amazing stories

Chapter 23 Ashes of Shadows (1)

I stared at the empty seat and sighed softly.

I don't understand why there is such a thing as class reunion in the world, let alone why it should be held in the old classrooms of the past.Everyone sat where they used to be, scrambling to speak first.The head teacher sat on the podium, looking at the unfamiliar faces off the stage with tears in his eyes.I believe she no longer recognizes most of us, just as I have difficulty retrieving the look on their faces from 20 years ago.

Among the tables and chairs that were obviously much narrower, the empty seat was like a wound that couldn't be covered.

I looked at her and saw a pair of eyes that quickly moved away.On this night, we avoided each other and caught each other's eyes from time to time.

She seemed to have something to say to me, and I, too.

I have been a taciturn person since I was a child, so when I was studying in this middle school, I didn't have many friends, except Cheng Yu.He said he liked my silence.In fact, during the days with Cheng Yu, he didn't talk much.When my classmates whizzed by in groups in the sun, chasing beautiful girls from our school or other schools in the street, Cheng Yu and I often hid in the attic of our house, each from those dusty places. Pull out a book from the bookshelf to read.Cheng Yu reads books very fast, or in other words, he simply has no patience to read a book from beginning to end.Therefore, when the light in the attic was getting darker, Cheng Yu was often surrounded by all kinds of messy books and periodicals.He always stretches, then stares out the window for a while, then strides up to me, grabs the book I'm reading, and says, "Ha, you're reading this again."

It was an incredible thing for a 15-year-old boy to spend an afternoon reading Criminal Case Study, but I had no choice.As a judge of the First Criminal Division of the Provincial High Court, the first enlightenment book my father gave me was "The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China".When other children learned from "population knife hand", I already knew the meaning of murder, fraud and extortion.My dad was probably the most evil person I've ever known.In his own words, more than 100 people have been sentenced to death by him.My father was more than happy to let me know that, in fact, until he finally became an Alzheimer's patient, he always thought that being a judge was the best job in the world until he completely lost his mind.

Halfway through the class reunion, the collective memory has turned into a "fight" - everyone is looking for their old friends to have a lively conversation.The class cadres gathered around the class teacher and couldn't wait to show off their achievements over the years to prove the class teacher's insight.Everyone was happy, and I quietly came into the corridor by myself.I have no friends to exchange memories with, and even if I leave now, no one will realize that another seat is empty.Thinking of this, I don't feel sad at all, on the contrary, there is a little lightness.

This is an ordinary middle school, different from those extraordinary key middle schools. In the past 20 years, the administrators seem to have neither the intention nor the money to repair the school.I lit a cigarette and looked through the window at the playground downstairs.It was almost dusk at this time, and the dilapidated horizontal bars and swings were covered with a layer of faint gold.I know that warehouse still stands in the southwest corner of the playground, and I remember how it used to be.Because, in the past 20 years, I have often dreamed about it.

"What are you thinking about?"

I don't know when, she came to me, but she didn't look at me, but looked out of the window.

"I didn't think about anything." The sudden aloneness made me flustered, "It's too noisy in the classroom."

"Yeah!" She looked at the playground that was being swallowed up by the night, as if muttering to herself, "When did you return to City C?"

"Last month." I didn't know what to talk about when old classmates met, especially when facing her. After thinking about it, I could only start with the most basic greetings.

"Are you married?"

She turned around and met my eyes for the first time. Twenty years seemed to have left more marks on Su Ya's face, and she looked older than those female classmates.Perhaps the only thing that can make them jealous is Su Ya's still slim figure.

"Look." She smiled and raised her hands, her slender fingers were empty.The moment a smile bloomed on her face, I saw that delicate and happy girl again.

We stood by the window and chatted.I know that she has never left the city, and has worked in a publishing house after graduating from university; she knows that after a few years of wandering in Shenzhen, I still failed to achieve anything, and finally returned home to take care of my father with dementia.During the conversation, I was in a trance, as if everything around me had faded away.The last time we chatted with Su Ya like this, we were both only 15 years old, and we were seriously discussing whether the author of "Saixiaqu" was Li Bai or Du Fu.

At this time, the brightly lit classroom was still noisy.Su Ya and I were in the corridor separated by a wall, making each other familiar with ourselves again.Such conversations are destined to be short-lived, not to mention that we all tacitly avoid that name.Soon, Su Ya and I had nothing to say.While I was racking my brains to find a topic, I heard light footsteps from the other end of the corridor.

I subconsciously turned my head to look, and a figure loomed in the darkness.He also spotted us, and his steps slowed down a bit.As his face was exposed to the light pouring in from the classroom window, the cigarette in my hand fell to the floor with a thud.

No lips, no nose, not even an eyelid on one side, and the skin on his face looked like a pitted orange peel.

He stood about three meters away from us, watching us silently.

Su Ya smiled and said to him softly: "Don't you know me? It's Jiang Ya."

He swayed slightly, then nodded.Immediately afterwards, he turned around and looked through the window into the crowded classroom.

Su Ya looked at me who was still dumbfounded, and smiled apologetically.

"You shouldn't recognize him." She paused, "That's my brother——Su Kai."

I let out an "oh" and didn't know what to say other than that.

"He's here to pick me up." Su Ya looked into my eyes, her voice became lower and lower, "I'm sorry, I have to go first——I don't want my classmates to see my younger brother."

I nodded: "Goodbye."

"I'm very happy to see you again." Su Ya lowered her eyes and suddenly added, "Otherwise, I wouldn't come to this class reunion."

After finishing speaking, she walked to the window and took Su Kai's arm.Su Kai looked at me, nodded almost imperceptibly, and then he disappeared into the night with Su Ya.

That afternoon, Cheng Yu rarely read with only one book in his hands.He sat so still for hours that I had to look up to see if he was asleep.Just one glance at the cover, and I knew he was holding the "Human Anatomy" in his hand.I am also familiar with this book, and I clearly remember the page numbers of the chapter on the "Female Reproductive System".I feel a little guilty, because I don't want Cheng Yu to find out that the page has been scratched to make it extremely old.Cheng Yu obviously didn't realize this.He held "Human Anatomy" which seemed extremely exciting to me, and also read it casually.After staring at a color picture for a long time, he would raise his head and stare intently at the dusty bookshelves.I knew he wasn't looking for the next book, so I liked Cheng Yu more and more, because when I read that page, I also looked like this.

When I put down the fifth volume of "Criminal Case Studies" and got up to look for the sixth volume on the bookshelf, I heard Cheng Yu laugh softly.I followed the reputation and found that he was not mocking me, but half-raised his head, looking at a corner of the attic, with a dreamlike expression on his face.I turned my head and reached out to grab the sixth volume of "Studies in Criminal Cases", which was tightly stuck in the bookshelf.

"what happened to you?"

"Hehe." Cheng Yu kept the same appearance just now, "I think, I'm in love with her."

I let out an "oh", and suddenly exerted strength in my hand, and the book, along with half of the bookshelf, collapsed.

(End of this chapter)