MTL - His Marriage Partner is Scheming-Chapter 52
After the rainy night, the morning that rises in the forest looks more brilliant, like clouds and clouds.
Having tasted the taste of RV camping in the quiet forest, Chi Xueyan decided to go to the city next stop.
Go to a bustling city with a completely opposite scenery.
Different cities have different appearances. The caravan traveled all the way, stopped occasionally to choose, and finally chose an international metropolis with both prosperity and poverty.
The magnificent high-rise buildings stretch into stretches, and the colorful lights seem to never go out at night. Elites in suits and leather shoes walk into the high-end buildings with briefcases, and their leather shoes make crisp sounds.
Across the street is the Pigeon Building, which is extremely crowded. The building is covered with densely packed windows. People living in poverty hurry through the narrow alleys, and black wires are winding and winding like dark clouds above their heads.
Both Chi Xueyan and He Qiao had been here before, but this time they had a different perspective.
It is not the indulgence of the rich, nor is it the sight of ordinary people wandering around in amazement.
But a perspective that was completely unexpected before.
The plaza by the coast is spacious, the spring breeze is strong, the causeway and trails are crowded and bustling, full of citizens, tourists and vendors.
In the place where vehicles are gathered and parked, there is an off-white rectangular RV parked among them, which is looked at by passers-by from time to time.
The little girl who was brought out by her family to play looked at it step by step, and finally stopped after she figured it out.
"It's Regal's ice cream truck, right!" She cheered, "I want to eat ice cream!"
It was a kind of mobile ice cream truck that was very common in the local area in the early years.
Hearing this, the mother next to her took a closer look: "No, there is no signboard, and it's not red, it's an ordinary RV."
"There's red!" The little girl pointed to the miniature balloon figure floating around the window, and said firmly, "Besides, if there is such a thing, it must be a store. If it doesn't sell ice cream, it will sell other things!"
Regardless of her mother's obstruction, she ran over curiously, tiptoed and knocked on the window on the car body.
As soon as the window opened, she immediately asked softly, "Hi, do you sell ice cream here? When does it open?"
After the words fell, the little girl realized that the big brother in front of her was very good-looking.
It's not like other uncles selling ice cream at all.
It just looks a bit complicated.
Chi Xueyan: ...
This is the third person who came to ask for ice cream at noon today.
If I had known earlier, I would not have parked my car here.
In the morning, he and He Qiao wandered around, and after lunch, they planned to get back in the car to rest for a while before going to other scenic spots.
As a result, the two of them got up and opened the window several times before falling asleep.
When he and He Qiao were choosing a caravan, they didn't expect such a thing, and simply chose a car with a simple and clean appearance.
Who knows that by mistake, there are such special scenery as the mobile ice cream truck.
After Chi Xueyan sent the children away, he closed the window after hearing the apology, and when he looked back, he saw He Qiao sitting at the table, writing something with his head down.
He leaned over to look, and it was a note.
It says in clear and powerful fonts: Do not sell ice cream.
Before He Qiao was about to paste the note by the window, Chi Xueyan took his pen and added a very eye-catching exclamation point at the end.
He Qiao looked at the exclamation point that showed his mood, gave a low laugh, and bent down to get out of the car.
He pasted the note and smoothed it out, reminding his lover who was still sitting by the window: "It's time for lunch break now."
The habit formed during the working days made Chi Xueyan feel sleepy after lunch every day, and he needed a lunch break regularly.
The person in the window rested his chin lazily, looked over his shoulder and looked further into the distance.
"I can't sleep anymore, let's see if this note is useful."
He Qiao returned to the car and sat beside him.
He didn't have the habit of taking a lunch break, he just stayed with Chi Xueyan.
Now, he accompanied Chi Xueyan to look at the scenery outside the window in a trance.
The tall building on the other side of the square is equipped with a large LED screen, which is broadcasting major local news in recent days.
With the windows open, more people will be looking at the RV.
In particular, there were two people standing by the window, who seemed to be doing business.
Chi Xueyan watched them approach excitedly, and was about to speak, but the moment he saw the words on the note by the window, he forcibly retracted what he wanted to say, turned around and walked away silently.
Quite fun.
He admired the similar but different reactions of passers-by for a while, then looked sideways at He Qiao.
He Qiao didn't have such a bad taste, but was watching the news on the big screen of a tall building in the distance.
It seems to be watching very attentively.
So he also looked intently at the people who were watching the news.
He Qiao didn't notice the gaze staring at him until the current political news came to an end.
When the four eyes met, Chi Xueyan asked him with interest: "What is the most impressive news in your memory?"
He Qiao thought for a while: "All the memories?"
He remembered some news in the book world that happened after "He Qiao" died.
Although he didn't know why he knew these incoherent fragments.
