Chapter 104 "He... is still waiting for me to come home."
The neon lights outside the window reflected the steaming heat of the hot pot, the boiling red oil, and the spicy aroma.
Lin Che took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair, revealing the neatly ironed white shirt underneath. The collar was still buttoned to the top, as usual, fitting perfectly.
"Dr. Lin, are you willing to return to your country? I thought you were going to take root in the Queen's territory and become a foreign professor!" Li Qiuyi put his arm around Lin Che's shoulders with such force that he swayed, and his voice was cheerful with the feeling of reunion after a long separation.
But there was a subtle scrutiny hidden in her eyes. She quickly glanced at the side of Lin Che's neck, then looked away as if nothing had happened.
"Sister Qiuyi, what you said is true. How can the beautiful mountains and rivers of our motherland and hot pot be inferior to fish and chips in London?"
Lin Che smiled and sat down, taking the beer bottle that Lin Yao pushed over to her, the cool touch spreading from her fingertips.
The bottle cap popped open with a slight sound, and white foam rushed out of the bottle mouth.
"That's right! Brother Che, you were so cruel to leave. You didn't even let me make it to the graduation ceremony to present flowers!" Qi Yinyang also came over and punched Lin Che's shoulder lightly, his tone half joking and half complaining.
Lin Che just smiled and raised the bottle: "My fault, my fault. It's all in the wine, okay?"
He tilted his head back and took a big gulp. The cold liquid slid down his throat, bringing a brief feeling of numbness and temporarily suppressing the subtle ripples in his heart that were touched.
The crisp clinking of glasses wasn't intrusive in the bustling box. After a few drinks, the warmth dispelled the early spring chill and seemed to bring the three years separated by the ocean closer.
The topics ranged from the weather in London to the changes in their alma mater, from complaints about their respective jobs to embarrassing moments from their student days. The laughter became louder and louder, as if the three-year gap in between had never existed.
Until Lin Yao, the usually calm and thoughtful fellow, asked casually over the rising steam from the hot pot, "Are you settling down at your alma mater now that you've returned? Are you really not planning on pursuing clinical work? I remember your suturing skills back then—even the old professor praised them."
The air seemed to stagnate for half a second.
Lin Che's hand gripping the chopsticks paused imperceptibly. The scar on the side of his neck, which had long since healed and faded, seemed to begin to tingle again in the warmth of the room.
He subconsciously raised his left hand, and his fingertips gently brushed over that area through the thin fabric of his shirt. His movements were so smooth that it seemed as if he was just adjusting his collar.
The corners of his lips curled up, with a bit of self-deprecating indifference, his eyes fell on the boiling red oil pot: "Forget it, I'm old and can't stand the non-stop work. The laboratory is still better. The mice are much more obedient than patients, right?" He laughed twice, trying to cover it up with a light laugh.
The laughter sounded a little thin in the private room. Li Qiuyi was a beat too slow in picking up the food, and Qi Yinyang's hand holding the wine glass was suspended in mid-air.
They were the people closest to the center of the storm back then, and they knew some fragments to a greater or lesser extent. They had also witnessed Lin Che's pale appearance when he first recovered, as well as Lu Yu's emaciated state during that period.
The emotions in Lin Che's eyes, which she thought she had concealed perfectly, were actually as clear as if written on her face in the eyes of these old friends.
Li Qiuyi immediately picked up a large piece of tripe and placed it in Lin Che's bowl. He raised his voice to liven up the atmosphere, "That's right! How wonderful it is to be doing scientific research! It's peaceful! No need to argue with those unreasonable patients' families every day! Come on, try this. It's freshly cooked and so crispy!"
Qi Yinyang also understood and raised his glass quickly: "Yes, yes, yes! Cheers to our Professor Lin! From now on, you will be our connection~"
The topic was abruptly and naturally diverted, returning to a relaxed track. A few more beer bottles were empty, and most of the food on the plates was gone, and the atmosphere became lively again.
However, the invisible crack still existed.
After three rounds of drinks, Li Qiuyi's cheeks flushed and her eyes were a little hazy. She propped her chin up, looking at Lin Che's profile, still handsome but noticeably calmer even after the heat of the night. Under the influence of alcohol, she finally managed to slip out the words that had been suppressed in her heart for a long time, with a hint of cautious ambiguity.
