[full-time master] immortal

Su Muqiu noticed that girl very early on.

She is about the same age as Su Muqiu, and they can always meet in the same classroom.She looks thin and has fair skin. She always wears an untidy ponytail. She sits quietly in a corner without saying a word. .

Sometimes Su Muqiu thinks that she is like a quiet little flower growing by the clear stream; sometimes she thinks that she is like snow on a distant mountain, white, exquisite and freehand.

At that time, Su Muqiu really didn't recognize her, he only regarded her as a distant flower, misty snow, blooming quietly and falling silently, and would not leave any ripples in his life.

However, she arrived that evening.

At that time, Su Muqiu was standing by the window with the little Mucheng in his arms.The sky was a fiery orange, shining with a majestic light.He once heard the aunt of the orphanage proudly talk about the ten scenic spots of the West Lake in Hangzhou in class. He was not interested in the spring dawn on Su Causeway and the wind and lotus in Quyuan, but he only loved the evening bell in Nanping that came as the finale.For some reason, the four words "Nanping Evening Bell" can always arouse in Su Muqiu's little heart a pious feeling that is very similar to holiness.He always looks into the distance by the window at dusk, trying to listen to the solemn reverberation of the Nanping Evening Bell between heaven and earth in the glow of the sky.It's a pity that the orphanage he lives in is far away from West Lake Weishi Mountain, and all he can capture is the lonely rustling of the wind.

Even so, he still looks at the sunset every day and regards it as an endless game.He always plays the most well-behaved child in the orphanage, and the most reliable elder brother in front of Mucheng, and only those few minutes of sunset are his.He can listen carefully under the floating clouds dyed by golden light, catch the news sent by the evening wind, and make a wish in his heart to the Buddha far away in the sky, until the sunset and the floating clouds are swallowed by the night.

Even if he was young, he didn't know exactly what he wanted from the Buddha.

And this day, when he was gazing at the afterglow of the setting sun, he heard someone calling his name.The sound is also clear, like a gurgling stream formed by melting snow.

He turned his head and saw the girl in front of him was reflected golden by the setting sun.The moment she saw him, she froze for a moment, and then, her silent expression gradually loosened, and there was a lively smile on the corners of her eyes and brows.Su Muqiu noticed that her eyes were small, like a pair of curved crescents, the crescents were bright and full of light.

Xuehehua was given life, she was no longer a distant and ethereal beautiful image, but she walked in front of him alive and became a warm girl.

At that moment, he felt the evening wind blowing by his ears.The blood-red sunset was gone, and the golden clouds drifted away.Only the distant evening bell rang faintly behind him for the first time.

Her name is Dang Qing, she is an abandoned baby, her name was randomized in the orphanage, but it sounds better than others.Su Muqiu called her Xiaoqing, and the corners of her mouth curled up when she read the word Qing, like a bright smile.

She walked into Su Muqiu's life and brought her wonderful stories.She moved to Little Mazar, sat in front of their siblings, and tried to convince them that she could see ghosts, and that she was sent by their mother.She spoke clearly and logically, and Mucheng quickly believed her.As for Su Muqiu, half believed, half didn't believe; sometimes believed, sometimes didn't believe.A six or seven-year-old child is originally a mass of water with vague shapes, which can change from day to night and can become any shape.He is willing to believe anything and dare to question everything.However, he never revealed his doubts, he just smiled and sat beside the two girls, watching Xiaoqing describe her mother's appearance to Mucheng.When she spoke, her expression was serious and earnest, her words were clear and pleasing to the eye, and she might become a very good teacher in the future.

So, after that, every evening, Su Muqiu stopped watching the sunset.He will leave the twilight time between himself and his sister to Xiao Qing and You Lan's mother who lives in her narrative.Mucheng listened to their mother, while Su Muqiu looked at Xiaoqing.

