The first snow in Paris
"Oh, Mr. Lu, your business is booming and has a strong momentum. How come you, such a busy person, have time to meet with me?"
Before seeing him, his voice was heard first; Lu Zhize's pretentious voice rang out behind Lu Zhiyan.
Lu Zhiyan looked at Lu Zhize, who pulled out a chair and sat down in front of him, and said with a slight smile, "You flatter me."
Lu Zhize, whom Lu Zhiyan hadn't seen for three years, didn't look much different. Perhaps he had experienced more in those three years and seen more people and things. His obvious hypocrisy and smugness had lessened a bit. But no matter how he changed, he was still just as disgusting to Lu Zhiyan.
Lu Zhize reached for the coffee on the table, took a sip, and then hummed in agreement: "What, are you here today to thank me? If you hadn't transferred all your shares to me three years ago and left the company for France, how could you have achieved what you have today? In the end, you really should thank me properly."
They're still as shameless as ever.
"Is that so? In that case, I really have to thank you, my good brother. You really have some skill. For the past three years, there has been something that has been bothering me for a long time. Not long ago, I finally got some clues and leads. Can you help me analyze it and see if my guess is right?"
Lu Zhiyan stared intently at Lu Zhize, her words laced with anger. Lu Zhize, seemingly shocked, waved his hand and said, "I'd like to hear more."
Lu Zhiyan shifted slightly, leaning back in his chair, and said slowly and deliberately, "Was it you who tampered with Song Zian's condition when it suddenly worsened three years ago?"
Lu Zhize looked completely calm, showing no panic or unease at being exposed for his wrongdoing: "I admit it, I did it."
Upon receiving confirmation, Lu Zhiyan flew into a rage. He jumped up from his chair, slammed his hands on the table, bent over, and glared fiercely at Song Zicheng's seemingly harmless face, yelling, "You fucking lunatic! What if something happens to Song Zian? Can you take responsibility?"
Seeing Lu Zhiyan's anger, Lu Zhize laughed inappropriately, as if he had discovered something amusing. He shrugged and defended himself, saying, "I know what I'm doing. I just had someone switch Song Zian's medicine, making his condition worse and requiring surgery immediately. Even if I hadn't done that, he would still have needed surgery. Besides, didn't I already find the doctor and Li Bin?"
He paused for a moment, then laughed even louder: "At the time, I did want to use Song Zi'an to make you hand over all the company's shares. Actually, before I talked to you that day, I didn't have much of a chance of winning, but I really didn't expect that you were so deeply in love with Song Zicheng. You agreed to my conditions without hesitation or thought. Actually, even if you hadn't agreed, I would still have saved him, hahahahaha."
Looking at Lu Zhize's amused and mocking expression, Lu Zhiyan's anger gradually subsided: Fortunately, he's not beyond redemption.
"My dear brother, I never thought that after being smart for thirty years, you would finally be so stupid," Lu Zhize teased.
Looking at the smug look on the man's face, Lu Zhiyan couldn't help but chuckle. He slowly sat back down in his chair, took out a voice recorder from his pocket, and with a light press of a button, the conversation between the two of them was recorded in its entirety.
Upon hearing the first word, Lu Zhize's smile vanished instantly. His face turned grave, and his eyes darkened as he glanced at the recorder before looking at Lu Zhiyan. He said coldly, "What do you mean?"
Lu Zhiyan turned off the recording, picked up the recorder and waved it in front of Lu Zhize, then put it in his pocket. He said with a serious expression, "It's meaningless. It's better to be an upright person. The net of heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it. Do you really think you can do it without anyone noticing? Do you really think you can get away with it?"
"What do you want to do, call the police?" Lu Zhize asked calmly.
Lu Zhiyan angrily tapped the table with his finger: "You should be glad that Song Zian didn't get into trouble, otherwise you would have been in jail long ago. Did you really think you could live so comfortably?" After saying this, he paused for a few seconds and warned in a warning tone: "Clarté Joaillerie can't do without you right now. This recording pen is just to give you a warning and advice. If you want something, go for it honestly and fairly with your own strength. Stop having these crooked thoughts and stop using these crooked methods. I'm warning you, if you do anything immoral again in the future, I will never let you off easily."
In the large, exquisitely decorated private room, only Lu Zhize remained, sitting there in a daze. He stared thoughtfully at Lu Zhiyan's gradually disappearing figure, and then he suddenly laughed out loud. That laugh was not the pretentious, staged laugh of before, but a genuine laugh from the bottom of his heart.
Lu Zhiyan did not intend to tell Song Zicheng about this. The matter was in the past, and the price that should have been paid and shouldn't have been paid had already been paid. There was no need to let Song Zicheng, whose life was getting back on track, get entangled in the pain and unbearable past.
Since he has chosen to start over, he must completely discard all the bad things from the past and greet the infinite possibilities and beauty of the future with a smile. As long as he is by Song Zicheng's side, he will never let such things happen again. His Song Zicheng should live happily, freely, and gracefully.
Although the winter break for senior high school students was late, it finally arrived. Song Zicheng, a senior high school teacher, was not worried about the long-awaited winter break. Instead, his boyfriend, Lu Zhiyan, kept nagging him every day about when they would finally have their break. Song Zicheng got tired of hearing it and eventually started to look forward to the winter break along with Lu Zhiyan.
