Despite Luna's opposition, Rowan still took her to a nearby hospital. After the doctor examined her, he said there was nothing serious, only a few scratches on her knees and arms. Having disinfected with iodine, Rowan had intended to ask the doctor to bandage Luna, but Luna insisted that if she had two pieces of gauze wrapped around her arms and legs, how could she go out on the street?
Rowan smiles wryly, saying that beauty is more important than health in the minds of these girls now.
Knowing Luna was fine was a happy thing after all, but thinking of leaving the city early tomorrow morning, Rowan's mood soon dimmed. Luna, not knowing Rowan's thoughts, giggled and asked where to eat.
Rowan supported Luna as she walked down the street, looking down at the injury on her leg: "Your leg is so badly injured. Where else can you go? Let's find a place nearby." It doesn't matter where you eat; it's important to be with someone you like. Luna thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go to Haiyun Street and have some hot pot." Rowan was taken aback: "Don't you dislike the street food?" Luna laughed: "What you like can change. Maybe I'm starting to like it now?" Rowan understood Luna's intention, and she was trying to get into his life. But the reality is cruel. A lot of things can't be done just by liking or wanting to do them.
Looking at the girl in front of him with a smile on her face, Rowan felt heartbroken again. How could he bear to leave such a girl and go to a foreign land alone, and how could he say goodbye?
Let's go and have some hot pot first.
Skewers are a bit like hot pot, where all kinds of vegetables and meat are skewered for people to choose from. Unlike hot pot, in hot pot, the owner gathers your selected skewers and cooks them in one pot, then puts them in small basins, pours them with stock, and adds seasonings according to the diner's taste.
Luna never ate at street food stalls before, but she fell in love with the snack after having a hot pot with Rowan.
Now Rowan and Luna are sitting in the little shop on Haiyun Street, with a small basin in front of them, which contains hot skewers. Luna had eaten a lot and felt bloated in her stomach again. She patted her stomach and said, "I'm so full. Why do I eat so much when I'm with you?" Rowan had been staring at Luna for quite a while, and when her gaze met his, he hurriedly turned his gaze away. He said, "Even if you don't stay with me anymore, you should eat more. I hope you get a little fatter." "What? You think I'm too thin?" Luna laughed. For a moment, she recalled seeing the thin man in the elevator at noon and blurted out, "You surely haven't seen what a real thin man looks like. You can hang him on the wall with just a nail." Luna stopped talking because she felt that kind of discomfort again. Perhaps it was because I had eaten too much, she thought. But the discomfort was the same as the feeling in the elevator after work in the evening, with a vague fear in her heart. But with Rowan, what else is there to worry about? No one can hurt oneself, and Rowan will drive away any devil who dares to come to her like the legendary prince.
Thinking this way, Luna was happy again. It was only then that she noticed something unusual about Rowan, and that he was carrying a big, bulging travel bag that seemed to contain a lot of stuff.
Luna said, "Why are you carrying such a big bag today?" Why carry such a big bag? Rowan was in a daze for a moment, and a hint of sadness flashed across his face. The pain in his heart spread quickly, and some sadness climbed up his forehead at the right time, and he tried to hide it, but the pain and sadness had taken root in his heart, in his eyes, and he could no longer hide them.
Luna felt it at once, and a smile froze on her face. She grabbed Rowan's hand and asked, "What happened? Something must have happened, isn't it!" Rowan was silent and speechless.
Luna shook Rowan's hand: "Tell me, what exactly happened." There was a look of despair in her eyes, for she had never seen Rowan so depressed in such a long time. She paused for a moment, then suddenly calmed down, only a glimmer of light welled up in her eyes.
"You'll tell me sooner or later, won't you? Then tell me what happened right now. If you don't want me to worry, just tell me. Tell me, will you?" She said.
What can you tell her? Rowan remained silent. He couldn't tell Luna that he had moved out of the rented house, nor could he tell her why he was leaving the city, but in any case Luna would know what was going to happen: he had a ticket for tomorrow morning in his pocket and he was leaving the city tomorrow morning.
How on earth did it happen? Rowan racked his brains but couldn't remember.
Everyone has their own history. History becomes the past. As long as time cannot be reversed, no matter how capable you are, you cannot change even the slightest trace in it. Sometimes we have to be very careful to hide history, because if some history appears in reality, it will become a beast that devours not others but yourself.
