Lamentation de la Nuit de l'Ouest

Chapitre 12

"Let's go then. Just call me whenever you want to see any scenery." Gu Ming smiled and pinched his left hand to dispel the spell.

Just a second before the scene disappeared, I suddenly saw what seemed to be Deng Fei's furrowed brows flashing in the reflection of West Lake...

The forsythia bloomed on March 31, 2005.

Yesterday, because Gu Ming had an upset stomach, Moonlight Cinema was closed, so I was happy to have a peaceful day off. This morning, my mom called to ask about my future plans. I thought about it for a long time and realized that I have neither lofty ideals nor any special skills. I just want to be an ordinary person and live a peaceful life.

My mom sighed and said, "With your major, even undergraduate graduates can't find jobs. Do you think you can manage without taking the postgraduate entrance exam? So, take it again next year. After all, you're not that old."

I refused without even thinking. I told my mom that society needs balance. Some people love to read and spend their whole lives studying and doing academic research, while others are not born to do those rigid things and can live well without studying. If everyone is a PhD or Master, then society will be unbalanced.

My mother was silent for a long time on the other end of the phone before saying, "I really didn't realize that the daughter I've raised for twenty years is such a great person."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

My mom laughed and said, "I'm willing to be an ordinary citizen for the sake of social balance."

"mom……"

"Alright, alright, I know what you mean. I won't force you. You can decide for yourself. But you need to have something to do. Haven't you thought about the future?" My mother said with a sigh.

"Yes," I said with a grin. "My biggest dream is to be a freeloader, marry a rich and handsome husband, have a kid to play with, and then live a quiet and peaceful life..."

"..."

"..."

"Lin Xiaomo!!!" My mother suddenly roared after a long silence, "How could I have given birth to you?"

"It's fate, it's fate, Mom..."

After breakfast, I tried calling Deng Fei again, but his phone was still off. Scratching my head, I paced back and forth in the room. Bored, I found Xiao Bi's number and dialed it. Surprisingly, it went through. My heart leaped into my throat, a mixture of anticipation and fear. Had Xiao Bi come back?

The phone rang for a long time without anyone answering. Just when I was about to give up, someone suddenly pressed the answer button. I pressed my heart and waited with a smile for Xiao Bi to speak, but apart from the unusually quiet silence and the faint breathing I could hear, there was no other sound.

"Xiao Bi?" A sense of unease suddenly enveloped me, and I asked tentatively, "Xiao Bi, is that you?"

Without receiving a reply, the call was abruptly cut off, and when I called back, the phone was switched off.

What's going on? Could it be that the person with the phone wasn't Xiao Bi? I frowned, thinking, and reluctantly dialed again, only to be met with the same cold female voice, "Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off. Sorry, the number you dialed..."

I stared at my phone for a moment, then ran out of the room to find Gu Ming and tell him what had happened. Gu Ming, however, stared at me strangely, his gaze never leaving me from the moment I entered his room. He looked at me and asked, "Where did you go?"

I stared at him blankly. "I didn't go anywhere. I stayed in the house the whole time."

Gu Ming stood up and walked closer to me, stopping about a meter away. "Where else did you go besides your room? Or did you see anyone?"

"No, I haven't even left the backyard. How could I possibly see anyone?" I replied. "Are you even listening to me? I'm talking about Xiao Bi, did you hear me?"

Gu Ming nodded, then moved a little closer, looking me up and down, even scrutinizing my back, before finally fixing his gaze on the pocket of my shirt.

"What's in here?" Gu Ming asked, pointing to my pocket.

I reached in and pulled out my phone. "This is all you have. What's wrong? You're acting strange."

Gu Ming took the phone, frowned and thought for a long time, then smiled and took out a talisman from the drawer, lit it, and circled it around my body. A yellow light swirled around, but disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“You have a chilling aura about you,” Gu Ming said from the side, while looking through my phone.

"Huh? How could that be? I've never been anywhere, and I've never seen a ghost."

“It came from the phone,” Gu Ming said. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s Xiao Bi’s call. The person on that end is terrifying, with an aura comparable to the dark figure I saw. Even a phone call can get you involved.”