Chi Xueyan nodded: "Including future news, as long as it is not about the end of the world."
"There is no doomsday." He Qiao smiled, "The news that impresses me the most is a love story."
Chi Xueyan waited quietly for him to continue.
"There are two news stories before and after, both happened in the same place, far away from the land, there are several remote islands with isolated locations and difficult conditions."
"The first news is that someone visited by chance and found that on one of the smallest islands, there is a simple artificial bridge that connects to the larger island next to it."
"The special thing is that the person who built this bridge was an old man in his seventies. Because his wife became increasingly disabled and in poor health as he got older, he could no longer take a boat, so it took him several years to build the bridge. Time alone builds a bridge."
Having said that, He Qiao paused for a while before continuing.
The front is the memory of "He Qiao", while the back is unknown.
"The second news happened a year later. The remote island that was rarely heard of, because the bridge became famous, attracted tourists every day. As a result, the local economy developed, and some companies wanted to invest. Build a bridge across the sea."
"It's not just a bridge connecting islands, it's about connecting all islands to a more prosperous land."
A better and wider future.
After He Qiao finished talking about the news in his memory, his tone was a little uncertain: "Should it be a love story?"
Chi Xueyan's focus is different from his.
The news that impressed me the most was about the bridge.
So Chi Xueyan raised his eyebrows slightly: "He Qiao, Qiao, are you a little narcissistic?"
He Qiao realized this belatedly, and couldn't help laughing.
"It's okay, a little bit."
The voice gradually dissipated in the air.
On the screen of a tall building in the distance, the next news was played.
Passers-by, bewildered by the exterior of the RV and its open windows, come and go.
After a brief silence where both of them knew the reason, Chi Xueyan spoke first: "Will there be that simple bridge in this world?"
"Based on the time mentioned in the news, it should be almost completed now."
After He Qiao finished answering, he asked him, "Do you want to see it?"
In a novel about the love-hate entanglement of several protagonists, there should not be such distant news that has nothing to do with the protagonists, and there should not be too many trivial and unnecessary details.
This was a point that He Qiao had subconsciously ignored until He Qiao suddenly remembered the prickly cactus.
Thinking about it now, these detailed and slightly different memories are not like random fictions, but like a real life that happened.
If the bridge really exists.
Because there is no God who can reveal the only truth in life, doubts can only accumulate in my heart.
Until at a certain ordinary moment, perhaps because I saw a romantic comedy with laughter and tears, or because I saw an inconspicuous and crude bridge, the answer that I secretly doubted completely overwhelmed the original. The shaking balance has determined the only truth that I want to believe.
Chi Xueyan's answer was still very straightforward: "I don't want to go."
Immediately afterwards, he asked for He Qiao's opinion: "Do you want to go?"
After a while, He Qiao responded, "I don't want to."
And when he spoke, he didn't look directly at Chi Xueyan, but fixed his eyes on the balloon man floating by the window.
Chi Xueyan looked at him for a while, then suddenly asked: "Then do you want to learn how to make ice cream?"
In the sudden jump of the topic, He Qiao looked at him again with a surprised face.
A day later, the off-white RV parked in the same place after wandering around in the bustling city.
On the note next to the window of the vehicle body, there is a casually torn gap on the far left, which forms a sharp contrast with the beautiful and correct font.
Five words became four words, plus a striking exclamation point.
[Sell ice cream! ]
The unnamed ice cream truck soon welcomed its first customer.
The little boy who passed by here when his father picked him up after school on Monday evening.
Dad stood on the side of the road to answer the phone temporarily, gave the change to his son, and asked him to buy it himself.
The elementary school student with a schoolbag on his back walked to the RV, glanced at the note by the window, and after confirming that it was an ice cream truck, he looked around and asked in a low voice, "What flavors of ice cream do you have?"
He couldn't find a billboard that suggested the types and prices of goods.
The big brother with black hair in the window answered him: "There is only one taste every day."
"Then what's the flavor today?"
Another big brother with red hair leaned against the countertop with an ice cream machine and said solemnly: "Today is cactus flavor."
The little boy was stunned for a moment, making sure he had heard correctly, and then his eyes widened in shock: "Huh?"
The red-haired young man smiled: "It's vanilla that lied to you."
The man on the side also smiled, and picked up a crispy cone to pick up the ice cream.
A minute later, the little boy came back to his father with a full-bodied cone.
Dad who just hung up the phone asked him casually, "What flavor did you buy?"
"Cactus flavor."
Dad was also taken aback, his eyes widened: "Ah? What's the smell?"
The little boy laughed silly, and said imitatively: "The one who lied to you is vanilla."
As a result, he shook his hand with joy, and the ice cream ball fell to the ground with a snap.
