cast a peach

Chapter 110 The Explorer

一

In fact, when I was young, I firmly thought that I would become an explorer in the future.

I like reading science fiction the most, my favorite magazines are "National Geographic" and "Lonely Planet", my favorite TV program is the nature documentary produced by the BBC, and there are various maps hidden in the bedroom.I think the majestic and magnificent nature is much more beautiful than the human world.

But strangely, my mother doesn't like me watching these things.

She is a beautiful and gentle woman, thin and thin, with long eyelashes, and her face is often pale and sick.

She would look at me in overalls and frowned slightly, and then quickly let go.

"Mingqing, come here," she said.

So I ran over and threw myself into her arms.

"oops……"

When I fell into her arms like some reckless little animal, I heard her sigh with a smile.

"Slow down next time you run over, okay?"

While stroking my hair, she asked softly, "You don't look like a girl... Hey, is your hair short again?"

"Yes."

I shook my head and let her touch me, feeling very comfortable, and said casually, "I want to catch crickets as specimens, the hair is too long and it will catch the branches."

As for what she said she didn't look like a girl, I was already tired of hearing it, so I just pretended I didn't hear it.

Her hand stroking my hair stopped.

After a while, she hesitated and said softly: "Mingqing, you should keep your hair up, okay? Your father has told me several times..."

I can pretend that I didn't hear what my mother babbled about me, but when she talked about my father, I jumped up all of a sudden.

"What did he say?" I felt a fire burning in my chest.

My mother froze for a moment, looked at me who was angry, and lowered her head without speaking.

Again!always like this!

I thought angrily.She shielded Dad in front of me again!

I really want to lose my temper with her, but she looks so pale and fragile, as if anyone who speaks louder to her will be frightened and cover her chest in panic. Knee, turn around and walk away.

She doesn't tell me what my father said, but after thinking about it, it's just "short hair doesn't look like a girl", "I don't wear skirts so I can't take it out", "Tan's girls roll in the dirt all day long". what's up", that's probably all that bullshit.It's annoying.

My mother still wanted to keep it from me, but in fact, I have heard these words from my father a long time ago.

"Go and tell him, sooner or later I—"

I turned around and gestured to my mother, "I'm going to dye my hair red sooner or later, so I'm going to piss him off!"

"Mingqing..."

Mom stood there looking at me in bewilderment.

"Your sister is coming back."

She ran forward a few steps, took my hand, and whispered.

two

Meeting Tan Mingli was a good spring when I was 12 years old.

Grandpa rarely held a banquet in his small villa, and invited all the family members to visit.

On the way we drove to Tan's house, I asked my mother in a strange whisper, why did grandpa suddenly want to let us into that small villa?Obviously, he basically doesn't let others in, and even his father needs to notify in advance.

Dad snorted coldly in front of the car and didn't speak.

"He's taking the prince back. He's so happy. He wants us all to have a look, so he's willing to let us in."

When walking on the white stone path of the small villa, my father said in a low voice bitterly.

I didn't pay much attention to what he said.I hated every word of his, as much as I hated him.

I understand what he means, but what does that have to do with me?When I grow up, I want to be an explorer, the most powerful explorer in the world!

I just quietly tugged at the white stockings on my legs, the lace of which rubbed my legs a little uncomfortable.

Today, for the banquet, my mother dressed me up like a mindless princess in some cartoon. I was forced to take off my baggy jeans and put on a tutu skirt and small leather shoes.

The weather was fine that day, the early spring breeze was as soft as a girl's palm, the sky was so blue that it was about to flow down, and the peach blossoms in the small villa were in full bloom.

The adults held wine glasses and talked around in a serious or pretending to be serious manner.

How boring, I thought.How hypocritical.

Why do they have hatred in their hearts, but they can still exchange drinks with the person they hate and call them brothers and sisters with a smile?If it were me, I would—

"Hello."

A soft call came from behind, a voice that was very unfamiliar to me.I turned to look curiously.

Is a very beautiful girl - this is my first impression.

Tall and slender, with porcelain white complexion, light cherry lips, and a gentle smile.

I noticed that her eyes were a little different, not the black or brown that Chinese people usually have, but a very clear light color, like a piece of amber shining brightly in the spring sun.

