The rain was pouring down on the car window, the wipers worked hard to clear the light for me to see in the distance, I was at a traffic light intersection, and finally sent a message to Xiao Ai: "Wait for me, I'm on the way to the airport, don't go through the security check first." ”

As soon as the green light came, I crossed the stop line before all the cars and drove off the edge of speeding in the direction of the airport. I calculated that if I could get to the airport before 11:30, I would still have a chance to meet her, and hopefully she hadn't turned off the plane before she saw the message I sent her.

Because it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, there were a lot of people driving on the street to pay New Year's greetings, and some sections of the road were very congested, and I was stuck in a small road with only four lanes in both directions before I got on the airport expressway.

I was anxious and called Xiao Ai again, but it turned out to make me feel hopeless, she was already turned off, which meant that she would not see the message I had just sent her, and the only thing I could do now was to race against time.

I'm so stupid, if she really doesn't want me to send it, why do you want to tell me that she is a 12 o'clock plane, why don't I understand, although she is different, but she also has those bad problems of duplicity that most women have

With this in mind, I thought the desire to see her before she got on the plane was even stronger, and I saw the opportunity, and before the car could drive by, I changed lanes and drove into an alley with the help of my familiarity with the location.

As luck would have it, there were few cars in the 300-meter-long alley, and out of this alley, I entered another six-lane road, which was a good detour, but also goodbye to the congestion

At 11 o'clock, I finally drove on the airport expressway, after the speed went up, my heart also rose to my throat, I was afraid that I and Xiao Ai missed the time is only a few minutes, so I desperately want to fight for a few more minutes, to avoid the regret that may appear.

At 11:20 a.m., I arrived at the airport, parked my car in the parking lot, and started to run towards the security checkpoint in the direction of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, I hope to see her again, I pray that there are a lot of people going to Taiwan today, so that she will queue up at the security checkpoint for a while.

The continuous running made my throat feel as if it had been burned by fire, and I braced my hands on my knees, swallowing in pain, as I breathed rapidly as I looked at the group of people waiting in line for security.

I didn't be able to see Xiao Ai, there was an indescribable sense of loss and suffocation in my heart, I was still a step late after all, Xiao Ai may have passed the security check and went to the waiting hall at this moment.

I don't want to give her a reluctant goodbye, I just want to give her the corn that is still hot in my hand, and then tell her: Tulip Road can no longer buy corn for two yuan a piece, I was fortunate to buy the last corn for two yuan, and the one I wanted to give her was the first one after the price rose to four yuan.

Just as I was about to turn around and run towards the desk, a familiar figure suddenly stood up from the ground, and then she took off her coat and walked to the security machine.

It's her, that's right, it's her

The reason why I didn't see her just now was because she was squatting on the ground picking up things, and in front of her was a middle-aged woman with an extremely good temperament, she looked like she was about 40 years old, when Xiao Ai left the security machine and put on her coat, she said a few words beside Xiao Ai, then I can be sure that she is Xiao Ai's mother Undoubtedly, she is much younger than her actual age

I shouted loudly despite a qiē: "Xiao Ai, wait, wait"

Everyone's eyes were focused on me, Xiao Ai also leaned over to look at me, and our eyes finally intersected through the gaps between people.

I rushed to her side, stretched out my hand and handed the corn to her, and said with a smile: "I always feel that there is still a little thing to be done, it turns out that I forgot to give you a tulip corn on the road when you left."

