Chapter 5: Premonition of the Truth 1
The young man followed the man quietly, his face as cold as ice, without even looking at her. Tang Ai called his name softly, hoping that he would look back at her, but in the end, he did not look back.
Xi Chen left and was no longer in this school. She didn't know how she could see him again.
Why did it become like this? Why did so many things happen? But another spring and summer, another period of time, why did so many unexpected things happen that she couldn't cope with.
The warm winter sun is the most comfortable. Evergreen trees grow around Qingluo Inn. Even though the leaves of trees elsewhere have fallen, leaving only bare trunks, this place is still a lush green scene.
"It's really beautiful and quiet." Shao Yu looked around and finally his eyes fell on Tang Ai, praising her sincerely.
Tang Ai smiled without saying a word and poured pear blossom tea for them.
Shen Ruoyun hummed and groaned: "I said, Teacher Shao, you will definitely not regret coming here! By the way, we can stay a few more days this time, wait for it to snow, and then go to the top of the mountain to see the snow."
"Well! The snow scenery of Tianwu Mountain is famous far and wide. According to the weather forecast, it will snow the day after tomorrow. We can follow the route of last time. Although we are taking the same route, the scenery is completely different." Tang Ai said here, with light in her eyes.
Shen Ruoyun volunteered and raised his hand: "Me! This time, I want to be the tour guide!"
Tonglin, who was leaning against the balcony to look at the scenery, turned her head and mocked him bluntly: "You are the tour guide, so why don't we just get lost in the mountains and spend the rest of our lives there?"
Everyone laughed, and Shen Ruoyun launched a barrage of counterattacks against her!
Tang Ai's smile deepened. She looked up inadvertently and her eyes fell on Xi Chen's face. She suddenly stopped laughing. What happened to Xi Chen? He hadn't smiled since he came here. He kept his head down, and his eyes seemed to be full of stories.
He didn't even take a single bite of the almond cookies and cherry cakes that Sister Hua later served him.
While everyone was chatting and laughing after dinner, Tang Ai picked up a shovel and went out to turn the soil, and called Xi Chen.
Shen Ruoyun wanted to help, but was stopped by Tonglin. He cursed inwardly: "Light bulb! Do you have the nerve to go?"
Shen Ruoyun curled his lips, sat down and continued chatting.
In the flowerbed, there were beautiful gerberas and cockscombs. Tang Ai loosened the soil while asking casually, "Xi Chen, are the flowers I gave you growing well?"
Xi Chen paused, then helped Tang Ai water the plant and said, "It's growing very well. Because you gave it to me, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take good care of it."
Tang Ai smiled, leaned over and brushed away the flies on the leaves, and said, "Since I went to Ancheng, you never asked me how to grow flowers. It seems that our Xi Chen has become an expert in growing flowers now!"
"Compared with your garden full of flowers, my little skill is nothing." Xi Chen straightened up and looked around. Every flower in the garden was blooming in full bloom, and even the leaves were filled with healthy green. Tang Ai was simply a genius in growing flowers.
"Xi Chen." Tang Ai stood up straight, holding the handle of the shovel tightly in her hand, and looked straight into his eyes as if she had something on her mind.
Xi Chen opened his eyes slightly and looked at her.
Tang Ai frowned and said, "Now that you are here, forget about all the unhappiness. Although I don't know why you are in a bad mood, I want to say that since you are out here to play and relax, you should put everything behind you so that you can have fun, right?"
Xi Chen opened his mouth and asked after a moment: "Did you figure it out?"
Tang Ai nodded and continued, "When you and Shen Ruoyun broke into Qingluo Inn before, although you were very gentle, the light in your eyes was warm and beautiful. That kind of warmth and beauty was very touching."
Xi Chen twitched his lips, as if smiling: "Yes, it is very beautiful."
Tang Ai was puzzled and looked at him with a confused look: "Xi Chen, what's wrong with you?"
