When Jania woke up at noon the next day, she thought she had been dreaming. She never ran out of the hotel in the middle of the night and sat in the cold wind and rain with two strangers for a long time, just to chat about some weird things. She didn't feel that it was real at all, until she saw the gray drizzle still falling outside the window, and her big-pocket coat was hanging on the back of the chair in front of the window.
Antiy had already gone out to eat. Zhannia stayed on the bed for a while, and finally couldn't help but jump off, put her hand into her coat pocket and rummaged through it. She touched the swing stick and a soda bottle cap, so she knew that everything that happened last night was true.
Jania lay back on the bed and began to think about what she had heard last night. The more she thought about it carefully, the more surprised she became. What did she hear? Big families, robbers and people who invite death sound like a horror story set in the Middle Ages. It is also absurd for a playwright to fear an imaginary audience. What they talked about last night was all ridiculous things, but she didn't even question it at the time. She was brought into the atmosphere, that rainy night where anything could happen.
Zhaniya felt a little annoyed to think that Akurabin might be playing a trick on her. A bragging grown man will say anything to a young girl as long as he can be admired for it. Her mother had warned her this more than once...but there was still something unexplainable, she then told herself. The two seemingly mismatched people did travel together, while Zhou Wenxing went to the beach alone on a rainy night. What on earth was he doing there? Moreover, Zhannia also thought that even though she asked Zhou Wenxing's age twice last night, Chi Labin skillfully turned it into a question about professionalism and qualifications. He might have been unintentional, but Jania still doubted him. She felt that these two people were unusual, and unusual often meant danger.
How close can danger be to an ordinary child's life? If Jania were to answer this question, she would think that it is just a part of life. Adults like her mother and brother tend to make a fuss, thinking that children cannot accept concepts that involve essential issues. Death and violence, the fragility and illusory nature of life. This is just a taken-for-granted view, and it’s also forgetful.
The danger is always there, and so is death. People pretend to believe that danger can be isolated from life, like the wilderness from human life, so that they can sleep well and get angry over trivial things like her mother did, or avoid anxiety and depression like her brother did. However, since adults have all been children, they should not forget what they thought about when they were children. With a lot of time and an uncertain future, it's easy for children to think about "loss." Will I die? What is it like after death? Can I not die? If you were having the best time of your life for the first time, how could you not worry about losing it? It's really funny to pretend that you don't remember the danger and never take precautions or prepare for it, but then make a fuss when it actually happens, pretending that you are scared to tears by the incident.
Jania sighed. She began to feel hungry, and finally decided to get out of bed and find herself something to eat. Maybe she would meet Akarahama downstairs. She walked down the stairs with this hope in mind, but unfortunately she didn't recognize any of the guests in the restaurant. She asked the counter and found out that Antiy had gone to the beach. She then asked the teller about Chi Labin and Zhou Wenxing, but the other person said that he didn't remember these two customers very well. There were indeed many guests in the hotel, but Zhannia thought that was an excuse, because Akarabama's appearance was difficult to forget for those who had seen it.
The weather outside was still gloomy, like a wash basin filled with sewage. Zhaniya didn't want to go out on this day, preferring to stay in the restaurant and chat with friends on her mobile phone. She checked all the messages on her social accounts and found that Hannah had sent her a virtual greeting card asking how her vacation was; Leslie found out that her new boyfriend had lied about whether he was single and broke up with her. Well, this is nothing new; Emma’s family has a new snapping turtle. This is something interesting. Zhannia watched those dynamic videos for a long time. The snapping turtle is quite stylish, but she doesn't like reptiles that much. She prefers animals that can run in the woods and grasslands. Running in the autumn woods, the fallen leaves are colorful, like the wings of a large group of butterflies. She had this dream every now and then, but she couldn't remember when it started.
Jania ran her finger across her homepage. She looked for the latest reports on infectious diseases in Africa, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy. Most of the news reports were so general. Even if her brother had been infected with a deadly virus and died of fever, dizziness, and organ failure in a rainforest full of insects and beasts, she might never be in the news. See. But for what purpose? It's really unpredictable.
