Three Thousand Weak Waters
"How did you get rid of him?" Jiang Liu asked impatiently. He was extremely hot, and sweat blurred his pale face. The scorching sun wanted to make him look embarrassed, but Jiang Liu's natural beauty would not affect his makeup.
"It's simple. Take advantage of his love and guilt for you." Yu Ran suppressed his smugness. "Sorry for the wait. Is it hot?"
Jiang Liu denied it, saying that he had been waiting with the air conditioner on and felt stuffy when he suddenly came into contact with the sun.
At this time he asked Yu Ran, where are we going?
The question "Where to go?" actually presupposes "we." When we are good together, we are invincible wherever we go and whatever we do.
My face flushed, and I straightened my aching reverie. Behind the glass door, I saw the air conditioning unit's jubilant airflow, a sight that quenched my thirst. The young store manager smiled and waved in greeting.
"Want to come to my house? If you don't mind."
Yu Ran's house wasn't far from here, and he felt it would be torture for Jiang Liu to walk, especially since he had just expressed how hot it was. The two of them took a taxi.
Why is the taxi he took the same one that just took him there?
The two of them sat in the back seat. Yu Ran smiled in surprise, and Jiang Liu remained mysterious when he asked further questions. This made the driver think that the smile was a telepathic smile, a wink at him. He naturally thought Jiang Liu was the "stupid and rich" one.
The food had gotten warm from all the tossing and turning and it wasn't tasty. Yu Ran said it wouldn't be a big deal to just stir-fry it in the pan, and he even thoughtfully closed the kitchen door tightly.
"The toilet is in..." A burning head was caught in the narrow gap of the door.
He considered that Jiang Liu's hair was messy and he would definitely go to comb it, so he kindly gave him directions. Jiang Liu's "hmm" response was obviously faster than the direction he followed.
Jiang Liu went to comb his hair in the mirror with ease, and only after a while did he remember to report: "Can I take a look?"
"Whatever." Yu Ran was busy multitasking, using the stove, induction cooker, and microwave all at once, striving to ensure they could have a hot meal in the shortest possible time.
There were several rooms connected to the living room corridor. Jiang Liu took a quick look and then accurately opened Yu Ran's room.
The room was large and tidy—actually, empty, nothing much to look at. Aside from the desk, chairs, wardrobe, and bed, the only thing that could be considered a necessity and perhaps a decorative item was the computer.
He stumbled upon the book "Water and Fire" under his pillow, flipped through a few pages, and sat down in his computer chair to read.
Perhaps the passage he casually flipped through aroused his curiosity, so he started reading from the title page and spent more time reading the "Author's Words" than the first chapter of the main text.
When Yu Ran called for dinner, he had actually already arrived at the door of the room.
"The author's writing style is really good. I want to go and read it." Jiang Liu glanced at the book reluctantly, wanting to close it.
"This book is the author's only work, and he has retired. If you like it, just take it home and read it. There's no need to go through the trouble of looking for it." Yu Ran's guilty conscience didn't dissipate until Jiang Liu completely put the book down and stood up to straighten his clothes.
"Oh, oops!" Jiang Liu turned around. "I was just flipping through the book. Did I mess up your progress? Do you have a bookmark or something?"
The sudden mention of bookmarks was really shocking. Yu Ran said that he didn't read that book often, but just used it to kill time before bed. The effect was so obvious that he would fall asleep after reading only two lines.
Chewing on words before bed can help you sleep, but how should you spend the long interval between lunch and dinner? Fortunately, after dinner, Jiang Liu was engrossed in reading "The Same Tendency Between Water and Fire", otherwise Yu Ran and him would have stared at each other, which was really a bit of a rift.
After dinner, we suddenly started talking about Qi Zhen and her daughter.
Wang Mingxia's work progressed very smoothly. Jiang Liu's pot of flowers brought a lot of customers to their flower shop, and their daily income was stable and considerable.
Qi's father, worried about his wife's fatigue, neither supported nor opposed the idea of floral therapy, simply hoping she would get some rest. It wasn't until he saw his business flourish and his wife's increasingly positive outlook that his perspective changed. Now, the family works together to live a good life.
After sharing the good news, both of them had smiles on their faces, leaving two brilliant stamps at the end of the day, proving that it was a good time.
Jiang Liu said he would not bother him anymore and introduced him to the two women. Yu Ran watched him get off the elevator and then went in.
The elevator went down one floor faster than Yu Ran! He rushed back to the room in a hurry.
Where did you put your bookmark?
