Mr. Lizard Outside the Window - Chapter 5
Chapter 5: I Even Promised to Marry You
Emerging from the pet hospital, Banxia tightened her grip on her violin case, exhaled a puff of white mist into the air, and couldn't help but feel a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
She shouldn't be amused. After paying the vet bills and buying the essential heating pad and thermostat, she had completely drained her bank account.
Her current balance: 17.88 yuan. She didn't even know where next month's rent would come from.
Being broke didn't seem to faze the young woman. Walking along the bustling street with her violin case, she spoke cheerfully. "After deducting the subway fare, I'll still have 15 yuan left. Enough for a decent meal."
She patted her pocket gently. "Are you okay in there? Is it too stuffy?"
A black, stone-like head poked out from the edge of her white down jacket pocket. Then, a low voice came from somewhere within, "Not at all. It's very comfortable, thank you."
Even in winter, the trees lining the streets of Rongcheng remained lush and green. Bright red kapok blossoms dotted the branches, blooming with fiery intensity. Banxia walked beneath the streetlights and the shadows of the trees, her footsteps crunching on fallen leaves.
"By the way, how do you know me? Do you have a name? I still don't know what to call you."
The blackness peeking from her pocket shifted slightly, then fell silent.
"No name? At the hospital, all the other geckos had cool names, like White Knight, Blizzard, and Youlian. I'll give you a name, too!"
Looking at the fiery kapok blossoms, a name popped into Banxia's head. "Let's call you Xiao Lian," she said without thinking.
A creature as dark as night, given a name as pure and delicate as "Little Lotus."
The slightly bulging pocket twitched. The black head emerged, silently looking up at the human carrying it through the world, chattering away obliviously beneath the branches.
"Xiao Lian, look, it never snows here in winter, and the trees even bloom. There are no ponds in summer, no lotuses or frogs. Back in my hometown, winter is covered in a blanket of white snow. And when the ice melts on the ponds in summer, they're filled with lotus flowers. It's beautiful."
"Thinking about it makes me crave my grandma's lotus root starch soup."
"Are you hungry, Xiao Lian? Do you want to eat anything?"
The square outside the subway station was crowded, surrounded by towering buildings. The city's neon lights began to twinkle in the dusk.
With only 15 yuan left, Banxia happily bought two steamed buns for dinner. Sitting on the steps by a flowerbed, she blew on them and took a bite. "The corn and pork buns from this place are amazing. Thin skin, lots of filling, and juicy meat. Best of all, if you buy two, you get a free cup of hot soy milk."
"Are you sure you don't want any, Xiao Lian? I can give you the filling."
A muffled voice came from her pocket. "I'm not hungry, thank you."
"You can't even eat such delicious buns," Banxia sighed. "Do you really only eat insects?"
This time, the voice from her pocket replied quickly, "No, I don't eat insects."
Then, it became low and dejected. "I don't need to eat anything."
"Don't be shy. If you want something, just tell me. You've come to my house, so even if I don't have much else, I won't let you go hungry," Banxia declared magnanimously, despite her single-digit bank balance. Braving the cold wind, she took another bite of her bun. "Ow, hot!"
Living in a 300-yuan-a-month room in a self-built rural house, eating dinner by the roadside, Banxia showed no signs of anxiety or embarrassment.
Swinging her legs, as if she possessed the world's greatest treasure, she happily finished her cheap buns before clapping her hands and standing up. She bent down and opened her violin case.
Taking out her violin, she expertly placed a few coins and a QR code for mobile payments inside the case. Then, she placed the violin on her shoulder and tuned it.
She even had the leisure to explain her coin-placing strategy as she tuned. "You can't put too many, but you can't leave it empty either. Too few, and it looks like you have no business. Too many, and people get jealous and won't give you more. What we have left is just right."
Beneath the fiery kapok tree, the young woman in white, wearing a black wool hat and with her long hair tied back in a ponytail, began to play her violin, busking on the bustling street.
Banxia, despite her slender figure and long legs, lived a carefree life. She rarely bothered with makeup, her features were delicate, and her hair was simply tied back. In the beauty-filled art academy, she didn't stand out.
But the moment she raised her violin and bow, her aura transformed. Her eyes, her expression, remained the same, but beneath the flowering tree, with her violin, she bloomed like a defiant flower in the depths of winter, suddenly radiant and captivating.
She seemed accustomed to busking, showing no shyness or hesitation. Her pale fingers lifted the bow, a faint smile playing on her lips. It wasn't a flirtatious smile, but one filled with a touch of wild abandon. The notes erupted, weaving a tight, resonant melody.
The incredibly fast tempo flowed effortlessly from her fingers, controlled and free. The bow vibrated rapidly in her slender hand, the notes precise and light, flowing smoothly and swiftly.
It was as if a bee had flown out from between the strings.
Soon, two bees, three bees…a swarm of bumblebees emerged from the small violin case.
The buzzing of their delicate wings, their vibrant energy, transcended the strings, spreading beneath the flowering tree, across the neon-lit, bustling city, towards a distant horizon of blooming flowers.
Such captivating music and vibrant energy.
"Look, someone's playing the violin," a few girls stopped to watch.
