"Sorry, the number you dialed is unavailable. Please verify it before dialing... beep beep beep..."
A flurry of confused syllables, just like my confusion.
I never thought that I would lose her.
I never expected that I would not be able to find her.
I never got used to what it would be like without her.
There is really no news about her. Yes, no trace of her ever appeared again.
Xiangxiang dropped out of school!
This is the news I learned when I returned to school after the summer vacation. It took me two weeks to confirm this news. I asked anyone who had any impression of Xiangxiang, but they all answered me in unison: "I haven't contacted her recently."
Two weeks, even if she wanted to return to school later, it would be almost the limit. I went to her house to visit Xiangxiang's parents on the weekend, and they just told me coldly: Xiangxiang ran away from home.
A faint sadness could not be suppressed from the tense faces of the two elders. I think it must be Xiangxiang's strong character that caused her to leave quietly without explaining to her family. Maybe they had many arguments on the phone later, and her parents also advised her many things, but she never came back.
Yes, she can't come back for the time being...
Xiangxiang changed her phone number, and there was no light on QQ. I can't contact her anymore.
"Sister Xiaoyu, do you think Xiangxiang eloped with someone else?"
The village girl looked at me curiously with her big eyes. In their eyes, there was nothing hidden or selfless between Xiangxiang and me.
"Go away, don't talk nonsense! Su Qiang is still in school!"
"I said it might be someone else..."
The village girl was relentless.
I lifted her face, stared into her eyes, and said word by word, "No! Don't think too much, don't talk nonsense. Xiangxiang is not that kind of woman! She has other things to do now, so she won't come to school for the time being."
The village girl nodded awkwardly, then sat at her desk and put on false eyelashes and applied oil-control water, "Xiaoyu, I'm going out first, he's still waiting downstairs! Don't be lonely in the room alone!"
After saying this, the girl grabbed her bag and jumped out of the house with a smile.
The man who had been waiting downstairs for half an hour was the village girl's boyfriend. I don't know who was chasing whom, and I don't know how long the underground relationship had developed before the village girl gradually revealed it to us. Anyway, when everyone knew about it, the two were already in full swing, without any shyness or restraint.
I shook my head, but I was thinking about how to make Su Qiang understand some things about Xiangxiang. After all, Xiangxiang told me that she still loved Su Qiang very much in her heart.
Let me test Su Qiang's mouth for Xiangxiang. Even though I didn't know where Xiangxiang was and how to contact her, this was always a concern for her.
At Starbucks, Su Qiang and I sat opposite each other. He pursed his lips tightly, intending to face me calmly instead of exaggerating, because my attitude was very cold, very sharp.
Fortunately, he was not stupid enough to ask me why I asked him out, otherwise I might have slapped him directly.
"Su, Su Qiang, how are you doing recently?"
I still chose to speak to break the deadlock, but the moment I opened my mouth, I suddenly thought that he was also one of the victims, and my tone couldn't help but weaken a little.
"Not bad. Xiaoyu, you..."
Are you going to ask me why I asked you out? I was secretly preparing in my heart, but I didn't know whether I should explode.
"Do you have any news about her?"
Su Qiang frowned and asked. The picture of him frowning-it was like a much older man.
Me: "..."
Hesitation. Should I hide it from him or tell him the truth? What should I do to be good for him and her?
Su Qiang saw my hesitation and asked hurriedly: "Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, tell me! I know you know Xiangxiang's situation, I... I really miss her!"
I looked up and saw his eyes full of sparks of love. Those eyes were so brilliant because of love.
"Su Qiang, do you really want to see her?"
I decided to give up my persistence. As long as he confirmed this time, I would tell him everything.
"Xiaoyu, I'm not kidding you. No matter where Xiangxiang is now or how she is doing, I will find her and be with her."
Su Qiang was calm and powerful, and every word fell with a sound, looking at me solemnly.
Men are indeed men. This is another kind of creature different from women. Don't look at him smiling and laughing at ordinary times. Once he is serious, the pressure is really not something that women can resist. Strong women can't do it either, not to mention that I am not a strong woman!
I can now be sure that Su Qiang, in this situation, will not be hysterical in public when I tell him the truth of the matter. Instead, he will listen to what I say more calmly. Even though he was actually beyond my expectation and didn't feel any pain when his nails dug into his palm flesh, he still restrained himself.
Hysterical men are really useless.
Su Qiang's teeth were clenched tightly. I even felt that there was a beast's breath in his body, or instinct, which was about to burst his body and tear it out! I always felt that he had a phantom that would immediately pounce on me and eat me.
Man? Man!
I lowered my head and drank a sip of coffee without looking at him. To be honest, his reaction made me very happy. I felt a warm feeling in my heart - Xiangxiang, you who don't know where you are, can you feel Su Qiang's grief and anger? He is already a mature man. He can make his most appropriate choice whether to love you or not, how to love you, and how to love you. Let's believe him!
Before leaving, I smiled and said to him, "Su Qiang, do you still love her?"
"Love! Xiaoyu, what is love?"
After asking me, Su Qiang smiled with relief, then turned and left, until he disappeared at the corner of the street in the distance. I knew he didn't want me to answer, but he already had the answer in his heart.
Have you all left one by one? Have you all left me in just four years of college before I graduated? Do you know how cruel it is to leave me alone in this lonely campus?
Su Qiang never appeared again, and I didn't go to find him because there was no need. At the same time, I never saw a professor with a great reputation again, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth. Occasionally, a freshman saw his faculty photo on the wall and asked the teacher who this person was, and the teacher shook his head and walked away silently.