I flipped through the book from beginning to end, and there was nothing. I held the book by the spine and shook it, and there was nothing.
Could it be that Jiang Liu got angry after seeing it and threw it away, took it away? Or maybe he thought it was strange and hid it away?
If Jiang Liu could really see that passage, it would be impossible for him not to realize that it was describing himself.
The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. He lowered his head and searched near the computer chair where Jiang Liu had sat. He even lifted up the floor mat. A little dust made him sneeze.
He sneezed while squatting, and his head hit the drawer of the computer desk, where he placed his last hope. He opened it and saw the bookmark lying quietly, peaceful and solemn, as if it came from another world far away from human disputes!
I remember now, that night when he was writing the beginning of the first chapter, he took it out of the book to compare it, but after comparing it, he didn't put it back into the book, but just put it in the drawer... right?
It really saved his life! Although whether it was self-rescue or not, Yu Ran couldn't be sure, because he always took the bookmark in his hand and looked at it over and over again, not sure where he put it the last time.
Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief, while Yu Lei took a breath of cold air.
"Oh! Little cutie, why are you here!" Yu Lei exclaimed to Jiang Liu in the elevator. Little cutie was just her nickname.
"Sister Yu Lei! I..." Jiang Liu was embarrassed, half because of the address and half because he met her here.
"Okay, do you want to go have a drink with me? It's been a while since we've spent time together."
Without waiting for Jiang Liu's response, she pulled him out of the elevator, grabbed his arm and touched his hand.
"You don't even know how pissed I was when I saw that kid Yu Ran holding your hand. He's so thick-skinned, how could he understand that? Today, I finally got him involved."
Jiang Liu smiled and talked about her watch. Yu Lei suddenly stopped and asked, "Ah, you're still wearing this ring?"
She held the ring finger of Jiang Liu's left hand and looked at the enamel ring stuck between the first and second joints.
Because wedding rings are only worn on the ring finger of the left hand, Yu Lei thought of the scene where the proposal was abruptly stopped halfway.
She suddenly realized something but didn't dare ask.
"It's not the one he gave me."
"Well, yours looks better. Where did you buy it..."
Yu Lei drove, and their destination was a pub in the city center.
The boys' outfits resemble Long Island Iced Teas, while the girls' resemble Gin and Tonics; the fragrant breeze jingles the bells and bracelets, as crisp as the sound of clinking glasses, while laughter echoes in the night, like the lingering liquor in the glass.
The two of them were drunk and confused. They talked about all sorts of things, but they finally felt unsatisfied and didn't talk about the topics they wanted to talk about most.
"Hey, what are your feelings for Yu Ran?" Yu Lei's lips chased the wine intermittently.
Jiang Liu shook the Margarita glass, and even more so his own thoughts. No matter how he shook it, he couldn't make sense of it. He kept hitting a wall, so he just gulped it down and said:
"He can't remember what I can do. You know, sister, he even remembers the tricks he used to coax me. The crepes he made are still my favorite flavor."
The method of coaxing people was exactly what Yu Ran demonstrated that day, "Don't let me down."
"Actually, loving you has become a habit. It's like eating and drinking water, and I won't forget it." Yu Lei raised her glass and drank it all.
"It's not that we have to get back together, right? I need to find out why we broke up. But he's so clueless. How can I ask him? Even if I do, it won't give me the answer I want. I can't be a bad person and scare him and ruin his peaceful life."
It seems that the root of the problem lies here. Regardless of why they broke up at that time, up to now, Yu Ran thinks that Jiang Liu and the people around Jiang Liu hate him. Jiang Liu is floating in the turbulent tide of Yu Ran's memory. It would be strange if there is no gap between the two of them now.
"At least you can tell him that you are not enemies and don't care about past grudges. Maybe this is a turning point in your relationship." Yu Lei suggested.
"No, it's almost over."
Yu Lei was stunned and blinked for a moment.
"I'm almost out of here."
"Where? Xiangze City? Out of the province? Out of the country?"
Jiang Liu then revealed the truth about Yu Ran working for him, saying that he had only signed a six-month contract, which was the ultimatum his parents had given him.
Jiang Liu opened the flower arrangement studio for fun. Jiang's parents thought their eldest son's hobby was quite elegant, better than those dandy young men who indulged in wine, women, and other sensual pleasures.
They happily allocated a considerable sum of money as pocket money - after all, the kite string was in their hands, and no matter how obsessed with Gao Tian the kite was, it would have to come back to take over the Jiang family business in the future.
