I walked in the endless night with my umbrella, and the lights of the city were still flickering, and after they were refracted by the stagnant water on the ground, the whole world seemed to turn into color, which affected my mood, so even the "ticking" sound of the rain falling on the umbrella became a song.

I bent down, fastened my shoelaces, and ran down the wet road, wanting to leave those troubles behind, and I wanted to take a look at the city I was living in. I think running is my most powerful weapon, and when I run, I can beat the city, because when I was a child, I fantasized again and again that if I ran fast enough, I could fly into the sky like an airplane, and when I flew in the sky, who could still see the high-rise buildings on the ground, and who would still be rare about the so-called home

I don't know how long I ran, but I finally stopped at the intersection of Tulip Road, and then leaned against the lamppost on the side of the road and panted, and I just let go of myself in the exhaustion of running. I can't remember the scene when I was separated from Chen Yi at the airport in the evening, and I can't imagine that after I left, the person who came to pick up Chen Yi at the airport might be Qiu Zi'an.

After the breath was smooth, I held up the umbrella again, and in the drizzling rain, continued to walk to the convenience store hundreds of miles away, where Xiao Ai and I agreed to meet, I don't know how long she has been waiting for me there.

A moment later, I finally saw a neon sign flashing in front of the convenience store, and Xiao Ai was standing below, holding the same lace umbrella I had seen in the evening in her left hand and a convenience bag containing a corn cob in her right hand.

I stood in front of her, and I dropped my umbrella, and she said to me a little unhappily, "Why is it that the corn on the cob is cold for so long." ”

"I didn't take the car, I walked all the way back."

Xiao Ai sighed: "Forget that you are old, you have to exercise diligently, walk well, walk well"

I glared and replied, "If you're not three, don't hurt me for being old." I tell you, men are in their prime when they are thirty years old, and you women are already worried about the loss of collagen when they are thirty years old, so don't think of yourself as a few years younger than me as an advantage."

"I'm just three years old, sing a children's song to you"

Xiao Ai is professionally trained in vocal music, so she can sing children's voices lightly, and then really sang a children's song belonging to our era in my ear, I have no choice but to accept the fact that she is old.

I thought: it is useless to intimidate her at the age of thirty, a girl like her, who exercises and maintains frequently, so even if she is forty years old, she will not look very old, and I am afraid that I will be very old at the age of forty

Just when I was secretly depressed, Xiao Ai turned around and entered the convenience store again, and then said something to the salesperson inside, she made another gesture of please, and finally took out a piping hot corn cob from the store, she handed it to me and said, "Hurry up and eat it while it's hot, don't be cold anymore." ”

I didn't take it from her and asked, "The corn on the cob is cold, let's buy another hot one, why are you so aggrieved to ask the salesperson, people are obviously not happy to change"

"Didn't you tell me that wasting food is a shameful thing?"

I was puzzled and asked, "Did I say that?"

Xiao Ai nodded seriously, then handed me the hot corn cob, and sat down on the bench in front of the convenience store, but I was a little uncomfortable, because I didn't like to be watched when I was eating, and she kept looking at me with her chin propped up

I finally complained, "If you look at me like that again, I'll smoke." ”

"No smoking."

"But you look at me like that, I can't help but want to be cool"

"I didn't look at you, I looked at the pillar behind you, and the cat next to the pillar."

I subconsciously looked back and saw that there was really a flower cat curled up under the wall pillar, so I overcame my discomfort and squatted next to the cat to eat. In this way, I don't have to care too much about whether Xiao Ai is looking at me or the cat next to me.

In the process of eating, I said to Xiao Ai: "This corn tastes good, it's sticky, do you often come to buy it?"

"yes, it's the best thing I've ever found on Tulip Road, and I don't have one, so I'll buy one every day after class."

"yes, I didn't expect you to live such a small life now"

Xiao Ai asked a little puzzled: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that life has become simpler, so I have the energy to be obsessed with something, such as the flowers and plants I like, the corn cob you like to eat now, all of which mean that our life is very simple.

