Chapter 43: Please Tell the Truth When It Snows

Shang Zhitao composed herself and knocked on Sun Yuanzhu’s door for the first time. She wanted to thank him in person.

He was watching an American drama. Shang Zhitao saw that his room was full of books. He didn’t seem to care about the holiday and was as comfortable as usual.

“Wow.” Shang Zhitao stood at the door and poked her head in. “You have so many books!”

“Don’t have any other hobbies.” Sun Yuanzhu was a little embarrassed. “Why didn’t you go out to play? Where’s Sun Yu?”

“Sun Yu’s company organized a social event today, they said it would last until midnight. Has Zhang Lei returned from his business trip yet?”

“Not yet.”

Suddenly, she didn’t know what else to say, and they fell silent. Sun Yuanzhu noticed Shang Zhitao’s gaze falling several times on the piles of books in his bedroom, so he asked her, “Do you want to come in and see if there are any books you’d like to read?”

“Is it convenient?”

“Yes.”

Shang Zhitao had never carefully looked at Luan Nian’s bedroom. She always felt that Luan Nian’s bedroom was very far away from her, but she carefully toured the books in Sun Yuanzhu’s bedroom. It was the first time Shang Zhitao knew what a book lover was like. Besides books, Sun Yuanzhu had nothing else. He was like a scholar; no matter how the world changed, a quiet desk was enough for him.

Sun Yuanzhu made Shang Zhitao feel secure, and this sense of security accompanied Shang Zhitao for many, many years.

Shang Zhitao looked carefully. The books he read were very diverse: politics, economics, history, geography, art, physics, astronomy, literature, everything. Shang Zhitao casually flipped through a few. He clipped his reading notes on the first page of each book, only one page, and his handwriting was extremely beautiful. Shang Zhitao even thought it was better than her own. And those books, except for the cover, had no creases or stains, perfectly clean. Just like him, too precious.

“Do you want to pick a couple to read? A book unborrowed is a book unread.” Sun Yuanzhu asked her when he saw she liked them.

Shang Zhitao quickly waved her hand, “No, no.” She didn’t dare to borrow Sun Yuanzhu’s books. She didn’t read like him; she would scribble casually on the pages and fold a small corner when she found a part interesting. She was afraid of ruining Sun Yuanzhu’s good books.

Sun Yuanzhu was amused by her carefulness and looked at his watch. “Huh, it’s eleven o’clock. How about the two of us have a book club? Share some good books we’ve read recently?”

“The book I’ve been reading recently is Business English.” Shang Zhitao mocked herself, “My colleagues at the company are very good at English. Sometimes during international conferences, I can’t understand what they’re saying.”

“Then you can share Business English,” Sun Yuanzhu suggested.

“Can I share the books I read in college?”

“That’s fine too.”

The two hit it off immediately and even washed some fruit in a seemingly serious manner, sitting face to face in the living room, each holding a book. Shang Zhitao held “Chronicle of a Blood Merchant,” and Sun Yuanzhu held “National Geographic.”

If it weren’t for Sun Yuanzhu, Shang Zhitao would have found this Christmas very difficult. When she looked at that travelogue on her computer again and again, especially when she saw Luan Nian’s smile, she felt she was being too ridiculous.

“I like this book. I’ve read it four times, and I cry every time.”

“I’ve read it. Me too,” Sun Yuanzhu said.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Shang Zhitao suddenly realized that Sun Yuanzhu’s sitting posture was very similar to Luan Nian’s. They both sat so straight, looking a little humble. Shang Zhitao thought her own humility was because she would always be mediocre, but Sun Yuanzhu was so excellent, yet he was still like that.

Shang Zhitao smiled softly. The sound of the door lock turning made them both look towards the door, seeing Sun Yu, covered in the starlight and moonlight. Her expression wasn’t good, but she still smiled at them. Seeing the books on the table, she murmured, “Are you reading?”

