smoking room
1
It started snowing in Changhe City last night, and by this afternoon, heavy snow had covered the entire city.
Lin Ju walked out of the subway security checkpoint carrying a backpack that was taller than her head.
The station attendant chased after her and called out to her several times, but she didn't respond.
She didn't stop until she was stopped by someone. There were a lot of people with colds recently, and the other person was wearing a mask and talking to her.
The security officer pointed at Lin Ju's backpack and said, "Ma'am, we need to check the contents of your bag again."
Lin Ju reacted a little slowly. After four or five seconds, he took off his backpack and followed the staff to recheck.
In the bag was the clay sculpture she had made for the competition. She had won second place, but it was broken by a child during the display.
The child's mother took the child to apologize for a long time and said she would compensate.
Lin Ju didn't ask for compensation, but she felt it was a pity. She collected the broken clay sculptures and put them in her bag, intending to take them back to school to see how to repair them.
The staff opened the bag and checked it carefully again. Only after confirming that there was no problem did they let Lin Ju leave.
The station was outdoors and heavy snow was still falling. It was too cold on the platform and only a few people were standing there. Most of them were crowded in the warm waiting room.
Fortunately, the next car arrived in ten minutes. Lin Ju exhaled a breath, and the hot air accumulated in the minus ten degrees Celsius temperature and instantly turned into icy mist.
The cell phone had been vibrating non-stop since a while ago. Lin Ju found a small glass room with a smoking room label and went in. There were three or four men standing inside, leaning against a trash can and puffing away.
It was warm inside, so she took off her mask and gloves and took out her cell phone to look at it.
Ke Jia sent more than a dozen voice messages. Lin Ju stared at these voice messages, which were all about fifty seconds long, and didn't want to click on them.
She clicked the text button, lit a cigarette, leaned in the corner, took a puff, squinted her eyes, and slowly began to read.
After she took off her mask, everyone in the smoking room focused their attention on her.
She had an extremely beautiful face, long black wavy hair, and very fair skin. Her whole face looked like a red plum blossom painted on the snow by a highly skilled painter.
And now she is using this face to slowly exhale wisps of green smoke, giving the impression of a vixen who is bringing disaster to the country and the people.
She didn't care about other people's eyes. The person who sent her the message was her college boyfriend.
Ke Jia asked her when she would be back. Tomorrow was his birthday, and his family had invited many people. He planned to introduce Lin Ju to them and asked her to come back quickly.
Speaking of this competition, the second place prize is only 1,500 yuan. If Lin Ju needs money, she can ask him. Why does she have to come to Changhe City to participate?
Lin Ju was a girl, and it was so inconvenient for her. She ran over without even saying a word to him.
Anyway, it's just a lot of complaints.
Lin Ju's eyes fell on the five words "like you", and he typed a line of words back, holding the cigarette between his fingers.
"Like me what?"
There was no reply from Ke Jia, and the message "typing" continued for a long time.
Lin Ju felt a little annoyed and typed another line of words, "My car is coming."
She didn't want to continue chatting.
Putting away his phone, Lin Ju shook off the ashes, extinguished the cigarette butt, lit another one, and leaned in a corner in a daze.
The glass door was pushed open from the outside, and cold air rushed in.
Lin Ju was afraid of the cold, so she shivered violently and quickly closed the door.
The smoking room is not big and has two trash cans.
I don’t know if it was a deliberate division of genders, but the men were all crowded on one trash can, and Lin Ju occupied one all by herself.
The person who just walked in paused for a moment and then walked over to Lin Ju.
As the shadows fell, Lin Ju smelled citrus mint amidst the nicotine tar.
She subconsciously looked up and glanced at him lightly.
The man, twice her head tall, was unfazed by the cold. He wore only a black cashmere coat, a white shirt underneath, and a mask. His exposed eyes were perfectly shaped, his skull was full, his forehead smooth, and his nose rested against the mask. If he were a clay sculpture, it would make a good model.
Lin Ju had some occupational diseases, but she was very restrained. After taking a look, she immediately looked away.
The man took off his mask, and the lower half of his face lived up to Lin Ju's expectations.
When Lin Ju was silently memorizing the model's face with her peripheral vision, a black figure blocked her way.
It was a man she didn't know. He stared at Lin Ju nervously and asked haltingly, "Beautiful lady, can you give me your contact information? Can we be friends?"
Lin Ju's expression became focused, as if she was trying to understand what the other person was saying. After a few seconds, a smile suddenly broke out on her beautiful, almost cold face. She lifted her hair, pointed at her ears, and waved her hands to indicate that she could not hear or speak.
That day, she forgot her hearing aid in the hotel room.
The man who was lighting a cigarette next to him seemed to have caught a glimpse of this scene and was slightly stunned and glanced sideways.
Just then, the train approached the station.
Lin Ju put on a mask, carried the enormous backpack, and passed by sideways.
It started snowing again in the gray-blue sky, and the snow flakes floated in as the glass door opened.
Lin Ju trotted into the train and turned around to look.
The wind and snow blocked the view.
