Translator: Peri
...
11 years ago
Lin Lan.
On a winter night, the wind
blew as sharp as a knife on the skin. There was only the sound of a man's
hurried and heavy breathing on the dirty and silent road in Shimada District.
The tall figures were all buried
by the darkness and only a small body could be vaguely seen, that was
constantly struggling from being squeezed between a man’s thick arms
"F*ck, don't f*cking
move." The man was sweating in the cold night. His wolf-like eyes were
soaked with sweat. He looked fierce and anxious and couldn't stop scolding,
"Move again, I will kill you!"’
Damn, if it wasn't for the
'goods' that needed to be delivered tomorrow and the loan shark’s threat to
break off his arm, he wouldn't have done such desperate work.
…
Zhiqi woke up after being jolted
by someone. The little girl's mouth was tightly covered with tape and she
couldn't make a single sound. She could only cry silently, her tears smearing
her face and quickly condensing into ice on a winter night.
She was cold and frightened. She
didn't understand why she woke up in such a state from a good sleep. She
struggled unconsciously and got viciously yelled at by the man who was holding
her.
Zhiqi didn't dare move any
longer.
Although she was young, she was
already ten years old and a 'big child' in the fourth grade. The little girl
vaguely understood that she may have been kidnapped.
Once she grasped the situation, a
deep chill spread all over her from the soles of her feet to the strands of her
hair.
An unspeakable and indescribable
sense of fear hit her heart. The little girl's hair stood on the end which was
no longer caused by the cold air outside.
In Zhiqi's memory, she was held
by a man for a long, long time. The bumpy ride almost made her vomit from being
tossed around.
The man had wanted to transfer
Zhiqi out of the city, however, he could only agonize because of the patrol and security
checks at various toll gates in the middle of the night. He had to temporarily
hide the girl on a dilapidated truck carrying cabbages.
Disregarding her life-or-death
situation, the man took his big padded jacket at the back of the truck, wrapped
it up into a bundle, and went to sleep in the front seat.
Zhiqi was scared to death. Her
teeth rattled behind the sealed tape. Her big, bright eyes were even brighter
after being damped with tears, especially inside the dark trunk of the cabbage
truck.
She couldn't see anything
clearly, there was only the faint smell of a cold, rotten vegetable leaf at the
tip of her nose.
That was the first time Zhiqi
encountered that particular smell. From then on, she never liked to eat cabbage
very much.
It was the most terrifying and
long night in Zhiqi's memory. Her hands and feet were tightly bound for a long
time, this resulted in her becoming numb, bruised, and paralyzed.
In contrast, the gangster who
bound her was snoring loudly like thunder and sleeping soundly like a baby.
Ten-year-old children can't
fathom profound questions as to why they encounter such misfortunes. They can
only be afraid and tremble helplessly.
Zhiqi couldn't remember how many
times she cried making her face frozen with tears. Her big eyes were fixed on
the roof of the trunk.
Unfortunately, she couldn't see
anything at first. Until an unknown amount of time passed. There was suddenly,
a slight rustling sound that came from outside the truck.
The truck carrying Chinese
cabbage was not sealed with steel, it was only supported by curtains that hung
all around it. Now, the curtains were being lifted gently to the side which made light appear inside the truck from
the bright morning.
Zhi Qi immediately curled up in
fright, her eyes looking terrified.
She was afraid that it was the
man who was finally going to 'kill' her. For a moment, she seemed to hear
ringing in her ears, ignoring the thunderous snoring which continued.
She suddenly saw a person's head
emerge from the corner of the opened curtain.
That moment was the first time
she saw Jiang Qi. She never thought that the 'unparalleled hero' who saved her
from the fire and water1 would be a little boy about her age.
But he was.
The boy with a pale face with
sharp eyebrows despite his young age, saw a little girl tied up in a ball
inside the truck. Yet his expression was calm.
"Don't make a sound."
Jiang Qi's voice was very low,
almost speaking in an airy tone. His
movements neatly removed the restraints on the girl's hands and feet. He appeared very skilled in dismantling
things frequently.
After getting free, the stagnant
blood returned to her small hands and feet. However, the numbness almost made
Zhiqi cry out.
Fortunately, Jiang Qi seemed to
have known that would happen and did not take off the tape on her face. The boy
turned his back on her and said softly, "Climb on my back."
Zhiqi's hands and feet were sore
that she almost lost consciousness, but perhaps it was because she was
desperate to survive, or maybe because she was too scared that she managed to
crawl onto Jiang Qi's back.
It was like she was dreaming.
He was only a little taller than
her, yet he carried her on his back in the cold and deserted early morning in
Shimada District.