Rowan now feels that he is walking with the beast, and he has no choice but to go far away.
But he couldn't show the beast in front of Luna. He loves Luna, and if losing Luna becomes a certainty, he would rather keep his current feelings in her heart. Many years later, when Luna has moved on from the pain and remembers a relationship that happened in her life, she will surely feel a faint sadness, and then she will surely not forget a name called Rowan.
This might have been the best ending.
Rowan was silent, and he had no choice but to toughen himself up. In fact, at this time he felt very vulnerable because the enemy he had to face was himself, not someone else, and he himself was an enemy that could not be killed.
People tend to face reality by evading, but who knows how deep the helplessness of evading is?
Rowan finally said to Luna, "I'm leaving, leaving this city forever and never coming back." Luna, as if devastated, stared blankly at Rowan, speechless in astonishment. Immediately, tears welled up in her eyes and her gaze turned cold.
"Are you leaving me? You promised to protect me well, for a lifetime. Now, have you forgotten your promise? Are you going to leave me alone? Do you think it's hard to protect me?" "No!" "I haven't forgotten what I promised you, but now it's different. I can't even protect myself. How can I protect you?" said Rowan. "I don't care!" Luna shook her head and shouted loudly, her misdemeanor making her the center of attention in the hot pot restaurant, "I don't care, I want you to stay with me for the rest of your life!" Rowan looked at the girl in front of him, his eyes full of helplessness: "Perhaps leaving you is protecting you." Luna said nothing and just stared blankly at Rowan. Her beautiful face was now somewhat distorted, and the otherwise soft lines became stiff. Her hair, which had just been shaken and disheveled, had a few strands stained with tears that crossed her cheeks. Her expression was a mixture of despair, indifference and hatred, as if Rowan had committed a great crime by leaving her. In the end, the indifference and hatred dissipated, leaving only despair.
Rowan looked at the change in Luna's expression in astonishment, feeling that Luna had become strange at this moment. Perhaps it wasn't strange. When he first met her, she often showed this kind of despair in her eyes, occasionally mixed with indifference and hatred.
There was also fear.
- Is there something hidden in this girl that she doesn't know?
All of this is no longer important, Rowan mournfully thought, this night will eventually pass, he will eventually board the departing train tomorrow morning, and his love affair with Luna will surely become history. Now he only hoped that many years later, if he had the chance to pass by the girl in front of him again on the street, she would still remember his name.
The sky was a bit unusual tonight. Behind the dark clouds, there seemed to be a glimmer of light that appeared and disappeared. The air is filled with warm scents, which are different from the usual ones. They seem to have taken shape, constantly squeezing you in the air, making you feel depressed and irritable.
On his way home to Luna, Rowan saw a big rat, more than half a foot long, squealing across the road on the sidewalk. Luna let out a cry and hid in Rowan's arms. Rowan, in an instant, stretched out his arms and hugged the girl tightly.
Rowan's embrace was as warm and strong as it felt.
Luna wept in Rowan's arms. The faint sobs made her look like a helpless child, and Rowan gently stroked her back and found the girl trembling slightly all the time. So Rowan also had some urge to cry.
Crying seems so far away from Rowan. The only crying that remains in my memory seems to be when I was in middle school. That evening, he stood in his yard, looking at a large pit in the yard, and wept quietly. Where the pit was, there should have been a luxuriant gardenia tree.
Luna turned to face Rowan at the entrance of her neighborhood. At that moment, Rowan suddenly noticed a firming expression on Luna's face that he had never seen before. "Don't go. Wait for me here. I know what happened. I'll come back to you when I sort things out," Luna said. Rowan was flustered for a moment, waving his hands repeatedly but only uttering two words: "No!" Luna didn't stay any longer and turned to run into the neighborhood. Rowan wanted to chase, but Luna was running so fast that she was already more than ten meters away from him. Rowan was wandering outside the gate of the neighborhood, and suddenly a great terror filled his heart.
- What on earth was he afraid of?
-- What on earth made him have to leave the girl he loved and the city?
"You're back." " Luna walked straight across the living room back to her own room as if she hadn't heard her father's voice. The door clanged shut, and the two old men outside looked at each other, both speechless, sighed, and then fixed their eyes on the television in the room. A police and gangster film was being shown on TV, in which a deputy director of the public security bureau personally led a team to catch a murderer. The old man and woman stared fixedly at the TV, but none of them paid attention to what was being shown.
