Beautiful Summer Short Story) Zhang Baotong

As soon as Chen Linxiang got on the platform of the passenger ship, he saw He Yuru standing alone by the escalator and staring at the western sky. The summer river breeze kept blowing her light yellow dress and beautiful long hair, making her present a calm and fluttering posture in the afterglow of the dusk and sunset.

Chen Linxiang walked up to her side and greeted her. It was the fourth time he had met her here since he got on board. Every time, she leaned against the railing like this, facing the river breeze, staring ahead, as if she was entangled in a heavy thought.

She turned her head, smiled at him, and said, "Look, this summer sunset is so beautiful!"

He looked up and saw that there were thousands of red glows on the West Mountain, the remnant sun was like blood, and the golden light reflected a brilliant and dazzling splendor between heaven and earth, so he said, "This is a real and magnificent beauty." ”

"But good things are always ephemeral and fleeting. She said with a sentimental look and expression.

"That's why beautiful things are so precious. Chen Linxiang nodded and cast his gaze deep into the distance.

As the afterglow of the setting sun faded into the twilight sky, they began to walk slowly side by side along the railing.

"Are you traveling alone?" he asked.

She shook her head with a slight hesitation and said, "I'm going to Lianghu to see a friend. ”

"But I think you have a lot on your mind. He stopped and looked her in the eye earnestly.

"Really?" she pursed her lips and smiled plausibly.

In the vast twilight, a full moon rose from the eastern mountain, casting a blurry light color between the quiet and faint sky. The night is silent, the river breeze is gentle, and the sound of the motor of the passenger liner echoes against the wind in the valley of the Yangtze River.

"You blew that trumpet last night?" He Yuru asked.

"It's okay to be idle, just blow it. Chen Linxiang said.

"But you blow it so well, the trumpet is melodious and loud, and it makes people feel like they are immersed in a dream. He Yuru said admiringly.

"You've won the prize. Chen Linxiang smiled humbly.

"I also studied music. She paused for a moment and said.

"Really?" he said happily, "so we are together." ”

"But I'm teaching. You're in the band. She said.

So they began to talk about Bach, Handel, Beethoven and Strauss, from the romantic music of the nineteenth century to the contemporary folk music of the Middle and the Turks.

Unconsciously, the night is getting thicker, the wind is cool, and the moonlight is clear and clear. He was afraid that she would catch a cold, so he invited her to his cabin. He picked up two tubs of Coke, handed her one, opened it and drank it slowly. The evening breeze blows from the window, making people feel a soothing coolness. At this time, she saw a laptop and a CD on his bed. So he picked up the CD, looked at it, and asked, "What kind of CD is this?"

"It was a few trumpet pieces recorded for me by an audio-visual company in Chongqing. He said.

"Really?" she looked at him with some impress, "Can I hear that?"

"Absolutely. He put the disc into the computer, pressed the mouse, and immediately, a melodious music sounded as if from the distant horizon. This is the tune of Dvořák's famous second movement of the Symphony from the New World. When the trumpet played a passionate and loud homesick song, she felt that her heart was stirred by a strong emotion, and the infinite beauty of love was like a dream permeating her boundless heart. So much so that when the song ended, she was still immersed in the drunken longing and aftertaste for a long time.

"It's time to listen to your song. Chen Linxiang took out the CD from his laptop and asked her to sing a song.

He Yuru calmed down her emotions, blinked her eyes and thought for a while, then smiled at him euphemistically, and sang the song in the American film "Spring Dawn on Cuiti":

"When the song of spring reverberates,

Remember that May morning,

Thou hast said, Thou hast loved me,

On that May morning. “

Her voice is clear and soft, and the tune is full of spiritual thoughts and imagination, as if bringing people into that sunny and flower-filled May.

"I want to record your song. When the singing faded in the valley, Chen Linxiang looked at her with intoxicated eyes and turned on the recording device on her laptop.

He Yuru nodded, walked to the window, looked at the silent night, and sang again under the accompaniment of the trumpet's deep agitation.

When the sun rises from the top of the mountain ahead, the river is filled with a brilliant morning glow. The peaks on the shore are protruding and continuous. From time to time, ships full of morning light will come head-on, and the whistle of "beep" will be heard from afar.

Chen Linxiang had breakfast and took his camera to the platform on top of the passenger ship. He Yuru was standing by the railing waiting for him. When I saw him coming, I smiled at him.

Chen Linxiang took a picture of her while choosing the scene. She leaned against the railing, facing the morning light, her face glowing with soft and bright joy. He made her constantly change the background and posture to take a picture of her. She listened to his arrangement very well.