The senior year is coming to an end. Last year, half of the class chose to take the postgraduate entrance examination, and only one-third of them passed; the other half were busy running job fairs and doing practical work to get qualifications. I was the type who was not motivated, because I knew what I wanted to do, but what I wanted to do had nothing to do with my studies... I was also quite surprised to realize this, but it didn't matter anymore. I didn't care what I studied in college.
Xuejiu went abroad, and the school had already prepared her graduation certificate in advance. Xiangxiang and I sent her to the airport in tears and saw her parents who had worked so hard.
"Are only her parents here to see her off?"
The village girl asked me quietly, "If I could also go out to study, my hometown would definitely kill three pigs and two sheep to invite all the relatives and neighbors to feast for three days!"
"Haha!"
I smiled and rubbed the village girl's hair. It was just curled and still felt so smooth. The hair quality was good. "You can envy her! How did the scholar survive six years of junior high school, high school and four years of college? A total of ten years! If you count the elementary school and kindergarten, it's nearly twenty years of hard study. How many beautiful youths have been spent in the wind, flowers, snow and nights, and what they get in return is..."
"That is to narrow the gap with the rich second generation and the official second generation!"
The scholar came over with a smile and said, "Xiaoyu, you are very smart. If you study as hard as I do..."
"Oh, come on, come on, stop tempting us!"
The village girl quickly covered her ears to show that she couldn't hold it anymore.
The scholar smiled again, and in an instant, I also saw from her confident smile that she had matured!
This was actually a mature and charming smile. For a person who studies all day long and needs endless books to fill the bottomless pit, she has also achieved the sublimation of life.
As expected, there are three thousand ways, and all of them are the right way.
Her temperament has become more noble and elegant. When she gets rich, she will be a rich lady, I thought.
"What are you laughing at? Silly!"
The scholar pinched my face, then pulled me and the village girl to hug us tightly. The three of us hugged each other tightly, even though we were crying and our hair was wet.
"If Xiangxiang was here, it would be great..."
The scholar sighed faintly.
"It's okay! I swear she will come back!"
The one who spoke was the village girl, "I pat Xiaoyu's chest to promise you!"
After saying that, she pretended to pat my chest twice.
"Oh, village girl, you are looking for death!"
How could I let her go? I turned around and wrestled with her.
The scholar smiled, shook his head and continued to talk to her parents in private. After all, the time of separation is limited, so we should leave more time for her loved ones.
Before leaving, Xuejiu's parents were a little out of control. I hurriedly supported her mother and comforted her, "Don't worry, life abroad is rich and cheap. Xiaowen will eat well every day and be fair and tender. In a few years, we can bring you all over to live together! And she is not going away forever. She will come back to visit you every year during the long vacation. It's the same as coming to college. It's still far away from home and only goes back twice a year. You can just treat her as a college student..."
The village girl also took Xuejiu's father's arm and said, "That's right! Uncle, I heard that when studying abroad, doing odd jobs during the holidays can equal your income for one or two years!"
Xuejiu's mother burst into tears. Hearing this, she forced a smile and said, "Then, my daughter, you won't have to go to college during the holidays. I'm back now. Everything is fine at home. Don't worry about us old couple. You can spend more time working there to improve your life. You have suffered a lot at home over the years... Don't think about sending money home. We can still support ourselves with that little salary. You don't have to worry about it!"
I patted Auntie's back to help her calm down, and said with a smile: "It's you who Auntie doesn't have to worry about! Xiaowen is also a big girl. She knows what to do and will pay attention to safety and protect herself outside! You can rest assured and enjoy your daughter's filial piety! Xiaowen went abroad, and we are your daughters. Although we are not with you usually, as long as you miss your daughter, we will come immediately as long as you call us!"
"No, it's too troublesome."
The pedantic mother said, holding my hand tightly.
"It's not a hassle! This is what daughters should do!"
I looked at the aunt firmly and said, "Don't worry about the long distance. Now the traffic is developed, it will only take a few hours! If you call in the morning, we can sit together for dinner in the evening!"
"Thank you, thank you, we appreciate your kindness..."
The mother of the scholar looked at her three daughters with mixed feelings, and didn't know what to say for a while.
The father of the scholar wanted to say something, but he moved his lips but didn't say it. He just stepped forward and held the mother of the scholar and said, "Okay, okay, the daughter's plane is about to take off, let her go with peace of mind, the child will always go out to fight for something when she grows up, at most she can wait a few more years!"
He smiled at us, and the father of the scholar probably wanted to use this open-mindedness to infect us and dilute some of the sadness of parting.
The village girl and I stood there and nodded.
It was not until the figure of the scholar disappeared in the corridor behind the ticket gate that the mother of the scholar collapsed on the ground. The village girl and I were terrified and hurried to help them, but we found that the scholar's father was also walking unsteadily, so he couldn't steady his wife.
The two old men had traveled a long way by train to see their daughter off. How could they withstand such a huge emotional ups and downs? Finally, when their daughter couldn't see them, the taut string was relaxed.
The village girl and I helped the two old men to rest on the bench, and then asked the village girl to take care of them. I went to the first floor shop to buy some lunch. They were weak and not used to the climate. They just needed to rest more.
Then, a few weeks later, the scholar and I got the paper we had dreamed of four years ago. We were a little confused, but everyone seemed to have gone through this, so we just went with the flow.