Mud beads

The typhoon came and went quickly, and the water in Qing'ao Village receded the next day.

Thick layers of yellow mud covered the village roads, and watermarks of varying depths were left at the base of the walls. The collapsed gate and walls of the ancestral hall had not yet been repaired, but the villagers first cleared away the broken bricks at the entrance and the silt in the courtyard, straightened the offering table, and put the scattered incense burner back on.

With the county airport reopening, Yu Zhu's research group booked tickets for the next morning.

Before leaving, Teacher Zhou led the students to complete the final round of data sorting. Yu Zhu rewrapped the blue-lined songbook and personally returned it to the old man.

Grandma Lin sat at the gate of the courtyard, with the orange cat curled up beside her. She took the songbook and slowly turned the pages from the first to the last, her withered fingers tracing the paper for a while, as if to make sure that the words her mother had left behind had not been washed away by the water.

"Thank you for lending us the songbook." Yu Zhu sat down on the steps next to her.

Grandma Lin tucked the songbook into her bosom, a smile spreading across her wrinkled face: "If you write it in a book, won't many people see it?"

"It's hard to say," Yu Zhu thought for a moment, "but once I've seen it, I won't forget it."

Grandma Lin looked at her, nodded gently, and then looked away, her gaze unfocused.

Yu Zhu boarded the bus to the airport with her luggage. The sun shone on the mud that had not yet been cleaned, and the sea in the distance showed a new shade of gray-blue.

Moth

The school managed to book the plane tickets at the last minute, with seats scattered throughout the cabin. Teacher Zhou and several students sat in the front row, while Yu Zhu, holding her boarding pass, walked to the middle and back of the cabin and sat down in a window seat.

Boarding was almost over, but no one had come to the seat next to her. Yu Zhu rested her forehead against the window. The tarmac was shiny from the rain, and a layer of low clouds still lingered at the end of the runway.

Suddenly, I heard the soft click of a luggage rack closing overhead.

A tall figure stopped in her row.

Yu Zhu raised her head.

Echizen glanced down at the seat number and sat down next to her with a natural expression.

He wore a simple casual jacket, his hair was neatly combed, and there was not a trace of weariness from his journey. Only the narrow seat restricted his always relaxed posture; although he had his legs spread apart, his knees were still pressed against the back of the seat in front of him.

Yu Zhu glanced at him, pulled her legs back slightly, and turned her gaze back to the porthole.

Even if it's not bitter, you have to endure it.

The plane taxied along the runway for a while, its fuselage rising into the morning light. The flooded fields and villages shrank rapidly, and the gray-blue coastline receded, soon swallowed by the churning clouds.

Yu Zhu swallowed, her swollen eardrums calming down. The wings bounced for a moment in the white fog before emerging from the clouds.

The sky was so clear that there wasn't a single impurity.

The floodwaters that were powerful enough to engulf the stage last night are no longer visible from 10,000 meters above the ground. The collapsed walls, the drifting red silk, and the countless gods and Buddhas depicted in the murals are all buried under a thick sea of ​​clouds.

The world recovered too quickly, as if everything could be carried away by the wind and rain.

After the seatbelt indicator lights went out, the cabin lights also dimmed. Many stranded passengers in the same cabin, exhausted from several days of travel, gradually leaned back in their seats and fell asleep, with only the continuous low hum of the engines all around.

Yu Zhu also closed her eyes.

Will you tell him?

Beside him, Toru Echizen suddenly spoke.

Yu Zhu opened her eyes. Her gaze lingered on the sky above the clouds, and she paused for a moment before remaining silent.

Echizen reached out his arm, past Yuju, and pulled down the sunshade on the porthole.

That bright sky was blocked out.

"Coward." He scoffed lightly. "You dare not face your own heart."

Yu Zhu sat in the suddenly darkened seat for a while, then slowly turned her head.

Have you read *Love in the Time of Cholera*?

In her line of sight, the corners of Echizen Toru's lips, which had been slightly upturned, gradually fell. He seemed to have guessed what she was going to say, and his brows furrowed, leaving a faint mark.

Yu Zhu stared into his eyes: "Alissa's heart is a large mansion with countless rooms, enough to hold all the love in his life."

The roar of the engine filled the silence.

