late at night
Yu Shiyuan made a special trip to the research institute to deliver perfume to Lu Xin.
Lu Xin, as a good host, treated him to a meal at the research institute's restaurant.
Yu Shiyuan didn't give the perfume to Lu Xin entirely because he wanted to get something out of him. He originally didn't plan to give the perfume to Lu Xin at all.
“Your restaurant is better than ours.” Yu Shiyuan ordered two snacks and a bowl of beef offal soup with rice noodles.
Lu Xin glanced at him: "How about I get you a meal card?"
"That's not the case. The magazine office is about ten kilometers away from you."
He took my polite remark seriously.
Yu Shiyuan asked, seemingly casually, "Do you know Wen Ying?"
"Yeah, childhood friend. What's up?"
Yu Shiyuan thought for a moment, then replied in his usual indifferent tone, "She and Zhong Yunxi..."
He paused halfway through his sentence, then looked up at Lu Xin.
Lu Xin stared at him, stunned, and said, "You and Junior Sister..."
Neither of them could continue the conversation. They averted their eyes and lowered their heads to eat.
Yu Shiyuan spoke first: "Xiaoyi and I were classmates in middle school."
Lu Xin nodded: "Wen Ying and Zhong Yunxi are childhood friends. We grew up together in the same compound."
Yu Shiyuan laughed and said, "Lu Xin, you didn't show any favoritism to Xiaoyi after all. You're keeping something from her, aren't you?"
Lu Xin: ...
Regarding Zhong Yunxi and his junior sister's relationship, he did indeed help Zhong Yunxi more, because he knew that although Zhong Yunxi had more tricks up his sleeve, his heart was genuine.
Lu Xin didn't mince words: "Don't get involved, they won't have any problems."
Ever since the three of them first met at Bai Yi's house, Lu Xin had seen through Yu Shiyuan's feelings for his junior sister, which were definitely not innocent.
It's a pity that childhood sweethearts are not as fortunate as this cruel fate, which showed no mercy to Wen Ying and Yu Shiyuan.
"It's all because of your meddling that the two of them got together. What right do you have to say such things?" Yu Shiyuan smiled helplessly.
Lu Xin sighed: "Are you taking your anger out on me?"
He glanced at Yu Shiyuan's phone and car keys on the dining table; a string of green sandalwood pendants was tied to the car keys.
Yu Shiyuan didn't say anything more, collected the plates, and stood up.
Before leaving, Lu Xin said to him, "You've known your junior sister since middle school. Don't you know her temper better than I do? If she had even the slightest bit of feelings for you, would things have turned out like this? Don't try to make up for your regrets. You have to accept your fate."
Those few words were like daggers to the heart. Yu Shiyuan's brow twitched, causing a dull ache to rise to his forehead. He glanced at Lu Xin, too lazy to even utter a rebuttal.
He sat in the car, his left hand on the steering wheel and his right hand supporting his temple and forehead, squinting and resting for more than ten minutes.
I called Bai Yi, but no one answered. After hesitating for a moment, I drove to Runhe.
I brought coffee and desserts with me on the way. After arriving at Runhe, I went to the Medical Affairs Department first.
But Bai Yi wasn't there. Assistant Zhang from the department said she had just finished two academic meetings with the marketing department yesterday and wouldn't be coming for the next two days of the week. He gave the coffee to the planning department manager who usually worked with him.
He always seemed to be just a little bit off in terms of timing with her.
That year, in her first year of high school, Bai Yi sat diagonally behind her, by the window. More than once, during class, he would stand up to shield her from the teacher so she could secretly eat something to replenish her glycogen.
Every morning when she arrived at the classroom, as the bell rang for the first class, he turned slightly, draped his arm over the edge of her desk, and asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
Bai Yi pursed her lips, her eyes were watery and clear, and she would shake her head most of the time, sometimes saying, "I got up late."
Yu Shiyuan chuckled helplessly and would slowly stand up about ten minutes after class started. She would then hide in the shadow he had deliberately created and begin munching on her bread like a little hamster.
One time, she said dejectedly that she had forgotten to bring food. He took out a bag of soda crackers from his bag and gave it to her.
She ate his cookies, and after class, she went out of her way to buy him the exact same ones.
Later, he often carried snacks in his schoolbag. He discovered that Bai Yi liked to eat coconut and red bean bread from a certain supermarket's own brand, but the shelf life was only two days. After school, he would always detour to pick one up.
The youthful spirit is awakened by the first school bell every morning.
Even now, he feels that no one can escape the thrill that fate bestows upon them in their youth; it is both a reward and a punishment.
Later, around the time of New Year's Day, the weather was just as cold as it is now.
Bai Yi lost a string of green sandalwood pendants and cried while burying her face in her hands on her desk. She had a deep impression of that pendant; she always wore it on her schoolbag. Like many middle school students, Bai Yi liked to hang several badges on her schoolbag—Pokémon ones, Disney ones—and she would often change them, but she never changed that string of green sandalwood pendants.
After school at noon, Bai Yi didn't go to eat. She walked the route from the school gate to the teaching building many times, but still couldn't find it.
