Chapter 8 Dusk is Coming 02
Life began to become peaceful. I saw Shen Xiaoyu from a distance several times when I was in school. She seemed to be getting along well with her new boyfriend. Every time I saw her, they were holding hands.
Once when I was eating in the cafeteria, I saw her and her boyfriend walking towards me side by side. Such a close encounter made it impossible for us to avoid each other. To my surprise, Shen Xiaoyu actually smiled and waved at me.
I originally thought that she would ignore me because of Yao Yizhou, and I never thought that she would take the initiative to say hello to me. Shen Xiaoyu held the hand of the boy next to her, with a smile on her face and even in her eyes. She looked extremely happy.
I asked her how she was getting along with her boyfriend, and she smiled and nodded, her tone extremely gentle: "Xiaoya, I originally thought that I would only love Yao Yizhou for the rest of my life, but now I realize that he never belonged to me from the beginning, and the one who truly belongs to me may have appeared now. He treats me very well and made me understand another meaning of love. It turns out that love is not just one-sided giving. I feel very happy now."
At this moment, I was extremely excited. I grabbed Shen Xiaoyu's hand excitedly, and my eyes instantly turned red. "That's great, as long as you can be happy. I always thought you would always hate me and ignore me. You don't know that the last time I went to see you, you were so cold to me that it broke my heart."
Shen Xiaoyu smoothed my messy hair and said firmly, "Xiaoya, maybe we were too persistent in the past. We really lost the opportunity to see the scenery outside the window. Now I realize that my world has infinite possibilities and can be so colorful. How about you and Ji Chuan?"
Ji Chuan? Shen Xiaoyu's mention of Ji Chuan made me stunned. After a long while, I smiled, waved my hand, and said calmly, "We broke up a long time ago. You know this. Breaking up is breaking up. I will never get back together."
In fact, I thought Shen Xiaoyu would ask me how Yao Yizhou and I were doing, and I was even ready to answer her, but she hesitated and didn't ask. Maybe in her heart, Yao Yizhou will always be a pain in her heart that she can't get over. Even if she is happy now, the fact that Yao Yizhou likes me is definitely not something she can easily let go of.
Although Shen Xiaoyu's boyfriend looks very ordinary, not as dazzling as Yao Yizhou, nor as eye-catching as Ji Chuan, he looks very honest and always smiles shyly, revealing his cute little fangs and two dimples, which makes him very likable.
"You must be Wen Ya, right? Xiaoyu has mentioned you before, and I've also listened to your broadcasts. You are so talented, you are such a talented girl. It's rare to find girls as talented as you nowadays."
After Shen Xiaoyu and I were silent for a while, Shen Xiaoyu's boyfriend spoke up to break the deadlock. The broadcast he mentioned was actually when I was a broadcaster at the school radio station during my freshman year. I gave up the broadcaster position to newcomers in my sophomore year, and now few people remember this. I was surprised that he still remembered that I was a broadcaster. I smiled at him and thanked him for his compliment.
"Wen Ya is really talented . She writes some things from time to time. You can go back and read her blog and Weibo. She writes really well."
Shen Xiaoyu continued to praise me along with her boyfriend's words, which made me feel very embarrassed. I could only wave my hands with a red face: "That's impossible. You are the one who has talent. You are my pride to represent the school in the national competition!"
Shen Xiaoyu's boyfriend turned to look at Shen Xiaoyu, his eyes full of tenderness and love, but Shen Xiaoyu didn't look at him, but looked at me and sighed. After a long while, as if she had mustered up her courage, she asked me casually: "Xiaoya, how is Yizhou doing recently?"
Shen Xiaoyu finally asked this question, and I felt relieved. However, her boyfriend was present, so I couldn't say anything more, for fear that he would think too much. I simply said, "He's fine. We've been classmates for so many years. If you really care about his health, just go and ask him yourself. I believe your boyfriend is not such an unreasonable person. He won't stop you from talking to boys in school."
Shen Xiaoyu looked at me without saying anything. In her eyes, besides being relieved, she was more disappointed. In the end, she didn't say anything else. She smiled at me and left with her boyfriend's arm around her.
I couldn't see through Shen Xiaoyu's heart. She seemed very happy, but her deep and calm eyes made me feel very strange. I always felt that she had changed a lot, as if she was no longer as clean and bright as before.
This kind of Shen Xiaoyu makes me feel a little melancholy, and my heart is sour and uncomfortable, but I can't change this kind of Shen Xiaoyu. Maybe it's just like what she said, we used to be too persistent and care too much about what we want to have and get.
