Chapter 1, Bitter Summer

Meng Yao took a fan out of the drawer and handed it to Meng Yu, saying, "It is likely that the fuse has blown."

The living room on the first floor was filled to capacity, and Meng Yao could not recognize everyone, only identifying a few relatives from the Su family

Meng Yu pulled aside the curtain, her voice somewhat muddled, "Sister?"

Su Man murmured a response, though it was unclear whether she truly heard it

Pressed twice, no response

As night approaches, the lights of the riverside homes gradually illuminate.

Wang Limei saw off the police and helped Meng Yao up from the chair, "... hurry and change your clothes"

The room is quiet, with only the sound of rain pattering softly, half striking against the glass window and half drifting in through the partially open window

Looking again, what floats on the surface of the river is not water plants, but a head of long black hair

"It's nothing," Meng Yao pulled her hair out from the collar of her T-shirt, took her wallet and keys, turned on the table lamp, and said, "I will go out to pick up Man Zhen."

She usually does not behave this way; today, for some unknown reason, she seems to be in a state of unrest.

Meng Yao quickened her pace, the streetlight's glow filtering through the branches, casting her silhouette into irregular shadows

The Meng family lives on the first floor of a dilapidated residential building, consisting of two bedrooms and a living room. One bedroom faces north and the other south; the south-facing room is larger and well-lit, where Grandma and Mother Wang Limei reside. The north-facing room is cramped and lacks sunlight, where Meng Yao and his younger sister live. During rainy weather, the floor becomes damp, dark, and humid, necessitating the use of lights even during the day

Meng Yao took the keys from Su Man's bag to unlock the door, assisted her into the bedroom to lie down, removed her outer coat and pants, and turned on the air conditioning. Once the temperature had dropped, he shook out the air conditioning blanket and covered her with it

Meng Yao looked up, her gaze deep and bewildered

Meng Yao gazed at the row of white lanterns blurred by the rain and mist in the night, feeling a pang in her heart

Chen Suyue embraced Ding Zhuo tightly, weeping uncontrollably, "Xiao Ding... Man Zhen... Man Zhen..."

By the afternoon, the rain had not yet stopped

After lying down with my eyes closed for a long time, I finally began to feel drowsy in a daze

It was not until that moment that the perception she had deliberately shut away finally awakened.

Upon arriving home, Meng Yao took a shower again

That person also waved at her

Zoucheng was suffocated in the humid and hot air, and it did not cool down even late into the night. The old air conditioner was ineffective, wheezing like a tuberculosis-stricken old cow, struggling to produce even a couple of breaths of cool air.

The neighbor stared for a moment and recognized that it was a red dress

After a long time, he said in a hushed voice: "Go in."

Meng Yao was sweating profusely, reaching out to touch the air conditioning remote control beside the pillow

She found a wooden hairpin, tied up her hair, sat for a while in a daze, and then picked up the pen again

Meng Yao was concerned that she might be thirsty, so he poured a glass of clear water and placed it on the bedside table

Meng Yao got out of bed and glanced outside. The torrential rain poured down, enveloping the entire world in a curtain of white.

The night breeze is chilly, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms

Meng Yao felt increasingly heavy in her heart, as if cotton fluff had soaked up water, blocking her there. She turned her head and gently sniffed.

Suman really called, asking her to go out for drinks

The light illuminated the raindrops, and beneath the awning ahead, a person appeared, though it was unclear when they had arrived

Meng Yao felt a blockage in her chest, opened her mouth, and after a long pause, finally spoke, "... ... Man Zhen got drunk last night, there was a power outage in the middle of the night, she probably felt hot and went swimming in the river ... ... "

While waiting for the oil to heat up, I suddenly heard the sound of "bang bang bang" at the door

She picked up the fan and slowly waved it

In the ear, I heard someone discussing

Stifling heat, with not a breath of wind

Meng Yao took out her phone to check the time, turned over and got out of bed, opened the window, and a slight breeze began to blow in, coming and going intermittently

Meng Yao stood by the window, a slender shadow merging with the dimness

Ding Zhuo nodded slightly

Meng Yao took a glance at it, catching sight of the two characters "Ding Zhuo," and then put the phone back down.

The water level of the Liutiao River has risen dramatically, and the low-lying sections of the road have already been submerged.

Su Man's family lives by the Willow River, and as soon as the north-facing window is opened, one can see the river water.

The shirt on him was soaked by the rain, turning a deep black, and a wave of dampness enveloped his body

Meng Yu turned over and mumbled, "Has Sister Man Zhen gone back?"

By that time, the entrance to the Su family had been surrounded tightly, leaving no room for water to leak through

Meng Yu also woke up, "Why is it so hot"

The power connector of the computer on the desk has an indicator light, which glows a faint green when fully charged

Meng Yao hurriedly turned off the liquefied gas stove and went to open the door

She used her phone for light and took a glance into her grandmother's room. Her grandmother was sleeping soundly and did not wake up

Meng Yao looked for a while and reached out to pull up the curtain

The two individuals walked to the eaves, removed their raincoats, shook the water off their rain boots, and stood the umbrella against the wall

Meng Yao forced a smile, wrapping one arm around her waist while knocking on the door with the other hand

Meng Yao felt restless as she sat on the chair, bending over to reach the air conditioner remote control beside the bed behind the curtain, and pressed the buttons a few more times with force

Meng Yao faintly heard the piercing cries from within, and her body trembled

The road was slippery, and I fell while running. Without a moment to spare, I got back up and continued to run

Meng Yao did not respond. After a while, the person walked over to the two of them

Meng Yao lay down but could not fall asleep

Not yet arrived, but I can see that a rain canopy has been set up in front of the door, and white lanterns are hanging under the eaves

Water clung to the eyebrows, and the face bore no trace of expression.

