[Emotional Story] Boys and Girls (reprinted)
Love Against Earthquakes\One day, a boy gave his girlfriend a Chinese pager and gently said to her, "I will never be afraid of losing you again."\ The girl playfully said, "If I leave this city, you won't be able to reach me."\ The boy shook his head proudly, "I've activated roaming. No matter where you go, I can always reach you."\ The girl asked for his pager number, and the boy said, "This is a love hotline. The number is not public."\ From then on, the girl carried it with her every day, never parting from it for a moment.\ On a sunny weekend, which made people feel wonderfully good, the girl left only a note for her parents, got into a car, and headed to a nearby county to play, but no one knew she was heading toward a disaster...\ The girl spent the day playing in the county. Dragging her heavy steps, she found a small inn with a shower. As soon as she entered the room, she eagerly went into the bathroom, wanting to wash away her fatigue. When she was about to shower, the floor beneath her shook. She hastily grabbed an iron pipe, thinking it was an illusion. But with the second shake came a hurried and dull cracking sound, and the girl began to tremble. She knew the terrifying earthquake had come. As the third and fourth, even stronger tremors hit, the boundless darkness and endless fear tightly wrapped around her. The girl, like a wounded wild animal, desperately screamed, and frantically pounded and bit at the bathroom door.\ However, it was all in vain. The girl curled up helplessly on the cold, indifferent floor.\ After an unknown amount of time, suddenly, her pager vibrated at her waist.\ The girl hurriedly took it off and, groping in the dark, pressed a button and saw the green light: "Mr. Zhang requests you meet at the old place at seven o'clock." Reading this message, tears welled up in the girl's eyes again, sliding down the corners of her mouth, salty.\ Thinking of him on the other end of the line, the girl tried once more to escape her plight, but only encountered futility and despair.\ The girl collapsed onto the floor, curling herself into a ball, her eyes fixed on the pager screen.\ After an unknown amount of time, the girl fell asleep. And after an unknown amount of time again, the pager vibrated in her hand once more: "Mr. Zhang asks where you are, please call back immediately." Once again, tears streamed down the girl's face: I want to tell you where I am, but I can't.The girl gradually calmed down. Faced with the irreversible death, she didn't know what else she could do. The pager vibrated for the third time: 'I went to your house and saw the note you left. Please hurry home.' The girl's heart began to stir. The pager vibrated for the fourth time: 'I heard the broadcast and know what happened there. I believe you are reading my words on the pager right now. We will meet soon.' It seemed a glimmer of dawn flashed before the girl's eyes. She looked forward to the pager vibrating for the fifth time; at this moment, the pager had become her only solace. Time passed second by second, and the pager slept like a tired child. The fifth vibration finally came: 'I came to find you. The roads were blocked. I tried every possible way but returned empty-handed. I believe nothing will happen to you. You are a smart and lucky girl, and I look forward to your return!' The sixth, the seventh vibrations... The girl spent moments of fear and despair repeatedly with each message from the boy. Unconsciously, two nights had passed. The shadow of death wrapped more tightly around her body. She seemed to see her blood and muscles being greedily devoured bite by bite by a black giant snake. The girl felt she couldn't go on anymore. She didn't even have the strength to cry. Her thoughts grew confused, and she felt herself sinking... Just when she was about to sink completely, the pager vibrated for the thirty-eighth time, perhaps the forty-eighth, the fifty-eighth. That vibration, like a magnet, tightly drew all the remaining energy within her body. 'When will we get married? What ceremonies will we hold? Starting now, let's each imagine it separately and later choose the best plan.' Marriage, wedding, it was too tempting. The girl fell into reverie: an underwater wedding? Freely moving through the ocean world like a fish... a skydiving wedding? Flying in the clouds side by side... The girl rallied once again. Yes, such a wonderful life awaits me!!! The sixtieth, the sixty-first... The boy sent message after message to the girl, repeatedly injecting life into her, repeatedly pulling her back from the brink of death. After four long days and nights, the girl was rescued.When she saw the boy's pale face and bloodshot eyes, she suddenly understood that the most precious thing in the world is — love. The girl gently held the boy's hand on the stretcher and softly said, 'I am your bride in this life.'