As I listened to his words, my mind was in turmoil. If this was true, it meant that Xiao Bi had encountered something bad. After thinking it over, I never expected that Xiao Bi would encounter not only bad people but also ghosts.

If Xiao Bi's disappearance is related to ghosts and monsters, then what about Deng Fei? Did he also encounter trouble?

"Don't worry, things might not be as bad as you think." Gu Ming patted my shoulder. "I've already gotten rid of the 'screaming aura' on you..."

"Gu Ming, can you use your illusion magic to let me see Hangzhou again today?"

"What's wrong?"

"I think I saw Deng Fei there yesterday... but I'm not sure, it was just a fleeting shadow, maybe it was just my imagination..." I sighed, feeling dizzy.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Gu Ming put my phone in his pocket, then pulled me back to the room from yesterday. If we did it again, Hangzhou's West Lake would soon appear before our eyes, still bustling with people, still full of unfamiliar faces. There was no sign of Deng Fei. Even if Deng Fei had really appeared here yesterday, he should have left long ago today.

"Where did you see it?" Gu Ming suddenly turned to me and pointed at the wall. "This street? By West Lake? Or on the Broken Bridge?"

Looking at the image on the wall, I suddenly remembered that I seemed to have seen Deng Fei in the reflection of West Lake yesterday. In other words, I saw him on the rippling surface of the lake. But from the wall, although West Lake is vast, none of the images are close-up views, and the ripples on the water make it impossible to see a clear image of a person. How could I possibly see Deng Fei here?

"What's wrong?" Gu Ming asked, looking at me.

"It seems...it seems like a hallucination." I sighed. "I'm seeing things. I can actually see Deng Fei in the lake."

I chuckled self-deprecatingly, glanced at the beautiful scenery on the wall, and felt a strange sense of loss.

"A reflection on the water's surface?"

Gu Ming glanced at me, then at the phantom on the wall, and lowered his head as if deep in thought. After a while, he finally looked up, smiled, and withdrew his spell. He pulled me out of the room, telling me not to worry too much, that he would find a way.

We went out for lunch. Gu Ming always manages to find some quirky little shops, mostly on inconspicuous street corners, but the food is always incredibly delicious, though the prices vary. Today, he even dragged me to eat beef noodles. We drove through most of the city to get there. A big bowl cost two yuan, and it smelled quite authentic. Unfortunately, I've never liked noodles, and with no news from Deng Fei or Xiao Bi, I had no appetite at all. So when it came time to pay, Gu Ming handed me five yuan. The noodle shop owner, looking quite annoyed, gave him a dirty, torn one-yuan note and angrily took away my almost untouched bowl. I looked at her awkwardly, and Gu Ming looked at me awkwardly too. It was incredibly awkward...

After dinner, we took a walk along the river and found that a few forsythia flowers had actually bloomed. It seemed that the cold and long winter in the north was really coming to an end. As we walked, Gu Ming said, "Don't think too much. Fate is predetermined. Some things are meant to come, and some things are meant to leave."

"You actually know how to comfort people?"

"..." Gu Ming rolled his eyes at me, looking at me like I was an idiot.

I loathed those looks, so I glared back and walked along the riverbank. When I saw no one was around, I couldn't resist secretly picking a sprig of forsythia; it smelled quite sweet. Although this behavior was utterly sinful, sometimes people just want to do sinful things, and I was no exception.

As the moonlight shone in the evening, she remembered that her phone was still with Gu Ming, so she asked him, "Where's my phone? Give it back to me."

Gu Ming said shamelessly, "I removed the 'screeching qi' for you, and you haven't repaid me yet."

"You don't expect me to repay you with my phone, do you?"

"I'm not greedy," Gu Ming said with a smile. "What about the flowers you stole this afternoon?"

"ah?"

"I saw it all."

"ah!"

"Give me the flowers, and I'll give you the phone."

"ah?"

"Fine, if you don't agree."

"ah?"

"You agreed?"

"ah!"

