night

Flickering stars dotted the deep sky.

Jiqi sat on the seashore, his bare feet stepping on the soft sand, not far away was the sea water surging with the waves, exuding a trace of coolness through his toes to the whole body. He bent his knees slightly, propped his hands behind his back, and gazed at the silvery sea in front of him with a relaxed expression.

The sea breeze at night washes away the heat remaining on the ground, like a mother's gentle hand, brushing away the summer heat.

He turned his head to look at the brightly lit restaurant behind him, and smiled with relief, but his eyes were lonely. Today is a special day, the day Lexington and Saratoga become members of the family, and it is also his own birthday.

He doesn't have too many memories of his birthday, only the majestic rainy night and the small birthday cake remain in his mind.

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At that time, he was just a poor man struggling with food and clothing every day, crawling in the garbage heap, sometimes hiding in the corner and looking at the rich area opposite, envying the sons and ladies who rode through the streets in luxury cars.

They wear the most gorgeous costumes, have a style that no one else can replicate, are unique, like a fashion vane, and everyone takes them as the focus and follows in their footsteps. At that time, he just looked at his coarse linen clothes blankly, with a yearning look at them.

And what left a deep impression in his mind was not those young ladies and young ladies, but a child who had not yet grown up, a statue made of delicious food. It was a winter day, and a table dragged by a horse-drawn carriage drove through the street, and on the white cloth table lay a huge cake, which was food that Ji Qi had never seen before, and the greasy pure white cream mixed with dark chocolate was made into the image of a child on a metal iron plate. He stood proudly at the dining table, wearing a well-fitting black tuxedo and a blue bow, and raised his right hand high to greet passers-by, like a prince on patrol, his eyes full of pride.

Later, I learned that it was a birthday cake, a good wish from my parents on my birthday, and a swan song of life.

He will never forget that rainy night, the piece of cake that his mother brought back in the rain. The white cream is dotted with black chocolate chunks, as if it were the most tempting delicacy in the world.

To be honest, he didn't want to recall the sad past, like touching a needle, every time it was a pain in his heart. But sometimes, memories don't come out if you don't think about them, they don't show up, they don't be so obedient. Like a mischievous clown who will inadvertently jump out to scare you, when you reach out to uncover its grinning mask, there is a mournful face underneath, as if it had lost everything. When you look at it, you will inexplicably remember yourself at that time, and you used to show that expression, sad and helpless, soaked in the midnight rainstorm.

Jiqi took a deep breath and looked up slightly at the night sky above his head like a astrolabe, desperately trying not to let the tears in the corners of his eyes slip.

He once told himself to never show his weak side, never let tears seep out of his eyes. But there are some things that cannot be determined by subjective consciousness, and some things can never be contained.

He wiped the corners of his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind. Because he heard footsteps behind him and knew someone was coming. He doesn't want others to know his weakness, and he doesn't want others to see the tears in the corners of his eyes, especially the ship's mother.

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Lexington walked out of the restaurant and searched for Jiqi in the darkness.

There were five chairs at the table tonight, but there were only four of them. The Admiral, who sat on the edge, savored his dinner as if he were a man standing in a corner, too humble to be noticeable. She stood in the flickering light, looking at the Admiral standing in the darkness, the intertwined line of light and darkness in the middle was the boundary between the two worlds, and she wanted to set foot in that world, but was fiercely blocked from the invisible wall. The Admiral made a sumptuous dinner and faced everyone with a smile on his face, no different from him, but Lexington saw the sadness in his eyes through the false mask.

Lexington and his sister wandered for a long time, as an older sister, she was like an umbrella to protect herself from the wind and rain, keeping the evil side of the world out, leaving her sister with its innocence and beauty. She has experienced the sophistication of human feelings, has come into contact with masked walkers, and has also learned to observe words and colors, and think twice before acting. Because of this, she can see the truth through the falsehood, and see the inner world of those people.

And what she saw in the Admiral's heart was a torrential rain that did not stop, the sound of the rain was majestic and deafening, and he was alone in the rain, soaking wet. People passing by indifferently passed by, and no one gave this lost teenager a little warmth, a hug. Lexington stared into his empty eyes, and felt nothing but cold and sad heart, almost frozen despair.

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Outside, there was a chill, a slight cool breeze blowing, dancing the shadows of the surrounding trees. On the sand reflecting the moonlight, she saw a lonely figure on the sea, without the firmness and courage of the first sight, cowardly as a child, and people couldn't help but open their arms and give him warmth.

Lexington was stunned, she had never seen such a side of the Admiral. Lonely and helpless, his slightly trembling back seemed to be sobbing. She approached quietly, but the small round-toed leather shoes under her feet inevitably made a rustling sound on the sand, like a wake-up call, scaring the cowardly elf away, and she ran away into the dark forest.

The Admiral raised his hand in a panic and ran it across his forehead, looking back at himself with a smile. He was still the same sunny boy, as if he had seen him for the first time. But what he did just now seemed to be ...... Wipe away tears.

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Lexington, who was found, sat down generously beside Jiqi and kicked his feet and threw his leather shoes aside, revealing the soles of his feet wrapped in leg socks. She took the scissors out of nowhere, and neatly cut a few large openings in the leg socks, freeing her small feet, and her ankles swayed, like catkins fluttering in the wind, with a white and soft touch.

"Why?" Set of prayers.