Echizen Toru laughed again, a faint glint of anger flashing in his narrow eyes: "You think he's your Fermina?"

Yu Zhu nodded: "Yes."

After saying that, she turned around and pushed the sunshade back open.

Sunlight reflected from the clouds streamed in, falling on Yu Zhu's face and casting a cold, hard white glow. Yue Jianche looked at her profile, the anger in his eyes gradually dissipating under the sunlight.

He crossed his arms, closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and smiled dismissively: "You are Fermina."

After that sentence, the two did not speak again.

The cabin fell completely silent, with wispy clouds drifting and spreading slowly outside the porthole. At first, Echizen Toru was resting with his eyes closed, but his breathing gradually became heavier.

After the plane passed through a slight turbulence, his body swayed with the fuselage, and his head rested on Yu Zhu's shoulder.

It wasn't a comfortable position, yet he slept soundly. His forehead rested against the side of her neck, and a few strands of hair floated with his breath, gently brushing against her skin.

Yu Zhu raised her hand, preparing to wake him up.

Looking down, she saw his legs curled up in the cramped seat. His right leg, which hadn't fully healed, had been soaked in water again last night and was now curled up in a space with almost no room to move, remaining stiff ever since he boarded the plane.

Her hand froze in mid-air before slowly retracting.

Moth

After the plane landed, some members of the research group went back to the university, while others went straight home. As Yuejian Tetsu walked out of the jet bridge, he was led to the VIP passage by another staff member. Yu Zhu saw his back through the crowd, but he was quickly obscured by passengers dragging their luggage.

Yu Zhu did not return to school immediately.

After that phone call that night, she and Liang Dong arranged to meet at the airport.

He originally had a direct flight to the next filming location. He split his trip into two parts, specifically choosing a route with a layover in Chang'an, giving himself two hours between the two flights.

After saying goodbye to Teacher Zhou, Yu Zhu carried her luggage down to the second basement level. The parking lot was damp, and the yellow paint on the speed bumps was worn away. She found the emergency exit and pushed open the heavy fire door.

The stairwell was empty. Floor numbers were sprayed on the gray cement walls, and the vibrations of the ventilation system could be heard through the walls. The motion-sensor lights underfoot were on, but the ceiling remained shrouded in darkness.

Yu Zhu stood by the door for less than three minutes.

In a parking space not far away, the side door of a black van slowly slid open, and Liang Dong, wearing a navy blue baseball cap and a mask, got out of the car.

He saw Yu Zhu by the door, but she didn't rush towards him as usual. His pace quickened and then slowed again, finally stopping just before he reached her, standing two meters away.

The motion-sensor light shone down from above, and the wall was so gray it felt utterly cold.

"There's something I want to say..."

They spoke at the same time.

"You go first..."

"you say……"

When they spoke again, their words collided once more.

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

Liang Dong walked towards her again. The distance between them was easily bridged in two steps.

He reached out and pulled her into his arms. The heavy fire door closed behind them.

Yu Zhu was held tightly in his arms. His head was lowered, and his rapid breaths sprayed onto her neck. Yu Zhu felt his throat move, but before she could speak, tears fell first.

The warmth slid down her neck, and she paused for a moment before pulling Liang Dong out of her arms. Liang Dong turned his face away, trying to avoid her gaze, but Yu Zhu cupped his face and wiped away the tears from the side of his nose with her thumb.

"Why is the big star losing pearls again?"

"I don't want to be a big star anymore," he said listlessly, beautiful tears welling up beneath his thick, long eyelashes. "When I couldn't reach you that day, I felt like nothing mattered anymore."

He made call after call, only to be answered by a cold, mechanical female voice. Every line in the weather news changed, the number of victims kept increasing, and all flights were canceled. The airport manager was still shouting "ACTION!" He was pushed back into the set, the lights came on from behind him, and his tears were magnified on the monitor, like a flood bursting its banks.

The camera clicked, and the director behind the monitor took off his headphones, walked over, and hugged him: "Liang Dong, you were born for this."

He had never heard such absurd words in his life.

Yu Zhu wiped away the remaining water from his chin with her fingertips: "See, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"

He bent down and embraced her again, as if holding some lost treasure that had been found again.

