"Will you lie?"
When Wen Jialuo asked this question, she looked straight ahead and spoke slowly, as if she was talking to the air. Xu Shiqi was stunned for a moment, not knowing what she meant, and just looked at her in confusion. But the girl didn't say anything else, and the question seemed like a casual mumbling.
In fact, Xu Shiqi's house was very close to the store, so close that after asking that question, Xu Shiqi didn't have time to ask any more questions before she arrived. She didn't think too much about it and just opened the car door and went out.
Wen Jialuo also got out of the car and stood by the car, looking at it. Xu Shiqi paused before asking, "Do you want to get in and sit down?"
"I thought you didn't even know the most basic etiquette of hospitality." Wen Jialuo walked over slowly.
Xu Shiqi was furious, and chased after him and said, "If you want to go to my house, you should have said so. How would I know you wanted to go if you didn't say so? If you didn't want to go but I asked you to go, wouldn't that be embarrassing for you? I..."
Wen Jialuo turned around abruptly, and the man who had transformed into Tang Monk suddenly stopped talking. He looked at the girl's slightly angry face, feeling secretly happy that his revenge had been successful.
"I should shut your mouth," Wen Jialuo suggested sincerely, and then said with a hint of malice, "Otherwise you'll keep nagging about entering menopause early."
Xu Shiqi felt that her heart was probably a little burdened. Because the first half of Wen Jialuo's sentence was like some kind of seductive love talk in the dark night. She had never heard it before, but she instinctively became nervous and shy. All her senses were instantly mobilized by the girl, but she fell to the ground in the second half of the sentence.
Fortunately, it was dark and the street lights were not very bright. Xu Shiqi hid himself in the shadow of the night, said hurriedly, "Who bothered you to worry about this?" and walked away quickly.
Xu Shiqi's house is located in an old residential area, with only two bedrooms and a living room. He originally wanted to move to a bigger one, but he was running a store and was afraid that if all the money was spent, there would be no room for turnover if something happened. Moreover, in the eyes of his parents, houses are so expensive now that the young generation can't afford it. Even as a woman, she will inevitably support her daughter when she gets married and buys a house. Because of these and other reasons, he has been dragging his feet and has not changed his house yet.
This house is actually not as old as Wen Jialuo's residence in the neighboring city, but it looks older. However, once you enter the house, the small space is filled with everything in this home, so it does not seem crowded.
Xu Shiqi went to the room to pack his clothes, threw Wen Jialuo on the sofa in the living room outside, turned on the TV and asked her to wait.
Wen Jialuo was used to turning on the air conditioner wherever she went, so she never expected that there was no air conditioner here. Even though the TV was showing crazy things, it was still very quiet to sit there. She got up out of boredom and measured the living room, which also served as a dining room, with her feet. There were a lot of things occupying the walls here. There was an oil painting of a landscape that was obviously a print; a hanging water tank with fish bubbling in it; there was also a clock showing the scales of footballs, and even a pair of badminton rackets hanging, one of the nets of which was broken.
Messy but full of vitality, Wen Jialuo thought to herself, and then she saw rows of awards with bright eyes. From elementary school to high school, there were "Three Good Students", "Civilized Students", "Reading Contest", "Speech Contest". Because there were so many awards, and they were all old colors, like paper pasted on the wall, she didn't even notice it just now.
"My dad once wanted to line up the entire wall with the certificates I've won, but unfortunately, I'm afraid this wish is unlikely to come true."
Wen Jialuo turned around and saw that the recipients of the certificates had already packed their bags and were leaning against the wall, smiling.
In fact, Xu Shiqi did receive some honors when she was in college, but award certificates were not very popular anymore, so she even thought about buying some to fill the void in order to satisfy her father's pride.
"Let's go."
The person in front of the award wall didn't move, but raised an eyebrow: "Won't you invite me to visit your bedroom?"
Xu Shiqi smiled and turned around to close the door tightly: "This is a secret place, sorry it won't be shown to the public."
