Chapter 5: Burning away all worries Qi Beichen03
My heartbeat suddenly became intense, and I felt a sense of panic that could not be suppressed. I watched her come out after buying groceries.
She looked at me and asked me, "What are you looking at?"
"Look at you."
“Does it look good?”
“It’s beautiful.”
Xiang Qianlan never blushes when she hears flattery. I helped her carry the plastic bag and suddenly remembered something. I asked her, "Why did you choose acting as your major? Do you want to be an actor?"
She said: "Qi Beichen, do you have a dream?"
I said, "No."
She raised her eyes to look at me and said, "I do. My dream is to make money. Maybe being an actor is a good shortcut."
"Why wade into that muddy water?"
"I grew up in muddy water and have long been immune to water and fire."
I rolled my eyes at her, but she suddenly smiled.
"Oh, I remembered that you and I are alumni again. Are you happy?" I said.
“You were admitted to University A?”
"yes."
The way she smiled made the evening lose its color. I smiled and asked her, "Has anyone ever said that you look like Athena Chu? The actress who played the fairy Zixia in A Chinese Odyssey."
"You're the first one to say that." We returned to her house. Xiang Qianlan put the dishes into the kitchen. She smelled herself and said, "I'm going to take a shower."
I was watching a variety show out of boredom. When the commercials started, she came out. She had her hair tied up and changed into home clothes. I smelled a faint scent of lavender shower gel.
Then, she bent down to wash clothes and went to the balcony to hang them up. I watched her standing on tiptoe but couldn't reach them, so I walked over and helped her hang them up.
"Xiang Qianlan, aren't you shy?" I shook the pure white underwear on the hanger and glanced at her standing by the door.
"What do you think of this?" She washed a pear and asked me while eating it.
"It's never a good thing."
I approached her and pushed her into a corner. Xiang Qianlan stared into my eyes for a long time. I was breathing lightly. She suddenly came over and kissed me on the face.
I raised my eyes to look at her, and she looked at me, her pupils were cold and without much emotion. I felt a disappointment that scared me during this eye contact. I felt like I was looking at a stranger. Perhaps she didn't treat me the way I thought. Perhaps everything was just a ridiculous illusion in my heart.
"Do you feel anything?" she said. "I don't feel anything, so Qi Beichen, don't play hard-to-get with me in the future."
"You're lying." I stared into her eyes.
"Why do you say that I..."
Before she could finish her words, I blocked her mouth. I closed the balcony door and kissed her with my eyes closed. "Xiang Qianlan, if you didn't have any feelings for me, how could you accept my kiss?"
I hate this face that is always so arrogant. It makes me feel so close to me, yet so far away, as if it is mocking my feelings. The scent of lavender hits my face, but she doesn't run away or respond to me.
Our kiss stopped when her mother shouted, "Where are you?"
"Xiang Qianlan." I said viciously, "You witch, you took my heart away so easily." "That's really unfortunate." Her lips were a little swollen from being ravaged by me, her hair was a little messy, there was a red cloud on her cheeks, and she still did not forget to mock me.
I touched her face and said, "I feel quite sad, too."
"What's wrong with you?" she asked me, "Why do you bite people all the time?" "I only bit you."
She gritted her teeth and said, "I'm sick."
I smiled and said, "Yes, I am sick."
It's always so easy for me to be happy when I'm with her.
I had dinner at Xiang Qianlan's house until eight o'clock in the evening. Her mother asked her to see me off, but she followed me out reluctantly. The wind blew gently, ruffling her hair in front of her forehead. Her appearance made me feel a little intoxicated.
She walked me to the alley and didn't approach me. I reached out to hug her, but she pushed me away. I said, "Xiang Qianlan, maybe we can give it a try?"
"Goodbye, I won't see you off." She turned and left.
Then I left Tongluo Lane without looking back.
The days passed peacefully.
That day, I drove to go fishing. When I came back, there were two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table, and Qi Xiaofeng was eating alone.
"Brother, are you back?"
"Well, Master Feng, you're eating alone again...what's wrong with your face?"
"Dad beat me."
"Did I hear it right? Qi Huatian is willing to beat his precious son?" I laughed sarcastically.
Qi Xiaofeng's eyes were as deep as a cold pond. He said, "I'm dropping out of school. In a week, my father will send me abroad."
"It's pretty good abroad. Even if you kill people or set fires, Qi Huatian can't do anything." I sat down at the dining table, picked up a piece of cake and threw it into my mouth.
"Brother, do you hate me ?" Qi Xiaofeng looked at me expressionlessly.