Although they got acquainted, Xiaoqing's expression is not too much. In many cases, her face still has a touch of melancholy and alienation, and it turns back to the distant snow.At this time, Su Muqiu likes to make her laugh, making her expression vivid again.He likes to see Xiaoqing's smiling eyebrows, the ponytail she hops when she walks, and the sparkling eyes she casts on him-this kind of attention always makes him feel extra proud and proud. satisfy.Therefore, whenever he realized that Xiaoqing was staring at him, he would straighten his back, and he would work harder than before in everything he did.It seemed that as long as she cast Qing Lingling's eyes on him, he would become an invincible hero.In the class with her, he listened attentively, quickly solved difficult puzzles, and typed a symphony loudly on the keyboard.Even though English is the only subject he is not good at, it doesn't matter, he can go to sister Ning Xuan for advice, learn from sister Ning Xuan, and read the ghostly English words word by word.While doing all these things, he could always feel Xiaoqing's eyes on him, which made him even more elated and energetic.

Later, Su Muqiu found out that he became a little fond of teasing Xiaoqing.Once, he and Xiaoqing were walking side by side on the road, and he didn't know what she said, which made him playful. He stretched out his hand and rubbed her hair vigorously, combing her hair that had been combed neatly with great difficulty. A chicken coop.Xiaoqing raised her head in horror, and asked him, "What are you doing!" He shrugged generously, and said with a smile, "Seeing that you haven't woken up, help you shake your head and wake up."

A boy of seven or eight years old is the most naughty age.Even if he is as calm and gentle as Su Muqiu, he can still feel that there is a little devil who has just grown up in his heart.It's a kind, harmless little devil who doesn't want to hurt anyone, but just likes to be mischievous and wants to make a fool of himself once in a while and play tricks on those he likes.

Is Xiaoqing someone he likes?He didn't really know for sure.He only vaguely knew that Xiaoqing and Mucheng were different.He will never have that light and stubborn heart towards Mucheng, and every time he strokes Mucheng's hair, he is only gentle, gentle, with his brother's love.

At that time, some precocious children of the same age in the courtyard had already started talking about liking, saying that so-and-so liked so-and-so.And the so-and-so who was named was also very proud, as if "like" is a symbolic action from a child to an adult.Su Muqiu felt that they were all naive, and also felt that they were too cheap.He deeply felt that due to his limited age, it was difficult to use his childish language to capture and define the subtle feelings, but he had already consciously arranged Xiaoqing and Mucheng into his future.

The aunts in the orphanage always praised him for being smart, and when he was old, he could be sent outside to study, and he would be admitted to a bachelor's degree in the future.They always talk about "outside", as if there is a whole world of beauty hidden outside the white walls of the orphanage.He likes this kind of assumption about the future very much. The future he imagines is beautiful - he will leave the orphanage, go to study outside, go to university, buy a house after graduation, and bring Mucheng and Xiaoqing to his side .The three of them would still sit opposite each other at dusk every day, and she would still describe their long-gone mother solemnly and earnestly with a calm face.In the distance, the evening bell of Nanping Mountain rings, and time flows quietly.After sunset, the moon will rise.He looked at her curved eyebrows, as if staring at a pair of innocent crescent moons.

However, one day, Xiaoqing stared at him for a long time, feeling a little embarrassed: "What's wrong?"

Xiaoqing opened her mouth and said without beginning or end: "Su Muqiu, I also want to be your sister."

Su Muqiu opened his eyes for a moment, imagining that his throat was sweet like a knight who suffered internal injuries in martial arts dramas, and he lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.But Su Muqiu is not a knight, and the internal injury he suffered is definitely not that internal injury.So, he could only calmly adjust his expression for a few seconds, and then smiled gently at her: "Okay, sister Xiaoqing."

That night, he came to Shuiyue Cave and turned on the radio he had worked so hard to repair.Amidst the sizzling noise, the midnight radio station played on time.The hostess should be a bit older, and she always likes to choose some songs that have been abandoned and forgotten by time.On this day, she narrated a cheesy yet touching secret love story, and then played "Nanping Evening Bell".

