Chapter 61
This question remained unanswered until she returned from Kanas Lake in the evening.
Jiang Wan felt strange at the time and asked him, "I asked if you have seen it, not if you have acted in it. Why are you reacting so strongly?"
Forget it, with just one sentence, Crush sent me back to my room without even saying goodnight.
They were once again enjoying beef hotpot at the restaurant recommended by the guesthouse owner, this time choosing a large table outdoors. As night fell, the colorful lights on the fence surrounding the courtyard lit up one by one. The aroma of distant cooking smoke drifted into the vast night. Horse hooves clattered along the ancient path outside the courtyard. Wild dogs, foraging for food, caught the scent and scurried around the courtyard gate, refusing to leave. A young man working the restaurant came out and tried to chase them away, but when he couldn't, he grabbed a few bones from the kitchen and threw them toward the setting sun, sending the dogs scurrying off in droves.
Lu Jiyu was born with a knack for attracting cats and dogs. Not long after they sat down to eat, a wild cat that came from nowhere rubbed against his trouser leg and meowed non-stop.
Jiang Wan, who was sitting opposite him, looked down and identified it for a few seconds. It was not the same one from yesterday.
Lu Jiyu assumed it was hungry, so he picked a meaty bone from the pot and tossed it to the cat. The cat didn't hesitate, baring its teeth and quickly finishing the meal. But after finishing, it didn't leave. Instead, it became even more aggressive, leaping onto Lu Jiyu's lap and starting to act coquettishly again. He scratched the kitten's head, trying to shoo it away, but it had a certain domineering aura and refused to move.
Lu Jiyu just ignored it and let it meow, occasionally feeding it with a piece of meat in his hand.
Chen Meiyun watched the whole thing from the other side: "What should I do? I'm kind of imagining him as a father. This brother clearly has a face that he's not to be trifled with, why is the contrast so deadly?"
Jiang Wan thought, what's the connection? "You only see the bright surface. Try asking him to help someone with homework. Do you think he can still look like a peaceful and tranquil person?"
Chen Meiyu gave her a look that said, "I give up."
But the cat's good life didn't last long, as the waiter who came out of the restaurant to serve the food caught it red-handed: "You're cheating here again! Go away! Go away! One day I'll make you into a cat meat hot pot, and you'll have to bear the consequences!"
The kitten is quite good at adapting to changing circumstances. Just now, no matter how Lu Jiyu coaxed it, it refused to go down. This time, before the waiter even got close, it whooshed away.
"Go wash your hands. I'm so sorry. This little thing just loves to eat and drink for free from tourists." The waiter said politely.
The handwashing area is in the back kitchen, and you'll pass the cashier on your way out. When Lu Jiyu came out, he happened to run into Jiang Wan standing in front of the cashier. He stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
"A few girls wanted to drink coconut milk. The owner said to look for it in the warehouse."
"Are you waiting for him?"
"No." Jiang Wan took out two tissues and handed them to him: "I'm waiting for you."
A rock song was playing in the store, the volume fluctuating, and Jiang Wan's voice was almost drowned out.
Lu Jiyu naturally leaned against the counter next to her, leaving only an arm's length between them. He was wearing a light gray sweatshirt with a white T-shirt underneath, light blue jeans, and a pair of limited-edition white sneakers. He looked indescribably clean and bright, like someone who could be pulled into a TV commercial for laundry detergent at any moment.
How do you say that? Lu Jiyu asked her with his eyes.
Jiang Wan raised his chin and nodded at their table. "Don't you think the atmosphere is weird? Li Qingxi went back to his room halfway through his meal."
"I guess it's still because of what happened yesterday?" Lu Jiyu casually threw the tissue he used to wipe his hands into the trash can at his feet.
"Haven't you reconciled yet?"
"No."
"Has this ever happened before?"
Lu Jiyu thought for a moment and said, "Not really. But I think it will heal in a few days."
"You're just going to sit back and do nothing?"
Lu Jiyu raised his eyebrows. He really wanted to say that if Li Qingxi hadn't spoken up first yesterday, he might have been the one to fall out with Zhou Zifang.
