45 Love is not about who comes first or who comes later, it is about when

Returning home, the house was pitch black and deadly silent. Liu Yuwei then remembered that he had a dinner party in Yuyao that evening. He opened the refrigerator; the freezer compartment was bare, filled only with dumplings from who knows when, hard as stone. Having little appetite to begin with, Liu Yuwei simply heated up a carton of milk and poured some cereal into it. The metal spoon swirls around the edge of the open cup, the round, crispy flakes gradually soaking up the milky liquid and sinking to the bottom. This afternoon felt like a long autopsy, the past slowly unraveling. Those once-troubling suspicions and uncertainties were confirmed. Strangely, the truth wasn't as bloody and painful as he'd imagined, perhaps because eight years had dried the wounds. Even upon hearing the reason for their breakup, Liu Yuwei felt a surge of sympathy. For a moment, he couldn't tell who was the more pitiful of this love triangle. Feeling the warmth of the mug, Liu Yuwei lowered her head and took a sip. The cereal had soaked soft, its sweetness cloying and cloying. As for the saying "long separation will inevitably lead to reunion," everyone knows there's a second half: long reunion will inevitably lead to separation. This is the general trend of the world, and so is the love between young people. Outside the window, the night was as dark as ink. Liu Yuwei stared at her reflection in the glass kitchen door and shook her head helplessly. The phone screen on the dining table lit up. Xiaohe sent a photo and a voice message on WeChat. "Godmother, this is a gift for you. Do you think my drawing looks like Orange?" Xiaolu's baby voice rang out from the speaker, like soft cotton candy. The photo was a children's collage drawing you see in parks and shopping malls. Hello Kitty had a black frame, with orange limbs and a white patch on her belly. Liu Yuwei's round-faced Garfield was called Orange, and judging by the color scheme alone, he did look like Orange. She unconsciously purred her voice and replied to the voice message. "Little Deer's drawing is amazing. Godmother will bring you a gift from abroad in a few days!" As soon as she sent the message, Xiaohe's voice called. "Where are you going to have fun on New Year's Eve?!" Liu Yuwei explained the whole story, sparking waves of envy in Xiaohe. Forget about going abroad; after her divorce, she'd devoted herself entirely to work and Xiaolu. She'd taken plenty of personal leave to care for the children, and with the economic downturn of the past two years, she didn't dare ask her partners about annual leave. If she lost her job, both the young and the old would be left without a livelihood. While the idea of ​​returning to one's hometown is a popular theme in fiction, the "one plus one" scenario of an older divorced couple with children returning home to live off their parents is a far cry from reality! As the two chatted, Xiaohe was...

When he got home, the house was pitch black and dead silent. Liu Yuwei then remembered that he had a dinner party in Yuyao that evening.

I opened the refrigerator and found the freezer compartment was empty. The freezer compartment was filled with dumplings that were made at some unknown time and were as hard as stones.

Since he didn't have much of an appetite to begin with, Liu Yuwei simply heated up a carton of milk and poured some cereal into it.

The metal spoon rotated in circles along the edge of the open cup. The round crisp chips gradually absorbed the liquid in the milky white vortex and slowly sank to the bottom of the cup.

This afternoon was like a long autopsy, as everything from the past was slowly revealed. All those once troubling speculations and uncertainties were confirmed.

Strangely, the truth was not as bloody and painful as imagined, perhaps because eight years had already dried the wounds.

Even when he heard the reason for their breakup, Liu Yuwei felt a surge of sympathy, wondering who was the more pitiful of the two in this love triangle.

Liu Yuwei felt the warmth of the mug and lowered her head to take a sip. The oatmeal had become soft and cloyingly sweet, making her frown.

As for the four words "long separation will inevitably lead to reunion", everyone knows that there is a second half of the sentence: long reunion will inevitably lead to separation.

In this world, the general trend is like this, and so is the love between young people.

Outside the window, the night is as dark as ink.

Liu Yuwei looked at her reflection in the kitchen glass door and shook her head helplessly.

The mobile phone screen on the dining table lit up, and Xiaohe sent a photo and a voice message on WeChat.