Previously, Su Muqiu only knew that the Nanping Evening Bell was one of the Ten Scenic Spots in Hangzhou, and that it was the melodious bell coming from the Jingci Temple on Nanping Mountain. Unexpectedly, it was actually an image about young first love.A girl meets a man she likes while playing in the forest, but the weather is bad and it rains suddenly.When the rain stopped, the person he liked had long since disappeared.The melancholy girl was wandering in the forest, but the only response to her was the Nanping Evening Bell blowing in the wind.

Su Muqiu lay on the lawn, listening to the singing gently.He heard a gentle female voice singing: I hurried into the forest, and the forest was full of bushes.I couldn't find his whereabouts, only saw the tree shaking the wind.

His heart was full of twilight.

The younger sister is the younger sister, as long as she is a younger sister different from Mucheng.

Before Grandpa Gu came, no one thought that the adopted person would be Xiaoqing.

After the special interview, Xiaoqing was taken out by Grandpa Gu to play.Su Muqiu led Mucheng to walk in the white corridor of the orphanage, feeling that half of his soul was lost.He suddenly wanted to find someone to cry, but felt that his sadness was like rootless duckweed, unreasonable and meaningless.Reasonably speaking, he should be happy for Xiaoqing—she can leave this damn orphanage and have a family that truly belongs to her.Grandpa Gu is an uninvited guest from "outside". As soon as he appeared, he easily brought Xiaoqing to the future that Su Muqiu had been dreaming about day and night.He imagined that Xiaoqing walked into her own small bedroom, and as dusk fell, everything in the room glowed with heart-pounding brilliance.She was dressed neatly and read a beloved novel with lowered eyes.

He really had no reason to feel sad for her.

However, he was still sad, very sad.

Even the little Mucheng noticed something strange.The little girl was beside him, squeezed his sleeves cautiously, and asked him: "Brother, are you...unhappy today?"

He didn't answer right away, and took some effort to clear his mind, and then smiled at Mucheng: "No. Sister Xiaoqing met a very good thing today. When she comes back, we must remember to congratulate her."

The little girl didn't get suspicious again, she nodded seriously, remembering her brother's instructions.Afterwards, she did congratulate Xiaoqing as Su Muqiu ordered.However, Su Muqiu's own heart was always soaked in an indescribable bitterness, and it was almost difficult to say even a word of congratulations.

Xiaoqing's interest was not high that night, and she couldn't see the joy of being adopted at all.Su Muqiu stepped forward, ruffled her hair involuntarily as usual, congratulated her softly, but her heart was filled with desolation.

He invited Xiaoqing to visit his Shuiyue Cave.They looked up at the starless night between the small lawns, listened to the stories on the midnight radio station, and flew together with the flowing songs.He was suddenly curious: what kind of lonely people would meet them in the same magnetic field in such a sleepless midnight.

Su Muqiu's favorite hostess played "If there is love in the sky" that night, and the snow in his heart was also slowly drifting.He didn't dare to raise his eyes to look at the girl beside him, as if she had turned into a handful of crystal snow again, no matter how carefully he held it in the palm of his hand, it would eventually melt gradually.

It's better to let her go and let her go.

That night, he said a lot of things to Xiaoqing incoherently, all of which were aimed at his younger sister, a language suitable for speaking to Mucheng, but not worth speaking to Xiaoqing.After listening to all these nonsense, Xiaoqing only said one sentence, an unforgettable sentence: "Mu Qiu, I especially admire you."

He froze for a long time, wanted to extend his hand, but withdrew it hesitantly.

But what he wants is not just worship...

After Xiaoqing left, he began to watch the sunset again.