She frowned as she scrolled through the photos on the news pages. Most of them are close-ups of dying faces full of pain, or patients' deformed and twisted bodies. They are basically owned by locals...that doesn't mean tourists will be fine. She didn't really think her brother was an idiot who couldn't take care of himself, but more than two years of "self-discovery" was a bit too long. The postcards she sent seemed so formal and rigid, not at all like her brother's speaking habits. Perhaps her brother's written habits are very different from his spoken language? Not impossible. She did not know whether he kept a diary.
Stop pretending, she told herself, you know what he is like.
One basic fact had been completely accepted by Jania from a long time ago. When she was still young, she observed everyone around her from a child's perspective and was able to listen to what everyone said about each other. If she learned anything unforgettable from this observation, it was that everyone was dissembling and lying. All people, big or small, have more than one face. It was not out of some deliberate brewing, but just a social need for role-playing. She was once surprised by how calm and tight her mother's voice was during negotiations, and if it were in another occasion carefully designed by Malcolm, Yu Qingshu could giggle like a little girl. When she faced Jania she became the third person. The three sounds hardly sounded like they were coming from the same mouth. Not just her mother, of course, but everyone she could observe.
And her foreign brother, who has a huge fortune, is the worst liar she knows.
The judgments adults make in social interactions can sometimes be incredibly wrong. That's because they have established a set of fixed patterns of observation and interpretation, making it difficult to simulate a completely different set of patterns. Long ago, Jania knew her brother was standing on the edge of a cliff. A dangerous, destructive heaviness weighed on him, prompting him to wander alone in the living room and front yard at midnight. Many nights she woke up from her dreams and became aware of what was happening outside her door. But at that time, she already understood that she was powerless, so she lay quietly in bed and waited with bated breath.
What is she waiting for? Maybe she didn't know it at the time, but sixteen-year-old Jania already fully understood the answer: she was waiting for a signal. A signal that the final moment has arrived. Maybe that was the sound of the pistol safety being released. Maybe it was the sound of a chair being kicked over. There was another possibility that worried her the most: the sound of the medicine bottle cap opening was too soft, and she might miss it.
When the moment comes, of course she rushes out. She would leap out of bed like a cheetah and head straight for the living room and backyard. She would catch him and make him undeniable. Then she would ask Yu Qingshu to find a psychiatrist for him, instead of letting the mother and son go around in circles year after year. The whole thing was like hell. There's no way her mother doesn't know anything about it. No, that's completely unreasonable, but there's no evidence to prove it. As a lawyer, perhaps Yu Qingshu values evidence far more than intuition. Over the years, she has tested her son with professional patience, as if she was testing whether her client had concealed major facts from her. But her brother is also a great liar. He covered it up almost perfectly. Yu Qingshu was not sure. As for the other side——
Zhannia tilted her neck and raised one corner of her mouth. She didn't know that large family, but one thing always impressed her: On a New Year's Eve, her mother's ex-husband's new wife called, and it was her brother. But her brother happened to be out. It was Yu Qingshu who picked up the phone. The lady opposite started talking to her mother - what was they talking about? She actually heard the woman on the other end of the phone praising her brother. "Steady and generous", "a good and reliable man", "able to take on tasks like his father"...
Zhannia will never forget the look on Yu Qingshu’s face at that time, as if there were a hundred naked men wearing only grass skirts belly dancing in front of her mother’s eyes.
It can certainly be said that fallacies arise out of ignorance and superficiality. But Jania always believed that comment was not groundless, and that it was one of the roles played by her brother. That's a great liar. She clutched her phone and thought, why on earth did he go to Africa? Is it because he finally couldn't act anymore? She wasn't going to be fooled easily, because she was Jania. But unfortunately, she is Jania, a sixteen-year-old high school student who cannot travel to Africa alone. But it will be different when she finishes college. She wants to be a successful zoologist. Of course, she should have the opportunity to go to Africa for investigation, and sooner or later she will figure out what her brother is doing. She would pluck him out of the rainforest, just like she had done in elementary school.
