Chapter 40
The daylight was faint, and the sea shimmered with ripples.
The sun rose through the dimness at dawn, and the golden-orange disk lingered in Shi Xiu’s mind, refusing to fade.
A clean scent spread through the air.
It carried a chill and also made one feel familiar, like the early morning of some particular day.
Shi Xiu felt her world becoming more and more vivid.
After a simple goodbye to Shang Jinyue, Shi Xiu went home.
Looking at Shi Wendong sitting on the living room sofa, looking as if he had come to interrogate her, she unhurriedly changed out of her shoes and told him, “I’m going to Italy.”
“What Italy? You’re going to listen to the Shang family and…” Shi Wendong had just been about to fly into a rage and lecture his daughter, who had escaped the house early in the morning, when he abruptly froze.
“What did you say?” Shi Wendong could not believe his ears.
“I said, I’m going to Italy.” Shi Xiu repeated it, looking at Shi Wendong with a slightly provocative gaze. “Not satisfied?”
Who knew that this time, not only did Shi Wendong not fly into a rage because of Shi Xiu’s provocation, he instead clapped his hands and praised her. “Satisfied. I’m so damn satisfied! My good daughter! Dad is so happy!”
As Shi Wendong spoke, he was about to come over and hug Shi Xiu.
Only, faced with this scene of father-daughter affection, Shi Xiu froze for a moment, then stuffed her hands in her pockets and bypassed Shi Wendong’s enthusiastic fatherly love.
“Don’t get happy too soon. I might not necessarily catch the academy’s eye.” Shi Xiu reminded Shi Wendong.
Although Shi Xiu said this,
in reality, her level was far firmer than the cold water she had poured over Shi Wendong.
Under Shang Xiunian’s recommendation, Shi Xiu submitted her works to a professor at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts.
After looking at Shi Xiu’s works, the professor directly wrote back to Shang Xiunian: this child’s level was enough to enter the academy, and she absolutely had to apply.
Shi Wendong was happy for three days and three nights over this. All the nice words he had never said to Shi Xiu in the previous life appeared during those three days.
He even directly transferred a considerable sum into Shi Xiu’s card, as if Shi Xiu had already gotten into the academy.
Sometimes, Shi Xiu really did not understand Shi Wendong.
Call him stingy, yet sometimes he was shockingly generous.
He clearly left her alone and did not care about her, yet he always popped up at key points in her life to come up with terrible ideas no one knew were good or bad.
Since she was little, he had never really had a pleasant expression toward her. Yet now that she was leaving home, he had run over himself to see her off.
Just like now, after Shi Xiu had, with Cen Anning’s help, pushed two thirty-inch suitcases through check-in and baggage drop, she turned and saw that this person who had come to send her off was still standing not far away with his hands in his pockets, showing no intention of leaving.
“All done?” Shi Wendong asked when he saw Shi Xiu walk back.
“Mm.” Shi Xiu nodded and gestured to Shi Wendong and Cen Anning. “I’m fine here. You two can go.”
“We’ll watch you go through security. In case there’s something you can’t bring, you can give it to us,” Cen Anning said.
Shi Xiu did not take it seriously. “What could there be that I can’t bring? It’s not like this is my first time flying.”
Shi Wendong was very dissatisfied with Shi Xiu’s words and urged her, “Listen to Anning. She’s right. Hurry up and go through security. Don’t cause me trouble.”
Shi Xiu immediately shot back, “If you think I’m trouble, then you didn’t have to come today.”
Shi Wendong did not fall behind either. “Am I here to see you off? Xiao Yuan was worried about Anning, so she asked me to come along.”
“…”
That was right. This person had always valued only his own interests.
Whether it was the Shang family or Cen Yuan, they were all people above him, so he obeyed them completely.
As for Shi Xiu, he had never taken her seriously, which was why he always did this sort of back-and-forth nonsense.
Shi Xiu shoved her hands in her pockets and did not want to talk to Shi Wendong anymore.
At this moment, the phone in Shi Wendong’s pocket rang.
The deduction notification came at an appropriate time, and also not an appropriate time.
“It’s just a one-week trip to Japan. Look at all these bags you brought, spending more of my money again. Those who don’t know would think you’re eloping with a lover.” Shi Wendong took his phone out of his down jacket and looked at the message, complaining irritably.
