Chapter 52
Tao Xi took a shower in the bathroom, put on her pajamas, and found that they also fit her well.
He stared at his pajamas for a while before he absentmindedly blew his hair with a hair dryer. He wiped the condensation on the mirror with his hand and leaned in to look at his face.
It must be because she just took a shower, her face was flushed and her lips were also rosy.
After looking around blankly for a while, he shifted his sight to the side and found two mouthwash cups in the cabinet, one black and one white, with two toothbrushes in each, also one black and one white.
My heartbeat, which had finally calmed down while taking a shower, suddenly quickened again.
Tao Xi lingered in the bathroom for a long time before opening the door and walking out. He followed Lin Qinhe in and only took a quick glance at the large bedroom outside. At this moment, he was standing alone in the bedroom and looked around carefully.
The bedroom's decoration style is as cold as Lin Qinhe's, without too much decoration. There is a whole floor-to-ceiling window with the curtains half closed. In the middle of the bedroom is a large bed covered with gray-blue sheets that look very soft.
He stared at the bed and saw two pillows at the head of it.
Tao Xi wiped his still hot face with his hand, and suddenly heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Lin Qinhe coming over. He glanced at his pajamas and said:
"It's almost twelve o'clock."
Tao Xi suddenly opened his eyes wide in nervousness, and he had no idea what was going on.
He doesn't want to miss his birthday.
"You took too long to shower. I wanted to show you the other rooms." Lin Qinhe said casually. He raised his hand to straighten Tao Xi's rolled-up collar, and his fingers lightly slid across her fair and distinct collarbone.
Tao Xi felt a little itchy on her collarbone, her face became hot, and she quickly said:
"Now go eat the cake."
Lin Qinhe seemed to laugh, held his wrist, and led him to the living room. On the way, he glanced at the two rooms whose doors had been closed.
The ceiling lights in the living room were turned off, but the bright light beads surrounding the fondant cake were still on, shining together with the vast neon night scene like a sea of stars outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Tao Xi looked at the small coffee table on the wool carpet next to the floor-to-ceiling window. There was a milky white cake on it. He hurried over, took off his slippers, walked onto the wool carpet, squatted next to the cake, and leaned in to sniff the sweet smell.
This cake looks delicious.
He sat down cross-legged beside the coffee table, looking for a candle with his eyes wandering, but saw something with a white cover, similar to a notebook, next to the coffee table.
Tao Xi's heart moved, and he looked at Lin Qinhe who also came over and sat down, pointed at the notebook and asked: "What is this?"
Lin Qinhe also cast his gaze over, his expression slightly unnatural for a second, and after a pause he said, "This is your birthday present."
Tao Xi's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but take the notebook over, and asked with a smile: "Can I see it now?"
Lin Qinhe looked at the time. There were only 20 minutes left until 12 o'clock. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay." Then he turned sideways and turned on the floor lamp beside him. This corner suddenly became bright.
Tao Xi leaned against Lin Qinhe holding a notebook. The cover was made of pure white hard leather with sharp edges. He opened the first page and saw a few clear and powerful words written on the title page:
For 17-year-old Tao Xi.
Tao Xi immediately realized that this should have been read after midnight. He looked at Lin Qinhe a little embarrassedly, but still couldn't help but turn the page.
He thought he would see something Lin Qinhe wrote to him, but when he saw the content clearly, he was stunned.
There is a photo on the second page.
This does not appear to be a notebook, but a handmade photo album.
In that slightly old photo, there is a little baby wrapped in a soft blanket. The baby has a pair of clear eyes, two little hands on the chest, and a pacifier in the mouth, and seems to be smiling.
"1" was written in pen under the photo.
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe beside him blankly. Lin Qinhe met his gaze, quickly turned his face away, coughed lightly and said: "This is a photo of me when I was 1 year old."
Tao Xi was stunned, staring blankly at Lin Qinhe's face turned to the side. He could only see Lin Qinhe's ears gradually turning red. He couldn't help laughing, then lowered his head to look at the baby photo carefully, and found that he could indeed see some of Lin Qinhe's shadow, such as the pair of beautiful eyes when he was a child.
