It was dark.

There was a small gap in the window, and because of the suction of the night wind, the curtains were attached to the wall, and the outline of the window could be discerned through the fabric. There is also moonlight, or the light of street lamps, shining in through that layer of cloth.

She rested on his arm, looked up at him, saw the curvature of her chin, and her Adam's apple. Suddenly, I thought of the box of blades in the bathroom, the track of the sharp, paper-thin silver blade, the decadent look of his unshaven beard, and the sneaking to Washington on his birthday.

He was like that too, completely like a bachelor with no one to care about.

She was waiting in the ballroom that day, and everyone gathered around her to reminisce.

Although I have only seen it once, I am all enthusiastic about this "sister-in-law".

The elevator door opened, and she saw him walking out of the elevator, completely slovenly and unshaven after half a month of work. As soon as he appeared, everyone immediately coaxed and asked Lin Yiyang and his sister-in-law to kiss him, otherwise he would not be able to show the joy of his sweetheart falling from the sky... Yin Guo was overwhelmed by the coaxing.

Lin Yiyang pointed to a few who were cheering, and extinguished their arrogance on the spot.

He's not a particularly exposed person. In the room full of laughter, the two of them didn't even hug each other, but she could see that he was very happy.

Everyone knew each other that day, and soon gave them space.

She was lying on the bar, watching him walk into the counter, watching this old man who didn't know how to take care of himself when he was not with her, and asked softly, "Are you happy?"

At that time, he turned around, poured her a drink, and asked, "What do you think? He almost ran into someone when he entered the elevator."

After finishing speaking, he said again: "Are you tired?"

She said "um", her eyes reluctant to leave his face, thinking, why is it so flattering? this man.

"Take you back to sleep when you're tired." He said calmly.

She said "Oh", pursed her lips and smiled at him.

At that time, Lin Yiyang was stared at by her funny, put the drink can in the refrigerator and closed the door. He didn't put his arm on the other side of the bar until he wiped his hands clean, looked at her, and asked in a low voice, "Don't want to go?"

...

Yin Guo suddenly regretted that he didn't have time to go to Washington again. He really missed his poor ballroom.

She lay on his chest and thought of another thing: "Lin Lin has been taking good care of me during the training camp."

Knowing their relationship, Lin Lin was afraid that the two of them had little experience and believed too much in external measures. The trick would affect the World Championships. He talked to her privately and said that he had been tricked because of it. At that time, when he heard it, the flames of gossip were ignited, but one was Lin Yiyang's young and the other was his brother, so it was not easy to ask in person.

"Has she ever liked anyone else? Except my brother?" Yin Guo asked in a circle, not wanting to tell Lin Yiyang about this, because it belongs to the girl's privacy after all.

"Probably not." Lin Yiyang said.

He saw the atmosphere between Lin Lin and Meng Xiaodong that day and guessed it. Lin Lin has been making decisions since he was a child.

"You said... my brother has been out of the state for more than a year, will it be related to emotional problems?"

"No." He knew that his old rival would not be so vulnerable.

Meng Xiaodong only experienced severe fluctuations last year, and this year it has been declining all the way.

It's almost May, and the best result got was the semi-finals of the China Open that just ended. It was because of the excitement of Lin Yiyang's rapid progress that this small outbreak occurred.

"He's younger than you, so he should still have a chance to get up? If he really goes downhill, I'm afraid he won't be able to bear it." She was still worried.

This is a heavy topic that every athlete faces.

Lin Yiyang thought about it for a while, and then told the cruel truth: "Athletes do not work hard and pay off. No matter how good they are, the future is a hero's end. Sooner or later, you have to suffer if you can't stand it.

He is a past person, and he has experienced peaks and valleys. His words are very weighty and cruel.

Seeing that she didn't say anything for a long time, Lin Yiyang realized that he was too serious and self-examined for half a minute, thinking that his little girlfriend seemed to be very interested in the past of Lin Lin and Meng Xiaodong, so he said: "Lin Lin told your brother in the past, I like to watch it. He used a face that was prettier than a girl to slash people, and he made everyone cry, but he still had a stern face and didn't even laugh."

"If your brother still has her in his heart, he will get up." He concluded.

"You know so much? Their business?" Yin Guo had to admire him, his mouth was too strict.

Lin Yiyang smiled.

After all, since was a child, saw everything in eyes.

