After a while, Xiao Ai and I arrived at the restaurant she said specialized in Nanjing cuisine, which is located next to Xuanwu Lake, and you can see half of Xuanwu Lake on the third floor.

Xiao Ai and I came early, so we chose the position by the window, although it was still the end of summer, but the wind blowing along the river bank, with a natural coolness, so that the third floor did not turn on the air conditioner, but opened all the windows......

We asked the waiter for a pot of tea and started to enjoy the twilight. In the process, I looked out the window in a daze, while Xiao Ai put on headphones and listened to his favorite songs.

After going on like this for a while, Xiao Ai took off his headphones, then patted my arm and asked me, "What are you thinking?" ”

I finally came back to my senses, smiled and said to her, "I just remembered the days when I was looking for you in Taipei...... The kind of days when I want to live is really worth remembering, every day I just wait for you at the gate of the school, and I always feel that the next second you will follow the crowd to appear at the intersection not far away, and then I was really waited for...... Later, you followed me back to Nanjing, and we made a piano shop together. ”

Xiao Ai also showed a deeply touched expression, and then asked me, "Guess, did I think you would go to me at that time?" ”

I smiled: "You must want me to go to you, because you still prefer Nanjing to Taipei, and I don't think you can really accept your mother's arrangement honestly and find a school to be a music teacher." ”

"Why are you so sure?"

"How restless are you in your bones...... You are a woman who dares to climb the wall of my yard. ”

Xiao Ai jokingly replied: "Do you regret that you didn't have a vicious dog at home at that time?" Perhaps, if I go once, I will retreat. ”

"I regret it."

"You must regret it, otherwise you would have been able to marry someone else as a daughter-in-law now."

I smiled again.

She suddenly became serious, and then said to me: "Chen Yi is your childhood sweetheart, you have loved her, and she has always loved you, so have you ever regretted it for a moment?" If it weren't for my intervention, you would be married by now. ”

"Not necessarily, if it weren't for you, our fate might have been even more miserable. I think it will be much more decent to break up because of emotional conflicts than to break up because of social status and money. ”

"Yes, if you break up because of your feelings, at least you can be friends in the future, but if you break up because of money, you will definitely become enemies in the end."

I didn't speak, because I didn't know what Xiao Ai was trying to express, and she didn't seem to take this sensitive subject to heart. The next moment, she held her chin and looked out the window, and I took advantage of the gap to light a cigarette and look at the time. At this time, almost half an hour had passed since we arrived at the hotel. Calculating the time, Jin Qiu and Yang Zhexuan are also about to arrive.

Just when I thought that we would continue this silence forever, Xiao Ai suddenly opened her mouth, and she said to me: "Jiang Qiao, haven't we been to see Wu Lei and Gu Lin for a long time, and I don't know how they are now!" ”

I "exhaled" a breath, and then thought of the police couple in my heart, and for Wu Lei, the guilt in my heart was even worse, because he was in a car accident on the way to find me, and I saw him fall in a pool of blood with my own eyes, and that kind of visual impact, until this moment in retrospect, does not seem to fade a little.

Before, Xiao Ai and I both gave them humanitarian assistance in money, hoping that Gu Lin would not give up on him, but until Wu Lei became a vegetative person, more than two years have passed, and the hope of waking up is getting slimmer and slimmer, if it continues like this, it is extremely inhumane for Gu Lin, and she has the right to choose her own life.

I finally said to Xiao Ai, "Let's go and see it after dinner later......"

"Well, it seems like the first time we've seen them together."

I nodded, and asked her again: "Wu Lei's car accident happened after you left, and in the past two years, you have not had any contact with China at all, how do you know?" ”

"I really didn't know before, but after returning to China, I always couldn't control myself and wanted to figure out something, so I knew about the existence of this policeman, and he investigated the case of the fire in the piano store back then, but unfortunately he fell before he could complete his mission!"

After Xiao Ai said this, his emotions were low, and I fell into silence, because that dark history is the biggest scar in our hearts for us, but it has never been avoided, and to this day, the victims of that year have not been given a clear explanation, and in the end it was only characterized as an accidental fire.

