Left ear (31)

  Section 31: Left ear (31) I thought for a moment and said, "A little."

  "Come with me," she said.

  The once arrogant Zhang Yang followed a little girl, carrying a big bag of things for her as they walked forward. I didn't have time to think about what was going on, curiosity is truly humanity's greatest enemy, and so I just followed her all the way until she led me into that ramen shop I used to frequent.

  "You carry things for me, and I'll treat you to ramen." She turned around and said to me.

  This is a place I'm familiar with, although it's been a long time since I last came.

  I sat down at a table in the corner of the wall, she ordered two bowls of beef noodles and sat across from me. She pushed one of the bowls to my side. I added a large handful of cilantro to the bowl, she suddenly reached out and grabbed a big handful of cilantro from my bowl and put it into hers, then nonchalantly started stirring her noodles and eating.

  "Why did you pick from my bowl when there's so much coriander here?" I asked her.

  She smiled lightly and said: "You don't know, someone once told me that other people's things are always good."

  I remained silent for half a beat before asking: "Really?"

  "Bara really likes eating ramen here," she said. "I met you and her here before, but you probably don't remember."

  "Yes," I said, "I don't remember."

  "You went to see her that day and got rained on in the mountains, didn't you?" she said. "I've been worried that you might catch a cold."

  "Why do you care about me?"

  "I'm not telling you." She said it again.

  She lowered her head and ate her noodles. As she was eating, she raised her head and looked at me saying: "How come you're not moving, didn't you say you were hungry?"

  I said: "I often feel this way, I'm very hungry but can't eat anything."

  She picked up a pair of clean chopsticks, stretched out her arm, and helped me stir the noodles. She said softly, "You'd better eat quickly, or the noodles will get soft and won't taste good."

  "What's your name?" I asked her.

  "Li Yu," she said, "Mu Zi Li, Wang character with an ear added."

  "Is Yu Ta really your brother?"

  "No," she said.

  "Is he your boyfriend?"

  "I don't have a boyfriend," she said firmly. "I'm not dating."

  "Do you know, I'm really envious of You Ta, he got accepted into Tsinghua University, that's my dream."

  She comforted me in a very realistic way: "Your school is not bad either, not everyone can get into Tsinghua."

  I lit another cigarette and handed the pack to her. She shook her head, saying seriously: "Smoking is bad for your health, you should smoke less."

  I bowed to her and then wolfed down a bowl of noodles.

  She took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to me. If someone we knew came in now, they would probably think that there was something going on between us, but she seemed completely at ease.

  That night I insisted on sending her home.

  She insisted on taking the small road behind the ramen shop, and the houses along that road had already been built. There were streetlights, not to mention the flowers and grass planted on both sides of the road, but except for nearby residents, there weren't many people walking around. I followed her from behind, and when we reached a certain place ahead, she suddenly stopped and asked me, "Do you still remember this place?"

  "I remember." I said.

  "That time you were beating her here, it was me who pulled you away."

  I suppressed the turmoil in my heart and sneered: "If I were to beat you up here today, who do you think would come to stop me?"

  "You won't," she said.

  "Why so sure?"

  "Don't tell you," she said.

  "Let's give it a try!" I grabbed her, and she let out a soft shriek, but only softly, without even trying to push me away. This enigmatic girl, at that moment I had an urge to kiss her, but I didn't, she was right, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

  I let her go and said: "Let's go, brother will send you home."

  "No need to see me off, my home is nearby, it's that building." She pointed ahead and then took the bag from my hand saying "Zhang Yang, goodbye."

  She called me Zhang Yang, as if I had known her for many years, like an old friend.

  "Go!" I waved at her.

  I watched her walk ahead, but she didn't go far before turning around and running back to me. Very directly, she said to me: "I want to know your phone number, email address, or QQ, any of them will do."

  She handed over a pen and a new notebook after finishing speaking.

  I wrote it for her under the streetlight, stroke by stroke, and she said thank you, then left.

  Good grief! Jump to it!!!

  ．．