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Chapter 12 Chapter 16
She peeled off one candy after another, soft and hard, and the roots of her teeth hurt.
When left Macau that year, unpacked a package of candies bought at the airport in the same way, ate them one by one, and moved from one time zone to another. The time difference here is almost reversed from that of Macau. In the month she first came back, she could not overcome the time difference. She slept during the day and woke up at night without going out...
In the past so long, there is one picture that is the clearest in my mind. When she first arrived at the Hong Kong airport, she was pulled by the trolley and looked back at him.
Zhaozhao grabbed the candy wrappers together and threw them into the trash can.
The phone vibrated again, still mom.
There was no way she could not pick it up, because there was no excuse, the things between the two were hidden and never seen the light. She stared at the phone for a while, but still listened.
"Why don't you talk to your brother a little more?"
"Long time no see," Zhaozhao said softly with his hand on his forehead, "nothing in common."
It had been half an hour since the phone was disconnected, and he had just returned the phone.
"Your brother just came home and wants to have a few more words with you. He also wants to congratulate you and be more sensible."
Mom never forced her to do anything. But it's very strange, this time really want her to talk to Shen Ce a few more words.
The phone was handed over to him, but there was still silence. She pressed her eyes with her tiger's mouth.
"I'm getting married," she said this time, "brother, should you know?"
A spark pops out of the firewood.
This is not news, it has already been discussed. At the beginning, she had fantasized that maybe Shen Ce would regret hearing this news, not to mention that she would come to see her, but at least she would make a phone call and ask with his half-truth attitude. She even rehearsed inwardly and prepared a set of good rhetoric. But he didn't have a phone call.
"Zhao Zhao." He wanted to stop her from going on.
"Congratulations on this? My mother said you wanted to congratulate me?" she asked softly, with a smile.
"I just found out," there was a child laughing over there, thinking that he avoided it once with the phone, and it was inconvenient to avoid it a second time, so he could only say in the open space, "I just found out today."
How could he have just learned of a public news? But it was all hints that he didn't care about her private affairs.
He emphasized that those two weeks were when he was young and he was struggling with emotions, and it was an emotional window when he returned from his graduation from the UK, and a little love affair with his sister. Little secret.
There was a child laughing over there, grabbing the phone: "Auntie!"
The boy's unvarnished voice was crisp: "We'll go there right away, my parents and I. My father said, you said you wanted me to grow up and go to Montreal to see you."
Knowing that his emotions were still unstable, Zhaozhao was afraid that his tone would be too harsh and hurt the enthusiasm of the children, so he calmed down and asked softly, "When?"
Shen Yan answered the phone and explained with a smile that it was the child who heard the adults talking and shouted first. Shen Yan also felt abrupt, saying that it happened to be the child's birthday, and clamoring to come to see the little aunt who had given her toys and lived far away, and asked her if she would be disturbed.
"No," she laughed, "you took care of me the most in Macau, and I was happiest when you came."
After that, the phone never returned to Shen Ce's hands.
After the call, she held the mobile phone, her face was illuminated by the fire in the fireplace, her eyes were still unable to focus, she did not look at the flames, and she did not look at the red burning wood.
My head suddenly hurts, it's the kind of reaction after being stimulated by intense emotions, and teeth hurt too, because just ate sugar too hard.
She tried not to think deeply about Shen Yan's intentions. Even if it is related to him, it has nothing to do with himself.
The next day, Zhaozhao started arranging to entertain guests.
When her mother is not at home, only an elderly Chinese aunt takes care of her all year round. She talked to the secretary on the phone and arranged for two more girls to come here to take care of the guests. There are also cars and private guides, and the itinerary is fully booked. In this way, she can accompany her when she is free, and she will not delay other people's vacation when she is not free.
On the day the plane arrived, she was delayed by the incident and rushed to the airport in a hurry.
