Yonghe Road

Chapter 15 Emotional Injury
Before the weekend, Xie Anmin came to "Zhiyin White Tea House" to find Wang Zian with a custom-made cake.

Xie Anmin was both relieved and disappointed that Zhong Ziqi was not there. She was relieved that she didn't have to meet him and apologize for her behavior that night; but she was disappointed because she actually wanted to see him.

Wang Zian led Xie Anmin into the office. Xie Anmin placed the cake on his desk, opened the box, and said, "This cake is unique, designed specifically for men in their thirties. Look, it uses a combination of dark blue and gold, symbolizing the maturity and stability of a thirty-year-old man. The surface of the cake is decorated with delicate frosting carvings and a small golden number '30', representing the important moment of your entering your thirties. In the center of the cake, there is an exquisite sugar sports car model, which means that your career will achieve success at an extremely fast speed..."

Xie Anmin's compensatory birthday wishes seemed stiff and forced, but Wang Zian's mouth curled up several times, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't suppress it.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wang, I ruined your birthday that day..."

"Didn't you come and make amends for me today?"

Four people celebrated their birthdays that day, but only two today. Wang Zian likes today better.

Xie Anmin came to celebrate his 30th birthday, which was an unexpected surprise for Wang Zian.

Xie Anmin lit candles on the cake and sang a birthday song for Wang Zian. Wang Zian clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, probably making a wish. He opened his eyes again, took a deep breath, and blew out the birthday candles. Xie Anmin didn't ask what Wang Zian had wished for, and Wang Zian couldn't say it, because birthday wishes would not come true if they were spoken out. They ate cake together at the coffee table, the sweet cream making them feel happy.

"Why do you like that song?" Xie Anmin asked.

Wang Zian knew which song Xie Anmin was asking about.

"I really liked the lyrics and the sad melody when I first heard it," said Wang Zian.

"Who sang this song to you the first time?"

"The squad leader of our recruit company."

Xie Anmin thought that he was also a person who had been hurt by love. Everyone who liked that song had a soul hurt by love.

The squad leader of the new recruit company was divorced and had a son. I won't go into the reasons for the divorce; it was a soldier's hidden pain. Later, on a high-speed train, he met a girl nine years his junior. She was tall, 1.71 meters, while the squad leader was only 1.75 meters. Despite her height, she struggled to fit her luggage onto the luggage rack. The squad leader lent a hand, and the two sat next to each other, chatting casually. When the train arrived, the girl added the squad leader on WeChat.

The squad leader had a stable job after his demobilization, but his ex-wife kept making trouble at work during their divorce, forcing him to resign and move to Hangzhou. It was on the train to Hangzhou that he met the girl, nine years his junior. Unexpectedly, a few days later, the girl tracked down the squad leader's factory and asked him to find her a job. The squad leader arranged a job for the girl at his own factory, and the two, lured by their proximity, quickly fell in love, becoming a couple, and their love lasted for four years.

During those four years, the girl became pregnant with the squad leader, had miscarriages, cut her wrists, and obtained her household registration book four times, but she and the squad leader were never able to get married. The girl's parents were adamantly opposed to their relationship because they didn't want their daughter to marry a man nine years her senior and become his stepmother. The squad leader, after experiencing a divorce, also developed a deep fear of marriage.

A pair of lovers could not withstand the ruthlessness of time and parted ways.

The young woman, who had tried to obtain her household registration book four times but still failed to get married to the squad leader, faced family opposition and pressure, and a seemingly endless journey of torment and love, ultimately chose to give up. Convinced to abandon a life shattered beyond recognition by love and family ties, she slit her wrists in front of the squad leader. The young woman's fair wrists shattered like cotton wool, spilling her youthful blood. The squad leader, having lost his mind in the argument, was brought back to reality by his lover's fallen body and the crimson blood.

He called an ambulance and rushed the girl to the hospital. The girl's life was ultimately saved, but her love was dead. Heartbroken, she married under the arrangement of her parents. Meanwhile, the squad leader, desperate to forget his unforgettable love, daily burned his arms with cigarette scars.

Later, the girl got divorced and went to see the monitor again with the divorce certificate, hoping to reconcile and make up for the past regrets. But the monitor's heart was already dead and silent. While the girl was enduring the beating of her marriage, the monitor was also trekking through the desert of his soul.

He finally emerged from the desert, having narrowly escaped the emotional sandstorm and found a new life. His heart had returned to peace, no longer needing cigarette burns to mask the pain. To him, the girl was already a dead person, buried in the desolate grave of memory, overgrown with weeds and covered in dust.

This time, the girl was more desperate than when she cut her wrists. She ran to her ex-love with her divorce certificate and household registration booklet, but she didn't even see her ex-love.

Wang Zian successfully completed his training as a recruit and was assigned to a company on the outskirts of the city. His squad leader retired. As the new recruits bid farewell to the veterans, the squad leader shed high-spirited tears. When they met again years later, the high-spirited squad leader had become a melancholic man who sang "The Pig Who Lost His Happiness."

With deep affection and heavy thoughts, Biyun returned without a trace. After all, it was the love between young people that delayed the hero.

In the KTV, the squad leader sang "The Pig Who Lost His Happiness" in front of Wang Zian with deep emotion. The sad melody and sad and beautiful lyrics immediately attracted Wang Zian's attention. Since then, Wang Zian occasionally listened to this song.

If Wang Zian knew that when the squad leader sang "The Pig Who Lost His Happiness" in front of him for the first time, in the capital at night, a young man was also singing this song "The Pig Who Lost His Happiness" to his girlfriend, he would definitely sigh at the magic of fate.

That was his parting gift to Xie Anmin. After singing that song, he would cross the ocean to study abroad and put down roots in America. He planned to take Xie Anmin with him. They had been lovers since middle school, giving each other their purest, most transparent selves, both emotionally and physically.

At the time, Xie Anmin had been admitted to a prestigious university as a "gifted young writer" and was still a student, not yet graduating. However, his parents asked Xie Anmin to give up the opportunity to study at a prestigious university and accompany him to study in a country across the ocean. They would act as his tutor, taking care of his daily life, filling his emotional void, and meeting his physical needs.

Xie Anmin was such a proud person, how could he make such compromises and concessions?
Xie Anmin's parents offered a compromise: they would give up prestigious school and study abroad, but they would have to get married first. However, his parents refused, and there was no room for negotiation. Xie Anmin couldn't give up his studies and family in China for him, so he ultimately chose to abandon his lover and seek a better life elsewhere.

The repeated measurement of reality has worn away the measuring tape of emotions. The measuring tape is so soft, but the cruelty of reality is so cold and hard.

Time flies, and people grow old. Only the song "The Pig Who Lost His Happiness" remains, circling in the minds of Wang Zian and Xie Anmin.

Perhaps the memories made the atmosphere in the office too solemn, even the cream on the cake seemed too sweet. Wang Zian stood up and said to Xie Anmin, "Tomorrow, Ziqi and I are going to the city basketball club to play. You can come with us and be our cheerleader."

"Are you going to the city to play basketball?" Xie Anmin asked.

Wang Zian smiled and nodded. "Since Director Mei Wending of the National People's Congress invited us, we'll go. It's also good to practice on the weekend."

(End of this chapter)