Ji Yongtao nodded and walked up the stairs, feeling lost. Suddenly, he stopped, turned around and asked: "Lao Li?"
——The old Li Yu looked at him and smiled tremblingly.
Li Yu: Xiao Ji.
Li Yu: Are you off work? Where's your college-aged brother? Is he finished with get out of class?
Ji Yongtao was stunned and couldn't say a word. Li Yu's daughter felt even more embarrassed: "Just answer him casually."
Ji Yongtao: Hey, my brother will be back soon.
He shook the dishes in his hand and said: I'll go back and cook first and wait for him to come back.
Li Yu, surrounded by his family, left the corridor, where the elderly man's slurred voices could still be heard. Ji Yongtao walked up the last step when he suddenly heard a voice.
It's the sound of a bicycle bell.
Ji Yongtao had forgotten how long it had been since he'd heard that sound. It used to be everywhere, but then, it seemed, the bells had gotten smaller and lighter. With so many people wearing headphones, a bicycle bell didn't really make much sense.
He heard the clear sound of bells.
When that person returned downstairs after class, he would ring the bell loudly. This was usually when people were cooking in the building, with the smell of cooking oil, the aroma of soy sauce, the noise of children returning home from school, the sound of popcorn popping in the iron stove, and the music on the public address system...
Ji Yongtao's body suddenly became lighter, and with the sound of the bell, he floated into the water of the former Ai Ya River, and was tightly wrapped by the warm and soft silt.
-
He pushed aside layer after layer of thick reeds, and in the gradually brightening light of day, he chased the bloodstains left by the man.
Ji Yongtao called out to him, but it was Xiaofei who first called out. The people ahead were also struggling to escape in the shallow mud until Ji Yongtao called out that name.
Ji Yongtao: Chu Jiajun.
Ji Yongtao: It's all settled. We'll set off together. You don't have to be afraid of anything.
Chu Jiajun stopped in front and didn't move. Ji Yongtao also put down his gun and put it away.
He turned his head, a look of pity in the corners of his eyes.
Ji Yongtao: What's wrong?
Chu Jiajun started walking forward again, but this time he walked very slowly, along the river bank, with his head lowered, walking slowly forward.
Chu Jiajun: ...I am unwilling to accept this.
Ji Yongtao also followed slowly and walked behind him: What else are you worried about?
Chu Jiajun: I don't know, I can't even explain it myself. But I just can't accept it.
The two of them walked for a while in silence. The sky grew brighter, casting dark blue shadows that blew away the night like smoke and water.
There were scattered figures in the stream, and Chu Jiajun looked at the reflection and said: I have never lived that kind of life.
Ji Yongtao: What day.
Chu Jiajun: I have nothing to be afraid of. I am just an ordinary person, living the same kind of life as you.
Chu Jiajun: I pretended to be Xu Fei, but it was very tiring. I couldn't sleep every night and would wake up as soon as I heard any noise. I was worried that you would find out that I was not Xu Fei.
Ji Yongtao: You don't have to pretend anymore. Everything will be fine.
Chu Jiajun: ...If I were really Xu Fei, what kind of life would I live in the future?
Ji Yongtao reached out and took his hand. Chu Jiajun's hand was icy cold, perhaps he had prepared for death, this body was tired, and he no longer wanted to escape.
Ji Yongtao: Since you are a college student, you will be recommended to a very good unit to become a scientist.
Chu Jiajun: Are you wearing a white coat?
Ji Yongtao: Probably. I work five days a week. I squeeze into the bus in the morning, and then get off work around 4 or 5 in the evening. I can go to the cafeteria and get a dish: one meat and one vegetable.
Ji Yongtao: There will be social singing and dancing parties at work, and there will be many girls staring at you and secretly discussing whether you have a partner.
Chu Jiajun: Were you being watched at that time?
Ji Yongtao: Yes, the allowances in our unit are among the highest in the system.
Chu Jiajun: Why don't you find a partner?
Ji Yongtao: I don't know what home is like.
Chu Jiajun: How could I not know? After I came here, didn't you tell me what home is like?
Ji Yongtao: I don't know, I made it up. I just didn't want you to leave. I was afraid that you would go back to your hometown during the summer vacation or after graduation, and then I would be alone again.
Chu Jiajun sat down by the river, grabbed a lump of mud and rolled it into a ball in his palm: I don't care, it's just like that anyway.
Ji Yongtao nodded: Yes, that's how it is.
Chu Jiajun: Then I'll be on the road. Will you have a new home with other people?
