Back then, after Qu Ling held me and showed me the magic pen, I happily hugged his neck and said, "Brother Qu, I love you the most! When I grow up, I want to marry you!"
To me, it was just childish talk, but the mountains and rivers have recorded every word I uttered.
****
The unfinished phone call on the top of Huangshan Mountain was my last conversation with Qu Ling before returning to H City. After that, I could no longer get through to him on the phone. After that, I lost contact with him.
Facing the beautiful scenery of southern Anhui, I had no heart to appreciate it; all I could think about was Quling, and my heart was set on returning home.
Time suddenly seemed to stretch on endlessly; in the end, a day in Nanping felt like a year.
That evening, I called home to tell my mother about my departure the next day and the approximate arrival time. I also told her the names of the dishes I wanted to eat. Before hanging up, I hesitantly asked if Qu Ling had come in the last couple of days. My mother replied that Qu Ling hadn't come for several days.
Hugging the thermos in my sleeping bag, I felt a chill creeping into my heart for some reason.
What happened? Why did we suddenly lose contact?
The eight-hour journey from southern Anhui back to H city was an agonizing ordeal for me.
Qu Ling knew I was coming back today. Before he left, he told me that he would treat me to beef noodles in a secluded alley when I returned.
****
I drove straight back to the college, and after sending the students to the cafeteria, I went to the bike shed to get my electric scooter, rode it around the dean's building for a bit.
The door to Qu Ling's office was locked, and there were no lights on.
Disappointed, I rode my bike home, lazily pushed it into the yard, opened the door, and shouted, "I'm home!"
No one answered me.
The house was empty.
The moonlight spilled across the dark hall, creating a desolate atmosphere.
I stood in the middle of the living room, feeling extremely upset. Qu Ling was nowhere to be seen, and none of my family members were there either! They knew I was coming back today!
Tears of grievance streamed down my face, and I stomped my feet and pounded the table in anger. Suddenly, all the lights in the house turned on, and many colorful balloons rained down from the sky, making the bright living room seem like a completely different world from the previous darkness.
"A warm welcome to Comrade Su Yuanyuan's glorious return from the countryside!" Dad shouted, banging on a tattered toy drum made of little meatballs.
"You! All of you!" I looked at all my family members who had suddenly appeared, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.
Dinner was very lavish; almost all of my favorite dishes were laid out on the table.
"Yuanyuan, you've lost weight!" Grandpa said, looking at me as I was gnawing on a pig's trotter, his reading glasses in hand.
"Mmm..." I answered with a muffled sound, and picked up another piece of salt and pepper fried shrimp.
"You've definitely lost weight! Your face is so much smaller." Grandma placed a stewed chicken leg on top of my bowl and patted my head tenderly.
Xizi suddenly appeared out of nowhere. In just a few days, the little guy has grown quite a bit. He used his chubby paws to desperately scratch at my leg, drooling over the chicken leg in my bowl.
After dinner, Dad held up the electronic scale and said to me with a grin, "Yuanyuan, you've lost so much weight! Come on, weigh yourself, you definitely won't weigh much now!"
I've always had a phobia of scales; weighing myself in front of people is my biggest taboo. However, everyone said I looked thinner today, and looking at my thighs, they did seem noticeably slimmer, making me a little hesitant.
“Our Yuanyuan has really lost weight! Look, her chin is so sharp!” Mom also came over to fan the flames.
I thought for a moment, then picked up Su Xizi and said, "Okay, I'll weigh us together while holding Xizi! Let's see how much we weigh together!"
Mom and Dad exchanged a glance and said, "As long as you're willing to weigh it, any way you want!"
I was still a little uneasy. Holding Xizi, I cautiously stepped onto the scale. When I looked down, I immediately screamed and jumped off the scale.
"Wow!! She weighs 139 pounds!" Dad exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "So Su Yuanyuan is this heavy! She's almost as heavy as me!"
"Yeah, I kept guessing how much she weighed, maybe 120 pounds at most, how come she actually weighs 139 pounds?" Mom exclaimed.
Grandpa and Grandma didn't lag behind either. Grandma took out a pen, and Grandpa took out his notebook, and they immediately wrote down that hateful number 139.
Tears... I've been tricked by those Japanese devils! They conspired to fool me! They said I was thin just to trick me into stepping on the scale?
"I...I'm not that heavy! It's Xizi who's heavy!" I argued, picking up Xizi.
"Forget it, Xizi weighs at most ten pounds, so you still have 129 pounds! That's quite heavy!" Dad shouted, "You dared to say you weighed 110 pounds last time, that was a complete lie!"
"Yuanyuan really needs to lose weight. It's embarrassing for a girl to weigh 130 pounds!" her mother grumbled.
I couldn't stand the nagging anymore, so I grabbed Xizi and ran upstairs. "I'm exhausted! I'm going to sleep now!"
"Yuanyuan, don't run away! We haven't finished talking yet!"
Forget it, if I let you finish saying everything, how am I supposed to live?
****
I didn't want to argue with my family about my weight, so I lay on the bed thinking about Qu Ling, who hadn't called yet.
That dean is a liar! He said he'd treat me to beef noodles when I got back! He's vanished without a trace! I angrily pulled out my phone. I glared at it for a moment, then tossed it aside.
I dozed off for a while, holding Xizi in my arms, when the vibrations beside the bed woke me up.
I reflexively found the phone, answered it, and said, "Hello! Who is this?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone, but I could hear breathing. My nerves suddenly tightened, all sleepiness vanished, and I gripped the phone tightly, asking, "Is this the director?"
"Yuanyuan..." The voice on the phone was low and somber, as if filled with unspeakable weariness.
"Qu Ling! You liar! You said you'd treat me to beef noodles when I got back, but why haven't you heard from me at all these past few days?" I angrily accused him, finally letting out all the grievances I'd been holding back.