Chapter 68 Klein (2) What if we get separated?
Lin Xia and He Chuan's inexplicable two-week quarantine life began.
None of them mentioned their final conversation when they parted that day, about the choices and the questions of whether to stay or go. They tacitly pretended that nothing had happened. They were all cautious, not wanting to destroy the rare peaceful and harmonious atmosphere between each other. They just wanted to spend the next fourteen days in peace.
In fact, they were not without experience in this kind of cohabitation life, although it had been twelve years since the last time, and many things had changed, both the world and themselves.
Living under the same roof, the first thing they needed to resolve was the division of household chores. He Chuan, claiming he had disturbed her first and that Lin Xia hadn't recovered yet, tried to take on all the chores. Lin Xia argued, and the two even sat down for a long, serious discussion. Each expressed their own opinions, and ultimately came to a mutually acceptable solution: each would wash their own clothes, take turns cleaning the room, and He Chuan would cook all three meals a day, while Lin Xia would wash the dishes.
In fact, the original arrangement was not like this. It was originally agreed that He Chuan would prepare brunch and Lin Xia would prepare dinner.
However, that night, He Chuan looked at the two plates of black dishes on the table and didn't dare to pick up his chopsticks.
Lin Xia explained: "It's not burnt. The black color is not burnt."
"What did you put in there?"
"Soy sauce."
“Why put dark soy sauce?”
"I'm running low on light soy sauce at home, and I'm worried it won't be enough. Is that okay? It's just a little ugly, but the taste isn't bad."
"good......"
He Chuan didn't say anything else. He ate all the vegetables that were cooked beyond recognition without saying a word. However, after the meal, he proposed to revise the distribution of housework and took over the entire cooking task.
He Chuan couldn't understand it either. Lin Xia wasn't stupid; she'd lived alone for years, cooking and feeding herself. But the food she cooked wasn't bad, and it definitely wasn't delicious. She was so picky, though. Perhaps cooking was truly a talent. As Zhao Qianyi had said, Lin Xia's hands were meant to hold a paintbrush. Beyond that, she refused to waste any energy on the trivialities of life; she simply lived.
Lin Xia had no objection to this, as she knew that the food she cooked herself was not tasty.
But if He Chuan is responsible for all the cooking, there will be a small problem.
Which young person these days doesn't have a reversed day and night cycle, unable to sleep at night and unable to wake up during the day? Especially now that they're on vacation and quarantined at home, without work or school, Lin Xia naturally sleeps until the sun shines and she wakes naturally. But He Chuan still manages to maintain an extremely rigorous and regular schedule. He must cook and eat at fixed times every day, and he must cook them very formally, with rice and vegetables, meat and vegetables, without any perfunctory attitude, as if he is obsessed with three meals a day. This was not noticeable in his youth, but now that everyone has become a busy office worker, it has become particularly obvious. Lin Xia thought that a workaholic like him would never have time to eat properly, ordering takeout whenever possible and eating a bite at a time. Unexpectedly, on the contrary, his regular life makes him look like an elderly person.
For several days in a row, when Lin Xia got up, He Chuan had already finished his meal and had specially saved his portion for her. After that, he always ate lunch and dinner alone, and the other person was not hungry. As the two of them had unsynchronized schedules, they could eat six meals a day.
Secondly, regarding the issue of daily space allocation. The current basic arrangement is that Lin Xia stays in the bedroom and He Chuan in the living room. Both try not to disturb each other and give each other a certain amount of private space. Lin Xia's workstation is actually in the living room, but since the Spring Festival holiday was extended due to the epidemic, she didn't need to work for the time being, so she gave the desk, chair, and computer to He Chuan.
He Chuan was busy, incredibly busy. The sudden quarantine had disrupted all his plans. He was now glued to his computer every day, either writing documents or making calls, occasionally holding video conferences, often staying up late to accommodate foreign time. Lin Xia didn't understand lawyering, especially the specialized aspects of foreign-related intellectual property, but through her mixed Chinese and English, she could more or less understand the various difficulties he faced: the unusual clients, the differences in legal systems, the helplessness of the international situation...
