At half past eleven at night, the riverside scenic belt was quiet and still, with only a few figures passing by occasionally. In the dimly lit pavilion of a small garden, Jiang Yuqian, wrapped in a beige woolen coat like a little rabbit, sat on a stool, her eyes sparkling with joy as she looked at Nie Qingzhou and Xia Yi.
"So... B God is Qingzhou? Oh my god! The protagonist of my CP is actually shipping himself? I'm actually shipping my CP along with the protagonist? Is there any fan in this world luckier than me?!"
Jiang Yuqian said excitedly, her eyes darting back and forth between Nie Qingzhou and Xia Yi, as if trying to find something unusual about them.
Xia Yi turned to look at Nie Qingzhou, "Shipping CP? What does that mean?"
"Cough, cough..." Nie Qingzhou coughed. He skipped the topic and pretended to be calm, saying, "I'll talk to her. You go back first."
Jiang Yuqian quickly grabbed Xia Yi's hand and said pitifully, "Don't go, don't go! B God! I finally met the real Xia Yi, please let her stay a little longer, I still want to say a few words to her!"
As she spoke, Jiang Yuqian stroked Xia Yi's hand and marveled, "Oh my god... Xia Yi, your skin is so good!"
Nie Qingzhou pinched the space between his eyebrows. Xia Yi looked at Jiang Yuqian's watery eyes and said, "Are you Jiang Yuqian?"
"Yes! It's me! How did you know me!"
"I received your handwritten letter at the airport before. Your name was written on the letter. You said you would take a walk on the cross-river bridge when you were in a bad mood."
"Wow, you actually read my letter! And you remember my name and preferences!" Jiang Yuqian stomped her feet excitedly and hugged Xia Yi, refusing to let go.
So, the scene in the pavilion became a bit weird. Xia Yi sat next to Jiang Yuqian, who held Xia Yi's arm tightly. And Nie Qingzhou stood in front of them, trying to talk to the overly excited Jiang Yuqian.
"Why are you out here drinking alone at night instead of going home?"
"That's not important..." Jiang Yuqian muttered softly, her eyes glued to Xia Yi.
Nie Qingzhou looked at Jiang Yuqian's absent-minded appearance and snorted, "It's not important, is it? Okay, Xia Yi, let's go."
Xia Yi pretended to stand up.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Jiang Yuqian hugged Xia Yi's arm, reluctantly saying, "It's what I told you on the phone! I had a fight with my mom. It's about... my internship. I finally found an internship and happily told her, but she told me not to go, and to prepare well for the teacher qualification exam."
"My mom will never think there's a problem with herself, she's always right, and I'm always wrong. My dad will also speak up for my mom. It's as if I can never make the right choice. She insists that I follow her wishes and keeps saying, 'You don't understand now, you'll understand later, you'll thank me later.' If I don't listen to her, she scolds me, and then threatens me. I really want to stay away from her forever. But... I also owe money on online loans now. I originally wanted to confess to my family, but if I confess now... I can only listen to her..."
Nie Qingzhou immediately seized the opportunity and asked Jiang Yuqian about the online loans she owed.
Jiang Yuqian, under the influence of alcohol, told everything in detail.
In her freshman year, she wanted to go to a concert of another celebrity she liked. Her family didn't give her money, so she borrowed her first online loan. She paid it back quickly, so she thought online loans were nothing. Later, she often borrowed money and spent more and more, and even went on a crazy spending spree when she was stressed. As a result, she couldn't pay back the money, so she had to take out new loans to pay off the old ones.
As Jiang Yuqian was talking, her emotions surged again. Tears, which had already dried, started to fall again. Wiping her tears, she shouted under the influence of alcohol, "If they were as kind as my aunt and uncle, then my temper could be as good as my cousin! I wouldn't rely on spending money to get a sense of security! If that's the case, why did they give birth to me?"
"Why do you have to talk about my affairs? You are so outstanding and powerful, you definitely can't understand a rotten person like me."
Xia Yi looked up at Nie Qingzhou. Nie Qingzhou's eyes were gloomy, and his fists were clenched tightly.
Xia Yi felt he was angry.
Just as Nie Qingzhou was about to say something, Xia Yi spoke first.
"I really don't understand."
In the dim light, Xia Yi's face was hidden in her hat and scarf, her voice was also muffled. Her entire presence seemed peacefully enveloped in the fresh, grassy scent of spring.
"My parents divorced. My father and grandmother passed away one after another when I was in high school. I had a mental breakdown and then went to the United States to live with my mother and stepfather. My mother and I are very polite to each other. I don't even think of contacting her when I'm sick. So can you understand me?"
Jiang Yuqian stared at Xia Yi in a daze.
"You can't either. Everyone lives their own lives and experiences their own pain. You, me, Nie Qingzhou, and your parents are all like this. Pain is not a reason to escape. Your parents didn't force you to borrow money. You knew you couldn't afford it when you spent money. No matter how many reasons there are, this mistake won't become right. You are the one who needs to be responsible for everything."
Xia Yi's words seemed to have come from a snowy mountain, freezing Jiang Yuqian's grievances.
After a pause, Xia Yi said calmly, "I read your letter. I am very grateful that you like me, but I don't understand why you spend so much time and money on me, to the point of affecting your life."
"I know your name, but what's the point? I just have a good memory. You are nothing special to me. I won't write songs for you, and I don't care about your joys and sorrows. Why give so much meaning to illusory things?"
Nie Qingzhou felt that Xia Yi's words were too harsh and secretly broke into a sweat.
"I just like you..." Jiang Yuqian said softly.
Xia Yi continued coldly and calmly, "Do you like me? You don't really understand me, and you don't know why I write songs. What you like is what you feel when you listen to the songs, it's your own interpretation and emotions. The me you like is just the virtues, qualities, and humanity that you are willing to believe in."
