In the scorching midday sun, Li Haojun held Malaya Malaya's hand and walked under the shade of the sidewalk trees. The exhibition was no longer accessible, it had been cordoned off, and so was the hotel. He didn't care anyway,
午后的烈日里,李皓珺拉着玛莱雅玛莱雅的手,走在人行道的树荫下.展会已经回不去了,被封锁了,旅店也是,反正他也不在乎,
"Where are we going?" Li Haojun asked her. Not because he couldn't make decisions himself, but because he enjoyed interacting with her,
"我们去哪?"李皓珺问她,并不是因为自己不会做决定,而是喜欢和她互动,
Malaya checked her wristwatch as she spoke,
玛莱雅在自己的腕表上一边查询一边说,
"Right now the wind is south by west, and it may turn north tonight. We are currently northeast of the accident site. If we move a few more miles east, we can sleep peacefully tonight no matter which way the wind blows."
"目前是南风偏西,今晚可能是北风,我们现在在事故地点东偏北,我们再往东移动几英里,不管什么风向晚上都可以安心睡觉了."
"Alright,"
"好啊,"
"The bad news is there are no taxis left, they've all been requisitioned. We'll have to walk."
"坏消息是没有出租车了,都被征用了,我们只能走过去."
"That's fine too," Li Haojun replied in the same tone.
"也好啊,"李皓珺同样的语气回答
Malaya didn't understand for a moment and looked at him in confusion. Li Haojun had already taken her hand again,
玛莱雅一时没明白,疑惑地看着他,李皓珺已经再次拉住了她的手,
"Come on," he said, pulling her forward. It seemed that the terrifying moment they had just experienced had brought him closer to Malaya in his heart,
"走,"说着拉着她的身体向前,似乎与她刚刚经历的惊魂时刻拉近了自己心中和玛莱雅的距离,
He admired the young woman he was pulling along—the rhythm of her steps, the sway of her hips. Malaya had grown taller, and a little heavier too. Though still slender, the lines from her waist and hips to her thighs and calves were more sensual now, lacking only the lightness of her former girlhood.
欣赏着被自己拉动的这个大姑娘,她的步伐韵律,她腰胯摇摆的节奏.玛莱雅比原来长高了,也比原来胖了一些,虽然依旧苗条,但是从腰臀,到大腿小腿的线条更加性感了,只是少了原来少女的轻盈.
"Why did you take the field training? Do you like adventure?" Li Haojun asked curiously,
"你为什么要参加外勤的培训呢?喜欢冒险?"李皓珺好奇地问,
"Because the pay is better,"
"因为工资更高,"
Li Haojun was somewhat surprised by this answer, and couldn't help feeling ashamed and remorseful. He had never cared about her financial situation when he first knew her. She was a younger sister who had also grown up without parents, even younger than him. He should have given her more care, but instead he had been drawn to her sister's romantic advances and ignored her.
听到这个回答李皓珺有些吃惊,不由得心中惭愧与悔恨,没有在认识她的时候关心过她的经济状况.同样是没有父母陪伴长大的妹妹,年龄更小,自己本应该给她更多的关心,却只是被与她姐姐浪漫关系吸引而忽略了她.
What had prevented him from giving her more care? Li Haojun replayed their first meeting in his mind. Was it because she was smarter and more quick-witted than her sister that he had overlooked the care she deserved? Or was it because her sister's proactive advances had made him ignore this somewhat withdrawn and eccentric child? Was it the hypocritical morality in his heart that forbade him from approaching her when she was so young, or was it the ethical constraints of his relationship with her sister that prevented him from coveting this little sister?
是什么原因使得自己没能更多地给她关怀呢?李皓珺复盘着与她的相识经过,是因为她比姐姐更聪明伶俐,使得自己忽略了她所应得的关爱?还是她姐姐的主动靠近让自己忽视了这个有些孤僻古怪的孩子?是我内心伪善的道德不允许我那样接近当时年少的她,还是与姐姐的关系在伦理上不允许自己再垂涎这个小妹妹?
Lost in his self-reproachful reflection, Li Haojun ignored everything around him and completely immersed himself in his own world.
自责的自我反省中,李皓珺忽略了周边的一切,完全沉浸在了自己的世界里.
"What? Are you depressed?" Malaya said, tugging at his arm,
"怎么?抑郁了?"说着,玛莱雅拉了一下他的胳膊,
Li Haojun snapped out of his reverie and turned to see Malaya pressing her lips together, trying not to laugh,
李皓珺这才从自己的沉思中回过神来,回头看见玛莱雅紧闭着嘴唇,憋着笑,
Then she suddenly burst out laughing and said,
然后她忽然笑出声来说,
"Haha, I was lying to you. You took it seriously again,"
"哈哈,我骗你的,你又认真了,"
But Li Haojun hadn't emerged from his earlier mood. He knew Malaya could sense what he was thinking. His sincere treatment and remorse this time were at least a small compensation for the debt he owed her for so long. He hoped she could feel a little more warmth from the world.
