The car stops in Potsdam, the southwestern suburb of Berlin and the capital of Brandenburg.

After checking in to the hotel, the three went to their respective suites.

Lin Li lay on the big bed and flipped through the travel itinerary. The hotel is located next to the famous Sanssouci Palace, a garden built in the 18th century in the German royal palace. On one side of Sanssouci Palace, there is a splendid pavilion called the "Chinese Building".

Xiao Huai's arrangement in this time period is to "handle work emails", and Simon is "artistic creation", so Lin Li is happy.

Walking along the boulevard outside the palace, witnessing the fiery red sunset burning in the sky, the scenery along the road is as beautiful as a huge oil painting, Lin Li couldn't help but take a few landscape pictures and send them to the circle of friends.

Coming out of the China Building, she walked around the nearby commercial plaza, and on the way back to the hotel, she found that she had been moved into a WeChat group called "Hee-Hee-Ha Tour Berlin", and the group owner was Xiao Huai.

Two group messages popped up.

Hsiao: "Honey, it's dinner time, I'll take you to a big meal." ”

Hsiao: "Italian restaurant or Chinese restaurant, which one do you choose?" ”

Lin Li stopped his brisk steps and stared down at the screen of his phone.

The messages were quickly retracted, the group was disbanded, and she received a private message from Xiao Huai: "The speaker is Simon, and he snatched my phone while I was not looking. ”

Lin Li replied, "I guessed, it doesn't matter. ”

Xiao Huai's status was "typing", and after two seconds, she received a verification message: Simon asked to add you as a friend.

She hesitated for a moment, chose to agree, and was then moved into a new WeChat group, the group name was still "Hee-Hee-Ha Tour Berlin", and the group owner became Simon.

Group messages popped up one after another.

Simon: "Little Breeze, my cousin is a bully. ”

Simon: "I said I was going to an Italian restaurant, but he was going to a Chinese restaurant. I asked you to vote, and he refused to hand over your contact information. ”

Simon: "Tell me, who are you rooting for?" ”

At this time, Lin Li returned to the hotel and replied, "Donuts support my stomach, I can't eat them, you eat well." Looking at the time, he added, "I need to get up early tomorrow, I'll go to bed first, good night to both of you." ”

Putting down her phone, she went to the bathroom to take a shower.

When I came out half an hour later, there were many unread messages on my phone, most of which were Simon's warm invitations, and the rest were Xiao Huai's private messages: "Sleeping without dinner is not good for your health." Let's go get something to eat, and you'll come back and go back to sleep? ”

"If you think Simon is too noisy, we can go out alone."

Probably because she didn't speak for a long time, Xiao Huai dialed her phone and rang for thirty seconds.

Lin Li neither called back nor replied to the message, put the phone aside, and lay on his back on the bed.

It's eight o'clock in the evening, the lights are shining, the night is hazy, it's the best time for single men and women to make an appointment, and it's also a dark time when it's easy to get excited about each other if you're not careful. As ordinary friends, you should avoid seeing each other alone at this time.

With her eyes closed, she forced herself to sleep immediately.

However, she couldn't sleep at all, and her mood was a little entangled, which was the taste of gains and losses, as if she wanted to break through some limitations, but she avoided it out of self-preservation.

Tossing and turning for a while, she put her head under the covers.

On the bedside table, the light on the phone screen gradually dims until it is completely black.

*

Lin Li woke up and fell asleep until he was woken up by the alarm clock at half past five in the morning.

After getting up, she sent a message to Xiao Huai: "I fell asleep very early last night, I didn't see your news, I'm sorry." ”

He didn't reply, and she just thought that last night's incident was over completely.

She met Xiao Huai when she checked out at the front desk and greeted her casually: "Good morning, where's Simon?" ”

Xiao Huai's expression was faint: "He painted until late at night, drank a lot of red wine, and couldn't wake up." I had to ask the hotel staff to help him into the car. ”

The temperature dropped suddenly in the second half of last night, and when I walked out of the hotel, the sky was covered in fine snow and the whole city was covered in snow.

Lin Li spread out his palms and caught a few sparkling snowflakes. The biting cold seeped into her skin and spread rapidly, making her shiver with cold.

As soon as she looked up and met Xiao Huai's sight, she smiled awkwardly and walked over to him quickly.

The air conditioner in the car was turned on early, and the air was warm. Lin Li sat in and took off his coat, and Simon was sleeping soundly in the back seat covered with a blanket.

The silver Mercedes started and drove to Berlin.

Xiao Huai didn't speak all the way, and Lin Li didn't deliberately chat. In such a situation, the atmosphere in the car seemed a little dull, and she had to cast her eyes on the windshield.

The snow fell and piled up in a small pile on the glass; With a flick of the wiper, the snowflakes scattered and re-accumulated in a very short time.

She stole a glance at Xiao Huai.

Seeing him staring silently ahead, she could only keep her mouth shut even if she wanted to gossip.

The car entered the Berlin boundary, and the snow stopped.

The sky was dark, there was no morning light, the roads were slippery, the trees on both sides of the streets were bare and the city looked deserted.

Lin Li felt the vicissitudes of history in the former East Germany from this atmosphere, and cleared her throat to find a topic: "I once read a writer's essay describing her traveling from West Berlin to East Berlin, holding a Taiwanese passport and not allowed to cross the border. Guess how she managed to get to East Berlin? ”

Xiao Huai didn't answer, turned on the turn signal, and drove the car into the right lane.

