Chapter Fifteen

  Although I have become accustomed to moving like migratory birds and will never experience insomnia, anxiety and other adverse reactions after moving, this time is an exception.

  Lying on a two-meter-wide double bed, whether turning left or right requires at least three turns to fall to the ground, making me feel empty and deserted. Turning left and right, I became insomnia. At 4 or 5 in the morning, I finally fell asleep, but my brain couldn't rest and immediately had a dream. I have an impression that the plot of this dream is very tortuous and strange, but unfortunately, after waking up the next morning, I can only remember two simple scenes of this dream.

  First, there is a huge floor-to-ceiling window. When the wind blows, the yellow curtains flutter high, revealing the blue sea and white sandy beach across from it. A few seagulls are basking in the sun on the water's surface. The environment is perfect for couples who are dating to chase and play with each other. In the middle of the sandy beach, a lush green area emerges, filled with narcissus flowers. Although I still have some doubts about whether narcissus flowers can actually be grown on the beach, in that scene, the narcissus flowers growing in the middle of the beach were still very luxuriant.

  A tall and slender girl stood beside the narcissus, wearing a blue plaid shirt with a white knitted sweater vest, black trousers, and her ponytail tied high. Two meters to the left of the girl, a man in a dark V-neck sweater and light-colored casual pants was holding a long stick and drawing something on the beach, his head slightly lowered, his posture elegant and calm.

  Although the air was very clear, unlike C city, I was too far away from them and couldn't make out what they looked like. Until someone next to me handed me a telescope. I took it with joy and looked through it, but all I saw were water lilies swaying in the wind and golden waves under the sun, there was no sign of the man or girl. A voice sounded beside my ear: "Don't you think they are not a good match?"

  What does it matter to you whether others are a good match or not? I said casually, "I think Li Yapeng and Wang Fei aren't a good match either, but they still got married and lived their lives."

  What happened next I don't remember anymore.

  Next is the second scene. I sit by the sea, barefoot, with icy seawater and soft fine sand under my feet. Several oil exploration ships are anchored at the horizon where the sea meets the sky, and the damp sea breeze blows so hard that I can barely keep my balance.

  I'm consumed by sorrow, hugging my knees and curled up like a snail, crying. A thick fog suddenly falls without warning, the sky loses its color in an instant, I shiver with cold, sobbing and saying: "I regret it, I really regret it, I didn't make it in time, I didn't make it in time for anything..." In that scene, I kept repeating those illogical words, like a wound-up spring that had to unwind until the end.

  I cried for a long time, and the whole process was inexplicably mysterious, so I kept looking for reasons. When the thick fog in front of me finally dissipated, a voice in my mind told me that he had died, killed in the civil war in Sierra Leone, West Africa, in 1999. Although even after being woken up by the alarm clock, I still didn't realize who that person was. But even in my dream, the feeling was very clear, and I was so sad that I almost collapsed, a taste that could only be matched by that summer when I was eighteen years old. The name of that person has always been difficult to search for in my memory, it's even more mysterious than a fallen woman. For a moment, I thought I was going to remember, and his name would come out of my mouth, but then the alarm clock rang. I woke up and cursed.

  On the way to school, I kept recalling the details of this dream, feeling that it was a promising material, and with some polishing, I could write an article to submit to "Zhiyin". The title was already thought out, called "The Civil War in Sierra Leone, A Moving X Affair Brutally Buried by You". X can refer to kinship, friendship, romance, or even same-sex relationships, depending on market preferences.

  This morning's Marxist literary theory and contemporary Chinese literature studies were both used by me to think things through. This afternoon I had no classes, so I was able to move my creative base of operations to the TV station office. The outdoor weather is bitterly cold, but this place just happens to have air conditioning.

  I was halfway through writing the manuscript when Zhou Yue called and said that it's been 27 years since He Bi's birthday, and tonight at 6 o'clock, there will be a banquet at Yu Man Lou to entertain guests from all over. She booked two tables and asked me to arrive on time, also bringing along 7 or 8 classmates who can eat well.

  He is Zhou Yu's ex-boyfriend.

  It is said that in that year, Zhou Yueyue had just entered her senior year and moved from the new campus to the old one. Since the dormitory couldn't get online in time, she was forced to leave her study room and take a glimpse of the world outside. She signed up for an electric guitar training class to pass the time.

  He Dashao was her classmate, and somehow they got together and confirmed their relationship. However, as Zhou Yueyue's affection for him grew stronger, she discovered that He Dashao had an affair with a married woman who taught them electric guitar, and she was just a cover-up for their extramarital affair. In a fit of rage, Zhou Yueyue broke up with He Dashao, and the breakup was quite dramatic - on the night they parted ways, He Dashao got so emotional that he tore off half of Zhou Yueyue's sleeve, but still let her leave.

  It has been more than two years since this happened.

  "I said: 'How did you cheat others into two tables of wine? Or is it like the Yueman Building's sales gold cave.'"

