32、The tranquil river waters have maple trees above them

  A nurse came running to call him, and it turned out that he was the son of the hospital director. She heard the nurse calling him "Yuǎn Fēng", and later she saw on the hospital's public notice board that the director's surname was Jiāng, so she remembered his name - Jiāng Yuǎn Fēng.

  He was the starlight in her heart, illuminating the dark shadows that shrouded her at her most desperate moments. They met again at a primary school art performance in the city. Their school choir had a round-robin section, with two solo lines from her, and as soon as she got backstage, she became so nervous that she got stomach pain, worried that she would go off-key as soon as she opened her mouth.

  She asked to be excused, saying she needed to use the restroom. The music teacher was frantic and stared at her, saying they were about to go on stage, couldn't she just hold it in a little longer? Her face red with embarrassment, she ran out into the hallway amidst the laughter of her classmates, squatting down in the corner and almost bursting into tears.

  At this time, a pair of handsome three-eyelet leather shoes appeared in her line of sight. She looked up and saw that familiar face again. Although it had been several years, his appearance hadn't changed much, only his figure was taller and more slender, looking even more handsome.

  He gazed at her smiling, "Look at my hands." He placed his hand at the height of his chin, "This is 'sha'", then raised it to the height of his lips, "This is 'la'", and put it at the height of his nose, "This is 'xi'"... He winked at her smiling, "Later when you go on stage, I'll stand by the side, just look at my hands and feel at ease singing."

  If someone else said that, she might not believe it; but he was her angel, and she always believed what he said. So when it was her turn to sing, she really looked at him standing on the side of the stage, followed his gestures, and accurately sang out the note... After the concert ended, she made an excuse to ask for leave from her teacher and stayed outside the theater, just to wait for him to say thank you. But their school bus roared past in front of her, leaving her no chance to see him again.

  Later, they entered the university and were invited by their seniors to a party. They went to an amusement park together, where several young men and women volunteered to enter a haunted house. As a result, those people hadn't even walked halfway through when they were scared off by bats flying out of nowhere or ghostly claws grabbing at their ankles, and they retreated while screaming.

  She just kept walking forward, believing that the things on the road were fake and scary, and didn't care about anything, as long as she persisted to the exit, she would win.

  She succeeded, but just as she finally saw the bright light of the exit, she was startled by a hand that suddenly stretched out to grab her wrist - because this hand was different from those ghostly objects, it had blood and flesh and could move!

  As soon as the lights came on, she bit her fingernail and saw that the person holding her wrist was actually Jiang Yuanfeng!

  He smiled, "They, actually all ran away halfway... Actually, I was a bit scared, so I grabbed you. Sorry about that."

  She only then realized that he was actually with them at the gathering, and because he had something to do, he arrived late and didn't see her before entering the haunted house. Her face red, she shook her head and said it was nothing, her eyes somewhat flustered as they stared at his hand which still hadn't let go of hers...

  Because of this episode, the dinner that night was in disarray. Everyone forced them to confess their problems and even poured large cups of wine for them to drink as a toast. The more he drank, the brighter his eyes became, like the brightest star in the sky, piercing through the crowd, the lights, and even the mundane worldly dust, solely gazing at her.

  He said, "Xia Mochen, actually we've known each other for a long time. So now it's not that we're formally getting to know each other, but rather I... found you again. So the answer in my heart will only be told to one person - you. I won't tell those unrelated people - Mochen, are you willing to listen?"

  Thinking of that night, the starlight was like a sea, and her eyes were hazy with intoxication. She loudly recited "Chu Ci": The river water is clear and has maple trees on it. As she spoke, tears began to flow down. He was on the river, but so far away, as if in the middle of the water, no matter how she walked, she couldn't reach his side, what should she do?

  Mo Ye stared at her eyes, which were filled with tears, and suddenly raised his hand. His sleeves fluttered lightly, and the fireflies in the sky were disturbed, rushing down towards her eyes like a meteor shower, chaotic and urgent.

  The cicada was startled and subconsciously closed its eyes.

  Suddenly something fell on her lips.

  Soft and delicate, sweet as orchid and musk.

  －

  Thank you for Cathy's red envelope.