"Such a cool young lady. What piece is she playing? Her fingers are moving so fast I can't even see them clearly."
"I don't understand it, but it sounds amazing."
Passersby on their way home paused to watch, students holding takeout containers stopped by the roadside.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz. What is she playing? Sounds like a bunch of bees. Boring," someone with no appreciation for classical music commented dismissively.
"Haha, bees is right. That's called 'Flight of the Bumblebee.' It's a showpiece, super difficult. Anyone who can play it is very skilled," someone with a bit of knowledge chimed in, showing off their expertise.
Soon, the mobile payment notification vibrated in Banxia's pocket, and a few small bills appeared in her violin case.
Two well-dressed men passed by. One of them listened for a moment, then turned to his companion and said, "It's not a particularly difficult piece. This kind of music is just to impress the layman. And she's playing so casually, not even following the sheet music. People without musical education are always like this; they think fast is impressive. Playing fast is difficult, playing fast is extremely skilled. How laughable."
His companion, a white-haired elderly gentleman, stopped with his hands behind his back, listening to the music. "Isn't it wonderful? She's captivated the passersby, and they're generously rewarding her. She's achieved her purpose," the elderly man smiled. "Besides, the young lady's playing has something unique. It's not just about speed."
As he passed by, he took out a finely crafted wallet and placed a large bill in the violin case. The comments from the passersby, both positive and negative, didn't reach Banxia's ears. The violinist under the flowering tree was completely immersed in her own world.
She didn't even notice when a black gecko crawled out of her pocket as it shifted.
A girl watching the performance suddenly tugged at her friend's arm. "Look! Something crawled out of her pocket!"
"Oh my god, it's a lizard! I'm so scared of those things!"
"How unusual! The young lady keeps a lizard as a pet?"
"That's a gecko. Such a beautiful one, and completely black! I thought geckos were all orange-red."
"A black lizard, a young lady in white. So cool and stylish, and she plays the violin so well. I love her!"
The gecko, having crawled out of the pocket, looked up. From its perspective, it could see the fragmented neon lights through the moving bow. The pocket had been dark and cramped; outside, lay a vast and dazzling world.
Towering buildings, sharp car horns, giant humans walking back and forth.
The violinist so close by, her fingers strong, her bow flying.
And the melody flowing from the strings evoked familiar images.
It stared at the dancing bow, the music carrying its memories back to many years ago.
Back then, it had been a seven or eight-year-old boy, hiding in a vast, rural field.
Among the wild brambles and vibrant flowers, countless bumblebees buzzed and flitted.
Buzz, buzz, buzz. The bumblebees there, just like the music, were wild and free, constantly in motion.
The little boy sat with his knees drawn up in the tall grass, unaware of how long he had been squatting there. There were only the buzzing bees, the chirping crickets, and the rustling of insects and snakes. Hiding there, he could escape the immense grief he felt, escape the world of adults with their endless arguments.
The damp earth beneath his feet shifted as something burrowed through it. A cold body slithered over his foot and back into the soil.
If he could, he wished he could just fall asleep to the buzzing of the bees, burrow into the damp earth, and become one with the wilderness.
He had no home to return to, no one waiting for him.
But as the evening glow deepened, and the rich darkness crept up from the foot of the mountains, covering the sky, he began to feel instinctively afraid.
The temperature dropped rapidly. He was hungry and exhausted. The flickering shadows of the plants swayed in the buzzing of the bees, like the twisted, grotesque monsters from scary stories, as if they might pounce at any moment and grab his cold ankles.
Maybe I'm going to die, just like Mom and Dad.
The boy buried his face in his knees. His body's instincts overcame his young mind.
Someone, anyone.
Take me back, take me back to where there are voices, where there are lights.
At that moment, a small hand parted the tall grass. A round face, wearing a straw hat, emerged from the weeds. The small face was flushed from running, and the bright eyes lit up upon seeing the boy.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" The six-or-seven-year-old girl took off her straw hat, fanned away the bees, grabbed the boy's hand, and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go back. Everyone in the village is looking for you."
Looking back now, he couldn't remember how the two small children made their way back from the deserted field in the fading light, stumbling through the tall grass.
He only remembered the girl, slightly smaller than him, constantly parting the grass ahead of him. The small hand that held his was soft, with short fingernails and calluses on the fingertips from playing the violin.
The calluses pricked his palm, and his heart ached.
"It's okay. My mom said that any unhappiness will eventually pass. Just endure it for now, and it won't be so bad," the little figure chattering away in front of him said. "Don't be afraid. We'll grow up soon. When I grow up, I'll come and see you, and we can play together again."
"Really?... Do you promise you'll come?"
The little girl giggled. "Of course! I even promised to marry you!"
"Nonsense! Girls can't 'marry' someone," the boy said, momentarily forgetting his grief. "Girls can only be married. Only I can 'marry'…marry… someone."
"Haha, it's the same thing! Don't worry about such trivial details."
The little black gecko, Xiao Lian, looked up at the girl playing the violin. Its eyes, with their strange, mottled patterns, were otherworldly, mysterious and uncanny.
Lies.
She doesn't remember me at all.
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