然而李皓珺并未从刚才的情绪中走出来,他知道玛莱雅能感到她在想什么,自己这次真心的对待与悔恨,也算是很久以来对她亏欠的一点补偿吧,希望她能感受到多一些的人间温暖.
"Actually, I was just curious," Seeing that Li Haojun still looked serious, Malaya went on to tell him about her experience,
"其实我就是好奇心,"见李皓珺依然面容严肃,玛莱雅接着给他介绍自己的经历,
"My internship at the time was arranging your schedule, so my career path could have been secretary or field agent. But with field training certification, I can drive vehicles myself. Isn't flying exciting?"
"我当时实习工作就是安排你的行程,所以职业发展可以是秘书,也可以是外勤,不过经过外勤培训认证我就可以亲自驾驶交通工具了,飞行不是很让人兴奋的事情吗?"
"It is," Looking at Malaya's enthusiastic expression, Li Haojun naturally wanted to encourage the young girl, pushing aside his worries about the dangers involved. He then asked her,
"是啊,"看着玛莱雅兴致勃勃的表情,李皓珺当然要鼓励这个小姑娘了,也就把自己对危险因素的担忧排除在一边了,接着问她,
"Yes, flying a jet is really exciting. Are you good at it?"
"是啊,驾驶喷气机确实令人兴奋,你很擅长是吗?"
"Yes, I passed the assessment on the first try," Talking about her proud achievement, Malaya's face lit up with excitement. Li Haojun seemed to see that bright, spirited little girl again in her eyes.
"是的,我一次就通过考核了,"谈起自己的荣耀经历,玛莱雅兴奋的表情溢于言表,李皓珺仿佛从她的眼中又看到了那个神采飞扬的小姑娘.
"You're very good at piloting aircraft. Tell me more about what aspects you excel at, and what it feels like."
"你很擅长操控飞行器,具体说说哪些方面,什么感觉?"
"Well, I have a good sense of space and speed, and I don't get dizzy from all kinds of rolls. Controlling the plane feels like an extension of my own body,"
"嗯,我对空间和速度的感觉都很好,各种翻转也不会眩晕,感觉对飞机的操控就像自己肢体的延伸,"
"Like you're a bird soaring through the sky, not just flying a plane, right?"
"自己像一只鸟一样在天空中翱翔,而不是飞机,是吗?"
"Yes, exactly that feeling,"
"是啊,就是那种感觉,"
Li Haojun looked at her happy expression and silently understood that this was perhaps how different risk preferences shaped different understandings of life. He was extremely risk-averse, while she was a risk-taker. Maybe it was because of their age or personal experiences? Both of them were living out what they considered wonderful lives according to their own philosophies, experiencing the happiness of stable routine and the excitement of exploring the unknown in their own ways. But he really couldn't bear to see the people he cared about putting themselves in danger.
李皓珺看着她幸福的表情,暗自理解了这或许就是不同的风险偏好对人生不同的理解.自己是极度风险厌恶的,而她却是风险嗜好类型,或许是年龄,个人经历的原因?两个人都在这个世界上用自己的人生哲理演绎着各自认为的精彩,体会着各自安稳重复的幸福与探索未知的兴奋.只是自己真的无法适应所在乎的人处于冒险之中.