There was just movement outside.

"Sister An is awake." Lin Yiyang changed the subject.

As if to cooperate with him, the door was knocked: "Are you awake?"

"Just woke up." He responded.

The voice outside the door said again: "Come back, Jiang Yang said there is a ball room nearby? Tell me where it is, I should go to training."

"Wait a minute, let's go together." Lin Yiyang returned to him.

Chen An'an was awake, and it was not easy for them to stay in bed.

He and Yin Guo tidied up the bed, and said to her when dressing: "As soon as the nine-ball world championship is over, Anmei will retire. This is his last open tournament."

So fast? Chen Anan is about the same age as him, not yet thirty years old...

"Go out for a while, if you don't know." He stroked her hair.

She replied softly, "I'm not stupid."

Lin Yiyang came to the United States this time to accompany Yin Guo and Chen Anan.

That kid is a dead brain. No matter where he is playing, he will only train when he arrives there. He will return to China immediately after the game, and he does not want to waste a penny of the club's money. So even though came to New York last year, didn't take a good look around.

Lin Yiyang thought about it, taking advantage of this last match, accompany this silly boy around, and don't know what year and month when come back.

The elder brother is the host, and the younger brother never dares to refuse.

They ate dinner and went to the gym to practice.

Come back after a year, Yin Guo can think of countless fragments of the past when he looks at every corner.

This year, Lin Yiyang lived in this apartment, and naturally he practiced ball in this room, so the table in the private room that he used to use before was specially changed to snooker, and he kept it all year round.

Yin Guo and Chen An'an completed today's training with one table each.

Lin Yiyang was doing sparring by the side, and he was enjoying himself very much. In fact, he still likes this kind of life, set up a table for his girlfriend and brother to practice ball, accompany him by himself, and occasionally go out and play two games with people. Holding a bucket of beer, whether it is a regional champion, a national champion, or an amateur player, they all mix together, those who love to preach, those who love to drink, and those who love to tell jokes wantonly, simply and simply.

That night, Yin Guo saw the long-lost Lin Yiyang again.

It was as if he was in Flushing that night, wearing a black cotton casual top, trousers, and sneakers, carrying a public club in an unknown small ball room, and being an unknown hidden master.

This is the man who doesn't stick to the rules and is talented, the man who is just as happy to play ball and play the world whether it is a game or not, whether he gets a bonus or not.

"He's so nice and comfortable." Chen An'an was beside Yin Guo, and because of the few bottles of beer, it was hard to say more, "Lin Yiyang, who can't be controlled, is himself."

She echoed: "The first time I saw him playing was the same impression, in another Chinese ballroom. He was very arrogant that day, and his opponent was a particularly famous regional champion. He said to people - come on, let me Look at your strength."

To this day, she still remembers the way he was talking to people while holding a club, flipping the ball in one hand, and turning his back to himself.

Chen Anan laughed when he heard it. He held the brown glass bottle and continued to sigh with emotion: "He is a very contradictory person. On the one hand, he is so free and easy to die, no matter what he says, he will not want it, and on the other hand, he is too sentimental. Hands and feet tied."

But who is not contradictory, people are multi-faceted.

Chen Anan paused for a while and suddenly said, "I sometimes think that if we hadn't shown up, he would be fine here."

"You don't want him to go back?" She thought that the people from Dongxincheng gathered together last year with the same goal, letting Lin Yiyang return to China.

Chen Anan shook her head.

After a while, he said, "It's Jiang Yang who wants him back, and Jiang Yang wants him to take over the team from Dongxincheng."

Want him to pick up Dongxincheng?

Yin Guo glanced at the man by the snooker table in the distance. He was playing snooker with a white-haired white old man. The old man was a lover, and he was not at the technical level at all. He also liked to ask questions. Lin Yiyang spoke seriously, he was playing while answering questions.

"He didn't agree?" Yin Guo asked softly.

She guessed that she didn't agree. If she did, he would tell herself.

"Yes, no promise."

Chen An'an paused for a while, as if he had a lot to say, but because he didn't communicate with women on weekdays, he still talked about the past after thinking about it: "In the past few of us, only he and Jiang Yang were the congratulations. The old apprentice, everyone else has their own teacher. My teacher left the second year after I entered Dongxincheng. That year, I was in the first year of junior high and had average qualifications. Other teachers were unwilling to take over... But I didn't want to leave. If you want to continue fighting, no one can teach you to stay."

