madnovel 050 He must care about me
050 He must care about me
For most students in 2012, flying was still a rather luxurious and novel experience.
Wang Zhe and Song Zhiyi found their seats by following the flow of people.
That was a row of three seats in economy class. Wang Zhe's boarding pass indicated seat A by the window, while Song Zhiyi's was seat B in the middle. Seat C next to them was currently empty.
"Please sit inside."
Wang Zhe pointed to the window seat, gesturing for Song Zhiyi to sit there.
Song Zhiyi paused for a moment, then asked, "Isn't this your seat?"
"I want to sleep, so you can enjoy the scenery."
"Thank you then."
The two sat down.
At this point, there was still some time before takeoff, and the cell phone signal was still working, so I could check the stock market.
Wang Zhe took out his phone and opened the stock market analysis page.
[Gree Electric Appliances current price: 5.14 yuan, up 2.15%]
Wang Zhe couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a relaxed smile.
He went all in when the price was below 5 yuan, and now the stock price is steadily climbing. Although it only rose by a little over two points today, that's two percentage points of his principal of over 400,000 yuan.
A quick mental calculation shows that he made several thousand yuan this morning alone. If you include the cumulative gains over the past few days, that's over ten thousand yuan in profit.
Ten thousand yuan is equivalent to two or three months' salary for an average wage earner in this day and age. And he just moved his finger.
That's the allure of rebirth.
Suddenly, Song Zhiyi asked, "What are you laughing at? Did Jiang Di send you some cheesy messages?"
Wang Zhe turned off the screen and turned to look at Song Zhiyi, who was standing right in front of him.
He said, "It has nothing to do with her. That girl is probably still on her way home from the airport right now."
Song Zhiyi thought for a moment and then asked, "So you're looking at stocks?"
Wang Zhe nodded: "Yes, I took a look."
"It went up?"
"It's gone up."
Song Zhiyi immediately became interested, her peach blossom eyes sparkling with curiosity: "How much has it gone up? Is it still a thousand yuan?"
Wang Zhe chuckled inwardly. A thousand yuan? That's not even a fraction of the price.
But after a moment's thought, he decided that he should keep a low profile.
Although Song Zhiyi knew he had some money and that he was involved in stock trading, it would seem presumptuous for him to tell her directly that he had earned over ten thousand yuan in the past few days.
So Wang Zhe stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "The exact amount is hard to say. Anyway, the current unrealized profit is about three percent."
"Floating profit? What does that mean?" Song Zhiyi blinked, clearly having stumbled upon a blind spot in her knowledge.
"Unrealized profit is floating profit. Before the stock is sold and the profit is secured, all profits are just numbers on paper. It's like a bubble floating on the water, which can disappear at any time, or even turn into a loss."
Song Zhiyi nodded as if she understood: "Oh... it means that if you don't sell it, you'll never know if the money is yours."
"almost."
Just as the two were chatting, a soft female voice came over the cabin loudspeaker, reminding passengers that the plane was about to take off and to fasten their seat belts and stow their tray tables.
A flight attendant walked over in the aisle.
The flight attendant looked very young and tall, wearing a well-tailored uniform with a silk scarf around her neck. She was very beautiful, with the typical Eastern beauty, and had two shallow dimples when she smiled.
She walked diagonally in front of the two people, smiled and reminded one of the passengers to fasten their seatbelts, her voice as sweet as milk tea with added sugar.
Wang Zhe's gaze swept over naturally, lingered for about 0.5 seconds, and then calmly moved away.
This is simply a normal appreciation of beautiful things, without any lewd connotations.
But this scene was keenly observed by the girl next to him.
After the flight attendant walked past, Song Zhiyi nudged Wang Zhe gently with her elbow and asked in a low voice, "How was it?"
"What, how is it?"
"That flight attendant," Song Zhiyi said with a hint of mockery in her eyes, "isn't she pretty? Great figure, and a sweet voice. Are you interested?"
Wang Zhe glanced at her speechlessly: "Are you too idle? I'm just here to catch a flight, what does it matter to me whether she's pretty or not?"
Song Zhiyi pouted: "Didn't you say you wanted to be a scumbag? If that's the case, shouldn't you go up and ask for such a pretty girl's phone number?"
Wang Zhe sighed, leaned back in his chair, and adjusted to a comfortable position.
