Olympia (II): Oedipus

Chengdu, September 2018

one

I saw Xie Ping at a fast food restaurant. I was working there at the time, and I went every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. We were closing and he was sitting there alone, I guess he thought all fast food restaurants were open 24 hours like McDonald's.

I noticed him when I was at the front desk. There were not many people who would order food at that time. He was wearing a dual-use trench coat and jeans, and his face was expressionless. He sat alone in an inconspicuous corner of the store, and there was no food on the table in front of him.

The store is used to turning a blind eye to this kind of person, after all, it is not convenient to drive away customers when there are customers. At about eleven o'clock, I changed from the front desk, the customers in the store were almost gone, and the store manager whispered to me this unwelcome presence.

I don't think he's like your average bum or beggar, who are mostly ragged and unkempt, and there are a lot of them in this city.

The first impression he gave me was that he was gentle, even a little intellectual. I don't know what trouble ran into this young man my age.

I put on my apron, went to the corner where he was, and asked him if he needed any help.

"Excuse me, can you give me something to eat? Anything will do." He looked straight at me as if he knew me. As I expected, he spoke quite politely.

"I lost my wallet, I'm so sorry for causing you trouble." Seeing that I didn't respond, he continued to explain.

Poor young man, how can you lose your wallet when you go out? It's so careless. I turned my head to look at the store manager standing in the other corner, she stretched out her right index finger and shook it at me. I turned my head and saw Xie Ping's eyes pass by me. The atmosphere became awkward.

"I'll help you see what's left," I said to him, then turned around, walked past the manager, and went straight to the backstage.

As I served the cold, soft fries, I had a few ways to play the game in my head. If the store manager said we were not a charity, I would argue against her with a campaign to donate to children in the mountains. If she says that taking homeless people will only create more homeless people, I'm saying we can't wait for the government to solve it if we don't help them. If she says you have to listen to her in her shop, then I won't be here tomorrow. When I passed her again with my dinner plate in hand, she didn't say a word, letting the hard rays stream from her eyes.

"There are still some fries. It's a little cold. You can eat them." I put the fries on the table in front of Xie Ping and said.

"Thank you, thank you very much," he said, grabbing the fries impatiently, looking like he hadn't eaten in a day.

"It doesn't matter, the rest can't be kept until tomorrow anyway." I said to him, "By the way, our store is closing soon. You should go back to your residence after you finish eating."

"What, aren't you open 24 hours?" He looked up at me, his left hand holding the fries hovering in the air.

"We're not McDonald's. I'm getting off work, do I need any help?"

"That's it..." His expression was a little embarrassed. "I'm not a local. Today, my wallet and mobile phone were stolen, and my credit card and ID card were inside."

"Do you need me to book a hotel for you?"

"But I don't have an ID."

"I see." I stood there, folded my hands, and looked at him, "Have you contacted your family? Maybe they can help you find a way, do you need me to borrow your phone?"

"I..." He hesitated, "I have no family here to contact."

"Well then, you sit down for a while, and I'll help you figure out a way when I get off work." I said.

"No, I can't cause you any more trouble. If it really doesn't work, I'll go to the subway station and sleep." He said with a smile.

I couldn't help laughing too. "You look like a scholar. Have you ever slept in a subway station before?"

"That's not true, but there is no way out. At least now I don't have to worry about my wallet being stolen when I sleep in the subway station." He said with a wry smile.

"Let me help you find a solution. I'm about to get off work, can you wait a while?"

I turned back to the backstage, sorted out the shelves, went to the locker room to change out of work clothes, and said goodbye to the store manager. The manager's eyes softened a lot. After all, she knows better than me that 100 grams of cold fries are not an important asset.

"Let's go, let's think of a way as we go." I waved to Xie Ping as I passed by.

He seemed unwilling to stand up and looked at me closely, to a decent degree.

"Here." He stood up from his seat, picked up the book in his hand and tucked it under his arm. It was only then that I noticed the thin little book that had been sitting on the table.

"What book did you read? None of them were stolen. I'm afraid even thieves would not like it." I asked with a smile.

"Ancient Greek tragedy." I just asked casually, but he actually answered seriously.

"Aeschylus?"

"Oedipus the King by Sophocles," he replied, looking at the cover of the book. "Have you read this book?"

"No. I heard from the academy teacher. What?"

