Xu Li, that's me.
When the three people arrived at the store, the door was already open and they were wondering who had arrived so early.
I only realized it was Hu Hei when I got to the bar.
Ah Feng asked in surprise, "Why did you come here? Is everything alright with the boss?"
The three brothers exchanged pleasantries, and Hu Hei greeted Xu Li briefly before Xu Li went upstairs first.
"I'm asking you, didn't the boss send you?"
"No, the boss went out again."
"Where did you go?"
Hu Hei shook his head helplessly: "You know that no one knows when the boss goes out."
"I've been bored these past few days and have nothing to do, so I came to help out."
"Stop talking, we don't need many people in this kind of weather."
...
Then the three of them sat together and drank.
The three chatted about all sorts of things. Zhou Jun was the first to put down his glass, and the other two were unhappy: "What do you mean, you only drank this little bit?"
"I still have to watch over the shop."
That's true. It's a bright moonlit night, and we can't expect the people in the shop to get drunk before the customers. The two people who came after us hadn't drunk much either.
That winter, there was only one snowfall, and the temperature began to rise slowly. Although we still needed to wear bulky cotton-padded clothes, it wasn't as cold as before.
There are many more guests tonight than before; this should be the busiest we've had all winter.
Perhaps for this reason, Zhou Junchang did not see Xu Li come downstairs to go home at the usual time after get off work.
The three of them had been busy for a while, and it had been a long time since they had felt this way.
Perhaps because it had been a long time, they were still quite excited that night, and the brothers were still very energetic.
On his way back from delivering wine, Zhou Jun ran into Xu Li at the stairwell.
Xu Li picked up her bag, ready to go home.
The two met without any surprise. Xu Li noticed that Zhou Junchang was carrying a tray, so she knew that he had just returned from delivering wine. Xu Li also noticed that there were quite a few people upstairs tonight, not to mention downstairs.
Zhou Junchang nodded, signaling Xu Li to walk ahead.
Because the store had air conditioning on, it wasn't very cold, so Xu Li didn't put the clothes she took off when she went to work back on; she just held them in her hand.
As we walked along, the lights suddenly started flashing, and the people in the bar thought it was a specially arranged segment.
A few seconds later, the entire building went completely dark.
The lights went out without warning; the power outage came unexpectedly.
In the darkness, some people cursed under their breath, while others screamed, finding it even more exciting.
Some people took out their phones to light up the lights, but most people didn't care, sitting or standing silently waiting for the call to come back on, waiting for the moment the lights would come back on.
Zhou Junchang clearly felt the person in front of him pause in his steps the moment the lights went out. This feeling was not like the power outage, but rather more like fear and apprehension.
Zhou Junchang was right behind Xu Li. After Xu Li took a few steps back, she bumped into Zhou Junchang. Before Zhou Junchang could react, Xu Li dodged away as if she had encountered a monster.
Because in the few seconds until the lights went out completely, Xu Li took a few steps back and shrank into the corner.
Zhou Jun couldn't see the expression on Xu Li's face clearly, but he often saw Xu Li trembling, trembling with fear.
Xu Li hugged her knees with both hands, desperately trying to shrink herself as small as possible.
Someone walked towards them in the dark and accidentally kicked Xu Li's foot as they passed by, causing Xu Li to cry out instantly.
But he quickly held back, so it was a short and restrained scream.
Zhou Jun often saw Xu Li's shadow huddled in the corner, and then he would squat down next to Xu Li.
Zhou Junchang tried to reach out and touch Xu Li's shoulder, but received the same reaction as before. However, this time Zhou Junchang heard a soft sob.
Xu Li cried.
This is the second time Zhou Jun has seen Xu Li cry; once at the cemetery, and now.
"Xu Li, Xu Li..."
Zhou Jun kept calling Xu Li's name, but Xu Li seemed to be disconnected from the outside world and couldn't hear anything.
Xu Lilian's sobs were trembling.
Without further hesitation, Zhou Junchang pulled Xu Li into his arms.
He could feel Xu Li struggling, trying hard to break free.
Zhou Junchang gripped Xu Li's hand tightly and shouted, "Xu Li, it's me, Zhou Junchang."
This seemed to help somewhat; the person in his arms slowly regained their senses.
"Xu Li, it's me."
Zhou Jun kept repeating this sentence.
Xu Li grabbed Zhou Junchang's clothes, as if afraid that Zhou Junchang would let go.
Xu Li took a deep breath to calm herself down and called out Zhou Junchang's name.
“Zhou Junchang, Zhou Junchang…”
As Zhou Junchang responded, he rhythmically patted Xu Li's back.
As more people walked over, Zhou Junchang tightened his grip on Xu Li, holding her tightly and shielding her from their touch.
Xu Li smelled Zhou Junchang's scent again, a faint scent of cedar. In the darkness, his breathing rose and fell evenly, like a calming drumbeat.
Xu Li still clutched Zhou Junchang's clothes, her voice trembling slightly: "No...no..."
Zhou Junchang didn't know what Xu Li wanted to say, but he kept patting her repeatedly, as if he were soothing a crying child.
Because the power outage was so sudden, the clothes Xu Li was holding were now lying forlornly to the side.
Before the power went out, Ah Feng saw Zhou Jun often delivering alcohol, so he walked into the private room with a flashlight.
