QQ Lost - Chapter 36
Zhang Wen, with trembling hands, reluctantly picked up the cup.
Xu Haibing, looking anxious, quickly pulled his mother away from Zhang Wen.
When Xu's mother spoke again, her voice suddenly changed to a masculine tone with a southern accent: "If I can drink it, why can't you?! Didn't you, Fang Xiaosu, say you'd go through fire and water for me, Lian Dong?!"
Zhang Wen was horrified. He loosened his grip, and the cup crashed to the ground and shattered!
Xu Haibing rushed over to support Zhang Wen, who was trembling like a leaf, her lips shaking as she managed to squeeze out a few words: "It's...it's my dad's voice!"
"Lian Dong is your father, but who is Fang Xiaosu?" Xu Haibing asked anxiously.
"Fang Xiaosu is my mother!"
"...Oh? Could it be that my mother is possessed by your father's 'spirit'?... " Xu Haibing's mind flashed with relevant plots from "Dream of the Red Chamber" and articles by experts in magazines. He seemed to understand something, but he was still skeptical.
"What should we do then? Send him to the hospital?" Zhang Wen shook Xu Haibing's arm.
QQ Lost, Chapter 53 (2)
"No, I think I read about it in a magazine. It's similar to sleepwalking. Waking up suddenly can be fatal. Don't be afraid, I'm here..." At the critical moment, Xu Haibing suddenly calmed down.
Xu's mother was now slowly approaching Zhang Wen: "...Didn't you, Fang Xiaosu, say you loved me so much that you would tolerate everything I did, even if I betrayed you a thousand times, you would still stick by me? Did you say that? Say it!"
Xu Haibing quickly nudged Zhang Wen, who nodded timidly.
Unable to control herself any longer, Xu's mother's expression and tone were completely like Lian Dong's: "...Then why did you come to see her today? Didn't I already tell you the truth? It was I, Lian Dong, who actively seduced her, not her who, alone at home, couldn't bear the loneliness and seduced me... That snowy night, I had arranged for the electrician to cut off the power at a set time to create the atmosphere of a candlelight dinner. I intentionally got her drunk and then took advantage of her... Yes, she didn't refuse several times when she was sober, but later she accused me of raping her. I had no complaints because she was forced into it! Do you know what kind of forced into it was? Her son was almost born, but suddenly it was discovered that her husband, who had been guarding the motherland's sea border for many years, had injured his testicles in a naval battle a year earlier and lost his fertility... I became a criminal for raping a military marriage, but because I had saved a provincial official who was a member of the rebels at the time..." Because of my position as deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee, I was spared imprisonment, only dismissed from my post and sent to a labor camp… At that time, the propaganda team of the institute and your family all told you to sever ties with me, and I also advised you not to worry about me anymore, but you insisted on taking the child with you to the countryside to suffer… You were innocent, she was innocent, and I was the one who should go to hell! I still got my retribution later, I still went to jail, my eyes and hands were ruined in the labor camp, and I can never go back to my beloved operating table… But I think it was worth it. I gave love without restraint, enjoyed love to the fullest, and despised, mocked, and defiled that era that extinguished human desires, trampled on humanity, destroyed human decency, and stifled human relations… I paid the price for this, you paid the price for this, didn't she pay the price? She followed the organization's orders to marry a war hero with whom she had no emotional foundation, and lived as a widow early on. Wasn't her life just as bitter as ours? Who is to blame…”
She suddenly fainted, knocking over another candle on the table. Large drops of candle wax fell heavily and quickly, then froze for a long time...
The restaurant was plunged into darkness...
Everything seemed to stand still.
Suddenly, the power came back on! The hall was instantly filled with bright light again!
Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen's eyes couldn't adjust for a moment, and they blinked hard.
Xu's mother sat there as usual, warm and cheerful, as if nothing had happened at all.
"What are you two standing there for? Sit down! Eat!" She said cheerfully, using serving chopsticks to serve food to Zhang Wen.
Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen looked at each other and cautiously went over to sit in their original seats.
Zhang Wen stepped on the broken glass, making a cracking sound.
Hearing this, Xu's mother stopped smiling and looked over, puzzled.
"Oh, I accidentally knocked the cup to the ground and broke it..." Xu Haibing quickly covered up.
Mother Xu's face lit up again: "Good, it's broken! May everyone be safe and sound every year! Why do people live? It's to pursue happiness; what is happiness? In my opinion, peace is happiness! Everyone being safe and sound is better than anything else! Hehe..."
Zhang Wen smiled too, a smile through her tears…
QQ Lost (54)
The autumn sky was a clear, deep blue.
The autumn sunlight is pure and bright.
The autumn breeze is cool and refreshing.
Zhang Wen began searching the entire city for traces of his long-lost parents.
