Долина Дикого Человека на Зеленой Горе

Глава 12

I slapped the bowl that was resting on my lips, knocking over the fly. The soup spilled, covering Zhiqing completely.

How could you do this! Lin's mother happened to witness this scene.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, I just spilled it by accident." Zhiqing frantically tried to pick up the broken pieces of the bowl while making a panicked excuse. Oily soup dripped from his head, staining his neat white shirt. Clothes can be washed, but what about a dirty person?

Zhiqing, take care of Lin Shang for me, don't pay any attention to her! Lin's mother glared at me and turned away.

"I'll be right back." Zhiqing retreated in a flustered manner. Lin Shang and I both tried hard to forget that night. We sold vegetables hand in hand, and strolled through the night market hand in hand, just like always. I once saw a couple in their forties on the bus, sitting side by side, chatting quietly. Their hands were always tightly clasped together. Their faces were ordinary, their clothes simple and plain, but their smiles were so steadfast and warm. I said to Lin Shang with envy, "We want to hold hands for a lifetime too."

The leap between men and women often begins with holding hands; we found love through that act. Regardless of wind or rain, I still hope that the two hands clasped together represent two hearts that are truly connected. "I'm pregnant, Lin Shang, will it be your child?" My voice was barely audible. I knew I shouldn't ask, but I was unwilling, so unwilling. Three years of love, three years of agonizing devotion, destroyed by a sinful night. Hands clasped, but hearts no longer connected.

Lin Shang remained silent, his head bowed. He took deep drags on his cigarette, and through the smoke, I couldn't see his expression. I desperately wanted him to say that no matter whose child it was, I would treat him well.

Lin Shang?

Don't ask anymore! Don't! Lin Shangru, like a wounded wild beast, burst out of the home they had once painstakingly built together.

Do you need anesthesia?

Need not.

The pain, the excruciating pain, could never compare to the pain in my heart. My blood was stained on the white sheets, along with the blood of that innocent, naive little life that had never seen the world.

Everything has become a memory, and everything is so unsatisfying... Carrying a simple bag, I embarked on a journey of wandering, drifting from one city to another like a shadow.

Factory worker, freelance writer, office worker... A beautiful, aloof, and proud woman gradually solidifies a broken heart in the city of steel and concrete, working frantically and squeezing out the flower of her life.

That afternoon, the sun shone brightly. I stood quietly in front of the large French windows, looking at the city sky—blue, blue sky, white, white clouds. I saw that the sun was still there, the earth was still there, but I was no longer alive.

"Mr. He, someone's looking for you." Secretary Linda knocked on the door and whispered to me.

who?

He said his name was Lin Shang. I couldn't stop my body from trembling, I couldn't control my excitement. Looking at Lin Shang across from me, he was still as handsome as before, only now there were gray hairs at his temples.

"Mo Mo, I was wrong, I know I was wrong," Lin Shang said to me sincerely.

No, it's all Mom's fault. What happened that day was all Mom's doing. You and Zhiqing are innocent, really. Mom knows she was wrong. We were both drunk that day, and Mom happened to come to see me. She was against us, but… My face instantly drained of color. Could there really be such a vicious woman in the world?! My fingers trembled as I pulled a cigarette from the pack. Under Lin Shang's astonished gaze, I exhaled a hazy cloud of smoke to hide the tears in my eyes and the pain in my heart.

Lin Shang couldn't see my expression; he was nervously rubbing his hands together, his voice muffled.

You must forgive your mother. She was widowed at a young age and raised me with great difficulty. I didn't listen to her or follow her arrangements, and insisted on marrying you, so she...

I lowered my head, and my tears fell onto the blood-red flowers on the high-end carpet, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

"Mo Mo, are there any more children?" Lin Shang glanced at a child's photo under the glass. I chuckled; it was a photo of a child I was sponsoring who had dropped out of school.

"No children, Mr. Lin, you've come all this way for nothing." I said calmly, "Please have some tea. This tea is called 'After Holding Hands' Tea. You've never had it before, have you? When the last rose blooms, the flowers are gone, and no more flowers bloom after that..." I knew that Lin Shang had lost his fertility since that car accident, and I also knew that I was carrying Lin Shang's child because I had tested the blood type of the remains of that unborn child.

[Modern Era: 002 The Moonlit Night Over the Twenty-Four Bridges]

Love on the Twenty-Four Bridges, Marriage on a Bridge

1. The Legend of the Twenty-Four Bridges

The Twenty-Four Bridges are in Yangzhou in the south, which is far from my small northern city. It's as far as the distance between the sun and the earth. It seems like we could see each other in an instant, but in reality, it seems unlikely that we could reach each other.

Years ago, the snail told me, "I am the jade maiden on the night of the bright moon over the Twenty-Four Bridges, where is she teaching the flute?"

