In the summer of 2005, Yan Jingxing returned to his hometown with his uncle.
That place is called Baiyue Town. It is backed by green mountains and faces the sea. There are ports and fishing villages on the shore. It is a typical seaside town.
Baiyue Town is not far from Jinjiang City. It takes about three and a half hours to drive from the city center, and there are buses and buses.
If he just went back there to visit relatives or take a summer vacation, he would probably feel quite happy. Occasionally he could stay away from the city and enjoy the leisurely rural life. He would also have something to talk about with his classmates after returning.
Unfortunately, Yan Jingxing actually went to settle there, and his uncle had already found a school for him to transfer to. When he left, he was in a hurry. He didn't even have time to say goodbye to his middle school friends, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit resentful in his heart.
Yan Jingxing's parents live abroad all year round and rarely see each other once every one or two years on average. Since the fourth grade of elementary school, his uncle Yan Yongzhi has been taking care of him.
This time it was due to a job transfer. Yan Yongzhi was transferred from a school in the city to a town, and he could only go with him.
…
The car was driving smoothly on the road, and the cabin was shaking slightly and regularly.
The man sitting in the driver's seat holds the steering wheel with a relaxed expression. Old songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan were playing on the radio, and he hummed along softly, while the warm summer breeze blew into the open car window;
The young man sitting in the passenger seat held his chin in one hand and stared boredly at the identical highway scenery speeding past the window.
The silence without anyone speaking lasted for a while, and Yan Jingxing couldn't help but bring up the topic he had mentioned several times.
"Uncle, actually I told you that you can stay in the city. I can take care of myself by myself. When you worked overtime in the past, didn't I always..."
"That is temporary and of a different nature. You are still a minor, how can you not be with your guardian?"
Yan Yongzhi tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, looked at the rear mirror, and casually comforted:
"You don't have to be too sad. The city has the fun in the city, and the countryside has the scenery of the countryside. Baiyue Town is where your dad and I grew up when we were young. In fact, there are a lot of fun things in the town."
"Really? Like?"
"For example, let me think about it. I remember that in our time, there were markets and temple fairs during the festivals in the town. I don't know if they still exist now. Because it is very close to the seaside, you can run to the shore to play at any time. Fishing, swimming and stuff like that.”
"anything else?"
"Also, there are several islands near the town. Some islands are tourist attractions, and some are places for burning incense and worshiping Buddha. You can take a ferry there on weekends, and I will take you to them when I am free. I used to be with you Your dad often sneaks onto the ship without telling the adults, and spends a whole day on the island, and once he almost couldn’t come back..."
At this point, Yan Yongzhi suddenly realized that such words should not be said to children. It was completely a bad example, so he stopped talking.
"That sounds pretty good. Will uncle come with me?"
"Of course. I said, when I have time."
"When will you be free?"
"Well..."
The uncle hesitated for a moment and then told the truth.
"I have just joined the job, and I will definitely be busy for a while. I haven't even prepared the lesson plan yet."
"This is not for nothing."
Yan Jingxing pouted, pulled down the armrest of the seat, and leaned back lazily.
"Didn't you just transfer to another school? Go and get familiar with the new classmates in the class and build a good rapport with them. Also, I haven't seen how you study during this period. Don't let your grades down. We can talk about fun things later... "
He stopped listening to his uncle's nagging. The young man sighed and drew back. He originally wanted to sleep all the way to his destination, but he still couldn't get sleepy. He could only hold his head and continue to stare at the scenery outside the window.
However, when he gradually emptied his mind, sleepiness naturally came to his mind. His upper and lower eyelids began to fight.
At the same time, there was also a vague singing voice coming from the distance. Beautiful and ethereal, as clear as a mountain lake, it is the clear singing voice of a girl.
Dimly, he thought it was the voice coming from the radio. Yan Jingxing soon discovered that the sound was sometimes far away and sometimes near, and it was obviously not coming from around him.
But...singing?
This is in a car driving on the highway. Where is the singing coming from?
Suddenly, his entire consciousness woke up, and he subconsciously widened his eyes and looked into the distance.
--what is that?
It seems to be a person...
He thought he had seen it wrong.
The scenery around the road passed the edge of my vision. Next to the guardrail is a cliff, and at the bottom of the cliff is the blue sea. White waves roll up the jade and break it into countless water foam on the dark rocks.
