Chapter 35

◎Determination to Cut Off ties◎

Du Ningyang realized belatedly that they had taken a car to the area where Zhu He lived. The food stalls only put out their plastic cloth stalls at night, occupying most of the sidewalk. Next to it was the grocery store where Wu You took her to buy flip-flops.

It was just winter, and the goods hanging at the door were replaced with sleeves and wool slippers.

Would she run into them? She couldn't help but get nervous and looked around.

Jin Zhenqi was writing the names of dishes on small pieces of paper. Thinking that she was curious, he said, "Don't be so excited. Don't beat me up if it doesn't taste good."

"No," she said absent-mindedly, but she didn't hide it. "I have friends who live nearby. They told me that the food around here is delicious."

"Oh? Friends from which place? Do you want to ask him to come down to eat with you?" Jin Zhenqi handed over the menu and imitated the locals to unpack disposable tableware and wash dishes. "If it's not enough, just add a few more dishes." "

No," Du Ningyang refused without thinking.

Then she thought, since they helped her so much during the summer vacation and stayed up all night to pick her up, she should treat them to a meal, so she called Wu You.

The emotionless female voice on the call said, "The number you dialed is turned off, please call again later..."

She had a sense of boundaries and no longer looked for Zhu He alone, "No answer, forget it, maybe he's busy, let's eat."

While waiting for the food, Jin Zhenqi wrapped Du Ningyang's hand in her own hand and squeezed it. Her fingers were white and slender, and her nails were painted with shiny sky blue nail polish, but her palm was very soft, like a piece of warm plasticine.

They chatted and discussed how to spend the rest of the winter vacation. He wanted to take her back to Shicheng to meet his parents. She said she would go back to ask Du Minda and Fang Fang for their opinions, and it shouldn't be a big problem, but she was worried that it would be difficult to buy tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Jin Zhenqi smiled and said, "Then I'll give you the hard sleeper. I'll stand back even if I have to, or squeeze into a berth."

"You'll behave yourself if you squeeze someone else's berth out."

"It's not like you haven't squeezed into a small bed before..."

It suddenly began to rain outside the shed. Although the winter in Shenzhen is about 20 degrees, the rain in winter is different from the summer rain. It's cold and wet, with an aggressive chill.

The rain hit the ground and splashed on the trouser legs, which was icy cold.

Jin Zhenqi liked things that were within the plan. He worried about the dark twilight, "Wait and see. If the rain is too heavy, I'll take a taxi back. I have to get up early to catch the bus tomorrow."

"Shenzhen is like this. The rain will stop soon. Don't worry," Du Ningyang blurted out what Wu You had said before, and looked up to see a desolate shadow in the rain.

It was Zhuge, carrying a plastic bag and walking slowly in the rain. She was soaked through. Through the blurry and cold rain curtain, she called his name with certainty.

"Congratulations--"

Congratulations paused, looking around in confusion, his eyes were empty and dull, his weed-like hair was wet and hung down under his ears, his already thin body was almost just a skeleton, swaying in a thin coat and jeans. It

was completely different from half a year ago.

He walked forward again, and every step seemed to take all his strength and was very difficult.

This was not right, Du Ningyang stood up from the plastic stool and shouted louder, "Congratulations, hello, it's me!"

"Congratulations--"

He turned a deaf ear, like a walking corpse, walking in the rain in a mess and numbness.

Du Ningyang spoke very quickly and said to Jin Zhenqi: "I'll go see what's wrong with him, you wait here for me, I'll be back soon."

"How about borrowing an umbrella from the boss?"

Before Jin Zhenqi finished asking, Du Ningyang had already rushed into the rain regardless. The slender figure blended into the blurred ink color, covered by the rain curtain, and soon became unclear.

One hot dish after another was served, and the curling white steam made Jin Zhenqi's glasses white, but he had no intention of picking up his chopsticks. He held her mobile phone in his hand and quickly pressed the keys to check. The more he looked, the more depressed he felt.

When she ran out, he hesitated and asked himself a question.

"If it was me in the rain, without any response to her anxious calls, would she chase me out?"

After nearly two years of being together, she was the absolute superior, and he didn't dare to give a definite answer. He would never put her in such a situation, and he would not give her such an option.

She kept her mobile phone with her every day, always keeping an eye on the latest news and developments, but at this moment she didn't even bother to pick up her mobile phone, and she didn't even close her flip phone and didn't lock the screen.

Why could this friend who had never been mentioned by her make her so concerned and so distracted?

He rarely did such an unrighteous thing, but he still couldn't help but open her mobile phone. The name of that person was easy to remember and festive.

He found the person named "Zhu Jiabei" in her list. They didn't have any chat history, but the message in the dialog box reminded that they had been friends for 716 days.

