Chapter 243 Tonight or What Eve (6000 words)
As dusk approached, a shower came suddenly. The rain curtain turned the city into dark gray, and the moisture carried the hot air and steamed up. The beautiful buildings and jade buildings on the other side of the river were blurred and distorted in the rain and fog.
Ning Chunyan received Wang Zixu and sat in the Porsche to listen to him finish half of the story. She was silent for a moment and asked:
"She really told you not to contact her again? It's hard for me to imagine that this is what a mother would say."
Wang Zixu said: "Someone told me that because she chooses happiness, she will have happiness. For her, completely cutting off ties with the life I represent is probably the best solution to happiness."
Ning Chunyan's tone was full of confusion: "How can a mother's best solution to happiness be to abandon her child? Unless this person has no heart."
After saying this, she nodded thoughtfully: "In today's world, it is not surprising to have no heart. Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend your mother.”
“It’s okay, no need to apologize.”
At this moment, he suddenly understood why Yu Hua wrote “Shouting in the Drizzle.” Such a suffocating rain stirs up turbidity but does not lift up the clear. It only makes the sky and the earth turbid, and makes the river surface dim and yellow. It seems that there is no other way but to shout.
Just half an hour later, he told Ning Chunyan the whole story of "reunion with his mother." In this version, he carefully eliminated all traces related to An Younan, so it can only be regarded as "half a story."
Only this half of the story made Ning Chunyan feel full of sympathy, resentment and anger.
She put her hands on her legs, her expression was serious, her lips were pursed into a thin and straight line, like two freshly cut biscuits with sharp edges, and there was a hint of childishness in the regularity.
“Hey, let me ask you,” she tilted her head, “Are you in pain now?”
Wang Zixu smiled bitterly: “The word ‘pain’ is a bit... luxurious for me.”
Ning Chunyan repeated softly: "Luxury?"
"For someone like me who has smashed countless walls, 'pain' sounds like the sugar cube in American coffee. A person who is used to squeezing himself is not qualified to talk about pain."
Ning Chunyan blinked: "Has anyone ever said that you are a bit pretentious?"
“No. Am I very pretentious when I speak?”
“A little bit. A little pretentious.” Ning Chunyan pursed her lips and smiled, “What else is there for a person like me? You have no right to be miserable. Who are you showing off to?”
“Huh?” When Wang Zixu said that, he thought he was making fun of himself after regurgitating his sorrow, and he didn’t feel cool at all.
Ning Chunyan cleared her throat, and a few strands of broken hair fell from her forehead. She gently pushed them away with her fingers and hung them behind her fair and small ears. She cleared her throat again solemnly:
"Listen to me, normal humans will cry when they are hungry, hide when they are in pain, and talk to everyone when they are unhappy. Complaining creature - don't say anything, I know you haven't, that's because no one cares about you even if you cry when you are hungry, so you won't. But this is wrong. Have you heard of 'Wen Wen'?
“You haven’t heard of this? Little Prince! The little Prince became famous because he did speech therapy in Wenyan.”
Seeing that Wang Zixu was still stunned, Ning Chunyan sighed:
"I want to say that venting and talking are normal human emotional needs. If you have emotions, you should relieve them in time and don't keep them in your heart. If you suppress them for a long time, people will become crazy if things are not done well."
Wang Zixu thought for a while, He felt that this was ridiculous, but the words "But I am the little prince" almost blurted out. He quickly swallowed it and said:
"But I don't know what to do. How to talk or who to talk to, I don't know."
Is he going to open up the text and let Sakura-chan or the poet use the words he invented to comfort himself? It is difficult for a doctor to heal himself.
Ning Chunyan rolled her eyes at him: "Am I a human? I ask you if I am a human?"
Wang Zixu was intimidated by her aura and was speechless for a moment. Looking at his expression, Ning Chunyan was angry and funny.