The wind blew through the reeds, blanketing the river with reed feathers, covering the surface like snow. Ji Yongtao gently pushed them aside, revealing a mirror-like expanse of water.
He looked at his face and smiled: No.
Ji Yongtao: I am going on this journey with you, so how can there be a future?
Chu Jiajun: So, if we go on this journey together, will we be reborn as a family in the next life?
Ji Yongtao: Probably. If we move forward and backward, the shot will be closer.
Chu Jiajun: What if we don't invest in a family?
Chu Jiajun's tears fell drop by drop into the river: "What did you do wrong to deserve to die with me? Didn't you say that being a good person is good, that living is good? You haven't done anything wrong, so why do you have to die with me?"
Ji Yongtao looked at him and tried to smile, but the smile was forced and tears kept falling: "But you can't go on the road alone, you don't know where to go. Don't you want me to accompany you?"
Chu Jiajun shook his head: I don't want you to accompany me anymore. I have really thought it through. I don't want you to die. I want you to live.
Chu Jiajun released their hands: Go on, social dance, and then what?
Ji Yongtao wiped away his tears and thought for a long time: ...and then I will get paid every month.
Chu Jiajun: How much?
Ji Yongtao: Probably a few dozen, one or two hundred...not as much as you think. Everyone can make a living with this.
Chu Jiajun was stunned for a moment and nodded: Okay, then I'll take one hundred and ninety.
In the distance, flocks of birds were startled. Someone was coming.
Chu Jiajun turned around to look at it, but Ji Yongtao held him and refused to let him look: Never mind, just continue, one hundred and ninety, how are you going to spend it?
Chu Jiajun: I...
The birds scattered, and searchers had already found the van and the bodies that remained.
Chu Jiajun: I… I took ten yuan… No, two yuan to go to the movies, two yuan to rent a tape… I spent it on food, beer, and late-night snacks, so about one yuan a day…
Ji Yongtao: That's more than 30 yuan, so you have 160 yuan left.
Chu Jiajun: Take another ten yuan to buy cigarettes, and there will be one hundred and fifty left.
Ji Yongtao: No need to buy guns or bullets, the money can be spent easily.
Chu Jiajun nodded: "Take another fifty yuan..."
Ji Yongtao: Fifty yuan, who should I give it to?
Chu Jiajun looked down at his own unclear face in the river: ...to Mengmeng.
Chu Jiajun: Buy milk powder for Mengmeng.
Ji Yongtao didn't speak for a moment.
Behind me, the startled birds were getting closer and closer to the river bank.
Ji Yongtao: Xiao Chu, you still have one hundred yuan. How are you going to spend it?
Chu Jiajun: I'm scared.
Ji Yongtao: Don't worry about them coming. Just think about it. You are already getting a salary from the company. You are already living our life. You have to spend this month's allowance. How are you going to spend it?
Chu Jiajun: There are still one hundred...
Chu Jiajun: I want to buy you a new jacket, new leather shoes, take you to get a stylish haircut, and buy you a tape of Teresa Teng...
Ji Yongtao: That's enough. Stop buying me stuff. I have enough.
Chu Jiajun shook his head: I still need to save the money...
Ji Yongtao: You still save money? Why do you save money? I'm here.
Chu Jiajun stopped crying, his tears dried up, his expression calmed down, his eyes were slightly red with tears, and he looked at Ji Yongtao with a smile under the clear icy light of the river.
Chu Jiajun: Save the money, little by little, to buy you a car and a big house.
His eyes were very quiet, very quiet, as if he had seen something else through Ji Yongtao.
Chu Jiajun said softly: Then, Brother Yong, I'm leaving.
Chu Jiajun: Then, you will have a new home.
Birds are approaching, coming from all directions.
The muzzle of the gun trembled slightly as it was aimed at the man's eyebrows. However, Ji Yongtao's finger could not pull the trigger because those eyes were looking at him calmly and clearly.
Ji Yongtao: ...Xiao Chu, don't look at me, look at the sky.
Chu Jiajun's eyes trembled a few times, and he suddenly pounced on him - but it was not a fight of a trapped beast, he just hugged Ji Yongtao tightly, hugged Ji Yongtao with his whole body, hugged him very tightly, like a child who was afraid of injections, clinging to his parents' arms and dared not let go.
Chu Jiajun: I'm still afraid… I'm really afraid…
Ji Yongtao: Okay, we won't die, we'll live together, really. I won't kill you, I'll put the gun down, you see…
Chu Jiajun trembled and hugged him tighter: Yes.
