Simple soul

Mysterious Ancient House

Xiuxiu stared at Hai affectionately. Having been colleagues for so long, it seemed that she had never taken a good look at him before. She hadn't been able to muster up that interest previously. Hai seldom talked about his own affairs. He always had a solemn face with his brows tightly furrowed. "They're all fake. Every man I've met is a hypocrite," Xiuxiu told herself. Fascinated by the "restrained and aloof" type, Xiuxiu really wanted to expose his "pretence". As she looked at him like this, it seemed that she had already torn his white shirt open and seen the mole on his shoulder. The same age as herself, yet he seemed more than ten years older than her in the way he spoke and did things. Well, maybe he was an ideal partner. A young face with an old soul. Hmm, Xiuxiu felt rather pleased just thinking about it.

However, according to other colleagues, Hai had a girlfriend. She was a bit bothered by it, but not too seriously. In today's society, it wasn't a big deal if someone wasn't single. People could even break up a marriage, let alone a relationship with a girlfriend. She didn't have the heart to do something that would hurt others, but she couldn't resist her restless heart. "As long as no one says anything, it'll be okay," she thought.

"Just looking at him like this, it's as if he's already mine. It's like taking a photo. Once you take a photo, it seems that the thing in the photo belongs to you. Will the future world develop to the point where just looking at something means it's yours? What you see is what you get?"

Xiuxiu was just an employee in a small design company. Usually, she was responsible for drawing some original paintings and illustrations that didn't require much technical skill. She didn't know where all her wild ideas came from. The Miao Hai she had coveted for a long time was her immediate supervisor. "Alas, we're the same age. No matter what, I'll always be left behind at the starting line, right?" When there was no work to do, this was what she would think about while longing to smoke a cigarette. "Girls who smoke are so cool. Hmm, Miao Hai should like those cool girls."

Really bored, she went to the washroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw that she had put on some weight, with ordinary clothes and an ordinary face. "It's so hard to get a man," she sighed.

She stared at her face, planning how much money she would need to spend on cosmetic surgery so that countless men would be attracted to her. Just at that moment, the building shook. Yes, it shook. She panicked too, feeling like she was in the washroom on a bumpy plane. "What should I do?" She held onto the washbasin tightly and didn't move. But the shaking grew stronger and stronger. She judged that it might be a once-in-a-century earthquake or that the building had been hit by something. "Maybe it's an alien's flying saucer," she thought as she looked out of the window on the 26th floor. "It would be nice if I suddenly grew wings." However, she still closed her eyes and silently prayed that all the danger would pass quickly.

Bang! Hai kicked the door open. "What are you still doing here? I've been looking everywhere for you! Hurry up, the alarm is ringing." It was the first time Xiuxiu had seen Hai so nervous. "Is there a fire?" She didn't know why she asked such an off-topic question. "I don't know. Maybe it's an earthquake. Hurry up!" Hai pulled Xiuxiu into his arms. Her dream had come true. "Let's go!" But being urged all the time was rather annoying. "Keep your head down." Apart from their mobile phones, they didn't take anything else. Hai tightly protected Xiuxiu and pulled her to the escape passage and then quickly walked downstairs. Xiuxiu's knees hurt from going down the stairs. "Can't you slow down a bit?" "No!"

The stairs on the 26th floor. If it took 14 seconds for each floor, it would take at least six minutes, the time for two songs. That should be enough. "Don't you need to worry about the others?" Xiuxiu finally asked this question in the last two minutes.

"Tsk," Hai just frowned, indicating that he didn't want to explain.

They were both turning thirty, born in 1990, and belonged to the Horse zodiac. Thirty was an age when things became set. All the surging and running wild things in life were about to solidify at thirty, just like lard that would solidify over time. At thirty, their personalities and habits were pretty much fixed. They more or less knew what kind of people they liked or didn't like. Recently, a corny saying had always popped up in his mind — "The first thirty years of life determine all your habits." Generally, men started to put on weight around forty, but Hai didn't exercise and didn't have muscles. He had already started to put on a little weight, and going downstairs made him pant heavily.

Being "protected" by Hai for the first time, Xiuxiu felt like a runaway princess being rescued by a knight. Although their lives were in danger, the sweet feeling in her heart was enough to make everything seem okay. Taking advantage of Hai's inattention, she secretly kissed him. Like dry firewood meeting raging fire, she wanted to settle down right there and then, wanting to enter another dimension in the midst of this violent shaking.

Hai savored the taste on his lips. It was soft and glutinous, with the chemical smell of lipstick. Although no one had kissed him like this for a long time, he didn't dare to let his heart be moved. "Xiuxiu is quite bold today," he thought.

After they ran down from the tallest building in Pineapple City, there was a large area of low, flat houses in front of them. They were strange-looking. Probably the other builders knew that the terrain here was prone to earthquakes and it wasn't suitable to build tall buildings. Only the boss of Z Building had a whim and wanted to build the tallest building in Pineapple City. "What a fool," Hai had cursed the boss of Z Building more than once. After they came out, quite a number of people were already waiting downstairs to watch the fun. "Oh, there's no flying saucer," Xiuxiu actually felt a genuine sense of disappointment.