"What else did you learn?" Li Haojun asked with a smile, wanting to keep her happy memories going,
"你还学到什么了?"李皓珺笑着询问,要延续她的快乐回忆,
"Vehicle driving too, not just normal driving. There are high-speed handling requirements,"
"还有车辆驾驶,不只是正常驾驶那种,有高速操控的要求,"
Hearing this, Li Haojun thought of Lily's vintage Jaguar,
听到这李皓珺想到了莉莉的那台古董捷豹,
"I've only driven electric cars, hehe. I've never tried a traditional gasoline-powered one. They're rare now, you barely see them on the streets,"
"我驾驶的都是电动车,呵呵,还没试过传统燃油动力的,现在很少见了,街上基本看不到,"
Malaya obviously knew what he was thinking, and Li Haojun quickly added,
显然玛莱雅知道自己想到了什么,李皓珺也连忙补充,
"I actually have a gasoline sports car. You can try it when we get back to Kalispell," he said, sending her a photo of the car,
"我倒是有一辆燃油跑车,等回到卡利斯佩尔你可以试试,"说着把车子照片发给了玛莱雅,
"Oh, it's beautiful,"
"啊,真漂亮,"
"Do you like it? Your sister has already ridden in it. You weren't back then. Now that you're living with her, you can take it and drive it whenever you want,"
"喜欢吗?你姐姐已经坐过了,那时候你还没回来,现在你正好和她住一起,什么时候高兴你就拿去驾驶它,"
"Really?" Malaya gave Li Haojun an excited hug,
"真的吗?"玛莱雅兴奋地给了李皓珺一个拥抱,
"Yes, what's mine is yours,"
"是的,我的就是你的,"
"Oh? I can't afford that," Malaya said, narrowing her eyes and drawing out her words as she looked at him. Then she deliberately pulled his hand to slow him down, walking in a playful, coquettish way as she let down her hair from its bun, letting it fall over her shoulders, and changed the subject,
"哦?你这样子我可承担不起哦,"玛莱雅眯着眼,看着李皓珺拉长了语音说,然后故意扯住他的手拉慢他,扭扭捏捏,拧拧搭搭地一边走,一边拆散了自己的盘头披散在了肩头,岔开了话题,
"Ugh, it's so hot," she said, fanning her flushed cheeks with her palm.
"哎呦,好热啊,"说着还用手掌扇了扇自己泛红的脸蛋儿.
Li Haojun chuckled, seemingly infected by her youthful playfulness,
李皓珺呵呵一笑,似乎也被她拧搭青春俏皮感染了,
"Heat is easy to fix. Let's order some cold drinks," he said, wanting one himself,
"热好办啊,我们点些冷饮喝吧,"他也要喝冷饮了,
Although passenger drones had been requisitioned, delivery drones were still in service,
虽然载客的无人机被征用了,但是快递外卖投送的还在服务,
Malaya chose iced mint lemonade. Li Haojun thought for a moment and ordered one without ice, but being practical, he also ordered two bottles of purified water and stuffed them in his pants pockets.
玛莱雅选了冰块薄荷柠檬水,李皓珺想了想,他选了不加冰的,但是务实的他又加订了两瓶纯净水插在了裤兜里.
The long, slanting shadows of the palm trees stretched across the sidewalk from behind them. The two had walked slowly through the afternoon together, their hand-in-hand shadow also growing long and slanted.
棕榈树斜长的影子从斜后方印在人行道上,两个人不紧不慢地已经一起走过了下午时光,手拉手的影子也变得斜长了.
Their work instructions were to stay in the area and wait for further arrangements, so Malaya booked another hotel. But this side of town was a slum, so the hotel looked old and shabby. There was no other choice.
工作指令是他们继续在本地等待进一步安排,所以玛莱雅预定了另一家旅店,只是这边属于贫民区,所以旅店也显得陈旧寒酸,没别的选择.
Walking into the first-floor front desk area, there was a large lobby filled with lots of interactive arcade game machines for real players. It seemed that the accommodation business in this area was poor, so they had to diversify to increase revenue. But now even these game machines were sitting idle, perhaps because they had gone out of fashion. Curious, Li Haojun asked the front desk attendant,
走进一楼前台,是一个很大的大厅,摆设着大量真人玩家互动游戏设备.看来这个地段的住宿业务欠缺,只好多种经营增收,只是现在看来这些游戏设备也是在闲置着,或许是过了时尚潮流了吧.李皓珺好奇,便问前台服务员,
"I saw an award ceremony for local game winners at noon today. Was it using these interactive machines?" he said, pointing to the idle equipment,
"我今天中午看到本地游戏获胜玩家颁奖,是用你这种互动设备吗?"说着指了指那些闲置的机器,
"Oh? What game?" The attendant was quite elderly and seemed a bit slow. Li Haojun thought he might be the owner of the small hotel, because he knew every room key in his hand like the back of his hand.
"哦?什么游戏?"这个服务员已经很大年纪了,似乎有些迟钝,李皓珺觉得他或许就是这家小店的所有者,因为他很熟悉他手中的房间钥匙,如数家珍.
"It's called Johnny the Brawler,"
"名字叫做打手乔尼,"
"Ah, that game has had many versions. A lot of kids used to play here, but now there are only old people around here, hehe, just like me."
"啊,这个游戏已经出了好多版本了,过去也有很多孩子在这里玩,但是现在这边只有老人了,呵呵,就像我."
Li Haojun hadn't expected to touch a sore spot for the local residents, so he tried to downplay it,
李皓珺没想到自己揭开了本地居民的痛处,只好低调处理说,
"Things will get better, they will," he said, then took the key and went upstairs.
"会好的,会好的,"然后拿了钥匙就上楼了.
(Translated by Doubao)