Chapter 60 Chapter 3 Dark Night (3)

On a gloomy night, Marty and Akiko just sat side by side speechless, not knowing what to talk about, not knowing what to wait for. "Maybe Hai'an is looking at the stars now?" Marty said softly. "Are you from Sad Cafe?" "Haian mentioned us to you?" "He seldom mentions it, almost never. About me, it's impossible for Hai'an to mention it to you?" "I know your name is Mingzi. You come from... the north, and you come to Hai'an." Akiko stopped talking.Marty leaned against the mattress, tired, after a day's work had drained her of a woman's strength, and she fell asleep, into a dream that belonged to her.

Mingzi has never been to work in her life, neither her predecessors, her predecessors, or even all her clan members have ever gone to work.For Mingzi, life is life, and the livelihood before last night and after tomorrow morning is too far away. Mingzi from the north is used to this kind of windy cold night, and it will be even colder. If it can be a little colder, so cold that snowflakes fall, Mingzi may be happier.Akiko has fallen in love with Xue ever since she forgot about her past in the icy and snowy Northland. Because in the snow environment, Akiko can forget her hometown in the south.

Many years ago, when Akiko was not called Akiko, her people called her Kluna.At that time, my home was in warm Taiwan, on a rainy mountain.The people living there are neither Taiwanese nor foreigners. They moved east to this island long before history and gathered to form their own tribe. Mingzi's tribe is located among the deep mountains and mountains in Nantou County.This tribe is very small, only a thousand people.Unlike other aborigines, the people of this tribe are fair-skinned, slender, and have surprisingly beautiful eyes. According to legend, more than a hundred years ago, missionaries from Europe came to this tribe. They did not spread the religious kingdom, but they left behind the blood of the white people.This statement is untestable. What is certain is that the missionaries really visited this village a hundred years later, built a small church, and established a simple foundation.

The foundation sponsors a few lucky children every year to receive education in the missionary school at the foot of the mountain.Akiko, the most beautiful flower in all of them, became the first batch of beneficiary children.The missionary school is located in Taichung City. It is a typical aristocratic middle school. Mingzi is very poor and relies on public funds. She lives among the charming girls from rich and noble families, and she is under the pressure of others who are not of her race. Hate those six years of student experience, but fell in love with the upper-class lifestyle. The aristocratic school educated Mingzi with aristocratic demeanor. When she graduated, her appearance and demeanor were beyond the dreams of ordinary people.Akiko did not return to the tribe, she boarded a China Airlines plane and arrived in Japan.The Japanese said that her beauty overshadowed the sun, the moon and the stars, so they named her Akiko.

Akiko's people were very disappointed that their beloved Kruna finally did not come back. Mingzi's people lived their early lives according to their early philosophy.This kind of life lasted for a long time, until they discovered that another world had developed under the mountain.In the world under the mountain, everyone dedicates themselves to a specific job and identity like a religious convert. They live in that job and identity, making money every day, calculating all the time, and striving for self-improvement. What a strange logic!When the dew evaporates in the sun, isn't it a wonderful time to wander around?When the sun sets on the top of the mountain, shouldn't people take advantage of this time to gaze at the sunset and meditate?Labor and work, isn't it just to eat?Now that you are full, how important is it to interrupt the singing and drinking after the meal?How stupid and unfortunate is it to be full and not happy?

These ideas were quickly hit.Mingzi's people found that their hills were being invaded by concrete buildings, and there was less and less space for planting and hunting. After feeding themselves, they were embarrassed to have no coins to buy the red label rice wine sold in the grocery store. The mountain is rich in coins.So the strong men went down the mountain to do heavy work, and the girls went down the mountain to smear their faces and make fun of them. The world under the mountain gave them coins, but could not give them the laughter and peace at sunset.Most of the clansmen returned to the mountain in the end.Their world was farther and farther away from the mountain, and that was not a life in which the wildness in their blood could participate.The clansmen became more fond of drinking. They used various methods to buy alcohol on credit, and then used drunkenness to recall the barbaric years that they could not recover.They couldn't get down the mountain, and Kruena couldn't go home.

Akiko's people gradually forgot about their Krulna, and only when they saw the milky Krulna flowers growing on the trees did they seem to think of this beautiful girl.Cruna flowers are very fragrant. When they bloom in the morning, the rich fragrance can cover the entire mountain with clouds and mist, so the whole mountain becomes a mysterious palace among the petals.This kind of flower is also found at the foot of the mountain. People in the plains call it gardenia. People on the plains like to pick off gardenias, float them in a bowl of clear water, and contaminate the surroundings with the strong fragrance released by the flowers before they die. People on the mountains don't do this.

In the cold northern country, Akiko achieved the rich life she dreamed of in middle school by means that her female classmates in middle school should not know.Mingzi has long forgotten her hometown on the mountain, and she is willing to never think about it again, and she is willing to never return to this warm south. But she came back, to follow Hai'an's footsteps, but Hai'an is an isolated island that cannot be reached.Maybe the world is really just a dream, and people are just the involuntary background of being dreamed. The development of the plot has no reason at all, and we can only let it go until we wake up from the dream.

Marty woke up from the dream and saw the dark sky in front of the French windows, with Akiko still sitting beside her.Her skin showed a lifeless, jade-like luster in the night.Now she turned her head to look at Marty, her beautiful eyes were also lifeless, like stars. "I heard that Hai'an is not doing well recently." Marty was intoxicated by the deep starlight in Mingzi's eyes. "He's in pain." "why?" "Hai'an fell in love with a person." Mingzi lowered his eyelashes, and the starlight dimmed, "That person doesn't love him."

"Who is that person?" "I don't know, Hai'an will never tell." Mingzi shook his head and thought quietly for a while, "Isn't it ridiculous? So many people love Hai'an, he doesn't care. But he fell in love with someone , but can't get it. Poor Hai'an." "What time is it?" Marty sat up. "I don't know." Akiko said. Around them, at least six clocks can be seen, but the time of each clock is very different.Marty and Akiko looked at each clock left and right, annoyed at her dislike of wearing watches. "What's up with these clocks?" Marty said to himself.

"Probably the time in different countries?" "Impossible. You see, even the minute hands of each clock point in different directions. This is a clock that has been deliberately set out of order." "Why do you do that?" "God knows. Maybe Hai'an is telling himself that he doesn't want to live under other people's rules." Mingzi looked at Marty in a daze, and said, "Haian must like you very much." Lost in time, Marty and Akiko sit quietly until dawn.Finally, before dawn, they all saw a bright star in the eastern sky.