eleven years ago.
Lin Lan.
In the midwinter night, the wind blew on the face like a knife, and the quiet, dirty dirt road in Shimada District was only the man's rapid and heavy breathing.
The tall figure was lost in the darkness, and only a small body could be vaguely seen between the man's thick arms, struggling constantly.
"Fuck, don't fucking move." The man was sweating in the cold night, his wolf-like eyes were soaked red with sweat, fierce and anxious, he couldn't stop cursing: "Move again, I'll kill you!"
Damn it, if it wasn't for the failure to deliver the 'goods' before tomorrow, and the usury would have to unload his arms, he wouldn't be doing this kind of desperado job.
Zhiqi woke up jolted by someone. The little girl's mouth was tightly covered with tape, and she couldn't make a sound. She could only shed silent tears, which covered her face, and quickly condensed into ice in the winter night. .
She was cold and scared, and she didn't understand why she woke up like this after a good sleep. She struggled unconsciously, and then the man who 'carried' her yelled viciously.
Zhiqi didn't dare to move anymore.
Although she is young, she is already ten years old. She is already a "big kid" in the fourth grade. The little girl vaguely understands that she may have been kidnapped.
But after understanding, a deeper chill spread from the soles of the feet to the strands of the hair.
An indescribable and indescribable sense of fear came to my heart, not because of the cold outside, the little girl's hairs stood on end.
In Zhiqi's memory, she was led away by men for a long time.
I almost vomited from the bumps, and was violently 'thrown' down.
The man wanted to transfer Zhiqi out of the city, but because of the security checks at the toll gates in the middle of the night, he could only temporarily put the girl on a dilapidated cabbage truck.
Then, regardless of her life or death, she wrapped herself in a big padded jacket at the back of the truck and went to sleep on the front seat.
Zhiqi was terrified to death, her teeth sealed with tape creaked, and the girl's big and bright eyes became even clearer after being washed by tears, especially conspicuous in the dark truck trunk.
But she couldn't see anything clearly, only the tip of her nose could faintly smell a cold, rotten vegetable leaf smell.
That was the first time Zhiqi remembered a taste particularly deeply.
Since then, she doesn't like cabbage very much.
That was the most terrifying and long night in Zhiqi's memory. Her hands and feet were tightly tied, and she had been numb and bruised for a long time, unable to move, and could only stand upright... as if waiting to die.
But the desperado who tied her was snoring like thunder, sleeping soundly.
Ten-year-old children don't think about such a profound question of why bad luck befalls them. They can only be afraid and tremble helplessly.
Zhiqi couldn't remember how many times she cried, her face was frozen with tears, her big eyes fixedly looked at the top of her head - it should be the ceiling of the carriage, but she couldn't see anything clearly.
Until an unknown amount of time passed, a slight rustling sound came from outside the carriage.
This Chinese cabbage truck was not sealed with steel, but hung with curtains and curtains around it. Now, a corner of the curtain was gently lifted, and a ray of light came in in the bright morning.
Zhi Qi was so frightened that she immediately curled up, her eyes still in shock.
She was afraid that it was the man who was going to 'kill' her, and it seemed as if her ears were ringing for a moment, and she forgot that the thunderous snoring continued.
Until she saw a human head emerge from the corner of the opened curtain.
That was the first time Zhiqi saw Jiang Qi, she would never have imagined that the "Hero of the World" who saved her from the fire and water would be a little boy about her age.
But it happens to be.
The young boy with a pale face but sharp eyebrows looked calm when he saw the girl tied up in a ball inside the truck.
"Shut up."
Jiang Qi's voice was very low, almost speaking in a breathy voice, but his hands moved neatly to untie the restraints on the girl's hands and feet - he should be very proficient at unpacking things often.
At the moment when he was free, the stagnant blood returned to his little hands and feet, and Zhi Qi, who was sore and numb, almost cried out.
Fortunately, Jiang Qi seemed to know it a long time ago, so he didn't take off the tape on her face.
The boy turned his back to her and said softly, "Climb on my back."
In fact, Zhiqi's hands and feet were so weak that she almost lost consciousness, but maybe it was caused by the damn desire to survive, maybe she was too scared, so she forced herself to climb onto Jiang Qi's back.
It's like dreaming.
The boy who was only a little taller than her carried her on his back in the cold and deserted Shimada District in the early morning, running desperately.
