The place for dinner was a western restaurant with a very nice style. I was quite satisfied with this blind date. It was better than the Chongqing hotpot I had last time. After the meal, I don’t remember what I ate, but I did drink two large bottles of sour plum soup, which was really spicy!
"I know you can't eat spicy food, so I chose this place on purpose. How about that? Isn't that nice of you?"
"Enough, enough." I agreed.
When we arrived, our blind date had already arrived. We went to the table according to the table number and saw two men sitting there. One was wearing a neat suit and looked like a professional elite, and the other was wearing simple casual clothes. When he saw us, he raised his head with bright eyes.
"Hello, I'm Qin Lang, and this is my friend Mo Zhun." The man in the suit stood up and introduced himself a little stiffly. He looked at me and then at the senior sister, and extended his hand to her, "Hello, Miss Wang."
The senior student winked at me, meaning that this boy has some good eyesight!
Although I have never been on a blind date, after accompanying my senior schoolmates on blind dates so many times, I have already been familiar with the old routine of blind dates. It is nothing more than introducing yourself, having a meal, and after eating, if you are interested, you can make an appointment to watch a movie together. If you are not interested, you can leave your contact information and then go home.
However, the meal was indeed awkward and boring. The man in the suit kept talking about his work and life, and the senior student responded lazily to save face for the introducer. I kept my head down, eating the food on the plate. When there was nothing to eat, I drank drinks and watched the endless stream of people outside.
I should be thankful that the man in the suit chose a window seat.
Occasionally, when I looked back, I would see the man named Mo Zhun looking at me with interest , which made me feel inexplicably embarrassed.
There were people coming and going in the downtown shopping mall on weekends. I gave each of them a storyline, such as a rebellious girl running away from home, an infatuated boy waiting for his lover, a strict father queuing up to buy ice cream for his daughter... Thinking of some funny plots made me feel better and I couldn't help laughing.
Every time at this time, I would secretly glance at the senior student and the man in the suit. He was still talking excitedly and she was yawning continuously.
"Su Bei, I'm going crazy." The senior student sent a message.
When I was about to reply, I saw a familiar figure outside the window. I stood up in a panic and said to the senior sister, "I have something to do. I'll go out for a while."
I stumbled out of the restaurant amid their surprised gazes and stood under the circular lobby of the mall. I looked around for the familiar figure, but found nothing.
I sat down on a children's chair nearby in disappointment, buried my face in my hands, and repeated the name over and over again in my mind.
Yu Xia... Yu Xia... Yu Xia...
Is it because I miss you so much that I have an illusion? How could you appear here... How could you appear in my life again by such a coincidence?
After I left without saying goodbye, we were destined to never meet again.
"Miss, I see you are alone too. Can you watch a movie with me?"
I looked up and saw the man named Mo Zhun smiling at me. Seeing his smile, I felt much better. He was different from the rigid and strict men in suits. He had a sense of casualness and ease. The casualness that made me feel relaxed could make me feel relaxed.
More importantly, the way his eyes light up when he sees something he likes is very much like Sheng Yinuo.
Perhaps it is because of this image that I don’t hate this man.
"you also……"
"I almost fell asleep watching your friend yawning non-stop. I was dragged here by my colleagues, and I just happened to get a call and ran away like you."
"I'm not..." I don't know how to explain my departure. Since he said it was an escape, then it was an escape!
"We're both wanderers in this world, so why don't we go watch a movie together?" Mo Zhun suggested again.
I couldn't find a reason to refuse him, so I watched a movie with him in the end. It was a newly released popular comedy, and the male and female protagonists were so funny that I was exhausted. When Mo Zhun sent me home, I fell asleep in his car, and it was dark when I woke up.
"Are you awake?" he asked with a smile.
"Did I sleep for a long time?" The movie ended at around 4 o'clock, so even if there was a traffic jam along the way, it wouldn't be dark. "Sorry to have delayed your time."
"Has anyone ever told you that you look cute when you sleep?"
"Cute?" Was he indirectly saying that I was bad at sleeping? I subconsciously touched the corner of my mouth and breathed a sigh of relief when I confirmed that there was no saliva. "Thank you for inviting me to the movie today and sending me back. I'll treat you to dinner another day."