Another minute later, two guests, one big and one small, came to the window of the ice cream truck.
"Two cacti... no, vanilla ice cream."
On the way home, the father and son, each with a cone, thought in unison, this ice cream is delicious.
And I don't know why, I always feel that it is different from the common vanilla flavor.
It's vaguely like eating a kind of cactus.
Although no one knows what cactus tastes like.
When school was over on Tuesday, the little boy with a schoolbag and his father who often had to answer work calls passed by here again.
The balloon man continued to fly around with the wind, the note by the window became shorter, and the characters for sale disappeared, leaving only three characters plus a punctuation mark.
[ice cream! ]
They also bought two ice creams.
After queuing for a while this time, the little boy saw other customers quietly taking pictures.
It may be because the two big brothers are very handsome, and the name of the ice cream is too peculiar.
Today's ice cream is matcha flavored.
Although the red-haired brother said it smelled like a Christmas tree.
…and what does a Christmas tree smell like?
Regardless, just treat it as the taste of matcha.
On Friday evening, the little boy who finally ushered in the weekend came here again, his steps were particularly brisk.
The note pasted on the window has been torn until there is only a big exclamation mark left.
"What's the flavor of ice cream today?"
"Rose flavor." The big brother with hair color like a rose said, "It is open on the last day, and you can eat for free."
He said thank you politely, took the pink cone on tiptoe, and tasted it carefully.
It turned out to be strawberry flavored.
It tastes sweet.
But he somehow felt a sense of loss.
"Are you going somewhere else starting tomorrow?" he asked, "Is it far from here?"
If it is not far away, he wants his father to continue to take him there to buy.
The big black-haired brother handed him a tissue carefully, speaking in a gentle tone: "In another city, far away from here."
People around him casually asked him, "How far is it?"
"One thousand four hundred kilometers."
"I have to drive for a whole day." He calculated, "I'm too tired, so I should find two places to rest in the middle."
"Okay." The other party replied, "I'll check the car later."
"Remember to check the engine carefully. I seem to hear an abnormal noise in the morning..."
The little boy listened to their chat while eating strawberry ice cream.
It is strange and fresh to him, and belongs to the world of adults.
He is still ten years away from becoming an adult who can test for a driver's license.
It sounds as far as fourteen hundred kilometers.
I really want to grow up quickly.
After Chi Xueyan finished speaking with He Qiao, when she turned her head to look over, she could see the longing in the little boy's expression.
He liked the look of hope.
So he took the initiative to chat with the people outside the window: "I'm going to that city to see hydrangeas."
The little boy knew this kind of flower and asked curiously, "Do you want to make hydrangea-flavored ice cream?"
Chi Xueyan answered him solemnly: "No, there are no such tutorials on the Internet."
It turned out to be done according to the online tutorial.
No wonder there are no real cactus and Christmas tree flavored ice creams.
So the little boy nodded and enthusiastically offered suggestions: "You can make blueberry flavor and call it hydrangea flavor."
The hydrangeas he had seen all seemed to be blue-purple.
He had figured out the naming style of the balloon man ice cream truck, and the two owners of the ice cream truck laughed at the same time.
The laughter wafted in the wind, as if even the dancing balloon man was smiling at him.
The elder brother with a calm temperament told him: "Hydrangeas come in many colors, not just purple."
The big brother with a flamboyant appearance asked him: "There is a kind of hydrangea that blooms from spring to autumn. Guess what it's called?"
This is new knowledge that the little boy didn't know, he shook his head honestly: "I can't guess, what is it?"
"It's called Endless Summer."
Chi Xueyan said, and found a stack of things from the table and handed it over: "This is for you, it is a gift for the first and last guest."
The little boy took it with some surprise.
It was five little crooked torn pieces of paper, each with words written on it.
They are: no, sell, ice, cream, and pour.
He remembered that when he came here on the first day, what he saw was "Ice cream for sale!".
At this moment, the words that have been torn off day by day lie in the palm of his hand, and the exclamation mark is still hanging by the window where the balloon man is flying.
Unexpectedly, there is a word "no" in the front.
Isn't this an ice cream truck?
The little boy stared blankly at them standing side by side in the window, and suddenly felt that his heart was filled with an indescribable feeling.
It was as if I saw a paper airplane flying very far in the sky, almost bordering the high clouds, cruising lightly in the wind, never falling.
He subconsciously squeezed the shoulder strap of his schoolbag tightly. He hadn't clarified the emotions that were too complicated for him now, when he heard the nice voice of his big brother again.
"Goodbye, although I should never see you again."
The owner of the ice cream truck bid farewell to the unfamiliar and familiar little guests, and then turned his gaze to his companions, with a clear smile in his voice.
"When you grow up, remember to go to Spring to watch Endless Summer."