In many things, many times, even if we use all our strength, we can't change anything, and we can't reverse any results, just like my breakup with Ji Chuan. These things that make us sad and upset will always flow in the long river of time, rushing forward and drowning everyone.
Time passed quickly, and soon we entered the cool autumn from the hot summer, and my birthday was coming soon. In the past few years, I celebrated my birthday with Ji Chuan every time. He would buy me all kinds of things that I would never have thought of to make me happy. Now those things he gave me are gone, and I burned them all.
This year's birthday was different from previous years. Early in the morning, my father smiled and said to me, "Xiaoya, happy birthday!"
I was very surprised by my father's concern, and even more surprised. After so many years, this was the first time my father wished me a happy birthday, and he said it with a smile on his face. I was stunned for a while, and it took me a while to react. I forced a smile and said, "Thank you! "
"Xiaoya, happy birthday to you, what gift do you want?"
That woman, my so-called stepmother, was also looking at me with a smile. I didn't know how much of her blessing was a blessing and how much was just a perfunctory gesture, but on this day I was in no mood to think about that. I just nodded slightly and said indifferently, "Thank you for your blessing, I don't want anything."
Although I said this, I didn't think so in my heart. If this woman really wanted to bless me, she should have shown up with a birthday gift at this time, instead of standing aside and asking me what birthday gift I wanted. But forget it, getting her and my father's blessing this year was already beyond my expectation.
After arriving at school, I didn't tell anyone that today was my birthday. Actually, I was looking forward to it in my heart. I wanted to see if anyone would remember my birthday without me reminding them.
When I spent the day in anxiety, I was really disappointed. No one remembered my birthday. Last year, I invited all my classmates to dinner and singing on my birthday. Now that time has passed, I am really disappointed with this result.
I returned home feeling extremely disappointed. The woman had already bought the birthday cake and dishes and was busy in the kitchen. I watched her at the kitchen door for a while and saw that she was too busy to handle everything, so I took the initiative to say, "Let me help you."
This was the first time I offered to help her, but she just waved her hand and said with a smile, "Xiaoya, go to the living room and watch TV. Don't stay in the kitchen. The fumes here are too strong. Be careful not to choke."
The kindness that I had finally mustered up the courage to express was rejected. I couldn't help but pout and turned away helplessly. Just a few steps after I walked out of the kitchen, the sound of a text message on my mobile phone rang.
"Xiaoya, I'm in the square in the park near your house now. If you don't come, I will wait for you."
The message was from Yao Yizhou. I was a little surprised and didn't understand why he wanted to talk to me at this time. But even though I didn't quite understand his intentions, I still went back to my room and changed my clothes.
Just as I was about to go out, my father stopped me and looked at me with an unhappy look on his face: "Where are you going?"
I lowered my head to tie my shoelaces and said without looking back: "I'm going to go out for a while and will be back soon. Don't worry, I won't eat outside."
"Come back early, your mother will have the meal ready soon, don't be too late."
My father was still worried and gave me instructions, so I readily agreed: "Don't worry, I know it's Yao Yizhou who's looking for me. He's in a park near home, not far away. I'll be back soon."
My father heard my promise and didn't stop me, which warmed my heart. I can't count how many years it has been, but these are the warmest words I have heard recently. Although they are simple, they gradually warmed my originally cold heart.
It was almost nine o'clock when I arrived at the square in the park. It was already very dark and there were very few people. I saw a few faintly flickering fluorescent sticks on both sides of the stone path in the square, so I followed the faint light and walked in.
When I followed the light of the fluorescent stick to the small square in the center of the woods, I still didn't see anyone. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over, and it was a little chilly. I folded my arms, took out my cell phone and dialed Yao Yizhou's number.
"Xiaoya, stand still and look forward."
I was just about to question Yao Yizhou, but he hung up the phone after saying this quickly, leaving me even more confused and wondering what tricks he was playing.
At this moment, suddenly many Kongming lanterns rose slowly from the dim grove, almost a hundred of them. They fluttered in the evening breeze and flickered in the dark night sky, which was very beautiful.
There seemed to be two words written on each Kongming lantern. I rubbed my eyes and looked carefully, and found that the names written on the Kongming lanterns were actually my names, and each name was wrapped in a huge love heart.
I have never received such a spectacular and shocking birthday gift. Tears immediately filled my eyes and rolled around. I originally thought that Yao Yizhou had forgotten my birthday and was going to ask him about it when I saw him tomorrow, but I didn't expect that he secretly prepared such a big surprise for me.
Yao Yizhou walked out of the grove, still with that indifferent smile on his face. He slowly walked in front of me and said to me in a gentle tone: "Xiaoya, happy birthday."
