Chasing Tides

Ning Lan had a dream.

There was a lot of people around, and he stood in the center, his eyes gathered on him from all directions along with the laughter.

He covered his eyes, and the whispers in his ears were amplified infinitely, like blunt knives hitting his eardrums.He covered his ears again, a mocking, contemptuous smile reflected on his retinas, and closing his eyes didn't help.

It's all about him.

He wanted to escape from this hellish place, he stumbled, tripped by someone, fell to the ground, the crowd flocked to him, everyone stepped on him, rightly pointing at him and cursing— —Whoever made you so bad, you deserve it, who made you overwhelmed and wishful thinking.

When she woke up, Ning Lan was sweating profusely, and it took her a while to see the person in front of her clearly.

Fang Yu waved his palm in front of his eyes: "Did you have a nightmare?"

Ning Lan rolled his eyes, the ceiling and walls were white, and there was a hanging bottle above his head. He was in the hospital.

He lay down for another minute or so, slightly relieving the depression and tension he had just escaped from the nightmare, and then propped up his arms to try to sit up. Fang Yu hurriedly held him down and said, "You are injured and still have a fever, lie down well. do not move."

Ning Lan saw her left leg, which was tightly wrapped in gauze, and asked hoarsely, "What's wrong?"

"Save that kid Gu Chenkai. You are such a hero. You risked your life in the snow to save people. Should I award you a pennant later?" Fang Yu said unhappily. It was directly dragged out and amputated."

"Amputation?" Ning Lan's throat was dry and it was difficult to speak.

Fang Yu supported him to feed him water: "Yes, all limbs are amputated from the neck down."

Ning Lan grinned silently, and Fang Yu hit him on the head with a cup: "You can still laugh!"

It was already bright outside, and because of the fever, Ning Lan slept soundly this time.After eating some easy-to-digest porridge, Fang Yu said he had a shoot in the afternoon and would come back in the evening.

"Do you want me to leave the tablet to you? It's boring to stay here." Fang Yu asked him before leaving.

Ning Lan waved her hand: "No, I'm greedy for snakes and haven't cleared the level yet."

He hasn't used a smartphone for a long time.It doesn't matter if you call him cowardly or stupid, it is enough to keep the gossip sharper than a sharp knife in the dream. When he opened his eyes, he didn't want those terrible things that could tear him apart to continue to follow him like a shadow.

As soon as Fang Yu left the house, Ning Lan climbed out of bed, preparing to go through the discharge procedures secretly.Unexpectedly, Fang Yu shot back, blocked him at the door, and said with a sneer, "Have you ever heard of 'the height of the devil is one foot, and the height of the Tao is one foot', Xiao Lanlan."

Ning Lan understood the reasoning: "My legs are fine, and the fever is almost gone. It's the same when I go back to the dormitory and lie down."

Fang Yu couldn't help but put him back on the bed: "If you move a little out of your security deposit, you will die in the hospital? If you keep being so stingy, I'll spank your ass."

Due to the special nature of the wild survival program, the program team bought accident insurance for each guest before filming. Ning Lan and Gu Chenkai will receive a considerable amount of compensation for injuries during filming.

Ning Lan was forced to lie down obediently under the coercion, and vowed to stay in the hospital at least until the day after tomorrow.

Before Fang Yu left, he said, "Your phone is under the pillow. Last night, a very long number called you several times. I thought it was noisy and turned it off for you."

Ning Lan took out her phone and turned it on. The five or six missed calls were all from Sui Yi, and there were two unread text messages, one of which was: [The recording is about to end, right? ], the other was sent five hours later: [Call me when you wake up]

Ning Lan guessed that he should already know what happened, so he just replied a text message: [Wake up, I'm fine]

It was late at night over there at this time, and he didn't expect that Sui Yi's phone call would come right after the text message was sent, and as soon as he got through, he threw down a cannonball of questions: "Have you eaten? What did the doctor say? Do you still have a fever? Does it still hurt?"

Ning Lan listened to his voice almost greedily, her nose turned sore.Most people become fragile when they are sick, and Ning Lan is no exception. He tried to keep his voice steady and replied: "Eat it, I'm fine, I don't have a fever...it doesn't hurt."