"I haven't finished it yet. You study literature?" he asked, looking at me.

"What's wrong, it's a surprise?"

"Not really. You usually read a lot of books, don't you?"

"Ninety percent of the people in our college can read two books a year." I said with a smile, "What about you, are you also going to college? What are you doing here in Chengdu?"

"Graduated long ago. Don't mention it, it's hard to say." He sighed and lowered his head.

"Tell me," I said.

"Now, let's talk about which is better for me to sleep in today."

Xie Ping and I walked out of the store side by side. On the dimly lit road, neon-colored lights drove by from time to time.

"Yes. Or else, if you don't mind, you can live at my place, not far from here." I said, "Tomorrow you will go to the police station to get your ID card, then go to the bank to report the loss of your bank card, and then buy a mobile phone. .Although it's a bit of a hassle, it can always be solved."

"I don't have a household registration book, how can I get an ID card? Besides, it's not good to live with you..." He scratched his head and said.

"It doesn't matter, I don't think you look like a bad person, you can rest assured on the sofa." I smiled at him. I'm sure he's not a serial perverted murderer who preys on female fast food restaurant clerks.

"Do you live alone?" he asked me.

"Well, just turn right at the intersection ahead, an old community." Starting this semester, I will no longer live in the graduate dormitory. I rented a cheap single room, three subway stops to the school, and it was very close to the part-time job.

"So, you're single?" Perhaps feeling rude, he waved his hand to withdraw the question.

I don't mind. "I have a boyfriend who is one level higher than me. I am busy with my graduation thesis, so I can only live in the dormitory. As a science student, there is no way. Don't worry about it. I rent the house myself, and it has nothing to do with him. I just want to help you. "

"Okay." With a shy face, he reluctantly accepted my proposal, "I've never lived in a girl's house before."

"Well, I don't really believe it." I looked at his handsome face and said with a smile, "Tell me, how did you lose something?"

"Forget it, I don't want to talk about it."

"Then you have to talk about what Chengdu is doing? Where are you from? I can't hear your accent at all."

"Let's talk at your house later," he said.

"Okay." I said.

We walked back to the community along the street with incomplete street lights, swiped the card at the door to enter, and the security guard in the duty room gave us a strange look. From the old elevator to the eighth floor, I took out the key and opened the door. The house is a bit messy, the sofa is full of clutter, and I haven't had time to clean it this week.

"I'll tidy up the living room." I went to the sofa and started sorting out the clutter.

"No, go wash up, I'll just take my things off and go to sleep." Xie Ping came over and reached out to help me carry my things.

I stepped back and sat on the stool next to the sofa. "I'm not going to sleep yet, you said you were going to tell me what happened."

He put the sundries on the coffee table and sat on the sofa. "Okay, as long as you're not bored."

"How could that be? Speaking of which, you're the first college student I've ever seen who lost his wallet and went to a fast food restaurant to beg for food, haha." After that, I laughed, "Tell me, what's going on? "

"That's it," he took a deep breath, "I was kicked out by my dad."

"Didn't you just say that you have no relatives?"

"Yeah, he treated me like this, and I still treat him as a family member?"

"Why? Evicted from home? What about your mother?" I asked.

"They divorced when I was a kid. He has women now, but I never knew them. Not from home, but from his factory."

"You work in his factory? What do you do?"

"In charge of interior design." His tone was a little angry, and he didn't know what to hide. "I studied art in college. I didn't study well since I was a child. I only know how to draw. Don't look at me holding a book. I haven't read books seriously, but I have an impression that there are no books in my study room. But let's talk about painting. I was left-handed. I was beaten by him since I was a child. I switched to writing and painting with my right hand. "

"It sounds like you don't have a good relationship with your father."

"It's not just bad, it's a disaster." He was silent for a while, then continued to talk, "He sent me to New York to study art, I thought he respected my interests. I graduated two years ago and I want to stay In New York, he forced me to go home and work in his factory, as if I was just a tool for him. You know, not everyone has the opportunity to have an exhibition at the Phoebus Gallery.”

"So, you must be very good at drawing, right?" I asked.

"I feel normal, but they all say that I think a lot, so let's take it as a compliment."

"Of course it's a compliment. By the way, you said you graduated two years ago, so you are also twenty-four years old this year?" I looked at his face and vaguely remembered something. He looked at me too, but quickly looked away. So I turned around.