Xi Chen took a deep breath, shook his head at her, and smiled: "It's okay, maybe there are too many things to do at home. Hey, Xiao Ai, this..." He pointed to the flowers at his feet and asked, "Do you want to continue watering?"
He deliberately avoided the topic and did not mention the things that made him frown.
Hearing this, Tang Ai hurriedly said, "No need, just use a spray bottle to spray some water on the flowers and leaves."
"I understand. Watch me." Xi Chen held the handle of the spray bottle with both hands and shook it left and right. The spout of the spray bottle was like raining, and crystal clear water droplets fell on the petals and leaves. The fragmented sunlight passed through the gaps between the leaves and fell on them, making them look more shiny and beautiful.
That winter, they stayed in Tianwu Mountain for two days. On the third day, just as the weather forecast said, large flakes of snow began to fall from Tianwu Mountain. Within the morning, the whole world was covered in silver.
"It looks like we can go up the mountain in the afternoon, right?" Shen Ruoyun wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and sat next to the heater with his neck hunched.
Tang Ai couldn't help but tease him: "You're so afraid of the cold even though the snow hasn't even melted yet. Why are you still going up the mountain like this?"
"It's different when we go up the mountain. I will definitely be full of energy. But now let me wrap myself in the quilt and enjoy it, hehe." Shen Ruoyun said, kicking towards the heater with his foot, with a naughty smile on his face.
Tang Ai simply ignored him. She knew Shen Ruoyun was a shameless guy anyway.
After lunch, Tang Ai and his friends got ready to go up the mountain.
As the winter vacation approaches the Chinese New Year, not many people come to Tianwu Mountain for tourism. You can only see one or two people sporadically after walking for a while. The road for tour buses does not have much snow, but the small path leading up the mountain is full of snow.
Shen Ruoyun was about to walk towards the path with great interest, but was stopped by Shao Yu: "It's too snowy to see the road clearly, and it's easy to slip. If you fall, you're done for."
Shen Ruoyun pouted: "Okay then."
They took the southern route along the main road. Shen Ruoyun and Tong Lin were very active and always threw snowballs at each other's faces. Influenced by them, Tang Ai, Xi Chen and Shao Yu also joined in. After walking for a while, you might be hit by a snowball unexpectedly, which made Shao Yu say that this journey was too "dangerous".
An hour later, they arrived at the top of Tianwu Mountain - the place where Tang Ai and Xi Chen watched the sunrise last summer.
Now the scenery from the top is a vast expanse of white, and the trees around are all showing the beauty of "snow weighing down the branches". At this time, it is not an exaggeration to chant a song "Mountains dance like silver snakes, plains gallop like wax elephants".
"Oh my God, as a southerner, I am simply shocked!" Tonglin looked at the silver sky and earth, feeling infinite emotion, and took out his mobile phone to take pictures.
Tang Ai recalled the past and said, "When I came here, I remembered what Shen Ruoyun said to me last year." After that, she frowned and stared at Shen Ruoyun in a pretended angry manner. Shen Ruoyun smiled and touched his head without saying anything.
Xi Chen asked curiously: "What?"
Tang Ai tilted her head and asked, "You don't remember?"
"Hey, I said so much, but he wouldn't take to heart those 'rumors' that even a three-year-old wouldn't take to heart! But Xichen, this kid..." Shen Ruoyun hooked his hands around Xichen's neck, patted his chest with the back of his hand, and laughed, "Although he didn't believe it at the time, he asked me when he got back, 'Ruoyun, do you think that men and women who watch the sunrise together at Tianwu Mountain can really live together until old age?' Hahaha, I laughed to death!"
Tang Ai narrowed her eyes and looked at Xi Chen with a smile. Xi Chen smiled awkwardly and hit Shen Ruoyun's chest with his fist.
"Okay, let's keep going." Tang Ai smiled and greeted everyone.
They walked towards another path, preparing to go down the mountain. Just after taking a few steps, they found Shao Yu still standing on the edge of the cliff, staring blankly at the silvery white scenery below the mountain.
