Luoluo Snowfield

Wedge

In the second year after graduation, I met an old high school alumnus at an inter-company party. After leaving each other’s contact information, in addition to business dealings, we also kept in touch during holidays. We often send text messages to each other. Not long after, she was assigned to an overseas company, and we had dinner together before leaving.

It was customary during the dinner to chat about anecdotes from the previous school. Although we are far away from those days, we still laugh out loud at the same time. When talking about the past, there is not much barrier between them.

"However, in the whole three years, the most unforgettable thing was Kurihara's, right...she said in the end.

"When I was a student, I would attend the funerals of my classmates, and I was very shocked at that time. . "

"If Kurihara is still alive now, he should be twenty-four years old like us..."

"Just like Naoko written by Haruki Murakami, when she and Watanabe are both She has entered her twenties, but the dead Kizuki will always remain nineteen years old..."

"Every time I think about it, it feels very unreal. ”

“Tonggami, do you still remember? "She asked me, "about Kurihara. "

[一]

I found Kurihara by the playground before school:

"What are you hanging around here? ”

“Oh. Kiriyama-kun. ”

“You are the only one in the class who has not paid for the study trip. "

"Really? ”

Kurihara sat on the parallel bars with his hands on his hands, his legs hanging down, and his skirt was like white oil paper randomly pasted on the cake, leaving a little distance between his knees.

So I lowered my head and said, "... Anyway, we're going to have sex soon. "

After adding strength to her hands and turning her body in a half circle around the body of the god, Kurihara jumped on the ground. She picked her ears and said: "A man comes to ask a woman for money. , it’s very embarrassing to do this. ”

“Don’t say such nonsense. I frowned, "Remember to hand over the money tomorrow, it's the deadline." "

Kurihara said "Huh" in a brisk tone, as if he couldn't guarantee it. I reluctantly let go of my shoulders and looked back when I turned to push the bicycle.

< p>Kurihara walked away from the stadium fence step by step, and the horizon seemed to be swallowing up the sunset in her taste buds.

She was mostly doing errands. No one in an eight-year-old high school student would take this title seriously, including myself. Two girls were arguing in the back row and finally got into a fight. It was so close to going too far that even if they knew how to stop it, it would have no effect. , but at this time I still had to step forward and formally say "please pay attention"

The girl with thickly painted upper and lower eyelashes stared at me and scratched her painted nails in her hair: "It's so wordy. , none of your business. Have you gotten carried away? ”

“But I feel that the word Kiriyama-kun is too different from ‘getting carried away’... Well, rather, it’s better to say, they are completely in two directions. ”

I heard such words later, in the art classroom in the afternoon. The art teacher asked me to find a picture album for him. When I walked into the classroom, I found Kurihara sitting in the corner. She dragged a chair to lean on. Corner.

"Why are you hiding here..."

"No. Kurihara ruffled his hair and said, "I will be a model at the art group event later." ”

The obvious teasing gave me away from the idea of ??continuing, so I walked to the window and just rummaged for something.

Kurihara touched me from behind with his shoe upper. Legs: “Can you turn off the lights when you go out? It's so dazzling that I can't sleep. ”

“Don’t you want to be a model? How can others draw when the lights are turned off?” "I glanced at her.

Kurihara still raised his chin and smiled at me: "Where? "

"It's really troublesome. "Having said that, when I walked up to him with the album under my arm, I still raised my hand and pressed the switch on the wall.

"Thank you. "Kurihara said in the darkness with a smiling tone.

So, it seems that Kurihara and I are still a little familiar, even though the boundary between familiarity and unfamiliarity is originally too blurry. There are three people in the class Most of the dozen or so people have no intention of talking when they meet, as if there is a considerable distance between them. It is a huge number that makes people tired of approaching.

However, occasionally I feel that from "seeing". It's not too far between the two points of "Kurihara" and "Talk to Kurihara". That number is so tiny that it can be held with one hand.