Jania thought about it intently. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she moved her hand while stirring the coffee and almost knocked over the cup. Without blinking, she pulled out the paper towel and wiped the coffee clean before it spilled onto the table. After doing all this, she subconsciously looked around, wondering if anyone had seen her spill the coffee. Too bad there was someone staring at her at the top of the stairs, probably for a while.
Zhou Wenxing came over carrying his plate. Jania could no longer pretend she didn't see it. She hoped that Zhou Wenxing would be as unkind as last night and find an empty table to sit at. But today he seemed to be in a good mood again. He was holding coffee and a thin piece of black bread in his hand, and his steps were light and steady. He walked straight up and sat down opposite Jania, looking at the coffee cup she had knocked over.
Zhannia grabbed the sugar bowl next to the cup: "You want this?"
"No, I don't drink anything sweet."
"Not at all?"
Zhou Wenxing smiled and shook his head. He was so quiet that Zhaniya had nothing to say. She wasn't very good at figuring out such introverts—meaning she didn't get along well with them—and this person seemed very mysterious. She had not forgotten what story he told last night. If that story wasn't completely fabricated, then this man had been through a lot more than he seemed.
Jania started staring at him again. She was observing all the details on him to compare them with last night's story. Did he play with herbs for a long time? That's not an easy job either. There should be scars and calluses on his hands. Have it? She couldn't see it at all.
"What are you thinking about?" Zhou Wenxing asked.
Jania knew she was staring too obviously, but she didn't try to hide it. It's not the middle of the night, and the restaurant is full of customers. She shook the coffee cup and said simply: "I was thinking about what you said last night."
Zhou Wenxing didn’t look surprised. He smiled and asked, "Do you think that was a joke?"
Jania wasn't about to jump into this trap. She skirted around the question and said, looking interested, "How did you come to this country?"
"Come across the sea."
"You mean by boat?"
Zhou Wenxing seemed to think about it for a while and quickly admitted: "Yes."
"What about your brother? Has he recovered from his illness?"
"It was cured a long time ago."
"Is he still working in that family?"
"No, we left a long time ago. We left together."
"Then why doesn't he come here with you?"
Zhou Wenxing shook his head slightly. His expression seldom changed, always meek and peaceful, so Jania could not tell whether she had asked the wrong question. But in her opinion, at least Zhou Wenxing wasn't angry yet, he was just deep in thought.
"It's like this," he said after a while, "after we left our hometown, he planned to go to the other side of the sea to complete something. I was supposed to go with him, but we had an accident at sea. "
"Is it the accident Akarahama mentioned last night?"
"I think so, because I only had that one accident. At that time, I lost my footing and fell into the waves. Although he tried hard to rescue me back on the boat, he was finally blown away by the waves. At that time, we We lost touch with each other until I heard he was here."
"Here?" Zhannia asked a little surprised, "You mean this country?"
"It's hard to say. 'This land' would be more appropriate."
"What do you mean?"
Zhou Wenxing smiled into his coffee cup. Zhaniya felt her heart beating violently - it had nothing to do with the girl's excitement, she just felt that the air suddenly felt cold, as if their table was the only one that had been moved to the icehouse.
"Miss Jennifer?" Zhou Wenxing suddenly asked.
"...Yes." Zhannia said, she did not forget the name she told Akarabama last night, "I am Jennifer Eisen."
"Do you have an older brother or sister?"
"There is one."
"How is your relationship?"
"not bad."
As if in retaliation for her previous question, Zhou Wenxing said in a cheerful tone: "Why didn't he travel with you?"
Jania suddenly put down her coffee cup. She looked at him silently and coldly.
"What's wrong? Is it a question that's inconvenient to answer?"
"No. It's not an inconvenience. It's because he went to Africa and didn't come back for two years."
"To go to such a far place."
"He's going to study insects."
Zhannia stared at Zhou Wenxing closely. The latter's reaction was dull, but also a little interested, just like many outsiders who heard the news. Then Zhou Wenxing nodded and said, "Jennifer, do you want to see your brother?"
"I don't know," Jania said deliberately vaguely.
"What if I can let you see him tonight?"
"What?"
"That's literally it. If you want, I can let you see him tonight."
