I guessed it
The aroma of burnt clay pot rice wafted through the alley, and the dappled light and shadow from the arcade columns cast a shadow on both of them. Xie Mo would patiently peel shrimp for him at the dim sum shop, watching him sip his boat porridge until rice stained the corners of his mouth, and then he would smile and gently wipe it away with a tissue. They took many photos in front of the European-style buildings on Shamian Island. Xie Mo no longer resisted being photographed as before, and would actively put her arm around his shoulders, her eyes in the camera so gentle that they could drown you in water. Li Huaizhou was attracted by a streetside sugar painting stall, squatting there to watch the old artist paint little rabbits with melted sugar. Xie Mo stood nearby, waiting, holding the double-skin milk she had just bought, and handed it to him when he turned his head, her fingertips still stained with milk.
After half a month of such leisurely days, Xie Mo's company calls gradually increased. One night, the two of them were curled up on the sofa in the guesthouse watching a movie. After Xie Mo answered a call, he ruffled Li Huaizhou's hair and said, "I have to go back to Licheng tomorrow. I have a project to finish." Li Huaizhou bit a strawberry in his mouth, nodded, and reached out to hook his wrist: "Then after you go back, you can't stay in the company every day." Xie Mo smiled and agreed: "I'll try my best. I'll accompany you after I'm done with this."
On the high-speed train back to Licheng, Li Huaizhou leaned on Xie Mo's shoulder to catch up on his sleep, still reminiscing about the roast goose he had eaten yesterday. Xie Mo looked down at his peaceful sleeping face, his fingertips gently stroking the ends of his hair. On his phone screen was a to-do list sent by his assistant. Among the densely packed items, he deliberately added a line at the end: "Order the Japanese restaurant that my baby likes to eat."
In the first few days after returning to Licheng, Xie Mo had indeed become a "company nail house." Every morning, before Li Huaizhou woke up, he would already be out the door. When he returned at night, Li Huaizhou would either be lying on the sofa waiting for him, or already asleep, his face still a little drowsy. This morning, as Xie Mo was about to leave, he leaned over and placed a kiss on Li Huaizhou's forehead: "Baby, can you help me get something from the old house today?"
Li Huaizhou rubbed his eyes and sat up, his voice still a little hoarse from just waking up: "What is it?" "In the bottom drawer of the bedside table in my room, there is a black USB flash drive with the project information stored in it." Xie Mo paused and added, "The key is in the drawer in the entrance hall. Someone cleans the old house regularly, so it's very clean."
Li Huaizhou nodded, watching Xie Mo's back disappear at the door, feeling a little curious. He had never been to the place where Xie Mo had lived for seventeen years, and only from Xie Mo's occasional descriptions, he pieced together a cold and depressing space. After washing up and eating breakfast, he took the key and went out. When he navigated to "Xie's House", he found that this place was hidden in the most secluded villa area in Licheng.
Pushing through the heavy iron gate, the courtyard's greenery was neatly trimmed, yet devoid of any worldly atmosphere. Entering the main building, the marble floors gleamed, the crystal chandeliers shone brightly, and priceless paintings hung on the walls, yet everywhere exuded an air of refined coldness. Li Huaizhou ascended the spiral staircase, clutching his key, his steps soft, as if afraid to disturb the slumbering hours.
Ascending to the fourth floor, the atmosphere was completely different from the one downstairs—no more opulent decor. Instead, the entire floor had been opened up and covered with a massive gray carpet, which made no sound when stepped on. The room was painted in a cool palette of black, white, and gray. The heavy curtains were tightly drawn, leaving only a slit at the corners, letting in a few faint rays of light. In the center sat a large bed, its headboard unadorned. Nearby stood several bookcases and storage cabinets, scattered with a few books and small ornaments. While it looked a bit messy, it was the most lively place in the house.
Li Huaizhou walked over to the bedside table, squatted down, and opened the bottom drawer. A black USB flash drive sat in plain sight, next to a wooden box. It looked quite old, with the paint worn off the corners. He picked up the USB flash drive, but his fingers couldn't help but touch the box. While it's okay to peek into other people's things, Xie Mo shouldn't be considered "other people," right? What could this person, who had been supervised like a robot since childhood, hide in the box?
