Chapter 9 Chapter nine

"Israel was founded on swamps and deserts, so finding water is the first major event in people's life. He People often look for water sources in the desert, and whenever they find water, they sing and dance in a circle with ecstasy.This It is the origin of water dance. " After the water dance, the senior sister sat on the low wall at the edge of the square, her voice was still panting: "Mayim is hope It means water in Hebrew, so Mayim will be called constantly during the water dance. The seniors in your department often dance this dance Ask for rain, it's fun. "

"Senior seems to know a lot." "It's because you're too stupid." The senior sister laughed, and her breathing has returned to normal: "Water dance was spread to Taiwan. The first folk dance, you don't even know it. " "This" I am a little embarrassed: "I am ashamed." "I'm just joking." Senior sister beckoned, motioning for me to sit on the low wall too. "Because I love Israeli dancing, I did my homework." "Why does senior sister like Israeli dance?" I walked to the low wall and sat on her left.

"The Israelites are very united, so most of their dances involve holding hands and dancing in a circle. To paraphrase what you said: all the people are in a circle, and everyone is stepping in the same dance. " The senior sister turned her head and looked at me, with a half-smile on her mouth: "Actually, like you, I also long for a sense of belonging." After the senior sister finished speaking, she stood on the low wall and looked up at the night sky, stretched her hands vigorously, and took a deep breath. After I finished listening, I was surprised, but didn't dare to ask why.

In the night sky, Senior Sister must be a shining star; but I feel that I am hidden in that vast darkness. The stars are rightfully part of the night sky, after all they are the focus of sight; only the dark desires to be seen. part of the night sky. So I have never been able to understand what my senior sister said, she also longs for a sense of belonging. Later I heard that senior sister is an orphan. "Student, do you know which dance I like the most?" I looked up at her, then shook my head. The senior sister jumped off the low wall with a whoosh. "Night Rose." Senior sister said.

That was the first time I heard the term "night rose". This rare typhoon is called Nali. The first time the Meteorological Bureau issued a typhoon warning at sea was in 2001. At 23:50 on September 8th. Then at 9 am on September 10, the sea typhoon warning was lifted. But Nali did not go far away. After circling in the sea northeast of Taiwan for a few days, she suddenly turned around and headed straight to the southwest. Taiwan. At 21:40 p.m. on September 16, in the northeast corner of Taiwan, from Sandiaojiao, Taipei County to Toucheng, Yilan County, boarded the land. It was Sunday, but the boss asked our work group to work overtime.

Before Typhoon Nali landed in Taiwan, it was raining heavily. "Xiao Ke, I'll go to the embankment of the Keelung River to have a look." After six in the evening, Shuhongdao seemed unable to sit still in the office, so he got up and told me. "Going at this time? It's a bit dangerous." "With the rain falling like this, I'm worried that the water level of the Keelung River will skyrocket. I'd better go and have a look." "I'll go with you." "I'll be careful." Shu Hongdao picked up his raincoat, "I'll let you know if there's anything wrong."

Because I was worried about the flood road, I stayed in the company after the usual off-duty time and waited for the call. I was the only one left in the whole office. Around 8:00 p.m., I got a call from Floodway in my office. "Xiao Ke, the water level of the Keelung River has exceeded the warning line." The sound at the other end of the flood road was also mixed with the sound of violent rain and intermittent wind. "Where are you?" I was nervous: "Don't stay by the embankment, go home!" "Don't worry, I'll go back later. It's just that if it rains like this again, I'm afraid it will happen."

"What will happen?" "I am afraid that in a few hours, the flood water will cross the embankment and flow into Taipei City." Although Shuhongdao's voice was calm, it couldn't hide the panic. I hung up the phone, got in a taxi and headed home without even mentioning my briefcase. I looked at my watch, it was already 8:45, 45 minutes later than my usual time to get home. Although the lights on the balcony were on, I headed into the living room before I took off my shoes and socks. Ye Meigui is not here. "Ye Meigui" waited for a few seconds, but did not respond.I called again: "Ye Meigui!"

