"Grandpa, we've said this dozens of times already."
"Yes, even hundreds of times wouldn't feel like too many. We should take care of ourselves, even though we're thousands of miles apart."
The two talked quietly ahead, while Zhang Shouyi followed behind, desperately wanting to get home so he could spend more time with Hongmei. Rationally, he supported her going out, but emotionally, he didn't want to let go. The countdown had begun, yet his anxiety only grew stronger.
It took them more than half an hour to get home. Xiao Li and Chengzi had been waiting outside. When they saw the three of them walking back, Xiao Li was speechless, while Chengzi chuckled to himself.
Xiao Li thought to himself that this unreliable matter must have been the idea of the two people mentioned earlier, coupled with the leader's indulgence. Cheng Zi, however, was quite happy. He believed that this unreliable matter must have been handled by the old leader, and this time he would let Xiao Li experience it for himself.
The three entered the house, and Xiao Li took the keys from Zhang Shouyi to get the car.
Aunt Li had already heated the bathwater, especially since Gu Chuanming felt greasy all over and wanted to take a bath. Zhang Shouyi was slightly better off than him.
Zhang Hongmei had just come out of the bathroom when she saw Zhang Shouyi standing to the side waiting for her.
"Brother Zhang, aren't you going to sleep?"
Zhang Shouyi looked at Zhang Hongmei with sorrow, "My wife is leaving me tomorrow. Although she is still young and is my wife in name only, she is still my wife. Why doesn't she say a single heartfelt word to me?"
Zhang Hongmei grinned awkwardly, realizing she had genuinely overlooked this identity.
"Um, Brother Zhang, please come inside." Zhang Hongmei didn't know what to say. She had no choice but to go inside first to ease the awkward atmosphere. She walked in front, with Zhang Shouyi following behind her, his eyes narrowed.
"Brother Zhang, please have a seat. I'll go make two cups of milk powder. Just a moment, it'll be ready soon."
Zhang Shouyi took off his shoes and sat on the couch, crossing his legs, which meant he was waiting.
Zhang Hongmei placed two glasses of milk on the table, took off her shoes, climbed onto the couch, and sat opposite Zhang Shouyi, the two facing each other.
Zhang Hongmei held the cup in both hands and said, "Brother Zhang, you should drink too. Drinking a glass of milk at night helps you sleep."
Zhang Shouyi mimicked her gesture, holding his cup. "Hongmei, I thought I could accept you leaving me for three years, but maybe I overestimated myself. Now I regret agreeing to let you go abroad." Zhang Shouyi's face was full of sarcasm.
"Brother Zhang, three years will pass quickly, in the blink of an eye."
Zhang Shouyi didn't speak, only wore a fake smile.
Zhang Hongmei didn't know what to say, since anything she said felt like empty words.
Zhang Shouyi drank the milk in one gulp, stood up, stepped over the table, sat down next to Zhang Hongmei, picked her up, and placed her on his lap.
"Let go of me, or the milk will spill."
"Then you'd better finish it quickly." Zhang Hongmei had no choice but to sit in his lap and finish the milk. Zhang Shouyi took the cup and put it together with his own.
He wrapped his arms tightly around Zhang Hongmei, holding her captive in his embrace. His chin rested on her shoulder. "Hongmei, how about we don't go?"
“Brother Zhang, you shouldn’t say such childish and irresponsible things.”
"What responsibility do I have? My own wife is leaving me?"
Then he pleaded in a low voice, "Hongmei, let's not go anymore, let's not go out. If it doesn't work out, I'll just work hard for a few more years. What's the big deal? Even if I'm tired, I can still see you often."
Zhang Hongmei stopped talking, knowing that Zhang Shouyi was just agitated and would figure things out on his own soon. He was a rational person, and although he was being impulsive, it wasn't his true nature.
Zhang Shouyi knew he was being unreasonable, but he just wanted to do it this way, just wanted to act recklessly for once.
More than ten minutes passed like this. Zhang Hongmei struggled a bit, and Zhang Shouyi let go of her dejectedly. At this moment, he really hated himself for being so rational.
Zhang Hongmei slid off his lap. "Brother Zhang, we can keep in touch often."
Zhang Shouyi lowered his head. "What if the ring can't be used? My phone can't make calls overseas."
"But there's still hope! I'll leave you a note every day while I'm on the ship. Even though we can't talk on the phone, we can still find out how the other is doing."
"I hope it can be like this. I've even thought about giving up everything to be by your side, but even so, my status prevents me from leaving the country."
"I told you, three years will pass quickly." Zhang Hongmei felt a bittersweet feeling, but also a little sweet.
"Look, we haven't been together for the past few years, so just pretend I'm in Liujiatun."
“That’s different. I know that if I wanted to, I could drop what I was doing and get to you in a short time. But this is different. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t get to you.”
Normally things are fine when nothing's wrong. But when something really happens, I'm just too far away to help.
"No, I promise I'll be fine. I won't get sick, and someone will take care of my food and drink. What else could there be?"
Even if something unexpected does happen, I'm capable of handling it. Don't worry, really don't worry, I can do it, I can manage.
You know I have the ability to protect myself; surprise attacks are my winning formula. No matter how strong the opponent is, I will always have a chance to escape.
Besides, I'm just an ordinary international student. Even if someone was monitoring me at first, my life became regular and I didn't do anything unusual, so who would pay attention to me?
Don't worry, I'll only secretly pass you notes or important things at night. I don't use rings at all otherwise.
I know how to protect myself; you have to believe I'll come back safely.
Zhang Shouyi suddenly curled up and lay down, resting his head on Zhang Hongmei's lap, his face upward, staring at Zhang Hongmei with unblinking eyes, from which he could see her beautiful chin.
Zhang Hongmei lowered her eyelids and looked at the handsome man resting his head on her lap. He was elegant and refined, and all the beautiful words used to describe a man could be used to describe him.
She reached out and touched his face. "Brother Zhang, I am one of the people you can trust the most."
Zhang Shouyi reached out and placed his hand on the back of Zhang Hongmei's hand, ignoring her attempt to pull away. "Yes, you and Dad are the people I trust most in the world. But trust is trust, and I still can't help but worry about you. I worry about whether you're feeling unwell during the change of seasons, whether you're happy out there, and whether you're taking good care of yourselves."
“Brother Zhang, we also care about you, and that’s good enough. We care about each other, and that makes us feel hopeful about the future, and that makes time seem to pass too slowly.”
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