Shen Yan called her to say that she was outside the airport and that she had not arrived yet. The mobile phone instructed her to take her child and wife to the roadside where she was parked to pick up passengers. The cars were lined up one by one, and it happened that there was a lot of passengers. She got out of the car and walked faster than the car.
Go all the way and find them all the way.
After dark, the light from the airport was striking. She looked at the silhouettes of people walking past outside the glass of the airport across the road. Suddenly someone called her.
Zhaozhao turned around for a moment, and was pulled by a hand, pulling her to avoid the person who was pulling the suitcase.
The noise of cars, the noise of passers-by talking loudly, and the noise of the trunk of the trunk pressing against the ground, all of which were heard and amplified. In the freezing temperature, her eyes were also frozen...
It's still the same him, with deeper eye sockets and a higher bridge of the nose, because of age and maturity. The appearance and temperament have also been sharpened by the years, but some habits have not changed.
When he looked at her, he always liked to purse his lips slightly, as if he had something to say, but he didn't say it.
Zhaozhao wanted to withdraw his arm, and subconsciously pushed him on his chest. He was wearing a short coat with a casual suit inside, and a shirt inside the suit, in short, there were many layers of cloth. But he was still caught by his heartbeat.
This was an illusion, she knew very well, it was her body's memory of him.
"It's still uncle's sharp eyes." Shen Yan said from a distance.
"Auntie." A pair of children's hands hugged her.
The child's nose was red from the cold. Shen Yan was pushing the luggage cart behind, and beside her was a woman with glasses and a high ponytail. The unsmiling one was Shen Yan's wife, Liang Jinshan, whom she had met once at the wedding banquet.
"It's really cold here." Shen Yan smiled at her.
"Yeah, you didn't choose the right time." She focused her attention on Shen Yan's family and didn't give him another look. "If autumn comes, you can still see maple leaves and go out to sea to see whales. But it doesn't matter, next time. Come again."
While they were all carrying luggage, Zhaozhao got into the passenger seat first, and said to the driver in French, not going to the original residential area, go to the hotel, and change to the hotel.
She couldn't let Shen Ce live in her own home, absolutely not.
The driver asked strangely, where to change it.
Zhaozhao asked him to go to the Ritz-Carlton, which is a long-term hotel signed by his mother's hospitality partner. It's not peak season, and it's not a city frequented by tourists, so there must be rooms.
Shen Ce sat in the car at some point, in the second row, behind the driver. The two are just where they can see each other.
Zhaozhao was talking, and he wondered a few times, could he understand French?
"Where do we live?" Shen Yan asked with a smile, "Your mother said that your house is well decorated, and each room has its own characteristics. You designed it one by one."
She excused the broken water pipe in the house and made the first floor very dirty, sorry for letting them stay in the hotel. Liang Jinshan was very happy with this arrangement. She could come and go freely without disturbing Zhaozhao too much. The private tour guide who drove the car was very interesting, didn't talk much, and asked where to go.
When the car was on the road, she always looked out the car window. In the reflection, she could see the whole front half of the car, and he was in the other half. She didn't look at him, but she could sense that his eyes never left her.
She was inexplicably irritable, caring about herself.
As soon as we got to the hotel, the child fell asleep on the bed. Both of the couple said they didn't want to go out, and they would go downstairs to eat when they were hungry, and let Zhaozhao go home first. She considered whether she wanted to open a room, but when she thought that Shen Ce was next door, she immediately dismissed the idea.
Shen Yan answered the phone, hung up after hearing a few sentences, and said with a smile, "Uncle said he was waiting for you in the corridor."
Zhao Zhao knew that he couldn't escape, and as soon as he walked out of the door, he saw him at the end of the corridor. There are not many guests in the hotel, and now there is no staff cleaning up at night. From here to him, there is no obstacle and no one disturbs.
She was in the light, walking all the way for hours, to him.
"Still won't talk to me?" he asked.
His tone, as if the separation was last night.
Zhao Zhao raised his eyes and stared at him.
Looking at her like this, he even smiled: "It's okay, it's fine."
