Mud beads

After Liang Dong was released on bail, Liang Xia moved to the old house where Yu Zhu used to live and took Liang Dong's cell phone with her.

News about him continues to surface online. Old videos are being cut into different lengths, and the headlines are becoming increasingly sensational. Accounts that once praised him are now listing his crimes. Calls from lawyers, companies, and the police are all being forwarded to Liang Xia. Every day, she sifts through the news from several blocks away, selecting the parts that absolutely need to be said and sending them to her apartment.

Only Yu Zhu and Liang Dong remained in the apartment.

After the door closed, the sounds outside became distant. Liang Dong had no cell phone, no job, no need to catch a flight before dawn, and no one would notify him in the middle of the night to change cities. Yu Zhu took a long leave from her institution, but the research group's proofs were still sent to her email on time. She sat at the dining table every day revising them, quickly progressing to the last few pages.

They kept quiet about the case, like an ordinary couple who had finally squeezed out a vacation, waking up next to each other every day.

The refrigerator was empty, so Yu Zhu went downstairs to buy groceries. When she returned home, Liang Dong, wearing an apron, poked his head out of the kitchen, cooking noodles in a pot while asking her if it was cold outside. Tomatoes melted in the hot oil, the soup slowly turned red, and the kitchen window was covered with steam, casting shadows that looked very close on it.

The Lunar New Year is drawing ever closer outside the apartment building. The property management has hung red lanterns at the elevator entrance, and the supermarket downstairs has piled gift boxes against the glass door, with golden "福" (good fortune) characters printed on the packaging bags. The two picture frames on the TV cabinet remain empty, and when the black screen lights up, the auspicious words on the red background are faintly visible in the light.

Tonight they are watching Tim Burton's "Big Fish".

Young Edward wandered into the town of Fengdu. The grass was so soft that shoes were unnecessary, and long ropes hung with the shoes of many newcomers. The tables were always laden with food, and the night breeze rustled through the treetops like a band. No one was in a hurry to leave, and no one intended to depart; everyone assumed he would stay.

Liang Dong sat on the carpet, leaning back against the sofa, with Yu Zhu nestled in his arms, a thin blanket covering her legs. The room was dark, the light from the screen falling on their faces, casting shadows against the distant mountain road.

"This town is the dream of everyone. I would be honored to settle here." Edward, standing barefoot at the end of the road on the screen, with townspeople coming to see him off behind him, said, "But in fact, I was never ready to settle anywhere."

He walked alone into the dark woods. His bare feet trod over the gravel and dead branches, leaving the bright lawns of Fengdu Town behind him, quickly disappearing from the frame.

Liang Dong gently moved the hand that was on Yu Zhu's waist, pulling the blanket that had slipped down back onto her shoulder.

After the movie ended, the living room went dark again, and neither of them got up immediately. As the end credits finished and the platform began counting down to the next film, Yu Zhu reached out and turned off the remote, hearing Liang Dong's breathing close to her ear.

They squeezed into one bed at night. Liang Dong would occasionally wake up suddenly, his hand groping along the sheets until it touched Yu Zhu's shoulder, before closing his eyes again. Yu Zhu never asked him what he was dreaming about; she would just lean back a little in the darkness, making it easier for him to wrap his arms around her.

The day Liang Xia delivered the court summons, Yu Zhu and Liang Dong were hanging up the washed bed sheets on the balcony. The balcony was narrow, with a damp white cloth blocking the way. Yu Zhu and Liang Dong each stood at one end, slowly smoothing out the folds that had bunched up together.

The documents were in a brown paper bag, which Liang Xia put down and left. Liang Dong washed his hands, stood in the entryway, opened the seal, and read through the entire bag. After finishing, he put the documents away and sat down next to Yu Zhu.

Yu Zhu sat on the sofa, her book paused on a page, untouched for a long time.

"Want to chat?" He took the book from her lap and placed it on the coffee table.

Yu Zhu's hands were now free. She looked up at him, her eyelashes fluttering slightly: "What did you talk about?"