……

A moment later, footsteps were heard on the other side of the stairs, and then a man we had never met before came to the third floor with Jin Qiu. I don't have to think about it, I also know that he is my cousin Yang Zhexuan, he didn't have many prejudices because of my background, let alone the arrogance of my family background, he came to me and Xiao Ai, and said to me with a smile: "I have long known that there is such a cousin as you, and I have never had the opportunity to meet, but I am really happy to meet today." ”

I gave him a smile in return, then introduced Xiao Ai to him, and after a few words, they sat down.

Seeing that Yang Zhexuan was a better person to get along with than I imagined, I was able to let go, so I said to him: "A few days ago, I was quite surprised to hear Jin Qiu talk about things between you. But if you think about it, you can agree with your choice, after all, it's too difficult to meet a person who is in love at this age. ”

Yang Zhexuan first made a gesture of approval, then looked at Jin Qiu beside him, and then said to me: "You are right, some people may not have a feeling of affection for a year or ten years together, and some people may only need a meal and a look to understand each other's intentions." Of course, Jin Qiu and I belong to the latter, and this feeling is really rare...... So, we discussed it, and we will hold the wedding in the near future. When the time comes, you and your siblings will have to come and participate. ”

"Of course......" After a pause, I asked them again, "Where are you going to have the wedding?" ”

The person who answered this time was Jin Qiu, she took out two invitations from her bag and handed them to me and Xiao Ai, and then said: "Where to do the wedding, I also discussed it with Zhexuan, we plan to officially hold one in Nanjing and Shenzhen, so I will give you both invitations first, whether you go to Shenzhen or not, you can just do what you want, but Nanjing must participate, otherwise our friendship for so many years will come to an end!" ”

Jin Qiu avoided those entanglements in the past and defined our relationship as friendship, which made my mood a lot easier, and I even had the illusion that everything I experienced in the past and Jin Qiu was just a dream that was deep in it but easy to wake up from. Because not long after I woke up, Jin Qiu also woke up after me, even more completely than I woke up.

After thinking about this, I picked up the wedding invitation from the table that I was doing in Nanjing, and then replied: "We will definitely arrive in Nanjing." ”

Jin Qiu took back the invitation to the wedding in Shenzhen, then smiled and asked, "Still can't overcome this psychological hurdle?" ”

"No, there is no one I dare not face at this point today, mainly depending on my mother's physical condition, if she recovers well by then, I will go with her, if I am still treated in Nanjing, then I will definitely not be able to leave."

"Understood."

During the meal, we chatted a lot, but we didn't talk much about those sensitive topics, and the main purpose of today's meeting must be to talk about their upcoming marriage.

When the meal was about to be finished, Yang Zhexuan jokingly asked Xiao Ai and me, "When are you going to get married?" If I give you advice, I'll have to do it all at once. ”

Xiao Ai directly responded to Yang Zhexuan with actions, she showed the ring on her right finger, and then smiled and replied to Yang Zhexuan: "I have already agreed to Jiang Qiao's marriage proposal, it may not be as fast as yours, but it will definitely be something to be done within this year." ”

Yang Zhexuan patted me on the shoulder and said, "Hurry up, hurry up." ”

……

When she left the restaurant where she was eating and was about to go to the hospital, Jin Qiu stopped, and she said to Yang Zhexuan: "I have a few words I want to say to Jiang Qiao in private, don't you mind?" ”

"Don't mind, let's talk."

Jin Qiu looked at Xiao Ai again, Xiao Ai seemed even more unconcerned, she said to Yang Zhexuan: "I'll take you to Auntie's ward, it's just a stop away from here." ”

Yang Zhexuan nodded, and then left the space to me and Jin Qiu, but I was surprised that she had something else to say to me in private.

We were standing under a willow tree by the river, opposite a Spanish-style tavern, in which an old movie called "Never Disappeared" was being played in the form of a projection, and my attention was inevitably attracted a little, which could not be blamed for my lack of concentration, because people have a little need for feelings.

I remember the first time I watched this movie, Zhao Chu was still alive, we watched an open-air movie, and we had a heated discussion about the core ideas expressed in the movie.

More than ten years have passed in a blink of an eye, and many people and many things have gone away, but the image in front of me still retains the original mood, presented in front of my eyes and hearts in this slightly literary and artistic way.

I lit a cigarette and looked a few more times into the tavern, and Jin Qiu's eyes were also attracted, so she didn't rush to say anything to me, just leaned against the willow tree behind her, paying attention to the direction of the key plot in the movie.