There was some noise in Luna's room. The old lady looked worriedly at the door over there and then at her husband. Father frowned, intending to go up and check, but held back in the end.
After a while, Luna's door opened and she changed into casual sportswear and came out carrying a large suitcase. The old man and woman were bewildered for a moment, but when they understood Luna's intention, they were all flustered. Mother came forward and hugged her daughter, while father took two quick steps to stand in front of Luna.
"luna, what are you going to do?" said the mother, with some sobs. Father, with a furious look on his face, pointed at Luna as if he wanted to scold her, but for a moment he was at a loss for words and his fingers trembled uncontrollably.
Father is really old. His hair, though not all white, is all grayish-white. His skin, which he had taken good care of a few years ago, now has many wrinkles, and the few age spots under his sideburns are becoming more and more obvious. He stood before Luna, no longer as composed and magnanimous as he used to be, just to show the extent of his anger, his back was still straight, which made one imagine his military background.
"What on earth do you want!" At last the father spoke.
Luna looked indifferent and stared at her father without any emotion in her eyes: "I'm not a child anymore. I have the right to choose my own life." "What kind of life do you choose?" "Just choosing to stay with that street thug?" Father growled. You ran away from home and left us behind for him!" Luna shook her head: "But you forgot that it was all your doing." Mother grabbed Luna's arm on the side: "luna, there's no parent in the world who doesn't want their children to be good. We're doing this all for you." Luna still looked at her mother expressionlessly: "Do you know what I need? You will only impose your will on me, completely disregarding my feelings. You know, all these years, it was only with Rowan that I felt at ease and realized that I could live a happy life like most of the girls around me. Now it's you who are going to ruin the happiness I just got." "Enough!" Father shouted. At that moment he felt dizzy before his eyes and clearly felt his own powerlessness. Perhaps he could not change his daughter's will, but he was convinced that Rowan was a devil, only that this devil was now in slumber. One day he will wake up and tear apart those closest to him.
The father took a breather, thinking that if it was absolutely necessary, he would explain everything to his daughter and let her see the true face of Rowan, and then she would surely understand his good intentions. But there was still a faint fear in his heart, because at this moment, his daughter's expression seemed to return to many years ago, and the coldness in her eyes seemed nothing could move her, including family affection.
The fear in the father's heart grew stronger. I can't go back to the past, I can't let my daughter suffer such deep hurt again. The old man felt that he was in a dilemma and thus had no confidence to speak later.
"luna, you trust us. We are your parents and our greatest wish is to give you a happy life. There is a reason why we oppose your relationship with Rowan. Maybe you don't understand it now, but you will understand it in the future. So, even if you blame us in your heart now, we have to be tough." Luna sneered, "What are you going to do by being so ruthless?" "I'll definitely not let you have any further contact with Rowan!" "That's why you've been looking for someone again and again, using all kinds of coercion to threaten Rowan." Luna sneered, "How much money did you get someone to give Rowan? How much do you think he's worth breaking up with me? You even had the police station intimidate him, using some of his past misdeeds to threaten him. Now you've finally succeeded, he's leaving the city, but now I tell you, if he leaves, I'll follow him too, you'll never be able to break us apart." "luna, how could you be so cruel..." The mother shed tears first on the side.
Father looked at his daughter with a sullen expression. The daughter seemed completely different at the moment. Her usual docility and meekness seemed to have vanished from her, and the coldness on her face made her look cold, as if - as if possessed.
"luna, listen to me. I did think of a lot of ways to separate you from Rowan. But it wasn't me who forced him to leave the city this time. He's leaving on his own. What can I do?" "Do you think I would believe you?" Luna said contemptuously, "I don't believe it!" "Whether you believe it or not, you won't be able to go out of the house today." Father, too, became tough.
"What if I have to go out?" "Then give it a try!" The father stepped forward, his slightly stooped back straightened again, "No matter how much you hate me now, I still won't let you be with that devil." "Devil?" Luna froze for a moment, then sneered again, "Even if he were a devil, I would still be with him..." Rowan was still outside the neighborhood, and he had no idea how long he had been there, only knowing that he had finished the newly opened pack of cigarettes in his pocket. Luna asked him to wait for her here. He didn't know if she could escape her parents' questioning tonight, nor did he want to deepen the conflict between Luna and his parents as he was about to leave. But he tried to leave several times but couldn't take a step.