"Generally speaking, 'some other day' is an excuse when people don't want to see each other again next time." Mo Zhun smiled mysteriously, as if he saw through everything.
I was stunned when I heard him say that. It was indeed a polite remark, but I didn't expect this man to be so serious. I felt a little embarrassed and didn't know how to respond. I thought for a long time before I finally said, "How about...you set a time?"
"You're such an interesting person." He chuckled, thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we have dinner and a movie together on the 31st, and then count down to the New Year together."
I was just thinking about refusing, but when I remembered that I was dragged by my senior schoolmate to go to a bar with a bunch of strangers to party on New Year's Day in the past two years, and the deafening music gave me a headache, I changed my mind. Perhaps Mo Zhun's invitation was a good excuse to escape.
I nodded: "Okay, then we'll make an appointment then."
"Okay." Just as I was about to get out of the car, he took out a piece of clothing from the back seat and stuffed it into my hand: "You don't have much to wear, so put this on first. I just got it back from the dry cleaners."
"Thank you." Thinking that we would meet again, I didn't shy away from refusing, but generously put on his clothes and got out of the car. The temperature difference between day and night was huge, and as soon as I stood outside the car, I shivered and subconsciously wrapped my clothes tightly. When I turned around to say goodbye to him, he leaned on the car window and looked at me like a child.
I thought of Sheng Yinuo again. He always liked to lie down like this and look at me, saying, "Su Bei, you are so beautiful."
Tears filled my eyes instantly. After so many years, I still easily shed tears for the people and things in the past. In order not to be discovered by Mo Zhun, I thanked him briefly and hurried upstairs.
When I got home, my mother had already come back from get off work. Seeing me wearing men's clothes, she was a little surprised: "Do you have a boyfriend?"
I don’t know how to explain my relationship with Mo Zhun. Is he a colleague of my senior’s blind date?
"Not a boyfriend, just an ordinary friend."
"Generally speaking, ordinary friends are extraordinary friends." said my mother experiencedly.
"Mom...you've been looking at too much of your circle of friends." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Have you had dinner yet?"
"No."
"This boy should think about it again. He didn't even treat you to dinner." Mom walked into the kitchen while complaining, then turned to me and said, "Your senior came to see you this afternoon and said that your phone was turned off and she couldn't contact you."
I took out my cell phone and took a look. It turned out that it had run out of battery and turned off without me noticing. I would have to charge it soon and face the "bombardment" from my senior sister again.
Sure enough, when I turned on my phone, a call from my senior schoolmate and dozens of notification messages popped up, almost freezing my phone. I was just about to reply to her WeChat message when she called me.
"Su Bei! You actually abandoned me and ran away! And your phone was turned off. I couldn't even ask you to save me!" The senior student yelled over there, "You are so disloyal! You are so disloyal! Do you know that I was tortured by that man in a suit? I couldn't leave even if I wanted to!"
"Ah?" "Whenever I wanted to leave, he would start a new topic to stop me from talking..." The senior sister no longer had the arrogance she had when she first answered the phone. She was a little weak. "That meal took three hours. I was going crazy. If my old lady hadn't called me suddenly to ask about my condition, and I had lied that my grandfather was sick and had to go to the hospital, I really wouldn't have been able to leave."
"Did you get beaten?" She actually dared to say that her father was sick when answering her mother's call. I seemed to imagine her aunt's killer look, and I felt creepy.
"Su Bei, I noticed that you don't talk much, but you are actually a bad guy!" The senior said, "Are you expecting me to get beaten? I'm telling you, no, you're disappointed, right?"
I could almost see her smug look even through the phone.
Sometimes I think, it would be nice to be happy every day like my senior . I also tried very hard to be happy, but in the end it was in vain.
My happiness disappeared after Sheng Yinuo left me and after I left Yu Xia, and I don’t know how to get it back.
I had thought about meeting you thousands of times, but I never expected it would be a reunion like this.
On December 31st, Mo Zhun drove his little Audi and arrived downstairs of my house at 5pm. My mother, who was worried that I would not be able to get married, stood on the balcony on the third floor and watched me for a long time. Finally, she sighed and said, "Young man, you are good-looking. Will anyone like you?"