Xiao Ai finally smiled and replied: "According to what you said, I still prefer this kind of small life, every day seems to be very fulfilling, and after the fulfillment, it is leisurely and leisurely, it seems that every pleasure is very picturesque, I think, I will never forget the picture of jì walking on this road and eating some snacks at the same time." ”

"Hehe, don't go to the bar now"

"What's there to go to in that place in the bar, if you have the energy, you might as well go home and lie in bed and listen to a song with headphones"

I smiled and immediately debunked: "I see that you are living in difficulty, and you can't afford to spend money in the bar, you honestly, I promise I won't laugh at you if you still have money on you."

Xiao Ai squinted at me: "What, do you want to find superiority in me?"

"Tell me about it, and give me a little bit of the pleasure of a serf turning into a local master"

Xiao Ai was a little deflated, and replied after a while: "I don't have the money to come out and do something by myself only to find that it is so difficult to make money, I really don't know how my dad made so much money, alas, I feel that I am living a good life now."

"Then you bow your head to your dad, and any problem can be solved."

"I don't, so I won't show him cowardice. Besides, I like the self-reliant life now, why should I change it."

I stared at her for a long time before I replied, "You just said that you think you are embarrassed, and now you say that you like your current life, I find you contradictory enough."

"Is it contradictory, I said myself, because I think even you can find superiority in me, but does this have anything to do with whether I like my current life or not?"

I smiled awkwardly, and then ate the corn in my hand again, while Xiao Ai held his chin a little sadly, as if thinking about something. After a while, she poured out all the things in her handbag, put them in a convenience bag, and then handed them to me and said: "Jiang Qiao, there must be a lot of petty bourgeoisie in your coffee shop, you sell this bag for me, I have only bought it for a few months, and it is the latest model this year." ”

I looked at her handbag, the brand was GI, but I didn't know the exact price because I didn't have any research on luxury goods. I said to her: "If you are really short of money for the time being, I can lend you a little, and as soon as you sell things like this, I will think of those down-and-out ladies in the TV series." ”

"Don't you have to pay back the money you borrowed?"

I was stunned for a moment, and she said to me on a whim: "I still have a lot of bags and jewelry in my house, why don't I get a counter in your coffee shop and dispose of these things cheaply."

I was surprised by her idea, and then replied: "You don't have to do this just to find a sense of superiority in me, the money is exchanged, but your little money is gone, and it is all cheap."

Xiao Ai looked at me, her expression was very resolute, and she said to me for a while: "Have you forgotten, I am going to study in Germany after the year, sell these, and you will be able to temporarily make up a fee for studying abroad." ”

I didn't want to reply: "Then wouldn't it be better for you to sell a car, anyway, no one will drive it when you go abroad." Or, you leave it to me, and I will help you rent it to the wedding company in Jinqiu, and you can earn at least 10,000 yuan a month, and if it is a peak season, 20,000 or 30,000 yuan is not a problem."

Xiao Ai replied unappreciatedly: "Actually, I returned the car to my father a long time ago, and then Li Zishan asked to give it to her sister." ”

I suddenly felt a little lost, not because the car that brought me a lot of memories had changed hands, but because I remembered the fact that Xiao Ai was going to Germany soon, and I was a little worried about her, whether she would really be able to live well in that strange country

I thought so in my heart, but I didn't say it, I put the corn cob aside, and then lit a cigarette with some melancholy, and Xiao Ai didn't speak again, she still held her chin and lowered her head, as if looking at the shoes on my feet, and as if looking at the cat that squatted at my feet and never left.

After a while, a taxi stopped on the side of the road not far from us, and then Zhao Mu walked out of the car, he came to me and Xiao Ai, and first said to me: "Brother Qiao, why don't you tell me in advance when you come back, I won't accompany the people of the company to eat tonight." ”

I smiled and asked, "Has the work of Jinding Real Estate been implemented?"