Actually it hurts.I was so cold in the snow that I didn’t feel it, and I didn’t know how serious it was until I got to the hospital. The ligaments were broken, and the bones that hadn’t fully grown had gaps again. The doctor said that if he struggled a few more times, he would have to spend the rest of his life on crutches. .

Sui Yi on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief: "Then you have a good rest, I still have 20 days of classes here, I'll go back when it's over."

Ning Lan let out a muffled "hmm".

Sui Yi didn't hear the emotional ups and downs in his tone, and asked unhappily, "You don't want me to go back?"

"No." Ning Lan hurriedly said, "I'll make up your birthday when you come back."

Before hanging up the phone, Sui Yi called out to him: "Thank you, thank you for saving Xiaochen."

Ning Lan looked at her injured leg, her eyes darkened, she squeezed out a smile and said, "It's okay, it should be."

We have visitors in the afternoon.

First, Gu Chenkai jumped in awkwardly while leaning on the wall, observed Ning Lan's legs, and asked, "Are you okay?"

Ning Lan nodded: "Very good, how about you?"

"I'm fine, it's just a sprain." Gu Chenkai put his hands together and said uncomfortably: "Yesterday you fainted, my brother called me, and I told him about it."

Seeing his grievance, Ning Lan knew that Sui Yi must have taught him a lesson.

Gu Chenkai played with his hands for a while, raised his head and said, "I...I apologize for what happened before, I'm sorry."

Ning Lan didn't expect that the proud young master would bow his head to him one day, so she was stunned for a while and didn't respond.Gu Chenkai thought that he would not accept it, so he hurriedly said: "What I said last night was also sincere, and there is one more thing, I think I should tell you."

"What's the matter?" Ning Lan asked.

Gu Chenkai started pulling his trousers with his hands again, tangled for a long time, then took a deep breath as if making up his mind and said: "Gao Ming and Wang Bingyang sold the black material to the paparazzi, and Feng Qiu is also a partner with them."

Ning Lan searched for the name "Feng Qiu" in his mind, but to no avail for a while, Gu Chenkai explained: "It was the member who was going to debut with us, and you took his place."

After being reminded, Ning Lan remembered that he was able to enter AOW because of that Feng Qiu's fight and trouble, his personal image was damaged and he was expelled from the company.

Under Sui Yi's guidance, he also doubted Gao Ming and the others before, and later felt that such careful deployment and collection of evidence was not like something they could calmly do. Now he learned that there was another person It makes sense to cooperate with outsiders and outsiders and make suggestions.

"How do you know?" Ning Lan asked.

Gu Chenkai was afraid that he would doubt him, so he hurriedly separated the relationship: "I didn't participate in the whole process, I heard them talking on the phone one night when I was awake..." As he talked, he also felt that he was in the wrong, since he had already Why didn't you say it sooner?He hung his head and hesitated, "At that time, I, I thought it had nothing to do with me, so I just didn't say anything."

In fact, Ning Lan didn't blame him. If people don't want to know, unless he did something wrong, most of the reasons for his current end are due to himself.

"Don't tell the captain about this, I want to handle it myself." Ning Lan said.

Gu Chenkai nodded, patted his chest and said very loyally: "Okay, if you need any help, you can come to me anytime."

Ning Lan smiled and said nothing.

So what if you know who did it?With his own strength, he couldn't fight against them at all.What's more, even if the matter is held accountable, it is impossible to change anything.

Unless you go back in time.

Ning Lan often wonders recently, if he had a chance to do it all over again, would he join AOW, and would he develop such a shameful relationship with Sui Yi again?

Now that he knows, the answer is "yes."Even if he knew there was no hope, and knew that it would be painful, Sui Yi was still the first ray of sunshine in the icy world, and he had no choice but to reach out and grab it.

Less than half an hour after Gu Chenkai left, Zhang Fan rushed over with a fruit basket.

She first sent condolences on behalf of the company, asked about Ning Lan's injury, and then took out a few documents from her bag, including the confirmation of insurance compensation and a temporary contract given by the company.

Ning Lan read the title of the contract several times, but didn't understand the meaning. Zhang Fan didn't play tricks with him, and said straightforwardly: "The company thinks that your current physical condition is not suitable for continuing to participate in AOW's next trip, so I will give you a big vacation. The basic salary is still paid, and the company will not interfere with the filming, commercials, TV series, movies, etc. you receive in your personal name."