Since we moved away from our hometown, my mother and I have become closer, and her words have become more and more vicious. I have to admit that these are words that only a mother can say.
I changed and went downstairs. Mo Zhun was wearing a Burberry navy trench coat, a black sweater underneath, and a classic plaid scarf. He looked like the male lead in a popular Korean drama some time ago. I remember a few times when I was eating, my senior student insisted on pulling me to watch it, and wiped my sleeves of tears.
He was a good-looking man, tall and well-dressed. No wonder my senior sister was heartbroken when she heard that I had made an appointment with him on New Year's Eve, and praised me for having good taste in finding a good man. No matter how I explained, she was convinced that I had an affair with Mo Jun.
"You... are dressed very... festively today." After looking me over, he used a word that made me laugh and cry.
"Thank you... for the compliment." He originally went out wearing black clothes, but when he reached the door, his mother pulled him back and made him change into a red jacket, which looked like a big red envelope.
He prepared a very detailed process for this meeting, including what time to arrive at where, what time to start eating, what time to start watching the movie, what to do after the movie, and how to make me feel fulfilled and not sleepy before the countdown to twelve...
I listened to him describing the entire process in amazement. I couldn't help but admire how attentive this man was. He even reserved time for me to daydream or to act coquettishly and eat a dessert, ensuring that I was satisfied with every step.
If he were a Taobao seller, I would definitely give him a full five-star rating and add a 100-word positive review with pictures.
My senior often said that life is full of surprises and accidents. You don’t know when God will reward you with a sweet gift, and you don’t know when he will slap you in the face.
When I saw Yu Xia, I was thinking, did God give me a date or a slap in the face?
"Yu Xia?" He followed Mo Zhun into the cinema and called out to the man in the front row before he sat down.
These two simple words made me shudder and break out into a sweat. I clenched my fists tightly, trying to stay calm, telling myself that maybe it was just a coincidence of names, and he wouldn't appear in this city.
"Mo Zhun, you're here to watch a movie too, alone?"
His voice undoubtedly threw another huge stone into my already confused heart. My heart was beating violently and its rumbling sound filled my ears.
"No, I'm with my friend. Let me introduce them to you." Mo Zhun turned his body to the side, exposing me completely to Yu Xia. "This is Su Bei, the girl I mentioned to you. Su Bei, this is my colleague and good friend Yu Xia."
"Su Bei..." Yu Xia looked up at me in astonishment, his eyes misty. He stood up, stretched out his right hand to me, and said, "Hello, I'm Yu Xia."
"Hello, I'm Su Bei." I mechanically stretched out my right hand. I thought he must have felt the wetness on my palm. What would he think?
I didn't care at all about what the movie was about. Throughout the whole movie, I was secretly looking at the boy sitting in the front row, or to be exact, the man.
He has lost the childishness of youth and the arrogance of youth. He has matured a lot, and there are many things in his eyes that I cannot understand.
I have so many questions about him. Why did he come to this city? Is he doing well now? How are he and Yan Anyan doing? Are they married? Or are they going to get married soon?
My head is about to explode with all the questions. I really want to rush up to him, grab his collar and ask him all the questions.
Then what?
After asking, what next?
I know the reason why he came to this city, I know he is living a good life, I know he is with Yan Anyan or broke up, I know he is married or about to get married, and then what?
What should I do then? Just say congratulations?
From the moment I chose to leave without saying goodbye, we... were no longer that close. Maybe it's good like this now. He and I can talk because we are both Mo Zhun's friends, that's all.
As for friendship and love, they have nothing to do with us anymore.
This is fine, I told myself.
However, the severe pain in my chest was denying all this.
After the movie ended, Mo Zhun felt sorry for Yu Xia being alone and wanted to drag him along with us no matter what. There were still two hours until twelve o'clock, and after much discussion, we decided to find a shop to sit down and have a dessert and drink a cup of coffee.
"Su Bei, what would you like to drink?" Mo Zhun asked me when ordering.
"Whatever. I'm not picky."
"How about a cappuccino? Girls seem to like this." Mo Zhun was about to order when he was interrupted by Yu Xia.