Ha, is it really that good? On the surface, she was humble and courteous, but deep down she was brimming with pride. At that moment, the Twenty-Four Bridges, like my love, was filled with hope, anticipation, and longing.

In the spring of my sophomore year, Snail carried me on his bicycle, weaving through the vast campus, and before we knew it, we had stumbled out of the school gates. The wind was warm, the sun was bright, and the cherry blossoms along the roadside were like rosy clouds and brocade. A few petals drifted down and landed on Snail and me. Those days were unbelievably blissful.

The snail said his greatest desire was to have a small home, a loved one, and grow old together.

Back then, the romance of growing old together was being portrayed with unparalleled nobility during our university years. On the narrow back seat of the bicycle, I held tightly to Snail's not-so-strong waist, my heart brimming with excitement, as we worked together to add spice to our love, making it even more vibrant and dazzling.

To maintain our beautiful love, Snail turned down an offer from a large company in the south and stayed with me in this seaside town. He used his first savings to buy a tiny apartment, officially becoming a snail slowly crawling through this city.

I wasn't so lucky; everywhere I looked, there were job postings that only wanted male applicants. The pride of being both the school beauty and a talented girl during my school days was gradually swept away by the dust of the bustling streets. When the dust settled, the legend of the Twenty-Four Bridges had been forgotten.

2. Powder

A woman in high heels swayed gracefully in front of me. Looking down at my own white flat sneakers, I was suddenly overwhelmed by an inescapable sense of inferiority.

The manager, sitting behind a large black table, frowned as he flipped through my resume. That resume recorded my glorious college days, as well as the shame of countless rejections.

"Let's try it out for two months first, but you'll only get half the salary of your male colleagues." The manager casually tossed the resume aside and looked at me calmly.

For a moment, I almost snapped my fingers. Looking at those pointed high heels, I instantly suppressed the urge to storm out. I nodded.

The manager and the woman exchanged a smile, and the manager instructed them that they could begin work immediately.

Fortunately, I can have the same desk as my male colleagues, and a set of materials on advertising design.

At that moment, Fensu tapped my desk with her pen and said, "Hey, my name is Fensu."

Because of the same unequal treaty, Fensu and I quickly became comrades in arms. I invited Fensu to have dinner with me and Snail in our small apartment; for someone economically sanctioned, cooking for oneself is the wisest course of action. While enjoying my less-than-stellar cooking, Fensu criticized the cramped space.

She said it was just a small shell, a shell you could carry on your back. At that time, she didn't know that the man named Yimu was nicknamed Snail.

3. Dream of the 13th

The oppressive work and the monotonous, unchanging life made me increasingly irritable and restless. As night fell, I started frequenting nightclubs, venting my resentment towards the world. Only when I was utterly exhausted in the middle of the night, reeking of alcohol, did I hitch a ride with a man back to the small home that Snail had given me.

Imu watched my changes with despair. He couldn't change me, so he could only try to change himself and work even harder.

Some people say 13 is an unlucky number, along with the 13th of every month. Coincidentally, the night before the 13th, I had a wonderful dream I hadn't had in a long time, so much so that I laughed out loud in it. The snail asked me what made me so happy.

Haha, I dreamt of Yangzhou! I dreamt of the Twenty-Four Bridges. The scenery was so beautiful, the feeling so wonderful, so light, like I was about to fly. At that moment, a long-lost sense of innocence and joy appeared on my face.

The snail gently combed through my messy hair with its fingers and said, "Yes, the Twenty-Four Bridges will always be there waiting for you."

I walked into the office building with an unusual sense of ease and joy. Fen Su asked curiously, "What's up? Did you hook up with a rich guy?"

You can't expect something ivory from a dog's mouth. Well, I want to get married.

I nearly dislocated my jaw in shock. What? Marriage? That Yimu, such a small house?

"We'll have bread." I said this with such confidence that even I felt uneasy. I knew we had no money to make our wedding extravagant. But, getting married was all I could do.

I found online that "Moonlight over the Twenty-Four Bridges" actually only refers to the scenery of one of the bridges.

The snail disagreed, saying there was no rush.

I angrily threw half a month's salary into that bar called Sainte, and drank Bloody Marys one after another.

A long-haired man in white clothes was looking at me intently.

I said fiercely, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a woman drink before?!"

I've never seen a woman as reckless as you! That's wine, not a beverage! His slender fingers snatched my glass, and he even squeezed my hand, making me momentarily lose my composure.

A sea breeze blew in through the half-open car window, and the long-haired man had actually driven me to the beach. I was mostly sober now, and seeing those sparkling eyes of the opposite sex, and the lonely darkness around me, a wave of fear washed over me. Although I frequented those glamorous, nightlife places, I had always maintained a semblance of purity for Yimu.

