The waiting time was more difficult than expected.
Lin Chaoxi hung up the last call he made to Bao Xiaomeng, thinking that he might have really gone a little crazy. He even didn't let Bao Xiaomeng, who was studying at Yongchuan Railway Normal College, go.
For the next few minutes, she checked her phone.
Although I know the bell didn't ring, I still feel that if I take one more look, I'll have a little more hope.
As time went by, Lin Chaoxi began to search for traffic data of Yongchuan area over the years on the website of the Ministry of Transportation, search engines and CNKI papers, looking for as much as he could.
A dragnet search often involves a large amount of scattered data, which she needs to reorganize and summarize.
Children kept coming into the Internet cafe to play games, and the environment became increasingly noisy.
Lin Chaoxi put on his headphones, turned on some exciting music, and started to sort out the data.
At 11 o'clock, her cell phone vibrated.
The screen lit up and she nervously picked up the phone, only to find that it was the alarm she had set earlier.
She quickly packed her things and rushed to Ci'en Hospital.
11:30.
The hospital's iron gate opened and Pei Zhi walked out.
When he saw her again, Pei Zhi's expression was much calmer than last time, but his eyes were still noticeably softer.
Lin Chaoxi noticed the boy's expression change in an instant, and felt that whether it was the crazy run just now or the time when he couldn't catch his breath, it was all worth it to accompany him to have lunch.
She danced and waved to Pei Zhi, trying hard to appear happy.
It was still the small restaurant near the scenic spot. She talked desperately and Pei Zhi listened quietly.
She told him about how she and Lao Lin were suddenly called back to Sanwei University at the station, and described to him how many big shots were in that office and classroom, and how powerful Lao Lin was to convince all those people...
She also told Pei Zhi that on Sunday, Lao Lin would go to the mathematics conference to give a report on this matter, and because Lao Lin's paper still needed to be revised, this was the reason why they stayed now.
When the boy heard this, he suddenly asked, "Sunday?"
"Do you want to go? We can go together..." When Lin Zhaoxi said this, his hand holding the chopsticks suddenly stopped. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Can you go?"
Pei Zhi shook his head.
In fact, Lin Chaoxi already knew the answer when he asked the question.
She lowered her head, pretending that today's egg fried rice was very delicious, and hurriedly ate the rice.
After eating in silence for a while, she realized that the boy had not picked up the chopsticks from beginning to end.
"Aren't you hungry?"
“Not hungry.”
“But I can’t finish it all by myself!”
"You finished last time."
Lin Zhaoxi: “…”
Since Pei Zhi said so, she had no choice but to wolf down the food.
She ate her meal quickly, thinking about how to make Pei Zhi happier. She also glanced at her phone from time to time, expecting a call.
When she looked up again, she found Pei Zhi's hand on the teacup, looking thoughtful.
"Are you worried about something?" she asked.
Pei Zhi seemed to think seriously for a while, then nodded and said, "My biggest concern right now is my mother who is lying in the hospital ward." He took a sip of the tea on the table and asked, "So, what about you?"
Pei Zhi's eyes were calm. For a moment, Lin Chaoxi couldn't hold back all the heavy thoughts in his chest and wanted to tell him everything.
But the vivid memory of the raging fire on that winter night told her that she must not reveal the future no matter what.
Of course, she could tell Pei Zhi vaguely, but that would be meaningless and would only make Pei Zhi worry.
She lowered her head and thought for a long time. Finally, she looked up and said, "If I need you, I will ask you for help."
——
Lao Lin told her to enjoy the beautiful love and not to have any regrets.
The original intention was to let her accompany Pei Zhi through the most difficult time.
But she actually didn't know whether this short time of less than an hour every day was enough companionship for Pei Zhi.
After watching Pei Zhi walk back to the hospital again, Lin Chaoxi rubbed his face outside the door.
It seemed like it was always like this, Pei Zhi was able to solve most of her problems and gave her a lot of spiritual and intellectual support.
And she could never do anything.
Don't have regrets. How can you have no regrets?
——
On the way back, Lin Chaoxi kept thinking, what should she do to be of some help to Pei Zhi?
But in her opinion, the function curve is very clear that Pei Zhi is about to pass a certain point. This is not the result of mathematical calculation, but the trajectory of destiny.
She couldn't think of any solution.
The moment she pushed open the door of the Internet cafe, she was dazed by the mist inside. She suddenly woke up and the current situation did not allow her to think about Pei Zhi's affairs.
At that time, she thought that Pei Zhi's story had been confirmed, and the only person she could help was Lao Lin.
——
When the first call came, Lin Chaoxi's heart beat faster than ever.
She picked up the phone and heard Bao Xiaomeng's slightly apologetic voice.
"Lin Chaoxi, I'm so sorry, my classmates' parents don't have a job in the transportation department..."
This was almost the expected answer. Lin Chaoxi did not feel disappointed. He just said, "It's okay. I'm sorry. I'll think of a way."
"What can you do?" Bao Xiaomeng asked.
It was 4:20 pm when Lin Zhaoxi suddenly woke up. She shouldn't have put all her hopes on others. If the person who called wasn't Bao Xiaomeng, she probably wouldn't have thought of this.
"I want to go to the traffic police station by myself," she replied.
"Oh, then I'll accompany you!" Bao Xiaomeng said.
"good."
Although this still seemed a bit crazy, Lin Chaoxi quickly packed up the things on the computer desk and ran out.
Three months.