In simple terms, Ning Lan immediately understood that it was Xuezang, or persuasion, the contract was just a written and nice way of saying it.

He knew that being injured and being unable to dance was only part of the reason, and the main reason was that his external image had collapsed, fans jointly boycotted it, and artists who could no longer create benefits for the company would naturally be discarded.Being able to give him such a good treatment under such circumstances is probably because he saved Gu Chenkai and made a "sacrifice" for Sui Yi's public image.

Zhang Fan thought that Ning Lan would express dissatisfaction, or at least raise objections, but he read the contract carefully word by word, asked her for a pen, and then calmly signed his name.

Zhang Fan took the contract and confirmed it, and asked Ning Lan, "Do you have anything to ask?"

The contract is clearly written, the implementation time is after the Spring Festival, and the announcement time is set to be in late February. Ning Lan thought about it: "Can the future salary be transferred to other cards?"

Zhang Fan recorded his new card number and confirmed the name of the payee with him: "Zhao Jinshan, both are next to the word Wang, right?"

Ning Lan nodded: "Yes, it's my mother."

After doing this, Zhang Fanduo stayed for a while, peeled an apple for Ning Lan, and left him his private number, saying that he could call her if he needed anything.

Ning Lan took a big bite of the apple and said with a smile, "What are you all doing? I'm such an adult, can I take care of myself?"

Zhang Fan felt uncomfortable when he saw that he was heartless.Anyway, she was the one who poached him, and she also saw Ning Lan's sensibility and hard work. She has an unshirkable responsibility for what happened now.

"Don't be discouraged, you are still young, there are plenty of opportunities, you can post more on Weibo when you have nothing to do during the Chinese New Year, and open live broadcasts to maintain your popularity. In the spring of next year, there will be many new dramas starting to shoot, and I will help you connect when the time comes," said Director Wang of "Overturning the Country" You are very talented in acting." Zhang Fan comforted him.

Ning Lan nodded while eating the apple, not knowing how much she listened to.

The more he showed indifference, the more worried Zhang Fan felt, and couldn't help but say a few words: "You can tell Sui Yi if you have any difficulties. Although he is young, he is still calm, otherwise the company will not Let him be the captain. You rejected the job opportunity that An Lin and he fought for you before? Are you stupid? The entertainment industry relies on connections, and being popular is the last word. No one cares who you rely on to get it resource."

Ning Lan smiled wryly: "Why are you like my mother?"

"Tsk, it's up to you whether you want to listen or not." Zhang Fan saw that he didn't eat oil and salt, took his bag and stood up, "I'm going first, call me if you need anything."

Ning Lan insisted on getting out of bed to see her off, and jumped to the door, only to be sent back by Zhang Fan.

The ward was quiet again, Ning Lan sat on the bed, read the amount on the insurance compensation confirmation form again, and finally showed a heartfelt smile on her face.

He knew that anyone looking at his relationship with Sui Yi would feel that he was taking advantage.He did this in order to be able to live frankly, instead of being like a tiny ant who only dared to stay in a small space and didn't even have the confidence to breathe.

The day before Sui Yi returned to China, Ning Lan went to the bank to transfer the prepared money to the card Sui Yi gave him.

Due to the large amount, he entered the password several times back and forth in front of the counter, 940109 for a while, 990318 for a while, until finally Ning Lan was confused.

Finally finished, Ning Lan carefully put the card into the bag, and walked out while hammering his head, muttering: "Next...next...by the way, go shopping for groceries."

As Valentine's Day approaches, the most conspicuous shelf in the supermarket has a huge heart shape made of chocolates.After Ning Lan picked out the chicken legs and wings in the freezer, she took a few glances as she passed by, stopped in front of the shelf, raised and lowered her hand, and finally took a box of small ones.

He thought, it doesn't have to be a lover to give chocolates, it can also be used as a birthday present.

In the end, I bought a lot of things and lost the strength to carry them halfway.Ning Lan leaned on the side of the road to rest, squatted down and rubbed her unsatisfactory feet, looked up at the sky, probably thinking about it, and actually drew the shape of an airplane out of thin air in the sky.