"Teacher Shao?" Tang Ai turned her head and called him softly.
Shao Yu did not respond.
"Teacher Shao." Xi Chen called out in a high voice.
Shao Yu's back was shaken, and he turned back suddenly: "Ah."
He sighed softly, walked over, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "I was just engrossed in watching, sorry."
"Teacher Shao, are you okay? You don't look very well." The careful Tang Ai noticed that Shao Yu seemed to be worried, and couldn't help but ask with concern.
Shao Yu smiled faintly and said, "How could I be in trouble? By the way, Xiao Ai, where is the next attraction?"
He cleverly avoided the topic about himself. He only saw the girl next to him suddenly jumped up in joy and pointed excitedly at a place not far away, saying, "Wishing tree, wishing tree!"
Yes, the wishing tree, on which hung the wishes that she and Xichen wrote down last year.
Tang Ai trotted over on the snow. There were seven or eight tourists under the wishing tree. In the cold weather, they rubbed their red hands and hung their own red ribbons high on the wishing tree.
"I heard that the wishing tree in Tianwu Mountain is very effective. Should we hang our wishes on it as well?" Xi Chen blew on his hands, his eyes sparkling with energy.
Suddenly, Shen Ruoyun beside him bumped into him secretly. He was stunned, and before he could say anything, he heard Tang Ai curiously ask, "Xi Chen, didn't you write it last year?"
Xi Chen was stunned for a moment, then reached out and touched Tang Ai's head, saying, "Last year's wish has been fulfilled, and I have other wishes this year."
"What wish?" Tang Ai asked curiously.
Xi Chen laughed, white mist sprayed out of his mouth with his breath, and he said mysteriously: "Secret."
After that, Xichen went to get a red cloth strip, quietly ran to the side, and wrote something on it. Tonglin also walked over, asked for two red cloth strips, and handed one to Shao Yu: "Teacher Shao, let's write our own too."
After they finished writing, they each chose a place to hang their wishes. Xichen specially climbed to the highest place and hung his own wish, which was also the place with the most wish strips.
Afterwards, they followed another route down the mountain. Just like before, Tang Ai took them along the north route on the first day and the south route on the second day. On the third day, the snow on Tianwu Mountain was slowly melting, and everyone turned on the heater and cooked a steaming hot pot.
Sister Hua served them food while smiling and saying, "It's rare that our little Ai brought back so many friends, both boys and girls, and even teachers. I'm so happy to see them!"
Tonglin bit her chopsticks, stared at the boiling hot pot, and asked, "Sister Hua, was this guy very depressed before? Did he have no friends?"
Sister Hua said without reservation: "She used to talk very little to me, not to mention having any friends. Her best friends are probably the green ivy upstairs and the flowerbed outside the inn!"
"Oh my goodness." Tonglin picked up the cooked meat slices from the hot pot and glanced at Sister Hua, gossiping mysteriously, "Girls change a lot when they grow up. Besides, don't you see what turned our quiet and gentle Xiao Ai into this? It's the power of love!"
Tang Ai blushed and glared at Tong Lin: "Eat your hot pot, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Tonglin burst into laughter, but Sister Hua took away the empty basket of vegetable leaves and turned around casually: "I saw this a long time ago."
"Oh——" Tonglin and Shen Ruoyun responded in a sarcastic tone, and laughed with their own ulterior motives.
Tang Ai seemed a little reserved, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. She lowered her head slightly, just focused on eating the hot pot. Xi Chen, who was sitting next to her, said nothing, but smiled faintly, with a little more complexity in his smile.
The day after eating hotpot, Xi Chen and his friends were going back to Ancheng, and Tang Ai saw them off just like last year.
Before getting in the car, Xi Chen said to Tang Ai, "Xiao Ai, Happy New Year! I'll be waiting for you in Ancheng after the New Year. When the jasmine flowers bloom in April, I'll show you the jasmine flowers you gave me!"