There is no such thing as ease in the adult world. Everyone is covered in dust and full of complaints because of work. Behind the seemingly glamorous career, everyone has struggled and is exhausted both physically and mentally. To some extent, they have all reached the same destination.
Precisely because we have to wear a mask every day at work and in social settings, acting as a respectable, professional, and emotionally stable adult, so the solitude we get at home each night becomes particularly important. In a completely safe and private space, we don't have to worry about our image, we don't have to pretend to be normal, we don't have to worry about anyone's eyes, we don't have to strive to be a good subordinate, a good colleague, a good child, or a good lover; we can just be ourselves. Therefore, in contemporary society, more and more young people are choosing to live alone, within the scope of their circumstances. Living together for a long time reveals one's true nature, and those who live together will either be attracted to each other and become lovers, or resent each other and become enemies.
Lin Xia lives in a single apartment. The architect probably designed it for people living alone, and did not consider how two people who are neither lovers nor close friends should live in it. It looks like it has one bedroom and one living room, but it is actually inconvenient to live in.
For example, the walls of the room are basically not soundproof. When one person is on the phone, it is impossible for the other person to completely hear the other person's voice no matter where they are in the room. It is almost impossible to maintain absolute privacy. Every time He Chuan held a video conference or voice call, he ran to the balcony in order not to disturb Lin Xia's rest. Lin Xia also wanted to call Song Ci several times to tell her about the current strange situation, but finally gave up.
For example, the kitchen space is very narrow. One person is cooking and the other is helping. They have no room to move and are even in the way. One person is washing dishes and the other wants to make coffee. They have to squeeze in the aisle and stand back to back. I don’t know how many times the two of them have bumped into each other in the kitchen in the past few days. It’s embarrassing and helpless.
But the biggest problem was the bathroom. While Lin Xia's bathroom had separate wet and dry areas, the frosted glass sliding door made it inconvenient for two people to share. While one person was showering, the other had to go to the bedroom or balcony. Not to mention, seeing each other constantly, unwashed, uncombed, and scruffy, was unavoidable.
In the first few days, He Chuan could only wear the same shirt and suit day and night, which was so wrinkled that he looked depressed. He no longer had the temperament of a legal elite. He looked like a bankrupt, unemployed, dejected and decadent young man who had given up. Someone had to be kept an eye on him at all times to prevent him from going up to the rooftop without noticing.
It wasn't until later, after much persuasion from Lin Xia, that the apartment manager finally found time to retrieve the suitcase He Chuan had left in his car downstairs and bring it up. He Chuan finally had some clean clothes and personal items. It wasn't their fault, though. The apartment had been suddenly locked down. Even during the Spring Festival, many tenants had returned home. Over a hundred people were now quarantined in the building. Daily disinfection, home inspections, and temperature checks were all required. The entire staff was kept busy and exhausted, unable to attend to any unnecessary matters.
Along with the suitcases, a supply package was delivered to each household to provide temporary relief to residents who had no food reserves at home.
When He Chuan came out of the bathroom, he saw Lin Xia squatting beside the sofa in the living room, checking the contents of the handout. She always wore a cotton nightgown at home. The fabric looked soft and comfortable, but it was loose and thin, and sometimes there was a risk of exposure if you were not careful. For example, at this moment, from He Chuan's perspective, he could easily see a large area of snow-white skin and the soft bulge in her body from her bent forward...
After a few days of getting along, she seemed to have gradually accepted the presence of another person in the family, and her nerves relaxed unconsciously.
He Chuan's eyes darkened. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should speak up to remind her. If he didn't, it would seem like he was taking advantage of her. But if he spoke up, it would make their future interactions even more awkward. What should he do?
