Chapter Five: The Tide of Betrayal

  Two

  It's been two months since Zhang Chongyu and Xiao Yi have been together, and the past two months have been relatively peaceful. Thinking back to that night at the street food stall, Zhang Chongyu couldn't help but chuckle. That evening, Xiao Yi had slapped the money on the table with a flourish, laughing as she called out "Uncle, pay up!" Then Zhang Chongyu had grabbed her hand across the table and looked at her: "How can an old man like me let his wife pay?"

  Xiao Yi laughed so hard she was almost falling over, pointing at his face with her slender fingers and laughing as she said: "Rascal, I'm going to be your wife just like that? You think two bowls of fish balls can buy me?" "Or should we have two more bowls of fish balls?"

  However, thinking of Lan's expression when she saw them holding hands and walking together, Zhang Chongyu still felt a bit guilty. Lan didn't say anything clearly, but it could be seen from her words and actions that she liked him. On the day they received their report cards and went home for winter break, Xiao Yi suggested going to eat fruit salad together after school before heading back home. As soon as the two of them walked out of the classroom holding hands, they bumped into Lan. She looked at their clasped hands with a slightly surprised expression. Just as Zhang Chongyu was about to let go, his fingers were gripped even tighter by Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi looked up at Zhang Chongyu and said to Lan: "We're going to eat fruit salad later, want to come?"

  Blue... His face was a bit pale, his tongue was like a knot, "You... you guys...?"

  "We're together now, Zhang Chongyu confessed to me."

  Zhang Chongyu swallowed his saliva and looked at Lan's extremely embarrassed face, feeling that he should say something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

  "Oh, okay. You guys go ahead, my mom will come pick me up later." Lan smiled with a bit of effort, trying to look cool, "Have fun!"

  It's just a cliché Korean drama plot, where good friends and the person you like end up together. But isn't this kind of thing common in real life too? Liking the same person isn't wrong, what reason do you have to hate, what right do you have to feel resentful, when you don't even have the courage to express your own feelings?

  The words of comfort made sense, but when I heard the news, I still cried all night. Tears streamed down my face and got stuck in my hair, making it hard to bear. My pillow was soaked with tears. The next morning, I woke up with a burning forehead and swollen eyes. Then, my family took me to the hospital for an IV drip. Sitting on the cold bench at the hospital, watching people come and go, I couldn't help but cry again. A nurse rushed over, thinking that the injection had hurt me. I shook my head, saying I just missed home.

  Zhang Chongyu's love letter is still in the shape of a paper crane, but it seems like this thing has already passed for a long time, or maybe it was just their punishment way of playing truth or dare, that's all. If you like yourself, why would you be with someone else? That's it, Lan, put your heart away and do something more meaningful.

  This winter vacation has been a blur, I don't know how I've been spending my days. Every night, I toss and turn, unable to sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning, and even when I do fall asleep, I'm plagued by nightmares and drenched in sweat. When I wake up, I just drink some hot milk with a few crackers for breakfast, I've lost all appetite, and the fried foods I used to love now make me feel nauseous. What's wrong with me? This isn't even like a breakup. It's just an unrequited two-year crush that's gone unanswered, leaving me feeling frustrated. During this time, Du Hongyi came to visit Lan, but only stood outside the iron gate of our apartment complex. He handed her a bright red scarf and said with a smile: "Hey, happy new year."

  Blue? C Si Xia looked around a few times, pushed the scarf back and said in a low voice: "Are you crazy! How can I take it back, how can I explain to my mom?"

  "Just say you picked it up."

  "Do you think I'm stupid?" Lan Yu rolled her eyes at him.

  "Then you say it was Xiao Yi who sent it, I did a good deed without leaving a name."

  "I don't want to."

  Du Hongyi leaned on the railing and looked into the residential area, "Alright, I'll just stand here and wait for an auntie to come over and send you off."

  "Du Hongyi!" Lan stretched out his hand to grab the flesh on his arm, but was easily dodged by the boy who sidestepped, "You still want to pinch me, even with a fence in between? What can you do to me? Take the New Year's gift and hurry up and leave. When your mom sees me, I won't care."

  Du Hongyi is a complete rascal, staring at the scarf on the bed for a moment, dazed. He had just stuffed the scarf into his coat and hadn't been discovered yet. At this age, he was being heavily protected by his family, afraid that if they weren't careful, he would do something bad. In the eyes of adults, such bad things included not studying hard and having puppy love. So it seemed that this scarf could only be kept hidden away and couldn't be worn.

  The New Year's atmosphere is getting more and more depressing every year. The decorations at home are becoming more exquisite, the fireworks outside are getting more lively, but there is still a sense of emptiness in my heart. At home, a sumptuous dinner was prepared early on, and Du Hong and his father sat at both ends of the long table, eating their food in silence. This was the first time in six years that he had sat down with his father to have a proper New Year's Eve dinner since his father left home. After eating just a little of the dishes on the table, Du Bin picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth, poured himself a glass of red wine, and then looked at Hongyi as if remembering something, "Hongyi, you're all grown up now, come have some red wine with your dad."

  "Uh. Dad, Happy New Year. But drinking is a thing that should be done in moderation, too much will harm the body." Hong raised his wine glass and took a big gulp.

  Du Bin looked at his son and smiled in surprise, "Dad knows, usually doesn't drink much when socializing."

  "It's fine as long as you know."

  "Do you want to set off fireworks? When you were little, every New Year's Eve you would pester Dad to buy you fireworks. This year, Dad specially bought all sorts of fireworks for you. If you like, go ahead and set them off in the courtyard." Du Bin said to himself, his eyes full of a father's love for his child.

  Hongyi looked at the man with some gray hair sitting across from him, fine wrinkles had already climbed to the corners of his eyes, how did he suddenly become old?

  "I've long stopped loving you." Hong put down his utensils, his voice somewhat intentionally low.

  Du Bin obviously didn't expect Hongyi's response and awkwardly smiled: "Ah? Hmm, then just leave it for now, we can release it whenever we want."

  The images on TV were jumping, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers outside, and I didn't know what the people inside were singing. After dinner, Father went into his study alone and never came out again. Hongyi was holding the remote control, constantly switching channels, but it was a bit futile. Almost every provincial station was broadcasting the Spring Festival Gala from Central Station, so even if he kept switching channels, he wouldn't miss anything. He took out his phone, opened the address book, found Lan's home phone number, and just as he was about to dial, he thought of her slightly angry face and suppressed the idea of calling her. It's better not to make her angry on New Year's Day. Happy New Year, Lan.

  On New Year's Eve, Lan C and her family sat in front of the TV watching the Spring Festival Gala. The 2007 gala seemed to be missing something compared to previous years. When she was younger, she would always fall asleep before midnight and wake up to the sound of firecrackers just after midnight, exchange New Year's greetings with her family, and then quickly fall back asleep.

  However, this year, Lan C stayed awake with her family watching the gala until midnight. She didn't quite get the humor in Zhao Benshan's comedy sketch, but when he said "Laying eggs is a rooster, a fighting machine among roosters!", her family burst out laughing and she laughed along with them.

  Looking back on that year's Spring Festival Gala after all these years, the only memorable moment was probably the three-minute black screen before the countdown due to the host rushing through his lines.

  As soon as the clock struck zero, firecrackers sounded outside the window, and the neighbors also set off fireworks in front of the window. The bright fireworks slowly fell down, and only then did it have a bit of New Year's atmosphere. Lan Yu left the sofa and walked to the window, looking at the sky dyed red by the fireworks, her fingertips lightly touching the reflection of her somewhat tired face on the glass window, saying softly: "Happy New Year."