Wen Jialuo leaned forward, and for a moment Xu Shiqi thought that the girl was going to rush over and force her way into her territory, so she immediately nervously grasped the handle of the door lock.
Unexpectedly, Wen Jialuo just took a step, turned around and walked towards the door.
Looking at the girl's elegant back, Xu Shiqi relaxed and smiled. Yes, she would never be as curious as he was.
When they returned to the old house, they were told that Wen Baohua had been picked up by Xia Bang. However, Wen Yu was back and was watching TV with the old lady.
"Okay, your mission is accomplished." The old lady patted her grandson's hand, "You can go play now."
"Grandma, look at what you said." Wen Yu turned his head and looked at Xu Shiqi, eyes full of surprise, "So it's you."
He heard that a classmate of Baohua had been invited to read to hypnotize his grandmother, so he insisted on coming to see it. He remembered the ending of the song he heard in the bar, and he forgot to ask her to sing it again when he had dinner at Baohua's house last time. He didn't expect to meet her again. It was really fate.
Xu Shiqi didn't remember doing anything that made him suddenly realize something, so she just smiled. After sitting with the old lady on the sofa for a while, she got up and went upstairs to put something away. When she came out, the two younger generations of the Wen family had already helped the old lady upstairs. Apparently, Wen Yu had encouraged the old lady to sing Xu Shiqi's songs for a while, which made the old lady very interested and asked her if she could sing any old songs as soon as she saw her.
Xu Shiqi thought for a long time before he thought of a very elegant song, so he said it was called "Knowing the Sound of Music", a song by Li Guyi. It was a very old song, but the old lady was very happy and said she liked her songs the most, and she insisted that Xu Shiqi sing it.
"The song is too old. I only remember the melody, but I can't remember the lyrics." Xu Shiqi said with a smile.
Wen Yu volunteered: "I have a computer and a printer at home, I will go online and get the lyrics right away."
The old lady hurried him over.
Xu Shiqi asked Wen Jialuo for help helplessly, "How come you guys are so reckless?" Unexpectedly, the other party was happy to see the success, and just smiled and massaged the old lady's shoulders and arms.
The lyrics were found quickly. Xu Shiqi looked at them for a while, then cleared his throat: "Then I'll sing it a cappella. Don't laugh at me if I don't sing well."
“The mountains are clear, the water is turquoise, and the clouds are lingering over the mountains and flowing water.
Each sound is like crying, narration and wailing.
Sigh,
It is difficult to find a true friend in life, and it is even more difficult to find a soulmate throughout the ages.
The mountains are clear, the water is turquoise, and the clouds are lingering in the mountains and flowing water.
Each sound is like a hymn, a song and a praise.
Thumbs up,
The general draws his sword and rises to the southern sky. I wish to be the wind that winds around the battle flag..."
Xu Shiqi has always felt that this song is extremely lingering, with a winding and telling melody.
The old lady listened while gently keeping the rhythm with her hands on her knees. When she noticed that the hand on her shoulder had stopped moving, she raised her elbow to remind it, and then the hand resumed its massage with gentle force.
Because Li Guyi has a clear and high-pitched voice, this song is naturally free and graceful, but when Xu Shiqi's voice is sung, it becomes particularly graceful and affectionate, as if a secret word is whispered in the ear.
"Good, good!" After Xu Shiqi slowly ended the song, the old lady clapped her hands and applauded, "What a great song, 'The general draws his sword to the south sky, and I wish to be the wind circling the battle flag.'" The song seemed to remind her of that war-torn era. Love like theirs amid the sound of bombardment was just like this.
Wen Yu also exclaimed: "You have such a good voice, it's a pity that you don't sing. Why don't I invite you to sing in our bar?"
"Stop giving me such bad advice," the old lady scolded with a smile. The more she looked at Xu Shiqi, the more she liked him. "Songs like this are not something you young people can understand."
"Grandma, you are wrong..."