"Yeah, don't you think so?" he asked me back.

"Why," I said. "So, we're still the same age."

"It's a coincidence. Go on, I can't do anything else. In his factory, I can only do my old job and do some design. He entrusted me to be responsible for the interior design of the new factory area. I misunderstood him again, I thought He trusted me and asked me to do it, but it wasn't. I finished the overall plan very quickly, the style was relatively simple, and the cost was not high, but he was involved with him in a detail, and in the end he didn't cheat him, was kicked out."

"What details?" I asked him curiously.

"After the overall design is completed, there are still partial plans, such as doing some cultural creativity in the office and corridor. He thinks that there are some corporate culture displays, plus some policies and current affairs, as well as employee recognition. I think it is too primitive. , I came up with a plan," he turned his head, looked at me and asked, "By the way, have you seen a movie?"

"what movie?"

"A documentary called "Face, Village", it should be last year's film."

"I've heard the name, but I haven't seen it," I replied. "What is it about?"

"It's about a film director and a street artist, doing art wherever they go. They take pictures of all kinds of people along the way, print them as huge posters and put them on the wall, that's their house, shop, or The factory is very interesting." He paused, then continued, "I wanted to print a group portrait of the workers on the wall of the corridor at the entrance of the factory, but the man was adamantly against it, saying that it was too unconventional and too time-consuming, and he also said that it would make Workers have a sense of ownership, I wonder, shouldn’t workers have a sense of ownership?”

"I think you're very creative too," I said thoughtfully.

He sighed. "Nothing to talk about with that person, and the last hallway is full of honor rolls for outstanding employees."

"Just because of this, I kicked you out? Not really?" I asked with concern.

"No, it's not because of this, there's something else."

"What's the matter?" I turned to ask him.

"On Labor Day, the workers in the factory organized a strike," he said with his head down.

"Strike? Why?"

"The reason is this," he took a deep breath again. "The new factory has just been renovated, and the volatile gas has not yet reached the standard, and it has started to operate. At the beginning, a few workers fell ill and were hospitalized and their money was deducted. They asked for environmental testing, The man disagreed. I heard that the test is quite expensive. A few workers with better conditions put together the money to do the test, and the target was three times higher. At that time, it had been three months since the start of work, and I kind of know why he hardly went to the new factory. Speaking of which, I was coughing all the time. The workers reported it to the media, and the guy fired them, and that's how things started. The workers demanded compensation, vacations, dismissals, and overtime pay. , the old accounts of social security, etc. have been turned over. In short, there is a big commotion."

"It's disappointing that I didn't expect your father to be like this," I whispered.

"Just be disappointed. He deserves to be killed by a car like a parasite like him." He said angrily, "I'm sorry, I'm so excited." He gestured to apologize.

"What about you, what do you have to do with these things?"

"I support them." He lowered his head, as if he had done something wrong. "It's just that I'm not doing it for labor rights or anything. I just don't like that guy."

"If it were me, I'd be on the workers' side, too," I said.

"Thank you," he said. "Afterwards, he called the police and arrested a few of the leaders, and then they dispersed. Then a dozen people were fired. I don't know where they went, but local businesses knew about it. , I don’t know how to use them, they should all go to other cities, maybe some will come to Chengdu.”

"Chengdu? It's all the same." I shook my head and said.

"That night, I was kicked out of the house. He threw my schoolbag and easel out the door, and called me a dog that eats inside and out. Ha, that's a good call. I often pay out my own money to invite workers and friends to have a barbecue and drink beer together. Well, of course I ate inside and out. But I can't stand him throwing my easel out like garbage. Do you know how many years it has been with me? It just broke." He gasped, "If I Music student, he can throw the piano for me out the window and fuck his uncle."

"Don't be so angry, I know you're sad." I stretched out my hand and soothed his shoulder, "Where did you go after that?"

"I bought a smaller folding easel and left with a few clothes. I came here all the way from Shenzhen, and just arrived in Chengdu last night. I helped people with portraits when I had the opportunity on the way, and I didn't draw a few pictures, so I couldn't make money. How much money I got depends on Cary's savings, and now it's good, it's all stolen." He said sadly.

"Where was it stolen?" I asked.

"At your school." He looked up at me and answered.