Yin Guo guessed: "He asked Elder He to help?"

Chen Anan smiled, shook his head and said, "He told the people in Dongxincheng that he was the champion anyway, and he came to teach me. Those words that he said were really crazy, because this offended several Dongxincheng. My teacher said that he was arrogant, and Mr. You He used to dare to say anything and do anything."

But without Lin Yiyang's conceited insistence, Chen An'an had already changed careers, and that would have been another life trajectory. Maybe better, maybe not as good as it is now, but definitely no longer with billiards.

"This person is frustrated. He doesn't like to say nice things. His philosophy of life is that he is only strong when he is strong. He doesn't like to engage in social networking. The people around him were scattered, and I saw that he was still there."

Lin Yiyang beckoned to her and asked her to go out with himself.

Yin Guo put the club on the shelf, walked through the crowd in three or two steps, and followed him up the steps.

The scaffolding outside the gate of the ballroom was still there. She took Lin Yiyang's hand and looked up, "What are you decorating? It hasn't been demolished for a year."

He laughed, the devil knows.

Lin Yiyang took a pack of cigarettes from the club owner. Right now, he was in a good mood, leaning against the door frame, looking at the street scene outside, knocking on the bottom of the cigarette case, knocking out one, lighting it with a lighter, and taking a puff.

The faint smoke scattered in the night, he squinted, looked at her through the smoke, saw that the smoke disappeared without a trace, and did not say a word.

"Drinking too much?" She shook her hand in front of his eyes.

It's good to have this wine, but it's too early to drink too much.

"Look at that." He suddenly grabbed Yin Guo's wrist, clasped it with her arm, hugged her from behind, and pointed his finger between the cigarettes to the distance, the next street.

It's an ice cream truck.

She knew that he was going to feed himself again...

"You're nice to people, don't you just feed delicious food?"

That being said, it's pretty much the same.

My parents left early. In the first two years, I didn’t get in touch with my relatives, so he brought his younger brother with him. He couldn’t coax him to buy food. He even bought food after beating him. It was very effective. It was annoying at first. I had to go to school, go to the ball room, and ride my brother to and from kindergarten. Life was not easy, and it was a great happiness to have delicious food.

He was interested, took a few puffs of his cigarette, and took out his wallet from his trousers pocket.

As a result, Chen Anan came out and also received an ice cream, one for Yin Guo.

"I'm a big man," Chen Anan was a rough man, holding an ice cream cone, "buy me this..."

He smiled and said to Yin Guo, "When he was a child, he took his younger brother with him every day. There were only three tricks: scare, beat, and buy food. It is estimated that the third trick is directly for you, and he will not know anything else."

Yin Guo was delighted to hear it: "Yes, yes, he is cute and invited someone to dinner. This trick caught me."

"Little Junior Sister in Beicheng, is there still no one to invite me to dinner?" Chen Anan smiled.

She pursed her lips and smiled. It is not lacking, but it is not comparable to him, not even a finger.

A man carries all his belongings, and his mind is full of plans to take you to eat here and there, and he can't wait to buy you a glass of antique wine from the year of his birth with the last penny. No one can compare to this kind of person.

Lin Yiyang lit another cigarette beside him and watched the two finish their ice cream like a child. Someone in the ballroom asked for more ice buckets of beer and asked loudly, "Lin, is it until midnight? You'll pay for it?"

Lin Yiyang leaned there and replied with a smile: "How much will they drink and buy until dawn tomorrow?"

With enthusiastic cheers and thanks, Lin Yiyang saw that there were two homeless people on the side of the road watching here, and threw the half-pack of cigarettes in his hand: "Enjoy."

The successive Amazing sounds of the homeless made people feel better.

Yin Guo and him are one on the left of the door and the other on the right. He was smoking and looking at her.

Yin Guo was caught by his gaze, took two steps, came to him, and wrapped his arms around his neck. Lin Yiyang looked down at her, there was something intense in his dark pupils, but it was only in the bottom of his eyes.

On this street, where he first hugged her, by the road full of traffic and passers-by, he lowered his head. Because she was afraid of the smell of smoke, she kissed the corner of her mouth, slipped in between her lips and stirred her twice with the tip of her tongue, then left quickly.

Immediately, he smiled and said in a low voice, "The ice cream is not bad."