I took a glance at the circuit breaker, and it had not tripped. The neighbors on both sides were also in complete darkness, indicating that there was indeed a power outage

Meng Yao's voice was a bit dry; after greeting, he said, "I am back"

Meng Yao dimmed the desk lamp a little and left with the door closed behind her

Meng Yao shook her arm and said, "I will head back first. If you feel thirsty, the water is here. When you wake up, send Ding Zhuo a text message."

Su Man's voice was tipsy, and Meng Yao felt a bit uneasy. She hung up the phone and went back to her room to change clothes

Meng Yu yawned and made some room inside

She opened the window, lit a plate of mosquito coils, and placed it by the bedside

Meng Yao was just about to make a phone call to her mother, Wang Limei, when the bedroom door next to her opened, and Su Man's mother, Chen Suyue, walked out.

Meng Yu turned on the light and saw that a large area of the desk by the window was soaked by the rain. "Why didn't you close the window?" She walked over to close the window, picked up a cloth from a stack of cardboard boxes nearby, and wiped the desk clean. "Mom just called and asked us to go over now to help."

Uncertain how much time had passed, I heard the air conditioner emit a "beep," and the power indicator light on the laptop also lit up.

Intoxicated, the person is heavy, sliding down directly from the shoulder.

The three of them glanced around the entrance for a moment, but did not see Su Manzhen's parents in the crowd

Meng Yao turned off the desk lamp and lay down on the bed

Meng Yu hurriedly waved her hand, "Brother Ding Zhuo!"

The telephone on the table rang.

Early in the morning, the neighbors living by the river heard the sound of thunder, got up to collect their clothes, and upon opening the window, they saw a striking splash of red floating in the river, where the increasingly dense raindrops were creating ripples.

Meng Yao turned on the air conditioning in both rooms again, poured a glass of water to drink, and returned to lie down on the bed

She glanced towards the entrance, paused her steps, and her voice suddenly choked, "Xiao Ding ... ... "

A thick book of the civil service examination is spread out on the table, with only two pages completed

After sitting for a while, just as she was about to leave, Su Man's phone rang once.

A feeling of tightness in the chest, accompanied by an indescribable strange sensation

Meng Yao came to his senses

Before her thoughts scattered, she heard a few distant barks of dogs coming from outside

Ding Zhuo hurriedly stepped forward

Su Man was spouting nonsense, continuously calling out "Yao Yao" while holding her.

Meng Yao's throat was choked up

A pale round moon is reflected in the dark water, its edges blurring.

A rain canopy has also been set up in the yard, with electric wires connected, and several dim yellow incandescent bulbs hanging. Underneath, there are a few tables and several benches. Rainwater flows down in streams from the top of the canopy, creating splashes on the cement ground.

Chen Suyue was wearing a black knitted cardigan, her expression haggard, with her eyes swollen and red, leaving only two narrow slits.

Ding Zhuo pressed his lips tightly together, remaining silent, his palm resting on Chen Suyue's back, his eyes cast downwards, filled with a sense of confusion, as if shrouded in thick fog

It is already 11:30

After a while, Ding Zhuo reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He looked at it, seemingly to check if it had gotten wet, and then took out a lighter, pressed it twice, and lit the cigarette he had put in his mouth, taking a deep drag. "... How did this happen?"

As Meng Yao passed over the three bridges, he glanced into the Willow Branch River.

In the early morning, I was awakened by the sound of rain pattering against the glass window

Meng Yao felt beads of sweat dripping down her forehead and back, a vague and indescribable sense of irritation brewing within her

Meng Yao, drenched in sweat, walked two blocks and arrived at Su Manzhen's doorstep

Meng Yu gently pushed her arm, "Isn't it Brother Ding Zhuo?"

Upon receiving the news in the morning, she did not even open her umbrella and rushed headlong into the rain

Meng Yao squinted her eyes

I still want to practice some more questions, but I just can't seem to focus on them anymore

The rainwater pattered on the raincoats, making a rustling sound, and the two sisters quickened their pace again

She lifted the curtain and took a glance; the green light of the power connector had gone out

A gust of wind swept by, stirring up a cloud of blue smoke, with ash settling at Ding Zhuo's feet

Meng Yao's soaked clothes were half-dried by body heat, clinging to her skin, heavy and cold

Meng Yao was afraid of waking her sister, so she quickly picked up the phone and went to the living room, closing the door behind her

The three of them fell silent

Meng Yao returned to the bed, and Meng Yu, with a fan covering her chest, had already fallen asleep

Woken up in the middle of the night by the heat

Meng Yao lay on her side, resting her face on her palm

Mother Wang Limei, drenched from head to toe, pushed the door panel open, her gaze landing on Meng Yao's face. She paused for a moment, breathing heavily: "... ... Man Zhen is in trouble ... ..."

Well

Having finished washing up, I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast

Ding Zhuo stood there for a long time, his fingers pinching a cigarette, a solitary shadow stretching across the steps, while the rain drizzled behind him.

The plum rain season begins tomorrow

The Su family resides in a three-story small building with a yard

Sister... Meng Yu stood at the door and took a glance inside

After a while, no one responded