Just get as far away from here as possible.
Leaving here seems to leave those haunted nightmares, pain...
The first time he saw Jiang Qi, he saved her.
From then on, in Zhiqi's every dream, from boy to teenager, Jiang Qi was the only one.
His pale face, black sharp eyebrows, like a dream.
The boy was running with her on his back, and Zhi Qi's livid arms were wrapped around his neck. It was obviously a dangerous situation, but somehow he felt extremely at ease.
Until the force of the bumps became stronger and stronger, Jiang Qi suddenly grew taller, with a sinister and fierce face.
Zhiqi was taken aback, subconsciously straightened up and took his hands away, only to find that his fair hands were covered with warm blood...bright red, Jiang Qi's.
"Jiang Qi!"
Zhi Qi sat up abruptly, her head covered in cold sweat, which almost drenched the chestnut hair on her forehead.
At the same time, the lights in the dormitory were also turned on, and the soft, warm-colored lights suddenly broke the heavy and frozen atmosphere in the darkness.
Roommate Meng Chunyu only vaguely heard Zhiqi's cry and sat up, and subconsciously turned on the bedside lamp. She rubbed her eyes and asked in a daze, "Qiqi, are you having nightmares again?"
Zhiqi was still immersed in the endless nightmare just now, and she blinked slowly after a while.
"...Sorry." She turned her head, her soft and bright voice was completely hoarse at this moment, and she said slowly, "Chun Yu, go on sleeping."
Obviously he hasn't recovered yet, Zhiqi's hands and feet are numb.
It wasn't until the desk lamp went out and the bedroom fell into darkness again that Zhi Qi slowly curled up her knees and wrapped her arms around it—like a baby seeking protection from its mother.
Zhiqi whispered, "Jiang Qi..."
She really misses him.
Every time he dreams about Jiang Qi, Zhi Qi can't fall asleep, and almost keeps his eyes open to watch the dawn, until Meng Chunyu, who is in the next bed, wakes up and goes to wash up.
Then came back and found that Zhi Qi 'also' woke up.
"Qiqi, are you awake?" Meng Chunyu sat in front of the table and smeared her pile of cosmetics, and couldn't help but smile when she opened her eyes: "You had a nightmare again last night." .”
The reason for using the word 'again' is because I lived in the same dormitory with Zhiqi for three years in college, and such situations happened frequently, and Meng Chunyu was no stranger to it.
"I'm sorry." Zhi Qi didn't explain that she hadn't slept all the time, she simply sat up straight, with a soft and peaceful smile on her pale slapped face: "Did I disturb you again?"
"No, no." Meng Chunyu waved his hand indifferently, and only took the opportunity to pinch Zhiqi's face to 'eat tofu': "Tsk, so tender, you also know that I always sleep like a dead pig, it's nothing."
Therefore, Meng Chunyu has only lived together for three years and has never heard what name Zhi Qi called out when he had nightmares.
Zhiqi smiled, drooping her eyes and remained silent.
Maybe it was her luck to meet such a good roommate, because she didn't want to get rid of her nightmare.
After all, it is good to see Jiang Qi in a dream.
"Qiqi, do you still want to go to the library this weekend?" Meng Chunyu asked her vaguely with a bun in his mouth during breakfast, "Why don't you relax this week, I think you like to have nightmares on weekdays It’s because the pressure is too great, how about we go to the movies? It is said that Shen Lei’s new work has just been released, and although the subject matter is not popular, it is very good-looking!”
Meng Chunyu is an out-and-out star chasing girl, and when she mentions things related to the entertainment industry, her eyes light up.
Such a girl made Zhiqi very curious about how she chose the same major as herself in the field of 'Wildlife and Nature Reserve Management'.
This major is only established by Lin Lan's Forestry University, and only about forty undergraduates are recruited each year, and there are very few girls among them. They even only have her and Meng Chunyu this year.
But Zhiqi felt that the major of 'media' was more suitable for Meng Chunyu.
"Okay." She didn't want to discourage Meng Chunyu, thinking that she hadn't relaxed for a long time, so she agreed: "What time?"
"Well, there's one at noon, let's go see that one."
Meng Chunyu lowered her head to buy tickets, and when she was done, she looked up to see Zhiqi sitting by the window reading a book with downcast eyes, her porcelain white teeth biting a straw of a cup of porridge, very focused.
