Parallel Lines Chapter 9 - Normality

Xuan Lan looked at her watch and realized that it was almost seven o'clock!

how is this possible! It's not even six o'clock when I leave the school gate...

She hurriedly ran off the train bridge, and saw that there happened to be a 27M minibus outside the Golden Dragon Boat Restaurant, and there were not many people, so she had the urge to jump up, but thinking about the current road conditions, it may be better to run home than take a minibus Five minutes later, he crossed Argyle Street and rushed towards He Wentian at high speed.

(Note: No. 113 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, the former site of the Golden Dragon Boat Restaurant)

Mother never gave pocket money.

The only little money she had was a scholarship that she had accumulated privately over the years without "turning it over to the central government" (to her mother). She wouldn't use it unless it was necessary.

As he ran, he thought, Nong Wei's last dinner before the New Year, must be waiting for her at home. If you run to Peizheng Road before the minibus, you won't regret your decision not to jump on the minibus.

In the turbulence, her thoughts were also shaken into a ball - she clearly remembered that she had to go home early today, why did she leave the class room and make a special trip to the auditorium when IMC finished the rehearsal?

I couldn't see her figure, thought she had left, and when she stepped out of the school gate with a sigh of relief, she was caught up behind and held tightly.

Every time her breath approached, excitement and anxiety would always come to her heart. She knew she should dodge, but she couldn't stop.

What's even worse is the weird conversation that went to the train station. "Farewell My Concubine" - Peking Opera, the Cultural Revolution, and even the author's description method, there are many topics that can be discussed in a serious way, why did she choose to go in that so-called direction?

She definitely didn't say those words to reveal her heart to He Huiwen. She had planned to keep such a secret for the rest of her life.

She couldn't help asking herself: What is the reason for such an abnormal behavior even though she has made up her mind?

.

"Xuanxuan is coming home, it's time for dinner." Walking into the house staggeringly, he heard his father say.

The sound of water from the kitchen overwhelmed Xuan Lan's breathing. As my mother started the fire on the stove, she said, "Other dishes can be brought out. I'm just starting to steam the fish now."

"I'm sorry to be home late..." She ran until her lips turned white.

"It's alright," my father wiped the dining table, not paying attention to her out of breath look: "Go wash your hands and help mom cook dinner."

She hurriedly ran to the bathroom to wash the soap and straighten her breath, but she wondered: Mingming came home late for dinner, but she was not scolded.

"Did you come back on the first night of the new year? Could you be earlier?" Mother asked while adding vegetables to father's plate.

The father sighed: "There are still a few colleagues who have undecided schedules, I will try my best..."

"..." The table was silent again.

Facing the blank-eyed parents, Xuan Lan suddenly understood what he had been "looking forward to".

When I was in elementary school, I saw that other students would be rewarded by their parents because of their good scores in a silent book or a test, but even if I got the first place in the whole class, I still could not hear a word of praise from my mother. She had been sad for a long time.

But then, when disappointment became the norm, that uncomfortable feeling faded. If you do well, you will not be praised, and if you do badly, you will be scolded. Once you get used to it, you feel that this is ideal.

The mother felt disappointed when she learned that her father could not return to Hong Kong early, but she and her younger siblings were already used to the days when her father was not at home.

She felt that it was only natural that her mother's inquiry could not get a satisfactory answer. She even felt that it was a matter of course for a homeowner with negative equity like her father, who was the sole breadwinner of the family, to not be able to pay for the property or pay off the debt in his entire life;

What she had been "looking forward to" turned out to be "desperation".

Only in "desperation" can she live in peace.

Maybe she just waited for He Huiwen to say "How can I like girls" or even more decisively said to her: "How can I fall in love with you? Don't dream!" She wouldn't mind no matter how hard it was.

However, it backfired. Not only did He Hui not say that, but he actually asked her if she liked girls. The most annoying thing is that when she asked the question, the moment her eyes were staggered, as if to imply that the sentence was mixed with some emotions that should not exist...

"Is it possible... Are you afraid that you will fall in love with a girl?" In the middle of the night, the girl's whisper and her self-deprecating bowed smile still lingered in her ears.

This night was destined to be another sleepless night.