The two-story building where the cinema was located was a structure from several decades ago. The structure had aged, and the design was very antiquated. There were no stairs leading directly to the rooftop platform. If one wanted to go up, they had to exit the building and go to the east side to use the outdoor ladder. Actually, it wasn’t really a ladder at all, but rather several steel reinforcement bars exposed outdoors and welded into the cement bricks.
Chen An threw down his umbrella and climbed up using the steel bars.
However, upon reaching the top, he couldn’t find anyone at all. The darkness seemed to have swallowed everything—he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. Chen An turned on his phone flashlight. The weak light shone out but could only reveal the curtain of rain dense as woven fabric. Raindrops the size of beans smashed against his face with a dull pain. The sound of rain was clamorous, yet it also acted like sound-absorbing foam, blocking the transmission of other sounds.
Within seconds of coming up, Chen An was soaked through from inside out. He wildly swept the area once and took two steps before discovering this platform didn’t even have a railing—one could easily fall off the building if not careful. Shining the flashlight down below, it was like shining into an abyss.
Probably because he had spent all day today imagining Cheng Lele leaving him, now seeing the abyss so dark it seemed bottomless, the fear in Chen An’s heart magnified infinitely in the endless darkness.
His throat hoarse, he called out: “Lele!”
The sound of rain swallowed his voice. He didn’t hear anyone respond.
Chen An anxiously shouted: “Lele! Where are you!”
Chen An was bewildered for a moment. That panicked feeling from seven years ago of never being able to see her again struck once more—his heartbeat accelerated, breathing became difficult, his internal organs filled with unbearable anguish.
Chen An could barely stand. He bent over with both hands braced on his knees, his voice trembling as he called: “Lele—Lele—”
At this moment, someone patted his back. Chen An hurriedly turned around and saw Shen Dafeng wiping his face: “Boss Chen, we’re right behind you. Your howling made it impossible for us to work. We called you but you didn’t respond either.”
Chen An shone his flashlight behind him. Sure enough, Cheng Lele was wearing a tattered raincoat, lifting a waterproof tarp with two other employees, shouting: “A bit to the left, more to the left—”
Chen An strode quickly to Cheng Lele’s side, grabbed her arm in one motion, and scolded her in front of everyone: “Are you an idiot? What use is this?”
Shen Dafeng thought the boss seemed more like the idiot. Would yelling help? But he couldn’t say that.
Cheng Lele was pulled by Chen An and nearly fell. She clung to Chen An’s hand and shouted an explanation: “This spot has high elevation. If we cover it with the tarp, the water won’t leak as fast. Protecting the screen is what matters. We’ll call a repairman first thing tomorrow morning. You need to go down now!”
The rain was really too heavy. It hit Chen An so hard he could barely open his eyes, and while Cheng Lele spoke, she also swallowed quite a bit of rainwater.
He knew that the energy spent arguing with her would be better spent helping her with the work, so he shut his mouth, pushed her aside, picked up the waterproof tarp, and began laying it down.
Actually, by the time he came up, the work was almost finished. It was like when high-level leaders cut ribbons at groundbreaking ceremonies—his participation was just ceremonial.
A minute or two later, everyone prepared to descend one by one. Climbing up these steel bars was easy, but coming down was difficult—one had to feel their way slowly.
Chen An went down first, spreading his arms below like a mother hen, afraid that Cheng Lele might fall down if she wasn’t careful. When his hands could reach her, he lifted both hands and directly embraced her, carefully placing her on the ground.
After Cheng Lele landed, the strength around her body didn’t loosen. She was still tightly encircled by Chen An—it was the same standing position as when her father died in her seventeenth year, when Chen An rushed back from winter camp, climbed through the window, and held her. Cheng Lele was momentarily dazed, her head nestled in the hollow of Chen An’s shoulder, listening to the sound of his heartbeat coming from his solid chest.
Although her dear older brother hadn’t really helped much and had even been somewhat disruptive, she didn’t want to blame him.
Actually, as soon as Chen An came upstairs, Cheng Lele had spotted him because of the light from his flashlight. She didn’t know why Chen An hadn’t noticed them and had walked straight toward the edge of the platform, then suddenly started frantically shouting her name over there.
From a third-party perspective, that scene was somewhat comical, making Chen An seem very dull and foolish.
But Cheng Lele couldn’t laugh. Because she knew that her dear older brother was the smartest person she had ever met. His abnormal behavior made Cheng Lele think of post-traumatic stress response, and the person who had traumatized him, the person who made him lose his composure—that was herself. She felt sorry and regretful for her previous reckless behavior, hoping that from now on she could give her dear older brother much sweetness and a sense of security.
So Cheng Lele leaned against Chen An’s broad shoulder, slowly patting his back. For that instant, she felt she could stand on tiptoes and give her dear older brother a comforting kiss.
The employees climbing down from upstairs passed by them one by one, exchanging glances with each other.
Cheng Lele became aware of the gossip-hungry spectators’ watching eyes. She didn’t turn imagination into reality, and finally gave Chen An’s back another comforting pat before struggling out of his embrace.
Chen An released her, said “Wait for me at the cinema entrance,” then turned his back and headed directly toward the parking lot.
Shen Dafeng watched Chen An’s retreating figure and ran alongside Cheng Lele to the glass awning at the cinema entrance to wring out water: “Sis, are you and Boss Chen filming an idol drama? Filming idol dramas requires heavy rain—you even saved on the fire truck, there’s ready-made heavy rain for you to use.”
Cheng Lele glanced at him sideways. Shen Dafeng remained oblivious and continued: “Boss Chen’s way of yelling just now was so exaggerated.”
He vividly imitated Chen An, even arbitrarily adding Erkang’s classic hand gesture.
Cheng Lele took off her raincoat. Actually, this raincoat hadn’t been much use—she was also soaked through: “Shen Dafeng, I’ve finally discovered your strong point.”
“What?”
“This revolutionary optimistic spirit—aren’t you cold? You still have the mood for impersonation shows.” As she spoke, Chen An came speeding over in his car and braked in front of them.
“Get in!”
“I’ll go check later if the theater is still leaking.”
“Get in!” Chen An’s tone brooked no argument.
Cheng Lele got into the car. Shen Dafeng made a gesture to follow in as well, but Boss Chen apparently wasn’t in the mood to joke with him. He awkwardly touched his nose and backed out, closing the door like a hotel doorman and bowing: “Boss Chen, take care.”
Before stepping on the gas pedal, Chen An opened a small crack in the car window and shouted to Shen Dafeng: “Have everyone who got drenched today order premium rides home at increased rates. The fare will be reimbursed. Go to finance tomorrow to collect overtime pay.”
Chen An had a gym bag in his car with two towels inside. He had already turned on the heat and threw the towels he had just taken out to her: “Dry yourself off quickly.”
Cheng Lele asked: “What about you?”
“I don’t need them.” After Chen An spoke, he drove with his head down. As the car passed by the Shenya Hotel near the cinema, he hit the brakes and backed up.
The hotel only had an open-air parking lot. He got out of the car, took an umbrella from the trunk, opened the car door, and said to Cheng Lele: “Go take a hot shower first.”
Cheng Lele said nothing and ducked under Chen An’s umbrella. With strong wind and urgent rain, Chen An stood on the windward side, the umbrella surface almost entirely over the head of the person beside him, and quickly walked into the hotel.