Chapter 6: Hope's Extra Story

  I am happy because I love, because I have love. — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

  A milk-white bullet train roared and drew a line on the gray-green land.

  "Respected passengers, Wuxi Station is approaching, please take your luggage and get ready to disembark."

  Holding luggage and standing in line to get off the bus, I was looking out the window when the bus suddenly stopped and everyone rushed forward. That familiar face suddenly appeared before my eyes.

  There was no time to remember separately, because everyone thought that maybe this life would not meet again. It seems like a long time has passed, and I've gotten used to the days without you, gotten used to another person's smile by my side, and stopped thinking about it. But when I turned around, I found that memories were still lying at the bottom of my heart, never leaving.

  Still slightly curly hair, compared to last time it has grown a lot longer, slightly open mouth, his sleeping face is clearer than ever.

  Several times after school, he went to play basketball, and she always waited in the classroom reading books. As she read, she fell asleep, and when he came back, all he saw was her rosy sleeping face and a puddle of saliva on the book. He always found it very funny that someone who looked so well-behaved and quiet was actually lazy and had a lot of clever ideas. Outsiders often thought she was being bullied, but in fact, she was the one bullying him. However, he didn't mind; he liked it that way.

  He would watch her sleep while doing his homework, tidy up and then call out to her.

  Put a napkin under her mouth, she will be uncomfortable and wake up soon.

  He shook his handkerchief and said: "The Yangtze River"

  She was originally both shy and annoyed, so angry that she forgot everything, staring with her eyes wide open and baring her teeth as she fought with him.

  Within three steps, he turned his head to look at her. The past pain didn't matter anymore. This was already the happiest thing in the world. In the crowded carriage, she quietly slept there, wearing earphones and leaning on the shoulder of a girl beside him, within his reach.

  The person in front moved, and he hurriedly poked forward again, stretching out his hand, almost brushing against her hair. He noticed the strange gaze of the girl next to her, as if unintentionally grabbing the backrest of her seat.

  He hoped she was a little annoyed, angry that she fell asleep listening to music like this. He really wanted to know what kind of expression he would see again, whether she had the same nervous and uneasy mood as him, why only he was in a flurry of thoughts. He was very angry, hating to change hands to pinch her face, which he had done many times before.

  But he was also afraid that she would wake up, and he didn't know what kind of expression to use to face her astonished eyes, like looking at a stranger he hadn't seen for a long time? He couldn't do it.

  He looked down at her like this, and she fell asleep beside his hand.

  With a "ding", the train arrived at the station, and the crowd began to move forward until people in the back started pushing and shouting: "Move forward!"

  He moved his fingers slightly and raised his head to see his wife's smiling face on the platform, feeling a bit dazed.

  He started walking forward, stopped at the door and let others go first. He turned back to look at her, she was still in that posture, he knew it long ago, she could fall asleep anywhere as long as she wanted to sleep.

  His wife called him from beside the door, he smiled and walked out of the train, holding his wife's hand.

  With a "clang", the train moved forward mercilessly.

  Zhao Shuiguan woke up with a frown as soon as he heard someone calling out "Hope". He turned his head to see two women in their 40s chatting on the aisle next to him, one of whom kept shaking her head and shouting: "Not much hope, not much hope at all!"

  Zhao Shuiguang couldn't help but find himself amusing, it had already become a conditioned reflex.

  Cousin Chenchen saw that she woke up and said: "Older sister, when we just passed Wuxi, there was a handsome guy standing next to us! I even made eye contact with him!"

  Zhao Shuiguan was dead, and Lian said: "Really? Really? Why didn't you call me?"

  What she didn't know was that just a few minutes ago, that person had gazed at her with complex and turbulent emotions.

  Life is so long, the world is still so small, one day we will accidentally brush past each other, you are here, I am there, it doesn't matter, because I know this is already our greatest fate.