Maybe she has a little foreign blood... I looked at her slightly higher browbones than ordinary people and thought to myself.

"Hello, my name is Tan Mingli."

She smiled and held out her hand to me.

three

This is the first time I met Tan Mingli.

Before this, I had never seen her, but for some reason, her name often got into my ears.Dad said she was his elder brother's daughter and the eldest daughter of the Tan family.

If you want to talk about it according to the old practice, she is even the eldest daughter.

Dad whispered this while smoking anxiously at home.

As soon as he turned his head, he saw me who had just returned from the garden with a shovel, and his face darkened.

"Look at what you're wearing!"

He took a few steps and raised his hand, as if he wanted to point at me, but he couldn't find a place to start, so he had to withdraw it.

"Can't you just learn from Tan Mingli?"

He said with hatred that iron is weak.

At that time, Tan Mingli had only been back for half a year, but he was already quite famous in the Tan family.Everyone likes a gentle, beautiful, smart and polite young girl, and my grandfather even said with a smile that she looks like himself when he was young.Sensitive people can't help but suddenly raise their vigilance for the hidden meaning behind his words.

She was even free to come and go to Grandpa's small villa—as soon as she returned to China, Grandpa gave her a key to that small villa.

This made Dad jealous and angry.

He told us repeatedly that he had to notify us several days in advance even when he entered the small villa, but grandpa gave the key out so easily at once, and gave it to someone who was younger than him. little girl.

"A...little girl!"

When he said the word he would lean back a little, akimbo, in a tone of incredulity and mocking wonder, as if it were some terribly comical event.

I didn't like his tone, I frowned and tried to avoid it.

I think he forgot one thing, his daughter is me, also a little girl.

Perhaps in his eyes, children are not considered human beings, and girls are not considered human beings either, so if the two are added together, a person who is both "female" and "small" is even less human.I think.

This is probably why he must have a son no matter what.

four

I don't know why, but I didn't like Tan Mingli from the first time I met her.She's so decent and perfect that she looks like a dummy, so I think she's faking it.

She had just returned to China at that time, she still had a strong Western style, she didn't speak Chinese very well, her accent was very stiff, and she often spoke too writtenly. For example, when saying thank you, she would say "very seriously" slowly grateful".

She couldn't pronounce the "X" sound of "Xie", and it would be more similar to "she" in the end.

So I ran over to tease her deliberately, imitating her accent aloud in front of her.

I was the child king of the Tan family at that time, and everyone listened to me, and the adults didn't like Tan Mingli more or less—after she returned to China, she was too radiant, which made many people feel uneasy.

The adults saw our actions, but they didn't stop them, and some even secretly encouraged them in private, while more people just watched from a distance with a kind of sneering smile. Let's see how Tan Mingli loses his face.But I didn't know at the time that I had been used by them.

In short, in front of Tan Mingli, I am arrogant, I show off my might, I show my teeth and claws, I long for her to be angry with me, and it is best for us to fight with bruised noses and swollen faces, so that I am satisfied.

But no matter how much I go too far, she still doesn't get angry, she still looks so calm, she just smiles occasionally at most, and it's over, she doesn't care at all.

This disappointed the adults who wanted to watch the fun and made me feel even more frightened. It also made me feel powerless to hit the cotton with my fist. At the same time, I felt angry that she was not taken seriously because of her calm and calm.

I remember the most outrageous thing I did was I broke a watch she always wears, I saw her wipe it very carefully, I thought she loved that watch very much, so I planned to make her angry by doing this .

But I didn't intend to break it, but the parts of the watch were too delicate and fragile, and when I came to my senses, it had stopped in my hand.

I didn't feel scared until then.

Here's to trouble, I thought.Tan Mingli will definitely get angry... I also think I went too far this time.

I am a responsible person, so I decided that I would stay at the scene of the crime and wait for her to come, and if she cursed at me I would not speak back.

Tan Mingli came after a while.But she was not angry, she just took the watch and looked at it carefully, and then put the parts away.

"Hey--"

Seeing that she was going to leave, I became anxious, and finally couldn't help calling out to her, "You... aren't you angry?"

I never call her sister, just call her "Tan Mingli" or "Hi".