Lu Zhiyan's anxiety was not without reason; the two had already discussed going to Paris for the winter break.
Three years ago, Song Zicheng and Lu Zhiyan strolled through a small town in Paris. On a whim, Song Zicheng remarked that he really wanted to see Paris in winter. This casual remark was remembered by someone. This trip could have been taken three years ago, but it was delayed until now. Fortunately, it's not too late.
On the afternoon of the first day of their holiday, Song Zicheng dragged his suitcase and took Song Zian on the high-speed train to Beijing. After a good night's sleep, the three of them boarded a plane to France once again.
Returning to this place after three years, it seemed ordinary and unchanged, but in reality, everything was different. The season was different, my state of mind was different, and even though the scenery was the same, it felt somewhat different from before.
When the three arrived at the villa, Aunt Liu, Dong Yue, and Charles were already waiting at the door. They were all very emotional and excited to see each other again.
"Long time no see, Aunt Liu, long time no see, Dr. Dong, long time no see, Charles," Song Zicheng greeted them one by one.
Charles excitedly stepped forward and hugged Song Zicheng, patting him on the shoulder and exclaiming, "It's been two years since I heard 'long time no see'!"
The group was reluctant to part when they met again. They chatted at the dinner table, recounting their experiences and interesting stories from the past few years. There was no awkwardness or distance between them because of the three years of separation. This harmonious atmosphere made Song Zicheng very gratified and touched.
Even the heavens seemed to rejoice at the return of Song Zicheng and Lu Zhiyan, as the unusually late first snow of the year arrived precisely on the night they reached Paris.
At that moment, Song Zicheng had just finished washing up and was standing in front of the French windows looking at the scenery outside that he could hardly remember. Suddenly, something white floated past his eyes and caught his attention. Then, one snowflake after another drifted down from the high and vast sky until they melted into a small puddle of water when they touched the ground.
"What are you looking at so intently? I called you several times but you didn't respond," Lu Zhiyan said as he came out of the bathroom, walked to the window, hugged Song Zicheng's waist, rested his chin on Song Zicheng's shoulder, and asked while gently inhaling the alluring fragrance emanating from him.
"It's snowing," Song Zicheng said.
"Yes, we arrived at just the right time, just in time to see the first snow in Paris."
Song Zicheng seemed slightly lost in thought. After several seconds, he slowly said, "Come with me for a walk."
Although the first snow was late, it came with great force. In the short time it took for the two to change clothes, when they opened the door and went outside, the snowflakes that were originally one or two had turned into a large snowfall. Instead of melting into water stains when they fell to the ground, they had slowly begun to accumulate, as if they were going to turn Paris into a snow-covered, silver-clad world overnight.
Although winter in Paris is cold, it is not as bitterly cold as winter in Beijing. The two wore matching coats that they had just bought from the mall a couple of days ago. The knee-length navy blue coats clearly outlined their superior and slender figures. A gust of cold wind blew, and the drifting snowflakes changed their trajectory with the wind.
"Are you cold?" Lu Zhiyan asked, looking at Song Zicheng's cheeks, which were red from the wind.
"It's not cold."
Although Song Zicheng said that, he sneezed right after he finished speaking. He smiled awkwardly and said, "It's really not cold."
Lu Zhiyan hummed in agreement and, as if by magic, pulled a scarf from his coat pocket. He took a half-step forward, lowered his head, and wrapped the black scarf around Song Zicheng's neck, one loop after another. Finally, he adjusted it with his fingers: "This will be warmer."
Perhaps it was because it was already very late, or perhaps it was because of the cold temperature tonight, there were hardly any people on the street. Within a hundred meters, you could only see Song Zicheng and Lu Zhiyan walking side by side with their fingers intertwined.
The scene seemed familiar. Three years ago, they had strolled through the noisy, rainy streets of Paris in the same way. Today, they were strolling through the quiet, snowy streets of Paris.
In this moment, a line of poetry suddenly came to Song Zicheng's mind, and on the quiet street, one could hear the most sincere and earnest words between the two lovers.
“You know, for the past three years, every winter when it snows, I would look at the snow and silently recite the poem ‘If we can walk together in the snow one day, we can grow old together in this life.’ At that time, I thought that we would probably never have the chance to walk hand in hand in the snow together.”
As soon as Song Zicheng finished speaking, Lu Zhiyan gripped his hand even tighter. Lu Zhiyan's palm was warm, easily dispelling the chill emanating from Song Zicheng.
The two happened to walk into the middle of an empty street. They faced each other and looked into each other's eyes. Lu Zhiyan cupped Song Zicheng's face in his warm hands and said in a very gentle and affectionate tone, "Silly boy, I will spend every winter with you from now on, and I will watch every first snowfall with you."
May we have years to look back on, and grow old together with deep affection.
At this time, Song Zicheng was 23 years old and Lu Zhiyan was 31 years old. The two had not yet lived a third of their lives. Life is only a little over 30,000 days long. The remaining 20,000 days would only make them cherish it even more. Both of them would do their best to create countless beautiful memories between them in the limited time they had.
End of text
October 5, 2025
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