Curiosity finally got the better of him, and Li Huaizhou gently opened the box. The first thing that caught his eye was a transparent umbrella with a rabbit-shaped handle. The plastic had yellowed slightly, a telltale sign of years of antiquity. Beneath it lay a few candies wrapped in faded wrappers, the original designs faintly visible. It was obvious they were long past their expiration date. He took out the umbrella and candies, placing a folded piece of paper and a thread-bound notebook underneath.
Unfolding the paper, Li Huaizhou couldn't help laughing. The words on it were crooked, mixed with pinyin and typos. It was obvious that they were written by a child, "Dear Xie Mo, I will keep you happy forever." He pinched the paper, his heart softened. He didn't know who wrote it. This child was too childish. Then, he picked up the thread-bound book. There was no word on the cover, and the pages were yellowed and brittle. Turning to the first page, the childish handwriting appeared again. It was Xie Mo's name, and a crooked puppy was drawn next to it. Turning down, it was all diary. There were not many words, but every word was touching:
"Mom seems unhappy. She cried in her room again today."
"Mom is sick and can't get out of bed"
"I couldn't find my mom. She was having a tantrum downstairs. Auntie Lin locked me in the room. I was so scared."
"It was raining today, so I ran out secretly to look for my mom. On the way, I met a very pretty little kid. He said his name was Li Huaizhou..."
Li Huaizhou had been sympathetic to Xie Mo's childhood, but upon reading this, he froze. His fingertips trembled slightly, and the paper wrinkled from being pinched. Xie Mo...had seen him since he was eight years old?
It was as if a stone had been dropped into his mind, and fragments of memory flooded back like crazy. He remembered that when he was a child, Li Chengze would often get drunk and cause trouble at home. One time, the situation got so bad that he couldn't stand it anymore and secretly ran away. It was raining that day, and he was walking aimlessly down the street under a small umbrella when he saw a little boy standing on the side of the road, his clothes soaked, his shoulders shaking as if he was crying.
He thought the child was a little silly at the time, so he walked over and held an umbrella over his head. "Are you stupid? Even a fool would know to go home when it rains." The little boy raised his head, his eyes red and water droplets hanging on his eyelashes. He choked up and said, "I'm...looking for my mother."
Li Huaizhou sighed helplessly and pulled him into the convenience store next door. The convenience store owner knew him and joked with a smile: "Huaizhou, your alcoholic dad is crazy again?" "Yeah, hide." He pulled the little boy to sit on the bench by the window and shook his legs. "What's your name?" "Xie Mo." The little boy's voice was small and he spoke very little.
Li Huaizhou felt a bit bored, and didn't want to see him with a sad face, so he took a piece of paper from the cashier, took out the pen from his pocket, and crookedly drew a little rabbit, and wrote a few lines below. After finishing, he handed the paper over: "Here, I bless you to be happy forever! Okay?" Xie Mo stared at the paper for a long time, and finally the corners of his mouth curled up, revealing a faint smile.
Just when the two of them were chatting happily, in fact, it was only Li Huaizhou who was talking, and Xie Mo was listening quietly, seemingly not so unhappy anymore. At this time, a man in a black suit walked in with a serious face. "Master, if you don't go back, the boss will be angry." Li Huaizhou felt a little unhappy. He finally found someone to talk to and was about to leave. Xie Mo pulled his hand and said apologetically, "Sorry..."
Li Huaizhou thought about it and smiled, then handed him the umbrella in his hand: "It's okay, this is for you, let's play together again when there is a chance." Xie Mo took the umbrella and held it tightly in his hand. Before he could say anything else, he was pulled away by the man, and he kept looking back at him while leaving.
As his memory returned, Li Huaizhou's eyes instantly turned red. It turned out that they had met when they were so young. His casual action and unintentional words had been remembered by Xie Mo for so many years. He sniffed and continued to flip through the diary:
"I went to Li Huaizhou's school today. He seemed to be having a bad time. I saw someone bullying him."