After discovering Ning Xuan's shocking secret, the orphanage also became dangerous and dangerous.He protected Mucheng everywhere, and kept an eye out for clues.The strings in my heart are very tight, I am so tired every day, and I don't even visit Shuiyuedongtian often.In those gloomy days, the twilight seemed to turn into his dead mother, who came as scheduled every evening, caressed his cheeks, and returned the tranquility to his heart.He lay down by the window, staring at the brilliant floating clouds, trying to capture the distant evening bell from Nanping Mountain again from the wind.However, he never heard the bell again, as if the solemn evening bell had also left with Xiaoqing, leaving him only the red color of the setting sun.

It was two years since I saw Xiaoqing again.He and Mucheng left the orphanage, and on the night of New Year's Eve, they huddled under the windy overpass, staring at the lights of Wanjia in the distance.It was a reunion in the world, but it never belonged to them, and no home opened its doors to them.After putting Mucheng to sleep, he folded his arms in vain to keep warm, and looked up at the gorgeous fireworks above his head.The howling winter wind stings the wound on his cheek.He suddenly felt that the future he imagined was shattered.Those magnificent ideals about the future are like the fireworks above the head, which are only brilliant for a moment, and then turn into ashes all over the place.Junior high school, high school, and university have all become utopias that are out of reach.He was pushed into the world by a pair of invisible hands.

The colorful fireworks stung his eyes.He blinked, only feeling his vision was slightly blurred.

At this moment, he heard Xiaoqing's voice.It was still clear, like a touch of snow on a green hill.

He turned his head and saw Xiaoqing.She has grown up a bit, her appearance is pure and white, like snow and flowers, she is wrapped in warm and decent clothes, she really looks like a pampered little girl.He knew that now she was no longer Xiaoqing, but Gu Xihua, a girl whose name was shining with touching brilliance.

very nice.So happy for her.

Surprise and joy were fleeting, and he realized that he was in a mess now, and shyness and panic rose in his heart.He really wanted to turn his head away and pretend to be himself, so that such a bad-looking Su Muqiu would not leave a mark on Xiao Qing's heart—he hoped that he would always be that radiant, omnipotent little hero in her heart, Not the real orphan who lives in rags like a little beggar today.He didn't do anything, he couldn't protect his sister well, and he couldn't help Ning Xuan, and he let himself down to what he is now.

Xiaoqing's face showed some anxiety, and she ran in small steps, rushing to him.He subconsciously took a step back, not wanting his dirty coat to stain Xiao Qing's clothes.However, this evasive movement did not attract Xiaoqing's attention.Without saying a word, she put on a warm duck down sweater for him, and then untied the scarf and wrapped it around his neck.Finally escaped the howling wind, and the long-lost warmth brought tears to his eyes.He didn't want Xiaoqing to see his tears, so he could only bury half of his face in the scarf.

She still saw such a distressed look.

"Let's go." She said softly, and Bai Xue felt warm.

After going around, they settled down in a small house by the West Lake.For Su Muqiu, it was a sleepless night.He looked out of the window, and the water of West Lake was quiet under the moonlight, shining with bright waves.His eyes searched for Nanping Mountain and Jingci Temple, and it seemed as if the endless bells were ringing in his ears.

"Little hero, aren't you sleepy?" The voice behind him startled him.He turned his head and saw Grandpa Gu standing up with his arms propped up on the sofa, and asked him in Mandarin with a strong Shanghai accent.It took him a few seconds to realize that the "little hero" in Grandpa Gu's mouth was referring to himself.He was a little afraid of Grandpa Gu's eyes, for some reason, he always felt that these eyes seemed to have the determination to see everything.

"...I can't sleep, I can't sleep, the fireworks are a bit noisy." He murmured in embarrassment, and returned to his bed.

"Nong is the first time to come to the West Lake, what do you want to see?" Unexpectedly, the old man lost sleepiness and started chatting with him, "The scenery in Hangzhou is quite beautiful. I have been coming here since I was young. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the place where the White Lady met Xu Xian. What about the Three Pools Reflecting the Moon, and the Broken Bridge? I’ve seen it a few times. Wait for a thousand years, wait for a time…” As he spoke, he still cared about himself I sang myself.