"You mean our school? Do you know which school I'm from?" I asked him in surprise.

He was also a little surprised, as if he said something wrong, but he quickly calmed down. "Didn't you study literature? This is a comprehensive university near where you live."

"You're pretty smart. But why are you coming to our school?"

"Wandering around. Your city still has some cultural heritage, so it's not bad to just stroll around."

"It's a pity that after so many years of construction, everything has become the same. After you left home, why did you choose to come to Chengdu?" I asked.

"When I left, I didn't have any plans. After passing through many cities, I came here naturally." He turned his head and looked at the night outside the living room window, "Actually, I was born here. After my parents divorced, my father brought me with him. I left and never came back."

"What are you talking about?" I stood up from the stool and asked in surprise, "Are you from Chengdu?"

"I'm not sure...what's the matter, are you?" He turned his face, looked at me, and asked rhetorically.

"My home is in Mianyang, not far from Chengdu," I laughed. "I have lived in that city with my mother since I was a child."

"Mianyang..." He muttered in a low voice, "This name is so familiar, I seem to remember something."

At this moment, the angel drove a jet plane over the community, and Xie Ping and I fell into silence at the same time. I suddenly felt that he was like someone, someone around me, someone I knew very well.

Somehow, something mysterious is driving me. I sat next to Xie Ping and looked at him for a long time. I reached out and stroked his cheek and kissed his lips. He wants to refuse. I reached out and hugged his body, he tried to shirk, but couldn't resist my enthusiasm. I stripped him and stripped myself naked. We kissed, hugged, and had sex on the couch.

two

Lin E didn't know, the first time I saw her was not in a fast food restaurant, but in front of the building of the Faculty of Arts, and I remembered her appearance at first sight. She has simple short braids, a gray shirt and a short black skirt. The bangs on her forehead are blown by the warm wind in the spring and summer, and the corners of her handsome eyebrows are looming under her hair.

She stood in the crowd, in the second row, or the third row, I can't remember, holding a sign in her hand that said "justice", "law", "women's rights" and other words in Chinese and English. There was an older man beside her, maybe a lecturer or a teaching assistant or something.

Suddenly, I thought of Lu Li.

I don't know where Lu Li has gone, I try not to miss her as much as possible. I don't mind the deceit and betrayal she brings to me. I know, I can't do anything for her, we are not on a rope after all.

However, I must also be ashamed to admit that my departure had something to do with her. I watched my father fire her in front of my eyes, but when I approached her with self-righteous indignation and pity, all I got was a well-known lie.

So I left Shenzhen.

I don't know where I'm going. When I left, I didn't think about coming to Chengdu, but there was some force that was pulling me in the dark.

I have always believed that Chengdu is my hometown, or which city is nearby, I don't know. My father never gave me a positive answer, but the appearance of my hometown often appeared in my dreams. In the plain surrounded by mountains, a large river runs through the city. I imagined the face of my hometown as I imagined my mother. God, I don't know what my mother looks like anymore.

All I remember is that my mother was an ordinary laborer. So, to me, art is the science of labor. But many people don't think so. Those so-called artists, who are familiar with the avant-garde painting techniques of a hundred years ago, do not know that humans created the highest level of art in primitive caves as early as 10,000 years ago, and that is about labor, about solidarity, about survival. They don't understand this.

With the idea that art is labor, I embarked on an undirected path. I intend to paint as I go, to work, to get paid, not asking for or relying on anyone.

Obviously, things didn't go as smoothly as I thought. I know those artists who go all the way to create, and behind them is a huge team. And the biggest sum of money I have made so far is 500 yuan for a portrait of a high school girl in a certain city. The man who took care of her looked in his forties and wore a pair of sunglasses.

It makes me hate people and hate myself. Yes, no one cares about art, but I shouldn't be thinking about such a profound topic. What needs to be solved now is survival. I thought about doing odd jobs while traveling, but it ended up being a day of wandering, returning to the hotel at night to look at job sites, and ending the day with nothing to do.

I thought about working part-time in places like fast food restaurants, bookstores, coffee shops, but in this case, I would have to settle down in one place again. Is there any work that is not limited by location, writing? Obviously I don't have the patience for that. Then it's better to find a place to settle down, away from my father, away from the factory, away from the police, painting, working, reading, and learning to be a person again.

