Chapter 52. Summer ends, and we are not redeemed yet.
Autumn in Beijing is so short that it's only in late autumn, or even around the time of winter, that Ruan Tang belatedly realizes that summer is truly over. Born on the beginning of winter, Ruan Tang, contrary to her norm, hates winter.
She hates the cold wind blowing in through her collar before she can even curl her neck when she goes out, hates the cold water that makes her jump up in place the moment she turns on the faucet when taking a shower, and hates having dry and mottled nose and forehead after applying layer upon layer of expensive creams and essences and then putting on makeup the next day. She is an absolute summer lover.
In the past, Ruan Tang always felt that all activities should be stopped in winter, especially dating. When love is deep and each other peels off layer after layer of disguise, it is a particularly old-fashioned and boring thing to finally see each other's thermal underwear.
On the day of the beginning of winter, when Ruan Tang got up, she saw a new set of lavender thermal underwear at the end of the bed, and she was a little amused and confused.
She stood up, walked past the thermal underwear and went straight to the closet to pick out a slim knitted skirt, but stopped halfway through putting it on.
She rubbed her hair, took off her knitted skirt, turned around, picked up the thermal underwear and put it on, chose a loose knitted sweater and pencil pants to wear on the outside, picked up her cell phone from the bed and walked out.
As usual, Xu Wei transferred 5200 and added a note saying happy birthday. Ruan Tang smiled and clicked to confirm the payment, replying: Thank you, my sponsor.
As soon as she sent the message, the other party called to ask her what her plans were for the day.
Ruan Tang looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and suddenly noticed the edge of her thermal underwear peeking out from the collar of her sweater. She sighed helplessly, tucked her underwear in and adjusted her collar as she replied, "Only children celebrate birthdays; adults only make money."
"Tsk, I'm really not used to your transformation from a wealthy woman to a sober worker."
"I used to pretend to be rich, but now I am truly sober. I would rather see the numbers on my bank card increase than my age. As long as I don't turn 28, I will always be 27."
Hearing that she was in good condition, Xu Wei hung up the phone and continued to work on the recording.
But do you really not care?
There is no new information in the conversation with my mother in the pinned dialog box, which is understandable, as morning is her busiest time of the day.
Ruan Tang opened the chat box with Feng Xue again. The previous message was still from last night when he asked her what she wanted for lunch today. He had prepared it in advance and put it in the refrigerator.
Since she was a child, she has always looked forward to her birthday, because the blessings from people around her made her feel that she was welcomed and blessed to come into this world. She cares so much about the meaning of birthdays that she thinks she is a romantic.
Every year on this day, her mother would make a few dumplings and cook them in noodles as a celebration for her, and she would also give her five to ten yuan in pocket money. When she grew up, the men she dated would also generously swipe their credit cards on this day to make her smile.
Later, a boyfriend who worked in the Internet industry and achieved financial freedom by cashing in options asked her if she would be angry if he didn't prepare a gift. Ruan Tang smiled generously and answered gently while scrolling through her phone: Of course not, your appearance is the best blessing for me. Dear, do you think this bag I've recently fallen for is suitable for me?
As a result, the other party only heard the first half of the sentence. As expected, his mother did not prepare a gift, but wrote a program and told her that this program could reply to her messages on his behalf. In this way, when he is busy, this clone gift can also chat with her on his behalf at any time.
Ruan Tangxiao still accepted his clone program with a smile, and broke up with him shortly afterwards.
She gradually realized that her romanticism was more or less linked to material things.
In the evening, when the coffee shop closed, Feng Xue came to the store and said mysteriously that he wanted to take her somewhere. She waited cautiously with her remaining expectations, but she didn't expect him to park his motorcycle in front of the door of the video game arcade.
When Feng Xue, wearing a leather jacket and jeans, took her hand and walked in, Ruan Tang felt as if she was back in middle school and was in love with a bad boy.
The difference was that the man in front of him didn't have a cool, indifferent look on his face. Instead, he was filled with excitement, and his eyes looked sparkling. He exchanged a bag full of game coins and pulled Ruan Tang towards a row of claw machines.
"Do you like this?" Ruan Tang asked with a frown. The subtext was that I don't like this. She doesn't like anything with low certainty, nor does she like the feeling of igniting hope and then facing disappointment. Isn't there enough disappointment in life?
Feng Xue nodded and said: I don’t really like it, I’m just very curious.
Ruan Tang's frown deepened. She raised her chin and surveyed the row of claw machines, then continued, "Isn't it just an ordinary claw machine? At most... the dolls inside aren't too ugly."
"You are the birthday girl today! Come, lend me some good luck." Feng Xue smiled and squeezed Ruan Tang's hand and rubbed it in her palm, then turned around and began to concentrate on operating the joystick.
At first, Ruan Tang pinched her palm with a little dissatisfaction, but then she watched Feng Xue manipulate the joystick to grab the doll that was getting closer and closer to the exit. She gradually became involved in the situation and grabbed the corner of his clothes to direct him.
After getting only one Hello Kitty from a whole bag of game coins, Feng Xue stuffed the doll into Ruan Tang's hand and said with a grin: You see, as long as you maintain a positive attitude of pursuit, good luck will always come.