“We’re having a book club.” Shang Zhitao got up, took Sun Yu’s coat, helped her hang it up, and then looked at her cautiously, “What’s wrong?”

“I saw my ex-boyfriend. At the place where our event was held, he and his girlfriend were celebrating Christmas Eve together.” Sun Yu said softly, “Should I not have said that? Your book club was going so well.”

“I’d like to hear it, if you want to talk about it.” Sun Yuanzhu suddenly spoke, “But I think just talking like this is too boring. We’d better eat while we talk.” He showed a row of neat teeth when he smiled, single-handedly saving the two ladies from their unhappiness.

Many years later, Sun Yu, drunk, grabbed Shang Zhitao’s collar and cried uncontrollably, gritting her teeth and saying, “If only there were more Sun Yuanzhus in the world!”

He not only made the suggestion but also got up and went to the kitchen, rummaging through their meager instant noodles, tomatoes, and vegetables, and cooked a student dormitory-style instant noodle dish for them. The three of them each had a bowl of noodles. The first bite of instant noodles made Sun Yu’s tears fall into her bowl. “When we were together, we never went out for holidays.”

In the beginning, they were both poor, their pockets emptier than their faces. Whenever a holiday came, they would stay at home, saying they didn’t want to queue, but in reality, they couldn’t keep up with the soaring prices during the holidays. Or perhaps the two of them lived on opposite sides of the city, made a brief phone call, and considered it a celebration. She had never even received flowers.

Shang Zhitao seemed to have tasted this kind of grievance, and yet she also seemed not to have. She didn’t know how to comfort Sun Yu. She wanted to scold her ex-boyfriend as a jerk, but remembering Sun Yuanzhu was also there, she swallowed it back.

“Men, there’s a small bunch of men who are actually very bad.” Sun Yuanzhu took the initiative to criticize, “You just happened to meet one of them. I don’t know how to comfort you, so how about I treat you, and we go see a midnight show?”

Sun Yu burst into tears of laughter, “Midnight show? I’ve never seen one.”

“Me neither!”

“That’s too bad. When I was in school, I always went to midnight shows with my classmates. Shall we go?”

And they went.

Late on Christmas Eve, three young people left their home and walked down the bustling streets. The city was already lively, and with such a holiday, the crowds lingered even longer. They moved through the crowds, truly aware of the insignificance of individuals.

Everywhere was lively. Even the midnight show on Christmas Eve.

The three of them queued for a long time and finally bought movie tickets. The movie theater on Christmas Eve was packed, and the three of them sitting among couples looked particularly out of place. Sun Yuanzhu bought them both cola and popcorn and said to them, “Be happy like children.”

Watching a romance movie on Christmas Eve, the beauty portrayed in the film was enviable. Shang Zhitao checked her phone several times. She wanted to say Merry Christmas to Luan Nian, but she felt that he was in the midst of happiness, and her Merry Christmas would definitely seem ridiculous. Sun Yu, seeing her constantly looking down, leaned close to her ear and said, “Don’t say anything, trust me.”

Sun Yu seemed to have seen through love. The more proactive you were, the more miserable the outcome. No one could escape this curse. She didn’t want Shang Zhitao to be like her, losing so completely. What Shang Zhitao had wasn’t even love; it was just a man who couldn’t control his lower body, his mind clouded by impulse.

“Yeah. I know.” Sad people cry miserably when watching romance movies, and so did Shang Zhitao. She didn’t know what was wrong with her either. She was such an oblivious person, never having actively liked anyone before. Xin Zhaozhou fell in love with her first, and she slowly developed feelings for him. She didn’t know that liking someone could be so heartbreaking and timid.

She fell in love with midnight shows from then on.

Later, there were many times when she went to midnight shows alone. If it wasn’t a holiday, there weren’t many people in the movie theater at midnight. She would choose a quiet movie to watch, leaving the sadness, doubts, and unwillingness of a certain period of time in the theater.

“Is Hokkaido cold?” They came out of the movie theater, and Shang Zhitao suddenly asked.