"Then you and... Lu Yu..."
She didn't finish her words, her voice trailing off, her eyes fixed on Lin Che with a questioning look, mixed with a subtle hint of worry.
Lin Yao and Qi Yinyang beside them also fell silent instantly, and the only sound in the box was the bubbling sound of the hot pot soup base.
The smile on Lin Che's face froze.
That forced indifference was like fragile glass, which was covered with fine cracks when touched lightly by these four short words.
His fingers gripping the wine glass tightened slightly, their knuckles turning a little white. His Adam's apple rolled silently, as if swallowing something difficult. He lowered his eyelashes, and his long lashes cast a small shadow under his eyes, obscuring any emotion that might be revealed.
He didn't answer immediately.
The air in the box seemed to have been sucked out of it, and the spicy steam became heavy. Li Qiuyi regretted asking, but the words were already out.
After a long time, so long that Li Qiuyi almost thought he would not answer, or would just brush it off with a joke like before, Lin Che slowly raised his eyes.
His face was expressionless, and even the slight stiffness from before had disappeared, leaving only an almost transparent calm. He picked up the beer bottle on the table and refilled his almost empty glass.
The golden liquid hit the wall of the cup, making a splashing sound that was particularly clear in the silence.
He picked up the overflowing glass of wine and raised it slightly towards Li Qiuyi and everyone present.
Lin Che's voice was not loud, even a little soft, but it clearly penetrated the clamor of the hot pot, carrying a kind of fatigue after the dust settled, as well as a deeper, unshakable persistence.
"He's still waiting for me to come home."
After he finished speaking, he didn't look at anyone's reaction, but raised his head and drank the cold wine in the glass.
The spicy feeling burned from the throat all the way to the stomach, like a small fire, briefly dispelling the boundless chill in the heart and the dull pain brought by the long wait.
He is back.
The person has returned, but the heart has never left.
And he knew that person must also... have always been there.
No matter how far the distance is, no matter how many silent years have passed.
————
The chill of the early spring night was evaporated by the alcohol into a thin layer of sweat, sticking to the temples.
Lin Che's steps felt a little unsteady, and as he stepped on the smooth tiles of the apartment corridor, he left behind a fleeting echo of deep and shallow sounds.
He casually tugged at the collar of his coat, the hem rubbing against the smooth tiles. His other hand irritably unbuttoned the top few buttons of his white shirt, revealing a beautifully sculpted collarbone, which glowed a warm, porcelain-white in the dim light from the corridor ceiling lamp.
The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, and when his eyelashes were lowered, they were stained with wet water vapor. When he raised them again, his eyes were surprisingly bright in the extremely dim corridor light, covered with a layer of shimmering watery light that he was unconsciously drunk.
After three years of settling down, Lin Che has shed his youthful immaturity and developed a charming temperament that is both cool and fragile. Now, under the influence of alcohol, fragility and charm are strangely intertwined.
The elevator door slid open with a "ding", and the cold white light in the corridor poured out as the elevator door opened.
Lin Che walked out leisurely, holding his coat. When his eyes passed by the door of his house, his footsteps paused imperceptibly.
In the small patch of shade next to the fire hydrant, there was a small pile of fresh cigarette butts scattered around.
The corners of his lips curled up almost imperceptibly, a curve that showed understanding yet also a hint of hidden bitterness. He lowered his head, holding the coat in his hand, pretending not to see it, and walked straight to his door.
However, the familiar, cold and quiet scent of cedar mixed with a hint of tobacco that filled the air was like an invisible net that instantly captured him and entangled his heart.
He has been waiting, waiting for when Lu Yu will appear, waiting to see if he is still willing to appear.
This breath is the answer.
Silent, yet weighing more than a thousand pounds.
His fingertips trembled slightly. Lin Che took a deep breath. The alcohol made his movements slow. He could only try to calm his mind and press the combination lock with his fingerprint.
The "beep, beep, beep" electronic sound was particularly clear in the silent corridor.
The door lock popped open with a click, and he just opened a gap -
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