"...Then have you ever heard the Nanping Evening Bell?"

Su Muqiu's question stopped Grandpa Gu's singing, and he waved his hand: "That doesn't work, it's still late, it keeps ringing all day long, oops, it's all tourists ringing, it doesn't work."

oh.Su Muqiu buried his head in the quilt with some disappointment.

Perhaps it was Su Muqiu's question that inspired Grandpa Gu. The old man stopped singing "Wait Once in a Thousand Years" and hummed the melody of "Nanping Evening Bell" instead.Su Muqiu poked his head out from under the quilt, and hummed softly along with him, beating the time in his heart: Nanping Evening Bell, blowing with the wind, it seems to be knocking and knocking in my heart...

"Hey, you know, the lyrics of this song are adapted from a poem by Chen Zengshou." Grandpa suddenly said to Su Muqiu.

Who is Chen Zengshou?Su Muqiu asked silently in his heart, but he still turned his head to listen carefully to the old man's words.

"Cultivated to Nanping for a few nights, and the eyes are like a thunder peak at dawn and dusk. It is difficult to paint in shades of yellow and light, and the sky is desolate and clear through the ages. The sunset is red for a lifetime, and it is smashed into the void for whom—have you read this poem?"

Su Muqiu shook his head slowly.Of course not, how could he have read it.However, in his heart, he quietly recited the last sentence of the poem just now: the sunset is red for a lifetime, for whom it is smashed into the void.

Grandpa Gu said that Chen Zengshou was originally an official in the late Qing Dynasty. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he considered himself an old man and bought a house to settle in Hangzhou. He wrote this poem in such a state of mind.Grandpa Gu murmured again, this Chen Renxian... He also came to chat with me a long time ago, and he is indeed a very interesting little old man.

Su Muqiu didn't pay too much attention to Grandpa Gu's words, he just smacked the poem over and over again, reminiscing about the poem.He imagined a desolate old man floating up and down with the waves of the desolate lake, counting the evening bells of Nanping alone in the infinite sunset, lamenting the impermanence of fate, and for whom he was shattered for a hundred years alone.

At the age of 12 when his life changed suddenly, Su Muqiu actually resonated deeply with an old man from a hundred years ago.

Although he said it was disgusting, but the next day, Grandpa Gu took the three children to watch all the scenic spots inside and outside the West Lake.The beautiful scenery that used to only exist in textbooks suddenly appeared in front of my eyes and became a real and tangible existence, but only the little girl Mucheng was in high spirits, posing various poses for Grandpa Gu to hold the camera to take pictures.

Both Su Muqiu and Xiaoqing were a little silent.He knew that just now he rejected Grandpa Gu's relief and alms, and asked to go to the world on his own initiative, all of which fell into Xiao Qing's ears, causing her to show a bit of a brooding expression.

They arrived at Jingci Temple along Nanshan Road.It is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there are many tourists, and the bells of the sky can be heard from a distance.Grandpa Gu turned his head and winked at Su Muqiu, as if to say: Look, I'm right.

Indeed, as Grandpa Gu said, it is meaningless.Su Muqiu lowered his eyelids, extremely disappointed.

They arrived at the bell tower, and Grandpa Gu paid for the bell ringing for the three children.Ringing the bell is charged by the number of times, ten yuan each time.When Su Muqiu saw his grandfather handing over three ten-yuan renminbi to the conductor, his sense of disillusionment grew stronger.The Nanping Evening Bell he imagined is definitely not such a scenic spot full of noisy tourists and RMB transactions.

He pushed the bell pestle vigorously and slammed it into the huge copper bell. Immediately, there was a deafening bell ringing in his ears, and even his tiger's mouth felt a dull pain.At that moment, he suddenly realized that his heart was deeply connected yesterday: Whether it is the old man who lost his homeland or the girl who lost her lover, it seems that in the dark, there is always such a kindness. A force similar to "Heaven", it manipulates fate, life and death, but it is unreasonable.All conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew or electricity, and should be viewed in this way.All things are impermanent, they arise, live, change and die. These stupid mortal bodies cannot escape the teasing of God after all.Therefore, they can only lament the loss of their lives in the sunset and evening bell.

