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Tang Hui's sharp gaze was fixed on her face, but the smile had abruptly vanished.
"Alright, don't look at me like that. If you keep staring at me, I might think you've fallen in love with me!" Xiao Yang joked, quickly tilting her head to the side, unwilling to engage directly with his gaze.
"Now that I'm here, what do you want to talk about?"
"Why are you always so stiff with your words?" Xiao Yang pouted, frowning in dissatisfaction as she complained to him.
"I usually speak like this. If it bothers you, feel free to find someone else to talk to."
"You think you can get rid of me? No way." Xiao Yang wrinkled her nose at him. "Even if I have to cling on stubbornly, I’m going to keep you here and talk to you."
Seeing her childlike determination, Tang Hui couldn't help but smile.
"Do you really think there are kindred spirits in this world?" Xiao Yang suddenly asked, pointing at the guqin platform across the lake.
"Of course there are. Otherwise, the melody of high mountains and flowing water wouldn't have been passed down for thousands of years," Tang Hui affirmed.
"Then who is your kindred spirit? Is it Zhu Hui?"
Hearing her question, Tang Hui pondered for a moment. "She is indeed my kindred spirit, but I can't say for sure that I am hers."
"What do you mean?"
"It might be due to a difference in intelligence!" Tang Hui replied with a faint smile, self-deprecatingly adding, "She can always think of things I might not even consider."
"Is that so? It seems that the best gift God has given humanity is not beautiful appearances but rather wise minds." Xiao Yang gazed at the rippling lake surface tinted red by the setting sun and sighed wistfully. "If given a choice, I'd rather be an ugly genius than a pretty fool; that way, I wouldn't end up bumping into tree stumps."
"Tree stumps? What are you talking about?" Tang Hui was puzzled by some of her strange words.
"Do you want to hear a really funny joke?" Xiao Yang suddenly asked.
“What’s the joke?”
“Once upon a time, a tiger and a wolf had a child named Bunny. Not long after Bunny was born, their relationship began to deteriorate. They would argue over trivial matters and blame each other for their shortcomings. Day after day, year after year, Bunny grew up amidst their constant bickering. Finally, unable to bear the endless noise any longer, Bunny stormed out of the house in a fit of anger and ran to seek comfort from its Fox Friend and Dog Brother. Seeing Bunny looking dejected, they described the colorful world of humans in an attempt to cheer it up. Upon hearing their descriptions of the human world, Bunny was filled with excitement and endless beautiful fantasies about human life. After enduring for a while at home, Bunny could no longer resist the temptation of the vibrant human life. With a determined heart and dreams of a better future, it left its cold but safe home and stepped into the bizarre world of humans. Indeed, the human world was as colorful and rich as its Fox Friend and Dog Brother had described—red, blue, green, purple—what beautiful colors!
Then one day, while running along, Bunny encountered its Fox Friend and Dog Brother again. They joyfully pointed out another path where the colors were even more vibrant and dazzling, urging Bunny to hurry along. Without a second thought, Bunny trusted them and ran in the direction they indicated. As it ran, the colors became increasingly rich and brilliant. But for some reason, just when Bunny thought even more splendid colors awaited ahead, everything suddenly went dark. The beautiful colors vanished into thin air, leaving only suffocating darkness behind. Bunny was terrified; it had never seen black before in its life. It didn’t understand that black was just another color among many. If it could encounter bright red, it would inevitably also face the eerie terror of black. How frightening black was—nothing could be seen! Its proud eyes lost their function in an instant, unable to guide it out of the darkness. In desperation, it closed its eyes and ran forward blindly.
Bunny kept running without knowing how long or where it had gone. Just when it thought light was near, it suddenly felt dizzy and suffered a severe headache. Slowly opening its eyes after what felt like an eternity, it found light again and realized it was lying next to a rotten tree stump with endless barren fields around it that looked like a desert. A barefoot farmer suddenly approached it, lifting its long ears with a smug smile: “I’ve finally waited for you.”
At this point, Xiao Yang couldn’t help but burst into laughter, laughing so hard she nearly lost her breath, clutching her stomach as tears welled up in her eyes. “This story later gave rise to an idiom: ‘Waiting by the tree stump for a rabbit.’ Isn’t that funny?”
Tang Hui didn’t laugh; his face turned pale with an expression of shock.
“Hey! Why aren’t you laughing at such a funny joke? Do you know I called you out just to tell you this joke so we could laugh together? Do you understand?” Xiao Yang’s expression darkened as she shouted at him in frustration.
Tang Hui gazed at her deeply with sympathy in his eyes and quietly asked, “What exactly happened to you…”
“I… I’m fine! Don’t guess randomly!” Before he could finish his sentence, Xiao Yang interrupted him like an injured beast and angrily ran down Stone Arch Bridge to sit on an island across from the bridge. She hugged her knees and buried her head in despair under the gentle willow branches.
Seeing her like this made Tang Hui suspect something must have happened; otherwise, she wouldn’t tell such a strange story. He followed her down Stone Arch Bridge and stood silently behind her, unsure of what to say. They remained in silence for a long time.
“Xiao Yang, is your Bunny…”
“Exactly! That foolish rabbit is me!” Xiao Yang suddenly looked up with tear-filled eyes and interrupted him.
“What happened?” Tang Hui asked in confusion with an ominous feeling creeping over him.
Xiao Yang stared at him for a long time; tears streamed down her cheeks without restraint. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.
“Last night—I was drunk after being served by some customers—they took advantage of me while I was unconscious… they assaulted me.” After finishing her words weakly, she broke down into sobs as if a tightly wound string had suddenly snapped.
Tang Hui didn’t know how to comfort her; he could only stand silently behind her as her guardian. Time flowed quietly like mountain stream water; as the neon lights brightened around them, Xiao Yang sat there without speaking for nearly three hours while Tang Hui stood protectively behind her like a sentinel. Gradually calming down, Xiao Yang turned back to look at Tang Hui and smiled at him with a rainbow-like smile after rain before sincerely thanking him.
“It’s getting late; let me take you home.” Tang Hui took out his phone to check the time displayed on the screen.
“Home? I still have to go to work!”
“Can’t you just not go to that job?” Tang Hui asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
“If I don’t go to work, who’s going to support me?” Xiao Yang replied with a dismissive smile, mocking him for being foolish.
“You could find another job, work somewhere else. Isn’t that an option?”
“Find another job?” Xiao Yang burst into laughter at the suggestion, casually responding, “Someone like me can only be considered talented in places filled with glitz and glamour.”
Tang Hui gazed at her earnestly and said, “Xiao Yang, you’re truly beautiful. Why do you have to mask the beauty that God has given you with all that cheap makeup? You’re not a mindless person, so why engage in mindless activities? I believe what you need isn’t just money, but more care and understanding. If you don’t mind, I’d like to be your true friend.”
“Friend?” Xiao Yang looked at him, her heart jolting. She weakly asked, “Will you take my place and get beaten up like Zhu Hui did?”
“Ancient people would go to great lengths for their friends. What’s a couple of punches for me in comparison?”
Hearing his words warmed Xiao Yang’s heart, and a radiant smile blossomed on her lips.
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