Dusk always carries a thin layer of mist, and the baseball team has There was a gray wind on the battlefield after training. Two or three girls from the physical education department were watering flowerpots at the school gate. There was an overpass and a bus stop outside the school, and there were mountains in the distance. Homes are scattered in the streets and alleys at the foot of the mountain. There are shrines, barber shops and bookstores, most of which have pitifully small storefronts.

When you walk out of the school gate, you can see colorful posters inside. A poster about a school trip. The picture shows a pristine swamp, with a group of large gray birds that don’t know whether they are geese or pengs fluttering their wings like a series of rust spots.

二]

One evening a long time ago, I met Kurihara in a bookstore. The bookstore had two floors, but it was still compact. Magazines, periodicals and comics were on the first floor, while literary and professional books were on the second floor.

When I walked up the narrow stairs to the second floor, at the end of the two rows of bookshelves, someone stood there with his schoolbag on the ground, flipping through a book. He watched very attentively, alternating his weight on his legs from time to time.

I quickly found the dictionary I needed and returned to the first floor. Not long after, the man walked sideways down the wooden stairs step by step.

Kurihara was wearing black half-socks, a school uniform skirt that reached above her knees, a navy blue jacket that was the same as the skirt, and her hair was below her shoulders - she could see clearly from bottom to top unconsciously. So when my eyes followed this route and finally landed on her face, I immediately turned away. Because it was a long time ago, I only knew that she was a girl in the same class as me, and the rest were completely as vague as strangers.

By the time I took the change from the boss, Kurihara had already walked out of the store. Both of our bicycles were placed in front of the store. She was a little ahead, and I was lagging behind. We rode along the undulating path, and when we reached an intersection with cars passing by, we stopped together behind the white line.

At this time, Kurihara turned back to me and said, "Goodbye, Kiriyama-kun."

Call my name. After the car went away, she rode on the road to turn right.

"Goodbye...Kurihara-san." I answered her after a moment.

This is the first time Kurihara and I have spoken. The first words he said were about saying goodbye.

[3]

Go uphill along the intersection where the barber shop is. The house behind the mailbox is my home. My mother dried her clothes in the yard. I once saw clothes and pants that looked like my own scattered on the ground from a distance. I picked them up along the way. My mother, who was watching TV series at home, had no idea that the sudden strong wind outside had swept away the fruits of her labor. .

However, even the slightly confused elders will hide me in the compartment of the mattress. It will pass... so I put an X here. The act of sneaking away a copy or two. And I took it away and took it away, knowing that I would definitely find it, but I never mentioned it directly, and I simply acted as if nothing had happened.

The bicycle was parked in the yard. After opening the door, my mother walked out of the kitchen holding a spatula and said, "We are going to eat beef stew today. Go and wash your hands."

A few years ago, parents began to be concerned and nervous about certain aspects. They took the opportunity to ask me insinuatingly what I was concerned about recently and what new interests and hobbies I had. Then they would go around in circles and ask me how my classmates were doing, and how were the girls.

"So, do you have any friends of the opposite sex that you are compatible with?" My father took a sip of wine, and as if he didn't really care about this topic, he pointed at the TV with his chopsticks, "That's this artist. , I have to get into people’s crotches every time! It’s funny, but it also makes people think, is it necessary to go to this point? Oh, right... Where did you just say it?”

“Nothing. "I said, "No."

"Oh, really... By the way, your school trip is next month, right?" Then the topic was officially changed, and my father looked back at the calendar, "No. It's been a few days."

"The most important thing is to pay attention to safety." The mother brought a bowl of rice and sat down at the table.

In fact, on the 20th wedding anniversary three months ago, my drunken father told me a complete story about how he and his mother met and got married - it turned out that my father and mother were students in school. The relationship started in high school, when they were teenagers.

When my father was talking, my mother would interrupt him with a smile, and then say to me: "Your father was really stupid at that time. He was just a rough boy."