He ran like a mad man just to get
as far away from that place as fast as possible. Leaving that place was leaving those
nightmares and pain...
…
The first time she saw Jiang Qi,
he saved her. Since then, she has only dreamed of Jiang Qi from when he was a
boy to a teenager. His pale face, and black and sharp eyebrows, left her in trance.
The boy was running with her on
his back. Zhiqi's blue and purple arms
were wrapped around his neck. Despite being in a dangerous situation, she
inexplicably felt at ease. Until the bumpy road tossed her stronger and Jiang
Qi suddenly grew taller and his face looked ruthless and fierce.
Zhiqi was stunned for a moment,
then subconsciously straightened up and took her hands away only to find her
white hands were covered with warm blood... it was a bright red. Jiang Qis.
"Jiang Qi!"
Zhiqi sat up abruptly, sweating
all over almost soaking her chestnut hair on her forehead.
At the same time, the lights in
the bedroom also turned on and the soft warm-colored lights broke the heavy
feeling and hard atmosphere in the dark.
Her roommate Meng Chunyu only
vaguely heard Zhixi's cry and sat up suddenly. She turned on the bedside lamp,
rubbed her eyes, and asked confusedly, "Xiqi, are you having nightmares
again?"
Zhiqi was still immersed in the
endless nightmare and after a long while, she blinked her eyes dully.
"...Sorry." She turned
her head and her soft bright voice was now hoarse. She said slowly, "Chun
Yu, you should continue to sleep."
She hasn't recovered from the
nightmare yet and Zhiqi's hands and feet were numb.
It wasn't until the desk lamp
went out and the bedroom was plunged into darkness again that Zhiqi slowly curled
up on her knees and wrapped her arms around it - just like a baby seeking a
mother’s protection.
Zhiqi murmured, "Jiang
Qi..."
She misses him.
Every time she dreamed of Jiang
Qi, she wouldn’t be able to sleep and could only stare at the dawn with her
eyes open.
Meng Chunyu, who was in the next
bed, woke up and went to wash up. She came back and found that Zhiqi was awake
too.
"Xiqi, are you awake?"
Meng Chunyu sat at the table and smeared her face with cosmetics. She couldn't
help but smile when she opened her eyes, "You had a nightmare again last
night."
The reason why the word 'again'
was because throughout the three years of university and living with Zhiqi in
the same dormitory, such situations frequently occur and Meng Chunyu was not surprised
anymore.
"I'm sorry." Zhiqi
didn't explain that she hadn't slept the whole time and simply sat up straight.
With a soft and peaceful smile on her pale face, "Did I disturb you
again?"
"No, no." Meng Chunyu
waved her hand indifferently, took the opportunity to 'eat tofu’2 and squeeze
Zhiqi's face, "Tsk, it's so tender, you also know that I've always slept
like a dead pig. It's nothing."
Therefore, after living together
for three years, Meng Chunyu never heard the name Zhiqi called whenever she had
a nightmare.
Zhiqi smiled, lowered her eyes,
and said nothing.
She was lucky to have met such a
good roommate because she didn't want to break free from her nightmares. After
all, it's always good to see Jiang Qi even in a dream.
"Xiqi, do you still want to
go to the library this weekend?" Meng Chunyu took a bun at breakfast and
asked her vaguely, "Why don't you relax this week. I think you like having
nightmares on weekdays. It’s because the pressure is too great. How about we go
to the movies? They said that the new film directed by Shen Lei was just
released and although the theme isn’t deep, the movie is very beautiful!"
Meng Chunyu is an uncompromising
star-chasing girl and whenever she mentions things related to the entertainment
industry, she can't help but brighten up.
This made Zhiqi curious about why
she chose the same major as herself in the field of 'Wildlife and Nature
Reserve Management.
Their major is only offered at
Lin Lan's Forestry University and only about 40 undergraduates are enlisted
each year. Among them, there are very few female students. Moreover, it was
only her and Meng Chunyu who got accepted this year.
Zhiqi felt majoring in 'media'
was more suitable for Meng Chunyu.
"Okay." She acquiesces,
not wanting to dismiss Meng Chunyu's interest.
She agreed, thinking that she
hadn't relaxed for a long time, “What time?"
"Well, there is a game at
noon, let's go see that."
Meng Chunyu bowed her head to buy
tickets and when she was done, she looked up to see Zhiqi sitting by the window
and looking down. She was reading a
book, her white teeth biting the straw of a cup looking very focused.
The sunlight coming through the
window illuminated her, reflecting her porcelain-white skin that looked almost
transparent as if filled with a layer of milk. Her pupils were extremely black
and her facial features were exquisite. She’s like a princess that has yet to
see the light in an ivory tower.