"I have money, I will compensate you."

I raised my face awkwardly and said.

"It's okay, no need."

She smiled lightly, shook her head and said, "It's not really that important. Don't take it to heart, Mingqing."

One very strange thing is that Tan Mingli is only three years older than me, but when she calls me "Mingqing", she somehow has a tolerant, elder-specific tone.I don't like her tone of voice.

I said that I must pay for it, and pulled her to prevent her from leaving.

I'm not a good boy, but I'm not too bad either.I know that I have to apologize and compensate for breaking other people's things, but I can't apologize to Tan Mingli, so I have to pay her, which can't be less.

Tan Mingli was held back by me, and would not be able to leave for a while.

She seemed to sigh very lightly, looking at me gently and helplessly.

I suddenly felt that her eyes were very familiar, so familiar that it made me feel a little uncomfortable.I frowned and turned away.

After walking a few steps, I remembered what that look was.

When I was seven years old, I raised a little white Pomeranian, a small one, very cute, she has the common problems of small dogs, she is always very emotional and likes to lose her temper, but I still like her.One day I came back from school and found that she had smashed my favorite model airplane. At that time, I looked at her with this look.

I should feel angry, but suddenly I don't have the energy to be angry with Tan Mingli anymore.She was so gentle and forgiving that it made me feel childish and stupid.I decided I wouldn't hate her anymore.

In fact, Tan Mingli doesn't seem to like that watch... After a while, I thought again.

It was strange that she didn't seem to like anything, not even herself very much.How could there be such a person in the world.

So I felt a little pitiful for her again, and decided to treat her better in the future.

五

When I was in high school, my mother died.

She has always been in poor health, because she has never been able to give birth to a boy and has had several abortions, resulting in sequelae.

Dad brought his lover home in a grand manner, and only then did Mom know that her husband had an illegitimate child who was so old. She had been sick intermittently, and now she collapsed completely as if her backbone had been pulled out.

I had a conversation with her the night before she died.

At that time, she was so sick that she didn't have a clear consciousness. She was in shape and bones, with various tubes on her body, but when she saw me, she was still holding on to a smile and looked very energetic.Then I thought, maybe it was a flashback.

"Mingqing..."

She called me softly.

Gritting my teeth and wiping my tears, I vaguely agreed, and squeezed her hand tightly.I feel her hands are excruciatingly thin.

"Don't be sad... Mingqing."

She called me again.

"People will always die..."

She smiled softly and weakly, and said softly, "I just died a little earlier than others."

I couldn't bear it anymore, and cried and said, "Then why is it you, not me, and not my father who died."

It's right that he should be the one to die, and he should be the one to die, that's the right way.

What kind of God is this God, and what kind of reason is this reason.

She smiled tolerantly.

After a while, she touched my head lightly and said:

"Don't argue with your sister, you can't compete with her. She is a good child, I think you might as well be with her... Do you know?"

Mom was talking about Tan Mingli.

At that time, she had just graduated from high school, and her grandfather took her to the capital for a banquet. She was outstanding at the banquet, like a bright pearl like a bright moon, dazzling as soon as she appeared on the stage, and Zhao Hongliang's appreciation made her famous. Almost everyone believed in her He is the next successor of the Tan family.

I said "Got it".

She added:

"Don't hate, okay? Mingqing?"

I didn't speak.

How can you not hate it?I hate it to death.

I hate my father, my grandpa, and the entire hypocritical and ugly Tan family. I hate it so much that my heart bleeds and my heart breaks. How can I not hate her?

My mother is tolerant, but I am not tolerant, I have never been tolerant, I only know an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and the debt owed by blood is repaid by blood.

"If you have a chance in the future, stay away from the Tan family, the farther the better. This place eats people..."

Mom said slowly and hard, "Marry a good man—don't end up like Mom, Mingqing." She took my hand.

"I'm not married, mother."

Why is she still saying this now?I shook my head sullenly.

"You're talking stupid again..."

Mom smiled helplessly and shook her head.

But after a while, my mother sighed again in a low voice.She looked at the birds outside the window for a while, and suddenly said firmly and softly:

"Then don't marry. It's okay, Mingqing. Whatever you want to do, just do it boldly, it's okay."

Those were the last words she spoke to me, and I got word of her death the next morning.

Dad rushed to the funeral that day, and he was still waiting to remarry.

On the day of the funeral, it rained very lightly, and the rain fell coolly on my head, face, and shoulders.I raised my face to see the rain.

After today, I am a motherless person.I think.

After today, I only live for the hatred in my heart.

六

My mother told me not to argue with Tan Mingli, and I listened to her and did not fight, but Tan Mingli abstained first and quit.

She got married as soon as she graduated from college and became a housewife, which really baffled me.

I hate weak women, I hate women who revolve around men, I hate women who easily give up their future for so-called love.That reminds me of my mom.

When I grew up, I thought about it, and I thought maybe I still like Tan Mingli, which is why I hate her so much.

Mourning its misfortune, angering its indisputable, probably so.

I hate how easily she gets things that I can't fight for, and I hate how she lets go of these things so lightly.

Tan Mingli is really the most stupid in the world!I am outraged.

I didn't go to her wedding, but I've seen pictures of the man, who looked like a man, but didn't deserve her at all.

It's weird how women always seem to marry men who aren't good enough for them.I think.Even Tan Mingli was not exempt.

But I soon lost my mind about her affairs, and I entered the Tan family and began to compete with my father for power.

I am iron-blooded, unscrupulous, and merciless.On the one hand, it is because I know that my grandfather expects me to do this, and he hopes to help me to share the power of my father; All debts to me and my mother are paid off.

The one who should pay back is my dad.I think.One day, I will make him regret it for the rest of his life.

People secretly called me "crazy woman", and others called me "the wolf cub raised by the Tan family", I didn't care.

Throughout the ages, which woman who has done something has not been stigmatized as crazy?I just take this as my appreciation and reward.

One year at the annual banquet, an old man from the family came to drink with me, and he revealed his true colors while drinking. He smiled and said, Mingqing, I think you are a little too reckless, huh?I'm not good at being a man. Is it because your mother left early and didn't teach you well?Ha ha ha ha……

I laughed along with him, hahahaha, and then I spilled the tea in my hand on his face, and he stopped laughing.

His face was red at first, and then turned purple like a pig's liver.

How boring, I thought.How hypocritical.

After all these years, they are still like this.But they don't know that I am completely different from them.

I smiled and stretched out my fingers, twirled a piece of tea that had stained his beard, and said, you are right, my mother didn’t teach me well, so Mingqing is very grateful if you go down and complain to my mother.

No one dared to speak, and the banquet was silent.I turned my eyes and saw the livid-faced father on the second floor, and his sweetheart son was standing beside him, giving me a thumbs up excitedly.He likes my unscrupulous manner, and finds it a pleasure.

I casually raised my glass to my father, who was so angry that I walked away.

What is this, Dad.This is just the beginning, why can't you stand it.I thought coldly.

I saw Grandpa again, he looked at me calmly, just smiled very gently.I know he's happy to see me and all the strife.

Beside him is Tan Mingli, who nodded slightly at me, beautiful and dignified, as usual.At that time, she already looked completely Chinese.

Seven

Tan Mingli's husband cheated, which made me angry for a long time.

I don't know why I'm angry, but I'm angry.

I really don't know what to do!It's... really unreasonable!

I found out the woman Shen Qingzhou cheated on, and wanted to teach her a good lesson to vent my anger on Tan Mingli, but then I remembered - Tan Mingli doesn't like targeting women.She has a special respect and tolerance for women.

So I went to target Shen Qingzhou's company again.

Afterwards, everything happened very quickly, recalling it like a dream, Tan Mingli didn't know why she suddenly wanted to come to Tan's again, and she and I teamed up to overthrow my father and wipe out all the old people.

At that time, I finally became acquainted with her, and it was only when I got along with her that I gradually realized that she didn't give up her right of inheritance because she was dazzled by love at first—she simply used the name of marriage. head, trying to get out of this vanity fair of intrigue and mutual conquest.She is as tired of Tan Shi as I am.

I was secretly startled.

Tan Mingli was still the same Tan Mingli back then, and she still didn't love anything, nor herself.She is ruthless to others and even more ruthless to herself.In order to achieve her goal, she even didn't hesitate to destroy herself, which I couldn't do anyway.

