Rebirth Must Be Happy

“I don’t understand…”

After the movie ended, Xie Wanqing pondered for a long time—in fact, she thought she had pondered it seriously—before looking up at Xu Jinhuan and asking, "What did that reporter mean when he said zebras and gorillas are who they are?"

Didn't he say he told two stories?

Xu Jinhuan continued to hold her plump, soft body, explaining with a smile, "One version of the story is the one we see, the tiger. The tiger survived with him. The other version is the one where there were no animals on board, only people. The gorilla that protected him was his mother, and the zebra with the broken leg was a sailor. His mother and the sailor were killed by the hyena, who was also the cook. He himself was a tiger, so he killed the cook and survived by eating the corpses..."

"what?"

Xie Wanqing felt completely unwell. "No way?"

"As mentioned at the beginning, this film is entirely narrated by the protagonist himself; it's his personal perspective, not an objective one..."

Xu Jinhuan laughed and said, "Of course, you can also believe the version with the tiger. I also prefer the version with the tiger."

"Me too."

Xie Wanqing nodded immediately, but couldn't help asking, "Then which version do you think is true?"

"The tiger version, I guess."

Xu Jinhuan understood that what she wanted wasn't the truth, but an answer that wouldn't haunt her with nightmares. So she casually made up a story, "Think about it, the whole ship was wiped out, and he was the only one who survived. And after drifting for so long, the others would definitely be suspicious, and all sorts of rumors would spread... So he simply made up this version, and then let people choose the version they wanted..."

"Makes sense."

Xie Wanqing nodded in agreement, broke free from his embrace, and said, "Turn on the light."

She turned on the light and saw Xu Jinhuan still sitting on the bed. Her face flushed, she scolded, "You should go now."

"Let me see."

Xu Jinhuan picked up her phone to check the time. "It's only nine o'clock. School usually isn't over yet. No rush..."

Xu Jinhuan saw a message from Chen Xingzhu saying that she finally mustered up the courage to try a sip of douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), and that it was delicious, encouraging Xu Jinhuan to try it next time she went.

Xu Jinhuan: "Trying to trick me into drinking it too, huh?"

Xu Jinhuan: "Alright, I'll trust you this once. I'll try it next time."

Xu Jinhuan: "I'm watching the movie 'Life of Pi' at home. It's pretty good. You can check it out too."

He quickly sent the message, and while doing so, he made up an excuse. Although he didn't say it explicitly, he implied that he was watching a movie and that's why he didn't reply to the message immediately. This made it seem more natural and less guilty.

There's no way around it. Even if a normal person tried to explain, it wouldn't be a big deal. The key is that he himself is not upright, so of course he's afraid of being implicated. Even if it's likely a battle of wits with thin air, he has to keep fighting.

Otherwise, who knows when things might go wrong?

Of course, from a probabilistic point of view, a failure is inevitable; the only question is when. Xu Jinhuan simply wants to postpone it as much as possible.

The longer the time goes on, the deeper the feelings become, and the deeper they become, the harder it is to break free.

"How about we watch another movie?"

Xu Jinhuan put down his phone and saw Xie Wanqing staring at him. He put on a very calm expression and smiled, "I found that watching movies this way is quite enjoyable... Let me look for some more."

"Go back and see."

Xie Wanqing tried her best to look fierce, "I'm going to sleep, don't disturb my sleep."

"Big ones look more comfortable."

Xu Jinhuan wasn't going to leave. He'd come with no intention of leaving, so he ran over, randomly picked up a movie called "Let the Bullets Fly," and asked, "Sister, have you seen this one?"

Xie Wanqing looked a little angry and said, "I'm not telling you."

"Then let's look at this one."

Xu Jinhuan ran back to bed, and Xie Wanqing, feeling both embarrassed and ashamed, pushed him away, saying, "If my aunt and uncle find out, I'll be too ashamed to face anyone..."

"We have important business to attend to."

Xu Jinhuan advised, "Online store, games, so many things, we can talk about anything for a long time. Besides, my parents are probably already asleep, they don't care when I'm going back."

He told his parents he was coming to see Xie Wanqing, but they probably went straight to sleep and wouldn't wait for him. Even if they found out he wasn't back, they might be secretly pleased.

