Jiang Qiaoxi had mentioned in Hong Kong, asking her to study for TOEFL and take the AMI certificate.
"The tuition fee is more than 10,000 US dollars." She looked up information and asked her senior Meng Lijun, who was studying for a doctorate in the United States. She complained to Jiang Qiaoxi on the phone that she didn't know how long it would take to get her money back.
Jiang Qiaoxi said, "I'll pay for it for you."
Lin Qile scolded him: "Don't act like you are rich all the time!"
Jiang Qiaoxi laughed over there.
On the weekend, several former roommates came to the Normal University to have dinner with Lin Qile. The girl in bed number two went to a publishing house and is working as a children's book editor, and the girl in bed number three went to a cultural company and made creative children's toys. Among the whole room, only the girl in bed number one actually went to an aristocratic kindergarten and has already started teaching.
It was because she became a kindergarten teacher that she was so busy that she couldn't even take time for a meal.
"Le Le, you are so beautiful. If I were you, I would apply to be a host of children's programs on TV, such as the one called "Big Windmill"! " said the senior girl in bed number three.
"The Little Dragon Club!"
Lin Qile said: "Then you have to study media, right?"
"It's not that strict," said the senior student in bed number five. "After you graduate from university, it all depends on your own ability."
The seniors were eating and chatting with Meng Lijun who was across the sea. Meng Lijun suddenly sent a message.
"Le'er!"
"ah?"
"Have you really found your American idol?"
Lin Qile blinked and nodded solemnly to several senior schoolmates.
The senior student in bed number two slammed the table and said that she was working as a children's book editor during the day and doing research on Jinjiang at night. She planned to apply to be a contracted author: "There is a high probability that you will be the full-time wife of the returning CEO in the future!"
"Forget it!" Lin Qile denied without even thinking, "He loves to spend money recklessly. Maybe I will have to support him in the future."
"That's it," said the senior in bed number two, but then she thought, "It's okay, don't we still have the handsome guy from Beihang University?"
Lin Qile quickly reached out to stop her: "Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't mention it again!"
Lin Qile celebrated her birthday in early April. She has fewer friends in Beijing now, and she is not very familiar with her new roommate, and they rarely communicate. The senior students said that since the 9th was a Saturday, they would come over to celebrate her birthday.
Lin Qile sent them to the bus station and wanted to send them all the way to the subway entrance near Jishuitan, but the seniors asked her to go back and not send them so far. Lin Qile stood by the road and watched the No. 345 bus drive away.
On the 9th, Lin Qile stayed in the dance studio from morning till night. It was April in Beijing, and the temperature had risen, a bit like the temperature in Hong Kong during the winter vacation. Lin Qile sat on the floor to drink water, check her dance shoes, re-tie her hair, and then continue practicing.
For a few minutes, Lin Qile looked out the classroom window and saw boys from other schools waiting there for her girlfriend who was practicing dancing. On Saturday, the students all went on dates, and sweat dripped down Lin Qile's neck. She began to envy again.
She made an appointment with her senior schoolmates at five in the afternoon. They were waiting for her at the dormitory door. Lin Qile went back to change clothes, and then they went to eat Japanese food together.
Before Lin Qile left the dance studio, a phone call suddenly came in from the senior student in bed number three.
"LeLe, there's a guy from Tsinghua University's Department of Mathematics standing downstairs of your dormitory! He wants to confess his love to you!" the senior student said passionately, "We've told you that you have an American male god and a handsome guy from Beihang University, but he still won't leave—"
In the evening, the Normal University campus is mostly filled with students going out for dinner.
The senior student in bed number two folded her hands in front of her chest. Her eyes were firm, yet guilty, as she stared at the handsome stranger in front of her who was over 1.80 meters tall and holding a small bouquet of roses in his hand.
"You said you were... from Tsinghua University's Department of Mathematics?" she asked, blushing unconsciously.
When the handsome stranger learned that the senior girls in front of him were Lin Qile's former roommates, he nodded slightly: "Yeah."