Xiaopi walked towards me lazily, I knelt down and stroked its head: "Xiaopi, where is your sister?" It looked stunned, probably not understanding. "Xiaopi, Where is your sister?" I switched to English and asked again. mpanel(1); Xiaopi tilted his head and stuck out his tongue. I slapped myself on the head violently, I even forgot that dogs can't understand human words. I immediately turned around and went out, took the elevator downstairs. When the downstairs door was pushed open, the sound of rain crackled like firecrackers. I patted my head again because I left the umbrella on the balcony.

I had to take the elevator upstairs again, opened the door, took the umbrella, and rushed downstairs again. I first looked for Ye Meigui's motorcycle, and found that it was still parked nearby, so she didn't go out on the motorcycle. So people shouldn't go too far. I went to the alley first, but the problem is that there are several "alleys" here. In which direction is she headed? I'm trained in logic, so I calm down first and then start thinking. On a rainy night in a typhoon day, why go out?And this reason does not require a long trip on a motorcycle. Well, the biggest possibility is to go shopping on foot.

Well, suppose she goes shopping, what will she buy? Is there anything that needs to be bought right away and can't be put off? That's right, it must be dinner, or something prepared for a typhoon day. I searched all the convenience stores, food shops and vendors, but I couldn't find it. That's okay, because there is often an irresistible element in the search. Just like in the plot of a movie or a novel, the hero and heroine are often inexplicably missed. For example, the hero is searching in a panic on the first platform; while the heroine is waiting helplessly on the second platform. When the male protagonist could not be found, he hurried to the second platform; while the female protagonist was anxiously waiting, but decided to leave To the first platform. It's just that one of them took the overpass and the other took the underpass, so they still couldn't touch each other. Then the hero should shout the name of the heroine at the top of his voice, but the train is about to enter the station, and the station begins The voice of the radio drowned out the hero's shout, so the heroine didn't hear it. So the hero bowed his head and panted; the heroine covered her face and sighed. When they raised their heads at the same time, holding their last sliver of hope and preparing to search for another platform, their eyes were about to meet. The moment before, the train just pulled into the station, blocking their view. So I searched again, only this time in the reverse order, but still nothing. Well, it doesn't matter, this should be a miss in the form of overpasses and underpasses. I decided to go back first because she might have finished shopping and gone home. I relaxed my pace and walked slowly back to Seventh C. The light on the balcony was on, and Xiaopi was sleeping on the ground, but Ye Meigui still not there. I sat on the couch, closed my eyes, and tried to calm down and think. If the biggest hypothesis that she goes to buy food is overturned, what is the second possible hypothesis? By the way, it should be to rent comics or novels. Maybe she is the kind of person who likes to hide under the covers and read books on typhoon days, and I was the same when I was a child. Opening his eyes, the sofa Ye Meigui used to sit on was empty, but the sound of wind and rain outside the balcony was getting louder. Suddenly there was a thunder, and I almost jumped up from the sofa. "Fool! Just pick a few novels for rent, why do you take so long to pick?" I couldn't help cursing out. In order to avoid the call being drowned out by the radio or the line of sight being just blocked by the train, I left a message on the coffee table. A note, she can read it as long as she sits on the couch. The note told her to call me and leave my cell phone number. I originally wanted to add: Xiaopi is in my hands, don’t call the police, and bring 20,000 yuan to these words immediately, but I really Not in the mood for a joke. Grab your umbrella and go straight to the only two bookstores nearby. There were very few people in the first bookstore. When I pushed open the door in the rain, it made a loud noise. The sound of the door opening and the drops of water dripping from my body attracted the surprised eyes of everyone in the store. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask the clerk: "Excuse me, did a girl come to rent books just now?" "What kind of girl?" The clerk turned away from the computer screen and asked me. "that is" I suddenly ran out of words, because I don't know how to describe Ye Meigui's appearance? I don't even know what kind of clothes she wears. "About 165 cm tall, not fat but not thin. Black hair, neither long nor short. No Wearing glasses, the face looks cool, but the heart is really good.” I thought about it and tried to describe Ye Meigui's appearance. "Let's put it this way," the clerk said thoughtfully, "Tell me, is she pretty?" "Yeah. She's pretty." "How does it compare to me?" "It's a world away." "Who is the sky? Who is the earth?" "She is the sky, you are the earth." "I didn't see it!" The clerk turned her eyes back to the computer screen and began to pretend to be dead and ignore me. I immediately rushed to the second bookstore, and the clerk was also a lady. This time I shook off the water on my body first, and then gently pushed the door in. I politely repeated the question just now, and described Ye Meigui's appearance again. "How old does she look?" The clerk was sorting out the books on the bookcase and turned to me. "Probably in his twenties, looks very young." "Isn't that about my age?" "No, she's much younger. You look like you're in your thirties." "I didn't see it!" The clerk pushed the book hard into the bookcase and ignored me. Walking out of the second book rental store, there are already several spots of water on the road. This means that the drainage system in the city has begun to overload and cannot quickly remove rainwater. But the rain continued, not only did not show signs of stopping, but it was getting heavier and heavier. Thinking of what Shu Hongdao said, I couldn't help but panic. He took out the phone from his pocket, the battery is still charged, and the reception is normal, so she probably hasn't returned yet. Where is Ye Meigui? No, I have to calm down, my logical thinking must be imprecise and thoughtful, I want to debug work. What was she doing outside the house besides buying food and renting novels? She looked at her watch, it was past ten o'clock, she wouldn't be bored enough to go shopping, would she? This is impossible, firstly, she does not have this habit; secondly, most of the shops are closed. What's more, it is still a typhoon day with heavy wind and rain. what!She may buy food and rent novels at the same time, one after the other, so it takes longer. Thinking of this, I went back to every food store and bookstore. Still no sign of her. The lady clerks in those two rental bookstores gave me supercilious looks when I entered the door for the second time. I couldn't stop and think, I just kept looking at my phone to see if it was ringing. I used the public phone to call myself, and the phone rang, indicating that my phone was fine. In fact, I would rather find out that the mobile phone is broken, so that there is a possibility that she has gone home but cannot contact me. Could it be that when she was walking, she was accidentally knocked down by a car with poor visibility in rainy weather and poor brakes? And then sent to the emergency room of the hospital? She might even tell the doctor with her last breath: "Please tell Ke Zhihong, he is actually a very handsome man." pregnancy.Also, I love I can't think nonsense, this is the lyrics of the old English song Tell Laura I Love Her, never published Born on Ye Meigui. She is not the kind of person, not the kind of person who would call me handsome without conscience, even when she was dying. There are fewer and fewer pedestrians, businesses are closed one after another, and the road is getting darker and darker. The few wild dogs that were active in the alley did not know where to hide because of the heavy rain. There is only white rain and the deafening sound of rain left in this world. In a haze, I seem to see the square where the folk dance was performed in college, and the figure hiding in the dark. And the music in the square was playing loudly, gradually covering the sound of the rain. I stood like this for a long time, wanting to go back, but afraid of going back. Because if you don't see Ye Meigui when you go back, what should you do? I walked aimlessly, I don't know how long I walked, and when I woke up, I had arrived at the MRT station. It turned out that I followed my usual habits, turning left and right, and came here. I didn't miss the overpass and the underpass, and I didn't drown my cries with the sound of station announcements, and I didn't just drive in The train at the station obscured my view. I finally saw Ye Meigui. Ye Meigui stood under the arcade, holding a closed umbrella in her hand, facing the exit of the MRT station. Although I only saw the right side of her face, I dare to bet you with my one-year salary that she is Ye Meigui. Because some people will still be unfamiliar with his face if you look at it for a lifetime; And I will never admit my mistake. An