He vaguely knew what this album was. He blinked quickly and lowered his head to continue looking at the baby photo. After looking at it for a long time, he gently touched the baby's face in the photo with his fingers, then slowly turned to the second page.
The second page is also a photo. The little boy in the photo has grown a lot. He is sitting on the floor covered with sponge mat, fiddling with a toy car in his hand. A handsome and mature man is sitting on the sofa next to him, holding a newspaper in his hand, but his eyes are looking at the boy on the ground. Judging from his eyebrows, he should be the boy's father.
The number under the photo really turned into "2". This was a photo of Lin Qinhe when he was two years old.
Tao Xi stared at the boy in the photo, then smiled and said, "You look like your father."
Lin Qinhe couldn't help but turn his head to take a look and said, "This is my uncle." He paused and continued, "I lived in my uncle's house until I was 5 years old."
Tao Xi was stunned for a moment, vaguely realizing that there might be some hidden secret.
He slowly flipped through the pages, looking at each photo for a long time: Lin Qinhe at the age of 5, sitting on a bench in the kindergarten with his hands on his cheeks in a daze; Lin Qinhe at the age of 6, standing unhappily in front of the primary school gate with a small schoolbag on his back; Lin Qinhe at the age of 7, wearing a small yellow hat and visiting the planetarium; Lin Qinhe at the age of 8, sitting upright and playing chess with his grandfather; Lin Qinhe at the age of 9, reading an English story at the desk...
He watched the boy in the photo grow bigger and bigger, from a little baby to a little boy who could run and jump, and then to a handsome young man who suddenly grew taller. His facial features and expression became more and more like Lin Qinhe now.
Especially the 16-year-old Lin Qinhe, perhaps just last year, seemed to be in a concert hall, wearing a black dress and sitting in front of the piano playing, with a deep profile revealing an indifferent look, finally, it was the familiar Lin Qinhe in his impression.
In this photo album, he got a glimpse of the sixteen years of Lin Qinhe that he could not see.
Although only a little bit.
But every little bit of it made him extremely happy and yearning for it.
Tao Xi lowered his head and looked at the photo of 16-year-old Lin Qinhe for a long time, then he turned the page with a light breath.
The photo on the new page was in a familiar classroom. On the desk in the last row, a young boy was sleeping with his head tilted to one side and resting his head on his arm. The golden sunlight from the window was shining in, casting a furry circle of light on the boy's hair and school uniform, and the eyelashes under his eyelids were also dyed light gold.
The boy's right wrist was exposed from his school uniform shirt, and on his wrist was a red rope bracelet with a blue-green turquoise string on it.
The number under the photo became 17.
When Lin Qinhe was seventeen years old, he met Tao Xi.
Tao Xi looked at herself in the photo and blinked hard. After a long time, she raised her head and looked at Lin Qinhe who was standing next to her.
He wanted to laugh, but the sound coming out of his throat trembled slightly when he opened his mouth:
"You actually took a sneak shot of me while I was taking a nap. Next time I will take a sneak shot back at you."
Lin Qinhe clasped his hands in front of him, the warm yellow light from the floor lamp seeping into his dark grey sweater. He lowered his eyes for a moment, then tilted his head to look at the photo in the album, then looked at Tao Xi who had been looking at him, lowered his long eyelashes to half-hide the gentle look in his eyes, and said:
"You can take pictures of me openly."
Tao Xi smiled.
He lowered his head and wanted to continue flipping through the pages, but found that every page behind was blank, as if waiting for new photos, and there was nothing else about Lin Qinhe when he was 17 years old.
He gently stroked the edge of the album with his fingers. After a while, he asked with a nasal voice, "Where are the photos of you when you were 17? Why are there only my photos?"
Lin Qinhe unclasped his hands, looked at him and said, "Can't you see me every day?"
Tao Xi was stunned for a moment: "Huh?" He didn't understand what Lin Qinhe meant.
Lin Qinhe took the paper envelope placed aside, took out a photo taken tonight, and placed it on the next page of the album. He looked at Tao Xi and explained the significance of giving her this album seriously:
"We'll be together every year after seventeen, but I missed sixteen years of your life, and I want to make it up to you."
