Zhou Jiyou met Sophie at the School of Social Work, her long golden hair was meticulously tied, her face was relaxed, and she was beginning to show her old age, but she could still be called a beautiful white lady, especially she was wearing a silk and linen printed cheongsam with a stand-up collar and three-quarter sleeves, and the graceful and elegant peony flowers bloomed on her chest, which made her eyebrows and eyes as noble and bright as peonies.

She speaks fluent Chinese, and her words are clear and slow: "Follow me." ”

Zhou Jiyou raised her steps to follow, and only took two steps, only to see her turn her head and say to Zhou Qiyang and Mu He, who were walking together: "You don't have to." ”

Mu He hand-copied his trouser pocket and lowered his eyes; Zhou Qiyang has been watching them go away.

The campus of Columbia University is not very large, and there is a chapel in it, and churches are allowed to be visited.

Zhou Jiyou saw that Sophie and the priest looked very familiar, and stood quietly aside.

At Sophie's request, the priest led them to a small room where no one was around, where she spread a soft cotton mat on the floor, knelt on her knees, and prayed silently against the portrait of Jesus on the wall.

The sun shone through the window, and half of her figure was shrouded in a dazzling layer of gold. It was a warm and bright color, and Zhou Jiyou had an illusion for no reason, as if it was ...... Her heart should be clear and soft.

But, will it?

Will a clear and soft person leave his son to return to China alone after her husband dies, and will she not appear after her son dies?

She needs an answer, it doesn't matter to herself, she just wants to replace her father Zhou Mu and ask his mother for an explanation.

After about three minutes of prayer, she opened her eyes, her hands clasped around her abdomen drooped down, and she slowly stood up.

She patted the mat and put it in place, then sat down on a long wooden chair behind her.

Zhou Jiyou stood, she sits, she stared at her silently, Zhou Jiyou didn't make a sound, let her look.

"Aren't you tired?" She lowered her chin and pointed to the end of the bench, "Come and sit." ”

She maintained an elegant and decent sitting posture, with her legs together, slightly tilted to the left, and her hands lightly in front of her, like a delicate woman living in the Republic of China.

Zhou Jiyou closed his eyes indifferently: "No need, I think it's good like this." ”

She was stunned for a second, then curled her lips and smiled, with an extremely light smile: "I think of a Chinese idiom, condescending. ”

Zhou Jiyou raised his eyebrows, inadvertently, with a little aggressiveness in his tone: "Do you remember the idiom, you still have a son in Beijing, remember?" ”

Sophie froze slightly, her eyes lingering quietly on her cold face: "You usually look like this?" ”

Zhou Jiyou frowned: "What do you mean?" ”

She smiled and introduced herself: "My name is Sophie.Lawrence, my Chinese name is Sophie, what about you?" ”

She not only changed the topic quickly, but also very naturally, Zhou Jiyou couldn't help but snort lightly, and opened his eyes in a ridiculous way, and the heart that was hanging in the air gradually began to shake.

"Zhou Jiyou." She didn't even want to say half a word of nonsense.

Sophie did not ask how to write the word "Jiyou", but asked: "It's 23 this year?" ”

Zhou Jiyou's eyes turned back, hugged his arms, and his attitude was already changing sharply: "Guess." The smile was slight.

Sophie looked straight at her, her eyes calm and transparent.

She looked back coldly, and everywhere she looked, there were a pair of amber pupils similar to hers.

"You hate me?" The owner of the pupil asked blandly.

"Hate?" Zhou Jiyou smiled, the corners of his mouth were slightly bitter, and he shook his head, "I don't hate you." ”

Sophie looked at her in silence, as if waiting for her to continue.

Zhou Jiyou suddenly felt very tired, she walked to the other end of the bench and sat down, leaned on the back of the chair, and looked up at the nothingness: "Hate is too heavy, I can't afford it." ”

Sophie didn't speak, for a long, long time, so long that Zhou Jiyou's crumbling heart was about to fall to the bottom, she suddenly asked: "You don't hate me, then you came to me, right...... Why? ”

Zhou Jiyou seemed to hear a few trills, but she wasn't sure.

She turned her head and saw Sophie's head down, and the side lines of her face had the three-dimensionality and depth of a Westerner. is obviously a slightly wild facial features, and his figure is not delicate, but he wears a cheongsam and a bun, dressing himself up to be sexual and elegant.

She didn't answer and asked, "My dad is dead, you know?" ”

Sophie didn't move, either physically or verbally.

"Lung cancer. Same with grandpa. "The book says that if one of a close relative has lung cancer and he happens to smoke, the risk of lung cancer is 14 times higher than that of the average person." Did my dad start smoking before you left? ”

Sophie still had her head down, but her shoulders were shaking.

"After you are gone, he will marry and have daughters." Zhou Jiyou glanced up and pursed his lips, "It's a pity that the marriage only lasted five years." By the way, did you see my mother before you left? ”

"You probably haven't seen it." Her eyes drooped, and she stared at her every inch again, "I was born in '86, and you must have never seen it." ”

Dead silence.

Sophie took a deep breath and finally looked up; Look ahead, motionless.

The sun is still shrouded in her right half, but at this time, Zhou Jiyou is sitting on the left side, and all he sees is her left half of her body in the shade, although the peony flowers are rich, but they lack the fireworks in the world.

Zhou Jiyou felt that the answer was already there, and she didn't need to deal with it anymore.

With a hard foot, she was ready to get up.

"I've seen it, I've seen it all......," Sophie whispered hoarsely, all the calm of the previous one gone.

Zhou Jiyou was stunned there, looking at her sideways.

She covered her face with her hands, and her straight back slowly stiffened.

"I stayed in Beijing for him, he was not there, I lived alone with Xiaomu, and I could think of him everywhere I went. I'm sad, I'm really sad......" she choked up.