  Zhou Yueyue said: "I don't know how he suddenly called me to invite me. I'm not avoiding him, but I didn't want to go, so I casually said that I had already promised a friend to have dinner with over 10 people and couldn't get away. Then he asked me to bring all my friends over, saying it's his birthday and he wants to make it lively. Come on, who doesn't have a birthday? Are we ordinary people supposed to celebrate birthdays every day? But later I thought about it, rich people are taking the initiative to ask us poor people to take advantage of them, this is an opportunity that can't be missed, if we don't take full advantage of it, it would be a waste for us poor people. So I found seven people who are free tomorrow, see if there's anyone on your side who can help out and make an appearance."

  I found it hard to say: "This thing is not easy to handle, now the quality of college students is very high, everyone has a sense of vigilance and will not easily agree to dine with strangers."

  She said: "Why don't you try asking first?"

  So I tried asking in the office.

  The result proved that I overestimated today's college students.

  Yueman Building is the most expensive seafood restaurant in C City. What makes it valuable is that it basically doesn't sell domestic seafood, and all the seafood is air-freighted from around the world, resulting in a large transportation cost and tariffs, so as to sell at an astronomical price. The customers are also very cooperative, even if the lobster in their mouths is dozens of times more expensive than ordinary restaurants, and the taste is basically similar, but everyone thinks that this is a lobster that has taken a plane and grown up abroad, and they will be very relieved and understanding.

  Zhou Yueyue came to meet us in the corridor with Yan Lang, who was wearing a deep blue down jacket with Mickey Mouse on both the front and back, his hair cut close to his scalp, looking so innocent that anyone who had met him before couldn't recognize him.

  He Daishao led us to a private room, and we were just about to enter when the door of another private room next to us suddenly opened. I heard the noise and glanced over, catching sight of Qin Mo's figure on the couch inside. The person sitting next to him seemed to be our school principal, holding up his wine glass saying "let's drink first". Qin Mo also picked up his wine glass. I thought to myself, so this was the dinner he mentioned yesterday. It was good that way, at least he wouldn't have to rush back to pick us up after dinner. After finishing his wine, he put down his cup and suddenly looked up, our eyes meeting directly. He was taken aback for a moment before smiling slightly. The lights in the private room were dazzling, and his smile almost made my eyes spin. I smiled along with him too. The principal leaned over to say something to him, and he turned his head to listen. Then the waiter came out and closed the door.

  Zhou Yueyue said: "Song Song, what are you looking at?"

  I said nothing much and quickened my pace to catch up with them.

  We continued walking in, and Chen Ying suddenly called out from behind: "Aiya, Tian Tian."

  A girl in a white sweater and plaid skirt turned her head at the sound, although her originally curly golden hair had become a waterfall-like black straight hair, after careful identification, everyone still recognized that she was indeed Jiang Tian.

  Jiang Tian said: "Ah, what a coincidence. How are you all here? Is it the annual year-end party for the program team?"

  I think unless we sell all the equipment of the column group, it's absolutely impossible to have a year-end dinner at Yufang Building. But before I could express this idea, the boss had already preempted: "Where, where, friends are celebrating birthdays, haha, what about you?"

  Jiang Tian said: "Ah, my dad had something to ask Qin Mo to dinner. Isn't the program group going to do a show about Qin Mo? My dad asked me to tell him myself, so I brought myself along."

  Everyone held their breath at once.

  "Did you talk to him? Was it successful?"

  Jiang Tian did not disappoint her name at all, sweetly smiling: "Of course he said it, and he immediately agreed."

  The head excitedly cheered up.

  Yue said: "That's not right, wasn't Qin Mo always refusing media interviews? And it's our small media outlet at that."

  Chen Ying, who had been unable to get a word in edgewise, finally got her chance. She ran her fingers through Jiang Tian's bright and beautiful hair, smiling calmly: "Tian is so pretty, maybe Qin Mo fell in love with her at first sight? Isn't that how it usually goes on TV? The male lead falls in love with the female lead at first sight, breaks many rules for her, does many things he wouldn't normally do, and finally wins over the female lead's heart."

  Jiang Tian's face turned red, and she said shyly: "Yingying, don't talk nonsense, you're just teasing me." She lowered her head and continued: "But I also find it strange, before coming here my dad said Qin Mo wasn't easy to talk to in this regard, but I didn't expect that as soon as I mentioned it to him, he didn't say anything and immediately agreed."

  I thought for a moment and said: "Could it be because I greeted him before?"

  Everyone burst out laughing, Tou said: "Yan Song, don't mess around." Lian Yue also said: "Song Song, are you telling a cold joke?" After finishing, he cooperated with me to pull the corners of his mouth and chuckled twice: "It's quite funny."

  Yan Lang looked at me with a mixture of pity and sympathy. From then on, everyone ignored me.

  Chen Ying said to Jiang Tian, "I think it's really a good match. You're from a family of scholars and he's from a family of architects. It's a perfect match. What's there to be embarrassed about?"

  Jiang Tian pretended to hit Chen Ying: "You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense. The eight characters haven't even been written yet, and besides, he's so many years older than me."