Su Muqiu suddenly realized that his own life was also full of emptiness.The visit to the Nanping Evening Bell was a failure, the preference for Xiaoqing was a failure, and all fantasies about the future were a failure.

The sunset is red all my life, for whom is it smashed into the void—under this bloody sunset, all the sky and clear water have turned into infinite void and endless phantom.

Later, after leaving the bell tower, while Grandpa Gu took Mucheng to visit Jigong's palace, Xiaoqing seized the opportunity and asked Su Muqiu, "Why?"

A question without beginning or end, but poked at Su Muqiu's deep sorrow.

He laughed, but there were tears in his smile.Yes, he also wanted to ask himself: why?Obviously he could accept the shelter of Grandpa Gu's old friend, but he didn't want to.This is for Mucheng.What happened to Dean Ning left a scar in his heart, and he was unwilling to hand over Mucheng to those adults who were more powerful than him.Obviously he could still accept the financial charity from Grandpa Gu, but he was not willing either.This is because of Xiaoqing.For the sake of his youthful self-esteem, he didn't want to become a beggar who received favors in vain.

So, as usual, he could only reach out and ruffle her hair maliciously, and said with a smile: "Xiaoqing, I know your arrangement is the best, but... if this is the case, I can't bear it."

Xiaoqing was dumb for a moment, and some swaying snow fell in her eyes.Let infinite pity surge in his heart.

"...I see." After a long time, she came back to her senses, murmured, and reached out to comb her messy hair.

They walked forward amidst the din of people, and the empty bells still echoed behind them—the solemn bells of ten yuan a time from tourists.

"Did you make a wish when the bell struck just now?" Xiao Qing asked.

"No." He shook his head slowly, looking back at the distant bell tower with some disappointment.Just now I was busy looking at my shadow and feeling sorry for myself, but I really forgot to pray to the Buddha.

"Do you have any wish to make?"

Xiao Qingqing's Lingling question, like a swaying snowflake, twirled and landed on his shoulder, melting quietly.He stared at the clock tower, imagining that soon after dusk, the blood-red setting sun would illuminate the floating clouds behind the clock tower, dyeing everything a beautiful golden yellow.That is the setting sun that has entangled so many people for a lifetime.

"I think..." he muttered to himself, his thoughts blown far away by the howling wind.

I want to raise Mucheng well.Want to help Ning Xuan get away from that devil.I want to continue to be Xiaoqing's hero.

I want to get back the golden future that once belonged to me.

Even if this body will eventually be shattered, even if after a lifetime of lingering, there will only be a lonely sunset and distant bells.

Even if everything in this world is an electric phantom, everything is as short as dew.

However, however.

——After all, he is still living in this instant world.

He smiled amidst the melodious and long bells, and said to his beloved girl beside him, "I want...to start all over again."

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The author has something to say: Su Muqiu, who lives in the narratives of Ye Xiu and others, is a near-perfect person, but I believe he must have been a little childish, mischievous and clumsy little boy.

In Xiaoqing's eyes, the self who has no value is actually a rare treasure in Mu Qiu's heart that she can't bear to get dirty.

So Ms. Gu Xihua, would you like to see how much evil (?)

Hangzhou is really a city that fits my aesthetics very well. I have been there many years ago. I have seen most of the ten scenic spots of West Lake, but because my family is a Christian, I have never been to Jingci Temple.Originally, the Nanping evening bell should be a more meaningful image, but when I was writing this episode, I searched the travel vlogs taken by other travelers, and when I found out that I could hit the clock in broad daylight for ten yuan At that time, I was as disillusioned as Brother Umbrella... (.)

2022.03.15 catch a bug