"You can talk to me, just like today. And Chen Qingluo, you can also talk to her. Even though she is like that, she actually cares about you."
Wang Zixu was shocked again.
It took him a few seconds to suppress his suddenly accelerated heartbeat, and whispered: "There is nothing you can do about it, it will only increase your troubles."
Ning Chunyan sighed: "We can't solve it, but by telling it, the burden can be reduced by half. It is really not easy for a child from a single-parent family like you to understand such common sense. But this is also your mother's fault, I don't blame you."
"Oh."
After Wang Zixu finished speaking, he fell into a state of confusion again. Is this common sense? But he would indeed be sadder than he is now if Sartre had not existed.
It took him a while to realize: Sartre did not exist.
Ning Chunyan glanced at him, her face flashed with rouge, and then said in a very patient tone, as if she was showing Mr. Snail the way home:
"My idol, the little prince, said that physical contact is always more powerful than verbal healing. If you really don't know how to say it... I can also give you a compassionate hug."
Wang Zixu looked at her in surprise, thinking she was joking.
Ning Chunyan’s eyes were pure and focused, like two small, round black pebbles sinking in the clear stream. She stared at him like looking at the peach petals swirling and falling on the water, her eyes clear and free of impurities.
Wang Zixu thought for a while and said half-jokingly: "Okay."
Ning Chunyan simply opened his arms: "Come."
She was so generous that she frightened Wang Zixu. If he said it was a joke at this moment, it would be too ignorant and let him down.
He had no choice but to shrink back and lean forward stiffly, moving towards Ningchun Yan like a lump of iron through the gear lever. The latter took the initiative to take him into his arms.
Then, she gently rubbed the back of Wang Zixu’s head like a soothing cat: “Good, good, thank you for your hard work.”
Rather than hugging an adult male, she felt more like hugging a giant golden retriever that was not very docile, or a young and upright beech tree.
Her arms formed a rounded arc that did not require thinking, and she gently held up Wang Zixu - he always resisted resting his head on her shoulder - but it was harmless. Under her gentle caress, the young zelkova branches seemed to have been softened by the afternoon sun and gradually drooped.
His tall body shrunk strangely in her arms at this moment, curling up into a small and hard shape, like the hard-skinned seed of a bean plant.
26 seconds later, the ceremony finally ended, and the two separated with a tacit understanding.
“Are you relaxing?” Ning Chunyan asked.
Wang Zixu felt that the answer was simply obvious. The contact just now said everything: "No."
After finishing speaking, so as not to disappoint the other party, he added: "The body is not relaxed, but the mind and mood are relaxed."
This answer did not score high, so Ning Chunyan did not care, and stretched out his index finger to touch his Tip of the nose:
“Family members are destined by fate, and friends are chosen by yourself. No matter what you encounter, friends will always be one of your options. But remember?”
Wang Zixu nodded.
Ning Chunyan suddenly said seriously: "Remember?"
"Hmm, um..."
"Tell me?"
"Remember."
"Yes." Ning Chunyan nodded with satisfaction.
“By the way,” she changed the topic, “What are you going to do during the New Year?”
“What should I do?”
“Have you considered going to your wife’s house to pay New Year’s greetings?”
Wang Zixu She shivered: "...Isn't it bad?"
"Why is it bad?" Ning Chunyan said, "No matter how she disappears, she has to go home during the New Year, right? Isn't this just an opportunity to repair the relationship?"
She asked: "How did you pay New Year's greetings to her family in the past years?"
Wang Zixu replied: "We always go to our respective homes to celebrate the New Year with our own families."
Ning Chunyan was shocked: "You have never been to her house? Not even the first year? How can a son-in-law not go to Yue's house to pay New Year's greetings? "
"The situation at home... is rather special..."
Old Comrade Wang Jianguo still doesn't know that his daughter-in-law is not the person he expected. Of course, Wang Zixu couldn't take the person back.