"Damn, this guy has a nice voice," Bed No. 3 whispered in Bed No. 5's ear, "Where did Lele get to know this guy? I don't believe there are guys like this who study mathematics."
"What proof do you have?" asked the senior student in bed number two, "Solve the calculus for us right now!"
The strange handsome guy frowned and smiled: "What?"
The senior student in bed number three said, "You ask him to solve a difficult problem!"
"I can't remember anything!" The senior student in bed number two turned her head and said in a low voice.
Who the hell still remembers how to solve calculus after graduation.
Lin Qile was running on the road, panting heavily. She was wearing a thin sports jacket and a tight vest for dancing. She was standing at the intersection and saw a figure standing at the door of their dormitory from a distance, surrounded by several senior schoolmates.
"Jiang Qiaoxi!!" she shouted excitedly while standing in place.
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly turned around. He was wearing a shirt with the collar unbuttoned and a dark blue sweater on the outside. He walked forward a few steps and hugged Lin Yingtao who was flying towards him.
Everyone passing by was startled and looked over here.
Several senior schoolmates were even more stunned. They saw that this usually shy junior schoolmate Lin Qile was like a koala, hanging on the handsome Tsinghua guy in public, hugging his neck and crying: "Why are you here?!"
At the dinner table, several senior schoolmates asked Lin Qile in unison.
"He is your American idol??"
Jiang Qiaoxi drank half of a can of beer. He wanted to be serious, but he couldn't help laughing. He lowered his head to look at Lin Yingtao from time to time. Lin Yingtao was already embarrassed. She sat next to him, her face as red as a tomato, and she buried her head in eating Arctic clams.
"You know, my idol classmate, even though you are no longer in the martial arts world," the senior from bed number two said. She spread her hands and gestured to Lin Qile, "there have always been legends about you in the martial arts world from elementary school, junior high school, and high school!"
Lin Yingtao cried, "Sister, please stop talking..."
Meng Lijun suddenly sent a message to Lin Yingtao: "Damn, the American male god is really handsome!!"
Lin Yingtao had just put on her shoes and came out of the Japanese restaurant.
I don’t know which senior student sent their photos to Meng Lijun.
Meng Lijun said: "I originally suspected that you were a lover who saw beauty in everything. These three years of waiting were worth it!!!"
The seniors left on the subway. Lin Yingtao leaned in Jiang Qiaoxi's arms and waved at them.
"They all think you're so handsome." Lin Yingtao turned around and muttered softly, seeming a little unconfident.
Jiang Qiaoxi also lowered his head and said, "Otherwise, how can I be your idol?"
Lin Yingtao smiled and pushed him.
Jiang Qiaoxi pulled her over on the street in Beijing and hugged her tightly for a while.
It had been a long time since she hugged him like this, and hadn't leaned on him and heard his breathing and heartbeat with her own ears. Lin Yingtao's forehead was pressed against the collar of his shirt, she opened her eyes, and after a while she closed them again.
She reached out and hugged Jiang Qiaoxi's neck.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm going to Shanghai on a business trip," Jiang Qiaoxi said. "I'll come to Beijing today and go back tomorrow morning."
"Why are you going on a business trip to Shanghai?" Lin Yingtao raised her eyes.
Jiang Qiaoxi smiled as he lowered his head to look at her. In the past, Lin Yingtao often saw this look in Jiang Qiaoxi's eyes when he explained math problems to her. He was always successful in everything he did. In math, he was always invincible, as if nothing could stump him.
"The case involving Cai Fangyuan," Jiang Qiaoxi said softly, "may be successful."
Lin Yingtao was surprised: "Ah?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said helplessly: "Cai Fangyuan and my landlord get along really well. Who could have thought it would go so smoothly."
Lin Yingtao's hand was held by Jiang Qiaoxi, and they stayed on the side of the road for a long time. Jiang Qiaoxi kissed her cheek, held her face, and kissed her earlobe. Jiang Qiaoxi didn't say anything, just lowered his head and looked at her for a while, then took her hand and walked along the street, passing by the shops.