I wiped the crumbs from the corner of my mouth, stood up and walked upstairs. When I got to the escalator, I turned around and looked at Qi Xiaofeng's face again, studying his expression. I said coldly, "You should ask Yin Shuitong who is buried underground about this."
I walked up the stairs one step at a time. When I reached the last step, I heard an extremely dejected sound behind me.
"I'm an orphan. My father adopted me from an orphanage. I have nothing, so I have been fighting with you for everything since I was a child."
I walked to my door, pushed it open, and walked in. I heard vague crying sounds behind me.
"Brother, I was wrong. I was wrong from the beginning. I'm sorry..."
The door closed and everything was quiet.
Those innocent words echo in the huge valley of memory.
——Xiaotong, I like you . I decided to marry you the moment I met you. I will treat you well for the rest of my life. Let’s date.
--I do not like you.
——I am an orphan. My father sent me to an orphanage for adoption. I have nothing, so I have been fighting with you for everything since I was a child.
——I was wrong. I was wrong from the beginning. I’m sorry.
Perhaps, if I hadn’t participated in their story, it would have had a different ending.
Even if I didn't look back, I knew Qi Xiaofeng was very sad. This damn sadness actually made me feel a little distressed.
Who is Qi Xiaofeng to me?
Nothing!
He went abroad alone. It's better to be gone. Out of sight, out of mind. I really want to leave this depressing home as soon as possible.
I sat by the window, picked up the cigarette box, and found it was empty. I threw the empty cigarette box out of the window. The stars in the sky were bright, and the blue screen of the mobile phone also lit up. I picked up the phone and saw that it was a number I knew by heart. She sent a text message: Qi Beichen, what is love to you?
I replied to her with five words: necessities of life.
She didn't reply to my text messages again.
That night, I sat alone in my room, quietly in a daze. The outside was like a silver river, and the lights from each window were like small boats floating in the night.
My heart rises and falls in the sea of lights, with no fixed place.
A week later, Qi Xiaofeng really left this home. On the day he left, a large group of people saw him off. I sat in the study, playing the piano. I was really bored to the extreme, otherwise why would I play the piano?
To be fair, I don't have much affection for this family.
I stayed at home this summer vacation. On the first day of school, my mother drove me to school. She was wearing a black lace dress and looked like a lady going to a ball.
The driver carried my luggage to the train entrance, and then my mother said to me, "Study hard."
"Your son has never studied well, but I am naturally smart," I said unhappily.
"Really?" She looked unconvinced. "Then let's have a good relationship."
"I will, Ms. Yin Ping. I hope you will behave yourself as well."
I waved my hands, ignoring her face which was almost distorted by my anger, and walked in dragging my luggage.
"Don't cause me any trouble, brat. At least remember to call me more often!"
I said, "I won't disturb your affair. Goodbye."
I hated her for admonishing me in that "good mother" tone. I hated her to the extreme. At that time, I didn't know that Qi Huatian was in big trouble in his business, and my mother was closely "planning" the division of property and divorce.
I was on the train, looking at the receding scenery outside with a blank expression. I left, I finally left this place, I thought I would be happy about the new world that was coming, but at this moment, my heart was empty except for loss.
Just when I was immersed in loss, someone knocked on the door. I got up to open the door, and the person standing outside was Xiang Qianlan.
This was something I didn't expect.
"I thought you were going to invite me to school," she said.
I let her in silently, and instead of tea, I handed her a can of coffee drink.
"You don't like being disturbed by me." I stared at her and said calmly, "So I know myself well."
"Really?" she said. "Maybe."
"Did you know we were in the same car?"
"Yeah." She asked me again, "Qi Beichen, do you have a bad relationship with your family?"
She took out a newspaper, which was yesterday's news. She looked at me again, as if to confirm: "Your father...seems to be in jail. Although I don't know if you know it, but you don't seem to care at all."
I found her words unbelievable. My heart felt like it had a hole in it. I reached out to take the newspaper in her hand in a panic. There were photos of Qi Huatian, my mother, me and Qi Xiaofeng on the newspaper. Although they were blurred, familiar people could recognize them at a glance.
She said, "The report said your father had been in contact with a certain government official. The government official was corrupt, and your father was responsible for money laundering. Other shady things were dug up, and they and your father were arrested. Your mother was eager to transfer property and was divorcing your father. Such a big thing happened, didn't you know?"
I laughed: "Did you see that? I learned all this from the news. Do you think our relationship could be good?"
I called my mother to ask about this, and she said a few perfunctory words and hung up the phone.