He grabbed his seat belt and tried to turn his head to look back.
——There is a slender figure who seems to come from the depths of the sea, sitting quietly on the huge rock.
The figure has her back against the sky, with long seaweed-like hair. The bright sunlight falls on her body, shining like gold.
She was singing an unknown ancient ballad, and her clear and sweet voice lingered over the highway.
In a sudden glance, the car had quickly driven away from its original place, and the figure on the rock disappeared from sight.
But he couldn't help but widen his eyes, feeling that this scene was unforgettable.
What a wonderful sight.
That person is simply... just like the mermaid in the fairy tale...
"Uncle, did you hear the sound just now?"
He turned around and couldn't help but ask.
"Ah? What's the sound?"
The uncle who was humming along with the music on the radio seemed not to have noticed what happened just now.
"Singing, someone is singing."
"Sing?"
Yan Yongzhi reached out and turned off the radio and listened carefully for a while.
"No, I didn't hear anything. What's wrong?"
"...Forget it, it's nothing."
He said "Forget it", but his heart was still beating uncontrollably.
The scene just now was deeply imprinted in his mind, making Yan Jingxing feel an impulse for no reason deep in his heart.
At this time, he saw a building not far in front of the highway.
"Uncle, did I see a rest stop ahead?"
"Ah... yes. What's wrong?"
"I want to pee."
"Very urgent?"
"Well, I can't hold it in anymore."
"Okay, I'll stop here for a while."
The car slowly turned from the highway into the driveway leading to the rest stop.
"I'll go down and have a cigarette. You can go if you want."
The uncle turned off the engine and held the car door with one hand. Just as he was about to say a few words, he saw Yan Jingxing jumping out of the car eagerly and running towards the seaside.
"We'll be in town soon, don't run too far!"
"good--!"
The boy shouted in response without looking back.
"This kid..."
Yan Yongzhi lit a cigarette with a lighter and looked at his nephew's back with some confusion.
"You were tired just now, why are you suddenly excited?"
*
"Huh...huh..."
As if driven by some strong premonition, he could never let his hot heart cool down.
With his thoughts in turmoil, Yan Jingxing had already left the rest stop, running freely on the hillside where weeds grew wildly on the shore.
He couldn't tell the specific direction, but he just kept moving forward with all his strength.
The fresh smell from the transpiration of the vegetation is mixed with the salty smell of the sea breeze blowing across your cheeks; the soft soil under your feet is like a huge thick carpet, stretching forward endlessly.
The sun hanging high above his head shed its blazing light without hesitation, falling on his hair and shoulders. As he ran, Yan Jingxing felt hot all over his body and also felt dizzy.
After a while, he felt exhausted and sweat dripped from his forehead.
Just like this, he ran with all his strength. After an unknown few minutes, the boy's pace slowly slowed down. Finally, he was so tired that he held his knees and gasped for air.
Yan Jingxing took a deep breath and turned his head away. Naturally, the rest stop was completely out of sight.
Next to it is a winding road built along the mountain, and cars speed by from time to time.
"What on earth am I doing..."
In fact, the glimpse just now was not enough for him to determine the specific location of the "mermaid" and the reef where she was.
At the speed of the car, maybe the distance between her and him was further than imagined.
He straightened up, put his hands on his forehead to build a tent, walked to the edge of the cliff and looked into the distance:
The road winds like a long snake, the towering mountains, and the endless sea in the distance.
At the end of the horizon is the scene of "a line between sea and sky". At the intersection, there is a vast expanse of white.
And beyond that, there is nothing.
The endless sound of the tide could be heard in my ears, and snow-white waves kept rolling up to the shore, leaving moist traces on the muddy shore.
Yan Jingxing put down his hands and sighed.
"It's better to go back, or you'll get scolded."
He was about to walk back, but just then——
"Tick tock, tick tock..."
He heard slight footsteps behind him and the sound of water dripping.
Yan Jingxing turned his head suddenly and saw a girl standing behind him at some unknown time, but he had not noticed her approach at all just now.
He was a little startled.
She seemed to have just climbed out of the sea. Her body was slender and thin under the dark blue one-piece swimsuit. Her wet hair was as long as seaweed, hanging down to her waist, and her hair was slightly curled.
The bangs on the girl's forehead are also very powerful, long enough to cover her eyes. Despite this, Yan Jingxing could still feel that the other party's eyes were glaring at him through the cover of his hair.