"So if you are really a rotten person, the me you like cannot be excellent and shining. What you like is the kind of person you want to become, it's your inner desire. Fulfilling this desire is much more important than spending money on someone."
Jiang Yuqian looked at Xia Yi blankly, as if she couldn't believe that Xia Yi would say such words to her.
Nie Qingzhou tugged at Xia Yi's scarf and then gently pressed it down. "Okay, okay, let her digest it first."
Jiang Yuqian looked at Xia Yi and then at Nie Qingzhou, blinking her tearful eyes, at a loss.
Nie Qingzhou said to Jiang Yuqian, "Give me your bank card number."
Jiang Yuqian was stunned for a moment then she waved her hands in a panic. "No, no! B God, I'm not asking you to borrow money... I don't mean that..."
As she spoke, she seemed to realize that her behavior of confiding in him all along would be seen as wanting to borrow money. Jiang Yuqian lowered her head a little embarrassedly, sniffed and said, "I really didn't... I'm sorry, I shouldn't always talk to you about these things..."
"I know you didn't, you've just been holding it in for too long. But now we have to solve the problem, right?" Nie Qingzhou said slowly.
"I'll only help you this time. If you feel guilty towards me, then don't spend money you can't afford in the future."
Jiang Yuqian looked at Nie Qingzhou for a long time, then pursed her lips and suddenly burst into tears. She still held onto Xia Yi's hand tightly. Xia Yi and Nie Qingzhou looked at each other. Xia Yi raised her hand a little awkwardly and patted Jiang Yuqian's head.
On the way back, Jiang Yuqian was unusually quiet, not saying a word, not knowing whether she was thinking or lost in thought.
Nie Qingzhou and Xia Yi sent her back to the university. Nie Qingzhou told her not to tell anyone about meeting them tonight. Jiang Yuqian nodded woodenly. She walked towards the university gate, but suddenly stopped. She turned around and then ran back to Xia Yi, saying, "Xia Yi... if I can successfully stay on after my internship and quit online loans, can you... sing a song for me?"
Xia Yi's eyes curved, and she said, "I'll save you a front-row ticket for the Asian Tour Concert. I'll sing a song for you live. You can listen to whatever you want."
Jiang Yuqian's eyes sparkled. She stretched out her hand. "It's a deal, we have an agreement! B God is the witness!"
Xia Yi gave her a high-five, and Jiang Yuqian happily skipped into the school gate.
Nie Qingzhou and Xia Yi watched Jiang Yuqian's figure disappear into the night. Nie Qingzhou gently bumped Xia Yi's shoulder, and Xia Yi looked up at him.
"You have indeed changed a lot in these eight years." Nie Qingzhou said with a smile, "You are very good at expressing yourself now."
"Really?" Xia Yi was skeptical.
"Although sometimes you are too direct, I was scared for you just now. What if my cousin directly becomes a hater and scolds you online? She knows too much tonight."
"That's your cousin."
"Because she's my cousin, so you trust her?"
Xia Yi thought, because she is your cousin, I don't want you to quarrel with her. If you quarrel with her, you will probably be very sad.
"Yeah." Xia Yi nodded.
Nie Qingzhou smiled and stretched lazily. He looked at the time, half past one in the morning. Everything happened at once, and before he knew it, it was already late at night.
"This is the happiest night I've had in the past eight years. It's a pity it's too late, you just fainted before, you should rest early. I'll take you back." He sighed.
Xia Yi nodded and wrapped the cute Hello Kitty scarf tightly around her.
Nie Qingzhou sent Xia Yi back and slept soundly. When he woke up at noon the next day, there were more than ten unread messages in the chat box with Aiyi Aiyi.
Nie Qingzhou put on his glasses and swiped through the chat history while lying in bed. The earliest message was sent at seven o'clock. It seemed that Aiyi Aiyi only slept for a few hours, woke up early in the morning, and then went crazy with excitement, bombarding him with messages.
The beginning of the content was mainly that she couldn't believe he was Qingzhou, she couldn't believe that she had met Xia Yi, and she couldn't understand how Xia Yi knew she was Jiang Yuqian.
While bombarding, she seemed to suddenly regain her memory and said: Did I lose my composure last night when I was drunk?
She suddenly fell silent at this point. After another hour, her attitude suddenly made a 180-degree turn and she began to self-examine. She said that she calmed down and thought about what she said last night, and felt that she was very bad. She made a long self-criticism, promising that she would never do this again, and hoped that Xia Yi and B God would not hate her.
Nie Qingzhou flipped through her confession-style speech, thinking that it was pretty good.
Aiyi Aiyi: I will go to the internship. After I can earn money myself, my mom won't be able to control me.
Nie Qingzhou held up his phone and typed, then clicked send.
Boat: It's good that you can pull yourself together.
At the same time he sent this sentence, Aiyi Aiyi sent a WeChat message.
Aiyi Aiyi: B God, I suddenly remembered that you are the one who works overtime the most in the subtitle group, woooo… you really love her so much.
Aiyi Aiyi: I will definitely keep your secrets! You must love each other well!
Boat: ...
Nie Qingzhou seemed to understand why his cousin in his memory was so determined and fanatical. He also understood why when he said 'They are all acting' at that time, his cousin seemed to be hesitant to speak but wished she could strangle him to death.
And why his cousin changed into a different person at that time, and worked so hard at her internship.
For a lot of things, he only discovered the reasons ten years later.
Nie Qingzhou exited WeChat and looked at Xia Yi's phone number in his phone's address book, and couldn't help but laugh softly.
--You really love her so much!
"Yeah." He said softly.