Liang Dong pulled her into his arms as usual. His chin rested on the top of her head, his gaze falling on her hands, which seemed to have nowhere to go.

"Let's talk about your deal with Toru Eshima."

Yu Zhu's back slowly straightened.

Liang Dong's hand landed on her back, stroking it gently, one stroke at a time: "No matter what you promised him, I don't agree."

"I didn't agree to anything he said, it was the company—"

"Yu Zhu," Liang Dong called her softly, "We have no secrets between us, right?"

Yu Zhu lowered her head, and her vision suddenly became blurry.

She turned around and buried her face in Liang Dong's neck.

"I'm an adult, and I should be responsible for my actions." Liang Dong lowered his head and smiled briefly. "Don't flatter yourself."

Yu Zhu raised her head, warm tears streaming down her cheeks, the young face before her blurred and then cleared again.

"Even if it wasn't you that day, but another girl, I wouldn't have stood idly by." He said, taking her wrist and gently untying her tightly curled fingers one by one. "I was too impulsive—three years or five years, I will obey the rules, behave well, and try to get out as soon as possible."

Yu Zhu opened her palm, revealing the red marks left by her fingernails, which Liang Dong gently stroked with his thumb.

"Don't forget, I'm younger than you. Even if I stay here for three to five years, I'll only be in my early twenties," he said calmly, as if calculating a not-so-long construction period. "But a person's life is very long, right?"

Yu Zhu leaned her head back on his shoulder, tears streaming into the hollow of his collarbone, forming a small artificial lake.

"If you go out into the entertainment industry, you won't be able to become a star anymore, and it will be very difficult for you to find a job."

Liang Dong paused for a moment when he heard her words, then raised his hand to wipe away her tears.

"Silly girl." He laughed, pinching her chin. "I never wanted to be a star in the first place."

Yu Zhu raised her eyes, and through her blurry tears, stammered, "I can't even take the teacher qualification exam."

Liang Dong's eyes curved even more sharply.

Have I ever told you about my childhood?

Yu Zhu shook her head, and two more tears fell.

"Liang Xia and I are actually half mountain kids," Liang Dong leaned back on the sofa, tightening his arms to make Yu Zhu more comfortable. "Our hometown is a key poverty alleviation county north of Shanhaiguan. When my dad was still alive, our whole family lived in the factory area. Back then, my mom was in good health. There were mountains behind the factory dormitory, and I spent every day with the kids from the village. In the summer, we would go to the river to catch snails, and in the winter, we would collect wood from the scrap heap to build a 'shelter'."

"I've touched snails too," Yu Zhu said, her tears turning into a smile.

"Then you definitely didn't touch as many as I did." Liang Dong lowered his head and chuckled. "I liked a girl in my class in elementary school, and later we went to the same junior high school. Her father passed away in our third year of junior high, and her mother remarried, so she stopped going to school."

He sighed at this point, then quickly continued, "Although she's no longer in school, she often writes to me, sometimes asking about school, sometimes asking me to help her with math problems."

Yu Zhu listened quietly.

"Later, my dad had an accident, and my mom moved out of the factory with both of us. I went to high school in the city. When I went back to see her, she was already engaged to a boy from the village."

"You've broken up with your boyfriend?" Yu Zhu frowned.

"Not really." Liang Dong pinched her nose. "I just always remember this and think it's such a pity. She was very smart and had good grades, just like you."

Outside the window, downstairs in the residential area, children were playing with firecrackers. The crackling sound of the firecrackers brought the end of the year very close.

"So I thought, it's okay if I can't get the teacher's qualification certificate. I can go back to the village and become a primary school teacher." Liang Dong lowered his head, a shy smile appearing on his face. "I'm actually pretty good at math."

Yu Zhu hugged his waist and looked up: "What about me?"

"What?"

"Am I not in your future plans?"

The kids downstairs seemed to have finished playing with their firecrackers; the sound hadn't been heard for a long time. Liang Dong looked at Yu Zhu, bent down, and kissed her forehead.

"You are free."