"Godmother, this is a gift for you. Do you think my drawing looks like an orange?"

The little deer's milky voice popped out of the speaker, like soft and sticky marshmallows.

The photo shows the kind of children's stickers commonly seen in parks and shopping malls. Hello Kitty has a black frame, orange fillings on her limbs, and a white spot on her belly.

The big-faced Garfield in Liu Yuwei's family is called Orange. Judging from the color scheme alone, he does look very similar to an orange.

She unconsciously raised her throat and sent a voice message back.

"Your drawing of the deer is amazing. Godmother will bring you a gift from abroad in a few days!"

As soon as I sent it, Xiaohe called me.

"Where are you going to have fun on New Year's Day?!"

Liu Yuwei explained the whole story, which made Xiaohe envious.

Forget going abroad. After the divorce, she devoted herself to work and Xiaolu. She took a lot of personal leave to take care of the children. The economic situation has been bad in the past two years, so she didn't dare to ask her partners for annual leave.

If they really lost their jobs, both the adult and the child would be left with no way to make a living. Although the return-to-hometown literature is a popular theme in novels, the "1+1" scenario of an older divorced couple with children returning home to live off their parents is not something we should act out!

The two chatted with each other, and Xiaohe keenly noticed that her friend seemed to be in a low mood and did not have any excitement or excitement about the upcoming trip abroad.

"Liu Yuwei, did something happen?"

"Well...I went to my high school teacher's house this afternoon and ran into Song Miao!"

"Song Miao...the famous star's first love?"

Xiaohe quickly located the name from her memories of previous chats.

"Well...after we broke up, they did get back together..."

Liu Yuwei stated the facts very calmly, but Xiaohe's voice suddenly rose an octave.

"Fuck, he really cheated? What a scumbag!"

"I saw him last time at the hospital and thought he was a nice guy. So has he been looking for you again recently?"

Without giving her friend a chance to answer, Xiao He angrily raged like a machine gun.

"Has he watched too much Romance in the Rain? He thinks he's He Shuhuan? He keeps jumping back and forth between Yiping and Ruping. Liu Yuwei, don't let your frustration get you to the point of jumping off a bridge!"

Lu Xiaohe seemed to be born with the special ability to comfort Liu Yuwei. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she could change the atmosphere with just one or two words.

Liu Yuwei couldn't help but curl his lips at the imaginative remarks.

"Your jumping thoughts are a waste of your talent to be a lawyer!"

Hearing that the other party was in the mood to tease him, the person on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you follow the script of the heroine in a romantic novel, you should play it safe, lure him in, and when he's caught in the whirlpool of love, you'll turn around and kick him!"

"I think you've watched too many TV dramas. If you find a job again, you'll be a gold medal screenwriter!"

Most of the gloom in his heart was dispelled, and his tone became relaxed.

“That’s a must!”

Xiaohe restrained her smile and her tone became gentle yet firm.

"Sister, sometimes love doesn't matter who comes first or who comes later, it just matters when the time is right. No matter what you choose in the future, Xiaolu and I will always be your solid support!"

…

The next day, Liu Yuwei finished her dumplings, said goodbye to Yuyao, and returned to Beijing. The only direct flight from Beijing to Berlin was at 2:00 AM, so she had the entire afternoon to slowly pack.

Around ten o'clock, she took a comfortable shower and was about to ask where Ren Yiming was with her face mask on when the doorbell rang.

Ren Yiming walked into the house wrapped in cold air, as if he had entered his own home. He took out his slippers and sat down on the sofa.

Looking at the box that hadn't been closed yet, he complained, "How come you haven't finished packing it in five hours?!"

Then he lamented that there were so many steps a woman had to go through before going out, and then said that there was no car on the way here, and it was a bit too early to go to the airport.

Liu Yuwei peeled off the transparent film, her damp face gleaming like pearls in the mirror. She stood before it, wiping her neck with the remaining essence. She tilted her head to see Ren Yiming casually peeling a tangerine, stuffing it whole into his mouth, then tossing the peel into the trash can at the other end of the coffee table with the aura of a basketball shot.