But even if we've turned our backs on each other, we'll have to turn the other way. Life is so long, it's impossible for us to never see each other again.
Just then, a clerk came out of the warehouse at the back carrying a can of coconut milk. Lu Jiyu thought for a moment and stopped him: "Give us two pitchers of beer."
Zhou Zifang's temper is sometimes like a bull. You can be very tough with him, but as soon as you start to talk about emotions, he will burst into tears and look for his mother on the ground.
It is said that alcohol is a good friend of mankind. After drinking a few cans of beer, it can be like a truth teller.
Zhou Zifang didn't want to drink at first, but he couldn't resist Lu Jiyu and Li Mu's persuasion, so he drank two bottles of beer in a daze.
After the other party became conscious and burped a few times contentedly, Lu Jiyu gave Li Mu a look, and the two of them pulled their chairs back and began to "reminisce about the glorious past" with all their heart.
"Come, talk to me--"
"What's going on between you and Li Qingxi now? Are you really breaking up?"
Without giving Zhou Zifang time to react, Lu Jiyu asked him again, "Do you remember when you were in fifth grade and a boy in your class bullied you? Who stood up for you and taught him a lesson? Who even knocked out half of your front tooth?"
Zhou Zifang stood there without answering, so Li Mu answered for him with a heartbroken look on his face: "It's Li Qingxi."
The girls sitting opposite were almost stunned.
"This acting is amazing."
Jiang Wan calmly took a sip of wine: "After all, men are three-quarters drunk, and I will act until you cry."
"These are all trivial matters we haven't mentioned for a long time." Lu Jiyu put his hand on the back of his chair and knocked it in frustration: "On your first day of junior high school, you were taking a shower at home and almost got gas poisoning. Who came to you and saved your life?"
"It's still Li Qingxi." Li Mu slammed the table. "You were in the hospital at the time and had just been resuscitated. You might not know this, but your grandparents were practically kneeling down outside the ward! Tell me, tell me, what's wrong with letting her say a few words about you in the face of such great kindness?"
Every time Zhou Zifang mentioned that near-death experience, he couldn't help but feel scared. Especially now that he was drunk, a myriad of emotions welled up in his heart: "But—but what she said was too harsh."
"Well, you speak in a nice way." Lu Jiyu clicked his tongue and gave him a cold look.
Zhou Zifang lowered his head and stopped talking immediately.
Li Mu patted his shoulder at the right moment and said, "When Li Qingxi comes back later, apologize to her sincerely. We've been scattered all over the world these years, and who knows where we'll end up in the future? Friends tend to see each other less and less, don't you think? Are you really going to have a falling out with her?"
Li Mu's words really hit Zhou Zifang right in the heart. His eyes reddened, his mouth drooped, and he said honestly, "I don't want to fall out with her."
"What's wrong?"
"You guys aren't going to eat anymore?" Li Qingxi, who had just done ideological work on Zhou Zifang and had just returned to his room to get a power bank, was confused by this move.
After talking for a long time, the real person suddenly showed up. Zhou Zifang's emotions burst, and he looked at Li Qingxi pitifully: "I was wrong yesterday, can you please not--"
He was halfway through admitting his mistake when he was interrupted by the sudden sound of electronic music.
The music was so loud and passionate that it shattered the tranquility of the countryside at night. Everyone couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound.
"Friends, welcome to our inn. Today I will sing a few songs for you." A man dressed in ethnic style stood on the outdoor stage holding a guitar, and colorful lights slowly flowed across his face.
"Wow, there's a performance." A surprised cry came from the crowd.
Li Qingxi didn't bother to listen to Zhou Zifang's sticky apology. He walked past him and returned to his seat, saying, "What's the point of saying sorry? Give me something practical."
Zhou Zi understood what he meant and turned his head to ask, "That bottle of perfume you tried on in the financial building last time?"
Li Qingxi gave a nonchalant smile: "You are a connoisseur."
That's the end of the story.
The man with a smoky voice on the stage stood there with his cigarette half closed, swaying intoxicatedly to the prelude. The people outside who were originally noisy gradually quieted down in the music.
“You’ve been gone for so many years.”