Xu Shiqi listened to her grandparents talking, and casually glanced at Wen Jialuo who had been silent. The girl just lowered her head and stroked the old lady's neck, as if she had never heard her singing. Xu Shiqi felt a little regretful and lost, and the lingering melody that remained in her heart also calmed down. She unconsciously folded the lyrics paper in her hand, slightly stunned.
"Okay, Wenyu, if you make grandma excited again and she can't get enough rest, how are you going to compensate her for her sleep?" The girl finally spoke, lightly.
Wen Yu then made a few faces, stood up, leaned his cheek against the old lady intimately, and said a few funny words before leaving.
Xu Shiqi originally wanted to ask the old lady whether she wanted to listen to her continue reading "Dream of Red Mansions" or listen to something else, but the old lady said that this song was very good and was enough for her to savor in her dreams. Today is your first night staying here, so go and have a good rest and see if you can adapt to the environment here.
Having said that, Xu Shiqi still insisted on accompanying Wen Jialuo to help the old lady to bed. After she closed her eyes and fell asleep, they left the room together.
Leaving the old lady's room, they first passed by the room where Xu Shiqi slept. Xu Shiqi stood at the door and said good night without turning her head. She wanted to go in, but she heard someone behind her asking if everything was put away. When she turned around, she saw the girl standing behind her, with no intention of leaving.
"Not yet." Xu Shiqi opened the door and subconsciously turned back again, but the other party still didn't leave, "Do you... want to come in and sit down?"
"It shouldn't be too late now, right?" Wen Jialuo answered politely, but Xu Shiqi was speechless.
After letting the girl into the room, Xu Shiqi was not familiar with the place at first and didn't know where to find a cup to pour water for her. Then he thought that she was the host and he was the guest, so there was no need to entertain her, so he hurriedly took out the toiletries and pajamas and put them away.
While putting things away, Xu Shiqi pricked up her ears and waited for the girl to speak, but she kept her mouth shut and just sat on the sofa beside the bed, lowering her head and wondering what she was thinking. The room was too quiet for a moment, making her a little impatient, so she had to find a topic to start with: "By the way, doesn't this family have someone arranged to serve the old lady?"
Wen Jialuo raised his head and said, "Usually there is a babysitter, but I will do it myself when I come back on weekends."
"You are so filial." Xu Shiqi said sincerely.
"You are also filial." Wen Jialuo suddenly praised.
"Ah?" Xu Shiqi was a little surprised, "You said that..." She looked at the girl's expression and remembered that she had helped her out in the store. But she didn't want to talk about that topic, so she didn't say anything.
"But you are so filial that I don't know how to do it." The girl didn't let her go and asked again, "Can you lie?"
"What lie do you want me to tell?" Xu Shiqi asked helplessly, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"You can't do this, nor can you do that, just tell a half-truth lie." The girl whispered slowly, "It's better than being forced by your mother day by day, and finally you will explode." She seemed to smile again, looking up at Xu Shiqi, her face was serious, "You are very good, very good, so don't be too wronged. When you can't go to heaven or hell, don't hang yourself in the air, you will strangle yourself to death. So do something tacky and find a way to tell a lie."
The voice was sincere, but it also had some elements of temptation in it, like coaxing: "Really, all you have to do is tell a lie. Lying is actually very easy. Just repeat it over and over every day, a hundred times a thousand times, and in the end it will become a fact that even you will believe."
After the girl finished speaking, she stood up and left, saying "Think about it carefully."
It was unknown whether the old lady who listened to her song fell asleep peacefully that night, but Xu Shiqi had no desire to sleep at all. She was stuck in the words the girl said before she left, thinking hard, but she was like a cocoon, unable to pull out the thread.
She thought that she had heard about the girl's past experiences and had some understanding of her since they met. However, the girl who said "lying theory" at that moment made her feel like a mystery. She felt that she must have missed some important information, but she could not find the clue. She was tied up and could not sleep.