In this way, I came to Chengdu. After coming here, I discovered that this city is no longer the romantic rumored. Developed and even strict, huge and even bloated. Overlooking the city from the universe, the emerging functional areas are arranged in an orderly manner on the periphery of the city, embracing the disappearing central city, like the nude women dancing in a circle in Matisse's works.

Why am I here.

Because, since May, I have been following this place. I write down in my notebook the words I can and can't see. Soon, the notebook used to record creative inspiration is filled with a long list of times, places, people, and events.

On May 4, Zhu, a female graduate student of the Faculty of Arts, hanged herself in the dormitory, leaving a suicide note of 10,000 characters, claiming that her tutor Gao had physically violated her for three years, causing serious mental trauma. . After the roommate found his body, the police intervened in the investigation. The other three girls in the dormitory and some girls in the building moved out of the dormitory and found their own place to live.

On May 5, an anonymous user on the student forum posted a statement about the above-mentioned incident, which sparked heated discussions. Another anonymous user claimed that the contents of the deceased's suicide note were true.

At 6:00 a.m. on May 6th, the entrance to the student forum was temporarily closed and resumed at 3:00 p.m. The above post has been deleted.

On May 7, some students of the Faculty of Arts entered the building of the Faculty and pressured the leaders of the Faculty by means of protest, requesting the Faculty to conduct necessary investigation and handling.

On May 8, both the university and the Faculty of Letters issued a statement, giving Gao, a professor of the Faculty of Letters, resignation and depriving him of the title of "Jiangcheng Scholar".

In the evening of the same day, some students held a memorial service for the deceased in the central square of the school. They were expelled by the school security for igniting an open flame.

On May 11, Gao was hired by a university in Nanjing to serve as a professor and postgraduate tutor of the school's liberal arts college, and served as the deputy director.

On May 12, an anonymous user on a student forum posted a post protesting that Gao was hired by another university.

On the same day, several students in the Faculty of Arts posted that several professors of the Faculty had physically or verbally violated the graduate students, and promised to publish papers and graduate on schedule. Students from the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and other departments also supported the students of the Faculty of Arts at the forum.

The above contents were deleted on the same day.

On the morning of May 17, some teachers and students of the Faculty of Arts protested in front of the Faculty Building.

On May 18, a university in Nanjing decided to dismiss Gao, a professor and deputy director of the Faculty of Arts.

On the morning of May 26, teachers and students of the Faculty of Arts and other departments once again held a protest in front of the Faculty of Arts building. From the social platform of Jiang Mou, the chairman of the student union of the Faculty of Arts, the outside world learned about the four requirements of the protesting teachers and students:

1. Demand that the former professor of the Faculty of Arts, Gao Mou, be completely cut off from the opportunity to engage in educational work, and his criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law;

Second, in view of the weak supervision of the colleagues of the college, the current dean of the College of Arts, Du Mou, is required to resign;

3. It is required to promote the transparency of the university graduate admissions and degree management system, to disclose the graduate admission results, and to formulate a sound and reasonable degree assessment mechanism;

Fourth, it is required to promote the establishment of university teachers' ethics committees with the participation of student representatives, and to establish a clear and enforceable supervision mechanism to supervise the personal ethics and other aspects of school staff.

In the afternoon of the same day, a spokesman for the principal's office said that the school has carefully considered the opinions of the students and promised to do its best to solve the problem.

In the evening, the School of Letters said that it will respect all decisions made by the school.

This is roughly how things went.

Although I am immersed in the unspoken rules of all walks of life, there are not many people who really dare to stand up. What happened in Chengdu attracted me.

It is now September, and it has been a summer vacation since the incident. The school seems to have not fulfilled its promise and has no intention to solve the problem. Otherwise, I would not have seen teachers and students gather in front of the building again today.

After arriving in Chengdu last night, I stayed at a hotel in the city center, checked out this morning, and planned to leave here by tonight's train and continue north. After wandering around all day, I didn't go to university until it was close to evening.

When I came to the university, I happened to encounter the third protest. Since the start of the semester, the school has banned visitors from entering and leaving at will. I approached a girl at the gate of the school and asked her to lead me to the school. The security would think we were a couple.

In front of the Faculty of Letters building, I stopped. The teachers and students held placards and shouted slogans. Their queue reminded me of the image of the workers who only existed in my imagination. There were four to five rows in the queue, with twenty people in each row, and 70% of them were girls.