For some unknown reason, this
adjective would often pop up in Meng Chunyu's mind every time she was astounded
by Zhiqi's beauty.
She knew that Zhiqi was different
from her and the other girls in the whole school. The longer she got along with
her, the more she felt this way.
Zhiqi might look well-behaved,
submissive, and plaint, but Meng Chunyu knew that apart from her, Zhiqi refuses
to communicate deeply with other people.
As if... she is completely insecure.
For the past three years in
college, Zhiqi spent most of her time studying.
They have full scholarships and
their grades are surprisingly high. Their course in particular is considered a
'hard major'. In addition, they also have to take many other professional
courses, including going abroad for internships and flying all over the world
doing experiments...
Therefore, Zhiqi never spends her
time in places she frequents as someone who is a dedicated uncompromising
star-chasing girl.
While Meng Chunyu admired her
wholeheartedly, she also knew in her heart that she could never become a
princess like Zhiqi.
Zhiqi can be viewed as a princess
by her appearance but she was a diligent and hard-working fairy. On the other
hand, Meng Chunyu can be the 'knight' who guards the fairies.
Meng Chunyu took Zhi Qi's arm
with a smile and pulled her out of the door.
At the cinema, Meng Chunyu was
talking about how awesome this cutting-edge director Shen Lei is and how many
film festivals his work has been shortlisted for, and so on.
Zhiqi didn't understand this and
although she was confused, she was very serious in listening. But a question from time to time made Meng
Chunyu speechless.
For instance--
Zhixi asked solemnly, "You
said that the movie we will watch today is a murder story of a criminal with a
seven-person psychosis, but now the review is strict, will this kind of movie
have bloody scenes? If it is deleted, it will not really convey its meaning,
right??"
...
Meng Chunyu, who had never
investigated this, was speechless. After a while, she said weakly,
"Should... have?"
In a suspenseful thriller crime
film, with a seven-person psychopathic criminal as the protagonist, what's the
point of not having any bloody scenes?
When Zhiqi heard it, her original
attitude of going with the trend aroused a little interest in her. For her,
this kind of movie was much better than any romance movie.
There was a bit of traffic jam on
the road. So, when the two arrived at the cinema it was only three minutes
before the film started and they almost flew to the screening hall.
Perhaps the film directed by Shen
Lei is a hit and the pitch-black screening hall is full of people.
The two of them sneaked to their
seat quietly. As soon as Zhiqi sat down and raised her head, a close-up shot
suddenly appeared on the big screen almost filling her line of sight.
On the screen is a very handsome
young man. His hair and eyebrows are black, it looks ordinary yet sharp. His
glass-colored eyes are hollow and emotionless. His face is pale, but his lips
are very red... His whole person is handsome and wicked.
Zhiqi was stunned when she saw
him and for a moment, her brain crashed and her whole body seemed to have been
electrocuted. Her breathing became heavy followed by the closing and opening of
her eyes. That's right, she will never forget that face on the screen, it's
Jiang Qi!
Zhi Qi stood up abruptly.
Following her unconscious movements, there was an uproar behind her.
“Ah, Xixi, why are you standing
up?”, Meng Chunyu was startled and hurriedly pulled her. With a low voice, “Sit
down quickly.”
Zhiqi was pulled by her like a
puppet and sat down mechanically. A thin layer of sweat quickly dripped from
her palms and she stared at Jiang Qi on the screen without blinking, but her
voice asked Meng Chunyu next to her: "This is... Who is this?"
"He is a rookie actor named
Jiang Qi, who was discovered by Shen Lei.” Meng Chunyu the 2G star chaser
explained to her in a low voice—
"The industry has always
praised Director Shen for his good vision.
That man does look deadly handsome. This is his debut movie and he was
able to play in Director Shen Lei's film from the start of his career. I
thought he had a backer, but guess what, some netizens discovered it some time
ago. He has been in prison before!"
"Oh my god, this news is so
explosive. I didn't believe it at first, but the evidence is so solid that no
one can deny it... Tsk tsk, the world truly depends on a good-looking
face."
Meng Chunyu's voice lingered in
her ears, like an obscure rope that could pull people back to the past.
Zhiqi suddenly felt extreme pain.
The pain made her close her eyes, however, she was reluctant to miss every
scene of Jiang Qi.
...
1. ( 救民於水火之中) saving someone from fire and water which means to save someone from a deep disaster.
2. (吃豆腐) - "eat tofu" is used to refer to a young woman., also can be used to flirt with women
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.
TN: