The sound of footsteps came from far to near. On the platform of Line 7, Mandy Gonzalez sat in front of the chess board, holding her crossed knees and gently swaying from side to side, humming Adele's hit song "Someone" like you》:
I heard That you are settled down.
That you found a girl And you are married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things.
I didn’t give to you.
"Listen to this sad song, do you think you just lost your love or your ex just died."
The boy's voice sounded behind her. She didn't stop humming. Instead, she hummed higher and higher. She grabbed her ankles and looked up at his face behind her. The other person was also looking down at him, because she was carrying her back. There are chandeliers on the ceiling, so the facial features are cast in deep shadows.
But no matter how deep the shadow is, no matter how blurry the outline is, Mandy will never mistake the person. She said happily, "If you want to die from your ex, just listen to Rolling in the Deep. "21" Adele's new album has been dominating the charts for a long time. , they are playing in the streets and alleys in Europe and the United States,”
"I heard that Xiaoqiang has been playing those songs on a loop."
"Which song from that album is your favorite? Let me see if we have a good rapport."
Lin Nian took out his mobile phone and clicked on the music player. He clicked play without selecting a song. The song that was halfway through continued to play, which was Adele's "Don't You Remember".
"It suits you at this stage. When listening to songs, do you read the lyrics line by line and resonate with them?" Mandy glanced at the slowly rotating vinyl record on the phone screen and teased with a smile.
"I'm past the age where I can write short essays in the song comment section." Lin Nian said, "Sentimental people feel like they are singing about themselves when they listen to every song."
"I can't say that. The creators of the songs all write the lyrics based on their surroundings or their own life experiences. There are only a few annoying and sad things in this world. It's great to be able to find your own reflection in the lyrics. Empathy, being sentimental or anything like that is too hurtful." Mandy waved her hands and said with a smile, "Maybe now you think this song is your heart's love, and every lyric is sung into your heart, but after passing Looking back at this stage, the song that was played badly may have disappeared from the playlist - I actually think that every stage of life has a song as a footnote."
Lin Nian threw the sack aside and squatted down to sit next to Mandy. Mandy glanced at the sack that landed on the ground and said, "You went to the market?"
"Do you still know what going to the market means?"
"The man who sells bean juice on Beijie Street recommended several Daji restaurants to me. I bought a lot of snacks and snacks, and the watermelons from Pangezhuang were also very big and sweet, but I suspected that the owner's scale was off. It's a magnet, but if you're not familiar with the place, it's hard to expose it, so you can only suffer from boredom."
"If you stand up to a golden retriever and a European, who will weigh you down? You should call the marketing management department or the mayor's hotline." Lin Nian said, "Okay, I'm not here to chat."
"You took the initiative to bring up the topic for me. You can't complain first." Mandy rolled her eyes at him, "Why are you here so late? Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang have both been gone for a while."
"Are they two okay?" Lin Nian raised his eyes and glanced at the nail-headed weirdo sitting across from the chess board. From the moment he sat down, the other person stared at him intently, with the gaze cast by his dark and sunken eyes. It is difficult to distinguish between good and evil.
Lin Nian has seen a lot of strange things, so naturally he is not surprised at all.
"It depends on how you define whether everything is okay." Mandy turned around and pulled the sack over, took out a few rice popsicles, held them between her fingers, bit open the package and gnawed, "After all, It’s the Nibelungs. It’s impossible to walk to such a deep place without getting hurt at all.”
"is it serious?"
"Who are you specifically asking?" Mandy bit into her rice pops and looked sideways at Lin Nian.
"Don't be so mean." Lin Nian didn't even look at her teasing eyes.
"Oh." Mandy shrugged, "It's okay, they're all skin injuries. People in our profession would be embarrassed to say they were licking blood even if they didn't get any injuries. But Lu Mingfei was miserable. His body was always injured. In a compensatory state, it's like a fuel tanker that has bottomed out, but there are no gas stations around, so you can only fill it with Erguotou. The volatilization of alcohol can help maximize the use of gasoline, but it can easily damage the internal components of the car. This principle You understand."
"How long can he last?" Lin Nian could tell that Lu Mingfei seemed to be working hard in the Nibelungs.
"It depends on whether his bloodline and horoscope are strong enough. If both are strong, he will suffer some sequelae at most."
"He has a tougher character than me." Lin Nian said lightly, "What about you? What's your reason for helping them pass the level?"
"How do you know I helped them?"
Lin Nian silently lowered his head and glanced at the chess board in front of them. The answer was self-evident.
"Oh, sometimes being good is a mistake." Mandy lamented, "We are all juniors and juniors. It's unjustifiable for seniors not to help them. When we were in the academy, we didn't have the chance to help them, so we should always protect them on the battlefield. Are they being considerate?"
"I have never seen Hu Zhouquan escort people to the front line." Lin Nian said, "What are the last two levels? Are they dangerous?"
"It's a matter of opinion. I subjectively think that nothing will happen to the two of them. After all, they are both part of the 'Emperor's' plan." Mandy said nonchalantly.
"Then you still help them there." Lin Nian said, "Are you still working for the emperor?"
"What a shame!" Mandy raised her eyebrows, filled with righteous indignation, "I was fired by that unscrupulous boss a long time ago. I didn't sign any contract except a verbal agreement. If he hadn't been so powerful, I would have asked the Labor Association for help. He has been arbitrated, but he still has to pay me 1.8 million, in US dollars or Euros! A good horse never turns back to eat grass, so I still have this bit of dignity!"
"Then why are you deliberately helping them pass this test?"
"Uh." Mandy touched the back of her head, "What else? Let them sit here stupidly and wait to rush?"
"This is the best choice." Lin Nian glanced at her, "Someone is deliberately staggering my route and theirs, so that I can never catch up with them. Do you have any clues about this?"
"Not at all!" Mandy gnawed the rice pops faster, lowering her head and "crunching" like a chipmunk.
Lin Nian rested his elbows on his knees and gently rubbed his hanging forehead. His hair and forehead rubbed against each other, making a small noise. After a long time, he asked, "Mandy, why did the emperor choose you in the first place?"
Mandy slowed down her chewing of the rice pops, chewed the snacks carefully, and after swallowing, licked the particles at the corners of her mouth, "You asked a pretty good question. In fact, I was there for a long time. Ask yourself, why did the emperor choose me? There are so many people in the world, why did the maid accompanying the prince just turn over my sign."
"Am I super talented? No, in terms of layout and brains, that little guy Paco can use a lever to knock the entire Wall Street to the top of the building to watch them perform a flying trapeze. Am I a good fighter? No, no. In terms of force and skills, Wonderpus has been with the emperor for decades, and she has practiced counter-reconnaissance to the point where I followed her out, and even when I turned a corner, I couldn't even find a hair on her head. She even opened a skylight for Kennedy. 'Holy Cut' refers to where you hit it. Could it be that I am naturally beautiful? Uh...this seems really possible." Mandy touched her big waves and fell into deep thought, "Is it true that the emperor likes me? Because I’m a good person who can pull off a honey trap?”
Lin Nian looked at Mandy, read it from beginning to end, and then sighed.
"Hey, hey, are you sighing and knitting?" Mandy was stunned, "Don't I deserve this little capital?"
Lin Nian lowered his head and rubbed his eyes vigorously with the palmar muscle of his left thumb. He seemed a little tired, "Maybe it's to help you get better at chess."
"Don't tell me, it's really possible." Mandy slapped her palm and nodded in agreement, "At that time, the emperor found me through the online chess software. He lost to me for a long time, and finally played tricks. They made a big bet with me, and then I gave myself away. Maybe they were anxious because of my win, so they captured me as a black slave... It means that I am just a make-up!"
"Everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you have strengths that you haven't discovered yet."
"It's so comforting. Junior brother has grown up and knows how to comfort senior sister. I no longer look like a straight man who used to treat me like a human chair cushion. This is the change of a boy growing into a man!" Mandy sighed.
"What about you, senior sister, have you changed?" he asked suddenly.
"Life lies in sports, success lies in change, of course I have changed." Mandy smiled, "If I remain unchanged, I will be eliminated by the environment sooner or later. Your senior sister, I have never been willing to be the outcast of the version. I have always followed It depends on the environment.”
"So...Senior sister, what are you and the group of people behind you planning to do?" Lin Nian opened his eyes, his red pupils looked down at the ground, "No matter what you want to do, what are you doing now?" Things are already bothering me.”
He said: "Sister, I hope to get an explanation. To be honest, I really don't want to kill you with my own hands in this situation."