Li Daitao watched the movie "Scent of a Flower" and stole the jade to rent a house
About a year ago, on a rainy evening, a middle-aged man and woman ran under the eaves without an umbrella, wearing a black jacket together, to take shelter from the rain, and then went into the store to take a rest.
The man was of medium build, dressed professionally in a white shirt and black trousers. The left side of his body was a bit unkempt from the rain, but his hair, parted to one side, still made his square face appear neat and tidy. The clean-shaven stubble on his cheeks echoed the gloomy sky with a faint dark blue tint.
The woman's black business suit was well protected from the elements. Her face was fair, plump, and dignified. Her long, permed hair was like a floor-length dress, with only a few ripples at the ends, making her look fashionable but not ostentatious.
Perhaps because they were worried that the man's clothes were still wet and he would catch a cold, the two of them only avoided the worst of the rain and left with the umbrellas the store had prepared for customers.
After that, they would always show up at dusk on weekdays. At first, their uncontrollable laughter often exceeded their limit, but thankfully it wasn't too loud, and they were always in the most secluded corners, so things were relatively peaceful.
However, Lin Yiyi, who never liked to meddle in other people's business, disliked them very much and did not hide her cold attitude at all.
There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Xue Jiuyue finally couldn't help but ask the reason.
"A pair of wild mandarin ducks came here to have an affair, and I'm afraid they'll get into trouble."
"How did you know?" Xue Jiuyue had no doubt about Lin Yiyi's judgment, but was just curious about what details she had missed.
"The woman had a clear ring mark on her left ring finger."
The clear mark on her left ring finger indicated the wedding ring had been removed recently. Since they needed to remove it when dating, it meant it wasn't theirs. The fact that the woman hadn't concealed the ring mark, allowing Lin Yiyi to see it, suggests the man was fully aware of it. Taking the ring off was simply a gesture or a cover-up. Sure enough, Xue Jiyue came to the same conclusion as Lin Yiyi.
However, the couple was familiar with the rules here, and their laughter gradually subsided. Xue Jiuyue finally found no excuse to let them leave the store.
The accident also came from a rainy evening.
The two of them arrived earlier than usual that day, probably because it was the weekend, as the man, unusually refusing to wear a shirt, wore a T-shirt instead. His jeans, however, didn't match his slightly formal leather shoes, which made a lasting impression. The woman, wearing a tight-fitting zippered hoodie, loose-fitting banana pants, white sneakers, and a wide-brimmed baseball cap, looked incredibly energetic. Following closely behind them was a young man in the uniform of a real estate agency—a black suit and green tie. They sat in their usual secluded corner. As soon as they sat down, the young man spread his folder on the table and whispered an explanation to the two men across from him.
The final news came from Lin Yiyi, not out of gossip, but out of joy. "He must have rented a house. Out of sight, out of mind!"
"Customers are God, they are our bread and butter!" Xue Jiuyue's joking response was met with a disdainful roll of the eyes and a mutual smile.
At first, the two of them maintained their habit of sitting in the shop for a while, but the distance between them had changed from looking at each other to sitting side by side. Closer, more intimate, but no longer the only one in each other's eyes. Maybe it had already been imprinted in their hearts, who knows...
After that, they only came every now and then, and then, it had been a long time since they last showed up. Sooner or later, time would fade away, leaving only faint traces of them...
As he left "Inch by Inch of Time," the sky was gradually darkening. The vast afterglow cast orange clouds against the lavender sky, highlighting the call of home and bringing Qian Jianjun a deep sense of loneliness. In the end, he could only sigh, "The sky is about to snow in the evening," and posted it on his WeChat Moments...
Time was running out before the movie started, but Ke Yike, fully prepared, still waited anxiously at the entrance. Was there another entrance? Had he missed it when he bought popcorn?
"When the time comes, you can always see the cards!" Ke Yike repeated Zhou Ying's words, encouraged himself again, and turned to walk into the entrance.
What was said on the phone last night was vague, and Xue Jiuyue was evasive again today. Even though Zhou Ying had some guesses in her mind, she was still unsure.
"It's you?" The same surprised voice.
Zhou Ying explained first: "Sister Yue said she wanted me to go to the movies with her. She bought the tickets, but she might have something urgent tonight, so she asked me to come first."
"Ahem, Sister Yue couldn't come because of something, so I came." The perfectly timed lights-out masked Ke Yike's embarrassment, and the excuse he'd given her was perfectly logical. But the heart that had been hanging in the balance for two days slammed heavily to the ground, draining all the strength from his body. He leaned back in his chair, the completely unheard-of English dialogue scraping by, the stillness of the mountain, the birdsong, slowly licking his wounds.
For a long time, the lingering fantasy supported the self-deceiving hope.
"Ying'er?"
"Hmm!" Ke Yike's weak voice was as light as the breeze, but Zhou Ying still felt it keenly.
"Ahem, tell me, what does Sister Yue mean?"
Zhou Ying fell silent at the incoherent question. Ke Yike was powerless to urge her and waited quietly.
"Sister Yue must be worried about the cinema environment. People are too close to each other and it's too crowded."
"If Sister Yue doesn't like cinemas, why didn't she tell me in person? Is she afraid that I would misunderstand?" Ke Yike pondered secretly, magnifying any possibility with a lucky mentality.
But he was still worried, so he leaned his head towards Zhou Ying and whispered about other possibilities.
"Ying'er, if you don't like someone at first—of course, you don't hate him, I mean, not that kind of liking him, you know—but he continues to pursue you, is it possible for you to slowly like him and even fall in love with him?"