Lin Yingtao didn't understand why, so she just followed him. She thought that he must not be going back to the dormitory at school tonight.
Jiang Qiaoxi stopped in front of a tattoo shop that was still open late at night. He took a look at the business description on the sign, pulled Lin Yingtao over and walked inside.
Lin Yingtao was shocked.
What are you doing? Getting a tattoo
She is very afraid of pain and has a conservative mentality. She doesn't dare to prick anything on her skin. Lin Yingtao has not made up her mind yet.
"Hello handsome man," the shop owner looked up from behind the computer. It was a long-haired woman with a tattoo of the Milky Way and a spaceship on her arm. She saw Lin Yingtao, "Do you have a reservation?"
Lin Yingtao was pressed on the stool. The shopkeeper bent down, rubbed the alcohol cotton ball on Lin Yingtao's earlobe, and then tapped two points. Lin Yingtao closed her eyes all of a sudden. She was very nervous, and her hand was tightly held by Jiang Qiaoxi.
"Don't be afraid," the shop owner said, "it's just an ordinary ear piercing. It won't hurt at all."
Lin Yingtao asked: "Really?"
The shop owner straightened up and put down the earring gun: "It's done!"
Lin Yingtao looked in the mirror and pushed her hair behind her ears. There were two small holes on her ears with ear needles inserted in them. It was only a little painful.
Jiang Qiaoxi paid and bought iodine and erythromycin in a paper bag. The shopkeeper raised her eyes and glanced at Jiang Qiaoxi's face. He was too fair, but he didn't seem to be a very conventional person. "Handsome guy," she said with a smile, "don't you want a tattoo?"
Jiang Qiaoxi raised his eyes and looked at the many tattoo photos on the wall.
Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi took the subway together, which was the subway line 4 that had not yet been opened in 2007. The wind was howling, and Jiang Qiaoxi said to Lin Yingtao: "If it weren't so rushed, I could accompany you to go shopping in Beijing tomorrow."
Lin Yingtao hugged his waist and caught a glimpse of Peking University East Gate Station above.
"Why did you lie to my senior and tell her that you were from Tsinghua University?" Lin Yingtao sat down next to Jiang Qiaoxi and muttered.
"What if I tell her I'm from Pokfulam Vocational and Technical College and she looks down on me?" Jiang Qiaoxi said softly.
Lin Yingtao smiled.
"We at Jishuitan Teachers College are all very polite and generally don't look down on others."
Four years later, Lin Yingtao didn't expect that she would come to this hotel again one day, and it was Jiang Qiaoxi who brought her here.
The mirror outside the elevator reflected Lin Yingtao's current face, as well as the silhouette of Jiang Qiaoxi walking hurriedly past her holding her hand.
Lin Yingtao, wearing white shoes, walked into the suite. It looked vaguely like this was the same room. She saw Jiang Qiaoxi's travel bag on the sofa, the same sofa where she and Jiang Qiaoxi had had dinner together.
When she first came here, Lin Yingtao was full of sighs. Now, she thinks that Jiang Qiaoxi lived in a small house of five square meters in Hong Kong, and he was so luxurious in Beijing, and this suite was sixty or seventy square meters.
I had just told him he was spending money recklessly, and he started spending money recklessly.
Jiang Qiaoxi changed his slippers and asked Lin Yingtao to change as well. He walked to the sofa, rummaged through his travel bag, and took out a small champagne-colored box. He took Lin Yingtao's hand, skipped all unnecessary steps, and pulled her into the bedroom, letting her sit on the bed.
Lin Yingtao's earlobe was still stuffed with a silver ear needle after her ear piercing, and it looked a little red. Jiang Qiaoxi moved closer to Lin Yingtao's face and looked at her for a while. This was the right distance for kissing. Jiang Qiaoxi probably felt a little regretful.
