Chapter 371 (Part 1)
Not now.
Not in the past.
Not the future.
The linear concept of time has lost its meaning.
A memory, a conversation, a feeling, like spider web-like threads, weave an infinite maze.
…
…
His face felt itchy, as if a feather had brushed against it. He opened his eyes and a small moth flew away from his eyelids.
…
What catches your eye is the old ceiling fan and the slightly gray ceiling in the house.
Liu Xingquan looked at the familiar ceiling, and for a moment his mind fell into a blank silence.
Where am I...
I should be...
"Ding-ling-ling-ling..."
The alarm clock suddenly started ringing.
He reached out and pressed the alarm clock, glancing at the time: 6:45.
It's time to get up!
He jumped off the bed.
This is his bedroom. Bookshelves filled with books, a spotless desk, his schoolbag has been sorted and placed on his desk chair. Although time is tight, he still hesitated for a moment. The scene in front of him should be a more technological device, he should be in a more distant...
"Ding-dong-dong-dong..." The alarm clock rang again.
Liu Xingquan reached out and turned off the alarm.
He put on his coat and walked out of the bedroom.
The house was quiet, just like any other morning, with no one in the house.
There was a white foam box on the dining table. When I opened the foam box, I found a bag of warm chocolate milk, two steaming buns and a tea egg.
His breakfast was reserved early in the morning.
After rushing into the bathroom and quickly brushing his teeth and washing his face, Liu Xingquan wolfed down a meat bun, gulped down the milk, put the remaining buns and eggs into a plastic bag, picked up his schoolbag and rushed out the door.
As soon as I walked out of the residential building, a neighbor who was walking towards me asked with a smile: "Xiaoquan went to school?"
"Hello, uncle!" He ran forward quickly.
"Slow down!"
"good!!"
The morning air was a little chilly, and Liu Xingquan shrank his neck slightly. This was the street out of the community that he was very familiar with. He walked forward, turned a corner, and walked two more blocks to reach the Fourth Middle School. He still had 15 minutes.
He quickened his pace.
It was an ordinary morning.
Just like any other day that has ever passed.
Office workers on the street were hurrying along with blank expressions, and from time to time, a few students in school uniforms could be seen. This was the scene he would see every day on his way to school. Since entering the Fourth Middle School, this unchanging street scene had already been seen for the second year.
But why do I feel confused and at a loss?
It was such an ordinary and peaceful morning, yet it felt like a different world.
Did I fall asleep because I read too late last night? No, what was I doing last night? After a while of blank thinking, his mind was like a dough that was unable to be used, so chaotic that he couldn't see clearly.
"Hey!" A hand was placed heavily on his shoulder.
Liu Xingquan turned his head, and a pair of energetic eyes met his sight. Cui Mingzhi smiled and clapped his hands again. "What are you daydreaming about!"
"Cui Mingzhi?" Liu Xingquan blurted out, "Why are you here?"
The boy raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean I'm here? Isn't this the way to school?"
"I thought..." Liu Xingquan opened his mouth and then closed it. What did he think? This was the street leading to the main entrance of the school. It was natural for him to meet Cui Mingzhi, who was from the same school. Why was he so surprised?
"You haven't woken up yet." Cui Mingzhi laughed.
"Um……"
The two walked side by side on the way to school. "I'll let it go, it's rare that you would dawdle until this time." Cui Mingzhi said after looking at the electronic watch on his hand.
"...How many minutes left?"
"Three minutes left."
"What are you waiting for? Run!" Liu Xingquan shouted.
In a life-or-death sprint, he and Cui Mingzhi rushed into the classroom at the sound of the loud school bell. Teacher Li, who was standing in front of the podium, frowned but said nothing.
Liu Xingquan sat in his seat, put his schoolbag into the drawer, and took out the books for class. He subconsciously glanced to the side. Cui Mingzhi was carelessly stuffing his schoolbag into the drawer and greeting the students next to him.
"Why are you sitting in his seat?" Liu Xingquan asked.
"Huh? What?" Cui Mingzhi had already sat down. His familiarity with occupying the seat made Liu Xingquan feel angry.
"Aren't you from the next class? Why are you sitting in our class?"
"What?" Cui Mingzhi looked at him in surprise, puzzled, "What class next door?"
"Aren't you from Class 1?"
Cui Mingzhi chuckled, "Liu Xingquan, I think you really are confused after sleeping."
A classmate next to him laughed: "Squad Leader Liu, are you kidding me?"
Wei Jingjing, who was sitting behind Cui Mingzhi, muttered, "I really don't know what you guys are thinking about all day long."
Liu Xingquan said: "But this seat belongs to him..."
Cui Mingzhi stared at him: "Who is he? Who else could it be except me?"
"Of course..." Liu Xingquan wanted to say the name, but the name was gone in a flash before it came out, and his mind was empty. The eyes of the students around him were all staring at him, with a careless smile and harmless curiosity on their faces.
"It's..." Who is it? Who was the person sitting here originally?
There was no trace left in his memory. It had clearly existed in his mind just now, on the tip of his tongue. He had almost described that person clearly. But now, the name disappeared like dust in the wind, and he could only stare at his classmates' faces in silence and blankness.