"There are standards for being a 'scumbag.' We only target those we're interested in, not like a horny teddy bear pouncing on everyone. That's called being a scoundrel. I want to be a classy 'scumbag,' not a ravenous wolf. Got it?"
Song Zhiyi was amused.
After a while, the plane accelerated on the runway and then soared into the sky.
As the feeling of weightlessness washed over her, Song Zhiyi, who had been looking relaxed, instantly paled.
Her hand instinctively gripped the handrail, her knuckles turning slightly white, her brows furrowed tightly. She closed her eyes, her breathing becoming rapid.
Wang Zhe immediately noticed that something was wrong with her.
Of course he knew that this girl not only suffered from motion sickness, but also from seasickness, and airsickness was a common occurrence for her. In their previous life, when they first took a plane, she almost threw up on the spot.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Song Zhiyi nodded with difficulty, without saying a word.
"Didn't you bring any motion sickness patches?" Wang Zhe asked, frowning. "Or maybe some motion sickness medication?"
Song Zhiyi shook her head, her voice weak: "I haven't flown for years... I never expected to get so seasick, how could I have prepared..."
Looking at her pale face, Wang Zhe blurted out instinctively, "You get carsick easily, and feel nauseous at the slightest bump, how come you forgot to prepare for flying?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Zhe realized something was wrong.
I let it slip.
Song Zhiyi usually rides a bicycle or walks to school, and when she occasionally rides in her father's car, it's only for short distances. In this timeline, she has never shown severe motion sickness in front of him.
Sure enough, Song Zhiyi, who had been feeling unwell and had her eyes closed, suddenly opened them after hearing those words.
Although his eyes were still somewhat unfocused, the surprise and confusion he felt at that moment were impossible to hide.
"How did you know I get carsick? I don't think I told you that, and we've never taken a long trip together before..."
But Wang Zhe maintained his composure and said calmly, "I've occasionally seen you riding in your dad's car when you were going to and from school, and you never looked too good when you got out. Anyway, I have a good eye for things."
This explanation, while a bit far-fetched, is barely acceptable. After all, they've been childhood sweethearts for so many years, it's normal for some details to be noticed, right?
Fortunately, Song Zhiyi no longer had the mind to delve into the logical flaws in this matter.
Another wave of intense dizziness washed over her, causing her to close her eyes again and groan in pain.
Wang Zhe added, "Listen to me, don't close your eyes, the longer you close them, the more dizzy you'll get. Open your eyes and look out the window. Don't look at the wings, look at the distant horizon, look at those stationary clouds."
Song Zhiyi obediently opened her eyes and turned to look out the window.
The plane had just passed through the clouds.
Outside the window stretched an endless sea of clouds, with golden sunlight spilling onto them. The expansive view quickly eased the dizziness.
"Take a deep breath," Wang Zhe continued to guide, "Inhale...exhale...take it slowly."
Song Zhiyi followed his rhythm and took a few deep breaths.
The fresh air filled my lungs, and the tranquil yet magnificent view outside the window miraculously calmed me down considerably.
Although her face was still a little pale, the pain in her eyes had faded considerably.
"Are you feeling better?" Wang Zhe asked softly, then unscrewed an unopened bottle of mineral water in front of him and handed it to her. "Have some water, drink a little to calm down."
Song Zhiyi took the water and sipped it.
She turned her head and looked at Wang Zhe beside her. Suddenly, a thought flashed through the girl's mind.
"Wang Zhe".
"Um?"
"Did you already know I get airsick and that looking out the window helps? Is that why you specifically gave me the window seat?"
Wang Zhe was stunned for a moment.
This girl, even though she's so dizzy, her mind is still working so fast?
Wang Zhe avoided her gaze, leaned back in his chair, and pretended to go to sleep.
"I didn't think that much about it. I just felt...it's safer for girls to sit inside. Okay, I really need to rest now, we still have two hours to go."
After saying that, he closed his eyes to rest, refusing to make any further eye contact.
The cabin fell silent again, with only the monotonous roar of the engines.
Song Zhiyi held the bottle of water in her hand, feeling the slight coolness emanating from it.
She wasn't asleep; she was just quietly staring at Wang Zhe's profile.
The young man with his eyes closed had lost some of his usual roguishness and profundity, leaving only his familiar handsome demeanor.
As the girl watched, her eyes gradually became somewhat unfocused.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.