The man's fingers started to casually touch my chest, and I shouted, "Take me home!"

He awkwardly withdrew his finger, flicked out a cigarette, and said, "My name is Thunder."

4. A Date Across Half the City

Lightning whispered in my ear, "Be my..."

My face instantly turned red. I had carried the snail across most of the city to keep my date with the lightning. I think I might have fallen for him.

In front of the snail, I've always been domineering and unrestrained. I've never taken anything he said seriously. The snail has an ordinary appearance, but an extremely good temper, or rather, he has no temper at all. Many times, after I've returned to my snail's abode drunk, he not only takes meticulous care of me, but also secretly kisses my forehead when I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep, his fingers gently combing my messy hair, letting my burning pain gradually disappear in his embrace.

Maybe I'm just someone who likes excitement. Even though I knew perfectly well that Raiden wasn't a good person, I still excitedly arrived on time for our date. Raiden was still dressed in white, looking both clean and refined. He skillfully wielded his knife and fork, cutting the steak on his plate, chewing silently, and occasionally glancing up at me with an encouraging smile.

Wearing a formal suit and skirt already made me feel uncomfortable, and then having a Western meal in such a luxurious place was truly an ordeal. I mimicked Raiden's manner, picking up the still-bloody steak in front of me, grinding it a few times in my mouth, and then swallowing it with a heavy heart. It wasn't so bad, really; it was just rare. Drunken crab and raw shrimp hadn't bothered me, so a mere steak would be nothing.

Lightning looked at me with satisfaction and asked softly, "What kind of work do you do?"

Advertising design.

"Oh, that's good. Judging by your intelligence, you should be in that line of work." Lightning's eyes gleamed as he looked at me, making me feel uneasy.

"This outfit doesn't suit you." He looked you up and down.

My legs were tucked tightly under the table, and he was laughing at me?

You are free and unrestrained; only your companion would be suitable for such clothes. Lightning feigned sudden realization and asked abruptly, "What's the name of the girl you're often with?"

Powdered pigment.

Haha, he certainly lives up to his name.

This meal was so agonizing. I was hoping that Thunder would reveal his hand soon. It's just about sex, right? All men are the same. The more respectable they appear on the surface, the dirtier and more filthy they are. Otherwise, how could there be the saying "beasts in human clothing"?

Actually, I wouldn't call myself a good woman. While deciding to marry Snail, I was constantly seeking excitement and romantic encounters. Yet, I always longed for my own fairytale romance. Perhaps I shouldn't have read Snow White and Cinderella when I was young; they made me feel lost and uncertain about my place in the world. I always believed that a prince charming would appear in my life, but Snail was not one of them.

5. Human figure drawing

"Would you like to come sit at my place?" Lightning indeed extended an invitation to me.

The spacious, bright studio, with its enormous easel, oil paintings adorning the walls, and piles of sketches, gave me a new perspective on Raiden. I couldn't help but feel ashamed of my own dark thoughts. Raiden was actually a painter.

The oil paintings on the four walls were mostly of nude women, standing, sitting, and lying down. Although they were revealing, they were not lewd. That's art. I slowly appreciated the paintings, occasionally sharing my thoughts with Raiden, who looked at me with surprise.

Baby, you actually understand me. Suddenly, lightning pulled me into its embrace from behind. I struggled slightly, then slowly closed my eyes. Lightning gently kissed my lips, its slender fingers tracing the contours of my body.

I groaned softly. Lightning's lips had become burning hot. My clothes instantly turned into a cicada's shell.

On the vast canvas, two intertwined nudes present another breathtaking form of human art.

After everything calmed down, I nestled happily in the embrace of lightning. As he admired my body, he suddenly stared in surprise.

Human body drawing!

Because of the intensity of the fight, we knocked over the paint on the painting table, and the oil paints, as our bodies rolled, painted unusual patterns on our skin.

"Good heavens!" Lightning leaped up excitedly. He shouted, "Human figure drawing!"

6. Professional ethics

When Raiden asked me to be his nude painting model, I was stunned. This was something I had never imagined. Giving your body to a man and turning your body into art for many people to see are two completely different things.

The latter made me embrace my own cowardice.

"Don't you dare?" Thunder started to provoke me with a flippant laugh.

I'll pay you, two thousand yuan per hour.

These were indeed tempting conditions, but the hidden meanings they implied severely wounded my pride. If Lei Dian asked me to sacrifice myself for him, I think I might do it without hesitation, but Lei Dian wanted to buy my body—what did he take me for?!

I stormed out, slamming the door behind me.

Lightning actually found Pinky, and Pinky urged me to agree to Lightning's conditions. She said, "I'll make an agreement with him, and he won't harm you physically. Besides, isn't the reason you and Snail can't get married because you don't have money?"