Happiness came so quickly and so violently, I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings for a moment and didn't know what to say. Suddenly, I remembered what I had said to Yao Yizhou when I was joking. I can't remember the details, but it was something like, if someone could rack his brains to come up with a grand confession on my birthday, I would be willing to marry him no matter what.
Blurry fragments of memory came to my mind, and I couldn't help but shed tears. It turned out that he remembered everything. He remembered everything I said clearly. Except for Ji Chuan in the past, no one had ever touched my heart like this. For a moment, my heartbeat suddenly accelerated and I didn't know what to do.
At this moment, a dozen people suddenly came out of the grove, holding a huge cake and cheering: "Promise him! Promise him!"
Yao Yizhou approached me step by step. I looked at his eyes that were as bright as stars and stood there in a daze. For a moment, I didn’t know what to do.
When Yao Yizhou came to my side, he stopped and said word by word: "Xiaoya, I have always regretted why I was always a step late, a step late to confess to you, a step late to let you understand my feelings. At first, I thought I could only stand in the distance and bless you silently, but God still favored me and gave me a chance, a chance to stand in front of you and tell you my feelings. Xiaoya, can you give me a chance to take care of you?"
I looked up at the sky lanterns flashing, and all the past memories of my time with Yao Yizhou came to mind. The things he said when he cared about me, the little things he did to take care of me, all these past memories came to my mind at the same time, causing my heart to suddenly stop beating.
It was at this moment that I realized that Yao Yizhou had become a part of my life, so deeply and so unforgettable, without me knowing since when.
If I hadn't agreed to Yao Yizhou, what would have happened to the relationship between him and me?
I turned my head away, not daring to continue facing the boy who treated me so affectionately. Not only was I afraid that I would blurt out cruel words, I was also afraid that after I rejected him, I would lose a boy who had silently protected me in my best years.
Yao Yizhou slowly turned my body over, looked into my eyes, wiped away the tears from my eyes, and his tone was still so gentle: "Xiaoya, please don't cry. If you cry, I will be sadder than you. All along, I just want to make you happier, just want you to smile carefree like when we first met. That is the real you, and that is the you I like most."
I pinched the hem of my skirt tightly and remained silent. I opened my mouth to say something, but for some reason, I couldn't utter a word for a long time. I stared at his eyes steadily. After a long time, I mustered up the courage and said in an almost inaudible voice: "Yizhou, aren't you afraid that Ji Chuan and I will still be in contact? Aren't you afraid that he and I will get back together? Aren't you afraid that I won't be able to forget him for a long time? You and he have been good friends for many years. I really don't believe that you don't mind at all. In fact, what I have been most afraid of all along is that I will let you down and make you sad, and I am not sure whether I will forget Ji Chuan. Will you still love me as always?"
This was the first time I confessed my true inner thoughts to Yao Yizhou. Although I didn't know what decision Yao Yizhou would make, I didn't want to deceive him after all. I didn't want to hide anything from him even a little bit.
There was obvious disappointment in Yao Yizhou's eyes, but he was always considerate and calmly made the final decision: "Xiaoya, no matter what you think, no matter what decision you make, I am still willing to wait for you and use all my strength to surprise you. In fact, my idea is very simple. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter how many people leave you, I will always be with you and will always love you."
Yao Yizhou's gentle voice lingered in my ears, which moved and saddened me. I couldn't decide my future with him, and I didn't know what would happen between us after being together with him, but I was sure that this night would be a memory I would never forget in my life.
The friends who helped Yao Yizhou were holding the cake, and they didn't know whether to put it down or not. They looked at me and then at Yao Yizhou, not knowing whether to continue to cheer and match us up or just give up. They could only stand there awkwardly holding the cake, not daring to move a step.
"Yizhou, please give me some time, I will definitely give you an answer, whether you accept it or not, I will tell you an answer, okay?"
I hung my head helplessly, not knowing what to do. Yao Yizhou grabbed my shoulders and held me, who was already cold, in his warm arms. His hot breath sprayed on my neck, making my heart beat faster. I seemed to hear him whisper a sentence: "Okay, I'll wait for your answer."
As the night deepened, the crowd gradually dispersed. Yao Yizhou, who was reluctant to leave at first, also left at my insistence. I sat alone on a stone bench next to the square for a long time, until my chaotic thoughts completely calmed down, and then I turned around and went home.
My stepmother cooked a table full of dishes, my father bought a cake, and Wen Shaoye also prepared a gift for me. Although all these changes made me feel surprised and uncomfortable, after Yao Yizhou's unique and grand confession, I no longer had any interest in anything.