"You're still with me"
Your smiling face that day
“Now I can still see even when I close my eyes.”
It was "Night in Ulaanbaatar," and Jiang Wan had heard Tan Weiwei's version before. The female version was gentle, lingering, and soul-stirring, as if calling out to the mountains, or perhaps to herself.
The man's singing now carries a hint of regret in his life, and the panic of having to wave goodbye and enter the next stage of his life.
Perhaps because they were about to part, the excitement of the people present gradually faded as they listened, and they gradually became aware of a sense of sadness.
Especially Li Mu.
He touched the rim of the beer glass in front of him, sighed, and whispered to someone, "Sometimes I really envy you guys."
Li Mu had thought about returning many times during his years away, but the matter was settled. He had long since lost touch with the domestic education model: "My grandfather fell at home last month. When I came back to see him this time, I almost didn't recognize him. His spirit and energy had dropped significantly."
"Sometimes I wonder what the ultimate purpose of chasing fame and fortune is. Isn't it all about having a happy family? I've been living abroad for so many years, and it's not easy for them to see me."
These words moved Li Mu, who picked up the beer bottle and drank half of it. Zhou Zifang had just drunk quite a bit of wine, and the cold wind blew. Xiaoge sobered up a bit and asked Li Qingxi, "What about you? Will you continue to stay in the United States?"
Li Qingxi nodded: "Yes, what else?"
What Zhou Zifang actually wanted to ask was, is there really no chance for you and Li Mu? Perhaps his gaze was too intense, piercing into people's hearts. Li Qingxi took the initiative to pick up his glass and clinked it with Li Mu next to him, then looked at everyone: "Since everyone is here today, I'll just say a few words to you all."
"I know you're all curious about my sudden joining this trip."
"Li Mu and I were together when we were very young. We didn't understand anything back then, and our breakup was a mess. It was ugly. We were friends who grew up together, but because of this incident, we've become people you can't see in the same place at the same time. How boring, don't you think?"
"Our relationship of more than ten years can't be ruined because of this little love affair, right?" Li Qingxi choked up when she said this, and everyone looked at her in silence.
But she was still smiling and patted Li Mu's shoulder: "Don't just talk to me, didn't we agree on this yesterday?"
Yes, it’s all agreed.
Let’s just be friends.
They are the kind of friends who will smile and wish each other a bright future, and are generous and brilliant.
We may not be in frequent contact, but we will appear at every important moment in your life.
Until that moment at your wedding, when you and your partner were saying your vows passionately and solemnly, I stood outside the crowd blessing you, with tears or a smile. For a moment, did you ever think that many years ago, when we were young and ignorant, we also fantasized about the forever in fairy tales.
But there's no way, our story ends here.
Love is so beautiful and romantic.
But love is far from enough. We also need enough courage, a lot of patience, and determination. Only with these can we live our lives with love.
But they didn't.
Li Mu also laughed. Although the wine had become bitter after flowing down his throat, he had already shed all the tears he needed to shed yesterday. If unsuitable people continued to restrain each other, it would only cause harm and consumption.
He turned his head and raised the bottle of wine in his hand towards Li Qingxi. He could finally say the goodbye that he hadn't said a few years ago. "Our story ends here. Let's still be good friends from now on, okay?"
"Of course." The two of them clinked their glasses neatly, and finally all the past was wiped out in the presence of their friends.
The owner of the B&B sang two more songs no one had heard before, but they were even more quiet and ethereal than the previous ones, making people feel uneasy. The interruption of Li Qingxi's incident reminded the others of the past, and their interest in eating was greatly reduced.
The few bottles of beer Lu Jiyu had just brought over had already been finished, and Dong Lin raised her hand to call for another case. She had acted so normal the entire time that it almost made people forget she had just broken up with her boyfriend.
So everyone started drinking.
Chen Meiyu brought two bottles of beer and placed them in front of Jiang Wan, but one of them was taken away by the person opposite who had been silently looking at his phone.
Lu Jiyu and Jiang Wan hardly spoke during the meal. They had just kissed yesterday, so they seemed even more unfamiliar with each other than before.