How could two men and women who do whatever they want in front of each other without caring about their image have any other thoughts?

With a teasing attitude, she spoke loudly.

"Ren Yiming, do you like me?"

When he suddenly heard her ask this, the order of chewing and swallowing was reversed, the orange juice burst in his mouth, and Ren Yiming bent his waist and burst into a violent coughing fit.

"Hey, are you okay? I was just teasing you!"

She held back her laughter and handed over the cup of water, her fingertips still stained with the jasmine scent of shampoo.

Walking to the full-length mirror again, with water still dripping from the ends of her hair, Liu Yuwei spoke while wiping her hair.

"Someone said a few days ago that you had other ideas about me. My dad also hinted to me before that you were a good guy! I even suspected that he thought I would never get married!"

"Then I thought about it carefully. During our graduation trip, we were alone in a room together, and we were both as calm as water. If you like me, it's probably just a platonic spiritual appreciation."

After saying that, she took two steps back in front of the mirror, grabbed the excess pajamas material with one hand to show her waist, and turned half a circle on the spot.

"My figure is pretty good, right? Even if it's not exciting, it's not unattractive at all!"

Ren Yiming listened to her talking to herself, like a dumb person who had swallowed bitter herbs. He wanted to explain but didn't know where to start, and in the end he could only utter one sentence.

"Can't I be a gentleman in your heart?"

A muffled laugh was heard amid the roar of the hair dryer. Liu Yuwei poked half of her head out of the bathroom, her hair flying.

"You know what, ever since you started working in Ling'an, you've become more and more like a gentleman! It's true that people become more loyal when they are around red people. You should thank your brother!"

...

Late at night, Terminal 2 was silent and desolate, with scattered passengers milling about the check-in counters. Ren Yiming had intended to secretly arrange an upgrade for Liu Yuwei, but the ground staff told him that first-class seats to Berlin were sold out long ago. He offered to trade seats with Liu Yuwei, but she flatly refused, saying her legs were too short to stretch out in economy class.

When the cabin lights dimmed, Liu Yuwei curled up in his seat, lowered the brim of his hat, and quickly switched to sleep mode.

The noise-canceling headphones blocked out the roar of the engine, but they couldn't block out the fragments of memory. Her consciousness was groggy, and one moment she could hear Jin Lang holding her in his arms and whispering to her to take care of herself after going abroad. The next moment, she could hear Liu Wenjun dragging Ren Yiming to hand their daughter over to him.

The dream suddenly changed. She was attending a lawn wedding in a pink dress, holding an exquisite jewelry box in her hand. In the blink of an eye, someone put a ring on her ring finger and said affectionately, "Let me take care of you for the rest of my life." However, the veil covered the other person's face like mist.

The oath was shattered by a strong air current, and Liu Yuwei opened his eyes from a light sleep.

No wonder she didn't feel any neck pain; it turned out she'd unconsciously leaned against the passenger next to her in her sleep. The fabric brushed against her cheek, carrying a faint scent of ocean woods, and she hastily straightened up.

Liu Yuwei tilted her head. She remembered that there was a young girl sitting next to her, but how come she was a different person when she woke up?

She squinted her sleepy eyes. The man wore a loose black hooded sweatshirt that covered his head and the upper half of his face. A white mask with one edge exposed...

Maybe it was the girl’s friend. She didn’t think about it anymore, adjusted the position of the neck pillow, and closed her eyes again.

When the lights in the cabin came on again, Liu Yuwei unbuckled his seat belt and prepared to stand up and stretch his waist, but found that the girl sitting next to him was holding her mobile phone and watching TV series.

Seeing that she was about to go out, the girl raised her eyes and gave Liu Yuwei an envious smile.

The plane landed quickly and on time at Brandenburg Airport, just as daybreak was breaking outside.

Ren Yiming rented a Touareg and drove quickly towards the city. The city seemed to be forgotten by time, and the streets and buildings were exactly the same as they were a few years ago.

Author's Note

Lazy Cat on the Cloud

author

04-11

The male protagonist is really not a scumbag!