The 32nd Section of the Left Ear (32)

  Left ear (32) 4

  That evening when I returned home, I found Jiang Jiao and her mother both there. My father was refilling the teacups in front of them, apparently they had been sitting there for quite a while already.

  "Hey." I greeted them nonchalantly. It had been a few days since we last met, and Jiang Jiao's new hairstyle was truly messy, like a bird's nest on top of her head. She had applied purple eye shadow, the tacky and annoying purple color that I disliked the most. I missed the Jiang Jiao with straight hair who wore black and white school uniforms. At least back then, she wouldn't make me feel annoyed.

  "Zhang Yang, we are discussing with your father about you going to Beijing for school," said Jiang Jiao's mom. "He said he won't send you off, and your dad is busy too, so it'll just be me sending you off. We have a house in Beijing, so you can go stay there on weekends..."

  "Good." I said with a smile.

  "Have you eaten, Cockroach?" Jiang Jiao asked me.

  "I've eaten." I said.

  "What's for dinner?" She always liked to get straight to the point like this.

  Ramen.

  "How can instant noodles be nutritious!" Jiang Jiao's mom exclaimed, "Come on, we haven't eaten yet, let's go out and have some more food. There's a new Sichuan restaurant that just opened up on Yizheng Road, not far from here."

  "Let's go." Jiang Jiao pulled me.

  "I'm not going," I said with a yawn, "I've been standing at the counter all day, I'm dead tired and want to sleep."

  "Are you selling mobile phones again!" Jiang Jiao shouted, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

  I glared at her and she shut up.

  "Auntie, take a seat, I'll go take a bath." After finishing my greeting, I took the towel and entered the bathroom. Jiang Jiao followed me all the way to the bathroom door, I asked her: "What do you want to do? Do you want to watch me take a bath?"

  "What's wrong? You've seen it before!"

  "Wait for me outside!" I said.

  She still stood by the door and didn't leave: "Cockroach, are you still angry? If I hadn't come to find you, would you not have gone to find me?"

  "What did you say?" I pretended not to understand.

  "I just like your naughty temper." She suddenly smiled and hugged me, saying "You really have a great personality."

  But suddenly, a pair of clear eyes flashed in my mind. I pushed Jiang Jiao away with some difficulty and coaxed her, saying: "Okay, come out after washing up to accompany you!"

  She finally let go of his hand.

  That night, Jiang Jiao slept with me on the narrow wooden bed in my home, which creaked with every move. Jiang Jiao hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go, then she started crying inexplicably, her tears falling onto my chest skin, making it itch. I still didn't have any desire. She comforted me instead, saying: "It's okay, cockroach, we'll leave this place and everything will be fine, it's okay..."

  In her murmurs, I fell fast asleep.

  In the middle of the night, I woke up to find that Jiang Jiao hadn't fallen asleep. She was sitting by the window in my small hut, wearing my large sweater and smoking a cigarette. The way she smoked looked very skilled, but she had never smoked in front of me before.

  I propped myself up to look at her, her curly hair and the outline of her face in the dark. I knew that this willful girl had given me a lot, she had suffered all sorts of hardships for love, I knew it all.

  Hearing the noise, she turned around, and through the moonlight, I saw her in tears, big drops of silent tears flowing down from her face.

  "What's wrong?" I asked her.

  "I saw a shooting star," she said. "Whoosh, and it was gone."

  I stretched out my hand and made a gesture for her to come over.

  She extinguished the cigarette and got back into bed. She pressed herself against me, her body was icy cold, I involuntarily wrapped my arms around her tightly.

  "Cockroach, I am willing to do so. I know I can't beat her, but it doesn't matter, she's already gone. I'm willing to fight a soul to the end, I am willing to endure any hardship and pain."

  "Shut up!" I scolded her.

  "Alright, I won't talk nonsense."

  I kissed her cheek, and she stretched out her arms to hug me. The small wooden bed creaked again, I patted her back and said: "Sleep, don't smoke in the future, smoking too much will turn your teeth yellow, skin will age, how ugly."

  "Am I pretty, cockroach?"

  Beautiful.

  "Am I gentle or not?"

  Gentle.

  "Do you love me or not?"

  "...love."

  I will love you for all eternity.

  "Hmm."

  ……

  She finally fell asleep. But I couldn't sleep, I got up from the small wooden bed and sat by the window, where Jiang Jiao had been sitting earlier. I picked up the cigarette box and found that Jiang Jiao had smoked all my cigarettes. I threw the empty cigarette box out of the window, the sky was very dark, without the shooting star Jiang Jiao had mentioned. Through the window glass, I suddenly saw the blue screen of my phone flashing, it seemed there were unread messages. I turned around and picked up the phone to take a look, it was an unfamiliar number, with only two words: "Goodnight".

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