Lin Li said to herself: "The author is very beautiful, and a certain East German officer liked her at a glance, took the initiative to help apply for a temporary transit permit, and personally escorted her through the checkpoint. At the last moment of customs clearance, the officer said to her in English - you are so beautiful. ”

…… There was silence.

Lin Li lowered his eyes and stopped talking.

At this moment, Xiao Huai took over the topic in a very rational tone: "You have watched "Eavesdropping Storm", you should know that the people in East Germany are strictly monitored by the government in their words and deeds, and it is almost impossible for favoritism to happen. ”

Lin Li was stunned.

She was a high school student when she read this essay, and she always thought it was a real love story, and she shed tears about it, never thinking that the plot might be fictional......

The atmosphere suddenly became too quiet, and Xiao Huai asked, "Am I not right?" ”

Lin Libian flattened his mouth: "You have a point. ”

He noticed a subtle change in her tone: "Do you think this story is true?" ”

She was silent.

Xiao Huai glanced back and said lightly: "I can't see it, you are so easy to deceive." ”

Lin Li's face was slightly embarrassed, so he didn't look at him.

She wanted him to smile after listening to the story, but instead of cooperating, he even taunted her.

I don't know what Xiao Huai was thinking in his heart, and then said, "What is the name of the article?" ”

She didn't tell him.

Xiao Huai asked again: "What is the ending of the article?" ”

She looked out the window for a long time before replying, "The last train back to West Berlin separated them." ”

At this point, the silver Mercedes turned into a narrow street and pulled over.

Xiao Huai said: "It's too early now, only this store is open, let's have breakfast here first." ”

Following his line of sight, Lin Pi saw a bakery with a sign in Russian.

The shop is very Russian and offers a wide variety of flatbreads, with different shapes and a strong butter aroma.

Lin Li hadn't eaten a grain of rice since last night, and wanted to try this and that, and finally Xiao Huai helped her order the classic bun (каравай).

Before starting, she looked at Xiao Huai: "This bread is too big, what should I do if I can't finish it?" ”

"You can't finish eating, and I. If I can't finish eating, I'll still have one asleep in the car. ”

She broke a small piece and tasted it slowly with salt and soup. He pulled out his phone, his slender fingers sliding across the screen unhurriedly.

Got to work early in the morning to get your work email? Lin Li reminded: "The soup is going to be cold. ”

Xiao Huai nodded, but dialed a certain phone number, got up and walked out of the store.

He walked a few steps and stood diagonally in front of the car, and Lin Li could observe his every move through the glass window.

The temperature outside was extremely low, and he didn't make small movements such as shivering or shaking his body, but stood motionless. He spent most of his time talking, and only hung up after ten minutes.

When he sat in, he brought a trace of cold breath, Lin Li felt that the air he exhaled was unusually cold, and quickly poured him a bowl of hot soup: "Drink quickly, drink quickly." ”

Her tone was a little anxious. He took the spoon she handed him and said "thank you" in a slow voice.

After breakfast, Simon still didn't wake up, and the two continued to drive towards the center of Berlin.

Lin Li recalled the taste of bread and chatted: "Mr. Ji Xianlin's memoirs in Germany said that he once took a train for seven or eight days, and he relied on the Russian 'big lieba' on the way, and the taste was far inferior to the каравай we ate. ”

Xiao Huai said: "You seem to have read a lot of books related to Germany. ”

"I once wanted to study in Germany, and I read a lot of German-related materials, but unfortunately my grandmother didn't agree."

"Ms. Su disagrees, does it have anything to do with her grandfather's failure to return to China?"

“…… Well. ”

Xiao Huai was silent for a moment: "If you can come to Germany to study, maybe we will get to know each other earlier." ”

When he said this, his voice was slow, gentle and faint, but Lin Li's heart skipped a beat.

"Of course, it's not too late to know each other now, it's just a little regrettable."

She couldn't help but look at him, but she could only see his chiseled side face, unable to capture the look on that face.

Feeling her gaze, he said slowly: "If I could have known you earlier, Ms. Su would not have regrets for the rest of her life." ”

It turned out to be this regret...... Lin Li pursed her lower lip and asked rhetorically, "Germany is so big, how can you meet me?" ”

"You like to travel, and I like to, and we might have a chance to meet on the way."

"It's not that easy."

"You have to believe in the theory of probability."

"Can probability theory tell you which year, day, and region you met me?"

At this moment, Lin Li is completely different from her who usually gets along well, as if she is deliberately playing with him.

He raised the corners of his lips: "Every time you come to Germany, you meet me every time." ”

"The first two were purely coincidental, and it's hard to talk about them later."

"How so?"

Lin Li supported his forehead with his hand and looked at the scenery outside the car window: "I probably won't come to Germany again, I have walked, passed by, seen it, and I am already satisfied." ”

Xiao Huai looked at her again and again.

As the car continues to move forward, the majestic Brandenburg Gate comes into view, and the world-famous Berlin Wall is just west of the gate.

The snow cleared and the morning light began to fall, silently falling on the twelve pillars of the Brandenburg Gate, from the former East German region to the West German region.

How inconceivable it is that a city is divided into two completely different kingdoms by a wall. Lin Li witnessed this scene, and there were many emotions in his heart.

She looked back at Simon and discussed, "Simon is still sleeping, what should we do now?" ”

"You go play first, I'll wait here."

"Then I'll be back in half an hour, and we'll meet here?"

Xiao Huai stared at her: "No, you enter from here, and when you come out, you can take the east exit, the scenery over there is good." Ask passers-by and they will tell you how to get around. ”

There is an exit to the east? It's never mentioned in the travel guide.

Lin Li was puzzled, but still nodded: "Okay, I'll see you later." ”