The elevator door opened, and the hotel manager held a children's bathrobe in one hand and a gifted toy in the other, and at first glance, he was going to send it to Shen Yan's room. The man with a smile on his face, when he came out, was frozen by the atmosphere between the two, nodded with a polite smile, and walked away quickly, not to disturb the guests' quarrel.
Zhao Zhao got into the elevator and wanted to say goodbye.
He also came in behind him: "Let's have dinner together."
"There are no people here at night, and no shops are open," Zhaozhao said. "It's better to eat at the hotel at this time."
"There will always be," he said.
She didn't want to show excessive resistance, but instead showed that she cared, and gave an irresistible attitude.
He asked the lobby manager and was recommended a Japanese BBQ restaurant within five minutes. It is easy to find the dark red sign of the "Tongyang" store in the dark winter with heavy snow.
It was late, and only a few business people were eating inside.
The two occupied a large table, poured oil on it, and the fire burst in front of the two of them.
Usually at this time, the girl would be surprised to see a smile and avoid it. However, the girl in front of the chef, no matter how pleasantly surprised the flames were burning, did not respond, but was forced to see the old wound on the bridge of his nose again and again under the fire, until the chef extinguished the fire-breathing show .
He flipped through the menu, wishing she could have everything to taste. The woman in the kimono made it clear that all kinds of hints were enough, but he always thought it was not enough, and it was not enough at all.
Throughout the meal, she didn't move her chopsticks.
Shen Ce didn't eat at all. He wanted to chat with her, but he didn't say anything for fear that she would be unhappy. He was drinking beside her. At first she thought he did it on purpose in front of her, but then she gradually felt that something was wrong. Such a drinking method has only been seen in people who are serious alcoholics, and she is not afraid of alcohol poisoning. Think about how to drink if you can see the sun tomorrow.
Although she was angry with him, she wasn't so angry that she wanted to watch him drink to death... While she was in the bathroom, she called Shen Yan over.
As soon as Shen Yan heard her saying that he was trying to persuade him to drink, he immediately understood the situation and came very quickly.
As soon as he entered the door, he held down the wine glass in Shen Ce's hand, and said to Zhaozhao, "I'll get the person back first to pay for the order."
The two brought Shen Ce back to the room, and Liang Jinshan was there.
At first glance, the two of them have experience in dealing with them. One prepares hangover medicine, and the other carries it to the bathtub and induces vomiting for him. Zhaozhao didn't dare to leave either. Outside the bathroom, he listened to what was going on inside. Shen Yan came out halfway, her eyes were all red, she glanced at Zhaozhao, originally wanted to ask her why she saw that something was wrong and didn't stop her directly.
"Don't blame Zhaozhao," Liang Jinshan explained for her, "and I didn't say hello in advance. They hadn't seen each other for several years, and they chatted so happily that they had two more drinks because they were in a good mood."
"What do you say hello in advance?" Zhao Zhao felt uncomfortable.
Liang Jinshan said: "He hasn't seen anyone in the past few years. His mother kept saying that he was busy. At first, he said that there was something wrong with the laboratory, and then he made other excuses. He was the youngest in the long house, and the elders liked him the most. , but no one has been seen for more than three years, everyone is surprised, and they did not expect to doubt his mother's words."
"I finally came back a few days ago, and when I didn't wake up, I was drinking and taking tranquilizers. His father was in a hurry and asked his mother, and he said that this is the best, at least people are alive... ... "Because he was instructed to say nothing about family ugliness before he came, Liang Jinshan was reluctant to say more, "He also just came back, the day he called you. We are still panicking now."
"He said he wanted to see his sister, we thought, it would be nice if we could bring it out to relax," Liang Jinshan and Shen Yan were childhood sweethearts and friends of Shen Ce for many years, and their eyes were red as they spoke, "He was born... how come? Itโs so hard to think about having a good two days. Itโs time to be good, right? I canโt see the end.โ