Цветы персика - Глава 14
"I don't know. If he wants to come to me, he can see me."
Will I... will I still be able to see him?
I shook my head, feeling sorrowful.
“Tell him that your sister is not afraid of death, but wants to avenge him.”
“He understands.”
"Is there any other way we can catch the murderer?"
“When he comes again, I will ask him.”
"I'm going now." She left me a piece of paper with her phone number written on it. "Thank you!"
I remained silent and watched her walk away.
The wind is picking up. I wonder if her ghost brother will come tonight?
Section 36: Case Investigation (5)
When I got back to the dorm, Apple was tidying up the clothes hangers scattered all over the floor. She looked up at me and asked, "Who was looking for you?"
"An older woman."
"You're with me all the time, how come I didn't know you knew some older sister?"
We've only known each other for a short time.
"I think you're a little strange."
"What's wrong?"
"You were running so fast just now, you knocked things over and didn't even glance at them, that's not like you usually are. Who were you so eager to see?" She tilted her head, trying to guess what I was thinking.
Don't make wild guesses.
"Then tell me, and I won't guess." She put an arm around my neck and wouldn't let go.
"You—" I drawled, pinching her nose, "Go wash up and go to bed early!"
A breeze picked up in the courtyard; a bedsheet from some dormitory had been forgotten to be brought in, and it was swaying precariously in the treetops. I spread out my clothes, shook them, and hung them on the clothesline. Just as I pulled back the white bedsheet hanging nearby, I saw a dark, blurry shadow standing in front of me.
"Ah—" It startled me; I thought it was a ghost!
"Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you. I wanted to call you... but I was too embarrassed to say it." Mo Yan stretched his head out, but he was too tall and tripped on the clothesline.
"How did you know which building I live in?" I continued putting on my clothes.
"The four wheels told me that."
"Four wheels?"
"Oh, it's a Jeep."
"You guys really know how to cause trouble."
"I'm not joking, I'm serious. I..."
"What's up?"
"The school auditorium is only open on weekends, so there's only one opportunity a week..."
As I finished hanging the clothes and headed home, I said, "Goodbye!"
Someone behind him said anxiously, "You're so decisive when you shoot hoops, why are you so clumsy when you're chasing girls?"
"Are you stupid?"
"Why don't you just say you want to invite her to a movie? You've been rambling on and on without getting to the point."
"I already told you!"
"What did you say?"
"I said the auditorium is open..."
Did you say you'd take me to the movies?
"He didn't say."
"That's like a blind man lighting a lamp—a complete waste of time!"
I know who's behind Mo Yan now: "A Jeep!"
"arrive!"
"When did you switch careers to become a behind-the-scenes strategist?" I lifted a large beige blanket, and the head of the Jeep appeared like a lifebuoy floating on the sea.
"Hehe...isn't it for the brothers?"
"We've only known each other for half a day and you're already brothers? Then what am I?"
“You’re my wife’s sister, which means you’re my sister too. In other words, if you start dating Mo Yan, you’ll be my sister-in-law.” He turned his head and gave Mo Yan a thorough once-over. “I forgot to ask if you’re older or younger than me. If you’re older, then Ruoxi will be my sister-in-law!”
"Shameless!" I didn't want to argue and tried to leave, but he grabbed me. I raised my foot to kick him.
He dodged: "Why are you like an apple, kicking up a tantrum when you're unhappy?"
"What are you saying about me?" Apple ran out. "Who kicked the bucket? You kick the bucket and let me see."
The Jeep, ever opportunistic, said, "Honey, I've missed you so much!"
"Stop laughing! Who did you just call kicking?"
"No... I knew the movie being shown in the auditorium tonight would be the disaster romance 'Titanic,' and I figured you'd been wanting to see it for a while..."
"Really? The school has started showing it?"
"Of course, why would I lie to you?" He pulled her aside and dragged her eastward.
"Hey, weren't you going to take me to see a movie? Why are we going to Xiaodongmen? The auditorium is this way, you've gone to the wrong place!"
"That's right, that's right, let's watch a movie, let's watch a movie!" The big jeep shouted at Mo Yan, winking and making faces, as if it had kidnapped Apple.
The school auditorium.
A sea of heads filled the room, every seat was taken.
I couldn't resist in the end. It wasn't so much that I wanted to watch a movie, but rather that I was afraid of waiting for a ghost alone. Every tick of the clock filled me with unease; waiting for someone is anxious, but waiting for a ghost is terrifying.
