Chapter 22 Chapter 21

I've been working on two stories and two screenplay outlines at the same time lately, waiting for the paper I'm drafted by the Department of Defense.When it's my turn every month for "The Girl We Chased Together" to dance with my fingers and keyboards, that's the moment I look forward to the most. Every love is life, and I rely on the hard work of constantly remembering to rearrange these distant memories and type them into words, as if I have lived again in the youthful past. When tidying up the old house last week, Mom dragged out two boxes from the mysterious black hole and handed them to me.

The boxes are one big and one small.The big box contained the letters Shen Jiayi and Li Xiaohua wrote to me, as well as some small gifts such as Master Zhengyan's Jing Si Aphorisms. The piles of letters give off an old smell that is not annoying. I am really glad that I used to live in the era when "the electronic letter has not even seen a shadow".The world built on the stationery with one word or one sentence, with illustrations of cats and dogs, no stereotyped cold and new details, no emoticons that can be found everywhere, the meaning of the clumsy stationery is fuller, everything They all look like exquisite products brought out with care.

But before I had time to savor it carefully, I was attracted by the many messy and classified photos in the small box. Everyone in the photo is dressed like an idiot, and the pretentious expressions leaning next to Shen Jiayi made me laugh.I'm lazy, I think these old photos will never be scanned into digital backup files, but I really should find some time to spread these photos on the table so that everyone can see how stupid they were back then, and see if I can burn them again Youth, slap back to the pot. I'm typing this on my laptop at Starbucks, killing the time between dinners at the press.The early winter has quietly entered, everyone in the coffee shop puts on a thin coat, and the lovers outside the window also start to put their hands in the same pocket and share a pair of gloves.

Just like that time. Autumn is gone, and the chill has not yet turned into a winter. One night at Jiaotong University, my good informant Ye Enxuan brought me an opportunity. "Our Chiayi Agricultural College celebrates next week. There is a stall in our class that sells food. You and Jiayi can come. My classmates will drive. I will ask them to drive us out after the fair!" Ye Enxuan said on the phone. that end. "A group of people, is this a date?" I hesitated. "Hey, do you dare to ask Shen Jiayi out alone?" Ye Enxuan said loudly. "I dare not. Then where are we going to drive?" I scratched my head.It's really hard to imagine the situation where Shen Jiayi and I go out to play together. I'm afraid of embarrassment, embarrassment will ruin me.

"Come to Chiayi, of course to go to Alishan to watch the sunrise!" Ye Enxuan said confidently: "I have made a plan, we don't sleep at night to stay up late, go to the second round of movies, and then drive directly to Alishan Mountain, make a small train to the top of the mountain." Sounds really good. "Then, if I confess, how many chances will I have?" I couldn't help asking. "Didn't Shen Jiayi already know that you like her?" Ye Enxuan said in surprise: "It would be incredible if Shen Jiayi didn't know that you liked her now!"

"Oh... Then let me revise the definition of confession. If I asked Shen Jiayi if she wanted to be my girlfriend that day, would the winning rate have broken through 90%?" I sat on the ground and looked at the calendar in my hand. "Hey! Don't ask me about this, only you know if it will succeed!" Ye Enxuan said angrily. "Okay, then I can figure it out. By the way, you... you don't want to send messages at both ends, do you?" "What's the meaning?" "Shouldn't you tell Shen Jiayi that I might take the opportunity to confess to her?" I inquired cautiously.

"Who is as villainous as you!" Ye Enxuan hummed and hung up the phone. "..." To me, it would be too bad if the confession is only concerned with success or not, because "if it succeeds, there will be no next confession".Of course the confession must be successful, so there is only one chance.Because there is only one chance, of course we have to find a way to make the confession beautiful and unforgettable. Seriously speaking, my favorite way of confessing is nothing more than the various changes under the crowd tactics. Simply put, it is sensationalism.But Chiayi is not my territory. I can't find partners to create crowds, and I can't find familiar geographical resources to use.Alishan is not Bagua Mountain, and I am not familiar with it at all.