In the evening, Ning Lan received a text message from Sui Yi: [I'm at the airport, ready to board the plane]

It is rare for Ning Lan to be in the mood for joking: [Long live my emperor, long live, long live, long live, long live, long live, long live, long live, my emperor]

Sui Yi came back with a string of ellipsis, and 2 minutes later sent another one: [Wait for me to come back]

Thirteen hours later, the Capital Airport was crowded with people in the early morning. Sui Yi came out of the security check with a piano on his back and luggage, and saw a person when he looked up.

Ning Lan was wearing a black down jacket and a mask, only showing two eyes.Sui Yi was able to spot him out of the crowd at a glance because of the ring studs on his ears.

The two of them walked forward side by side without saying anything.Ning Lan came with the company's nanny car, Sui Yi was short on time, and had to catch up on the last job of the year before returning home.

Putting the luggage and the piano case in the trunk, Sui Yi got into the car and closed the door. He just turned around and sat upright when suddenly a black shadow came over him. On his lips, before he could taste it, it separated quickly.

Ning Lan kissed him.

Ning Lan often took the initiative to kiss him, but this time it was different from usual.

While the driver was still smoking outside, Sui Yi pressed Ning Lan on the car seat and kissed him fiercely. Ning Lan pushed him a few times and couldn't move, so she simply wrapped his neck around his neck and sent herself forward. Spreading in the carriage, Sui Yi kissed him deeply, touched his earlobe, and then let him go.

"There will be a shoot later, come with me." Sui Yi looked at Ning Lan and said.

Ning Lan was also reluctant to part with him, and whispered, "Okay."

The two returned to the dormitory in the evening.

The Spring Festival is approaching, and other members have gone home for vacation.Sui Yi didn't sleep for nearly 24 hours, and when he returned to his room, he slumped on the sofa, pressing his temples, his brows were full of fatigue.

"Wait a minute, dinner will be ready soon."

Ning Lan took out the ingredients that had been marinated in the morning from the refrigerator, inserted chopsticks into the hot oil and smoked, and started pouring it into the pot.

He moved a little hastily, the hot oil splashed on the back of his hand in the flurry, and gasped in a "hiss", Sui Yi's ears were sharp, and immediately got up to the kitchen, held his red hand, frowned and said: "Why are you so careless? "

Ning Lan was indeed a little absent-minded.In the studio during the day, Sui Yi went into the studio to shoot, and he met Xue Ying in the busy lounge.Xue Ying also came to take photos for magazines, and greeted him calmly. Ning Lan hadn't seen her for a long time, but when she suddenly saw her face, she was reminded of a frightening memory. She was so nervous that she almost forgot to say hello.

The dormitory was equipped with burn ointment. After applying the medicine, Ning Lan was still in a trance, always feeling that she had overlooked something.

Sui Yi was worried about his condition and accompanied him to make dinner the whole time.The two of them went to bed early after eating, and Sui Yi pinched Ning Lan's chin and looked at his face carefully, and concluded, "I lost weight."

Ning Lan said, "I haven't slept well recently."

"Why didn't you sleep well?"

"Because..." Ning Lan avoided Sui Yi's eager gaze, "Because it got dark too early."

Sui Yi didn't get the answer he wanted, so he turned his back on him angrily, Ning Lan smiled and stuck to him, a soft and boneless hand lifted his pajamas and touched his lower abdomen.

Maybe exercise helps sleep, Ning Lan didn't take sleeping pills that night, and only woke up twice in the middle.

Waking up in the morning, Sui Yi was no longer in the room, Ning Lan sat up groggyly and rubbed her slightly swollen left ear.

He had put on the studs last night.He hasn't worn earrings for a long time, and the pierced ear has grown halfway. He poked it in without any tools, and it bled at that time, so it hurts a bit now.

He put on his clothes slowly, fumbled in his pockets, and took out a pile of red agate beads packed in a cloth bag.

He put this in his pocket before going out the day before yesterday, and planned to go to the bank and take the bus to the jewelry store to re-string it.

He was afraid that he would go the wrong way, so he specially changed his smartphone for navigation, but the battery of the new phone was low, so he took his old phone.Unexpectedly, I forgot about it as soon as I walked out of the bank gate, and the mobile phone didn't come in handy.

Cell phone... Ning Lan's whole body trembled, her eyes widened.

His cell phone is gone.

It contained Ji Zhinan's marriage certificate photo.