Inside the car, the secretary whispered, "Boss Yang, I'm here. Thank you for giving me a ride."
"It's just on my way." Yang Jinxia said with a gentle smile, "You've been working hard these past few days, have some fun with your friends."
"Um."
Yang Jinxia said casually, "By the way, I'm a little hungry. Aren't you going to the noodle shop? Help me get some noodles."
"Ah?" The secretary thought she had misheard. Boss Yang was very particular about food. He usually went to high-end restaurants. When had he ever eaten at a street vendor? Yang Jinxia said, "I want to change my taste occasionally. Let's go."
"Okay." The secretary hurriedly opened the door and got out of the car. Not daring to delay, he trotted into the alley.
The driver, Sister Lin, was silent in the cab, like a transparent person, but she kept staring around to see if there were any suspicious people. This was a village in the city, so it was relatively chaotic, and she instinctively raised her vigilance.
Yang Jinxia looked at the busy alley with a dazed look in her eyes. What appeared before her eyes was a lifeless face through the glass.
"Will it be you?"
…………
Boom.
There was a roar of thunder in the sky.
Chen Xu poked his head out of the kitchen and glanced at the sky with some worry. If it rained, he would not be able to do business today.
"Boss, why didn't I see your sister today?"
The person who was speaking was Yan Qing. He brought a few friends here today, all girls. It sounded like they were Liu Bing's college roommates, and they were looking for an opportunity to get together.
Chen Xu said, "She went home."
"Hey, isn't she your biological sister?"
"Cousin, she is my third uncle's daughter."
"Oh, no wonder they don't look alike at all." Yan Qing came here almost every day to eat noodles. Seeing Chen Xu busy in the kitchen, he stood up on his own initiative, took a kettle, poured hot water from the water machine, and took a few disposable cups.
"I say, boss, you need to hire a waiter."
"I can't afford it."
"Alas." Yan Qing sighed inexplicably, "With your sister not here, I always feel like something is missing."
"Yes, that's right." A customer nearby agreed.
Chen Xu ignored them and served the noodles one by one. After putting them away, he saw that there was still an empty seat and asked, "Is there anyone else who hasn't come yet?"
"Yes, they said they were almost there." Liu Bing had just said that when he saw the last roommate running over here, standing up and waving, "Juanjuan, over here."
Chen Xu looked up and saw a young girl in a business dress, walking in a hurry. Before she arrived, she shouted, "Boss, please pack a bowl of noodles for me. Please hurry up."
Chen Xu asked, "What noodles?"
Liu Bing asked curiously, "Juanjuan, who are you packing for?"
The girl named Juanjuan glanced at the blackboard and said, "Let's have the fresh meat noodles, a medium bowl. We must order it quickly."
"Okay." Chen Xu turned and went into the kitchen.
Juanjuan walked to the chair and sat down, rubbing her ankle. She almost sprained her ankle because she ran too fast. She said, "My boss is still waiting at the intersection."
"Rich people also eat at roadside stalls?" one of the girls joked.
"Who knows." Juanjuan didn't talk much about her boss. When she entered the company, she was repeatedly reminded that the boss hated people asking about her privacy the most and asked her to watch her mouth.
After a while, Chen Xu made the noodles, packed them, put them in bags and took them over.
"Thank you." Juanjuan stood up, took it, and trotted out of the alley.
Another person also said, "Yeah, I see she really doesn't have any time for herself. She couldn't spare time for the previous few gatherings."
A girl suddenly said, "I heard that she bought a Polo last month, and she paid for it in full."
For a moment, the scene became a little dull.
Boom.
There was thunder again. Chen Xu looked up in confusion and saw thick clouds in the sky, but no lightning. He wondered, was it a dry thunder? …………
In the car, Yang Jinxia saw the secretary coming out, lowered the window, took the bag, and said, "How much is it? Give it to Wen Yan later and ask her to reimburse you."
"Okay, Mr. Yang."
"Let's go." Yang Jinxia closed the car window and said to the driver.
The car drove a short distance, and she said, "After turning the corner ahead, find a place to stop."
After the car stopped, she said, "Sister Lin, please get off the car and wait for a while. The noodles smell quite strong, don't let it bother you."
Sister Lin glanced at the time and said, "Then I'll get on the bus in fifteen minutes." Then she opened the door, got out, and stood a few meters behind the bus.
After sending the driver away, Yang Jinxia finally reached out to untie the bag.
Just now, when she took the bag, she smelled a faint but familiar smell.
The noodles were packed in a disposable storage container. She held the bottom with her hand and it wasn't hot, just the right temperature.
She lifted the lid, and a fresh, fragrant smell, not too strong, came to her face along with the steam.
Sure enough, it was not a dream.
That man really exists.
Now, he is just one kilometer away.
In front of her eyes, the face that seemed lifeless forever through the glass became vivid.
She picked up the chopsticks, picked up a noodle and put it into her mouth. The familiar and unique taste seemed to open the valve of her memory.
"Respect is mutual. You should treat me the same way you want to be treated." When he said this, he looked into her eyes, which seemed to contain inexplicable anger.
"Xia Jinse, you are too self-righteous." He had a sneer on his face and anger in his eyes. "When we get to the next shelter, we will go our separate ways. After that, you go your way and I go mine."
"In fact, in your heart, you don't take me seriously, do you?" There was a kind of frustration of damaged self-esteem in his eyes.
"Why can't you be honest?" There seemed to be concern in the blurred face.
"Don't worry. I won't die so easily since I haven't even slept with you yet." There was intimacy and nostalgia in his eyes.
"It's a pity that I couldn't be with you in the end..." There was reluctance and regret in his eyes.
Countless voices and faces with different expressions kept flashing, and the memory in the dream emerged from the depths of memory. Finally, it was frozen in the freezer, the lifeless face.
She hoped that one day, in that lonely world, he would open his eyes, look at her, and say a word to her.
For that day, she stayed in the deserted shelter for more than a hundred days.
During those more than one hundred days and nights, she accompanied him when he ate and slept, because she knew that being alone was not pleasant.
"You are finally alive. From now on, you can look at me and talk to me. That's great."
(End of this chapter)