"My parents are old and I have to come back to take care of them. I wanted to bring Komaki to New York, and he said he liked a girl and didn't want to go abroad. I respect him, he was admitted to college, and I came back alone. ”

Zhou Jiyou was shocked in his heart: "I haven't gone back since then." ”

Sophie shook her head weakly: "No, I went back twice, and he came to see me twice." ”

Zhou Jiyou: "When he was seriously ill and hospitalized, why didn't he come back?" ”

Sophie sat up straight slowly, letting the tears fall down her face, "I don't know, no one informed me......"

"When did you find out?" At this moment, Zhou Jiyou's heart was no longer shaken, as quiet as stagnant water.

"When you notice something is wrong." Sophie finally raised her hand to wipe away her tears, she turned her eyes to look at her, and explained to her a fact, "I have asked someone to look for you, and I heard that you were picked up by your mother and taken to a city in the south. ”

"And then." Zhou Jiyou was cold and insensitive.

Sophie sensed with red eyes, probably thinking that it was pointless to continue, she turned her head and said in a calm voice: "You can choose to forgive me, or you can choose not to forgive." ”

Zhou Jiyou stood up and wanted to leave.

"Okay, I respect you." She whispered slowly.

The meaning seems to be: you choose not to forgive, I respect.

Zhou Jiyou only paused slightly, strode away, opened the door, and did not look back once.

***

The air ticket from New York to Beijing was booked by Zhou Qiyang.

In business class, Zhou Jiyou almost slept all the way except for sitting up at a fixed point to fill his stomach.

After talking to Sophie alone, she suddenly had to return home. Zhou Qiyang didn't need to ask a word, the results of the conversation were there, and anyone with a discerning eye could see it.

She said she accepted the answer, whether it was good or bad. He didn't believe it before, but now he saw her sleeping dimly, and he believed it.

Sophie was like a wisp of green smoke to her, and when the smoke filled her eyes, she was blocked from seeing and couldn't see the direction clearly; After the smoke cleared, she was still her, unhindered, and moved forward.

The girl next to her had a slightly sideways face, sleeping quietly and completely relaxed. He suddenly wondered if there was one thing, or one person, that could really touch her, like an indispensable soul, firmly occupying her.

Walking out of the terminal, stepping on the land of Beijing, and getting into a taxi, Zhou Qiyang suddenly remembered something: "When will you take me to meet your boyfriend?" ”

Zhou Jiyou was holding his hair, and when he suddenly heard him ask, he reacted quickly: "Feng Shilan sued you?" ”

Zhou Qiyang was slightly surprised: "How did you think it was her?" ”

"Who's that? Liang Lexin, Senior Brother Liang? ”

"......" Zhou Qiyang realized that her coldness had come back unconsciously.

He remembered her boyfriend that Liang Lexin had mentioned.

"Have you been chasing Zhou Jiyou lately? I heard you gave her a car? You didn't have a convulsion, did you know that she had a boyfriend, and the two of them were childhood sweethearts. If she really dumps her boyfriend with you, I see this girl, eighty percent of it is for your money. ”

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask, "Is there something going on that I don't know?" ”

Zhou Jiyou's tone was normal: "It's okay." With a roll of her eyes, the corners of her mouth hooked slightly, and she squinted, "Brother." ”

With a simple and happy voice, she called his brother for the first time.

Zhou Qiyang was stunned, and his heart suddenly calmed down.

She met his suspicious eyes: "I call you brother, are you still unwilling?" ”

"Willing, how can you not be willing." He smiled kindly, and there was tenderness in his eyes.

Zhou Jiyou looked at him: "Brother, can you promise me one thing?" ”

Although it was a bit sudden, Zhou Qiyang still responded with a smile: "What's the matter, you say." ”

Zhou Jiyou looked serious: "You promise me that you won't fall in love with Feng Shilan, let alone associate with her." ”

"......" Zhou Qiyang held his forehead and didn't speak for a while.

She didn't rush either, and waited calmly.

He suddenly asked, "Are you at odds with her?" ”

"Why?"

Zhou Qiyang came to his senses, but he still didn't say a word.

Zhou Jiyou glanced at him: "I'll give you a promise." ”

He laughed and squinted at her, "She's not the type I like. ”

As soon as her nerves relaxed, Zhou Jiyouren also became idle, she smiled and said in a mocking tone: "What type do you like?" ”

Zhou Qiyang was obviously reluctant to answer, his eyebrows raised slightly, and the topic returned to the original point: "When will you take me to meet your boyfriend?" ”

Zhou Jiyou saw the move: "I'll make an appointment for you first, and wait in line." ”

"It's a busy business."

"Not really."

Sending her downstairs, Zhou Qiyang told the driver another location, and left without staying for long.

Zhou Jiyou went upstairs alone, and there was no one at home.

She put down her luggage, took a change of clothes and went into the bathroom to shower, and when she came out, she glanced at the time, twilight had fallen, and it was supposed to be time to go back.

She wiped her hair with a dry towel, lowered her head, wrapped her hair in a circle, and then reached for her phone and dialed it.

It rang for a long time, and just when she thought the bell would automatically disconnect, someone finally answered.

"Coming back?" His deep voice came through the airwaves, and he hadn't heard it for a long time, but there was an ethereal smell.

"yes." She asked slowly, "What about you this weekend?" ”

There was a slight pause on the other end: "I'm out of town for an interview." ”

"Oh." She felt a little flustered, "Why didn't you say it earlier?" ”

"The trip was sudden."

"Oh." She slammed down on the back of the bed.

"Missed me?"

She didn't say anything.

"I miss you." The voice is deep.

Zhou Jiyou felt that the wave of love that was tumbling in her heart seemed to dissipate on its own.