In his impression, Lexington will always be a dignified big sister, a perfect nobleman, who will not deviate in what he says and does, even if he is down, the clothes on his body will not have the slightest wrinkles, and he will always maintain the original neatness. And her current behavior is no different from that of an immature little girl, laughing when she should laugh, crying when she should cry, and there will be no pretentiousness. It's as if this is the face behind her, doing her own thing, not caring about the eyes of others.

"Because I like it, this is my nature, the part that is covered up." Lexington smiled happily, unscrupulously and with girlish innocence. "Humans always like to bury bad emotions in their hearts, and the same is true for you."

"So you saw that?" Ji Qi turned his head and asked, without evasion. He could hear the hints in Lexington's words, and he knew that his small actions could not hide from her, this witch who had the power to read people's hearts. From the first time they met, he felt that any small gesture in front of Lexington would tell her what I was doing and what I wanted, and even a thick disguise would not help. Therefore, Jiqi did not intend to waste time by making unnecessary cover-ups, and it would only be more appropriate to ask her directly.

"Yes, I saw it." Lexington nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that the Admiral was asking her what she saw. "I was just skeptical at first, but after seeing you, that smiling face, I knew you were crying."

"Why are you so sure I'm crying? Maybe it's just sand in my eyes, but it's a beach, and with the sea breeze, it's normal to have sand in my eyes. Jiqi said with a smile, looking relaxed. He wants to make a final struggle, unwilling to admit his weakness and powerlessness to others, like a stubborn soldier who will not stop until he dies.

"Commander, you can deceive my sister Saratoga, deceive the Prince of Wales, deceive Noah's Ark, deceive everyone, but you can't deceive me, I'm not saying they can't, it's just that they don't have such delicate minds." Lexington smiled confidently, and she pointed into Jiqi's eyes and said, "I've seen countless people, both good and bad. Each of them has his own disguise, the bad one pretends to be good, the weak one pretends to be strong, and the humble one pretends to be noble. Their disguise is perfect, but I still see through the essence. Because their eyes can't be faked. It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and this is not unfounded. What is in a person's heart will be revealed through his eyes. It's like a leopard in a tube, a leaf knows autumn, whether it's happy or unhappy, I can see the clues from his pupils. ”

Jiqi shrugged, a little helpless. Sighing slightly, he threw in the towel. He knew that no matter how much he tried to cover up, he couldn't close the window of his heart, leaving darkness behind.

"So when did you become aware of it?" He asked.

"At dinner." Lexington replied, "What can you say, even though you have the same smile as usual, like an outsider standing in a corner in a daze, with sadness in his eyes?" She tilted her head and tried to find the object of the metaphor, "like a homeless man with the words 'I am miserable' written on his face, praying for help." ”

Ji Qi smiled, and had a lot of criticism about Lexington's rhetoric, but he didn't say anything to refute it. As she said, her past self was a vagabond, without any support, and could only stretch out her hand weakly to the people who came and went.

He sighed slightly, as if relieved, "Actually, today is my birthday, and the day I don't want to recall the most." But the brain just doesn't listen to the call, and the memories of the past keep coming up. ”

"Sad memories?"

"Indeed, I am so sad that I want to seal it." Jiqi replied in the affirmative.

"Even so, according to human tradition, today should be a happy day, should I sing a happy birthday song to you?" Lexington squinted and changed the subject with a smile on his face.

"If you want, you can." Jiqi thought about it and didn't refuse, thinking that what she said was just a girl's joke.

Lexington, however, was not joking, she cleared her throat earnestly, and hummed the strange happy birthday song softly in a thrush-like voice.

"Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday." The sound fluctuates, slowly slows down, and finally ends in a low voice, with every word and every word in tune.

It's like a huge band, playing just for him.

Jiqi was stunned, and his heart was sour, as if something had been rudely broken, and the hot liquid inside flowed out and penetrated deep into his heart. He stared blankly at Lexington, who was squinting and singing happily while beating the beat, and his eyes were a little moist. It took a long time for him to say in a trembling voice, "This is the first time I've heard someone sing a happy birthday song to me, it's very good." Thank you, Lexington. ”

He didn't know what words to use to describe it, as if his brain was blank in an instant, and he searched in it for a long time, but he couldn't find any gorgeous words to embellish, and he could only use the simplest and most faithful three words to evaluate, very good, really good, enough to move people's hearts.

"If it's nice, I'll sing it to you every year on your birthday, Commander." Lexington smiled, showing his white and neat teeth, like a fool.

But at that moment Jiqi thought she was beautiful, like an angel, and when she heard his call, she came down from heaven with a holy light, and stretched out her hand to him, a helpless wretched worm. At that moment, it was as if the whole world had been washed, leaving only a piece of white and a touch of flaxen-colored green silk, like splashing ink, sprinkled on the plain white background.

It took him a long time before he whispered, "Thank you, Lexington." ”

The girl's smile was like a flower, and she approached the boy little by little with the fragrance of jasmine, as if to kiss his thin lips. The girl pressed to his ear, her tone as strong as a command. "I don't want someone I like to cry on their birthday, even if not at all."

Lexington's rich fragrance, like blazing lightning, fell from the sky, and at that moment, Jiqi only felt a burst of electricity flow through his body, hitting him, and instantly suffered cardiac arrest and could not move. And her cheerful voice still echoed in her ears, like a parrot on the tongue of her classmates, singing the happy birthday song over and over again.