image suddenly flashed in my mind, it was the first time my sister pulled me into the circle, the white light reflected Bottom, senior sister's right cheek. I remember, the song "Tennessee Waltz" was going to be played in the square at that time. The melody of the Tennessee waltz played in my head for only a few seconds, and was immediately interrupted by the sound of wind and rain. "Ye Meigui." I called out. She obviously didn't hear and didn't react at all. I walked into the arcade, put away the umbrella, and called again: "Ye Meigui." Her body seemed to shake, and she turned to face me with a puzzled face. Ye Meigui is right, but it's a pity you didn't bet with me. "Why are you here?" I asked her. "Where did you come from?" she asked me. "Don't stay outside, go back and talk about it first." I held up my umbrella and waved to her. Ye Meigui nodded, and also held up her umbrella. I looked at my watch, it was already 11 o'clock, and there was almost no one on the dark road. The wind is so strong that the umbrella will fly out at any time. I walked in front of her, turning my head frequently, as if she would suddenly disappear. Finally went back downstairs, put away the umbrella, and opened the door with the key. The building was filled with light, and I breathed out, as if reborn. Then I caught a glimpse of her holding nothing but an umbrella in her hand. I pressed "△" once and waited for the elevator to go downstairs. While waiting for the elevator to open, I couldn't hold back my curiosity: "What the hell are you doing going out in this horrible weather?" what? " Ye Meigui looked up at the row of numbers on the elevator door, but said nothing. "You neither bought food nor rented novels, did you just come out to see the scenery?" The more I thought about it, the more confused I became: "Is the scenery on a typhoon day really that beautiful?" After she finished listening, she turned her head and glared at me. And her face seemed to have just experienced a snowstorm. The elevator doors opened, but she didn't mean to go in, she just stared at me. I was frozen by her eyes and the frost on my face, unable to move, and watched the elevator door close. Barely stretching out my finger, I pressed "△" again, and the elevator door opened again. "Go upstairs," I said. Ye Meigui looked back, quickly stepped into the elevator, and then closed the elevator door. Before I got into the elevator. I stared blankly at the elevator slowly going up and stopped at the "7" position. Then I press "△" again to call the elevator down. When I got to the seventh floor, I got out of the elevator, opened the door, and entered Seventh C. The lights on the balcony were turned off, even the living room was turned off. total darkness. Only a glimmer of light shone through the closed door of Ye Meigui. I suddenly felt very tired, and I didn't want to say anything, I just wanted to sleep well. After entering the room, closing the door, without even changing clothes, he took off his glasses and took out the things in his pockets, Just lie on the bed. Half asleep and half awake, I seemed to be back in the square where I used to dance folk dances, and I heard the senior shout: "Please invite partner! "the sound of. At that time, I would keep retreating and hiding in the dark, until the farthest and darkest place. But my eyes have been watching every couple of men and women dancing happily in the center of the square. I fell asleep in a trance, until the ringing of my phone woke me up. "Hi." I replied vaguely. "Are you asleep?" "Ok." "Sorry." "It's okay. What's the matter?" "Please write down this number." I looked at the number, it was an unfamiliar number. "Ok." "never mind." "yes?" "Is there something else for you?" "yes." "What's up?" "Who are you?" "Hello!" She suddenly called out, and I also woke up from the dream. "Ye Meigui, where are you?" I quickly looked at my watch: "It's already very late." "Don't worry, I'm in the living room." I put my glasses on and sat up on the bed to see the light coming through my door from the living room. "Oh." "I saw the note." "What note?" "You left it on the coffee table." "The writing is ugly, isn't it?" "It's really not good-looking." Ye Meigui laughed. "Ye Meigui: When you see this note, don't run around anymore. Please call my cell phone, I'll look for it outside. You write like this, It seems that a notice was published in the newspaper to warn of fleeing wives. " Ye Meigui kept laughing, I've never heard her giggle like this. "Is it so funny?" "Yes. It's funny." She laughed to herself for a few seconds, and after the laughter stopped, she said, "You are really outside Find me? " "Yeah. I couldn't see you when I came back from get off work, so I ran out to find you." "Hmm." She seemed