Section 48 Left Ear (48)

  Original Text Section 48: Left Ear (48)

  "Go," I said. "I can get up early."

  "Or you can stay," he said, "I'll arrange for you to live in our school's girls' dormitory."

  He noticed my hesitation and said, "Don't be afraid, it's all girls in the girls' dormitory."

  I gave him a white eye, but he suddenly smiled.

  "What's your name?" he asked me.

  "Li Yu," I said.

  "Right, I remember now, it's this name." he said.

  When he smiled, it was so captivating that time suddenly took me back to my high school days. My lonely and empty 17-year-old self saw him for the first time on a street at dusk, leaning against the railing with a white shirt on his back. His face was so handsome. At that time, I was still a naive and innocent girl, love had just begun to sprout in my heart, turning everything upside down, making me flustered and unable to recognize myself.

  Time will only get old, but time will never deceive us. The loyalty to love makes my heart like boiling hot blood. So, I also smiled at him.

  He was stunned for a moment in my smile, then finished the last mouthful of rice and said to me: "Pay the bill and let's go." That night, Xu Yi sent me to the bottom of the girls' dormitory building and made a phone call.

  Before long, a girl with short hair came down to pick me up. She greeted Xi Ye and then smiled as she put her arm around my shoulder, saying "OK, let's go."

  I'm a bit uncomfortable with strangers being so affectionate, so I pushed her away.

  Xu Yi smiled meaningfully and said to the girl: "This is my sister, take good care of her."

  The girl smiled and asked him: "How many good sisters do you have?"

  "It's just the two of you." Xu Yi replied with a straight face.

  The girl smiled and said goodbye to him, then pulled me upstairs.

  In order to avoid talking too much with that girl, I went to bed early that night and pretended to be asleep. However, I heard her quietly introducing me to another girl, saying: "This is Xu Shuai's new girlfriend."

  They called him Commander Xu. I remembered the silly-looking boy in their dormitory that morning, and guessed that Xu Yi must have a better relationship with the girls. What happened next proved my guess right. The fat girl pulled up the quilt for me and told the other girls to be quieter. I was so touched by this that I fell asleep for real.

  The next morning, Xu Yi was already waiting for me downstairs. He had changed into a new set of sportswear and girls passing by him couldn't help but let out soft shrieks.

  "He said: 'I'll take you to our cafeteria for some breakfast.'"

  "It's okay," I said, "I'm not hungry."

  "But I'm hungry," he said, "Let's go."

  He insisted on not going. He had no choice but to say: "Okay, let's go eat outside."

  I followed him silently as he walked out of the school campus. On our way to the bank, he stopped by a hotel's take-out counter and bought several pan-fried dumplings, which we shared. He pulled out some paper towels from his pocket and handed them to me - they were unscented but of good quality. According to what I read in books, men who carry paper towels with them are men of quality.

  As we walked, he asked me: "Li Ru, how is your name written?"

  The ear with a king on the side.

  "Are you and Barbara good friends?" he said.

  "Yes, but he's dead," I said.

  "Right." He looked at me and said, "But we're still alive, what can you do?"

  "You can't hurt her again," I said.

  He burst out laughing: "You're really silly and adorable. She's already dead, what's the point of being sad? Besides, she was her, I'm me, we haven't had any relationship for a long time."

  I was blocked by him and couldn't say a word. Just like that, we arrived at the bank entrance, I asked him: "How much do you want to withdraw, 5,000 or 6,000?"

  "He thought for a moment and said: 'Six thousand.'"

  "Don't worry, I'll pay you back soon."

  "Oh." I said.

  "Thank you," he said.

  I lifted my eyes to look at him, heaven knows how much courage it took for me to do so. He was also looking at me, but in this gaze, I felt a kind of disappointment that scared me. I felt like I was looking at a stranger, perhaps he had never been familiar with me from the start. What I had been insisting on with great difficulty might have just been a terrible illusion in my heart.

  Good heavens, what do I know about true love?

  On the ninth day after I helped Xu Yi pay off his debt, I received a call from him. He said straightforwardly: "Li Ruo, I still need 2,000 yuan."

  I said: "I don't have." Jump! ~~~~~!!!!!!??????