Ning Chunyan frowned: "Then how did you live in the past years? Just the two of you and your father?"
After receiving a positive answer, she sighed and shook her head:
“过年还是热闹些好。你要是遇到难处，随时找我。我闲得很……”
……
在这段放假前的日子里，王子虚去参加了研究生面试。
The results are self-evident. Zhong Junmin was one of the interviewers. Although he didn't show a smile during the whole process, Wang Zixu still felt that he did quite well in the exam.
As the New Year approaches, the most pressing thing for Wang Zixu is to go home and face old comrade Wang Jianguo.
When he left Xihe, he did not tell the old man the truth and lied that his employer sent him to study abroad for half a year. The deadline passed early, and the paper could not cover up the fire, so he finally revealed the truth.
Since then, Wang Jianguo has been closed to him and angrily scolded him whenever he met. Fortunately, his extreme temper has prevented him from doing anything worse.
After many days, I wonder if the old comrade’s anger has subsided. No matter how he characterized the incident, he had to go home at the end of the year and spend the entire holiday with his old comrades.
It is absolutely impossible to hope that we will never tire of looking at each other. He just hopes that this Spring Festival will not degenerate into a torture of mutual torture.
On New Year’s Eve, Wang Zixu returned home. Wang Jianguo still didn’t have a good look on him, but traditional customs bound him and he did not say anything bad. He just prepared a table of food in silence.
This old man is usually slovenly, but during the holidays he shows a rare reliability. The house was kept spotless, even the curtains had been removed and washed. He even tidied up a room specifically for Wang Zixu, with the sheets and bedding ironed to a flat surface.
Starting at eight o’clock in the evening, New Year greetings text messages kept ringing.
Zhang Cangnian and Xu Shichao from their former units sent standard group text messages; Lin Feng carefully edited a blessing that seemed to be sent in bulk but was actually original;
Ye Lan’s The text message was filled with emoticons, which was dazzling; Zuo Ziliang's congratulatory message was 200 words long, 150 words of which were about "money" and "wealth"; then came Cheng Xing; then several people from the Wenwen base - Yingjiang, Believer, Poet, Xiaoba;
Zhao Peilin paid New Year greetings and asked him to introduce a girl; Lu Qingxuan wished him literary prosperity like a warrior; Diao Yiwen's blessing was down-to-earth, wishing him better luck in the New Year.
Near 12 o'clock, Ning Chunyan sent a solemn essay, starting with "To the gentle and good man Wang Zixu". The recipient was flattered and didn't know how to reply.
He was thinking about the words when he realized that at midnight, Chen Qingluo’s New Year’s greeting text message came quietly, with only four simple words: “Happy New Year”.
This was the shortest blessing that Wang Zixu had ever received. If he didn't know her temper well, he would have thought it was a group message. He also replied "Happy New Year".
After replying to the message, Wang Zixu smiled happily. I guess they can be considered old classmates, and this is the first time they wish each other New Year greetings.
He then remembered Ning Chunyan’s suggestion—telling Chen Qingluo about his pain? I'm afraid it's not very reliable, right?
He really couldn’t imagine how she would react. With her black and white character, I don't know what she would do.
Besides, he was never willing to show his weak side in front of her.
The next morning, Wang Zixu stood up with dark circles under his eyes. Last night he stayed up very late editing text messages to Professor Zhong, Director Mei and others one by one.
The adult world is so boring. I know that many people may not care, but I am careless about such things.
Prince Xu’s family has very few relatives. Except for one aunt, all others are estranged.
The reason is that most of the elders on the paternal side have passed away, and except for the aunt, the relationship has long been weak; and on the maternal side, it is even more insignificant.
Both father and son are lonely, so during the Spring Festival every year, they only look at each other in silence.
But for Wang Zixu, this freed him from worldly affairs and allowed him to devote himself wholeheartedly to his career.