Ban There were thirty-one people in the last year, and the number of girls was slightly less than that of boys, but even among the originally small base, Kurihara was not conspicuous. Sometimes I see her talking to other girls, or having lunch together, but it doesn't feel like she is a close friend. On the way home, she was minding her own business. Once or twice, when I was not far away from her and had decided not to say hello, Kurihara saw me and said, "Oh, Kiriyama-kun."< /p>

It was the beginning of summer, and Kurihara was wearing a school shirt with one button open and the hem of the shirt tied into a navy blue pleated skirt. His face is tanned, but his arms and neck are very white.

"Go home?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I have to go to the post office before that."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

" Send a letter?"

"No, there's a package to pick up."

"Oh, really."

"Hmm," come to the post office. When speaking, Kurihara slowed down and said, "Well, bye, Kiriyama-kun."

"Well, bye."

So the next day, he met Kurihara at school. Carrying the garbage bag and I holding the dustpan, as soon as we left the back door of the classroom, there was a new conversation.

"Did you get the package yesterday?"

"Yes, I got it."

"Oh..."

"Kiriyama-kun, please give me the dustpan. I have to take out the garbage anyway."

"Ah, thank you."

"You're welcome.

”

In the afternoon, I was left in the office by the head teacher to help her organize materials. Kurihara opened the door and came in at that time. She glanced at it and seemed to have gained nothing, so she asked me: “Where is the teacher?” ”

“Home teacher? ”

“Yeah. "

"I don't know, maybe I went to the principal's office. Have something to do with her? ”

“She is the one who came to me. Kurihara smiled, "Forget it, I'll go home first." She made a "please" gesture to me, "Don't tell her I was here." ”

“Oh, okay. "

Kurihara, who had already walked out of the office, then came back: "Ah, yes, this thing. "She took out a key and put it on the table. "It was poured out of the dustpan this morning. It was probably someone in the class who dropped it on the ground and was accidentally swept away. "

"Ah..." I was a little embarrassed, "I'll go to the class and ask about it tomorrow. Thank you. ”

“Yeah. Then I'm leaving. bye. ”

The conversation with Kurihara was dry, and there was no content. Even though the words that were spoken the most were always words like “um” and “oh”, I just followed it one day at a time, one day at a time. In the classroom on a summer morning, Kurihara rolled up his shirt sleeves and held an eraser while saying to me, "Did the teacher really ask about me? "

"Well, it seems that she also forgot about the appointment with you, and asked me, "Has Kurihara-san been here before? Oops, I remembered it wrong." "

"What do you mean? ”

“Never been here. ”

“Oh, thank you. "She smiled and raised her right hand, "Hey, hey, it's said to be dust-free chalk, but you can see clearly——"

Take it one step at a time.

Today passes tomorrow.< /p>

Then maybe next time I will talk about insignificant things about chalk.

Like a rope that gets longer and longer, it slowly goes far away. From one topic to another, I began to feel that I was somewhat familiar with Kurihara. From seeing her to talking to her, there was no distance between them.

[4]

In recent times, I have often appeared in situations where I had to cover up lies for my friends. My friends who were in the same class in junior high school were also assigned to each other in high school. After a few years, our relationship changed. Very stubborn, they spend time together to "support each other" in their free time, including brazenly admitting in front of his parents, "Auntie, those are indeed the things I left for him." One month's flower arrangement: X is still the same. The word "human" is used.

The other person's gaze on my face was like a hard-shelled insect crawling.

But despite the embarrassment at the time, we didn't smoke when we got together at night. The two drank the wine happily. They pulled the ring apart and took a big sip. It was cold at first, but it quickly warmed up.

"Ah... I was like that at that time. I think she looks so cute. "My friend drank and started talking randomly.

"Oh. "I shook the aluminum can in my hand. It was mostly empty, so my head already felt a little soft.