He followed her, silently helping her search. After the afternoon class bell rang, he didn't go into the classroom.
He didn't return until halfway through the first class.
He remembers it was unlucky; it was his homeroom teacher's chemistry class.
Almost without a doubt, he was kicked out of the classroom and forced to listen to the lesson while leaning against the windowsill.
Bai Yi's seat was by the window, and he wrote "I'm sorry" to him in his notebook.
His school uniform sleeves were still covered with withered grass and leaves. He took a handful of green sandalwood from his pocket and placed it on her open textbook. The string of green sandalwood was broken, and the beads were scattered. Two beads were missing.
It was out of his own selfishness that he found the beads in the roadside green belt, tore them off, and kept two beads.
Bai Yi paused for a moment, then slowly picked it up and put it in the drawer. After staring blankly for a few minutes, she wrote "thank you" in her notebook.
He just looked down at her notebook. He didn't say anything.
As get out of class was about to end, he tore off a corner of a page, drew a cool emoticon, like an "uh-huh" interjection, and placed it on her book.
Later, he couldn't remember why, perhaps it was some everyday detail that led to rumors circulating among his classmates. A few days before winter break, Zhou Qi approached him and said, "Stay away from my girlfriend."
He found it ridiculous. As long as Bai Yi was willing to get close to him, he didn't care whose girlfriend she was. He only sought a title for himself if he didn't care about her.
It seems he called Zhou Qi a "simp" back then, even though he felt he wasn't much better than Zhou Qi.
Then the two started fighting.
When Bai Yi found out, she made Zhou Qi apologize to her, but afterwards, Bai Yi distanced herself from him. In the second semester, their seats were also far apart.
He hadn't seen Bai Yi eat during the first class. The green sandalwood bracelet was no longer hanging on his schoolbag.
He carefully maintained a normal relationship with her, not daring to take another step.
Many years have passed, and he still knows perfectly well that he's gone down a dead end...
**
Bai Yi filled two bottles of perfume in the lab, labeled them, and after thinking for a moment, wrote "Old Bureau of the Two Sus".
Ren Xiao smelled it and was very satisfied: "Small workshops really go all out with their materials."
He snatched a bottle and put it in the white coat pocket: "Isn't this a case of creating a second version of the Soviet Union?"
Bai Yi stared at the bottle in her pocket: "I was just being polite, but you really want it."
"Who's being polite with you? How many hours of overtime have I worked with you? You have no conscience." Ren Xiao didn't mince words.
"This is a men's fragrance."
Ren Xiao laughed: "I know, I'm not going to use it either. If I were to sell it to Boss Zhong, how much would he be willing to pay for his wife's rare handmade item? Besides, besides you, only I know the recipe, right?"
Bai Yi: ...
"Am I going to die tomorrow? And I'm going to be a collector's item?" Bai Yi reached out to pinch Ren Xiao.
The two were playfully bickering at the lab entrance. Ren Xiao said, "You're so lazy, who knows when you'll be able to do it again?"
When she got home that evening, she didn't even change her shoes before running upstairs with her bag. Zhong Yunxi had just come out of the kitchen and asked her, "What's wrong?"
She didn't speak, and Zhong Yunxi followed her upstairs. Just as they entered the bedroom, she came out of the walk-in closet.
Zhong Yunxi peeked into the dressing room and asked, "What are you doing?"
Bai Yi laughed and said, "Nothing."
Zhong Yunxi looked at her with a disbelieving smile. Bai Yi felt guilty under his gaze and hugged his waist: "It doesn't snow in Yuegang in winter. Every winter before, I would fly to the north to see the snow."
"Change the subject?" Zhong Yunxi wasn't fooled and kept asking.
She reached out and wrapped her arms around Zhong Yunxi's neck, kissed his chin, and clung to him.
Zhong Yunxi reluctantly picked him up and asked, "Where do you want to go this year? Do you want to go skiing? I'll take you to northern Xinjiang?"
Bai Yi shook his head: "I can see the snow, but I don't want to ski."
She doesn't know how, and she doesn't want to learn.
Zhong Yunxi carried her downstairs and laughed at her, "You might as well just die of laziness."
She nudged him with her elbow, annoyed: "You'd better talk nicer to me lately, or you won't get your Christmas present."
Zhong Yunxi was stunned. Looking at the person in his arms, Bai Yi squinted his eyes, the corners of his mouth turned up, and he looked comfortable and smug.
Christmas is this weekend.
Zhong Yunxi went to the door to help her change her shoes. "Tomorrow I'll have Xue Meng apply for a flight to northern Xinjiang on the weekend."
She smiled and nodded, even making a small, expectant gesture of rubbing her hands together, successfully making Zhong Yunxi forget her sneaky behavior in the dressing room just now.
During dinner, she checked the weather in northern Xinjiang and the online updates: "Minus 10 degrees Celsius, and a lot of snow."
Zhong Yunxi didn't know where she went to see snow in the north before; she probably hadn't been to northern Xinjiang.
Bai Yi asked him, "The northern border region seems quite different from the northeast."