While he was hesitating, he suddenly heard Lin Xia ask him:
"Are you done? Is there any hot water?"
Lin Xia didn't hear a reply for a while. She turned around curiously and looked at He Chuan. He was wearing beige home trousers, his upper body naked, and her Stella Lou pink and purple bath towel draped over his shoulders. He looked a little funny, with his half-dry hair slightly messy, and he looked a bit childish. Finally, he had shaved his beard and had a neat face without glasses. He looked less alienated and more familiar. All this reminded her of the teenager in Wangchun Forest Farm many years ago, who was simple, gentle and good-tempered.
His physique was actually quite different from his youth. He wasn't as frail and thin, his chest was stronger and broader, and his demeanor was more mature and steady. But one thing remained unchanged: at this moment, while his face was expressionless, his chest and neck were slightly flushed. I couldn't tell if it was from the steam from the hot water or something else. He was still the same as before, with his thin skin. When he got excited, the changes on his face and body were obvious. But he was always calm and composed, rarely getting emotional, except for certain specific moments...
Lin Xia quickly stopped her wandering thoughts and reflected on whether her previous question had been too natural and intimate. It couldn't be helped. The bathroom was small, and so was the water heater. Although Shenzhen's winters weren't cold, she wasn't used to taking cold showers. The limited amount of hot water each day required them to calculate the time to share and accommodate each other.
She coughed lightly and whispered, "Then I'll wash it later."
He Chuan couldn't say what he wanted to say. He wiped his hair twice, picked up his glasses from the coffee table, put them on his nose, and changed the subject a little stiffly:
"What did you send?"
Lin Xia gestured for him to look at the things she had sorted into categories on the floor:
"Instant noodles, a bag of Chinese sausage, and two bags of vegetables. Pretty good, with both meat and vegetables."
"Bitter melon and okra?" He Chuan laughed, "It's a pity that they are both dishes you don't like."
Lin Xiazhi was the most picky eater He Chuan had ever seen in his life, and it was hard to forget him even after all these years.
"Actually, I'm not so picky about food anymore..."
When she was young, she was very willful. She would not eat anything she didn't like, no matter how hard you tried. When she grew up, she began to reflect on why she just didn't like some foods. Later, she slowly summed up the rules. Those foods she was picky about were probably of two types. One was due to allergies, such as mango and taro, and the other was because she thought they had a strange taste, such as green peppers, bitter melon, okra, animal offal, durian... Some children are born with a sensitive sense of taste and can't stand any irritating taste, but this sensitivity will gradually decrease with age. One day you will find that the ingredients you once couldn't accept are not so scary anymore.
You see, not only a person's character will be smoothed out by time, but so will his taste.
"When I was little, I really thought bitter melon was the most unpalatable vegetable in the world. I couldn't understand why humans had to make things so difficult for themselves." Lin Xia picked up a juicy, ugly bitter melon and recalled the past. "But my mother said bitter melon can reduce internal heat, so she forced me to eat it. Every time I ate it, I swallowed it like medicine, not daring to chew it, and cried as I ate it."
"This one is still too green, it must be very bitter." He Chuan thought for a moment, "I remember bitter melon is also called half-raw melon, it tastes better when it is half yellow and half green. Of course, there is another saying that when a person feels that bitter melon is not bitter, then half of his life is over."
Lin Xia silently repeated the three words "half-ripened melon" several times, and couldn't help but feel a little distracted.
So when bitter melon is not bitter, is it that people's sense of taste has become dull, or is it that the bitterness of bitter melon is nothing compared to the bitterness of life?
"By the way, do you have work to do later?" Lin Xia asked He Chuan, "I want to watch a movie in the living room."
Her projector and screen are in the living room.
"I don't have any work to do today. It's your home, you can do whatever you want." He Chuan was very generous.
Lin Xia nodded, but if she watched the movie in the living room, he would have nowhere to go, so she tentatively invited him:
"Will you watch it with me?"