“It’s okay,” Sun Yuanzhu said, “Temperate monsoon climate. For people from the ice city, Hokkaido at this time can only be considered cool compared to the ice city itself.”

Shang Zhitao laughed, “Am I a fake ice city person? I’m particularly afraid of the cold. Look at me, I have to wear so many, many clothes in winter.”

“That’s good, you know what’s hot and cold.” Sun Yu took her arm, “I’m better now. Thank goodness you guys were here tonight.”

“That’s good.”

Sun Yuanzhu smiled slightly. A layer of frost had formed on his glasses. He took them off and wiped them clean. There were marks on the sides of his eyes from the frames, but it didn’t affect his clean and gentle appearance. Shang Zhitao wanted to talk to Sun Yu, but she saw her gaze falling on Sun Yuanzhu, not as playful as usual, very quiet. Shang Zhitao seemed to understand something suddenly, and yet she also seemed to understand nothing.

She silently changed her position, moving to the other side of Sun Yu, not wanting to be the one standing between them.

At three in the morning in Beijing, it actually started to snow.

“Many students in our school would sing ‘Love Dust’ at this time,” Sun Yuanzhu asked them, “Have you heard it?” He hummed a few lines casually.

That dusk, white snow fluttered down.

It was a six-kilometer walk from the movie theater back to their residence. All three of them refused to take a taxi and slowly strolled in the snow. They just walked like that, without speaking, all the way to the downstairs of their building. Sun Yuanzhu suddenly asked them, “Do you want me to take pictures of you?”

“Okay!” Sun Yu liked taking pictures, so she liked this suggestion.

“Then you wait here, I’ll go upstairs to get my camera.” Sun Yuanzhu was a photography enthusiast. He sometimes bought very expensive equipment and took it with him on business trips to photograph different cities and people.

He raised his camera and said to the girls standing in the snow, “Yes, just like that, turn your faces slightly.” His voice was very soft, afraid of disturbing the sleeping neighbors. Fortunately, the three of them had enough tacit understanding, even like this, they could understand.

That day, they walked through a world of snow, and the camera recorded this fleeting moment. The girls were beautiful, but their smiles weren’t truly happy. Zooming in, there was still sadness in their eyes.

“Want to take a group photo?” Sun Yuanzhu asked.

“Okay.”

He set up the tripod in the small district pavilion. In the snowy, misty dawn, they stood there. Sun Yuanzhu stood in the middle, his smile bright. Sun Yu looked at him, and Shang Zhitao looked at the camera.

After taking the photo, they all suddenly felt a little lonely.

“How about we go to Mount Tai to watch the sunrise together in the summer?” Sun Yuanzhu suggested.

“Okay! Let’s find a weekend when Zhang Lei isn’t busy either.”

At this time in Hokkaido, Zang Yao stood opposite Luan Nian. Several friends sat together all night. Tan Mian suddenly asked Zang Yao, “Regarding Luan Nian, do you have any secrets you’re keeping from us?”

“Truth or dare?” Zang Yao resisted.

“No, just pure curiosity.”

Zang Yao nodded. She said, “I only know that we are very, very good friends, but actually, in the beginning, I remember, neither of us wanted to be friends with each other.”

She looked at Luan Nian, with a hint of probing.

Luan Nian had drunk a little wine and was a bit absent-minded. He didn’t quite remember what they were like at the beginning, but he shook his head firmly, “I remember from the very beginning, I only wanted to be friends with you.”

No one expressed surprise at Luan Nian’s words. Everyone knew what kind of person he was. He never beat around the bush when he spoke. Even if what he said today might make him lose Zang Yao as a friend, he wouldn’t say it any other way.

“Drank too much, drank too much.” Tan Mian tried to smooth things over, and everyone laughed together, trying to laugh away the awkwardness.

“I didn’t drink too much, I know what I said.” Luan Nian interrupted their laughter, “Zang Yao, come out with me for a chat.”