Jin Zhenqi was not so interested in numbers, but he remembered very clearly that this day was two weeks away from their second anniversary. Two years is 730 days, and today is the 716th day they have been together officially.

They added each other as friends at 4:30 in the afternoon.

He officially became a regular at 6:30 in the evening.

There is no clear evidence to prove that she was stimulated by him, but it is obvious, isn't it? She wanted to prove something to Zhu He, so he, Jin Zhenqi, became her boyfriend.

She chose him to prove to Zhu He that someone loved her. If Zhu He went back to him on that day, he would not have been with him for a minute or a second.

What is the difference between him and the Joker?

The Joker still has the courage to destroy the world, and the Joker girl who swears to follow him to death, but Jin Zhenqi just waited until all the dishes were cold, until the food stall sent away the last wave of customers, until the rain stopped and the sun rose, but he didn't wait for her to come back.

This must be God's will, that they had to travel thousands of miles to meet Zhu He in the rain. This feeling was the most powerless. They clearly had no contact, but it was as if they were pulling a transparent kite string, loose and unscrewed, pulling each other forever.

He handed her mobile phone, her small shoulder bag, and the white shirt she gave him to the owner of the food stall, and sent her a message saying "You will definitely regret it" and "Don't even think about getting my blessing", then walked to the side of the road to stop a car and speed away from this sad place.

He didn't give her a chance to explain, he kept his last bit of self-esteem for himself.

-Du

Ningyang caught up with Zhu He in the dark corridor that was leaking rain and was wet, and shouted his name with all his strength. This time he finally stopped and turned around.

Zhu He looked numb, and thought for a long time before calling out her name to confirm whether he was alive or dead.

"It's me," she walked up and asked anxiously, "What's wrong with you? Where's Wu You?"

His lips opened slightly, but he couldn't make a sound, and his eyes drooped for a long time.

"She," Zhu He took a deep breath, as if he had used up all his strength, "She... died."

"Don't joke like that!" She widened her eyes and looked at him fiercely.

"No... this is not the case," he stood still, "It's all my fault. If it wasn't for me, if she hadn't known me, she wouldn't have known it."

Zhu He had obviously not been able to sleep for a long time. His mental state was extremely bad. He spoke incoherently and his sentences were incoherent. It took her a long time to finally figure out the earth-shaking changes in the past six months in his messy house.

After they left Shenzhen, a registered letter about failing the exam and delaying graduation was sent to Wu You's home.

Her parents were both high school teachers. They were extremely strict with her education since she was a child, but they didn't have much time to care for and discipline her. They didn't know that she had moved out of school a long time ago and lived with her boyfriend outside the school, making a living by playing games day and night.

They found this place, and while Zhu He was out upgrading his hardware, they forcibly took her away and took her to the Internet addiction treatment center.

I heard that the discipline there was very cruel, and electric shocks and sticks were used in extreme cases.

"I first went to wait near her home, hoping to meet her parents and tell them that I'm not that kind of person, but I couldn't meet them. Finally one day I met her cousin, and she said they sent her to the Internet addiction treatment center."

"So I went to the Internet addiction treatment center every day to wait for her to come out. I went there during the day and came back at night to make money, until, until one day, I was too tired and slept all day."

When I woke up, it was already dusk, but the sky was reflected in red. The news on all the TV stations in the city was playing in a loop. Everyone on the street was discussing that the Internet addiction treatment center had caught fire and the fire was raging.

In the newspaper, black and white, printed in ink - closed environment, water leaked at night, and no one survived.

"It's all because of me... If it wasn't for me..."

"It wasn't because of you, it wasn't..."

His tears drowned her, like sea water, making her unable to breathe and almost drowning.

Even if it was for others.

She reached out and gently hugged him, patting his back gently like comforting a child. It was hard to imagine their first hug, without any love between men and women, only pure pity, wet as if soaked in water.

"Zhengzhu, you need a good sleep," she tried to calm him down from his hesitation and sobbing, "You go take a shower first, I'll stay with you, okay?"

The sound of water came from the bathroom, she looked out the window, and just came to her senses, the rain had stopped and dawn had broken.

They were both exhausted.

She hurriedly felt in her pocket, wanting to take out her cell phone to call Jin Zhenqi, but found that she didn't bring her cell phone, so she hurried back and found that the food stall had closed and the shutter door was closed.

Du Ningyang leaned on the glass counter of the grocery store and called Jin Zhenqi on the landline. Her knuckles knocked on the countertop again and again, and she felt inexplicably panicked. She thought he must be very angry with her, eating a good meal, and then she gave up and stood him up.

I wonder what time he waited?

Maybe he didn't go far?