The Titanic struck an iceberg, and the clamor of voices, the terrifying waves, and the breaking planks on the vast sea made the moviegoers' scalps tingle; tension and excitement simultaneously assaulted their optic nerves. But my heart remained as calm as a still pond. The grand scenes did not excite me, but at the moment of the male and female protagonists' life-or-death farewell, I shed tears. The surging emotions in my heart overwhelmed the movie's shocking sound effects.
Through my blurred tears, I saw the man standing in the sea breeze: his dazzling white shirt collar was turned up, the sea wind blowing his thick, jet-black hair, revealing a perfectly arched forehead. His bronze skin reflected a healthy glow in the glint of the waves, and the carefree, quiet composure between his brows made it impossible for the girl to look away. Even without smiling or speaking, his every movement was undeniable. He exuded an unyielding pride and strength in every gesture, surpassing even the mighty eagles of the sky.
Section 37: Case Investigation (6)
How could such a life, more dazzling and brilliant than the sun, moon, and stars, perish so easily?
I can't forget him! The warmth of the sun couldn't compare to the brightness of his eyes, capable of dispelling the fog in one's heart, leaving a clarity clearer than water. He draped his brown striped Boss Black suit over my shoulders, the warmth of his touch still lingering in the sleeves. He spoke eloquently about Andalusian flamenco, telling me the Mississippi Delta was the birthplace of the blues, and I jokingly called him a living map. How could someone so intelligent and resourceful die?
Unwilling to admit it.
I chewed on the bitter taste at the corner of my mouth, feeling resentful.
Grandma, you gave me a man straight out of a myth, yet fate so cruelly took him away. If I had known this would happen, why did we ever meet...?
My eyes are unable to move, and my body is stiff.
I saw a shadow.
As the movie screen went dark, a figure floated past. A khaki trench coat billowed in the wind, revealing a thick head of black curls—that figure was all too familiar.
"The...the Great Forest!" I hurriedly wiped away my tears, not wanting my blurred vision to hinder my search. "The Great Forest! I need to get out! Let me through!" I frantically pushed aside the legs blocking my way; the rows of seats in the auditorium were the biggest obstacle. "Let me through! Let me through..."
anxious.
Don't disappear!
Please don't disappear!
I was so anxious I couldn't make a sound, like trying to hold onto a fleeting radio wave, or the last crimson hue of the setting sun...
The shadow that appeared in my dreams in the still of the night, I reached out several times to try to catch it, but it vanished like smoke, leaving me only with the desolation and melancholy of the night.
He's right in front of me now!
Right in front of you!
My tears welled up again...
A shadow! The shadow of the great forest.
He disappeared faster than fireworks.
As I stumbled out of the seating area and stood in the aisle looking up again, he had vanished.
They vanished without a trace.
I'm not reconciled. I'm not reconciled.
I went to the front desk, but it wasn't there.
I stumbled and ran over to the backstage area, but there was nothing there.
What about the second floor? My tears flowed as I ran, my eyes straining, searching and searching, but to no avail, without a trace.
He was like a bubble shimmering with seven colors, vanishing at the slightest touch. I was annoyed; why was I so eager to chase after him? If I hadn't touched him, the bubble wouldn't have burst, and the phantom would have remained.
The weeping was silent. In the vast auditorium, people were immersed in the sorrow of the Titanic's sinking, in the grief of a love that had died tragically. No one understood my tears...
"What are you looking for?" Mo Yan kept following behind me.
I shook my head. How could he understand?
"Tell me what you're looking for, and I'll help you find it!" He grinned sheepishly.
I sat down on the spiral staircase on the second floor, hugging my shoulders helplessly, and silently shed tears in front of the big screen.
The sobbing around them grew louder, and a girl cried out, "If we ever encounter a situation like this again, will you treat me the way Jack treated Rose?" The boy beside her patted her head, "Silly girl! Silly girl!"
Mo Yan glanced at them, then turned to me and said, "You cried while watching the movie too, right? Don't cry, it's just a movie. The stories in movies only happen in movies; they don't exist in reality..."
I couldn't hear what Mo Yan was going to say next. My thoughts drifted back to a clear blue afternoon, with clouds on the sea floating overhead like enormous cotton candy, and that man, lifted by the sunlight, like the wind...
After the movie ended, I returned to my dormitory.
Apple, with her legs crossed, looked at me with a smug grin, about to tease me, when she suddenly sat up straight: "Hey, why are you crying?"