"The desktop of the mobile phone has also been changed. Wait for me..." My friend said while digging in his pocket.

“Okay, I don’t have to look. ”

The mobile phone flashed in front of my eyes: “How about it, it’s pretty cute.” ”

“It’s okay. ”

There are often other people, friends of friends, friends of friends, and so on. Four or five faces gather under the eaves. The topics have become more and more unscrupulous. On campus Certain popular girls outside the school are often the target of comments.

“Those who are not called cute are called fake. ”

“You know a lot. "

"Who in Class C is cute? The one with transparent skin! "

"Jellyfish, it's still 'transparent', idiot. "Someone turned around and called me while saying, "Tongshan, are you going shopping? "

"Well, the wine is almost gone. "I stood up and collected the empty cans.

"Oh, well, bring me a lighter. "

"Okay. "I rubbed my chin.

On this day, I caught up with the surprise test in the morning and the disaster prevention drill in the afternoon. In the commotion, I was bumped by an unknown guy in the elbow, and my chin was swollen. It was a very uncomfortable day, so I finally confirmed that Kurihara's seat had been empty all the time. Continuous state. Kurihara did not come today.

I passed by the office before leaving school, and the head teacher stuck his head out and called me: "Kiriyama-kun——"

"What? ”

“Let’s arrange the groups for the school trip tomorrow. Every five people will voluntarily form a group. "

"Oh. I thought about it, "Isn't there always one more person?" If there are thirty-one people in the class. ”

“Well, no. The class teacher shook his head and said, "Kurihara-san was admitted to the hospital yesterday, so he couldn't participate." "Perhaps seeing my dumbfounded expression, the head teacher added that it was not a serious symptom. But she did take a casual tone and quickly returned to the previous topic.

I stood in the corridor On the street, facing the playground, it was time for extracurricular activities. The baseball team, track and field team, and clubs were rehearsing group dances in the open space, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Slogans of "come on" and "work harder" were shouted everywhere. The energetic voices passed through the playground and could be heard clearly through the glass.

The air that has not become darkened due to a person's health is still flowing brightly. Like sand covering a single footprint.

I remember one evening before the end of the summer vacation, Kurihara and I met in front of the shopping street:

"Does Kiriyama-kun know this photographer too?" Kurihara, wearing gray private clothes, stopped. After getting off the bike, he pointed at the solo exhibition poster on the side and asked me.

"Ah, what?...Oh...um." I snorted.

"Really?" She looked at me, "That's it."

"Ahh... um..."

My eyes squinted at the poster The name on it was so unfamiliar that it was almost impossible to pronounce it smoothly immediately. If I were asked another time, "Kuriyama, do you know this person?", maybe I would immediately ask, "Who? A baseball player?"

But I gave a positive answer to Kurihara. answer. Thinking about it later, maybe I felt that I had to explain from the beginning that I was just here waiting for my friends, staring at the poster just to pass the time, but in fact I didn't care about what was written on it at all - such a long paragraph would seem boring.

Or maybe, in a way that I can’t explain, it was because I wanted to express my approval of Kurihara’s words. When I looked at her, I nodded as if it was an unconscious and natural behavior.

"You also know him?" I asked.

"Yes." Kurihara said, "I like the subject matter of his photography."

"Is that so..." I tried in vain to think of a reply that would not reveal as much as possible, "I I feel the same way... If I have time, I'm really going to take a look..."

Kurihara turned back and stared at me, with a smile at the end that made me feel extremely guilty.

I didn’t say goodbye that time. Kurihara was waiting for the special offer at the supermarket opposite after 6 o'clock, but I was still waiting for my friend.

Chatting some ordinary words. In the evening after it had just rained, the heat was rising again in the air. There were scattered leaves on the umbrella in Kurihara's hand, and he picked them away while talking to me.

Even in memories, every scene is still vivid and clear.