"Then play it by ear?" I was distressed. A week later, Shen Jiayi and I made an appointment at the gate of Changhua Railway Station early in the morning, bought breakfast, and boarded the Ziqiang ferry to Chiayi. Thinking about it carefully, this was the first time that Shen Jiayi and I were alone except for going to school at night, which made me extremely nervous. I couldn't talk freely with Shen Jiayi as usual, so I had to fight haha.And Shen Jiayi was obviously a little overwhelmed, and tried to tell me some unknown things. "You look sleepy." "You're not the same yourself."

"If you want to eat the meat bun in my hand, you have to beg me hard." "No, I'm already full." Conversations like these made me think deeply about how miserable the trip to Chiayi would be today.If the trip to Chiayi is completely ruined, maybe I will reflect on whether I am "suitable" to fall in love with Shen Jiayi, or just suitable for being a friend, such a cowardly, but very practical problem of getting along. I forgot which of us two idiots fell asleep first, and when we got off the train in Chiayi, both of us looked stupid as if we had just woken up from a big dream.

Ye Enxuan, who was waiting at the train station, couldn't help shaking his head when he saw us like this. He probably despised me for wasting the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart talk at the train station. When we arrived at the Chiayi Agricultural College’s celebration garden party, Shen Jiayi and I still couldn’t get into the usual atmosphere of getting along comfortably. The two of us walked around each stall slowly, researching the various snacks one by one. As the topic was unable to break through the bottleneck, I became more and more nervous, and the bad substances in my mind gradually accumulated and precipitated, which finally messed up my usual thinking.