“Are you done yet? You were the one who said I could use the money however I wanted when you gave it to me, and now you’re the one complaining it’s expensive after I actually spent it. Isn’t it just an overweight baggage fee? I’ll pay you back.” Shi Xiu truly felt she had nothing to say to this person. As she spoke, she was about to take her phone out of her pocket and transfer money to Shi Wendong.
Seeing this, Cen Anning quickly pressed down Shi Xiu’s hand and said to Shi Wendong, “Uncle, what A-Xiu brought are all things for painting. Aomori is much colder than here. Bringing more clothes also makes it less easy to catch a cold.”
Once Cen Anning said this, Shi Wendong immediately had no reason left. Then he glanced at Shi Xiu, who was wearing even less than he was, and found fault again. “You’d better not catch a cold. Otherwise, if you can’t finish your portfolio, I’ll still have to find someone to fish you out of Japan.”
Shi Xiu immediately returned fire. “Don’t worry. I’ll definitely come back in one piece. You have so much money. I don’t want to die before I finish spending it.”
Listening to Shi Xiu’s words, Shi Wendong felt they were especially grating.
He had just been about to open his mouth and lecture Shi Xiu when he heard Cen Anning look at the two of them with dissatisfaction. “What exactly is wrong with you two? She’s about to leave, and you still don’t think this is unlucky?”
When Cen Anning’s face tensed up, she looked somewhat like Cen Yuan, and Shi Wendong was genuinely a little afraid.
Listening, Shi Xiu pursed her lips, grabbed her bag, and wanted to leave this person.
She now felt that going to Italy was the best choice.
That way, she could stay far, far away from Shi Wendong, remain abroad, and never come back.
Cen Anning looked at Shi Xiu, as if she had guessed what she was thinking, and went over to squeeze her hand. “Don’t get angry at people who aren’t worth it, and don’t make decisions at times like this.”
This person’s hand was a little cold. Shi Xiu felt her irritated emotions seem to withdraw by half because of it. “Thank you. I know.”
Cen Anning then patted Shi Xiu’s shoulder and smiled at her. “All right, there isn’t much time left. Hurry and go through security.”
“Then I’m leaving.” Shi Xiu was rarely obedient, adjusting the bag that had slid down along her down jacket.
“Be safe.”
“Send a message when you arrive.”
Cen Anning and Shi Wendong’s reminders came one after another.
But before Shi Xiu could tell which sentence belonged to whom, they were quickly swallowed by the noisy voices of the airport.
The warm winter sun shone into the airport hall, and taking off her down jacket during security was still fairly warm.
Shi Xiu looked back outside the security checkpoint. The people lining up were all wearing warm clothes to varying degrees, their puffed-up clothing weaving into a sparse wall that kept her from seeing the people on the other side.
Italy did not have the gaokao, and the art academies would require applicants to provide a portfolio.
Through communicating with the professor and receiving advice, Shi Xiu set the theme for the portfolio she had to submit next May as “Four Seasons.”
At present, Shi Xiu had already completed her summer and autumn works, and in the blink of an eye, time had arrived at winter.
Shi Xiu planned to find her inspiration about snow in this season.
But unfortunately, the northern seaside had pitifully little snow this year.
Shi Xiu had watched the weather forecast and waited for a long time, but snow never came to the seaside. Instead, she saw online that Aomori in Japan had already had several heavy snowfalls.
It could not quite be called a moment of impulse.
Shi Xiu decided to carry her drawing board to Japan.
The plane took off and passed through the clouds.
Shi Xiu looked down from the window. The Ning City she was familiar with was gradually becoming smaller. The city became one square after another, until it was finally replaced by gray-brown colors.
Shi Xiu heard the sound of her own heartbeat, rarely somewhat nervous.
Of course, this was not Shi Xiu’s first time on a plane.
In her previous life, in order to find a painting that matched the gallery she was preparing, she had often flown all over the world.
Only, this was her first time traveling for one of her own paintings.
There was no direct flight from Ning City to Aomori. This trip, Shi Xiu would first fly from China to Tokyo, then transfer to Aomori Airport.
Her current sleep quality was much better than when she was twenty-seven. Once she got into first class, she habitually turned on Do Not Disturb, and before long, she fell asleep.