The sunlight coming in from the window just happened to shine on the girl's body, reflecting her porcelain-white skin that was almost transparent, as if she had been slapped with a layer of milk, the pupils on her face were extremely black, and her facial features were exquisite.
Like a princess in an ivory tower without light.
For some reason, this adjective would pop up in Meng Chunyu's mind every time he was amazed by Zhiqi's beauty.
She knew that Zhiqi was different from her, even from the girls in the whole school, and the longer she got along with her, the more she felt this way.
Zhiqi looks well-behaved, submissive, and won't reject others, but Meng Chunyu knows that she always refuses to have in-depth interactions with others except herself, like... completely insecure.
In the three years of university, Zhiqi spent most of her time studying.
With a full scholarship, their grade points are astonishingly high, and because their major is a "difficult major", they have to take many other major courses, including internships, flying all over the world, and doing experiments...
So Zhiqi never puts her mind on other places like her, she is an out-and-out '2G girl'.
While feeling admiration, Meng Chunyu also knew in her heart that she would never become Zhiqi, who could be a princess by virtue of her appearance, but was actually a hard-working fairy.
But she can be the 'knight' who protects the fairies.
Meng Chunyu smiled and took Zhiqi's arm, and pulled the girl out of the door.
All the way to the cinema, Meng Chunyu talked about how awesome this cutting-edge director Shen Lei was, and how many film festivals his films had been shortlisted for.
Zhiqi didn't understand these things, and although she was confused, she listened very seriously, but a question from time to time left Meng Chunyu speechless.
E.g-
Zhiqi asked solemnly: "You said that the movie we watched today is a murder story of a criminal with a seven-fold personality disorder, but now that the review is strict, will this kind of movie have bloody scenes? If they are all deleted, they will not be able to express the meaning of it, right?" ?”
…
Meng Chunyu, who had never investigated this before, was speechless.
After a long while, she said weakly: "It should... yes?"
What's the point of a suspenseful thriller crime film with a perverted psychotic criminal with seven personalities as the protagonist, without any bloody scenes
When Zhiqi heard this, her original mentality of drifting with the crowd aroused some interest. For her, this kind of movie was much better than any romance movie.
There was a bit of a traffic jam on the road. When the two arrived at the cinema, it was only three minutes before the broadcast started, and they almost rushed all the way to the screening hall.
Maybe this movie directed by Shen Lei is really popular, the dark auditorium is full of people.
The two sneaked quietly to their seats, and when Zhiqi sat down and raised her head, a close-up close-up of her face suddenly appeared on the big screen that almost filled the entire line of sight.
On the screen is a very handsome boy.
His hair and eyebrows are black, regular and sharp, his glazed eyes are empty and emotionless, his face is pale, but his lips are very red... He is almost handsome and has a wicked taste.
Zhiqi was taken aback when he saw it, his brain froze for a moment, and his whole body seemed to have been electrified.
She was breathing heavily, closing her eyes and opening them again.
That's right, she would never forget that face on the screen, it was clearly Jiang Qi!
Zhi Qi stood up abruptly.
Accompanied by her unconscious movements, there was an uproar behind her.
"Yeah, Qiqi, why are you standing up?" Meng Chunyu was taken aback, pulled her quickly, and lowered her voice, "Sit down quickly."
Zhiqi was manipulated by her like a puppet, and she had to sit down mechanically.
A thin layer of sweat quickly broke out from her palms, and she stared at Jiang Qi on the screen without blinking, but her voice was asking Meng Chunyu next to her: "This... who is this?"
"It is said that it is a rookie actor named Jiang Qi, who was dug out by Shen Lei." Meng Chunyu knew the virtues of Zhiqi 2G girls, and explained to her in a low voice—
"The industry deserves to praise Director Shen for his good vision. This guy is so handsome. This movie is his debut. He can act in Shen Lei's movie when he debuts. I have always guessed that he has a backstage. Guess what, some time ago, some netizens picked it up. This man has been in prison before!"
"Oh my god, the news is so explosive that I didn't believe it at first, but the hammer is too solid and no one denies it... Tsk tsk, the world really depends on appearances."
Meng Chunyu's voice lingered in his ears, like an obscure rope that could pull people back to the past.
Zhiqi suddenly felt extremely painful. The pain made her close her eyes, but she was reluctant to miss every scene of Jiang Qi.