Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Penultimate Day: Back to College

At night, Ling Zheng slept soundly in the sleeper compartment of the train.Outside the window, green willows, weeping poplars, green mountains and clear water flowed by like time, but he didn't notice it; the night was getting darker and thicker, the moon was getting higher and higher, and the stars were getting thinner and brighter, but he didn't notice it either; Then it became as light as swallows and as light as smoke, and finally turned into a wisp of fragrant soul and escaped out of the window. He also didn't notice it. He and Wuyan flew to Beijing from Shanghai this morning, rushed to the place where Wuyan had practiced at the first time, took time to play Badachu in the afternoon, and then took the train back to Shanghai overnight.He once suggested that since it is rare to come here, it is better to spend two more days in Beijing, so there is no need to hurry.But Wuyan insisted on going back, so he had no choice but to agree.Tired from playing during the day, I fell asleep as soon as I got on the train.

He didn't know that Wuyan's day is equal to one year, of course, every second counts, and he can't fall in love; what he didn't know was that every twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, Wuyan regained his identity as a ghost, and wanted to accompany Erlang to do some ghost activities. travel. Erlang said: "I heard that Bao Zheng was stillborn when he was born, and his corpse was abandoned in the wilderness, but he came back to life again, and since then, the sun has been broken in the morning, and the yin has been broken in the night. Maybe the reason is the same as yours."

Faceless smile: "How can I compare with Bao Qingtian." She likes to listen to Erlang's stories, and she only finds Erlang's words that confuse opera with history interesting, not absurd.The two ghosts, the old and the young, traveled eight hundred miles at night, saw all the things in the world, and got along quite harmoniously.Sometimes Wuyan feels that Erlang is more like her grandfather than Zhong Ziming, and she somewhat understands why Xiaocui abandoned her identity as the young mistress of the Zhong family and fell in love with a wealthy and powerless actor. "I went to Fragrant Hills today." She told Erlang, "There is a fortune-teller at the foot of the mountain. I will do a fortune-telling for you and ask grandma's whereabouts."

"What does the hexagram say?" Erlang asked eagerly.Xiangshan, that was the place where he and Xiaocui used to travel. They swore to elope under plum blossoms, and lingered to death in the snow.Oh, the ecstasy of the past! "There are only eight characters in the hexagram, which is a sentence in the script: The so-called Yiren are on the side of the water." "The so-called Yi people are on the water side? What does that mean?" "The hexagram master couldn't tell. He just said: There is a mystery in it. If you are looking for someone, just look for it where there is water."

"Where there is water, that is the Suzhou Creek. I asked Xiaocui to wait by the Suzhou River. Does this poem mean that she has already gone?" Erlang clenched his fist with his right hand and smashed it into the palm of his left hand, sighing, "I just I know that Xiao Cui will not miss the appointment!" The two of them were sitting on the beams of the Guanghe Theater in Beijing, listening to Erlang talk about the past—— That was when the theater was called "Liyuan", and listening to operas was almost the top priority in the entertainment life of ordinary people in Beijing.The rich listen to it in the theater garden, the poor listen to it in the teahouse, the old and the young sing at home, and the ladies and ladies listen to the opera box in the embroidery building. Those who can't even afford to go to the teahouse will buy a huqin and sit in the courtyard and sing for themselves.

Erlang said proudly: "Since the four major Anhui troupes entered Beijing in the 55th year of Qianlong, Peking Opera has become a national opera. Almost all the eight banner disciples are fanciers. The Queen Mother Lafayette is a famous opera fan. Listen to my master. , there is a stage in the Summer Palace, three floors, graceful and luxurious, just like the fairy palace in the sky. When the play started, Lafayette sat in the hall opposite the stage with a full palace of concubines, holding an imported telescope in his hand. It’s very fashionable and high-end. But I’ve never been there, never before or after my death—I’ve wanted to go several times, but everything has changed a lot now. Even if the theater in the palace is still there, it must be It’s not as good as what my master said, so I don’t want to read it.”