"She doesn't drink..." Yu Xia stopped talking hastily after realizing that she had said something wrong. "Drinking coffee is not good for a girl's skin. Let's order a glass of freshly squeezed juice!"
He also remembered that I didn't like coffee, especially the cloyingly sweet cappuccino.
But Yu Xia, we have all changed over the years.
"Give me an American coffee, less ice." I said to the waiter, avoiding Yu Xia's surprised look.
" Where's Yu Xia? What would you like to drink?" Mo Zhun asked as he flipped through the menu. "Wine?"
"I drove here. Do you want me to get arrested? Give me an American coffee too!" Yu Xia said.
"Oh, right. You just bought a car last month." Mo Zhun closed the menu, ordered himself a latte, turned to me and said, "You know what? Yu Xia is a very capable person. He bought a car less than half a year after he started working here. He is also looking for a house recently."
"You have a car too!" I answered with a smile. Every word I said was a torment for me. I had to try hard not to look at Yu Xia and not to pay attention to every detail about him.
"My car was bought by my grandfather. It's not my own ability. I feel ashamed to say it!" Mo Zhun pouted, "If I had Yu Xia's work ability, my grandfather would be so happy that he would jump for joy."
"Don't praise me at your own expense."
"Oh, by the way, my colleagues are saying that you are looking for a wedding house. So, are you planning to get married?"
When I heard the word "marriage", my ears pricked up, afraid of missing every little detail.
Yu Xia lowered her head, flipping through the menu that no longer needed to be read, and answered ambiguously: "Who knows!"
"Boy, why are you pretending? With such a gentle and beautiful girlfriend, I'm afraid you must be hiding at home and laughing secretly, right?" Mo Zhun joked.
I still feel heartache, and I still care a lot. The five years between us are endless longing for me, but what does it mean to him, to him who is about to get married? Is it better to miss each other than to see each other?
It turns out that the only person who has not changed from the beginning to the end is me, and the only one who can't let go is me.
The two grown men were chatting about work and the future. Mo Zhun was afraid of ignoring me, so he asked about some things about me. Every time he mentioned the word "past", my heart felt like it was pricked by a needle and it hurt so much.
Mo Zhun is a careful person. He noticed that I avoided the topic and stopped asking. Most of the time, I was a quiet listener, listening to them talk about everything and hearing them mention topics that touched my wounds.
It is said that time is the best medicine to heal wounds. The moment I met Yu Xia again, I found that even though time has passed, my wounds are still bleeding.
"It's almost twelve o'clock! The countdown is about to begin!" Someone in the store suddenly shouted, and everyone stood up and rushed out excitedly.
Having waited all night for this moment, the three of us naturally went out.
In the crowded central square, everyone looked up at the big clock in the middle. I heard that the other side of the river was already filled with salutes, and when the clock struck twelve, the city would be filled with a scene of brilliant fireworks.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1——"
I shouted along with the crowd, and after the last shout, "bang!" the cannon shot into the sky. The brilliant light illuminated everyone's smiling faces. Cheers and shouts mixed into one, and there were even couples who hugged and kissed excitedly, oblivious to everything around them.
It was clearly a happy moment, but I felt like crying as I stood next to Yu Xia.
"Su Bei, wake up quickly. You are not allowed to sleep. If you doze off again, I will use a toothpick to prop up your eyes ."
"Hey, Yu Xia, you are not allowed to sleep either. Both of you have to count down with me!"
"Su Bei, why did you fall down again?"
"Yu Xia——"
In the past ten years before five years ago, every New Year's Eve was spent with Sheng Yinuo's nagging. Yu Xia and I were both sleepy, and he was always busy, shaking this and pushing that. A few times, he couldn't help falling asleep. The next morning, we woke up with our legs spread out to the adults' scolding, and then we had to listen to Sheng Yinuo's nagging for half an hour before we could eat breakfast.
At that time we always disliked his noise, but now we can’t wait to listen to him for a few more hours.
On New Year's Eve of this year, Yu Xia was still by my side, but Sheng Yinuo...had already entered the sixth year since he left.
"Su Bei, are you crying?"
"No, it's just that the fireworks are too bright and it hurts my eyes."