Ruan Tang said with a sad face: "Huh? My good fortune is just this doll? And I lost over a hundred yuan."
Seeing that she was about to cry, Feng Xue hurriedly held her face and rubbed it. Ruan Tang's face looked like a pink peach when he held it like this, and she looked unhappy. He coaxed her: No, no, I heard that in order to retain customers, merchants set parameters for the machines in advance. Every few times they fail, there will be one successful catch. It has nothing to do with luck. Your good luck is still there.
Ruan Tang glanced at the claw machine next to her. A boy walked up to it, carrying a transparent backpack with the arcade logo printed on it. The backpack was filled with all kinds of dolls of different sizes. He grabbed the trophy with the first operation.
She turned around to look at Feng Xue, only to see the big man in front of her scratching his head a little embarrassedly and saying: Wow, it seems that we have used up all our bad luck, but we can't give up. Wait, I will go and exchange some more coins.
Ruan Tang stopped him, pinched Hello Kitty's innocent face, and asked unhappily: Is this your birthday present for me?
Feng Xue smiled mysteriously and said: Since you don’t want to catch the doll, let’s go to the next stop.
The two of them were standing on the subway during the evening rush hour. Feng Xue tried her best to use her arms to create some space for Ruan Tang, but her hair was still flying in the air due to static electricity and was carried by the passengers passing by.
Ruan Tang's face was full of black lines, and he asked: Why do we have to take the subway?
Feng Xue frowned and replied: Public transportation cannot provide a direct route to one stop, so this will give you more time to fully experience the tension and anticipation for the upcoming date.
Even though it is the beginning of winter, Houhai is still bustling at night. The whole street is filled with various types of music coming from bars and nightclubs, blending into a unique winter night tune.
Feng Xue pulled Ruan Tang to buy a second ice cream at half price. She couldn't help sighing in her heart, but adhering to the traditional concept of being there since she was already there, she still licked a few bites out of courtesy.
Feng Xue smiled, and awkwardly reached out and wiped the corner of her mouth, scolding her: You're like a little child.
Ruan Tang clearly heard the young couple next to her gasp at the same time. She wanted to bury her face in the ice cream. She leaned close to Feng Xue and asked in a low voice: Have you been using too much cooking oil recently and are you being smoked by the fumes?
Feng Xue's smile froze, and like a bewildered child, not caring about the ice cream stuck to the corners of his mouth, he quickly proposed the next plan: "You don't like it here either? Then let's go to the next stop."
He took her to a cartoon selfie shop in a nearby shopping mall, picked out a cartoon princess crown headband for Ruan Tang, and chose a lion headgear that showed his face for himself, and said: Let's cosplay Beauty and the Beast.
At first, Ruan Tang refused.
But what woman can resist the magic of selfies? After taking two sets of photos, she was too lazy to think about what happened today and started posing in front of the camera. Feng Xue played the role of a pervert with a doting smile on his face.
By the last set, Ruan Tang could no longer think of any pose, so she simply winked and made a scissors hand gesture. When the countdown was at the last second, Feng Xue suddenly came over and kissed her on the face.
This scene was recorded by the camera.
After taking the photos, Ruan Tang said she was thirsty and asked Feng Xue to buy something to drink, while she stayed to choose the photos to be developed.
He hurried back with a glass of juice in his hand. Seeing Ruan Tang already standing at the door, he quickly asked, "Are they all done? Did you get a print on the last one?"
"Ah? Which one?" Ruan Tang asked knowingly.
"That one." Feng Xue said as she pouted at her, then looked around guiltily to make sure no one saw what she had just done.
Ruan Tang took the juice, put all the photos on his chest, and said: No, you can only choose six, and I didn’t choose that one.
"Ah...oh," Feng Xue smiled and lowered her head to hide the flash of disappointment. She flipped through the photos without looking at her and nodded: These are also good, you look really good.
"Of course," Ruan Tang took a big sip of juice, walked around him and asked: Where are we going next?
Feng Xue turned around and caught up with her, put his arm around her shoulders and said: Let's go to the hotpot bar you told me several times that the queue is very long. I made a reservation in advance, so now is a good time to go.
As the saying goes, there is nothing that can't be solved by a hot pot meal. If there is, then two meals will do.
Ruan Tang looked at the red oil bubbling in the nine-square grid, and finally let go of the romance in her heart and accepted the realism before her.
Feng Xue drank a large bottle of sour plum soup after just a few bites because of the spiciness. Ruan Tang frowned as she looked at his red face and asked: Why don’t you ask the waiter for a bowl of water so you can rinse it before eating?
"No, no, just eat yours." Feng Xue waved his hand quickly. As he spoke, he was suddenly choked by the chili pepper and coughed violently a few times. Ruan Tang, who was sitting opposite him, quickly stood up and walked over to him, handing him water and tissues.
Seeing Feng Xue's eyes moist and cheeks flushed from choking, Ruan Tang suddenly smiled helplessly, sat beside him, patted his back gently, and said: I think you are very much like someone.
"Who?" Feng Xue asked in a muffled voice, "The love of your life?"
Ruan Tang shook her head and said: Like your ex-wife, Sun Yihuan.
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