Zhong Yunxi nodded: "The snowfall is heavier and the temperature is higher."
Bai Yi was very satisfied with his arrangement. She was a science and engineering major and not good at geography. She didn't know that there were other places besides Northeast China where it snowed so heavily.
"The Northeast is really cold and dry. But the indoor heating is so comfortable."
Zhong Yunxi listened to her muttering with a smile.
Before leaving, Zhong Yunxi packed up his ski equipment and took it with him.
He used to spend two or three weeks at the ski resort in winter, and even longer if he wasn't busy.
When I was young, when my adrenaline was at its peak, I did everything: horseback riding, skiing, diving, rock climbing, skydiving, trekking through no-man's-land...
But horseback riding and skiing are skills he truly excels at, reaching a professional level. The horse farms in Sunan and the ski resorts in northern Xinjiang are the places he visits most often in his spare time in recent years.
The snow conditions and temperature and humidity in the ski resorts of northern Xinjiang are absolutely comparable to those in Europe and Hokkaido, Japan.
The journey from Hong Kong to northern Xinjiang took a long four hours.
Upon landing, the sub-zero air rushed into my respiratory tract and lungs, making the cold from beyond the harbor feel soft and non-aggressive.
The cold in northern Xinjiang is a straightforward and clear cold.
After changing cars at the airport, we headed to the ski resort area.
Even if Zhong Yunxi doesn't go there, the holiday villas in the ski resort are looked after all year round.
As soon as Bai Yi got out of the car, she threw herself onto the thick snow in the yard, rolled around in it, and exclaimed happily, "Zhong Yunxi, is this the joy of northerners?"
There are few people in the mountains. It's better during the peak tourist season in winter, but in summer, not many people come to these mountains to escape the heat. The housekeeper, Hafu, keeps a Kazakh sheepdog to guard the house.
Sheepdogs are extremely intelligent, and Zhong Yunxi likes this dog very much.
When the dog ran out of the backyard, Bai Yi jumped onto Zhong Yunxi in fright. Bai Yi rarely saw large dogs in Yuegang, so she was inevitably scared. "Will it bite people?"
Haf came out carrying a wooden shovel, calling out, "Amir."
Seeing Zhong Yunxi, he laughed and said, "I was wondering why Amir was running around in the backyard in such a hurry. Turns out he knew you were back."
The sheepdog, named Amir, wagged its tail around Zhong Yunxi, sniffing and licking him.
Wearing leather gloves, Zhong Yunxi raised his hand and whistled, and Amir jumped up into the air like a crazy, unruly child.
Hafu and the driver carried the luggage from the car into the house.
Zhong Yunxi was in the yard, teaching Bai Yi some simple dog training commands and gestures.
She got tired of playing, so she went inside to change her clothes and eat.
The nanny is Hafu's wife, and she's an excellent cook.
Whether it was the climate in northern Xinjiang or she was just too hungry, she didn't eat much meat in Vietnam and Hong Kong, but here, she devoured the roasted lamb and stewed offal that her aunt had made.
Zhong Yunxi laughed at her, "It's only your first day here, so eat less meat. Your stomach won't be able to adapt right away, and you'll get indigestion."
Bai Yi reluctantly put down the skewers and looked at him.
“Auntie is here every day, and she’ll make it for you again tomorrow. Try this stew.” Zhong Yunxi ladled a bowl for her and handed it to her.
The auntie smiled and brought over two bowls of dried fruit and cheese.
She picked it up and took a couple of bites. It was completely different from the fruit yogurt salad she often ate in Vietnam and Hong Kong. She held it up to Zhong Yunxi and said, "It's delicious. The dried fruit is even better than the fresh fruit we have back home."
Zhong Yunxi opened his mouth to accept it and said with a smile, "Then take some dried fruit back with you when you leave."
She looked at the raisins, dried apricots, and dried figs in the bowl, took another big bite, and nodded with a smile: "Jiangbei is so wonderful."
"Then come and visit often in the future."
If she likes it, Zhong Yunxi will give it to her.
Bai Yi ate too much at noon, but wasn't sleepy at all. She spent the whole afternoon building a snowman in the yard, and it started snowing again in the evening.
Northern Xinjiang has a unique geographical location, avoiding the influence of the extremely cold and dry Siberian monsoon. The cold air enters northern Xinjiang carrying moisture by passing through the Kara Sea and the Ob River.
So the snow in northern Xinjiang, unlike the dry, loose snow particles of Northeast China, danced and swirled in the air. Baiyi was even happier than a sheepdog. She took off her gloves to catch it.
Zhong Yunxi pushed two snowmen for her in the afternoon, then went back to the living room to deal with work emails. Seeing through the glass that she wasn't wearing gloves, he got up and went out, pulling her to put on her gloves: "The alternation of hot and cold will make your skin itchy when you go inside later."
Bai Yi put her hand in his pocket, smiled, and tiptoed to kiss him. After being outdoors for a long time, Bai Yi's lips were cool.
Zhong Yunxi took off his gloves and cupped her face to warm it up. As for her lips, he naturally warmed them with a kiss.
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