Chapter 283 - 64: Hang City Love Story

But these days, the Ferris wheel had long since detached from its original purpose. It was now more associated with romance and love, a favorite attraction for young couples.

"Let’s go on the Ferris wheel!"

Cheng Mengxue pointed to the spinning neon lights high in the sky.

"You know, I’ve never actually been on a Ferris wheel before. This will be my first time."

"Me neither."

Jiang Ran tilted his head back, gazing at the multicolored steel beast.

An image surfaced in his mind: the strange symbol on the burnt courtyard wall of Qin Feng’s house, which was also the symbol on the back of the Priest’s gold coin—the Ferris wheel with its giant, open eye.

’Amusement park, Ferris wheel. Amusement park, Ferris wheel.’

’This was practically a blatant hint... strongly linking the gold coin, the Priest, the Magician, Qin Feng, and Lilith to the concept of the "Genius Playground."’

Hang City Paradise operated on a single-pass system, so the Ferris wheel didn’t require a separate ticket. All you had to do was get in line and wait your turn.

Perhaps because this Ferris wheel was one of the older ones, its cabins were tiny. They could hold a maximum of four people, but most parties were just pairs.

It was nothing like the new Ferris wheels, which had massive cabins big enough for ten or even thirty people, designed to maximize revenue.

The advantage of the smaller cabins, however, was that a Ferris wheel of the same size could accommodate more of them. It also made for a better, more intimate experience for couples.

Soon, it was Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue’s turn to board a cabin.

Cheng Mengxue darted inside and waved for Jiang Ran to follow.

"Come on, get in!"

Jiang Ran was just about to step inside...

Suddenly, he looked up and froze, a chill running down his spine.

At the top of the cabin door right in front of him was the cabin number—

[42]

42. It was 42 again.

That eerie number always seemed to appear at the most unexpected times, giving him a jolt.

"Jiang Ran! Hurry up!"

The Ferris wheel was still turning. Cheng Mengxue reached out from inside, urging him on.

The staff member also looked confused.

"Hey, young man, let’s go!"

But Jiang Ran remained frozen in place.

He thought of the number 42 on Tian Xiaoli’s hospital room door, of her miraculous awakening from a vegetative state, of Old Tian pressing a gun to his temple and sobbing...

’What in the world does 42 mean?’

"Jiang Ran!!" Just as they were about to miss their chance, Cheng Mengxue shouted from inside the cabin.

"42 is correct!"

Don’t trust 42.

"Follow 42!"

00:42

"42 is you!"

Countless images and echoes flashed before Jiang Ran’s eyes like a whirlwind.

"Trust your own judgment."

In the end, it was Officer Liu’s final piece of advice, his hand on Jiang Ran’s shoulder before he left.

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Ran reached his hand out to Cheng Mengxue—

SNAP.

Her small hand grasped his large one, and they finally made it into the Ferris wheel cabin just in time.

"What was that about?!"

Cheng Mengxue playfully punched him and rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, it’s like you’re lagging all the time. Are you still on a 2G connection or something?"

THUD—

The staff member shut the cabin door and locked it.

For the next ten minutes, they would be locked in this cramped space, unable to move, unable to escape.

The moment the door closed, sealing them off from the world outside, everything seemed to fall silent...

The noisy clamor from outside vanished. The high altitude and the metal door provided excellent soundproofing, making even their own breathing, seated face-to-face, sound a little ragged.

Just then, music began to play from the cabin’s speakers.

It was an incredibly familiar intro. Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue couldn’t help but look up at the speaker welded to the cabin’s ceiling.

After the long, gentle notes of a violin came the crisp strum of a guitar.

It was a song they had often listened to in middle school—

Liang Jingru’s "Love Song."

[Time is amber, locking away each teardrop.]

[Even a timeless love letter is ground into an hourglass.]

Her clear, pure, and warm voice bloomed inside the cabin, echoing through their tiny universe.

Listening to the soothing, pleasant melody, Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue glanced at each other before both turning to look out the window, their gazes rising slowly as the Ferris wheel rotated.

[In the springtime of youth, white clouds drift away, like fleeting shapes and gulls.]

[Flickering thoughts... gently trickle away.]

Liang Jingru’s song was titled "Love Song," but it seemed to be about a story of unrequited love and missed chances.

Jiang Ran didn’t understand why they would play a song like this on a Ferris wheel where most of the riders were couples.

’The staff in the control booth probably didn’t know much about pop music,’ he thought. ’They likely just saw the song’s title, thought it sounded romantic, and put it on...’

"Hang City is so beautiful."

Cheng Mengxue said softly over the background music.

"I’ve never looked down on Hang City from this angle before. It feels like those distant lights aren’t so distant after all."

"It’s a strange feeling. When you’re up close, deep inside a city, it always feels like it’s in motion, always busy."

"But once your vantage point gets high enough, the city becomes still, like it’s turned into a painting... or an old photograph."

Jiang Ran nodded.

He knew the feeling.

He had been so busy and anxious lately that it had been a long time since he’d had the peace of mind to simply appreciate a city’s nightscape.

[A lingering film reel in slow motion, replaying a silent film, freezes on a single moment.]

[At our farewell concert, we promised it wasn’t goodbye!]

As Liang Jingru’s love song swelled to a crescendo, their little cabin, adrift on the currents of the ride, also ascended toward the highest point.

"Jiang Ran."

Cheng Mengxue stood up and pressed against the cabin’s glass, looking out at the colorful nightscape of Hang City.

"Do you think... is this the highest point in all of Hang City?"

Jiang Ran thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Probably not. As far as Ferris wheels go, there’s the Eye of the Thousand Islands over at Qiandao Lake. That one’s probably the tallest in Hang City."