Jin Zhenqi would always wait for her, and he would always forgive her and tolerate her. If she explained the whole story to him, he would definitely support her.

She suddenly found that she could also memorize Jin Zhenqi's mobile phone number, but it was too late.

He hung up the call from Shenzhen without hesitation, as resolute as his determination to break off relations with her.

Indeed, it was hard to say that she had no selfish motives at the time; while waiting for the call to be connected, Du Ningyang kept thinking about the questions that Jin Zhenqi might ask her, while sorting out her answers.

Unfortunately, the call was never connected.

The winter sun was not warm, but it seemed to be burning her anxious heart, and a thin layer of sweat floated on her forehead unknowingly.

She wondered, why didn't he believe her?

She wondered, why didn't he give her a chance to explain?

She wondered, how could he leave her alone in Shenzhen and safely board the return train?

She thought, everything was over, without quarrels and farewells, seemingly decent, but also seemed to be riddled with holes.

She had occupied the public phone for too long, and there were people waiting in line behind her. She was very anxious and planned to buy a bottle of water to cool down. So she reached into her trouser pocket to take out money, but she took out a wrinkled business card with curled edges.

The edges were eroded by rain, but the font printed in the center was clearly visible - skin is a warm canvas, and tattoos are eternal memorials.

The tattoo shop called Memorial is not far from Zhu He's home. She stuffed the business card back into her trouser pocket.

"This is why Jin Zhenqi and I broke up, and why I tattooed Wu You's name on my arm. It can also be said that it indirectly prompted me to become a tattoo artist."

"I am fickle and indecisive. I don't know how to cherish when I am spoiled, and I am willing to be hung up as a spare tire."

"I am also afraid that you will think I am a scumbag and shameless like Jin Zhenqi."

"But I don't regret it. I will still do it if I have a chance again."

She answered the unfinished questions between them one by one.

Du Ningyang extinguished the cigarette butt, exhaled the last puff of gray smoke, and looked at Wen Xu, "I hardly mentioned this to anyone, not even Zhu Yao and Xu Zhaolin. They all thought that I was fickle and kicked Jin Zhenqi. No one knew that he dumped me when I liked him the most." It's embarrassing

, isn't it?

"Wen Xu, being honest means opening up the wound of emotions and letting you see the festering pus inside. I don't think you have the obligation to take on my emotions and negative energy. In fact, no one has such an obligation." Tonight was just

emotional.

In the past few weeks, they always avoided talking about key issues, covering their own wounds and trying to heal alone, facing each other with a body that pretended to be strong, so they were only superficially intimate and could never go a step further.

Unlike before, she would cry with Zhu He, telling each other with tears and snot that "everything will be fine, it will definitely be fine", she narrated these in an extremely calm tone, perhaps because she no longer had expectations in her heart and already knew that "it won't be fine".

Only by being strong can you digest it alone.

Wen Xu held Du Ningyang in his arms, kissed her forehead, and gave her the long-lost sense of security with his broad arms. But why did he also shed hot tears?

Drop by drop, dripping on her cheek, and down along the lines of her skin. This was considered a warm mark, just soothing, not stinging.

She raised her eyes and looked at her in confusion and daze.

He said: "It doesn't matter, Du Ningyang, I am willing to listen to your story. I didn't have the chance to know it before, so I always felt sorry. In fact, I am even happy that you chose congratulations-you really like him, so you really love him. It is your style to dare to love and hate and not turn back until you hit the wall. Now that you have hit the wall and turned back, your story has completely turned over, and our story can begin. I am much luckier than Jin Zhenqi, am I not?"

Can their story begin now?

When we first met, our life experiences were just a piece of white paper with a few faint pencil marks. Now, after ten years of wear and tear, it can never be smoothed out. All we can do is to make the concave and convex surfaces fit together as much as possible and resonate with the same frequency.

She asked unsurely, "Really?" So he thought he was lucky?

"Yes," he said firmly, "Not everyone avoids risks and uncertainties like Jin Zhenqi, and not everyone is not motivated and cherishes like Zhuge. At least, I am different from them. I am willing to stand by you forever. Even if you make mistakes, even if you make me angry, I will believe you, Du Ningyang. The time we have spent together is too short, but time will prove that I can do it."

He always did more than he said.

He seldom saw her so pitiful and fragile. Her round eyes were full of water and disbelief, as if it was an unrealistic luxury for someone to love her firmly and consistently.

She suddenly asked, "What about you? How have you been in the past ten years?" Let me see your wounds, let me apply healing herbs to them with my own hands.

He smiled bitterly. In those ten years, he went back to Huaicheng twice and met her twice unilaterally, from a distance.

Then he lived on those smiles.