They hadn't seen each other for three months since Bao Xiaomeng was admitted to Yongchuan Railway Normal School. Although they had kept in touch during this period, when Lin Zhaoxi saw the girl with double ponytails under the setting sun, she still felt as if she was in another world.
Bao Xiaomeng ran down the stairs, took her hand and said, "I've already found out. We're going to the information desk on the third floor."
The girl's palms were warm and her smile was full of energy.
Lin Zhaoxi nodded.
Taking the escalator to the third floor, the Traffic Management Bureau’s service hall was crowded with people.
Bao Xiaomeng pulled her straight to the information desk.
At that time, the staff was answering the previous person's question. Lin Chaoxi noticed the time on the electronic display screen in the lobby. The time was 4:50 in the afternoon, and it was almost time to get off work.
Bao Xiaomeng poked her with her elbow.
Lin Chaoxi came back to his senses, looked at the staff, and said, "Hello, we are members of the high school extracurricular learning group. We are currently doing a small research related to transportation. Can you give us some help?"
The staff looked up at her and asked, "What help?"
"What we want to do is a traffic prediction program, so we need some historical traffic data," said Lin Zhaoxi.
"Extracurricular internships for high school students are like this now." The staff looked at her in disbelief.
“Yes, our teacher wants us to do something different.”
Lin Chaoxi had prepared a lot of arguments in her mind. If the staff member was interested in the prediction program, she could introduce it immediately.
But at this moment, she heard the other party say: "It's almost time to get off work today, come over early tomorrow."
The staff's attitude was a bit perfunctory, so Lin Chaoxi insisted, "If we come here tomorrow morning, can you tell us who we should look for?"
The staff at the information desk was visibly stunned. After a while, he said, "I don't know about this. I need to ask the leader."
"Can you help us ask?" She clasped her hands together and made a begging gesture, "This is very important to us. The teacher is very fierce."
"Let me ask for you."
"Sorry for the trouble, thank you very much!" Lin Chaoxi bowed three times in a row.
——
A casual promise from a traffic control staff member is certainly not a huge progress, but for Lin Chaoxi, it finally gave him a glimmer of hope.
She and Bao Xiaomeng walked downstairs and it was already dark.
The girl pulled her enthusiastically and talked a lot:
"I haven't seen you for a long time. You didn't come to see me first when you came to Yongchuan."
"What is this procedure you are doing? It seems amazing.
"I found a new barbecue restaurant, we..."
Bao Xiaomeng suddenly stopped talking here and looked at her: "Is there something wrong with you?"
Lin Chaoxi looked at Bao Xiaomeng's hopeful face, but what she thought of was the computer in the Internet cafe and the program she needed to modify.
She pointed to the main entrance and said to her with some difficulty: "Yes, there is something. Then let's meet here at 8:30 tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah, okay!" Bao Xiaomeng smiled.
——
Lin Chaoxi felt that her brain seemed to be divided into two parts.
One part is full of fighting spirit, thinking that all difficulties can be overcome; the other part is a very dark and closed corner, where she suppresses all the impossible emotions of sober reality, telling herself that there is still time and everything is still possible.
In the evening, when Lao Lin returned home, Lin Chaoxi met him at the Braised Chicken Rice Restaurant outside the guesthouse.
She didn't tell Lao Lin what she was doing recently, and Lao Lin didn't ask.
In the darkness, Lao Lin walked through the alley toward the street lights, and the first thing he said was, "How was your love affair today?"
Lin Chaoxi stayed where he was, and the smile he had put on with all his effort to adjust his mood suddenly became strange.
She also didn't know why Lao Lin encouraged her to pursue love at a time when other parents were against premature love. She only knew that Lao Lin really wanted her to be happy.
"Dad, don't be so direct. I get shy too!" she yelled with her head raised.
"So how does Pei Zhi's girlfriend feel today?"
Lin Zhaoxi: “…”
It was obvious that Lao Lin had a smooth day and was in a good mood. After teasing her, Lao Lin walked into the small restaurant and ordered two servings of braised chicken with rice, which was unprecedented, along with two bottles of Coke, spending a huge sum of 36 yuan.
Seeing his father's obviously relaxed and happy face, Lin Chaoxi took out a pair of disposable chopsticks and rubbed them. He told himself not to think about how to modify the code and to be happier, even just for now.
"How does our Comrade Lin feel about being a student again today?" Lin Chaoxi asked, finding a topic to talk about.
"The format of the paper hasn't changed much, but some of the proof details are still more stringent than what we required back then." Lao Lin took a sip of water and continued, "There's also an English abstract."
"Is your English bad?"
"After all, I haven't used it for a long time." said Lao Lin.
Lin Chaoxi originally thought that Lao Lin would continue to joke, but unexpectedly, Lao Lin answered him seriously about his gains that day.
Thinking of the question that Lao Lin had just asked her, she opened the can of Coke and filled her cup with it. She said, "Actually, I feel like I didn't do a lot of things well today."
Lao Lin looked at her with a smile and wanted to speak.
She signaled Lao Lin with her eyes to wait and say, "I'm just not very good at falling in love."
"Tell me more."
"Although I feel I am quite useful by being with Pei Zhi, I can't help him at all." Lin Zhaoxi looked at Lao Lin, "Maybe I can comfort him, or maybe I am just comforting myself by comforting him. Do you know that feeling..."
I feel helpless, just like I feel the same way about your situation.
Lin Chaoxi sounded a little sad, but suddenly Old Lin said, "How should I know? I've never been in love."
"???" Lin Zhaoxi was shocked, "Then how did I get here?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com