Everything has changed drastically, the overpass has changed, the Forbidden City has changed, and the opera gardens in the south of the city have become movie theaters and karaoke halls.In this era of high and low, people's imagination is getting poorer and poorer. American blockbusters and three-dimensional animations fill up all the imagination space. Almost everything people can think of can be seen with eyes, and even unexpected things can be seen. It's over, no need to imagine.That single cane can replace the symbolic art of thousands of troops, how can it meet the aesthetic needs of modern youth?

But fortunately, Guanghe Building is still there—although it has been converted into Guanghe Theater, and it has changed in his bones, but Erlang doesn’t want to see too much, he only believes what he wants to believe, and sees what he wants to see—as long as that " The two-character signboard of Guanghe is still there, so are the memories of the old days, making a comeback with the faint beat of gongs and drums. Erlang recalled passionately: "This Guanghe Building was the most famous opera garden in old Beijing. It is said that its predecessor was the home of a high-ranking official named Cha in the Ming Dynasty. The fire was later rebuilt and renamed "Jinling Tower", and later changed to "Guanghe Tower". In the early Qing Dynasty, the two big dramas that caused a sensation in the capital, "He and He", were sung here. Famous Peking opera actors Tan Xinpei, Wang Yaoqing and Yang Xiaolou also sang here. It was also here that Mei Lanfang took the stage for the first time. At that time, the stage had three sides that stretched out. , there are railings on all sides of the stage, and there are iron poles hanging in the middle of the front, on which I can hold the big top with one hand and pull the wind flag. If you don’t believe me, let me show you—”

As Erlang said, he really jumped onto the stage, first made a gesture to lift the curtain, stepped out sideways, shook his tassel slightly a few times, and then let out a loud cry, the sound was like cracking silk, and the sound was magnificent, and following the shout, he stood up and raised his head. , Eyes wide open, a good appearance.When he opened his eyes, it was like two lightning bolts, illuminating the audience. Wuyan couldn't help shouting "Yes", Erlang on the stage, exuding such an amazing charm, is a real hero.She couldn't help thinking, grandma Han Cuiyu was sitting on the bench under the stage, seeing Erlang's heroic appearance and fell in love with him deeply, right?

He was fighting in front of the brocade curtain, and she was smiling like a flower under the carved gallery building. That scene happened before "listening to the wind and rain everywhere, always falling in love every night", or "the wax torch will never die, waiting for tears" "Tianming"? Erlang kicks and punches, sometimes a "catch", and suddenly another "lying fish", "iron bridge" on the left, and "sweeping legs" on the right, fast like a butterfly piercing flowers, autumn wind sweeps fallen leaves, At the slow point, Mount Tai overwhelms the top, raging waves loom, and the 18 kinds of martial arts are swayed, and unique skills are repeated.