Zhao Mu nodded, then looked at Xiao Ai sitting on the bench, and after a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "It's been a long time." ”

Xiao Ai didn't give him a response in his eyes, but just replied, "Yes." The next moment, she handed me her handbag, motioned for me to put it in the coffee shop for her, and then left the convenience store where Zhao Mu and I were both there.

Zhao Mu and I walked into the alley, and he finally asked me, "Brother Qiao, what is Xiao Ai looking for you?"

"I didn't come to see me, I just wanted to put my bag in a coffee shop and sell it."

Zhao Mu nodded, he didn't ask any more, and after we entered the house, he handed me a very delicate shoebox in his hand, and said: "Brother Qiao, thank you for taking care of me for so many years, I know that we should not use material expressions between us, but after my work is implemented, I still want to buy something for you." ”

I was a little unhappy, and replied: "You just joined the work, why is it so difficult to make money now, don't do this in the future, we brothers don't need this." ”

Zhao Mu looked at me with some guilt. I know that he has been blaming himself for delaying my studies all these years, but because I don't allow him to mention it in front of me, he has kept this self-blame in his heart.

I don't know why, looking at him who was silent at the moment, I thought of Zhao Chu again, so I also fell into self-blame. I always feel that I was too much of a drag on Zhao Chu at the beginning, if it weren't for my extra living expenses, Zhao Chu might not have chosen such a tiring type of work as sheet metal, he had also apprenticed in a barber shop for a month before this, but then gave up because the apprentice's salary was too low, so Zhao Chu encountered such an accident in the process of learning to do sheet metal work, and I was somewhat responsible.

I squirmed my Adam's apple in some pain, and finally took out a card from my wallet and handed it to Zhao Mu, saying: "There are 10,000 yuan in it, you have just implemented the work of Jinding Real Estate, buy yourself a few more sets of decent clothes, and the relationship between colleagues should also be handled, and there will be opportunities to invite colleagues to eat more." ”

"Brother Qiao, I can't ask for your money anymore."

I forcibly stuffed it into his hand again, but Zhao Mu said that he would not ask for anything. In the end, when I asked him to pay it back to me later when he had it, he accepted the money.

After washing, I lay on the bed alone, and I couldn't help but feel empty and lonely in my heart. I still think of Chen Yi, I want to know what she has experienced since we parted at the airport, and at this moment, whether she is also lying in bed, thinking about me like I think of her.

I lit a cigarette and smiled bitterly, even if we thought of each other like that, what was the point

I finally extinguished the cigarette in my hand, and the next moment I found my own computer, plugged in the USB flash drive that Jin Qiu gave me, and then forced myself to forget the trivialities in my feelings and learn some useful knowledge for myself.

In the gap, I saw the handbag that Xiao Ai had entrusted to me. I just remembered that I had just forgotten to ask her what price she was going to sell, so I picked up my phone from the cabinet next to the bed and sent her a message, asking, "How much are you going to sell that handbag?"

"At that time, it was almost 30,000 yuan to buy, you can watch and sell it."

"Oh, then tomorrow you remember to send the shopping invoice to the coffee shop, I just paid attention to the market on the Internet, this thing is still very discounted, I estimate that it will be very good to sell it for 10,000 yuan"

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the invoice."

"Try to look for it, if you don't have an invoice, the discount will be even worse."

"Then I'll look for it tomorrow."

"Hmm."

After chatting about this, Xiao Ai and I each said "good night", and then ended all the conversations of the night, and I finally turned off the computer, trying to put myself into a state of sleep, although there are still a lot of messy thoughts in my heart, but I still feel that the life back to Nanjing is the closest to the real life, because there are transactions, there are also efforts for the cause, and all kinds of human contacts, and Lijiang, which has just left, is full of romance and joys and sorrows.

I think that the most comfortable and happy person in this night is none other than Qiao Ye, but what does Qin Miao know about what happened these days