Xiao Ai looked at me, and the staff on duty behind her kept reminding her not to occupy the passage of other passengers through the security check, so that the time we could talk became extremely precious, and Xiao Ai's mother stopped and watched us

Xiao Ai said sorry and turned to the side, trying to give the others a place to move, she stood on tiptoe and took the corn from my hand: "Thank you." ”

"You're welcome, I wish you a qiēshun lì in Taiwan"

The ground staff signaled Xiao Ai to either go out and talk to me, and then queue up to go through the security check again, or hurry to the waiting hall

Xiao Ai seemed to be afraid of such a parting, she finally chose to go through the security check, and she didn't even have time to say goodbye, just nodded, walked through the security checkpoint again, and then walked towards the waiting hall with her mother, and after a few steps, she looked back at me again, and never stopped after that

I raised my head and smiled, there were no regrets in my heart, but I didn't know what kind of mood Xiao Ai was in at the moment, whether he would shed some tears in a place I couldn't see or just calmly eat the corn before getting on the plane

Thinking of the corn that I had worked so hard to give her, I had some regrets in my heart, I couldn't tell her in person after all, and the corn had risen to four yuan a piece

Standing alone by the guardrail, I watched as the plane carrying Xiao Ai to Taipei crashed into the clouds, the huge roar of the engines still in the air.

I lit the cigarette in my hand alone, the howling wind and the dripping rain made me feel a little wolf, but I never felt too sad, just tucked my clothes tighter, and then stood alone for an hour in the rain.

Until it's certain that she's really gone and won't come back

When I got home, my grandmother seemed to go to the house next door, and I didn't have lunch, so I warmed up the rest of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner from last night. After eating, I held an umbrella again, took off all the lanterns that Xiao Ai hung in the yard last night, and then put them into the box, I hope that one day, I can still use it to decorate the warm atmosphere of the courtyard.

After locking the door, I went to the coffee shop, I wanted to make the most of my time and practice my own coffee blending skills, so that even if I couldn't hire the right barista right away at the beginning of the year, I could take on the responsibility of running the coffee shop.

When it was almost evening, the rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and the wind blew it through the canopy and hit the glass window, and the words that Xiao Ai had written with lipstick became even more blurry, and then pulled out colored water stains on the glass.

I picked up the umbrella again and walked outside the coffee shop, using my body and umbrella to block the rain that kept coming, and I had to do this, because there was no better way to protect the words she had left behind, so I had to wait for the wind and rain to stop.

It was getting dark, and the rain finally lightened. I went back to the store and found a discarded tarpaulin and fixed it with a nail to the window, which really saved the words. I smiled and took a hammer and umbrella into the café, which still had no customers.

I lit a cigarette and sat on the bar chair and smoked in distraction, I just wanted time to go faster so that I could go back to rest early, and sleep without pain and loneliness, and even if there were, it would not be more than this time

I yawned and finished mixing my last cup of coffee of the evening, then closed the door and went back to rest

In the process, the door of the coffee shop was finally pushed open, and I was a little surprised, because it was Chen Yi, who was carrying several gift boxes of all sizes in her hands.

I put down the coffee in my hand and asked her, "Why are you here?"

"I had dinner at my uncle's house tonight, and I bought some New Year's greetings for my grandmother by the way, and I came in when I saw you in the coffee shop."

"Oh." I answered, remembering that Chen Yi did have such an uncle who lived on Tulip Road, but he was not in this old alley.

Chen Yi put down the things in her hand, and then moved a chair and sat down opposite me, as if she wanted to chat with me for a while, she looked around and asked, "What about Xiao Ai, didn't she celebrate the New Year with you?"

"Let's go, I'm going to Taiwan with her mother at noon today."

Chen Yi was only slightly surprised, and his expression returned to normal. Thinking about it, she also knew that going to Taiwan to live was the best choice for Xiao Ai now, and after a moment of silence, she asked me again: "Is it just going over there temporarily?"

I shook my head and replied, "No, I'll stay with her mother in the future." ”

This time Chen Yi was really surprised, she wanted to say something, but she didn't say anything, just stopped at the cup of coffee in my hand that had not yet been adjusted.

I also took advantage of the situation to change the topic and said to her: "I'm trying to adjust the mood coffee, but I can't adjust the taste that Yu Ya made at that time."