Yu Zhu stroked the soft hair on the back of his head and his warm neck, her gaze falling on the green emergency exit sign on the wall.

The vast sea of ​​clouds swept past her again from the plane, and she thought of the stage curtains fluttering in the gale, and also of those tightly closed eyes in the downpour.

Her hand stopped.

"It was Toru Eshima who found me that day."

Liang Dong's breathing paused slightly.

He didn't look up, his voice low as he spoke into her ear: "I guessed it."

Yu Zhu loosened her arms. Liang Dong also lifted his face from her neck, the two of them still very close, close enough for her to see the bloodshot in his eyes.

"I never believed he... loved me."

"You believe it now."

Yu Zhu did not answer.

In the silence, the motion-sensor lights overhead suddenly went out. The stairwell went dark, leaving only the green light of the emergency exit shining on Liang Dong's face.

He didn't rush her.

"He kissed me," Yu Zhu said.

Liang Dong's hand, which had been resting on her waist, slowly fell down.

His eyelashes fluttered slightly: "And what about you?"

Yu Zhu answered truthfully, "I didn't push her away."

The stairwell fell silent again, filled with the low hum of the ventilation system. Liang Dong took a step back, his heel hitting the step behind him, and sat down.

I know he loves you.

Yu Zhu was somewhat surprised.

The motion-sensor lights were activated, and the stark white light once again illuminated the stairwell.

"Anyone will love you." He took off his hat, his fingers tracing the brim, creating creases along the edge. "As long as they're willing to come close to you."

He couldn't deny that someone had crossed the flood to find her and, on that night when he was trapped thousands of miles away, had done what he most wanted to do.

Liang Dong put his hat down beside him and rested his hands on the edge of the steps.

"There's something I want to be honest with you about."

Yu Zhu walked over and slowly sat down next to him.

"Nobody knows you except Liang Xia." He looked up, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm with all sorts of women every day—I don't know if that counts as just playing around."

Liang Dong spoke very slowly.

During interviews, people on set asked him about it, and people at dinner parties joked about his private life. At commercial events, wealthy and powerful women would put their hands on his shoulders and waist, leaning against him for photos. Some actresses would invite him to their rooms after filming to discuss the script.

"I haven't had any relationships with anyone," he said, "but flattery has become my instinct."

He would take every hand that reached out and support the waist of those who leaned towards him. The boy who used to stumble and stammer when saying "thank you, boss" during a live stream can now make the boss laugh with ease and offer tender, affectionate glances.

In the scene, when Sheng Ning kissed his cheek for the first time, his heart beat as fast as when he first kissed Yu Zhu.

Liang Dong stopped, his lips twitching slightly: "This is also betrayal, isn't it?"

Yu Zhu looked down at the small gray step between them.

Outside the emergency exit, a car reversed into a nearby parking space. A warning sound rang through the door panel for a while, then stopped.

"You are a pearl," he continued, "but I've kept you in my shadow."

Yu Zhu did not speak immediately.

The person she liked had hidden her away; such words should have made her sad. But looking at Liang Dong's drooping eyelashes, she couldn't find a trace of resentment in her heart; all she felt was pain.

His ambition, hesitation, and compromises were real, but the good things he did for her were also genuine.

She knew better than anyone what kind of person he was.

"I am rejected by fate and the eyes of others, alone, looking down at my predicament. I cry out to the heavens, but the heavens do not heed me. I am disgusted with my own fate, and I envy the fates of others." Yu Zhu reached out and took Liang Dong's hand, which was resting on his knee. "I envy others who have friends, a future, and a respectable name. But when I think of you, my heart lifts up from the gloomy ground—"

Liang Dong slowly raised his head, his stiff fingers turning over in her palm, intertwining with hers: "Like a lark flying towards the heavenly gate at dawn. Because I remember your love, I am unwilling to exchange my fate with the king."

Yu Zhu shook his hand: "Now we all have our dark sides."

Liang Dong laughed, her eyes red, the tears still glistening in her eyes under the lamplight: "In cahoots?"

"The seasons turn, and the moon has a bright side and a dark side." Yu Zhu touched the back of his hand with her thumb. "Even when you can't see it, it doesn't disappear."

"So when I miss you, I look up at the moon."

Yu Zhu smiled too: "Me too."