In the crowd, I saw Lin E at a glance. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she stood out in the crowd for some reason. At that moment, I suddenly thought of my mother, a woman I didn't know or even knew what she looked like. I also don't know why.

I wanted to take out my mobile phone and take pictures of the crowd, as well as Lin E's face, to record her appearance in the crowd. I believe that if I encounter the same image again, I will still be able to find her at the first sight in the crowd.

But at this moment, the silence of the confrontation was broken along with the glass door of the college building by a throwing object from an emotional student. The originally static security team quickly controlled the people in the front row of the crowd. The queue dissipated out of control, and I was standing on the side of the trail on the south side of the building, almost unsteady on my feet by the surging crowd.

When I came back to my senses, the crowd had dispersed, and the shards of glass scattered in front of the building reflected the scorching sunset. I reached into my pocket, only to find that my phone and wallet were gone.

three

"Really... Hahaha... Then where did you go?" Lin E laughed so hard that he could hardly breathe.

"The room is also gone. I haven't eaten dinner yet. I really can't think of where I can go." Xie Ping replied with a sullen face, "I walked around and walked to your store."

According to my observation, people's reactions after cheating can be roughly divided into two types, one is eagerly seeking a second pleasure, and the other is getting dressed, back to back, and not saying a word, perhaps because of so-called guilt. However, I have never seen performances like Lin E and Xie Ping. After a brief snuggle, they cleaned up the scene, put on their underwear, sat face to face on the sofa, and giggled at each other.

"Isn't it possible to pay with your face?" she asked.

"I didn't turn that on," he replied.

"Then you have to admit that you are unlucky. By the way, where's your luggage?"

"Hey, if you don't tell me, I forgot. I left my backpack and easel in the hotel. I originally planned to leave Chengdu tonight and pick up my luggage before going to the train station. It's better now, I can't buy a ticket, and I don't have a bag. Take it." He said angrily, "but there are only some clothes in the bag, and it doesn't help me in my current situation."

"I see, if I lend you some money, you can find a black car to go home. This should be the most reliable solution at present."

"I'm not going back," he said firmly.

"Because of your father?"

"Yeah, why else?"

"The household registration book must be sent by him, otherwise you can't do anything without an ID card, right?" She looked at him and said.

"It's, oh, it's so annoying..." He reached out and covered his forehead.

The two, still sitting on the sofa, suddenly stopped talking and looked at each other. Seemingly embarrassed, they turned their heads.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you and your boyfriend..." Xie Ping said softly.

"What, never went to bed?"

"Hmm." His voice dropped.

"What's the matter?" Lin E replied nonchalantly, "Don't you also have a girlfriend?"

"But we're not good."

"It's nothing, anyway, I wanted to break up with Gu Shu for a long time. Gu Shu is my boyfriend."

"Why?" he asked.

"He, I don't even bother to talk about him. It's fine if he doesn't have time to accompany me. He just doesn't want to make progress, and would rather play games in the laboratory with his classmates."

"Aren't all graduate students like this?" He added, "Although I haven't read it."

"I told him before, it's better to work early rather than go to a graduate school that you don't like. But if you really like this major, then study hard. He has a senior brother who worked hard when he was a graduate student. He graduated last year. I worked for a big Internet company to do research and development. I heard that I have been in charge of large-scale projects. I resigned a while ago to start a business. But Gu Shu, he is studying for graduate school, isn’t he just escaping the society?

"What about you, why did you go to graduate school?" He looked at her and asked.

"It's not the same. I really wanted to read, so I got admitted."

"However, you literature majors shouldn't be able to find a job, right?"

"That's right, it's just..." she answered hesitantly.

"Just what?"

"It's nothing, forget it." She turned her head, "Actually... I've always wanted to be a writer, I've always wanted to be like this since I was a child."

"That's good, have you ever written a novel?" he asked.

"Well... it can't be called a novel, but I usually like to write short stories and the like."

"I can't give you any help about writing, but I heard from others that writing should be close to life, and to observe life, such as working in a fast food restaurant, is quite good."

"I work part-time to earn living expenses. After all, renting a house costs money, so it's not about experiencing life." She said, "What about you, how did you like to draw?"

"Didn't I say, I won't do anything else."