It's going to explode. "Shen Jiayi, what do you think about the fact that I like you?" I opened my mouth and let this stupid sentence come out automatically. "..." Shen Jiayi stopped and looked at me in surprise. "Any feeling?" I smiled, somewhat unable to tell what the expression on my face looked like. "My God, what exactly are you trying to say?" Shen Jiayi showed a strange expression. "It's not what I want to say, but what I want to hear from you." I pretended to be relaxed. Shen Jiayi had a smile of unknown meaning on her face, and she began to think deeply without speaking, as if she couldn't answer my question for a moment. Standing in front of the ice cream vendor, I bought two cones and handed one to Shen Jiayi.I secretly swear in my heart that the next time the two of us go shopping for a cone, we will only buy one. "I'm afraid that the me you like is not the real me." Shen Jiayi said quietly, eating a cone. "What do you mean?" I laughed.Is this a bad line copied from a comic? "Ke Jingteng, do you really like me?" Shen Jiayi sat by the flowerbed, and I sat down too. "I like it, I like it very much." I deliberately said it generously and without any hindrance, so as not to be discouraged if I spoke slowly.Unbeknownst to me, the cone in my hand almost melted and dripped. "I always feel that you think too much of me. I'm not as good as you describe, nor as good as you imagined. I feel very embarrassed that you like me." Shen Jiayi was still a little shy. Really... what else can I say? "Huh?" I tilted my head. "I also have a side that you don't know. I'm also sloppy at home, sometimes I get angry when I get up, and sometimes I quarrel with my sister because of some trivial things. I'm just very... very ordinary!" Shen Jiayi said more and more Seriously, the more I listen, the more confused I become. "It's a mess. Is it a side effect of reading too much Jing Si Aphorisms from Master Cheng Yen?" I frowned. Shen Jiayi burst out laughing. "Really, think about it carefully, do you like me?" Shen Jiayi ate a cone. "I like it." I said out loud. "You're so naive, you didn't think about it carefully at all, come on, think about it carefully. Think about it before you talk." Shen Jiayi knocked my head with her eyes. I had no choice but to be silent for a while, but I didn't spend any energy in my mind to turn this question that didn't need to be thought about.I instinctively thought: Why did Shen Jiayi ask me this question? Beside the flower garden, Shen Jiayi was eating the cone intently, and the more I thought about it, the more terrifying I began to regret why I had to bring up this even more embarrassing topic at a very embarrassing time, which made it impossible for me to finish it. At this time, Ye Enxuan ran over angrily, and saw us sitting by the flower garden eating cones, put his hands on his waist, and shook his head angrily. "Okay, okay, our small garden party is actually very boring, you go out for a walk in Shen Jiayi, remember to come back before dinner time!" Ye Enxuan blinked and handed over a bunch of car keys. Savior, it's very kind of you to come. Of course I took the key, and a few minutes later I was driving Shen Jiayi all the way down the hill of Chiayi Agricultural College. "Don't ride too fast." Shen Jiayi said in my ear, holding the rear pole of the bike with both hands. "If you are afraid, just hug me." I joked.A joke that was expected to happen. Sight is a strange thing. When a boy and a girl just get to know each other, they choose to drink afternoon tea or have a good dinner. They often stare at each other, which is the wrong dating strategy for men and women who are not good at language.Think about it, if each other's eyes must be placed on each other's face, if there is not enough conversation content to support each other's sight, it is easy to fall into an embarrassing situation, "relatively silent = miserable" Therefore, if strangers want to date, it is very sensible to choose to watch a movie, because the normal sight of watching a movie should be placed on a large screen far away, without looking at each other or saying a word (complete silence is also a style) , clothes and cuts are all natural, without additional pressure. And boys and girls ride bicycles, which also has the miraculous effect of relieving stress in the betting of sight.On the winding mountain path, facing the cool wind that makes people have to wake up, we were talking and laughing, and the inexplicable embarrassment just now was frozen behind with the cool wind of early winter. Then there was a warm silence. The mountain wind blows the golden sun like fish scales, and the sound of engines hits the silent rhythm. I just rode the bike quietly, feeling the wonderful feeling that Shen Jiayi is only with me at this moment. I hope Shen Jiayi also has a sense of memory of "this moment" and put it in a drawer named "Ke Jingteng". "Hey." "?" "I like you." "I know." "real." "Okay." "I like it very much." "Okay! Don't be so naive!" Mountain wind, I looked closely at Shen Jiayi's shy expression in the rear-view mirror, and I was fascinated by it. I really hope that everything between us can have a regretless result in the end. The drunken garden party ended, we ate authentic turkey rice in downtown Chiayi, and survived two unintelligible second-round movies, and our group finally embarked on a journey to worship the sunrise. The car detoured and turned to the sprawling mountain road, and yawning all the way, we finally came to the railway station in Alishan. According to the legend, there is a small train with a nostalgic atmosphere. The blue temperature approaching daybreak froze the entire mountain so much that even the leaves were trembling.The little train was trembling in the dark night, leaning against the cold rails, swaying like a fat big bug. Shen Jiayi with flushed cheeks sat across from me, shivering from the cold, breathing hot air into her palms.so cute. Ye Enxuan, who is good at creating opportunities, winked at me and threw us a pair of furry gloves. "One for Jiayi and one for you, you guys are really lacking common sense." Ye Enxuan snorted. So half and half. I put on a glove on my right hand, and Shen Jiayi put on a