Qin Xiaoyu suddenly stood up from the ground and grabbed the doorknob to open it.
"Where are you going?" A Lei dragged her back.
"I'll go check if you really bought tickets for other seats."
"You actually believe that?" A Lei was speechless.
"I knew it was fake!" Qin Xiaoyu smugly retreated and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Really." A Lei seemed a little tired and stopped paying attention to her. He lay down on the bed facing inward and soon his breathing became even. He had actually fallen asleep.
Qin Xiaoyu was very curious, so she quietly got up and went out to wash up. The other carriages were quiet, but this time she listened carefully. There really was no sound.
"Comrade, what can I do for you?" a train conductor asked, looking over from a distant carriage.
"It's okay, I'm just checking if anyone's here." Qin Xiaoyu smiled awkwardly.
"No one's here. There are only the two of you in this carriage." The train attendant pulled his head back and stopped bothering with the matter.
Qin Xiaoyu turned around and stared blankly at her carriage. This madman, he really dared to charter a train?
The next morning, she woke up to the aroma again; the food on the table was not only fragrant, but also fresh. And not only fresh, but also steaming hot.
"How did you do that?" Qin Xiaoyu swallowed.
“The dining car.” Are was already used to her ignorance.
"Wow, the food truck service is so good now. I thought it was always expensive and the food was terrible," Qin Xiaoyu exclaimed.
"Now it's both expensive and tastes terrible."
"Then how do you explain this?"
“Because it’s what I want, so…” Are raised his eyebrows.
If it weren't for the delicious food on the table, Qin Xiaoyu definitely wouldn't have said another word to him. But now that she hadn't eaten his food, she already felt obligated, not to mention that she wanted to eat but couldn't bring herself to ask.
This time was different from usual; A Lei refused to invite her to eat with him. He even deliberately ate with gusto so she could see.
Seeing that half of the food was gone, Qin Xiaoyu's heart clenched. She swallowed hard for a long time, her eyes filled with longing, and she couldn't even hide it anymore.
"I can't stand that look in your eyes. If you want to eat, just say so. Why are you being so stubborn?" A Lei couldn't stand being stared at and handed over a fork.
"Thank you," Qin Xiaoyu said softly, happily starting to devour the food on the table. Just as A Lei's fork touched a crab roe bun, Qin Xiaoyu stabbed it with her fork without even looking up, like a kitten guarding its food.
"Qin Xiaoyu, I feel like you're not like this with other people. Aren't you always been very individualistic, preferring to break rather than surrender?" A Lei wiped his hands and sighed.
"What's so great about that? Why break it? Isn't it better to be alive, with good food and drink?" Qin Xiaoyu noticed that when she was with A Lei, her values were always skewed, and she would easily go astray, sometimes even startling herself.
"Is it because you think I'm different from other people?"
"Of course it's different." Qin Xiaoyu's mouth was stuffed full. She raised her little face, her eyes curving into crescents, and said with a smile, "You're shameless."
"Pfft." A Lei rudely sprayed coffee onto Qin Xiaoyu's face.
"What are you doing!" Qin Xiaoyu angrily pulled over the white towel.
"I'm warning you, if you continue like this, I won't be so polite."
"I apologize." Qin Xiaoyu immediately corrected her attitude.
"What are you apologizing for?" A Lei refused to accept it at all.
"Yeah, what did I do wrong?" Qin Xiaoyu was a little confused.
“Your mistake was constantly seducing me.” A Lei finished the rest of his coffee in one gulp and squinted his eyes.
"I don't!"
"You've been seducing me since the first time we met."
"Can't you be reasonable?!" Qin Xiaoyu said, feeling wronged.
"Reasoning with a woman? Hmm?" A Lei was clearly more unreasonable than a woman, but Qin Xiaoyu didn't have the courage to provoke him in such a small space.
"I was being unreasonable, I was wrong," Qin Xiaoyu said seriously.
"I know what you're thinking right now. As long as you don't mess with me, keep a low profile, and stay there until you get off the train, you'll disappear into the crowd and I'll never be able to find you again. You've got a very clever plan."
Qin Xiaoyu's secret was exposed, so she could only lower her head and deal with a small crab roe bun.
“You were quite daring when you were with Zhou Xing,” A Lei said, his words clearly tinged with jealousy.
"What did I do to be so bold!" Qin Xiaoyu still protested weakly.
"That statement contains a lot of information. Could it be that between you two..."
"Don't talk about these boring topics, especially don't mention his name!" Qin Xiaoyu suddenly stood up, tears already welling up in her eyes.
She pushed open the door and went out.
The train was merging onto the tracks, the carriages were shaking violently, and there was a clanging sound.
She walked to the connection between the two carriages, where someone must have just left, as there was still a faint smell of cigarette smoke.
Qin Xiaoyu stood by the door on the left, looking at the rows of trees falling backward. A wave of sadness washed over her.
Actually, she should have gone to Guangzhou instead, but she didn't have the courage. Zhou Xing spent his last days there, and she couldn't even imagine how much pain and despair he must have felt in his hospital bed.
After crying for a while, she felt much better. Wiping away her tears, she looked up and saw A Lei behind her through the glass window; he was already standing there sometime earlier.
Before Qin Xiaoyu could pull away, A Lei had already pressed her against the car door.
The chill of the glass came from behind her. Qin Xiaoyu bit her lip hard, wondering what he would do next.
"What am I supposed to do with you? You little vixen." A Lei's aura enveloped her, and Qin Xiaoyu panicked. She dared not answer, nor dared to struggle, for she was not strong enough to break free.
A Lei's tall body bent down, and Qin Xiaoyu closed her eyes in a moment of panic.
His kiss landed lightly on her hair, just a light touch.
But a floodgate in Qin Xiaoyu's heart was touched, and with a snap, like a dam breaking, her tears flowed freely, and she sobbed uncontrollably.
A Lei quietly retreated.
Qin Xiaoyu finally calmed down, but the train conductor had already noticed her unusual behavior and pretended to pass by, glancing back and forth several times.
She washed her face and returned to the sleeper compartment, but A Lei and his luggage were gone. The table was spotless, and the window was ajar, letting in the smell of food, as if he had never been there.
He didn't appear for the remaining day and night. Qin Xiaoyu couldn't shake his shadow no matter what she did.
She let out a long sigh in the night, "This is a master, a true master!"
As Qin Xiaoyu stepped out of the train station, she realized she had truly fallen into a sea of people.
In the 21st century, she visited Shanghai more than once and even worked there for two months.
Shanghai in the 1980s didn't have so many towering high-rise buildings, which made it more charming. At that time, Pudong was still a wasteland, full of dilapidated two-story buildings and narrow alleyways.
Qin Xiaoyu took a bus to Xujiahui. The clanging bus carried her through the crowded streets.
Her small suitcase felt increasingly heavy in her hands; it seemed best to find a place to stay first. She found a hotel on Nanjing Road and went inside.
Arei was right, she didn't have a letter of introduction, which was a big problem.
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