Chen Yi looked at me with some puzzlement: "Why do you have to adjust her taste, she has her mood, you have your mood, what you mix out is your mood coffee, not necessarily the taste is worse than hers"

I looked at Chen Yi, and suddenly there was a feeling of sudden realization, I have been running the "mood coffee" for so long, I don't understand the true meaning of its existence, and I have been desperately imitating, no wonder in the end I will deviate from morality, guide the store manager to fly away for a good future, and the customers are alienated here because they have lost that feeling of emotional freedom, and my deliberate imitation itself is a kind of imprisonment.

I was lost in thought

Chen Yi didn't bother me, she picked up the cup of coffee that I hadn't fully mixed up and took a sip, then smacked her lips and said, "I drank the taste of panic and confusion in this cup of coffee of yours, strictly speaking, this is not a cup of coffee that I will be willing to spend money on." ”

"I'm not going to ask you for money."

Chen Yi smiled, and then drank the cup of coffee she didn't like very much, I saw a change in her move, she was much more direct than before, she used to only drink coffee slowly, not like this.

After a moment of silence, we started chatting casually again. This time, I asked her, "What are the arrangements for this year's Chinese New Year?"

"I have a vacation for almost half a month, and I am going to take my parents to Sanya for a walk, the weather there is good, and Nanjing is too cold during this time, and my father's rheumatism is committed again"

Chen Yi is an undoubted filial daughter, I gave her a thumbs up from the bottom of my heart, I envy her family, because of harmony and wealth, as long as I Jiangqiao does not intervene in it, there is almost no contradiction between Chen Yi and her parents to see this, I feel that I have gradually let go of the short but bitter love between us.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it is already the Lantern Festival after the year, and the people and things around me have changed a lot. First, grandma went back to the nursing home; Zhao Mu returned to Nanjing after inspecting foreign projects, and we had a meal together; The coffee shop is worse than it was a year ago, and there was a day when I didn't make a business, but I wouldn't give up.

The only thing that hasn't changed is Mr. Xiao, he is still under investigation, and every time I hear news about him, I will unconsciously think of Xiao Ai and worry about her life in Taiwan, but as agreed in advance, we cut off contact with each other, and all her numbers and even WeChat accounts have been deactivated.

It was another dusk, I was sitting at the door of the coffee shop smoking a cigarette, Yu Xin found my coffee shop, she sat down next to me, chatted for a while, took out two tickets from her pocket and handed them to me, and said: "Brother Jiangqiao, the day after tomorrow is the award ceremony for the selection of the most beautiful proprietress in Nanjing, I was invited to be a guest performer at the party on behalf of the performing arts group, if you have time the day after tomorrow, go and see it." ”

I took the ticket from her hand and asked, "What are you doing with two tickets?"

Yu Xin smiled a little embarrassedly and replied, "There is another one, please help me give it to Zhao Mu."

I stared at her, she blushed a little, so I noticed some signs, this girl has always been warm and good at interpersonal communication, things that can make her blush, must have really touched her heart, so I think she is interesting to Zhao Mu's kid.

After a few jokes about her, I promised to help her with this.

Before leaving, she asked me as if she remembered something: "Brother Jiangqiao, how are you doing lately, do you miss someone in particular?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Alas, Xiao Ai has been gone for so many days, and there is no news at all, as a classmate who has studied together for so long, I miss her a lot, I don't know if you will think about it as a friend"

"No, not at all."

"Really"

"yes, really."

"Okay, then you didn't ask me to leave, remember to give the ticket to Zhao Mu tomorrow," Yu Xin said and stood up.

I nodded, and watched her leave the alley, but when she disappeared from my sight, I remembered Xiao Ai again, and remembered the way she had put her legs on my shoulders in such an exaggerated manner.

I hope that in Taipei, she will not neglect to practice, and then she will always be so young and energetic, which is always good

I looked up at the blue sky and white clouds overhead, as if I saw her sitting on the grass in a park in Taipei, looking up like this, we were facing the same sky

I finally smiled, then lit a cigarette and took a long, long inhalation