She walked under the autumn sky, bathed in the autumn sun, quietly listening to the whispers of wisdom carried by the crisp autumn wind. No matter how deep the sorrow and entanglements she had once felt, they all quietly slipped away with the falling leaves, replaced by a refreshing and liberating feeling...
QQ Lost (55)
The lights were off in room 407 of building D. Xu Haibing, unable to sleep, was half-lying on the bed, deep in thought.
"...Do you know what kind of desperate situation this was? Her son was about to be born, but suddenly it was discovered that her husband, who had been guarding the motherland's sea border for many years, had injured his testicles in a naval battle a year earlier and lost his fertility..." His mother's words when she was "possessed" that night kept echoing in his ears.
Was it rambling nonsense uttered when he was delirious? Or was it a genuine outpouring of emotion that came out involuntarily? Xu Haibing really didn't want to know the answer.
He suddenly realized—
And then, those familiar, soft footsteps echoed through the corridor!
He leaned forward to listen intently—
The footsteps stopped outside the door of 407, followed by a slight knocking sound. Then, he watched as a piece of paper slowly slipped through the crack in the door.
As the footsteps faded into the distance, Xu Haibing calmly got out of bed, walked steadily to the door, bent down to pick up the piece of paper, reached out and turned on the light, and saw that what he was holding was an invitation.
Invitation opened--
Mr. Xu: A masquerade ball will be held on the rooftop of this apartment building tomorrow evening at 8 PM. You are cordially invited to attend.
Lien University New Campus Student Union Caretaker Cabinet
QQ Lost, Chapter 56 (1)
Swish--
Ten winter melon lanterns, grinning from ear to ear, lit up simultaneously on both sides!
This is an open-air masquerade ball venue set up on the rooftop of the D-building student dormitory. Under the clear blue night sky, a male and female dance partner wearing various exaggerated masks is dancing gracefully to a melodious andante.
Xu Haibing, arriving late, entered the apartment and climbed the stairs step by step. Reaching the fifth floor, his eyes lit up—
A very formal, fixed iron ladder had been installed at some point leading to the skylight on the roof.
So he could climb to the roof through the skylight without having to climb up in an unseemly manner.
Xu Haibing steadied himself and looked around. The entire rooftop was filled with masked dancers, and only he was showing his real face. He immediately felt out of place. He saw a pair of drying stockings on the clothesline, so he casually pulled them off and put them over his head.
An ugly mask appeared before him, reaching out to invite him to jump.
Xu Haibing's hand touched his dance partner's waist, and he trembled slightly as if he had been electrocuted.
"Can you guess who I am?" the ugly-faced man asked in a simple, honest voice.
Xu Haibing calmly replied, "Do I even need to guess? Ma Ya."
The ugly-faced man remained noncommittal, broke away from him, and spun over to replace his dance partner with a beautiful-faced woman.
The beautiful woman turned her face to Xu Haibing and asked him to jump up.
Xu Haibing's hand touched his waist, and he trembled slightly as if he had been electrocuted.
"Can you guess who I am?" the beautiful woman asked in a high-pitched voice.
Xu Haibing calmly replied, "Do I even need to guess, You Suo?"
The beautiful woman shook her head: "You don't know, I'm only temporarily acting as the director."
"Once it's in the basket, it's good. Aren't all things temporary? Even life is temporary. Oh, and I should thank you for disguising yourself, infiltrating the lion's den, and personally wiping out that cancerous tumor at the train station, avenging me. Yesterday, the station police station notified me to pick up my phone," Xu Haibing said.
"It's my duty. Oh, you might not know this, but while my position as director is temporary, my relationship with that ugly-faced guy you were dancing with earlier isn't. What you said earlier was very good; once it's in your basket, it's yours. Now, as his official boyfriend, I'm officially warning you..." The pretty-faced man, seeing the ugly-faced man dancing around, suddenly lowered his voice and said fiercely, "This is my food; you can't touch it, not even drool over it."
Xu Haibing asked, puzzled, "She...she's Ma Ya, the owner of this rooftop."
The beautiful woman immediately saw through it: "She's also the hostess of this ball, Maria! What an idiot!"
"What?!" Xu Haibing exclaimed in surprise as she yanked the stockings off her face.
The beautiful woman quickly gestured for him to speak softly, pulled him to a corner, removed her mask, and revealed Xiao You's true face.
"What's going on? Ma Ya is a horse, what is Li Ya?" How could Xu Haibing not be suspicious?
"Yes, Ma Ya is not only Ma, Liya, but also the current acting president of the student council elected by the new campus of Lian Da, and the apple of the eye of the current provincial education director," Xiao You said earnestly.
Xu Haibing was stunned.
