chapter 6
2024-6-4.
Second Phase (Part II).
[Life’s Kaleidoscope.]
“Before I go, I want to check if that noodle shop is still around. Let me treat you to some noodles, because I loved them as a child.”
Fortunately, the noodle shop was still there, though the sign had been replaced with a new one.
But the owner was still the same old man.
“I haven’t been back in years, so I don’t know if it still tastes the same.”
Back then, food was scarce, life was modest, and I wasn’t picky-everything tasted like a feast for the gods.
“You’re just having plain noodles?” Xiao Qin frowned, “Not adding anything?”
“Back then, I thought these dry-mixed noodles were already a delicacy. The owner makes his own soy sauce. I ordered some toppings for you, try it.”
Although the flavor was truly wonderful, my appetite was getting worse.
“So, Sister Zhu Yuan, do you think these noodles taste different from when you were a child?”
“They’re the same.” Tears welled up in my eyes, “Really the same.”
I sighed again, “They’re delicious, but my appetite is getting worse.”
I couldn’t finish eating.
Xiao Qin ate while wiping her tears: “Sister Zhu Yuan, I guess I can say I’ve tasted the same delicacy as you.”
As I was eating, suddenly a plate appeared in front of me.
On it were two fried eggs.
I turned to look at him: “Boss, I didn’t order this.”
The owner lit a cigarette: “It’s on the house, eat up. You look a lot like a mischievous girl from this street. I heard she’s a big star now.”
“I look like her?” I couldn’t hold back my tears, “She must be very happy, having someone who still remembers her.”
“One year, I heard from the neighbors that she came back for some event. I couldn’t squeeze in myself.” He kept wiping the table as he spoke, “By the way, every time she came, she ordered dry-mixed noodles with a fried egg.”
“Grandpa, you said she was mischievous?” Xiao Qin asked.
“Mischievous, she was the most mischievous kid on the street, but also the most likable.” The old man stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, “But I don’t know how she’s doing now. The shop is about to be demolished, and I’m too old to keep working. I’m afraid I’ll never see her again.”
“Didn’t you say she became a big star?” Xiao Qin prompted, “Can’t you see her on TV?”
“I only remember what she looked like as a child. Now that she’s grown up, I wouldn’t recognize her. These girls are always in costume or makeup, I can’t tell who’s who.”
I whispered to Xiao Qin’s camera: “After debuting, Zhu Yuan is my stage name.”
“Grandpa, she must just be too busy. If she comes back, you’ll definitely recognize her.”
“Is that so? But I know she’s been sending me money all these years.” The old man sat at his spot, looking out the door, “She never left her name, but after all these years, who else would send money to a lonely old man like me? I’ve given out quite a few fried eggs over the years, but I don’t know if I ever gave them to the right person.”
After leaving the noodle shop, Xiao Qin asked, “Sister Zhu Yuan, you really just wanted to see him, didn’t you?”
“You saw right through me, how embarrassing.” I didn’t shy away from the camera, “He was alone even when I was a kid, always smiling at me. After all these years, he’s still alone, so I send him some money every year.”
Suddenly, Xiao Qin thought of something, forgetting she was still holding her phone, and the camera drifted off-screen.
“Those unscrupulous media always say you live lavishly and lack substance. They even call you the stingiest female celebrity in showbiz,” she said indignantly, “just because you canceled a scholarship for a female student.”
That was indeed my dark history.
I was cursed to the top of the trending searches, and even lost my endorsement deals.
“I actually kept telling her that I could support her until she found a job. But later, she asked me for the latest iPhone, and even said she wanted to go abroad to broaden her horizons. She thinks since I’m a celebrity, I shouldn’t care about such trivial expenses.”
I took a piece of candy out of my pocket and handed it to her. “You’ve got a bit of garlic breath, have some. Honestly, instead of giving her money to travel abroad, I’d rather help some other kid who needs it more.”
As we chatted, we walked to the gates of my old high school.
Still couldn’t get in.
“That’s the teaching building, and behind it is the library. After all these years, the sports field has been renovated-now it’s a synthetic track.”
“Sister Zhu Yuan, I’m sure the audience is really curious about how you and Mr. Lu Xiao met. Could you share your story with everyone?”
“I was clueless in high school. He transferred in during the last year. Back then, I always thought he was picking on me-he must’ve been jealous I was top of the class. I just found him insufferable. We even became archrivals.”
I led her along the edge of the school wall, then pointed at the teaching building. “See that class on the fifth floor? The top class. I had my senior year classes there. Looking back, time really flies. I went from being a student who could never get enough sleep, to an adult who still can’t get enough.”
Xiao Qin laughed at that: “You must have to stay up all night filming, huh?”
“Definitely. So whenever I get a chance to nap, I seize it. Otherwise, I’d end up with a sallow face, losing all my hair, and still have to face the camera’s scrutiny every day.”
“So how did you go from being rivals to a couple?”
I pouted and shook my head. “He may not say much, but he’s honestly pretty cunning. I always thought he trailed me by a few points, and I’d gloat after every exam. Turns out, he’d actually calculate not just his own scores, but mine too. He said he found my pride cute, so he’d purposely get a couple of questions wrong. The kicker is, he’d always finish just a few points behind me, taking second place.
“If this video goes out, he might get roasted for being a clueless guy, right? When I later found out he was actually better than me, I was so mad I ignored him for a month.
“After the college entrance exams, he actually confessed to me.
“At the time, I was convinced he was a liar. I even told him flat out: if I ever date you, I’m a dog.
“And guess how he confessed? He told me he’d seen in a movie that if you ask someone what their favorite food is, it means you like them. So he kept asking me every day for a month what I liked to eat. I thought his family owned a corner store-he always had some snacks.
“If he hadn’t come out and said it directly in the end, I probably would never have realized he liked me.
“I’m telling you, if this video airs, his cool CEO image is done for. Because, to get me to date him, he said he was the real dog.”
I also spoke to the camera, “I’ve shown you our story. I hope that from now on, there’ll be no more entanglements between me and him. He deserves his own life, and I hope those who care about me won’t go looking for him, and definitely won’t attack him. I can’t be with someone for a lifetime, so I hope everyone can keep watch for me. Besides, what’s the point of prying? I’m already gone; none of it really matters anymore.
“No matter how distant we become, the kindness he showed me was real.”
After leaving the high school, I was a bit tired from all the walking.
I found a step by the lake and sat down.
Xiao Qin stood below, holding her phone to film me: “Sister Zhu Yuan, what are you thinking about right now?”
A gust of wind blew, and my wig fell across my eyes.
I rubbed my sore eyes.
“I’ve signed up for organ donation. You all have to live well for me, okay?”
There was one thing I didn’t say aloud.
“Lu Xiao, you win. I really miss you now.”