Before I even got there, I saw two people squatting on the ground outside the corridor.
From a distance, Ah Feng only saw Zhou Junchang. Seeing that there were still so many customers in the store, Ah Feng didn't go any further. From this distance, he called out to Zhou Junchang, "Is there a problem with the circuit here?"
"..."
"Jun Chang, do you want to go take a look?"
Zhou Junchang looked down at Xu Li in his arms. She hadn't come to her senses yet. How were they going to leave?
He definitely can't leave.
Ah Feng didn't hear Zhou Junchang's voice, so he took a few more steps forward, but before he could say anything, Zhou Junchang interrupted him.
"Call them and ask."
"Oh? Okay."
The footsteps faded into the distance, and darkness fell again.
In the darkness, it was so quiet you could hear each other breathing.
Zhou Junchang placed his hand on Xu Li's back, and the sound of their clothes rubbing together became unusually loud, like the sound of sandpaper rubbing together.
Zhou Junchang didn't actually squat down, but was half-kneeling. Zhou Junchang was much taller than Xu Li, and since he was only half-kneeling while Xu Li was sitting completely on the ground, Xu Li's head could only rest against Zhou Junchang's chest.
Xu Li could almost hear Zhou Junchang's heartbeat, rapid and powerful.
The two of them hugged each other until Ah Feng made a phone call and came over: "The electrician said that because of the snow these past few days, the circuit may have been damaged. He can't find the cause for the time being, and the power may not be back until tomorrow. Why don't we let everyone in the shop leave first?"
"knew."
Then I heard Ah Feng explaining to the remaining customers in the store that although the group was reluctant, they really had no choice and eventually left.
The shop became quiet.
Zhou Jun tentatively called out, "Xu Li?"
The person in his arms sniffed before replying, "Mmm."
"Have they left?"
Zhou Junchang's breath was right above Xu Li's head. Xu Li let go of Zhou Junchang and then wiped away the tears that hadn't yet escaped her lips.
The power went out, and the temperature in the store wasn't as high as it had been before the air conditioning was turned on. Afraid that Xu Li would get cold, Zhou Jun often picked up Xu Li's clothes from the side and put them on her.
Zhou Junchang looked at Xu Li's tearful eyes, his hand outstretched in mid-air, then withdrew it.
Xu Li had been sitting on the ground for too long, and when she tried to get up, her legs were weak and she couldn't get up even after two attempts.
Suddenly a hand reached out from the side—a hand that could cut fruit platters and mix drinks, and also the hand that had just been gently comforting her on her back.
Xu Li had looked at those hands many times.
But at this moment, Zhou Junchang reached out to her, wanting to help her up.
Xu Li looked up, but forgot that she couldn't see his expression clearly right now.
In the end, he reached out and took Zhou Junchang's hand.
After Xu Li stood up, Zhou Junchang didn't immediately let go and asked again, "Shall I take you out?"
Xu Li found it strange; she was afraid of the dark and also afraid of contact with others, but tonight, she had broken those fears.
Xu Li nodded.
Hu Hei was looking at the electrical circuits at the bar. He had to wait for the electrician to come and take a look tonight, so he couldn't leave for a while.
The other employees in the store didn't notice Xu Li, or they didn't notice anything different about Xu Li.
Zhou Jun often said to A Feng, "Give me the key."
Ah Feng thought Zhou Jun was referring to the key to the bright moonlit night, and pointed to the table next to him: "On the table."
Zhou Junchang repeated, "Your house key."
Why did you take my house key?
"Give me."
Ah Feng took the key out of his pocket and tossed it to Zhou Junchang, only then noticing Xu Li behind Zhou Junchang.
Zhou Jun took the keys and left; Ah Feng only caught a glimpse of his back.
After Zhou Junchang left, a message followed, saying that he had something to do tonight and would leave things here to him. He would stay at his house tonight and told Afeng to go home directly.
As Ah Feng watched the two leave, he felt something was amiss.
Xu Li opened her phone and looked at the time displayed on it.
It is 9:30 now. Xu Li gets off work at 9:00.
They embraced in the dark for nearly half an hour.
In the darkness created by the power outage, two people embraced each other passionately.
"Shall I take you home?"
"Um."
The two walked for a while, and Xu Li did not notice that Zhou Junchang was holding her hand the whole time. Xu Li did not know whether Zhou Junchang was aware of it or not.
They had been holding my hand since we left the house, and if they let go now, it would feel even more strange.
They only let go of each other's hands when a mischievous child bumped into them from between them.
Suddenly finding their hands empty, both of them felt something was off, and pulling them back seemed deliberate.
Xu Li put her hands in her pockets, while Zhou Junchang kept his hands at his sides.
Neither of them mentioned taking a taxi. They crossed the street in perfect unison, waited for the traffic lights, then turned left and right, and finally arrived home.
When they arrived at Afeng's house, Zhou Junchang looked at Xu Li and said, "I'll be downstairs tonight."
Fearing he might have been too vague, Zhou Junchang added, "If you need anything, just come to me."
"Um."
Finally, Zhou Jun watched as Xu Li went upstairs.
Zhou Jun is usually a light sleeper, but he was extra careful tonight. The door only made a sound when Ah Feng came back, and then there was no more noise.
Zhou Jun often remembered something and took out his phone again, looking at the blank chat history, where he had never received a new message.
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