Tang Ai's face turned red from the cold wind. She wrapped herself in a thick down jacket and nodded happily.
Xichen and his friends went back, but Shaoyu did not. Shaoyu said that he was alone and stayed in Tianwu Mountain to celebrate the New Year.
On the high-speed train back home, Shen Ruoyun whispered in Xi Chen's ear: "Hey, do you think something unspeakable will happen if Teacher Shao stays with Tang Ai?"
When they were playing together during those two days, Shen Ruoyun always felt that Shao Yu's gaze towards Tang Ai was very passionate.
"Don't make random guesses." Xi Chen said.
Shen Ruoyun crossed his arms and said, "I'm not making a wild guess. Shao Yu isn't Tang Ai's teacher yet, so why would he be so nice to her?"
The good thing that Shen Ruoyun was referring to was not what happened in Tianwu Mountain, but what happened before that - Shao Yu had found Xi Chen before and told him about a small symptom of Tang Ai. She had dependent personality disorder, and the person she depended on was Xi Chen.
Shao Yu asked Xi Chen to take Tang Ai to make more friends, see the outside world, and try his best to help Tang Ai get out of her dependent personality disorder.
Looking at Tang Ai now, she seems to have slowly gotten rid of her dependent personality disorder.
Xi Chen was silent for a long time before he said, "Teacher Shao is a psychology teacher. It's normal for her to be willing to help Xiao Ai in this way."
"No, this kind of help is normal, but you know the look in his eyes? The way he looks at Tang Xiaoai is even more passionate than the way you look at her." Shen Ruoyun firmly believes in his opinion.
Xi Chen frowned slightly.
Shen Ruoyun asked again: "I said, are you really not afraid or worried at all? And not anxious at all?"
Xi Chen paused for a moment, then slowly turned his head towards the window, looking at the scenery outside the window rushing backwards, and asked leisurely: "Shen Ruoyun, do you think I have the qualifications and rights to be afraid, worried and anxious? Who am I, have you forgotten..."
As soon as the words came out, Shen Ruoyun was stunned. After a while, he sat down dejectedly, with his head drooping, and murmured: "Actually..." He frowned and sighed. Then, his eyes suddenly flashed, and he looked up at Xi Chen and said: "If you really like Xiao Ai, what does this matter?"
"It does matter." Xi Chen was still looking out the window, his voice full of fatigue, "I can like anyone, but I can't like her..."
Shen Ruoyun opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but finally sighed and gave up.
Some people, whether they like it or not, may be born to owe others, whether it is life, growth, or feelings.
The two young men understood it in their hearts, but they were unwilling to be oppressed by fate. They longed to break free of some shackles, some shackles that were hidden in their lives and could not be told to others.
Tianwu Mountain was even cooler at night, with snow beads hanging on the branches, sparkling in the moonlight.
Shao Yu sat on the sofa on the balcony, wrapped in a quilt, with a heater at his feet. He seemed not afraid of the unusual cold, staring at the moonlight with his eyes, already absorbed in it.
Tang Ai, who had just finished taking a shower and asked Sister Hua for some cakes, saw Shao Yu sitting outside when she walked around the corner of the stairs.
"Teacher Shao?" Tang Ai leaned half of her body out and shouted.
Shao Yu slowly turned his head, looked at her from a distance, and said nothing.
Tang Ai walked over with a porcelain plate of pastries, handed it to him, and asked, "Would you like something to eat?"
Shao Yu took a piece of cake and said, "Thank you."
Tang Ai looked at the moonlight, then looked at him, and said with a smile, not knowing what was going on: "Teacher Shao, you are in such a good mood, are you here to enjoy the moon?"
Shao Yu smiled, and the smile on his face was very warm. He shook his head and said, "No, I'm thinking about something."
Tang Ai shrank her neck, rubbed her hands and exhaled softly: "Then let's go inside and think about it. It's very cold outside."