“…A warm reminder: the plane will arrive at Haneda Airport at 14:42, and the ground temperature is two degrees Celsius. At present, there is snowfall in northeastern Japan. Passengers transferring to northeastern Japan, please adjust your clothing appropriately according to the temperature difference.”
Half-asleep, Shi Xiu seemed to hear the sound of the announcement.
Because the first version of the announcement was in Japanese, Shi Xiu heard it muddily, as if she had caught the word snow.
For some reason, Shi Xiu inexplicably had an ominous feeling.
She hurriedly turned on her phone and saw that the weather forecast she had subscribed to had just sent her several push notifications about Aomori’s weather.
And the snowfall symbol in the latest push notification had changed to a blizzard.
Shi Xiu felt that the flight to Aomori probably had little chance of taking off on time.
It was worse than that.
After getting off the plane, Shi Xiu was still waiting for her transfer when she saw the mechanical board on the airport display for the flight to Aomori click and start turning.
The board that had just been marked delayed turned, and became “cancelled.”
People came and went through the airport, unfamiliar languages connecting into a stretch of noise, almost covering the sound of the mechanical board flipping.
But that sound was also so clear, knocking against Shi Xiu’s ears and making her expression serious.
Almost without hesitation, Shi Xiu gripped her phone and went to buy a Shinkansen ticket to Aomori.
Who could have thought that while one place had brilliant sunshine, another world was buried in snow?
Shi Xiu held her suitcase and looked at the prosperous, warm scenery outside the window, unable to tell at all that her destination would be covered in snow.
She still held some luck in her heart. What if?
What if, when she arrived there, it was no longer a blizzard?
But there were no what-ifs.
When Shi Xiu dragged her two large suitcases out of the train, the snow filling the platform gave her a solid embrace.
Shi Wendong was simply a crow’s mouth. Shi Xiu’s exposed hands were scraped cold by the freezing wind, giving her the genuine feeling that she might have gone and never return.
“Excuse me, can I…”
“Sumimasen…”
All sorts of voices sounded by Shi Xiu’s ears, making the feeling of being in a foreign country grow even stronger.
In blizzard weather, even expensive taxis were impossible to get.
Shi Xiu felt somewhat headachey, feeling that the current situation was even worse than the time she had run to England to find Shang Jinyue.
Snowflakes fell in an unreasonable way, one after another, yet when light scattered over them, they were indeed beautiful.
Looking at the scenery before her, Shi Xiu felt she should not think the current situation was terrible.
After all, last time, she had gone because she could not bear separation. This time, she was here for herself.
But sometimes, thinking about it, doing something for oneself was the rarest thing in the world.
When doing something for someone else, at least you would feel that at the endpoint, you could still see someone waiting for you.
“No, no, no.”
Shi Xiu dragged her luggage and shook her head hard.
She felt that this lonely environment had made her thoughts confused. This kind of thinking was wrong, and it was also weak.
There might not necessarily be someone waiting at the endpoint. Perhaps that person had left long ago.
She also did not need anyone to wait for her. She herself could walk the road that belonged to her.
Thinking this, Shi Xiu gradually firmed herself up.
People flowed past, groups of two and three wrapping around Shi Xiu.
She laboriously dragged her luggage through the snow, thinking of walking forward to find a less crowded place to get a car to the hotel.
She could not possibly sleep on the street tonight.
“Wait a moment.”
After a somewhat urgent sentence in Japanese, Shi Xiu’s wrist was held by someone.
Shi Xiu stood in the snow and froze for a moment. Lowering her head, she saw a wrist wearing a red cord enter her vision.
The surroundings were noisy. Perhaps because she had exhausted too much strength, the sound of her heartbeat in her ears was frighteningly loud.
It seemed she recognized the owner of this wrist.
And yet it also seemed she was slow to confirm it.
The heavy snow silently fell for a while. Shi Xiu turned to look behind her.
And saw Shang Jinyue appear before her eyes.
She wore a thick white down jacket, the soft white fur collar crowding around her clean little face.
Neon lights, falling snow, everything was so unreal it seemed like a dream.
Shi Xiu stared blankly, feeling as if she were that little match girl.
She had struck the final match and seen someone she should not see.
And this person Shi Xiu should not have seen looked at Shi Xiu nervously for a long while, then said to her in fluent Chinese, “Shi Xiu, where are you going?”
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