Wuyan Pingshen is still, full of breath, she doesn't understand Beijing opera, but she is deeply attracted, how can such a prosperous art be lost in the long river of history? In this world, there are many more serious things that are more declining and need to be saved than pure and utilitarian love. Erlang's desolate singing voice sounded in the empty hall: "Strengthening the mountain and overwhelming the world, the time is not good and the time is not dying. What is the time when the dying is not dying, what is the reason for the dying?" Bawang doesn't know where to put Concubine Yu, Guanghe Tower doesn't know where to put Peking Opera, the green blood under Gaixia has stained Qiancao red, what kind of traces will the shameless love leave in this world? When Ling Zheng woke up, the sun had risen again.What he saw was a clear and clear morning, he saw the bustling passengers on the same car, and he saw Wuyan doing her makeup in front of the mirror—maybe she was not doing makeup, but just facing the mirror—she had no habit of looking in the mirror before, This is the privilege of those with eyes.She can have that fun now.She was winking and making faces in the mirror. Ling Zheng couldn't help laughing out loud. Wuyan turned her head back, screamed softly, couldn't help but also smiled, and said, "Are you awake?" Her eyes were full of joy. If possible, how she hopes that in the days and months to come, every morning, she can stay by his side and gently say to him: "Are you awake?" Then, she will make him breakfast, or porridge Fried dough sticks, or milk omelette, or coffee sandwiches, although he laughed at her for not knowing how to cook a bowl of instant noodles, but as long as he likes, she will learn for him.As long as he likes it. Unfortunately, she has no time.She greedily looked at this handsome young man, the god in her heart, and couldn't help but think how complete the happiness at this moment would be, how sad the separation in the future would be. She really wants to have more time, more time to love, more time to appreciate.She loves the handsome young man in front of her, loves the blue sky and white clouds and the speeding train, loves every tree passing by outside the window and the green leaves on the trees, but—— She has 22 days left, the last 22 days. Wuyan lowered her head and bit her lip, biting hard, squeezing the heartache between her teeth. The emotions on the stage are as exaggerated as they are, but the truth off the stage can only be "forbearance". When she looked up again, she was already smiling, no matter how sad she was in her heart, she could only smile on her face, as if nothing had happened.She still has a long way to go, a lot of things to do.The less time there is, the more every second counts. What I'm going to today is the university campus. After getting off the train, they didn't even go back home. They only had breakfast in front of the station and then went to their alma mater. The school is on summer vacation, but the hard-working students are still staying in school for homework, or work-study programs.Therefore, the campus is neither as noisy as usual, nor too deserted, which is quite suitable for graduates to revisit their old places. Wuyan pointed to the basketball hoop on the playground and said with a smile, "I used to stand there and 'listen' to you playing basketball." "Listen to basketball?" Ling Zheng was puzzled for a moment. "Yeah." Wuyan smiled, "When you shoot a basketball, you will always shout 'score' first, and then I will hear a 'bang' as the basketball hits the backboard, sometimes it goes into the net, sometimes it misses the net. I just stand there You count how many shots you make and how many misses you make, which is fun." "But how do you know if I'm in or not? You..." Ling Zheng stopped in the middle of speaking. Wuyan smiled indifferently: "You mean I can't see it? You don't need to look, the sound of a hit and a miss are different, and you boys are so noisy, there are so many hits or misses. A witty thing to say. Sometimes you are just playing alone, and you will mutter to yourself when you hit or miss, which is really interesting." Wuyan said, closing his eyes, as if recalling Ling Zheng The heroic posture of the gusset.No matter whether he hits or not, she is the hero in his heart. Really fun, right?Because the faceless smile is so bright and sweet.Ling Zheng couldn't help itching: "Is it really interesting? Come on, I'll show you a show right now. Open your eyes and count for me to see how many shots you made?" "Okay, let's go buy basketball now. I always listen to it, but I've never seen you play basketball." Without a face, all the regrets will be filled again, and all the past will come true.Although she only has 25 days, she won't mind the disappearance when the deadline comes, because her 25 days have been so fulfilling and wonderful. Infected by Wuyan's interest, Ling Zheng said enthusiastically, "I'll just go and buy basketballs by myself. Don't you want to go back to the dormitory to have a look? Anyway, I can't get in. Why don't we divide into two groups and I'll go buy them." Basketball, go upstairs by yourself, and we will meet at the