Ji Yongtao: We are not afraid anymore, we are not afraid anymore, ah, we are not afraid anymore...
Chu Jiajun: Brother Yong, I don't want to die.
Ji Yongtao: You won't die.
Chu Jiajun: Brother Yong, I want to live with you and go home with you.
Ji Yongtao: We will go home soon, get rid of them, pack up our things, and run away.
Chu Jiajun: Brother Yong, I forgot to bring my keys.
Ji Yongtao: It's okay, you don't need to bring it.
Ji Yongtao: Xiao Chu, I'll leave the door open for you. The door of my house is always open. You can come back anytime you want.
The body in his arms relaxed slightly at this moment, and breathed a sigh of relief. He buried his head deep in his arms - this pitifully small shelter, as if he could be protected from any harm.
Ji Yongtao's hand gently stroked the messy black hair.
After the gentle caress of his hand, he gripped the gun and pulled the trigger.
Because he was held tightly in his arms, the body only twitched briefly before maintaining its original position and continuing to sleep in his arms. Ji Yongtao knelt on the ground, letting the body slowly lie on his knees. He scooped up a handful of river water and washed the blood splattered on his face.
Then he laid him in the reed feathers as white as snow, lay down beside him, put the muzzle of the gun to his own eyebrows, and pulled the trigger.
-
Due to a sudden cerebral infarction, Ji Yongtao, an elderly man living in Room 705 of Aiyahe Community, missed a step on the stairs.
Neighbors rushed him to the hospital. After a round of emergency treatment, the old man regained some consciousness. The hospital said his condition was critical and they needed to contact his family.
The neighbor was in a dilemma: he was an elderly man living alone...
Nurse: We have to ask him if there is anyone. If there is really no one we can contact, we will notify the community.
Nurse: Old man, can you hear me? Old man? This is the situation now... Well, we need to find your family members, your family members...
The old man's lips moved as if he said a name.
The neighbor leaned close to his lips and listened. After hearing the name clearly, he quickly shook his head: No, no, not this one. He is old and confused. It's not this one.
Nurse: Didn't he say his name? Register him!
Neighbor: No, the person he was talking about was not his family member. He was confused.
Ji Yongtao woke up from deep, deep, deep darkness. The gentle, pale morning sunlight fell on the pure white sheets of the ward. On the bedside table sat a fruit basket containing a cantaloupe and a pineapple.
Ji Yongtao looked at the fruits and thought, such a big deal, that person must have arrived.
But gradually, I became aware of the situation again - it was already this year, and these fruits were not as luxurious as before.
The person who came to visit was a community worker, an older woman with a kind smile and lips painted red. Ji Yongtao could only see her bright red mouth opening and closing. The older woman said, "Mr. Ji, I'm here to visit you on behalf of the community. Is there anything you need?"
Ji Yongtao stared at her quietly. He didn't know this person, and he didn't know what a community was. The many realities in his mind were like expensive fruit thrown into a juicer, mashed to pieces.
Ji Yongtao: My brother...
Ji Yongtao: My brother is about to graduate. Can the organization arrange a job for him?
His memory began to degenerate, a common condition among the elderly due to declining brain function. Ji Yongtao also began forgetting his keys, but since he didn't lock the door, it didn't matter.
-
There was no second bullet in the gun.
He sat up and looked ahead blankly. Then he rushed into the river, but found that the water was very shallow, only up to his calves.
Ji Yongtao was at a loss in the river. He looked at the sky. There were no birds flying in the sky, but there was new sunshine, many snow-white reed feathers, and many pink and misty early clouds.
When people arrived, following the sound, Ji Yongtao was screaming in the river. He was in the water, cradling the body, covered in blood and reed feathers, screaming at the top of his lungs. Chu Jiajun was dead. His body had been placed back on the ground, surrounded by a throng of people: medical examiners seeking to verify his identity, and reporters who had broken through the encirclement. Countless flashes of light mingled with the roars of the guards maintaining order, but there was no way to stop the scene. The body was drowned in cameras.
After filming the body, the camera focused entirely on Ji Yongtao in the river. They believed Ji Yongtao had fought the thug in the river, ultimately killing him. Technicians examining the traces denied this, stating the shooting occurred on the riverbank. This led to speculation that perhaps the man had survived the shooting and struggled into the river, prompting Ji Yongtao to chase him in. Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why he was found in such a state, a hero holding the thug, howling in the snowy waters. No one knows what new life, what beautiful new world, will surge forth from each human river.
——Full ears·End of the text——