"I can't wear it right away," he sighed.
He handed the box in his hand to Lin Yingtao.
Lin Yingtao looked at him closely, then lowered her head to look at the box.
She opened it.
It was a pair of red fan-shaped earrings, which at first glance looked like a pair of red little skirts.
Lin Yingtao has begun to get used to the fact that Jiang Qiaoxi would give her gifts.
Lin Yingtao asked softly: "How much is this?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "It is something I can afford."
Lin Yingtao said: "It must be very expensive..."
Jiang Qiaoxi stretched out his hand, not daring to touch her earlobe, and stroked her hair again, as if expressing regret.
Lin Yingtao raised her head and looked at him.
Perhaps remembering how Lin Yingtao tried so hard to help him save money in the supermarket in Hong Kong, Jiang Qiaoxi smiled, and seemed a little ashamed.
"I haven't celebrated your birthday with you for three years, Cherry," Jiang Qiaoxi looked at her, "Do you believe I can afford it?"
After getting her ears pierced, she was not allowed to take a shower. But Lin Yingtao didn't care. She covered her ears with a shower cap, washed her body, and then took off the shower cap and carefully rinsed her hair. Lin Yingtao tied her bathrobe and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. With shaking hands, she removed the earrings from her earlobes, then took off the pair of earrings that Jiang Qiaoxi bought for her and put them on bravely.
She went out wrapped in a bathrobe and put the earring box in her pocket. She urged Jiang Qiaoxi: "You have to catch an early flight tomorrow, go take a shower."
Jiang Qiaoxi was still working on his computer on the sofa. When he looked up and saw her, he closed the computer.
Lin Yingtao sat in bed and searched the trademark information on the box with her phone. She found that Jiang Qiaoxi's consumption philosophy was always like this: he would not buy things he didn't need, but once he needed something, he would always buy something expensive. He seemed to rarely consider the issue of "cost-effectiveness".
Is this kind of concept innate? Lin Yingtao didn't understand. When she and Jiang Qiaoxi went shopping in a supermarket in Hong Kong, she found that Jiang Qiaoxi rarely put in the effort to choose - because Lin Yingtao was around, he bought everything at the most expensive price. When Lin Yingtao was not around, he would take the cheapest ones, and the cabinets in his rented house were full of cheap items that had not been used up. If it weren't for his cousin's wife, Lin Yingtao didn't know how he would live alone. Jiang Qiaoxi didn't take himself too seriously. And he probably thought Lin Yingtao didn't notice.
It’s really expensive... Lin Yingtao closed the web page on her phone.
She didn't know if this was right or not, but when she held the expensive gift Jiang Qiaoxi gave her, she did feel that he cherished her like this. It was just money, it could be bought with money, it was just to satisfy a woman's vanity, but with the same money, he could always buy something that would move Lin Yingtao.
Perhaps the price of the gift is to pay for this moment of excitement. Jiang Qiaoxi was willing to spend four or five months' rent to exchange for Lin Yingtao's excitement on her birthday, and perhaps she would continue to savor it in her long life.
I couldn't bear to use my first lipstick, so I kept it until it expired. I couldn't bear to wear my first pair of high heels, so I kept them in a shoe box. In Lin Yingtao's heart, they always existed for that moment. Whether she was sitting with Jiang Qiaoxi in the mountains, curiously applying lipstick, or on the stairs outside her home, stepping on high heels, being held by him precariously.
Lin Yingtao was already starting to worry about what she would do if she lost the earrings, which were so small.
Friends sent birthday messages, and she replied one by one. Cai Fangyuan asked, "Is Jiang Qiaoxi asleep?"
Lin Yingtao listened to the sound of Jiang Qiaoxi shaving in the bathroom, and she replied, "Not yet."
"He brought an investor to Shanghai to meet me, but he ran away. I sang with the investor all night!" Cai Fangyuan said angrily, "He said he was going to have a birthday in the afternoon and left. You told him to go to bed early tonight and not be late tomorrow. I'm still waiting for a meeting!"