to be thinking for a while on the other end of the phone, "What time are you coming back?" "Around 8:45. I came back by taxi." "Yeah, no wonder I can't wait for you." "Wait?" "Well, I'll wait for you at the MRT station. I didn't expect you to come back by taxi." "Why do you think I can't take a taxi?" "Because you are petty." After finishing speaking, Ye Meigui laughed again. "I'm in a hurry to get back, so I took a taxi." I waited for her to finish laughing, and continued. "Yeah. I'm just kidding, you're not stingy." "You've been waiting at the MRT station?" "I came back once. You didn't respond when I called you on the balcony, so I knocked on your door, but there was still no response. So I guess you haven't come back yet.I didn't think about it any more, and went out again. " "Then why didn't you see the note?" "Idiot, I didn't sit down at all, of course I couldn't see the note on the coffee table." "Oh. I see." "Do you have any questions?" "May I ask?" "of course can." "Why did you wait for me at the MRT station? You can wait for me at home." After I finished asking, there was a turbid breathing sound from the other end of the phone, and I secretly cried out that something was wrong. "No, I'm not going to wait for you. I'm looking at the typhoon, the wind, the heavy rain, the scenery is very beautiful, and the sky is very dark, The road is flooded again, I can go and see if you were hit by the flower pots and signs blown down by the wind, or the rain is too heavy I couldn't see the way and accidentally fell into the ditch. Such a fun thing, so I'm going out to see it.Are you satisfied with this answer? " Her voice was like the heavy rain that was falling outside the house, crackling and continuous. "I'm sorry about that. That's not what I meant." "Then what do you mean?" "I mean, it's windy and rainy during a typhoon, and it's safer for you to stay at home. If you're outside, I'm worried of. " "You would be so kind?" "I am. That's why I'm looking for you everywhere." "Humph." We fell silent at the same time. Unexpectedly, my habit of talking face-to-face with her is the same as when talking on a mobile phone, talking for a while, stopping for a while. "Sorry." I finally spoke first. "what?" "I shouldn't say that you went out because you wanted to see the scenery on a typhoon day." "Humph." "Sorry." "Say it once is enough." "Oh." I responded and fell silent again. "Why don't you talk?" "I do not know what to say." "You can tell me why you are looking for me outside." "Because I'm worried about you." "Why are you worried about me?" "That's an instinctive reaction, without much thought. It's like asking why a cat wants to scratch when it sees a mouse, The cat couldn't answer either. " "You always give strange examples. This time I became a mouse again. Can you give another example?" "It's like the money is gone, and of course there's a rush to get it back." "Okay, good. Didn't expect me to become money. Is there any more?" "No more." I seemed to hear the sound of a bullet being loaded. The silence between each other was longer this time. Silence in a face-to-face conversation is not the same as silence on a cell phone. One costs nothing; the other costs money. Time really is money, especially when it comes to mobile phones. I really want to remind Ye Meigui that she is the one who made the phone call, so a lot of unnecessary money will be wasted. But if I remind her kindly, maybe she will think I just want to hang up. "Why didn't you hang up the phone?" "Oh, because I'm still thinking about it." "What are you thinking?" "I was thinking about how to give a better example of how I went to you because I was worried about you. Let you feel it. " "You can just say it directly, why do you always think of examples." "Can I just say it?" "Nonsense. No one told you to beat around the bush." "It's already dark, and the wind and rain are so strong. Seeing that the flood is about to submerge Taipei City, the first thought in my mind is, That is, are you in a safe place?So I was in a hurry to get a taxi back, just to make sure you were home and install.I don't know why that was the first thought, but it just popped into my head and I just listened to it, no It is necessary to study it.I came back and found you were not there, all I knew was to find you, tell you it was dangerous outside, and then bring you back.How can I have the mood to think about the reasons why I went out to find you?What's more, you are not stupid, You must know that the streets on rainy nights in typhoon days are more terrifying than jungles full of beasts, so you will be at home when you have nothing to do.but you Not at home, of course I went out to find you, can I watch TV or sleep peacefully at home?you always want Ask me