After we parted at the Long family villa, I never met Jian Chen again. The world seemed to have become very big all of a sudden . Even though I wandered back and forth in every corner of the campus every day, I never saw him again.
On the evening before the big exam, after school, Gu Xi and I walked home. The wind was light that day and the sunset was beautiful, like a little rosy pink on a shy girl's cheek.
When they were almost at the school gate, Gu Xi turned around and looked back at the tree-lined road behind him, and said with a smile: "Banxia, ​​from now on, you have to walk this road by yourself."
Just at this moment, I noticed the boy outside the school gate who was looking around timidly.
The exaggerated red hair and oversized clothes made me feel like I had seen him somewhere before. When he was scratching his head in bewilderment , I suddenly remembered that he was the boy named Coin who used to follow Jian Chen. Coin also recognized me and waved at me vigorously as if he saw a savior, but he didn't dare to walk into the school gate rashly.
As soon as I stepped out of the school gate, he rushed over, grabbed my arm, and said in a crying voice: "Miss Banxia, ​​please save our boss, I... I really don't know who to ask for help... Please..."
Then he saw Gu Xi, who had been following me and stood up to stop him from pulling me. Her mouth was wide open, and her jaw almost dropped: "Boss..."
"Coin, what happened? Don't worry, tell me slowly." I signaled that Gu Xi was fine, and explained to Coin briefly, "This is my friend, Gu Xi."
I guess, in the eyes of the coin, I must be calm and composed, but only I know that my hands hidden behind my back are trembling slightly.
If Jian Chen had not been in danger, Coin would not have been desperate and come to me, whom he had only met a few times.
Coin stuttered for five minutes before he finally explained the whole story.
Among the group of people who had wandered with Jian Chen, two were unwilling to do the legitimate jobs that Jian Chen had arranged for them. They spent their days doing nothing and hanging out outside.
One day, they were drunk and met the gang from Bi'an Street. They had an argument and beat up the people from Bi'an Street. They were so scared that they fled the city and never came back. The people who were beaten couldn't find the perpetrators, so they were angry and put the blame on their nominal boss Jian Chen. They kidnapped Jian Chen and asked him to take the blame for their men. Those people never cared about the severity of their actions. If Jian Chen fell into their hands, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Why don't you ask the Jian family for help?" I was surprised.
To the Jian family, those people on the other side of the street were just a few idle hooligans who were not worth being afraid of. It was more than enough . Moreover, Jian Chen was the future successor of the Jian family. Would the Jian family easily let go of those who had offended him?
"The boss doesn't allow us... to have any dealings with the Jane family... " Coin replied hesitantly.
Then I suddenly realized that the arrogant Jian Chen did not want his family to know about the troubles he had gotten into in the past.
"Miss Banxia, ​​what should we do now?" Coin was holding a watch in his hand, and was so anxious that he was about to cry.
I recognized the watch as the one that Jian Chen had been wearing on his wrist. I was so panicked that I had no idea what to do. I could only follow the coin mechanically, instinctively wanting to save Jian Chen.
Maybe I won't be able to do anything in the end, but I can't tolerate myself doing nothing now.
After a long time, I heard Gu Xi calling me loudly behind me. I stopped and slowly turned back to look at him. Gu Xi's handsome eyebrows were wrinkled. I knew that he must be worried about me and he didn't want me to take risks, but I could only shake my head at him.
I said, "Gu Xi, I want to save him."
I thought Gu Xi would call me stupid, but he said nothing, just came over and held my hand.
I decided to negotiate with the people on Bi'an Street, and Gu Xi insisted on accompanying me. Before leaving, I told Coin to call the police and inform the Jian family if there was no news from us in half an hour.
As soon as Gu Xi and I stepped into the bar on the other side of the street, we were tied up and pushed in front of a man.
Someone said harshly, "Brother, Jian Chen is too arrogant. He dared to come back and changed into clean clothes and brought a girl with him. He really thinks this is a nightclub. Brother, this kid doesn't take you seriously."
Go and come back...
It turned out that Jian Chen had escaped, he should be safe now. My tense nerves suddenly relaxed, but I immediately realized that I had made a huge mistake.
I was about to open my mouth to explain when someone stuffed a piece of rag into my mouth. Then I heard someone say, "Are you all dead? Didn't you see the gesture that big brother made just now? Beat this guy to death! Tell him to run! If he runs away, he will dare to come back!"
My hands and feet were held tightly, and I couldn't move even a bit, and the rag in my mouth was stuffed too tightly, so I screamed and screamed, but I could only make unclear sobs. I couldn't do anything, and I just watched Gu Xi being knocked to the ground. The sound of the wind brought by countless fists lurked in the dim night, like a saw that slowed down and kept pulling on my heart...
It seemed like a long century had passed, and then the sound of sirens could be heard faintly, getting closer and closer. The gangsters left Gu Xi and me behind and ran away in all directions.
I rolled and crawled to Gu Xi's side. He lay on the ground, motionless, like a quiet rag doll, with bright red liquid pouring out from his forehead, and no matter how hard I pressed, I couldn't stop it.
I shouted for help loudly, but the only sound in the empty room was my ghostly cries.
I leaned over tremblingly and called him in a low voice : "Gu Xi, Gu Xi..."
Over and over again.
There was no sign of life on his bloodless face, and he was as pale as a bubble that would burst at any moment.
I held his cold hand tightly and said to him over and over again: "Gu Xi, I was wrong. I will definitely listen to you in the future. Please don't scare me, okay? You are kidding me, right? Gu Xi, please open your eyes and look at me, okay? I will never be willful again."
Gu Xi, you must not be in any trouble. Otherwise, who will be my angel in the future? Who will stay by my side silently when I am sad, upset, and helpless?