Lin Yingtao said: "You talk to him, why are you talking to me?"
Cai Fangyuan said: "Doesn't it all depend on you when he goes to bed at night?"
Lin Yingtao held the cell phone.
She sent a lot of animated pictures of Ultraman beating up little monsters, and in return Cai Fangyuan received a picture of a swaying Tuzki.
The red dress of carnelian reflected different lights in the light in front of the bed. Lin Yingtao lowered her head, and her fallen hair was pushed behind her ears again and again, revealing her swaying earrings.
Jiang Qiaoxi leaned against the bed and hugged her, kissing her cheek tenderly and brushing back her long hair. "Does it hurt?" he asked.
Cherry shook her head, concentrating on kissing him without thinking about anything else.
After the meeting in Shanghai, Jiang Qiaoxi and Cai Fangyuan had a private meal together before returning to Hong Kong.
Duchamp was also called in during the meal. Jiang Qiaoxi was puffing away at the dinner table. The smoking ban in Shanghai is not as strict as in Hong Kong, but it will probably be soon.
As soon as he saw Du Shang, Jiang Qiaoxi smiled and nodded to greet him. After not seeing each other for four years, Du Shang suddenly saw that the cold-faced Jiang Qiaoxi was so friendly to him, and his smile was not natural: "It's been too long, Jiang Qiaoxi, you... after you come back from Hong Kong, don't you want to go back to the provincial capital to visit? You don't even go back to the provincial capital during the New Year."
Jiang Qiaoxi said, "Let's go after graduation."
Duchamp sat down and said to himself: Yes, it's really shameless of you to let Cherry come to you all day long.
Cai Fangyuan continued to talk about the house his father had chosen, which was located in the mountainous area in the eastern part of the provincial capital. It had mountains and water and beautiful scenery.
Duchamp asked: "Do you want to buy something else?"
Cai Fangyuan smiled very tactfully and tapped the table with his hand: "This is still in the plan, let's make our old man happy."
He then asked Jiang Qiaoxi: "What about you? When you come back after graduation, do you plan to stay in Beijing, go back to the provincial capital, or go somewhere else?"
Jiang Qiaoxi lit his cigarette in the ashtray and said, "This is up to our little leader to decide."
Du Shang stood by the road until Jiang Qiaoxi left in a taxi. Then he said to Cai Fangyuan, "What... what is this? Yingtao hasn't even married him yet, and you see how he's so cocky that he's even calling her 'leader'!"
Cai Fangyuan put his hands in his trouser pockets and glanced at him leisurely.
The next taxi arrived, and Cai Fangyuan sat in the front. Du Shang had just gotten into the car when his cell phone rang. He picked it up: "Hey, wife! I'm here, at the International Hotel. What do you want to eat? Butterfly cakes? Wait for me, I'll go buy them for you. Driver, please stop the car!"
The author has something to say: －－－－－－－
Notes to this chapter:
＊Khalil Fong: A Hong Kong male singer born on July 14, 1983.
＊Yoga Lin: A Taiwanese singer born on July 1, 1987.
＊Nozomi Sasaki: A Japanese model born on February 8, 1988.
＊Jinjiang Literature City: Founded on August 1, 2003, it was formerly a small BBS founded by Jinjiang Telecom and a famous women's website in mainland China.
＊Pok Fu Lam Polytechnic: Chiang Qiaoxi’s alma mater, the University of Hong Kong, is located on Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Island.
＊Jishuitan Teachers College: Lin Qile’s alma mater, Beijing Normal University, is located in the Jishuitan area of Beijing.
＊Unless the brand is explicitly mentioned in this article, the others are mostly fictionalized and modified appropriately based on the prototype due to the times. The prototype of the jewelry in this chapter is the Bulgari Carnelian earrings.
*I originally planned not to write notes for this chapter after 2011, but a reader asked about it in the comments, so I decided to write the entire article.