Originally, there was no set return date. After all, Jiang Liu's parents were both well-off and in their prime, and they were reluctant to put Jiang Liu, then in his early twenties, under so much pressure. However, their youngest son, Jiang Yu, was becoming increasingly stubborn and unruly, so the elders wanted the older brother to discipline his younger brother while also gradually getting involved in company affairs.
Jiang Liu made a scene and refused to obey the arrangements, so the two elders cut off his financial resources - after all, the only thing they could offer was money, which was what Jiang Liu cared least about.
He worked hard to make a name for himself, winning numerous awards in various flower arrangement competitions. He had low desires and no bad habits, and as long as one person fed the whole family, he felt confident after becoming financially independent.
Being far away from home was also a major factor. He could occasionally use the excuse that his studio was busy and couldn't be shut down easily as an excuse to shirk responsibility.
I have been dealing with my parents until now.
Until his parents sent their spy Jiang Yu to keep an eye on him and report daily on the studio's business. Jiang Liu's lies were exposed.
Jiang Liu's last trump card is Yu Ran. If Yu Ran no longer loves him, he will definitely leave gracefully after finding out the truth, without any regrets; if Yu Ran still loves him, then Jiang Liu has the courage to resist everything.
Unfortunately, he was caught between the pain of the past and the conscience of the present. Under the shelf was not fire, but the turbulent flow of time.
"Good child, you have always been my family. I wish you a bright future." Yu Lei's tears fell into the wine cup, and the sad atmosphere diluted the long night full of the strong smell of alcohol.
"Ladies, are you all right?" The bartender was used to it, but since they were "two" girls after all, he was always extra gentle with them.
"Ask his boyfriend to pick him up." Yu Lei plucked up her courage and laughed triumphantly while leaning on his arms.
Jiang Liu wasn't drunk to the point of being unconscious, but his face was flushed and his body was weak. The word "boyfriend" was undoubtedly a hangover remedy.
It was just to sober up, but he didn't say anything about saving his sanity and desire. He actually called Yu Ran's WeChat number.
"Well, come pick me and Sister Yu Lei up... um, Whisper Crave bar." Jiang Liu whispered seductively.
Yu Ran rushed over with a dark look on his face, "Sister, Jiang Liu, even those who are fooling around are not as drunk as you."
He went to help Yu Lei, because she was completely slumped over the table, which made her look even more out of place. Yu Lei slammed his hand away and pushed towards Jiang Liu, saying, "I'm not drunk, you go hold him."
After saying that, he tried his best to support his head, which was as heavy as a pendulum, and watch the show.
"Hello, how many drinks did they have?"
The bartender spoke English stand-up comedy, and the only Chinese words I could understand were "This lady, that lady..."
Yu Ran: “…”
He knew that a heroine would not easily bow to the wine cup, and Jiang Liu's alcohol tolerance was... How did he dare to order God Father?
He hugged and supported each other, and the way the three of them walked was even funnier than playing "Three People, Four Legs". When they fell forward, it seemed as if they were in a hurry to cross the finish line.
Until he was stopped by security at the door.
"Sir, who are you to them?"
Yu Ran was about to speak, but Jiang Liu, taking advantage of Yu Lei's moment to pull her hands away, draped both arms around Yu Ran's neck, resting his head against his chin, preventing him from opening his mouth. Yu Ran hurriedly grabbed his waist for support.
Yu Lei touched her phone and clicked on the photo album. "He is my brother, and that is his girlfriend." She swiped through a few photos and found only photos of her and Yu Ran.
The security guard is still waiting for another piece of evidence.
She searched her bag for her wallet, the deepest pocket. The photo compressed the space, too small and narrow, the two young boys cuddled tightly together, not letting the camera cut out any of their intimacy.
The security guard compared the photos, but Yu Ran was kept at bay by Jiang Liu and couldn't get a word in. He didn't hear Yu Lei's explanation and didn't go up to look at the photos.
"Okay, the three of you, take care and be careful on the road."
When I got home, the hour and minute hands were forced into a sharp angle, and to the naked eye it looked like a funnel, leaking out the last bit of time of the day.
Yu Ran took time out of his busy schedule to ask Yu Lei: "Sister, how did you explain it just now?" He was referring to the relationship between himself and Jiang Liu.
"I said you are all my family. Of course I have a photo with Jiang Liu."
The brother and sister did not have any additional conversation. Yu Lei went to wash up. Although the sound of water filled Yu Ran's ears, the only person in his eyes was Jiang Liu on the bed, just one drop of the vast ocean.
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