why why, do you need a reason to worry? " As the rain outside the house intensified, I spoke faster and faster, and finished speaking in one breath. "Yes. I see." After a while, Ye Meigui said. "Yeah." I also responded. "Ke Zhihong" "What's the matter?" After waiting for a few seconds, I didn't hear her continue, so I had to ask her. "I shouldn't have been so mean to you in the elevator downstairs. I'm sorry." "It's okay. That's because I said the wrong thing." "It was also because I was worried about you that I waited for you at the MRT station." "Yeah. I got it too." All the lights went out in an instant, and the power went out. "Ah? Power outage!" Ye Meigui exclaimed in a low voice. "Don't be afraid." I got out of bed and groped forward: "I bought a camping light, and I brought it to the living room. You wait I. " "it is good." I found the lamp on the shelf next to the desk, and I had already installed the batteries. I fumbled around (referring to the light, not mahjong), found the switch, and turned on the light. Holding the lamp, I opened the door, walked to the living room, and put the lamp on the coffee table. "It's bright." I stood on her right. "Yeah." Not only did I hear her answer, I saw her nod. "Do we still need to talk on our phones?" Ye Meigui held the mobile phone with her left hand to her left ear, pointed at me with her right hand, and said with a smile. "I don't care. I didn't make the call anyway." "Hello!" She was startled suddenly, and immediately hung up the phone. I smiled and hung up the phone too. "Why is there a power outage?" "There are many reasons for the power outage, but I guess this time it was probably due to flooding into the substation." I sat back on my sofa and said with a sigh. "Why are you sighing?" "Nothing." Because I thought of Shu Hongdao's words. If he is right, the flood waters have probably overflowed the dikes and entered Taipei City. "You don't want to go out tomorrow, you know?" "Taipei City has announced that there will be no work or classes tomorrow, so I won't go out." "Ok." "Anyway, we have mobile phones now, if I go out, you will know where I am." "That's right. But if you have nothing to do, don't go out." "Ok." Ye Meigui called Xiaopi, asking him to sit on the sofa on her left. So Xiaopi happened to be between me and her. She turned slightly to the left, lowered her head, and patted Xiaopi with her left hand, as if trying to lull it to sleep. The nose is still humming some melodies. Although it was windy and rainy outside, and occasionally there was the sound of flower pots on the balcony hitting the bars, but in the living room, Very peaceful. I suddenly wanted to touch Xiaopi too, but I had to straighten my body and extend my right hand to be able to touch it. As soon as he thought about it, his body moved a little unconsciously, which disturbed the tranquility in the living room. Ye Meigui raised her head, stopped patting with her left hand, looked at me, and smiled. "What's wrong?" she asked. "It's okay." I smiled. "En." Ye Meigui withdrew her left hand and sat up straight. "Are you tired?" "No. I still want to read some books." "Then let's see." "And you?" "Anyway, I don't have to go to work tomorrow, so I'll sit here with you." "Whoa, so great." "You are great. When I came back halfway today to see if you were there, I sat on the sofa for a while before going out to find you. When you came back halfway, you went out again without even sitting on the sofa. " After I finished speaking, Ye Meigui laughed. Ye Meigui picked up the book at hand, and started reading by the light of the camping lantern. It was dark all around, only the white light was left, reflecting on her face. Now she is very much like a night rose that has been taken care of in a greenhouse, so she has an indescribable tenderness. Soft, and charming. I closed my eyes and wanted to rest for a while, but suddenly the song Tennessee Waltz played in my head. There is also the formula that my senior sister taught me when she took me to dance for the first time: "Don't be afraid, don't be nervous, take it easy, turn around lock up" Senior sister's voice is still clear, although the voice has deteriorated a bit due to the age. It has been a long time since I heard the voice of senior sister lingering in my mind. I was almost about to be led by my senior again, taking three steps with my right foot and turning left. If it weren't for a sudden thunderstorm outside the house. I opened my eyes and found that Ye Meigui was also looking at me. "Tired?" she asked. I smiled and shook my head. "I'm tired of talking." Ye Meigui's voice is very gentle, her eyes are very charming, she is still a night rose in full bloom. When I closed my eyes again, senior sister's voice disappeared.