Li Qingxi was halfway through his meal when he suddenly looked at Jiang Wan and asked, "Do you have any mosquito repellent cream? Can you lend it to me?"
Jiang Wan was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses and stood up: "Yes, come with me to the room to get it."
The two walked back to the room. Jiang Wan went into the room to find mosquito repellent cream for her, and Li Qingxi sat on the rattan chair outside the door waiting for her.
When Jiang Wan returned with her things, two bottles of beer had appeared from nowhere on the small coffee table beside Li Qingxi. She lowered her head and carefully applied mosquito repellent cream to her ankles. Jiang Wan stood silently waiting for her. When she looked up again, Li Qingxi's eyes were already filled with tears.
Jiang Wan seemed to have been prepared and handed over a pack of tissues: "I'll sit here with you for a while."
The two of them sat side by side on the rattan chairs outside the B&B, drinking in silence as melodious music drifted in from afar.
Li Qingxi calmed down a little and then said, "Actually, I lied. I suddenly came here to travel because I wanted to try again with Li Mu." She smiled and shook the bottle of wine in her hand and clinked it with Jiang Wan's.
"But it turns out that those who are not suitable are still not suitable after all."
"But it doesn't matter. You won't regret it once you try it."
"Also, Zhou Zifang's words can be quite unpleasant sometimes, but he's really not a bad person." Li Qingxi smiled and said, "Oh no, why does this sentence sound so corny?"
When Jiang Wan arrived here, he really realized that Li Qingxi and Li Mu were really not suitable for each other.
One is a girl who seems eccentric but is actually gentle at heart and considerate in her dealings with others. The other one seems mature, but that's just her appearance.
It’s not impossible for two such different people to be together, but one of them is bound to be very tired.
"I originally had a lot to say to you." She leaned back in her chair and was stunned for a while: "But now I don't have anything. It's nice to meet you, Jiang Wan."
Jiang Wan clinked glasses with her: "Me too." The two of them raised their heads and drank it all in one gulp, feeling refreshed and satisfied.
"Okay, let's stop talking. Someone is worried and has come here." Li Qingxi had just put down the bottle of wine when he caught a glimpse of someone in his peripheral vision.
Jiang Wan also saw it, but she just sat there without moving.
Maybe she drank the bottle of wine a little too quickly, she felt a little dizzy now and could only sit there lazily.
Li Qingxi stood up and looked at Lu Jiyu who was about to approach him: "What's going on?"
Lu Jiyu turned his head to look at Jiang Wan, who was sitting in a chair with his chin propped up and his eyes closed, and then looked at Li Qingxi: "Are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Yes, back to America."
"It's a pity that I can't wait for you to make it public."
Lu Jiyu put one hand in his pocket, his eyes showing a rare hesitation. Seeing her so relieved, he finally turned the topic back to himself: "There will be other opportunities in the future."
Well, with these words, Li Qingxi felt relieved. Since his youth, Li Qingxi had always felt that Lu Jiyu was the one who deserved happiness the most among all of them.
It's okay.
"But your girlfriend seems a little drunk." Li Qingxi realized belatedly that the girl who was quite lively just now suddenly looked listless.
"It's you who got her drunk." Lu Jiyu walked to Jiang Wan and touched her face with his fingers. His hands were a little cold, and the person who was touched turned her head away uncomfortably before slowly opening her eyes.
"No, I drank too. I thought she could drink quite well."
Jiang Wan glanced at him lazily, then closed his eyes and lay there motionless as if in deep thought.
She had drunk too much last time, but not to the point of being drunk. Today, it seemed she was really drunk. Lu Ji turned around and said hello to Li Qingxi: "You go back first. I'll stay here with her until she sobers up."
Li Qingxi was very considerate and didn't act like a third wheel. Before leaving, he even offered some friendly encouragement: "Lu Beibei, I'm rooting for you. Go for it!"
She walked alone towards the setting sun.
In this world, some people are happy and some are sad, but even when the night is about to get dark, there will always be a moment when the day breaks. No matter what, the road is under our feet, and we must always move forward, carrying the old scabs and seeing what else is there in the distance.
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