On the first day of the new year, it is natural to devote your limited enthusiasm to unlimited creation - Wang Zixu took out his notebook, placed it on the coffee table, and started writing.
He has no idea for a new book yet, and is writing scripts that have been backlogged for a long time. Some time ago, due to worries about the publication of "Fire in the Stone", the script creation has been put on hold for a long time.
The strange thing is that when I picked up the pen again, my proficiency increased instead of losing, inspiration emerged in an endless stream, and my libido became more abundant - if the concept Zuo Ziliang mentioned really exists.
Before half an hour had passed, and his brain and laptop had just warmed up, old comrade Wang Jianguo walked out of the bedroom, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
“Happy New Year.” Wang Zixu greeted.
"Happy New Year." Lao Wang's voice was hoarse as if he had just woken up.
In previous New Years, Comrade Lao Wang usually slept until noon before getting up. I don’t know why he got up so early today.
“What are you doing?” Lao Wang Zhuo pulled on his slippers and walked over.
Wang Zixu stretched out his hand and closed the notebook: "Work."
The veins on Lao Wang's forehead jumped suddenly, and the corners of his mouth turned downwards with deep lines: "Big What else do you do during the Chinese New Year? "
"You have to write frequently to keep your skills up," Wang Zixu explained briefly, then waved his hand, "Forget it, let's not do it anymore."
The corners of Lao Wang’s mouth twitched nervously a few times, and he was about to spit out some unpleasant words. His Adam's apple rolled, and he swallowed those words after all. He only snorted from his nasal cavity and said stably:
"Huh, if you don't resign, how can you still work with a computer during the Chinese New Year?"
After hearing this, Wang Zixu just cried and laughed. No: "Dad, I volunteered..."
"Voluntary?" Lao Wang's voice suddenly rose, with a meanness that understood the truth, "Isn't it because I haven't made any money? If you have an iron rice bowl and guaranteed income during droughts and floods, do you need to work overtime 'voluntarily'?"
Wang Zixu leaned back on the sofa tiredly, raised his hand and waved feebly in the air, as if to drive away invisible mosquitoes and flies. This action clearly declares: In order not to damage the happy atmosphere of the New Year, this topic ends here.
After all, Lao Wang could not forgive him. He walked past him with a cold face and said in a low voice: "Change your clothes and dress decently. We will have guests arriving later."
Wang Zixu was surprised: "What guest are you meeting?"
"Lao Zhang next door," Lao Wang said, "we have made an appointment. He will come to our house for dinner at noon, and we will go to his house in the evening."
The prince was slightly surprised, and then felt a little relieved. With Lao Wang's solitary temperament, he was able to maintain such harmonious relations with his neighbors, which was a great improvement.
"If Lao Zhang comes, don't tell him about your work." Wang Jianguo thought of something and turned around and warned, "His son has made a fortune recently. We don't want to be on par with others, at least don't lose too much."
Wang Zixu felt a sense of powerlessness welling up in his heart: "Dad, there is nothing to lose."
Wang Jianguo's eyes were sharp and full of warning. The prince swallowed the second half of the sentence with interest and stopped explaining in vain.
Just after eleven o’clock, Lao Zhang’s family came to the door early. His son Zhang Wei was carrying two bottles of wine and two good cigarettes, and his daughter Zhang Xixi was holding a large and exquisite fruit basket. Before anyone arrived, a series of auspicious words poured in lively.
Since he was eight years old, Wang Zixu’s family has never been so busy. He was a little at a loss for a moment, so he had no choice but to cup his hands in the same manner, mumbling some auspicious words that fit the occasion.
Before his hand was completely put down, Zhang Wei grabbed it enthusiastically: "Brother Wang! I can see you again!"
Lao Wang cast a surprised glance. The prince was at a loss, but Zhang Wei couldn't wait to explain his purpose:
"I would like to make an appointment with you for an exclusive interview. Is it convenient for you?"