"Don't say that, I think you are very smart, and you have your own thoughts on many things. Unlike me, in addition to taking classes and working every day, you are reading books and watching movies in the dormitory or at home."

"Isn't it good, life is to be simple, don't screw up your life like me."

"I think it's nice of you to be like this, except for the stolen wallet, of course."

"Can you stop talking about this..." He was speechless, "Tell me about your family too, okay?"

"Of course you can, but you have to promise me that after today, you'd better forget about me and treat us as just..."

"Okay, stop talking..." He interrupted her shyly.

She adjusted her expression and tone. "It's like this. I have lived with my mother since I was a child."

"You're also a single parent? What a coincidence," he interjected.

"Yeah, so we have a lot in common."

"What was your mother like?" he asked.

"When I was young, I thought she was a very strong woman. Over the years, she never mentioned her ex-husband, my father. I don't know what kind of person my father was. Maybe he abandoned his wife and daughter cruelly, or maybe he Had to go through some tragedy. But no matter what the situation, my mother would be reluctant to mention him."

"That guy never talks about her ex-wife, no, it should be her ex-wife. Forget it, I don't know."

"Why do you want to get married if you want to separate?" she asked suddenly, "You said, how much shadow does the divorce of parents bring to the children."

"But in some cases, if you don't get a divorce, it will hurt more." He replied without hesitation.

"I mean, don't get married in the first place."

"When people get married, they must feel that they are qualified for marriage." He glanced at her, "So, are you an unmarried person?"

"That's not true, I just think that I haven't met a man who makes me want to get married." She also looked at him, "What about you, have you really never been in love?"

"No...?" he answered word by word.

"No, what does it mean? Yes, yes, no, no. Is there any?" she asked.

"If you really want to say it, then it is." He slowed down.

"Tell me about it?"

"Don't say it, it doesn't make any sense."

"I already told you about my boyfriend, are you unfair?"

"Okay." He stopped and continued, "That's right, she used to work in my dad's factory."

"The factory owner's son is in a relationship with a female worker? Interesting."

"Don't say that, I just think she's...beautiful," he said while thinking. "She's called Lu Li, she has short hair, and does the same job as men. She's very special, and she's willing to let me paint her."

"So you like her?"

"Um……"

"Did you fall in love with her?"

"How do you say it, if you think it counts, then forget it." He replied, "That's the weekend, I mean Sunday, they have to go to work on Saturday, I'll go out with her, go shopping, watch movies, etc. Yes. But I spend more time painting her."

"Will you invite her to your house?"

"How is it possible, my dad..."

"Your father doesn't know?"

"Of course I don't know. What do you think? He can't allow me to fall in love with a female worker from another place. He will say that it is not suitable for my identity. I have been introduced to a lot of blind date objects, such as the daughter of the owner of a pork processing factory."

"Hahaha." She was amused. "Have you been to her house? What's her name, Lu Li?"

"Yes, Lu Li. No, it's not very convenient for her to share a room with others."

"Have you ever opened a room?" she asked curiously.

"Why do you keep asking about this?"

"Oh, I'm concerned about it."

"Don't worry about that stuff," he said. "I didn't do that with her."

"Then you should have kissed?"

"Neither." He said flatly.

"No way... Damn it," she covered her mouth, "Is that your first kiss just now?"

"Really, don't ask so much, I don't care much about that. Just talk to her. She usually takes the initiative to ask me out or something."

"I see," she looked at him, "you just want to paint, right?"

"You can say that, how do you know?"

"I also felt this way when I was writing novels. I knew it would take a lot of time, but I just didn't want to study, eat, sleep, or contact Gu Shu. In fact, I have reasons for wanting to break up."

"Yes, that's how it feels. Actually, it's not a problem. If you want to paint, then paint. If you want to write, then write."

"It's different, you can paint as much as you want, I can't, I have too many things to think about," she said.

"Like?"

"For example, the most direct one is the economic problem. You know, my family's conditions are not very good. When I was a child, my mother supported the family alone, and I will need to carry it in the future. I definitely don't want to live on a man."

"But just by writing novels, it's hard to even support yourself."

"Who said no, but I still want to try it," she said. "Also, I can get a formal job, and I mean work other than writing."

"I really admire you. One day, if you want me to make a living by painting, I will definitely give up within a week." He said, "I hope you can succeed, and I hope to read your book in the future."