glove on Shen Jiayi's left. The two of them tacitly said nothing, for fear that once they joked and relieved the embarrassment of sharing gloves, the hidden happiness and shyness would also disappear. I obediently shut up and didn't try to tease Shen Jiayi. The train stops. We followed the train full of tourists and got off the train, and walked to the large square to watch the sunrise. The sea of ​​clouds was thick that day, thick enough to hide a hundred alien flying saucers.The sky turned from black to chaotic ink blue. Our sleepless night was swept away by the icy wind, replaced by the excitement of seeing the sun break through the sea of ​​clouds. Shen Jiayi looked at me with a smile, and bet with me whether I would be lucky enough to see the sunrise. I was noncommittal, and I was still indulging in the little happiness of two people sharing a pair of gloves. More than a dozen cameras and tripods stood in the center of the square, aiming at the sea of ​​clouds at the same time, surrounded by laughing and joking couples, performing pink photosynthesis. "Come on, wait slowly, it looks like it will take a while." I handed over the hot soybean milk bought from a small vendor. "Thank you." Shen Jiayi held the hot soy milk and blew on it as if cherishing it. I secretly swear in my heart.If I wait for the moment when the sun breaks out and the golden color passes through the sea of ​​clouds, I will take the time to hold Shen Jiayi's hand and carry out the second stage of "confession"-ask Shen Jiayi if she wants to be my girlfriend. win or lose.All or zero.100% life in heaven or minus 100% life in hell. A decision in a deep breath, that's all. "Well, the air on the mountain is very thin." I looked at Ye Enxuan who was eating meat buns. "Hey." Ye Enxuan said. "There is very little oxygen, so it is a rare resource." I stared into Ye Enxuan's eyes. "What rare resources, what are you going to say?" Ye Enxuan frowned. "I just found out that the oxygen here is only enough for two people to breathe. Just enough for two people." I lowered my voice. "..." Ye Enxuan stuck out his tongue, and ran away with the half-eaten meat buns in his hands, looking at me from afar with a sinister smile.I gratefully gave her a reserved middle finger. Just like that, Shen Jiayi and I stood in the middle of the square, sharing the thin oxygen that belonged to us alone.The color of the sky became strange and difficult to distinguish, as if it had reached the ambiguous hour before dawn.But the dark and sluggish sky is getting lighter and lighter, but the earth-shattering sunrise is not seen. "I can't seem to see the sunrise today." Passerby A complained. "How is it possible, Alishan's sea of ​​clouds and sunrise are the most famous!" Passerby B sighed and put down his camera. No sunrise?No sunrise today? How can I express my feelings without the sunrise?My heart was buried under the thick sea of ​​clouds following the late sun, and Shen Jiayi's face also showed a sign of regret, she turned her head to look at me, sighed, and did not speak. The courage I had accumulated with great difficulty was completely shattered at that moment. Forget it...for nothing...I sigh. A few hours later, Shen Jiayi and I took the train going north with our listless bodies, and left Chiayi, where the Great Devil of Destiny defeated me.Shen Jiayi was going back to Taipei, and I was going back to Hsinchu Jiaotong University. The seats between the two of us were far behind by many carriages, and I couldn't even chat. I could only look out the window and yawn alone, writing on the fog on the glass. On the lonely train, I hated it so much that I vowed not to rely on the natural scene that would betray me at any time to determine the timing of my confession next time. I want to do it myself.I want to ride a motorcycle on Bagua Mountain, who is very close to me, and confess loudly to Shen Jiayi who is sitting in the back seat... I want to use a roar, and use a roar to ask Shen Jiayi if she wants to be my girlfriend. Even the devil king will be blown out of his wits by my aura. I can no longer strike out early because of a sigh that doesn't make sense. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became, I just wanted to strangle the sun to death. "Hey, although I didn't see the sunrise today, I'm still very happy." I raised my head, and Shen Jiayi was standing in front of me, rubbing the eyes of the sleepy bunny. Shen Jiayi smiled shyly, looking at me who was writing a note to her. "Stop writing, talk to me." "...Okay, what can I do?" "Hey!" After I returned to Hsinchu from Chiayi, I couldn't get rid of Shen Jiayi talking to me on the train.She just left her seat and walked over a few cars to talk to me, that's all.But for a boy who likes her very much, every trace of his heart is worth discussing. During the Chinese New Year, Xu Bochun returned to Changhua for the re-examination class. We ate hot pot together. I couldn't wait to report my latest progress to him, which of course included the important round-trip trip to Chiayi. "Ke Jingteng, what Shen Jiayi said in Chiayi Agricultural College may be correct." Xu Bochun was blanching pork slices. "Little San?" "The one you like may not be Shen Jiayi at all." Xu Bochun pretended to be inscrutable. "What the hell is wrong with you? I'm probably the one who watched the most of how hard I chased Shen Jiayi!" I snorted and scalded the thin pork slices. "I have always thought that what you like is not Shen Jiayi in your eyes, nor Shen Jiayi's serious self." Xu Bochun hehehe. "What is that? Are you going to say that what I like is actually just fucking 'like the feeling of Shen Jiayi'?" I stared at him. "Isn't it possible? When you liked Shen Jiayi, you were always energetic. Admit it. There's nothing wrong with admitting it, and it's not worse." Xu Bochun laughed. "I like Shen Jiayi, and I also like myself, so of course I also like myself when I like Shen Jiayi." I picked up the pork slices and chewed, and said: "When I like the right person, my body will shine, Who doesn't love the feeling of glowing because of someone they like?" Yes, if you like the right person, your body will shine. It has been shining continuously for eight years.