Everyone Goes Together

The dark asphalt road was shiny with winter rain. The northern night wind in November was like a knife hardened by ice, mixed with the lingering rain strands. It felt sharp and cutting on the face. The city, bustling with people during the day, was completely silent, leaving only the rustling of dead leaves carried by the wind and rain. Those fallen leaves were messily stuck in the water, like scattered remnants. Yan Sen lowered his head, his soaked clothes tightly wrapped around his body, as cold and hard as an ice shell. Every step he took brought the heavy pull of the cloth, which rubbed his skin stickyly. My legs and feet felt like lead, stiff and numb. Every time I stepped into the stagnant water, a biting cold rushed up my trouser legs. My ankles were numb from the cold, and my knees were also heavy. His brows were knitted into knots, and his eyes were half-squinted to resist the wind and rain that was blowing sideways. His eyes were full of shrinking, but there was no urgency to "hide quickly" - as if the wind and rain in the sky were worthy of his current embarrassment. His mind was full of fragments of failure, and he was hitting his temples over and over again. Those unwillingnesses were like thorns stuck in the throat, and the grievances made his chest feel tight, while the despair was more like the cold in the middle of the night, drilling into every inch of the skin, spreading over his heart, and making him breathless. He opened his mouth, wanting to shout or curse, but he didn't even have the strength to raise the corners of his mouth. All that was left was his teeth chattering uncontrollably. Mixed with the sound of wind and rain, it sounded like a sigh in the deserted street.