Wang Zixu suddenly realized that he was in the book self-media business. Zhang Xixi, who was standing next to her, slapped her brother on the arm angrily:
"Brother! How can you be so anxious? You haven't eaten yet! You look like this scared Teacher Wang."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Zhang Wei hurriedly said He smiled apologetically, with undisguised eagerness on his face, "Teacher Wang is now a famous figure in the literary world. I think about it day and night, for fear that you may not be able to make it until your schedule is over. I have lost my temper. I have lost my temper."
The sudden enthusiasm between the brother and sister completely confused Comrade Wang.
He looked at Wang Zixu in confusion, his eyes filled with silent questions: "What are you kiddo doing outside again?"
The prince avoided his gaze with a guilty conscience.
The luncheon lasted for a long time, and the cups and plates were gradually in a mess. Comrades Lao Wang and Lao Zhang were drinking heavily, their voices became louder and louder, and they suddenly slapped the table and laughed, making the atmosphere lively.
Zhang Xixi was too drunk and left the table early. At this moment, she was lazily sinking into the old fabric sofa in the living room. She was wearing a soft, dark, tight turtleneck sweater, which perfectly outlined her plump and smooth curves, like a plump and ripe fruit falling heavily on the branches.
She tilted her head slightly, listening to her brother Zhang Wei still whispering something enthusiastically. Occasionally she pursed her lips and chuckled, and her fingertips unconsciously twirled a strand of hair.
Wang Zixu found an opportunity, got up and slipped to the balcony to light a cigarette.
The sun in early spring hangs brightly, the light is dazzling, but it is so stingy that it refuses to give out any warmth. The bare tree branches in the yard still stretched stiffly into the cold air, as if they were still frozen in the lingering power of the severe winter.
He took out his mobile phone and the screen lit up. It was a text message from Lin Feng, reminding him that he, as the vice chairman, must be present at the group meeting of the Xihe Literary and Art Association tomorrow.
He replied briefly "Okay". As soon as he looked away from the screen, he casually glanced out through his fingers holding a cigarette, and his whole body froze in an instant.
The figure of a girl burst into view without warning.
The girl was wearing a white woolen beret and a warm-looking white down jacket. The thick fluff around the collar made her little face look even more delicate.
A light plaid woolen skirt reveals from the hem of the down jacket. Paired with thick black pantyhose and a pair of round-toed leather boots, the dress is both fashionable and cute.
She seemed to be holding a piece of paper in her hand, tilting her head slightly, looking around blankly at the building number like a lost animal.
That figure... looked so familiar that it frightened him.
The prince shook his empty hand violently, the burning cigarette ashes fell, and the mobile phone almost fell from his hand and hit the ground.
"No way...?"
I saw the girl lowered her head to confirm the note, and then seemed to have finally calibrated her position, took steps, walked straight along the internal road of the community, and finally disappeared into the doorway of Wang Zixu's unit.
The prince froze on the spot, stunned for half a minute. It wasn't until he felt a burning pain in his fingers that he suddenly came back to his senses, put out the cigarette butts, pulled on his slippers, almost staggered back to the house, and opened the door to bring in a bit of cold air.
Lao Wang was aroused by the cold wind, raised his head with a red face, and asked with drunken eyes: "What's wrong? It's so exciting."
"It's nothing." Wang Zixu rubbed his eyes hard, his heart still beating wildly in his chest.
Maybe I saw it wrong...?
“Beep, beep, beep.”
The clear and restrained knock on the door completely shattered that little bit of luck.
Wang Zixu rushed to the door and opened it suddenly. Outside the door, An Younan stands in a pavilion.
The cold air turned the tip of her small nose red, as if she had applied a little rouge. However, those clear eyes held a deliberate calmness and alienation.
“Happy New Year,” her voice was crisp, but she deliberately kept a polite and distant distance, “This is the first time we meet. My surname is An, and I’m here to pay New Year greetings.”