Xiao You further told him, "When Liya was 14, her father, who was then the executive president of Lianhe University, was misled by a foreign businessman who had cooperated with the university for many years and sent her to study in the businessman's country. Later, he learned that the businessman had premeditated the sale of a batch of low-quality but valuable teaching equipment to Lianhe University and other universities. He asked her father to facilitate the sale, but he flatly refused. As a result, Liya not only immediately lost her legal residency and her original pampering abroad, but also narrowly escaped retaliation and had to go into hiding. She almost lost contact with her relatives in China and experienced many hardships in a foreign country at a young age. It wasn't until two years ago that her case was found through the Chinese consulate in the country. After returning to China, she took the college entrance examination a year later and came here to study in the foreign language department."
Xu Haibing suddenly remembered that day at the riverside park, when he had impulsively stared at the "M" logo on Maria's inner pocket: no wonder it looked so familiar—wasn't that "M" logo the same as the pattern on the blue sneakers worn by Huang Mao—Ma Ya?! Oh, so clothes and shoes are coordinated abroad. Sigh, it seems I really am a complete—idiot! He still didn't understand: "Whether she returns to the motherland or studies here, she doesn't need to be neither male nor female, getting involved in all sorts of trivial matters all day long, does she?"
Xiao You further told him, "She's a girl, far from her parents, drifting abroad, and illegally residing. She often needs to dress as a boy for a sense of security. To protect herself, she even gritted her teeth and practiced Taekwondo to a high standard. Also, incredibly, because she slept in boiler rooms abroad for a long time, she developed a habit of not being able to sleep unless in a noisy place, so she simply used the water and electricity storage room here as her bedroom. Furthermore, she worked part-time while studying abroad and got used to earning her own money, so she often took on jobs like distributing flyers illegally or repairing water and electrical appliances. However, with my patient guidance, she has already stated that she will no longer do anything inconsistent with her role as acting student council president. This party is for herself, to celebrate her completely ending the past and facing the future with a new attitude..."
Just then, Ugly Face came over and called Xiao You over to adjust the karaoke. Xu Haibing looked at her charming back and recalled the times when she was "Yellow Hair" and "Ma Ya" and she was being mischievous with him. He couldn't help but chuckle.
A night breeze blew in, carrying the fragrant scent of earth. Xu Haibing took a deep sniff; it was so refreshing and comforting. He couldn't help but turn and lean against the railing, gazing into the distance—
The vast wilderness and the boundless starry sky seemed to stretch endlessly in his eyes, gradually converging into a long and solemn, mighty and magnificent river of life, stirring up monstrous waves that swept away all the short and fragile lives in the world... He clearly heard the heart-stopping sounds of horses' hooves, gunfire, fighting, cheers, and cries... He clearly saw his great-grandfather, Lian Dong, Fang Xiaosu, Shen Daxing, Zhang Wen, Guo Qinqin, Ma Liya, Dayu, Xiao You, the fat security guard, Nizi, Taozi, the big braid, the young wife, Er Lengzi, the haggard young woman, the stripper, and his own mother, and countless others, struggling, drifting, and sinking in the raging waves...
QQ Lost, Chapter 56 (2)
The cracking sound of the autumn wind shaking the old, withered locust tree brought Xu Haibing back to reality from his reverie. He couldn't help but bend down and gaze at the ancient, vigorous tree for a long time, silently appreciating its trunk, which had withstood thousands of years of wind and rain and the ravages of war, yet remained majestic, upright, and unyielding. He was deeply moved by the tragic grandeur and tenacity of life that had shaken his soul.
Yes, the long years have passed, and everything has changed. The hardships of the world and the mysteries of life... how could he not be filled with mixed emotions and sigh with sorrow?
"...Everything is fate, everything is fleeting..."
As the melody of "My Motherland" began to play, Xu Haibing looked over and saw a tall, thin man with a painted face singing passionately.
A great river flows wide.
The fragrance of rice blossoms wafts through the air on both banks of the river…
Xu Haibing knew without guessing that the singer was Director Shou, but he didn't know that he had such a clear and beautiful voice.
He listened with great interest, and as he listened, he suddenly remembered something, and ran down from the skylight.
He rushed downstairs, his heavy, loud footsteps echoing in the stairwell...
QQ Lost (Chapter 57)
metro station.
Xu Haibing, who had rushed into the station, immediately stopped in his tracks upon seeing something.
On the empty, silent platform stood a familiar figure—
Zhang Wen!
Xu Haibing slowly descended the steps and gradually approached her...
Zhang Wen muttered to himself, "The newspaper vendor just said they haven't come for two days..."
QQ Lost (58)
Thump! Thump!
--As the sun rises, the first pile of the second phase of the construction of the new campus is being driven in the wilderness behind the new campus of Dalian University!
The idea first came to me in the summer of 2002 in Liaoyang, the hometown of Cao Xueqin. The first draft was completed in the autumn of 2002 in Shijingshan, Beijing. The final draft was completed in the winter of 2004 on the banks of the old course of the Yellow River. The revisions were completed in the spring of 2004 at Jinhua Garden in Suzhou.
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