Tao Xi's eyes suddenly trembled, he lowered his head to look at the new photo, in the photo Lin Qinhe was kissing the corner of his eye with a gentle and solemn expression, his fingers on the album curled up, his heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.
He couldn't guess what Lin Qinhe meant by "missed". Was it the "missed" he thought it was?
Lin Qinhe's gaze fell on his face, and it was that heavy gaze, like the heavy snow falling to the ground on Christmas Eve, thick and silent.
The floor lamp casts soft warm light from above, gently enveloping this corner.
Tao Xi turned her head and looked at Lin Qinhe who was wrapped in warm yellow light. She held her breath gently, and her fingers unconsciously stroked the edge of the album.
At that moment he felt that Lin Qinhe might know something, but just thinking of this possibility made him feel uncontrollably cowardly. He didn't know what he was afraid of, nor did he know why his eyes felt hot, as if something hot was about to roll out of them.
They sat side by side on the soft carpet, so close that they could feel each other's warmth and hear each other's breathing.
Lin Qinhe turned his head and looked at the bright neon lights and flying snow outside the French window, and suddenly asked softly:
"Do you believe in the existence of parallel universes?"
Tao Xi grabbed the photo album in his hand and shook his head blankly.
Lin Qinhe was silent for a while, then turned to look at him, his usually indifferent eyes flickered slightly, and when he spoke again his voice was a little hoarse:
"I didn't believe it before, but now I hope there is such a parallel universe. In that world, everything follows the original trajectory. You are always by my side. We grew up together. Every Christmas, I will bring gifts to you and say happy birthday to our baby together with your loved ones who love you."
Tao Xi's eyelashes trembled violently. He tightly grasped the photo album in his hand, grasping the sixteen years of time. The sharp corners of the leather cover pricked his palm, but he was completely unaware.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, as if he was mute. After trying for a long time, he could only make tiny, broken whimpers.
Lin Qinhe looked at the man who was trembling all over and sobbing softly, and his heart ached as if it was being cut by a blunt knife. He wanted to pull the album with sharp corners out of Tao Xi's hands, but Tao Xi held the album tightly in his arms, as if he had used all his strength.
Lin Qinhe had no choice but to reach out and hug Tao Xi, letting him sit on his lap. He hugged him gently and said in a hoarse voice:
"I'm sorry that I missed you for so many years in this world and owe you so many happy birthdays."
Tao Xi's vision was completely blurred. He wanted to say, "You are not sorry for me," but he still couldn't speak. He choked violently, trying hard to hold back tears, and could only shake his head desperately.
Lin Qinhe's eyes turned completely red. He hugged Tao Xi and gently kissed the corner of his eyes, feeling a hot tear on his lips.
It was still snowing heavily outside the window, silently covering up all the clutter in the world, just like the heavy snow that covered the middle of the mountain seventeen years ago.
But the snow will melt one day, and the sun will eventually rise, and then it will be a new and bright world again.
"Tao Xi, I'll take you home, okay?"
Tao Xi couldn't hold back any longer, and the tears that had been accumulating in his eyes for a long time suddenly rolled down. He wanted to answer "OK", his lips trembled as he opened, but he could only make a mouth shape.
He finally let go of the photo album, hugged Lin Qinhe's neck tightly, buried his head in his shoulder, and burst into tears. Like all children, he cried without any restraint, choking and gasping, letting his tears wet the clothes on Lin Qinhe's shoulders, as if the tears would never stop flowing.
All the hands of the clock pointed to twelve o'clock. It was another snowy Christmas. The sweet smell of cake wafted through the quiet living room. Colorful balloons and bright lights shone like the Milky Way behind them.
Lin Qinhe hugged the person in his arms tightly, closed his eyes, and said softly:
"Happy birthday to you, my sweetheart, and Merry Christmas."
Since he has lost the name that implies great blessings and happiness, he will spend his whole life blessing others.
I wish his baby Taoxi happiness every day.
The author has something to say:
Sorry I'm late, I've been busy adding 555
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