  Yan Lang stroked his chin and said to Jiang Tian, who had just turned 19: "Auntie, don't be so humble. You look like you're only 23 or 24, and there's definitely not a ten-year age gap between you and Qin Mo. You should learn from Weng Fan."

  I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

  Jiang Tian's mouth twitched and she said with great difficulty: "Xiao Didi, thank you for your encouragement."

  Yan Lang waved his hand: "We are all fellow drifters in a strange land, no need for formalities."

  Zhou Yue leaned against my shoulder and inexplicably asked: "Who are those two psychos?"

  But I was thinking about the reality of Qin Mo and Jiang Tian's love at first sight, and didn't have time to reason with her. Moreover, I always felt that Qin Mo shouldn't be interested in Jiang Tian, because this kind of thing relies too much on appearance, and although Jiang Tian is beautiful, compared to Zheng Mingming, she's not even in the same league.

  Chen Ying and Jiang Tian reluctantly parted ways, while Zhou Yue led us into the private room at the end of the corridor. After taking our seats, I immediately received a text message from Qin Mo: "Don't run around, wait for me in the lobby downstairs after dinner. And, Lang Lang's new haircut is pretty good, looks like Crayon Shin-chan."

  I tried to imagine Qin Mo lowering his head to text on his phone, but couldn't quite picture it. So I handed the message over to Yan Lang: "Your dad says your hair looks great."

  Yan Lang glared at Zhou Yue with a mixture of shame and anger: "It's all her fault, she took advantage of me when I was ill and couldn't resist, and forcibly dragged me to the barber shop to get this haircut."

  Zhou Yue carefully peeled the crab, pretending not to hear. The others at the table chimed in that his hairstyle wasn't actually that bad, still within an acceptable range. Yan Lang was comforted to the point of almost crying.

  Yan Lang was extremely humiliated, stared at the bowl of soup in front of him for a while, then suddenly snatched the phone from my hand and dialed Qin Mo's number. After it connected, he said loudly: "My hair doesn't look that bad! Humph, don't think we didn't see you having dinner with that young girl, my mom was so angry her face turned green!"

  I let out a loud "pu" and sprayed tea all over the table, causing everyone at the banquet to dodge in all directions.

  "Good grief, you silly child, what are you talking about?"

  Yan Lang said: "It's not you..." was covered by Zhou Yueyue's hand.

  When Zhou Yue let go, Yan Lang's face had already been pressed red, and he handed me the phone: "He wants to talk to you."

  I smiled and chatted with the people at the table while answering the phone, then got up and walked to a quiet place, saying in an embarrassed tone: "Teacher Qin, don't listen to Yan Lang's nonsense, I'm not angry, my face is particularly good, not green at all."

  He chuckled and said, "What do you call me?"

  I said: "Teacher Qin..."

  "He said: 'I didn't quite catch that, what was it?'"

  I said: "Qin Mo."

  "He said, 'Hmm, got my text? After dinner, bring Lang Lang to the lobby downstairs and wait for me. Don't run around, don't feed Lang Lang anything else, he can only drink some soup now.'"

  I said: "Oh, okay." Then waited for him to hang up.

  Suddenly, Jiang Tian's voice came over the phone: "...our two-year-old Husky has very sharp eyes and is the most handsome dog in our neighborhood. Does Teacher Qin also raise dogs at home?"

  Qin Mo replied, "No need, my son doesn't like pets."

  Jiang Tian said: "Huh? Son?"

  Qin Mo smiled and said: "My adopted son."

  I think Yan Lang really doesn't like pets.

  But there is a reason for this. In the past, our family also raised a dog, and I even gave him a name, called Dog Leftover. At that time, my grandmother was very ill, we didn't have money to treat her illness, and it was said that dog meat could be used as medicine to alleviate my grandmother's illness, so together with Yan Lang, we tearfully sent Dog Leftover to the Western Heaven, and cooked its body for my grandmother to eat. Although Yan Lang understood, he couldn't stop this from becoming a lifelong shadow for him. At the same time, it is also a lifelong shadow for me, but up until now, I have too many shadows, so this one can be ignored.

  Qin Mo said: "Why don't you hang up?"

  I said: "I'll wait for you to hang up first." Isn't this basic politeness?

  "He said: 'Okay, I'll try to finish as soon as possible.'"

  The author has something to say: Is today's chapter substantial enough?

  I'd like to say something off-topic, which is about the JJ's campaign against vulgarity. I truly understand that everyone wants to maintain the purity and harmony of the internet, which led to this JJ screening out vulgar words, replacing all vulgar words with "kou kou" in the "kou kou anti-vulgarity campaign".

  But some places really make people cry and laugh at the same time.

  For example, there was a segment in the years where Yan Song asked Lin Qiao if he had ejaculated, and Lin replied: "I have ejaculated." Originally a very pure and academic discussion of adolescent physiological development, after this event, it suddenly turned into Yan Song asking Lin Qiao: "Have you mouthed off?"

  Lin Qiao said: "It's just talk."

  Originally this article was not yellow, but after being scanned like this, it turned yellow.

  To avoid being censored, I've replaced sensitive words with pinyin, which can also help everyone review their pinyin, haha.