At most, I'll hesitate about whether to remind him to be careful and not cause any fatalities...

"That's not OK."

Xie Wanqing still wouldn't let him get on the bed, saying, "Go sit on the chair and look around, I want to sleep."

"You go to sleep, I won't disturb you." Xu Jinhuan climbed onto the other side of the bed. "You go to sleep, I'll leave after I'm done reading, I won't bother you... Do you want me to turn the volume down?"

Xie Wanqing pretended to be angry, wrapped herself in a blanket, and sat down next to him, ignoring him.

"Aren't you hot, sister?"

Xu Jinhuan said with great concern, "Take off your clothes, just leave on a thermal undershirt... Go to sleep."

"..."

Xie Wanqing noticed that he seemed to be smiling while he spoke, and finally couldn't keep up the act anymore. She grabbed a pillow and pretended to hit him, scolding, "What exactly do you want?"

"I didn't mean anything by it."

Xu Jinhuan chuckled and came over, took her hand, gently kissed the back of her hand, and said with a smile, "It really is just a nap... ptooey! I'll leave after the movie..."

He accidentally blurted out the truth, and quickly corrected himself, explaining, "Slip of the tongue, I misspoke... I'll leave after I finish reading, really."

Xie Wanqing was both embarrassed and amused. She playfully hit him and said, "Then you'll leave after you've finished reading... You said it yourself."

"Ok!"

"Lies are puppies!"

"Uh-huh!"

Xu Jinhuan nodded earnestly, looking as if he could start barking right now if needed. "This movie is a classic, really. It was released in 2010, and I've watched it several times..."

"Then what are you still looking at?"

"It's pleasing to the eye; I discover something new every time I look at it."

"Really?"

Xie Wanqing's expression clearly showed disbelief. She looked at the movie with curiosity, and Xu Jinhuan then came over and hugged her.

This time he behaved much better and stopped causing trouble, but he seemed to get sleepy very quickly. He tilted his head and lay down on Xie Wanqing's head, falling fast asleep.

Xie Wanqing initially thought he was trying to take advantage of her again, but upon closer inspection, she realized he seemed to be asleep. So she woke him up and couldn't help but chuckle, saying, "You're so sleepy, why don't you go back to sleep?"

"Huh? No!"

Xu Jinhuan shook her head in denial, struggling to open her eyes, "I'm not sleepy, I'll stay up with my sister to finish watching..."

He hugged Xie Wanqing tighter. Xie Wanqing saw that he was sleepy but still reluctant to leave, so she softened and didn't object, letting him hug her tighter.

Less than two minutes later, he tilted his head again and rested it on Xie Wanqing's head. This time, Xie Wanqing was more experienced and secretly looked up to see that he had fallen asleep again.

She instinctively wanted to call him, but looking at him sleeping, she hesitated for a moment, then gently nudged him and said, "If you're sleepy, go back to sleep... I'll call you when I'm done reading."

"what?"

Xu Jinhuan opened her eyes groggily, "I'm not sleepy, it's okay... I'll go to the movies with my sister."

He smiled, then couldn't help but yawn, and said with a laugh, "I'll change positions."

He tried to lean against the wall, but felt uncomfortable, so he looked around, then leaned to one side and lay down on Xie Wanqing's lap. "I can just rest my head on your lap like this... Sister, call me if your legs go numb."

"Go to sleep."

Xie Wanqing gently tapped him.

"I won't sleep, I'll look at it this way..."

Xu Jinhuan was speaking when there was no further response.

Xie Wanqing bent down to look and saw that his eyes were closed again. She found it a little funny, but she didn't call out to him again.

"Ouch,"

After a while, Xu Jinhuan seemed to wake up on her own. She sat up and asked her softly, "Are your legs numb, sister?"

"fine."

Xie Wanqing shook her head. Seeing him sit up on his own, she thought he was going to leave, but then she saw that he had taken off his pants and socks.

"It's more comfortable to watch this way while lying down."

Without waiting for a reply, Xu Jinhuan quickly burrowed into the covers, then snuggled closer, hugging Xie Wanqing's legs and resting her head on them. "Okay, this looks much better... I promise I won't fall asleep again this time." (End of Chapter)