No, that beautiful, warm, sunny Gu Xi will be fine. God will definitely favor good people like Gu Xi. Just like God once favored him, fulfilling his wish and letting him find the girl he likes, this time, he will definitely be fine.
However, time passed by minute by minute, and the people on the ground remained motionless.
I burst into tears, letting my tears drop onto his pale face: "Gu Xi, you can't die, you can't die. I order you to wake up!" I collapsed to the ground, sobbing, "Gu Xi, you can't die, you haven't told that girl how much you like her. Gu Xi, I won't allow you to leave like this, and she won't know anything, I won't allow this to happen. Wake up, okay? I'll go with you to tell her, I'll help you prove how much you like her, I promise she'll be moved, she'll..."
Fingers gently and tenderly stroked the corners of my eyes, and I saw Gu Xi smiling at me through my tearful eyes, his eyes were like stars, his smile was like the breeze. He smiled like that, raising his hands with great effort, wiping away my tears over and over again.
I wiped away my tears carelessly and smiled at him. I said, "Gu Xi, I won't cry. I won't cry if you don't want me to cry."
He looked at me intently, smiled, and moved his lips as if he wanted to say something.
I quickly put my ear close to him, and I could only hear him speaking word by word with difficulty: "Banxia, ​​that... mandarin duck vine...bloomed...on the seventh day...of July."
The mandarin duck vine bloomed on the seventh day of the seventh month.
It was as if something exploded in my brain, the sky collapsed, the earth sank, and the sun and moon lost their light.
I had a very long dream.
I vaguely returned to the age of six or seven. The wind at that time was light and gentle, and the air smelled of fruit candy; the sky at that time was clear and bright, and the cotton-white clouds often looked like simple smiling faces; at that time, I still lived in that place with white walls and red roofs; at that time, there was a boy named Xiao Shitou beside me.
He called me Banxia, ​​which means half and Xia, the summer.
When no one was around, he would deliberately put on a sullen face and imitate an adult to lecture me, "Banxia, ​​you shouldn't be so willful. Next time an adoptive family comes, you have to behave better!"
At that time, I always asked knowingly, pouting and saying, "Why should I be a good kid? I don't want to."
He reached out and ruffled my short hair, looked at me with a helpless smile, and said, "You..."
At that time , I liked hearing him say these two words the most - you!
Somewhat helpless yet infinitely doting.
Don't I know what he means?
At that time, as orphans, the best destination for us was to be found and adopted by a good family. Being well behaved was the only factor that would get us adopted.
I think, if he wasn't there, I would be the most well-behaved and clever one among all the people, but because he is there, I will definitely be the most disobedient one. How can I leave him and enjoy the warmth of the family alone?
No family was willing to adopt a kid his age, so I had to do my best to act silly and naughty just to stay with him.
Until that day, he sat under a camphor tree and pointed to me a girl who had been adopted not long ago and came back to visit her friends. He smiled with his eyes bent and said, "Banxia, ​​look, I like girls like that. They grow up in a good family, go to high school, go to college, and have smooth sailing. They will definitely be innocent, kind, beautiful and generous in the future."
He said, "Banxia, ​​for me, can you be that kind of girl too?"
At that time, I was confused by the expectation and yearning in his eyes, and couldn't help but nod and said, "Okay." After answering, I was full of concerns and asked, "Then what are you going to do?"
He smiled calmly and said, "As for me, of course I will try my best to become the boy that Banxia likes."
"But then we'll be separated."
"Don't worry, I'll find you one day." He vowed, "In the form of the boy you like."
"When?"
"When Banxia grows up."
"must?"
"must."
That’s a deal.
When the adoptive family came to see us again, I started to act like a good child. At that time, I was so young that I wanted to be the "girl he liked" in his mind. Later, I gradually understood that he said that on purpose because he wanted me to have a family and live a stable life.
Unfortunately, I didn’t understand this at the time. So when the Ai family said they wanted to adopt me, I almost couldn’t wait to nod my head and agree.
I even trotted to find him, held his clothes and said, "I will definitely become the girl you like ."
He looked at me and smiled silently, then pulled me to plant a small green plant with him, cultivating the soil and watering it , with concentration, seriousness and care, completely ignoring the sweat that kept coming out of his forehead.
I squatted beside him and couldn't help wondering: "What is this?"
"Honeysuckle," he answered, pinching my nose with his dirt-stained fingers and saying, "The flowers that bloom will be as beautiful as our pinellia."
I frowned and said sadly, "When will it bloom?"
At that time, I vaguely knew that I probably wouldn't be able to live to see it bloom with my own eyes. It was not until then, when I was about to leave the orphanage and go to the Ai family, that I gradually felt what parting was.
Later, many years later, I learned from a book that honeysuckle has another nice alias - Mandarin Duck Vine.
The mandarin duck vine bloomed on the seventh day of the seventh month.
The boy named Gu Xi, who had picturesque features, a warm smile and a spring breeze-like smile, said in my ear with difficulty, word by word: "That... mandarin duck vine...bloomed...on the seventh day of the seventh month."
When will it bloom?
The mandarin duck vine bloomed on the seventh day of the seventh month.
I don't understand why the world has become a mess overnight...
This was clearly a code word between Xiao Shitou and me, and Jian Chen was clearly Xiao Shitou, so why , why was it Gu Xi who said that the mandarin duck vine bloomed on the seventh day of the seventh month.
The blood kept pouring out of his head, and I couldn't stop it. I looked at my hands full of blood and realized what I had missed. Gu Xi, who had always been by my side, was the little stone I had been looking for.
I screamed: "Gu Xi!"
Then I woke up suddenly and realized it was a dream.