After buying beer and snacks from the convenience store, I came out and walked with the plastic bag in my hand, covered with frosty grass and moonlight. I stopped halfway through, opened my phone and rummaged through the rows.

It is true that there is no phone number for Kurihara.

This is the relationship between me and her.

I can’t even make up my mind to visit the hospital.

It’s just that you can talk normally when face to face, repeating trivial and ordinary content.

No more contact.

The relationship between Kurihara and I——

It is a very small relationship that can be held with one hand.

With this kind of relationship, Kurihara's appearance immediately comes to mind when I hear the word "cute".

At dusk when the air is humid, Kurihara, wearing a gray T-shirt, looks like a cup of accumulated rainwater. He picks up the leaves on the umbrella while talking to me.

I think that is very cute.

[五]

After school that day, at the request of the head teacher, I sent my class notes from the past few days to the hospital.

But it was not in the ward. I met Kurihara as soon as I walked to the atrium. He wasn't wearing a hospital gown, so his face just looked a little worse. With his hands in his pockets, he curled up and read a book on the bench.

I walked over, and Kurihara noticed the falling shadow. He looked up and said "Hey" in surprise.

"What happened?" I said.

"I don't know." Kurihara smiled.

"It's not serious, right?"

"Yeah." Kurihara moved his body to the side, "Sit?"

"Oh, oh..." I put my schoolbag on the ground, then opened the lid, "The teacher asked me to give you handouts."

"Thank you." Kurihara took the things over, flipped through them, and then concluded, " Kiriyama-kun, your handwriting is not bad——"

I reflexively pulled the book back immediately.

"I'm praising you." Kurihara smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Say, who told you to read this?"

"Okay, don't talk about this. Give it to me."

"We will set off the day after tomorrow ”

“Oh, really.”

“It’s a pity not to go.”

“It’s okay.” Kurihara straightened his back. He raised his body slightly and said, "It's not that regrettable."

"Don't be so harsh."

"Really." Kurihara turned to look at me, "I have other things I would rather go to. "Where?"

Kurihara stared at my eyes, paused for two seconds and smiled: "No, I'm talking nonsense."

< p>"..." I wasn't sure whether her words were true or not, so I could only continue to hesitate, "What."

"Where does Kiriyama-kun usually fall in love with?" Kurihara lowered his head and flipped through the handout, It seemed like a casual question.

“…Ask me what I am doing.

"

"No? "

"...Well, there is a place that I really liked to go to when I was a child. "I thought back, "Going over the shrine, there is a section at the bottom of the mountain where the tram will pass - in fact, the TV station has reported it before, but of course it was a small local TV station..."

"Yeah. "Kurihara nodded and motioned for me to continue.

"It's what I liked to play when I was a child... It's not quite right to say 'play'... I used to play with a few of my playmates. Shou stood on the bridge and watched the tram pass by. Because at that time, when the driver in the cab saw us, he would wave to each other every time, and we would shout to him, "Thank you for your hard work"..." At this point, I felt that the content was too childish, and I stopped talking, "It's all It was a stupid thing I did when I was in elementary school. "

Kurihara suddenly laughed: "But I think it's very good. "

"...If you want to see it...it only takes more than twenty minutes to ride a bike. ”

“Really. ”

“Yeah. "

"Then go take a look. "

Kurihara walked me to the front door of the hospital. There were symmetrical pines and cypresses planted on both sides. She held the handout under her arm. After standing up, she showed that she was wearing a long winter coat that covered her knees. .

I rode down the slope in front of the hospital. When I turned the corner, I could see the plain fields in the distance. Yellow.

Let’s take a look together later.

Let’s take a look together later.

[6]

< p>I think I do like Kurihara.

When, where, how - it’s hard to explain. Children like sweets. When summer comes, they should go to the beach. I am more interested in football than baseball... They are both simple, real and without reason.

But I like Kurihara, and above them, there is something I can't explain, like my wrist. The pulse next to her was beating continuously, weak but clear.