He was about to leave the girl he loved so deeply. It had been years since they parted, and even if they could see each other again, things would have changed.
The girl he deeply loved was the one he vowed to protect with his life.
It was unknown how much time had passed, and Rowan leaned back in a corner by the gate of the neighborhood. He took out another box of Redwood cigarettes from his travel bag, but when he lit it, he found that the lighter wouldn't go off. He hoped to find another lighter out of his bag, but to his disappointment. He stood up dejectedly, intending to borrow a fire from the security guard on duty in the community guard room, when he suddenly froze.
At this moment, the stars and the moon were both obscured by the dark clouds in the sky. By the yellowish glow of the light in front of the community gate, Rowan saw that the sky presented a bluish-green color he had never seen before, as if a strong bluish-blue light was about to shine directly down behind the clouds, but because the clouds were too thick to penetrate, they could only make the dark clouds seem transparent. It was a strange sight, darkness enveloped the earth, but the sky was a nearly transparent bluish color. Rowan looked up for a moment, mumbled something, and then walked towards the duty room. Suddenly, his body began to sway.
It was not just his body that was shaking. The gate of the community and the duty room in front of him, the closely arranged buildings in the community, and even the concrete road beneath his feet were shaking in an instant.
Rowan quickly steathing himself, and the days of following Scar to the punch and stick made him agile and steady. Even so, a deep fear welled up in his heart.
After a moment of bewildering, he recalled the recent rumors of an earthquake in the city.
The earthquake really happened, and it wasn't just a rumor as the authorities claimed.
When the thought of an earthquake came up, Rowan stood still, seemingly trying to confirm what had happened again. But the ground just shook and then returned to calm in an instant. So Rowan wondered if the shaking just now was his illusion.
It was still quiet in the neighborhood, and even the security guard sleeping soundly in the room at the gate was not moving at all. Could it be that no one else noticed the shaking just now? Could it be that I really have the illusion of an earthquake? Rowan's fear flared up again, and there was a look of sadness on his face.
- Could it be that my illness has flared up again?
-- Could it be that the slumbering devil has awakened again?
Rowan stood by the door of the neighborhood as if he were an old monk in a state of meditation, or as if he had been bewitched. Then he slapped himself hard on the cheek, and after the crisp sound, he felt the pain.
The pain was a real feeling.
Rowan was bewildered.
Just then, the ground began to shake again, and this shaking had been continuous. Not far away, the stand of a street lamp collapsed with a loud crash. The earthquake once again became a reality before Rowan.
Rowan heaved a long sigh, and his face returned to normal in an instant, even with a look of joy, as if a man who had been wandering in a maze for a long time had finally found an exit.
"Earthquake, earthquake, earthquake..." Rowan muttered, and then burst out laughing, not concealing the excitement of relief at all.
Some Windows in the neighborhood lit up, and the sound of some glass shattering was heard at the same time. Screams followed one after another, and the silent community came to life. Some agile residents soon appeared on the concrete road of the community, carrying boxes and bags, clearly prepared. More people came after them, mostly disheveled and rather disheveled, Shouting and calling out the names of their families. Whose child was crying, with a loud voice that soared into the sky.
Faced with the sudden commotion, Rowan was once again at a loss. It seemed that he didn't know how to adapt to the surging crowd. But in an instant, he became nervous, murmured Luna's name, and finally, without hesitation, ran in the direction of the crowd.
-- He was going to look for Luna, and he had to see that Luna was safe and sound before he could be completely at ease.
-- Luna, Luna, you mustn't be in trouble.
Rowan, running, searched through the oncoming crowd, his mind full of dejection thoughts. He felt that his decision to leave the city, to leave Luna was a very foolish thing. He had promised to protect Luna for the rest of his life, no matter how much happened. But now he is leaving her and going to another place. Of course, he could come up with an excuse that he didn't want Luna to be hurt, but in fact, he was a bit too selfish. What he wanted to protect was actually himself, not Luna.
At this point, Rowan was filled with guilt towards Luna, and at the same time, the thought of seeing Luna unharmed grew stronger, as if if anything bad happened to Luna in the earthquake, it would be his fault.