"Thank you," she said with a smile, "but you don't even know my name."

"It's not important." He also smiled, "Besides, I lost my wallet and was taken home by a strange girl, should I thank you?"

"You don't want to mention it, haha." She said, "Tell me, what are you going to do next?"

"No plans," he looked to the other side of the living room, "As you said, first get your ID card, bank card and other things ready, and then maybe find a city, find a job, and support yourself. Anyway, never again. will go home."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet, let's go all the way, the money is still enough." He said, "Maybe go to Beijing to see, I haven't been there when I grow up."

"I haven't been there either. It's a big city," she said.

"Why don't you come with me."

"What nonsense are you talking about, you know it's impossible," she said in a lower voice.

"I'm just talking casually. Will you marry your boyfriend?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if I want to break up with him. I'll talk about it after graduation. By the way, you haven't finished yet."

"What?" he asked back.

"You and your girl."

"Is there anything else to say?"

"What happened to you later? Is it still going on?" she asked.

"We lost contact for a long time. Remember what I said just now. She was one of the people who were fired from the factory. She was very active at the time."

"Then where did she go?"

"I don't know, maybe go home."

"Why don't you go with her? Isn't this a good opportunity?"

"Don't ask."

"what happened again?"

"Don't you think I don't want to," he looked up, "I told her that, but she told me that she has a husband and a two-year-old child back home. I suspect I'm the only one in the world who doesn't know about this thing."

"Ah... how old is she?"

"Twenty-two this year."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked so much." She apologized to him.

"It's okay, it's all over anyway," he said calmly.

"Tell you about me," she said. "I'm in love with someone."

"Who is it, not your boyfriend?"

"No, it's a teacher in our college."

"Teachers and students love?"

"It's not like that," she replied hastily. "He doesn't know."

"That's why you have a crush on him? Since when?" he asked.

"I can't tell. It's been almost a year since I took his class. I'm actually quite a lazy person. I often skip classes in undergraduate and more in graduate school, but I won't miss a single session of his class. I thought it was He did a good job and the lessons were interesting, but I found that I was actually looking forward to seeing him. Anywhere he showed up, I wanted to watch him."

"You're in love, no doubt," he summed up for her.

"I know...but I dare not tell anyone, including him."

"Except me? Because I'm a stranger?"

"Maybe." She replied in a low voice.

"What do you like about him?" he asked.

"I can't tell. I remember discussing issues with him once. I forgot what we were discussing. He stayed in school and knew a lot. He would tell us a lot of things other than literature. I only remember him at that time. Felt like my brother, not a teacher."

"How old is he?"

"About thirty years old."

"That's really your brother."

"No, I'm not talking about age. I mean, how he makes me feel... I can't tell you either. In short, I like people who can give me this feeling. But Gu Shu doesn't. child."

"Then do you have a brother yourself?" he asked looking at her.

"No, but..."

"But what?"

"Although my mother didn't tell me, I always have a vague impression that I always feel that I have a twin brother."

"Why does it feel that way?" he asked.

"I don't know. I didn't have a father since I was a child. I resisted the image of a father. When I was a child, I would imagine the men close to me as brothers instead of fathers, but I don't have a brother. We don't have a man in our family, I don't have a brother, and my mother doesn't. Husband, we are very similar."

"Wait, you said, you look a lot like your mother?" He looked at her suspiciously.

"Yes, they have similar personalities and looks alike. Everyone says that. What's wrong?" She also looked at him, "By the way, do you have siblings?"

"I...I also had a twin sister when I was little," he said, "like."

"Really, so coincidentally? It seems that we are really destined." She said, observing the other person's expression changing, "What's the matter, why are you looking at me like this... Wait, you mean, you, And your father...you told me that you were born in Mianyang, right?"

"Yes...it's Mianyang, I remembered, that river is called Fujiang..." He was almost muttering to himself.

"I also remembered... Your father, did he leave his hometown about twenty years ago to set up a factory in Shenzhen?"

"Yes……"

"Have you never met your mother since you were a child, since your parents divorced?"

"right……"

Lin E abruptly stood up from the sofa, turned his back to Xie Ping, and was silent for a long time facing the night outside the window. After a while, she turned around.

"You go. Go now," she said, looking straight at him.

He also looked straight at her without saying a word. The night sky outside the window was dark and silent.