"Today a boy hugged his shoulders, I hated it so much... I wanted to kill him."
"He was feeding the kittens on the street today. He was so cute. I want to be nice to him."
"I think I've fallen in love with him. It's such a wonderful feeling. I wish he could always be happy."
Page after page of the diary, from childish handwriting to increasingly neat strokes, from simple "He's so cute" to serious "I want to protect him, I want to be good to him," each line contained the thoughts Xie Mo had hidden for over a decade. Li Huaizhou couldn't hold back his tears any longer, and they scaldingly fell on the yellowed pages, blurring the handwriting. This idiot, he'd kept such a trivial matter for so long.
He took a deep breath, wiped his tears, and carefully put the umbrella, candy, paper, and diary back into the box, placing them back in their original positions, as if he had never moved them. Then he picked up the black USB drive, gently closed the drawer, and turned to leave the fourth floor. As he left, he couldn't help but look back at the room. The sunlight leaked in through the gap in the curtains and fell on the gray carpet, as if the person was sitting on the bed.
In the afternoon, Li Huaizhou went to Xie Mo's company. The receptionist already knew him and greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Li, Mr. Xie is in a meeting, just finished, in the office." He nodded and walked straight to Xie Mo's office. When he opened the door, Xie Mo was sitting at his desk reading documents, his brows slightly furrowed. Seeing him come in, his brows immediately relaxed, and he stood up and walked over: "Did you get it?"
Li Huaizhou did not answer, but walked over quickly, put his arms around his neck, and put his face on his shoulder. "I think I guessed it." Xie Mo was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously patted his back, his voice gentle. "What's wrong? Baby, what did you guess?"
"We met when we were kids, right?" Li Huaizhou's voice was a little choked with sobs, and there was a subtle sense of grievance. Xie Mo's body stiffened for a moment, then he chuckled, reached out and ruffled his hair, and nodded, "Yeah, you found out."
Li Huaizhou raised his head with red eyes, but pretended to be arrogant and said, "Then... Dear Mr. Xie, I guessed it myself, shouldn't I be rewarded?" Xie Mo looked at his aggrieved and arrogant look, smiled helplessly, and pinched his cheek. "But why do I feel that someone is 'cheating'?" He had guessed that Li Huaizhou would not be able to help but open the box. He had hidden the things in it for more than ten years, and it was time to let them out.
"I don't care. Anyway, I guessed it, so you have to reward me." Li Huaizhuo shook his neck like a cheat.
Xie Mo laughed, and the strands of hair from his temples brushed against Li Huaizhou's cheek, making him feel a little itchy. "Then after work, I'll take you to your favorite Japanese restaurant. Is that okay?" Li Huaizhou immediately burst into laughter and nodded. "That's better." Xie Mo took his hand and walked to the sofa. "You stay here for a while. I'll go with you after work." Li Huaizhou sat obediently on the sofa and watched Xie Mo return to his desk to work. The sun shone in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on Xie Mo's body, coating him with a layer of warm light. Li Huaizhou took out his phone and flipped through the photos they took in Guangdong. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but smile, and his heart was warm.
After playing for a while, he felt sleepy. He yawned, leaned back on the sofa, and fell asleep unknowingly. In his dream, he returned to that rainy afternoon, in the warm light of the convenience store, he and little Xie Mo sat together, laughing happily.
Xie Mo finished his work and turned to see Li Huaizhou curled up on the sofa, asleep, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were having a sweet dream. He tiptoed over, took down his suit jacket draped over the back of the chair, and carefully covered Li Huaizhou with it. Then he squatted beside the sofa, quietly watching his sleeping face, his eyes so gentle that tears could flow.
He reached out and gently brushed away the loose hair on Li Huaizhou's forehead, leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, and whispered: "Thank you, baby, thank you for being with me now." The sunset outside the window gradually set, dyeing the office a warm orange. The person on the sofa slept soundly, and the person next to him had focused eyes. Time seemed to stand still at this moment. Those secrets that were treasured in time, those worries that had been hidden for more than ten years, finally found the warmest home this afternoon.
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