basketball hoop later." Wuyan said: "That's it." He walked upstairs, but stopped at the stairs again, turned around and waved to him, then turned and went upstairs again. The management of female dormitories on university campuses has always been notoriously strict. To use the words of the students to describe it, that is, "If a mosquito flies by, you have to be identified. Only females can be put in, and males are killed." ——As for the fact that male mosquitoes don’t bite people, but female mosquitoes are masters at sucking blood, that’s out of the scope of the janitor’s management. Ling Zheng watched Wuyan go upstairs, and suddenly felt that this scene was very familiar. Before he dated Rachel, he would often wait here for her to go downstairs, or send her back to the dormitory after the date. Break up here.Now that I revisit the old place, I can't help but feel very moved. This is the former campus, this is the place where he lived with Wuyan and Rachel, every corner of this place has left their footprints, and there are countless related memories.Four years, from 19 to 23 years old, almost the youngest and best time in my life, wasted in this ivory tower. It's wasted, right?Wuyan's secret love has gone through a youth that is as gray and colorless as her vision; and he and Rachel have also proved in the long river of time that the love that was once thought to be perfect turned out to be just a misunderstanding.So what is the value of memory? He was bewildered at this moment and this place.If it was wrong for him to fall in love with Rachel at the beginning, then who can predict that his love for Wuyan is right today?What's the point of pursuing or choosing if people can only know the trade-offs when they can see the results directly? He fell in love with Rachel wrongly, but this was the conclusion he came to after he knew Wuyan's deep and strong love for him, and he also fell in love with Wuyan.If there was no Rachel at the beginning, and what he loved was Wuyan from the beginning, then all the twists and turns, sacrifices and gains in the middle would not exist. Then, how would he know that he was right to choose Wuyan? To love or not to love is a conclusion drawn after receiving and giving, a decision between giving up and choosing. However, until the end, no one can know whether the conclusion is true or whether the choice is correct.And love or not love, after all, what does it matter? He really loved Rachel.Standing on this campus, on this playground, under the shade of the trees, he knows that he loved Rachel. The story between him and Rachel once happened in real life. Those memories and plots are vivid in his eyes and look like new. , let him deny it.How can I forget those sweet past events?His first kiss, his first love, his first night, all belonged to Rachel.And every new beginning in life belongs to Rachel.For a long time, he almost lived for Rachel, took Rachel's happiness as his joy, and Rachel's goal as his goal.How could he forget Rachel? At first, he chose Rachel's kindness because of Wuyan's blindness; now, he also gave up Rachel's shrewdness because of Wuyan's infatuation.Perhaps, Rachel was the most innocent victim. It wasn't that Wuyan made him and Rachel complete, on the contrary, it was Rachel who made him and Wuyan complete. And between Rachel and Wuyan, he is the only sinner. Because no matter which one he chooses, he is doomed to let the other down; and he chooses and gives up, regrets and chooses again, but instead, he can afford it but can't let it go, he has missed the three of them. Ling Zheng deeply repented and was infinitely confused.Maybe he was not the first man who loved two women at the same time, but he really suffered from his erratic mind.For the first time, he thought, maybe there is no right or wrong in love, as long as it is not consistent, it is destined to hurt the innocent and regret it. He suddenly thought very much, really wanted to ask Wuyan a question: Do you regret loving me? Wuyan went upstairs all the way to her old dormitory. The door was locked. She took out the old key and tried it, but it opened easily.It turned out that two years had passed and the locks had not been changed. This made her feel very intimate, and truly realized that this was indeed her dormitory, and that she had been the owner of this place, not only before, but still now.What better way to demonstrate ownership of a home than having the keys to it? The room is not big. In the space of seven square meters, two sets of canopy beds stand against the wall and face each other, occupying half of the space. The beds are divided into upper and lower bunks. It's early, I have to take the lower berth.But the next two students, one is from Beijing, with a very straightforward personality and doesn’t care about anything; but the other is from Liaoning, who is highly myopic, and his eyes are about the same level as Wuyan without glasses. shop.Rachel had to give up her own bed and move to Wuyan's upper bunk. I remember that Rachel still joked to herself at the time: "When I was at home, my brother and I slept on the lower bunk, and now I live in the dormitory, and there are still upper and lower bunks, but it's