v1c3 (2/2)

At exactly eight-thirty in the evening, Channel 23, together with the pretty face of Jian Shui-Er, returned to the Capital City of the Riverwest State, and the whole planet joined in the jubilation.

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The night sky of Eastwood always looked eerie. The dark-grey sky with a constant diffusing dark-red glow looked similar to the h.e.l.l’s Gate described in many cleric’s books. Though for residents of the planet, this was a scene they had watched for many years, a scene they got used to that deserved no more attention.

The sky lacked cl.u.s.ters of stars. The only few sparkled stubbornly, as though they couldn’t resign themselves to the fact that the stone-like Eastwooders simply ignored the star rays they worked so diligently to spread over the planet.

Two silhouetted figures snuck through the shadows under the streetlights, one big and one small. They skillfully avoided the security cameras along the way and slipped through a small alley by the Bell-Tower Street, until they saw a big green tree in front of them.

The big green tree sat on a small green hill. There was no light around. With the distant night sky as the background, the picture looked almost like an exquisite paper-cut art piece.

In the middle of the picture someone sat under the big green tree. The outline was that of a youngster. He sat cross-legged, and the object he placed on his knees shone with a faint glow, making his silhouette appear even lonelier.

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“Why is Brother Le always … always alone all by himself?” The smaller figure out of the two murmured slowly. His voice was still hoa.r.s.e from the thousands of times of chanting the words “Jian Shui-Er” earlier that afternoon.

The other figure was obviously the leader boy Brother Wei. Gazing at the lonely view of the boy under the big green tree, he couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

“He is lonelier than the fireworks in the sky….”

That famous saying of the Fourth Military District Commander many years ago had become a well-known and unforgettable quote for all the residents of the Eastwood District, so well-known that even someone as ignorant as Brother Wei knew how to use it.

Brother Wei and the younger boy ran up the green hill. As they got near that lonely back view, they suddenly noticed that the shoulders of the boy were twitching as though he was weeping silently.

Brother Wei’s face turned pale. He walked next to the boy and asked.

“Xu Le, what’s the matter?”

The lonely boy did not raise his head. Still fixing his gaze on the portable ultra-thin TV on his knees, he stared at the purple-haired girl on the screen. The faint light from the screen illuminated his face as tears streamed down his cheeks.

After a long while, when the ending music of the episode started in the quiet night, the boy named Xu Le finally looked up. Narrowing the pair of honest and sincere eyes, he wiped off the tear drops on his face and the drool by his lips and declared in a most earnest tone.

“Jian Shui-Er … is so absolutely… gorgeous! One day … I’ll certainly and positively … make her my bride!”

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