After taking pictures, the sun has risen, and the sun is hot. They returned to Chen Linxiang's cabin. For entertainment, Chen Linxiang took out a deck of cards and played a little magic trick for He Yuru. Although these little magic tricks were not a new thing, he felt very happy when he saw He Yuru's confused and curious look. Later, he began to tell her fortune with cards. He said her marriage would be a happy one. She didn't look overjoyed, but shook her head thoughtfully. He said she would marry a very rich man. She smiled bitterly, sighed, and said that she would rather marry someone she really liked than someone who had a lot of money.

At noon, she insisted on inviting him to dinner. They ordered a few dishes, asked for two buckets of feed, sat in a corner of the restaurant, and began to eat.

"Do you think people can be happy when they have money?" she asked after a while. Apparently this question has been thought about many times by her.

Chen Linxiang frowned slightly and said, "I think these should be two different things. A person does not need a lot of money to live a happy life, but to have an independent personality and a mature mentality. ”

"But nowadays people always take money very seriously. She looked sad. "What about you?" he asked.

"I don't take money very seriously, but my mother always told me that Chai Mi and his wife, friends of wine and meat, can't live without money. She smiled wistfully, and then put the cup in front of her eyes and looked at it for a long time, as if in an elusive contemplation.

After eating something hastily, He Yuru said that her head hurt a little, so she went back to her cabin. Chen Linxiang left the restaurant, walked around the side of the passenger ship, and returned to his room. He picked up a magazine and read it. However, He Yuru's look and melancholy just now made him unable to calm down. Therefore, the magazine was held for a long time but nothing was read. He simply dropped the magazine and lay down on the bed. It wasn't until the passenger ship approached Yicheng that a notice sounded on the radio that he woke him up. The notice said that due to the failure of the main engine, after the passenger ferry arrived in Yicheng, the departure time would be changed from 7 o'clock in the evening to 10 o'clock, which means that the ship would stay in Yicheng for six hours. As soon as he heard this, he got out of bed and went out to find He Yuru.

He Yuru was sitting in the room, gazing at the scenery on the shore from the window. When he saw Chen Linxiang coming in, he smiled brightly at him. Lin Linxiang said, "The passenger ship is going to stay in Yicheng for a long time, and come ashore with me?" He Yuru immediately showed joy and said, "Great, stay on the ship for a long time, and you will suffocate people to death." ”

In the afternoon, the golden light is shining and the river breeze is like a bath. Chen Linxiang took He Yuru out of the dock and took a car to the courtyard of a farmhouse not far from the river.

"I'll show you someone. He said, "My grandmother." ”

"Your grandmother lives here?" He Yuru was a little surprised.

"When I was in college in Wuhan, I used to come here for a few days almost every summer. As he spoke, he knocked on the courtyard door.

An old man opened the door. I haven't seen it for a few years, and my grandmother's hair is all white. Chen Linxiang couldn't help but cry out a little sadly, "Grandma." ”

The old man recognized his grandson, and when he saw He Yuru behind him, he took He Yuru's hand affectionately, looked at He Yuru from head to toe with a smile, and praised He Yuru for being elegant and handsome, and said that He Yuru's face was feverish. She knew that the old man was the object of her grandson, but she didn't want to let the old man spoil his fun.

The small courtyard is quite big and very clean. Behind the house is the hillside facing the river. Sitting in the house, you can clearly hear the whistle coming from the river. He Yuru didn't know in advance that Chen Linxiang would bring her here, so she didn't buy anything for the old man, so she took out some pastries and fruits from her leather bag for the old man to eat. But the old man's teeth had fallen out and he couldn't taste them. He Yuru peeled a piece of candy and put it in the old man's mouth. The old man ate it and said it was so sweet and sweet.

The old man kept looking at He Yuru, asking this and that, as if he always couldn't see enough. He Yuru blushed and answered the old man's various questions generously and freely. Chen Linxiang listened from the sidelines, and looked at her with gratitude and satisfaction from time to time.

After saying some affectionate words, the old man wanted to take them to the street to buy vegetables, and walked through a small road, and down a large slope, they came to a small street paved with bluestone slabs. Chen Linxiang carried the basket. He Yuru held the old man and walked side by side on the street where the pedestrians were sparse and the sun was shining. Most of the people who come and go on the street are common acquaintances. But when He Yuru fluttered past the twilight background in that bright dress, it provoked people who opened shops and passed by to greet the old man and ask He Yuru where she was the girl. The old man smiled and said that it was his grandson's girlfriend. The people praised the girl for her beauty, and said that the old man's heart was full of joy.