"It's been a long time since I've had time to watch a complete movie." He Chuan sighed and said, "What kind of movie is it?"
"Yeah, it's an old Hong Kong movie."
"Have we seen it?"
"Probably not."
After this natural question and answer, both of them were a little stunned.
Yes, there was a summer when they watched almost all the old Hong Kong movies in an entire disc rental store, and there were still some gems that they missed.
"That's really rare," He Chuan said what Lin Xia was thinking, "Let's see."
"Um."
Lin Xia got up to turn on the machine and start playing the movie.
Perhaps even the most advanced projector couldn't match the clarity of a large-screen monitor, but compared to the latter, the light from the former hitting the screen always had a uniquely retro feel, as if this was the proper ritual of watching a movie. Whenever this happened, Lin Xia would always think of her elementary school days when the school would organize all the students to go to the Cultural Palace to watch a movie. The venue was incredibly simple, and they had to bring their own benches, dragging them all the way from school to the Cultural Palace. The long, mighty walk was a joy, but they were still very happy, happy to not have to go to class, to play with their friends, and to be exposed to a new world beyond Wangchun.
The unique background music of the opening of old Hong Kong films sounded powerfully, and the slightly shaking low-definition picture brought a sense of time. It was Hong Kong in the 1990s, and also the spring of the first decade of the millennium, which had just passed the middle. It was full of familiar yet distant memories.
This movie was actually recommended to Lin Xia by Song Ci. She believes in immersive experiences and had originally planned to watch it the night before going to Hong Kong, but they were busy chatting that day and ended up not watching it. Song Ci brought it up again yesterday, and since Lin Xia had nothing to do at home recently, she decided to watch it tonight.
The movie was a very unpopular film, so unpopular that Lin Xia had never even heard of it, but the story was very good. It was directed by her favorite director and had the quirky and interesting style she liked. It had elements of Hong Kong's unique gangster and police and gangster elements, but at its core it was still a romantic love comedy with many twists and turns, and everyone was happy.
In fact, after a certain age, people no longer believe in happy endings. They can't help but question the irrationality of all the near misses and twists and turns, because you know, life isn't meant to be that way. But even though they say they don't believe it, they can't help but feel heartbroken for the people in the stories who managed to escape such close calls and feel happy for their eventual reunion.
Until the last moment, when all obstacles and dangers were removed and the hero and heroine were about to go to a foreign country to reunite, Lin Xia could feel that He Chuan beside her was as relieved as she was.
Reality is so cruel, but at least there are movies to create dreams. Even if it is only a short one hundred minutes, it can always help us escape from the busy life and get a moment of comfort.
If only life were like a play.
The movie ended, the audience dispersed, and the two of them sat in the dark room, watching the ending credits scroll on the big screen, without saying a word for a long time.
Lin Xia sighed inwardly and leaned over to put the empty can of Coke in her hand on the coffee table. The coffee table was a little far away and she was too lazy to get up, so she just stretched out her arm to reach it. The next second, the thing in her hand was taken away by the person next to her, and at the same time, it also touched her hand.
She raised her eyes and he lowered his head. They were only a few feet apart. The faint light on the screen flickered and reflected on each other's faces, as if there was an undercurrent hidden in the abyss, about to break out.
"Which part of the movie just now impressed you the most?" she asked softly.
He Chuan was silent for a moment and whispered:
"It should be the scene where they celebrate New Year's Eve on the street."
The night view of Victoria Harbour, New Year’s fireworks, the man and woman in the story were forced to let go of each other’s hands in the surging crowd. The woman asked the man loudly: Do you think how long it will take for us to meet again if we are separated?
Lin Xia couldn't help but feel a pang of fear in her heart.
At eighteen, they had bridged the gap of two years between their journey from Wangchun to Beijing in just over ten minutes. So what about twenty-eight? Seven years of distance, how long would it take for them to reconcile this time?
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