my turn to sleep on the upper bunk. It’s also step by step.” She sleeps on Wuyan’s upper bunk, and when she dreams back at midnight or tosses and turns, she will sneak to the lower bunk and squeeze into Wuyan’s bed to chat, sometimes until dawn to go to morning class. Wuyan sat down on her old bed, and now the people living here are probably a groupie, the wall beside the bed is covered with celebrity photos, Wuyan has never "watched" TV, so she doesn't know anyone, but presumably she must be a popular niche, hairy Either red or yellow, very fashionable.She stroked the railing of the bed, thinking of her student days, she couldn't help but be dazed. From childhood to adulthood, she had very few friends, only Rachel was a boudoir best friend. After living in the dormitory, she suddenly had a few more close roommates, who were rich in conversation and very happy. On weekends at home, she begged Grandma Wu to do it. All kinds of pastries and candies were brought to school on Monday and placed on the window sill of the dormitory. Without notice, they were reimbursed by roommates within half a day. The four girls get along day and night, and gradually develop a relationship like friends and sisters.Half an hour after the lights are turned off and before going to bed every night is the "Shenkan time" for the sisters to talk about each night.The most important topic of college girls, of course, is love. Girls in Beijing have a clear-cut stand and radical views: "The concept of love is first of all a kind of value. It is never blind. It is always premised and conditional. It is the result of comparison. Love without price does not exist." "Glasses" disagreed, and argued in a scholarly tone: "Wang Baochuan threw a hydrangea ball and threw Xue Pinggui. Xue Pinggui was poor at that time, and Wang Baochuan had been in the cold for eighteen years? How did he care about the conditions and the price?" "That's Xue Yugui who is handsome. If he was not only poor but also ugly, old and blind, would Wang Baochuan fall in love with him at first sight?" Speaking of the word "blind", everyone suddenly realized the taboo, and couldn't help being silent for a while.Wuyan didn't want others' words to be scruples because of her, so she pretended not to care and said with a smile: "Don't stop, I'm still waiting for the outcome of your debate competition. Now it's a one-to-one tie, Who are you rooting for, Rachel?" Rachel smiled: "I want to get closer to the people of the capital—love, of course, is the result of choice. If there is a choice, there will be comparison. If there is thinking and reason, there will be some calculations. Survival of the fittest." The girls in Beijing laughed: "Two to one!" "Wait a minute, Wuyan hasn't voted yet!" Glasses urged, "Who do you agree with?" With a wry smile: "The person I like, I can't see what he looks like, so what do I compare? Of course, whoever I bump into is who he is. There is no choice, no thinking, it's just that day and place, the person I meet is him, that is him." "He? Who is he?" The Beijing monster yelled, and the four girls laughed and laughed.Those talking and laughing sounds are still very clear when I think about them now, as if they were yesterday, lingering in my ears.I remember that Rachel suddenly fell silent and didn't make a sound for a long time.Perhaps, at that time, Rachel had already guessed that the "he" she was talking about was Ling Zheng. ——If Rachel came back from Switzerland now and saw that she had opened her eyes and fell in love with Ling Zheng, what would happen to her?Rachel went abroad with her grandfather Zhong Ziming. I wonder if his grandfather will tell her the truth about his death?If that's the case, when she sees Ling Zheng and asks her, she will definitely break up the gang, which is quite difficult. Thinking of Ling Zheng, Wuyan couldn't help but stand up, went to the window and pushed it out to look into the distance, only to see that Pei Ling had already bought a basketball and was throwing it at the net again and again, but he didn't seem to be very interested. When she lowered her head to pat the ball, Wuyan felt sensitively that Ling Zheng seemed to have a serious mind, and under the sun, there was an indescribable loneliness and desolation in his jumping figure, almost desolate. She loves him, really loves him, but how long can she still love him?One day, she will disappear in smoke. At that time, what is the meaning of her love for him? Drink a cup of Mengpo soup, forget him and go to rebirth; or don’t drink Mengpo soup to remember him, and after ten days of gathering together, what is the difference?In vain excess of a sad. When the deadline comes, Ling Zheng, will he still be like himself today, wandering in memory of old footprints?At that time, leaving him alone and lost his soul, but what he wanted? There are two protagonists in a love affair. Even if I have no complaints or regrets, I am willing to exchange my soul for a true relationship, but what about Ling Zheng?Can I ignore his heartbreak?When he and Rachel were in love, he had never been so disturbed as he was now. Wuyan leaned against the window sill, doubting her resurrection for the first time.