Is this person... the figure I just saw...?
Although there was no evidence, Yan Jingxing already believed his judgment.
He couldn't help but swallow.
Compared with the wonderful excitement that came from the bottom of his heart when he heard singing in the car before, now he suddenly felt a little scared, and even the sunlight falling on him was not so warm.
Why didn't she say a word?
Yan Jingxing confronted her and stared at her silently, feeling uncomfortable all over.
Why are you staring at me like this?
Could it be that...she is not a mermaid at all, but a drowned ghost, crawling ashore to seek revenge?
No, there are also those monsters that attract people by singing, but cause sailors to hit the rocks and sink their ships. It is said that they look like mermaids. They are some kind of mythical creatures...
Yan Jingxing's mind was filled with random thoughts and he couldn't help but take a step back.
"You...Um, are you...?"
He plucked up the courage and stammered to ask.
The girl in the bathing suit didn't answer him.
Cold water drops continued to slide from the other party's hair and body, and the wet marks on the ground gradually spread.
At this time, she finally noticed that it was inconvenient to observe like this, so she used her fingers to lift her hair away, allowing Yan Jingxing to see her face clearly.
I don’t know if it was because she had been soaked in the water for a long time, but the girl’s skin turned bluish white. but……
So good-looking, he thought.
Just like the glowing white actress in TV commercials, now a real person appears in front of her.
Compared to the person on the screen, her face was obviously a bit more childish, and she looked to be close to his age.
The girl's eyes reflected her appearance like a dark crystal ball, and her thin lips lacked blood and were trembling slightly.
Yan Jingxing couldn't help but swallow again.
For some reason, after seeing the other person's face, his mood seemed to...become more nervous.
At this moment, the girl's lips suddenly raised in a bright arc, giving him a big smile.
Then, she ran towards her.
"wait wait wait……"
Before he could react, the other party had already come to him, grabbed his hand, and forcefully stuffed something unknown into his hand.
"This is……"
Yan Jingxing was startled and quickly spread his hands.
There were several shells and pebbles lying quietly in the palm of my hand, all with beautiful colors or patterns on them.
"Gift."
The girl spoke. Her voice was like the tinkling of spring water, and the timbre was exactly the same as the clear and beautiful singing she heard in the car just now. This made Yan Jingxing convinced that the other party was the "mermaid" on the reef that he saw.
"Gift?"
He found that he could do nothing but repeat what the other person said stupidly.
"Yes. I brought it from the sea."
"A-are you a mermaid?"
"No, that..."
The long-haired girl seemed to remember something and answered him with a smile.
"It's the green-haired water monster."
"ah?"
"Sooner or later, a water monster will crawl ashore from the depths of the sea."
"..."
Uh, what do you mean? Yan Jingxing was confused.
"By the way, are you a tourist? Where are you going? Are you going to Baiyue Town? Are you just passing by? Do you want to stay there?"
She had no intention of explaining and asked a series of questions like a barrage.
"Yes, yes, I am going to Baiyue Town..."
"That's it, that's great. Baiyue Town is a very beautiful place, although it's nothing special... Well, that's it, you can take this shell as a souvenir from your trip."
Yan Jingxing couldn't understand her words at all, but the other party was already ready to leave.
The girl turned around, her wet hair throwing up a drop of water, shining in the sun. She ran towards the sea with long strides.
"wait wait wait--"
He didn't have time to call her, he only saw her jump over the rocks with a few neat jumps, and then——
"...!"
She just jumped off the edge of the cliff.
Yan Jingxing hurriedly ran over, grabbed the stone next to him for support, carefully leaned out, and looked down.
I saw a figure emerging from the water and swimming forward. The slender figure was as nimble as a real fish, and soon disappeared into the waves like flying flowers and broken jade.
Yan Jingxing stood on the edge of the cliff, stunned, with thousands of thoughts in his mind. After a while, he remembered that his uncle was still waiting for him at the rest stop, so he secretly screamed something bad and hurriedly ran back along the original road.
However, the mermaid sitting on the cliff singing a ballad has left an extremely vivid impression in his heart. Her figure is like a storm, sweeping over the heart of the fourteen-year-old boy.
——This was the first time he met a girl named Ji Chunzao.
At that time, he had not expected that the second encounter between the two would come so quickly and suddenly.