"Liu Xingquan, you really haven't woken up yet." Cui Mingzhi said with a smile.
He held his forehead and murmured, "Hmm..."
The students burst into laughter.
Bang! Teacher Li knocked hard on the podium.
Silence returned to the classroom.
After the morning class, the first class began.
Liu Xingquan opened the textbook. He had already reviewed the questions that Teacher Li explained a few months ago. After writing down a few key points, Liu Xingquan shifted his attention to other areas.
The order in Mr. Li's class was always good. His classmates were sitting in different places just as he remembered, and there was Cui Mingzhi, who was taking notes with an expression on his face as if he had been sitting in this seat since birth. Liu Xingquan blinked, perhaps he was a little confused because of sleep.
The bell rang for the end of get out of class.
After Teacher Li walked out of the classroom, the students suddenly became noisy.
Cui Mingzhi dragged his chair to Liu Xingquan's side and asked, "My squad leader, are you sober now?"
"Yeah." Liu Xingquan responded, "I've been dreaming these past few days."
"What dream?"
“I traveled through space on a spaceship.”
"Have ideals. Then when you dream, you will find out that the captain of this spaceship is actually me - Choi Ming-chi." Choi Ming-chi said shamelessly.
"You think too much." Liu Xingquan said flatly, "The captain is a chicken."
Cui Mingzhi laughed, "Your dream sounds a bit stupid."
"..." Why did I blurt out a chicken? Liu Xingquan thought to himself.
"Cui Mingzhi!" Wei Jingjing shouted, "What are you doing? You brought all my things down with you!"
It turned out that when Cui Mingzhi was dragging his chair, he accidentally knocked down a pile of books on Wei Jingjing's desk. "Ouch, sorry." Cui Mingzhi immediately bent down to pick it up.
In addition to a few textbooks, there was also a stack of postcards on the ground. Choi Ming-chi picked up a few postcards and looked at them. He couldn't help but laugh, "No wonder you are so heartbroken, it turns out that your idol fell down."
"Cui Mingzhi!" Wei Jingjing said angrily.
"This young man looks familiar, what's his name?"
Liu Xingquan said casually: "Ren Anzhi."
"Who is Ren Anzhi?" Cui Mingzhi said, "I've never heard of him."
"Who is Ren Anzhi?" Wei Jingjing took her precious postcard angrily, "This is Xie Ran! He is not an idol, he is a talented singer."
"..." Liu Xingquan asked in surprise, "Don't you like Ren Anzhi the most?"
"Sorry, I'm not interested in those 18th-tier celebrities I've never heard of." Wei Jingjing carefully examined the postcard of Xie Ran in her hand. "Cui Mingzhi, if I find that there's even a little dirt on it, you have to compensate me."
"It's just a few postcards," Cui Mingzhi said nonchalantly.
"This is not an ordinary postcard, it has Xie Ran's autograph on it! Do you know how much one is being sold for on Xianyu now?" Wei Jingjing retorted, "I got it with great difficulty. Liu Xingquan? What? Are you interested in Xie Ran too?"
"..." Liu Xingquan looked at the postcard in his hand. On it was a male star with a cool temperament. He was Xie Ran. No, the male star Wei Jingjing liked didn't look like this. He should be more like...
"What do you think, Xie Ran is pretty good, right?" Wei Jingjing said proudly.
"..." Liu Xingquan returned the postcard to Wei Jingjing, "You really don't know Ren Anzhi?"
"Who is Ren Anzhi?"
Liu Xingquan returned to his seat. Who is Ren Anzhi? He asked himself again in his mind. However, no appearance corresponding to this name emerged in his mind , and the name itself became blurred. The name that he blurted out subconsciously now only had three Chinese characters left, and the meaning behind it was like the "he" just now, which disappeared like smoke in the wind.
The class bell rang again.
Classes start and end. Breaks.
A monotonous life.
His school days were exactly as he remembered them.
Comfortable, stable and regular.
Before I knew it, it was time to end the get out of class.
He was walking on his way home from school.
Cui Mingzhi walked beside him, talking noisily about a game he had just bought. He responded casually and looked around at the familiar street scene.
If you go straight for 20 meters on this road, there will be a fork in the road, and Choi Ming-chi will go in a different direction from him.
"The market is busy again." Cui Mingzhi glanced at the fork in the street. Over there was a community pedestrian commercial street. The market was at its busiest in the evening.
"Um..." Liu Xingquan said, "Do you want to go buy something?"
"No, my mother cooked a table full of delicious food today. I'm leaving now." Cui Mingzhi waved goodbye to Liu Xingquan and turned away.
Liu Xingquan stood there, looking at the bustling street.
By the time he realized it, he had already walked into the pedestrian street.
If only I could find out earlier.
If only I could remember it earlier.
If, nothing happened.
If, he——
…
…
I once had a very unpleasant experience with someone here.
He couldn't describe the feeling. It was like something was there, but when he tried to look closely, there was only a fog. He knew what was there, but he couldn't describe it.
Who on earth am I mad at on this street?
Why am I so sad?
My eyes became sore at that moment.
Sorry, I don't know anything.
He stopped.
He saw a snack bar with a chicken coop in front of the door.
A chicken was squatting inside.