Mom was right when she said that... I think.

I am not as good as Tan Mingli, whether it is ability or character.I may not have been born to be in business.

Dad met me once before we forced him to leave. His hair turned half gray overnight and his tie was wrinkled.

That's what it's like to be happy, I think.I wonder if Ming Zhao will give me his thumb again?

"Dad," I was smiling with a cigarette in my hand, my red hair curled up, and I shook my legs once and for all, "do you not regret it later?"

"I only regret that I didn't ask your mother to beat you back then."

With a gray face, he whispered: "White-eyed wolf, crazy thing."

"Are you worthy of mentioning my mother?"

It's fine if he doesn't talk about my mother, but when I talk about it, I want to kill him with a knife.I smiled coldly.

I'll never forget how he laughed at my mother's funeral, because he was about to bring a new wife and child home.

"Do you think Tan Mingli is a good person? Do you think you can trust her?"

But he suddenly revealed a resentful expression, "Tan Mingli is really my father's granddaughter! They are the same kind of people, and they have no heart. Do you really think she treats you as a good sister?"

"Do you know why your name is Mingqing? But it's just my dad casually following Tan Mingli's name..."

I have been a little curious about the origin of my name since a long time ago, but my mother refused to say, and now I know that my name is actually derived from Tan Mingli.

Mom knew that if she told me about this at that time, it would only make me treat Tan Mingli harder.She doesn't want to see us like that.

It is also true that in my youth, Tan Mingli's name has always been with me, like a shadow.I have never been as good as her.

Tan Mingqing's enlightenment is actually Tan Mingli's enlightenment.But so what?I do not care.

Dad didn't say any more.Because I pressed the cigarette on the back of his hand.He was busy screaming.

I look at his hands.

What a pain it was when my mother died, with all the bones in the back of her hand, and he looked healthy.How dare he.

My mother told me not to hate, because hate makes people suffer, and she doesn't want me to suffer for her.

But if I don't hate, how can I live on?

Eight

In the past, what supported me was hatred, but now that my father is down, I don't feel very empty.This is probably because of Tan Mingli, I think.

She's a... nice person, and to my surprise, she's in love—with a very young girl, a child of the Zhao family.

Well, I thought.She is still so courageous.

After she fell in love, she became very different from before. She was a little childish, a little clumsy, and a little restless, and would repeatedly struggle and hesitate because of choosing a ring.I helped her pick out rings and ended up getting annoyed by her.

Alas, women in love are annoying.

I travel without purpose.

Wherever I go, Angel Falls, Yellowstone Park, Lake Superior, these are the places I longed to grow up when I was a child.But I have been fighting for power and profit since I grew up, and I have delayed it until now.

The last stop was to go to the North Pole to watch the aurora, but the time I went was not right. It was raining all the time in Norway, and I waited for a week but didn't get it, so I didn't wait and went back by plane.

It was in the evening, the plane passed through the clouds, and I suddenly saw the aurora.

The erratic, glistening, ribbon-like green is scattered in strands and strands. Looking down from the sky, it seems that the entire horizon is being burned by phosphorous fire.

I watched the great aurora without blinking: I longed to die in it.

I cut my hair off, like I did when I was a kid.After I came back, Tan Mingli was already engaged. I went to that girl's birthday party, and they even kissed.

I don't know if it's because of the change of mood, but now I think it's very good, they are very sweet and well-matched.

I sincerely wish Tan Mingli quietly in my heart.I know this is her first time falling in love with someone else.

When I left the community, the magnolia flowers bloomed like delicate white jade, and the dark fragrance floated in the early spring night. I suddenly remembered that a long time ago, when I first met Tan Mingli, it was also such a good spring.

I call her, "Sister".

Sister, sister, my sister, my only relative now.This sister seems to have been more than ten years late.We are all completely different from when we first met.

But neither of us regret it, Tan Mingli has Zhao Guangshui, and I have a whole world waiting for me to explore.

My name is Tan Mingqing, I thought to myself.

Tan Mingqing's invention is not Tan Mingli's invention, Tan Mingqing is the best explorer in the world.