"Of course it's possible! How many people fall in love at first sight or fall in love with each other in this world? Liking is made up of heart-beating moments, while love is accumulated by life and even needs hardships to hone it. It takes time to accumulate." Zhou Ying also moved closer. Although her voice was low, the firmness she revealed was no weaker at all.
She quickly added, citing the film as an example, "Rose didn't fall in love with Jack from the beginning. When they first met, she even considered suicide. It was only when Jack helped her escape from her constraints, and his talent, personality, and fresh lifestyle captivated her, that feelings began to develop. From liking him, to love, and finally, to something deeply engraved and unforgettable!"
These words were well-reasoned, and coupled with the slightest delusion that he had a better answer, Ke Yike was almost fully revived. Only then did he remember that the bucket of popcorn and two cups of Coke he had bought were still on the ground.
He handed over a glass of Coke and whispered, "Cheers!"
"Hold on!"
Zhou Ying took out a wine flask from his pocket and added some to the two cups of Coke. Then he took out a lunch box and used a pair of tongs to pick up the sliced lemon and put it in.
"Karimoqiu, cheers!" Zhou Ying's sweet voice was like a breeze that blew away all the haze.
"cheers!"
A big sip of iced cola, with its rich red wine aroma and refreshing lemon flavor, made Ke Yike very happy. He handed over the popcorn, but forgot that there was a heart he had folded out of red paper in the bucket...
This is a theater that shows films on demand. Visitors can reserve their desired films online in advance, and the price of the ticket decreases as the number of attendees increases. So, most of the time, it's older films—this time it was "Titanic 3D"—and the crowds aren't very large.
After Xue Jiuyue hung up the phone last night, she chose the last seat on the app and booked three consecutive tickets.
She deliberately arrived almost half an hour after the movie started, so when she came in, neither Ke Yike nor Zhou Ying saw her in the dark.
A few rows away, Xue Jiuyue could clearly see the two people in front of her huddled together, chatting and toasting. Finally, she could watch the movie in peace for a while—even though she had seen this movie several times.
With a different mood, in an unfamiliar environment, I revisited the plot that I knew by heart, with ups and downs between the flickering light and shadow, and found new insights in the old plot. Not only the story but also the time floated with the picture.
Xue Jiuyue also picked up the Coke. With one sip, the coolness spread from her throat to her heart, spreading the sweet comfort.
"Don't drink too much!" It seemed like my own voice was rising in my heart.
"It's 8:20 p.m. now. Coke contains caffeine. Drinking too much will keep you awake." A clear male voice rang out again. "I drink because I need to read tonight. I haven't completed my assignment today. Time is precious!"
"I, I'm not always looking at you. I'm doing this to avoid reading the subtitles and to practice my listening skills!" The clear voice hesitated.
…
Fragments of words, fragmented, like smoke and fog.
The sweetness lingering in my heart is so real, so real that even Coke becomes bland and tasteless.
"Who are you?" Xue Jiuyue asked herself softly.
No matter how hard she listened, even if there was a quiet space amid the noisy sound effects of the movie, as if she could hear her own heartbeat, she still didn't get the answer.
…
Qian Jianjun was drinking alone at a Japanese restaurant near his home. With few customers around, he looked lonely at the conveyor belt, which reminded him of a saying: "What I eat is not food, but loneliness."
With loneliness, I raise my head and drink a cup.
When he lowered his head again, a jade hand with a fully filled cup was waiting in front of him.
"Xiao Gu?"
"What a coincidence, Mr. Qian, can I have a drink?!"
"Dry!"
Let’s have another drink to celebrate the surprise.
Before Qian Jianjun could ask, Gu Quyu took the initiative to explain, "Didn't you arrange for Brother Zhou and I to be Mr. Zhang's guides for the day last night? I saw your circle of friends then, and since Mr. Zhang had other plans, Brother Zhou and I came to have dinner with you!"
"'Female Gongjin' understands me, but how did you know I was here?" Qian Jianjun then remembered that he threw his phone into the car after posting on WeChat Moments.
"Brother Zhou said that President Mei is on a business trip, but you yourself often go to those two or three places!"
Qian Jianjun picked up another glass of wine and said to Old Zhou who had just sat down on his left, "Same as always, you drink tea and I'll drink wine. Cheers!"
When you're lonely, have a few good friends and a glass of wine. This glass is comfortable, no, it should be "delicious!" Qian Jianjun couldn't help but think of the story Xue Jiuyue told him that afternoon. It also reminded him of Tu Xinyue, and he secretly compared her with Gu Quyu in front of him. Both were smart and insightful, but one was passionate and unrestrained, the other gentle and charming. What a delicious combination!
The delicious taste and the chaotic thoughts made him smile and shake his head. Then he raised his glass again and said to his right-hand man, "Come on, let's go together!"
…
When Mei Rugu came home exhausted, only Sister Feng yawned and struggled to get up to greet her.
The last shred of fantasy was shattered.
The darkness of the night obscures all the strangeness, calms all joys and sorrows, and swallows up the stubbornness of those who are angry, allowing the tears to return to their softness and fall naturally...
Listening to the snoring, Mei Rugu felt a little irritated, but what flowed with her tears was more of a sense of grievance. After all, the snoring was still there, the person was still there, and the home was still there.
But is his heart still there? How long will it last?
Will it be like tears that cannot be retained, flowing away, and finally shattered...
Are women just passive? Wait? Endure? Compromise? How can we hold love firmly in our hands?
I feel so powerless and helpless! Only two lines of tears remain, unable to take away any worries, unable to bring a ray of hope, only to add more confusion, unable to cut off, unable to sort out the tangled mess...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com