So I traded a forsythia flower that I had ravaged horribly for my phone.

Before closing the door that night, I asked him curiously, "Gu Ming, why did you want that flower?"

"Oh. It's nothing. I just wanted to secretly pick a branch during the day, but I felt that such behavior was very immoral. However, I accidentally saw someone doing something immoral, so I wanted to make amends."

"Make up for what?"

"Hehe, what did you say?" Gu Ming chuckled sinisterly and walked away. I think this guy is incredibly twisted...

It rained on my own on April 1, 2005.

It got light too early; I only slept for five hours before waking up. I stubbornly called Deng Fei and Xiao Bi, but their phones were still off. I got dressed and went to buy breakfast, staring blankly as the woman at the steamed bun stall rolled out the dough, added the filling, and steamed the buns. I remember once during my freshman year, we had a get-together. Deng Fei somehow rented a room, and Xiao Bi suggested we cook. Jia Yanchang wanted steamed buns, so we impulsively bought a huge amount of ingredients. Deng Fei rolled out the dough, Xiao Bi filled them, and Jia Yanchang and I just messed around. Finally, I got itchy and wanted to learn how to make buns too. Xiao Bi and Deng Fei looked at me with disdain and told me, "You just need to eat."

I pouted and made a fuss for ages, and Xiao Bi had no choice but to teach me step by step. But I still managed to turn the buns into steamed buns, with the filling spilling everywhere. When the final product came out, Jia Yanchang thought what I had made was disgusting, while Deng Fei and Xiao Bi laughed loudly and forced me to eat it. The taste was actually not bad though...

"Young lady, are you cold?" the older woman suddenly asked me, putting down the steamed bun in her hand.

"ah?"

"Who gets up this early to buy steamed buns? Look, there's hardly anyone on the street." The woman smiled. "Just wait a bit, it'll be ready soon. Look, your nose is all red from the cold."

I smiled. Although spring had arrived in the north, the temperature was still quite low in the mornings and evenings. When the steamed buns were ready, I bought five, then went to the nearby shop and ordered two bowls of eight-treasure porridge and a small amount of pickled vegetables for a dollar. Satisfied, I carried them back to Moonlight. As soon as I entered, I saw Gu Ming's anxious expression. When he looked up and saw me, he let out a heavy sigh of relief and said in a deep voice, "Where did you run off to?"

I smiled at him, holding up the breakfast in my hand, and said, "Where else could I run off to?"

Gu Ming took the food and walked towards the kitchen. I followed behind, thinking to myself, "Isn't Moonlight a safe place? Why is he so nervous?"

Just then, my phone rang. I nervously took it out and saw that it was Cuihua calling.

"Hello?"

"Xiao Mo, where have you been? Why aren't you coming back to school?" Cuihua called out to me with a smile.

"I work outside."

"Come back quickly, Xiao Bi and Deng Fei are waiting for you here. They said Deng Fei is treating us to a big meal."

"What... what did you say..." I blinked, wondering if I had misheard.

"I asked you to come back," Cuihua said with a smile. "Deng Fei is treating."

"Deng Fei...and Xiao Bi...yes, are they both here?"

"kindness."

"When did you go back?"

"Oh dear, you talk too much. Let's talk when you get back." Cuihua laughed and hung up the phone. I turned to look at Gu Ming, thinking, "That's impossible. If Deng Fei and Xiao Bi are back, why didn't they even call me?"

Gu Ming set out breakfast, pulled out a chair, and invited me to come and eat. I frowned and said, "It's Cuihua on the phone. She said Xiao Bi and Deng Fei are at school and want to treat me to dinner."

Gu Ming was taken aback, looking at me with the same confusion, then put down the steamed bun and said, "Let's go, I'll go back with you and take a look."

When I drove back to school, I saw Cuihua downstairs in the dormitory. I hurriedly ran over to her and asked, "Where are Xiao Bi and Deng Fei? When did they get back?"

Cuihua stared at me with wide eyes, then exclaimed in surprise, "Oh! How did you really come here?"

"Didn't you ask me to come?"