It’s a pity for Lin Ju, otherwise I could have taken a few more glances at her.
When she goes back, she also wants to make a head with this shape.
Thinking of this, the man walked into the train a second before the train door closed.
The stuffy carriage was infused with a fresh scent of citrus mixed with mint.
Lin Ju lowered his eyes and sniffed gently.
The train was sparsely populated, with a few people sitting loosely on the seats. The carriage was hot and stuffy, and Lin Ju stood in a corner, pulling her mask down to her chin and taking off her backpack, placing it at her feet.
She raised her head slightly and saw the man standing on the other side with his back to her. He probably felt it was too hot in the carriage, so he took off his coat and hung it on his arm. His white shirt wrapped around his body, and his well-cut trousers covered his long legs.
The body proportions were very good, Lin Ju couldn't help but take a few more glances.
The endless snow scene outside the car window disappeared into the tunnel.
The shadows on the train window were hazy. Lin Ju's face was projected on the glass on the man's side. Her beautiful outline became an embellishment in the dark tunnel.
With a small cushion, the carriage shook, and Lin Ju's backpack rolled over and landed right at the man's feet.
Lin Ju bent down to pick it up, but it swayed again. She staggered forward and fell. A pair of hands supported her.
The moment they looked up, their eyes met, and it was like a heart-pounding scene from an idol drama.
The tunnel came to an end, with snow all around and the sky bright and dazzling.
Lin Ju narrowed her eyes, stood up, and nodded at the man.
The man picked up the backpack at his feet with one hand and handed it to Lin Ju.
Lin Ju took it with both hands, exhaled softly, tilted her head, and smiled brightly.
Many years later, whenever Zhao Xingcan recalled the incident, he could always remember how he felt at that time.
Too bad it's superfluous.
Lin Ju stood back, afraid that the backpack would roll around again, so she just put it on her back.
She was very thin, and carrying such a big bag made her look a little pitiful.
The carriage was very quiet, the distance between stations was very long, the train was rattling along, and the white of the snow scene and the darkness of the tunnel were intertwined.
Because of the contact just now, Lin Ju happened to see the shadow on the opposite car window. She didn't dare to secretly look at the man, and turned sideways, staring out the car window in a daze.
The man got off at the next stop. He put on his coat, rolled up his collar, held his cell phone, and hurried off.
Since Lin Ju couldn't hear the station announcement, she had to pay attention to the arrival information at all times.
When she arrived at her station, the wind outside was blowing snow into the air.
She put on her mask and plunged into the snowy night.
…
Changhe City is a relatively small city and does not have an airport.
Lin Ju got off the bus and took the airport bus. When she arrived at the airport, she was taken to a small room for inspection because of the broken clay sculptures in her backpack.
She now regrets forgetting her hearing aid in the hotel room. It is very troublesome that she can't hear anything.
Although she knew lip reading, most people were wearing masks, which left her helpless.
She gestured with her hands, and the airport staff handed her a piece of paper and a pen. She lifted her hair and explained on the paper.
It took almost twenty minutes before I came out of the room.
After passing security and arriving at the boarding gate, boarding had already begun.
Lin Ju stood at the back of the team and moved forward slowly.
She found her seat with her ticket, took off her backpack, raised her hands above her head, and tried to put the bag into the locker above.
The flight attendant came over to help her, but Lin Ju smiled and shook her head.
After traveling for a long time, I finally felt tired when I sat down.
She closed her eyes and thought of Ke Jia in her messy thoughts.
Just then, her phone vibrated. Lin Ju clicked on it and saw it was a message from Ke Jia.
The other party asked her what time her plane would arrive so that he could pick her up and take her back to school when school started.
As if afraid that she would get angry and refuse, Ke Jia sent another line of words.
Lin Ju, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Please don't be angry, okay?
Lin Ju and Ke Jia were high school classmates. Lin Ju was hard of hearing, and Ke Jia took care of her in every way. He spent three years with her, their carefree youth, a time that always captivates and captivates.
After the college entrance examination, Ke Jia confessed his love to her, and she agreed because she was impressed by Ke Jia's kindness.
But at some point, things between them were no longer the same as before.
Ke Jia no longer treated her equally.
It made her feel like she was more like Ke Jia's property.
Ke Jia would criticize her clothing, interpersonal relationships, and even the major she chose.
She is often belittled and confused.
The sentence Ke Jia mentioned to her most often was, "Lin Ju, after we graduate, we will get married, and you will stay at home and be a full-time mother, and I will support you."
Lin Ju's body was flawed, but her heart was not.
She didn't like being belittled like this, she always felt that she was valuable.
Every time this happened, she would retort, and then they would quarrel, apologize, and reconcile again and again.
This tug-of-war has been going on for four years, over and over again, until now, when graduation is approaching.
Lin Ju is tired.
She stared at the message from Ke Jia and replied, "No thanks, I've already booked a ride."
"Okay. Then be safe and tell me when you get home."
After typing a line of words, Ke Jia added a little bear emoticon making a heart shape with its hands.
Lin Ju turned off her phone.
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